This was definitely one of the oddest assortments of people Eobard Kon found himself sitting alongside.

He was sitting on the left side of the table, Maria Rockwell next to him, and Nicholas next to her. On the heads of the table, Chiron was sitting on Nicholas’s side, while Yui was sitting on Eobard’s opposite to the centaur.

They were in a safe room on the Caelum Terra, though how long it would be safe for, none of them knew.

“I will lead this battle and face off against James Mallory.” stated Chiron firmly, as if it were fact.

Yui scoffed at this.

“I am the leader of the largest resistance movement against the IDA. I have been the leader of said group for years. I have been planning this battle for months.

“You came to your senses only a few weeks ago and you’re only fighting out of some misguided, twisted sense of loyalty to our enemy.” retorted the japanese woman angrily, slamming her gloved hands on the table.

Technically speaking, she wasn’t wrong. And Eobard himself wasn’t exactly fond of Chiron. He had always suspected that he had something up his sleeve, and it turned out that he was correct.

Even so, his alliance with Yui wasn’t much better. Their alliance was one of convenience more than anything else. Sure, she knew what was going on with James Mallory and the Association, and fought against them-but how did she know all of that?

She had refused to elaborate when he asked, saying merely that she had inside sources. And with everything that had come to light, Eobard refused to blindly trust anyone ever again.

Even Kara, the last person in his life that he trusted fully, turned out to have been involved in that whole thing at one point.

“Spare me your grandstanding.” said Chiron through gritted teeth. “I know more things than believe Yui. And your true goal is one of those things. And you are underestimating James if you think he doesn’t know either, or that he doesn’t have some trick up his sleeve.”

“I think this is our cue for a time out.” said Maria Rockwell, making a T with her hands. “We aren’t here to play politics now, are we?” she asked, clearly exasperated with the two de facto leaders of this whole operation.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Rockwell is right.” sighed Eobard. “We are not here to play power games. We are either going to do this right or not do it at all. If we aren’t fully coordinated, then we will fail.”

Both Chiron and Yui seemed to be reluctant in accepting this idea, but they both ended up nodding their agreement.

“Besides.” Nicholas spoke up for the first time in this meeting. “It is highly unlikely that Mallory will be working alongside the Magesmiths and the Association.”

It was safe to say that the newfound tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife.

“What have you heard?” said Chiron carefully.

“And will it be good for us or bad?” said Yui almost expectantly.

“It is…complicated.” sighed Nicholas as he muttered something in French and fiddled with his ring. “The Magesmiths are preparing Marly on their own, preparing her mind for the destruction she will cause. It looks like she has faith in her grandfather.”

“But she hasn’t had any contact with him,” said Yui, filling in the blanks. “Why does this matter to us?”

“He can’t contact Marly.” muttered Chiron. “What about Ava?”

“Little is known, but she seems to be gathering up an army of her own. Those that are loyal to the Mallory name. Weird things are happening in the Association. Word is around that the commander is planning a coup d'etat.” he explained, not missing the chance to add the odd French word in there.

“I wanted to help you in order to crush the IDA,” said Maria Rockwell. “What’s the purpose if something like it still exists?”

“That was always a guarantee.” sighed Chiron. “The Association has roots all over the world. And it commands the loyalty of all its members, at least those that hold powerful positions.”

“And very few combine those things like James Mallory, no matter how controversial, or a bastard he is.” said Yui, her voice slowly becoming more excited.

“He will most likely use our attack as a way to seize power.” she explained to everyone around her. “We can use that! I will lead the offensive against the main army, while Chiron leads the battle against Mallory. We will take both our enemies down at once!”

Something about that felt off to Eobard. Yui sounded triumphant, Maria seemed excited, and Nicholas neutral. Chiron on the other hand was clearly more than apprehensive.

And for a man who usually hid his emotions so well Eobard couldn’t even detect them, that was saying something. This wasn’t Mallory’s plan. At least the taking charge part wasn’t. It didn’t make sense. He could have grabbed power whenever he wanted.

Sure he was a ripe old bastard, but the Magesmiths were practically non-existent until recently. Mallory and the other Rank One Commanders were the ones really in charge. Nobody would stop him considering a good portion of the army would be willing to fight on his side.

“It will work, but you understand much less than I thought Yui,” said Chiron, rubbing his forehead. “Let’s do it. Give the order and mobilise the armies.”

“A coup on top of everything else.” sighed Nicholas. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t we all?” said Maria Rockwell, sarcasm dripping from her every word.

“Get to your posts everyone.” said Eobard, getting into his commander mode.

A battle was about to begin, one they could not lose.

“I’ll go prepare my opening spell.” smirked Maria, before getting up and leaving the safehouse.

Nicholas lifted his ring bearing hand, the purple-red stone glowing to be crimson in its colour, a red heptagram appearing over it. The man began muttering words in French for a while, before the light faded and he got up himself.

“It is done,” he said grimly. “The Caelum Terra’s system, the system that connects the whole world, is temporarily closed. Only temporarily though. You have two days to make this right.”

“And we will.” said Yui before getting up herself. “Take me to the army, I need to update them.” she said, although it was more akin to an order than anything else.

The gatekeeper nodded, and the both of them disappeared almost immediately after, no fanfare or anything of the sort. There went the man with the power to completely isolate and disable the supernatural heartland of the world. Another bad feeling found its way in Eobard’s gut, although he wasn’t sure what it was this time.

“Nicholas is incredibly powerful.” said Chiron as if in response to Eobard’s thoughts. “But you shouldn’t worry, he will fight with us in this battle. Well, he won’t partake in much fighting, but he has already done more than enough.”

“Indeed.” nodded Eobard. “He sealed the Association off from any backup. And will bring all of our backup right here. And with Rockwell’s spell-doesn’t it all seem a bit too easy though?” he said, voicing a concern he had hidden deep within himself for the past few weeks.

“Individually we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” said Chiron sagely. “I wouldn’t have the manpower, and you wouldn’t have the necessary resources. Even then, if James and the Magesmiths were on the same page we would still have been toast.

“The stars have aligned for us. Even now, we don’t really know what the outcome will be. If we win, what awaits? A better or worse tomorrow? We have just started Eobard. And ironically enough, we are the only ones from the old guard, the good people of the old guard, still here.”

Eobard grumbled in anger. “Doesn’t mean anything.”

In truth, it did. Since Kara had died, he and Chiron were the last of the old faces to still be active on the main fronts of this war. Or rather, the only ones alive that were also still in contact after that day.

“Eobard, please answer me.” Ciron said, pleading for the first time since Eobard had met him. “James is a broken man. He is my friend. It seems like I betrayed him, but I truly wish to help him. Is that wrong?”

It took a few moments for Eobard to answer, but it was clear really.

“No.” he said quietly and reluctantly. “Not at all.”