Appleton was chasing her, trying to somehow get to Akko before she could finish all the dungeons and thus have the power to defeat Andrew once and for all, but Atsuko herself was arriving with her friends on the island of Edo after a long journey, days sailing the seas, running into various dangers, she and her friends were anxious, very anxious to be able to arrive soon in that exotic and different place, which has all its culture and also so that they could advance in yet another dungeon.
It was already possible to see the island, which is of considerable size and can even be seen from afar, as they approached the harbour where they docked before heading inland. The amazed Kagari was enchanted by what little she could see of the place from afar, already looking forward to getting there and seeing people who looked like her, as well as going through yet another dungeon.
The nine soon docked their boat there and were greeted by local soldiers who approached them and recognised Marianne, letting her pass with her friends, but something soon caught their attention when they noticed the crimson-eyed
"Hold it right there" said the soldier.
"What now? You know me, I'll be a resident in years to come, along with them, I guarantee none of them are from Appleton" Leclerc said.
"It's not about that, we have to arrest this warrior, she's committed crimes on this island, she's murdered four people and even a soldier, don't think she'll get away with it, everything has already been investigated and we know it was her" said the guard who immediately surrounded the girls.
"Hey wait a minute, she's never touched this island, it can't be her if she hasn't touched the island" said the dark-haired girl with reddish streaks.
"There's no way we can be sure about that, so we'll take her to prison to be tried for these crimes, the investigation team will prove her innocence, if they do, then you'll be free, if she's guilty, she'll be executed, just as you will also be imprisoned for being complicit" said the soldier.
"What? That's unfair, you can't just accuse her out of the blue, we can prove Akko's innocence, she's not a criminal" said the brown-eyed woman.
"Someone impersonated me before we came here probably, so I have nothing to worry about, my innocence will be proven" said the brownish girl.
"This is absurd, we've barely arrived and you already want to arrest her for a crime you're not even sure she committed" said Hellene.
"As Queen of Wedinburgh, I order you to release my wife and also Queen, or you'll be in trouble" said Diana.
"Get out of the way or I'll arrest you too, don't block the way, don't start making things up" said the guard, pushing the girls away.
"It's going to be all right love, my innocence will be proven, if it's not, we'll find a way" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
Akko had barely arrived, she was already being arrested, the guards were taking her to the city prison, while the other girls were waiting nearby, to find out what the conclusion of everything was, since they would have to wait three days of long investigations before she could finally be free, which could disrupt everything, so the girls settled in a nearby hotel just waiting, which luckily the city welcomed them, since they weren't from Appleton and knew Marianne.
During these three days, far away from Edo, in the middle of the glaciers, on Appleton's warship, Andrew's men, together with the lord, were sailing to find the girl's whereabouts, but by then they were getting a little bored, since there was nothing, and also the food was getting scarcer and they were only eating fish and drinking water, the journey was really exhausting for everyone there.
Mr Blackwell, seeing that they were already too far away in the midst of many glaciers, set off on that warship, into the underground parts with only one mission in mind: to be able to stop the advance that the lord could make once and for all
(We've been in the freezing sea for a while now, there's just a huge whiteness and the ice we've been cutting, I don't think I see any option but to start damaging the ship or else we'll all end up suffering the consequences, maybe then the lord will stop this obsession and realise what's important for good, it's not enough that he's sent a full warship here).
With a lamp in hand and a few other tools, the general went to one of the parts of the boat, deep underground, where the barely guarded food store was located. Blackwell started very lightly, using a saw on the underside of the shell after opening a hole, and little by little water was entering that opening, although it wasn't enough, it could already cause a bit of damage.
"Goodbye Louis..." Said Mr Blackwell, who then threw a lamp on the floor after opening a square in the boat where the water would start to enter, and it wasn't even the first of them, there was another corner that the man was still going to enter in the boat that could open a large hole that was precisely wide open for that.
The food store was already starting a small fire after the lamp was thrown in there and a hole had been cut in the hull where some water was getting in.
In another, more central part of the ship, Blackwell, who was already a little wet, opened another hole, which no one had heard as most of them were asleep at the time, which was perfect for the general to start sawing a good part of the boat in a lower part of it, this time it wasn't a small cut like a square hole of a few sentimetres, this time it was a risk all sawed with practically five metres open diagonally, but there was still another place to enter.
