"Aha, now that's a nice vase… two thousand poké?!" Chadwyck exclaimed. His eyes bulged at the piece of paper with multiple prices listed.
"Good," Helena smirked. "The higher the nobles bid against each other, the more poké makes it to Kyukonais and Denryushire." She glanced across the throne room at the rows upon rows of precious items that the nobles of Rentoshire stashed in the castle. Victorious Solardian nobles perused the fancy goods, writing bids on papers next to each item. "Looks like some paper factories in Kyukonais got some good business from Ludwig's administrators," Helena smiled.
Lily trotted across the throne room in awe. There was an entire area dedicated to decorated furniture - items too large to evacuate from Rentoshire before the siege, so their owners hastily stashed them within the castle. There were exquisite couches with carved wooden armrests, marble dining table sets, ice-infused bed frames, and more. Paintings lined the walls of the room - small ones, big ones, wide ones, vibrant ones, somber ones. There was a huge variety of sculptures made of different materials and shaped using all kinds of moves. There was a small collection of jewelry left behind for whatever reason. The nobles arranged them by material and size, but Lily thought the whole display would've looked so much nicer if she could sort it all by color into a rainbow. There were candle sets that burned with pleasant or exotic scents and so many fancy carpets, draperies, and blankets.
In the vault, Ludwig's administrators counted up poké day and night, storing the coins in crates in neat stacks and labeling them the amount of poké. Every knight was required to double-check at least one crate to verify its value, under strict supervision, to prevent unfair theft. The poké in the vault represented the wealth of the Lunish royal family and all the noble families of Rentoshire, whatever their relatives could not fit into their wagons during the evacuation.
It was the biggest, most organized robbery ever committed across the continent, and it went beyond just the stashed fortunes. A walk through the castle's corridors would reveal auction papers plastered beside almost everything of note within the castle - velvet carpets, majestic doors, display pedestals, paintings, sculptures, everything. All of the castle's furniture, every table, chair, bed, bedframe… Everything within sight was up for sale to anyone with the poké to make the highest bid.
Darrell's crew took things even further by claiming ordinary glass windows for one poké each. They would take as much of the castle home with them as they could, prowling the hallways and courtyards for materials with stacks of auction papers in hand.
"Let's go down here next!" Heidi declared, approaching a downward stairway.
"No, don't go down there!" Darrell exclaimed, grabbing the Heracross by the horn. "It's the dungeon."
"That means iron bars to take!" Heidi grinned, whipping her horn away.
"I know, but it was horrible down there."
"Eh? How so?"
"There were a bunch of our knights holding down a Luxray while another Luxray punched and scratched and yelled insults," Darrell shuddered. "The knights glared at me, so I ran back up the stairs as fast as I could."
"Oooookay. Let's go somewhere else, then."
The pokémon of Denryushire, after months of chaos and devastation across their homelands, now roamed freely around the greatest castle in the kingdom. In the castle's lower levels, a chamber full of machinery intrigued Cynthia. There were several contraptions with levers, gears, and connected parts with a mix of wood and metal; no two machines looked anything like each other. The largest one along the side of the workshop had several metal plates, rectangular-shaped openings, and complex movable connecting parts. Piles of scrap metal littered the nearby floor.
As the Cinccino strolled around the giant machine in wonder, she noticed a Meowstic on the other side with a paw on his chin, studying it. "Max?" Cynthia voiced.
Max noticed the visitor and smiled. "Ah, hello, Cynthia."
"What's this thing for?" Cynthia asked. "It's so interesting."
"Agreed," Max chuckled. "I have not seen anything like it, but I have a guess. I believe the castle's inhabitants use this machine to manufacture those steel needles they employed to extend the range of their electric attacks."
"Ohhh," Cynthia gasped, looking over the machine again. "How does it work?"
