It was often said that each kingdom represented a season of the year. Vacuo was the raging summer with its constant heat and shifting sand dunes, Atlas was the frigid winter complete with snow and ice everywhere one might look. Vale was the one that often ruined people's analogy, and was often just slapped with Autumn simply because it was the only one remaining. Mistral, however, was sweet and beautiful spring. Rain fall was common, and the entire country held a constant aura of freshly imbued life into all of its nature. Encountering dry grass or even functional firewood seemed almost impossible, yet the citizens of the country would never complain about the constant water that seemed to seep everywhere besides what would be inconvenient. Yes, the nobles and rulers of the country had long since figured out how to make the towns and cities exempt from this constant stream of water that attempted to wash away everything that wasn't natural. The Mana pipes that ran beneath the streets and into the houses always took care of it, though only the people behind the design could tell you how.

This morning was no different from any other. The city outside the window was graced only by the earliest rays of sunlight that could peek over the mountains surrounding the city, made even more dulled by the mist that covered the whole mountain range the capital sat in. Truly, anyone waking up at this time would think it was much earlier than it was, saved only by most of the residents being used to this sort of thing.

For one such individual, even though he had lived here for the majority of his life, the sensation he was supposed to have gotten used to had eluded him still.

It was certainly too early. For what exactly was the question, but personally, he would argue the answer was everything. One could only push themselves out of bed so quickly, and he had already realised the mistake of using an alarm nowadays, so it was just his bodies clock and whatever awful coffee he had in the cupboards to wake him up. Well, that and a fresh case of motivation every time his eyes opened this early in the day.

Most would call him sappy for taking as long as he could before pushing himself out of bed. Instead of taking advantage of whatever time he had to get ready for the day, he continued laying there for as long as possible, taking in the sight before him. She didn't sleep gracefully, in all honesty it had made him chuckle every morning he saw it, that strange sleeping position she always ended up in no matter how hard he hugged her as they fell asleep the night before. Body splayed everywhere and limbs shooting out like she was trying to imitate a tree in her sleep, it was equal parts cute and silly. A perfect combination of emotions for him to start the day with, which was why this sight was necessary to his daily schedule.

It would truly be an awful day without this sight the second his eyes opened.

Having stolen every moment he could, he leaned closer and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, whispering something into her ear that he hoped she would hear in her dreams. With that, he worked up the effort to get his body moving, standing from the bed and looking around their still mostly dark room. It wasn't the darkness of night, rather the darkness of that classic Mistral early morning. One he adamantly refused to get used to, but enjoyed all the same.

Passing by the best new addition to their room he could ever have hoped for months prior, his eyes lit up with a joy that couldn't be described as he looked at their sleeping miracle still in his crib. No movements besides the gentle up and down of his chest, still wrapped up and perfectly cosy, still sleeping away and dreaming about who knows what. Stealing one more moment that he almost certainly couldn't spare, he smiled down at his son, and let his hand move over the babies cheek.

This sight as well. It was a new one, but it was already becoming one he needed so early in the morning just as much as the previous.

Getting ready was a quick process that had been done more times than he could count, though he would assure whoever asked that he couldn't actually count that high. Relatively speaking, this was a new job, and one that had arrived just in time. Almost the second Daisy had gotten pregnant was the second this job had appeared like a lifeline. The pay wasn't anything to cheer about, but it was a step up from his last job, and enough to keep their house and food on the table while Daisy was unable to work. Things would be made better soon enough, now that their little miracle had been here for a while, his wife would soon be able to head back to work and their issues involving Lien would come to a lovely close... At least, for now.

There was no doubt that taxes would surely rise soon, this war was taking a toll on everyone, and frankly it was a miracle that they had yet to get high enough to push him and his family under that terrifying line that separated them from sleeping in beds and not.

Throwing his shirt on and downing a frankly awful mug of coffee, he gave his cheeks a good slap and felt a renewal of conviction in his heart. The war was a problem, yes, but not his problem. He was only Human, after all. So, he quickly grabbed his key and gave one quick glance to the mirror hanging just in their foyer. With a small smile that conveyed a level of confidence he could only keep thanks to the people counting on him, he gave his black hair a quick fix, and winked at himself in the mirror with feigned enthusiasm. Turning away from the reflection of his brown eyes, he stepped out into the streets of this city he called home.

