Leon Crackwell's Pov
3am, 3 fucking am, what they he'll does that bastard want now,
I thought as I marched towards the solar of the first Don of aegis city, to clarify I the fifth Don of ageis Leon Crackwell was sleeping blissfully after a wild night in one of the best brothels in the city, the proprietor of the business had known my visits for sometime now as such she never failed to treat me to a unique experience whether it be in the form of new and younger girls than last time or some new contraption that heightened the pleasure of the act, of course I rewarded here adequately not only for her services but also for keeping her mouth shut about my fetishes and otherwise embarrassing acts, having the commons know about my nightlife didn't matter to me in the slightest but if the other Dons found out I wouldn't be able to bear the mortification as such I had strict policies in place to keep my secrete safe one of which was a secrete passage which I would use to escape the building and reappear silently on a busy street during the day, this system was as air tight as it was nessecary but it required a certain time of day to be pulled off correctly and it was not 3 fucking am, the moment I appeared at the exist I felt about six stares from people who otherwise wouldn't have noticed me, night cleaners and watchmen baffled by the fact that the city they had lived in their entire lives had a secrete passage and were probably wondering where it lead, they would undoubtedly be rushing of to spread tales which would reach the others Don's who would then investigate and eventually lead to my unscrupulous activities but there wasn't the time for a memory wipe spell and like I said before the first Don was waiting.
I reached the large double doors ornately cared from the horns of a high elk, and elk several meters tall and boasting horns as wide as a carriage and knocked once, the doors opened by themselves and I walked in, it turns out I was the third to arrive, not a good look considering I was the weakest Don here, the first would likely chew me out on this later on but regardless I greeted him respectfully
'Don Eron'
I said tipping my head slightly, he didn't face me he sat on a throne of blue velvet and golden maple that seemed to catch on the moonlight as its back faced me, a few locks of his long white hair which reached his ankles poked from here and there as there was so much it overflowed his back, in his was a wine glass half empty wine a strong smelling red, he flicked the hand which held it a bit to signify that he acknowledged my greeting before saying
"Leon please sit"
his words sounded kind but were spoked in a business like manner but I couldn't complain after all I was only where I was today due to him, I took a seat on an empty sofa facing Don's 3 and 4, they looked pensive and with that I could tell that whatever the situation was, it wasn't good, we sat there in the silence of that room illuminated only by the moonlight seeping though the balcony he was facing, in front of him was a marvelous veiw, all of aegis, silver light caught on the rooftops giving them a blue tint that paired nicely with the orange that streamed from the few houses whose inhabitants were still awake, we were in Grandia, a tower usually used for meeting with the Don's of Aegis for the last 300 years, it was equally owned but each and everyone of us but Eron had taken so much of a liking to it that he rarely left but still of any problems arose it was unlikely that we'd meet here, he'll it was unlikely that we'd meet in person so whatever brought us together had to be big and bad.
We continued to sit in silence and although none of us said it, it was obvious who we were waiting for Don number 2, Eron's only comrade, the rest of use were flunkies or subordinates at best, with that thought out then man in question barged into the room uttering
"are you bloody drunk Eron, when you asked me to become the second Don of this shit hole you told me you wouldn't ask me to so anything unreasonable"
"and I haven't Henzakel" said Eron
"it's 3:25 In the morning, you summoned me at 3:25 in morning"
he said raising his voice at the last part
"I summoned you for matters important to the city you govern whats you unreasonable about that"
"I'm an old man who doesn't give a damn about this place, you and I both know the only use this place has to me is a steeping stone to the revival of my homeland"
"and how's that going for you"
unlike when Eron spoke to us as in without honourifics and a little bit of coldness to emphasise out positions, Eron spoke to the second Don with warmth and respect as he saw only he as equal or near enough to make no matter,
the old man sighed before saying
"what do you want"
throughout their discussion Eron hadn't seen it fit to face us, until now, he flicked his empty hand and his throne spun allowing us to see him in full, he was as imposing as always, long white hair that flew wildly in all directions as it slid down his back he was shirtless and his chislled body was for all to see and admire with a face both handsome and proud also boasting a ferocious look, and he only smiled in the direction of the old man before saying
" look at this"
directing us to the letter on the table in front of him, the second Don picked it up and read it twice, once to himself and the other put loud for all of us to hear, the words written shocked me more that I'd care to admit and it was clear that the other Dons felt the same way
TO THE DON COUNCIL OF AEGIS
A Don level quest has recently been sent to the Don council of Trident requesting the rescue of the third princess of Rowain who as far as out sources could confirm was kidnapped with the assistance of the second Don of Aegis , all Don's affiliated with Trident have seen it fit to accept this request but feel rather dissatisfied with the fact that we are being put through this trivial matter as such we employ those who will recieve this letter to not only return the princess in question but also provide reimbursement for the time wasted pondering over what actions we should take and we hope you do so immediately or we will be forced to take drastic and frankly avoidable actions clearly visible to anyone with sufficient insight
