Diplomacy

Looking over to the fortress, out position had already been given away. 'Let's just hope negotiations go well.'

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The others exited from their fortress ensuring that they kept a safe distance. Since we weren't using surprise to initiate a siege, they didn't immediately attack us, but they were obviously prepared for conflict.

We stood there in silence assessing each other. It was a like a old western standoff, just without the guns, horses, rustic buildings, hats, Background music, or intention to kill. We were suspensefully facing each other, no one wanted to move with the chance of setting the others off. While the other team was well fortified, they knew we were not to be taken lightly. I noticed Luxen flinch and realized it was because Anabelle's gaze lingered on him for a moment. It seems despite the fact he fought off his demon, years of fear and an inferiority complex sticks with you. I suppose I understand that. Anabelle herself, had a complicated expression, while looking at him. I can't imagine what's going on between them, thought I suppose I don't much care. Though, I do wonder what goes through that demented little head of Anabelle's sometimes.

"Well, to what do we own the pleasure." Finally the Archer had spoken breaking the stiff yet tranquil atmosphere within the beautiful blue field. Luxen had pretty much broken the suspense.

Looking amongst ourselves, I lightly push Viola to the front. She was the one who proposed this and she is the designated diplomat. She needs to work on confidence anyways. We'll have her back, so she'll be fine. Her face however, suggested otherwise when she realized what I was doing.

"W-wait why me?" Viola looked at the other two for help but they just pretended not to notice the cry for assistance that rang with the alarmed tone of her voice.

" Viola is good at bringing peace. We all believe in you." I say while patting her on the shoulder, while the other two nodded in agreement. She was the only one to successfully, and without fail make Anabelle and I get along so she must have some sort of gift.

Viola looked back at us completely unsure of herself and shyly approached the others as if they had just threatened to kill her. Despite this the others stood completely, or rather seemingly unfazed by her demeanor.

"We were wondering i-i-if you would like to join an alliance with us." Viola's voice turned softer and more hurried towards the end. The boys eyes were all staring into her, certainly not making it easier for her. I sent them a little glare to be nicer, or at least hold back on the pressure.

" Why should we accept?" Luxen puffed his chest out a bit, and lowered his voice slightly and responded attempting to act imposing, it was a nice try, but not all that threatening. Despite this it was like Viola was confronting god himself she was shaking so much.

"W-w-we-e-ell we, we" Viola was starting to panic now. Then I think she started to panicking more about the fact her anxiety was showing and it spiralled to a point in which I could she was to far gone. Maybe this was a bit to much of a push. I walk forwards, and the boys lower themselves to prepare for any possible attack. They are constantly vigilant that is good if we have them as allies after this, but right now it's just a little annoying, especially considering someone is having a mental breakdown right in front of them, and they're more concerned about being attacked.

Placing my hand on Violas shoulders I force her to gaze into my eyes, attempting to block out most else in her vision. Her eyes were wide and having trouble focusing while her whole body trembled and I could feel her heartbeat through her shoulders. I wasn't sure what to do, so cautiously sliding my hands down her arms and around the arch of her back I pull her into a hug. Her body tensed, before relaxing, her head fell forward and rested on my shoulder as I felt her fast, short breathing become slower and more stable, as her erratic heartbeat calmed. Though I wanted to comfort her more, we still had the matter of establishing some for of armistice.

Once Viola calmed enough, I attempted to shift myself out of her grip so that I could try and negotiate, but Viola placed me in an iron grip as if she was trying to syphon the life out of me for a moment, Then pulled back, so that she and I were holding hands and looking each other in the eyes. Her eyes held a newfound resolution and confidence fueled by determination. Unfortunately her trembling hands also showed her previous nervousness hadn't disappeared.

Taking a deep breath she turned to the others and began talking again. " I-I'm s-sorry." she choked, her nerves effecting her voice. Closing her eyes, Viola takes a deep breath and clears her throat. " Apologies, for the incomposed presentation earlier, it was an unsightly display." Taking another deep breath she continues.

