Megumi the next morning had managed to prepare the meeting table for the whole group where she originally wanted to have a one-on-one meeting with Milica and guarantee the Serbian Gang's protection that she had the right to defend them. She had finished the preparation as the door knocked.
"Come in." Megumi told whoever it was that was at the door. Then the door opened as Milica and the entire alliance they had so far entered. Megumi looked at them as they all took their seats and began to sit down. "You all came on time. I wasn't expecting you to come all at once." Megumi began. She sat down before Ileana began speaking again.
"Yep. There was something we had to talk about." Ileana began. She looked to her right as if she couldn't take her eyes off the Tsarevich. Alexei was looking at Megumi as Megumi began speaking again.
"Yes, and we got the news that Alexandra has returned to Saunders, I made sure she got back, and Fumie's mother-in-law is going to stay." Megumi told them the good news. Then Fumie's scream could be heard for miles almost if she didn't want this to happen. After that, once the scream had died down, now they could get back to the meeting.
"That's great. I think she should try helping us out especially if this war is declared, the entire school is going to be rushing to mobilize and get itself ready." Alexei was happy that his friend was back, but things are going to get hectic.
"Also, I heard from a post from Gisela that there is an underground movement going on that calls themselves "The Black Hand" and they are trying to convince the other schools to attack the alliance to get their own independence. I guess the schools that Gisela has under her control aren't very happy about this and pretty much want to be free at this point." Azumi added that there are groups forming within the Dual Alliance that will prepare to rip it apart. Milica turned to Azumi, then to Rumi and finally to Megumi.
"That is why we came over here as we want your guarantee that you will protect us from the Dual Alliance in case something happens to us." Milica told Megumi that they wanted Saunders to have their back. Megumi began to think about it. Milica had been pushing this idea for the past couple of days and was she willing to protect the gang from any form of danger that seemed to be looming over the horizon. Megumi began to think about it before she began to speak.
"Yes. We will have your back Milica, we have yet to mobilize yet we are preparing to stand by." Megumi guaranteed Milica that she had her back. She slid a piece of paper which contained the conditions for the alliance. Milica grabbed a pen and signed her name. Once the name had been signed, she slipped the paper back to Megumi who read it and confirmed it. Megumi turned to Ileana, and she began speaking to her next.
"So how is the progress going with getting the school applied to the alliance?" Megumi would ask Ileana about the application of Count High School to the alliance. Ileana began to think about it as her brain began to fog up a bit.
"Slowly, very slowly. There are still some of us that want to maintain a relationship with Kuromorimine and the Dual Alliance, but Mahou is pushing for this, and I hope it will go through." Ileana told Megumi that the process to get applied wasn't going to be a quick process and some of the students had opposed the idea.
"Okay, let the students take their time. No need to rush it." Megumi told Ileana there was no need to bulldoze their way through to get to where they needed to go. Ileana nodded before she began speaking.
"Will you give us a warm welcome when we decide to join the alliance?" Ileana asked Megumi if she was going to give them a friendly greeting when they made up their mind. That is, if Mahou was making the right decision for her school.
"Of course. I think your school will make a lovely addition to the group." Megumi explained to Ileana. Azumi and Rumi turned their heads as they were listening to this. Maybe having strength in numbers was a good thing.
"Milica has applied and Count High School is still deciding on this. Meeting dismissed." Megumi got up as everyone got up from their tables and began walking away. Megumi was grateful that the alliance was proceeding along but she didn't know if it was going to be enough to stave off the war that Kay had been warning her about. She decided not to think about it.
Meanwhile in Sarajevo on the Dual-Alliance's school ship, a splendid man and lady proceed down the stairs. It was the Archduke and his wife. The Archduke was a handsome man, he was dressed in bright blazing blue, his chest was full of medals, and on top of his head was a grand horse-hair cap. His wife was in a flowing white dress and with a sun hat. She was laughing among herself. The guard opened the door before he began speaking to the Archduke.
"Franz sir, I received a telegram that you came here for military maneuvers?" Franz's guard began speaking. The Archduke laughed as he began speaking.
"That was just an excuse for me to come here." Franz began. He let his wife into the car. "It's our anniversary. We come here to get away from the stifling office life where my marriage to Sophie will not be accepted due to her low birth. She was, after all, only a countess." Franz explained to the guard. Sophie was laughing to herself again before Franz entered the car.
