WHO: Titus, Badr, Cinna, Kyo, and MaetĂ WHEN: Another Time WHERE: Another Place SUMMARY: There's an alarm going off in Serenitas...and strangers in the cathedral. CW: Some mild violence.
The Royal Guard and half of the Serenitas Knights had accompanied the Holy King to a political council with the leaders of Guren and Donnersberg on a peacekeeping mission. It was nighttime, days after their departure, and shadows skulked about in the shroud of night...
Suddenly, an alarm rang in the halls of the dormitory—an attack by Phasma right outside the palace, causing a big part of the remaining knights to mobilize. Upon learning this, Titus took it upon himself to aid in the protection of his people, and so, he ignored the evacuation warning by the professors and ran off to help with the palace's defense.
Upon hearing the alarms, Badr (who had been reading with China) went to find Titus, assuming a prince would know what was happening, and not because he was in love with said prince and scared by loud noises. Cinna quickly armed herself and dashed out into the halls to find out what was going on. She then sighed and chased after Badr, pulling a face. Kyo got out of bed and grabbed his gear. He immediately set out to find Gaius, but saw Titus and decided that that was a good bet. Besides. He could prove he was indeed a warrior. MaetĂ was awake and already being a sneak through the halls, trying to get a feel of the place in peace...which it no longer was, clearly.
"Why are you following me? Go to safety with the others," Titus commanded.
"Why aren't you going to safety with the others? What is happening?" Badr asked at the same time Kyo demanded, "What makes you so special you don't have to go safely with the others?"
"That is the palace's alarm. I'm going there!" Titus shot a glare at Kyo.
"It seems we're going with you," Badr replied.
Titus looked at the small group, and then at the palace in the distance, sighing in defeat because it would take longer to argue. "Come with me, then!" And so, Titus dashed off to the exit of the dorms.
Kyo glared back at Titus, looking briefly backward, then hurried forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Badr nodded. He alone didn't have a weapon, which he did feel very aware of in that moment, but then, he was always armed, was he not? He took off with the rest, following Prince Titus, though a bit slower, for he was not as good at running. Cinna rolled her eyes and followed, close on Badr's heels. MaetĂ was not entirely sure if they knew she was around for this quite yet, but followed behind the group with either a sense of duty or curiosity.
As the students ventured outside the dorms, they saw the clash of steel and magic in the distance, towards the palace, the alarm bell continuing to ring.
"If we go through the church, we can use a secret shortcut!" Titus called.
"Lead...the...way..." Badr panted, both from their sprint so far, but also general excitement and alarm at the sight of battle so close.
Kyo sighed, but gestured to Titus to lead on. He looked back at Badr and tilted his head, "Are you going to be okay? Do you have something to stab with?"
Badr tilted his head back at Kyo, confused. "I'm the Chosen of Song. You're hearing my weapon right now."
"He'll be safe," Cinna promised, indicating her own weapon.
Kyo shrugged, "Okay, my apologies for forgetting."
As they approached the Cathedral, Titus came to a full stop right by the entrance, frowning when they found the main doors thrown wide open. "The doors...they always get sealed before sunset."
"Perhaps someone has opened the doors...to prepare additional shelter...?" Badr offered.
"Well, if this is unusual, perhaps we should go a back way in case something has happened," Kyo suggested.
"There other entrances are usually locked, too...but there's a side one down the street there."
Badr nodded in accord with the two princes. If all the fighting was over near the palace, he thought perhaps it must be someone from Serenitas who had opened the door to the cathedral. It was, after all, where their most priceless relic was housed. Perhaps someone was checking on it, Prince Gaius even. But that said, "Prince Kyoujiro is right. We should use your side one instead, just in case."
"Alright...yeah, let's go!"
The side door, as Titus had mentioned, was locked tightly when they finally reached it. Titus groaned in annoyance, pushing and pulling at the door.
