The World of Darth [ON HOLD]

[Zulma san]

Emilia went on her scanning of the crowd until they reached the place where the Queen should be burnt as per the tradition.
The cortege came to an halt and the Kings and nobles jumped down their horses and advanced to benches and stands which had been prepared under a wide black canopy.
The two Kings were in the middle with the nobles around them. King Fenris wrapped in pain and depair, King Christopher in silence and coldness.

The unit furtively moved on the upper row from where they had the best view. Her senses were in alert.
Maybe the murderers of the Queen would try to kill again, taking advantage of the daylight? But she strangely thought that whoever they were they would be happy with the current state of things. The tension in the air could be tasted. Hate was rising, but today they would keep quite.

Emilia did not allow her feelings to overwhelm her, she knew but too well how disastrous it would be and how pointless. She gathered that hate deep in her soul, concentrating it to aliment her energy. She hated not having any clue as to what happened. She did not know who to hate. The destabilization of the overall civilization seemed to be the target...but was it that simple. To kill a Queen...Emilia removed her Queen from her thoughts and looked around, she needed to be focusing on the present, to be ready anytime.

The woman feared what the night would bring.  

[Ale Posselna]

"It must have been well though out, if even the Royal Guard was unable to avoid it" Ria though, disregarding what was going on around her." An inside job, perharps? But who could be so devious, to be able to trick everyone and reach Queen Charlotte that easily? And that strong, she was not exactly fragile... nor that old." There was a lot of questions arising regarding the murder. Questions that she was certain had arisen to more minds than just her own.

She glanced at the canopy, looking at King Christopher. It was hard to read anything on that stone mask that he called face... "He's too quiet. He may know something regarding what happened. Or fearing he might be next."

Ria returned her gaze to her father, who was conforting Melissa. "I'll wait till we get home to ask him." she decided, and let them to their grief.  

[HeadlessKoko]

Kageko looked up into the western sky, and saw a procession of smoke rise up in the sky with the setting sun as its background. Around her, Kageko could feel an overwhelming sadness. She was sure that certain people must have been happy about this outcome, but the general feeling was that of mourning. She glanced down the row and saw the emotional turmoil the Emilia was in, she didn't show it and Kageko couldn't feel it, but she knew Emilia must have been. Whenever Emilia had talked about the queen, she always had a gleam in her eyes, the kind that people have when they talk about those they love.

She, on the other hand, hadn't known the Queen very well because she had only joined the UNIT about a week ago and wasn't exactly trusted to guard the queen. As a result, the queen hadn't gained her loyalty, but Kageko did respect the queen for the peace she had brought. For that respect she took this job seriously.

However, she couldn't say that this was where she wanted to be. She hated the dreariness of the funeral. She wanted to take out her ocarina and start playing in the forest, but not a funeral dirge. The queen already has enough people mourning for her, she didn't need another. Instead, Kageko wanted to play a light, airy song. One that evoked thoughts of the forest and the freedom it offers. The queen was leaving the world that she loved, leaving behind the people that she loved behind. She shouldn't have to see their pained faces as the last image she saw on this world. She should be allowed to see at least one person dancing and smiling from pure joy, the joy that the queen wanted for everyone. However, this was how it was planned and Kageko didn't fight it. She knew how hard it is to keep a bright face when someone you loved dies....

Kageko shook her head and turned to look up at the sky again. She could see the smoke fading away into the blood-red sky, in a few more minutes night would fall. As she watched the sun die, Kageko reflected, . She looked up to catch the final vestiges of the smoke before it became a part of the bloody sky.

She shifted her eyes back to the crowd and started scanning it with both her eyes and their aura. Despite her focus, she couldn't help but think,  

[Zulma san]

The second part of the funeral had started. The body of Queen Charlotte had been laid with caution on its final bed and the flames were started surrounding the body of the beloved Queen. Her white clothes were beautifully contrasting with her darker skin. Soon she disappeared from the eyes of everyone.

Despite the night which had now cast its dark shadow on the assembly, the King Fenris seemed lower than ever in his seat. The tall vampire looked like an old man, his back broken and his eyes swollen by tears which had now dried out. Nothing of his vampire strength seemed to be left over.

A long line formed, made mostly of children and women carrying flowers to the pyre and throwing them in the flame, to accompany the Queen on her last journey. The silence was still strong, broken only by murmured prayers or songs.
That was until a blast came from the pyre and flames jolted to the closest person throwing the fire and in front of the horrified eyes of everyone, the little girl and her white daisy became an agonizing torch in a second. The assembly exclaimed at once and the mother shrieked. But before anything could be done other explosions coming from the pyre thundered and everyone stepped back.
Soon a blanket was found and the child was wrapped in it to stop the fire, but she was very badly burned. No one doubted that she would not pass the night. However a group of soldiers quickly detached themselves to carry the child and accompany the mother to the closest hospital.

For several minutes the blasts echoed around the main square of the city but no one moved and everyone stared at the pyre.  

