Emblemtale: The Ancients- Chapter 3: Verge of War
Unbeknownst to our heroes, in a location where no light could touch, sinister schemes and plots were being formed, a group of four cultists stood in a circle, performing the ritual to summon a Praetorite, as they continued chanting, a figure in a maroon robe, laced with gold, setting him apart from the other cultists, watched the ritual from afar.
As he watched, a cultist approached him "My lord!, we have reports from our spies!" the messenger bowed down before continuing his message "The kings of the Human and Monster kingdoms are on the brink of declaring war on one another, everything is proceeding as planned!"
The leader laughed at this news, a deep and foreboding cackle "Excellent!, We should be able to proceed with our plans, and then both kingdoms will be nothing but a memory..."
"Th-Though...that isn't the end of my report, my lord..." The messenger resumed, nerves causing his voice to waver "There may be...unexpected complications with our plans..." the master fell silent, unnerving the messenger even more, he looked up and saw that the master was glaring down at him, anger burning in his eyes.
"Complications?, what do you mean, complications?" he asked, slowly walking away from the messenger.
"Um...well, there seems to have been a traitor in our midst..." The messenger replied, looking back at the ground, not wanting to meet his master's gaze "She...she betrayed our order and left with the secrets of the Praetorites...even the secret to defeating them..."
The master stopped his pacing and stood completely still, not answering, the messenger nervously cleared his throat and carried on "A-And...she seems to have joined up with a group of both humans and monsters...our spies are worried that they could be quite a thorn in our side...and one among them seems to be a Dragonblood..."
"...A traitor?" The master repeated, folding his arms behind his back "And did we...know of this traitor?" he glanced back at the messenger, who did not answer him "Your silence is all the conformation I need, but then, that leaves only one question..."
"A-And what would that be, my lord?" The messenger nervously asked, suddenly, the master whipped around and grabbed the messenger by the neck "My lord!...Please!"
"If you were aware of this traitor, how could you allow them to live?!" He bellowed, tightening his grip on the messengers neck "And how could you allow them to leave, knowing our secrets!?" as the messenger struggled against his grip, the master raised his other hand and began charging a dark spell
"Master...please, have mercy...I can make it up to you!" He gasped, trying to pry the master's hand off of his throat "I know their location!"
The master did not release him, leaving him nearly blue, until finally, he stopped his spell and let him fall to the floor, gasping and coughing "If you truly do know their location, I shall grant you a second chance, eliminate the traitor and their group, but leave the Dragonblood alive, I believe I can find a use for them."
"Y-Yes * cough cough * my lord, I shall depart right away!" The messenger wheezed, shakily standing "They will not escape me this time!" with that, he quickly ran off, when he was gone, the master looked over to the ceremony and saw that a Praetorite had slowly begun to rise from the ground.
"Hm hm hm, these interlopers shall pay dearly for attempting to divulge our plans" He muttered, observing the rock being emerge "And once they are gone, their shall be nothing standing in our way!" he then began laughing wildly, making grandiose, sweeping gestures with his arms...
Back with our heroes, they had begun to break camp as the sun started to rise over the horizon, preparing to make their way back to the Monster Capital, as they prepped, Asriel wrote down what they had experienced on the first foot of their investigation "We can present this to Lord Asgore, it should serve as evidence when we make our case."
"good thinking, he could easily claim we made it up without proof" Sans agreed, fastening a pack onto his horse "not that I doubt lord asgore or anything, but with his mind on the battles, he doesn't seem to give a damn about our investigation."
"Well, he should!" Undyne chimed in, carrying what seemed like half of the camp on her back and not even straining "With these weird things on the prowl, it's a huge threat to everyone!"
"Loathe as I am to agree with her" Llain interjected, joining the group "If these things are able to cross the border, they'll not only wreak havoc on the both armies, but the innocents on both sides won't stand a chance either."
Asriel finished up his writing and placed his notebook into the pocket of his robes "Well, I have made up my mind, no matter what Lord Asgore says, I will continue investigating this cult, I cannot stand idly by as these cultists continue to summon these creatures, and I trust you all agree?"
"Of course, it would not fit for a member of the prestigious army of Lord Asgore to allow these atrocities to continue!" Papyrus cheered, approaching the group with Alphys at his side and a sleeping Frisk on his back "It seems that daybreak was to early for some of us."
"She's not the only one..." Alphys yawned, stretching out her arms "...I may have spent too much time on research..." with that, the group set out down the road, whiling away the journey with stories and lighthearted jokes, trying to keep their minds off of the dire task laid before them...
Earlier in the morning, before the sun had even begun to rise, Asgore made his way to the castles armory, once inside, he saw his red trident and radiant silver and gold armor on display, he approached the armor and placed his hands on the breast.
"* Sigh * I had dreaded that this day would come" He lamented, closing his eyes momentarily "I had wished there was some way I could have avoided this, but it seems the humans leave us little choice..." before he could become lost in his thoughts, he heard the door open and saw his wife, Queen Toriel standing in the doorway.
"...You're leaving, aren't you?" She asked, not meeting Asgore's gaze "Must it be this way?, Is peace truly impossible?" Asgore didn't reply, he instead removed his robe and began putting his armor on, once it was on, he took his trident in hand and tested his weight, making sure he was still able to wield it "Why do you have to step on the battlefield!?, What of your family?, What of our son!?"
