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”I-it's... It's for - just a little longer, two days to a week tops.” Reus noticed the sudden build-up of rage growing within her eyes, so he yielded. ”Or I mean, not. If that's what you want. We'll go home right away now. I'll pack up my things.”

Reus was about to stand up but Anagea sighed. ”Why?”

Reus smiled awkwardly almost jubilant but is containing it. ”Well, see, our people need us here... with so much going on in the south, Aunt Prodea enforcing her will to our poor people, I think it would be selfish of us to just leave them to fend for themselves. Don't you think?”

”I know about the things that you do here, Reus.” Reus pulled his face to smile further, gulping in fear as she continued. ”Do you know why I'm mad?”

”We disobeyed your orders?” he answered immediately. ”I know it's wrong and I really apologize in behalf of...”

Anagea gently tapped the table that created a loud bang giving a crack to run down to his side. Reus figured it's a rhetorical question, so he pulled his lips right away shutting up for a couple of seconds before she pushed on explaining.

”I'm mad because you lied to me. You, Karus, Kayzar, Yosh, you're all lying to me. Your father lied to me too. Even my own father can't look me in the eyes and tell me the truth. Everyone seems to be lying to my face in these past few months.”

Reus sighed deeply sorry as he reached for his mother's hands and whispered. ”I deeply regret doing that, Mama. I don't really want to lie to you, it's just I know you tend to get all riled up on us doing something so dangerous that it would distress you further to know such things. We just don't want to make you worry.”

”Yes, but you've laid siege on seven fortresses now. I just don't want you four to get hurt. Leave that to us. It's not your fight yet. You're too young to carry such dangerous burden.”

”...eight...” Reus said flinching.

”Eight what?”

”We've infiltrated eight, and we're wanted fugitives now.”

”See!?” she shouted standing up. ”That's the kind of reckless thing I want you to avoid! You're not just endangering your lives, you're endangering countless others!”

”But we're really careful Mama. We've created secret identities that...”

”Good thing Prodea's not running the show here,” she interrupted now hysterical. ”If she is then you'll all be dead! We're going home now! Pack your things!”

”W-w-wait, what do you mean by that Mama? Prodea not running the show?”

”My Daomagarian spies in the Palace told me she's in some form of deep sleep. Originally rumors ran that she died but now her Amplifyers have been burning to their maximum. The Other Generals have been feeling her presence at her chamber but she's not really leaving there. Zeba's now coordinating the military together with Sarram.”

”Oh...” he smiled figuring why they are having an easy time on their assault. ”So, that means it'll be easy to attack the Palace now!”

”No!” Anagea snapped now getting furious. ”You will not march down with your brothers there and create a war! You will go home now, or I swear I'll beat you all senselessly, your eyes will be the only part without welts.”

”But this is the best time. There are still some loyal Sentinels...”

Anagea slapped him stopping him from pursuing further, appalled by his ideas. ”Do you think that it's that easy? Do you ever stop to wonder what will happen if you lay siege and make them choose sides? You will be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Nagozulians. And after that, you will take your first life and that will consume you.

”Taking the life of another mortal is not a light thing to do. Even if you play with your swords, or study your handbooks, or even know everything there is to know about war and war-like preparations being promoted as a Master General, there still isn't enough knowledge or training in the whole world that would equip you for taking another mortal's life. You are quick to drench your hands into that pool of blood and you don't even know what that really is. You are so quick to play with people's lives as if they are petty expendable matches to be burned to further your goals.”

Reus hunched low drilling a hole in the ground thinking about his deluded ideas of freedom. The truth of her mother's words rang in echoes around the corners of his mind, making him weak till Anagea sighed. She pulled his chin up with a comforting smile that lifted his spirit.

”I know that all you want is peace. I know you have a big heart and it's alright to care. What you think is right is wrong to the other side, and what they think is right is wrong to you too. Do not focus justice on your own perspective but rather let justice be served equally among all men. That's when you'll know you're doing the right thing. What is right is for the betterment of all of the Holy Mortals of the Holy Lands. If there's a way for a peaceful resolution, you will take that road. That is what defines a Prince of Nagozul. That's what being a Holy Sentinel means. Our oath to defend the sanctity of Bathala's miracle that is life is our paramount responsibility. It is your paramount responsibility. Do not ever lose sight of your duty.”

”W-what if... what if Aunt Prodea manages...”

