CHAPTER 14_AT LEAST BE OPEN MINDED (OR, HOW TO MAKE UNEXPECTED FRIENDS)
It took a while for Anna to calm down. A long while. The whole morning. Which was understandable, given her boyfriend had unwittingly accepted a marriage proposal from another monarch. He'd done it in front of nearly one thousand of the monarch's said subjects too, which was going to take a lot of explaining and backtracking. Was she not good enough for him? She did not understand boys.
More than that, nobody was going to be stealing her Shinji. Especially not some wild girl from Cullena.
In the afternoon, after she could stomach the sight of Marcus, Renee and Shinji, she summoned them to the upper courtyard garden. It was about the only place she could relax. All the usual pandering from the nobles had happened during the morning, the advisors whispering in her ear with conflicting advice, ending in some decisions made, others deferred. This afternoon meeting was important in many other ways. It was about the next step in how to defeat Gerard the Unhinged.
The small war council, which also included her uncle, sat awkwardly at the desk in her private meeting room. Her stewards served the usual tea and cake as silently as the meeting's participants. Shinji especially looked quite uncomfortable being sat in the room with them. He wouldn't even look up at Anna. She thought it was a little cute, but surely wanted to see her boyfriend have more spine than an over-boiled piece of lettuce.
"Alright, since nobody else is saying anything, I'll start," said her Uncle Sir Alfred Greendrake. He was her father's youngest brother, and reminded Anna of her father when she was younger, tall, imposing but with kind eyes and a mischievous grin when the ocassion called for it. Sir Alfred had acted as Steward of the Realm until Anna was old enough to take the reins. He told her when she came of age he didn't really want the job, preferring to be a trusted advisor. And wanting actual free time and freedom. "We stand now at an important moment. We have strong allies –" he looked meaningfully at Shinji "- and our logistics chains are as ready as they could be. We need to confront Gerard at his fortress soon before he can strengthen his own positions. He must be expecting it now."
"Sir Greendrake, I agree," said Marcus. "But one thing we need to do is a reconnaissance of the path towards Castle Wesen. We are separated by the dense Eastern Forests, and there are no roads there. It would take a long time to clear a path through the forest suitable for armies and logistics trains."
"Can we go by ship?" asked Anna. "Rotesland does have an eastern coast."
"Neither we nor our allies have enough ships to transport the number of soldiers we need," said Sir Alfred thoughtfully. "And, navigating around the Horn of Doom is treacherous at the best of times. We didn't call it the Horn of Doom because it is a cute and fluffy place."
"So, what can we do?" asked Anna.
Shinji, still trying to be as small a target as possible, raised his hand. He still couldn't bring himself to look at Anna. Though he probably would have won her over with his mopey puppy dog eyes. "What if I go in Unit One?"
Shinji did not stay a small target. Everyone looked at him expecting an explanation for his idea. When none was forthcoming, it was Anna who encouraged him. "It's alright Shinji. Please, speak your mind."
It occurred to the young boy that he had not been uncomfortable around Anna in a long time. He'd gotten used to enjoying each other's company for so long it was strange that they'd even had some semblance of a fight in the first place.
"Uh, w-well, Unit One can run pretty quickly, and it's big enough that I could use it to start clearing a path through the forest," he stammered out slowly. "I just think it might be the quickest way to get what we need."
The adults in the room thought on this and slowly, they all nodded their affirmation it was a good idea. It was probably the only logical idea they had.
/
Unit One was, in truth, not the most comfortable place to be in for an extended period. The experience inside the weird Zebra-Ball-Angel was one example. That and the actual pilot's seat was not padded well, and eventually, everything would hurt if he stayed in the piloting position for too long.
Though this wasn't the first time Shinji would spend a long time awake and active inside the Evangelion, it was the first time he had to venture so far away from any base alone and without any support. He carried supplies with him, but that was as far as it went.
At least the scenery was nice. Through the country east of Summerise stretched a road of packed dirt. At a nice leisurely pace in the Evangelion, the scenery still flew past. He encountered lots of merchant caravans carrying various crops like grain and nuts, fruits and vegetables, cart trains carrying animals and other farm goods intended for the market.
On either side of the road lay small farms from which all the traffic along the road originated. At every rest stop, Shinji would get out to stretch his legs, and if he was near a farmhouse, the residents would kindly offer him food and drink. Any kids in the household would be so amazed at the sight of the purple giant that all they could do was stare at it.