The walk was nothing to comment on, perhaps it was at first, but now that he had gotten used to it there wasn't much to say anymore. This place was beautiful in a calm way, like a serene valley nestled on all sides by mountains that seemed to have more waterfalls than one could count. The streets themselves were kept as flat as possible for the Mana pipes below, but hills and drops ran amok right besides the gentle inclines of the road. This early in the morning, there were only one or two carriages passing by that he could see, and that number didn't increase much as he moved closer and closer to the centre of town.

His destination was one that lacked beauty in this lovely city. It resembled a factory or warehouse, which was a stark contrast to all the lovely rustic buildings that surrounded it. This place oozed with functionality, and that was only made ironic as he stepped past the great line that lead down the street and past a distant corner that he could barely see past all the people. Every single one of them were lined up at his place of work, and thankfully the doors had yet to open. Still, seeing the line filled him with a familiar anxiety, and he broke out into a jog just to be safe. Some regulars waiting towards the front of the line waved as he passed, and he returned their greetings as he slipped into the back of the building, entering through the employee only door.

Quick to greet his colleagues that seemed just as anxious about the line as he did... or perhaps just preemptively tired from it, he was quick to head to his own desk in a row of about seven. Each one was guarded by a metal sort of fence-like wall that separated them from all the people who would soon be entering, save only for a small slot at each of their desks. Sitting next to each of them was a large industrial machine that stuck out of the metal divider and had a slot for someone's hand to slip into at around the same height that their desks sat at.

"Pine-" A voice from behind that made him wince as he sat at his desk, turning his head to see the on duty manager, a larger man with bullhorns sticking from his head. "You were almost late." His voice would be booming if he tried to speak at anything more than a normal volume, but besides the threat of punishment for being bad at his job - which he wasn't - he actually felt no fear towards his boss.

"But I wasn't." With a voice much softer than the other mans, he put on a jokingly triumphant tone that made the Faunas's lips shift into a momentary smile that he fought off before stepping away.

Considering that a success, he turned to face the divider at the end of his desk and let out a gentle sigh. It was time for the day to start, and as if on cue the doors at the front of the building opened and that large crowd flooded in.

Owen Pine

It was taking all of his effort to avoid yawning.

Every morning was the same these days, a crowd so large that calling it most of the population of the capital wouldn't be too much of an understatement. Luckily, business tended to die once the sun rose proper, and would only really start up again at the end of the day.

"Morning, Owen." This particular citizen stepped up to the machine with the standard greeting, only really receiving a yawn in response from the Human behind the counter. "Had a good sleep, I take it?" Sarcastic comment aside, Owen's eyes flicked to the back of the machine next to him, watching a gauge slowly fill up after the other man had put his hand into the slot.

It wasn't even a second before the Elf man let out a grunt of unease, to which Owen let out a small chuckle. "How are you not used to it yet?"

"Tell you what, you try this without being uncomfortable, and then I'll let you make all the comments that you want." Pulling his hand from the slot after he had given all he could, the elf took a step to his right and was directly in front of Owen as he started to note down the numbers.

"Ah, yeah, let me get right on that with my zero Mana." His brown eyes kept focused on the book in front of him as he entered the numbers, once finished, he turned in his chair to grab some notes from the nearby counter. "Two grams isn't bad." His comment was one just for himself, though the actual weight had been a little lower than that. The Elf didn't want to give everything after all, lest he collapse. Those incidents tended to happen a few times a day, though.

"Maybe it's time to just bite the bullet and buy a Formula." This suggestion was one Owen often heard, and the words made him hesitate on handing over the man's owed Lien simply to be cheeky.

"Tell you what-" Still, he didn't hold off on giving him the money for long. "I might think about it once I can actually afford one."

Taking his Lien without pause, the Elf took a step to the right again, leaning by the wall right next to the opening in the divider. "How is Daisy, by the way?" The next person stepped up, and luckily they were a regular who already knew what they were doing, so the two of them were free to talk still.

"She's good. No issues to speak of, and should be heading back to work soon." Owen almost breathed out a sigh of relief now that this current 'customer' was taking much longer.

"That'll take a load off?"

"No doubt." Brown eyes flicked to the gauge as the next man finished up, and he quickly jotted down some notes before grabbing his owed Lien.

"Wow, nearly five grams."

Handing over the Lien, the Elf watched on with feigned offence. "Hey, he got way more than me."

"He also gave way more than you." All three of them shared a small chuckle before both of the men walked off, leaving Owen to handle the next person in line.

