Bedouin Morning Fight

Maria can be used to shower suppressing fire to keep the demons back for several turns. Suppressing fire ranges at a 5 square radius. Must be in line of sight. Rocks may block it

Maria Tension Support, Vanguard:

The train lead is still in tact. But the others have fucked up wheels. Destroys the track too. Conductor says they could try to radio Domiona, but it'd take a while.

However lead train doesn't have enough space for everyone and the demons keep coming up. Maria stays behind to force them back. She ends up escaping before arriving to Domiona herself.

[Soundtracks] Fate/Zero - 07 Evacuation -- Train Crash

Boku No Hero Academia [Original Soundtrack] - "Bōsō suru akui" (Enemy Strike) or this

Black Lagoon Ost 04 - Don't Stop!  -- fight ost

Maria cocked her head to the side in confusion at his apparent hesitation. It was rather odd the fairly confident Isaac would find himself stalling. But he seemed to be making something for somebody and probably was better off left alone. "I see... That's nice, I actually didn't know you could carve. You do it as a hobby?"

"I'm just glad they've been making some waves for safety. It just would be a shame if they end up getting indicted for any unfortunate mishaps." Serenity sighed with some relief at this. Though she seemed to raise an intrigued eyebrow as the A.S.S.W. shared much more about themselves. "Interesting... What would your creator's name be? I recall many of the projects tend to be a collaborative effort, did they handle your maintenance alone?"

She doubted there were a lot of individuals who could be trusted to handle the entire process by themselves nowadays. These things cost potentially in the hundred thousands or even millions. Such a project would cause such trepidation in an individual person to be responsible for the amount of expensive equipment and funding. But there were a scant few who had the skills and even the confidence to man the effort.

Before either Serenity or Maria could indulge even further in their respective topics, the sound of the door shuttering open caught her attention. The albino returned, he seemed more compliant and composed than last time to the satisfaction of their Princess. Though she seemed remarkably uncomfortable at the show of subservience.



The sudden sound of metal groaning and shrieking filled the air. The cacophony was loud enough for the occupants in the royal car to hear. Suddenly came the lurching and the violent shaking as the train began to be derailed off its tracks. The force of the derailment was enough to cause anyone standing to lose their footing or even their seat and perhaps collapse to wherever gravity would desire though wherever they end up wouldn't be life-threatening or physically debilitating enough. Maria, if the knife managed to slip from Isaac's hand, would smack it away from anyone before allowing the blade to sink deep into ceiling to prevent anyone from being harmed. Though the Cadet would violently be smacked against the window, causing the glass to procure a small crack from the sheer force of her shoulder hurtling against the transparent surface before her body would collapse down against the floor. A wide cloud of dust filled the windows as the train hurtled off its path into the barren earth. More screeching followed after with the damning sound of crashes happening outside... until there was silence and no movement. The lights were off, shuttered to dimness from the crash.


Maria barked out as she gingerly pressed a hand against her painful shoulder. She noticed nothing was broken, but it was going to bruise a little. Nothing the Cadet couldn't handle. Even if she was still operable, the others were another thing entirely. The Princess gave a grunt while waving away any concerns with her hand to show she was fine and unharmed while nursing what seemed to be the side of her head. With the cue given, the lead Cadet moved quickly as she darted her attention to Susan while getting up to her feet. "Susan, what's your situation? Can you set up our communications right now? We'll need to check outside, the conductor is not saying anything."


As the dust continued to surround the long line of derailed and toppled trains, out in the distance came a stirring. The creatures that inhabited the long forgotten buildings were sifting curiously as their eyes began to land on the accident. But, they weren't the only ones interested in this unfortunate disaster. A pair of eyes watched the destructive result with interest... and with ambition.

"I-I'm not sure... But there's no way... This train had several levels of security and necessary clearance to get any kind of access to this car or even train for that matter." Serenity groaned back to Kurosuko as she gave one final gentle rub to the side of her head. It still was aching, but there was no reason that it would serve to debilitate her at all. There were far more pressing matters at hand than a bruise on your cranium. She gave a pained smile towards Jackie while wincing from her still aching head. "Contact is our best bet right now. We need to get to the lead car and the Conductor to decide what our next moves are to be."

