Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Tales of the Abyss.

Chesedonia and Dist's Attack

The Katsbert Ferry had just arrived at the port of Chesedonia and the group was disembarking from the ferry. Van was carrying Arietta and her three monster friends were following Van. The party was also getting off from the ferry and Luke and Cantabile looked on and stared at Van. Luke looked over to Cantabile and Cantabile nodded at Luke. Luke sighed and continued on his way with the others. Within Chesedonia, they all looked around and Mieu was excited about being in Chesedonia for the first time.

"I bid you farewell here," Van said suddenly.

The others looked at Van.

"Oh I see," Cantabile said, "you have to turn Arietta over to the inspector in Daath, right?"

"That's correct," Van said with a nod and then looked at Luke, "don't worry though Luke, I'll head for Baticul later."

"Right, understood Master Van," Luke said, "We'll go ahead and inquire at the Kimlascan consulate. Guess we'll see you in Baticul Master Van."

"Right," Van said and then he looked over to Tear, "Tear, please look after Luke for me."

"Oh…uh, r-right," Tear responded.

Luke looked away with his own thoughts and Cantabile did the same. Van left with Arietta and the others continued on their way within Chesedonia.

"Master, this city is really something!" Mieu said with excitement, "It's full of sand!"

Luke chuckled at Mieu's excitement, "Yeah, yeah, calm down Mieu. You don't want to tire yourself out…at least not so early."

"Oh, right!" Mieu responded with a smile.

Tear looked at the way Mieu was acting and couldn't help but see it as something adorable.

"He's so cute," Tear said in her head.

"Well then, shall we go?" Cantabile asked.

"Yep, let's hurry," Luke said.

They continued on with their walking within Chesedonia.

"It's been a while since we've been here in Chesedonia, huh Guy," Luke said.

"Yeah, I think the last time was three years ago," Guy said.

"Yeah, that's right…man, it's been that long," Luke said putting his hands behind his head.

The party continued on looking at the vendors and stalls within Chesedonia and Luke was showing Mieu everywhere of the city. After some time, a woman with pink hair and wore a dark pink outfit with dark boots and a black hat suddenly approached Luke.

"My, my, what's a fine gentleman like you doing in a place like this?" The woman asked as she was flirting with Luke.

Luke was surprised and so were the others. Cantabile twitched an eyebrow as she couldn't believe that some woman who she considered shameless would flirt with her student.

"Hey, what do you want?" Luke responded frowning and blushing.

"Come now, you have such a pretty face," The flirting woman said with a smile, "Don't ruin it by frowning like that."

"Really, the things that people do," Cantabile said annoyed, "hey, get away from the boy and display your shameless act elsewhere."

"It's awful," Anise complained and pointed at the flirting woman, "some old lady is hitting on Luke."

The woman was annoyed and offended by those comments but played it off.

"My, such rudeness from a jealous woman whose older than I am and a little girl," The woman replied, "but whatever, I know when I'm not wanted so I'll be on my way."

"Hold it!" Luke said as he grabbed the woman's arm.

"Oh, what's this?" The woman said surprised at Luke's action.

"Give it back," Luke said.

"Hmm?" The woman responded tilting her head.

"My wallet," Luke said, "you took my wallet so give it back."

"So that's it," Cantabile said, "I thought it was strange," Cantabile glared at the woman, "you're nothing but a filthy pickpocket."

"Hmph, I guess you're not all chumps," The woman said dropping the façade, "York! Urushi! Let's take care of this! We're out of here!"

The woman threw the wallet to the man named York. Luke was caught off by surprise and it allowed the woman to free herself and she ran with the guy named Urushi while York ran the other way. Luke sighed and chased right after York. Luke was able to catch to York and tackled him down and then he drew his sword and held it over York's neck. York was surprised and was nervous having a blade near his throat.

"You have two choices," Luke said, "you can give me back my wallet or…I can make things very bad for you. Trust me, you don't want the latter."

York gave Luke his wallet back and Luke let York go. York ran as fast as he could and he met up with Urushi and the pink haired woman on the roof of one of the buildings.

"You got guts making enemies with the Dark Wings," York declared, "You haven't heard the last of us."