"We're going to have a great week together. Let's show these people we show our solidarity to them. You said you wanted to improve the autonomy of these smaller groups?" Sophie asked while she sat down in the car.
"Sure, thing my lady. We will be smiling and waving to the crowds of people that will pass us." Franz told Sophie that they were going to have a great day together. The car they were riding in was a sleek, black open top car with Franz's personal chauffeur driving them around. After they had all settled down. Then the motorcade began to pull away as they all drove away to help greet those in the parade. The Archduke's car was in the middle flanked by five other cars that were filled with guards and officials. The parade was filled with onlookers, the route was published, the time was set, and everyone knew where the Archduke was. And among that crowd was the group of students that were in the cafe the night before.
"The fool won't know what will hit him. And this is our great rallying point to show that us students had a right to be free and the Archduke to show up is the greatest insult. This might be our only chance before the day of the greatest battle in Serbian history would be the next opportunity to assassinate the Archduke. The 1389 battle of Kosovo." The first student began. This was their one chance to get him and his wife.
"Remember what we learned Ana, we all wait in separate areas of the route to take him out." Another student told her. Ana nodded.
"Let's split up." Ana told the group. The group then began to disperse, they were going to be taking up different areas of the ro help take him out. This day was their greatest chance to change things, born from ideas or ideals to rationalize their anger, a boldness for their cause or a cause for their boldness that bordered madness. And these girls were angry in a way only young girls could be and by young, none of the assassins had reached the age of 20.
Franz and Sophie were in the car as they were slowly crawling down the street. Franz got up and began kissing to his people from the car. He was there to show his love for the school and his kindness. He sat back down as one of the assassins was waiting in the shadows. Now was her chance. She raised the pistol to the car, but her hand was beginning to shake. She wasn't brave enough to go through with the deed and had succumbed to fear. The opportunity had been lost.
"The people do like you." One of the guards riding in the car beside him began.
"I know they do. I came here to show my love and affection to them. I will listen to their demands." Franz told them. He began blowing kisses to the people as the parade continued. Another assassin raised her pistol from the crowd as she wanted to be the one to go down in glory. Much like the first assassin, she felt her arm wobble and she too ended up succumbing to fear. She couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Franz and Sophie were oblivious to their surroundings as students tried to be brave enough to shoot them, but they didn't want to.
"Looks like the people love you." Sophie began. She looked at the crowd of smiling and cheering students. Several teenagers were selling their snacks to the crowd to make a quick buck.
"Get up and show them how you really feel. The people would like to see you." Franz gave the suggestion to his wife to get up and show herself to the crowd. Sophie nodded before she stood up and showed her splendid self to the crowd. The onlookers cheered with excitement, but another student raised her pistol as she intended on shooting Sophie. She looked at her as she felt her heart beginning to sink, feeling pity for her and she couldn't bear herself to kill someone as beautiful as Sophie. She slipped back in the crowd. Sophie sat back down as Franz was waving to the crowd. "How did it go?" He asked Sophie.
"It went well. Very well I would say." Sophie told them. Franz continued to happily wave to the people as one of the guards grabbed a pastry and paid the little kid selling them. He happily began to eat it.
"These are good. We should have gotten one for the archduke." He began. He continued to eat it as it was the best thing, he had to eat all morning.
"There's plenty in the bakery that we will visit later, I'll get a bunch of them. " Franz told the guard that there was nothing to worry about. The band continued to play their music as Franz got up and began waving around to the crowd. Inside of the crowd was another assassin. She was braver than the other three. She raised her pistol with the intent of killing the archduke. She pulled the trigger and bang! She opened her eyes as she looked at her pistol, it had shattered into pieces as her gun had malfunctioned on her. Franz and his wife weren't harmed by this moment though the gun shot had made them scared.