As Maria was getting up on her feet, she noticed Isaac taking the quicker initiative to retrieve their weapons. She nodded towards Isaac in thanks as she retrieved her trusted coffin back in her hands. Though she seemed worried at Susan's current conduct, but was glad she was starting to gain back some coherence, especially with some assurance from a fellow team member helping her gain back confidence. She began giving more orders with the utmost urgency in her voice. "I want a bandage on Cadet Kurosuko, Isaac. Just as Cadet Susan and Jackie said, all of you set up a formation around her Highness and head to the Conductor in the lead car to see what's going on. I'll keep an eye out outside. With a crash like this, the demons are going to notice something happened from their hellholes. Move out!"


The door would be opened, allowing the harsh sunlight to gaze upon their figure. The air was dry, but it wasn't remarkably too hot. There was sand everywhere they can see, but there was the sound of something inhuman murmuring in the distance. The sound of a bestial roar far away from them, but it was difficult to pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. The team could now see the remains of the train. It was a mess of several cars toppled over to their sides, derailed off the tracks, and all of their metallic coupling holding them together roughly hewed off. Worse yet, even as some of the cars were derailed, they still blocked laid on the tracks preventing any other train to travel up the tracks. Nearly all of the cars had their wheels demolished, decimated. And perhaps strangely enough, there was what appeared to be a mound of earth and metal separating the lead and royal car from the rest of the cars. If there was only one hope from all of this devastation, it was that the lead car that pulled the rest of the train cars on the track before had all of their wheels intact. But that too was derailed slightly enough off the tracks to prevent it from traveling up.

There were even some passengers poking their head out of the trains to take in the view to even get an idea what just happened.

"I'll keep an eye on them. Go." The blue-haired Cadet urgently gestured the team over as she grimly flitted her eyes across the hellscape. It wasn't difficult to even enter the lead car at all. In fact, one of the personnel opened up for them just in the nick of time. Incredulity was apparent on his face, he was speechless at the amount of devastation the derailing had caused. This was an absolute disaster. Knowing of his disbelief, Serenity called out to him. "Sir? Sir! Is everyone inside safe?"

He blinked. Once, then twice, before directing his attention towards the team of Cadets surrounding the Princess of Endymion. At first, he forgot who they were, but the realization quickly sunk in.

"I... Y-yeah! We're alive... I--Holy shit. You guys are 'dem Cadets, right? Conductor wants to see ya'll." The man managed to reply through his stutter. He seemed to have some hope in his eyes, keeping them from being eclipsed by complete despair of the situation. It was difficult having to see this. The man offered the entrance to them as he stepped aside. But just as they did, they then began to hear the announcement finally blare out through the internal speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm and remain in your seat. Help will be coming, your patience is well appreciated."

As the team entered the car and ventured further inside, they would see a team of personnel talking tersely among themselves behind what appeared to be the controls for the system. One of them noticed the Cadets approaching before another began to greet them personally.


"What's the situation?" She was quick to the chase.

The conductor's smiling features grimaced before replying. "Good news or bad new-- Ah, screw it. You probably saw it by now. We got derailed. Don't know how, but it sure as hell ain't something on our end. No way we can push tons of metal back onto the track unless you guys and your Persona powers can do something about it. Otherwise, we got contact with Endymion. No way they can send a train our way if we got some cars on the railings blocking the way."

"Some of the cars were derailed off, but they're blocking the tracks. I take it that's the bad news." She was beginning to show even more worry.

"Yeah. Shit. We're getting a hold of the Domiona guys. But it'll take time for them to haul themselves here. That's gonna give those demons out there time to make chow out of us. Got any plans?"

The Princess mulled over in thought as she closed her eyes. It was a dangerous situation, to be surrounded by all manner of demons in a wasteland like this. They were beset by enemies on all sides and it would take too long to simply wait for help. Before her Highness could start an inquiry to the team of the situation, Maria began cutting through their communications.