The party was surprised to hear what was said.

"Wait, you're the Dark Wings?" Luke responded.

"That's right," The woman said, "York, Urushi, and myself, Noir."

The Dark Wings were surprised when they suddenly saw Luke up in the air with sword in hand and swung at them. They barely dodged Luke's sword swing and the others were surprised at Luke's action and Luke landed on his feet on the roof.

"Hey kid, are you trying to kill us?!" Urushi asked upset.

"You damn bandits!" Luke said angrily reading his sword, "Who the hell do you think you are stealing from people and not only that…you people are the ones that destroyed Roltero Bridge. Do you have any idea how much of an inconvenience and trouble you caused?" Luke shook his head, "Why am I bothering asking? You're bandits so of course you don't care about the people you hurt."

"Watch your mouth boy," Noir said with a glare, "You don't know a damn thing about us."

"You're bandits," Luke replied, "that's all I need to know."

"It'll just be a pain if we stick around dealing with you brat," Noir said.

Noir suddenly threw a something on the roof and caused a smoke screen. It surprised and blinded Luke and allowed the Dark Wings to make their escape. When the smoke cleared, the Dark Wings were nowhere to be seen. Luke jumped off the roof and landed on his feet on the ground and sighed as he sheathed his sword.

"Damn bandits," Luke said angrily, "next time I see them, they won't be so lucky."

"So they're the Dark Wings," Cantabile said, "I've heard about them. They really are trouble," Cantabile sighed and then frowned, "By the way Jade," Cantabile turned to Jade, "Why did you just stand by and watch as that woman did that?"

"Huh, Jade seriously?" Luke asked upset.

"Well, you noticed before I did Luke," Jade said, "I knew you would be able to handle it and figured that you wanted to handle it yourself."

"Well even so," Luke said, "those people are the ones you've been chasing. Couldn't you like make the effort when they introduced themselves?"

"If I see them next time, I'll make the arrest myself," Jade said, "right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to and that's getting back to Baticul."

"Jade…" Luke said.

"Luke, don't worry about it," Guy said, "if we see them, we'll get them next time and I'm sure Jade is not the type to just let criminals be."

Luke sighed, "Okay, okay. It's true that we need to get to Baticul as soon as possible."

The party discussed things a little more and then continued on their way. They arrived at the Kimlascan consulate and discussed things with the representative of Kimlasca. After deliberation, things were set for a ship to be prepared for them that would take them back to Baticul. Afterwards, they left the consulate and they still wanted to analyze the disc they had. Ion suggested Astor of the Merchant Guild who controlled Chesedonia as he figured that he would be the one who would have an analyzer and that he would be willing to help them. The others figured that it wouldn't hurt to try went with Ion's idea and went to see Astor. They soon arrived at manor and Ion pointed at the manor that belonged to Astor. They went inside and were greeted by the servants. After some discussion, they were escorted to the large room and waited for Astor. After some time passed, the door opened and the lord of the manor himself arrived.

"Oh my, Fon Master Ion!" Astor said happily, "If you had let me know that you were coming, I would have prepared a grand welcome for you."

"No it's fine," Ion replied, "we're trying to keep a low profile but thank you Astor."

"A mansion of this size probably has a fon disc analyzer or two," Guy commented.

"Well, you have an eye for luxury," Astor said and then he nodded, "yes, indeed my home does have an analyzer."

"That's great," Luke said.

Jade nodded and turned to Ion, "Fon Master, would you be so kind as to request they analyze that fon disc we found?"

"Would you do that for us Astor?" Ion asked.

"Name it," Astor replied happily, "the Chesedonia Merchant Guild is always at your service Fon Master."

"We would like to read the data from this disc," Guy said holding up the disc in question.

"Sure, leave it to me," Astor said.

Astor called for someone to take the disc and a servant arrived. The servant was instructed to analyze the disc and hand the results to Guy. Guy, Luke, and Jade thanked them and the servant left with the disc. They all conversed with each other while they waited and Luke and Ion were happily speaking with Astor and Astor was happily getting the people with Ion. Cantabile and Tear sat comfortably on the couch and Anise was in glee thinking how rich Astor was and wished she had lived in manor like Astor. After some time, the servant came back with disc and the results and handed them back to Guy. They looked and saw that the documents were a lot.

