Mistral was, and always will be, a beautiful place.
The city of Spring, as it had been known. It was an apt name, the middle and lower districts always found themselves coated in a thin layer of water, a large river and waterfall ran through the whole length of the city. From upper to lower district, from the glorious keep to the lowest barrows hidden deep at the base of the vibrant and amazing home to thousands upon thousands of people. It existed, skirted by muddy fields with emerald green blades of grass that always seemed to be fresh with the healthy shine of rain water. Surrounding that, kilometres out from the city in all directions, was an incredibly dense mountain range. The glorious walls that kept them from seeing the distant horizon, each peak pierced the clouds above, acting like claws to keep the roof of the valley in place.
The roof of Mistral, of course, was a deeply beautiful haze of fog. It connected to the ground only where the mountains touched it, and it extended across the top of the entire circuit of mountains. The city, and the valley that surrounded it, would always be shrouded in darkness thanks to the roof, but, the original creators had the foresight to plan for that. Sunlight always managed to find its way through the mist, the roof had been enchanted to always let it seep through, and looking up at it from below was a strange sight. It resembled foggy glass, stretched across the sky.
Looking around from the city, or the field surrounding it, and it would be quite clear that the city wasn't exactly hidden. That, of course, couldn't be further from the truth.
The city's location was perhaps the best kept secret in all of Remnant... Or, at least, that's what the people running this place claimed.
In truth, there were, and always will be, greater secrets to be kept.
Those that disputed that, or even tried to reveal all they could, were often disappointed by reality.
These things were what a certain individual thought as she ascended the steps leading up to the large and ornately constructed keep that sat at the top of Mistral. The building wasn't a castle - that much was clear at even a glance - but whoever had designed it had taken immense strides to ensure that it matched the grand nature of such a structure. The theories about its architecture had often been shared and disputed, but no one could deny that it shared a relation to the title of Masamune. Despite the odd nature of the title, the old shingled and angled roofs that covered thin walls that looked to be made of paper certainly invoked a familiar feeling in anyone that had seen a weapon made in the Title's image.
Of course, the painted images of those same weapons that coated some of the halls were another hint.
Nora Valkyrie
Turning her head to the man walking next to her, she grinned. "What do you think?"
Her companion was silent for a moment, his expression remaining plain and rather aloof to most, however, Nora at least could tell what he was feeling. A slight twitch of his brow, a tiny up curl of his lip, Ren always enjoyed her company, even if most didn't believe it. "The original wielder of Masamune no doubt helped make the city, or, at least, the keep. There isn't any other explanation for it."
"Maybe the guy who owned the house just really liked how those weapons looked!" Nora exclaimed with a bright grin, which only grew brighter as she recognised the temporary flash of emotion in Ren's eyes.
"Maybe." He commented, giving her a quick smile that almost made her swoon.
Finally reaching the great building, their path took them to the large front door, stepping over the balcony of sorts in front of the glorified mansion that hung over the beginnings of Mistral's great waterfall. The guards at the door eyed them for a moment before opening the door without comment. While neither Nora nor Ren appeared to be Knights, the guards stationed here had long since grown used to their presence. They had come back and forth more times than could be counted, and more than the majority of such instances had been for the same reason they were here today for.
"The King is expecting you." One of the guards said as a short mutter when they passed, after all, they all knew why the two of them were here. The only reason left to say those words were simply for duties sake.
Walking through the halls, already knowing the path to their destination, Nora let her eyes glance around with a curious expression while Ren simply stared forward. Eventually, her eyes found their way back to him, and a small frown fell over her as she recognised the subtle hints of his anxiety.
"Ren." Hearing her oddly serious voice, he turned with a raised eyebrow, ready to question here. Of course, he never got the chance to speak before Nora's hand darted over, and her finger poked his nose lightly. "Boop."
Taking a step back in momentary surprise, a light frown settled over Ren's face. "Nora." He chastised, to which she only shrugged with a cheeky grin. Letting out a small sigh, he turned and continued walking.
Nora smiled once more as she recognised the signs of his mood having calmed.
Reaching their destination, a sliding door built into one of the many paper-looking walls that made up these halls, they shared a quick look before Ren opened it without warning. Stepping in, neither bothered to say anything to the man inside until after the door had been closed behind them.
Now locked in the King's office with him present, the enchantments on the room surged to life and quickly soundproofed the walls, ceilings, and floors. Nora and Neptune exchanged a small look, before the King's attention fully turned to Ren.