"Perhaps we should try the front...carefully then," Kyo muttered. "As much as we can that is."
"Perhaps someone could go through a window and unlock the door...?" Badr looked at Titus, who was tall and broad, and then at Kyo, who was also athletic, but...well (short). "Would that work?"
"Well, if we can break the magic on the window, maybe...but I'm not sure the Bishop would approve. Like the fireling said, maybe the main door—but we're wasting time here!"
"Most likely, it is someone of Serenitas who has opened the door..." Badr muttered.
"I have a bad feeling because it is open along with the alarm but...we do not want to upset the bishop," Kyo agreed.
"It's not like we have any other options."
"And clearly, upsetting the bishop is the most important thing in this moment."
Kyo spun around, about to draw his sword at the words. "Oh it is you...um... " He wished he'd learned more names of his classmates.
Badr was doing his best to pretend he cared about what the Bishop felt, but he laughed when the new voice suddenly spoke up, and though it was rude, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Pirate girl!"
Titus squinted at the girl, folding his arms over his chest. "Are you going to break the window?"
"Maybe if I had my gun. But I can try to unlock the door, if a method that doesn't involve the keys doesn't offend."
Titus muttered something about pirates not being trustworthy and what not. "Fine, thank you."
Pirates, Kyo thought and smiled a little to himself. How he hated and loved them.
Badr grinned; he knew Zuya did not like this woman, but he was finding her delightful. He moved out of the way, not sure what she was going to do. Upon MaetĂ's cheeky arrival, Badr's fear had turned to excitement, and now as he turned to Cinna, he had clearly shifted from alarm to eagerness. Pirate!, he mouthed. Cinna shrugged. If it worked, it worked.
Titus folded his arms over his chest and watched her like a hawk, and MaetĂ sauntered up to the door with a confidence only half-feigned. She had some talent at this, but would this talent apply to a foreign door in a building with stricter locks than she was used to?
Answer: Yes. Yes it was. Apparently half-rusted treasure chests were more complicated than a door in regular, if not constant, use.
The door opened with ease, lock no worse for the wear, as if it had never been touched.
"I will have to recommend having these locks changed." Titus sighed.
"Maybe she just knows her stuff," said Kyo.
"Still changing them. Let's go."
"So grateful," MaetĂ replied.
Without another word, and trying to be very quiet and inconspicuous, Badr and Cinna followed Titus into the building. MaetĂ followed the group through the door and into the building, eyes wary, with Kyo cautiously bringing up the rear.
The Cathedral was a massive building, and aside from the main room where the daily sermon was held, the rest of it was labyrinthine and full of secret hallways and what not. There didn't seem to be anything out of extraordinary at first, but as they walked deeper into the stone building, faint sounds could be heard not too far away from their path, towards the vaults, especially to those with a particularly perceptive hearing.
"Something is...over there..." Badr slowed, causing anyone behind him to pile up against him. He narrowed his eyes, listening carefully, and then pointed towards the vaults. He glanced at MaetĂ, for he assumed that pirates and thieves must also have honed their hearing skills (he had many assumptions and generalizations, as they no doubt realized by now, but he thought this one must hold some water...), to see if she also heard it.
"Wher—" Titus frowned, standing straight still, so between Badr and him everyone got squished together.
MaetĂ hadn't heard anything in particular before, but being able to focus on an area... "There could be something there."
Kyo hated this. He was too close to everyone else. This would not end well. "Okay, let's..." he gestures around him. "Go over there."
"Feeling tiny?" Titus smirked, disregarding what he felt earlier, but he nodded, motioning the others to take to the right, leading into one of the larger hallways, and into a large door that lead into the vault.
Kyo puffed out his cheeks and narrowed his eyes, "No, it is just best we don't jam so close to each other."
"Uh huh. The door is closed, at least." Titus spoke with a terrible stage whisper right outside of the source of the noise.