"It's nothing Ferdinand." Sophie told Franz that there was still nothing to worry about. Franz sat back down before he continued to wave. They had passed four assassins as he and Sophie were still standing. The parade was making their way to the bridge as Franz and Sophie were waving and happily smiling but then another assassin appeared from the shadows. She pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin. She chucked it at the car that Franz and Sophie were sitting in. Sophie turned her head and saw the grenade flying at them. "Ferdinand! Watch out!" Sophie shouted. Franz ducked down with Sophie, using his hands as a shield to help block him as his driver sped up to avoid the grenade. The grenade harmlessly passed over them and bounced into the crowd behind them. The grenade then exploded, injuring twenty people, mostly young children and a couple of the guards riding in a car behind the Archduke. Their car was horribly mangled as the children lay crying and bleeding on the street. The assassin leaped over the bridge to make her daring get away but in the amateurish way that would be comical if the circumstances weren't so grave. The river she was jumping into was only four inches deep and she landed, feeling a terrible crunching sound. She looked over as she had broken one of her legs in the fall. A frog sitting on a lily pad snatched up a fly and she got an idea. She got out her cyanide pill she had been carrying with her.
"For the freedom of young Bosnia!" She shouted. She shoved the cyanide pill into her mouth and swallowed it. A final, you'll never take me alive. She smiled happily, but she felt something off in her stomach. It was clear that she and her friends had bought their cyanide pills on the cheap and this one was way past its shelf life. She turned and began to vomit into the river as today wasn't the best day for her. The police strolled down into the river and spotted her vomiting into the river.
"Seize her!" One of them shouted, they took her very much alive.
The motorcade containing the Archduke and his wife raced their way down the street with their sirens ringing and the city was going into lockdown. Ana was watching this from the crowd, and she felt sad, her heart beginning to sink. She turned and looked at her browning pistol she had in her hands. She began speaking to herself.
"So, it's done." Ana said to herself. "It's off. The Archduke is still alive, and the assassination has failed." Ana told herself that all of her chances of glory had vanished before her eyes. She felt like she had a metaphorical rain cloud above her head as she walked off to pout. She began to think to herself on what she was going to do. "After all, today was a pretty lousy day. Maybe a snack will make me feel better." Ana walked off to the local deli where she opened the door. The man was slicing up meats and cheeses as well as preparing sandwiches to serve to people. She walked over as the person behind the counter began to ask.
"You seem pretty glum, what can I do for you?" He would ask Ana. Ana began to think about it.
"A cheese sandwich please and maybe some water to go with that." Ana told the man. The deli worker would nod before handing her the stuff she ordered. Ana paid and went outside to enjoy her consolation snack.
Back in city hall, the Archduke and the mayor were having words after what they had just witnessed today.
"We should continue along the proposed route and have the people to continue seeing you in your glory." He began. He wanted to continue along the route they were going down in the hope of letting them continue the tour.
"Are you crazy?" Franz thundered back. "You want us to visit museums while bombs explode in your streets?" He would ask. The mayor withdrew and decided to think about the matters while the Archduke himself began to think. Sophie watched as she walked over to him.
"Ferdinand, we know this must be hard for you to decide on the matters." Sophie began. Ferdinand continued to think about it before he came to a decision. He got up and turned to the mayor after getting Sophie's words.
"I have a new idea." Franz began. "We should all head off to the hospital where the wounded were taken and pay them a visit." Sophie smiled as that was a good idea. The mayor also nodded in agreement.
"New plan then, let's show the gallantry to the injured by paying them a visit." He spoke. Franz and Sophie made their way to the motorcade where they hopped back into the car. Franz's personal driver took off first as they were going to their new destination.
"Uhh… Franz? Do you know where the hospital is?" The driver began, he did not know his way around Sarajevo.
"We'll find it. Just don't drive along the main streets in case some of the assassins are still waiting for us." Franz told the driver to be careful as the grenade exploding on the street was still fresh in their minds. Then the driver made a right turn, he made a random wrong turn on the street next to him even though the main road to the hospital was further down. Franz looked out and he noticed they were not heading the right way. "We turned the wrong way; I say we should stop and back up." Franz told his driver.
Meanwhile with Ana, she took a bite of her sandwich and was beginning to feel a little better of herself. She began speaking to herself.
"Maybe this won't be my only chance." Ana began to speak to herself. She takes another bite of her sandwich and begins to eat it. She was beginning to feel the storm cloud clear away from her head. "Maybe I will have another shot at greatness. It was a really bad day but who knows this might turn out okay." Ana was feeling a little hopeful about it as she was talking to herself. She took another bite of her sandwich and chewed it up. "I might have to go into hiding but…" Ana paused as she realized what was in front of them. Out of all the chances, one in a million. She began to speak while she dropped her sandwich to the pavement. "Holy shit is that the Archduke?" Ana asked herself. Yes, three strides away was Franz and Sophie.