(It's already being enough to get water in, but it still can't sink the boat, I may end up waking everyone up with this, but it will be necessary, before we end up causing the worst, I think some deaths are going to happen by my own hands, in addition to those who are going to die on this boat, I'm sorry for all my mates, but this is to save from a civil war).
The general sneaked up to the rooms where the cannons were located, a little further up the ship, taking some soldiers by surprise, stabbing them in the back and then taking a few cannons down to the lower floors, taking all possible care not to be seen as this could spoil the whole plan, knowing that this could be the end of his life, the older man didn't hesitate about the consequences afterwards and was already leaving the guards practically dead, hiding the bodies afterwards.
At least eight cannons had been placed at various points on the ship, as the open holes were not enough to sink it. The fire was also becoming more evident from the rear of the ship, and was already consuming more than just the warehouse.
(I think there's enough to make a bigger hole for more water to come in, I've left some everywhere, now just cause it, five cannons at the front and the rest in the centre where I've made the biggest cut)
Blackwell goes on firing powder into the cannons, getting them all ready, then putting the ball in and doing it to everyone, while he hears footsteps, he lights each one, going as fast as he can, which the shots wake up most of the crew and the soldiers go down to check if there's anything wrong with the ship as they feel the black smoke rising.
The lord of Appleton, in his room, could soon hear the roar of cannon blasts as he became alert. He went out onto the deck of the ship and the front of it was simply a little lower than usual, but there was no boat around, and the glaciers were simply opening up more holes as they cut into the hull, which had lost the part that was used to make its way through the ice without suffering damage.
"We're sinking, my lord, what are we going to do?" asks a desperate soldier.
"Quickly evacuate the ship, we have to get off it, how could you incompetents allow this? Who fired at us?" Hanbridge asks.
"My lord, it was nobody, the shots came from here" said another soldier.
"What? We have a traitor in our midst! We have a traitor in our midst! Now it's all clear..." Said the dark-haired man, who immediately cast a spell on the boats that a group of soldiers were going to use to escape, setting them on fire on the spot.
"My lord, you just set fire to an emergency boat with several of our soldiers! Ahhhhhhh" Said the soldier who ended up being killed by the lord.
"I won't allow a traitor to live on this ship, if you want to mutiny then you'll all pay with your lives, whoever is with me should stay with me and not try to escape, whoever is against me should die, now let's find out who this traitor is" said the green-eyed man, who immediately ordered no one to escape.
The men all gathered round the boy, there were many of them, and then in a flash they burst into flames and ran off in desperation, seeing only a look of hatred from Andrew, who was slowly walking around the ship on the lower decks as the ship sank further, the damage evidently enormous.
He made his way to where there was a little water, realising that some of his men had been killed by the
traitor with sword thrusts. He then made his way further down, the ship already had parts completely submerged and there was a lot of water that was beginning to rise, sinking it, as well as the ship itself moving so much.
When he reached the underground area, which was completely full of water with several openings, he saw that General Blackwell was there, half-moving in the water with a sword through his chest, and next to him was all his equipment.
(So you're the traitor Blackwell? You're the one who wanted to stop us all along? You'd think I wouldn't know his motives, but his son owes me some explanations, surely he must know something, you'd think he'd betray me, he was always pestering me not to go after the girl, surely he's the one who didn't want me to go on causing a future civil war, oh poor Blackwell, that's my intention all along, well I'd better get out of here or else I might freeze in this water).
Andrew immediately went out to the highest part of the ship and took a boat, as he watched one of his warships sink into the icy ocean, from the immensity of the glaciers that surrounded him, he saw there many of his best men who had died after all this, but wearing a completely neutral expression of someone who didn't care about anything.
(Without my men and without a warship, I think I'm going to have to go back toAppleton to regroup, or else I'll end up dying around here somehow, even though I have enormous power in my hands, I can't afford to go out using it like this, I'd better go back, but soon I'll want to know what Louis is up to too, surely he must have some involvement, now it all makes sense...) That trip to Eire Island wasn't intimidation, he was going to execute those two to make it difficult for me, surely the two of them must be talking).
And across the immensity of the glacial ocean, the Lord of Appleton sailed back home that night, somewhat frustrated by the failure of the mission and also the betrayal of his men, already getting very angry about the situation although he didn't show it, still remaining very calm, but with a deep desire to cause more chaos, already intent on a real civil war.
Far away in Edo, in the port city, the investigation was carried out and surprisinglyAkko's fingerprints didn't match up with all the research done to find the culprit, they were even bigger than the girl's hands, the person also had bigger measurements, which turned out to be quite strange. it could have been a shapeshifter all along.