Badr attempted to clap his hands around Titus's mouth, shaking his head. The sound was right there after all. He wasn't sure what it was yet. In an actual whisper, he said, "They're...it's...right there..."
Titus made some muffled sounds, narrowing his eyes.
"I'm going to open it, be ready..." Badr continued in a very soft whisper, volunteering himself, because he thought all these people with weapons would be better suited for a sudden assault...in case whoever or whatever was beyond the doors had heard them. He moved to open the door as carefully as he could, though it was very ornate and large, and his muscles had grown a small amount due to forced activity, but he was not quite as athletic as any of his other companions. Titus proceeded to ready his shield, accidentally pushing Badr, and making the door open with a loud creak and a thud as it hit something on the other side.
Kyo heaved a sigh at everything going on. He should have gone to the safe place. He felt like this would end up like one of those skits by the comedy duos in his home country. Titus encompassed that buffoonery to him. He gripped the hilt of his sword, but didn't draw it just yet.
"How very subtle of you."
A man with a large hat, a mask, and an equally large scythe stood at the ready, watching the group bumble into the large room.
"Who are you?" Kyo asked.
"Wouldn't you want to know? If you were anyone, you would know already."
At that, Badr reached for Cinna. Probably not the most useful thing to do, since she likely needed her wrist so that she could wield her weapon, but somehow, his instinct was to reach for her, to pull her back with him. He left it to Titus to demand why this stranger had broken into the city's most sacred place.
"No one cares who you are. What are you doing here?!" Titus demanded.
"Obviously not a somebody," Kyo remarked.
"If you know, you know," the stranger said again.
"Okay, pretend we're somebodies then. We're princes, pirates, and...uh, warriors," Kyo snarked, as Titus suggested, "How about we beat an answer out of you?"
Badr released Cinna to reach for Titus, the word 'wait,' on his tongue, but...he was not sure he could halt the progression of violence in time by touching him alone. "What are you doing here? Have you taken something?"
"How about we don't, and does it look like I've taken anything?" the Reaper returned.
"Then why are you here?"
"Oh, you know, I just strolled in to take in the scenery."
Cinna snorted a little at the stranger's remark.
Titus did not attack yet, but only because of Badr.
Maeti was keeping an eye out from the back, wishing she had her guns instead of her daggers. Alas. "Scenery is more impressive during the day."
Badr considered their situation. The man was closed-lipped. There was no good reason for such a person to have broken into the cathedral, especially not when there was a battle raging outside. There must be something here that was desired. "You...you're buying time. You aren't alone, are you...?" He wagered and released Titus.
"Oh, you know, just me an and my army, waiting to jump in at any second." He moved his scythe, readying it when he noticed the prince of Serenitas was readying his blade.
Kyo gripped his blade but glared at the Reaper, "Oh, please. This is not some coincidence."
Titus, being the bullheaded idiot he was, dashed in to try and smack the Reaper with his shield. Kyo decided to take up the flank to Titus. He darted to position himself to the back.
Badr looked around, not believing the sarcasm. If there was another...where were they? He narrowed his eyes and strained his ears, moving away to let the melee members of the party have plenty of space. But due to the clamor of battle, Badr couldn't tell who or what or where or how many are there; he could sense that there were more people.
Maeti took out her daggers, but chose not to engage yet. Instead, she focused on the sides or behind them, in case someone tried to get in on a sneak attack...
With a grim expression, Cinna took a step to her left, mirroring the stranger’s movement to his right (and to try to avoid hitting her own party members). She swung her staff in a quick arc, throwing a blast of icy elemental wind in the red Reaper’s direction. The Reaper took the hit, blocking with his scythe, shards of ice leaving a small cut through his sleeve.
"He isn't alone, but..." Badr couldn't tell where, or how many. He couldn't afford to just stand around trying to figure out where the scythe-wielding intruder's compatriots were hiding. Now that Titus had engaged, if he had learned one thing in their martial classes, he needed to be on his toes. Since it looked like Titus had managed to unsteady their opponent, he thought it might be a good time to pitch in (it was a pun, yes), launching into "Hymn of the Hind" (an ode the light feet of a common forest friend, the deer)—to add additional dexterity to Titus's efforts.
