Short chapter to get the story going. Hope whoever is reading this is enjoying it and thank you for giving it a chance! :
"W-What's going on here?"
I raised my hand to block some of the cold rain. Looking around, trees were on the ground and buildings were being destroyed. The weather didn't seem that bad earlier… I looked at Crona, who rested her hand on her sword. She looked at me and then at the pair behind us.
"Ready your weapons, we're not making it out of here without bloodshed," she said, quickly. I looked at them; they looked as confused as I probably did but held their weapons.
"Crona, what's going on?" I asked, almost shouting to overpower the rain.
"We have to protect this place as best we can… but if we get overpowered, we run, do you understand me?" she said, sternly. I nodded. She drew her sword. "I can't explain this right now and, if things go right, I'll never have to…"
"Lead the way, Lady Crona," Heather said, with a smile. Crona looked at me and raised her sword towards the Diviner.
"Raein, stay behind them," she said, as the spear fighter stood in front of the girl. I nodded and moved behind them. "Sorry princess, better safe than sorry."
"Takato… lower your weapon," Heather said, as the man slowly did. He remained cautious, especially towards me. "I trust her with our safety."
"Stay close," she said, as we followed her.
We moved towards a plaza near the arena we were at. Buildings around us continued to seemingly break slightly but the wind didn't seem too strong. People had began to come out, just as confused as I was. Crona motioned for us to lower our head and pulled us towards an alley.
Guards began to appear. They began to speak loudly, telling the civilians to follow them. The sounds of people moving, forced or willingly, filled my ears as we remained low. Crona looked back at me.
"The guards have this under control," she began. "Let's get going."
"Where?" I asked, standing up with her.
"Hoshido will be safest," she said, as Heather looked around.
"Crona… You know something about this, right?" she asked. My partner nodded hesitantly. "We should help. These people will have their city destroyed."
"Sounds like you want to die," Crona said, crossing her arms. She smirked. "I'll fight for a cause… I won't die for one."
"Then we won't die. If you're not willing to fight, do you think these guards have a chance?" I asked as she looked down.
"Raein, your inability to pick a good fight will be your end," she began, turning towards us. "Look closely… there's almost invisible soldiers here. Once they get close, you'll be able to see a faint outline. If you drop your guard, they'll strike you down."
"Invisible soldiers? How?" Takato asked. Crona shook her head.
"Magic. Deception magic isn't too complex, just the practice might be frowned upon," she began. "Follow me then. Raein, guard the rear side and say something if notice anything strange."
"Thank you, Lady Crona," Heather said, bowing. "Your good deed will not go unnoticed."
Following her, we moved against the sea of people. When guards noticed us, Crona ran faster; they would never catch us. We reached an area with surrounded in beautiful buildings, small bridges over rivers used for decorations, and fallen trees. It was such a weird sight; not eight hours ago, everything was perfect. I heard a yelp as Takato pushed something back with his shielded naginata.
"Crona, we're being attacked," He yelled as she moved to our side. She looked around for a second and extended her arm forward. I heard a scream of pain and the sound of pierced flesh… a sound I never got totally used to.
"Raein, can you see anything?" she said, kicking what looked like the outline of a person off her sword. Her sword was bloodied… She definitely wasn't insane. I nodded. "Good, you two protect her. Princess, focus and don't hold back."
"T-There must be hundreds of them," the spear fighter said, as he raised his weapon. "I will not leave your side, milady."
I turned around and saw something move. Once it got closer, I saw the outlined person and swung my sword. Our blades clashed and I pushed forward, overpowering the samurai. I reached down to touch the body but felt nothing. My sword had blood and I felt and heard the fighting but the person vanished…
Heather closed her eyes and began channeling her magic into her scroll. It wasn't the Ox she was required to use in the arena. This time, a bird spirit was summoned and flew towards another enemy. It looked like a heavily armored knight as Crona moved towards another target. Takato moved past the knight once he dropped and I saw an axe cut on his shield. Crona turned back towards us.
"Start following."
While we remained, we didn't find a single civilian or guard but most of the invisible foes seemed to ignore us after we left. I grabbed my knees as I caught my breath. Crona slapped my back.
