Preparations for War

Lunsai:< What now?!>

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

Olympe: <Say you'll join me. Please, General.>

----

*Ace groans, a barrier of swirling winds expanding around the group and pushing the phantoms away. He turns right, and the phantoms begin to seem to seem less numerous and aggressive until eventually, they're gone. Ace stops and turns around, looking from Kasa to Lunsai.*

Ace: <They were p-protecting something back there.>

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

Kelvin: <But I never said it wasn't ba-->

Kelphy: <Uncle, please.>

Rhea: <I-I'm going upstairs to change into my uniform.>

Kelvin: <No, that's okay, Rhea. You must still be tired. Until you're feeling better, I'd prefer you be a guest rather than an employee. Though, if you wouldn't mind just leading everyone to the dining room, I'd much appreciate it.>

*Rhea smiles and nods, motioning Ryzell, Ranmaru and Kelphy to follow her.*

Lunsai:< Something important. We should go and check in out.>

Ryzell leans on Ranmaru who helps him walk and follows Rhea.

Lumyr: <I can't exactly refuse.>

*He sighs and nods.*

=====

Kasa: <Huh? But what about the Generals?>

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

*Olympe smiles broadly in relief and nods firmly, holding her hand out to help Lumyr stand.*

Olympe: <We must hurry then.>

----

Ace: <I want to find the Generals.>

----

*Aera kicks a small stone and turns to face Winston while fixing her bangs.*

Aera: <Well, this is annoying. We nee-->

*Both Winston and Aera's eyes turn red as Legel contacts them.*

Legel: {Olympe, General Lumyr are preparing to defect. Make sure they don't leave that jungle. There is also an unknown spy nearby. Crone and Enkidu were going to handle him, but their is a lot farther away than you two.>

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

*At the dinner table, Allina is filling Kelphy and Rhea in on what happened to her after leaving the city.*

Kelphy: <Ella and Razz weren't brought back, but there's still a chance they were taken to the capital of Caleonis. You were around that area, right?>

Allina: <Yeah... I hope they're all right. We were doing great fighting that knight chick and the crazy gun guy, but then that other girl... Aera, or whatever, showed up and screwed us over.>

Lunsai:< So do I. Be who knows what's back there. Imagine bringing something needed to the Generals.>

*He takes her hand and gets up.*

=====

Winston: <So the general boy and his pawn are defecting, eh? Lovely. Let's try not to COMPLETELY incinerate them, eh?>

*He loads his cannons.*

=====

Kasa: <Where should we go, then?>

"Aera has been making a mess of things as of late hasn't she?" Ryzell says.

Ranmaru's too busy stuffing his face with real food to comment/

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

Olympe: <Capital Nymphe is a couple days to the South, but there's a chance we'll run into the others if we head that way already.>

----

Ace: <That's true...>

*Ace's eyes widen in terror and he stumbles back. Seconds later, the silence is broken as Aera and Winston arrive running. Aera stops, staring at them.*

Aera: <What the hell are you brats doing here?!>

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

Allina: <Razz and Ella are good, they'll be fine...>

Kelphy: <Mhm...>

*Rhea looks from Allina to Kelphy and frowns.*

Rhea: <Okay, please don't be so sad...! I have an idea. We have some time until Alto and Keika arrive at the Elven Woods, right? Maybe we could visit Wizard's Lake. It would help you two feel better, and there's a lot of space to train. I don't know, I mean, if you want to, of course.>

Kelvin: <I think that is a wonderful idea.>

*Kelvin walks in and sits at the head of the table.*

"An excellent idea Rhea. We can continue our training there. You and Kelphy are learning at a much faster pace than I could have ever hoped" Ryzell says to Rhea with a warm smile.

Ranmaru is still stuffing his face but now he's pounding his chest because of choking from eating too fast.

*Lunsai starts backward in suprised*

Lunsai:[ No....not yet.]

Lunsai:< At last, we have found you! We have been searching for quite some time.>

OOC: I apologize for not posting recently.