[Zulma san]

When the first explosion had cast the child away in fire, Emilia had made a quick sign to the unit members and she had jumped by the side of Kind Fenris. She was hoping that the youngest member of their team, Kage, would remember that she was to follow her and stay by her side in that kind of situation. Two other members of the Unit were now at King Christopher's side.

Emilia was to King Fenris's left, kneeing in silence. She did not look at him, she looked at the horrible vision of the child burning alive in front of thousands of people enable to help her.
She was ready for anything but not the death of an innocent.

Her jaws were clenched and she had a hand on her pommel, just in case.

Emilia slowly turned her head to her King and noticed that the vampire did not seem to have understood what had just happened. His eyes were staring at the fire without blinking. He seemed in trance. Emilia's face became worried for a moment, but she could not do anything. She remained quite looking around for any attempt against the life of the Kings.

King Christopher was not as stoic anymore. He showed some signs of worry or even fear. He seemed however relieved when the Unit came closer to them to insure their protection.

Emilia was perplex about the reality of their protection if something big was tempted. But it seemed that whoever did that explosion party was only trying to toy with everyone's mind.  

[HeadlessKoko]

Kageko was jolted back to reality with the explosion. She saw the child going up in flames, like a flower withering in the heat of a fire. She was shocked; she was frozen.
It took her a while to notice that everyone else in the UNIT was moving into their positions. She remembered that she was supposed to be next to Emiliah. Kageko scanned for Emilia's aura and found her next to King Fenris. She quickly darted to where Emilia was and took a defensive stance to the right of King Fenris. This was not the time to be daydreaming.
Ready to slip her kunai out of her sleeve at the slightest warning, she did her best to analyze any threatening auras close to her and away from her but there were none. She couldn't even find the energy that matched the one that the bomb had released. There was too much confusion to do so.  

[Tonash Drahow]

Vincent watched with hilarity as the funeral continued. He absolutely fell out laughing as he spotted the unexpected explosion.

"Oh what grand fireworks be this on this most glorious day!"

He almost held his tongue when he noticed that it was a child that had been ignited.

Almost.

Even at the elevated distance he stood, he could spot the pale skin beneath the cinders.

"Fanged whelp."

He looked on, viewing the personal guard of the Triumverate stormed the stage to attempt to protect the two leaders from any possible harm.

"Worrisome lot, they are. If it were me, I'd wait until nightfall, when their self-confidence in their abilities supercedes their common sense."

Vincent chuckled to himself.

"Of course, that's exactly what I have planned."

A sinister smile spread across his aged face.  

[HeadlessKoko]

That's when Kageko felt it. A dangerous aura. She zeroed in on it, losing focus on her surroundings. Kageko thought. She tried to keep track of the energy, but, as before, the surrounding chaos kept her from doing so. With the aura now lost to her, Kageko focused on making sure nothing around her would pose a threat. She crept closer to Emilia and whispered quickly, "Watch out. Someone might attack," then slid back to the other side of King Fenris, unsheathing her kunai while doing so.  

[Zulma san]

Emilia grunted at Kageko.

"Stay at your position."

She had never been tender to the young member of the Unit and since the death of the Queen, she was colder than ever.
She had noticed that the young kid had taken much longer than everyone to come up by the King's side and now she was moving around. She sighed. That kid was too young to be part of the team but everyone was so amazed by her abilities that it had clouded their judgment.
Emilia dismissed her thoughts towards Kageko.

Strangely she knew what the young member meant, but Emilia did not fear a direct attack. She feared something more sneaky, she feared words and the power they held.
As the body of the Queen was almost consumed and the explosions were getting more sparse and not as loud, Emilia knew that soon they would be moving away and that was when the Kings would be more funerable.  

[Ale Posselna]

" Great, just what was needed right now." Ria cursed in silence, as the explosion settled the panic and confusion. " Poor thing" she murmured, when the soldiers passed by carrying the girl. It seems that whoever had come up with such an idea had been sucessful, for the general mood among the crowd was now of fear and uncertanty.

She glanced again at the canopy, the Royal guards surrouding the monarchs, keeping eye out for any more suspicious activities. There was such tension in the air... even she, as unsensitive as she was, could feel it. The chaos was eager to be released, all it needed was a little push...

Ria slided her left hand down her hip, feeling the shape of Spring under the dark velvet of her dress. She had brougth it along, just for safekeeping. The faint hope that she wouldn't have to use it began fading away.  

[Miss McNinja]

The Rosenbach family had watched the procession as it passed by, stood amongst the crowd. They were fairly average people who did not draw much attention to themselves, blending within the crowd with little difficulty. They were not dressed in black, but just their best clean clothes. They were unable to afford more than one formal outfit, keeping to plain clothing.

Kristoph and his wife Alice looked to each other as the events unfolded, their expression one of concern. Their son, Cedric, clung to his father who was holding the five year old single-handedly. His muscular arms could support the weight of the child with ease, keeping the boy off of his feet for a good few hours. The Father's free hand was firmly tucked into the pocket of his dark brown trench coat. It was buttoned right up to the neck, in order to protect him from the chill breeze. The whole family was wrapped up as warm as possible.

