Midal

After the greetings and introductions, Elder Grandma led them on a tour of the castle, to show the newcomers around and to display the renovations to Leo and the rest. Before they did that, Leo gave the order for the loot from Heliantis to be put away in the castle treasury, and the books in the library. The Hondoos were also taken to Iris's brother Michael to be stabled, and cared for. The refugees were currently being directed to the areas within or around the city for the moment.

Back in the castle, Elder Grandma was showing them the various repaired wings, and halls. Theos was then directed to the barracks, and Natalie and Jack went to their own rooms to rest. Soon however, Elder Grandma led them to the royal chambers, to the secret project that Leo had asked her to do. When they arrived outside the chambers the first thing they all noticed was that the door was giant now, big enough for a certain high wolf demigod. But since they couldn't have it be such a large door all the time, there was a smaller one within it. After opening the door, Leo led Iris and Alice to the main area of their chambers, with Hilda, Elder Grandma, and finally Luna following right behind them.

The first room was a large circular chamber with several couches, chairs, and tables with a large fireplace in one of the walls. Near the fireplace was a very large cushion, which Luna promptly laid down on. Though there wasn't much different from when Leo and Iris left, there was a second door leading from the chambers instead of just one. Before there was only one door that led to their room, and from the room to the Royal baths. Leo eagerly led Iris to the door, and opened it to reveal a hallway with a few more doors in it, the end being another entrance to the bath. He turned to elder grandma,

"Which room is it?" She pointed to the first door, and Leo covered Iris's eyes before leading her to it. After they walked into the room, he removed his hands from her eyes, and said,

"I wanted to be prepared, and asked Elder Grandma to have this done before we got back." When Iris saw the room she was in, she had to fight to keep the tears back. As far as the room itself goes there wasn't much to it, but there was a entry way to another smaller room, that was designed specifically for newborns. This room was a nursery for their child, designed so that she could be close to her baby when it was born.

Iris found it harder to hold back the tears, and pulled Leo into a hug. After doing so, she then went to Elder Grandma and Hilda, and pulled them both into hugs as well. Watching from behind them was Alice, who was wondering if this was what it was like to have a family that genuinely cared about you.

***

Meanwhile, in one of the human kingdoms to the south, a scarred man was presenting himself in front of an entire court of people, and a hefty man on a throne dressed in golden gowns with numerous gems decorating his body. The large man was the king of the richest land in the human kingdoms, the Midal kingdom, Charles. He was glaring down at the scarred man, quiet for several moments before asking,

"Why are you here champion of Athena? Last I knew you faithfully served the king of Heliantis, now he is dead and a mere handful of months later you arrive on my doorstep promising servitude." The scarred man, Alex, looked up at the portly king in front of him and said,

"As I said before, I wish to serve. My previous king is dead, as you said, but I have no intentions of following him to his grave. Instead, I wish to fight those that ended him, werewolves!" At his words several people started murmuring to each other, as the rumors of werewolves had spread far in the last several months. The problem was that so few people escaped the massacre of Heliantis, that it was hard to judge myth from fact. Charles looked exceptionally interested, and asked,

"Have you seen them yourself?" Alex nodded and replied,

"Twice your grace, the first time was at Tirdaral where they repelled our attack. The second was at Heliantis when they destroyed the kingdom overnight." One of the kings advisers stepped forward a and asked,

"If you encountered them twice, how are you still alive? We have heard they are unbeatable, and that they chase their prey with a vengeance during the full moon." Alex nodded his head in confirmation, as the moon was full that night in Heliantis when it wasn't supposed to be, and explained,

"The first time was merely luck, the wall behind me broke after they attacked me, and I fell down a chute to safety. The second time I abandoned my king during the attack." He decided not to hide his actions that day, as he was not at fault, and this little bit of honesty will hopefully assist him later. Of course everyone looked more than a little agitated at his words, and Charles asked,

"How can you ask me to take you into my court, while also admitting to abandoning he last king you served?!" Alex was calm as he replied,

"Simple your grace, I doubt you'll be as foolish as Andrew and directly mock the gods. I simply refused to pay for his heresy, that was all." Everyone was silent at his words, as this was the first time any of them heard this bit of news. Charles asked hesitantly,

