War Room, 7:23 AM.
In the middle of a room, a large group of people gathered, a War Council taking place to discuss the plans for the future days of the nation, everyone was arguing trying to get the attention of the others, Gaius shook his head in disappointment munching on a lollipop he turned to his left looking at his companion who looked just as disgusted as him, "At least Edge is still the same" he thought with a slight chuckle, those thoughts crashed down when he heard the door opening, the Exalt appearance making everyone fall silent.
"I give my thanks to everyone here, i know that this past week has been a rough one but we are in dire times" like a spell, silence befell the room, the princess being the center of attention for everyone "One week, in one week the Exalt perished, The Elite forces of our country lost more than half of it's manpower and Ferox cuts their alliance to us" the voice of the Exalt carried over the entire room, Nobles and Knights both listened, no one making a single sound out of curiosity if the new Exalt would be as much of a waste as the last two or live up to her ancestors.
"However even through all of this unfortunate circumstances not everything was revealed completely, for everyone that wasn't a constant participant on the Valm war, the reason of the battle that claimed my brother's life is an unknown one, but that ends now, the reason for that battle, for that last push against Plegia was due to the rebirth of Grima, The Fell Dragon that our First Exalt slew so long ago" at that a few gasps of those that knew of the legends and confusion of those that didn't arose, "While it sounds unbelievable it's the unfortunate truth, right now that Dragon must be savoring on his victory" as the Exalt spoke, the face of most in the room started to fall with some few exceptions.
One of the nobles swallowed before standing up and screamed at the Exalt, "Your Excellency with all due respect, this situation you speak of seems like something that we cannot stop, what is the point of this reunion if that blasted drago-" before he could continue the Exalt looked at him with a glare that made him shut up instantly, "Looks like the princess is not in the mood to deal with him, can't say i blame her" Sully thought looking at the new Exalt with some form of pride.
"And that is what i was getting at Duke, while yes the situation is beyond bad, it's not exactly impossible to solve, as you know the First Exalt dealt with this same Dragon, we will just use the same strategy as he did, we will gather the Five Gemstones and we will perform the Awakening, making Grima a thing of the past" as she said this some of the people gathered looked with doubt while other were convinced of this plan to follow, seemingly the best option they had.
"But the Five Gemstones are scattered among the world, we don't even know where could they be" a military officer was the one to interrupt this time, although he was genuinely rooting for this idea, first they needed solid information, "They were scattered among the world, that is true, but not anymore, due to the war at Valm we managed to get 2 of the 4 missing Gemstones, right now we possess control on: Argent, Vert and Azure, with Gules being on Ferox and Sable on Plegia" the calm tone never left the Exalt's voice making it seem as if she was on control of the situation, making more people start to have hope on this plan.
"Our next movement is a simple one, we will send a battalion to Ferox to try and ensure that Khan Flavia's cooperation, after that, we will gather our troops to protect our country while a small team retrieves Sable from Plegia and with all those steps done, the Awakening will performed destroying Grima, of course we will need to go to Mount Prism for that but i'm sure most are familiar with the legend by now" with that, silence enveloped the room, until the military officer from before stood up.
"Where are you going Commander Lionel?" he heard a voice ask him to which he just turned around and answered to the whole room, "To prepare my troops of course, the Exalt has the complete support of the Archery Division, we are not big in numbers but for this cause we will fight like no one before, so pardon me, but the time to prepare is fickle and few" and like that a chorus began around the room, most pleading their support for the Exalt's plan.
Said Exalt for her part smiled to her countrymen and declared, "With all that taken care of, i declare this Council over, i will give more detail on those that will leave towards Ferox on the next days" and so the Exalt turned and left, leaving the people inside to discuss their plan and draft procedures.
Seeing this Gaius smiled and turned to his fellow Shepherd who nodded and both left, walking on different directions but with the same goal in mind, Lon'qu was joined by Olivia on the road, followed by Sully, while a smiling Henry joined Gaius, all of them aware that there were things left unsaid on that meeting, and that their friend was waiting to share, for the first time in one week, The Shepherds were reunited yet again.
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Royal Chambers, 7:56 AM.
