Armour, Infantry, and A Influence

***Date Finished***: 29, November 2022

***Setting***: Spade Kingdom

***Characters Involved***:
* Spade Kingdom:
	+ Infantry Division
		- Lyu
		- Durans
		- Mary
	+ Armour Devision
		- Soleil Excandescentia
		- Aegis Hysminai
	+ Not Affiliated:
		- Lucius Rafferty Eskildsen
		- Nora Perun

***Synopsis***: A calm and collective conversation between Lyu and Lucius with his daughter Nora turns into a hard conversation to swallow with Soliel, Aegis, and Mary. This is where we're introduced to Lyutsifer, Nora, Durans, Lucius, and Aegis. With us getting to know Mary and Soliel more. With Durans not having any time to show up, its good to note that his relationship with Nora is friendly, same with her father. Lucius is informed to be friendly, while also one to take care of the Infantry Regiments bills. With Lyutsifer and Nora's relationship explained further, the dynamic of Mary and Lyu is briefly mentioned and glossed over. Soliel and Aegis' dynamic and their relationship is drawn out through the story, while not exactly 'explained'. Overall, we get to know much more on who and what the Green Knights and Red Dawn are. With the fight with Bellona and the Infantry Regiments most prominent duelists sparking a chain of events yet to be seen.

It was a pretty warm day in Spade, the air was brittle, but nothing new. Lyutsifer Perun and Lucius Eskildsen walked down a market place, with Lyu's first daughter Nora. They had gotten treats and eaten good amounts of food along with way. With Lucius playing tricks on Nora and taking her bread without her knowing, Lyutsifer would eventually sit down at a table. With Lucius sitting opposite of Lyu, they sat and calmly started picking on Nora, Nora found them both annoying and made fun of them.

"This is why you're shorter than your aunt," Lucius objects.

"And you wonder why you're old," Nora combats.

Lyu starts to laught, but was shut up by Nora. "Dont think you're safe either deadbeat, I'll have you ten toed squared off if I tell M-Mary." Something to note, she had a hard time calling Mary mom, she's always had a hard time doing it.

"You wouldn't dare," Lyu argued.

"You think I wont?" Nora grinned.

"Nah, you would. You are my kid," Lyu subsided.

Soliel was with her wife Aegis and they were looking for fresh fruit. Due to an incident with a sheep they were out of it at home and they needed it for a celebration.

'Why did any of us leave the door open." Aegis said.

Soliel patted her on the back. "At least the sheep was cute."

Lucius would notice Soliel out of the corner of his eye and stood up. "Captain Soliel! Nice to see you around, would you like to sit for a while. We might have a good chat and food for the short minute."

Nora and Lyu looked confused, because they weren't sharing their food.

"Dad, I'm not sharing my food," Nora muttered.

"Dont worry Nora, I'll share mine," Lyu agreed.

"Oh shut up you two, I was going to by them some food," Lucius questioned.

"You buy people food?" Lyu questioned.

"Who gives you the money to buy your own food?" Lucius asked.

"Good point," Lyu said, rubbing his chin.

"Dad, you dont have a beard," Nora said.

"I can believe," Lyu objected.

Soleil chuckled a bit Aegis looking at the group. Composing herself Soleil walked up to them Aegis behind her. "We would love to take you up on that offer. We'll pay for our share though."

Aegis whispered to her. "Make them pay. Its common sense."

Soleil just smiled and responded. "We can pay so why shouldn't we."

In response Aegis just sighed before looking at Lyu. "You don't have a beard. Just makes you look weird."

"My baby face is just too handsome," Lyu argues.

"You'll say that," Nora argued.

"Rude," Lyu responded.

"You raised me," Nora counters.

"Good point," Lyu agrees.

"Would you two both stop bickering," Lucius objects.

"Yeah, shut up Nora," Lyu said.

"No you," Nora argues.

"You both act like children," Lucius sighs.

Aegis seemed entirely to happy to join the argument. "Your baby face does not look good I'm taking Nora's side here."

Soleil sighed again. She loved her wife but her wife was really annoying occasionally. "In other news I heard that there was an attack on your Rudolph and Astro are they okay?"

Lyu straightens up and calmly responds, "Rudolf is fine, Astro is pretty beat up. Lucky for them, I couldn't find the bastard who did it. We assume Jaida was there since the last location we have of her was from yesterday. I keep telling you I don't trust Jaida."

"Calm down Lyu, we can't just barge up to her door. We hardly have any evidence as is," Lucius argues, rubbing his chin.

"I know. Its just annoying, then Leanne is breathing down my neck. Let alone Ulva's suspicions of me being the one who blew that tunnel to smithereens..." Lyu said, looking towards Lucius and then changing his attention to Soleil. "Anything new with your Division?"

A waitress came over with Lyu, Nora's, and Lucius' food. Lyu ordered a cinnamon roll and some black coffee, while Nora ordered two cinnamon rolls and a piece of apple pie. Lucius ordered himself some coffee, honey covered fresh trout, and a bottle of wine to go.

