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Birds chirp as you feel the crunch of the dirt under your boots. It’s a slightly cloudy day today, making it a nice middle temperature as everyone walks down the path. For the most drastic of the weather, you can feel the cool brisk air from the ocean despite how far you all were from the shoreline.
You quietly walk down the road with your party towards the next town. After getting Nille to agree to travel with everyone, you all made a plan for continuing your travels together. One of the thoughts that everyone had landed on was to attend a performance in Poteria. You look at everyone as you quietly drum your fingers against the coin in your breast pocket.
You could see Stardust hum with a little pep to his step. Seeing this makes you smile. You and Stardust’s eyes lit up at the thought of this first travel spot. So everyone quickly agreed to Poteria to attend this fun event after going over a few ideas.
“Za, pick me up! I want to see what it looks like to be you.” Bonnie suddenly speaks up.
“Oh? You want to be tall?” Isabeau hums a smile, looking down to the little cook. “I thought you didn’t want me to pick you up!”
“Y-Yeah, well…” Bonnie mutters before crossing their arms, “I just want to scout ahead, and I thought being on your shoulders would give me another head or five!”
Isabeau snorts a laugh before stopping his walk and leaning down. He all but motions for Bonnie to get on his shoulders and they quickly hops on. When Isabeau’s standing again, Bonnie has starry eyes as they hold onto Isabeau’s head.
“So this is what it’s like to be tall…”
“Yup! It’s a blessing, and a curse…” Isabeau sighs dramatically, continuing to walk down the path with the group.
“How is a blessing and a curse?? That’s weird…”
“Well, the blessing is that I can see all the tops of your heads and pat your heads anytime.” Isabeau smiles as he points a finger to Stardust who sticks his tongue out playfully.
“Oh! What’s the curse?”
“Walking into branches when you are trying to walk through a forest.”
“Oh eww, let me down if we get to a forest, I don’t want to hit a branch.”
“You’re not gonna hit a branch, Bons.”
Pétronille acknowledges their discussion as she hovers close by. As the most recent to join the party, Nille is staying close to her little sibling. Nille herself is level-headed, confident - Not to mention, there is something in the way that she talks that it took you a few conversations to realize that she’s not mad at you. After you both spent more time together, you realize that she just tends to be quiet. It’s only if and when you approach her loudly that she will automatically mimic it. And if you are anxious, she will pick up on it. It’s nice to talk with her a little when you accidentally blew up soup in her kitchen. You were once on edge around her, but you now value the relationship you are beginning to build with her.
Turning your head, you take in what your other two party members are doing. Mirabelle is walking with some pep to her step as well, eager to get to the next town. Using this trip as a pilgrimage with her friends, she is really eager to continue the adventure like the rest of you were. Between this and getting to have small group sessions to read with you and Odile, it’s been incredibly peaceful and you are forever thankful for them.
Odile is close by, reading her book as you all walk. She’s been reading a book from Riverage she got while you were studying the Meteor Hammer under Jikai. While in Riverage, you couldn’t help but become a bit fixated on learning the hammer. It is a tricky weapon to learn, but it allows you to have a moment of peace to focus on nothing but the movement of the weight. Due to you and your time on the hammer, you were a little lost on what everyone else got up to during that free time outside of watching a sick Stardust. You can’t help but wonder what the book she is holding is about.
It then occurs to you, Stardust has been a little on edge about Nille. While you made a step into getting to know her, Stardust has had little to no time to meet or even talk with her. This is especially true due to the wave of Craft Sickness he got back in Riverage from over exertion. You know one of his wishes he made was to be there when Bonnie reconnected with Pétronille. However, neither of you consider that you both were going to present during that visit. Now they remained silent, ever the “mysterious” rogue. You hum on the thought that he’s gonna probably need a nudge to finally speak up and properly meet Nille. You might need to be the one to trigger that, now that you think about it. Once you all get to your stopping place for the day, you think you’ll try to get that ball rolling.
You tune back in to Bonnie laughing hard, Isabeau and Pétronille have made a truce and are now attacking Bonnie with tickles while Isabeau holds them by the legs on his shoulders.
A smile covers your face as you stay close by, watching so Bonnie doesn’t fall over.
