Year 2: The Encroaching Dread - Chapter 8

I can’t take this anymore.

After an hour and a half inside the party hall, dancing and chatting with the guests, Duncan made up an excuse and snuck away to one of the balconies lining the venue hall, hoping to get some alone time.

In his heart, he apologised to Stephanie who he’d left at the mercy of King Alexander’s daughter, Princess Alicent, as he made his way outside.

“Oh, hey, Duncan.”

“Hajime?” Duncan closed the door behind him. “What are you-?”

“Same as you, I bet.” Hajime smiled. “Come, pull up a…railing.”

Duncan smiled back and walked towards his friend who was leaning against the stone railing. “I really thought the dancing would be the most exhausting bit.”

“I didn’t.”

“Really?”

Hajime nodded. “Duncan, I don’t know if you know this about me, but I am an introvert who tried his hand at being an extrovert, failed and now am in a weird limbo space where I bounce between the two. Social interactions exhaust me more than physical exercise ever could.”

“…Should I leave you to it here then?”

“N-no, that’s not-” Hajime sighed. “Forget about it.”

“…Okay then.”

The song the band were playing changed, though the muffled voices from inside the hall still seemed louder. The festivities in the city itself felt even louder than that.

“…Do you think we could sneak away into Rhodes?”

“Sadly not.”

“Damn,” Hajime muttered. “…I really miss going to festivals.”

“I thought you were an introvert.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy festivals.” Hajime’s smile shifted slightly as he called his past life. “If there’s one thing I really miss about Earth, it’s that. Back in Japan, we have some amazing festivals, you know? Gozan no Okuribi, Tanabata, Obon…and the fireworks…they were always pretty.” He laughed a little melancholically. “I always wanted to have a festival date with a cute girl. Go around the stalls, find a private spot to watch the fireworks from, have a kiss or a cuddle beneath them as they exploded into the air…I don’t think I’ll get that here.”

“What about Akane?”

Hajime slumped down against the railing. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I like her that way or if she likes me that way, or anything really. I guess I’ve just been too focused on training to think about romance, especially, well…after Amen.”

“…Yeah.”

“Still!” Hajime shot back up and grinned. “I think what you and Stephanie have is great, and I’m totally not jealous of it.”

“That would be more convincing if you weren’t scowling at me.”

“Tehe.”

“W-what…was that?” Duncan asked, confused.

“…I was trying to act cute.”

“Don’t bother wasting your time,” Kayleigh called as she joined them. “Yo.”

“Yo,” Duncan replied.

“Were you guys ditched too?”

“Elysa ditched you?”

Kayleigh nodded with a frustrated groan. “The second she could, she bailed and snuck back to her room. “I’m just going to the toilet, I won’t be long,” lying bitch.”

“…I don’t know German but that doesn’t sound like a nice thing to say.”

“Wow, you are a crack detective, Mr Holmes. I’m surprised Stephanie ditched you though, Duncan.”

“…Actually, I ditched her,” he confessed.

“…Bastard.”

“…I know that one.”

Kayleigh chuckled. “I’m kidding. If Elysa hadn’t done it to me, I’d have done it to her.” Kayleigh marched up and stood between the two boys. “I know it’s good for the Alliance and all that, but I can’t wait for this night to be over.”

“That makes three of us.”

“Twenty-nine, I bet,” Hajime joked.

Duncan and Kayleigh laughed; then, they let a gentle silence return among the three of them.

“…It’s been a long time since we hung out like this,” Duncan said.

“…Yeah.”

“Well, we’ve been busy,” Kayleigh noted. “Then again.” She shut her eyes and smiled. “I’ve missed this.”

“That makes three of us,” Hajime added.

“Thirty! Twenty-nine! Twenty-!”

“Oh, the countdown’s started.”

“Damn, no one to kiss again,” Hajime mumbled.

“I don’t think Steph would let me even if I went back in there.”

“I think she would actually just slap you if you tried,” Kayleigh said.

“…I’ll do whatever it takes to get her to forgive me tomorrow.”

“Ten! Nine! Eight! Se-!”

“Well, here’s hoping the worst is behind us,” Duncan said.