Anagea smiled and hushed him. She tightly hugged him kissing him on the cheek and snickered. ”If life is threatened here in Nagozul I'm sure Bathala will allow us to defend it. Only then can we be sanctioned to do such drastic measures.” She pushed him looking at his eyes almost laughing. ”And besides, if that happens, I promise you, I'll be drenching my hands in that pool of blood in your stead. We'll keep you safe. Don't you worry just one bit. Okay?”

”Ma...” he grumpily moaned as he shook his head. ”I'm not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself when that happens...”

”Oh no, you won't, you're still my little baby. My big grown-up baby.”

Three knocks on the door interrupted the two. Anagea pulled the door to reveal a distressed Narra, bearing a face of unhappy tidings.

”Anagea, your presence here in the south has spread to the Palace. Your location will be compromised we must hurry.”

”W-what's happening?” Reus stammered running to his grandfather greeting him, requesting for a bless which he gave in a hurry.

”We've no time to explain this to you Reus, you're safe here at the moment, but Anagea will not be if they located her.”

”So, it has begun?” she smiled almost taking it as a challenge. ”Who gave the order?”

”We don't know. The Sibaran council denied the whole thing but I bet you they're the ones behind this.”

”You've been marked!?” roared Reus looking confused.

”Meh, I've been marked my whole life. That's the beauty of being Number Four. Sibaran Assassins are so much fun to play with.”

”Yes, telling him about how you managed to imprison thirty Master Sibaras and their apprentices will be a wonderful bedtime story but as I've said, this is not the time.”

”Where are your brothers?” Anagea said. ”Get them now, you're all coming with me.”

”I think that may be a problem, see...”

In a quick second, Captain Gab appeared before them, kneeling in salute, with a small rolled up paper on his right hand.

”Master General Reus, a message from Piks.”

Reus hurriedly went to him grabbing and unrolling the purple parchment emanating the smell of rose as if drenched by it and within is a scribble of a message. A message that reads: Save Me.

Anagea clicked her tongue with crossed arms returning to her mad composure. ”Are you telling me they managed to escape you again? Seriously, Reus, how can you take care of your brothers if you do not know their whereabouts!?”

”Mama,” he said turning his head with sad eyes. ”I would love to go with you to the north but I'm afraid I have some bad news.”

”That is Illyriah's isn't it?” Narra deduced sharing his seriousness after the rose perfume filled the air. ”I'm afraid the rumors are true then.”

Anagea stopped for a couple of seconds before she made her decision. ”Okay, okay. I'll send an extraction team at the Palace...”

”No,” he boldly opposed. ”You have to get back to the North as soon as possible. Captain Gab will escort us to the north and by the end of our second week we'll be on our way at the Jungles of Narra.”

”You've said that last time and you did not comply.”

”I swear Mama. I will get back to the North. But first I have to go to Illyriah.”

”Isn't that unwise, Tatay?” she asked his father Narra wanting his validation. ”It's the most dangerous place today.”

”We do not have time to prepare an extraction team to get her. If we do it ourselves, then we risk going into battle and we can't afford any friction right now.”

”If you assemble a team here and gave them instructions on how to get past the Palace security then you risk staying longer here at the south,” Reus continued pushing forth. ”Even if you manage to assemble an extraction team, they will have the risk of losing their way in the Palace. What's worse is if they get caught, they will be tortured and will be tried as assassins. Your assassins.”

”This is a sticky situation indeed,” Narra smiled getting his point. ”But it is imperative that we get Illyriah and Sayed away from Prodea. I'm afraid we don't have a choice...”

”Are you suggesting...”

”Yes Mama,” he cut in. ”If I go there, I'll be in and out without so much as a rustle.”

”He's got a point there,” Narra beamed, proud of his brave grandson. ”After all, he has to collect the three first before going to the North so he's going to have some help and I assure you, those other three are very crafty when it comes to sneaking in and out of the Palace.”

”I'm not so sure...” she mumbled pushing her lips to the side still thinking, unconvinced about his plan.

”Please Mama. This is Illyriah we're talking about. She's the only...”

Anagea lifted her palms interfering him to finish the perfectly long plea he so proudly forged in his mind. ”Okay. You have two weeks to finish your affairs here. Three weeks and you should be at the North. I am trusting your word only on one condition.” Reus waited for a couple of seconds, mouth closed barely breathing, before Anagea finally continued. ”You must first resign your title as a Master General and pledge your arms to be under my army as one of my private. That way you will be under my command. That way you will never escape my wrath if you ever break your promise again.”

Narra looked at Reus mouthing the word 'ouch' which he saw. A demotion this grand is practically humiliating and at the same time hilarious. This made him want to laugh but he tried to contain it as he knelt and bowed at her mother, arms curling in a salute.

