The Kingdom of Eonis

[Apollymi]

The Priest didn't know what he was doing, but he saw all the parishioners leaving and became upset. A bellow escaped him that wasn't his own, he didn't know where this anger came from. Happily enough the members of the party who were outside were already doing their jobs, as the first few people began running for the cart, they were keeping Hikari's warnings in mind. Small children, women, old people and then finally at the back the young men, were filing out of the church to be protected until they reached the cart and loaded into with out hassle. All the while the newly added weight of each individual seemed to be making Fiona ever so happy. There was a look of odd determination in this bird's face, as if she was ready to face the world.

In the meantime, with all of the people out of the way, Lancelot did the one thing he was always going to. While Hikari kept directing the people outwards and pushing them towards the protection of the cart, he jumped and slashed at the Demon behind the Priest. The slash with its calming effect seemed to do a great deal of damage to the Demon, so much that it couldn't keep its hold on the priest. "NOOOOOO!!!!!" was the final scream of this creature as it died. The priest, had thought his life was over, but instead found himself stumbling forward as the demon lay writhing in agony. "WHAT IS THAT?!" he exclaimed as if he'd never been aware of this before. "THAT CAN'T BE IN THE CHURCH THIS IS A HOUSE OF GOD!!" he seemed to be outraged and normally he'd be right but... "You really question that!? There is no god here, only demons, puppets and livestock! This church lost its blessing long before we arrived, probably around the time you started preaching hate..." she said turning her back on the man as she watched the cart be filled up, she held no punches, people like these delusional types needed the truth, as gritty as it could be presented.

The priest managed to look stunned. He'd done this? He'd brought this evil into this place? How could he face his parish now? Hikari could hear the man's shoulders slump in his shame... "I... have behaved regrettably. I don't deserve to be saved this day, nor any..." he said softly. Perhaps this was the man he'd always been before, skeptical, a bit ugly but not a bad guy. "Spilled milk. Moving on, get your ass in the cart. This isn't about you right now. I'm not letting some random old dude die because he feels bad. Atonement shouldn't be as easy as dying, it should be as hard as living..." she said the man looked stunned. Could he really join them, would she really let him. He stumbled forward moving past Hikari who didn't look upon him at all. He saw in her the light he'd long since stopped seeing. "That should about do it, we have to get back to the farm. Get the people inside the barrier, and I have a feeling its gonna be a bumpy ride. Let's go!" she said to Lancelot as she began to move forward. "Oh, and thanks for the help," she added. This man really didn't have to waste his time doing this sort of thing, and she was generally appreciative of him, making up for a potentially missing piece of their formation.

[Bloodedge]

In one fell swoop, the knight Lancelot bested whatever demonic presence consumed this priest, freeing the man of his sinful behavior. This did nothing to quell the beasts outside, but it was a grand step in the right direction for the kingdom's salvation. The next step, was ensuring the safe evacuation of all those who sought refuge within the Church of Eonis, including the priest himself. The man thought himself undeserving of being delivered, but the Demi-human spoke words to the contrary. Once again, she made herself seem like the first person Lancelot pledged his sword to. "I should thank you for accepting me. It has been an honor," he said, bowing his head toward the lass before taking off to keep by her side during her exodus. He still had tasks of his own to deal with, but a true knight could not stand by idly while innocents suffered. "Is there more you require of me, my lady? My sword is yours if you have use of it."

[Apollymi]

A grin crossed the Demi-human's face. "Iie, you saved me from a bit of a tight spot. Don't worry about it..." she said as she stepped out of the threshold of the church. The cart had been loaded up and the Filolial who was hitched the front had an aggressive look of determination on her face. Arjuna was busy sniping from a distance and all was right in the world. An extra body for the actual clearing of the Church had been nice, but the ride itself had all the protections it needed. She couldn't rightly keep this man from whatever mission he'd put on hold to do a little melee damage against the horde as they moved. Especially when safety wasn't really that far off. "Nope, I don't require anything else. We are just gonna get all these people to the barrier setup outside the Kingdom. You are welcome to hitch a ride out if you like. You definitely deserve it. The rest of our party should be back with the missing pieces for this puzzle in no time at all. The next time you cross through here, it will be thriving," she said as she took her place at the front of the cart. She'd pick up the reins and practically feel the vibration of Filolial. "Ah, but as a piece of advice, stay away from the Princess Player in this Kingdom. She's all princess and no sense. And has a weird fixation on Knights..."

