Downtime

Horus's cohort was stationed on the upper levels of the city, waiting for the Hero King to leave for their expedition into Salvantis. Thousands of Soldiers had collected within the Gate's vicinity-- the only gate separating Haflastus from the country of Salvantis. Diego rested his arms over the guardrail of a bridge, the rest of his party standing by idly.

Nikolas hummed to himself, turning toward Horus. "You never said that the Eldest Prince would be going as well."

Horus shrugged. "Its assistance."

"Wonder if they got some Divers with 'em?"

"The Eldest was a Diver at one point."

"He was?"

"Yes, he went into the dungeons with his late wife, Yaedr Ucitiel."

"Reckon he got an artifact on him?"

"Well, before it was confirmed to be so, many thought he wielded a Mantra Blade."

Nikolas's interests were piqued. "That strong?"

"No-- Strong, but not remotely close to a Mantra Blade."

Diego sighed. "I know that Osuna holds a festival for that trident of theirs, but are Mantra Blades truly real? I've never seen one. At this rate, it feels more like a myth..."

Horus raised a brow. "The Hero King himself wields that saber, and you believe Mantra Blades to be myth?"

"I've never laid eyes on it myself."

Horus huffed in response. "It annoys me, but it's fair. But... the Mantra Blades do exist. It isn't a stretch to believe so-- Elioud exists, no? Why wouldn't the Mantra Blades?"

"Something so destructive..." Diego's words trailed off. "No, you're right, they probably are real."

"What made you believe they may not have been?"

"I just kept hearing about them-- 'they could split countries in two' or 'rend cities into ash.' It becomes hard to believe after only hearing of them for most of your life."

For the first time, whilst in their cohort, Horus chuckled. "Exaggerations, but... they are incredibly dangerous. The danger of a wielder on their lonesome is nothing comparable to when two wielders clash."

"Have you seen something like that?"

"I've witnessed the aftermath. It's destruction comparable ot the Eclipse."

Diego understood immediately what he meant, thinking back on a time in history when a special type of Eclipse fell onto the world. The event scorched a settlement in the mountains, afflicted with an unknown curse. The burns persist even now, showing hints of the embers from that time. The town itself was left in ashes.

Even now, thousands of years after the incident occurred, the reason behind it remains unknown.

"Is that true?"

Horus nodded. "Either that or an Abyssal Storm."

"Hard to believe anything like that..."

"Fair enough."

The party fell into a palpable silence, watching as the city bid their farewells to the army leaving for Salvantis.

Soon, the Hero King revealed themselves, a man clad in Karmaplate-- sheets of an unknown metal found within the depths of the Abyssal Plains set in odd patterns that form in colors that match the attire the user is wearing, thick leather attire sat underneath. This was the only armor in the world capable of countering a Mantra Blade.

In contrast, the First Prince, Lumacia Urganes Ucitiel, was clad in regular plate mail, sat atop a horse, and waved at the citizens of the wall. The man had a thick beard set upon his face, hair slicked back to look proper for the festivities.

This was the first time Diego had even seen the Hero King in particular. The man was of decent height, having parted brown hair and hazel green eyes, a slight aftershave showing over his face. He carried an almost impassive expression, bordering on depressive, his sunken eyes barely looking at his surroundings as they moved towards the city gates.

Aspasia looked over the ridge on the bridge they were standing on. "Look at them go."

Nikolas chuckled. "I'm surprised we had to wait so long for them to come on through. What was it? Almost a week?" Nikolas snapped his fingers, remembering something. "Yo, Diego, how's training with Aspasia been?"

"Uh..." Diego hesitated.

Aspasia rolled her neck. "He's been getting better. I think, with a bit more practice, the kid's survivability hiked up a bit more."

"Could he beat me?" Nikolas pointed at himself.

"Aren't you only good with a gun?"

Nikolas snickered. "True."

"Maybe we should hit the dirt ourselves? Not a lot of people will allow you the opportunity to pop shots from afar all the time, y'know?"

Nikolas looked hesitant, giving Diego a look before bringing his gaze back to Aspasia. He shook his head, "Nah... I'm alright."

"It would help~."

"I'd rather not get my ass beat like 'ole Diego over here."

Diego scoffed. "I'm not helpless, you know? I'm able to get at least a few hits off."

"You just need to get a good lock in, y'know? You'll get it eventually." Aspasia mimicked a shoving motion with her knuckle, pressing her fist against the railing of the bridge.

Maria leaned over, looking at Horus. "We'll be leaving for Osuna tomorrow, right?"

Horus nodded. "Heading for Osuna-- we'll be taking a train, which should take about half a day at most, maybe a tad longer."

Maria smiled. "I'm so glad that we won't have to walk the whole way again."

"Technically, we'd be making a stop at Ucitiel, but hopping onto the train over to Osuna would take no time at all."

"How is Osuna?" Nikolas asked, looking over at Diego.

Diego scratched his head. "The sights are great since it's set on a hill. You can get a good look at Ucitiel from miles away if you position yourself on the Osuna Estate itself." Diego paused. "Lots of grassland directly outside of the city's borders. Uh... a forest hugs the south of the city that stretches out to The Wall as well."

A beat.

"It snows in the winter cause it's close to Sajungdr. That's when the city is at its calmest."

Nikolas watched Diego's expression, longingly looking out, reminiscing. "You miss it?"

Diego shook his head. "We always miss certain parts of the past that weren't the worst. More like the mood... I suppose." He shrugged, struggling to find a way to describe the feeling he gets.

"Must have had quite a life there..."

