Of Blood And Aces

My mind goes blank as I feel it recede, my instincts taking control.

Suddenly, my vision fades to grey as power and heat surge through my chest and body. In a puff of smoke and embers, my sword materializes in my hands, its roar filling the room. All eyes turn to me as chaos erupts. Screams pierce the air, nobles scramble to escape, and I leap from the rafters to the floor below, creating a small blast upon impact that caught a few, their bodies completely encasing themselves in fire, their flesh and muscle melting from their bones and their eyes in sockets.

Yells from behind me signal the Guards' attack, only to fall before me, their heads rolling to a stop as their yells were quickly silenced, the stumps cauterized and sizzling. Blueblood and others attempt to flee, but I merely smile. With a stomp of my foot on the red carpet, the stone erupts from the ground, blocking all exits. Nobles crash to the ground as they collide with the solid rock.

More heat surges through me, smoke billowing from my mouth before transforming into white-hot fire. The Unicorns among the nobles raise a shield as the fire strikes, their faces dripping with sweat from the intense heat and sudden fear. The shield doesn't last long as a second or two later, it shatters and their beautiful screams meet my ears.

As I gazed towards the fighting ring, I observed several women who had been there previously guiding people out of the ring and towards the exit for safety. The room was engulfed in flames, with the carpet and drapes already on fire. Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from my right, causing me to quickly turn and see what was happening. To my horror, I witnessed Blueblood with his arm wrapped around the throat of a girl with an injured leg, holding a knife to her neck while glaring at me.

"They told me you would be a nuisance, but I never would have expected so much so quickly!" He sneered, pressing the knife close to the girl's throat. "You will not ruin his plans! We will have what is rightfully ours! This world WILL be cleansed! AND IT WILL START WITH YOU BECOMING ASH TO FEED OUR NEW WORLD!"

The sound that came from my throat would be best described as a crocodile bellow as I reached down towards the table next to me, snatching the butter knife from the smouldering pile and chucking it at Blueblood's hand. The girl acted quickly, stomping on his foot and pushing him away from her, she stumbled towards me as I caught her, my flames shrinking enough to not harm her. My blade disappeared from my grip as I vanished it away, rushing forward and grabbing Blueblood's throat and throwing him through the crumbling wall and out into the streets. Stepping through the newly made hole in the wall, I walk towards the woman who had thankfully escaped and gently set the girl on the ground as they rushed to bring her towards the sidewalk they sat themselves on.

I quickly turned my gaze to the groaning Prince, and my feet instinctively moved towards him. I reached down and grabbed him, feeling the flames around me intensify as I snarled at the pathetic excuse of a man in my grasp. The approaching sound of footsteps to my right alerted me to the presence of others and as I looked to see who it was, I could only hope it would end as well as I wanted.

The two sisters expected their day to end in one of many ways and all of them were peaceful. But as they ran through the halls with a group of six and several Guards, they couldn't help but suspect their night was going to be messy and worried immensely about what was happening.

The group of six that tailed behind them gave them a constant stream of worried questions, most of which the Princesses were unable to answer as they ran as swiftly towards and past the castle entrance. They hurried along faster as they spotted a bright orange glow peeking between the building in the distance and hurried faster still when they felt the presence of something strong.

Bounding around the corner, the group immediately paused.

Held several feet above the ground was Blueblood, Percival's fist clamped tightly around his throat as his feet kicked harmlessly beneath him. Percival's forearms and legs were engulfed in flames, with the same fire running along his spine. Jets of fire shot out from his shoulder blades, starting at a foot in length, tapering off as they reached his tailbone. The two men looked towards the approaching group who all noticed a group of about a couple dozen women off to the side, sitting on the sidewalk and all clutching cloth and other drapery around them as Ghost checked on the youngest of them, carefully tending to her leg as best he could without the proper equipment.

The Paladin slowly peered over his shoulder, his eyes a bright orange that bordered on white locking onto the group. Before any of them could get a word out, he unceremoniously chucked the Prince to the ground in front of them, back peddling in a mad panic.

"Go on," He said, his voice low and gravelly, a much more intimidating sound compared to his usual smooth baritone. "Tell them what you did."

