Disclaimer: I do not own Breath of Fire or its characters.
Chapter 3 - The Dark Truth Behind the Bright Crown
The Cloaks were a myth widely spread throughout the kingdom of Wyndia, though no one knew how accurate the myth was or if the organization even existed. Rumors of an elite group of assailants that could walk in the shadows and carried death with them protected Wyndia to an extent. However, rumors were only talk and, being the heir to Wyndia, Nina set off to find the truth about the Cloaks.
Nina had asked her father when she turned thirteen about the existence of the Cloaks, though he merely brushed her off and changed the subject. Fueled further by that setback, she devised a plan: during the middle of the night, she would sneak into the records room and look through the confidential files, something explicitly forbidden to anyone without permission from the king or the record keepers.
Sneaking out that night with a hood made of dark sheets, Nina roamed the castle holding a small, magical flame in her hand, a spell she had learned by watching the Royal Wizard teach his apprentices. Twice she was almost caught on the way to the records room but she quickly extinguished her flame and hid before the guards came and went. It took several minutes for Nina to build another fire though, being young and inexperienced with magic, and each minute Nina feared she would be caught and punished.
Still, with her heart pounding, Nina finally reached the records room. It was not locked, as Nina expected it to be, so she swung open the door and proceeded.
Bookshelves and cabinets full of files, desks with scrolls of parchments and quills dotted the conference-sized room. Everything was meticulously organized, chronologically ordered with related materials cross-referenced by symbolic markers. In less than five minutes, she found a file relating to what she wanted.
The Wyndian Covert Operation Group, codename 'Cloaks,' are hereby established to protect and serve the kingdom of Wyndia, the document read. By means of infiltration, secrecy and assassination, the aforementioned group is to operate, at need, in confidentiality.
Nina continued reading the document, wide-eyed. It went on to say the group was comprised of no more than fifteen individuals at a time, all trained in physical and magical combat and masters of poison, theft, stealth and the like.
However, what surprised Nina the most, next to the undisputable proof the group existed, was the members of the group themselves. Most were comprised of crossbreeds between the cat-like clan called the Woren Clan and the members of Nina's tribe, the Fae Clan. The Woren naturally were built for quick offense - strong leg muscles and a keen sense of sight, smell and hearing lent themselves to such fighting. However, the Woren also had a natural affinity to lightning magic, like the Myollnir spell. In fact, it was commonly believed that the Woren could perform ancient lightning magic forgotten by the other clans.
Being part Fae, these creatures were almost human in appearance besides their tails which they covered with their namesake cloaks. The lineage also helped to supplement their natural lightning magic and agility, as most Fae members sacrificed pure physical strength for their quick movements and their offensive magic.
The Cloaks, during times of inactivity, should retain the name and duties of a normal taskforce, the document further explained. Nina contemplated if she had seen any soldier on the training grounds that could be part Woren but their tails could easily be hidden underneath their heavy armor and clothing.
Before she could finish her thought, however, a blinding light shone from the doorway.
"Nina!" came the sound of her father's voice. His bark startled Nina who screamed and jumped, accidentally throwing the document into another shelf and knocking several other ledgers unceremoniously to the floor. "What are you doing in here?"
"I…I w-was…" Suddenly Nina became very aware of how much trouble she was in, her eyes finally adjusting to the light to see the angry face of the king accompanied by two armed guards. She hung her head in guilt and remained silent.
The king looked around, scoffed, then ordered the two men with him to reorganize the shelves. "I'll deal with the princess," he had said.
The king took Nina by the arm and led her downstairs. "Those doors are not locked because they have an alarm rigged to them," the king explained with petulance. They passed the kitchens and the dungeons and kept walking until they reached a single, dark, dank corridor. At the end of the corridor there was a solid iron door, bolted, strapped and locked. Odd markings dotted the door, none Nina recognized.
