Zuria Kingdom

Luck did indeed favor everyone this day. Perhaps it was because of all the negative karma built up around certain individuals within this place, that a backlash of positive was bound to happen at some point? Regardless of this question... Guin and Arthur would make it to his room without incident. And once they were both inside and the door was both shut and locked there was a certain amount of relief in the lass. Beyond this point she was now alone with Arthur. Yes... alone. Whoops. That word became way too loaded in her own mind. Such a thing was highly unlikely in the first place, but once again, that doll in her hands was quiet and once again she looked up to find Arthur blushing as well. The young man's words hit her ear and made her face shift into one of curiosity. He thought to apologize for his words and actions from before and even question greater if he'd actually managed some offense against her. Her eyes widened just slightly and she covered her face with one hand shook her head back and forth from left to right. "Yes, of course I was acting," she said wondering if she appeared a bit too cold in the moment. That was her usual manner around the castle for various reasons. "No, it's nothing like that..." she said softly seeming embarrassed. "You really don't have to apologize. I generally act like that to all the Knights, even Sir Cador," Guin mentioned with a softness in her eyes. "Usually everyone is more prepared for that sort of thing..." she finished up.

The truth of the matter was, if Kolin thought any woman was being too nice to any man, that woman would go missing and that man would end up enchanted. Guin found herself being cold even to her own brother after seeing this happen enough times. Not that she wasn't well and truly angry at the blonde woman who usurped her throne. She obviously was, but that wasn't the fault of every knight or gentleman who showed up, though most would end up under her spell at some point or another. She wasn't the type to be angry at those who weren't deserving of her ire, Kolin had earned it, along with every single knight she brought with her, who acted like this world and its habitants were NPCs in a video game. But that was an entirely different, she wouldn't be thinking about that too much longer. "Is there something you needed to talk to me about?" she asked sincerely, she would be helpful to Arthur until he proved himself untrustworthy in some way.

"Oh─" he said, quite relieved that there wasn't something actually amiss. He had once considered the idea that his demeanor toward Kolin would be taken earnestly in passing glances. Arthur had become rather dedicated to the act as of late, if only to ensure his own ability to aide the others who were caught up in this mess. "Don't fret. I just wanted to clear anything up if something was wrong. You're quite the actor though, Guin," he offered with a smile. Moving on, Arthur stepped deeper into the room and took a seat on his bed. Excalibur was taken from his side, propped against the mattress as well.

Did he have something to talk to her about? There was much, in fact. Arthur cleared his throat, letting the thoughts accumulate for a moment before divulging. "A few things, yes. Firstly... I still have your knife. Hoping you wouldn't mind, I took the liberty of cleaning it. I may still need it, if you don't mind me keeping it for another night or two," he requested, bowing his head as he did so. There were matters of far greater importance, though, and it was hardly worth waiting to reveal them. "As for the other thing, there are some very sinister things happening here. Kolin revealed her greater plan to me earlier, and... I wonder if anyone realizes how bad it really is─"

According to Arthur Guin was a good actress, and she could agree with this information somewhat bashfully. "Occupational hazard..." she said seeming a bit sheepish about the whole thing. She was glad at least that this lad seemed to understand her a bit. Regardless, he also seemed to have a fair bit of skill in such a manner considering he'd completely fooled Kolin into thinking him loyal to her. He went on to claim he had cleaned her knife and might need it a bit longer. She thought about it for a moment looking down at her doll for a few seconds and nodded. "Yes, that's fine. I do appreciate you cleaning it for me. You can keep it until you don't need it anymore..." she said softly. It was one of those strange moments when she felt she was truly normal again, and that was very rare indeed.

She watched the lad get comfortable and explain that the Queen had taken enough favor of him to reveal her greater plan to him. Her brows rose gently, such a thing was mostly unheard of, but she wasn't really surprised given the Queen's change in temperament around the lad. She gave a gentle sigh, of course none of them had any idea how bad her plans could be on the whole, but they did know how bad she was already. "We are more aware of the crazed temperament she possesses than most of you can be. As girls we have watched her get rid of every other female attendant, maid, and cook... bar myself, Emilia and that devil of a court-mage. We know she has no problem treating everyone else as if their lives don't matter and have watched her systematically ruin this Kingdom when the Gamer Knights she brought with her are all treating every single person in this world as if they are only here for their amusement, so..." Guin stopped for a moment, giving a gentle shrug. "You can't really surprise me at this point. And if you manage to... well..." she said giving a gentle wave of her hand. "Go ahead." she said waiting to hear the worst of Kolin that apparently Arthur had come to know.