The Reaper raised his fist, gathering darkness into his hand before casting a protective barrier around himself. "Out of the way." He swept at Kyo's feet with the blunt side of his scythe, trying to unsteady his stance, and moved away into a better position.
Why did the Reaper go for him when Titus was right in front? Kyo thought he was MaetĂ-level sneaky. Okay, maybe not, but still. He did not predict the Reaper would sweep at him. He could almost hear his grandfather yelling at him to pay attention, don't get cocky. But still, he was angry now and attempted to unsheathe his sword to attack. Since Kyo was in a bad position, he only managed to leave a light scratch on the scythe as the Reaper parried his attack.
Badr was pleased, watching the shimmer of stag-like figures dance through the air, pooling around Titus's form. Since coming to the academy, he had had a bit of experience with how to better use his magic to support allies. He'd played around with it back in Simurgh, sometimes as a lark when Cinna and Zuya were sparring together—particularly when he was being shirty at his birth sister and wanted to give Cinna an edge. He'd be in the corner, softly singing this or that, and then pretending he hadn't when she landed a blow. It was sibling trickery, it was playful. This did not feel playful, even if the scythe hadn't yet been used to its full potential. He didn't know why the man was holding back. If he was buying time, then why not hurt one of them badly enough the rest would have to react—and more so, to lower their numbers? Maybe the Reaper just wasn't taking them seriously? There was no time to worry about it. Prince Kyoujiro had seemed like he might get around the stranger's back, and Badr had been hopeful: if they had been able to pin him, overwhelm him with Cinna's magic and trap him between sword and shield... But this man was canny. Instead of ending the fight where it had begun, Badr feared that Kyo might now be in peril. He began singing "The Turtle's Verse" for the samurai, to buff his defenses.
MaetĂ continued to eye behind them for the ~army~ coming to descend. However, they were too far away from the door they came in for her to see it clearly from here. "You guys keep up the fight. I'll go see if we're about to get backstabbed."
Still frowning (perhaps disappointed in her first attack) Cinna held her staff out again, tipped toward the floor, this time turning it in the air to cast a pattern of blue light at the Reaper's feet. A circle of ice began spiderwebbing out below him, as she cheekily attempted to trip him up a bit. The darkness twisted, shifting, and China's ice took on a dark purple color, moving back against the flow to form underneath Cinna's feet and tripping her instead. Cursing as the dark ice tendrils turned back on her, Cinna was midway through attempting a shot of ice at the Reaper when she lost her footing and slipped sideways. Her spell misfired, going several directions at once.
"You stupid smug asshat!" Titus cried out, and using the full speed conferred by Badr, he tackled the Reaper at full force, shield first.
The Reaper was sent flying, hitting a nearby bookcase and letting out a cry at the impact before returning to his feet. He cast a protective shield once again. Clearly annoyed, he launched a counterattack against the Serenitas prince. Titus used his shield to protect himself from the attack, but he wasn't wearing his full set of armor, taking a cut on the arm.
Still annoyed at nearly tripping, and noticing an opening, Kyo slashed downward at the Reaper by the flank. The Reaper parried Kyo again.
Maetà made it to the door they came in and looked around for anyone coming in—enemies, allies, neutral but probably allies in the whole someone is stealing from the vault thing, but she didn't notice anything.
Pretty deer dancing across the room, a cute turtle breaking into soft green light atop Kyo's head—the magic of these songs was benevolent. But there was a shift when blood sprung up on Titus's arm. Badr's golden eyes narrowed, and he began to sing something in a deeper octave, something that sounded...old. Dark bodies formed around him, rising from an invisible leaf-bed and coalescing into a cloud of skittering, insectile bodies. They surged towards the intruder, to freeze their target with fear.