A single guard looked up at the sounds of footsteps and abruptly scrambled to his feet as the two royalty came into view. "Princess Nina will be relieving you of your post," the king explained. "You are assigned to dungeon duty." The guard seemed appreciative of the gesture, though he shot an apologetic look at Nina before he left. Nina could understand why - this single corridor and this one door she had never seen or heard of in her life gave off a dark aura that even she, a self-taught magician, could feel and fear.
"For your punishment, you are to stay and watch this corridor until morning," the king explained. "Since you seem to be so energetic in the night, you won't have a problem with doing this before going about your daily chores." The king began to leave Nina before stopping again. "If you try to leave or sleep, you will be punished severely." With that, the king left.
Even if she wanted to sleep, the ambiance from this ominous door kept drowsiness from her. She sat in the wooden chair the previous soldier had used before turning to look at the door, shivers running down her back. It seemed archaic though effective in keeping people out. Settling down into the chair, Nina resigned herself to her fate for the night.
At the very least, Nina told herself triumphantly, she had found out the truth about the Cloaks.
Ryu led Nina inside a tent near the side of camp where a man towering more than two heads taller than Nina paced. He had sharp and handsome features, though not as handsome as Ryu, with smooth, blonde hair and an athletic figure. He had two large knives sheathed at either side of his waist and a cheek-long scar running the side of his face. His most distinguishing characteristic, however, was the golden tail wrapped firmly around his waist.
"Greetings, Princess," said the man in a powerful voice as soon as they had approached. "My name is Alavex, formerly of the Cloaks." Alavex proceeded to kneel in traditional bow, though his head hardly came lower than her chin.
It took a moment for Nina to simultaneously process the information and recognize his features. "You…" she whispered, "are the missing leader of Unit 74!" Suddenly a million questions ran through Nina's mind: what had happened when his unit disappeared? was he really a member of the Cloaks? why would he be working for Ryu? Memories of that night vividly flooded Nina's mind.
Alavex chuckled, standing up. "Yes, Princess. Unit 74 was the title given to me and my men, to operate under the guise as a normal company," Alavex explained. He exchanged an amused glance with Ryu. "How much have you told her?"
With a shrug of his shoulders, Ryu said, "I figured the story would be more believable if a comrade explained the details. I will allow you two privacy to talk." With a nod of his head, Ryu left the two standing alone in silence.
Nina cleared her throat. "Why are you helping a bandit against our own country?" she demanded, her righteous anger overtaking her initial confusion. "Have you really gone against your kingdom?"
Alavex sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I believe we should start with the beginning of the story, since you need to know all the details of this situation. Please, sit." Alavex motioned to a log bench near them. Nina hesitantly sat next to Alavex as he began his story.
"Unit 74 was deployed under the guise of a merchant group superficially trading goods near the Northern Checkpoint, this much I believe you know," started Alavex and Nina nodded in agreement. "Our true objective, however, was to infiltrate the Dauna Mines, which is disputed territory between the Northern Empire and Syn City."
"Wait," Nina interrupted, "isn't Syn City the stronghold for the Mikba Syndicate?"
Alavex nodded gravely. "Tensions have been rising steadily for the past few years and the king was concerned that some discovery in the cave could have some military implications for the kingdom of Wyndia. You see, the Northern Empire is a rather ambiguous state; however, it is vast in both populous and power from the information we have acquired. The Mikba Syndicate is only interested in material gains: drugs, sex, weapons. As an espionage unit, we were assigned to find what fueled the tension in the Dauna Mines, determine if it was a threat to Wyndia and act accordingly.
"It was quite difficult sneaking into Dauna Mines. Mikba had the place littered with thieves, hit-men and the like, presumably to keep the Northerners out. Since we weren't supposed to engage until we discovered what had Mikba so interested, only a couple Cloaks including myself entered the mines while the rest stood on surveillance. From there, it wasn't difficult getting to the main basement, however…" Alavex trailed off, his face dark and vacant, as if recalling a bad image.
