The verdict of the Queen was expected- turned down almost immediately. Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and found herself grimacing for whatever reason, her lively spirit dampened somewhat. But..."Unnecessary?" Seriously, when was concern for their lives ever unnecessary? Surely after Eiskonig the Queen should start reconsidering the fact that the land could have lost three of its heroes due to a lack of...
A lack of what, really?
Victoria paused. The briefing was over, and Kohaku brought up something about going to the market. Kotone was quick to agree, and it seemed like Jin- who had just come in, she noticed- was also going to accompany them. Before she could agree, though, she felt eyes on her back.
Turning, she noticed an armor-clad figure staring at her from the doorway.
"Yeah, well, I'd love to- but old man Gascoigne wants to go over some stuff with me today. Maybe another time?"
She flashed an apologetic grin before all but dashing out of the study and almost into Elias. She patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, old man. You don't usually come pick me up." "Correct. Be thankful."
She felt a weight on her shoulders and thought for a moment that it could have been Elias, but she noticed that the knight's hands were at his sides. She realized with a start that she still had her guitar with her.
"Yeah, let me just get this back to my room."
For the second time that day, she dashed away.
Once the door of her room was closed behind her Victoria returned the guitar to its safe little corner. Plucking the Ave Maria from the pocket of her shirt, she stared at the ruby red guitar pick for a little while.
Memories of Eiskonig came back; the shouting, the demons, the shaking of the earth and most importantly, the dance with death. The Divas and Divos were powerful, that was a fact, but even here they were still mortals. It wasn't Victoria's first dance with death- that would have been the one time she walked on a wire between two very, very high buildings in her old life- but it was still a horrible feeling that sent chills down her spine.
"Neither the strength of that enemy nor the lack of capability of your own men are to blame for that mission's near catastrophic failure. Any apt commander would know that, Your Majesty. Besides, I wasn't talking about the Thoryvós."
They could have died, she reminded herself. They could have died if not for the Drei, Funf and Eins.
Eins.
That crazy guy had a point. But what?
"Neither strength nor lack of capability..."
The answer was simple.
They didn't have a plan.
"How could I not--" She cursed a bit. It was exactly the reason she felt the doubt earlier. Eiskonig. They could have been buried in the very same crypt a Demon God rested in because of the lack of a plan. With an annoyed sigh, she tucked the Ave Maria back into its safe pocket and walked out of her room.
Maybe talking to Elias would lighten her up somewhat.
The moment she stepped out, the knight was already there. Anyone could recognize Elias miles away because of his lion helmet. The fierce, snarling visage of that mask betrayed the calm voice coming from within. Victoria liked to think Elias used it as a bluff of some sort, for people to fear him.
"So, what's up with you?" "I should be asking you that." While they walked, the knight looked to her. Concern laced his tone.
"You seem troubled. It's written all over your face, Zwei. Is there something that happened in there?" "It's-- pre-mission jitters, I guess?"
"What's there to be jittery about? You all have been doing this for a year, and you've made a fine worker with that Artifact of yours. Surely a mission isn't enough to rattle you so?"
"Yeah, tell that to Eiskonig."
Elias shook his head. "Good point. But this is different. Did that traumatize you so much that you don't want to go in?" "Hey, I don't get scared easily. But there's a line between bravery and recklessness and stupidity."
"If it bothers you," Elias paused, turning to her and gently clapping his hand on her shoulder. "I won't ask about it further. But you have to promise me you'll have to return here as brave as a hero should be." "You mean as brave as you?"
Victoria watched as Elias stiffened, sighed, then shook his head another time. "I'm no hero. I'm just a soldier doing his job."
"Please. It's a time of peace but I'm sure as hell you went through all sorts of stuff on the battlefield." "Those times are done for, Zwei. Now that we have you and all the others, and we're not at war with another country, we don't do much anymore." He chuckled. "Had I known that the prophesy about you heroes would come true, then I would have just become a teacher instead, or took after my father and became a full-time blacksmith. After all, if the Ave Maria was real all along, then who's to say that heroes wouldn't come out of storybooks?"
"A hero doesn't hide behind a barrel and shows up at the castle surrounded by prison guards, old man." "Well, a hero doesn't run and watch his men die as they're pursued by enemies. The first and strongest test of leadership, Zwei, is watching your colleagues die in front of you, and I'm sure you've come close to that."
He stopped his steps. "We're here."
The sound of clashing, footsteps- Victoria furrowed her eyebrows. "Sparring grounds. I knew it." "Did you expect I'd take you out somewhere to calm your nerves?"
Two people were already there, sparring it seemed. "That boy Eins seems like he's gotten used to a sword." Elias remarked. "Would you believe me if I said that guy tried to call a war council?" "At this point, I'm willing to believe anything you heroes do."
"That being said--"
He clapped a strong hand on the Diva's shoulder and nudged her forward. "Looks fun," He called out. "You wouldn't mind if someone else fought in the same area, now would you?" "Old man, no." "Oh you bet I'm going to be testing you, Zwei. Just something to calm down your 'pre-mission jitters' as you call it."
"Everyone's insane."