The knights of Arcadius gathered around the fireplace as they were enjoying their meal. The creamy mushroom soup and the snowberries tasted so delicious and so did the pecha berry tea. They were slowly gaining their energy back. Akira then looked at the grand mechanical clock that was in the main hall of the blizzard palace. It was 3 pm in the afternoon and the temperature outside was 4 degrees Celsius below zero due to the hailstorm. After Akira finished his lunch, he asked Erik a few questions.
"I have a question for you Erik. Why are you taking us to Winterhold?" asked the Lucario.
"I know that you guys are here in Avangard to retrieve the icicle plate, but lord Alexandrovich betrayed you and took back the icicle plate back from you. The good news is, Neo the Zoroark has been given a task by princess Diana to steal the icicle plate and he will bring the icicle plate here, to Winterhold. The bad news is, we don't know if he succeeded or not, because he hasn't arrived yet. But I know that Neo is highly skilled, so I'm sure he didn't fail his task. We just need to be patient..." said Erik.
"So, all wee need to do is wait?" said Akira
"Yes...you are right..." said the Weavile.
"Man, this is boring...I hate waiting..." said Brendan.
"Me too. Especially when the weather is cold" said William.
"Well then. How about I entertain you with music so you don't get bored?" said the Weavile.
"What instrument do you play?" asked the Blaziken.
"I can play the violin really well..." said Erik.
"Cool...Show us!" said the Dewott.
Erik then started playing the violin. The tune was so catchy that the knights forgot about the cold and started dancing happily. Just then, Princess Diana and Ryo were back from the Articuno's private library when they heard the music.
"Erik! did you start the party without me?" said the Gardevoir.
"What were you doing inside Articuno's private library anyway?" asked the Weavile.
"Ryo had a chess match with jarl Articuno and jarl Articuno got beaten so bad, lol!" said the princess Diana.
"HAHA! I can imagine the look of jarl Articuno's face when he got angry! Must be very hilarious! Now come and join the dance, princess!" said Erik.
"With pleasure! Come Ryo. You should join the dance too!" said princess Diana.
Princess Diana joined the party and started dancing elegantly as Erik gradually played the violin faster and faster, raising the adrenaline of the dancing knights. However, Akira did not join the dance. He preferred to be sitting near the fireplace alone. Princess Diana then approached the Lucario.
"Hi handsome, why don't you dance with me?" said the Gardevoir.
"No thanks, I'm not good at dancing..." said Akira.
"Don't say that! Have some confidence Akira!" said the gardevoir as she grabbed the Lucario by the hand and pulled him to the middle of the hall.
The two then danced gracefully. Princess Diana could sense that the Akira actually had feelings for her, but he was just too shy to confess or too afraid because of the restriction imposed by his religious faith. The Lucario and the gardevoir then saw Natalie and Renard dancing romantically and passionately.
"Look at those two eeveelutions! We can't lose to them!" said princess Diana.
Princess Diana then started hugging the Lucario. Akira blushed intensely and then the Gardevoir made a bold move: She tried to kiss the Lucario, but the Lucario backed away.
"Please don't do this to me...My faith forbids me from doing this kind of thing..." said Akira politely.
"I can read your mind Akira...I know that you think I'm cute..." said the Gardevoir.
The Lucario then averted his face from the gardevoir.
"Don't worry...I also think that you are cute...and hot!" said the Gardevoir.
Meanwhile, Alicia was seeing what the Gardevoir was doing to the Lucario and she got extremely jealous. This jealousy led to anger and her body soon became cloaked with fire.
"You okay Alicia?" asked Ryo.
The Braixen did not answer. She was clenching her fist as she saw princess Diana flirting with the Lucario. Alicia could also feel the Lucario's burning desire towards the Gardevoir. The situation got worse as Erik kept increasing the tempo of his violin playing, escalating the sexual energy. That is right, the music was making the listeners sexually hyped up! Eventually, one of the violin strings broke.
"Oh snap! Guys! The party is over! I broke the string!" said Erik.
"Awww man! Not again! I was getting to the good part!" said princess Diana.
"Sorry princess. I have no idea why the violin string is so weak...We'll dance another time okay?" said Erik. He did not know that Alicia used her psychic power to break the string since she could not stand seeing princess Diana dancing with her sweet heart.
"Okay... I can see it now...this is why Islam forbids music..." mumbled Alicia to herself.
"What did you say?" asked Ryo.
"Oh nothing...forget I said anything!" said Alicia.
"I thought you are an Arcean! You have faith in Arceus don't you, Alicia?" asked Ryo.
"Well, actually not really. My grandfather is obsessed with Islam and he encouraged me to study the religion too, and so my faith in Arceus became shaken...And I started to doubt his divinity..." said Alicia.