"That's a lot to look through," Luke commented.

"Well, we'll just have to read them in the ship," Guy said.

"Okay then let's go," Luke said, "I'm sure that the ship is ready by now."

"Then let's be on our way," Jade said, "thank you for your assistance Astor."

"Yeah thanks," Luke said, "we really appreciate it."

"Anytime you need assistance, please don't hesitate to let me know," Astor said.

The party bid their farewells to Astor and left his mansion. They walked through the city and were met up by a Kimlascan soldier.

"Ah you're here," The Kimlascan soldier said.

"Is the ship ready?" Luke asked.

"Yes Master Luke," The Kimlascan soldier answered, "please come to the port side."

"Thank you," Luke said, "we'll be right there."

The Kimlascan soldier respectfully saluted and left to go to the ship.

"All right, finally we can…" Luke said.

Someone was suddenly running towards the party and it was Sync.

"Guy!" Cantabile said.

"Look out!" Tear said.

Sync ran by and struck Guy's arm much to his and the others' surprise. It caused Guy to drop the documents and disc. Sync picked up the disc while Guy fell on the floor and held on the documents.

"Damn it Sync!" Luke said angrily.

Guy hovered over the documents and Sync looked at Guy and pointed at him.

"Hand those over!" Sync demanded.

Sync moved in to attack but Guy was able to dodge with the documents in hand.

"We shouldn't cause a scene here!" Jade said, "Let's head for the ship!"

"Damn it, they just keep showing up," Luke said upset, "they should know by now when they're not wanted."

The party ran to head to the ship and Sync ran after them declaring that he was not going to let them get away. The party made their way to the Kimlascan side and headed to the port to get on the ship. A Kimlascan soldier was there and greeted them although he wondered why they were rushing to get to the ship. The soldier saw Luke and saluted to the young red haired noble.

"Master Luke, the ship is ready for departure," The Kimlascan soldier said.

"Get this ship moving now," Luke ordered.

"Uh, Master Luke?" The soldier responded tilting his head and was confused.

"We're being chased," Luke explained, "we need to move now."

"Oh I see," The soldier replied understanding the situation, "understood."

Luke and the soldier rushed to get to the ship. After a few moments, the ship blew its horn and it started to sail, departing from Chesedonia. Sync arrived but he arrived too late as the ship was already away from the dock.

"Damn, they got away," Sync said.

There was a sudden laughter and it was Dist who descended down with his chair.

"Looks like you blew this one Sync," Dist said acting in glee.

"Oh, it's just you," Sync said a deadpanned tone not even looking at Dist.

"Leave the rest to me," Dist said in glee, "with my ultra super hyper high grade fonic technology, I'll flay that conniving, long haired, four eyed—" Dist cut himself off when he noticed that Sync was walking away and was not pleased that he was being ignored, "Stop! Stop! Come back! I'm not done talking!"

Sync stopped but didn't turn to face Dist.

"I marked the one named Guy with a curse slot so I can make him my puppet anytime," Sync said, "as for you, make sure you destroy the documents of the fomicry project."

Sync walked away and Dist was still upset and shaking his fist and clenching his teeth as he was angry that he felt he was disrespected and made a mental note to make sure he wrote down his revenge journal. The ship sailed and was headed for Baticul. In one of the large rooms, the party was able to relax since they made it on the ship and Sync was not able to stop them. Guy looked over at the documents he was holding and what he noticed made him upset.

"We should be in the clear now," Luke said and then he looked over to Guy, "Hmm? Guy, what's wrong?"

"Damn, I lost part of the documents when Sync attacked," Guy said.

Luke was surprised and then he frowned, "Damn him."

"Well all we can do and look over what we still have," Cantabile said.

"Guy, if you don't mind," Jade said, "I would like to see them."

"Oh yeah," Guy responded.

Guy handed the documents to Jade and Cantabile went over to look at them as well.

"Isofon research," Cantabile said.

"Yes," Jade said, "hmm…3.14159265358979323846…wait, this is Lorelei's fonon frequency."

