healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2020-08-05 06:01 pm
healingbonds) wrote2020-08-05 06:01 pm
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Prelude to the Festival and Pride | Chapter 2
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3
Snow: Fine, suit yourselves. No matter how much you struggle, you’ll just get punished and dragged along anyway as long as we have Oz.
Owen: See: the wolf came out of the sheep’s clothing.
White: What do you mean?
Owen: You act all kind and friendly in front of humans, but at your core you’re arrogant, dictatorial Northern wizards.
You think you can force things to go your way when you don’t like them. I’m right, aren’t I?
Snow & White: Abso~lutely.
Bradley: Damn...... Now they’re just openly aggressive.....
Snow: Okay, it’s time for bed. Just so you know: if you refuse to perform the holy festival, you better get a head start on escaping to the ends of the earth.
White: No matter where you go, we’ll capture you and drag you to Northern Country — you seem to enjoy the taste of defeat and humiliation, after all.
Snow: If you behave like good boys, we’ll give you lots of praise and rewards.
White: Because we want to be on good terms with you all. Well then, see you tomorrow.
(Footsteps) (Door closing)
The Northern wizards: ...........
Mithra: It’s nighttime now, isn’t it.
Bradley: Just look outside, man.
Mithra: Good. I’m going to go kill Oz and the twins while I can.
Owen: I’m down.
Mithra: Figaro too, just in case.
Owen: Wonderful. My dog will be happy to have this much food.
Bradley: Hang on!
Owen: What? How interesting, Bradley. I never took you for a coward.
Mithra: If you stop me, I’m going to kill you too.
Bradley: Hey, chill: I have an idea. Come here and listen.
Mithra & Owen: ............
(Footsteps)
Bradley: We don’t know how bad the next < Great Catastrophe > is going to be: it’d be a real blow to lose our strongest chess piece.
That’s why we’re not going to kill any wizards. But I refuse to be an obedient goody-two-shoes who listens to the twins’ bidding.
Mithra: Of course. I’m the man they call the "Lord of the Night" after all.
Bradley: Hey, don’t steal my title.
Owen: You liked it?
Mithra: I just wanted to try saying it.
Bradley: The obstacle standing in our way is Oz. Without Oz, neither the twins nor Figaro will get to lord it over us.
But it’d be a bad move to kill Oz considering our battle against the < Great Catastrophe >. That’s why — we should seal him away instead.
Mithra: Seal Oz away?
Owen: You’re right. We can unseal Oz whenever the < Great Catastrophe > comes and then make him fight it — just like how I keep my dog in my trunk.
Bradley: Exactly! As long as that guy isn’t around, the world is our playground. The magic headquarters, the Central castle — we can take it all, and do whatever we want.
Owen: We won’t have to wake up early either.
Mithra: Well, I think we’re on the same page. Let’s go seal Oz away right now. I’m so excited. What should we seal him in?
Owen: Make it something really dirty and stinky. Like a can of rotten fish, or a boot from a corpse in the cemetery.
Bradley: Hold on! We can’t do it here and now. The twins and Figaro will just come running over; Faust and Shylock will probably help, too.
Mithra: Then where should we carry it out? That guy is a homebody, so I don’t think he’d come along nonchalantly even if we invited him out.
Bradley: Heh. Think about what the twins said: we have a fun outing tomorrow, right?
Owen: Oh. Northern Country, huh.
Bradley: Yeah. We’ll pretend to obey the twins and go along to Northern Country. Then, we just have to find excuses to stall until nightfall......
Mithra: And then we’ll be invincible.
Bradley: That’s right. We’ll wait until nighttime when Oz can’t use his magic, and then we’ll seal him away in a pillar of ice and sink him into the depths of the frozen sea.
If we work together, this job will be a piece of cake. You onboard?
Mithra: I’m on.
Owen: Sure. Ah, I can’t wait. How should I tease the twins when they turn pale from shock?
Bradley: Me neither — I can’t wait to take Oz’s castle apart after we seal him away. I almost got killed a couple times when I snuck in there, you know.
Mithra: Ah...... That’s right.
Bradley: What now?
Mithra: There are irregular occasions when Oz can use magic at night.
Owen: You mean how he can use weak magic? That’s nothing to be worried about.