Once the initial rush died down and the sun was gracing the capital proper, the work day became much calmer and the clerks on duty were all basically free to talk and joke around until another rush of customers came in. They had a few hours till lunchtime, and that would most likely be when they got a decent handful of people in, certain lucky folks that regenerated their Mana fast enough to visit three times a day... Or just didn't come in the morning.

"Owen." Hearing his manager's voice, the Human turned from the group's conversation and was confused for only a moment to see the larger Faunas man walking along with a nervous looking woman following. Her red eyes instantly made him debate in his head if she was a Vampire or just had the Berserker Curse, but that wasn't really relevant. "Owen here is one of our best clerks-" Now addressing the woman while they stood just by Owen's desk, the Human instantly found himself smirking after his manager's words.

"You're just having me teach her because Humans aren't intimidating."

After giving her the necessary explanations, the manager quickly left her in Owen's care... and he wished he could say this was the first person he had to teach so far in his time working here.

"So, jobs pretty simple." He pointed out the machine, the slot, the counter next to them opposite the machine that held all the Lien, and explained the general process to her. "The only real annoying part is writing it all down-" Pulling out the notebook from earlier, his finger moved over a page to give her a visual aid. "Just write down their name, the time they came in, how much they deposited, and how much they were owed."

"I'm not great at maths-"

"Oh, that's fine." He cut her off quickly and pointed to the back of the machine, next to the gauge. "When someone deposits their Mana, it'll display how much they gave using grams of Dust as a measurement." Mana was viewed more as a liquid, so there wasn't actually a measurement system in place for it. "Just enter whatever the current price is, and the machine will work it out for you. Currently, the conversion is roughly two-thousand Lien for one gram." That was subject to fluctuate, but it never got wildly different. "Be careful to highlight any outliers, like if a Roc or Phoenix comes in or something." Owen's best personal record was a woman who had deposited over ten grams at once, and from his best guess she had been a Vampire with the Vampire Lord title.

"How was work?" Probably the last thing he wanted to talk about now that he was home and with his family once more... But, Owen would never deny his wife of an answer that she always so craved.

"It was good." A sweet and comfortable lie, one meant to shrug off the question rather than serve as a truthful response, and they both knew it.

Which was why she didn't accept it. "You know-" Stepping around the table, passing by their son sitting up in his highchair, Daisy stopped behind Owen and wrapped her arms around him. "I asked because I wanted to know, not because I had to."

As blonde hair fell over his face and covered his own black hair, Owen felt a strength surge from his wife into him. Her comfort worked wonders, and it was all he needed for his day to be worth it, up until now. He was home, he was with her again.

"Ready to give me a proper answer now?" They whispered sweetly to each other.

"Yeah."

"Well...?"

"All in all, it was a decent day. There was another new hire that I had to show the ropes... But honestly it was just tiring more than difficult." Leaning back into her hold to try and draw more of her comfort forth, he couldn't help but smile as her grip around him tightened in response. "But it was all worth it to be here at the end of the day."

The sweet sound of her giggles rung directly into her ears as she stood up proper once again. "Careful with all that sweet talk, there's a baby present." Even with her words, she gave him a smile that promised of things not fit to speak of in the presence of such innocent ears.

Still, she was right, so the conversation changed as they sat back down for dinner.

"Have you seen Jeremy in a while?"

A tilt of his head spoke his curiosity before his words ever did. "No, why?"

"He's your best friend, Owen, and he's Human too. It's strange that I'm more worried about him than you are." Her tightened gaze made him momentarily worry that he had been a bad friend in that regard.

"Jeremy can handle himself, and he's definitely better off than we are." After a moment post his response, his eyes focused into a playful gaze. "Why are you so worried? Should I be jealous?"

"I'm worried about him because he's your friend, Owen." Her answer was dismissive, and he honestly found it entertaining. Still, after a moment, she looked sullen. "Have I done anything that might make you think that I've-"

"Daisy." Cutting her off with a smile, he tried to lighten the mood after accidentally souring it. "I know you wouldn't do anything like that."

"Thank The World-"

"I mean, at least with him." Unable to resist one last tease, her pout was well worth the trouble he was almost certainly now going to have to avoid sleeping on the couch.

"And, there you go." Sending off the final customer with a smile, Brown eyes glanced around past the divider and relished in the sight of an empty room. With the morning rush over, he was free to try and relax a bit... Maybe double-check his notebook now that he had the spare time.