"D-did he really mock the gods?" Alex then rolled up his sleeve and touched his brand while proclaiming,

"I swear in the name of Athena that the human king Andrew committed heresy by openly mocking the gods in favor of a mortal!" As he finished his words everyone was holding their breath, no longer doubting him. Using the pause, Alex continued his rehearsed lines,

"I wish to fight these beings, as who knows what damage they'll cause to the human kingdoms if not brought to heel!" At his declaration Charles leaned forward and pleaded,

"If you wish to fight them so passionately, then you must know of their weaknesses! You've said yourself that you've fought them twice after al!" As the king said those words, Alex's fathers pen weighed heavily in his pocket.

"None that I know of, which is why I wish to train your men in the skills of magic, chi and mana! As it is only by making ourselves stronger that we can fight this threat! Or do you wish for them to come to this kingdom as well? To prey upon your children, to slaughter all of you?! To claw out your eyes and feast on your entrails while you still live?!" With each word he spoke the fear of these monsters rose in the hearts of the listeners, and Alex used his momentum to continue,

"They are but beasts that wear the masks of men! Nothing will sate their thirst for blood, and no army can match them!" Charles then hurriedly spoke up,

"But we cannot learn magic! It goes against the laws Arthur laid down on us centuries ago! I will not have him destroy my kingdom!" As the king spoke several people started calming down, as they rationalized that Arthur will never let what Alex said come to pass, but Alex had an argument for this as well.

"If that is so, then where is he?" With this simple words the fear that had started to dissipate with the Kings words started to return, and Alex continued to say exactly what they all had started to wonder.

"It has been months since they destroyed Heliantis, and since their leader, Leo, took the princess Alice who was promised to him! Two things Arthur would never let stand, yet where is he? I say that the gods did not stop at the ones who mocked them, but also the one they claimed to fear more than the gods themselves! No activity for months, someone directly challenging his authority, yet nothing! I say, THAT ARTHUR IS DEAD!" There was no noise as those gathered tried to process his words, Arthur was dead?

None had dared dream of a world without Arthur, lest he somehow know and bring his wrath upon them. As this thought made its way through each of their heads, people started whispering, then talking, finally they started cheering. With Alex words they believed they were finally removed from the treat of being destroyed at any time, until they recalled another threat, the werewolves. His words of preparing to defend against them seemed a lot more convincing, so much so that the king said,

"Alex, champion of Athena, I know bestow to you the responsibility of preparing my kingdom against this attack. Train my army and when they are ready, we'll not only wipe out those filthy nonhumans, but those werewolves as well! We'll show them the supremacy of humanity!" There was a great cheer at his words, and Alex saluted the king, as if he was honored at his offer.

Several hours later in his new room, Alex had to keep from bursting out laughing. He never dreamed that they would believe him so easily, and even grant him the power he wanted at the same time. He thought it would take time to make them understand the threat, and attempt to respond to it. As he thought about it, he took out his fathers pen, his fathers SILVER pen. He knew this was the key, though he didn't want to reveal it so suddenly.

In all the news regarding werewolves he never heard the mention of silver, leading him to believe he might be the only one privy to the knowledge. He could come forward with the knowledge, but it would be foolish choice. If their weakness started spreading, then it might be possible to trace back to him and he'd be targeted, plus he wouldn't profit much that way. Now however, he could feed the fear of werewolves, and when they started moving again people would seek protection from the monsters. If he played his cards right, Alex could have entire nations begging to hand their thrones over to him in return for the chance to defend themselves against these beasts, but it wouldn't mean much if he wasn't prepared.

That was why he chose Midal, it was known as the richest of the kingdoms because of the various precious metal mines it owned, believed by some to be unending. The one he was after in particular, was the silver mine. If he could get the rights to it somehow, then he would have an almost unlimited amount of silver to weaponize. It was also why he needed to start training the soldiers in chi and mana, the weapons to fight the werewolves won't matter much if they were still completely outclassed anyways. He just hoped the bit he made up about Arthur was right.