A discrete bell rang within the senior staff dining room. Minho briefly glanced at the clock and considered the short list of visitors at this unusual hour. He privately hoped it was Onew, but then the White Rabbit liked to play tricks on him and tended to avoid announcing his arrival to the Royal Household staff.

Minho walked to the door of the Main Hall of the palace. His shoes clicked and clacked on the polished tiles and they echoed about the vast space. Out of habit, he looked up at the galleries of the second floor to spy out misbehaving servants. They were empty tonight. The candles flickered in the soft air currents, as if they were pushing him along to complete his task.

The door was painted black as a signal that their lands were at war. During peace, they would be painted white, and the carved floral details were coloured bright red and gold. Now, the flowers were silver and deadly, as their Queen Scarlett could be to protect her throne. Minho pulled at the handles and the doors smoothly opened to reveal General Jun, of the Special Forces. He was dressed in his official uniform, as was demanded during a visit to the palace.

“General Jun,” Minho greeted him and the man gave a curt nod; “Please state your business.”

“I am here with a report to the Queen and a proposal for Quadrille.”

“I shall inform the Queen.”

Minho made a powerful against the surf; his long legs kicked and pushed him forwards. He was careful to follow the group of men and women so he would not be a hindrance and have General Jun rethink his participation. Most of the troops were from the nearby villages and were suited for the salty waters. They had gills on their necks and the scales on the females' skin were iridescent under water. Together, they quietly slipped amongst the enemy's docked ships and lifted each other up onto the deck of the biggest ship.

Crouching low, Minho moved silently through large wooden crates and barrels, keeping close to the soldier he was paired up with. His name was Feng and he exuded the feeling that Minho, a mere household staff from the palace, should not be with him.

Feng came upon a grate set into the floor and he judged that it would do for their purposes. Minho passed over the water-proofed sack he had carried on his back to Feng, who then carefully pulled out a device. It was a black cylinder, with curious knobs jutting out at one end. Minho watched him set it down and tied a thin rope around one of the knobs. He then twisted the cylinder and carefully dropped it through the grate. The other end of the rope was tied to the grate once he heard the soft clunk of the device hit the floor.

"Let's go," Minho breathed with excitement and Feng raised a questioning eyebrow. They rushed back to the edge of the ship. Minho climbed the hull, ready to jump into the water.

"Wait!" Feng pulled Minho back from his dive and peered into the murky water. Darker shadows moved just below its surface. They waited for a few more moments, holding their breaths in anticipation; and breathed out when a dorsal fin broke into the air. "Sharks!"

"What do we do?"

They continued to watch the waters and observed another shark come into view. Minho felt adrenaline pump through him as he began to think of a plan.

"How good is your aim?" he asked Feng.

"What do you mean?"

"We jump onto them and ride them back to shore."

"What?!"

"Come on, it’s not impossible!" Minho continued, calculating the distance and speed of the sharks. He then leapt from the ship. Feng watched in mixed horror and admiration as Minho effortlessly tumbled through the air and landed with great force onto the back of a shark. The shark briefly dipped back under water from the surprise and roared with anger when it realised it had picked up a passenger.

"He’s crazy!" Feng breathed before he followed Minho’s example.

Feng and Minho wrestled with their respective sharks and somehow managed to reach the shallow waters of the beach. General Jun, who was waiting on the beach, waved them towards him. Feng punched his shark's nose, knocking it unconscious, and swiftly swam to safety. Minho was about to do the same when he heard shouts in the water behind him. He looked back and saw another of their troops struggle in the water; it looked as if she was being pulled down by something.

“I’m going back to help!” Minho shouted out to the men on land, and sharply punched at his shark between its eyes. He then leapt off from the beast and swam back to the other soldier. She had gone under water and he treaded water, waiting for her to come back up.

General Jun counted the returning soldiers and looked out again at Minho and the female soldier. “That will do,” he murmured to himself and pulled out a black box. He flipped open the lid and stared at the big red button for a second, before he hastily pressed it down with all his might. He looked up and saw the ships explode in flames.