Lunch breaks were difficult in this place. Since they had a small rush around that time of day, everyone was stuck either having lunch before or after the middle of their shift. It created a weird effect, and most workers tended to argue about if it was better to eat before or after the rush. Meanwhile, Owen always just skipped his break and ate during the rush. It wasn't like their job was so difficult that they couldn't just eat during it.

"Though, maybe that makes me a pig." Letting out a sigh, he tried to concentrate on the book that seemed to be staring at him just as hard as he was it.

"Yo, Owen." But something interrupted. Brown eyes darted up at that familiar voice, and he paused when they met his best friend's Yellow eyes. "Been a minute, huh?"

"Jeremy?" Unlike his wife and apparently his friend, Owen wouldn't have said that it had been a while since they'd seen each other... Well, until the moment his friend was actually standing there in front of him again. "Wow, it... actually has been a bit thinking about it now." Was a week a long time? He wasn't really sure at the moment.

"So, how do I use this thing?" With redoubled surprise, Owen looked on as Jeremy figured it out and stuck his hand into the slot. "Oh, there we go." Brown eyes flicked over to the gauge as it started to draw his Mana out. "Ew... this feels really weird."

"How..." That answer was obvious, and was one Owen took an embarrassingly long time to put together. "You bought a Formula?"

"Yep." Drawing his hand from the receptacle, he flicked his wrist a few times, the feeling clearly being uncomfortable for one unaccustomed to it, especially. "Single-use, only an Elf." Single-use just meant that one had the Formula cast on them rather than getting the actual list of Phrases, so Jeremy had actually only technically bought a usage of the Formula rather than the words themselves.

"Wow..." Even given his surprise, Owen was happy for his friend. "How much did that cost you?" He couldn't help but ask as he listed down his friend's details in the notebook.

"More than I'd like to disclose... But we should probably talk about that anyway." His tone turned oddly serious, and Owen felt like he already knew where this was going.

"Jeremy-" He tried to end the talk before it even started, pushing his friend's earned lien towards him as if to buy his silence.

"Owen." But his friend cut him off, and leaned as close to the divider as he could to whisper. His brown hair practically fell through the gaps in the metal bars. "I'm serious. There are Vacuo Knights in the capital." Owen knew that, he was pretty sure everyone knew that. "They're drafting people. Shipping them straight to Vacuo to make them fight in the Flat's Lock." That part Owen didn't actually know... But surely it was ridiculous. "Humans are their top priority targets." And that part was definitely just stupid.

"Why would they target Humans over-"

"Because you can be turned into whatever they want...!" He managed to yell and whisper simultaneously. Even if Owen didn't believe this, he still respected his friend's worry. "Your wife and kid are probably safe for now, but they'll ship you off...!"

Even if he respected his friend's worry, an eye roll still had to be resisted. "That fight has gone on for ages, man. It's been over a year now, there's no way Vacuo and Mistral are sending even more people to die out there." Owen actually managed to convince himself as he spoke. "I mean... What would be the point?"

"... Are you sure he's wrong?"

"Daisy-"

"I'm just worried. If there's even a chance that they might take you away from us, I-!"

"Daisy." He could hear the tears in her voice before they came from her eyes, and once his arms were around her, she couldn't hold them back anymore. "It's fine... Ok? I'm fine. We're fine."

"You don't know that, Owen!" Even standing in the dining room, her desperate yells made him worry that their sleeping angel might wake up in his crib in their room. "I'm scared."

"I know... I know." His grip tightened, and he tried to comfort her as well as she could comfort him... Though, Owen as sure that it was nowhere near as effective. "Look... I think we should try to get out of Mistral."

For a brief moment, her sobs stopped as she looked up at him, tears still falling. "You want to leave the city...?"

Wiping her tears from her face, he gave her the best smile he could. "The country. My brother has a farm in Vale, remember?" No matter who you asked, no matter where they lived, no matter how much the governments and kingdoms tried to hide it... Everyone knew that Vacuo and Mistral couldn't win this war. "If we get out of the capital, I think we can find a town somewhere that has airships that still go to Vale."

"I don't know if we can anymore... Owen, I know it sounds good but-"

"But nothing. If we don't feel safe here, we have to leave." Not even ten minutes earlier had he not had a single worry about staying in Mistral... But the more and more he spoke, the more he convinced himself that this was the right move. The right course of action.

