A person

King Randolph: So you are all here to achieve the same goal. King Randolph glanced at each of them, giving a chance for the Queen to speak, which she swiftly took advantage of. Queen Rupina: And you have attempted to follow every other route to its end? You do know that there are far more important matters to concern ourselves with at this point in time, do you not? Or have you not seen or heard the rumblings of a rebellion within the chatter of the townsfolk? Her tone was sharp and judgmental, an obvious impatience prevalent within her tone. After a brief pause, she continued. Queen Rupina: Were it not for your circumstances, we would not have wasted our time with this matter. That is to say...you are certainly not alone in the matter of how you have found yourselves here. Her comment seemed to be directed towards Nemesis, Seth, and Edward. Queen Rupina: Your situations are alike to many others that have occurred all around the world in that they were brought here against their will by transportation via portal opened either intentionally or unintentionally. She glanced at Seth, then pointed her staff at him. Queen Rupina: You...what is your name?

Eventually, Nemesis would finish explaining the situation, then would nod solemnly. Nemesis: ...and that is where we are at this moment, Your Majesty. Her words hung in the air, both the King and Queen remaining silent as they let her explanation register in everyone. Finally, the king proceeded to speak up. King Randolph: So, it is answers that thou seekest... Nemesis nodded again. Nemesis: That is correct, Your Majesty. We are here to discover what you know, not only about the portals, but also about the cause of these creatures that seem oh so intent on attacking the kingdom and its inhabitants, if you are so willing to bestow your knowledge upon us. The king nodded his head understandingly. King Randolph: I see...what of thine allies? What is it that they seek along with thee? Nemesis turned her head to look back at them, a pleading look upon her face for once.

ARRIVAL AT AILIECH CASTLE THRONE ROOM The doors into the next room opened, presenting them with an absolutely massive throne room. At their feet was a gold-trimmed red carpet upon a marble floor leading straight to the two stone slab steps which led up to the two thrones upon them. To either side of the carpet were marble pillars linked by a stone archway which held more pillars upon it. Beyond those, to the left, was a row of windows that allowed in the bright afternoon sun, allowing the light to splash onto the floor and carpet. Beyond the right set of pillars was a row of three doors; where they led was currently unknown. The thrones were somewhat high off of the ground, the seats themselves being in the shape of a flattened C with two large armrests, one on either side, and red cushions with purple embroidery woven into the sides of them. The tops of the thrones were also decorated, both having a black stone symbol with three rounded points, the top of which was the largest and held a large, red gemstone of some kind whilst the two lower points were smaller and held small, but still large, purple gemstones in them. Behind the thrones was a cobblestone wall with four banners draped upon it: two longer banners hanging down with the same red/purple coloration as the throne, each having a vine design embroidered in its center with a purple trim to match it, and two smaller, but wider banners each draped slightly higher than either larger banner and above each throne with the same red/purple coloration, though this time each had a symbol depicting an angel embroidered in its center, a purple trim woven in at the edges. At the top of the cobblestone wall was a stained glass window with the single image of a sword within it, the multi-colored light splashing down upon the floor below, though it was blocked out by the stronger, undiluted sunlight from the other windows.. To the side of each throne was what seemed to be candle rods, each with three lit candles upon them. Upon each central pillar was a rod holding a banner which depicted the same vine pattern as the banners upon the back cobblestone wall. Above them was an arched ceiling with chandeliers hanging from them; it was hard to tell if they held actual candles or fake ones. Standing on either side of the carpet were more guards, at least eight, with their hands behind their backs, and sitting atop each throne was the king and queen, the king upon the left, and the queen upon the right. They both stood up upon noticing the entry of the group with the guards, the guards stopping the group at the entrance, and the king spoke first. King Randolph: Come. He spoke with a voice that shook the very atmosphere; a deep, commanding voice that all were compelled to obey, no matter who they were sided with or what they thought of him. The guards slowly led them to the King and Queen, Nemesis proceeding to remove her coat and hand it off to one of the side guards before adopting a more respectful walk. The king seemed to be examining each of them quietly, which gave the Queen a chance to speak after him. Queen Rupina: So, these are the ones that were spoken of... Nemesis nodded as she approached them. Nemesis: That we are. Once the guards brought them in front of the King and Queen, Nemesis bowed without hesitation. Nemesis: If I may spend some time to explain our situation to you... Right then and there, she began to explain everything to them so that they may be able to hear the full story.

At the end of the bridge was another gate leading into the castle, two guards wearing black armor with blue lights in it. Their weapons, this time, appeared to be strange guns with white canisters where the ammunition clip should've been. They approached the gates and pulled them open, allowing the group to enter and revealing four guards standing at the entrance. Their armor was black with white lights, and they seemed to have an assortment of weapons on them. One guard approached them. Concerned Royal Guard: Please follow us; we shall escort you to His Majesty. Without another word, the guards began to walk ahead, Nemesis following closely behind them. It was visible that she was very nervous at this point. She glanced back at the others. Nemesis: ... It was clear that she wanted to say something, but was unable to find the words(or the will) for it. She proceeded to turn around and continue following the guards.

The guard finally approached the audience group, gesturing towards the other guard before stopping to face them. Intelligent Royal Guard: His Majesty has allowed you to speak with him and Her Majesty, so make sure you do not waste their time; few are given this chance. And with that, both guards approached the gates at the bridge and opened them, allowing them to safely cross the bridge. Nemesis nodded towards the guards and gave them an actually genuine smile. Nemesis: Thank you so much for this. I promise that I shall not squander this time away with useless banter. She proceeded to take the lead in crossing the bridge, the guards now standing at each side of the gate and staring forwards in silence.