Eventually, he left the influence of the city, encountering fewer people and even fewer abodes. Even the road became thin, in some places it was barely as wide as a person. From his vantage point, it was easy to see the forest he needed to traverse to finish his objective. Beyond the forest lay the treacherously knife-like mountains of Rotesland, above which a dark and angry storm seemed to rage perpetually.
Eventually, he reached the edge of the jungle. In front on him lay a seemingly endless expanse of trees nearly uniform in height, like a green plateau. Behind him was Summerise, and Boldhold, and Sapphirica, and Cullena. And all the people he'd met and come to know and care about deeply. People he promised to protect.
The edge of the forest was as good a place as any to stop and have a rest. It had been a few hours since the last break, and he was feeling a little peckish. As usual, Anna had ordered that supplies were to be strapped on to Unit One's back for these types of long journeys. This time, hamper was filled to the brim with sandwiches, fresh fruit, sweets and punch.
But the best thing Anna left with him was the gentle kiss on his cheek and how her hair smelled like the afternoon sea breeze. Evidently, she wasn't so angry anymore. Which was very much a good thing, since he could hold on to the memory and spur himself on with it.
Shinji took some food from the hamper and settled down on the open palm of the purple giant, which he had laid on the ground before deactivating it.
The warm afternoon sun prickled his skin, tempered by a cool breeze that made the long grass and tall flowers dance rhythmically while the trees sounded like they were whispering secrets to each other. It had been an easy journey so far, but now the hard part was about to begin.
Finishing his food quickly, he jumped back into Unit One and waded into the forest towards Rotesland.
The forest green thicker but it was no match against the mass and strength of Unit One. Shinji recognised this could be the beginning of the end of his journey here.
"Mother, I-I was wondering if you're eager to go back home," Shinji asked as Unit One ploughed through the trees unhindered.
[I am, son. I want to make sure that our world is safe. Do you want to go back?]
"I do like it here, and there's really nothing…good waiting for me in Tokyo-3. Just pain, and uncertainty and…Father. There are times when I wonder whether it's better to stay here and forget about my other life."
[But you can't? There must be something drawing you back there.]
"I don't have many good memories, and most of the good ones have been made here. I…I don't know whether I should go back. Sometimes I want to just hide away and have an easy life, but it's…"
[It makes you feel empty, doesn't it?]
There was no response from Shinji, apart from a small nod. He could feel the loving soul inside the Evangelion sigh and let out a small chuckle.
[I think you're more like you father than you think. Afraid to form connections, but always yearning for them. I know you care about him, you're just not sure how to go about it. I can feel the hope there. And your friends, your guardian, Rei, and…Asuka. You care about them all, but can't express it.]
Shinji stayed quiet. His mother was precise as ever regarding his thoughts and feelings. It was probably easy to deduce given the way in which he controlled the Evangelion. He could deny how he felt, but he couldn't do it to his mother.
[You want to go back. You do still want to save your...our world. But...the Angels are only part of the problem.]
"But...Father..."
[Yes, he has told you and everyone else what they needed to hear; that the Angels are the main threat. But that's only the beginning of the story.]
"There's a lot more? How...how much more?"
[A lot. Too much, actually. What if I told you that a super secret and rich group of old men were planning to use the Evangelions and the Angels to induce a Third Impact, destroy the world by making everyone a single primordial entity and give themselves the ultimate power over all humanity by becoming the brain of said entity?]
"That sounds...crazy? It sounds like a lot of the conspiracy theories that I've read about.]
[It's real, because I...I was a part of it, when I was naive to my father's ultimate goal. They're the real monsters, and everyone who follows them. They're the ultimate death cult.]
Shinji was riveted. His whole family was...what? But why did his mother end up in the Evangelion instead of fighting them?
"You couldn't fight them? Was there any way out?"
[No. This...on again, off again, existence is my way out. It is my way of fighting it. They were coming for me, assassins and governments. They knew I had deviated from their designs and their will. So I decided to go to the one place nobody could get to me.]
Shinji would have laughed and ignored this kind of talk. But the two way connection of the Evangelion left him in no doubt that his Mother's actions were out of love first, desperation last. He knew now why there had to be so many secrets, could even fathom, momentarily, why his father might have done what he did. But it didn't excuse his father's complete and utter abandonment.