The day of judgement arrived and all eight girls were in the courtroom, the city of Edo, and one of the investigators arrived to finalise everything.
All right, with all the investigation we've done, I'm sorry to inform you, but she's not who we're looking for, she's innocent, what we've been able to analyse is that the fingerprints don't match, nor the size of the person, it's a shapeshifter who wanted to incriminate our great heroine, unfortunately that's the reality, we'll announce it to all of Edo, so the defendant is innocent - said the investigator.
"The evidence has already been given and it's irrefutable, the facts are clear here, there's not much to do apart from declaring Atsuko Kagari innocent, she's really been framed, we have to watch out for the shapeshifters out there, well done Akko consider yourself a free girl" said the judge.
With that, everyone celebrated, jumping for joy, as did the city, relieved to learn that the heroine wasn't a criminal, she was actually a good person who had been framed, and so they left the court celebrating and relieved, but Queen Diana was still very furious about the whole thing and left with a very bad impression of Edo.
"Let's go straight to where the dungeon is and we'll never go back to Edo again" said Cavendish.
"Love, it was just a mistake on their part, let's not keep that impression in mind, let's go... Let's enjoy a walk around Edo" said the smiling Atsuko.
"Hmpf, they've arrested you and still don't recognise my authority as queen, I'm really getting fed up with this place, let's get on with this important mission" said the blue-eyed woman with her arms crossed.
"We have to travel to the capital, tomorrow we'll go there when the dust has settled on Akko and the news about her freedom has arrived, in the meantime we'll enjoy the city, look how cool it is, there's everything here" said Marianne.
"Come on! Show me the sights of Edo Marianne, I'd love to take a walk round here" said Kagari, as lively and bouncy as ever, while her wife stood by with her arms crossed and very excited about the whole thing.
After this conversation, the nine of them strolled around the port city of Nagasaki, enjoying everything they could see, the peculiar and different culture, the food that until then Leclerc hadn't had much choice about because of the sea voyage, but which they were soon able to enjoy at the food stalls around the city.
The food was very diverse and delicious, the aesthetics of the place also impressed the crimson-eyed girl as she saw everything up close, the people always welcoming her with a smile on their faces, especially as the news was spreading fast, these were more relaxed moments of the girl enjoying a different place, a place she had come to but had never got to know more about the culture there.
"I love it here, it's very crowded, but it's also beautiful, there's good food, there's everything, wow I've never felt so at home before, there are people just like me, I'm not the only one like that, I'm just another one like them, I'm not a strange exotic person like they always saw me in Hyrule" said the brownish girl.
"I'm glad you like it here Akko, there aren't as many interesting things here as in the capital, but you can still enjoy it, anyway I see you're happy, this place you came from took me in for six years, they also have one of the best medicines and cures in all of Hyrule, I was able to get out alive thanks not only to my friends, but to the medicine here, after everything that happened, I could even have died, but luckily I'm here" Said the dark-haired woman with red locks.
"Woah, wow, it's all very cool, people wearing these gaudy clothes, it's different, it's very nice, things are so cheerful here, it reminds me of the good times in Wedinburgh" said Hellene.
"It's been a long time, I knew you'd enjoy coming here too, my love" said the brown-eyed woman.
The girls strolled around the city for a while longer, even when night fell, the lights lit up and gave it a unique beauty, as well as the things written in a very peculiar way, which Marianne helped to translate into each of the words that were written there.
It was a very different day for the girls, who then rested, their energies well spent from exploring the place, and left for the capital on the morning of the following day, with the news already spreading about the arrival of the great heroine who is also innocent of those crimes.
It was a journey full of marvellous landscapes, even more so near the mountains, with the snow still falling, since winter had begun and near the mountains was where things got coldest.
"Wow, all this mountain scenery and ice, it makes me miss when we used to go to the Dublin ranch, remember sis, it was the most fun in the world, playing with our cousin, running around, making snowmen, it was always fun to spend a few days in winter" said the purple-eyed girl.
"At first I hated this place for what they did to Akko, but now I'm starting to like it, it seems so peaceful, so comfortable and beautiful, the organisation here really surprises me, it's a unique place, with its aesthetics and everything, it seems much more harmonious, it's strange to describe, but even more beautiful at times than Wedinburgh, it's not for nothing that this place brought my wonderful wife" Cavendish said as he watched the scenery along the mountain roads that the carriage carrying the girls was passing.