And with that she'd raise her arms to clap the reins. If everyone was aboard she give one final shout to let them know what kind of movement was to come. "ALRIGHT WE'RE MOVING OUT!! HANG ON TIGHT!" And with that and a downward clap, Fiona would thunder off towards the western front happily dragging along the evacuees without a care in the world.

[Bloodedge]

Since she required nothing else of him, the knight Lancelot took his leave of Hikari and the others. Arjuna kept up his efforts of fending off Demonic Beasts, Diva kept up his efforts of protecting the party, and eventually they managed to hold the fort overnight. On that next morning though, they would be visited by the return of others. Alongside this kingdom's princess, riding thr Ryuuko named Xerxes, was Kou. The night was just about over. Only an hour or so lay ahead of them before the sun's rays would begin illuminating the sky, so there was ample time to devise a battle plan after grouping up.

Only upon passing the bounded field surrounding the farm, did he even consider dismounting and banishing the creature which carried him. It seemed there were many more people inhabiting these farmlands now. Good. Seeing this, he could only assume Hikari and the others had successfully evacuated the Church of Eonis. Before looking for the rest of their group, he decided to turn toward Princess Aerona. He'd been the one to bring her here, so he'd also taken it upon himself to explain the existence of this protected farm along the way. "This is the place. Looks like they rounded up all the survivors. Everybody else has probably been turned into a Demonic Beast by now, so... this is what we're working with aside from whatever Royal Knights are still around and not influenced by King Eon."

[Apollymi]

They'd managed. Even after, Sir Lancelot left, the group at large had managed to stay alive and keep alive everyone who'd been found within the church. It was a victory however small it was. And now the group was gathering for a much more handed assault. Hikari sat propped up against the farmhouse and Fiona, nestled into her bird form enjoying a few moments of rest. Jaskier managed to be up pretty early, he was helping out as best he could. Handing out food and the like. And Madoka, well... That white haired lass in particular was also handing out food. After being thoroughly reminded of her place the previous day, the Knights she had under her control were deferred to Hikari for the duration of her charge as captain. Soon after she'd begun small works as she wasn't useful for the fights against the Demons that stalked in the night. "Kou-san is back!" she exclaimed. Hikari instead of moving mumbled and swatted at the sound of Madoka's voice. "Shaddup, five more minutes..." she grumbled seemingly exhausted. Kou actually had Princess Aerona with him, which was welcome and surprising to all who saw them. Aerona herself looked around the place, the situation wasn't as bad as she imagined it, but it still wasn't the absolute best to work with. "Pitiful. But... I suppose given the circumstances, it could definitely be worse. As long as we have enough extra bodies to keep us from being overrun, I can't complain..." said the Princess. There was still a bit of snideness to her, but this group looked as if they'd actually done a reasonable amount of their own work, she couldn't fault them for the present situation.

As this conversation happened, the last couple of members of the party were showing up. This was Miki atop her dire wolf which bounded into the field only to slow pace to a gentle padding as he approached. With her, atop this creature was likely a certain Lost Prince. "This is the place. It seems the barrier I placed here held overnight. We should meet up with the others and see what kind of plan they have going..." she said softly, as she dismounted giving the wolf a thorough petting for all his hard work. She'd explained in a bit more detail about the people she'd been with before going out to the Grasslands. Though she wasn't truly romantically interested in him, she did hope to keep his spirits up while they approached. The people now hold up in this place seemed to be doing just fine considering the state of the Kingdom, but they were all who currently survived.

[Bloodedge]

"I don't think it could have gone any better," Kou commented as he viewed the number of people present. Considering what they started with, this was a very nice turnout. And, considering the number of Demi-human colonies he knew were on the outskirts of the kingdom due to King Eon's mandate against their existence within the wall, this would be a bitter, yet certain improvement on the kingdom's structure if said law was rescinded. "It's a shame so many have fallen, but the future kingdom would be overrun otherwise. I'm not seeing many able-bodied fighters here, though."

