The politicians and city officials may not have been willing to admit that they saw the writing on the wall but Yuzuru and his team, if you could call them that, weren't quite so naive. As the threat of Malkuth's army draws near they act without hesitation. Yuzuru sends the prince with the two other guardsmen he trusts the most, the three of them dressed down like common merchants so they can slip through the city unseen. They disappear into the abandoned factory hours before nightfall with none but Yuzuru left to say where they've gone.
Yuzuru himself never stays in one place for long after that, donning finer clothes to throw even his own men into confusion as to whether he's Rei or Yuzuru. By the time the palace doors are breached only a few can say for sure if the prince himself is still in the palace, fleeing to safety, or already dead. It's an unpleasant deception, but a wholly necessary one. Every hour, every minute, every second the enemy spends believing that Yuzuru is the prince is a little more time the real prince has to flee to safety.
Fortunately (hah) he won't have to act it out much longer. It's just himself and three others left in the final uninvaded study. One waits by the window and shoves it open the instant the door is blasted apart, leaping down into the small garden below. The other waits half a second longer, lets out a theatrical cry of, "Prince, this way!", and then follows the first. The third, a swordsman, waits to the side of the door and rushes to meet the first of the Malkuth soldiers with steel. Yuzuru himself has been preparing for this moment. He stands still and steady, bow in his hands and arrow knocked but not yet drawn, eyes closed as he readies an arte of his own. It's a bit of a strain but he holds it in check until the very last instant, unleashing it just half a second after the door bursts open and the soldiers pour in.
"Negative Gate!" Yuzuru is a competent fonist in his own right, but he knows it won't do much. All four of them are certain to die, either here in this room or while they attempt to flee this city later - but every single second they can buy is precious. It's for that reason that Yuzuru doesn't hesitate. As soon as he's recovered from the art his raises his bow and draws, taking aim at what he's pretty sure is the group's the fonist and releasing as quick as he dares.
no subject
Yuzuru himself never stays in one place for long after that, donning finer clothes to throw even his own men into confusion as to whether he's Rei or Yuzuru. By the time the palace doors are breached only a few can say for sure if the prince himself is still in the palace, fleeing to safety, or already dead. It's an unpleasant deception, but a wholly necessary one. Every hour, every minute, every second the enemy spends believing that Yuzuru is the prince is a little more time the real prince has to flee to safety.
Fortunately (hah) he won't have to act it out much longer. It's just himself and three others left in the final uninvaded study. One waits by the window and shoves it open the instant the door is blasted apart, leaping down into the small garden below. The other waits half a second longer, lets out a theatrical cry of, "Prince, this way!", and then follows the first. The third, a swordsman, waits to the side of the door and rushes to meet the first of the Malkuth soldiers with steel. Yuzuru himself has been preparing for this moment. He stands still and steady, bow in his hands and arrow knocked but not yet drawn, eyes closed as he readies an arte of his own. It's a bit of a strain but he holds it in check until the very last instant, unleashing it just half a second after the door bursts open and the soldiers pour in.
"Negative Gate!" Yuzuru is a competent fonist in his own right, but he knows it won't do much. All four of them are certain to die, either here in this room or while they attempt to flee this city later - but every single second they can buy is precious. It's for that reason that Yuzuru doesn't hesitate. As soon as he's recovered from the art his raises his bow and draws, taking aim at what he's pretty sure is the group's the fonist and releasing as quick as he dares.