Just then, the female soldier resurfaced and gasped for air. Minho pushed himself towards her and dove under to see what was dragging her down. It was a small man with a head that resembled a fish. He wore finery that marked him as an officer of the White Court. He also had a frilly collar about his neck, which Minho found to look ridiculous – he knew Key wouldn’t have approved of it either – and showed his opinion by tearing it off as he kicked the man away from the female soldier. Then, together, Minho and the soldier swam back to shore.

"Excellent work," General Jun complimented Minho, as he gasped from exhaustion of the swim.

“Ho, General Jun!” A cheerful shout came to them from the path above the beach. Everyone looked up and saluted the White Rabbit.

Onew jogged down towards them. “That was some wonderful fireworks,” he said. “Ah! Minho!” Onew exclaimed as he spotted the wet man, “What are you doing here?”

“I volunteered,” Minho answered. He groaned a little as he rolled back onto his feet. “I am quite suited for wet activities.”

“Hmm, then maybe you could also volunteer to join me for a little trip?” Onew quietly suggested. He felt uneasy to see him out in the thick of the fighting, but what could he do if he was so stubborn as to volunteer in operations?

“It would be an honour, if General Jun permits?” Minho tactfully reminded Onew of whose authority he was currently under.

“Ah yes, General?” Onew sheepishly amended himself.

General Jun gave a small smile at the Rabbit’s momentary forgetfulness. “He is all yours,” he said, “And he did quite well; a fine man serving our Queen.”

Onew and Minho thanked General Jun and moved on in a small run. Onew discreetly observed Minho’s enthusiasm to do well. He felt an apprehension that Minho may have romantic ideas of what war was like. Due to his station within the Royal Household, Minho must have heard all of the General and Captains’ reports. Onew feared how the grim realities of war might break him, possibly when they reached the Fields of Quadrille.

Half an hour later, Onew and Minho arrived at the edges of the Fields of Quadrille. The battle was ending; the fighting was dwindling and shouts of White Court's retreat was echoing across the sooty and blood-drenched grass. They swiftly moved towards the Red Court's commanding tent.

The field was both noisy and eerily quiet. Stillness hung in the air. People were solemnly moving about, with groups attending to the wounded. Minho began to feel ill with each step he took. There was no glory in the shell-shocked blank stares of both the living and dead.

“Minho?” Onew gently called out to him and he obediently followed the White Rabbit. He stopped moving again when he heard soft cries for help.

Trapped under the heavy weight of a dead White Court soldier was someone wearing the colours of the Red Court. His eyes were fluttering and a sweat shone on his skin. He was weakly pushing at the dead man's weight, all the while quietly calling out for help.

Minho changed directions and went to his aid. He lifted the White Soldier off; but found the Red Soldier had been stabbed in his gut by a sword, possibly in their final moments of fighting with the White Soldier.

"Am I going to die?" the injured soldier whispered. Minho crouched to his knees and inspected the wound. It was seeping out dark crimson blood and, as far as he could tell, there was no puncture wound on the other side.

“Medic pack!” Minho looked up and saw Onew next to him, waving to a passing doctor.

"Am I going to die?" the man repeated.

"Soldier! Do not ask impossible questions!" Minho berated the soldier lightly; "You're alive this very second and this second can be a very long time indeed! You're banned from swimming though, there are sharks!" Minho then let out a wild laugh and the soldier weakly joined in, confused at the joke.

Onew silently handed him the supplies and Minho deftly tied off the wound dressing. He then gently eased the soldier against something so he wasn't lying flat on the ground. The wound was bad and he did what he could do in the current circumstances; he had treated wounds from kitchen accidents but not things incurred from battle. Minho looked about the battlefield and saw the bleak desolation. The Red Court had won the fight, but at a cost nonetheless.

"Thank you," said the soldier and Minho, dumbfounded, looked back at him.

"Why are you thanking me? I don't understand."

The soldier feebly coughed again. "Thank you, sir, for hearing me and helping me."

Minho nodded before he looked away with a closed throat. “No, thank you; you have won the fight, soldier.”