"Okay..." Enkidu rested his staff on his shoulder and looked to Crone. "Shall you lead the way?"

Lumyr: <Alright then.>

=====

Kasa: <...Oh crap.>

*Winston points one of his cannons threateningly at them.*

Winston: <I'd also like to know this.>

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

OOC: It's all good, welcome back.

*Crone slowly turns to him, nodding with a smirk on his face. He abruptly darts past Enkidu the way they came.*

-----

Olympe: <...So do you think we should go North and then circle around the jungle or risk going South? The former strategy is a lot safer, though it will cost us at least two extra days of walking.>

----

Ace: <W-W-We came to find you. We wanted to join the mission.>

*Aera bursts into laughter. Suddenly, she glances at him once again and nearly chokes. Narrowing her eyes into a glare, she advances towards him, looking into his eyes.*

Aera: <...Winston, take the other two kids, fill them in, and get to General Lumyr and Olympe. I'll catch up soon.>

*Aera grabs Ace by the arm and they both shatter to ice dust.*

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

*Rhea moves over to Ranmaru, puts her hand on his chest, and closes her eyes before snapping them back open to reveal them to have turned orange. They glow as the food seems to compress and slide down Ranmaru's throat and esophagus.*

Kelvin: <I feel that the time is coming when we will have to fight the real battle. I can't stress this enough, be cautious at all times.>

"Thanks girl"

"Rhea"

"Thanks Rhea"

"Are you done stuffing your face now Ranmaru?" Ryzell inquires.

"Hey I was hungry. The food is shit at the palace."

Ryzell ignores Ranmaru and turns towards Kelvin, "I agree"

Lumyr: <We don't have any time to waste. Even in this condition, I will have to say I'd prefer getting there the quickest way possible.>

=====

Winston: <Ah, right.>

*He turns to the remaining two.*

Winston: <I don't know what you two runts are doing here, but you're under my orders now, understand? Just kidding, I don't care if you understand. Lumyr and Olympe have betrayed and we're supposed to track them down and kill them. Understand? Again. Don't care.>

*Kasa kinda nods.*

*Lunsai also nods*

Lunsai:[Maybe I was right not to trust Ace. Why did she grab him like that?]

Enkidu followed behind as quickly as he could and grasped his staff horizontally before his chest.

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

*Crone leads them circling around the area the ghosts attacked them at. At the other side, they run into Winston, who is speaking to two young soldiers, Kasa and Lunsai.*

-----

*Olympe nods firmly.*

Olympe: <You're right. Let's make haste.>

*She darts off the way they came.*

-----

*A small iceberg appears at a silent area of the jungle with a flash of light. Ace stumbles forward, Aera having released his arm.*

Aera: <What do you think you're doing here!?>

Ace: <Th-That's none of your business.>

Aera: <Don't fuck with me, Ari! Are you out of your mind? I told you I'd kill you myself if you interfered again, and suddenly you're here, posing as a soldier? Did you seriously think that'd work?>

Ari: <...I won't let you destroy Leudella.>

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

*After eating, Kelphy and Rhea go to their rooms to prepare for the field trip. Allina awkwardly stands around, whistling.*

Ryzell has gone with Rhea.

Ranmaru is staring at Allina, "What?"

"Is this the one?" Enkidu asked in a hushed tone, his grip tightening around his staff.

*Lunsai turns to face Crone*

Lunsai:[ This is getting more interesting by the second!]

*Lumyr follows her.*

=====

Kasa: <More people? Man....>

*Winston turns to face Crone.*

Winston: <Ah. Are you here to join in on the hunt as well?>

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

*Crone glances at Enkidu and shakes his head.*

Crone: <No, they're soldiers. What hunt?>

-----

Olympe: <How are you feeling?>

*Olympe continues to run through the jungle. She puts her palms together and briefly shuts her eyes, releasing a clone of herself that dives into a tree's shadow, disappearing.*

=====

Royal Palace, Nymphe

Allina: <Nothing! You know, we haven't told the princess and the regent about how the Generals are scouting that weird jungle place.>