signed
the ruling Council of Trident
'its a joke, it has to be'
I said desperately, this wasn't a letter it was a decrelation of war, it was chock full of insults and terms to demean us, even if we were in the wrong there was no city on the continent that would take such words lying down that's how bad it was
"if so it's a distasteful one"
"who do those bastards think we are"
Don's 3 and 4 voices out,
I looked to Don 2 who actually had a voice in this matter but he looked at the letter with negligible interest before saying
"I'm not participating"
Eron took another sip of his wine before saying
"you are"
"no I'm not"
"yes you are because this is your fault"
"how"
"I told you not to help those two"
"I didn't know it would lead to this and besides this is just an excuse, it's obvious that golden bastard just wants to have a go at you and is using this as an excuse I can literally see him smirking as he had this letter drafted while thinking this will rile up that sparky boy"
"but you gave them that excuse"
he kept silent for a bit before saying
"I needed the money"
"seriously"
"yes seriously, I needed the money in order to restore the empire besides, it wasn't a kidnapping I just used my authority to speed up their marriage the kids said they were in love, Rowain and illiones should be signing an alliance issuing quests against us"
"since when have you been a romantic, since when have you cared about continental politics and besides now that you have it we are in deep shit "
"oh please, as if Trident would pose a problem for me and you"
"do you think Langris would challenge is if he didn't know that"
he paused at that, Trident and Aegis had been on bad terms ever since Eron took over but it ever got to blades crossing as Eron had some kind of personal connection he didn't like to talk about with the previous first Don but that all changed when he stepped down and langris took his place, Langris was someone who only Eron and the old man could take on and that's why he never challenged us till now because if war were to break out all it would take for our victory would be for Eorn to handel Langris the old man to hold back the other four Don's and for us to wipe out their subordinates so why had he done this now
"Trident has a new third Don"
said Eron
"huh"
we collectively said
I hadn't heard anything about their 5th and 4th Don's loosing a battle so I was shocked
"they didn't get him the usual way so listen up"
he then began to describe the manner in which thus Kalen guy came into power and each detail made me shiver
"all that for a girl"
said the fourth Don
"Micheal and his entire guild, guys I don't think I can take him"
said the third
"you can't"
said Eron bluntly
"he should be a match for I and no.2 over here and it seems he's what is giving Langris a confidence boost"
I tried to imagine him a man strong enough to overwhelm Micheal Demiruge, a man I wouldn't be able to touch along with his entire guild Erons words were likely true but if so out easy win just went out the window
"and get this on the surface he's the one who's taken the quest to rescue the dammed flower"
"so, how many Don's do you think it will take to hold a prissy kingdom like illionis hostage"
illiones, our main sponsors, if we're fighting a war we'll need funds
'he intends to cut us off from supplies'
I said
"bingo"
said Eron
"those dammed rabbits sitting on the thrones of both kingdom's can only act as if they have balls so long as a Don isn't standing within air shot but now with such a scary guy coming after him he'll likely shove both the girl and his heir put the kindow in order to appease him"
"do you think he'll bend over so easily, I mean he should know you too well to piss you off"
"unfortunately as colourful as my career has been I've never wiped out and entire guild Don included just to make a point, he'll likely think to appease the greater evil, if he's gonna die either way he'll try and buy a few days to compose his will"
"the king is a pussy, noted so what do you plan of doing"
Eron unravelled a map before saying
"first send a message to the Don's association to get a war permit"
in order for battles between guilds of different cities to take place a war permit is needed from the Don's association, the permit also means they'll send someone over to watch and announce the winners in a bid to prevent more causualties and also to handle restoration
"then while we're waiting for that I Desmond and Philip will take most of our forces and lay seige to Trident itself"
"what"
we all yelled simultaneously, going to war without a permit was a serious offence against the Don's association, they would not take this lieing down
"we'll deal with the Don's association after this, whatever the punishments I'll take it on alone you just need to follow and say nothing"
it was times like this that you realised he actually had a heart, the punishment that would befall Aegis would be monumental win or lose but he was going to shoulder it on himself, am act befitting the master of Aegis
"Ok then what do you plan on doing about that third guy"
said the second Don
"you're going after him"
"you're kidding"
"nope you and Leon will intersecpt the third Don on his way to Illionis and kill him if you can, then from there you'll teleport to my side and we'll finish up with Trident"
"no I won't, you're not my boss remember, you're my helper someone who I'll undoubtedly repay once the empire is re-established and the crown prince found but until then I do what I want"
the second Don stood firmly on those words, I could tell that whatever Eron would use to move him would be titanic, and I was right
"you will because Trident's third Don is a shadow Arcanum user just like you"
a few hours later I the second Don were speeding towards illiones like our lives depended on it.