"That's the plan, Ma'am. But we've just been having a bit of trouble with the comms. It's probably because they've finally began to have the occasional sandstorm on their end. It's gonna take some time." The Conductor gave a terse nod in agreement. He didn't seem to feel very confident when someone who was supposed to be the vanguard of the City was visibly losing her shit. Though at least she knew what the stakes were and one of the other Cadets were trying to keep her in one piece. He began to answer the other Cadets. "Just a passenger transport, sirs. Got nothing, not even a coal deposit, we're all green and electrical. Hate to break it to you though, we don't keep lists.  Since it's Domiona, we're not going to have many other passengers. Just when we hit the platform though, I kept my head outside before we left to see how many came in. We only got maybe four others aside from all of ya. We haven't had an issue with any of this, like a stall in the tracks... but being derailed to this level? Way out of our pay grade."

The Princess was not pleased of these developments. De-railed and surrounded by demons while having to deal with civilians? Sure there weren't all that many civilians. But their options were truly limited. Risk going out with little knowledge of the area and get dehydration as Jackie explained or risk holding out here to wait on the cavalry to arrive? It was a difficult decision to make, but she began to speak in a firm tone to keep cohesive order. "As Isaac said, we'll need to gather the passengers here and secure the perimeter. We have to hold onto the hope that Domiona sends a train our way on the opposite tra--."


"Demons, incoming! Your Highness, please stay inside the car with the Conductor as a reserve. Assist him and any other passengers we bring in. We will make sure to bring any civilians back here and fend off the threat. Jackie, take point! I'll give the team fire support. Keep it together, all of you!" Maria's urgent, yet composed voice broke through the conversation as she eagerly and anxiously eyed at the growing horde approaching the trains. She began to pull out from her coffin her demon weapon before thrusting her religious habit inside. But Andraste wasn't the only thing that came out. What else was retrieved appeared to be a trail of ammo belt links were trailing out of it before loading and feeding through the weapon.

It was obvious the hordes were coming through the link Susan established. They regarded the trains with curiosity. But when they saw the passengers through the windows, interest transformed into ravenous desire as they began to hurriedly approach. But most unfortunately of all, there were some passengers who didn't bother remaining inside as the Conductor warned them as the terror began to dawn on them.


The Princess didn't like this at all. She wanted to be in the front lines of it all, not hide in cowardice. But these were her brother's Cadets, each of them chosen and trained to fend off all threats against the City's safety. By now they should know what they were doing and certainly with Maria out there, their odds weren't bad. And besides, they needed to get the communications up since yesterday. The electricity crackled from her glove after she slipped it on, in preparation if the worst came to pass. And oh, she hoped it wouldn't...

PvS Skirmish:

Escort Civilian:

Map Key:

Maria Tension Support, Vanguard:

Oni (A), Level 7:

Yamawaro (B), Level 7:

Hamsa (C), Level 7:

Yamawaro (D), Level 7:

Yamawaro (E), Level 7:

Yamawaro (F), Level 7:

Suparna (G), Level 8:

Suparna (H), Level 8:

The civilians would wordlessly begin to follow Susan's commands. They couldn't even bother to respond back in kind as they were ultimately terrified of demons swarming and bullets flying. But despite it all, things were all looking up for them with the threat being neutralized. Or so they believed it to be.

In the distance, the Cadets can begin to see plumes of sand fuming in the horizon. But they first heard of the rum of motors running. It was hard to miss out on this as a collective chorus of machines growled in the air. Surprisingly of all, there were even some coming out of the abandoned buildings that nestled near the tracks. Every individual that rode in such vehicles did not at all look like some uniformed unit you'd find from the military. Rather, they seemed much more sinister. At this point, it was rather easy to tell that neither of any of these people came from Domiona. Especially when they're all hurtling themselves towards the train and its riders with their firearms aimed at them.

The eyes that watched the train crashed were still watching from the distance. He smiled in almost sheer giddiness as his men began to approach the field of battle. Sure, they were able to dispatch with the demons. But now, they had a better idea of what they're capable of. Most importantly, there was absolutely no way they could get the hell out of here. It really was only a matter of time...

Map Key:

Suparna (G), Level 8, Killed by Jackie and Maria:

Suparna (H), Level 8:

Desert Raider Goon, (I), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (J), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (K), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (L), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (M), Level 9:

The people would begin clambering inside at the urging of the train staff. They would huddle inside, but the space would begin to fill. Not like as if they'd be able to get anywhere. The look of fear on their faces caused her Highness to force herself to smile. She couldn't just let them sit there with panic pounding their hearts. That's not what a Princess of Endymion would allow. "Everyone, please remain calm. The Cadets will ensure the situation is under control. You will be safe, I promise you."