Nina waited a moment before clearing her throat. "However…?" she urged.
Alavex shook himself out of his revere. "We found what held the two's interest for so long. Are you aware of what chrysm is?" Nina shook her head. "Chrysm is a rare, powerful mineral that amplifies magic to a greater degree than a wand and is more durable than steel, making it an effective weapon material. It is, in short, a very dangerous thing in the wrong hands."
"So," Nina said, catching along, "Mikba and the Northern Empire both were seeking a military advantage, which meant you had to intervene."
"Correct, Princess," Alavex said. "We found a small mountain of the mineral currently being excavated. We couldn't openly aggravate the full force of both the Mikba Syndicate and the Northern Empire, however we could delay them. I sent a couple of my men to inform the king of the situation while the rest of us rigged the mine's entrances with timed explosives. The tactic was successful, so we made to rendezvous with the two messengers on their return trip. Unfortunately…"
Suddenly Ryu entered the tent, followed by a young man. Nina noted that he, unlike Alavex, had no tail and was almost her own height with a boyish look to him. "I am sorry to interrupt but Guile has returned with news," Ryu said, indicating the man next to him. Alavex sighed and stood up, Nina following suit.
"I have just spoken with the King of Wyndia," the man named Guile said. Nina suddenly stood up straighter at the mention of the kingdom. "It looks like everything is going as smoothly as it can go."
"So he has agreed to appear by himself and pay the ransom?" Alavex asked skeptically.
"Wait," Nina interrupted, "you're trying to extort money from the kingdom?" She turned to Ryu. "I thought you said you wanted reconciliation? Or were you just lying to get my word?" Nina felt a rush of anger towards Ryu and in hindsight began to realize she should never have trusted a bandit to tell the truth. How stupid of her!
However, Ryu merely shrugged, his face passive. "You speak out of ignorance, so I cannot say your reaction is unwarranted." Ryu's expression hardened. "The ransom is a trap."
It took a moment for the words to register. "You mean you're going to try and kill the King of Wyndia as retribution?" Nina shouted hysterically. "For some idea of justice that probably doesn't exist? How dare you!"
Now Ryu frowned and for a moment Nina felt an unreasonable fear. "No," he answered quietly, "the ransom is a trap against us."
Before Nina could say anything, Guile interrupted. "The king is conniving. He will indulge us only for as long as the status quo is in our favor. At the exchange, once he gets you, the men with you will undoubtedly be killed. Isn't that obvious?"
Nina was too stunned by the frank response of the childish man to even get angry at his belittling tone. It was true that the king was smart - he was a military general and still a great strategist, one not to be underestimated. The only leverage Ryu's group held was herself and once that advantage was lost, it made no political or personal sense to let a kidnapping horde of bandits run free with ransom money. So if these men knew they couldn't succeed, why were they talking about the situation so casually?
Ryu was studying Nina's face, as if discerning her thoughts. "Alavex, please elaborate for the princess the scales in which the political game her father plays operates."
Alavex coughed. "We went back to Wyndia," he said, continuing his story, "hoping to meet our scouts halfway. However, we were tricked by the Royal Guards of Wyndia." Alavex held up his hand as Nina made to speak. "We told you that your father was a cunning man. Once informed that Mikba had discovered chrysm and the Northern Empire desired it, he set a grander scheme in motion. He sent us several units of guards with the message to storm Syn City and capture Mikba.
"However, it seems that the king and Mikba had communicated through messenger pigeons before we arrived. Mikba had agreed to sell Wyndia a majority of the chrysm in exchange for trained soldiers to protect him from the north, the very soldiers we escorted to Syn City. Unfortunately for us, the king did not want anyone outside the soldiers he traded Mikba to know of the situation and as soon as we arrived in Syn City we were ordered to be executed." Alavex took a breath and shook his head. "We held well but we were greatly outnumbered. If it were not for Ryu, we would have all died."