Soleil ordered ginger cookies telling them not to make it to sweet and Aegis ordered muffins and some black coffee to go.

"We have a few new members. Did an exhibition match on the border with Heart." Soleil mentioned.

Aegis smiled and started eating her muffin. "Broke off ties with my sister."

"Okay... Who's your sister, Aegis?" Lyu said, starting to eat his food.

Nora had somehow scuffed down her food and nudged her father, "Papa, I want more."

Lyu looked at her, grabbed her nose and pulled on it. "Not on Satan's blue moon you're gettin' my cinnamon roll."

Nora pulled back and rubbed her nose. "Grandpa Lucius."

Lucius looked away, not wanting to be apart of this... mess.

"Shouldn't have ate so fast," Lyu warned. "Anyways..."

Soleil discreetly handed over a cookie to Nora.

” Bellona Hysminai. Professional scary lady with broadsword.” Aegis said this with no small amount of spite.

Nora took the cookie, "Thank you!"

"Bellona... Interesting," Lyu looked at Nora. "Shouldn't have given that to her."

"Its too late now Lyu. So, what do you think we'll do?"

"I'll look into it myself, but I'll need to keep Leanne away. I'll see if I can get into contact with Pina and Yabbell," Lyu sighed.

"Aunty Pina?" Nora asked.

"Yes. Got any fun news, Soliel?" Lyu asked.

Aegis's face became grave. "We have the first intruder on record who managed to sneak all the way in to the barracks and stay there for and hour." then she cracked a smile. "Someone left a door open and a sheep walked in didn't trigger any of our alarms due to not being human or having magic and ate halfway through the entire pantry. We were actually going grocery shopping to refill our supplies."

"Dad, doesn't St. Amalia have extra food?" Nora questioned.

"Yes, but knowing you, myself, Astro, and the others... we wont have surplus in a short while," Lyu countered.

"I'd pay for the damages, but St. Micheal has more funding than St. Amalia," Lucius mentions.

"We know why," Lyu said, drinking his coffee and trying not to laugh."

"Damn right."

"Soleil, heard anything from the Red Dawn or Green Knights?" Lyu asked.

Soleil thought while chewing on a cookie.

Meanwhile Aegis nearly spit out her coffee before putting on a cold face.

"Well, I assume this conversation is going down hill," Lucius said sipping his coffee.

"What happened?" Nora asked Aegis.

"I know the group. In fact I am related to the founder of that group." Aegis said.

Soleil looked at her worried. "Is this more noble house weirdness."

Aegis nodded. "Yes it is the reason I hate noble house weirdness in the first place."

Being the only noble here, Lucius would listen closely.

"Well, whats with the Red Dawn?"

Aegis took a bite of her muffin. "So in the past my my great-great grandfather Enyalius Hysminair started a group of monster-slayers family stories say he even killed devils. Then he fell in love with the sovereign of Spade back then and died along with them during a coup." she shrugged. "The Red Dawn kinda just fell apart after that."

"Sounds fun, from what I here. The Green Knights are a order of secretive soldiers, working under my great grandmother, Duchess Henrietta. Some say the order died with her, some say it never existed, I'd argue otherwise," Lucius informs.

"You tell tall tales anyway Lucius," Lyu argues.

"At least they're funny," Nora counters.

"If I had a penny for every secretive knighthood that may or may not have died with its founder that I know of then I would have two pennies. Which isn't a lot but its weird that is happened twice."

Soleil looked at Lyu suspiciously. "Why do you want to know about them then?"

Lyu put his coffee down. "The green knights have raided my own house twice, I know this because I fought them off. They've stolen several books from my home. Books I wouldn't even trust Lucius holding onto. They're dangerous, and a problem if you seem to be a problem to the Spade Kingdom. But they dont discriminate. 20 years ago, they were said to kill 30 politicians in Diamond, saving more than quadruple that many lives. I dont trust them, but they do nothing but save civilian lives. And to be frank, we aren't civilians, so we're not safe."

Nora looked worried, this is why she shouldn't always listen to adult conversations.

Soleil gave a bit of money to Nora. "Go outside and buy something to eat for yourself. The grownups are talking now." she then patted Nora on the head.

Aegis looked at Lyu. "Well why are you asking about the Red Dawn along with the Green Knights then?"

Nora nods, and walk-runs out of the restaurant.

"I might be chaotic and cause more property damage than my paychecks, I still know I need information on my enemies to win the battles. If I hear that the Red Dawn and Green Knights are working together, I'd be pretty well off, because that can connect a lot of dots. If I get attacked by a bunch of soldiers from the Red Dawn, who knows. I need to find out more, and I need to make sure nobody else gets hurt. Something we can agree on. I'd rather burn in hell than to see one of my kids get hurt." Lyu answers, referring to the entire Infantry division as his family.

