Hold On

Chapter 5: Delightful Slaughter

Author's Note: I loathe this chapter. It was completely rushed, seeing as I wanted to release Chapter 6 really quickly. Hope you don't mind. This Chapter mostly consists of dialogue. Enjoy anyway!

It felt just like old times.

A woman, with dyed blonde hair and a large pointy purple hat, approached Angela. She didn't dare look her in the eye, as it was considered disrespectful to ever look at royalty eye-to-eye. Instead, she merely bowed her head and stared at the sand below.

"My Queen, where are we headed now?" she asked timidly, but with a clear tone of voice.

Angela swayed her head back enough to face the scared mage.

"Just follow from behind us. Hawkeye will know the way back to Deen. I'm sure of it. Now, go on and join the others." she replied, dismissing the soldier with a wave of her hand.

Angela was now walking through the seemingly endless desert beside two of her former companions, Hawkeye and Duran. She rested her arms around their necks, as they all walked happily back towards the oasis. For once, she didn't feel so alone. She felt that these two people were actually happy to get back together with her.

The sun was just beginning to set. The entire desert was completely empty, with no monsters whatsoever. Bittersweet silence flowed throughout the air. There were a few cacti and a few trees scattered on the sandy ground, but they didn't stand out very much. Everything, every path, every tree, looked exactly the same. It was a maze, only known by a native Navarran. And that's exactly what Hawkeye was.

Then, the silence was hindered.

"So, you're a queen now, huh?" Hawkeye commented, his voice being the only one in the entire wilderness.

"It's nothing I'm proud of... " Angela sighed, a blank, tired look upon her face.

"I never understood royalty... " the thief chuckled. "Now, I'm going to be a part of Navarre's Royal Family..."

"Engaged to Jessica? To tell you the truth, I never liked her much"

"Me either. I mean, I risked my life for her and I get nothing in return."

"Then, why'd you propose to her?"

"I didn't. Good old Flame Khan set us up. That old geezer..."

They both sighed in unintended unison. They were both bored, unsatisfied with the life they had been granted with, hoping it would all change within time. Yet, they knew it wouldn't

"It's not fair... Mother died too soon. I was never loved by her or by anyone at all..." Angela sighed once again.

"Angela, you've got to be kidding! I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who love you!" Hawkeyel laughed, fakely, attempting to cheer up the depressed queen.

"Like?"

"Like Victor and Duran!"

"I do not like Angela!!! ARGH!!!" Duran drew his clenched fist forward, shaking in all his anger.

"Sure you do! Come on, isn't it obvious?" Hawkeye swung his arm over and smacked Duran right on the back.

"ARRRRGH!!!!! All this CRAP is making me ANGRY!!!"

With that said, the disgruntled paladin left the group, and headed astray, pounding the ground as he walked.

"Head straight and to the right and you'll reach Deen!!!", Hawkeye shouted the loudest that he could.

"I doubt he heard you. Even if he did, he wouldn't listen."

"Well, that's Duran for you..."

Once again, they unintentionally sighed in unison.

The remaining group members continued walking on course, back towards Deen. After a few steps, Hawkeye stopped.

"What is it?" Angela asked. For once, she actually looked concerned.

"Did you just see that?" Hawkeye replied, staring off into the distance.

"What?" Angela asked, again. She squinted into the distance for a moment, but saw nothing.

"Forget it...," Hawkeye sighed, "Of course you didn't see him..."

"Who?"

"No one, forget it"

Then, Hawkeye attempted to continue walking forward, forgetting about the entire thing, but Angela grabbed his shoulder and twisted him back around.

"Who? Tell me...," she said, her eyes and voice displaying her concern.

Hawkeye began slowly walking forward, holding his hands on his belt, staring at the ground. Angela followed beside him.

"It's... It's Eagle. I keep seeing him. His clothing stained with blood; His face so pale. He keeps blaming me for his death, and the death of countless others. How I am a killer, an untrustworthy rat, a piece of crap. Then he tells me to help revive him. That way, he'll forgive me for all I've done."

"Awww... Hawkeye. That's all over now. Don't worry about it." Angela wrapped her arms around Hawkeye and gave him a tight hug.

In about half an hour, it was already dark out, and they were in Deen. Shockingly, it was empty. There were no soldiers scattered around on the sandy ground. There were no villagers outside, either. The shore was empty, too. Some of the houses had broken windows, and others had slightly burnt walls, but nothing was too drastic. There was definately some damage done here. The only visible person was Duran, standing solely in the center of the town, staring in disbelief.

"Check the houses!" Angela ordered as both her and Hawkeye ran to talk with Duran.

"What happened?!" she shouted, shaking the paladin by his shoulders.

Then, a door slammed open and a wounded mage just barely managed to walk up to the queen and her companions.

"Your Highness, I'm glad you came...," the mage spoke clearly, despite her massive wounds.

"Shut up and tell me what happened!" Angela ordered, lifting the mage's chin to face her in the eyes.

"Deen was attacked. Luckily, Flammie came just in time to deliver more soldiers, but we still lost..." the mage coughed, and took another deep breath before continuing. "We sent spies to check on the Navarre castle. You probably already left by then. The entire place was empty of anyone, they must have all escaped somewhere... Worst of all, my queen, Altena was attacked, also..."

"Attacked?! How?! We have the best defenses there! And Navarre couldn't possibly have enough soldiers to attack there! Plus, with their slowass balloon ship, they wouldn't have got there in time!" Angela shouted in disbelief and denial.

"Exactly, your highness, they got there ahead of time, probably before you even left Altena. They weren't alone, either. We received reports from General Rush, declaring that the Navarre ninjas were accompanied by Amazonesses, from Rolante."

"How many casualties?" the queen asked, afraid of what she was about to hear.

"About 230, your highness. 200 soldiers, and 30 villagers. Well over half of our entire army."

Angela took a deep breath, holding back her tears.

"Make sure everyone in the village is okay, and send a message to General Rush stating that I, the queen, am in good health, but I cannot return to Altena yet. The war is still not over."

"Understood. And, your highness, Jose arrived, hoping to assist you with his vast knowledge of geography. He said you were never good at that subject anyway."

"Tell him I'll speak to him later. As of now, I am going to bed... "

"May the Goddess bless you...," the mage bowed, before returning to the house from which she came.

"Hmph. The Goddess has already blessed me enough..."