The first thing Colin saw upon exiting the Forest at Lakeside Ruins was the smoke. Lots of it, in five dark clusters over the sky. Colin saw it all and groaned to himself.
The war had definitely erupted again, and towns were burning. Silvero had lived up to his threat, but if the Republic was putting up a fight rather than letting the Protectorate take over, then Sora (or more likely, Satrox) had told his side of the story too. Yet more disagreements for the two factions to fight over.
{But I'm amazed. With Sekai around, if it comes to a fight, the Protectorate should have been stomped into dust by now… unless of course, Sekai's too busy having tea and chatting with Lynn to involve herself in the war.}
There were people at Lakeside village, the new settlement still halfway built over the cleared space where the old used to be.
Colin stared as two of them came over.
Ginny Terlon and Tony Karas.
"Uh…" Colin paused.
"You're Colin, right? The Forester." Ginny said, looking rather nervous. "We're here on the orders of Lucanda Earnest. She wants to set up an appointment with you as soon as you arrived."
{They don't recognize me.} Colin realized. "What's Lucy up to this time?"
"Well… first of all, Lakeside, Floras, and Riverfork villages have declared for the Forest." Ginny told him.
"Huh?" Colin blinked. "What do you mean, 'declared for the Forest'?"
"It means Lucy has created a third faction, neutral to both the Protectorate and the Republic." Tony said. "For the sake of the three villages within the Forest."
"She claims they're under your protection." Ginny added.
"{My} protection?!" Colin spluttered.
"The people in these three villages are loyal to her. Everyone here was handpicked by Lucy to take part in the rebuilding effort." Tony told him. "Except us. Some of the mercenaries around were hired only recently to help safeguard the villages."
"Where is she?" Colin growled.
"She's… actually with House Melody." Ginny winced. "It's kind of a long story. It'll take a while to explain."
"Skip it." Colin said. He already knew exactly what happened – he had been there, after all. "Where's Melody Mansion?"
"We're here to guide you." Tony said.
"And I can tell you the story on the way. It was quite an adventure." Ginny was saying. "Sora Melody was held hostage by Silvero Earnest and lady Lucanda stood against her own father to rescue him! She led a small, elite strike force, of which we ourselves took part in a daring raid against her own home, and…"
"Ginny." Colin gave her a flat look. "She didn't even lead the raid. We had to go find her when we arrived. And she didn't stand against Silvero. I did."
"Wha…?!" Ginny froze.
"Still don't recognize me?" Colin sighed. "Recognize my Comrades?"
They saw then. Sonia, Foxie in the guise of a Sonic Wolf, and Kyubia, looking exactly the same as she did yesterday.
"Prayerman?!" Tony jumped.
"You?!" Ginny gasped.
"Yeah." Colin said. "Still want to tell me 'the story'?"
"Ugh…" Ginny grimaced. "I must have sounded like an idiot."
"Yep." Colin agreed.
"What were you doing running around with us like that? Why didn't you just…" Tony ran out of words, using his hands and gesturing wildly, but Colin understood what he meant anyway.
"I didn't want to get the Forest involved." Colin said shortly. "Let's get moving. Meanwhile, if you'd be so kind, can you tell me what's been going on with the war?"
"What's to tell?" Tony shrugged. "You were there. You heard Silvero. He pins Sekai's actions on the Republic. Satrox and Sora blames Silvero for kidnapping Sora and siding with the Underground. The Republic has attacked Joseph Town over land. The Protectorate has attacked Silverveins from the river. There's been clashes going on everywhere in between since then."
"And Lakeside is peaceful because everyone thinks I'm claiming it as my territory?" Colin growled.
"They're all waiting for you to decide which side to join." Tony said.
"I'll support whichever side Lucy is on, remember?" Colin pointed out. "Which side IS she on?"
"I don't really know myself." Tony confessed. "She's staying at Melody Mansion for now, but she hasn't openly joined the Republic herself either. All she says is that she's waiting to meet with you."
Colin groaned.
"Great. Just great."
***
"Satrox?"
"Katrin! You're back! Great! We could use your help over at Silverveins!"