Her smile was replicated with shaky ones. They knew the Cadets would protect them. But for how long?

"W-will we? I... I don't wanna die here. Not in this desert. I have family waiting on me." One of the civilians doubtfully asked as he peeked out of the window to watch the entire melee happening. Demons were bad enough, but raiders? It's as if someone cursed this morning just for them. They were able to get inside, but with all of these people coming in on motorcycles and firearms, it may be a matter of time.

"Yes, now please keep your head down and stay away from the windows." She said while motioning him away from the seat. As the man meekly followed her orders, Serenity felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see the conductor. He had a grim smile on his face, the sign of good news. "Got hold of the Domiona folks. They're sending a military train over here for rescue and transport. They'll be here in a bit, but think your Cadets can hold them off?"

"They will. I believe in them." The Princess replied with an actual genuine smile this time as the overhearing crowd began to murmur to themselves excitedly. She felt her shoulders feel loose now, tensed from all of this tension with all the stakes at play. Now, they actually had a real goal to work with. Talking to the team through the communications, she had a look of resolution. Not one of worry and uncertainty, but one with an actual purpose.

Map Key:

Suparna (H), Level 8:

Desert Raider Goon, (I), Level 9, Killed by Jackie:

Desert Raider Goon, (J), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (K), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (L), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (M), Level 9:

"Ya, got to be kiddin' me. Takin' them out this quickly..." The leader muttered under his breath. He initially regarded the entire thing to be a neat opportunity for loot. But this was turning out much more difficult than he initially imagined. The needling from his group grew larger as they too saw the rising difficulty of the task at hand. He finally jerked a thumb towards the increasingly violent skirmish on the tracks before barking out orders. "Aw'rite, boys. Sometimes ya gotta do things yourself and dirty your nice little hands. I'ma move in, the rest of ya can sit back and watch how it's done!"

With a rev of their motorcycle, the rough-looking man in shades began approaching the site of the melee with an entourage. But they weren't alone as green flashes of light heralded their approach with the demons they tamed over these harsh years in the wasteland.

Map Key:

Desert Raider Goon, (K), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (L), Level 9:

Desert Raider Goon, (M), Level 9:

Desert Raider Khan, (N), Level 13:

Desert Raider Veteran, (O), Level 10:

Desert Raider Veteran, (P), Level 10:

Desert Raider Veteran, (Q), Level 10:

Exp Gained:

Item Gained:

"Aw, ya got to be kidding me!" A mutter hissed out his teeth as the shades-wearing Desert Khan saw the ridiculous amount of firepower exhibited on the broken train car. For God's sakes, they managed to blow an entire hunk of metal away. It literally made his spine crawl in trepidation, but he remained firm. There was nothing easy in the wasteland, that much was true. Hell, what was supposed to be easy pickings, it was just all a goddamn pain in the ass. "Keep at 'em! We outnumber them! They'll all run outta stea--"


The scream of a the train whistle resounded in the wasteland. In view was a train, unlike the one from Endymion, it was bigger and meaner. Big enough to have its own deck in front of the front cab. Sturdy plates of defensive armor appear to be soldered onto it. There was even the tell-tale signs of blood on the front, possibly running over some desert critter along the way here. Perhaps what was even more prominent was the number of firearms mounted on several parts of the train cars, even what appeared to be an artillery cannon on several of them. Yet, there was one thing on it that the Desert Khan seemed to cause him to gape and blanch at nervously. Right on the front deck of the front-most train car driving the entire entourage, there appeared to be a single man with arms crossed as his hair danced behind him.


The sound of gunfire began to accompany the train's advance on the track. The sand began to explode with lead beginning to pelt itself against the raiders. The Cadets would notice they were careful to not even hit them or on their side at all. "F--Fuck! Fall back! Fall the hell back! Fuck you, Shura! You cockblocking shi--!"