Reus looked up and hesitantly asked. ”Are you sure, private? Mama?”

”You asked for this, you tell me.”

”Corporal? Sergeant? Not even a Lieutenant?”

”Do you want it or not?”

Reus quickly bowed down and curled his hands leveling his eyes in salute seizing the moment before she ever changes her mind. ”I, Reus, son of Artemus of the house of Limor, abandon my rank as Master General and all other responsibilities attached thereto in order to pledge my arms as a private in the army of my new Master, Anagea of the Daomagar Clan, wife of Artemus of the house of Limor, my mother.”

Narra laughed for the bit he added at the end of his pledge but stopped immediately once his daughter saw him.

”Rise Private Reus,” she commanded which made Narra and the kneeling Reus smile, finding it funny to hear a Prince having a humiliating rank in their own army. ”As witnessed by Captain Gab of the Talim Clan and Narra of the Daomagar Clan, you are now accepted as a private in my army and will thusly be under my command and authority, having the duties and responsibilities attached to your rank thereto.” Anagea smiled wide pinching his cheeks. ”See? That wasn't so bad? Right?” She went near him and mumbled in his ear, still smiling. ”I punish my soldiers rather harshly, Reus. I don't give special treatments so please be very punctual, okay?”

And with a tap to the cheek stinging like a slap, the three went on their way, leaving Reus still standing on his door thinking on how he managed to mess up the negotiations. Clearly, he could've thought some other thing on the table. Illyriah better not be joking this time, he thought. If she is then she'll owe him big time.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

The background whooshed to change as Yosh stood from the outer edges of the Nilad Plains into the Underground Kingdom of the Dwendells. Nine clings from his side the whole time truly excited for his promised return till they were stopped in their tracks by Iyom.

”Hey monkey kid. I've been waiting for you for about a week. Where have you been?”

Yosh puffed with his scrunched face taking offense to his greeting.

”Easy Iyom,” Nine chuckled. ”Yosh dashed to here quite fervently for the whole week. You might want to dial down your usual banter.”

”Lemme guess? You lost the seeds again?”

”No!” Yosh finally said crossing his arms.

”Hah! So that wretched cat ate it again?”

”Hey! Don't talk to Luna that way!”

”Indeed, Iyom,” Nine intervened. ”You can't blame the poor cat for thinking your seeds as treats...”

”They're just seeds,” Iyom whined disappointed at Nine for defending Yosh. ”Nothing special there!?”

”Yes, but they taste and smell funny. Kind of sweet actually, that's why animals think it's some...”

”Alright, alright. Enough of that. I have an urgent message for Yosh.”

”Hmpf... so that's how you make small talk, huh?” Yosh grumbled. Nine saw this and just laughed.

”Nine, would you mind giving us privacy?” Iyom said almost annoyed on her newfound fondness to Yosh.

”Oka...”

Before she could ever finish her consent, the two vanished in the air, transporting to a place where even she cannot detect.

”Hey where are we!?” Yosh lividly said. ”Are you kidnapping me again?!”

”Here.” Iyom extended his hands with a letter between his fingers.

Yosh took it, grumbling, and immediately read its contents.

”Wait a minute!” he said after noticing the already broken seal of their group, the Night Hunters, a seal resembling an eye of a cat, Luna's to be exact. ”You've opened the letter and read it didn't you!?”

Iyom raised his palms being defensive. ”Hey, don't blame me for reading private letters. I'm not anyone's middleman. It's their fault they gave that to me. I didn't promise anything about not reading it, now did I? ”

”You have no honor...” Yosh whispered directing his squinting eye of judgment for a couple of seconds to the indifferent Iyom and returned to reading.

A minute passed and Iyom got tired of waiting. He was surprised to witness him slowly reading a letter that wouldn't take longer than twenty seconds to read. He is ready to create his usual rants when Yosh beat him to it.

”But I just got here!”

”You think? That letter arrived yesterday. So, that means you're supposed to be there today. That said I think I'll accompany you out now.”

”Oh, I see. Ready to boot me right after I arrive... You'd like that would you.”

Iyom smiled wide almost coughing a laugh. ”I'm going to be lying if I say I don't but I'm afraid that this message is of great urgency, one which you'd certainly very much like to comply as soon as possible. I'm just extending my hand to help you is all.”

”You'll teleport me to the secret training grounds?”

”Yes.”

”And you know where it is?”

”Of course! Who do you think help Dal'Gur in his maps? We're the ones running around giving him the layout of the lands you know.”