[I'm sorry about this Shinji. I didn't want this for you. You should have had a normal childhood, with childhood friends and a gaggle of pretty young girls vying for your attention...which...you actually have at the moment. I digress. But you shouldn't be fighting alien leviathans to save the world. The only thing we can do now is defeat the Angels, and when the old men reveal their cards, destroy them and their plans.]
"Can we do it?"
[Nothing's impossible. But not everything will be easy.]
Shinji laughed ironically. Wasn't that just the truth.
/
Shinji and his mother continued discussing the situation as the Evangelion picked its way through the dense forest. It was getting dark now, the rapidly reddening sun setting behind Unit One's left shoulder. The giant machine cast a long shadow over the landscape that stretched over all the trees in the forest all the way to the horizon.
He looked back, a very conspicuous path of felled trees behind him. He hoped it was wide enough to accommodate the combined armies of Boldhold, Cullena, Sapphirica and Summerise.
Despite the isolation, or perhaps because of it, Shinji felt surprisingly at peace. Unit One's sensors picked up a light breeze and the sounds of birds' evening calls from all around. There were other sounds in the forest too; the evening bugs taking over from the day shift, animals returning home with food, or just waking up. The forest teemed with life, even if he couldn't see if from his perch high up in his Evangelion.
[Shinji, I think this is about as far as we should go tonight. You're tired, and you still need to set up camp. Let's continue in the morning.]
Shinji nodded. He did feel tired. He had been in piloting mode all day and despite not really moving that much, keeping track of all the happenings was taking a toll on him. He started searching for a clearing in which he could set Unit One down and set up how tent. But before he could do that, a proximity alarm went off inside the cockpit.
The LIDAR systems also picked up something travelling towards him at high speed, bit before he could react, whatever it was smashed into Unit One and Shinji's world went dark.
/
Shinji's consciousness returned slowly. His body ached and what was worse, he could tell he wasn't resting comfortably. Instead he was tied up nice and tightly against a tree.
He opened his eyes, and for once the unfamiliar ceiling was simply the clear night sky awash with twinkling stars in front of a silvery band which he deduced was the Milky Way, or whichever galaxy he happened to be inside. That much he remembered from his science classes at school.
He looked around, trying to see whether anyone was around him, and whether he could escape. But even if he could, where would be go? He couldn't remember what had happened before he woke up here, but he guessed the Evangelion's emergency systems must have kicked in when he got knocked out and purged the entry plug.
He didn't even know where Unit One was.
In the inky darkness he could only barely make out the trees surrounding him and not much else. He wasn't sure if he had been trussed up near Unit One or if he'd been moved a hundred miles away. It made no difference either way.
Shinji thought about yelling for help, but there wouldn't be anyone to help him. One thing about being all alone on this expedition was that if there was any trouble, he would be on his own. No insane plan from Ms Misato to pluck him and humanity from the jaws of a impending apocalypse. No medical miracles from Ms. Ritsuko. It would be just him and his wits.
But I don't have much in the way of wits.
He also didn't have any way to cut himself out of the ropes that bound him solidly to the tree. Struggling against it was an effort in futility. So he sighed to himself and resigned to rest as much as possible. He wondered who had captured him and tied him up. As far as he was told, nobody lived in the forests between Summerise and Rotesland.
It was a question that he didn't ponder for long, as he fell asleep again under the starry sky.
/
Morning greeted Shinji with two hummingbirds to the face. They buzzed around his head as if he was a sunflower. Of course, being tied up meant he couldn't use his hands to discourage the hummingbirds from flitting about uncomfortably close to his face. The small creatures left after a while once it was clear his face didn't have what they were looking for.
Shinji took the opportunity to get a clearer read on his surroundings. He was, as he assumed, tied to a tree. It was within a small clearing, one that gave him a small leaf framed window up to the blue sky filled with wispy clouds. The forest sounded like it was lovely, with the calls of birds and other life waking up to a brand new day.
There was a faint rustling behind him as he tried to think of ideas for escape. Heavy clomping feet walked deliberately towards him. He wasn't sure how many there were. Certainly more than one, as there was no district pattern to the noise.
Shinji expected a band of cutthroat marauders had come to collect whatever loot he had on his person. What he did not expect was there to be greeted by the sight of four giant ebony furred gorillas gently setting down a small wooden carriage in front of him with much reverence.
Shinji wanted to rub the hallucination from his eyes, but remembered his limbs were very much secured to the tree. What happened next was the icing on the cake of the experience. He had to be hallucinating. There was no other explanation.