"My guess is that one would drop steel into the funnel up there," Max started, pointing his paw at the open chamber at the top. "Then they would need fire-type attacks to heat up the steel, which they can fire into these tubes," he said, gesturing at various cylinders jutting out of the sides. He then walked to the back of the machine. "Once the steel is hot enough, any pokémon can launch attacks at this panel. These gears and rods translate and concentrate the forces acting on the large panel into the small metal presses in the middle of the machine. However, the force might be too great for these moving parts to withstand on their own, so I imagine they needed some pokémon to use Protect on these parts to preserve them." Finally, Max brought Cynthia to the front of the machine and pointed at a hole. "The small but heavily focused metal presses would squeeze the hot steel, forcing it through that gap and onto this belt in the shape of a long steel needle."
"W-wow… how did you figure all of that out?" Cynthia asked with shining eyes.
Max scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "It is only a hunch, my friend. I have seen each of these components before, though never put together in this manner for this specific purpose."
"I wish I could just look at a big contraption and figure out how it works," Cynthia pouted. "I've spent days staring at my village's windmill and I still don't understand it. Everyone just says to put the grains in the middle and it'll turn into flour overnight faster than we could ever crush it by paw. But I want to know how. I just don't know where to even start. The windmill is so big and complicated, just like this needle-making thing."
"Worry no longer, my friend," Max chuckled, patting Cynthia on the back. "While yes, machines can get quite big and complicated just to do a simple thing, every huge machine is made up of simple parts put together. Once you know the basic building blocks, you can piece together most any contraption. I bet you can already recognize some pieces in your windmill within some of the machines here."
Max brought Cynthia around the castle's workshop, pointing out different parts of the loom, wine press, and forge, comparing them to the typical components in a windmill. Cynthia eagerly examined each machine in wonder. It was as if a whole new world, one which had always existed behind just a thin veil of missing knowledge, had finally started to reveal itself to her.
After roughly a week of auctions and accounting, most of the Solardian knights had departed from Rentoshire with their long-awaited rewards and prestige. However, Ludwig appointed a select group of knights to watch over the hollowed-out Kolink Castle and the devastated town of Rentoshire. All the defeated Lunish knights had been expelled from the castle after the Solardian victory and had mostly left the province to mooch off of their relatives. Ludwig had given his most loyal guards and administrators control over his family's ancestral homeland before hauling his disgraced cousin Leinwig in a metal-caged wagon towards Ludwig's real home, Rokon Palace; after spending several days dragging Leinwig around Kolink Castle and destroying all of the elder cousin's possessions right before his eyes, of course.
The pokémon of Kyukonais and Denryushire were the last to depart. They mostly declined to bid on anything the nobles wanted, instead filling all their supply wagons to the brim with building supplies and crates full of poké. The one prize that Helena was willing to bid for was the castle's library, which was full of unique individual books published old-style. They would make a great addition to her own public library in Kyukonais.
"Finally, justice for all of our hard work," Helena announced to her crew. "I can't wait to go home." Darrell started a loud cheer as the convoy left the courtyard via the drawbridge and set a course southward.
"Hey, Helena…" Windie mumbled.
"What's up?" Helena asked with a contrasting smile.
"I think I need to go home to Denryushire. I can't come with you back to Kyukonais just yet."
"Oh."
"I need to make sure the nobles don't do anything to mess with our hard-earned rewards," Windie vowed. "But also, I want to visit my parents in Windswept Village. You know, to show them I'm safe and sound," Windie chuckled sheepishly.
Helena's face fell.
"They were always worried every time I went on a… ugh, mission for King Leinster on behalf of Duke Antonio," Windie said with a shake of his head. "They worried even more while I was at the siege of Denryu Castle. So I want to pay them a visit right away."
"That's really nice of you," Helena said with a wistful smile.
"I'll come to Kyukonais as soon as I can," Windie promised.
Helena shook off her frown and nuzzled him. "Well, then let's enjoy this walk together as much as we can!"
The convoy traveled slowly to keep their overloaded wagons steady. Darrell's crew, many of whom had been supplying the army since the very beginning, talked of all the things they were going to buy for themselves and all the great projects they wanted to build for the city once they got home. Windie's army began planning the great future of Denryushire. The pokémon camped along the path for a night and reached Denryushire the following morning, where the two forces would part ways, yet with connections that would indubitably persist.
