Last time, both parties involved quickly realized that their plots had come undone because the Duchess of the Third Quarter herself had died, and revealed inadvertently that she had escaped Duke Rayne's grip before doing so. Today, both deal with the fallout as things start unwrapping quickly.
The Intrigue
Rayne's party naturally become suspicious of Lunair after this, and decide to search for her. We then cut to Revier and Lunair themselves hiding. Revier is curious about what happened, and more than a little unnerved by how calm Lunair is after seeing her own mother dead. She coldly replies that her death meant little to her, since she never took care of her as a mother. After cutting short some of Revier's protests, she moves on to cover the current situation: while she doesn't understand it completely either,
she knows that they need to leave the city as soon as possible.
Revier is taken aback. He asks about rescuing Serai, but Lunair outright points out that they are suspect now, and so it's no longer possible for them to do that. However, it is here that his stubborn gallantry kicks in, as he decides to hang on and try regardless. Which prompts a great exchange:
Revier: (angrily) They might not know that the place has to do with us!
Revier: Besides, that is my only choice.
Lunair: No, the other choice is just to leave and minimize casualty.
Lunair: What would be accomplished by knowingly walking into your own demise?
Revier: (angrily) Well, I am going to give it a chance whether you like it or not!
(Lunair silently ponders his response for a few moments.)
Lunair:...Very well.
(Lunair starts walking away, but abruptly halts partway through.)
Lunair:...Go and stand up for your foolish morality.
Lunair: Perhaps one day...it might even give you something in return.
(She continues walking away, but Revier interrupts her by talking.)
Revier:...I made a vow with Serai.
(Lunair silently stands for a moment.)
Revier: And I promised her that I will come back to get her...
Revier: But I know that someone who merely blinks at their mother's death like you wouldn't understand.
(Lunair turns back, silently pondering his words a bit. Then she leaves.)
With that drama over, we shift back to Rayne and Dirk. Dirk reports that the remnants of Fione's experiments proved unsuccessful, they were no better than the Quintessence samples they currently held. As for Lunair, she and "Heath" are both missing. Dirk also mentions that Huey was likely released from captivity ages ago. Remember him? Turns out after his job was done, he was forcibly turned into a test subject too. Yet, it seems that once tests on him were done, he was released secretly instead of being disposed of, as is the norm for test subjects.
Rayne is furious about this. Dirk further reveals that Fione had likely released him, and then posits that perhaps Huey might have met Lunair and taken Heath's place. And it is here that I have to wonder; did Huey get an improved version of the drug? I mean, considering what its main side effect is, it's hard to imagine a boy like him would have survived that long otherwise.
They bring up the diplomatic consequences of the entire affair, but decide that catching Lunair's party is of higher priority. To do this, they lock off all the city gates, impose curfew, and send guards in batches of three to catch any attempts at pretending to be the city guard.
We move back to Lunair, who reminisces a few moments about her now dead mother. She ponders what their last meeting meant, and then starts thinking about Revier's fate and how boldly he was willing to stay back to try saving Serai. This compels her enough to try and aid Revier, using the drugs Fione had retrieved for her.
Night falls, and Revier decides to try and head for the prison then. However, he quickly runs into the patrols, who aren't fooled by his disguises and immediately try arresting him. Shocked, he rushes away, and throws them off momentarily, but has to sneak the rest of the way through.
Here's where the story starts taking a few too many liberties to work. At Kardian's memorial, the guards chasing Revier earlier decide that he must be in the prison, and enter there. Why? Why not in the multiple houses lining up the street he was in? Why would they go that far from their assigned position anyway? Anyway, one of the straggling guards here gets pounced on by Lunair, who, it turns out, can become a crow now. This isn't a creative liberty btw, we did establish that there's an advanced version of the Quintessence that can do that a long time ago, and Fione likely supplied her with that.
They bring up the diplomatic consequences of the entire affair, but decide that catching Lunair's party is of higher priority. To do this, they lock off all the city gates, impose curfew, and send guards in batches of three to catch any attempts at pretending to be the city guard.
We move back to Lunair, who reminisces a few moments about her now dead mother. She ponders what their last meeting meant, and then starts thinking about Revier's fate and how boldly he was willing to stay back to try saving Serai. This compels her enough to try and aid Revier, using the drugs Fione had retrieved for her.
Night falls, and Revier decides to try and head for the prison then. However, he quickly runs into the patrols, who aren't fooled by his disguises and immediately try arresting him. Shocked, he rushes away, and throws them off momentarily, but has to sneak the rest of the way through.
Here's where the story starts taking a few too many liberties to work. At Kardian's memorial, the guards chasing Revier earlier decide that he must be in the prison, and enter there. Why? Why not in the multiple houses lining up the street he was in? Why would they go that far from their assigned position anyway? Anyway, one of the straggling guards here gets pounced on by Lunair, who, it turns out, can become a crow now. This isn't a creative liberty btw, we did establish that there's an advanced version of the Quintessence that can do that a long time ago, and Fione likely supplied her with that.
Revier reaches Serai's cell, only to discover that it's empty and bloodied. He's distraught for a while, and angrily turns on the guards when they catch him there, killing them outright! A few more fights later, he runs into Lunair, who helps him fight out of the prison and make a defensive stand at Kardian's grave. This buys them enough time for Lunair to set up a distraction and let Revier flee the city in the confusion. The guards try one last time to capture them, but they successfully outrun them on horseback.
Revier is, understandably, extremely disheartened by the events of the day. Lunair tries to console him, but as you might expect, she is of little help. She is concerned about Revier's state of mind, however, and decides to slip in the love drug to get him off pining for Serai.
And thus, Chapter 6, Arc 2, and this series end!
And thus, Chapter 6, Arc 2, and this series end!
Conclusion
Overall, I found that a fairly interesting story, despite a few shaky bits of pacing, especially prominent when it cut off to cover Kardian's adventures just when something was building up or when it showed flashback sequences for a bit too long. I think all of the characters were largely convincing and interesting in their roles, and the story certainly made good use of them. While the ending is a bit of a downer, do keep in mind that this is just part of a larger overarching story. And, for what it's worth, our protagonists here eventually get their revenge later.
That wraps up what I had to say. I hope that you enjoyed reading this, and will be interested in whatever I write in the future. Until then, see you!
Prev: The Aerian Court Intrigue 5 - The Death of Plots
Prev: The Aerian Court Intrigue 5 - The Death of Plots
Comments
Post a Comment