Mithra: That’s not it. There are times when the power he loses due to his bizarre injury is restored. Just as there are times when I can fall asleep when I normally can’t.
Bradley: ......That’d be bad. How is his bizarre injury neutralized?
Mithra: It’s the Sage. I don’t know how he does it, but it’ll be troublesome if the Sage interferes.
Well...... I’ll do something about the Sage one way or the other.
✦✧☾✧✦
Akira: I see...... So that’s why we’re setting off so early.
Awakened by Snow and White first thing in the morning, I rub my eyes sleepily as I join the Central wizards.
Dawn is just starting to break. The Central wizards are already dressed in their festival outfits, but the rest of the wizards in question — Mithra and the others — are yet to be seen.
Akira: (The Northern wizards were also late for Eastern Country’s holy festival......)
Snow: I’ll take this time to tell Sage and the Central wizards about Northern Country. Although Arthur might already be familiar with it.
Arthur: Yes. Northern Country is a land that is covered with deep snow and abundant with nature. There are few human villages there.
White: That’s right. After all, it’s a harsh land that makes it difficult for humans to survive.
Riquet: In what ways is it harsh?
Snow: Violent blizzards that blow away cattle and even houses. Endless frozen landscapes that will never bear fruit. A cold so extreme that even your breath freezes over......
White: Because the very land of Northern Country rejects those who lack the resolution to survive — or to die.
Snow: Power is everything in the North. The weak die, and only the strong attain freedom. The mysterious powers are incredibly effective there, and there are many valuable mana stones lying around.
White: It might be a terrifying place, but I’m sure that the Central wizards possess a temperament suited to the lands of the North.
Riquet: We do......?
Snow: Yes. Central wizards love goodness and justice.
White: But you also know that there is no meaning in justice without power.
Snow: The same goes for the North. Without power, there is no meaning — whether in words, bonds, or even vows.
The twins from the North smile faintly.
White: Mithra, Owen, and Bradley might be mischievous, unruly children — but once you experience the atmosphere of the North for yourself, I’m sure you’ll understand.
Snow: Why they rely only on their own strength; why they stop at nothing to protect their own survival and pride by any means necessary.
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3
Snow: Fine, suit yourselves. No matter how much you struggle, you’ll just get punished and dragged along anyway as long as we have Oz.
Owen: See: the wolf came out of the sheep’s clothing.
White: What do you mean?
Owen: You act all kind and friendly in front of humans, but at your core you’re arrogant, dictatorial Northern wizards.
You think you can force things to go your way when you don’t like them. I’m right, aren’t I?
Snow & White: Abso~lutely.
Bradley: Damn...... Now they’re just openly aggressive.....
Snow: Okay, it’s time for bed. Just so you know: if you refuse to perform the holy festival, you better get a head start on escaping to the ends of the earth.
White: No matter where you go, we’ll capture you and drag you to Northern Country — you seem to enjoy the taste of defeat and humiliation, after all.
Snow: If you behave like good boys, we’ll give you lots of praise and rewards.
White: Because we want to be on good terms with you all. Well then, see you tomorrow.
(Footsteps) (Door closing)
The Northern wizards: ...........
Mithra: It’s nighttime now, isn’t it.
Bradley: Just look outside, man.
Mithra: Good. I’m going to go kill Oz and the twins while I can.
Owen: I’m down.
Mithra: Figaro too, just in case.
Owen: Wonderful. My dog will be happy to have this much food.
Bradley: Hang on!
Owen: What? How interesting, Bradley. I never took you for a coward.
Mithra: If you stop me, I’m going to kill you too.
Bradley: Hey, chill: I have an idea. Come here and listen.
Mithra & Owen: ............
(Footsteps)
Bradley: We don’t know how bad the next < Great Catastrophe > is going to be: it’d be a real blow to lose our strongest chess piece.
That’s why we’re not going to kill any wizards. But I refuse to be an obedient goody-two-shoes who listens to the twins’ bidding.
Mithra: Of course. I’m the man they call the "Lord of the Night" after all.
Bradley: Hey, don’t steal my title.
Owen: You liked it?
Mithra: I just wanted to try saying it.
Bradley: The obstacle standing in our way is Oz. Without Oz, neither the twins nor Figaro will get to lord it over us.