"Love you," Windie whispered to Helena after a kiss on the cheek.
"Love you too," Helena smiled, holding his paws and returning the favor. "See you soon!"
"You bet!" Windie promised. He took the reins of a wagon and led the way to his village.
"So cute~" Cynthia gushed. "You're so lucky, Windie."
"I'll say," Lincoln chuckled, followed by a wolf-whistle. "Our captain's so caught up that he doesn't have time for us anymore!"
"That was only because she's headed to Kyukonais while I'll be here," Windie defended, blushing. "You all have my attention now…"
"Haha! I'm only messing with ya, bro!" Lincoln laughed, batting Windie on the shoulder. "We're all doing a-okay."
"Well, seriously. It's time we all focus and take the future of Denryushire into our own paws," Windie declared.
"Woo!" the pokémon of Windswept Village cheered.
"Hey Cynthia, what are those papers you've got?" Windie asked.
"You just noticed?" Cynthia giggled. "Max gave me some drawings of machine parts that I've been studying. I can't wait to take another look at our windmill and finally understand it!"
"Heh, it's been so long since the days of you as a Minccino climbing through the inside of that thing and the knights chasing you out," Windie chuckled.
After dropping off his supply wagon at the village center, Windie headed for his parents' hut, the humble place where he grew up. He found the hut right where it always was, but beside it now stood a beautiful wooden cabin. His parents were still working in the adjacent field, but instead of a plain, volatile wheat field, they presided over a crop of potatoes plentiful enough to feed the whole village.
"Mom, Dad," Windie called, racing over to the Arcanine and Stoutland.
"Windie!" they exclaimed, accepting his hug and nuzzles. "Are you alright?"
"More than alright," Windie grinned. "I met the lady of my dreams!"
"Not this again," his mom chided, ruffling his ears.
"I'm serious this time," said Windie, sitting up straight.
"Who is it this time?" his dad huffed.
"Princess Helena Kyukon," Windie beamed.
"And how long do you plan on following her until giving up this time?" Windie's mom asked.
"No time at all, because she already loves me back. We shared my first real kiss together~" Windie announced, staring off to the south with a goofy smile.
The Arcanine and Stoutland shared a surprised look. "...So those rumors weren't just you kids messing around?"
"Nope! Go ask Cynthia, Lincoln, or anyone else who came with me to Rentoshire."
"I need to see it for myself, first."
"If you say so, dad! But enough about me. What happened to this place? It's amazing!"
"A sweet Ambipom and Bellossom came here and taught everyone about growing potatoes," said Windie's mom. "They were a blessing."
"We haven't had a hungry night since our first harvest," Windie's dad added. "After sharing our food, others offered to build a better shelter for us. Never thought I'd say this, but I finally feel secure."
"I'm still a little suspicious of those bandits from the forest," Windie's mom admitted. "Years and years of stealing is hard to forget… but I had a nice conversation with one of them. Haven't seen Sir Raymond around, but maybe we don't need him anymore."
Windie took a peek inside his parents' new house, spotting a bed, blankets, soap, and candles - things they once thought only nobles could dream of. This will be the new normal. I will make sure of it, Windie vowed to himself. With a cozy farewell, Windie set off on a path towards Denryu Castle. Before he made it there, though, he came across April and Scully in another village with a group of pokémon.
"Great work bringing all those building supplies back here," April complimented. "We're almost done building everyone a new home."
"I love to hear it," Windie smiled. "Thank you for taking care of everyone."
"Even better, you took apart all those stuck-up nobles' fancy manors to provide for us all," Scully added.
"Well, it was Helena's plan," Windie smirked. "What do you think of that?"
"Yeah, whatever," the Skarmory scoffed. "You even drove those schmucks straight out of Rentoshire. I'm going to lead these displaced pokémon to take back their land. Rentoshire shall start brand new with no nobles in sight!" Scully declared. The pokémon nearby cheered in approval as they prepared their supplies for a return to their home, including potato buds to plant.