"You're out of shape," she said, sitting down on the grass. The world was empty, it was just our group as everyone sat on the wet grass. "I should work you harder."
"Thank you, Lady Crona," Heather began. Crona looked at her. "It kills me to see the city being destroyed… But at least we did our part to evacuate the innocent people."
"Something like that," Crona said, laying against me. "That was more stress than I wanted. I didn't expect to kill anyone today."
"Maybe tone down the sarcasm today?" I asked, yawning. "Where do we go now?"
"We go back home. They go back to their tribe," she said, sternly. She looked to the spear fighter. "Your message for this person isn't worth your lives, is it?"
"If it wasn't, we wouldn't be here at all," Heather said. She sounded angry. Crona smirked and stood up. "Forgive my tone…"
"Don't worry about it, princess," she said, happily as ever. "We should head somewhere safer for the night."
"Port Dia would be safe if these invaders haven't reached there," Heather said. "If anything, we can warn them."
"Sounds good. I doubt the Nohrian army will send any help for these people," Takato said, crossing his arms.
"What's that?" I said, standing up.
In the distance, it looked like an army. Most people held swords and naginatas but a few rode what were either pegasi or wyverns. One wyvern rider seemed to break away from the army, who stopped moving, and began flying towards us. Crona shook her head.
"F… Damn," she whispered, drawing her sword again. She walked forward; I followed.
"Stay here, if anything happens, just run," I said to the other man. He nodded as I turned away. "Nohrians?"
"I'm not sure. Hoshidans don't have wyverns and Nohrian pegasi are black and pretty rare," she said, crossing her arms as the wyvern slowed down close to us. A man jumped down with an astonishing katana. It seemed to have a weird aura surrounding it…
"Please make your way towards Port Dia, Nohrians have attacked Cyrkensia," the man said, standing in an intimidating pose. His hair was very long but not tied back; a strange thing for a samurai not to do.
"Nohrians… yeah, that sounds right," Crona said, putting her sword away. "Be careful, Ryoma."
"How do you know my name?" he said, placing a hand on his sword.
"Woman's secrets," she said, grinning. "The main plaza of town is in shambles by now. Everyone seemed to make it out. Not sure about the guards though."
"Sounds like you didn't need our warning," Ryoma said, moving back. "If you did what you said, I thank you. Please move on, we will handle this."
"Will do," Crona said, yawning. "Let's go, I'm tired."
"Why didn't you warn him about those enemies?" I said, as we walked.
"It's better to have them think it's Nohr," she said, looking up at me. "If anyone can stop Garon, it would be Ryoma."
"Sounds like you know him too."
"I know everyone," Crona said, with a smirk.
Our silent group began to move away from the fight and towards the sea. I stayed behind the group as Crona walked in the front. My eyes weighed a million pounds. No matter how much I rubbed them, nothing helped. We all needed sleep but it wasn't safe yet. Port Dia was in our view behind a rising sun.
"We're almost there," Crona said, quietly. "Maybe we shouldn't have stayed up so late."
"You were the one drinking," I said, as she nodded.
"I fight better hungover," she boasted.
"I'm sorry about this," I whispered to Heather. She slowed down to walk beside me.
"Don't worry about it," she said, smiling. "Beneath her sarcasm, she cares. It's as plain as day to me."
"Yeah, she does," I said, smiling. It brought good memories back.
"I still can't wait to sleep. I'm exhausted," she said, yawning.
"Sorry I kept you up then," I said, as she chuckled.
"It was nice to talk to someone new," she said. She looked at Crona. "Especially two people so interesting."
As we neared the town, I bumped into someone. I looked at Crona confusedly as she stopped abruptly. A group of people stood still at the town gates. It was a huge group of people with many weapons and mounts and in the front was two people; a white haired boy and a girl with long, light blue hair. I moved beside Crona.
"Who are they?" I asked, as she seemed uneasy.
"Today ended up not going my way at all," she sighed, stepping forward. She looked back at my direction with a sly smirk. "Get ready to find out a few things, princess."