“Don’t say that!” Hajime yelled. “You’ve just raised a flag!”

“A fl-?”

“One! Happy new year!”

***

“Interesting.”

“What is?” Hailey asked.

“I never liked coconuts back on Earth, but I like them here,” Yve reported after finishing a mini cake. “Strange.”

“Maybe they have a different taste to the ones back on Earth?”

“That’d be kind of cool if they did. Oh! Maybe I’d like bananas now?”

Hailey shrugged and snacked upon her strawberry shortcake on her plate.

Shortly after everyone had returned in their heroic outfits, Hailey and Yve had avoided almost all social interactions and made their way right to the buffet to dine exclusively on sweets.

On a normal day, they got to eat the finest foods prepared by the greatest chefs from Rhodes, but it was rare that they were ever offered desserts as delectable as the ones at tonight’s party.

Hailey had gotten a small plate with a few samples of various cakes she liked the look of, while Yve had grabbed a gigantic plate that was meant to be used for the main courses and had hers nearly overflowing with sweet treats.

I have a sweet tooth, but that is just ridiculous, Hailey thought with a smile, remembering the bakery near her home she held dear in her heart.

Whenever she and David had fought, or whenever he needed something from her, he always bought her a slice of chocolate cake from there - it was her personal favourite food in the whole world, though it was rather pricey.

There had been a similar looking pudding at the buffet, but she’d stopped herself from taking a piece.

“…New year, new us, eh?” Yve joked. “Did you make any resolutions?”

Hailey shook her head. “You?”

“One or two.”

“Think either will stick?”

Yve giggled. “Probably not. Well, it’d be nice if I could stick to one for a change…how are you doing?”

“Fine?”

“Good.”

Hailey titled her head to the side. “What made you ask?”

“I dunno, it’s just…you looked a little sad today was all.”

“…Did I?” Hailey whispered.

“You didn’t realise?” Yve asked.

“I guess not.” Hailey put down her plate and stared off into space. “…I guess tonight just reminded me of something I wanted to forget.”

“…You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Though, if it helps you to get it off your chest, I’m always here for you.”

“…Thank you, Yve, but…” Hailey trailed off, then exhaled. “Maybe it’d be better to let it out.” The two sat down at the table they’d been stood next to beside each another. “The last time I ever went to a party like this was my graduation prom back on Earth. It was a stupid, kind of cringey thing overall, one of the American sort of traditions that had come over our way that I didn’t like, but the school insisted we all had to at least try and get into it a bit.

“So, along comes our prom night - I was in a pretty purple dress, went with David and some of our friends, and then…” Hailey got shy and mumbled. “I tripped over in my heels not five minutes in.”

“Ouch.”

“Well, I didn’t get the worst of it - David did.”

“How?”

Hailey laughed. “Well, I sort of stepped on his little toe with the bottom of my heel and then I tripped over trying to apologise to him. We…we fell over and…my knee hit his balls.”

“…Girl…”

The two laughed together.

“Honestly, it was such a shit night,” Hailey mumbled. “Well, once I threw the shoes in the bin, we just sat and talked through the whole night with mates and had a blast. They did try and make us dance again; David was wholeheartedly against it, but I dragged him up there and he was as stiff as anything trying to dance.” Hailey giggled at the memory. “Honestly, I’ve never seen him cringe so hard at himself before.” Her expression went from nostalgic to melancholic. “I’d never seen that side of him before.”

Yve put an arm around Hailey’s shoulder and said, “Do you want to go back to the dorms?” Hailey nodded. “Okay, come on.”

***

“Hmm?”

“Dorothy?”

“…It’s nothing, Bernaught, I think…” The elf turned towards the window but, upon seeing nothing, shook her head. “I thought I felt something in the air.”

With a stern expression, Bernaught gripped her shoulder. “Get them to investigate.”

“It might be nothing.”

“If it is, then tell them I made you. Do it.”

***

“Goddess, I had too much wine,” Augustus mumbled, nearly stumbling down the corridor to his quarters. “Julius, why must you insist on making me overindulge?”