But it’d be a bad move to kill Oz considering our battle against the < Great Catastrophe >. That’s why — we should seal him away instead.
Mithra: Seal Oz away?
Owen: You’re right. We can unseal Oz whenever the < Great Catastrophe > comes and then make him fight it — just like how I keep my dog in my trunk.
Bradley: Exactly! As long as that guy isn’t around, the world is our playground. The magic headquarters, the Central castle — we can take it all, and do whatever we want.
Owen: We won’t have to wake up early either.
Mithra: Well, I think we’re on the same page. Let’s go seal Oz away right now. I’m so excited. What should we seal him in?
Owen: Make it something really dirty and stinky. Like a can of rotten fish, or a boot from a corpse in the cemetery.
Bradley: Hold on! We can’t do it here and now. The twins and Figaro will just come running over; Faust and Shylock will probably help, too.
Mithra: Then where should we carry it out? That guy is a homebody, so I don’t think he’d come along nonchalantly even if we invited him out.
Bradley: Heh. Think about what the twins said: we have a fun outing tomorrow, right?
Owen: Oh. Northern Country, huh.
Bradley: Yeah. We’ll pretend to obey the twins and go along to Northern Country. Then, we just have to find excuses to stall until nightfall......
Mithra: And then we’ll be invincible.
Bradley: That’s right. We’ll wait until nighttime when Oz can’t use his magic, and then we’ll seal him away in a pillar of ice and sink him into the depths of the frozen sea.
If we work together, this job will be a piece of cake. You onboard?
Mithra: I’m on.
Owen: Sure. Ah, I can’t wait. How should I tease the twins when they turn pale from shock?
Bradley: Me neither — I can’t wait to take Oz’s castle apart after we seal him away. I almost got killed a couple times when I snuck in there, you know.
Mithra: Ah...... That’s right.
Bradley: What now?
Mithra: There are irregular occasions when Oz can use magic at night.
Owen: You mean how he can use weak magic? That’s nothing to be worried about.
Mithra: That’s not it. There are times when the power he loses due to his bizarre injury is restored. Just as there are times when I can fall asleep when I normally can’t.
Bradley: ......That’d be bad. How is his bizarre injury neutralized?
Mithra: It’s the Sage. I don’t know how he does it, but it’ll be troublesome if the Sage interferes.
Well...... I’ll do something about the Sage one way or the other.
✦✧☾✧✦
Akira: I see...... So that’s why we’re setting off so early.
Awakened by Snow and White first thing in the morning, I rub my eyes sleepily as I join the Central wizards.
Dawn is just starting to break. The Central wizards are already dressed in their festival outfits, but the rest of the wizards in question — Mithra and the others — are yet to be seen.
Akira: (The Northern wizards were also late for Eastern Country’s holy festival......)
Snow: I’ll take this time to tell Sage and the Central wizards about Northern Country. Although Arthur might already be familiar with it.
Arthur: Yes. Northern Country is a land that is covered with deep snow and abundant with nature. There are few human villages there.
White: That’s right. After all, it’s a harsh land that makes it difficult for humans to survive.
Riquet: In what ways is it harsh?
Snow: Violent blizzards that blow away cattle and even houses. Endless frozen landscapes that will never bear fruit. A cold so extreme that even your breath freezes over......
White: Because the very land of Northern Country rejects those who lack the resolution to survive — or to die.
Snow: Power is everything in the North. The weak die, and only the strong attain freedom. The mysterious powers are incredibly effective there, and there are many valuable mana stones lying around.
White: It might be a terrifying place, but I’m sure that the Central wizards possess a temperament suited to the lands of the North.
Riquet: We do......?
Snow: Yes. Central wizards love goodness and justice.
White: But you also know that there is no meaning in justice without power.
Snow: The same goes for the North. Without power, there is no meaning — whether in words, bonds, or even vows.
The twins from the North smile faintly.
White: Mithra, Owen, and Bradley might be mischievous, unruly children — but once you experience the atmosphere of the North for yourself, I’m sure you’ll understand.
Snow: Why they rely only on their own strength; why they stop at nothing to protect their own survival and pride by any means necessary.
Chapter 1 << | index | >> Chapter 3