As Ren stepped closer, Nora's eyes glanced over the room once more. The room was perhaps at the very top of the keep, even further up than Neptune's own quarters. His desk faced the doors to the room, and was back dropped by open doors that led to a balcony which saw over the whole of Mistral. Ren took a seat in front of Neptune's desk, directly in front of him. Nora followed suite, choosing to stand just to Ren's side and slightly behind him.
"Hello, Ren." Nora's eyes caught a slight twitch from Ren's lips at Neptune's greeting. Her own annoyance wasn't quite as subdued on her expression, Neptune had once again refused to address Ren as the Lord that he was. "Nora." That was all the greeting she got, though she didn't much care for her own situation, she had no such Lordship to comment on.
"Your Highness." Ren's own greeting sounded good enough, but thanks to the odd lesson or two in formal etiquette that Ren had forced onto her, she recognised that Neptune should have been called 'majesty' instead. The term 'your highness' was apparently only used for members of a royal family, rather than a monarch. Even given the 'mistake', they all ignored it. After all, it was painfully clear that Ren had picked his words purposefully.
"Right then, on with it." Neptune dropped all pretence with a wave of his hand, after all, they had all had this meeting before.
Nora almost sighed before Ren began to speak. "Once again, we are here to try and convince you to abandon this war. It is pointless, and it causes nothing but suffering for both our people and Vale's." Nora had expected him to go over all the old points, but Ren seemed content to only leave it at that for now.
Of course, Neptune's retort was expected. "You expect me to stop this now? We have come too far to not see it through."
"We haven't done anything but allow people to die." Ren's aggravation was surely lost on the King, but Nora was incredibly aware of the man's rage. "Surely, our people would respect you more if you stopped this now. Seeing it through would only cause more suffering."
"You are vastly overestimating the suffering of Mistral's people." Neptune's words surely increased Ren's rage, but the Shinobi only glanced back to silently tell Nora to not lose her own cool. It was a good thing he did, after all, her eyes were already turning Red. "You can't expect me to just roll over and surrender to Vale."
"Yes we can." Nora said without pause, startling both Ren and Neptune. The former frowned gently as he glanced at her, while Neptune raised his eyebrow in a challenge.
"Then why don't you stop me, Nora?" His voice had grown calm as both his palms moved to his desk. He stood with a frown. "Why not challenge me for the throne?"
She was tempted, more than tempted, in fact. Multiple times had she thought about doing it, more times than she could count had she restrained herself from attacking him... But she couldn't. She was stronger than Neptune, that was clear to everyone that had seen the both of them fight... But...
"If you ever left this city..." She wanted to growl as her eyes turned pure red as they glared at him. Nora could beat Neptune, incredibly easily as well. She was confident, as well, that she could at least challenge Dagon. Her element countered his own, and she only had to kill Neptune to erase the Summon... But to start that fight in the city? More than thousands of people would get caught in their battle. Nora would either lose if she contained her attacks, or she would kill too many people with the scope of her power to make the bout worth it in the first place.
All she could do was pray that he would one day leave this place.
Even if Dagon wasn't here... He could recall it in the seconds it would take for her to kill Neptune.
Afterwards...? She fully believed that in that brief window before the King died, he would make Dagon kill thousands of the citizens of Mistral.
The work he had put into convincing Nora of that fact was what allowed him to still be seated on the throne.
After a tense two minutes of his challenging gaze set on the Valkyrie, she remained quiet and still... So he returned to his seat.
"That's what I thought." He nodded with a malicious smirk, and Ren glanced back at Nora once again to make sure she would contain herself. "Now, is there anything else you wanted to discuss? Or has Lord Ren come here for nothing?"
Keeping much better control of his anger than Nora was, Ren kept a steady gaze on the King. "We wanted to speak to you about stopping the assaults on the Argus Fortress."
A flash of anger surged behind Neptune's eyes for a moment before he scowled. "Yes, actually, I wanted to speak to you of that matter as well." His gaze turned to Nora. "Why is it that you didn't attack the Fortress after you defeated the Summon?"
Thinking back to that event which had occurred nearly a week ago, Nora frowned. "The Summon kept on healing after my attacks, it only disappeared after it was cancelled out. If the Queen was in the fortress, she had too much Mana for me to beat." The sensation had been off as she watched the Summon on that field... Her Mana reserves felt way too large. Then again, she had never faced a Dragon before.
"How do you know that she was even there?"
"I didn't want to take the chance." Nora was only half telling the truth. The real reason she had left, there and then, was to avoid any more loss of lives. Too many people had died on that field already.