It’s then you hear a snap in front of you.
Stardust stops in his tracks and places a hand on his dagger. Their eye is staring forward, unwavering. Everyone curiously follows where he looks and you see…
…
Huh.
Well this is odd. There’s a young lady in a very frilly outfit. She…pays a strong homage to Mirabelle.
This Mirabelle look-a-like wears two tightly bound buns atop her head. Her clothes show off her rich taste with the lace all over her dress. With a pose and smirk that seems all too confident, she leans forward with a cocky attitude.
“Well well well…” The lady began, hands on her hips, “If it isn’t the supposed ~Saviors of Vaugaurde~”
You blink a few times at her. Her voice was a bit sing-songy. However, she seems… Dismissive? Irritated? It isn’t the usually happy sounds you’d hear with the term Savior. Either way, something didn’t sit well in your gut with this young lady.
“Ah, yes! That is us.” Mirabelle hums to herself and holds her hands together. She clears her throat as she continues, “Are you on your way somewhere? Are you lost?”
“No, I’m right where I need to be!”
It is then that a few more people came out from the nearby plant life. The first is another lady who matches in appearance physically, but wears more soft and quiet clothes. She stood to the right of this frilly lady. On the left stands a tall man with a knitted sweater, as well as an older woman and a young child. The older woman’s necklace makes small clacking noises as the young lad clings to a book.
“Well…” Odile turns a few pages in her book as she narrows her eyes at the five. “It seems as though her have guests.’”
“Crab yeah you do~!” The first frilly lady scoffs with a wide grin on her face. “Name’s Magdaline~”
There was a pause in talking. You aren’t sure whether this Magdaline wants you to say something or if she was pausing for dramatic effect…
Magdaline's smile drops to a look of frustration as she huffs. “Ughh, of course you wouldn’t know who we are. You all have been praised so much you’re completely blind to the world now.”
“What the Crab does that supposed to mean??” Bonnie blurts out, leaning on top of Isabeau’s head with cheeks out in a huff. “We have been traveling all over! If anything, we have been seeing the whole… Uh.”
“Countryside.” Pétronille assists with a nod.
“Yeah!! Coin-ty asides!!”
“Well I’m sorry, but you’re under a rock!” Magdaline crosses her arms in reply, “You all do not realize what you have done in the slightest!”
The young man of the group steps forward, places a hand to the chest and bows, “Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Xiaoli, but you can call me Charlie, Lee, Handsome.”
It’s at that moment you are very sure that this Xiaoli winks at you and you cannot hide your grimace. Ew ew ew no. Stars, is he flirting with you? You could absolutely care less. You and Stardust are all for acting cute and such. But you don’t like it when you see THIS one winking at you. You control your hand from grabbing your weapon. Now is not the time for fighting, even though this one makes you want to leave.
Following his lead, the second young lady speaks up. “Hi! My name is Mäelle and I like puzzles and croissants and my favorite shade is lightless. And-”
This Mäelle acts like she is going to continue talking, but very quickly gets a not so gentle elbow to the gut by the leader.
“Mäe, don’t follow Xiaoli’s lead. This isn’t a dating profile, we are trying to be intimidating!”
“But what else am I supposed to say Maggy??” Maëlle gives a pout as she replies, rubbing the side of her gut.
You… Huh. These five…What in the world do they want? You glance at Stardust who looks at you with the same amount of confusion.
[ Should… We be taking them seriously? ]
Stardust shrugs at you before you both decide to look back at the group.
The two ladies seem to bicker a little before the leader waves her hands rapidly, “Alright alright alright- Crina, can you introduce yourself so we can move this along?”
“Certainly.” The eldest of the group holds a smile as she places her hands together. The look reminds you of someone you’d see at the merchant markets. “Hello to all of you! My name is Crina and this young one is Ovide.”
She pats the shoulder of Ovide very gently as they tuck their face behind their book. Her smile tightens as she continues her thoughts, “We go by many names, but we have a name among the streets. We are a part of the King’s Pawns and it’s a ~pleasure~ to meet you all.”
At this, you feel the air become thinner. You can see Isabeau put Bonnie down from the corner of your eye. Mirabelle straightens herself as everyone stares down the group for a moment. It takes a moment for anyone to speak up.
