|Late Evening|
Jully•13•xxxx
A commotion broke out in the hushed halls of the castle as the evening sun set. Rumours of Illya's unwavering declaration of war had set off ripples amongst alliances across the land. Enough so that the High Council felt it necessary to pay the Dragon Queen a visit.
The High Council was a gathering of three whiney old hags as Illya had so delicately put it. They were peacekeepers of sorts, meant to foster good relations amongst the countries of Targaera and ensure that wars like the Continental War, would never again ravage the land. Their intentions were good, the people, not so much.
"Where is the Empress? Summon her to us!" The oldest of the three elders spoke impatiently. He was a tall, built man by the name of Anduran.
"You barge in here and demand to see her Majesty with such insolence! Perhaps you should leave and return when you've learned some manners, " scolded Luke.
This time it was another elder that pipped up. Gwynevere scoffed at Luke's chastisement and turned her nose as his nerve. "Perhaps you should do the same. Your Empress forgets her place. We of the High Council have more than enough authority to demand a monarch's presence if we believe them to be a threat to the peace of the continent."
Gwynevere was no doubt the most loyal to the rules laid out by the High Council. Luke and Seibel, who stood at the doors to the throne room found themselves unable to refute her. The quietest of the three, Favian, was the last to make his presence known.
"Gwyn is right. Either you let us speak with her, or we will revoke Solaria's rights to protection from the allies amongst the countries of Targaera. We will not sit back and watch as she brings destruction to our doorstep with this reckless plan of hers."
Luke and Seibel flared in defense of Illya once more, only to be silenced by her.
"What in the hell is going on here?"
Everyone turned to see Illya waltzing up to them. Annoyance and mild exhaustion heavily plastered on her face.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ432PxjkcLp
The black veins that consumed her were on full display under her loose clothing. It was clear by the looks on her servant's faces that her shifty stride left them half wondering how she managed to escape Callisto, who hadn't let her out of his sight since the archery hunt. The irritation in her tone did not go unnoticed either and it was certainly less than appreciated. Perhaps it was because of how weak she had become, but Illya could see the floor swaying beneath her feet prompting her to reach out and rest a hand on Seibel's shoulder to remain steady.
"It seems we've allowed you to do whatever you pleased for far too long. Now you believe that you can speak to us without so much as a shred of respect! And what are you wearing! This is how you choose to present yourself to us? In rags?"
"Shut up Gwynevere. I was preparing for bed. What do you expect me to wear? My armour?" Illya kissed her teeth, rolling her eyes as her grip on Seibel's shoulder tightened. "Get to the point. What exactly do you three want?"
Gwynevere and Anduran were very obvious with their disapproving glares. This was less the case for Favian. Either way, they decided to end this interaction as quickly as possible for the sake of everyone's sanity.
"If you think we'll allow you to go to war with Sindaria then you are out of your mind," stated Gwynevere bluntly.
Illya laughed. Her normally perfect posture was now ever so slightly slouched. Her grip on Seibel was firm despite her shaky stance. Her eyes flashed deliriously as she glared mischievously at them.
"You're mistaken. The question here isn't who's going to allow me, it's who's going to stop me."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Tobi and Yukimi sat in his workshop rummaging around in a chest of spare Kishan parts.
Tobi huffed as he pushed away various mechanical parts. "I know I put it in here somewhere!"
Yukimi sighed. "Are you sure? How are we even supposed to design this thing?"
"I'll take care of the technical work, you figure out how to attach it to him."
"Right but what if he doesn't want it? The last time we brought up anything about his injury he flipped out. He might think we're belittling him or even worse, that we think that he's useless."
"This is Ri-is we're talking about. No matter how upset he is, I'm sure he'll still be able to see things rationally."
Yukimi slumped onto the floor as she let out another exhausted sigh. "He didn't seem all that rational when we last spoke to him. You heard him right? He's blaming himself for all these things. Things that aren't as black and white as he's making them out to be."
They had been going back and forth like this all day. The pair had finally come up with something they believed could lift Ri-is' spirits, the hard part was actually planning how it would work. They were very much consumed with emptying Tobi's chest of materials entirely, but not preoccupied enough to miss the knock at his workshop door. They froze, eyes darting towards each other as a hoarse voice from behind the door filtered into the workshop.
"Tobi? You in there? Have you seen Yukimi? I can't find her anywhere."
"Quick! I'll clean up, you distract him!" Yukimi whispered frantically as she began throwing materials back into the chest.
Tobi caught a few of them and gently placed them back inside. "Careful! Not so rough!"
Ri-is was about to knock on the door again when he heard Tobi yell. His hand was left floating in mid-air. He wasn't sure if he should knock again or leave. Stumbling around could be heard inside and soon the door was swinging open before Ri-is.
"Ri-is! Hey!"
The first thing Ri-is noticed was how disheveled Tobi looked. Seconds after Tobi had appeared, so did Yukimi, looking equally disheveled and clearly out of breath.
"Umm....did I come at a bad time?"
Tobi and Yukimi looked at each other and then back at Ri-is.
"No no no! Not at all. You said you needed me for something?"
"Uh...yeah. I've been feeling pain on my arm er...or rather...this..." Ri-is wiggled his short stub as best he could. "I wanted to check it out."
Yukimi pulled him aside so that Tobi could continue doing what he was doing. Ri-is had been running around with his shirt open and hanging off his shoulders this entire time. Before Yukimi could scold him for it, Ri-is seemed to realize what she was about to say.
"I didn't want to waste time trying to take it off when I found you so I didn't bother putting it on...besides...I didn't think I'd be walking for so long trying to find you...what were you doing here anyway? I didn't think you guys were all that close."
Yukimi lifted the shirt off his shoulder to get a better look at his stub. "He just needed some help tidying up. He didn't want to bother you too much since you seemed really upset so he asked me instead." Yukimi hated the thought of lying but bending the truth just a bit wouldn't hurt.
Ri-is didn't say anything and simply watched on as Yukimi examined him. When she was done, she draped his shirt back over his shoulders.
"There isn't anything wrong as far as I can tell. There isn't any bleeding, the wound hasn't reopened. Can you describe the pain?"
"It's like a throbbing pain that comes and goes."
"It may just be your body adjusting to the sudden amputation. It's perfectly normal for those who lose limbs to feel some pain within the first week of adjusting to it. Keep an eye on it and let me know if it gets worse."
She took note of how easily Ri-is was able to button his shirt. It wasn't very quick but it was certainly an improvement from a few days ago.
"How are you getting used to things?"
"...I've been...trying...it's not easy."
"I think you're doing really well..." Yukimi reached out and hooked her fingers with his.
Ri-is smiled weakly at her. "Thanks."
Tobi poked his head out from behind his shelves. "Sooooo we good? Is your arm okay?"
"Yeah. Do you need any more help cleaning? I'm sure more hands...er...another...hand...would be of some help."
Tobi shook his head "No no! We're pretty much done...out of curiosity...would you maybe kinda mind if I measured the stub?"
"Uuuhh...sure...go ahead I guess."
Yukimi shot Tobi a "what the hell are you doing" look. Tobi scooted over to them and took his measurements. In a flash, he was back to his workshop desk fumbling around by himself. Instead of asking what that was about Ri-is said his goodbyes to Tobi and moved to leave, expecting Yukimi to follow him. When she didn't, he turned to look at her.
"You still got something to do over here?"
Yukimi flustered, quickly scrambling after Ri-is. "Oh! No! I was just making sure we were all done! Let's go."
Ri-is cocked an eyebrow. The two of them left the workshop, leaving Tobi behind to get to work on their little project.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6jbO6P2dQ