An occupational hazard, was it? Fair enough. Dealing with the sort of madness Arthur had seen in only the past day or so, he could only imagine one such as Guinevere needed to develop a few tricks to survive. The truth of this assumption became clear when the ashen-haired woman explained what happened to all the other ladies of the castle... bar three. Regardless of the dangers to herself, she seemed fine to let Arthur continue borrowing her precious dagger. The knight was somewhat reprehensive about this, even though Cador himself had spoken of Arthur's importance to keeping good people safe within Zuria. "You're sure? You obviously have the ability to take care of yourself, but is there anything I can offer in exchange? I don't have weapons other than my own sword and your knife, but maybe a secret code in case you're in danger? I just... hate to leave you more defenseless than you have to be."

As for the insanity of Queen Kolin, Arthur found it hard to even mention. Guin implied that there was no dealing of Kolin that could surprise her, but... what if she, and everyone else, had been underestimating that dastardly woman all along? Whatever the case, the knowledge he had required sharing. Arthur's words would come in the wake of a deep, exasperated sigh. "Kolin's plans are to leave Zuria in ruin to fuel a new kingdom of her own, across the impassable desert. Things aren't as simple as that. She has access to some magical seal, and she plans on using it to trap people in this new kingdom... including people that will be enslaved there. You, Emilia, and many other women are to be transformed into brainwashed whores, whom Kolin would use as stepping stones for patrons she thinks will be vying for her attention. Of course, she plans on doing nothing with them. She wants her new kingdom elevated into the sky. She wants to take the form of a goddess after trampling all over the livelihoods of good, innocent people. She wants knights like Sir Cador, Sir Lot, and myself to be her playthings while the devotion of her kingdom rises enough to help her seek old vengeance in some strange world above this one, including a vendetta against the current King Arthur... whom I am almost positive is my sister."

Arthur soon asked Guin if she was sure about the knife. While he explained that his sword and the knife she'd given him were his only weapons, he didn't want to leave her without the ability to protect herself. A chuckle left Guin's mouth in this moment because she truly didn't need the knife, it simply had sentimental value to her. She held the doll within her hands and squeezed it gently before speaking. "Truly, you can keep the knife, I don't keep it for protection... I keep it because it is the last memory I have of a happy childhood, lived a second time in this world," she said softly. And she gave him a shrug. "I am in less danger than most, no one who would hurt me can get past Viy," she said looking at the doll in her hands. Still the offer of help even when he was the one who needed it most gave her a bit of hope in the world. "Such a summer child to offer a thing when you have less. I need little but I do not turn down help, if I need you... I'll call upon you, Arthur..." she said. In the same way that she'd agreed to Sir Cador's help when she realized she couldn't simply kill Kolin, she'd take all the help she could get, against these toxic gamers.

Ah, but the toxicity of gamers wasn't all there was to deal with, there was the deranged mind of an actual woman at work and that was something else entirely. Arthur went on to tell a tale of many deeds planned by Kolin. She was to leave Zuria in ruin and fuel her new kingdom across the desert. Old news. Plans to use magic and trickery to enslave people and make them do things she would not do herself. Pretty much her MO. Guin and Emilia to be brainwashed whores... that also wasn't really surprising. When she'd first come to this Kingdom she'd tried to get Guin and other women inside the court on her side while she tried and failed to seduce the King. Kolin wanted all of the knights to continue to be her playthings while she whored herself for power? Par for the course. The only truly surprising part of this situation was that Arthur thought his sister was the King Arthur of Legend. But... Guin had been in this world quite a long time, she grew up in this place so she knew the tales of the Knights of the Roundtable. "The Queen of Knights is your sister, truly? That is the most surprising thing you've said..." Guin asserted. "The world above is supposed to be like fairytales. Calm and peaceful, ruled by just kings and queens with their people's best interests at heart. Only small kingdoms here ever get that way and most crumble before they ascend, due to the actions of those who are unable to comprehend the greater good." she said softly. Ascending this place had been one of her greater aspirations. She thought she could have ruled Zuria as her parents did, and take it farther, see it as a shining jewel within the sky, but such dreams were dashed the moment Kolin stepped into sight. She was quite sure any who truly understood what kind of person Kolin was, would be less than shocked by her current actions than Arthur appeared to be. If anything the only thing shocking about this situation is the lengths she went through to get her revenge. "I may not have known she wished to become a goddess, but when you want all attention on you, rising to godhood is about the best you can do. Sir Lot is among the knights who serves her interests willingly, he isn't counted among the trustworthy, he'd be happy as one of many so long as he felt he remained important. The only truly shocking thing about that plan, is how many extra steps she is taking to simply want revenge. Who is she showing off for?" Guin couldn't fathom why this woman was so very scorned, but she imagined whatever happened to her before was not so big a deal as she was making it. At her core the girl behind Guin may not have been a gamer, but she'd been a young woman and gone to school with many kinds of people. She knew the over-dramatic popular reject fallen from grace when she laid eyes on them. The only problem in this world, was that instead of getting pregnant right out of high school and ending up fat, this one got to abuse magic and stew in her crazy ideations.