Meanwhile, Miki brought along Prince Aeronius with a few final notes as to their specific location. He remembered this farm from his childhood; the old man tending it was a very nice fellow to the younger ones. Such was especially the case when said youths did not fall into his preconceived notions of 'children' based on generalizations. Now, this farm had become a safe haven for the kingdom's survivors, and... the rest of the kingdom was gone? Sad though this was to see, the important thing here was development. "Let's. This group's leader then, who is it? Is it you?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Kou didn't think this could have gone any better, and Aerona could only agree. There was a certain lack of strength in the Kingdom since her father forced out all of the Demi-Humans and she knew this to be the real reason that there weren't any really good fighters left on hand. Whatever, she'd remedy that problem as soon as she was able, there was no need for Demi-Humans to be second-class citizens under the rule of a just leader. Hikari continued to sleep for a few more minutes though she was closer to conscious than unconscious. Miki's entrance into the barrier strengthened it a great deal, adding an extra vibration of natural magic as she became physically present. "Ugh, alright like one more minute..." she mused managing to open her eyes and give Fiona an extra pat. "You can sleep longer, you did great yesterday!~" she said to the Filolial whom she'd been bonding with in the past couple of days.

In the meantime Miki approached the group ahead with a smile on her face. "This group doesn't function with a single leader," she explained of the general situation. It was true, she and Kou had formed their partnership without one of them being outright leader of the other. If it was to be explained in layman's terms it would be that she and Kou were both the leader and everyone else was part of their group. "A young man named Kou and I, are technically both leaders of this group," she mentioned as the group came into proper view she gave Kou a look. 'Save me!' she exclaimed in their private conversation. In the meantime Aerona looked up and saw a face she'd never thought she'd get to see again. "Bro─ther."

[Bloodedge]

Kou didn't expect Hikari to be rising right away; he never did. His eyes continued to wander the farmland, inspecting every able-bodied individual he could see while he opened his senses to their Mana reserves. They were all pure humans, having such little magical potential that none of them could do anything of true substance. It didn't seem like more than a few of them could even swing a practice sword, much less fend off even a single Demonic Beast alone. Kou understood this problem; it was the inverse of Atlantis in a certain way. Where the sunken city suffered those who wielded power dominating those who didn't, Eonis suffered the condition of an uprising from the weaker side. These pitiful humans had the numbers and political influence to push out the more capable Demi-humans, and here they were paying the price for removing such an asset. "Fuck. Even with the extra knights, everything between the wall and castle should be a hellhole by now. We need support magic," he said, once again pinching the bridge of his nose. What would it take if they decided to round up the Demi-humans to fight? Well, the answer was clear to him, but such an offer required clearance from any potential new monarchs after King Eon.

It became clear to the 'Lost Prince' during his return, that there was no one reigning body in this group. Instead, there were two? What an interesting concept; it sounded almost like a King and Queen where one didn't have some amount of dominance over the other. What sort of rule could come from that? He was curious to find out for himself, but first, he saw a face he never imagined he'd see again, and the owner of said face looked to believe the same. "Ah─ hello... sister. It has been some time..." he said, almost nervously. As this reunion began, Kou received a telepathic message from Miki. Looking toward the pair of her and the Lost Prince, he determined that... she didn't need much saving. A silent chuckle ensued as he gave his retort. 'Looks like it'll be fine. Family reunions must not always be annoying, yeah?'

[Apollymi]

Kou was once again pinching the bridge of his nose. And Madoka for all she was worth had at least been listening to what the man had said. "Oh? But how do we get that?" she asked seeming to not understand at all how such a thing could be accomplished.

In the meantime, Aerona was greeted almost nervously by her brother, who seemed to be, just the same as she remembered him. She marched directly up to him and frowned with a determined light in her eyes. "Oh? You've got a lot of nerve to still be acting so soft all the time!" she said her voice seemingly more angry than the situation called for. But such was to be expected of the resident tsundere. Soon after though she had a little more to add. "Still, it's a good thing I'm here, to be a sterner voice than you. So, I'll say all the things, if you want..." she said adding in that softness that made the lass just a bit more palatable. "I'm glad you're here. But I am not hugging first..." she finished seeming to look at her brother with her nosed turned up in the air. She'd missed the lad when he'd left, but she'd also respected his reasoning. His return was a mark of goodness in her eyes, that which she'd tried to convince him of, before he'd done something so impulsive as leaving. Apparently the pair of siblings had a decent enough bond. When Kou's words reached Miki she had a look back at the pair who seemed to be working towards coming to terms.

