"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE 'VANISHED'!?" He screamed in his rear area, his claws trembling with fury as he glared at a poor guard who remained absolutely cowering in fear of his superior's fury. "None of the most experienced soldiers on the continent managed to accomplish one task as simple as this?!?"
"I-I swear your holiness! We have searched the royal gardens, all the rooms in the palace, and even the rooftops where he has been caught stargazing. He is not in any of the places, he has not come out of any of the entrances or flown out of the palace! He just disappeared!" The Archon ran his claws through the fur on his forehead as he gnashed his beak. This couldn't be happening. The boy was walking in the gardens a few hours ago, his daily routine before saying goodbye to his vassal and going to sleep.
'This is bad, really bad.' The emperor was supposed to arrive the next day. There are already reports that his health is in a critical situation. If he arrived and discovered that the heir had simply disappeared, there was a very high chance that the stress of the event would make him faint, or worse, his few remaining organs would simply stop there.
And then what? The incapacitated or possibly dead monarch, and his missing heir, was a vessel for disaster. An empire without a monarch was the same as a ship without its mast, it would be ungoverned and aimless. A full plate for ambitious nobles to destroy what was left of the weak government with their imbecility and greed.
He needed to find Grover, at any cost.
His thoughts were stopped by the loud bang of a door being slammed open, colliding with the wall. Revealing Eros in his sleep garments. He wasn't happy.
"Proteus, it's almost three in the morning, what the fuck is this commotion? I could hear screaming from the cathedral for fuck's sake!" He shouted at his fellow archon while scratching one of his sleepy eyes.
"Grover is missing."
The Boreas follower's anger evaporated almost immediately. "Missing...?" A look of despair entered his face just as fast.
Proteus nodded gravely, the urgency of the situation weighing heavily on him. "Yes, missing," he replied with a tone of worry. "None of the guards can find him anywhere in the palace, and we've searched every possible place he could be. We need to find him before the emperor arrives. If he discovers his heir is missing in his fragile state, it could lead to chaos."
Eros, now fully awake and alert, ran a claw through the tousled fur in his head, contemplating the dire situation. "Alright, alright. Let's not panic just yet," he said, attempting to reassure both himself and Proteus. "There must be some explanation for this. Grover couldn't have just vanished into thin air. Did anygriff see anything unusual?"
"No, nothing. Patrols were uneventful as usual, all exits are guarded and the flying patrols didn't see anything. He just vanished."
Eros sighed deeply, his mind racing to come up with a plan. "We need to organize a thorough search immediately," he said firmly. "Gather all available royal guards. Have them comb through the palace and its surroundings with a fine-toothed comb. Check every hidden passage, and every secret chamber, and question every servant and staff member. We can't leave any stone unturned."
Proteus nodded, relieved that Eros was taking charge of the situation. "I'll get the search teams organized right away," he replied. "We also need to inform the garrison discreetly. If Grover has been abducted or is in danger, we'll need all the manpower we can get available."
Eros agreed with a grim expression. "Yes, you're right. We can't rule out foul play. Someone might have had a motive to kidnap him or harm him. Send out messengers immediately, but make sure they keep this information confidential. We don't want to cause unnecessary panic."
"I will inform the imperial council of this immediately, Gabriela is-" Proteus was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from the corridor outside. A Soldier burst into the room, he was a diamond dog wearing a royal guard uniform, he approached both of them and saluted both.
"Holy archons." the newcomer exclaimed. "We've just received a message from the emperor's advance guard. They're arriving ahead of schedule. They'll be here by dawn!"
Eros cursed under his breath. The situation had just gone from bad to worse. With the emperor's early arrival, there was even less time to locate Grover and prevent a potential catastrophe. "Forget the damn council, they wouldn't arrive in time anyways!"
"Eros, you know we can't possibly do such a thing! Tensions among us and the Noble's are already bad enough, if they see we are moving troops around without notifying them they might come to the conclusion we are mobilizing and might do something to intervene. Causing an even bigger catastrophe than we already have on our claws!"
"Then what the fuck do you expect us to do??? Fuck all?? If the noble's get bitchy let them! Grover is more important than any of them!" He was taken aback once Eros turned around to him and shouted to his face. Eros took a deep breath, trying to calm his frustration in the face of this dire situation. He knew Proteus was right about the delicate political balance they were dealing with, but the urgency of the moment demanded action. "I apologize for losing my temper," Eros said, his voice steadier now. "We can't afford to wait for the council's approval. We'll have to mobilize our forces discreetly and keep the nobles in the dark for now. We'll deal with the consequences later if we have to. Our priority is finding Grover and ensuring the empire's stability."
Proteus nodded, acknowledging the gravity of the situation despite not agreeing with the decision. The trust he had in his old friend overshadowed his doubts and worries. "I'll make the necessary arrangements immediately. We'll need to act swiftly and decisively." He turned to the newly arrived guard. "Soldier, name and rank."
The diamond dog responded almost immediately with another salute. "Benito Haupthetzen, sir!"
This raised an eyebrow from the elderly Archon. "Benito? The one credited with personally saving the emperor's life in 978?"
A small puff of pride came from the dog. "Yes sir!" The archon nodded satisfied with the servile diligence of the soldier.