Because a little black and white penguin with a red bandana alighted from the small carriage. It had yellow and red crests growing from each eye which reminded him of a similarly adorned roommate. The four gorillas kowtowed to it as it waddled imperiously – if that was possible - towards Shinji, staring at him intensely with its little beady eyes.
He felt as naked as they day he met Pen Pen in Ms Misato's apartment.
{Wark! Wark! | Rudimentary bipedal creature. I am The Monarch of this forest. Why do you intrude upon my realm?}
Shinji was not sure what was happening. So he said the only thing that sounded reasonable that popped into his mind at that moment. "Uhm...hi... I'm...uh, Shinji. I...come in peace for all mankind?"
Very poetic. That was a chef's kiss of a greeting.
{Wark. Wark waark wark. | Do not insult me puny biped. Bipeds far stronger and more erudite than you are beholden to my greatness! Tell me! Why are you here?}
At least there was an attempt at communicating before they cut his head off...or ate him. He wondered momentarily if penguins ate human. Shinji wanted to salvage the situation if he could, of course. The penguin sounded angry. "Uh, I'm really sorry Mr Penguin, Sir. I don't understand what you're...um...saying."
The penguin cocked its head to the side, then shook it as if it was dealing with an idiot and signalled one of the kowtowing gorillas.
{Wark. Wark wark | Please bring forth the Human Penguin Interface.}
The gorilla nodded and ambled off into the trees. There was a short pause before its footsteps returned accompanied by some rustling. It was, thankfully another human being, one whose face Shinji instantly recognised.
"Joyce!" he said, glad to see at least a familiar, if not guaranteed to be friendly, face.
This Joyce cocked her head in the same manner as the penguin. He realised she was different to all the other Joyces he'd encountered in the various Adventurers' Guilds. For starters, she was wearing not much more than a raggedly leather crop top with matching loin cloth. Her hair was wild and she threw him a wide toothed grin when she saw another human.
"Hi! Oh-mi-gawd! A bew human bean! My name'z jOyCe! You must haz met some of the other Joycez! What'z your name? Where are you come from? Oh, no me blabbering, zorry. You zquawk, me ztop now," she replied more happily than Shinji expected.
Shinji was taken a little aback by her enthusiastic response, and tried to parse her grammar. The Joyces were chirpy and happy, but none had seemed to want to throw a massive party just for the pure and simple joy of meeting another human in the forest.
"Oh, uh, my name is Shinji. Shinji Ikari. I came from Summerise on the way to Rotesland," he said, glancing at jOyCe and the penguin, trying to see how this was supposed to work. "I'm a…scout, working with the people who want to defeat Gerard the Unhinged. We've gathered a huge army for this purpose."
"Oooh, me zee," said jOyCe enthusiastically. She turned to the penguin, warking and gesturing to provide what Shinji hoped was an accurate translation. He could swear the penguin raised one of its eye crests in the facsimile of a sceptical gaze. Their conversation was as comprehensible to Shinji as multifactorial calculus in school.
{Waark. Wark, wark wark | jOyCe, I know you have missed human connection in all the years you have been with us. Surely this puny biped is lying to get in our good graces. We remember what humans do. They made us like this.}
{Wark, wark. Wark waark wark. Wark wark. | I know my liege. But I sense this boy has a pure heart and speaks true to his intentions. He also carries the crest of Summerise, which has never encroached upon your kingdom, unlike our other neighbour. I think you can trust him, until he proves his worth.}
{Wark? | Are you sure these feelings are not from an overwhelming desire to mate with a male of your own species? Though I consider this particular specimen to be completely inadequate for that purpose given his suboptimal stature.}
{Wark! Wark, Wark wark. | My liege! That is quite inappropriate! He is only a child. And I can sense he is fated to be bound to the colour red in time. Please, if you want revenge on the person who committed atrocities against the animals in your kingdom, then you should help this boy and his comrades.}
The penguin's flippers were surprisingly dextrous. It tented them like his father did in the NERV command centre whenever there was a battle, when there was no battle... Actually it seemed like his father had only one pose when in a seated position. Did he tent his hands and think really hard about his dinner before eating it?
The penguin looked at Shinji quizzically. {Wark?}
Shinji looked at jOyCe expectantly. He had no idea what he was being asked. This time she gave a little smile and fluttered her eyelashes in the signature Joyce style he'd seen so many times.
"My monarch azk'd you what you want. He knowz you came in a giant...human...thing."
