Ten winced along with the others in the room as the Ombra king shoved everything on his desk aside. It was clear that he was angry as he paced around his study, hands on his hips.
"I told them not to respond!" The King exclaimed, clearly stressed. "I told them to ask for a truce to keep the peace between the realms. Why did they retaliate when they weren't ready?"
"I think it was a panic response." Ten heard Rosa mumble from beside him. Ten nudged her, knowing that the comment would only make the King even more angry.
Thankfully, the King seemed to be in his own world as he continued to walk around, making the others uneasy. Ten noticed Grace poke her other brother, Mark taking a deep breath before speaking.
"Father, what should we do? I know we want peace but Feu and Ombra have been allies." Mark asked.
Despite the steadiness in his voice, it was clear that Mark was mortified, worried about what his father would call for.
"I know, that's why it's so frustrating. They know we've been trying to keep peace, heck I even paid Taeyong a visit yesterday." The King sighed, tugging the strands of his thinning grey hair.
Eventually, he must have come to his senses, turning to the group.
"All of you, go prepare for battle. We'll be heading to Feu shortly with our troops to support the fire realm."
They all nodded their heads, bowing to the King before exiting his study to prepare for the long battle ahead of them.
....
Jeno stood on the edge of the cliff, peering down below. He was in his battle gear, a long sword in his hand, while his vare was hidden underneath. The last thing he wanted was his powers to fail him, so he needed to make sure that his vare was secure.
Beneath him, the people of his realm had begun their attack. A part of him felt guilty but there was nothing he could do now.
"I thought Jaemin spoke to you." Jisung.
"You know we have a battle to fight, right?" Jeno said, turning around. Despite the fact that he was bigger, Jisung was slightly taller and right now, the younger male did not seem amused.
"Maybe we wouldn't be here if you actually followed through with what Jaemin told you." Jisung pointed out.
Don't fight him. Jeno told himself. He doesn't get it and no one ever will.
"If this ends up being a mess, just know that this was your fault." Jisung said before turning to walk away.
His words had left their mark on Jeno though, and Jeno couldn't help but aggressively tug Jisung back around by his collar. "Just so you know, it wasn't that easy.
"Huh?" Jisung seemed surprised as Jeno released him with a light shove.
"I can't just go and talk my father out of this, once he has his mind set, you don't go and change it. It's been like this when I was younger, when he wouldn't let me eat until I could split the log he wanted me to. The whole village came to tell him to stop and that I was too young to be going through all that but did he listen? No! Because he doesn't listen! And he never will! You know what he does to people that don't like to listen? He kills them, which is why we're here now, helping my father seek out this unreasonable revenge. So if you understood and were in my position then you would shut your mouth and stay quiet too."
Jisung had nothing to say, and Jeno knew it. Jisung had witnessed how hard the Chief was on his son and knew that what Jeno said was true.
Jeno took a deep breath, gulping at the sight of the battle down below. He honestly wished that he could just run away and pretend that none of this was happening but that couldn't happen.
He adjusted his grip on his sword, blinking back tears from his internal frustration. If only you had the guts to stand up to your father.
Jeno felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Jisung, a small smile on his face.
"Hey, there's nothing we can do now so let's just support our realm and do what we were trained for." Jisung said softly.
Jeno took a deep breath before nodding his head, and the two of them made their way towards the tents to get their assignments for the battle.
...
"Why are there so many of them?" Haechan mumbled, adjusting the gauntlet he wore over his hand. "They're literally appearing out of nowhere."
Jaehyun was stressed. He was extremely stressed. The people of Feu had been training for an attack on Erde, not the other way around. They were not prepared for this and he was scared of what might happen.
"Guess it's good that we have reinforcements then." Haesoo said, smiling. The two men turned around to see Ombra's army approaching, led by their king.
Grace glared at him and Jaehyun couldn't help but look away, a part of him feeling guilty from his proposal to Haesoo.