"Our son would understand" Asgore simply replied, trying to leave, but Toriel wouldn't budge "Please, my love, I must do this, I cannot allow my troops to die for me while I sat around!" despite his protests, Toriel stood her ground "Tori...I know my leaving must be hard for you, but I need you to stay here and protect the Capital..."
"Gods...you are stubborn" Toriel conceded, stepping out of the way "Fine then, if this is what you wish, I will not stop you, but if I hear you have been injured, I will march onto that battlefield and drag you off of it myself"
"And may the Gods preserve the ones who injured me" Asgore joked, pulling Toriel close "For they do not know the fury of an angered wife" with one final kiss, Asgore left the armory and left Toriel behind, trying to compose herself before she returned to the throne room...
At the same time, In the Capital of Vauland, Valtick had gathered his men in the throne room, standing at the head of the room, he was dressed in an imposing suit of Crimson Armor "Men!, The time has finally come, those fools in Zephina have made their intentions clear, creating these strange golems, turning our most stalwart allies against us!, they have forced our hand and we will ride to meet them on the field of battle, now, I ask of you, are you ready to fight for your kingdom!?"
"Yes, M'lord!" The men boomed, saluting their king and standing firm.
"These scum will not show you mercy!, are you willing to face down death on the field?!" Valtick roared, trying to rouse the men.
"Yes, M'lord!" The men cried once again, raising their weapons in the air.
"And if they bring out these golems?, Will you waver?, Will you give them an inch?" Valtick questioned, grabbing his axe off of his throne "Will you fall?!"
"No, M'lord!" The men yelled, cheering, Valtick raised his axe and let out a war-cry, and with that, the men turned and charged out of the castle, ready for the war that awaited them, leaving Valtick in the throne room with his servants.
"Now then, Bring me my steed!" Valtick ordered, preparing himself for the battles as well "I will ride to join them!" the servants quickly left to prepare Valtick's steed, while they did that, he began planning out the battles in his head "I will make these fools regret this war..." as the servants led his horse into the throne room, he saddled up and quickly rode off, soon joining his men on their march...
Back with the heroes, they had finally reached the capital, once the gates had opened, they started to make their way to the castle, but before they could reach it, they were stopped by a giant crowd of monsters blocking their way.
"Excuse us, let us through!" Asriel spoke, trying to talk over the din of the crowd "Please, we have urgent business at the castle!"
"Haven't you heard?" A monster from the crowd answered "No one's being allowed in the castle while the army is prepping for the war, we we're all waiting out here to give them our well-wishes."
"What!?, They're going to war?!" Asriel shouted, awestruck that things had escalated at the rate they did "We have to talk to the king, before he leaves!" he then began forcing his way through the group, trying to get to the castle.
"Hey!, Wait for us!" Undyne yelled, shoving her way through the crowd, chasing after Asriel as the others apologized for their behavior, finally, they found themselves at the front of the crowd, where they saw that the army had begun pouring out of the castle, with Asgore heading the charge.
"Wait, M'lord!" Asriel called, approaching Asgore "What is the meaning of this?, Why are you riding off to war!?" Asgore did not answer, as he seemed to actively avoid Asriel's eyes "It's too dangerous for you to be on the battlefield, especially while these cultists are still active!"
"...It is my duty as a King" Asgore simply replied, still refusing to look at Asriel "I cannot simply ignore my soldiers that are giving their lives for my sake..." with that, he continued to march on as the crowd cheered for the departing soldiers, giving them their best wishes and telling them that they will pray for their safety.
"Damn...I had hoped a full-blown war would be farther off..." Llain cursed, watching the army march away "This certainly isn't going to make our investigation any easier."
Frisk watched as Asriel kept his gaze locked on the shrinking form of Asgore "Asriel...are you going to be okay?" She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Asriel didn't seem to realize Frisk was there at first, upon noticing her, he jumped slightly and shook off his nerves "Oh, Frisk, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..." he tried to make himself sound happy, but Frisk could tell, something was eating at him inside, but she wasn't sure what it was "A-Anyway, perhaps we should report to the Queen..."
"But, Asriel!..." Frisk tried to continue, but Asriel walked off towards the castle, leaving the others behind, Frisk was soon joined by Papyrus and Sans.
"don't let the goat get yours, okay, kid?" Sans said, tousling her hair "asriel's working through some stuff, he'll be fine on his own, he's got a knack for working things out, just give him time."
"Still, doesn't it seem strange?" Papyrus wondered, placing a gloved hand under his chin "Why was Asriel so upset at the King leaving?, isn't he just the tactician of the King's army?"
"don't worry about it, paps" Sans said, walking towards the castle "i'm sure you'll figure it out on your own in time..."
"Sans!, Don't leave me guessing!" Papyrus yelled, giving chase to his brother "This question cannot go unanswered, tell me what you know!"
Frisk was stunned, she wanted to help Asriel, but she wasn't sure what she could do for him, soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Llain standing next to her "Seems our little investigation just hit a new bump, eh?" he then walked forward and gestured for her to follow "Well, I guess we should follow, coming?" Frisk nodded, still thinking about Asriel...
THE END!
A.N: I've been trying to diversify my stories, trying to not have every chapter be bogged down by too much action, but I hope you enjoy this nonetheless!