Downfall.

"Lord Alexander!" Elise shouted, placing Alexander down before raising to her feet "What is the meaning of this?!"

Alexander looked at Elise with a frown. 

"I asked to be alone!" Alexander shouted back to Elise, pointing back at Marcus. "He continued to pester me, so I did what I had to!"

Elise looked over at Marcus with a concerned expression. "Are you okay Marcus?" Elise asked, walking over to check on him.

"Why are you checking on him?!?" Alexander asked angrily. "I'm your lord, me!" Alexander shouted, "he started this mess, you shouldn't—"

"Silence yourself!" Elise shouted as she looked back at Alexander with a conflicted and hurt expression. "Before you say something you'll regret."

Alexander fell silent, yet his scowl and heavy breathing remained.

"Are you alright?" Elise asked softly as she knelt beside the weeping Marcus. She reached a hand for his cheek and wiped his tears with her thumb. 

"We… were friends," Marcus said softly between sobs. "I'm his friend, and he's mine, so… why?"

Elise's expression grew softer as she pulled Marcus into a hug. "It's alright, you'll be okay."

The previously tense atmosphere that had befallen the courtyard dissipated, and in its place was a somber silence, filled with the quiet sobs of Marcus.

Alexander watched as Elise comforted Marcus, his emotions battling against his reasoning. His felt an intense sense of guilt and grief, his world slowly crashing around him.

What have I done…

Alexander raised a hand to his head, massaging his temples as he closed his eyes. 

This wasn't supposed to happen, the rage, the fight, everything. 

If only Marcus had just left him alone…

No.

If only Alexander had been honest with himself, then he wouldn't have lost control. 

Alexander looked up to see Elise comforting Marcus, his expression grew soft as his eyes welled with tears. 

He gritted his teeth as he averted his gaze. "Fuck." He hissed under his breath.

I… I shouldn't be here.

Alexander turned towards the entrance and slowly walked towards it, crushing the golden leaves beneath his feet as the sky continued to darken.

Long shadows cast across the courtyard as the wind rustled the leaves of the massive tree behind him.

Stepping into the mansion Alexander made his way upstairs to his room. quietly closing the door behind himself and locking it. 

Stepping away from the door Alexander grabbed the book that contained Ava's letters from his shelf and climbed into bed.

He took a deep breath before opening the book.

He then lost himself in its contents, not Leaving his room for the next three days…

— — —

Around three days later, Alexander's father returned home from the war front. 

His carriage halted before the stables.

As he stepped outside, he was revealed to be in a worn and dirty Pathfinder uniform. 

His hair was unkempt, his eyes were sunken in and glassy, and he reeked of blood, world energy, and dirt.

"M-my lord!" Elise said in shock as she studied the state of Lord Lance, she quickly approached him and supported his wobbly stance by placing her hands on his sides. "Are you alright?" She asked in a panic.

She had seen Lance In such a dirty state before, so that wasn't what worried her. 

What did worry her, was how hollow and dead he looked. 

Almost as if he had seen the devil himself.

Lance slowly looked down at Elise, his eyes filled with pain as he looked at her. "I'm sorry." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

Elise eyes widened with confusion. "What… what are you saying, my lord?"

Lance bit his bottom lip as he brought Elise into a hug. He wrapped one of his arms around her back and with the other, he placed his hand on the back of her head. 

Elise returned the hug, her expression was perplexed and vexed. 

"I tried to save her," Lance whispered as he tightened his grip. "But… I couldn't, there was so much chaos, so many soldiers, and I… "Tears strolled down Lance's cheeks as he choked on his words.

Elise eyes grew wide with awareness. "No…" she said softly, her voice shaking with uncertainty. Her lips trembled as she began to pull away from Lance. 

Lance kept his grip firm, refusing to let her go. 

"No." She said again, her voice raising as she continued to pull away from Lance. 

"Your sister fought bravely, Elise." Lance said softly, "If it wasn't for her, we'd all have died–"

"No!" Elise shouted as she finally broke from Lance's grasp, pushing him away with a hard shove as she backed away. "She… she isn't dead!" Elise shouted, "She's not dead, tell me she isn't dead!"

Lance's expression softened as he averted his gaze. The sighted of Elise in such distress was unbearable, especially after seeing her twin sister die. 

"How!" Elise cried out in anguish, "how could this have happened." Her voice broke as she pointed a finger at Lance, her finger trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

Lance struggled to find the words, the conflict evident on his face. "Elise you need time t–"

"Tell me!" Elise shouted as she grabbed at her chest, almost as if she tried to collect the shattered pieces of her heart, "I… I need to know."

