District of Little Russia, throne room of The Vinter Palace
Yukari rubbed her forhead,desperately trying to mitigate the oncoming headache as best she could. It was a disaster, there really wasn't any other way to describe, what had happened it was-
"Milady we're getting reports that yet another villa-"
Pang.
Her damn headache just intensified with the ever moutning issues thrust on her. What was te meaning of this charade, how had she ended up back here? Right where she had started, right back to the place which she had run away from-
"What are your orde-"
How? How had this come to be? She was supposed to be a charlatan, a trickster adviser, the court jester, not.... Not this.
Not the one with the weight of a country on her shoudlers.
"Milady!"
"Shut up I'm thinking!" The Kitsune finally snapped at the commander of the guards, the young man visibly recoiled from shock, taking a step back.
The Empress had brazenly charged out on her own at the first sign of attack and had left her the de facto leader here. Problem is it turned out to be far more than that. A multi pronged attack, from different directons, the secondary attack being delayed to let the first one be a bait. It was quite ingenious how well coordinated it all was, Yukari would have praised them if she wasn't on the receiving end of it.
"Take half of the men and head north, do a sweep eastwards and mop up all resistence you can find. If you see any citizens behaving oddly, avoid them at all costs but if they get too close don't hesitate." Going by the reports they'd been getting it would already be too late for some of them. It was very regrettable but now wasn't the time to mourn or be sentimental, the lives of everyone still remaining depended on it.
What about the Pala-"
"Hunkering down in our base would be a mistake at this point, that's exactly what the enemy wants, that's why I will head to the south-" She held a hand to stop the protests dead. "Don't concern yourself with my safety, I know what I'm doing. SO HURRY UP AND DO YOUR DUTY CAPTAIN!" The guards scrambled and left the throne room. She spared them a single glance before venturing out herself.
The surrounding areas weren't quite as chilly as the halls of the Winter Palace itself, that place had been a real nightmare when she'd first begun working here. But the biting winds was still enough to make her wish she was wearing one of those cloaks. She stomped the ground in frustration, now wasn't the time to be worrying about comfort, she couldn't let anyone see her like this. Quickyl recomposing herself she continued south.
It didn't take long, an almost sickenly short time for her to encounter the first signs of the wrongness that the village had been forced to endure. Or maybe the repulsive nature of the calamity she was facing compressed her sense of time, she'd heard of that concept. In especially tense situations a heartbeat could last an eternity, an eternty of anguish and anticipation.
That moment was now and she was living it whether she liked it or not.