Odile sighs out with narrowed eyes, “...Pardon?”
“Oh I will say again,” She hums as she puts a hand to her chest, “Hello, my name’s Crina and-”
“Not your Crabbing name!!” Bonnie barks out, “King’s Pawns!! What’s a King’s Pawn??? Why are you named that?!?!”
Crina laughs softly at Bonnie’s outburst, “Oh they are adorable. They are so loud compared to you Ovide!”
Ovide continues to hide their face quietly behind their book and this Crina pats their head gently with a smile.
“That’s right~! We are the King’s Pawns!” Magdaline steps up once more and smiles brightly, like a sickly lamp that needs a shade. “You all have wronged Vaugaurde for freezing the King, so we are here to fix it~!”
Stardust immediately glares at Magdaline. You are very certain they are touching their dagger right now. At the same time, you cannot help but feel warm as your starry skin zaps you. Fix? Fix what?? The Universe already ‘fixed’ this world by turning you into a being of Wish Craft! By making you and Stardust suffer through those timeloops!
You find yourself touching your rope to the hammer as well. It takes you a moment to realize that you are doing it. Maybe you are jumping ahead of yourself. They must certainly be just street folk trying to get a rise out of you. You breathe in and out. You attempt to keep focused as you listen in. It would be bad to follow your emotions so blindly.
“Excuse me???” Mirabelle voices everyone’s thoughts, a pout across her face. “You think that we are wrong for wanting everyone to be free? For the world to remain alive?? “Your King” has done nothing but hurt everyone and everything around here!”
“Ohhhhh, but Savior Mirabelle~” Magdaline sings, tilting her head ever so slightly, “You don’t see what you have done~”
“The King crystallized this country perfectly!” Xiaoli chirps with a hand to his chest, “He froze it perfectly like one of those drawing you find in a book~ You could find a bird mid-flight and see it from all angles~”
If you remember right, Isabeau told you all of the Crafted Parcels that were frozen mid-air around Jovente. Being the Capital, the skies were almost constantly shaded or dark because of those packages that never got delivered. You’re certain they got angles of every mid-flight package there alright…
“We only do what we must, as people need that time to be frozen.” Crina smiles, “Why, the freezing would allow for us to do so much research on how to help the world. Don’t you want to help the world, Mirabelle?"
“Uh, what the crab are you talking about?” Isabeau pushes into the conversation with his defender’s voice , “The King has been completely frozen. You’re allowed your opinions, but we have not done anything wrong. If anything, we kept the world living because of us fighting the King.”
“And what would you all oh so ask of us, since we froze the King?” Odile adds in, a glare settled on her face.
“Oh but we have an idea to ask!” The leader of the group smiles, “You come with us to Dormont and you all can unfreeze him! And that is all! After all, that’s all you can to restore your credibility, right Mirabelle?”
Mirabelle blinks blankly at the leader. Oh that does it for you, you’re going after that Magdaline in a moment. You are furious that this Magdaline is even insinuating that you all are the problem!! That the King isn’t in the wrong and that you all are!! With a hum you weigh your options between dagger or hammer to bring your point across. Teehee, why not both~???
From the corner of your eye, you can see Stardust slowly inch away as everyone else steps forward. Taking a moment, you rest your hand on your rope to your hammer and wait for them to strike. Looks like you are going to get the second lick of the fight. If anyone else notices Stardust’s disappearance, it goes unsaid as the party continues to talk with the King’s Pawns.
“Now you listen here.” Odile begins, commanding her presence, “You didn’t see the world that we have seen. The fish were frozen in rivers, preventing people from eating. The rain never came because the tears froze the clouds in the skies. People missed important parts of their lives because they were frozen. You claiming that this was beautiful and helpful is absolute blasphemy.”
“On the contrary, Ms. Teacher lady Odile!” Magdaline waves her hand dismissively as she leans on the balls of her feet, “We only speak the truth.”
“After all, Mirabelle’s a fraud from what we hear. Isn’t she?”