No protection? Well, that set the knight at ease... sort of. If she claimed to be capable of defending herself without that knife, he could only trust her honesty. Besides, her mention of that doll by name while embracing it, implied something of a superior identity to the object. Regardless of whatever abilities she had, his concern would not waver. At least she accepted his offer to be available, in case she actually required his assistance; that set things at ease a bit more. "Alright. I will accept that much, and try to worry less. All things considered, I'm not liking this world very much so far."

Arthur offered so much disturbing information, yet none of it came as a surprise to Guinevere. This was just a testament to Arthur's distaste for the current world. Of everything he said, the only shocking thing Guin took from it was that his sister was likely the present King Arthur. "Wow, really?" he questioned in shock, wondering how bad life truly had to be here. There were clearly the horrors he'd seen thus far, but things could have only been worse for Guinevere to be so nonchalant at the time. "Yes, my older twin sister and I joined this game with twin characters both based on King Arthur. I never got to really join her in the game, but I plan on fixing that here. According to Kolin's plan, though... she expects me to behead the current King Arthur so she can put her head on a pike or something." Everything about that woman was so extreme. The same could even be said of her legitimate followers, such as Sir Lot─ Arthur certainly didn't need to be told that he wasn't on the list of trustworthy people here. As for who Kolin was showing off for, Arthur couldn't have hazarded a guess if he tried. He knew far too little, and honestly, he didn't want to know as much as he did. This experience could have been so great, yet here it was spiraling out of control day after day. "Whatever she's doing, it has to stop in Zuria. I'll do what I can to make sure that happens, hopefully without being turned from a man into a madwoman's boy toy along the way."

It seemed her words granted Arthur some form of ease. A small smile appeared on Guin's face, if she could have properly told him he had nothing to worry about she would have, but she couldn't right just now. "You can worry less. This world is only truly bothersome if you try and go through it alone. And when people who played that godforsaken game act like everyone besides them is NPCs," she said softly. "Rather, the only worry here is humans and how toxic they are translating to the core of their beings here, with the power to not have to bend to rules of decency," she said and that was the truth. Here the only problem was, there was no establishment to keep people like Kolin from going completely off the rails. No individual would come and stop her and instead she was just left to carry on with her evil unchecked.

Apparently beyond this point Arthur was surprised that she found his relation to the Queen Artoria Pendragon more surprising than anything else. It did speak volumes for her experience in this world, but she was sure there were many who knew worse than her losing her parents by the time the reached the same age here. "Of course that is more surprising. There is an entire class in school here about Queen Artoria and how she and her Knights lifted Camelot," Guin explained. Having to go through school again hadn't been pleasant for her, but that learning experience had been among her favorites. And a Future Queen should always know history. She could hear her father's words in her head. So that she can decide which of her predecessors to copy and whose footsteps should be left to blow away in the snow. For Kolin to want someone with such an untarnished legend dead, could only mean the woman stole some man's attention from her. Or more likely some man decided another woman was worth more attention than Kolin. As that was what happened when her father was killed. Still Arthur spoke fondly of his sister, such things gave Guin a great deal of hope, regardless of the unsavory plans that Kolin had. "The Queen of Knights is one I believe might live up to her legend. If that is the case, I can believe you'll find that happiness eventually," Guin said, she was more than a little willing to place faith in this lad and his family as it was all she really had left. Still, a soft warning would come with that... "That pike thing is very much a her thing to do. She is quite serious about it," Guin mentioned flatly. She'd returned from a short outing and found her mother's head on a pike attached to the castle wall. She was forced to stare at it by Kolin so she wouldn't get any unsavory ideas about doing anything stupid around her. And she'd agreed to keep someone important to her safe. Beyond this his words gave her a bit of comfort, she didn't really know why but knowing that he wasn't properly interested in Kolin gave her a bit of relief. She was quietly looking down for a moment and then she looked up. She'd heard the voice of her doll for the first time in Arthur's presence but it wasn't warning her against him, instead it offered him a warning instead. "Viy says... you can't trust the Witch's temperament." she said with a careful shrug. "That's all though, strange she usually doesn't care what happens to others. I do hope you manage it though... I'll do what I can as well. As I always do," she said giving a soft smile. She should really get going. It would be bad if she was caught in this place having a friendly chat with this man.

