Grancrest oneshots

Monster

3rd pov

Monsters had become more common by the time the kingdom breaks out into war, Marrine running one side and Alexis working for the other. They're not considered creatures like the ones chaos creates, monsters have intelligence and had chosen to hide themselves among humans, only revealing themselves shortly before the reappearance of chaos because their senses were going haywire and they really wanted to help, refusing to die due to having to hide. Several different kinds come forward, working for both sides, as well as not doing anything in the war at all, just sitting out on the sidelines.

With all the monsters that had come out of the woodwork, the mages and Lords had to adjust, mix things around in order to make sure they were getting everything they needed, just like their other citizens. Few places didn't care or bother to change, Rossini being one of the Lords who is far too open about it, telling any other Lords about the way his people are all treated, though the whispers and rumors are far worse.

That monsters are used to do all the work, forced to work in his army, that the citizens live ruled by fear, that there's over taxation and mistreatment of all sorts from the people, the Rossini encouraging plundering and such, but none of those are as bad as the rumors of them capturing and either killing or caging the more rare monsters, in order to use their parts in order to make stronger armor, weapons and even to eat, claiming they're monsters, not humans. The Alliance and Union both disagree with him, but he's not really a part of either of them, so it's not like they can stop him.

It takes several long, long years for the Union and Alliance to join together, several Lords lost along the way, but Marrine finally admits she was protecting Alexis, who had gotten courage from Villar, the only reason he remains alive being because Siluca had helped them, all the mages pitching in the keep him safe, as well as his army. A few Lords had been lost due to neglect of their citizens or misuse of their power, but they are all glad that Marrine loves Alexis, amused when Villar tells them his mage, Margaret will be his wife once everything is over, Siluca a tad jealous at all the love around her.

Irvin sighs behind her, but the overall feeling is happiness, with Marrine accepting Alexis' proposal, joining the two groups together, but before they do anything else, they're going to head to Sistina, they'll ask some of the monsters they know for help to get their armies there in one piece. A few aquatic ones - leviathans, kraken, a few devil whales as well as dragons - help them along, with the Lords all working together to figure out a strategy considering none of them know the land. Villar in particular is interested, because there's something about this island that has his attention, a rumor he had heard years ago, that he hopes was true if only because then the person he's looking for might be alive.

It's not well known, but he had a commoner friend, a man who lived in his city before moving to Sistina, his name was Carlos, and he had a son with a woman who left him shortly after, taking most of his money which is why he left, unable to afford living in Altirk any longer. The young boy had caught Villar's attention, he had extremely strong morals for one so young, as well as a rather interesting mind. Some of his strategies were borrowed from moves the boy would make against him in chess, though the other never won, he certainly pushed the Earl several times. With a grimace, he recalls the rumor he'd heard.

"A young monster contained in the dungeon of the Rossini castle, forced to wear a collar that will electrocute it if it disobeys and forced to fight in his army..." Villar mutters, clearly displeased at the thought.

"What was that?"

"I've heard rumors that he forces monsters to fight for him. What should we do about that?"

"Well, assuming he uses them, I figure he's got a collar, a leash a something that forces them to stay with him, so if we can get them pinned and remove it, then they can flee or join our side, whichever suits their needs, because I doubt he feeds them well either, much less keeps them healthy. We shouldn't have any problems with them."