Though he said that, Augustus had a half smile on his lips, even as he nearly toppled over again. He caught himself on the wall and kept going.

It was only when he reached his bedroom doors that he realised something was off.

Where is everyone?

The party was incredibly busy, food and drink came constantly in and out of the hall and kitchens, yet Augustus hadn’t run into a single butler, maid or other member of staff on his way back to his quarters. Normally, even at night, he would run into several people, including Aeila’s former maid, Yvonne, but he encountered no one.

“Are they having their own party elsewhere?”

He immediately dismissed that idea when he realised his bedroom door was unlocked.

***

Yve pulled Hailey to a stop.

“…What?”

Yve quickly shushed her friend, then pointed at a window close to the doors.

A bright light illuminated a strange hand print on the glass, and there was a crack in the window.

The door to the dorms themselves were slightly ajar, something the girls had never seen in all their time at the King’s Palace. Their attendants were incredibly fussy about keeping the doors shut tight every time someone entered or exited, and tonight had been no exception.

“…Where are the guards?”

Hailey drew Excalibur as Yve readied an arrow against Vijaya.

Cautiously, Hailey moved towards the door, alternating her gaze between the dorms, Yve and their surroundings.

Then, slowly, she pushed one open, keeping her back against the other.

Before Hailey had even screamed, Yve saw her face go ghost white and ran towards her friend. Together, the two charged inside to find the corridor decorated in blood and limbs, the bodies of the maids and butlers they’d known for months flung around the room.

Guards lay beside them, weapons in hands, with corpses of Machai between them.

“Yve!”

“Way ahead of you!”

Yve enchanted her arrow with fire magic, darted outside and fired up into the air.

An ear-piercingly loud explosion boomed throughout the night sky as a light brighter than the sun pierced the clouds.

***

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“…That’s Yve,” Kayleigh whispered. She dropped her glass and generated lightning in her gauntlets. “We’re under attack.” Then, she smashed the two gauntlets together, sending out strong vibrations to all their surroundings, lightning crackling along the ground. “We’re under attack!”

***

Bells rang out.

At first, from one watch tower in the palace; then, to every single one in the city of Rhodes.

Fear and confusion took a quick hold on people’s hearts - they had been taught from young ages to know what those chimes meant, and they could not believe it.

Rhodes, the capital city hundreds of miles from the frontlines, was under attack.

The knights, the soldiers, the adventurers and all of the guards sprang into action, per their training, and began evacuations and defensive measures.

Yet, despite the warnings echoing across the city, no one knew where the enemy was or how large their force was, least of all the soldiers at the frontlines in the King’s Palace.

Officers rallied their troops and took up defensive lines, but was the threat inside or outside the walls?

Where were they coming in from?

The mages, who were meant to be relaying telepathic messages to one another, were silent inside the palace, leaving those in the city and with the soldiers at the walls confused and lost.

“Sir, should we not try to investigate this ourselves?” One of the guards of the eastern palace gate asked.

“We can’t risk it. Even just sending in a squad could compromise everything. Remember what Lord Akechi taught us? We cannot abandon our posts, no matter what, unless strictly ordered to by him or one of equal rank.”

“Sir! Over there!”

A line of fifty Hysminai, walking in a perfect phalanx formation, two lines deep, tower shields as close together as possible, slowly encroached on the line of guards.

“…Demons.” The officer drew his sword; his men did the same, quickly falling into line and forming their own shield wall behind him. “Mages, blast gaps in their ranks. Everyone else, stay in tight formation and protect one another. Understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

The Hysminai shifted their weight, thrusting their spears more forward, and their marching speed increased.

“For Aangapea!”

“For Aangapea!”

***

Stood before his portal, Mímir remained still, taking in the sights and sounds of the palace in chaos as ten Dread Knights emerged behind him.

The ground before him was littered with dead, mostly of their enemies.

They were prepared, even for this unlikely scenario even after their communications were cut, Mímir noted, his eyes locking onto the distant bell towers.

With the Dread Knights at his back, Mímir began to march forward, followed closely by his new escort.

“Rejoice, Aangapea, for the last year of war shall be brought to a swift and decisive end tonight.”