Garden Of The Abyss

With those words and a smile, the braided-haired man stepped through the swirling gateway, disappearing from his vision as his presence completely left the room in the moment of crossing.

…Well, it's never really a good idea to enter a portal without knowing where the other end is exactly, but…this night has been crazy enough, he thought.

From what he could gather, the portal wasn't made of malicious energy–that is, it wasn't a spell woven with the intent to harm, but to aid.

Gathering that much, he was able to step through the portal, but still kept his guard up on what could possibly be waiting on the other side.

A flash of deep, spiraling purple filled his vision as for a split-second, space was absent around him, traversing the realm between realm before–he stood on new ground.

It was some sort of cellar, paved with brick flooring and red-brick walls, reinforced by timber.

Standing in front of him, the spear-wielding man he already met had just lowered himself onto a seat, indulging in a bottle of wine as he used his weapon to flick the cork off.

One man stood across from the purple gateway, holding his hand out in such a way that made it clear that it was something manifested by him, and not Ansgar.

"Fermer," the blonde-haired, pale caster of the gateway rotating his hand, causing the gateway to close behind Sirius.

It was filled with rows of barreled wine, and bottled wine, which seemed much to the pleasure of Ansgar who was gleefully drinking down a serving.

"Huh," he said, stepping into the unknown cellar, "a bit musty."

"You're Sirius Federov, are you?"

The words came from a woman who matched him in height, with calm, yet confident eyes of an emerald tinge that gazed at him with complete analysis.

She was dressed in full, cobalt armor of oceanic-blue steel, ornate with designs resembling a great tree on its front, and a black cape flowing behind her, matching her illustrious, jet-black hair.

Besides the full-set of lavish armor, it was clear the woman was built well herself with prominent musculature, holding herself with her arms folded across her chest.

Hoh, she's…imposing, he thought.

He smiled, not batting an eye as he matched her gaze, "It seems my fame precedes me yet again. I didn't catch your name, Miss?"

"You're only standing in front of me because your name was circling Yulimium as an enemy mage who invaded the capital," the armored, confident woman told him.

"Like I said: my fame precedes me yet again," he said with a smile.

The cobalt-armored woman looked at him for a moment before extending her hand, "Adelheid. Captain of the Knights of Gallvania, Third Division. At least, I was–before the invasion. Currently, I'm the leader of the Defenders of Gallvania–so just Adelheid will suffice."

The blonde-haired, portal-weaver introduced himself as well, wearing a blue-velvet tunic with prominent, puffed sleeves, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sirius Federov. I humbly introduce myself as Jonas Bargarias."

He's polite, he thought.

Moving his attention back to Adelheid, he found the last of her words peculiar after accepting her hand, shaking it as his grip was challenged.

"...About that, I'm lost here. What's this invasion? And above that…the "Dream Cycle"..." He asked, briefly glancing at Ansgar who was still partaking in wine, but attending the conversation.

The black-haired woman released his hand, gesturing for him to sit as it would likely be a long-winded explanation.

Finding himself a stool, he looked at the knightly-dressed leader who sat herself across from him, drinking from a mug of unknown liquid.

"To be honest, there is a lot we still don't know. I suppose that's the nature of this attack against the kingdom though–one that is difficult to even be recognized as such," Adelheid told.

"Are you talking about the "Dream Cycle"? If what I've experienced so far is part of it, then…I get why it'd put a damper on information," he responded.

Adelheid nodded, "It started three weeks ago. It might not sound like too long, but with the "Dream Cycle"...it's felt like an eternity," it was with those words leaving her lips did he finally notice how dark the bags beneath her eyes were, "Everybody in Yulimium is ensnared in it. They might not realize it, but their perception of reality is being forcefully contorted by dark hands."

"Who's doing this? Belmon?" He asked.

The leader looked at him for a moment, straight in the eyes, before nodding,"I believed Belmon to be a fairy tale–we all did. But they certainly have a way of announcing themselves to you. I don't know exactly when the "Dream Cycle" truly began, but it all stems from the same origin, from each account–they all met the same pale-faced, smiling man."

As she told him that, the memory flashed into his mind of the enigmatic man he met in the tavern earlier that day.

"Yeah, I remember him."

"It seems he needs only to touch you for you to be ensnared in his magecraft. After that, reality and dreams blended–giving way for Belmon to silently assimilate this kingdom."

"Assimilate?" He asked.

Though he asked, he had an idea of what she meant after the encounter he just experienced.

That oaf was acting like the old hag used to be somebody else, or more like he was mourning her death before he put her down, he thought.

"I don't know the specifics of how they've done it, but they've managed to take over the bodies of Gallvanian civilians," Adelheid's expression furrowed in lamentation, "There's no way of knowing just how deeply they've dug their claws into this country…"

"How bad do you think it is? If it's been three weeks, I don't imagine they've spread out that much, right? Gallvania is a fairly large country, after all," Sirius asked, though his question only brought a further dampening to the expressions of those in the room.

It was Jonas who answered his question, standing with his hands politely behind his back, "Roughly…one-tenth of Yulimium has been infiltrated by Belmon. For the rest of Gallvania, it's difficult to say if they've made their move yet or not."