"Hai, hai, I suppose you're right. I guess, everyone has a family member they can bond with... and depend on," she said, thinking of something, or rather someone in particular. A small smile came to her face as she saw within her mind the only close family member she considered to be that sort of reliable. Alas, such a thought was also rather sad in this world, though she enjoyed her new independence, she did have at least one other 'minor' weakness. Not that it was possible for such a thing to come up again. Moving right along, "There is still the manpower problem though... it's the opposite problem of Atlantis really. What do you want to do about it? I mean, I can run a bit of support myself, but not enough for the whole of the demon horde. Not... without tearing down the whole of the Kingdom anyways..." she said. Initially thinking of using Gugalanna only to decide its destructive potential would do more harm than good for a kingdom they were actively trying to save. Hikari was up and stretching while walking towards her brother, her ears had picked up the entire conversation which was spoken aloud and she smiled when reaching his side. "Shieldfreeden." she said in a single word answer while pouncing on her brother in an active greeting. She also had ulterior motives for the suggestion which would become obvious after her next statement. "Also we did the thing, saving the Church people and holding the line." she said, which brought about the end of the quest line and gave her a massive boost in EXP which sent her straight to level 30, while encasing her in a golden light for a moment or two.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, there's an annoying way... and a less annoying way," Kou said in response to Madoka's query. Whatever the method, they would require both resolve and input from the future monarchs of this very kingdom. The white-haired lad could assume Miki had properly motivated the prince, but their collective resolution remained in question. What would they do when the game's romance plot didn't work out while this path was being taken? It had to be assumed that they were fully functioning on conjecture alone henceforth.

Continuing his discussion with Miki, he observed the approach of the prince and princess toward one another. It was indeed a boon for them to gravitate toward each other, freeing everyone else of their antics for a bit. Kou knew he'd had his fair share of the princess, so he imagined Miki's dealings with the prince resulted in the same outcome. 'I guess so. It's not all it's hyped up to be, though. Family, friends─ it's all the same shit in the end.'

An opposing situation to Atlantis indeed. One could even say it was exactly what the Merfolk of Atlantis feared, as well as a situation Atlantis itself could still see in the future if it did not remain structurally sound. The ideal solution in this case was to acquire the help of Demi-humans, to which Hikari chimed in with a single word of advice. Shieldfreeden was a country of Demi-humans, and likely, many of the refugees from Eonis had been let in. "Sou ka. Good work with the Church. I guess calling a group from Shieldfreeden would be way easier than trying to find camps around the kingdom."

Aeonius was rather quickly chastised by his sister in the meantime. Of course; it had always been like this. It wasn't that he was simply timid by nature, rather... he was a bit sheltered by his own methods. "Sister, that is entirely uncalled for!" he said. He didn't think himself soft, even if he realistically was far too reserved for a prince. As for the female's mention of 'not hugging first' as she put it, he reacted with a huff and crossed arms, as he turned his gaze from her. "Nor am I!" he said, even as his eyes occasionally cut back toward Aerona.

[Apollymi]

"Oh? Well... I'll do what I can to help," these were the words of Madoka, much subdued from the last time she'd been seen. This was such a surprising change that Miki's left brow rose in question of it. "Huh? That's different..." she said only to look towards Kou with obvious confusion about this shift. In the meantime, Kou's words about the likeness between family and friends made Miki smile. He was quite correct after all, something as simple as running into Tsukiko had been just as heart-warming for her as such interactions seemed to be for everyone else. She even held a great deal of respect for Kaiba Seto and Hisakawa Hiromi as far as her general interactions were concerned. Though she considered them more business associates than friends. In the meantime the matter of how to get proper help for this war on demons was something else entirely.