Just as suddenly as she says that, you see Stardust jump out from the bushes and trees. He’s gunning to pin the leader down and end this aggravation. However, just as he’s about to swipe his blade, the one you think is Mäelle deflects Stardust. She pushes him back, and you see what looks like a knife in her hand.
As if on cue, you pull out your rope and kick it forward. It launches fast and lobs into Crina’s gut. You smirk as she goes down like a sack of bricks. Not your target, but that kinda thing is going to happen with the hammer.
“I think we speak the truth a little better though.” You sing softly as you quickly yank the rope back, “Now prepare to be wiped on the floor with, as you are in our way~”
You see Mäelle make another swipe at Stardust as he jumps back. The two begin to seriously fight as everyone joins in their own frays. Isabeau and Nille split off towards the flirty one. Mirabelle runs off to follow Stardust’s battle. This leaves you with Odile, who sighs as she opens her book.
In the event of any sadness attacks and you all get split, you had a talk with Odile on what to do if you got grouped together. It took a good chunk of the day you all did this, but you all made small plans on how you would work together in battle. With how many styles of fighting and Craft abilities your party has now, the planning is an absolute must.
While you swing your hammer to build momentum, you keep your eyes on the five. Hitting the eldest one in the gut, that leaves you with the four members of the group. The little one is kneeling next to said elder and wears worry on their face. As much as it pains you to scare a kid like that, that takes two of the five pawns out. And with your group splitting off for two of the other members, this should leave you with the leader.
When you turn your eye to scan for said leader, you find yourself stumbling back as the ground rumbles slightly. A cartoonishly large hammer with frilly edges sits with the head right on the ground where you just stood.
“Komìtis! Keep your distance!” Odiles yells as the leader pulls back and attempts another swing at you.
You silently nod as you keep your steps moving back.
When it’s just you and Odile, you both tend to move slower than most of the party. However, when you compare to each other, you still move faster than Odile. The only difference maker is the build up of the meteor hammer as it is all momentum. Your agreement was you would garner the attention of your opponent as Odile built up a Craft spell strong enough to get the enemy dazed. Then following it, you could either safely knock the opponent over or land a hurtful blow.
“Oh Komìtis is your name! You must be new!” the leader smiles, tilting her head as she pulls the hammer out of the ground once more, “There’s no word of a mysterious veiled figure as a part of the Saviors!”
You narrow your eyes and don’t respond. She’s irritating, but you cannot respond to her quips. You keep your mind on your goal as right now, you are only meant to distract.
“Well no matter,” she sings, swinging the gigantic hammer at a ridiculous speed that does not match the size, “You’re on the wrong side and I am going to teach you a lesson!”
She continues her swipes at you with her hammer. In rapid succession, she swings one- two- three- all that makes you keep having to jump back. You are not able to wind up your meteor hammer fast enough to attack. And with how close she is coming to you, you need more space than what you are getting. You look around and see the trees that line the road.
That’s all you need. You continue to back up towards the tree as the leader follows you. A smile appears on your face as she continues to swing blindly.
“You are an easy target you know!” She smiles without a sign of exhaustion. “You must be one of the hired help or a bonded member because there’s no way you would be with them after learning what unfreezing everyone caused.”
You can feel a lower branch behind your shoulders. You decide to speak up with a smile as sweet as can be. “No. In fact, I know when to say I’m wrong, unlike someone who wears too many bows and ribbons like a little figurine. ~Perfectly frozen in time~”
This gets to her as you see the hammer quickly come down from above. So as soon as you see it, you duck under the branch and wrap around the tree to flee. You giggle as you see her get said hammer stuck. This gives you a bit of time to wind up your hammer. You can feel it pull against your hand.
“You think you can just hit one of my members and get away with it???” Magdaline huffs, pulling her hammer down with a loud snap of the branch.
You back up as much as you can before she gets her hammer properly back in her grasp. Seeing her face makes you think of bees after messing with their bee hive. It takes you a millisecond to decide to double down and make her madder than a hornet.