"Satrox, what's going on? I can't find Colin and I'm seeing smoke in the sky."
"The civil war is back in full swing and this time the J-Knights are taking a direct stand. We're helping the Republic because the Protectorate is working with the Underground."
"Are… are you sure?!"
"Definite. Jack almost got me killed last night. He lured me into Keen Mansion and there was a whole nest of Underground leaders there. Scopia and Banjo nearly nabbed me between them."
"Scopia?! She's back?"
"Of course she's back. She's lost her fleet of ships, her hideout, most of her wealth, and I believe a lot of pirates have left her, but she hasn't been banished or anything."
"That's bad news."
"We've got good news too. Most of the Frenzieds have been cleared from the Crescent Continent and we're getting J-Knight reinforcements. Sandy's got her entire strikeforce on the way, among others."
"We're really getting into the war then."
"Yep. With the Underground facing us directly, we have every reason to use maximum force."
"But it looks so peaceful here at Lakeside!"
"Lakeside is considered neutral for now – Forest territory. Still, it's only a matter of time before Colin picks a side, and I believe he'll join ours. And when he does, his enemies will join the opposing side."
"His enemies?! Colin has enemies?! Who?"
"Didn't you know, Kat? The enemies of the Forester are the remnants of the Lamico Union. There's still some of them around."
"Oh my…"
"Katrin, you came at a very critical time for the Lamico Continent. The Civil War here has suddenly reached a climax and everyone, everyone on this continent is about to get involved, one way or the other."
***
"I thought you said the Protectorate and the Republic were getting friendlier, not more hostile!" Colin barked the moment he met Satrox at the entrance of Melody Mansion.
"Good night to you too." Satrox said drily. "The two factions were getting friendlier. Very friendly, in fact."
He nodded to where Sora and Lucy were sitting together, viewing the gardens of Melody Mansion while behind them, a council of war was being held.
"Too 'friendly'." Colin muttered. "The pair of them sparked the whole war all over again."
"Maybe. But I wouldn't blame them too much. There were people on all sides just waiting for the right chance. Those two just provided that chance."
Colin sighed. "So what do we do now?"
"The J-Knights are siding the Republic, because the Underground has the Protectorate's support. What about you? You're going to support whatever side Lucy joins, right? Well, Lucy's right here."
Colin growled and stomped over to where Sora and Lucy were huddling. "Lucy!"
"Colin!" Lucy smiled. "Have you met Sora?"
"Hi." Sora offered Colin a hand.
"Hi." Colin said, in all politeness, then turned to Lucy darkly. "What's this about three villages being part of Forest territory?"
"Just check the map." Lucy spread her hands wide, looking innocent. "They're smack dab in the forest."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Colin asked next. "Shouldn't you be back home telling your people not to fight?"
"Tried that. You know what happened." Lucy said. "Look, Colin, my family won't accept Sora, but his family accepts me. Why wouldn't I stay right here?"
"We haven't accepted you yet!" Sekai stepped in from behind.
"And you!" Colin spluttered. "If you're siding the Republic, why haven't you won the war, yet?"
Sekai laughed. "If I step in, there's certain people out there who will step in to counter me. They won't get involved if I don't, but if I do, and they do, we'll fight here and there won't be much left on this continent by the time we're through."
"Why didn't they stop you before?" Colin demanded.
"Rescuing a brother and fighting a war are completely different things." Sekai said. "Besides, you had the power to get Sora out and stop all this before it began. Why didn't you?"
"For the last time…!" Colin growled. "I don't want to get the Forest involved! And I still don't!"
"You can't ignore everything else on the continent." Sekai pointed out. "Whoever wins this will deal with the forest from this night onwards, whether you like them or not. You may as well help out those you do like."
"Do I even have the right to choose sides?!" Colin asked. "Decide for the whole Forest?"
"Yes." Sekai said softly. "You do. You had the power and chose not to use it. By trying to do it all on your own strength, you had a part in causing this too."
"But the Forest had nothing to do with political prisoners!"
