Enemies Meet

With his head lowered Xilo listened to everyone say hello as he stayed silent and scouted the place. "A few familiar faces." He could already see a few Clan symbols he was familiar with. "I didn't really think this through too much did I?" When Telan was talking to him Xilo mostly focused on seeing Felli, other clans that were after him had fallen to the back of his mind. "The wolves and a few other..friends." Looking a bit further he saw some people from Belturn as well. Tearia had told him a little about her adventures with that as well as Relia. Right now he was currently surrounded by a lot of enemies and his only friend was Telan.

"Not in my favour at all."

Whispering that under his breath he lifted his head and faced the Queen of Ukel. Listening to her talk Xilo heard the whispers around him as some of his defence was raised. "It looks like they recognized me." He could feel several eyes locking onto him as they talked to each other. He was pretty sure if this wasn't the Queen's Castle they would have pounced on him already. It was a blessing and a curse at the same time being here. "I'm in for a rough next few days..." After they were given the rewards the Queen would be inviting them over to stay for a little bit until the end of the Ukel festival.

"I'll be seeing you out on the stage in a few hours where you'll all be given your rewards for your lovely work helping everyone. After that feel free to do what you want. In the evening I'll have people guide you to your guest rooms. I hope you'll enjoy your stay and be joining me for all of the lovely events we have planned afterwards. There will be even more chances to gain prizes with them so I'm sure it'll be worth your time. It only happens once a year so make the most of it. You are free to go now."

Turning around to leave Xilo watched each group leave the place as they followed behind. With each group gone the Queen frowned as she went back to what she was doing before. "By the end of this all it should be ready." She had already mostly finished the preparations for her first big "firework." Now it was time to show it off to the world and with everyone gathering here it was the perfect time. "Fear is a powerful tool." Getting up from her seat she made sure everything was ready before she went to go see her daughter with the little time she had left before everything started.

Waiting by the stage, Xilo saw the scale of it first hand. It easily reached 150 meters long and 40 meters tall. With a silver stage made of metal as the floor and support pillars decorated as mermaids the sun shone down on it as the massive audience area was filled. The little stage was in the center of it all with seats that could hold millions and projections that filled the place for people to see. Hung around in the sky were mini platforms where all the special guests sat. "I hate it." As impressive as the place was, Xilo felt like he was going to be eaten alive by himself before the others got to him. He had done his best avoiding them so far but this might just do him in.

"You okay Xilo?"

Seeing Xilo's nerves, Tearia couldn't stop herself from speaking up.

"There's a looooootttt of people here."

"Yeah I know what you mean, even I'm getting a bit nervous myself."

Tearia knew it wasn't just Xilo's hand shaking.

"Aren't you nervous at all Telan?"

Seeing Telan acting so calm, Xilo was a bit curious.

"No, this kind of crowd is nothing compared to back home at Dracal. That's where they get really big. If you want my advice though it's best to focus one the the girls that came here with you. They should be hovering around in the sky somewhere. Find them and just look at them. They're here for you and to support you so lean on them a little bit. They're familiar faces too. Otherwise I don't really have anything else to help."

Hearing that Xilo didn't know what to say. He knew Telan wasn't wrong though but it still blew his mind to think about this crowd as just a small amount. "The differences between our experiences." Searching the sky he tried to find Xelfia and Relia to see if it helped at all. "So many platforms." After quite a bit of searching he saw a fox Jumping around as a blue haired girl chased her around trying to catch her. A red haired beauty just laughed as she watched them play before noticing Xilo. Waving her hand at Xilo, he felt some of his nerves melting. The seats were filling up more and more as the time arrived closer. It was just a few minutes before the Queen arrived.

"Ready you two?"

""Yeah.""

Walking up on the stage everyone watched the Queen start the show as they called all the guests up and gave a big speech. She took it all in stride like it was completely natural and to her it was. She had been familiar with it for a large chunk of her life now. Hundreds of people lined up behind as the audience's clapping roared throughout the place. With the sickness clearing up the Queen had to make a choice whether or not she wanted to expose their country's weakness to other countries. With how things were progressing though she didn't really care as she talked about the past couple months events in front of everyone as sadness leaked into her voice. Turning her attention to the people behind her once she was finished she pointed at all of them.

"It has been a rough time for many, we've lost a lot of lives as well but these very great people have gone above and beyond in helping everyone out. Along with even more people who couldn't be here, so many people have gone great lengths to help everyone out and because of that I thought I'd give them a little reward for all their hard work. They are more than deserving of such a thing and I'm sure you all agree."

Hearing everyone cheering, Xilo felt a little overwhelmed as the Queen walked up to each of them and handed them their rewards for all the work they did. Xilo did his best to look at Xelfia and Relia but it was still a little much. The next thing he knew the Queen had arrived in front of him and grabbed his hand. Shocked, he broke out of his stupor as he did his best to look presentable. Smiling at the man in front of her she gave him a small box as she leaned over and whispered something in his ear that only he could hear.

"Staring off into space is a bad habit, could very easily get you and your friends killed."

Before he could say anything else though she had already moved on to the next group.

Watching from that platform Relia held Kirel in her hand as she watched along with Xelfia, her body though was still on fire.