Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

51. Irvine in Confusion

"It's difficult to believe, but Lady Jessica alongside Queen Seira captured Lady Sakurako," Agatha explains, her bloodied hand covering a portion of her stomach which seems to be scarred.

"No, wait. Why on earth is Queen Seira with Lady Jessica?" I ask.

"Well, technically Irvine and the Empire are at peace now," Agatha shrugs as she collapses to a nearby bed.

"Yeah, it's weird," Remi says as she collapses herself onto a bed next to me. "Lady Jessica captured Lady Sakurako, cuffed her, and then left. Weird as shit."

I clench my chest even tighter than before. The sheer pain forces me to again rest my body.

The Imperial Guards are now resting, our bodies battered by assault and exhaustion. The healers restore our health slowly and several men and women provide us nourishment of foodstuffs and drinks.

The next day, an order comes from Batavia via our communication orb.

"Converge on Leinsburg by tomorrow."

Barely healthy, we ride on a large aerocopter with a familiar figure–Archduke Windwood. He is now bald and his face is aging and frail. His small body is held up by a walking stick.

The aerocopter is a vehicle with a pointy bottom and a propeller at the top. In the middle is a large circular structure, easily capable of housing seven to nine people. Since this one is relatively luxurious, it has sofas in it.

"Archduke Windwood, what on earth happened?" I ask.

"I don't know if I can explain it myself," he replies, "to put it simply, since elves assaulted the schools, Irvine has sent a list of demands to Erwing. Erwing refused and here we are."

"But why?" Remi asks, her tone high, "elves don't always live in Erwing. There are many in the Central Confederacy, and then some scattered across everywhere."

"Yeah!" Aelita bellowed. "I once saw elven merchants near Francia's coasts!"

"The truth does not matter," Archduke Windwood solemnly replies, his eyes half closed. "The perception of it does."

"But Queen Seira's entire political stance is not going to war, and to instead focus on economic and scientific growth and infrastructure development," Remi insists. "Warring would tear her position down!"

"I know," Archduke Windwood says, "that I don't know anything."

Oh jeez, this dude's getting real philosophical. I raise an eyebrow at Remi, who pouts at me.

"Fine," I chuckle. "What do you think will be the outcome if we were to war against Erwing?"

"We have no one of Sir Surya or Dame Luna's calibre," he says, "that's enough to nullify any advantage we have–not that we have any in the first place."

"So we're flying to our deaths?" Aelita asks grimly.

"No. We're flying to beat some sense into Queen Seira's head."

Then, he leans forward from his sofa, his voice extremely soft and tender. "The Order might need to pull some strings."

"How many of us are still here?" Aelita asks with nothing but a small whisper.

"Twelve in all. Us seven, Admiral Talon, Sir Cadogan, Archduke Luxor, Madam Rita, and Madam Felicia," he replies, his voice barely audible. "That is excluding our agents. Now, if you would excuse me, it's better to break off this conversation."

The Archduke leans more deeply on his sofa and puts a blanket on himself. Aelita and John fall asleep shortly after.

Remi and Joe, on the other hand, take an interest on the control room, so they pay the captain a visit. I myself decide to take on a walk outside the circular structure that is the main body of the aerocopter.

Since the aerocopter is extremely fast, a protective barrier is set around the vehicle. Almost immediately, a strong smoke smell fill my nose, flinching me.

"Agatha!" I hiss. The corner of my eye squint, my breath polluted by the smoke of her cigarette.

"Oh, Vio," she says nonchalantly, although she immediately puts her cigarette next to her waist, "didn't see you there."

"I'd guess."

I frown at her cigarette. "I didn't know you smoke."

"I haven't for some time," she replies, her eyes gazing at mine. "But sometimes a cigarette is the best solution to problems."

"Problems?" I ask.

Agatha bites her lips, as if she had muttered a terrible secret. She glances at me repeatedly while gazing emptily at the sky.

"Leinsburg holds a lot of memory for me," she begins slowly. "It's my birthplace after all."

"Oh? Is it?" Now that I think of it, Agatha rarely speaks much to me, aside from that one time she threatened me back in the academy days. Agatha very slowly nods her head. Her lips begin to move, but she's cut by the noises of hurried steps.

"Bloody hell!" Aelita bursts out of nowhere. Remi tatters behind her.

"Yeah, there's smoke here," Remi murmurs, her voice exasperated. She sniffs the air repeatedly. "Damn, don't tell me the engine overheats or something like that."

"Calm down," I say, "it's just Agatha's cigarette."

Remi rubs her chest repeatedly. "Jeez, you're scaring us to death."

Aelita continues to sniff the air. "Weird," she chuckles nervously, "the smoke smell is still strong."

Aelita's Hound Nose spell strengthens her senses, so I am worried. I look at Aelita sharply. "I guess it's best to ask the pil–"

Boom!

"Blood Shield!" Instinctively, I cast a protective spell in front of us, a wave of thick blood swelling.

An alarm rings, deafening our ears. Red lights flicker everywhere. The aerocopter descends uncontrollably.

Damn it! Did the engine malfunction?!

"Agatha!" I bellow as everyone is frozen in shock. "Use your wind!"

Strong gusts of wind blow the wretched contraption up against the failing machineries. The aerocopter descends fairly slowly until it lands the ground with a small thump.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Aelita and Remi curse simultaneously.

Agatha sits herself on the nearby grass, her hand rubbing her chest. Joe and John carry the shook Archduke. The pilot and the technician follow soon, their faces lightly burned. All of us look at each other with raised eyebrows and confused stares.