And there it was, the elephant in the room, or rather the Evangelion in the forest. It had to be dealt with. He needed to tell the truth, or at least enough of it that they'd accept it. It wasn't like he could tell them that it was the clone of a captured alien Lovecraftian monster with artificial armour, controlled by the subconscious mental relationship between himself and the soul of his mother imprisoned made possible by computers and mad scientists.
"W-well, that's Evangelion Unit One, which is built to fight giant monsters. It's how I was able to save Summerise, Boldhold, and Sapphirica from being destroyed by giant monsters. They were unleashed by Gerard the Unhinged."
"You haz fought Gerard'z big munsterz?" asked jOyCe.
Shinji nodded. "I even fought against one of his dragons. He has seven doesn't he?"
The mention of the dragons seemed to make everyone present a little shit shorter. They were, frankly, fearsome creatures against which nobody he'd met or seen so far had found an effective method to counter. He wasn't even sure they could be defeated by conventional means.
{Wark! Wark warrk. Wark? | The dragons! He's fought the dragons before. We have no way to stop them. Will this puny biped really be able to defeat them with his giant human?}
jOyCe looked at him with a serious face. "You can beatz Gerard and hiz dragoonz?"
"I-I'm not fighting this alone. Like I said, there are four countries who have joined together to fight Gerard. I'm part of their army. We want to make sure he doesn't take over the world. Please, let me go so that I can complete my reconnaissance mission. The real battle will start after that."
"Waa, big zcary," said jOyCe. She warked a bit more at the penguin who seemed to nod sagely at the end of every...sentence. In the end, the penguin waved it's flipper and the gorilla guards untied Shinji from the tree.
Shinji hadn't been aware just how uncomfortable it was being trussed up against a tree trunk. His whole being felt stiff, like he'd forgotten how to use his limbs. He walked uncertainly around the clearing trying to not fall over from the tingly pins and needles cascading up, through and around his body. He must have looked ridiculous stumbling around like a headless chicken.
Shinji couldn't take it any longer. He found what he assumed was a comfortable patch of grass and lay down on it. Relief emanated from every nerve of his being. He stared at the sky, and enjoyed the breeze whispering through the trees.
I definitely need more exercise.
A soft rustling sound caught his attention. He saw the small penguin lie down beside him, also looking up. Shinji had learned not to underestimate the intelligence of animals – particularly penguins – after his stint as Misato's roommate. Considering Pen Pen was a diligent reader of the stock market section of the newspaper, the bird likely had some investments stashed away in some Swiss bank accounts.
This penguin had the same beady but fiercely intelligent eyes Pen Pen possessed. There was also a lot of sadness there too. He, or she, must miss something, someone or somewhere. A previous life perhaps. They looked at each other, not saying or warking anything. Just sharing the moment.
Its flipper patted Shinji's hand gently.
{Wark | I can tell you are a gentle fragile soul, biped. But you are strong deep inside. Don't forget you have a lot you want to live for yet.}
Shinji didn't understand precisely what the penguin said to him. But he felt like the meaning behind it was clear. He only replied with a whispered 'thank you' and a smile, after which he dozed off again.
/
The afternoon saw Shinji and his newfound companions in what could best be described as an animal city. The forest already teemed with life, but this was positively cosmopolitan. Every kind of animal imaginable was represented here, in and amongst the trees, above and under the ground, and seemed to coexist peacefully. It was almost like he was back in Tokyo-3. Except there were no anti-Angel defence systems in the forest.
jOyCe led him to a building made from the base of a large tree trunk where a doorway had been carved out of the thick timber. Inside was a bustle of activity; barks, howls, growls and chirps all coalescing into a seething mass of noise.
Instantly, Shinji recognised this as the animal version of the Adventurer's Guild. And for that very reason, he felt right at home. Some of the patrons gawked at him, but since jOyCe was there, he at least felt like he wasn't alone. She pointed to an arrangement of large and small tree stumps that served as tables and chairs before sauntering off to heaven knows where. Meanwhile the staff bustled about the place. A sparrow landed on his table and handed him a tiny menu, which Shinji held up to his eyes and squinted. There was a variety of bird seed and what looked like worms. He shook his head and hoped that there was some more human-suitable food available.
jOyCe came back soon afterwards from wherever she'd disappeared to with a plate of salad that at least looked edible. He dig in, only realising on the first bite how hungry he was, and consequently shattered his personal best time for devouring a plate of rabbit food. He leaned back on his arms, a burp of satisfaction escaping from his lips.
