(The chapter opens to show a cutscene. Many fighters from the previous war are standing together, though shadows cover their eyes. Among them are Ryoma, Scarlet, Kagero, Saizo, Hinoka, Subaki, Kaze, Hayato, and Hana. They are battling fiercely with invisible soldiers, and they stand to defend a small crowd of children. These children are known as Shiro, Galatea, Tempest, Caeldori, Rhajat, Asugi, and Midori. Fear is shown on all of their faces, and weapons are in their hands. It is unknown which figure speaks next, but it is undoubtedly one of the elder fighters)
???: Go!
(The children hesitate before following the direction, leaving the area behind. The children start to make their way through the crowded palace of Shirasagi in the capital of Hoshido. The cutscene ends as all of the children stand hunched over themselves, breathing heavily)
Shiro: Damn it all...
Rhajat: Where did those things even come from?
Asgui: They sure as hell didn't seem human to me.
Caeldori: When the light caught them just right, they looked like people, but I couldn't tell you for sure.
Galatea: We have to keep moving. Our parents told us to get out of there, so we have to.
Tempest: They're going to be alright. Just go!
Shiro: Alright... I can see the exit up there. We're almost out!
Asugi: I wouldn't be so sure about that...!
(Invisible soldiers come out of seemingly nowhere to block the group's path)
Rhajat: Looks like the light didn't catch them well enough.
Caeldori: Save the sarcasm for later, Rhajat. We have bigger issues to deal with at the moment.
Galatea: We'll just have to fight our way through them!
Tempest: I agree with Galatea. If we're going to get out of here in one piece, we'll need to break through their ranks.
Shiro: I guess there's no other option then...
Rhajat: The second they attacked the palace, we didn't have any other choices.
Asugi: I just hope our parents turn out okay.
Caeldori: I'm sure they will. They're the strongest fighters on the continent.
Tempest: For now, let's end this.
Galatea: Warriors of Hoshido, unite!
(The battle begins. The setting is the entrance hall of Castle Shirasagi in the Hoshidan capital. The enemies are all invisible soldiers of Valla. The objective is to have all units break through the exit area at the top of the map)
(After the battle, the seven children all stand together once again)
Shiro: Alright... We got out of there together... Somehow.
Galatea: If you ask me, it's a miracle... Those soldiers were much stronger than I expected them to be.
Asugi: We've been training our whole lives to defend Hoshido, and yet... I never could have expected anything like that.
Rhajat: I've been dabbling in black magic all my life, but I've never seen anything like that before...
Caeldori: The way they were moving, their styles of fighting, how transparent they were... If you ask me, those fighters couldn't have been human. There's no way they were actual people.
Tempest: And yet, they still looked like they were people, even if they moved like they had next to no control over their own actions...
Asugi: Can you guys save the theories until after we have a plan?
Rhajat: He has a point. What do we do?
Galatea: I don't know... Um... Shiro, what if we headed to the palace where the others were?
Caeldori: That's right! The other children and their parents all went to another area of the country.
Shiro: If anyone knows how to stop this new threat, it would have to be them.
Tempest: We'll need to figure out how to find our way there though. We can't get spotted by these invisible soldiers, since for all we know, they're not just here in the capital.
Caeldori: As much as I hate to say it, they couldn't have all come after us so suddenly if they were only in the capital... No, they were waiting for us somewhere. They needed the right opportunity to strike.
Rhajat: But if they weren't human, something else must have told them to start fighting...
Asugi: In other words, there's no way of guaranteeing if anyone there is safe. There's no way of guaranteeing anything.
Tempest: I'm afraid not... Everything is a mystery at the moment, and I don't know what we're supposed to do about it.
Galatea: We have to go and see the others. Our parents told us not to go back in there. They have this covered.
Shiro: And if they need reinforcements, they'll need the others to help them out. Since they can't go and get help, it'll be up to us to figure out how to fend off this foe.
Caeldori: I agree. If anyone knows what to do, it would be them, so we'll have to go and make sure that they're able to help us.
Rhajat: We need to avoid main streets. Even if these things aren't alive, something must be telling them what to do.
Asugi: And if that something managed to get them to break into the capital so quickly and seamlessly, they must know a lot about Hoshido.
Shiro: I agree. It would be too great a risk to go out in the open when we could be spotted so easily.
Tempest: I believe I know the general direction in which we're supposed to travel... Granted, I have no map, and it will be much easier to get lost if we're not going on main roads, but...
Galatea: We have to try. We're out of options.
Caeldori: We can't really fly and see what's ahead either... We'd be spotted and shot down too easily.
Asugi: So, all we can do is wander around aimlessly and pray nobody attacks us? That sounds solid and like it definitely won't blow up in our faces later.
Rhajat: Do you have a better plan, genius?
Shiro: Let's not argue. We have more important things to deal with at the moment. We need to go and find the others and make sure that nothing bad happens to us on the way.
Galatea: Shiro's right. We can talk more about what we think we should do afterwards while we're on the way. In the meantime, Tempest, you lead the way.
Tempest: Understood... Follow me, everyone.
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WOOOOOOOO WE LOVE NEW CHAPTERS
Also I don't have school tomorrow so yeet
-Digital