The thunderous cacophony cut him off as his gang hurriedly began to leave the scene without a single look back. Yet, the armored train didn't let up on the firepower until it definitely did appear they weren't coming back. The raider Susan was fighting with also made the prudent decision to cut his losses and run off. It was only then the line of artillery and weapons began to slow to a halt. That was when a Princess of Endymion pushed the door open to allow every occupant to finally leave the cramped cab remains of the Endymion train. Serenity looked around and frowned at the incoming train before looking back at the Cadets with concern knitted on her face. She called out to them. "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm fine, your Majesty. And you? What about the civilians?" Maria asked as she began to approach her while dragging her Demon Weapon and coffin with her. There wasn't any signs of harm done to her, but she appeared a little under the weather. Yet she was keeping herself upright as if nothing happened while laying an eye on the incoming train.


"Everyone inside are accounted, they'll be fine. I'm just glad we were able to pull this off without losing anyone." The Princess sighed while giving a small smile despite it all. They were lucky to suffer no casualties on their side. Maybe in that way, they can take comfort in the fact that there was always a silver lining in all of these unexpected roadblocks. But it made her wonder how such raiders managed to cause so much damage to the train.

And speaking of which, the locomotive would finally stop level to the Endymion train. When it did, one person swiftly and smoothly fell to the sand on their two feet before approaching the party. It was a man who was significantly tall, about an inch over six feet. He was garbed in what looked like a black military uniform with a pair of blades nestling his hip. After taking a few steps towards the party and after noticing Serenity's current presence, he gave a small respectful bow to the Princess in greeting.

Maria tried to wave it off, uselessly attempting to assure everyone that everything was fine with her. That everything was all sunshine and smiles, but that was difficult now that she used her Demon Weapon with such extensive use. Everything was getting heavier, pressing on her deeply as her breathing was uneven. At this point, she was simply leaning on her weapon with the stake side stabbing into the sand. Despite it all, the Cadet eyed the train warily.

The civilians upon Gozai's prompting would answer that they were fine. Some were silent, obviously shaken by what happened. Though none appeared to be in any critical state regardless of how much lead was flying about. It was safe to say none really needed any medical attention, just a place to rest. As if on Susan's prompting, the train doors began to slide open for them before leading to the mass of civilians beginning to enter. It was obvious they weren't taking that gamble, not after everything that happened.


"Take her to the fourth car. We have beds down there to lie down. Second and third for the rest of you," Shura spoke as he eyed her and the Demon Weapon she had. He seemed curious of her get-up and that ridiculous coffin and weapon. Out of everyone in the Cadets, she stuck out like a thumb. Maybe it was heat exhaustion like that suited woman claimed, not like it was out of the question given the circumstances. As he just said this, Maria would immediately begin  shuffle her feet to the car as he pointed out. He watched her move, his attention jerked back towards Susan and then Serenity. "Accidents aren't uncommon. It's part of the Warden's job to investigate and to assist in our sphere of influence. You've helped us get an idea where the Thunder Khans are now, it evens out. And your Majesty, your Father awaits you. We must get going or else the demons and the raiders out there might come up with foolhardy ideas."


Serenity's countenance soured slightly. She glanced at the moving hoard of civilians getting inside before looking back towards the train for a few moments. The hesitation was only momentary, but she finally nodded at him while heaving a sigh. "Yes, it's about time, Captain. Please get us to Domiona safely."

She didn't waste any more time getting inside after Shura gave a nod. The entire party would see the train was being run by humans, there was yet to be any demons to be seen as far as they could tell. And when everyone finally got inside, the train would begin to heave and to move on the tracks. It was slow at first, but the speed would begin to pick up. The windows portray a picture of smoking devastation that they were leaving behind at increasing velocity...

Serenity Lamecia:

As the train steadily chugged on, it would seem as if the dusty expanse of the wasteland was endless. There was nothing here save for the sea of sand that surrounded all that inhabited the area and the numerous relics of five years prior before the Eternal Divide. Regardless, the staff running the armored locomotive rarely interacted with any of the new occupants if at all. On the other hand, the civilians from the earlier train kept to themselves as well, still shaken by what just transpired, and yet still grateful for their get-away.

Shura was nowhere to be seen, but can be reasonably presumed to be near the working staff at the train's leading cab. In the second car, Serenity was seating near the Cadets, like in the previous train, with a vacant and bored eye through the window as she watched every cloud in the sky drift slowly by while regularly checking her phone from time to time. Meanwhile, Maria was just sound asleep in her bed, unresponsive to the soft rumbling of the train.