After they watched the Hero King leave on their journey, and once the next day had arrived, they set off to Osuna, going by train this time. Diego was sitting beside Maria, whilst across from them were Aspasia, Charis, and Nikolas, who was set closer to the window compared to the other two women sitting beside him.

Horus stood, holding onto a handrail to keep themselves steady, scanning the train car for anyone out of the ordinary.

Soon, they were to arrive at Ucitiel.

Whilst they entered the train heading to Osuna, the party froze, spotting the Duchess herself on the train, passing by. Horus saluted the woman. "Greetings, Duchess Cirillo."

She scanned their cohort. "Good, you're here. Come." Kleio proceeded further into the train, a younger woman with the same colored hair and skin following behind her, Caladan at her hip. The party is dragged over to one of the private rooms set in one of the train cars, big enough to hold them all inside.

Diego stuck by the door whilst everyone else took their seat in separate parts of the room. Horus gave a courteous nod to the Duchess. "I... I thank you for letting us--"

"You are family to Caladan, no? You do not need to be so formal."

Caladan gave a small chuckle, providing his cousin with a reassuring pat to the shoulder. "Calm your nerves."

Horus relaxed. "I'm surprised..." He scanned the room. "It's a bit packed with all of us in here."

Kleio nodded. "I suppose. Just felt it would be nice to surround myself with familiar company, aside from my sister and guard here." She pointed to the young girl with her, along with Caladan.

Horus has a respectful nod to the young woman as well. "I am Horus Arisui."

The young woman returned a nod to the older man. "I'm Kristina, Kristina Menos Cirillo."

"A pleasure to meet you."

Nikolas's eyes light up a little. "Um... apologies if it's improper to ask, but... how old were you again, miss?"

Kristina pointed to herself with a questioning look. "Me?"

"Yes."

"Eighteen."

Nikolas whistled and looked at Diego. "Our red-headed friend here isn't far in age, y'know?" Nikolas met Diego's gaze. "How old were you again?"

"Nineteen."

Kleio chuckled. "A lot of us here are not far in age, I'm only twenty."

Nikolas began to look a bit haggard at their responses. "I'm twenty-five, that isn't too bad, right?"

Aspasia raised her hand. "Twenty-eight."

Horus spoke up. "Thirty-three."

Caladan nodded to himself at all of the responses. "Twenty-six."

Kleio chimed back in. "From where I'm sitting, we all appear to be decently young."

Nikolas motioned to the youngest here. "Ms. Cirillo is the youngest by far, though."

Kristina smiled, putting a hand on her chest. "I am content being the youngest."

"Can I say!" Nikolas turned back towards Kleio. "It is incredible that you have such a high standing as you are at only twenty years old!"

Kleio chuckled. "It isn't hard to garner the attention of many when you hold great strength."

They rode the rest of the way over to the city of Osuna, making conversation with one another. Those of Horus's platoon were surprised by the openness of conversation they were able to have with the Duchess.

Once they had fully arrived at Osuna, they all made their way out of the train, one by one. The party followed the Duchess as she made her way up to the main estate.

Nikolas noticed Diego frequently looking over his shoulder as they moved. "That bad?" He questioned.

"I know they aren't that reckless, but I can't help but be paranoid." He inched closer to the group, making sure not to stray far off from the party. "Being too far... one misplaced move. They could just slip in, get me in the gut, leave me cryin' out in pain, dyin'."

"You're made up of stronger shit than that, Diego."

"Nah, not when my guts are spilled across the pavement from someone taking a jab at me with their blade. They probably only need like two or three stabs to get me down. The trick is to not get stabbed at all."

Nikolas shrugged.

Eventually, they reached the estate itself, separating themselves from Kleio, her sister, and her guard as they entered deeper into the mansion itself.

A knight clad in plate crossed over with them, looking to be a guard of the Osuna Family. The man had slicked-back black hair, a stern gaze, and a goatee that was graying at the sides of their moustache. They gave a small nod to the party, scanning them all individually. "Judgin' by how you all had arrived with the Duchess Cirillo herself. We need you to watch over the festivities directly. And I'm sayin' we need ya by the tree itself."

Horus shared a quizzical look with his cohort. "Us?"

"Indeed, we do. Of course, we'll have one of our men sitting about to assist ya, but we heard you were competent, and we're stretched real thin here. I'll lead ya."

He motioned for the group to follow, all of them being led to what looked to be the garden of this Mansion. They made their way through a small hedge maze before arriving at what looked to be a run-down monastery that was set in a small bit of forestry, sitting directly at the back of the estate.

Going further in, they see the tree itself, and within it, implanted directly into the stump, was a Trident. The weapon looked to have been made up of this rusting black metal, disheveled over what could've been thousands of years of use. At the base of the fork was a discolored red bit of fur, and directly underneath that was a hook.

This was a Mantra Blade, the Saol Marbh. A blade said to be capable of raising the dead from their eternal slumber.

"You all, along with our youngest Knight, Cassidy, and Elioud, mind ya-- you all will be guardin' the Mantra Blade itself. And when the nobles and Osunas themselves start comin' round to test their mettle, we'll have..." He paused before pointing to Horus and Aspasia. "We'll have you two come around and lead them here, okay? Rest of ya, stay in yer place, alright? We'll see you all tomorrow."

The Knight proceeded to leave them behind at the site of the Mantra Blade.

Diego's eyes flickered as he gazed upon the weapon. He felt drawn to it almost, but he ignored his urges, tightening the leather strapped to his chest and leaving with his group.

The Festival of Life, as the blade itself controls the domains of life and death, will commence soon enough.