"Really? Honestly Alicia...I also doubt Arceus' divinity and think that Islam is the right religion...well...intuitively..." said Ryo.
"I have a copy of the holy Koran, translated from the Daharan language. You can borrow it if you want to..." said Alicia to Ryo.
"Thank you, Alicia..." said Ryo.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to craft the potion that can cure the crimson fever. Is there an alchemy lab in this palace?!" asked the braixen.
"Oh, are you looking for the alchemy lab? Come with me!" said the Gardevoir to the Braixen. Alicia was still mad at princess Diana but she did her best to put on a poker face so the Gardevoir did not know. The Gardevoir led the braixen to the alchemy lab located in the dungeon. The braixen then prepared the ingredients, which were: red herb, trama root, white herb, and snowberries. Looking at the ingredients, the gardevoir knew the potion that the braixen was going to craft.
"Oh, are you trying to make the potion that cures crimson fever?" asked the Gardevoir.
"Yes mam..." said Alicia.
"Do you need my help? Making the crimson fever potion is very difficult since snowberries are very sensitive to heat. If the heat is too low, then the extraction of the compound will fail, but if the heat is too high, the compound will be destroyed!" said the gardevoir.
"Yes, I know about that already, mam. I can do this all by myself!" said Alicia.
Alicia started crafting the potion. She was still angry, so she couldn't concentrate. As a result, she failed on the first attempt.
"Oh dear...This is bad. Let me make the potion for you" said princess Diana.
Princess Diana then crafted the potion and she succeeded. The potion was now contained inside a flask, ready to be used.
No way...She is better than me in alchemy? Darn it! Alicia was even angrier than before, but still, she maintained a poker face. Eventually, with her sharp intuition, the gardevoir sensed the burning emotion that the braixen was feeling, even without having to read her mind.
"Umm...are you okay? ...What is the matter Braixen? You look upset..." asked the Gardevoir.
"No. I'm fine" lied the Braixen.
"If there is something that is making you angry with me...It's okay, we can talk about it..." said the Gardevoir. Actually, she could just read the braixen's mind but she chose not to. The Gardevoir respected the braixen's privacy.
"No...just...just leave me alone, okay?" said Alicia as she grabbed the potion and went away.
What did I do? I was just trying to help...Wait....is this about Akira? Could she possibly be jealous? Oh no...What have I done...thought the gardevoir.
With her sharp intellect, she knew that the braixen did not like what she was doing to the Lucario during the dance. Eventually, princess Diana discovered that the Braixen was in love with the Lucario and the Braixen was jealous. However, fairies were selfless by nature, so she felt tremendous guilt instead of trying to compete with Alicia in winning Akira's heart.
Alicia returned to the main hall and sat beside Ryo.
"Have you made the potion?" asked Ryo.
"I didn't. Princess Diana made the potion for me..." said the Braixen.
"Oh...was it too difficult for you?" asked Ryo.
"No...I was just angry...I couldn't concentrate!" said Alicia.
"Are you angry at princess Diana because of what she did to Akira?...You know...I watched the whole thing..." asked Ryo.
"I'm not angry...I'm furious! I don't want to talk about it!" said Alicia.
"Okay...I'll leave you alone then..." said Ryo as he backed away from the angry Braixen.
Ryo looked at the grand mechanical clock and it was 5 pm. It was already dark because the sun had set. The temperature was even colder than before. And then, about five minutes later, a Zoroark entered the blizzard palace, holding the icicle plate with his right hand. It was grand master Neo.
"Neo! Finally, you are here! The knights of Arcadius have been waiting for you the whole day!" said Erik.
"Stealing the icicle plate was easy...Lord Alexandrovich is a mentally unstable idiot and his guards are all clowns. However, getting here was not so easy. The dragons have set up a perimeter around Winterhold and they have finally used their ultimate secret weapon..." said the Zoroark.
"What? Secret weapon?" asked Erik.
"Yes...Rayquaza...." said the Zoroark.
"HOLY CRAP! The dragons are really going all out this time!" said Erik.
"Yes...That thing is unstoppable. Rayquaza used his hyper beam and draco meteor to demolish all of our defences. There is nothing we can do against that monster!" said Neo.
"Don't worry. I will deal with Rayquaza...Only a legendary can beat other legendary..." said jarl Articuno.
"But your highness...What if you get killed? You should seek refuge instead of fighting!" said Neo.
"True king fights with his people! I will not cower in the face of threats!" said jarl Articuno.
"If the rayquaza is so powerful, why doesn't he attack winterhold directly?" asked Ryo.
"Because of me of course! The dragons know I have the capability of killing rayquaza and Drachenberg doesn't want to lose one its best weapon! The use of Rayquaza is nothing more than an intimidation tactic!" said jarl Articuno.
