After the meeting with the vice chiefs, Pauleen and Juniper were called into the castle. The immediately went to the Hall of Sentinels, where Audrey, Lilianna, and Julianna were waiting for them. Olivia was there preparing the journal to record the logs of the next meeting. It was still early on the day, which meant that this meeting will result in breakfast being skipped. So when Draxus arrived to the meeting, he was holding a tray.
And in that moment everyone was salivating a bit.
Why? Because there would be no sane person to pass up a full tray of french fries.
The other tray Draxus was holding had various bowls with mostly dipping sauces, condiments, and various flavors they can choose. They decided to eat in the briefing room for the moment, and started some small talk for the time being.
"How are the others recently?" Draxus does mention Pauleen's group from time to time, but Pauleen was not as optimistic with her perspective. "Not good really, it feels like everything is starting to crumble down within our group." "I see, I won't ask too deeply. But if your group decides to part, you're free to start staying in the Hall of Sentinels more." Juniper had the same view, she was starting to realize that they're beginning to lose their friendship due to something between Gayle and Josh.
"It feels like an argument breaks out every day now. With Gayle getting a bit more aggressive, and Josh turning a bit more afraid." "As expected of her then... Not my problem anymore." Draxus ends the conversation regarding them. Audrey then realized that the problem may not have been Josh, and was eating a bit more silently. But before long she finally raised a question to Draxus as she was starting to feel more arcane magic than she usually does. "Drax, I want to ask you about the new form I was able to learn recently." As Audrey initiated the conversation, Pauleen and Juniper started to converse with Draxus's fiancés. "Is that the Arcane form finally coming to fruition?" "Yes but the effects are a bit weird... It feels like it's random... On what ability I get from time to time." "I see, I'll give you a soul scan then, I'll look into it real quick... What else do you know about this ability?" "Apparently, I cannot activate the final form... I've been trying to select which effects are good in certain situations, and I haven't really been able to activate the last one." Audrey continued explaining while Draxus was scanning her soul as his eyes glowed a bit brighter. After some time and half of the fries on the tray have been depleted, he now understood what it meant. "I see, you're not suposed to choose which effects you want to have, but you have to activate them in a set order... Other forms will not function as well if you haven't activated the prerequisite." "You mean, I have to follow the rules for it? Did you see the last form however? I really want to know what the last form is." "The cycle's end, I won't tell you any more than that until you activated it in battle. The Arcana Goddess form you have is practically a power that's ramping up. If you use the forms in the incorrect order, sure you get adaptability, but you lose power for it." After going over Draxus's explanation, Audrey nodded her head in acceptance. "What's the name of each form?" With one last question from Draxus, she realized that Draxus may be able to identify the order of her form changes. "There's the Fool, High Priestess, similar to your world-breaking cards." "I see, memorize the Fool's Journey, and try activating them that way. Considering you couldn't activate the last form which is the World, it's bound to be an absolutely powerful form." For Draxus himself to say that it's a powerful form, Audrey was somewhat excited. A chance to even snatch a win against Draxus's eight souls or defeat her enemies if she plays it carefully until the final form.
After some more time of chattering, the tray was finally emptied, and they could finally proceed to the actual meeting.
Draxus stood and moved in front of the whiteboard with his marker. "Now the purpose of this meeting is that we're hwading to finally act against Aquila. Lily, Julie, I want to ask this first... What do you wish for your family?" Being placed on the spot, the two knew that they're given the choice for what Draxus will do. The choice for the fate of their father specifically. The two fiancés thought about it for a while, they considered everything that have been done to them, how Draxus feels, and what they wish for. They then spoke of their decision...
"We wish to save our family..." Julianna spoke first, wanting to keep her family alive if possible. Hearing that, Lilianna spoke with a wry smile. "We wish to have them rehabilitate here in Preeliance. We want them to see that there's much more to this world, and the other world that we've seen with our eyes... So please, spare them..." Draxus smiled, as he didn't truly want to harm their families either. "Alright, I will follow your wishes." While Draxus may have said that, he felt like Serkyrio had pretty much prepared for it.
"Anyways, now that we have the judgement of the royal family, the problems are now the Hero, and the dwellers of [People of Earth] there. Our group here is the core force, we will be directly in the castle going up against People of Earth and the Hero. The Hero will be killed, due to the recent findings of Arlesk who identified that all Heroes will soon be under control by the council. This led to the Heroes of the Harmony to relinquish their power and fully entered the roster of the Guardian Order. The [People of Earth] have to be killed as well, there's still a bunch moving around, and who knows how they're able to sustain themselves in terms of numbers. I guess because they serve the God of Dominion now that they've been able to summon groups of people into this world from Earth, or travel back and forth. As for the locals, it depends on you all."
Draxus then gave the details of the plan. At first, Juniper was concerned, because they had nearly lost against the two heroes once. But considering Draxus is around this time, even if the hero is strengthened greatly, she knew it would be a safe operation, but considering the People of Earth dwelling in the country, there are still major risks.
"Lily and Julie will be the one to capture their family. Audrey will keep an eye for any people of earth members. Pauleen, Juniper, and I will deal with the hero, even if he's strengthed much further by the council at this point." A simple barebones plan was laid out for them. They understood it quickly as they knew that if things go wrong, Draxus could easily react and give further instructions.
After the meeting was adjourned, Pauleen and Juniper started talking about the plan outside the castle in the city plaza.
"So we're fighting the hero again... Not going to lie, I'm a bit afraid... But considering Draxus is there, I feel like we'll be alright." Juniper remembered the vacation incident. If they had not listened to Draxus, what would've happened to them? Those thoughts crossed their mind. But being able to fight and close things off with getting rid of the painful memory by facing it again. Pauleen on the other hand was greatly concerned. Specially since Draxus himself is accompanying them. It may be a face your fear situation wherein they have to face an opponent that they have lost to. And considering the Hero had many royal knights on his command, it is possible that Draxus will be busy fighting the knights. With them fighting the hero alone.
Both of them feel secure with Draxus's presence for the mission. However, they couldn't have expected a person to come up to their side. "This mission of yours, do you mind if I join in?" The two were surprised by the sudden appearance of their friend, who would seemingly ask to join in the mission as the person was not a Sentinel. When the two glanced over, they noticed that the person who wished to join showed a serious and determined expression. Juniper let out a shocked tone as she muttered her name...
"Gayle..."