"And it's been years since we've been in a carriage too, it reminds me of when we were princesses, all in a cosy cabin, ahhhhh, it's all so nostalgic" said the redhead.
"The only time I rode in a carriage was when Andrew captured me, he took me in a luxurious one, thinking it would win me over while we went to Appleton, but now it feels different, not only are the carriages marvellous, even in Edo they have a different aesthetic" said the enchanted warrior from Luna Nova.
The journey was a long one, taking several hours, but they soon reached the capital of Edo Island, which bears the same name, in the middle of a valley. At the entrance to the wide-open city, they were greeted with applause and cheers, accompanied simply by a royal entourage, who took them through the city to the main street that led to the royal castle.
A huge vertical structure that really impressed the queens of Wedinburgh, who had never set foot in the place before, when they saw that the people around were also making movements that looked like a fight and playing drums, which soon brought them down from the carriage and guards were opening the gates to the royal palace.
Impressed by it all, they enter the red carpeted hall where they soon see a woman sitting on a throne with pale skin make-up and her hair tied up in a peculiar way, wearing a kimono. She then smiles at the nine of them, rising from the throne with her short height of one metre and forty-three centimetres.
"She's a..." Said the shockedAkko.
"She's the empress, even though she was only 14 after her parents died, she occupied the throne, about two years ago, Empress Reiko, I'm sorry for what I had to explain to my friend, these are my friends that I've been talking about for so long" said Marianne.
"The legendaryAkko has finally appeared, welcome girl, oh and Queen Diana too, I feel honoured that finally a royal has come to visit us" said the Empress.
"I'm not a queen yet because they don't recognise my marriage to Akko, but I'm honoured by your formality, Empress" said Diana.
"Oh there's no reason to think so, you're the real Queen of Hyrule, married to our great heroine, we can already tell that this is the beginning of a great alliance between Edo and Wedinburgh, make yourselves at home in our castle" said Reiko to the girls.
They were taken with the empress to the banqueting hall, where they were served the highest quality food in the kingdom, everyone was showing great class, even Atsuko herself, in a surprising way, ate it with class and the girls even found the empress a little exotic because of her manner and also because she was still only a child.
"So you must be wondering how you got here, right? So, when I came to Edo with the girls, no one knew Akko, I spent a few days recovering in Nagasaki until I came to the capital, I ended up doing the same thing I did in Wedinburgh and I ended up making friends with Reiko, who until then was still a princess and was eight years old, we played games and everything, which her parents soon realised and made a point of training me as a ninja because they recognised my stealth skills, that's why I'm so welcomed here at the castle" Marianne said.
"Mari Senpai was a very good friend, she showed me things about Wedinburgh, she told me all your stories, I was thrilled and so were my parents, a girl from an ordinary family from the mountains of Chiba fled to Hyrule and from that escape came a legendary warrior who would bring peace to us all, You became a legend around here Akko, the ancient scriptures spoke of a warrior from Edo who would bring peace, we were confident that it was you, scriptures of the great Mako, the greatest samurai Edo had ever seen, her skill was such that she never lost a fight" said the empress.
"Woah, was my ancestor that great?" Said the curious Kagari.
"Mako was invincible, she later went to Hyrule and was one of those who helped found the kingdom of Wedinburgh 350 years ago, but unfortunately ended up having to flee back to Edo because she was threatened there, the queens did nothing to stop this, all because Mako wanted a part of the kingdom for herself, which led to a whole mess, Mako lost and came here being expelled from Hyrule, with her only failure being a battle against Queen Sarah Campbell of Wedinburgh, she ended up performing the Seppuku in Edo, to this day the Kagari temple is still standing and legend has it that the heroine of Edo would unite the master sword with Mako's power, her legendary blood would be used to bring the great samurai Kagari back in a new heroine" Reiko said.
"Woah, I can't wait to get there and do it then, receive my ancestor's blessing and defeat bloodyAndrew once and for all, he's kept me locked up all these years, you bastard" said the crimson-eyed one.
"Ah Appleton, they keep forcing me to open up to them, to an alliance, but they can never get close for fear of our defences, which are still strong, we're lucky to be an island because of that, he came here when my parents were still alive and I strongly suspect that their death was precisely provoked byAppleton, they thought that letting a 12-year-old girl rule here would end up destroying Edo, but we're organised, even though I lost my parents I still stayed strong and with Marianne's help we were able to keep the kingdom prosperous, anyway... Make yourselves at home, you'll always be welcome here in Edo, you're living legends" said the empress, smiling at them all.