"I'm not so sure that's the limit, even if you say it is. I could hardly imagine even being here in a group without struggling for some semblance of happiness." Arthur was not quite beaten by this world, but he had a hard time seeing how those who'd been here for extensive periods of time, hadn't been utterly destroyed. There was a decently-sized group in Zuria already, and all of them seemed a bit... jaded. Could he do something about that during his journey? Things looked grim, but there was hope.

Possibly the greatest beacon of hope, was one Artoria Pendragon. If he could ascend, if he could find her one day, surely things could be different. Hopefully, he could even be of use to Ashikaga Kimiko, wherever she was in the world right now. She had to be well-off; there was no doubt in Arthur's mind. Over time though, he wondered if that greedy, rich girl could be negatively influenced by the realm she was certainly in. Kolin couldn't have always been the way she was, right? Even with an inkling of her current self present throughout her life, he refused to believe she was always this. "I'll do my best to reach Camelot, at all cost. There is only one thing I care to do before that, but maybe even Camelot could help me with that. I guess I'll find out over time," he said. Something strange occurred just then. Guin conversed with her doll, which he'd been assuming had some greater purpose than simple comfort. Even so, it was an odd thing to hear about. That doll had a warning for him? Well, it was at least good advice that he wouldn't think to go against. "My thanks to Viy, and you as well, Guinevere," he offered while an arm crossed over his chest. "I'm looking forward to making it out of this untroubled. All of us."

A smile came to Guin's face. He was quite right, even with other people it would still be a struggle to find one's own happiness. "I mean, life is generally exactly that anyways, right? I am sure somewhere there are people who are cooperating and having a great time of it," she said feeling it was likely true despite how terribly her own situation had gone. If she was behind honest, she was pretty certain, that those like Kolin and her band likely felt they were living the best possible life, they just happened to be ruining other people's lives in the meantime.

Apparently beyond it all, this lad had dreams of reaching Camelot. That was a great dream, it seemed so far off into the future, and yet, Guin had high hopes for this man yet. Whatever other goals he had, she hoped he reached them as well. "A spring time dream, I have high hopes for it..." she said softly. Of course, they were about to part, but she'd passed on the message from the spirit she shared a connection with, and though she expected to be met with some skepticism the lad simply thanked both her and the spirit. Her eyes widened. "Yeah, it's no problem. I'll see you Arthur..." she said giving the lad a curtsy. She approached the door and tapped it. Of course, she wouldn't just be walking out into this hallway without making sure she wouldn't be seen first. That would have been disastrous. "I hope you can remain as you are... it's refreshing at least," she said of the lad coming through unscathed. Those she'd already interacted with, she knew would likely never view people or the world the same after their experiences. Perhaps though, Arthur could make it through without this world utterly damaging him. After Viy's eyes flashed within her own and cleared the door for exit, she'd slip out, taking a path which would leave her back where she belonged at this time in the evening. No more problems would plague her this day, but there was still the next day to worry about.

"Oh, I agree. I actually have two other sisters, and I'm sure they're all up there in Camelot having a great time," he said, never failing to assume his sibling trio stuck together through everything. Guin's hope being added to his own was a matter of comfort for the young knight; it gave him further confidence to press onward on this terrible journey. One might wonder if Guinevere had a place on that journey as well, but alas, that wasn't something he could allow himself to think about here and now. Never would he be able to allow himself pipe dreams like that, while others were fighting for their very lives around him. Another day, perhaps. . .

Ah, yes... another day indeed. With Guinevere's heartwarming farewell, Arthur was off to bed until the next day came about. On that day, he reported to the throne room shortly after rising. What he'd find there was far from the norm, though. Cador and Lot were present as usual, and even an oddly-silent Leorio was seated in his throne. There was a group of strange bodies, though. Among them were two red-haired males, one clearly a knight, and the other clearly a jester... and there was another with white hair, who looked oddly familiar. These three stood among the usual row of knights as if they belonged, bar the jester who seemed just barely out of line at the bottom of the throne's stairs. All were simply awaiting the queen's arrival. Today... would soon become a rather interesting day indeed.