" After some consideration amongst my teammates, we have deemed that an alliance between our two groups would be the best choice of action over conflict at this current time. As it stands we know little about the parameters of this game, it's length or what it takes to actually win. The biggest question here is time. How long will we have to fight? If the game isn't meant to be long and the objective is to collect as many crests as quickly as possible then it would be impractical to create a base, as we wouldn't be here long enough for it to serve it's purpose. It would simply be a waste of time and effort. However, if we have to get and defend the crests for a sizable amount of time, then it would be vastly beneficial to do such things. Here's where our deal comes in. Your team has already put forth the effort of erecting a base, and are currently running a little low on mana. In the event we attempt to lay siege we would win, but not without the significant loss of energy ourselves, which is why we propose we work together. This base will be protected from efforts on both of our parts, while we will also have a small group go off to find crests. We will divide the crests we steal evenly, and we can return to the base to recover and trade out people to search. This will optimize our energy while protecting our crests and ensuring we win in the long run. The faster we move the more effective it will be in the short term as well."

" So your basically asking to use our base?" Hopper asked.

" Essentially, however this will also allow us to play to our strengths for example the others in my team are good with fighting head on, while I am better at fortification fighting, and defending areas. This way our energy is being used most efficiently and we can fight without the worry of losing our crests." Viola replied in a professional manner.

" So our crests will be left to be defended here while we go out and collect others?" The one eyed boy clarified

" Yes, this is where the trust comes in. We have to depend on each other and trust that no one will betray the others. Ways to ensure this can be discussed further, later." Viola clarified.

The boys talked amongst themselves and after some thought they came to the conclusion that we made enough logical sense to accept.

" We accept your offer. Now we need to establish who is staying and who is leaving so that we can optimize our forces." The Cyclops boy said.

Cyclops boy' s name is Brontes, and it was decided that he, Luxen, Korona, and I were going to be the ones to go out and hunt down the Crests, while Anabelle, Viola, Hopper, and Rhyan would stay behind to defend the base. This way there were two of each team to play both parts to prevent the chance of backstabbing, while for the most part putting each player in their Element.

" Alice correct?" Hopper asked me pulling me aside for a minute.

" Yes, can I help you with something?" I asked. Hopper seemed to be a rather shy person, not exactly the best with eye contact, but his abilities, from what I had seen so far were definitely praiseworthy.

" O-oh w-w-well I wanted to say that y-your matches in your l-last c-competition were i-inspiring and I-I wanted to give you m-my congratulations." He stuttered a bit, and unlike viola it carried through most of his talking, he was fidgeting a bit too. He must not be the best with talking to people.

I gave him a light smile, " Thank you. Your quite impressive yourself, I didn't see much of the other competitions, but this fort you made speaks volumes of your skills as a mage." He truly was impressive, and, though I know very little about life magic, I think something like this would take some real skill. I think.

" W-w-well, Thank you." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as his eyes stared off to my side. " I'm really not all that impressive. not compared to someone like you." He muttered, occasionally his eyes would make their way back to me before darting off again.

" I don't think you give yourself enough credit." I say patting him on the shoulder. I don't think he expected this because he recoiled back and tripped hitting his back on the ground and coughing, after the air was knocked out of his lungs.

" Are you alright?" I ask stifling a giggle, extending a hand to help him up. He was coughing so bad his face was red, and he was sweating a bit, so I ran to get him some water.

" Thank you." Hopper said between coughs hesitantly taking the water. He began looking between me and the canteen, nervously.

" Don't worry I have another." I told him, practically forcing him to drink. I had two on me. I typically have one on me since it's not like you can go to a water fountain yo get some, and to was convenient. The other resides within my inventory.

Seeing my insistence he complied, and let out a satisfied sigh afterwards. " Thank you!" He said and shot me a smile. It was a rather bright and innocent one. Hopper was a pretty cute kid.

I needed to get going so I waved him a goodbye, but before I could leave, " Alice, before you go, would you like to go get dinner or something after this? Y-y-you k-k-know, likea Thank you?" There was insecurity, and nervousness strewn across his face from asking, almost as if he was afraid of the answer.

" That sound wonderful." I reply, as his face lit up. Hopper was a bit shy and insecure from what I could tell, but he seemed like a nice boy, and I was excited at the thought of making another friend, and getting to know him. Hopper looked equally as happy, relief washing over him as he practically radiated excitement at my response.

" I'll find you afterwards and we can pick a place." He excitedly called out. Completely opposite the hesitation he showed before. I nodded, laughing a bit at his humorous change of emotions. It made me happy to watch him be happy. Turning around I make my way to the others, I would be heading out with.

" Well then we should head out now." I called out to everyone. The preparations were completely and we weren't sure if we were pressed for time so the sooner we got going the better.

" Keep Anabelle out of trouble." Korona called out to Viola.

" Got it good luck." Viola yelled back, while Anabelle had a look of disbelief about the fact they didn't trust her to behave.