"You knew what was at stake." Sekai pointed out. "You knew it would come to war if Sora wasn't rescued quickly enough. You had to know that the continent's fate involves the forest's fate as well."
"What should I have done? Assaulted Earnest Mansion and pulled Sora out?"
"That would have worked." Sekai nodded. "I wouldn't even have bothered to look for Kenneth or have had to fight my way to Earnest Mansion."
"Great! Blame me for causing the war!" Colin threw up his hands.
"It wasn't all your fault. I have my share too. I and many others." Sekai conceded. "But you took part – not because of what you did, but because of what you {didn't} do."
"Well, I've done enough, then, haven't I?" Colin growled.
"You're already involved, Colin. Lucy, as you can see, is with us. According to your own words, that means you are too." Sekai pointed out.
"Are you?" Colin demanded of Lucy. "I haven't heard you make a statement on that yet."
"I was just waiting for you. No sense getting the forest attacked without you around to defend it." Lucy shrugged. "Here's my statement; I'm siding with Sora."
"And I'm with the Republic." Sora added, looking at Lucy as if nothing else existed in the world.
I hate this.
"Fine!" Colin turned away. "Let's wipe out the Protectorate."
"If you can." Sekai chuckled. "Stay awhile, Colin. The Protectorate's not like the Union. They've got the Underground supporting them and even the Union's remnants will be joining their side now that you're on ours."
Colin turned to Lucy again. "Are you sure about this?! You'll be fighting your own family!"
"I've wanted to do this for weeks. It's Sora who insisted we should try to get my father's approval. You know how that ended up." Lucy said, turning away.
{Why…? Why did I ever say I'd support whatever side Lucy was on?!}
{Oh. That's right. I wanted the Protectorate to kick the Union out for good.}
Colin growled to the ceiling. "Anyone else want to tell me what I did wrong?"
"Well, there is one more thing." Satrox said, coming up.
"What?" Colin groaned.
"You left Katrin behind again."
Colin froze. "Kat…"
"She's on her way to Silverveins now." Satrox told him. "I asked her to help the J-Knights out there. Scopia's brought in her forces over the river. Sandy's holding her back, but she's losing ground."
"Then what are you doing here?" Colin asked.
"Waiting for Jack to show his face. The moment he does, I'm after him." Satrox said in a grim voice.
"And Sora?"
"Waiting for Banjo." Satrox sighed. "It's like this, Colin. We know they're holding back their strongest, and we're holding back the people we know can counter them. If we're all off fighting Scopia, who's going to stop Jack if he makes a sudden move on Windy Plains? Or what if I were guarding Windy Plains and both Jack and Banjo show up to back Scopia up? Sandy wouldn't be able to hold them all. We have to wait for them to show up before countering."
"Or you can attack them yourself, and force them to meet you." Sekai poked him.
"They might go behind our backs and smash our place while we wreck theirs. Then there really won't be anything left." Satrox laughed. "But we've got more hands than they do. We can afford to reserve some in defense and send others to attack."
Colin got the point easily enough. "You want me to fight your war for you?!"
"Except for Sekai, you've got the most power of us all." Lucy pointed out. "If you meet their champions, you can call us in, or deal with them yourself if you prefer. But you're too powerful to hold back in defense when you've got enough power to win this all by yourself."
"I don't think so." Colin said flatly.
"I do." Sekai said. "Colin, it's the same thing all over again. You've got the power. If you don't use it, this is going to drag on and on."
"Is that the policy of the Forest?" Colin growled.
"That's just logic, at this point." Sekai said. "Look, everyone else has enemies that can match their power and stop them cold, even me. But the Union can't stop you. You've proven that already."
"And what if your enemies decided to stop me?" Colin asked.
"Then you'll die, I'll step in, and before midnight, the entire continent could be gone." Sekai said. "But unless I make the first move, I doubt the Deathwrights will bother."
{Deathwrights… even the name sounds scary. I definitely don't want to face Sekai's enemies.}
"Fine." Colin said at last. "What do I need to do?"
Satrox shrugged. "What did you do with the Union?"
"I basically went from place to place wiping everything out." Colin answered.
Satrox thought about that. "That would work."