"I thought that too, sir...but how about the others? They don't stand a chance against rayquaza!" said Ryo.
"I know about that...Do not worry, young riolu. I have ordered the Dusk tribe members around Winterhold to retreat. They are safe now. By the way, it is a pleasure to meet you, young Riolu. You must be Ryota Yamazaki, the little brother of Akira...I'm a big fan of your father!" said Neo.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Neo sir!" said the Riolu.
"Sir? Haha! I'm just seventeen years old, so don't call me that. I'm too young!" said Neo.
"There is something I want to ask you...Why did the dragons betray the Dusk tribe after they both worked together to destroy Dahara? I'm just curious..." asked Ryo.
The Zoroark paused for a moment. He did not want to reveal a very sensitive and vital information to a kid like him. Therefore, he refused to give the answer.
"I'm sorry kid...I can't tell you that...I'm terribly sorry..." said Neo.
"Why?! Asked the Riolu.
"If he doesn't want to give you the answer then don't force him, Ryo! I'm sorry for my little brother's rudeness..." said Akira to Neo.
"It's okay, Akira..." said Neo.
"Wait, the thing that you are holding with your right hand...Is that the icicle plate?" asked Akira.
"Yes, it is...I stole it this morning. You can have it. Here, take it!" said the Zoroark as he gave the icicle plate to the Lucario.
"Good! Finally, we can leave this cold kingdom and return to Arcadius! I will pack my stuff! Akira, I think we all should leave tomorrow morning!" said Brendan.
"I hate to say this but you can't..." said Neo.
"Why not?" said Brendan.
"The dragons have destroyed our defences. The guerilla squad in the forest were forced to retreat because of Rayquaza...And now...Winterhold is surrounded...If you want to return to Arcadius...You have to fight your way out...There are no other options..." said Neo.
"Then we'll fight!" said William.
"Yes...I have been waiting for this! Slaying dragons in the battlefield is my dream!" said Natalie.
"And I will protect you in battle with my life, Natalie..."said Renard.
"Hey...That is my line!" said Jordie the Absol.
"Well, big brother...What do you think?" asked Ryo.
Akira did not want the knights to be involved in the civil war, but the knights of Arcadius had no other choices...Then Akira realized something...
"Neo, be honest with me. Does princess Diana purposedly drag us into war? Is this the reason why Erik freed us and brought us to Winterhold?" asked Akira.
"Yes! It is all part of my plan, Akira!" said princess Diana as she joined the conversation.
"You are risking our lives, princess! Why are you doing this?!" said Akira.
"Because I want you to kill general Giraldo Westerling the garchomp. No one else is capable of killing general Giraldo! I believe you and your fellow knights can turn the tide of the civil war" said princess Diana.
"We are not your personal hired mercenaries!" said Akira angrily. He felt manipulated by the gardevoir. However, the rest of the knights were eager to fight, especially Natalie.
"Why are you so upset Akira? To fight in a war is an inevitable duty of a knight, Akira. With great skill comes great responsibility..." said Natalie.
"I agree...Even though our main mission is to retrieve the icicle plate, I don't mind killing dragons in this heated civil war" said William.
"Me too...Guild master Caesar will someday send us to fight in wars anyway, this will be a great opportunity to train and test our skill..." said Brendan.
Akira let out a sigh. Seeing all of his guildmates agreed to fight in the civil war, there were no other options except to follow the decision of his friends.
"Fine then. As the leader of the knights, I will fight to the death..."said Akira.
"That's the spirit!" said Neo.
Suddenly, a noibat flew into the blizzard palace, bringing a message from the dragons written on a piece of paper. Princess Diana quickly grabbed the paper and began reading it.
"What does it say, princess?" said jarl Articuno.
"Now this is strange...The dragons are willing to negotiate. They will come to Winterhold tomorrow morning without bloodshed..." said the Gardevoir.
"Well, I prefer negotiation to war..." said grand master Adrianus the Honchkrow.
"Looks like someone is scared of fighting..." said Erik.
"No, I'm not!" said the Honchkrow.
"Looks like someone is lying..." said Neo.
"Hey! Quit making fun of me!" said the Honchkrow.
"This could be a trap..."said Akira.
"Obviously...What do you think, jarl Articuno?" asked princess Diana.
"Akira, Neo, Princess Diana...You three come to the meeting room tonight. We'll discuss about the tactics and strategy to defeat the dragons..." said jarl Articuno.
"Yes sir!" said the three Pokemon.
The brave knights ofArcadius prepared themselves for the upcoming battle. They planned, but thedragons also planned. And the dragons were the dirtiest and most heartlessfighters in the whole pokemon universe...