The monotony of the trip would finally be broken as the train began to approach a series of plateaus and what appeared to be a canyon nearby. The loudspeaker situated on the ceiling began to blare out. "We are now approaching Domiona Station on Platform 7. Non-Warden personnel are to depart on this stop. I repeat. We are now approaching Domiona Station on Platform 7. Non-Warden personnel are to depart on this stop."

It wouldn't take very long for the train to enter the city that harbored their next stop. Out from the windows, the sight of Arabesque and modern buildings began to greet them. But such establishments weren't alone, people dotted the city as they went about their daily lives. And it wasn't just humans, as Serenity warned the Cadets, there were demons milling about without visibly causing trouble at the least. The train has yet to reach its destination, but there was time for its occupants to gaze on the foreign sight...

Noise.

It was noise that woke her. Maria stared vacantly at the metallic ceiling above her. It took a while for her to even notice Isaac was there, everything was still hurting everywhere. She slowly sat up in the cot and looked out at the nearby window. She listlessly stared at the sight in front of her. People and demons coexisting with each other, or at least what it seemed. A quiet moment passed, then another. She finally had a flash of barely contained smoldering anger in her eyes, as if itching to break out of the glass and start slaughtering every single one of these monsters.

But she reined herself in, this was a mission, not a killing spree that she was in right now. She knew that she would do no one favors if she lost herself in the frenzy of her own hatred and prejudice. Instead the Cadet tiredly turned towards Isaac's direction. What Isaac would notice was that there was something on Maria's face and in her eye, there was something spreading and pulsating on her skin...


She reached for the coffin that was nestling near her bed and began to rummage inside for what appeared to be a self-injecting syringe that was drawn out. With a pop of its cap and a simple stab into her artery, Maria would've expected relief to come. It did, but it was minimal to what she expected and caused her to furrow her brows together. It was slow acting more than usual and it unnerved her, but not enough to not begin preparing for the departure in spite of these signs. She began to slowly get to her bearings as she put on her habit drawn from her coffin before roughly beginning to open the sliding door to the car where the rest of the Cadets were. It was going to be interesting how to explain any of this to everyone else...



Serenity would heave a sigh with the announcement. It was a nice reprieve while it still lasted over the shifting sands and inside the air-conditioned innards of the train. But having to meet that man still soured her day. It was nice that Domiona acted as quickly as they could on so short notice, yet none of that good luck from escaping the jaws of demise would make her feel any better for what will come up soon, neither did Gozai's state. Concern was audible as he finally awoke, "No, it's fine, I know you're all tired and you deserve that nap. But, are you alright, Cadet? You sounded like you didn't have a good dream... Here, have some water. They've been handing it out during the trip."

She handed a bottle of water towards him and let him have it before listening to what Susan had to say. Honestly, this woman impressed her with such professionalism. Her intellect was shown in that lecture with Professor Hugo and her leadership was more or less on the level of competency. This Cadet was someone to keep an eye on in regards to where she'll end up. Though all of this talk about royal conduct and all that felt a bit more stuffy than she was used to usually. "Spot on. Though we don't need to mind that much etiquette for him. Just give him as much respect as you would in any modern professional setting."

Just as she said this, the door would open and in came Maria. The Princess would be smiling right now to see Maria was awake, if it wasn't for the state she seemed to be in. This was something she hasn't seen before, in any Forgotten. Just as Serenity got up from her seat, Maria motioned her to stop. "Just... my condition, acting up... Your Highness. I took my medication... I'll be... fine."

"You don't look like you are, Cadet. We need to get you situated. I'll see if I can ask Shura to have you rest in an infirmary." The Princess bluntly told her as the worry knit on her brow and as she pursed her lips. She tried to think of anything to explain what was happening with her. Surely it had nothing to do with the banditry, none of them ever managed to attack her. Was it her Demon Weapon from that night? This required a detailed analysis at the problem, but Domiona was not the place for it. And when Maria began to protest, Serenity adamantly shook her head. "This is non-negotiable. I'm not going to force yourself like this to work. Nor do I want to make it any worse. Do you understand, Maria?"

