An Audience with the Queen

“C’mon Reinhardt! We gotta go!” She yelled while struggling to pull him out of the pub.

“Reinhardt?” Arata muttered. “I’m Reinhardt?”

Leona stopped pulling and looked at him confused. “Did you hit your head or something? Queen Anna asked for you specifically, we need to get to the Palace now!” She explained. The words were like background noise whilst his mind tried to catch up. He’d been sent to this world, expecting to just be some NPC, content to search for his task but instead he’d replaced the main character? “The hell is going on here?” He thought. “Surely this isn’t right, I mean, he would have mentioned something about this before sending me here, right?” That’s when the last conversation with this shadowy figure came back to him… “no… no that would make sense.”

Leona began to push him forth towards the road this time, she was a lot stronger than he expected. “What are you standing around for?! We need to get going!”

“Uhh…” he spun, now facing his new ally. “Leona. Shouldn’t we leave this up to the police? Y’know, let them get the evidence and find the Princess?”

She did not approve of his question and continued pulling him along.

*-*-*

Somehow through pure brute force she’d managed to drag him a fair distance from the bar, even as he stretched out for it longingly. Alas, even with all his strength he was still getting further and further away, his head dropping as his spirit broke.

“You chose one hell of a day to pick up daytime drinking, Reinhardt. Last time we celebrated you had a drop and was out for the rest of the night.” Leona remarked. Arata remembered the scene, someone had handed him a flask and he’d taken it like it was medicine from a syringe, his face puckered then reddened, sure enough he’d woken up three days later with no recollection of that night. “God damn Boy Scout.” Arata complained. “Don’t we have some sort of monster to be fighting right now? Giant frogs or slimes or, I dunno maybe orcs or something?”

“You think it was orcs that took her?!” Leona responded and Arata’s eyes rolled. She was practically holding the guy in the air at this point, his feet wagging in the air. She made a mistake a few moments later, believing that this Reinhardt had become docile enough to let go of, he was a hero, naturally he sought out danger! But the moment she let go he’d turned on the jets and rocketed through the streets away. She watched him do it, and just sighed loudly.

“I’m away! I can’t see her anymore, i just need to hide somewhere then go back to the chapel…” his thoughts deceived him, he’d been running in the direction Leona was dragging him, and he’d ended up running out of gas.

“Halt! Who goes there?!” It wasn’t Leona, It was a man’s voice. He lifted his head, and the light cascaded off the walls, blinding him of what lay ahead. He took a step further forward and the sun vanished behind the building, and a blade poked his throat. “I said Halt!” That voice commanded. He was armoured up from head to toe, full steel suit with chain mail below. The centrepiece of his armour was that of a black Phoenix on a golden border. The blade he held was a part of the polearm in his hand, Arata fell back, holding his neck as a small bead of red dripped down. The building was not one of common belonging. No, it was much more grand than that of even the cathedral.

Pale stone stretched so far they cut through the clouds, glass was scattered along the upper floors, chased with golden borders. Two towers on either side connected to form an impassable wall. He hadn’t noticed that the homes and stores that had been so prevalent in the streets leading to this point were no longer present. Such grandeur, along with the guards now stood over him with weapons readied and eyes filled with anger… it could only be one thing. “What business do you have at the Palace, warrior? Answer truthfully!”

Arata panicked “I just- I heard the Princess was abducted…”

The spear point once again touched his throat. “Watch your tongue or lose it stranger. Scoundrels return to the scene of their villainy, perhaps you are the one responsible for her majesty’s disappearance!”

He couldn’t repute the guards claim, like a hare in the sights of a wolf he was completely paralysed and shaking. A cold sweat running down his back and the hairs on his arms stood as if they were going to jettison from his skin. Closer and closer the point came, digging the slightest bit into his flesh again causing him to wince as the red pooled around the blade.

One second the blade was there, the next it was snapped at the handle. Both Arata and the guard’s eyes bulged seeing the weapon shatter without any reason. But a blot of black flickered in the corner as the guard blinked, and as his eyes reopened he was already on the floor. Arata backed up cautiously, his shaking messing with his breath. The other guards rushed over to apprehend the one that stood before him.

Long black hair covered this saviour’s back, and an aura of murderous intent hit him like a rocket. The guards stopped where they stood, holding their spears towards this ally with fear in their eyes.

“You okay, Reinhardt?” This voice was familiar, he’d heard it not long ago after all. She turned slightly to look at him. “Leona?” Arata gasped. She smiled and turned back to face the guards, her fists clenching. Her teeth bared and her usually golden yellow eyes turned to rust red, the pupil more cat-like than human.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” She screamed.

The guard she had kicked to the ground earlier struggled back to his feet, blood cascading from his hairline down his cheek and leaking onto his clothes. “A- arrest them, you idiots. They’re criminals!” He ordered weakly and yet the men behind him hesitated.

Leona quickly checked her pocket and revealed a scroll, holding it up to the guards. “We have been summoned by her majesty, Queen Anna. She requested this man specifically to find the missing Princess Plotgerät!”. Many of the guards were taken aback by the statement, looking between themselves and lowering their weapons, but not the guard at the front. Still bearing the pain of Leona’s kick he winced as he got closer to the scroll, a smirk emerged before his spear raised again. “Do not falter men, this is a forgery!” The men behind him argued amongst themselves, not sure what to do anymore. “The man summoned by Queen Anna was the hero, Reinhardt. This man is…”

“Reinhardt.” The guard’s words were cut off, and he intended to snap back however as he turned to face this interruption, his complexion turned a chalk white. She was surrounded by guards from the palace interior. All of them wearing black steel armour, the sign of the elite soldiers, all of them grizzled veterans of the killing fields. The heavy gate was lifted and she stood resolute. Her red dress was of the finest silks, embroidered with intricate patterns of the noble family. Her white gold hair tied high with the locks outside the bunch reaching her shoulders. And atop her head, gemstones chiselled into gold and red felt. The crown of her majesty herself.

“Q-Queen Anna?!” The guard yelped.

Arata was helped back to his feet by Leona, keeping his gaze on the Queen. She tried to cover it well, but the red beneath her eyes were all he saw. She smiled his way and signaled her guards forth. They surrounded Leona and Arata.

“Hero Reinhardt, Hero Leona” the Queen called. “You have my thanks for answering my summons. Please, allow my soldiers to escort you inside.”

Without a word, Arata and Leona made their way inside. It was safe to say Arata kept a fearful eye on the previous guards, whilst Leona looked at them with sheer bloodlust. The Queen’s icy gaze caught the guard that had originally stopped Arata, only to move along inside with the others.

However, not far away, upon the rooftops they watched the castle and their new guests. “Who’s the dude, boss?” One asked with a laugh. His boss watched with great intent.

“Our next target. Reinhardt the Saviour.”