"If I might add-" Ren was cut off by a low humming noise that sounded from Neptune's desk. All three sets of eyes turned to the Scrying Orb sitting on top of it, and without a second thought, Neptune reached over and answered the call. It was like he had forgotten that Ren and Nora were even here.
"Your Majesty," Nora only glanced at the Scrying Orb, not bothering to memorise the appearance of the messenger on the other side. "There is an urgent matter-"
"And?" Despite the man's respect for the King, Neptune still didn't seem to return even the simplest of concessions in his attitude. "I'm busy with something."
Nora's brows furrowed as her eyes flared red once more. "You don't actually care about what we're saying. You just don't want to deal with whatever that is."
Her thoughts were true, until, of course, the messenger continued. "Of course, I'm sorry, your Majesty... It's just... You asked to be informed when we found the location of certain individuals." It was unclear if the man had recognised Neptune's disdain or not, either way, he certainly didn't show it if he had.
"Did I?" Neptune seemed to have actually forgotten that, which was a fact that made Ren's lips twitch upward for a moment.
"Yes, your Majesty. We've just intercepted a message leaving the Argus fortress-" Nora frowned as the messenger spoke. She didn't know much about 'messages' but from what she had gathered, they were like letters sent at the speed of a call across a Scrying Orb. They were interesting... But, it hadn't been clear until now that they even had the capabilities to intercept Vale's messages. Not with Ruby behind the wheel of Vale's technology. "- According to the information we gathered, Yang Xiao Long, and her wife, Blake Xiao Long, are at the fortress right now. We believe they are acting as a new defence in place of the Queen, and-"
He was cut off by Neptune's sudden rise out of his seat. The messenger, Ren, and Nora, all looked at him in silence for a moment as an emotion she couldn't pin covered his expression. "Y-Your Majesty...?" The messenger asked nervously.
"Thank you... That will be all." His hand wiped over the Scrying Orb, ending the call. For a moment, he simply held that position, staring at nothing... Before a malicious grin spread over his face. Nora felt a shiver run down her spine upon seeing it, and her hand moved to Ren's shoulder to support him, just in case he felt anything similar. His lips just kept on spreading, his grin growing bigger and bigger until it almost looked unnatural. Nora knew it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but it made the sight no more comforting.
Quickly snapping back, Neptune looked around in almost a haze as he quickly adjusted all matter of things. Pulling the Scrying Orb to the centre of the desk, he pushed off important documents and even an expensive looking statue. Resting his hands on the device, he quickly moved away for a moment to pull his chair closer again, sitting down and resting his hands once more on the orb.
"This is going to be amazing..." His voice was a whisper, it sounded ominous, intimidating. Nora could see a dark yet giddy rush of feelings pulse over Neptune again and again before his eyes darted up and glanced between them both multiple times. "You'll want to watch! Surely!" He smiled at them, it was so genuine that it was disturbing.
"Your Highness...?" Ren asked carefully, almost flinching back when Neptune's eyes darted to him once more. "What... What is going on...?"
His grin grew once more, and Nora could finally understand the source of the dark illusion spreading across his face and making him appear so twisted and warped... The ominous presence seeping into the room, the overbearingly dark Mana... He was preparing to Summon Dagon.
"Revenge." The word left his lips like it was the sweetest thing that could be tasted.
His Mana, along with a much more intense source of Mana, pulsed as the air of the room grew heavy with the scent of seawater. Channelling his power into the Orb, Neptune conjured an image into its centre. One they could all see. Nora barely recognised the darkness at first, but with a rush the image appeared to change rapidly. It was only after a few seconds that she understood it as the perspective of something rising from the ocean's depths. Putting two and two together, her expression hardened as she continued watching the Orb display the view through Dagon's eyes.
It breached the waters surface like a speeding arrow, launching itself high above the ocean below and landing atop a cliff that sat by the sea. Its eyes set quickly on a fortress not too far away, one Nora recognised as the fortress of Argus. At first, she had expected to watch the fragment of the High Devil simply annihilate the whole thing with one massive pulse of water. But, it seemed that Neptune had more intimate plans.
The beast whose eyes they watched through set forward, its heavy steps pressing deep into the mud as it quickly made its way to the fortress walls. It didn't bother attempting to leap them or even scale them, instead, it simply raised its bloated and disgusting webbed hand into a fist before knocking a hole in the wall fit for it to step through. After doing just that, it made its way to the front door.