"King Ludwig left some knights behind," Windie warned. "Be prepared to deal with them."
"Ha, looks like you forgot who you're talking to."
Windie rolled his eyes. "Best of luck, buddy," he grinned, batting the Skarmory's steel wings with his forepaw. He then continued his trek to the castle.
The drawbridge was lowered and welcoming, taking Windie to the familiar courtyard. This courtyard was many things to Windie - a place where he learned to battle through observation, a place where he got to know noble ladies, and a place where baby wheat stalks were ground into dust. To Windie's surprise, the courtyard currently contained Lothario and Duke Antonio, training.
"Hello, my lord," Windie greeted with a light bow. "Hello, my friend."
Duke Antonio wiped his brow, smoothed out the frazzles in his tail, and faced the familiar little Arcanine, expressionless. "Yes, Windie?"
"First, I wish to apologize for betraying your trust during our second battle against the then-invading Solardian army, my lord," Windie said. "Trust is everything in the province of Denryushire, and I will not abuse it again."
"..." Duke Antonio frowned at his subject, arms crossed. Lothario closed his eyes, his aura appendages quivering.
"In order to do so, I have to be honest and clear about what I want," Windie continued. "I want every pokémon in Denryushire to be treated with respect. Every pokémon who calls Denryushire home, whether formerly from a manor, a hut, or the woods, deserves to live their lives freely in this plentiful land. There may have been differences in the past, but it doesn't have to be that way. No more lies, only neighbors. I want us all to be good neighbors."
Try as he may, Lothario could not sense any fault in Windie's intent. He had no moral ground to contest. And yet, his personal senses protested against his aura senses. This is my family's province. Windie betrayed us.
Lothario opened his mouth to speak. "Welcome back to Denryushire… my friend."
Helena's team continued onwards to Kyukonais, setting up camp partway through Waruvais when evening came. Sengupta fluttered out of his nearby estate to give a friendly welcome. Helena dealt with the lack of Windie by planning out their first date in the city for when he arrived. Terry and Max combed through the books they plundered from Kolink Castle, looking forward to stocking the library. Lily joined Darrell's crew in planning their biggest project yet, a performance center, to mark their long-awaited return to Kyukonais. And Chadwyck boasted of throwing the biggest party Kyukonais had ever seen. They feasted, rested, and were well on their way the next morning.
Helena reached the top of the last hill and finally saw her shining city. There were the apartments, the neighborhoods, the berry farms, the markets, the restaurants, the stores, the paper mills, the schools, and the pokémon. "Home, sweet home," Helena breathed, leading the way. Word quickly spread of the crew's return, and many pokémon came to welcome them back. Among the first were Lily's parents.
"Oh Lily, we missed you so much!" the Espeon cried, burying her head in Lily's shoulder.
"Aw, Mom, you're-" Lily whined before stopping herself. "I missed you too, Mom," she said, hugging her back.
"So relieved to see you in one piece, kiddo," Lily's dad said, joining in on the hug.
"What can happen to me with Terry, Helena, Max, and Chadwyck by my side?"
"Do I even have to list the possibilities? Getting crushed flat, getting cut in half, falling and hitting the ground too hard, drowning-"
"But this is my responsibility," Lily declared. "To fight for what's right."
"I know, and I trust you," said her dad. "Still, parents are going to worry. But enough of that. Your mom and I made a special dinner to celebrate your successful campaign."
"All your friends are welcome," her mom added.
"Oh really? Awesome!" Lily cheered.
"Sweet, thank you!" Terry added.
"I am looking forward to it," Max smiled.
"We'll be home as soon as we dump all the supplies in the warehouse and all the poké in the bank!" Lily promised. Her parents nodded and waved the crew off.
"Your parents are so nice, Lily," Helena said. "They love you and care about you no matter what. We never had that."
"Yeah, they do," Lily smiled. "When I was little, I used to get so annoyed when they said I couldn't do this or couldn't do that. But now I see that it's because they cared about me. I've been thinking about it while we were away. Now that we're back home, I'm going to work on being a better daughter."