“In a Universe’s special sense, yes~ I was aiming for you, but I guess the Universe had other plans for you.” You feel a tight smile on your face as you place as much poison in your voice as you possibly could, “Just like your precious King~”
She growls and continues her brazen swinging. You continue to jump back as you continue the meteor hammer’s build up. You just need a moment where she’s off guard and you can get her. You glance over at Odile to check her progress. She is almost done with the Craft spell it seems. You cannot help the relief you feel seeing that she is almost ready. Typically can egg on enemies for a while, but with the speed of this girl was a bit unruly. If anything, you were beginning to feel tired already with how much blind backing up and spinning your hammer you are having to do.
“You don’t know who you are messing with!” She calls after you, “The King freezing the land would have made it so we could have time to find things! To protect lost culture!”
“And yet your hammer is barely protecting the ground on which that culture stands.” You scoff at her.
You just needed to keep her attention on you for a bit longer. That you can do, so you decide to hit her with one more comment. “You cannot protect what you have already lost.”
The leader yells loudly and jumps forward, swinging her hammer once more at you. You can see the tells of Rock Craft’s circles and zaps following the hammer. If this hits, it will ruin all your build up and could easily hurt you badly. You cannot back up quickly from this one and you find yourself holding your breath.
It is then a sharp shine of diamonds goes across her side and makes her stumble. Taking the signal, you swing and wrap your hammer around Magdaline’s and pull down as hard as you can. She falls over on her gut as you put your boot against her back.
“Stand down.” you quietly tell her, breathing heavily, “You’ve got nobody left.”
Looking around, you see the flirt flat on his face. Roses are scattered around him as Nille and Isabeau keep their eyes locked on him. Stardust is holding the rogue imitation by her wrists as Mirabelle points her rapier as said imitation.
Taking in everything, the leader is silent sans for her breathing. After a moment, she drops her face into the ground with a groan.
“Crab....” She looks back up from the ground, looking around, “Well, we know when to call it quits. You won’t see the last of us!”
It takes but a moment for the leader to locate your housemaiden, “But know this, Mirabelle.” The leader then stares at Mirabelle, and you cannot conceal the glare you have for what she says next. “You reflecting that attack was the worst thing you could have ever done.
“Ovide!!”
Just as soon as she calls, you see the child open their book quickly and the whole road is covered in a puff of smoke. You cannot stop coughing and you can feel a shove against your foot and the pull of the rope before it is launched away.
“They’re running away!” You hear Nille call as she coughs.
You try to pull the rope and go towards the direction of the footsteps, to catch someone. But you cannot see. You cannot breathe. You close your eyes and cover your face in your gloved sleeve as the smoke dissipates.
After your vision returns, you see everyone generally where they were last. The only change is that all five of those King’s Pawns are gone.
“Everyone alright?” Odile calls as she looks around.
“Yeah I’m alright right.” Isabeau sighs and rolls his shoulders.
“Me and Nille are good!” Bonnie smiles, holding their wok happily. With their placement, something tells you they hit the flirty one in the back with their wok.
“I’m alright, just a little surprised that one got away from me holding her.” Stardust hums as he approaches the group.
“I am fine, none of the members approached me.” Odile chimes in, stepping towards you. Her look seems to ask the same question to you.
“I’m fine, the leader got mad really easily! It was kinda fun to torment her!” You hum as your eyes travel to Mirabelle. “Mira, how are you holding up?”
Mirabelle didn’t answer however. Her eyes were down to the ground with a frown on her face. You can’t conceal your concern as she doesn’t reply.
“Mirabelle?” Isabeau calls softly, “You alright?”
Mirabelle nods, gripping her rapier. If you knew Mira, this was not the truth.
“Mira.” Stardust approaches her now, leaning into her vision to get her attention, “Are you okay?”
“...Guys. Is… Is she right?” Mirabelle looks back at Stardust, “Did I do the right thing?”
“What do you mean??”
“Was it the right thing? For me to freeze the King?” Mirabelle asks before rapidly continuing her thoughts, “I mean, I know it was the right thing! We all do! He was evil! He was cruel! And he hurt so many! He froze the whole country for Change’s sake! He’s not to be forgiven!”
“But, what if…” It takes a moment before Mirabelle sighs, gripping onto her rapier, “What if we could have won without freezing him?”
Oh Mira…
“Mirabelle.” You speak up, holding the weight of your hammer. “There is no way one can know what is the right and wrong path… Other than the King needing to be frozen was his fate. That is a fate he deserved.”