"Then I know i can trust you with this task." He patted the royal guard on the shoulders. "The palace is for now on in lockdown, no one leaves or enters without permission. I want every guard, servant, and civilian that came and went through the castle's vicinity in the last 2 hours. No one shall be spared from being questioned and interrogated, understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Get to it, soldier!" The Archon of Arcturius shouted, Benito saluted and nodded. Immediately rushed outside of the room with a retinue of soldiers following him. He returned his attention to Eros that just finished writing something.
"What are you doing?"
"Preparing a letter for our Changeling 'Allies'." The realization dawned in Proteus as Eros rolled his letter in his claws. And walked out of the room, Proteus following him.
"You think they are behind this?" Eros shook his head in uncertainty.
"I give a 50/50 chance they might, either they know something about this or they are definitively involved in this. Knowing how Chrysalis loves to spend time with the heir, I have no doubts that having Grover around her disgusting hooves would be something 'favorable' for that vile cockroach. If she doesn't talk, we will make her talk." Proteus blushed at the anger Eros radiated with each word talked involving Chrysalis.
"Don't let her hear you this, you know how much volatile her ego is."
He just scoffed. "I couldn't give a hoot for what that megalomaniac thinks about me, we both know our alliance is only of interests and nothing more."
Proteus just sighed. "You could at least try to hide your animosity when meeting them."
"Will do my best." He was lying.
His fellow archon could only look bemused. "I am serious Eros, for Arcturius sake, let's try to NOT escalate this further, we have enough enemies as it is."
"Will do my best." He repeated with the same unconvincing tone as before.
"We're here." He says in a neutral tone as he gets off the train. Its loud whistles cut through the noise of the heavy drops falling on the metal tiles.
The station was in a very quiet state, few living souls walked through the train stop at midnight, much less in a period of uncertainty that they found themselves in, leaving the place that was already slow and with little presence even more deserted. Combined with the rain, it took away the desire of many more Griffons to travel.
Perfect for an unobtrusive arrival.
On a technicality, he is in the capital as ordered, but a few hours in advance. As the Emperor returns from his much-publicized journey visiting every corner of the empire, his safety is essential, especially upon his arrival home at a scheduled time published in the newspapers. Extra security was needed in case any Republican sympathizers or Aquileian spies attempted funny business.
Therefore, his orders were to arrive in the capital in the afternoon with his divisions to stop in the city and ensure order.
And he was doing exactly as ordered, the top brass didn't need to know about the 'unorthodox' activities that were going on behind the scenes. Not for Dawnclaw.
"Is everything okay?" He just grunted in annoyance at the interruption of his thoughts as he looked at the source of the voice. "You've been staring into space for a few minutes now."
His companion wore a huge brown cloak that surrounded his entire body, Dawnclaw's idea to keep him anonymous, using the rain as an excuse. Even with constant complaining, he did it.
The albino would never admit it, but if it weren't for the irreplaceable usefulness of his company he would have already put a bullet between that crybaby's eyes. But Dawnclaw was patient, he had already waited years for this moment, and a few more days with unpleasant company would be nothing he couldn't handle.
Everything was going as planned, the pieces were already being placed and the gears were in motion. After weeks of jumping from state to state, recruiting allies, and gaining the loyalty of battalions across the entire empire. Everything was ready for the big moment.
"Hi? Can you hear me? Calling Dawnclaw ring-ring-ring!" The hooded figure would snap two of its claws together making a 'Snap' sound with each 'ring' he said.
Even after so much work, he was still debating with himself whether it wouldn't be better for him to just end this annoying pain in the ass.
He slapped the figure's claw from his face as he growled. "I'll break your claws if you don't knock that shit off."
The figure stepped back while holding its claws in a surrendering motion. "Hey hey! It's not my fault you're zoning out. For a soldier, you have a pretty bad attention span."
"It's hard to keep my concentration when I'm with a chicken that can't shut up." He growled as he walked out of the station, the train having closed its doors and leaving behind them.
"Aren't you a rain of sunshine?" The figure asked while jokingly scoffing.
Dawnclaw shot a piercing glare at his hooded companion, his icy blue eyes narrowing. "You really have a knack for testing my patience, don't you?"
The hooded figure chuckled, undeterred by Dawnclaw's irritation. "Oh, come on, Dawnclaw. We're in the heart of the Empire's capital, about to embark on a mission of utmost importance. A little banter helps ease the tension."
Dawnclaw couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation. "Ease the tension, you say? More like pushing all my fucking buttons."
The figure's hood bobbed in a nod as they continued walking through the dimly lit streets. "Well, you've got to admit, it's better than silence. Besides, you're stuck with me on this little 'mission', might as well make the best of it."
Dawnclaw grunted, recognizing the truth in those words. He couldn't deny the usefulness of his companion, even if their personalities clashed. "Just shut up. We have a job to do, and I'd prefer not to draw any more attention than necessary. I'd rather not be seen with an enemy of the state, much less joking with one."
The hooded figure flashed a grin within its now-revealed beak beneath the concealing cloak. "Don't worry, Dawnclaw. I'll be on my best behavior."
"You better, you idiot toymaker. For your own sake."
A tense silence came as they continued their walk, now entering the capital. Passing a sign that had arrows pointing directions, taking the one that led to the Griffenheim Military Command.