Dahlia was snapped out of her own mind when she realized that Shioke had stopped. She couldn't see Caspian's face, but she could tell that he was concerned by the way he was glancing around. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"You can't hear it?" He asked, his voice low. "Listen."

Dahlia listened, glancing around and hoping for some sound to enter her hearing range. Her head swirled forward when she heard a clash of metal. More clashes followed, and a horse's whinny. "Fighting?" She guessed. 

"I assume so." Caspian nodded. He urged Shioke onward, walking slowly. The sounds of fighting got closer. Eventually, what sounded like the crackle of lightning broke the air. Dahlia clambered off of Shioke and ran forward, gripping her sword in both hands.

A scene came into view. Three people - one on a horse, one on a pegasus and the other on a wyvern - were facing another on a horse. The latter was encased entirely in red armour; not even their face was visible. In one hand, the red knight held a sword. In the other, he held a book - a tome. A wide gesture of the knight's sword hand, and more lightning crackled, covering the ground between them and the other three in soot.

Dahlia stuck the end of her sword in the ground, willing her magic through her veins once again. Icy glyphs appeared on the ground around the red knight's horse. Just as Dahlia willed several icy spears to pierce through the red knight's armour, the knight pulled on the horse's reigns, and the horse jumped back. The spears pierced nothing but air, and with more lightning from the knight's tome, the spears broke and crashed into nothing.

The red knight slowly turned towards Dahlia. Even though she couldn't see their eyes, she could feel their gaze piercing through her. She held her sword up, ready in case he thought of attacking her. It looked like he was about to attack, but Caspian appeared behind her, Shioke not far behind. The knight instead pulled the reigns and turned their horse away, galloping away until the horse's hooves could no longer be heard.

"Who are you?" A cold, almost emotionless voice asked. Dahlia turned towards the wyvern rider, a blonde girl with grey eyes. Her armour was silver, with small black and navy blue sections, with a long purple cape.

"D-Dahlia." The white haired girl stuttered. "My name is Dahlia."

"As in, Princess Dahlia of Phazenia?" The horse rider asked, his grey eyes widening a fraction. His blonde hair was cropped, with a few strands falling loose between his eyes. He wore black armour that was tipped with silver and white. Much like the wyvern rider, he wore a purple cape.

"Huh? Phazenia? That's quite a while away, though." The pegasus rider commented. Her hair was also short, but unlike the other two, her hair was a bright red. Her eyes were blue. She wore a white dress along with a blue armour chest piece. A blue belt was tied around her waist and she wore tall black boots on her feet. "What are you doing out here?" The pegasus knight questioned.

"U-Um..." Dahlia stuttered, failing to find the right words.

"Before we get into that, perhaps we should introduce ourselves first." The horse rider suggested. He climbed down from his horse and approached Dahlia, smiling gently. "My name is Akamatsu. These two are my sisters, Hisari and Syalla."

He gestured towards each one as he introduced them; Hisari was the pegasus rider with the fiery hair, while Syalla was the wyvern rider.

Dahlia gasped, recognising those names. "Aren't you... Xylian royals?" She questioned. 

"We are," Akamatsu nodded. "We received word of a band of rebels that overtook the fortress around here. The three of us, along with my retainers, wanted to ensure that they wouldn't cause any trouble for our people, but..."

"Two rebels showed up to stop us." Hisari continued. "Akamatsu's retainers chased them off, but as soon as they left, that red knight appeared too. I thought that with the three of us, we'd be able to take him. But he was strong!"

Footsteps indicated that more people were approaching. Dahlia gripped her sword tighter, preparing to fight if she had to. Instead of any roughly dressed rebels emerging into the clearing, two entirely different people emerged. One was a girl who appeared to be a mage; she wore a grey dress with a black cape hanging from her shoulders. The inside of the cape, as well as the inside of her large hat, were teal. The girl had honey blonde hair that was long and curled, with glasses framing her blue eyes.

The other was a male with blue and violet hair that was tied into a ponytail. His shorts and cape were white, the latter being transparent. Two stripes of transparent fabric covered his torso. He wore violet ballet shoes on his feet. There were golden rings in his ponytail holder and on both of his wrists. A purple, transparent ribbon connected his hands.

The mage looked as though she was about to speak, but stopped herself upon seeing Dahlia and Caspian. Instead, she tore her eyes away from them, looking for something else to stare at while refusing to speak.

"Chris, Melior." Akamatsu greeted the two.  "What of the two rebels?"

"I'm afraid they escaped back to their fortress." The violet haired man, Melior, responded. "But what happened to that knight? And who are the newcomers?"

"This is Princess Dahlia, of Phazenia." Akamatsu told him. "If it weren't for her, I doubt that knight would have left even traces of me and my sisters."

Melior turned to Dahlia, an appreciative smile on his face. "You have my thanks, milady." He said with a flourished bow. "In truth, I should have been here to protect my liege, but you did a fine job of it yourself."

"I-It's okay." Dahlia stammered. She turned towards Caspian, who only raised an eyebrow at her. 

"What?" He asked. "I can't read puppy dog eyes, you know."

"That red knight." Dahlia began. "Who was he? You used to work for them, so you would know him, right?"

At the mention of Caspian's previous role as a rebel, the atmosphere became tense. Akamatsu's grip on his sword sheath tightened, while Melior's previously upbeat attitude seemed to fizzle away.

Caspian held his hands up in mock surrender. "I don't know, princess. Whoever he is, he's a new addition. I couldn't tell you anything even if I wanted to. Now can you get all of your fancy friends to stop looking like they want to kill me?"

Dahlia sighed and turned back towards Akamatsu. "He's on my side," She told him. "As long as he gets paid at the end, he said that he'd help me and tell me what I wanted to know."

Akamatsu hesitated. "If you trust him, then I suppose we can't shake that belief." He sighed. "Even so, what are you doing here, so far away from Phazenia?"

"Those... rebels, whoever they are, attacked my kingdom." Dahlia told them. "I managed to escape from them with Caspian's help, and according to him, they have my mother in Fort Bellton. They also have my father, my brother, and my retainers... somewhere."

"Fort Bellton?" Hisari echoed. "That's where we're going, too. So we may as well stick together. A bigger force will increase our chances of winning anyway."

"Then we should proceed as quickly as possible." Akamatsu stated, climbing back into his horse's saddle. "Our priority is ensuring that the queen, and any other possible hostages, are unharmed."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@digitaldreams0801 your homo/demi/pan children are here did I type them at least slightly in character lmao

also thANK EVERY HOLY BEING IN THE UNIVERSE FOR THE REVISIONS FEATURE BECAUSE THIS WHOLE CHAPTER DELETED AND I FREAKED OUT UNTIL I REMEMBERED THE REVISIONS THING AND MANAGED TO RELOAD A PREVIOUS SAVE P HEW

AceAttorneyFan over and out!