"Aunty!" He called. "Aunty this man attacked me without warning! he-"

"Silence Blueblood! You are in enough trouble as is! Stay your tongue and perhaps your punishment will not be so severe!" Luna quickly shut the man up. "Guards, take this man to the dungeons!"

"What!?" He shouted as he was picked up from the ground. "You cannot do this to me! I demand an explanation!"

"And you will get no such thing from us," Celestia said sharply as he was carried off before looking at the remaining Guards. "Fetch a medical team and have them bring blankets, food and water. I want these poor souls tended to."

The Unicorns among the Guards swiftly saluted before grabbing their non-magic-using comrades and teleporting away in a flash. The group turned to see the Paladin, standing still as a statue, watching the hollering Prince seemingly deep in thought. Once the Prince was out of sight, the Paladin's shoulders drooped, and he let out a heavy sigh. The flames that had surrounded him disappeared with a low and soft fwoosh.

The two sisters turned towards the burning building and got to work quelling the raging fire. As they did, the group following behind the Princesses stepped up to the Paladin as he quirked an eyebrow at their appearance.

"Dude, what was with that fire!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both moved past them and to the women sitting on the sidewalk, joining Ghost to comfort them.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Twi's been working real hard with that rock y'all found so we thought we'd visit," Applejack replied, glancing between him, the building and the women behind him. "Can't say this is how I thought it'd turn out."

"What happened?" Twilight asked with a worried expression.

"Given the sensitiveness and severity of the situation, I don't want to indulge in any details until it's made public," The man said, his tone even, firm and serious. "I don't like being professional with you guys, but this is...it's a lot."

"Fair enough. I mean, as much as I wanna know, this looks waaaay above my pay grade," Rainbow Dash said.

Suddenly, a team of medical staff appeared a few meters away from the group, teleported in by the same Guards that went to gather them. They were all carrying supplies to help the women in need. The medical team quickly got to work, providing relief while the trio who had been comforting the women stepped back to give them space. As the man watched the medical team tend to the women, Applejack and Rarity noticed the troubled expression on his face. They both placed a hand gently on his arm and shoulder, offering him worried and concerned looks. They could feel the warmth radiating from him, not enough to be uncomfortable, but it was definitely noticeable.

"Are you alright darling?"

"Sir Felwinter."

Turning to look at the Princesses, their expressions were steeled as they stepped towards the Paladin, the building behind them now nothing more than a smouldering husk as it collapsed in on itself, embers and smoke billowing to the sky while the glow slowly died out.

"Come with us. We will need an official report about this," Celestia said evenly. "The rest of you, head back to your rooms. A Guard will escort you back."

Glancing over at the girls, Ghost and Percival fell in line behind the Princesses as the group of friends followed said Guard towards the castle in awkward silence. Along the way, a few curious onlookers peeked out to see what was happening, only to be instructed to stay indoors due to a mandatory curfew for the night set by the Princesses. Twilight and her friends headed towards the guest wing of the castle, leaving the remaining four to continue on.

The silence hung heavy as we walked through the quiet halls, each of us feeling the tension in the air. Eventually, we reached the same room the men had left less than an hour ago. Without a word, we all entered.

Without looking back, Celestia walked over to the desk and opened one of its deep drawers. She grabbed a glass and a bottle of bourbon or whiskey. After pouring herself a generous glass, she downed it without hesitation, not even flinching as the fiery liquid went down her throat. She let out a sigh and leaned heavily against the desk.

"I never took you for a drinker," I commented, standing in front of the desk.

"Given the situation, you'll have to forgive my little indulgence," Celestia quickly rebuttaled, cleaning the glass with a cloth and placing both it and the bottle back where she got them. "Give me a sitrep Percival. What happened?"

"Ghost and I were on our way home when I saw something move in an alley. We waited and found Blueblood entering a disguised building through a side door. We both felt the situation was suspicious, so I subdued the Guard manning the door and entered," I said, my voice even and my tone professional. "What I found inside were nobles taking advantage of women and putting them in....less than desirable situations. There was even a fighting ring."

Celestia sighed even heavier, hanging her head as her voice came out soft and cracked a little at hearing the report. "So it was all true."

"I'm sorry?"

"After you brought the letter to my attention, I immediately called for one of our best private agents to conduct an investigation after the Gala," She explained, leaning her fists heavily against the desk to the point her knuckles turned white. "After gathering information for the past week since....this is what they found."