The Reaper backed away from the gross things, slashing at the air once because there wasn't actually anything there. Titus finally decided to do something different, lunging at the Reaper with his sword, and—oops, there was ice. He missed his footing and fell to the floor. Despite the bugs, the Reaper tried to smack Titus with the butt of his scythe, but crawled like a four-legged animal, with a surprising level of dexterity, away from the smack while the Reaper was distracted by Badr.
There was only one logical strategical target, and so, the Reaper aimed to sweep at Badr with the blunt side of his weapon, striking his torso. He bent double, gasping.
"Badr!!!" After getting up, Titus dashed over to Badr, disregarding both offense and defense.
Cinna shouted when Badr took the hit, but she was too slow to try to block it. Instead, she tightened her jaw and ran directly at the Reaper, taking a big swing with the staff to try to hit the sucker. Gracefully, the Reaper parried the attack and moved into a better defensive position.
Kyo parried with the Reaper just when he heard the creepy notes from Badr, and now Titus had tripped. And Badr took a hit. He heaved a "kiya!" as he leaped towards the Reaper, his blade down. But once again Kyo barely brushed him and cut a bit of the Reaper's outfit, but the Reaper was clearly becoming exhausted now.
MaetĂ came back from the other end of the hallway, clearly expecting something that wasn't...this.
"No one is coming from there, so he was lying about the army thing." Pause, as she saw the state of the battle. "Honestly."
MaetĂ mentally cursed her lack of foresight to bring her guns, because the last thing she wanted was to go dagger to scythe with him. But she did have a spare...so she withdrew her dagger and threw it straight at him. At the very last second, the Reaper ducked out of the way of the knife, which lodged itself in a book behind him.
Badr was still gasping for air. He watched at the Reaper slipped easily out of Kyo's attack—and Cinna's, too. He had felt that there was something, or someone, besides this man here, but with MaetĂ's empty-handed return... He looked up at Titus, trying to force the air back into his lungs to cast a quick healing spell on himself. There was only one way they could find out what was really going on here, and he wasn't in a state to help like this. "F-fine...'m fine...'s toying 'us. Gotta...stop before...escape..."
Suddenly, one of the vault's doors flew open and heavily armored steps reverberated in the large room. A tall figure, clad in a deep and dark armor, came into view, carrying a particular two-handed sword that was so large, it almost better served to smash than cut. Their face was completely obscured by their helmet, but their gaze was upon the group of people fighting the Reaper.
"We're done here." Their voice was deep, but for some reason it was impossible to recognize or place, its cognition and perception muddled by something—perhaps magic.
"Finally! You took your time."
"Oh. That's the hallway he was hiding. I see."
"Done here?" Kyo questioned.
"Can't let them...away..." Badr gritted out.
Titus felt that shiver again, staring at the new arrival.
Cinna squinted with a frown at the newcomer.
"Let's get this rabble out of the way." The Dark Knight reached back and readied their sword, and the Reaper shielded himself again, casting a bolt of darkness at Maeti and hitting her in the shoulder hard enough to bruise.
That was going to annoying in the morning, she thought, as if any of this wasn't going to be annoying.
The Dark Knight gripped their sword tightly and aimed straight for Titus, smacking him with full force with the side of their sword. Titus managed to block in time, reeling back slightly from the impact.
"It's you...!"
"Who is it?" Kyo asked.
Badr also looked to Titus in confusion.
"The Dark Knight, the source of all evil!" Titus replied.
"..." The Dark Knight said nothing.
Badr gasped.
"..." MaetĂ said nothing.
Cinna mouthed the words 'all evil?' with a furrowed brow, but said nothing.
"Okay...so now we know what he or she is, but who is it, Titus?" Kyo asked again.
"Who cares? We have to stop him!" Titus argued.
Kyo perked his eyebrows up and twirled his katana to hold it high, waiting for the moment to strike.