”I thought you cannot leave these parts?”

”Of course, we're not the ones who helped him, our ancestors did! He made the maps thousands of years ago, dummy! He's not called an immortal for no reason!”

”Oh... I knew that...”

”Well, shut up and listen. I didn't transmit you here just so we could further our skills in small talk.”

”Hey wait! You haven't even told me where we are! Where are we?”

”We are at the base of my father's Lifetree, the Tree of Kings. The safest and one of the most private places here on Earth.”

”Oh, so that's why it's so quiet... and echoey... and...”

”I said shut up!” he interrupted irate. ”Now, I'm kind of new to this sharing of what I feel and such but what I feel is that I need to be there to help you do these things you're doing around at night.”

”You mean the night hunts?”

”Yes, that. I know I'm a bit clumsy and I tend to disappoint my kind. I know even my father is kind of disappointed at me at some level, so I just want to help out.”

”I really don't see what's in it for you there?”

”Anything to hit Prodea would be best.”

”You're that angry at my aunt huh?”

”If you ask me as a Dwendell, the keepers of the Earth, I'd say no and hide every bad thought I'm feeling. But if you ask me how I feel about her, as me, personally, I'd say I'd like her to be one of those casualties of fate's reapings that happen once in a while. Nowadays, good people are dying by fate's chance and bad people seem to have been surprisingly spared avoiding the chances of death's early visits. I would be lying if I said that she deserves to live. After all, the world would be a better place without her. She killed Bakunawa after all.”

”WHAT!? She killed Bakunawa!? The guardian of the Holy Lands!?”

”See!? Even you, a prince, don't know what's happening in your own backyard! If she turns up Queen of Nagozul, it'll be the end of the Dwendells, the immortals, even the Great Beasts of the Earth. I wouldn't forgive myself if that happens under my watch.”

”But we're not stopping her that way... We're not murderers y'know...”

”I know, I know. But you're not hurting people, unlike her.”

”But we do... I mean we kind of hurt people a little...”

”Yes! But not killing them!” he replied annoyed at his ceaseless interruptions. ”I'm saying you're not killing anyone which is a good thing so I approve of your measures and would like to render my services to your group as support to your campaign to a free Nagozul. Of course, you cannot impose your idea without giving a fight, especially against your own army. It's rather exceptional there isn't any death toll on your previous campaigns even when you're against Generals and Sibaras.”

”Wow. That sounds like we're a legitimate group now.”

”Prodea is dabbling on the Dark Arts. My father feels Dim'ion's energies flowing around the Palace and it's disturbing many a Dwendell. They can't do anything, but I can. I want to rid Nagozul of Prodea's control. Only your group is doing the right thing so far. So, I want to help out your group accomplish your goals anyway I can. If we can rout her military till your father can amass the right soldiers to retake the Palace and the City then I'll have accomplished something great that I can be proud of, and then they'll never think of me as a disappointment. Then I can truly say to myself that I'm indeed a full-fledged Keeper of the Earth.”

Yosh smiled thinking about his same need for approval as the one he wants from his father.

”Hey,” Iyom yelled clenching his fists seeing him with his warm smile. ”Are you mocking me!?”

”No. no. I'm not,” Yosh chuckled.

”Well you better not! 'Cause if you are then I'll beat you to a pulp till you can't smile again. And you better not tell anyone about what I said, or I swear...”

Yosh just laughed again shaking his head. ”Well, I think we have the same goals and objectives. I think we even have the same sort of needs so I guess what I can say is, welcome to the group!”

”Well great!” Iyom smiled extending his hands for a shake which Yosh reciprocated.

”Um... I have to tell it to my brothers first, but I think they will not turn away another hand willing to help. After all, we'll need all the help we can get.”

”Then that's settled! That means I'll be joining you on your way out!”

”What about your duties here? Are you sure you're free to follow me around?”

”Meh, I kill dying trees and scare away sprouts, so I won't be missed. All I do here is run around errands since I can't help out, with my kind of Lifetree and all. Although, I do great on animal relocations, that I know for sure. Come to think of it, we haven't relocated animals for about two hundred years now so basically I'm just a bum here.”

”Oh, so we're doing you a favor huh?”

”Hey, don't say it like that. That makes me look like a bored guy looking for some work.”

”Are you?” he smiled wide teasing.

”Yes, I'm bored but that's not the point. I'm helping you out of principle, not because I'm petty and shallow or something like that.”

”Okay... if you say so...”

”Shut up!” Iyom said enraged as he pulled him, transmitting him to where his brothers are waiting.