Augustiva, Istevia
14th Osteliasos, 1910
It seemed that no matter where one went in Agustiva, there was someone, no, some group, protesting on the streets of the capital city. And of course, it was all for the same reasons, as several protesters marched through the streets, waving signs and shouting. These events had been going on for at least a month, but only recently did they intensify to their current state. It was all the culmination of a failing monarchy, a bitter populace, and an angered navy, or at least, that’s what a young Catelina Isard had heard over the past few weeks. In truth, she had no idea what to think of any of the events going outside of her small apartment yet, especially not with so many differing opinions and events going on.
“They keep getting worse and worse it seems.” someone else in the small apartment, a young man would reply, wearing little more than trousers held up by suspenders, as he sat besides Catelina in a small bed. “. . . You still don’t think we should get involved? The shortages are already getting bad enough, and there’s too many protesters for the so called King’s Eye to catch us. . . “ He turned to look back at Isard, his tanned face and brown eyes now directed at her.
“I don’t know Jon,” Isard, identically dressed, now looked back, her own blue eyes contrasting with the man’s. “I don’t know what to think of any of this. My friends are already down there, but you know my sister’s in the army as well, I don’t want her to see me amongst the protestors. We should probably go visit my aunt’s farm until this all blows over, I don’t think- “
“Kirla’s probably having an even worse time than we are, especially with the drought we’ve been having, we shouldn’t bother her like that, and you know.” Jon Karrd, Catelina’s best friend and occasional lover, replied once again to her.
“Look, I know you don’t want to protest,” Jon immediately cut her off, rising from the bed. “ but think about it, we’re sitting here slowly beginning to find ourselves starving, several friends you and I both know are losing their jobs over criticising the nobility, and my cousin’s not even getting paid for doing his damn job properly, we need to get involved in fixing things here, not just sitting around and doing noth- “
There was a knock on the door, quite heavy and rapid in its strikes, prompting Catelina and Jon to grab their coats. “Kat! Kat! Come out here please!” Rang out, an unmistakable voice to the young woman, now walking over to open the door.
Outside stood a slightly older woman, dressed in a light blue uniform and a small peaked cap on her head. “Kat, we need to get out of here soon, I’ll have to explain later.” She said, an urgent look on her face. “All you need to know now is that things aren’t going to end well tonight.”
“What? Are you okay Mila? Is something going on?” Catelina was surprised to see the usually quite relaxed police officer in such a state, having never seen her like that before, immediately causing her to worry. After all, Mila was the same person who could crush someone’s groin if she needed to, thus, something that tended to cause her worry. . .
“Look, there’s going to be something going on later today, I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but when it does we need to be far away fro-”
It was then that a sudden sound spread across the city, seemingly stopping time around the entire city. To some, it was the inevitable, to others, an unforseen event. Regardless, it was with this sound, a sound that would inevitably change the nation forever, that the cry for war was shouted, and soon answered, in the now divided Istevia.