"Chosens of Light, each of you as simplistic as the previous one."
A deep well of darkness burst forth as the Dark Knight sliced in a rising slash, sending Titus into the air and flying back to Badr's feet. Titus coughed up blood, recoiling in pain from the strong attack and losing his grip on his sword that fell next to him.
"Get out of my way. Last warning."
"Titus!"
"You know, the hallway behind us is perfectly clear," MaetĂ pointed out.
Kyo's eyes widened as he saw the attack take tough buffoon Titus down so easily. And to even drop his sword. He was Chosen of Fire, but even he knew when to choose his battles, "Badr, take Titus away." He held his sword out in a defensive stance. "What Pirate girl said..."
Cinna nodded to MaetĂ and Kyo, and went to Badr's side again to help him drag Titus away if needs be. "If they're letting us go, we go." Though her gaze lingered on the strangers, angry and curious.
The Dark Knight rested the large sword on their shoulder armor, their left hand brimming with all consuming-darkness in flux. Watching them.
"No! We can't run!" Titus panted heavily for air, glaring at the figure in dark armor.
Badr stared at Titus at his feet, mouth bloody. He looked at Cinna, coming towards him to herd them to safety. He looked at the Dark Knight, the source of all evil. Even before Titus said to stay, he didn't think the prince would leave. He didn't know why the Reaper had only hit them with the blunt side of his weapon, but he thought that the Dark Knight was also holding back—even as bad as that attack looked. Why did these strangers not simply kill them? He crouched by Titus, trying to decide what he ought to do. All he could really think was, he had to protect Titus. It was all he really cared about, as terrifying as this was. He thought Cinna was smart enough to run if she needed to, but he didn't know that he even could get Titus up like this. He didn't know how bad the injury was, so the only thing he could think to do was maybe drive the bad guys to leave. He swallowed, and then he began to sing another strange and croaking song, old and odd. He lifted his hand, and a silky black bird wafted up from his palm. If these men loved shadow so much, then perhaps they would enjoy a taste of their own medicine. He flung his hand, still stinging, the bird arrowing through the air towards the knight's face. Its wings burned with blue fire, glittering sharp with starlight, trailing darkness deep as the face of the new moon. But the Dark Knight stood there, unflinching, as the bird propped itself on his sword and then melted away to feed the darkness pulsating in his fist.
"I can fight..." Titus unsteadily got back on his feet, grabbing his sword.
"But can we win...?" Badr asked.
"You can save no lives if you're dead," Kyo reasoned.
"Damn it! Not again!" Titus cried.
"They who run away live to fight another day," MaetĂ quipped.
"I will stay by your side. I promised to protect you, but..." Badr reached to touch the blood at the corner of Titus's mouth and looked away, brow furrowing. "I will stay by your side. Whatever you choose." He hoped Titus would, however, choose to protect them both and heed the others' words.
Titus stared at Badr for a long moment before nodding his head, reluctantly backing away from the Dark Knight, his hand on Badr's arm.
Badr moved to put an arm around Titus's ribs in support (that the prince had coughed up blood troubled him greatly) and looked to Kyo and MaetĂ, nodding. Cinna went to help Badr with Titus. She glanced warily at the prince, then kept her eyes on the floor.
Since no one seemed inclined to keep them from leaving, Maeti decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and turned to go the way they came from. Sideways—there was no one here she'd trust her back with, but she didn't want it to face the unknown behind her as well.
Kyo brought up the rear, feeling a pit settle in his stomach. What else could they do? They needed the other Chosen for this battle. His father's voice popped into his head that Kyo shouldn't surrender. But no, his grandfather said sometimes it is not your day to battle the darkness. He stopped and turned back, narrowing his eyes. Then in a swift, deliberate motion, sheathed his sword before more making his exit.
The Dark Knight put away their sword and turned to look at the Crimson Reaper, who shrugged at them.