One day, right after the meeting between Trojan and Duke Phoenix, the plan was put into action.
They had limited time for the rumour to spread. Before the Royal Family got impatient and started spreading rumours of their own, they needed to convince the peasants.
The rebellion raged on in South Inner City. The nobles were in hiding, not wanting to get involved with the radical bunch.
Meanwhile, as the peasants walked onwards, they gained more people willing to join their cause. In Inner City, the peasants who were unhappy joined the rebellion, and those who did not simply hid away.
The rebellion was led by no man, it was solely based off freedom for all. That was, freedom for speech and freedom to decide.
The irony.
Freedom, but no one was allowed to think Trojan as innocent. Freedom, but those of power were deserving of death. Freedom, but those who went against them were deemed evil.
Freedom, what was that?
They rioted, they shouted their protests despite no nobles being present. Destroying any property related to Trojan, holding up signs.
Some distance away, were two figures.
"What a mess," Ash commented, looking out at the crowd, hand above her eyes.
Domino sighed, rubbing his face before sitting down. The two mages were on the roof of a house in an area which was relatively empty.
"What a pain," Domino complained, letting out a lazy yawn. "Why are these people so mad over a little rumour anyways?"
"C'mon, Domino Dearest, we gotta go out job," Ash told him.
Domino gave Ash a look of disgust. "Don't ever call me that again."
"Alright, alright," Ash said lightheartedly. "So who are we going to manipulate today?"
Domino titled his head and looked out at the peasants. It was a rebellion that had been brewing for one month. Luckily for Trojan, because of how unorganised the peasants were, they had barely managed to get to Inner City even after a month.
"Just pick a few randoms," Domino told her. "As long as they spread the rumour, it'll be fine."
Ash nodded before walking slightly further away from Domino. She said as she walked, "It's been a few years since we last met. How's your work?"
Domino put his hands behind him, feeling slightly tired.
"It's been good, not much to do until this whole thing started," Domino sighed. "By the way, did your contractor actually cause the fire?"
"Hm…?" Ash mused, turning back, putting a finger on her chin as she gave him a cheeky smile. "Who knows?"
Domino picked up his staff once again and looked out at the peasants in the distance. "This is idiotic."
"They are humans, so are we. Emotion is a difficult thing to manage," Ash told him, walking back to him. "Besides, isn't this actually a good thing?"
Domino looked down, at the base of the house they were sitting on.
"It's just… stupid," Domino told Ash. "Surely they aren't this foolish."
"But they are."
Domino sighed and got up. He faced Ash, telling her, "My contractor has a plan which causes bloodshed, if I recall, you were never one to enjoy bloodshed."
Ash but her bottom lip before shrugging. "I've gotten better at it. Besides, this whole event is just perfect, the best, actually."
Domino started to activate his spell.
"Are you a sadist now?" Domino asked.
"It's all for a purpose, Domino my dear," Ash told him.
"Don't call me that."
Ash laughed and raised her own staff. "We had an agreement, no? Is that not why you agreed to help out your contractor with searching about that Phoenix sighting?"
Domino finished casting the spell before sitting down.
"And are you not the one who spread this little rumour in the first place, darling?" Ash said, sitting down beside Domino.
Domino remained silent.
"It's all for the sake of our little agreement and promise, is it not?" Ash asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to do it? Or do you intend to run away again?"
Domino shrugged her hand off his shoulder.
"I do what I wish to do, and I happen to want to do this," Domino said, sounding tired. "Humans are easy to manipulate and weak, I don't like them."
He glanced at Ash. Despite his cold and tired demeanour, he had a slight madness in his eyes.
"I want to make something beyond human, someone who defies everything human, someone who is able to jump above that of humans and beast. I want someone who can break that barrier between the mortal and divine," Domino said, the craziness in his eyes intensifying.
Ash smiled and leaned on his shoulder.
"I'm ready for it," Ash told him.
Domino looked at her, surprised.
"What?" Domino asked Ash.
"I'm ready for it, I mean to achieve your goal," Ash told him, looking him in the eyes, the same craziness showing in her eyes. "Whenever you want to summon it, I'm ready to be the sacrifice."
Domino glanced at her before looking back at the humans. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes," Ash replied.
"Who's the father? And how many months?" Domino asked.
"You don't have to worry about he father, he's no longer in this world," Ash replied. "It's been about one month."
Domino stood up and faced the human crowd. "Let's go then, we need to hurry this process up."
"Gladly."
The two mages disappeared from sight with a gust of wind.
The criteria required for a Phoenix to retain its physical form for extended periods of time was unknown. However, Domino and Ash knew it, they knew the criteria.
Meanwhile, the rebellion was still ongoing.
Spreading a rumour was a simple thing. Spread the seeds of discomfort, of hesitance amongst some of the people. Eventually, they would whisper those thoughts to those close to them.
Eventually, those small whispers would become more evident as rumours. Word would float, and no matter how much the rebellion tried to suppress those thoughts, it would still linger.
Eventually, the thought would finally reach every single member of the rebellion.
'Are we, perhaps, being controlled by the Royal Family?'
The smartest ones would overthink, and the more they thought, the more it seems to lead to the Royal Family. Especially how the Royal Family had yet to publicly punish Trojan despite the rebellion.
Whispers between the rebellion, the rebels started becoming confused.
In a letter of two or three days, the rumour was to stay. All of they started becoming hesitant, and they started slowing down.
'Wait, is the Royal Family pinning the blame on that guy?'
'It's possible.'
'Anyone knows if it's true?'
'Yeah, but nothing points to that Trojan guy anyways.'
'Maybe the Royal Family's trying to trick us, they're using us!'
'Surely, they never confronted Duke Trojan, did they?'
'The Royal Family probably made us think that Duke Trojan caused the fire!'
'Down with the Royal Family!'
The seeds of confusion were sown. Amongst the rebels, confusions spread throughout, and the word started spreading beyond the rebellion.
And the Royal Family releases a poster publicly blaming a Duke barely anyone knew about.