As time went by, the girls got their fill of the banquet, and then they went on a tour of the castle with the Empress, who showed them everything about the huge place, the landscapes, the paintings, the art, the younger brothers, just like the other nobles who welcomed the nine girls.
The parchment libraries, the beautiful gardens, which despite being winter had an unrivalled charm, the care and cleanliness and discipline of the place showed everything, they were soon also shown the rooms where they were going to stay, very spacious and each had a partition separated by a wall of paper and wood.
"This is where you can make yourselves at home, these are your quarters, I've made a point of leaving the best ones for you, especially as we have queens among us" said the sympathetic royal girl.
"And where are we going to bathe?" Diana asks.
"So... Diana, here in Edo bathing traditions are more... How can I put it? Peculiar, we have hot springs where everyone is usually naked, but there are also the royal bathing rooms, where everyone goes together, even the men go in there and everyone bathes together, but the empress knew you were coming, that's why I made a point of talking about more private bathing rooms for you" Marianne said.
"Oh yes, I'm surprised that you people from Wedinburgh are so private, when Mari told me that you don't even have bathrooms and that even when you do things they are separated between men and women I thought it was exotic, I imagine that the girls must be very embarrassed, and also for couples it really is something that should be more private, I as empress have my own, I imagine that you will too, even more so because I have queens close to me" said the empress.
"That's just Diana's thing, but I think that around men I'd be really weirded out by being naked, with other girls it's fine, but I'm bothered by the way some men look at my body, even when I'm dressed, let alone without clothes" said Hellene.
"Well then, you can relax, there's an individual shower room and a collective one that I made especially for you, you can use my real shower room, it's very spacious, as I have two, one more private and the other I call my friends to chat, only among those closest to the kingdom" said Reiko.
Diana was relieved that she hadn't thought she'd have to shower for a few days because she was the only one of the girls who was too embarrassed to be exposed in front of other girls and people in general, only comfortable doing so when Akko was with her. With all this demonstration of the place, they went to rest to leave the next day for the mountains where Akko would have yet another conquest on her journey, surprised and very much at arriving in a place where she was well received.
A long way from there, Louis Blackwell was arriving at the harbour that led to Edo, already in disguise. He saw his father's carrier pigeon finally arriving and went to read the message to find out more about what had happened, since he had been riding at top speed for days to get there and do just one thing on his mission, which was to murder Akko.
"My son, I'm writing this letter more as a farewell, I'm doing it for Appleton, I know he's a big boy, I'm not going to betray him by trying to mutiny against the lord or kill him, but in a few days I'm going to provoke what could be the sinking of the ship and it's likely that I won't come out of this alive, I hope that during your trip to Edo you manage to execute the target girl, as soon as I manage to sink the ship I'll at least manage to make our lord lose a lot of time and have to give up, I hope my sacrifice in a few days will be worth it, goodbye kid, take care, you've grown into a great man, you may not be a great warrior, but the things you've done for Appleton are of more importance, without you we would never have achieved the glory we had today, that's why I say I'm proud of you kid, Goodbye Louis".
(Damn it Dad, you're going to sacrifice yourself in vain like this, if Andrew finds out anything he'll kill me in the worst possible way, I hope he takes a long time to get to Appleton or else I'll never be able to fulfil my mission, by now he'll have done it, damn it...) I didn't even get to say goodbye to my father, he's always been a stickler for me and now he's proud of me, this is no time to cry over spilt milk, I have to move on, just one more day and I'll get to Edo, I'll just rest here and take the boat to go there and soon this target will be just a story).
And so Blackwell goes to a hotel to rest, before leaving since it was night he couldn't leave for Edo and would have to stop, he went practically in record time, trotting with several horses at high speed, he spent a lot of money on horses just to keep trotting until he tired each one and then leave them lying around, which ended up crossing the land of Hyrule at high speed and in a few days of travelling.
Akko and her friends arrived in Edo to the worst reception at first, due to the periplécias that Liuis Blackwell had made a few weeks earlier on the spot, which almost led to the heroine's execution, but which was soon cleared up and things changed from water to wine for the nine, especially Kagari, who was considered a queen by the Empress of Edo herself and also a great heroine for everything she has been doing and what she is yet to do.
See you, Mahou Witches...