"Aw, that's sweet of you," Terry chimed, nuzzling her.
A better daughter? Helena thought, her friend's words repeating in her head. Family goes both ways, she realized. A wave of regret bore through her chest as she thought of the last months she shared with her father, which she rarely ever thought of until now. We never saw eye-to-eye, but shouldn't I have talked with him more? Maybe it wouldn't change anything, but I should've at least tried… She exhaled an ember of fire on the stone pavement. Don't wallow in the past. It's too late to help my father, but I need to start anew, somewhere. As the sight of Rokon Palace rendered itself in the distance, Helena's heart jumped. I need to see my aunt.
"What's the matter?" Terry suddenly said, noticing Helena's demeanor.
"Do you miss Windie?" Lily asked.
Helena briefly grinned at the mention of his name. "I do, but I'll see him soon," she said. "That… wasn't it. I was thinking I should see my aunt and see how she's doing after… all that's happened."
"Aunt Nina, it's Helena," Helena said, gently knocking on the door.
"Come in."
There were no lit candles in the room, only the moonlight and starlight. The elder Ninetales was on her balcony with her back to the door, staring across the courtyard. "I thought we should catch up," said Helena, walking to her aunt's side. "How are you doing?"
Nina continued to gaze at nothing. "Just carrying on," she eventually muttered. "Nothing more. As it always has been."
"I'm sorry about your husband," Helena said.
"...It is not your fault," Nina responded. "It was Ludwren's choice to pursue the throne, not anyone else's."
Helena gave her aunt a hug, rubbing her tense shoulders. "Is there something else troubling you? I'm here to listen."
Nina stared at the floor between them for several moments, eventually closing her eyes. "Ludwig came back with Leinwig in a cage," Nina whispered. "He threw Leinwig in the dungeon with a dozen guards. He bullies Leinwig all day and night."
Helena grimaced. She was vaguely aware of some sort of punishment taking place ever since the final battle at Kolink Castle, but she preferred not to think about it.
"I am so conflicted," Nina admitted. "Leinwig is a monster who bullied my son for years. He deserves punishment. And yet, do I want my son to act like a monster to exact his revenge?" She huffed some fire, pressing her head against the railing.
"It's not your fault," Helena said.
"Oh, it is," Nina countered. "When Ludwig got bullied growing up, I never stood up for him because it would offend King Leinster. Instead, I told him just to hold his head high." A tear dripped out of the corner of Nina's eye. "Ludwig never had anyone to stand up for him, so all he knows to do now is to put down others."
Helena didn't know what to say. She settled for patting her Aunt's shoulder and back with her tails.
"You must think I am a weak fool, do you not?" Nina sniffled. "But I have never known otherwise. When I was little, I was given my life's purpose: to maintain peace between Solardie and Luneland through my marriage. And yet, look at me now. I reside, all alone, in the same room I grew up in when I was given my purpose. The two kingdoms went to war because I failed as a mother. Your grandparents always said blood is thicker than water, and that belief is what my whole life was built around. But after seeing my son's and his cousin's behavior, how can that be true?"
"It can be true if you put in the work to make it true," Helena whispered. "A friend showed me that today." Helena looked her aunt in the eyes. "Ludwig and Leinwig are still here. It's not too late to end your inaction."
The elder Ninetales shook her head, turning her shoulder. "They are grown adults now. The time to change their minds has passed. I wasted it all."
If Helena was expecting her aunt to give her a big hug and say how proud she was of her niece for feeding the whole army, leading several direct assaults, turning a whole province to their side, and uplifting more than a province's worth of pokémon, she would be sorely disappointed. However, Helena didn't come with that expectation. She was here to be a good niece to the aunt who clearly needed one.
"Even as an adult, any pokémon is still their parents' child," said Helena. "It's not too late, Aunt Nina."
END OF ARC II: A PRINCE'S REVENGE
A/N 11/6/23: The proverb "Blood is thicker than water" appears as an event in EU4 if you have an advisor that is the same culture as a country that you're at war with. The advisor offers to go to the enemy country secretly and find out information from their acquaintances, but there's a 67% chance that they'll betray you and help their mother country and only a 33% chance they'll stay loyal to you, their boss.