"The car has stalled out; we should ask for help to get us a new car." The driver told them. Franz and Sophie were sitting in their car as they were chatting and smiling among themselves. What Ana didn't know was the fact that the Archduke's car had made a random wrong turn and it had stalled in their effort to back up.
"How long will that take?" Franz asked. He was still trying to keep a smile on his face despite how interesting his day was going to be.
"Few minutes hopefully, want me to get you those pastries?" The driver asked if they needed them.
"Later, I want to see the injured." Franz replied. Sophie was enjoying herself as Ana watched from the side. She felt herself welling up as this was her one shot to greatness she had. No words, just action. She whipped out her Browning Pistol and muttered three words.
"For Gavrilo Princip." She muttered. She then pulled the trigger twice and fired two bullets that would forever change the world. Franz and Sophie felt insufferable pain as two guards ran over and began to wrestle Ana down. He didn't notice but instead he looked down to Sophie who was bleeding from the stomach where the bullet entered her. She was bleeding badly. He reached out with a hand, weak and heavy, something's wrong with his neck, he couldn't think straight. He had one wish for Sophie.
"Sophie, Sophie. Don't die. Live for our children." Franz told Sophie. Sophie was laying there not responding and he was looking out worried. A guard came over to Franz and he began speaking.
"Are you okay sir?" The guard would ask. Franz lifted his hand, and he began to speak.
"It's nothing." Franz told the guard. He began to repeat himself, his voice getting quieter as he repeated the phrase. The words got quieter as his words finally vanished. Neither Franz nor Sophie made it through the hour.
Was it the marauder of the Archduke and his wife or the death of oppressors? This event relied on a thousand coincidences and running a million rounds in the game of chance. On a poorly chosen day, on a change of plans, a random wrong turn and a sad girl having a sandwich. This was the breaking point for the school that was going to bring them to war.
Gisela was in her office as she was busy with her work. She wanted to make sure she was able to be able to finish her work for the day when the door began to knock. Gisela was curious about it and decided to find out who was at the door.
"Come in." She spoke. The door opened as a golden blonde-haired girl stepped into the office. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail as she had some news for Gisela. "What is it Solti?" She asked.
"We got the news." Solti began. "Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie have been assassinated." Solti began.
"What?!" Gisela suddenly said. She wasn't expecting this. This was intolerable. Gisela began to think about who to blame as she really had a few bones to pick. She realized who could potentially be behind this assassination. "The Serbian Gang must've done something to cause this calamity. Get the others in on this and prepare to get the army on alert. I want war with the Serbian gang." Gisela made her intentions clear. "The Dual-Alliance, won't stand for this!" Solti began to think as Gisela was getting ready to make their case for war clear.
"I wish to say that we should be ready, but we need to consult with our much stronger allies, Kuromorimine first to see what they have planned." Solti told them they needed to consult their allies first before they were going to act. Gisela nodded.
"Okay tomorrow we're going to visit Kuromorimine to see what they plan on doing. Once we tell them the case, we should perhaps talk about war." Gisela knew they needed to make their case first before they would launch their plan. The news about the death was going to start printing out and be distributed to all of the schools and they will make this case clear.
[A/N]: War is now gathering on the doorstep as the schools are still boiling, the death of the Archduke and his wife is now the major focus point and that will begin pulling the schools closer together for a war. These next three or so chapters will be focusing on how the schools try their best to avoid a calamity like this and try to make peace, Part 3 is coming to an end and part 4 will begin.
On the flipside however, Milica and Megumi had guaranteed the independence of the Serbian Gang and now with the Dual Alliance looking at them. Saunders thinks that war is going to happen, and they are running out of time. The next three chapters will be what they try to do to avoid everything falling apart and how a few misunderstandings eventually begin tearing the entire school apart and spur on the second Saunders revolution, the third Saunders revolution and eventually the school's civil war.
We're gaining more and more views as this story continues to get longer and longer. This is making me happy that we're getting a sudden uptick in views. Maybe things are starting to cool off and I would stop relaxing with myself and get to writing again. Who knows. We need reviews as I want to see what everyone's opinion would be.
I will see you all later now as I will give you this to read as I don't want to bore you anymore. See you later. Goodbye.