"Wait, really?" Luke spoke surprised.

"It seems so," Cantabile said, "yes, this is definitely the fonon frequency of Lorelei itself."

"Huh, doing research of the aggregate sentient of the Seventh Fonons itself," Luke said.

Luke pondered and went over and looked at the documents as well.

"Well now, this is curious indeed," Tear said.

"Yeah…" Anise said.

"The question is what are the God-Generals planning to do with all of this?" Luke asked, "What rotten scheme are they cooking up?"

"Well, isofon research does hold potential for weapons development," Jade said, "so the military does keep their eye on them."

"Is that it?" Luke asked, "Are they planning to make some sort of weapon?"

"Hmm, that could be what they're planning," Cantabile said and then she looked over the documents again, "although they also seem to be doing something with fomicry as well."

Luke was taken aback, "Fomicry…again with fomicry."

Luke glanced over to Jade and Jade as well as Ion shifted their eyes.

"So you still won't say anything," Luke said quietly.

"Luke, did you say something?" Tear asked.

"Uh no, it's nothing," Luke responded.

Tear was a bit confused with the way Luke and Cantabile were acting.

"Fomicry was used to make isofons, right?" Anise spoke.

"Yeah, fomicry is like a copy machine," Guy commented.

"No, replicas created by fomicry are mere imitations," Jade pointed, "a replica may look identical but the fonon frequency is different. One cannot produce isofons that way."

"If we had all of the documents, we would have been able to get an idea what they're planning," Luke said, "and to think all of this was going on in Choral Castle."

"They were probably using Choral Castle as their base of operation," Guy deduced.

The door suddenly opened and a Kimlascan soldier entered.

"An emergency!" The Kimlascan soldier said frantically, "A large number of Oracle soldiers as well as an unidentified fontech signature are approaching from Chesedonia."

"Wait, what?!" Luke said surprised.

Luke ran out of the cabin and was surprised to see three Oracle Knights with their drawn swords charging towards Luke when they saw him. Luke quickly drew his sword and started fighting off the three Oracle Knights. Cantabile came out and assisted Luke in fighting off the Oracle Knights. With Cantabile's speed, she easily eliminated two Oracle Knights and Luke countered the remaining Oracle Knight's sword swing and took him out. Luke and Cantabile nodded each other and went back in the cabin to meet with the others.

"Can we assume that their goal is to stop Ion and the letter from reaching Baticul?" Tear asked.

"You don't suppose they'll try to sink the whole ship, do you?" Guy asked worried.

Mieu was worried and turned to Luke, "Luke, what are we going to do? I can't swim!"

"Don't worry about it," Luke said, "we won't let that happen in the first place. We just have to get them first because they're not going to stop."

"But if they intend to sink us, they wouldn't come storming in like this," Jade said.

"Then they're trying to take it over," Anise deduced.

Guy sighed, "Then that means we need to secure the bridge before they do."

"That's exactly right," Jade said.

"Fine, then let's do this," Luke said, "let's show those bastards that we can't be stopped."

"Let's move out!" Cantabile said, "We've come this far and we're sure as hell not going to let them stop us at this point."

"Yes, let's go," Jade said.

The party made their way through the ship and Jade was thinking about this attack that occurred. He had a guess in the way it was carried out and it reminded him of someone he knew but he hoped that he was wrong. The party fought and defeated Oracle Knights that got in their way as they continued. They made it to the bridge and were relieved that there were no signs of the enemy and the captain of the ship assured that there were no problems. They were relieved but also wondered what the goal of the enemy was. They all decided that they needed to head to the deck and check things out. As they continued on their way, they made it to corridor of the deck where they saw something that surprised them. They saw a tacky looking robot take something from a crew member and made off with it.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

The crew member turned and faced the party with a frustrated expression.

"That weird robot stole the fonstone fragment!" The crew member informed.

"Fonstone fragment?" Guy spoke, "Does it want to use it for fontech work?"

"Most likely," Jade said, "and considering the horrible and tacky design of that robot, I'm pretty sure I know who's behind this."

"You do Colonel?" Tear asked.

Jade sighed, "Unfortunately yes, I do."