Lance closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts of the harrowing mission that killed Sophia. "okay." He finally said, opening his eyes. "We were sent on a mission into the western empire…"

— — —

Lance took a deep breath as he and his squad finally reached the other side of the mountain range. 

"My lord, are you getting old?" Sophia teased, standing beside Lance as he surveyed the open flatland before him. 

Lance looked at Sophia with a grin. "Old? I'm only 42!" He replied with a laugh.

Camilla chuckled to herself softly as she watched them chat like an old man and his daughter. "So, old man Lance, do you have an idea of where this weapon factory is?" She asked.

Lance nodded. "Should be in the center of Sehunka city." He said, pointing towards where the city would be. "It should take us about six hours to reach the city, but we need to be careful with avoiding imperial civilians and patrols." 

"Yeah." Sophia chimed in, "If we get spotted we'll be trapped, between the mountains and the frontline, there's no quick escape."

Camilla nodded as she absorbed the information. "Alright then, to Sehunka city." She said with a confident grin.

Lance and his unit moved with determination and speed. The landscape was practically open plains for the most part, as the empire hadn't built anything close to the mountains. 

However, as the unit traveled deeper into the empire, the landscape began to change drastically.

The ground began to grow course and muddy, hollowed-out buildings of villages that had been boomed out by war zeppelins began appearing regularly. 

As they progressed further, the atmosphere grew tense, the sky began to darken and the sound of artillery began to roar in the distance. 

"We're getting closer towards our target," Lance informed as he pointed toward the city in the distance. 

There was a well-traveled road between their current location, which was a bombed-out village, and Sehunka City. 

"Hold up," Sophia said as she tapped Lance's shoulder. "Enemy convoy dead ahead." She said with a point.

Lance turned to look at where she was pointing, squinting his eyes, he could see several carriages wagons on the side of the road. There were about a dozen horses, with about a hundred imperial soldiers wandering about.

They were dressed in long purple coats and caps.

Most were armed with flintlock rifles, however there were a few who were armed with Single-shot lever action rifles.

"Looks like a company-sized unit," Camilla said as she peered out the window of the bombed-out house. "Are they heading to the front, I wonder?"

"I doubt it." Lance chimed in. "A company is too small to make any real difference, and there isn't a single mage here, these men are part of a search party or a patrol."

"Search party?" One of the pathfinders in the group asked curiously, "Could they be searching for us?"

Lance nodded. "Maybe not us specifically, but this wouldn't be the first time pathfinders infiltrated past their lines, so this is most likely a precaution or vanguard unit to protect against that."

"Should we move to assault their position?" Camilla asked, "It would be one less company of soldiers to deal with."

"No," Lance said while shaking his head. "What's one company amid thousands?" He asked. "Besides, even if we did take them out, that much chaos would draw more attention."

"It'll be safer to wait for them to pass." Sophia added, "Saves on our grenades too."

Lance nodded in agreement, his eyes fixed on the soldiers, who were now entering their wagons. "Breaktime over ladies, let's get moving!" A man dressed in a slightly different uniform from the others called out. 

He could be identified by the difference in his coat, which was shorter, and his hat, which was a tricorn, decorated by white feathers.

"Hooah!" The soldiers said in unison, smacking the butts of their rifles against the floor of their wagons.

"Damn straight!" The man said with a grin, mounting his horse.

Camilla instinctively flinched at the sound of their rifles clicking loudly. 

Lance looked over at her hunched under the windowsill and chuckled. "It's just a tradition of their army, no one is shooting."

A wry smile crossed Camilla's lips as she looked up to Lance. "O-oh."

A round of soft chuckles filled the hollowed-out building.

The squad waited patiently as the convoy rolled past them. 

As the sound of wood creaking and hooves clattering faded into the distance, Lance signaled to his team. "Let's get moving." He said quietly, "The faster we blow this factory sky high, the faster we get home."

The pathfinders continued to navigate through desolate landscape, their movements swift and determined.

The closer they got to Sehunka City, the more patrols they came across, forcing them to move in silence through the shadows.

Finally, they reached the outskirts of Sehunka city. It was a large, sprawling urban area. 

The streets were wide but barren, alongside large stone structures that reached up to five stories. 

Large signs hung about, painted with the strange words of the imperial language; Romlish.

There were fortifications surrounding the city, manned by dozens of guards in the purple uniforms of the empire. 

They walked about with determination expressions and keen eyes. 

Lance and his team knew that they had to lock in now, as this was it. The city of Sehunka was teaming with imperial forces, which was to be expected seeing as 50,000 men were stationed here. 

Lance and his team knew they had to split up to avoid detection, as any missteps could lead to death.