It's fine, she has Jungwoo, Jaehyun told himself. And it's Haesoo. As long as Haesoo's happy, she'll be too.
Jaehyun nodded to Haechan, who went over to the King to inform him of their plans. While he was doing that, Mark approached Jaehyun.
"You know, there's no way that this will end well, right?" Mark said, glaring at him. He was already in his battle gear, various weapons strapped to his body. The way he spoke was low and with the tone of a leader, someone that knew what he was talking about. Despite the fact that Mark was younger than him, the Mark in front of Jaehyun at that moment scared him.
"There's nothing we could have done." Jaehyun replied. "They started the attack first. We're simply defending our land."
Mark shook his head, looking past Jaehyun towards the battle beginning in the distance.
"That's what they say every time and we all know that's a lie."
...
Rosa didn't know what to do as she watched the princess beg on her hands and knees in front of her father who was preparing for battle. It was not a sight she witnessed often, Grace being a lady of manner and class.
But here she was, head bowed and knees in the dirt, holding onto her father's leg like a crying child.
"Father, you can't." Grace begged, trying her best to hold her father down. "Your battle days are long over, please. If you go out there, you might not make it back."
Rosa gulped, knowing what Grace had said was right. The Ombra King had received an injury many years ago during training, and was now far from the proper health to fight. Luckily, with the peace between the realms, it wasn't needed and the King continued on with his daily life with no problems.
But now, that had changed.
"I'm not going to let my soldiers fight without me." The King told his daughter. "Some of the people fighting for their lives out there are in the same condition as I am, and they're still there. I must hold myself to the same standard."
"But father-"
The sound of the tent opening made the heads turn, Mark stepping in. He glanced at Rosa, silently asking for an explanation.
"His Majesty plans on fighting in battle." Rosa explained as a sniffle came from Grace's direction. "Your sister doesn't seem quite happy about that."
"You know how his condition is." Grace said, finally standing up and dusting her knees. Her eyes were almost pitch black, her hands clenched in fists. "You know what that means, Mark."
Rosa crossed her arms, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She already had a good feeling as to how the crown prince was going to react, Mark being well aware of the duties of a king.
"Let him." Mark simply said, dismissing his sister. "We have bigger problems."
Grace's eyes returned to normal, unable to believe Mark's words. "Mark Lee, do you understand what this means?"
"You should listen to your brother." The King said as Mark helped him up. He placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder, but Grace only pushed it away, clearly bitter at Mark's betrayal.
"Don't talk to me." Grace spat at her brother before storming out of the tent.
There was a moment of silence before the King turned towards Rosa, nodding his head. "I may receive your report now."
Rosa stepped forward, recalling everything the General of Feu had told her.
"The troops from Erde have started their attack on the east side of Feu, where their camp is located. Feu plans on retaliating from the north, and would like us to take the south end. The goal is to take their army from both ends, cornering them in." Rosa told the King.
The King nodded his head. "That's a good plan. Casualties?"
"Mostly on Feu's side, approximately in the mid-twenties for the total death count. Hundreds injured though, the attack was simply unexpected." Rosa reported.
"What about Erde?" Mark asked.
Rosa shifted uncomfortably, remembering the number Xiaojun had told her. "It's low. Less than ten. Many injured though."
Mark's eyes became darker, his irises expanding and turning black. His father must have noticed his son's anger, and he soon gave Mark's shoulder a squeeze.
"Our goal is to keep the casualties as low as possible, on both sides. We want to ward Erde away, not shred them to pieces. That is how we keep peace in Orenda." The King reminded them.
With a few more words and compliments to Rosa, the King headed out of the tent, leaving Rosa inside, alone with Mark. The crown prince didn't seem too happy and honestly, Rosa didn't blame him one bit.
"So what's your plan on keeping the casualties low?" Rosa asked, curious as to what Mark was thinking.
She watched as Mark's eyes turned black as the night, not a single hint of white in them as a purple aura began to glow around his body.
"I don't have one."
———————————————————————————
This act is so intense omg i hope y'all are ready