The Plan
-Present-
"I'm sorry about your family Hurri, we all heard what happened from the camp but it's different when we heard the whole story straight from you," Jade commented sadly.
Hurricane let out a pained smile before responding, "That's why I need to win this war. The very reason I am alive today is to make sure I give justice to the innocent lives lost from this rebellion...and to make sure to keep you guys alive. I don't plan on having anyone dying on me again just because of my incompetence." Hurricane responded solemnly.
Silence prevailed in the room... they all shared a look full of promise and sadness.
"-Is there any chance your brother Arthur could still be alive today?" Jade asked.
Upon hearing the question, Hurricane happened to catch Cyclone's pained expression before he shrugged it off and then acted as if nothing happened. It seems that every time anyone so much as mentions any news or queries regarding her true family, he always tries to hide how sensitive he is regarding the matter. She somewhat learned about his abandonment issues weeks after they regained their memories back. Instead of a self-assured Cyclone that she knew way back on Earth, she could sometimes get a glimpse of an insecure boy scared of being abandoned. She thought about speaking with him soon but for now, they need to face the trouble coming for them first.
"Jago has been on that case ever since we escaped the empire but he hasn't heard any news about Arthur even now. The Elders think Uriah may have already killed him because he had no more use for her. After all, I was technically crowned empress that night. I didn't want to give up faith in him still being alive, that's why Jago's spies are still out there looking for him. I'm hoping someday I'll hear news about him. But we have to get through our enemies first."
"-And that is why we need to know everything about this traitorous Zephyrian noble and everything about this rebellion. This will help us a lot in solving this ceaseless war." Cyclone said, breaking his silence. He threw a determined look their way, somewhat reviving their temporarily broken hopes.
Some of his cousins nodded in agreement.
"Cool, we're doing some Sun Tzu "Know thy enemy" shit now?" quipped Aqua excitedly.
They stared at her amusingly while Yellow and Jade rolled their eyes upon hearing what she said. Aqua really enjoys anything that could lead them into trouble. In fact, she shares the same sentiments with the twins and mostly joins them when they try to do something suspicious in the past.
"Aqua is right, for once..." Mint jokingly quipped. To which the latter, offended, shouted "Hey!!!" in response.
Just before they started arguing again, Jade sent a warning glare to her sisters to shut them up, and amazingly, they heeded.
Cyclone was about to say something to continue their topic when Jet--who looked like he had a moment of realization, suddenly hollered.
"Wait what? The evil queen is also an other folk? AND a Zephyrian royal at that? How in the world did we not know this before?" Jethro asked, shell-shocked.
Everyone looked at him confused and weirded out.
"How in tarnation??? Did you not listen to anything Hurricane was saying all this time? she gave us a whole recap 2 chapters ago!!!" His sister, Jullian exclaimed.
"Of course I did! I'm not a nitwit!!! I meant before! When we met at the camp! Why didn't they tell us all about it? It's supposed to be an important thing isn't it?" He shouted back defensively.
He gave them a look of pure offense. He knew he was a little bit slow on the uptake but not to this extent!
Cyclone chuckled at his confusion. He was about to get close and hit him but Hurricane interrupted him.
"You're right Jet. It's vital information—but it was also considered classified info. The elders and the former Emperor deemed it necessary to be discreet about a delegate's identity and status in case it causes undesirable rumors of special treatment and discriminations. And the reason why they didn't disclose it to you guys is that you were all too young then. These pieces of information carry big threats to them. You won't understand the dangers of knowing them at that age." Hurricane explained.
"Hmm, make sense. But how was she able to amass such large numbers of mages on her side? I remember reading a book from Titania that the law states that all mages and mages in training are to be listed to be legally allowed to use magic and that they have to enter the academy for mages so that all of them could be trained to use their talents properly." Cyclone said in wonder.
"You read what? I always knew you were the weird kid when I first met you in the rebel camp, Cyclone." Jethro commented getting sidetracked, to which the latter just gave him a look that screams 'Are you stupid?'
Jethro only smirked—quite happy to irk his smartass cousin back.
"What Cyclone said is all true. That is indeed a fact. They never thought someone from the delegate committee would do something such as usurp the throne, break the treaty, and moreover, betray her people. Uriah may have succeeded with the first one, but she was never able to fully break the treaty and win her brethren over. I have to give it to her, she really planned this carefully. Before I was born, Uriah got married to the Grand Duke of Bellehaven. The ton deemed it a scandalous pairing since even then, matrimony between humans and other folk is still considered a curse. But the couple persisted to fight for their so-called love until the Emperor gave in and gave them his blessing. She even bore him a son or two. Her union with the grand duke now makes perfect sense. It seems that everything is all part of her ploy, after all the academy for the mages is ironically located at the grand duke's territory." Hurricane added.
"So you're telling me-us, not only do we need to fight a deranged wannabe empress fae, her band of equally stupid court, and their plans to ruin this world, and possibly losing our lives on the line... We also have to defeat a halfling or two? I'm not getting paid enough for this. Jeez, we're not getting paid for this at all." Jullian complained.
Jet looked at his sister in understanding. Some of them may have good reasons to join this war, but for both of them, they are only here to keep their cousins alive.
"I know, I may not have anything to my name at the moment but we need you both to fight with us. I don't know anyone else that I could trust with our lives besides you guys and the elders but we need to win this war or even die trying. Everyone is still suffering out there every day because of what's been happening and this will keep happening unless we do something about it. Worst comes to worst, if the Beast queen will succeed with her plans, even us may no longer have not only our freedom but also our lives included." Hurricane uttered.
All her cousins looked at each other in wonder and shock. It seems that their foe isn't all that she seems to be. After listening to Hurricane's explanation, the gravity of what they were about to face just dawned on them. Any wrong move on their end could cost them their lives.