"You did a fantastic job Lissa, i do not believe anybody was left with any doubts in that room" came the voice of her longtime friend, who was right now praising her little stunt at the meeting.
"It wasn't just me and you know it, still saying all of that without breaking the facade is one of the most difficult things i ever done" the Exalt said with some embarrassment on her voice, not being used to being in the center of attention.
"If it makes you feel any better lying gets easier as time goes on" her friend unhelpfully added much to the princess' chagrin.
"While that's not exactly untrue, I would rather evade troubles and not have royalty lie to their country too much, god knows people do not forget" the uninterested voice sounded from the window where the thief sat, and calmly finished entering before sitting on the chair beside it.
"You brigand there is a door that you can use and close that window!" the noble screamed at the thief who just laughed, "Can't do, Birdie over there would be angry if i did Twinkles, so wait for a few seconds would ya" he answered while digging through his sack of candy.
"Birdie? and what do you mean with "Twinkles" i told you to stop calling me that you lowlife!" the noble grabbed her parasol while walking to the thief who just pointed to the window while unwrapping a gum with his unoccupied hand.
Following his hand the noble looked at the window and proceeded to rage more than before, for outside the window Henry was floating, his crows having dragged him all the way to the window from the ground, "Hello Mari!" The manchild happily greeted his wife, who fainted then and there.
"Marianne!" exclaimed a distressed Lissa at seeing her friend hit the floor, Henry entered the room, thanking his crows he turned towards his wife, lifted her and put her on the bed, "Don't worry she gets like that often, mostly when i bring my friends with me!" the mage exclaimed with a smile, "And what are those friends?" Lissa asked, knowing that she would regret it, "Corpses of course" falling to her knees, Lissa had only one thought in her mind, why and how did Maribelle choose him?.
"Is this a bad time?" Sully looked at the occupants of the room with genuine confusion at the scene in front of her, but knowing the people present here, it was probably Henry's fault, "Not really, Birdie just gave Twinkles an aneurysm and that's it" right on the gold it seems.
At that Sully just facepalmed before entering the room and reclining on the wall, after her Lon'qu entered and did the same at the opposites wall, putting himself between Gaius and Henry, Olivia for her part went to check on the passed out noblewoman, "She's going to be fine right?" She asked the dark mage who just laughed at her question leaving her even more worried.
"She shouldn't show any signs of unhealthiness, all possibilities taken into account she seems to only have suffered an emotional overload which caused her to be in this state" the calm voice of the librarian took by surprise almost everyone in the room, "Miriel?, What are you doing here?" The Exalt questioned the Mage who just adjusted her clases before answering, "This matter involves all of the halidom, that includes me of course, besides, with Ricken busy keeping Donnel company it was decided between the two of Is that it made the most sense for me to attend this matter".
"Speaking of Pot, how is he?, Heard he appeared yesterday in the middle of the night" Gaius asked, concern in his voice, he wasn't close to the farmer, but he was young, too young, he doesn't deserve death.
"He's fine, he's awake already but cannot get up just yet, however he gave me some interesting information, apparently his injuries were caused by a Risen unlike the rest, it seemed to be able to think on it's own and develop strategies in the middle of a fight, but beyond all of that, it was strong, strong enough to defeat both him and Kellam at the same time" that revelation made some eyes widen, a Risen being able to defeat 2 of their friends at the same time was something that had never happened before.
"He also told me something else, but…" at that Miriel fell silent, not wanting to continue with her report, fortunately for her, somebody else already knew what she wanted to say, "The fight claimed Kellam's life" those words sounded so wrong for everyone present, not only because of their meaning, but also for who said them, Henry stared at the sleeping Maribelle, his usual cheery voice gone completely in favor of a solemn one that nobody has heard before.
"This Risen killed him on the fight, if i had to guess, he sacrificed himself so that Donnel could escape with the two children he was carrying" he continued while caressing the face of his wife, a myriad of thoughts circulating his head, the rest of the room just kept quiet in respect of their fallen friend, while none of them was particularly close to the man, he was still their companion.
The silence however couldn't last forever, there were things that needed to be addressed after all, "Miriel, did Donnel mention anything remarkable about this Risen?" Lissa asked the mage, a look of concern flashing on her eyes, "Actually yes, according to Donnel, the Risen had a mark on it's left arm that said "Neun", why do you ask?" the mage answered while looking at her with a rare expression of confusion.