The way its dark green hand moved down and gripped the door handle, it was oddly horrifying to see, after knowing what the beast was capable of. It was like it was enjoying the hunt, like it wanted to savour these moments leading up to the kill.
Only after glancing up and seeing Neptune's expression, did she realise that it was his actions. He had taken manual control of Dagon.
The door creaked open with a tense, high-pitched noise. The fragment of the High Devil couldn't fit through the door, it had to crouch down and awkwardly squeeze its way through slowly. It could have easily broken its way in, of course... But, Neptune was no doubt enjoying the build up to what he would no doubt view as the greatest elation possible. Stepping inside, the door closed behind it with that same disturbing creaking sound. The room would have been in complete darkness now, if the High Devil didn't have some twisted form of night vision.
Everything had a sickly-green hue as its eyes scanned the first room, no doubt searching for any hints of its targets. Taking agonisingly slow steps, the creature's body dripped with the seawater it had just been immersed in. The slow dripping only added to the tense atmosphere, and Nora found herself leaning in accidentally, simply waiting for the tension to be released somehow.
Finally, the beast's head darted to the right, catching a glimpse of a bright Yellow light for a moment. Settling its gaze on a turned over desk, Dagon made slow footsteps over to it, no doubt expecting to find someone hiding behind it.
Its oily, grotesque, green hand reached out and gripped the corner of the table. Pausing for a moment, nothing happened for a few seconds before Dagon suddenly ripped its arm back, sending the desk flying across the room behind it to reveal... Nothing. No one was there.
Nora let out a gentle sigh, while Neptune let out a soft grunt of disappointment... Before, he strangely shivered. For a moment, Nora was confused by the sight... After all, he was currently connected to the High Devil Dagon. Surely, if ever there was a time for him to shiver, now was the strangest of moments.
She would have been right, of course. Had Dagon been the most intimidating thing in that room.
With a flash of Yellow and White light, Dagon's vision was completely obscured for a moment, and it let out an alien shriek of pain. With another flash that came not even a moment later, Nora watched as a slash ran across the High Devil's vision, followed by a moment's pause before an explosion of those same colours left the High Devil shrieking once more in a pain that surely couldn't be described with something as simple as words.
Neptune, Nora, Ren... None of them made any sounds as Dagon hit the floor, its vision like it was spinning for a moment as they watched the ceiling and floor come in and out of view rapidly before stopping. All was silent for a moment before a boot dropped in front of the thing's vision. The owner of said boot crouched down, and assumedly grabbing Dagon, she lifted it up to stare into its eyes.
Nora felt a surge of fear grip her, even greater than the shiver from earlier. The view on the other side was simple, yet terrifying.
Flowing red hair dotted with faint glowing lights of White and Yellow, wisps that seemed to spawn as quickly as they faded. Her skin was marked with tribal tattoos, and what wasn't coated in the black colour was glowing with a soft hue of light. The eyes that bore a glare into Dagon's own, they were a spiral of colours... Blue, Orange, Yellow, White, Silver, and Green. The rainbow twisted and contorted, it was as beautiful as it was nightmare inducing.
Her expression was that of a frown, and only after Nora tore her eyes from Conquest's own did she see Dagon's body laying in the background... Devoid of a head.
"I used to believe that I could be taught no more lessons about combat," Pyrrha Nikos' voice was calm, collected, like she hadn't just slain a fragment of a High Devil in seconds. It only served to make her more intimidating. "It was an issue that came with being as strong as I was... However... All of you people have taught me something." The fear she instilled in them only increased when the animosity in her eyes grew. "When you bear down on an opponent that needs to die... You must simply act. Do not wait, do not hesitate. Simply... Kill."
Dagon's head dropped to the ground, rolling slightly, so its view was clearly showing the rest of its body... As it faded into nothing but foam and seawater.
Before the head vanished, they heard her voice say one more thing. "I will remember that lesson well... And when the time comes... I will make extreme use of it. Be mindful of what side you are on when I share that lesson in my enemies final moments."
The Scrying Orb cut off, and for an incredibly tense minute... All was silent.
The fear that petrified them all was like a shivering of every cell in her body. She was glued in place, and from what she could see, so were the two that still sat. Her mind raced, trying its best to reassure her that despite her anxieties... Conquest was not in this room. Pyrrha Nikos was far away, she wasn't close... Nora was safe from that... thing.
They all recovered at the same time, their strength having nothing to do with it, the moment simply had to pass before they could accept that they were safe - at least today - from her blade.