Very soon, a young child became engulfed in flames during the proceedings. Kristoph and Alice looked horrified at such a sight. Never would they wish for such a fate to befall a young soul like that. Kristoph ran his hand through his dirty blonde chin length hair, sweeping it out of his face. He was reeling in shock. Sure, he wouldn't have been surprised if it were to happen to one of the Nobles.. But for harm to come to an innocent was a low blow. His worn blue eyes met with the hazel eyes of his wife, the wrinkles on his brow creasing in a look of extreme worry. Alice fiddled with a strand of her shoulder length curled dark brown hair, twisting it between her fingers nervously.

The two parents looked tense, yet young Cedric did not seem to understand the severity of the situation that unfolded before him. The child looked just like his father, blessed with his blonde hair and blue eyes. He was certainly a sweet little boy. Cedric's hair curled into little ringlets at the ends. He had inherited that trait from his mother, along with a quiet nature and short stature. Kristoph let his hand drop from grasping his hair, to help avert his young son's eyes from seeing anything more. He pressed the boy against his chest, letting him look out behind his shoulder in an attempt to protect his innocence. Explaining why a young girl could be burned so badly and why someone would do something like that.. It was something that no parent would find easy to tell a small child, and he hoped to avoid that altogether. The married couple looked to each other, both soon to be middle-aged in a matter of years. Their expressions held a look of understanding about what each of them was thinking.

Things would spiral into decline very soon, and at this rate war and chaos was becoming a greater possibility with every second that passed. Their peaceful family life was now seemingly endangered, and it worried them for the sake of their only child's future. They did not want him to have to endure something like that at such a young age. "Kristoph.." Alice spoke up, her voice timid and quiet. "What will we do if things go badly?" It took a while for Kristoph to try and find some reassuring words for his wife, but he honestly did not know how they would handle such a situation. He replied to her, with a tender and disheartened tone of voice. "...I. I'm not sure, Alice. I really don't know. We'll think of something." Alice moved closer to Kristoph for security, grasping onto his sleeve tightly.  

[Angeles Valentine]

Angeles had felt her strength grow with the setting of the sun until it was fully restored with the darkness of the night. She did not bother with it though, she was supposed to be in mourning, not joyed over the daily ritual of losing and regaining strength. Angeles bowed her head as the flames engulfed the queen. She continued to bow until she was kneeling on one knee with a single hand planted on the ground. Had she been among the nobles like she was supposed to, they would have probably followed her example. However she was among the common people, and her action was solitary as the others remained standing.

The murmur of thousands of thoughts entered her mind, a few louder than others, but mostly nothing to be concerned about. Then suddenly there was a thought and she shot into a standing position. The explosion came before she could scream her warning and she shielded herself from the light of the explosion. Her green eyes peered over her arm and the fire was reflected in their depths.

She dropped her arm as everyone stood still staring in horror as the child was put out and taken away. Angeles bore her fangs slightly then looked around for the source of the thought. She had not brought any of her weapons out of respect of the queen, but they were not but a whistle away. Angeles pushed past the guard, something that warranted the knights to point their weapons at her, but she instead turned and looked up at the rooftop at where a human sat laughing.

As the knights came towards he with their spears she whistled loudly and a neigh responded. She grabbed one of the spearhead as it was thrust towards her and she pulled the weapon out of the knights hand, turning it around and throwing it at the human. By this time galloping hooves could be heard and a white horse ran past the line of nobles and ran towards Angeles.

Angeles leapt onto his back and pulled from the saddlebag her deathwhisper, changing it from the dagger to the scythe and then steering her horse towards the wall. It charged, forcing the knights to dodge, and then Angeles planted her feet on the saddle and leapt from Alexandria's back. In a blur she vanished, moving faster than the human eyes could track until she moved past the edge of the building and became airborn. She stopped then, her cloak flaring out behind her as her eyes targeted the human. She rose her scythe and let gravity bring her and the weapon down towards the man. She did not intend to kill him, only to pin him until the unit or the knights could catch up to her and bring the man in for questioning.

"You should be more wary of your thoughts," she hissed at him, "they betray you."  

[HeadlessKoko]

Kageko heard the coldness in Emilia's voice and did what she was told. she thought to herself as she started scanning the crowd again, .
She caught something again, coming from the general direction that the aura had come from before. However, this time the energy was different and stronger, more showy. Someone had just launched an attack. Kageko had remembered Emilia's order and looked to see what she would do. "An attack," she whispered and nodded toward the general direction. She stayed at her position.  

[Ale Posselna]

" And there you have it." Ria said outloud, following the daring leap the woman had taken from her horse, just to see her disapear into thin air. She did not knew who the womam was, but if she could do that, Ria understood what she was. However, that wasn't what worried her. "What had the woman seen up there to upset her that much?" Ria wondered.

Her father toucher her arm. " Keep your focus, child. We're not safe anymore." She nodded, and glanced at Melissa, who had adopted a defensive position in front of them, her face still wet with tears. To leave just now was impossible, with all the confusion around them. To stay would be dangerous... it was hard to make the best decision at a time like this.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Ria hated being right.