A heavy silence hung in the air as Nina processed what Alavex had just said, looking from him to Ryu, whose head was bowed, then back again. "The king…ordered you to be executed?" Nina asked hesitantly.
Guile laughed darkly. "The Cloaks are merely a tool used by the king and easily expendable," he said. "The towns you heard Ryu destroyed? They were actually places the king sent soldiers to ambush us. He sacrificed the safety of the villagers in lieu of a surprise advantage." Another laugh. "Of course, after a couple of failures, the king realized he should quit letting his taxpayers get senselessly killed in the crossfire. Fortunately for him, they were only small farm towns, so he didn't lose much cash."
"Okay," Nina said slowly, "let's say for a moment that I really did believe that the king was a cold, horrible tyrant and that the bandit who just kidnapped me is actually a hero in disguise. How are you planning on getting retribution on Wyndia if the ransom is a suicide mission?"
The three men exchanged glances before Alavex nodded to Ryu. "I only asked that you listened to our story and that the rest would be up to you," Ryu said carefully. "However, the success of this plan ultimately lies in your cooperation and trust."
Nina stood quiet for a moment before speaking. Finally, she opened her mouth and simply asked, "How?"
For a moment, relief crossed Ryu's face. "The king knew that to diminish any suspicions about his involvement in Unit 74's disappearance, he would send his own daughter to investigate," Ryu explained. "We planned to capture you then to explain our goal. Do you know of the marked door in the basement of Wyndia?"
A gasp escaped Nina before she could stop herself. The memory of the ominous door still made her body grow cold, though she knew it was senseless. "You know about that door?" she asked. Ryu nodded. "How? What's behind it? And what do those symbols on it mean?"
"Our end game is two-fold," said Alavex. "According to Ryu, behind that door is a piece of lost technology from the Eastern Continent, worth a fortune to traders in Junk Town. While a few of our men will willingly sacrifice themselves, we will have enough money to support ourselves and our families away from Wyndian jurisdiction. Secondly, if you do believe us, then once you inherit the throne, you can stop horrors like this from happening ever again."
A long silence held, broken only by the chirping of waking birds as the sunlight slowly flooded into the tent. Nina closed her eyes and thought through everything she had been told: she had been sent on a quest to find a presumably dead unit, only to discover them alive and wanted dead by her home kingdom. Of course, while there was no denying the half-Woren man was indeed a Cloak, he could have turned traitor, which caused the king to hunt for him. Who betrayed who first and why was Ryu involved in the first place?
"Nina," Ryu said softly. Nina's eyes shot open and met Ryu's azure ones. For the first time since they met, she could see a positive yet sad emotion swimming in his eyes. She couldn't help but be fascinated by his expression. "I know this is a lot to have you think about but you do not have to decide anything right now. We still have two days until the exchange. However, I would like to make you an offer."
"What?" Nina asked quietly, afraid her voice would give out. She still could not take her eyes off of Ryu.
"When we make the exchange, challenge our word," he said simply. "Ask your father if what we said is true. Eventually as ruler of Wyndia, he will expect you to handle such things, and I believe he will confirm what we have said." Ryu shook his head. "Just ask the king the truth. Regardless of what he says, only make your decision to help us or not afterwards…please," Ryu added in what Nina could only describe as desperation.
It was this final straw of human emotion that broke Nina. "Okay," she said timidly, then she repeated herself with more confidence. "Okay. I will find the truth."
"The truth," Ryu repeated forebodingly, "is all we ask."
Author's Note: Okay, so a longer wait on this chapter than I intended (as well as it being longer in length than originally thought), this chapter had a lot of plot shoved right in it. This chapter and the next couple will build into the meat of the story, so I apologize if this chapter seemed slow and burdensome. It is all necessary, however, and I hope it is at least remotely interesting. Again, thanks to everyone that's read my story and special thanks to everyone that has reviewed it! Next update within the next couple weeks!