"... Dagon..." Neptune's whisper finally broke the silence, and his head hung for a moment as he simply stared at nothing. While his words may have been nothing but an expression of shock... It was also a reminder to the others. Dagon was now gone, it was no longer a factor. With a quick glance from Ren, Nora grinned. "We... We must act, now...!" Neptune's head turned up just in time, his courage having returned to him just as it was too late.
Standing before him, in place of his desk which had been casually slid out of the way with a single push, was Nora. Her hand was pointed straight at his face, lighting crackling up and down her forearm as glowing blue fur sprouted from her body. A grin stretched over her expression as a new bout of fear made its way over Neptune's own.
"Neptune," Ren spoke calmly, and his voice now completely lacked the feigned respect he had spoken with earlier. "Tell me... Do you remember the reasoning for Leonardo's retirement from the throne?"
When the man failed to respond, Nora answered him instead. "Wasn't it, 'to spend more time with his family'? Or something?"
Ren chuckled, and said, "Yes, it was." Stepping into position next to Nora, they both bore down on Neptune. "Tell me... 'Your Highness'... How would you like to spend more time with your family?"
Weiss Schnee
Flicking through the many papers darting her desk, Weiss was humming gently. It was a sweet melody that carried throughout the office, much to the enjoyment of the other two individuals who were spending their spare time here.
It was rather calming, working with such a relaxing air about her. Past her desk and sitting on the couch in her office to her left, was her wife. The woman she trusted most, who, in her infinite wisdom, was playing with plants. Of course, those plants were sprouting from her body and made of Dragon scales, but Weiss chose to view it in the more comical light. Across from Ruby, was their son.
Argus sat cross-legged on the floor. His hands and eyes were tense with concentration as he glared at a crystal of Dust like it had wronged him. The tiny Light Blue crystal laid on the floor, and if it were alive, both Weiss and Argus were sure that it wouldn't have a care in The World. After a few minutes of this, however, the crystal shifted in place, spurred into movement by a force whose origin couldn't be traced. Until, of course, Weiss glanced at Argus' triumphant expression.
Ever since Ruby had discovered her new abilities, Argus had wanted to figure out more of his own. So far, this was the result. The controlling of Dust was certainly no laughing matter, but they had yet to see if it was only the Dust he produced, or perhaps all Dust that this ability affected. If it were all Dust... Then...
"I am never taking him to Atlas." Thoughts of her son accidentally moving the Dust Spike aside, Weiss turned her head back down to the papers on her desk. Her work was mundane, and in truth it only served as a distraction for the moment. She was waiting for something, as she had been for nearly a week now. Ever since Pyrrha's call from the Argus Fortress.
Thinking back to that, she smiled once more. Her plan had worked perfectly, and if the slaying of Dagon was all that came from it, she would be satisfied. Hopefully, though, if she had judged Nora correctly by her words on the field outside the Fortress called Argus... Then there would be a different benefit to this as well.
Well, besides the news that Pyrrha had shared during the call. Informing her of the new triple Lightning Affinity she now held.
"Every day, Conquest grows more powerful." It was an entertaining thought, and a rather comforting one considering the woman was on their side. She left her thoughts be after that, instead choosing to lose herself in her work once more. As she did, her gentle humming continued.
An hour passed before she stopped, her humming and all work being done pausing as the door opened, a rather exhausted looking messenger standing where the closed door once stood.
"Your Majesty!" He announced with a bow. "I apologise for the sudden entrance, however, you asked me to bring any letters from Mistral directly to you upon their arrival, no matter the circumstances." Glancing over, Weiss noted how stressed the boy looked after his actions. A quick dart of her eyes to Ruby revealed a slight entertainment from the Queen Consort.
"Thank you." Weiss' voice was gentle, and she gestured the young man over. He moved briskly, laying the letters on her desk before bowing once more and making his exit. She wanted to laugh at his haste, but instead her attention snapped to the letters.
Not wasting any time, she tore the first one open and quickly read through its contents. She was quick to smirk at the information gleamed from it.
"Neptune has stepped down as King... Lie Ren now sits the throne." Her words invoked a grin from Ruby, whilst Argus simply nodded with determination in his expression. Moving her hands to the other letter, her pulse increased in speed before she ripped the band-aid off and opened the letter.
Her eyes scanned quickly over its contents... It took only a few seconds before she smiled, standing with a bright gleam in her eyes at the plea from the King.
Mistral was surrendering to Vale and Atlas.
2nd Day, Sixth Strike, 2117 PE