act 1 - chapter 7

Allies?

"So you're here as some sort of cultural exchange thing then?" Marcus asked inquisitively as he and Devon sat with Isuka at their table, Mimi having a chat with her mother somewhere on the school grounds.

Isuka nodded as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Y-yes. It was something me and my mother came up with."

"That's cool, all me and my mother do is argue." Devon said with a chuckle, clearly his and his mother's arguments not as serious as he made them to be.

"I see . . um, that girl, Meme was it? where did she go off to?" Isuka asked as he looked about.

"It's Mimi, and she's wandering about with her mom I'm pretty sure. They don't get to see each other often with Mimi being here and her mom being stuck in the capitol." Marcus said calmly as he picked up a cup of tea off the table and took a sip.

"I see. So she is this countries princess then, yes?" Isuka asked, clearly unsure of how it quite worked in Halkeginia.

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't she be?" Devon asked in a confused tone.

"Err, well. In the elven lands, your rank is not designated by your birth. While my parents are a general and the high priestess, I still have to prove myself before I can join the official army in any way. Birth does not designate title, so until I prove myself somehow, I am merely my parent's son."

"I see. So that's how it is, I'm not sure if that's nice or not." Mimi exclaimed as she walked up to the table and sat down.

"Done talking with your mom already, that's unusually fast for you two." Devon commented as he slid a plate with a small cookie on it to Mimi, who quickly scarfed it down with a nod of thanks.

"The headmaster wanted to talk to her about something. So I'm back with you guys again." Mimi explained, clearly upset by the turn of events, but understanding of it.

"I see. So even though you are a princess, you cannot see your mother? That is rather sad." Isuka stated solemnly, just thinking about how hard it must be to be away from your family for so long. Something he was quickly going to experience.

"Not really. I was the one who wanted to come to the academy after all!" Mimi exclaimed as she brushed the cookie crumbs off of her fingers and looked to Devon and Marcus, "shall we get going then?"

"Eh, you're still planning on going!?" Marcus exclaimed at Mimi, standing up from his chair as he did.

"Yes!"

Isuka looked at them and tilted his head slightly. "Um, what? Is the school going somewhere?"

"No, we had been planning to head to the nearby town to do some shopping, Marcus broke all of his quills, and Mimi wanted to look for an accessory for Talos." Devon explained casually to Isuka.

"Oh, that town we passed. Um, who's Talos though?" Isuka asked, looking around for the holder of that name.

"Talos is my familiar!" Mimi responded happily as Talos landed on her shoulder and yawned.

"I- I see. So you can just leave the school grounds? I thought that the students had to stay in the academy until their schooling was done?"

"What? That'd be insane!" Devon exclaimed in reply to Isuka's words. "Three years without seeing your families, ugh. The academy has three months of no classes a year so students can go home and see their families. Today is also a free day for us second year students so we can get to know our familiars."

"Yeah, but we figured we'd head to town to pick up some stuff. We still doing that then? Marcus asked.

"I don't see why we can't. Want to come, Isuka, it could be a good chance to see the town!" Mimi exclaimed as she looked at Isuka, waiting on his answer.

Isuka though, looked far from comfortable as he answered. "Um, could I really? It would cause trouble would it not? I want to learn, but I don't want to make a situation happen."

"It won't cause a situation, sure elves are still rare in Halkeginia, but Tristania is officially your ally, so it won't be a problem!" Mimi exclaimed happily, clearly intent of bringing him along. "Shall we go?"

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The only human city Isuka had ever been in had been the capitol of Tristania, and when compared to it, the town he now stood in was tiny. It reminded him of many of the smaller town around the elven capitol though, just like them its people seemed happy and calm, and less tense than people often seemed to be in a city.

The town itself was like one giant market. All of its building was made of wood and small amounts of stone. The farms around it were in full growth, and all of its people were happily waltzing around the center of the town, buying and selling their produce and crafts. Some people glared at him like he was unwelcomed, but for the most part people just seemed to ignore him and go about their business.

"It's pretty lively, isn't it?" Marcus asked casually as he stepped up beside Isuka without any reservation.