ARRIVAL AT AILIECH CASTLE BGM: Shironia (Calm) The audience squad had finally arrived to the front of one of the bridges leading to the castle, two guards in armor that threw red light all around the area, their weapons having the same glowing blades as the ones at the gates, though, unlike the armor, it was instead orange. They slid their weapons in front of the group, preventing entry. Protective Royal Guard: Unless you all wish to seek an audience with the king and queen, you have no business here. Nemesis slowly approached the guards. Nemesis: We are here to seek an audience with His and Her Highness. Allow me to explain our circumstance... She proceeded to explain to them everything that had gone down up until then, and added in what she knew, hoping it would be enough to convince them that it was very important. It worked. The two guards nodded. Intelligent Royal Guard: Very well...allow me some time to contact them about your current situation. The guard proceeded to step aside for a moment, speaking into a communicator of some kind. The discussion seemed to be long-winded, so Nemesis glanced at the others. Nemesis: I hope Darkman was right about this...otherwise, I don't know what else we can do.

When everything was said and done, Nemesis proceeded to respond with a nod. She exited the hangout and began to make her way to the castle in the distance, eager to learn what awaited them on their future journey. Nemesis: Let's try to make this as thorough as possible; this might be one of the few chances we have to find out all of the answers we seek. And if he's been blessed by a god, then he should surely know something that nobody else does. Her exterior exuded confidence, but her interior was filled with worry; one misstep could mean the end of this attempt at a questionnaire and possibly the journey as a whole, so there was a lot riding upon this moment..

Nemesis sighed. With all of their excitement, she was almost certain that someone was going to mess up somewhere. And the thought alone of what would happen depressed her. Nemesis: I'll lead the group to the king...

Nemesis let out a sigh. More responsibility...she turned to Darkflare. Nemesis: Do you know where a hospital is? I guess he needs to get his face looked at...

They didn't need another one. She shot a sharp glare at Tommy. Nemesis: TOMMY, PUT HIM DOWN, NOW.

Nemesis seemed to be confused by his question. Of what importance was a quirk? Nemesis: Huh? Why does that matter? Do you think there's going to be some kind of problem?

Nemesis cleared her throat. Nemesis: Just keep in mind that, if we DO go through the slums and get rid of the fake guards, we probably shouldn't kill any of them. Yet. We need to find out as much info from each of them as we can before we even think about getting rid of them just in case they have some kind of connection to this portal incident. Oh, and so that we don't wind up with citizens and guards coming for us.

Nemesis stared at them, a confused look upon her face. Nemesis: U-umm...s-so, that...makes...another addition to the party, then...? She noticed Agni's behavior, concern soon forming upon her face. Nemesis: Is something wrong, Agni? You look...upset. Which one of them got on your bad side?

She shook her head. Nemesis: Unless you want me to use a carrier pigeon, I've got nothing.

Nemesis nodded in understanding. Nemesis: It was worth a try, I guess, though the tournament thing sounds pretty interesting. And the fake guards attacking you...I wonder how they managed to get away with it. I could swear that I saw at least five guards around no matter where I was!

She figured that would be his answer. She nodded solemnly. Nemesis: Well, that still helps...thanks, though. She decided to wait upon a response from the others before making a conclusion on what to do.

Nemesis let out an audible growl. Nemesis: Could you do me a favor and shut up? If you keep talking about it, something is most definitely going to happen at this rate. It's just going to provoke them, not calm them down. She glanced at Darkflare. Nemesis: Anyway...I'm wondering if you, too, know anything about what's going on.

Finally, seeing that nobody else was going to be coming any time soon, Nemesis cleared her throat. Nemesis: Okay, everyone, gather around; I'm not going to be yelling this stuff out so that everyone and their dog can hear me. Anyway, while you guys were apparently busy fighting each other and...well, wasting time, I was going out and gathering information about this place. What I found out might interest you, but it's a lot, so I'm just going to keep it simple and tell you all everything I've learned. BGM: Revealing Nemesis took a deep breath, relieved that she finally got all of that off of her chest. Nemesis: So, you're all caught up now, I guess, but I wanted to ask the people who were here before us something in return for all of that: do you know anything about people being dropped off near the city with portals? A cause or something? It's been bothering me ever since I came here, and I think it's something that all of us need to know.

Nemesis: Fine...just fine..where's everyone else? I have something important to tell everyone concerning these..."events"...

The elven barista nodded. Elven Barista: That will cost you a total of 5 Pompadillions.

Nemesis: I can assure that it'll answer most of them, but not all of them. I figured that the people here might be able to fill those gaps if I tell what I know to them as well.

Nemesis nodded her head slightly. It was obvious that she was down in the dumps. Nemesis: Hi again, Yui...I was looking for that info the whole time. I'm...going to wait until I know everyone's ready to hear it. If I talk about it now, I doubt it's going to be taken as seriously as it needs to be...

Nemesis decided against making a long-winded statement and kept it simple. Nemesis: Very...interesting stuff. I'll wait until everyone's done to talk about it.

Finally, both Hinamori and Nemesis would arrive at the Warrior's Hangout, the latter of the two walking in, her attention immediately caught by the fighting going on around them. She managed to pull herself away from the fight-loving part of herself and return her attention to the more serious matter at hand: the information. Nemesis: Sorry for taking so long, by the way, Hina; I had to find out everything I could before I returned, and, simply put, it was a wild goose chase the entire time! She sighed again, and started to think aloud to herself. Nemesis: Anyway, should I wait until they're all finished, or should I tell just you...hmm...