Helena's aunt, Nina, is vaguely inspired by Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII of England's first wife. She was a daughter of the Spanish king and became queen of England with two life goals: bring Spain and England closer together, and give Henry a male heir. She had three sons and three daughters, but only one daughter, Mary, lived past infancy. Henry thought their marriage was cursed, and in order to divorce her, he broke England away from the Catholic church so that the divorce could be "legal." This started the Protestant Reformation in England which eventually led to Protestant England and Catholic Spain becoming enemies for pretty much the rest of history. Catherine of Aragon was a brilliant and virtuous queen, but through no fault of her own, her life's goals completely failed. It's very depressing. That kind of "royal marriage tragedy" is kind of what I wanted to capture with Aunt Nina (though toned down a bit).
Hey, what's this mention of "Arc II"? Well, considering this story is my longest and most ambitious story yet, I want to give myself and others a sense of the progress! As the story grows, I think grouping the chapters into arcs will make it easier to find and remember things. It's not like there will be massive time skips or completely different plots; the arcs are more of a soft divider for organization's sake.
This chapter is the final chapter of Arc II: A Prince's Revenge. Arc II covers the duration of the war between Solardie and Luneland. Everything pre-Luneland (Chapters 1-10) is in Arc I: A Princess's Ambition.
Now for some stats for nerds like me!
Arc I: A Princess's Ambition. Chapters: 10. Word count: ~71k. Characters introduced: 43. Number of battles: 6. Started: 7/28/21. Finished: 5/2/22. (278 days)
Arc II: A Prince's Revenge. Chapters: 13. Word count: ~89k. Characters introduced: 25. Number of battles: 12. Started: 5/2/22. Finished: 10/30/23. (552 days)
(If you come up with an interesting stat, let me know, and I might be able to add it!)
Fun facts! Although the official "Published" date of Nine Tales of Liberty (actually it was called Kyukon Universalis back then) is 1/16/22, I personally consider 7/28/21 as the start date because it's when I started the first draft of chapter 1 and my planning doc. But if we want to go even further back, the true birthday of KU/9ToL is on 6/14/20, when I was playing EU4, suddenly came up with an idea to write a story about it in a pokémon world, and wrote something down in a concept doc. The Ember and the Spark was only at chapter 8 out of 23 at that point!
Anyway, I started properly writing this story on 7/28/21, but I planned on not posting anything until I had rough drafts up to the point where Helena met Windie (because, you know, romance!). Well, January rolled around, and the start of a new year felt like a good time to start posting the story, even though I was only at chapter 10 by then. Also, if I wasn't going to draft all the way to the grand meeting of the times, chapter 10 felt like a good place to pause and refine my rough drafts because chapter 11 was going to be Windie's introduction, a new setting smack in the middle of the Lunish civil war, and setting the stage for the war between Solardie and Luneland; chapter 11 was, essentially, the soft start of a brand new arc of the story. Now you can see why I've retroactively made it the start of Arc II.
By the way, Arc I's title, A Princess's Ambition, is sort of an EU4 reference. Chapter 1's original title was going to be "Talented and Ambitious Daughter," which is an awesome random event in the game which gives you an OP 13-year-old female heir, but I swapped it out for a pokémon reference instead because Helena is the main character, not her father. So now I'm sort of bringing it back as Arc I's title! Arc II's title complements Arc I's title as it has a similar ring to it.
Hmm, all this talk about arcs and planning and organization, and yet I haven't even mentioned how many arcs there are going to be yet? XD If you've made it this far, this deep, you deserve to know: Nine Tales of Liberty will have six arcs! So we're one-third of the way through! Funny how I said, at the time of writing chapter 11, that we were about one-third of the way through… but I'm pretty certain this time around. Lastly, it's kind of funny that the longest author's note so far is on the shortest chapter so far… and this last sentence ain't helping.
With the war over and Helena and friends back home, it's time to start Arc III: A Peasant's Dream!