"Hm, Shieldfreeden is the Demi-Human independent country, yeah? It might be easier to get them to come and help, but... outsourcing completely might not be best for future peace talks between the Kingdoms. We wouldn't want to leave a complete imbalance one way or the other," Miki added in her thoughts on the matter, while giving Hikari a thumbs up on her completed mission. While it wasn't complete disagreement, looking at it like a business, the Demi-Human's left here, might not take the word of its rulers seriously, if they replaced them with different Demi-Humans and didn't negotiate directly. An open line of trust and communication was needed to rebuild a group injured by the opposites of those things. "Hm, weird perspective, but I hadn't considered it. Though, I still need to go there soon regardless, my hourglass is there... I don't want to be stuck at level 30 forever," Hikari mentioned. Though she hadn't looked at it form the same perspective as Miki, she'd made a reasonable point. Perhaps, a combination of things would be needed to get the proper strength for fighting off the horde, and doing it quickly. "Well, at least someone won't be, my hourglass wasn't where it was supposed to be... I'll be stuck at level 30 until I figure out a way to track it down. Though that's a problem for later..." said Miki.

In the meantime, Aerona's brother had reacted the exact way she'd expected him to. Claiming that what she'd said was unnecessary and crossing his arms over his chest claiming he also wasn't going to hug first. Did she know she was a bit much to handle given her reactions? Sure, but she'd always been this way and she had people like her brother to keep her from being too overbearing. She looked back at him from down her nose a couple of times only to mutter a few words and take a step forward. "Same time then?" she offered in mild compromise and if he accepted she make a move that would leave them to hug each other at the same time as offered, a nice family moment. After this she'd be ready to get to work properly, it seemed that Kou and this blonde lass who'd brought her brother were discussing potential ways to handle lack of manpower.

[Bloodedge]

"... Right─" said Kou. It was strange to hear such speech coming from Madoka, especially so forward. Had she been whipped into a state of reliability during his time away? With Hikari around, it wouldn't have been surprising to learn that was the case. Moving on, the matter of Shieldfreeden was one worth addressing in detail. Miki had her piece to say regarding outsourcing versus accumulating forces that were more involved, and though she was right, Kou had something else in mind. "Fair point, but it's not Shieldfreeden itself we need to think about. Give consideration to the Demi-Humans who were pushed out. At the end of the day, they still have human minds. Some will want better refuge than the camps outside of Eonis can offer, and some will think ahead to... well... to what the next step of oppression is. What better place would they think to go, than the one country that'll accept them without a second thought? If we arrange a moot with those refugees, we can basically do what we did in Atlantis. The people need to fight for their own freedom, in the end."

He thought it to be reasonable enough. They could find a single, presumably large collection of Demi-Humans, and Hikari could locate her hourglass to push beyond level 30. As much as he rationalized these things in his own mind, he still awaited the input of the others. Meanwhile, the young monarchs of Eonis were having a here-and-there stare-off. Aeronius nodded his acceptance of his sister's offer, and stepped forward with a somewhat relaxed pair of arms outstretched to meet her embrace, countering it with one of his own.

[Apollymi]

Madoka had indeed been brought to heel by Hikari, but the white haired lass wouldn't be saying that. No, instead she'd be staying out of the direct way unless any of her usable skills were needed. In the meantime, the hug between brother and sister, took place and ended with nothing more to pass than a look of smug satisfaction. "I mean, you could have squeezed a bit tighter but I guess it's fine. We'll work on it," said Aerona as she turned her eyes back towards the group. She didn't know what to think about how it was turning out but it seemed the lad Kou and this blonde lass Miki were in some kind of deep discussion about how to properly help the Kingdom.