"You know, considering who annoyed you look, I could probably be sure that I have the same conclusion as you," Cantabile said.

"Master Cantabile?" Luke spoke.

"At any rate, that fonstone fragment is a valuable resource," Jade pointed out, "We should get it back."

The party went on ahead and as soon they saw the robot, they gave chase. The robot tried to get away but it was no match for the six people chasing it and it was caught shortly afterward.

"This wasn't much at all," Cantabile commented.

"Gaaahhh! Don't interfere!" The robot ranted.

Luke and Guy drew their swords and placed their blades on the robot.

"If you don't want to get smashed, hand over that fonstone fragment now," Guy said.

"If you insist on being stubborn, we'll smash you up so much that they'll be literally nothing of you," Luke added.

"That's extortion!" The robot ranted, "You're evil but I'm scare so here, take it."

Cantabile took the fonstone fragment and they let go of the robot. The robot backed away staring at the party.

"You haven't heard the last of me!" The robot declared as it jumped off and fell in the sea.

The party just looked on deadpanned at what just happened.

"Ah, it ran away," Luke said.

"Yeah, yeah it did," Cantabile said.

They gave the fonstone fragment back to the crew member and he was grateful to the party for what they've done and then he want on his way. The party went on their way as well and they soon arrived on the deck and they looked around.

"Where the hell is the leader?" Luke asked impatiently.

Cantabile sighed and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, "Dist, you might as well show yourself! Come out! Quit hiding!"

The others were surprised and Jade sighed as he pushed up his glasses.

"I knew it," Jade said.

"Wait, Dist?" Luke asked.

There was laughter going on suddenly and the party looked up and found Dist floating in the air in his chair and he was still laughing.

"You really shouldn't make such false statements Cantabile," Dist said, "I wasn't hiding," Dist grinned, "now listen up you ignorant savages and you shall hear my beautiful name! I am the most graceful members of the Six God-Generals, the one and only Dist the R—"

"Why, if it isn't Dist the Runny!" Jade interrupted.

Dist got upset, "The Rose! R-O-S-E, Rose! Dist the Rose!"

"I thought you're Dist the Reaper," Luke said.

"Oh he is," Anise said

"Absolutely and he's delusional if he think that he is anyway associated with a rose," Cantabile added.

"Silence!" Dist said angrily, "I refuse to accept that name. It's Rose, Rose!"

"Anise and Master Cantabile of course knows him, that's a given," Luke said and then he turned to Jade, "But Jade, do you actually know him yourself?"

"Yeah, it sounds like you do Colonel," Anise said.

"I, the genius Dist, once counted that wretched snake Jade as one of my friends," Dist answered.

"Oh and which Jade is that?" Jade responded with a shrug, "I don't know any Jades with such poor taste in friends."

"What did you say?" Dist replied annoyed.

"Now now, careful Dist," Jade replied back, "you know how your nose gets runny when you get mad."

"No it doesn't!" Dist replied back.

Luke, Guy, and Cantabile had annoyed expression and they spoke among themselves.

"Man, this is stupid," Luke said.

"Yeah, it really is," Cantabile.

"They're off in their own little world," Guy said.

"Enough of this!" Dist said as he brought back the attention of the party, "Now, hand over the fon disc data!"

"Oh, you mean this?" Jade said holding up the said documents.

Dist quickly swoop down and took the data out of Jade's hand and everyone was surprised except for Jade and Dist was laughing in triumph.

"How careless of you Jade," Dist said happily.

"You can have them," Jade said, "I already memorized the contents."

That comment stopped Dist in his tracks and was no longer in a pleasant mood but instead he was furious and felt disrespected. Dist growled and was shaking in anger.

"I'm being mocked by savages!" Dist said angrily, "Once you taste the pain of my super ultra gorgeous artes, you'll regret what you've done!"

A robot suddenly appeared and was poised towards the party.

"Oh let me guess," Cantabile said, "is this your Kaiser Dist?"

"It is and you won't last long against my superior creation," Dist said with confidence.