She opened a drawer and pulled out a fairly substantial file, placing it on the desk in front of me.

As I approached the file, I wasn't completely surprised by what I was reading. It turns out that Blueblood had been stealing money from important sources for years, including funds for orphanages, family businesses, and somehow even the castle Guards. Not only was he lining his own pockets, but he was also funnelling money into some mysterious project that was still being looked into. To make matters worse, there were reports from anonymous sources that he was mistreating staff members and even his own Guards.

But the real shock came when I read the next part. In a hidden box in his basement, a list of names of missing people over the past ten years was discovered, along with numerous letters from an unknown sender. After a thorough search of his property, it was revealed that he was involved in a black market slave trade and was personally running a fighting ring within the organization. But that wasn't the end of it.

If what I had read so far wasn't damning enough, what I read next was the final nail in the coffin. In addition to those letters, there were more from a mysterious sender, with similar contents to the one I had received the week before that dated back much farther than the ones he received for his despicable trade. It all even bore the same handwriting and seemed to be building up to something. Years of planning, and preparation, all culminating into one event.

Over a year ago, Blueblood had travelled to Rio de Muerte, pretending it was a business trip with an unnamed partner. In reality, he was going beneath the city of Las Almas to plant a device that would serve as a temporary portal for demons to come through. All of this was done in exchange for capturing or taking out one Percival Felwinter for this unknown contact.

"Holy shit," Ghost muttered, looking at the Princesses, his eyes wide. "That means-"

"That Blueblood is highly likely to be in cahoots with the demons, whether it's willingly or not, we're still determining," Celestia said, her voice heavy and her eyes ever so slightly glazed.

"How the hell was none of this discovered until now?"

"We believe that Blueblood had inside help to cover up his tracks and we've called for several other agents to help with the investigation," Luna quickly replied.

"How far back do these particular letters go?" I asked, indicating to the letters similar to the one I had received.

"Roughly roughly ten or so years," Celestia replied quietly. "They seem to coincide with the disappearances of the women documented in the other letters. We don't know if it's connected as of yet."

"It's a good thing I caught him then."

"Indeed," Celestia nodded slowly. "And I feel as though I already know the answer, but did you kill the other nobles inside?"

Without hesitation, I nodded. "I did."

"While I do not condone such actions being taken without my knowhow, given the nature, I think-"

"They got what they deserved," Luna finished her sister's sentence. "Slavers are an abhorrent stain on our fair society that only death can cleanse."

"While my sister's words are as strong as ever, they ring true," Celestia said. "Slavery has been banned for as long as either of us can remember and the consequences have always been high."

"Consequences that Blueblood now faces," Ghost added.

"That he does. Though due to his status as High Noble, the repercussions of his actions, both in the slave trade as well as supposedly being in cahoots with an enemy, may be higher than normal," She continued.

"So what's the plan here?" I asked.

"I know what the end result is going to be, but we will see to it that he has a fair trial and that he won't escape what fate may have in store for him," the Solar Princess replied.

"How long will it take?"

"I would give it a few weeks, considering his status as Prince and the seriousness of the crimes committed," Luna replied, looking at Celestia, who kept her eyes fixed on the file on the desk.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. The fact you caught him is enough. Leave the rest to me and my sister," Luna replied.

"Then we'll leave you to it," I said, bowing my head, signalling for Ghost to follow me.

"Percival."

I stopped just before opening the door and turned around to see Celestia looking at me with a sad expression. Her eyes were wet and she was breathing heavily. The sad look on her face slowly transformed into one of solemn appreciation. "Thank you...for stopping my nephew."

"I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"I know you would," She nodded. "You're free to go."

Nodding, I bowed again before I left. As I closed the door, I could hear the muffled voices of the Princesses as we left them to their own devices. Walking through the same halls we had an hour prior, I couldn't help but think about what I read in that file. Blueblood came into contact with someone who either had connections with the demons or was one outright. Either option wasn't good and brought more questions than answers. Who was it Blueblood spoke with? How did he come into contact with them? What could they possibly want with me? And if these letters go back ten years, how the hell did they know about me? First Damien, now them. Something wasn't right.

Too many damn questions and just when it was starting to make some semblance of sense.