"Because that would be the second Risen of that kind that we have met" the quiet voice should have gone unheard, but everybody was able to understand those words without any explanation, it meant danger, "Frederick was killed by one of those" she said taking by surprise many of occupants of the room aside for two.
"It would be the fourth then" the voice of Henry sounded yet again on the room, the dark mage looking out the window to the tree he burned last night, "When Donnel arrived a Sniper tried to take him out, would have succeeded if Vika had not been on that tree sleeping, and then after a few minutes another one appeared on the barracks, me and Lon fought him but he dissolved into mist before we could kill it" he said while trying to remember, where did he knew this names from?
"So these Risen are hunting us specifically?" An angered Sully exclaimed to the room, Gaius making a bit of space between her and himself just in case, "While it seems that way, i doubt that's the case, after all these are Grima's elite force, the Twelve Deadlords, a group of undead warriors that have served the Fell Dragon since millennia ago" the creepy voice sounded from the door as Tharja entered the room, closing the door behind them she took a seat beside Olivia, the occupants of the room letting her continue wishing to know what exactly was happening.
"They follow Grima's command and only his, they may take actions of their own but they only do so if their lord has fallen before they are killed" she kept speaking, showing that she had done her research on this matter, "Each one is pretty dangerous on their own right, however they are far from invincible, you can defeat them as any other Risen, they are just strongest than any other Risen" she finishes while looking at the rest of the room, the other occupants processing the information and trying to understand.
"So they can be killed, i was worried we wouldn't be able to strike them down without Falchion at our disposal" came the voice from the swordsman as he tilted gis head to the floor, "If that's not the case then we will just have to cut them down before laying a hand on their lord" he finished and casted a look to his sword, the Regalia glinting as if it agreed with him.
"Lon'qu is right, this new information barely changes anything, the mad man over there scared two off on his own yesterday, if anything these Deadlords have to FEAR US!" Sully exclaimed with a smile, confident in this being a done deal, "While i like the attitude Red, we still haven't heard what Princess had to tell us to begin with" Gaius said while putting his hand on his sack trying to get out something that should be there.
At this they remembered the real reason for their reunion and looked at their royal friend who had been quiet for a bit now, with the attention now on her Lissa swallowed the lump on her throat before speaking, "Falchion is needed for the ritual, but right now the only one who can use it is Lucina" and so everyone remembered the daughter of their deceased leader, and that in a single day, she lost both parents.
"She has refused to leave her room since i yesterday, i tried to talk to her this morning before coming her but she didn't open or even answer" the words made everyone fall silent some out of pity, others because they felt that it was right, "If i had to guess Owain and Cynthia are trying to talk to her but i don't think she will answer, not for a while"
Olivia understood, understood what she was trying to say, so she got up and walked away, Tharja understood as well and followed, one after the other everyone started to leave the room until only Henry, Lissa and Maribelle were there, with some effort Henry lifted Maribelle and started carrying her to their room, all the while making a mental note to visit Brady on the infirmary soon.
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Dining hall, 8:03 am.
Sitting in the same table, three children ate their meal in silence, on one side of the table a white haired boy ate his breakfast while the pink haired girl beside him read the book on her hands, trying to understand the way to use a "Pincer attack", across them a brunette stabbed at her bacon with a smile on her face.
"Someone's happy today" the boy said with a smile at seeing his long time friend so happy, it's been a while since she looked that happy about anything, "Of course i am, Daddy promised quality time between the two of us" she said replicating the smile which threw the boy for a loop, the lack of insults catching him completely off guard before he smiled again, this time genuinely.
Before he could continue a black haired man sat down beside the brunette across from him, "Hello Uncle, do you know where's mom?" The stoic man just nodded and pointed behind him and his sister before being hugged from behind along with his sister, their mother holding them close to her.
Morgan dropped the book while Inigo just smiled and both hugged her back, confused but not against this, Severa looked to her father before he pulled her close for a side hug, "I'm sorry but i'm not the best at this kind of thing" his daughter just smiled and proceeded to glomp him, completely encircling her father who's lips curved ever so slightly upwards.