"Oh? Is that what happened with that... I still don't really remember the time I spent in that form," said Miki about the time period in which Kou managed to pull together the free-folk of Atlantis to get them to fight their oppressors. "Whatever the case, I'll believe in you and assume it works. I'll instead work towards incentivizing their continued cooperation. You know, past the whole, we need to slay demons phase," the blonde lass mentioned, she was already unconsciously flipping around that strand of hair over her finger as she thought through the different problems the Kingdom of Eonis had from a financial perspective. They'd encountered quite a few problems in coming to Eonis, the food shortage, the wild boars, the corruption of the rich. All things fixed by a properly functional trade system and an economy not in the hands of the slothful aristocracy. "Though for all of those things to work out, we'll need the Royalty of this area to back the things we say with their word," she finished up as her mind continued to wander down the path of the future, a model of commerce which could be sustained by the ambitious but moderate merchant/working class was optimal to keep in check the less balanced rule of Monarchs and would keep the same darkness from falling over the area again. The whole time Hikari listened to this conversation with a huge smile on her face. She hadn't seen what this pair had managed in Atlantis or how they'd managed it directly, but it seemed they had the perfect set of skills to create a functional kingdom between them. Aerona heard out this entire thing and scoffed. Of course, she'd willingly do whatever to make sure her Kingdom flourished again, "What, it isn't like I had a problem with Demi-Humans to begin with, they were always nice from my experience. But I don't take orders from any of you, I will be Queen here!" said Aerona haughtily, which just caused a shake in Miki's head, she couldn't imagine dealing with this lass for an extended period of time. Still Aerona as Queen was a better bet than Madoka, who seemed a bit distraught by the proclamation.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, you could stand to be a bit more gentle..." the prince replied. Sure, he was a bit lax on the hold, but this sister of his was always too firm with her... well, everything. It didn't matter at present, though; he was still elated to see her again. Now that their moment of reunion was over, he took the time to hear out a discussion between the apparent leaders of this Adventurer group.

"You uh─... it was... um..." Kou was taken aback for a moment when Miki mentioned having no memory of Atlantis' uprising. Now that he remembered, she was in the form of Tatsuki during that time. And, in remembering that, his train of thought went elsewhere. There was a tint to his face as he coughed into his fist, going on to alter the subject a bit. "Anyway. We do need the backing of those two for anything to really happen, and I trust you'll be able to handle the longevity of substance." As this conversation went on, it became apparent that the royals themselves had been paying attention. Aerona became the first to chime in, as she always would, with her usual attitude. She didn't take orders, did she? No, no. Everyone aside from the Demi-Humans were in place now, and there was no room for anyone to muck it all up before it started. As such, Kou turned to the princess ─ the future Queen ─ with great resolve and a single curiosity in mind. "Oh? Then what would you suggest?" he asked. Depending on her answer, he may or may not have been prepared to overrule the future Queen for the sake of a kingdom he had no intention to rule himself.

[Apollymi]

"Hmphf, as if." the future Queen of Eonis managed. She had no intention of being any softer than she already was. In fact, she was made this way by interactions with others and though she was always fair in how she handled others, she always came off as more than a bit pretentious. As she listened to the pair having their discussion, she noted that neither seemed to be completely taking over the situation, that they'd come to an agreement to simply handle different aspects of the problem. That was a novel idea, both of them working different angles of the same problem to come up with a reasonable response. Even so, she wasn't sure such a thing could work, and she definitely had no idea of what her part to play in this would be aside from whatever her apparent word would carry. But why would she give it? She didn't know either of these people enough, and though she was quite content to try and woo the white haired lad, she had no idea what kinds of things this blonde planned to do, and as such couldn't simply back her ideas whatever they were.

Miki for all that was happening right now, paid close attention to Kou. Finding his pause and tinted face shocking. She managed to look a bit abashed as well, having no idea what all she'd done while she was Tatsuki, but taking from context clues that what she'd been told by Seriri had been pretty spot on. She wanted to cover her own face, but she couldn't reconcile whether she should apologize for the forwardness of that avatar. Whatever the case, she was saved from this by an ever conscious Kou. "Hai hai, leave it to me. I can work it out, probably a lot easier than Atlantis. Especially since Eonis already had at least a functional economy. No prep necessary, just negotiations," she said managing to move on from her own bashfulness and fall into a regular pattern of speaking. Aerona when she was asked her opinion after her grand declaration had only a few things to say. Obviously, there were only a couple of things to handle, or so she thought. "Well..." there was a pause from her before she continued. "Obviously, we should just march over there. And tell the citizens to come back and defend their Kingdom from the current tyrant King. And if they help, they can have safety within the Kingdom, and know that they helped with the Demon menace," she concluded. Miki for her credit managed to look away her pillow came beneath her person as it was obvious to her that though this Princess was better suited for leadership than one like Madoka, she might have skipped out on person-to-person interactions. For instance, not realizing that these people should have no reason to care about a country they already abandoned, especially not just for the sake of a new pushy leader to take over.