There was still a fire in the Cadet's eyes as if saying that she can still make it all work and without forcing everyone to have to stop and care for her. But even with all that, Maria knew it was a bit of a fool's errand to continue otherwise. She hung her head in defeat. "I do... I'm sorry... for all of this... inconvenience."


She slowly nodded before leaning against the wall, waiting for the train to stop. But before it did, the door on the other side would slide again showing Shura's entry. He almost had to nod down his head to avoid hitting the ceiling as he exited through the narrow path to enter the car everyone else was at. The Warden nodded at the group, but seemed to notice Maria's condition. "We'll be arriving soon. Your Father will be there waiting for you at the station's entrance. Is she going to be alright?"

"She'll need rest at an infirmary. If my recollection is correct, you have one inside the central bureau building where Dad and the Wardens work. Can Maria rest there?" She asked as she gave a worried glance towards the Cadet who quietly kept to herself and tried to hide the growing mark on her face. To her credit, however, it was slowly starting to fade away, slowly being the key word here.

He nodded and began breaking open his cellphone for a few calls to himself, the words leaving his lips could be heard to include "Cadet" and "infirmary". It would go on as the Warden continued to take on a few more orders. The call would just end as the train entered what appeared to be an underground tunnel and eventually stopping inside an underground train station. It didn't seem all that different from Endymion's, save for the presence of some demons inside. But Shura would patiently lead them through, causing a clear path to form as every Dominion citizen gave what appeared to be a kind of deference for his status and perhaps his own inherent prowess.


The sun would pierce down from the sky when they arrived to the surface and past the gates to finally enter the city itself. It was remarkably dry, but not uncomfortably warm yet. Mostly due to the various public fans whirling at strategic places to provide some measure of cooling for those close enough and the streets weren't remarkably flooded with activity. It looked remarkably like a city you would find in the Middle East, complete with modern buildings accompanied by hardy car models dating back a couple of decades ago and the dirt ground that was tread over with tire marks. There were even some street stalls of people and of demons selling their wares.

They wouldn't have long to savor the sight as an entourage led by one man began to approach the group with a cigarette in his lips. Shura would bow in greeting as they got closer and closer. The leading man hastened his pace before finally standing before the very Princess, herself, who was busy looking glum at his arrival. His expression didn't betray any worry. But the hesitation and concern was radiant in his body gestures, especially with the cigarette that neared the end of its life. But finally he began to smile awkwardly as he didn't seem to see anything wrong while taking the cigarette out of his mouth before dropping and stepping on it.


"Just Maria, Dad. She says she'll be fine and needs some rest. And I intend to agree with that assessment, for now." Serenity replied without so much of a smile. She was direct, not even deeming to try to waste any time. It was almost cold, even. But that response didn't so much faze him, except when his awkward grin turned bleak. He never deigned to say a word to it except to agree with a nod. 'It'll be vacant for her, she's welcome to stay as long as she needs. It's the least I can do for the people who kept my daughter safe."

He turned to address the rest of the Cadets. "I know all of you were only doing your job, but you have my thanks as a Father. Domiona knows me as their King, but you may know me as Sebastian."

>Maria gets ready with signs of corruption beginning to show, she uses syringe. But symptoms are going away too slowly. Will state she took her medication, it'll take time to dissipate.

>Serenity shows concern, but Shura notes he can take her to the infirmary inside the building to rest.

>Sebastian Lamecia, the King arrives. He will be glad Serenity is fine. Notices that Maria is at a critical state. Will say that he can take her to the infirmary. Sets Shura as the Cadet's tour guide as he takes Serenity and Maria away.

>Just more discussions with Shura with whatever questions they ask. He will ask about the Nameless Guard. And not say much more about her. During the tour around, they'll just see shops and places to visit. Some basic paraphernalia if they wish. Nothing special to see except of its vibrant markets.

>Eventually they'll return to the government building. Shura will go to check on Maria and tells the rest of the team to rest and tells TAG and Andrea to behave themselves.

>Threads of Serenity talking with the King. Trade routes and agreements and all. They'll then discuss about their family. How Julius and Isla are doing. Especially about the city, Serenity will be cold about it. Even tell him that Isla misses him and wants him to return. King will say that Isla is not his wife, and that thing has taken her over or something among those lines.

They'll keep arguing until something happens between them.