The party drew their weapons as Ion and Mieu moved away as always. The Kaiser Dist charged swung its claws at the party and they all dodged and moved away. Jade and Tear were doing incantations for fonic artes while Cantabile and Guy charged forward with their katanas in their hands. Luke and Anise ran to different direction with the intent to strike the Kaiser Dist from behind. Tear used Nocturnal Light and Jade used Turbulence. The two fonic artes struck the Kaiser Dist and got the robot off balance. This allowed Cantabile and Guy to strike the robot fiercely with their blades. Luke struck the robot with his sword and Anise with her automated doll Tokunaga gave struck the Kaiser Dist with a punch. The Kaiser Dist was staggering back and Dist was not pleased in what he was seeing. The Kaiser Dist swung its claws again and they both claws were blocked by the swords of Luke and Guy. Anise chanted and used the fonic arte, Limited and Tear threw knives and struck the robot. The Kaiser Dist quickly steeped back and charged through and went after Tear and Anise. The left arm of the robot was suddenly severed and it was Cantabile that did it. Jade formed his spear and threw it at the Kaiser Dist and it hit right between the eyes. The spear disappeared and Jade was in the air and his spear reappeared in his hand. Jade stabbed the robot on the top of its head. Guy got close and brought his sword back.

"Void Tempest!" Guy roared.

Guy swung his katana and did a strong horizontal slash and caused the robot to stagger. Luke got close to the robot as well and slashed the robot vertically down and then vertically up and was in the air creating a lighting based attack.

"Lightning Tiger Blade!" Luke roared.

Dist was shocked and couldn't believe what was happening as he was seeing the robot he created being beaten. The robot was shaking and sparks were occurring. Tear used her fonic hymn, Nightmare and brought the robot down and then Anise with Tokunaga struck the robot when Tokunaga performed Eagle Dive and followed up with the uppercut Dragon Surge. The damaged robot was in the air and was near Dist much to the God-General's surprise and then Cantabile followed up.

"Radiant Dragon!" Cantabile said.

Cantabile had lunged her katana forward and formed a large beam of light with two small beams of light and the attack struck the Kaiser Dist and it caused to explode. Dist was near the explosion and it made him spin in his chair. Dist screamed as he was still spinning and then he fell in the sea.

"Hey, he fell," Luke said surprised.

"It'll take more than that to kill him," Jade said, "he has the tenacity of a cockroach."

Luke looked at Jade, "Oh, I see. You really know him well, don't you?"

"Hmm, who can really say?" Jade replied, "Anyway though, I'm off to check on the bridge."

Jade left and headed for the bridge.

"Oh, I'll go with you," Luke said as he went after Jade.

"I'll go with you guys as well," Guy said, "Ladies, pleas look after Ion."

"Hmm, don't tell me you're afraid of us Guy," Anise teased.

"Huh!" Guy replied surprised and jumped up when he saw Anise so close, "N-No, of course not."

Guy ran after Jade and Luke and Mieu ran after Guy as well.

"Well now, it's just Ion and us ladies here," Cantabile said.

"Let's check to see if anyone is injured," Tear suggested.

"Excellent idea," Cantabile said.

"Yes, I agree," Ion said with a nod.

Anise sighed, "It's not easy being a messenger of peace."

"It never is Anise," Cantabile said, "it never is."

After everyone did their part with the aftermath of the attack by Dist the Reaper, things were deemed okay and the party relaxed as the ship continued its way to Baticul. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing and Baticul was seen and Luke was excited to be back after so long.

"Finally," Luke said happily, "Finally!"

"We're back," Guy said.

"Wow, so that's Baticul," Mieu said.

"Yep, that is the city where me and Guy live Mieu," Luke said proudly, "the capitol of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear itself."

Cantabile looked on seeing Baticul lives and had her thoughts with her plans to prepare Luke and counter against Van.

The Capitol of Light, Baticul

The ship arrived and anchored at the port. The party soon got off the ship and walked through the port. It was there that they were greeted by group of Kimlascan soldiers and two of them which was a middle aged man and a young blonde haired woman were standing in the front.

"Master Luke," The middle aged man greeted with a smile, "welcome back."

"Welcome back Master Luke," The young woman said greeted with a smile.

Luke smiled as he was happy to see both of them.

"General Goldberg," Luke said happily, "Brigadier General Cecille. I'm glad to see the both of you."