“Its true, but what if-”
“He was literally killing the world by freezing the ecosystem. If anything Mirabelle, those King Pawns are delusional.” Isabeau nods and crosses his arms, “If I had to guess, they’ve never met him. They don’t know the evil we all witnessed.”
“That, and it’s not like we didn’t accidentally try that.” Odile smirks as Stardust sticks his tongue out at her, “They don’t know anything that happens for all of us.”
“And he froze our homes and Nille! We didn’t do anything wrong! We need to just kick their butts if they show their ugly faces again!” Bonnie gives a pout, “They’re being stupid.”
Mirabelle laughs softly with a nod. She smiles lightly before her face drops back to a frown. Her thoughts are still weighing on her it seems.
“Mira.” Isabeau pushes, “You have to tell us what else is on your mind so we can help you.”
“Oh Isabeau, you are so right…” Mirabelle takes a deep breath and sighs. “It's just… These King’s Pawns. We know that those five exist, but what if they’re not the only ones??”
Mirabelle purses her lips and grips her hands together. She holds her rapier straight down between them, “What if there's more of them?? Why are they showing up now after everything is said and done???”
“And not to mention!!” She cuts herself off, face plastered with nervousness, “What if they are serious and keep coming back??? What should we do???”
You feel your voice silence itself for a moment. She's sadly right. These King's Pawns seem like such a joke. But at the same time, their leader was aggressive in her attacks. And this was all while they were down a member. Even though those five seemed easy to manage, the main trouble is what if there were more of them than those five? If there were ones who would be much stronger than that group and take the idea of unfreezing the King more seriously.
“Then I would fight them.” Stardust speaks up, a determined look sitting upon his face. “I wouldn't let any of them win and get to the King.”
“Neither would I.” Odile nods, “I would do horribly, unspeakable things to keep you all safe.”
“If they think they would win against us, they don't know who they are dealing with!” Isabeau pats his arm. He sharply inhales as he puts a hand back to where he patted, “Sorry, the one got a clever shot on me with that rose. Nille got the last shot on him though!”
Nille laughs bashfully, covering her mouth slightly, “He left his backside open! Sides, it was a tag team between me and Bons.”
Bonnie cheers happily, “It was so cool!!! You're so strong Nille!!!”
You cannot help but smile at your party, ready to keep the battle alive to protect Vaugaurde. Clearing your throat of any remaining smoke, you take your turn to speak up.
“Not to mention, you have two VERY strong party members~” You smile softly and place a hand to your chest, “You have two fail safes if anything were to go really wrong~ You can count on us, Mirabelle.”
Mirabelle smiles more brightly at all of you. It seems like everything you brought up helps to comfort her. However, she still wore concerns over her face.
Odile then speaks as if she read her mind.
“If it helps, we can make a few plans on how to fight together if and when we get more of those King's Pawns to appear.” Odile taps her book. “And, while we are in the next town, we can talk about plans on what to do next. How if we are ambushed again, we can work together to give ourselves the higher ground once more.”
“You’re not alone Mira, you have us after all.” Isabeau gives a bright smile. We’ll do like Odile says and make some plans. Then, WE’LL be the ones to ambush them!”
Mirabelle laughs lightly, nodding as her face relaxes. “You’re right…” She smiles, “I’m thankful for all of you, you all keep me so sane…”
“Of course Mirabelle,” Stardust smiles with a signature wink, “and all you need to do is ask if you need another reality check~”
Mirabelle snorts as a smile appears on her face. “Alright, time to move to the Poteria. We have a play to get to!”
While you all get your bearings and start getting back into the walk towards the next town. You cannot help but maul on the thought about the King’s Pawns. To want to unfreeze the King… There’s not a way to do it. Mirabelle deflected the attack and the King froze himself. And the time resistant abilities Mirabelle has should go away with time. If anything, there’s going to be a few people that want to unfreeze him.
You smile softly to yourself as there is no way that anyone is going to be able to unfreeze the King. Give it time, and you all will be able to keep traveling and live your lives. Leaving the King’s Pawns in the dust, you speed up next to Isabeau to ask if he needs a Healing Craft for his cut. You all have a play to get too!