The others snickered and Anabelle shot them her signature glare, forcing them to stiffen, and stop teasing her.

Leaving the Barrier we move at a decent pace, weaving through the thick forest of lights. We have to move carefully because despite it being a forest, there was a unusual lack of wildlife. The borderline silence, left an eerie atmosphere, that was only amplified by the occasional rustle of leaves or faint creak and drone of the trees.

Our movements were emphasized by the silence and that made sneak attacks that much harder. This was forcing us to move slower, but our rush for time made it hard to do so.

After some distance of traveling we reached the end of the Willow Forrest. It abruptly shifted from Willows to a more pine like forest. The shift was extremely unnatural, with a thin line separating the two sides, neither crossed into the other, as If the trees didn't want to cross over into the others domain.

Crossing the line, the forest changed completely. The lights were dampened and drowned to empty shells of the previous vibrance, the sounds of the forest seemed sharper, and the air seemed to thicken. However, despite the increase of pressure, and anxiousness the move brought, a feeling I hadn't realized had been unnerving me was lifted, it was a feeling of danger that I hadn't noticed before, I almost didn't want to go back.

I hesitated looking back at the forest of neon lights, There was something dangerous hiding within the forest, we couldn't hear it, nor could we see it, and we can only hope it will leave us alone.

"Alice are you alright?" Brontes asked, I have a half hearted nod in response. This was a problem for later, I needed to get my head in the game.

The others continued to press onwards so I joined them. I caught a faint noise, that I could tell was close. Beaconing the others to follow we approached the group. The group was trying their best to keep quiet but one of their members was not very good at that.

I halted our advance before we attacked. There was a rather large issue here. I could see about two different groups watching the same group we were, and according to Brontes, there was another group a not to far away, that was on their own. Five groups had managed to center in on each other, so this could definitely go wrong if ...

~Snap~

Jolting my head back to the noise, Luxen had just tripped over a tree root and landed on a dry branch, creating a awfully loud Snap, drawing the attention of literally every group in the vicinity.

I scowled at Luxen as his face contorted into one of horror. We had just drawn the attention of sixteen people, and the smile that spanned Lyrics face as he stared down at us from the trees, made me think that escape was probably the best option, not exactly going to be easy though.

Of course or regret was not plastered on our faces for long, we slowly began to retreat similar to what one would do when faced with a dangerous predator. The air grew thick, as anticipation built, we needed to time this right, and shake everyone that would attempt to pursue us off. We couldn't return to the fort either because then we would only be risking our crest. Crests. A smile threatens to span my face as a wonderfully devious Idea pops into my head.

I backed up to the others so that I could whisper to them " Lets swap their Crests." I giggle into their ears. To be met by evident confusion.

" If we take one of the weaker teams crests we can use them as bate to steal other crests and rearrange the focus. It will be utter chaos and then we can go through and take them all back. We can't run but we currently have nothing to lose." I keep my voice low and my eyes vigilant. No one has moved yet but we can be sure they won't yet.

" Why wouldn't we just take them and run then?" Luxen asked.

" Because, if we confuse them we may be able to escape, and we don't need them all." I clarify

" How do you plan on doing that in the first place? You don't know where the crests are, and didn't you say your friends could see through your tricks? " Korona asked Unsure if the plan would work as well as I though it would.

" Don't worry I love shiny things, I'll be able to tell." I spin and give them a smile. " Make a wonderful diversion for me Thanks you three!" I shout loud enough for everyone to hear me.

I got a good little laugh at the expressions on the others faces, Korona looked exhausted, while Luxen and Brontes looked shocked. The three of them dug in their heels and prepared for the fight of their lives.

"~hehehe~ Fuck it!" Korona shouted dispelling her exhaustion, a maniacal grin was plastered on her face and her eyes widened, darting around to find her targets, as fire began to lift from the ground below her, the grass beneath her feet turning to ash. " Lets burn this whole god damn forest down! Did you parents ever warn you about the dangers of playing with fire because mine sure as hell didn't!" Korona then started to lash out at everyone that she could see, forcing them to engage with her.

Korona's little display seemed to alarm The two boys just as much as My sudden abandonment, they must have thought we were insane. She also managed to attract most of the attention to herself, it was the perfect distraction for me to screw with the other groups, now all I needed to do is grab the gems swap them around and spread the chaos.

Only problem now is about how I was going to go about doing just that. See, I had an idea, but, well it was just that, an idea. Looking back, I probably should have thought it through a little better than I did. Oops.