"It's good to see you made back safe and sound Master Luke," The middle aged man named Goldberg said and then he looked at the people with Luke and nodded at Cantabile and Guy, "Guy Cecil and Major Cantabile, thank you for your assistance in bringing Master Luke home safely."

"No problem," Cantabile said, "I simply did what I wanted to do."

"Yes think nothing of it," Guy said, "I was just carrying out my duties as a servant of House Fabre."

"Still, you have our thanks," The young woman named Cecille said.

"General Goldberg, did you and General Cecille receive both letters by Count Almandine?" Luke asked.

"Indeed we did," Goldberg said with a nod and then he looked at the others, "I take it that the rest are…"

"Yep," Luke said with nod.

"Ah," Goldberg nodded and faced the others, "Greetings, it is an honor to meet the rest of you. I am General Goldberg, commander of the First Division of the Kimlasca-Lanvaldear Royal Forces. We've been expecting you as we have received the letters from Count Almandine via carrier pigeons informing us that Master Luke would be returning here with an emissary of peace from the Malkuth Empire."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ion said, "I am Ion, Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei. I bear a letter from His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Peony the Ninth of the Malkuth Empire. May I ask an audience with His Majesty, King Ingobert the Sixth of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear?"

"Of course," Goldberg said, "General Cecille will be responsible in escorting you to the castle."

"It will be my honor," Cecille said, "I am Brigadier General Cecille at your service…and the rest of you are…?"

"Yes, I'm Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants," Tear said, "First Platoon of the Oracle Knights Intelligence Division."

Goldberg and Cecille discreetly glanced at each other and then to Luke who discreetly nodded.

"I'm Ionian Sergeant Anise Tatlin," Anise said, "Oracle Knights Fon Master Guard."

"I'm Colonel Jade Curtiss," Jade said, "commander of the Third Division, Malkuth Imperial Forces. I represent His Imperial Majesty."

Goldberg and Cecille were amazed as they looked at Jade.

"So you're him," Cecille said, "You're the Jade Curtiss…"

"You taught me a very painful lesson in our battle in northern Chesedonia three years ago General Cecille," Jade said.

"You must be joking," Cecille said as she shook her head, "My forces were virtually wiped out…"

"You're well known as the Emperor's personal confidant Colonel Curtiss," Goldberg commented, "since you're here, I take it that Malkuth is indeed serious."

"Tensions along our border are greater now than they were at the start of the Hod War," Jade replied, "we have no choice but to be serious."

Guy and Cantabile both frowned at the mention of the Hod War and Luke glanced at both his best friend and his teacher and looked down with a sad expression.

"Right of course," Goldberg said, "well now Master Luke, I assume that you'll be heading to the castle first before heading back to the manor."

"You know me well General," Luke said, "yes, I intend to escort Ion to the castle to help get an audience with my uncle."

"Yes of course," Goldberg said with a nod.

"With that, there's one other thing we need to do," Cecille said, "isn't that right Master Luke?"

"Yes, please proceed," Luke said.

"Of course," Goldberg said.

Cecille and Goldberg looked over to the side and did motioned people over. Kimlascan soldiers rushed over and surrounded Tear as they pointed their weapons at her. This surprised Tear and the others except for Luke, Guy, and Cantabile.

"Hey wait, what's going on?" Tear asked confused.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ion asked.

Jade pushed his glasses and looked at Luke, "Luke, this is your doing, isn't it?"

"It is," Luke admitted.

Ion and Anise were surprised and Tear was surprised as well but then she realized why it was happening.

"Tear Grants," Goldberg said glaring at Tear, "you're under arrest for breaking in a noble's manor with the intent to cause harm."

Tear was upset and looked at Luke who had a neutral expression.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Luke spoke and he shrugged, "I warned you Tear."

"Luke…" Tear said twitching her eyebrow as she was upset.

"You will be interrogated later on," Cecille informed Tear and then she turned to the soldiers, "Take her to the dungeon."

That's it for this chapter. Next chapter: Luke and others meet with King Ingobert, Luke returns to his manor and reunites with Natalia, and Cantabile plans things out with Luke.