Isuka glanced to Marcus and could not help but be confused by how easily he was being accepted. "Y- yeah, small towns usually are though, right?"

"It depends on the town honestly. The town by my family's manor is a pretty quiet one." Isuka stated casually as he took a stepped forward and looked to Isuka. "Devon is running around with Mimi, want get something to eat while we wait for them?"

"I thought you needed quills?"

"I do, but I already have an order placed and paid for. I can get them on the way out of town, and M mimi will be a while, especially if Devon is with her."

"Why is that, are they . . . ," Isuka began to ask, stopping midsentence as his un-surety about the subject clearly surfaced.

"Nah, Devon just has a good eye for Jewelry and quality. He gets it from his father, I think. And Mimi just enjoys looking at a lot of the accessories. This town's craftsmen make all kinds of things out of wood, metal and minor jewels. And Mimi seems to prefer less expensive jewelry, probably because there's so much of it at the castle. So they both will be a while." Marcus explained as he and Isuka walked over to the fountain in the center of the town and sat on its edge.

Form the fountain Isuka could clearly see that the town was prosperous, and after a few minutes, caught sight of Mimi and Devon darting out of a shop front and across the street to another, big smiles on their faces. "The three of you, seem to be pretty close." Isuka could not help but mention under his breath. Unfortunate for him, Marcus heard him.

"Yeah, my family has always been close to Mimi's, and Devon's an old friend as well. It was kind of normal for the three of us to gather together, I think."

"I see. . . . I'm sorry."

"For what?" Marcus exclaimed surprised by Isuka's words.

"My coming, it seems I have gotten in your guys way. You'd normally be running around with them, right?" Isuka asked as he looked at the ground below him.

"Sometimes yeah, but not always. I'm not much into jewelry or stones so I just sometimes wait here for them."

Isuka looked up from the ground and stared at Marcus, "You just, sit here and wait? Couldn't you be doing better things with your time?"

"Probably," Marcus said with a shrug as he looked up at the sky, "sometimes I just watch the clouds go by, or let the wind brush past me. My mother is pretty strict for training, making me practice whenever I have the chance. I guess I just like to take it easy when I can."

Isuka turned his gaze from Marcus to the sky above, and a small smile slid onto his face. He had never thought of it that way. Perhaps it was because of his culture, but he just sat around and looked at the world around him. The only reason there was to look at your surrounding during training was to find advantages against your opponents. But the sky was the same as when he was back home. The bright blue sky had only a few sparse wispy clouds in it and the twin moons where beautifully vibrant in their spots of the sky. The sky looked the same, even thousands of miles away, it looked the same.

"You two look like you're comfortable. Don't strain your necks to much though!" Devon's voice rang out, causing Isuka to stop looking at the sky and return his gaze to the earth. Standing in front of him was Mimi, who looked extremely pleased for some reason, and Devon, who was holding a paper bag in his one hand, likely the reason why Mimi was pleased.

"Oh, sorry," Isuka apologized as he stood up and brushed off his pants, very embarrassed at being caught doing something so wasteful.

"I wouldn't worry about it, I'm just surprised Marcus found someone to sky gaze with him, eh Marcus? . . . . . . . . . Marcus?" Devon asked again, his words not seeming to reach Marcus as he continued to stare up at the sky, westward toward the horizon.

"Hey, Marcus! We're done. Return to Tristania, please!" Mimi called with a giggle, but even that did not pull Marcus's attention away from the sky. Instead he raised his arm and pointed up to the sky, his face slowly filling with fear and dread.

"W-w what is that!?" Marcus finally uttered, causing the rest to follow his finger and look where he was pointing.

High in the sky far off just above the horizon and hidden by many thin wispy clouds was an object. It seemed to be floating where Albion once did decades before, but as they looked at it, it became evident that it was moving, the clouds around it shifting and passing around it. It looked large and almost rectangular, but as it continued to move and become larger, it became obvious that it was heading toward them. After a few moments it was large enough to tell that the entire thing was white and yellow in color, and as they squinted to try to discern more details, dozens of small, vaguely bird shaped objects flew through h skies at speeds beyond any dragon, making horrendous screechy roars as they passed overhead.