"Wow, that woz quick," said jOyCe with a small smile. "You looked hungie.
"Uh, yes. Sorry about the burp. I usually have better table manners than that," said Shinji, looking down at the table. He was a little embarrassed he'd been unable to control himself.
"Hah!" laughed the woman sitting across from him. "You think little gas embarrazzing? Last week, the Hippo gang left a real mezz. Did youz know they fart and poop at together, wiz their tails whip it allwhere? Half the aminalz here faintz while the other half skedaddled!"
Shinji burst out laughing at the image jOyCe's description etched into his mind. He wondered why he wasn't retching, but he didn't care. He was laughing, and he couldn't really remember the last time he'd had a genuinely good laugh that grew from his belly and burst out past his chest and Japanese sensibilities. Was this really the first time this had happened?
"Anyhoo, our monarch zaid me that you are free. And, we in the aminal kingdom will do everything we canz to beat Gerard the Unhinged. Our enemy too."
Shinji was surprised at that. And who could blame him? That the animals of the forest had gained sentience was one thing, but to say that Gerard was a common enemy...it made little sense.
"What has he done to them?"
"You fight a big wolf with two headz?" jOyCe enquired.
Shinji nodded.
"That wolf was a normal one a few moonz before. And then Gerard came and givez it hiz magic and then...bam, wolf hiz zlave. Our monarch was a normal warm water pengin, but Gerard magicked him too. He very smart now."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. He'd heard this story before.
"He writing funny zquigglez and warking about a zea of realities interacting on a big branes. And, he knows about exiztential crizezes! Gerard iz so cruel to aminalz!"
Shinji nodded. Though the story seemed familiar, he didn't think Pen Pen had ever experienced an existential crisis. Except maybe that one time it had tried Misato's 'cooking' and consequently spent the night drooling on the apartment floor with a glazed look in its eyes mere centimetres from its food bowl.
In any case, if there were more allies, unexpected or otherwise it increased the chances of victory.
"R-right, that...sounds great!" said Shinji. He definitely didn't have a way with words. "How...will we contact you when the time comes?"
jOyCe smiled and fluttered her eyebrows. "You no worry. We will know. Now, we have some foodz for you to go home. We get you back to your big human so you finish mission."
/
Evangelion Unit One was lying face down in the dirt where it fell, limbs splayed out in all directions. Aside from the undignified position though, there was no real damage, though sections of its armour on its back seemed to have been crumpled with a pattern not unlike scales. Shinji didn't have to wonder too hard about what had caused the damage – and his capture – when he saw the Evangelion sized armadillo waving to him as he clambered into the entry plug.
[Hello again Shinji. What...happened?]
"Mother, I hope you're alright. Is there any damage?"
[Nothing apart from some armour sections being partially damaged. How...did that happen? My logs show an unidentified contact just before...a massive impact.]
"Um. You're not going to believe this..."
[But?]
Shinji breathed in deeply and started telling the story in all it's absurdity. "U-uh, well...it all started with this giant armadillo..."
/
"...and it ended up with the penguin king committing the entire forest of animals to help us defeat Gerard the Unhinged?"
Shinji nodded. It was an absurd question to be asked. Though this felt like another of the many absurd debriefings as an Evangelion pilot. The one where Vice Commander Fuyutsuki showed photos of the Evangelions with only their legs poking out comically from the shoreline after being humiliated by the conjoined Angel was going to be a core memory in his life. But this one took the cake. And then some.
Somehow admitting that he had been defeated by a knock to the head delivered by a giant, rolling armadillo had not been a sentence he'd ever expected to utter in his life.
Marcus put his hand up. "Did...the knock to your head make you hallucinate any of that? Or did we pack something funny in the food?"
Anna looked at him crossly. "I trust him, Knight-Commander. We know for a fact that Gerard experimented on animals. Gem is a great example of that. Is it so absurd that there were many other attempts?"
Marcus conceded the point. "So, when do we make our move? Have the other kingdoms said anything?"
"Boldhold, Sapphirica and Cullena have already confirmed their armies are marching to the agreed rendezvous point," advised Renee. "I've been talking to my counterparts in each kingdom. They should all arrive within the week. We must get moving too."
Everybody agreed. Anna spoke with a grim resolve as she stood up and crossed her arms like she meant business. "And so, it begins."
A/N: Hey folks, author here. Good to see you all again. So here we are, almost at the end of this little tale. It's been a really fun experience writing this, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it too.