Soleil nodded. She knew the feeling. "I know that. And the armor division is always willing to be your shields."

Aegis added. "I'm just asked why you're talking about a knighthood that died a hundred years ago. Have they come back or something?"

"Thats the thing, we dont know. We suspect, but we suspected the Green Knights to have vanished three decades ago," Lyu responds.

"They've done nothing but be more active, getting reckless," Lucius mentioned.

"Hmmm." Aegis thought for a second before responding. "We'll ask around and keep an eye out. Civilians are more likely to talk to us anyway."

Soleil whispered to her. "Please don't phrase it like that."

"Good move, be careful. I doubt we'll see quiet for a while," Lyu responded, finishing his coffee.

"We'll, I must be off. My wife wouldn't be happy with me not being home today. Lyu, it was lovely seeing you. Same with both of you, Soleil and Aegis. I hope to see you around," Lucius said, paying for his food and getting ready for his departure.

As Lucius left Aegis's face turned serious. "Have the Red Dawn come back?" she questioned.

"Only time may tell," Lyu said.

"Well." Soleil said. "Can you give us any details on the person who attacked Astro and Rudolph then?"

"Nothing, Astro hasen't woken up. From reports, it was a woman, armored and with white hair. I think," Lyu answered.

Aegis looked at him more intently. "Was she using a broadsword? And was her magic metal based?"

"From Astro's reports, yes. Same with Tommy's and Rudolf's, using an metal-like magic that drained other magic. Now, this made the battle with Rudolf and Astro quite strange, those two's magic are... in a sense 'Anti-Magic'. Here ya go, Captain," Durans said, walking into the restaurant and having Lyu a folder. Nora sat on Durans' shoulders and jumped down with Mary Tiamat walking beside Durans.

"Both of you showed up to send me this information?" Lyu questioned, opening the folder.

"No, infact I showed up to check on Nora and you, Durans just so happened to be looking for you. Durans, could you escort Nora back home, the grownups seem to need to speak," Mary asked, sitting next to her husband.

"Yes, ma'am," Durans said, quickly turning around with Nora.

"See ya home M-Mary!" Nora said, waling out of the restaurant.

"Nice to meet you, Soleil and Aegis," Mary obliged, smiling politely. This is a odd contrast, as Lyu's expressions do not change. Its almost always stern, grumpy, or tired. With Mary its a bit more... something.

Soleil noticed this smiling but Aegis was to busy putting two and two together. "Did her sword appear to have any qualities of magic on its own. And did she channel magic through it?"

"Hard to say, but it was a broadsword. Rudolf argues that her magic drains magic, while his own magic drains magic. Making the area so much weaker than it should've been. Probably why it came crashing down. I think Astro said her name started with a B," Mary answered.

Aegis sighed before slumping her head against the table. "I know who that is." she declared. "My sister is an ass but I didn't think she'd stoop to treason."

"Who?" Mary questioned.

Lyu put down the papers and looked at Aegis, with his hands tied. "Bellona Hysminai, Magic: Iron Bane, Title: Lady, Notes: Her greatsword, which in itself is a mystery. Threat Level: Green Sword. Other information? Female, Grey eyes, white hair, full blooded human, and known to wear full suited armor. A problem, but not one to go out of their way to fight soldiers, her contacts."

"Green sword? Only that low, I'm suprised. You'd put the Green Knights at Golden Palm, but her at Green Sword?" Mary questioned.

"Thats because she controls the Red Dawn, we assume at least. There's no reason for the Red Dawn or any members to attack Soldiers. It must be someone who's shes talking to or the people around. Can't be this one person, thats too much trouble. They'd be targeted too fast, with a imminent death sentence," Lyu contemplates. "Aegis and Soliel, speak not of this. I'll look into it myself, but if you see Bellona, keep her away from any situation. I might be military, but I'm nowhere in the station to accuse nobility."

Aegis went back to her cold emotionless face. "I know how to avoid my sister at least."

Soleil looked at Aegis concerned putting a hand on her back supportingly.

"What will you do?"

"We keep a eye on them. If we can, imprison her. Best to take care of the problems before they explode. I'll search for some responsible contacts, but for you two. Dont worry about a thing, I wan't you two to live without worrying about it until further notice," Lyu said, standing up.

"Sweetheart, take time off," Mary whispers to Lyu. "I've been telling you this for days now. Go rest."

"Okay." Soleil said. "We have a few people who can help you with it. I suggest you rest until she strikes again."

"Alright," Lyutsifer said, standing up. "Nice to see you again Soliel."

Mary stood up and collected the papers, smiling towards Soliel and Aegis as a goodbye.

Soleil stood up as well Aegis picking up the muffins and standing up. "I hope when we see each other again it is not under such circumstances." Soleil said.

"Bye bye now!" Mary responded, making sure Lyu didn't say anything as they walked off.

"Goodbye." Soleil waved goodbye before turning to Aegis. "Now shall we get back to groceries?"

Aegis nodded and the two walked off.