"W-what are those things!" Mimi yelled over their noise. "They're so loud!"

"I don't know, but that big thing is getting closer!" Devon exclaimed just as loudly as the birdlike yellow things soared through the sky and past the horizon, appearing again seconds later.

"Wait, are those things sky demons?" Isuka asked, unsure of his own question. "I thought sky demons were darker!"

"Wait, if those things are – we need to get back to the academy now!" Marcus barked his tone now solid and commanding as all of them began running for the horses that had brought them to the village.

Racing though the country side the small objects continued to soar around, and some seemed to hover above them, following them like vultures as the larger object, now giant in its size from how close it was, followed behind them ominously. It's shadow eclipsed the sun above them and shadowed the entire countryside around them, but beyond that and the smaller ones screaming around above them, nothing seemed to attack, they just seemed to watch them.

"My mom once told me that the largest Sky demon that appeared years ago was so big it looked as if it could circle the sun with its width, but this one looks nothing like what she described!" Mimi yelled frantically as she spurred her horse to go faster in panic, though it could go no faster even if it wanted to.

"Yeah, these things don't look like what those sky demons were said to look in the history books." Devon agreed quickly as they sped forward, the academy finally in sight jus ahead. "there's the school! Hopefully they're ready for whatever this thing chasing us is!"

Isuka looked up at the giant object shadowing the surrounding. It was easily as large as a small city, but beyond that, he could tell anything about it. Except that it seemed to be changing its course slightly. "I don't think it's following us! It almost looks like its heading for the grass or forest beside the school.

True to Isuka's words the massive thing began drifting to the side, and as the four of them made it into the academy's grounds, the thing lowered to the ground just outside the gates, creating massive gusts of wind so strong they were almost blown over as Headmaster Colbert and Queen Henrietta ran out to them.

"Mimi! What is that thing!?" Henrietta called to her daughter in panic, staring at its bulk, still visible over the walls of the school despite it having touched down to the ground.

Mimi shook her head quickly, her face covered in fear. "I don't know! It seemed to follow us all the way from town. Marcus noticed it in the sky where Albion used to be. Is it those sky demon things?"

Mr. Colbert stepped forward and shook his head, slamming the bottom of his staff to the floor to garner everyone's attention. "That is no sky demon, it's something else entirely. And if it is landing so close, then it must intend to communicate. I shall go and see." Headmaster Colbert said as he began walking toward the academies gates quickly followed by two other teachers; Mrs. Zerbst and Mrs. Vallière.

Watching them all follow Headmaster Colbert, Queen Henrietta followed as well, and a moment later, Mimi, Devon, Marcus and Isuka followed as well. Outside of the Academy gates they stood in front of the strange machine. With it before them it was obvious that it looked like it was made of metal and other artificial materials. It was no living creature.

Many of the small flying objects hovered nearby, the glass covers on their tops seeming to glare at everyone below as a section of the massive object slid open and fall out, turning into a sort of stairway. Almost a dozen people in strange armour colored the same as the object stepped out of it, and lined up on either side of it like a procession of knights greeting royalty, and then two men stepped out of the object and down its ramp. The one man was old, with a bald head with hair only on its sides. He wore a uniform not unlike the soldiers around him, though his looked more suited to commanding than fighting. The man beside him was strange, looking only in his mid-forties, yet his eyes made him seem leaps and bounds older. He was wearing the same armour as the other soldiers and looked like one himself.

The bald man stepped forward and saluted to the teachers and queen, eyeing them intelligently and without disdain. "My name Is Lieutenant General Jack Granger, Head of The Global Defence Initiative of the United Nations of Earth. This is my right hand man, Commander Michael are here peaceably, and I would request to speak with the leader of this country if it is allowable!"

Queen Henrietta stepped forward and curtsied. "I am the Queen of Tristania, Queen Henrietta. You wish to speak to me about something, Mister Granger?"

Jack nodded and looked at Henrietta, his eyes like stone. "Yes. I'd like to speak about a man named Kane, and his organization, The Brotherhood of Nod!"