"We... We would just be leaving our lives behind-" He could tell she wanted to, but right now, Daisy just needed him to reassure her that this was a good move.

And by the end of the night, he had.

Owen had convinced her so thoroughly by the time they drifted off to sleep that he had even started saying things like 'We should have done this earlier!'.

Even he didn't know how right he was.

The early morning came and Owen's eyes opened once more. His favourite sight to wake up to came and went as he got up and ready for the day. A plan was formed in his mind as he got dressed, he laid out the steps he would take as he drank his morning coffee. His mind was set in stone as he walked to the front door.

"I'll quit at the end of today, and we'll pack our bags when I get home and leave tonight."

As his hand met the door handle, a smile graced his expression. Even with how scary this plan was, he was still excited. He was looking forward to this new chapter of his life... Of their lives. Owen wondered how different farm work might be, he wondered if his son would love growing up out there, he wondered what it would be like to look up and see the stars so clearly at night.

All those thoughts came to a sudden and abrupt stop as the door creaked open, and something still blocked his exit to the street.

"Are you Mr Pine?"

Owen wasn't stupid. Not completely, anyway.

He invited them in, it was the polite and respectful thing to do.

Though, perhaps he just needed more time in his home before it happened.

Their uniforms were easy to recognise, and even easier were their Faunas features. They wore 'armour' that breathed incredibly well and seemed to only offer the bare minimum of defence. Their whole getup looked mainly orange and black in colour, and on both of their chests was an emblem of two winged swords, with one having split the other down the middle. Vacuo's emblem.

"Would you like some coffee? I warn you, it's not very good." His attempt at a joke was met with silence, their expressions unchanging as they seemed to just smile at him... and wait patiently for him to go and get himself a drink. With slow movements, he did just that. Once again, he wanted to steal as much time as he could before he was forced to stop stalling. Though... in this circumstance... Maybe that had been the wrong decision.

"Owen...?" A tired voice that rung through the hall as Daisy stepped out into the kitchen, which connected to the dining room and lounge room with an open-plan. "You're not at work... yet...?" Her voice slowed and stopped completely as her eyes flicked to the two knights standing in their lounge room.

"Daisy." He wanted her to look at him instead, to concentrate and savour their moments together... But, he knew it wasn't realistic to expect that.

Bare feet darted quickly as she lunged into the kitchen and went straight for the knives, intent on fighting to keep her family whole. But she was stopped by the hands she didn't expect. "Let me go!" Her voice was a mixture of equal parts rage and despair, she struggled desperately in his arms as he held her tight... Just wanting to hug her right now. "Owen! Let me go!" He couldn't. He didn't want to.

"... Daisy." He whispered her name this time, and that was finally enough for her to break down, collapsing into tears and wails of pain as they sunk to the floor, holding each other tight. "It's ok... You're going to be ok." Another lie, this time, not so sweet or comfortable. And once again... they both knew it was false. Even still, he tried to comfort her, to make her feel better... even somewhat.

"Please... don't go..." He was trying to be strong, he really was. But she was practically begging in his arms, and he could only take so much before his own tears fell from his eyes. "Please!" Her head whipped around, and she eyed down the Knights. "Don't take my husband!"

Their expressions didn't change. They just kept that same smile, watching and listening to them like the two Humans in front of them weren't even people.

Owen had to wonder... Was that actually how they felt, or did they have to act this way in order to bring themselves to do this...?

As he watched one of their expressions briefly falter, he knew which it was. "I can assure you, you'll be well compensated for your brave endeavours-" The shorter of the two had taken a step closer as he spoke.

"Well compensated? You're sending my husband to die! How can you compensate him for that!?" Daisy was ready to stand again, to try and go for the knives to fight. But for as strong spirited as she was, her body couldn't keep up with Owen's.

And he held her tight, keeping her still because he knew they didn't stand a chance if they actually tried to fight these Knights.

"Then..." The smaller one spoke again, having completely dropped the act now as he hung his head in shame. "You'll receive the money in your husband's stead."

It was strange. No one had to say what was happening for them all to understand. The second Owen had seen them, he knew exactly what was going to happen... and he knew he couldn't fight it. This was now his fate, this wasn't something that could be changed.

His grip tightened again, practically squeezing Daisy as reality set in. As he realised he was going to be taken away.

"I don't want to leave you."

3rd Day, Ninth Strike, 2116 PE