"I guess, there's no other way around it then. You better promise that this war will entertain me then." Jullian conceded.
That's when the others broke a relieved smile and let out the breaths that they were holding. Jullian really scared them for a second there.
Losing one of them after everything they have all been through together is a scary thought, Mint shivered just imagining it.
"Well if we're gonna die, let's die fighting for what we believe is right. I think that's the coolest way to go." Aqua mentioned awkwardly.
Her cousins looked at her sheepishly and gave a small smile.
"You know, as stupid as you are Aqua, you got it right this time," Jade commented while playfully patting her sister's shoulder. Aqua beamed in reply despite the backhanded insult.
"Now that we have the backstory sorted out...should we move on to more pressing matters at hand? Cyclone, care to share?" Hurricane offered.
Instantly, Cyclone's expression turned to something sinister. For a moment, he looked like an evil genius plotting someone's demise caused Emman to have goosebumps.
"As some of you already gathered from the last council meeting, the vassal kingdoms are being threatened by the evil queen into submitting under her rule and she's using the old peace treaty made by the empire to the vassal kingdoms-which by default is technically null because they don't answer to her but to Hurri. Did this fact stop her? No. Now we have to face her incoming naval ships without really facing them. And the reason to that is?"
"Is it because we're still milking the fact that the queen still does not know about us being back in Titania?" Mint answered unsurely.
"Exactly!" Cyclone retorted back.
Emman looked at his sister before turning his excited gaze to his cousin.
"Does that mean we're going to a fight?" He practically chirped in excitement.
His cousins did this little thing where they have an entire conversation with their eyes before they turned to him with a sad understanding expression plastered on their faces.
"We are going to a fight, yes, but both of you are not included," Jade replied in a soft tone. Pointing at him and Lucy.
Anger and indignation started to bubble up within him. "But why? Yellow gets to fight but not us?" He hissed angrily.
"Yellow is an elemental, Emman, she has powers that she can use to fend for herself and the others. On the other hand, both you and your sister are untrained and are too young to get into the battlefield. This is not the same as those mobile games you play on your phones all day. You could die here. Please think of your sister... Do you want to put her in danger?" Mint fumed worriedly.
Her cousins, the elder ones nodded in agreement. They can't possibly have their young defenseless cousins on the battlefield! That's definitely not an option!
Emman stopped in shock. What Mint said is true...he got so blinded with wanting to get the recognition he wanted that he forgot about his sister. But still, an ugly hateful feeling kept harboring his thoughts, causing him to be somewhat angry and rebellious. He bowed his head in shame. 'Next time... I'll definitely be in on it next time.' He thought frustratingly.
"I'm sorry but we all agree to what Mint stated. The estimated time of arrival for the queen's fleets will be two weeks from now and I have already asked Jago to take the kids along with Grub to the rebel camp where they will be safe and cared for." Hurricane calmly said, giving Lucy a look that asked if she was okay with it to which the latter nodded in agreement.
Emman could only look at the exchange in silence for he knew that any reactions from him will only be countered or ignored by his cousins. Everyone noticed him sulking but it was Jade who decided to speak out.
"Emman, please do understand that we're only doing this to keep you both safe. I know you feel how unfair this situation is to you but let's face it. You haven't even gotten proper training yet. How are you going to save the others? or yourself in that matter?" Jade gently asked.
Emman remained silent. It seems to them that he's still not fully accepting their decision. They have to give him time to think this through. For sure, he'll see it their way soon enough.
"Lucy honey, can you please take your brother for a breather by the pond?" Mint suggested nicely. This made Emman stare at Mint in shock but he knew he stepped out of line earlier. They were basically asking him to think about his actions.
Lucy nodded and stood up from the chair she was perched upon then proceeded to trudged next to his brother, her handy bag in tow. Thankfully, Emman relented and went out of the cottage with his sister without much fuss.
An awkward silence filled the area for a minute or two.
"All right then, now that we have that sorted out, I'll continue. We all know how important it is for them not to know about our identities right? the key for this plan to succeed is for us to fight under disguises. At the moment, only the people from Terriona knows who and what we are-I want us to use that to our advantage as long as possible. Hurricane and I talked about this and suggested we go about this the Earthen way."
"Are you suggesting espionage?" Jade warily asked.
"Exactly. Since Jullian asked to be the one to do it, I'll need the twins to look for information on the mainland (Central Kingdom). We have people from that side who can help you with the task. Plus, with the right garbs on, both of you will pass as local merchants. It may get a little tricky because of the way you speak now... So I want you guys to be careful-and unless necessary, no killings, please. I don't want you guys to leave a trail of dead bodies behind." He then paused. Stared at Jade, Mint, Aqua, and Yellow for a second before continuing,
"As for the elementals, I'll loop you in on a plan for us to indirectly engage the fleet in naval warfare without sacrificing lives as much as possible. Since most of them will be humans, let's give them a show and lure them into thinking twice about coming back here. Of course, that goes without saying that we'll only be fighting in the shadows." He explained.
"I feel like we're ninjas or something." for the first time, Yellow spoke up-albeit shyly.
"You're technically correct, Yellow. To make sure that no spies will come to learn about our being here in Terriona, the elders will help us tie some loose ends. All the other folks will know is that we're all traveling to a safe hideout under the guise of safety. What they don't know is that we'll fight alongside them. And for us to do that, we'll have to blend in with Aquilica's warriors but with our faces covered like their spies. This will help us hide our identities as we fight alongside them."
"That seems like a good plan to me. When do we start?" Jullian quipped with a sly smile.
"Finally some action!!!" Jethro countered with glee.
-End of Chapter-