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"What is the report, Celia?" Their monarch didn't wait a moment to ask, eager to know the situation (and, in the back of his mind, considering some sort of leash for his Queen-to-be). One of the things he hated about his position was that he often wasn't present on the battlegrounds, and, even if he was, he was placed far in the back, away from harm. This meant that any information he recieved was already somewhat out of date, as battles could change within a moment.

Celia was honestly a little surprised. She had only just entered the room when prompted for her report. Given that she was after all late, and therefor assuming that the others had already presented theirs, this wasn't entirely strange, nor unexpected...The knight scanned the room quickly, realizing Liozu was missing...At least she hadn't been the last one to return. It took a moment, but she suddenly realized she hadn't answered the question.

"Oh, um...I personally encountered three demons, attempting to escape through the woods,"she said, not especially enjoying the thought of having to explain her actions in detail, but if prompted to she would...hopefully, that wouldn't happen. "I engaged them, we fought, and I um...I wasn't able to bring any of them back to question,"as she continued she was trying to sound confident, at least as much so as she usually did during a report, but she was fumbling a little.

Casting a glance back to the castle as she stood up, Empress nodded. She could feel her sweet little dragon's reluctance, and it was reward enough, besides the kiss.

"I admit," she grinned sharply, and while the glitter in her eyes was cheery, it was more from probably having caused inconvenience with Liozu's lateness rather than from real happiness. "That I should too. While I'm sure everybody else have already given all the information about the battle available, I should also go and make my report. I'll see you later, Ana," Empress said brightly, helping the girl to pack up the remains of the picnic, and then grabbed one of Ana's hands, kissing the the back of it before hefting the basket.

"Since I'm going past the kitchen, I can leave this there." With one last smile at Ana, Empress left the garden and returned the basket to the kitchen before wandering through the castle to where Jett was holding his after-battle conference.

"Yes, they were sentient..."She didn't like the sound of the 'were'; it even seemed to leave a lingering, bitter taste after she finished saying it. There was a slight lull before she returned to the original question posed by the other. It took a minute of thought for her to try and place the location of her fight...She realized, of course, what it was that Aiketh was really asking; If they hadn't been noticed, would they have been stopped or not by the barrier?

She let out a little sigh, realizing that while it wasn't far inside, maybe only between 5 and 10 feet, in their haste to escape they had in fact crossed through the shield. "They were coming from the west, as a part of the group that started the fire. When I encountered the demons they were just within the shield,"Celia explained slowly, trying to speak clearly though there was a slight shaking to her voice as she did so; she did not like being the bearer of bad news.

That was precisely what she was hoping no one would ask. She shut her eyes for a moment, swallowing anxiety that felt like a rock. "I um...I attempted to bring them back...but..."She bit her lip and paused a moment. The knight really wasn't sure how to phrase it, exactly.

However, her dragon stepped in for her. He held up a small sign, reading only 'They resisted and she was forced to deal with them to defend herself.' Kahaku looked up to his Knight, hoping she would know well enough to go with it...She had been so off ever since the incident...He was worried she might snap...and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

Celia stared at him, a little shocked but very grateful...That wasn't what had happened. The demons hadn't attacked her at all...But Kahaku was covering for her...She didn't bother to think why he would do it, but nodded in agreement...If he was going to lie for her, the least she could do was agree with him.

She sighed; Fantastic, he wasn't going to let it go..."No...No Kahaku was out before the fight..."She explained, the slight tremor in her voice growing. She was going to have to explain, that much was clear. She hesitated again...Why was this so hard? As a Knight she had been forced to kill before, though she tried to avoid it whenever possible...Was that why this was so different? Because she had simply ended their lives with no trouble at all?

This was worrisome. Kahaku could tell things were not going to go away easily...Even though she had her hands behind her back, the Dragon could sense his Knight clenching her fists, even though she didn't show it at all on her face...Things were getting worse by the moment, and he was honestly starting to wonder whether it was worse to keep trying to forestall, or simply explain as vaguely as possible and hope for minimal prompting after that.

'Celia, I think its time to just explain things...'said Kahaku, knowing the others couldn't hear him, and realizing that the stubborn Illusia was never going to let this go until he had ever detail he could manage to get out of her. He was like a wolf perusing prey on this topic; he wouldn't back off until he had ripped it to shreds...At least, that's how Kahaku's slightly irritated mind saw it.

One last sigh to brace herself readied Celia; Kahaku was right. So, despite her reluctance, she started to speak, "There were three demons in total. The first one was killed by one of my senbon. I...I didn't mean to...but my aim was a little off...The spike ended up piercing his neck. The second and third seemed to want revenge after that...I managed to block their attacks but ended up cutting one of them in half..."The tremor was growing stronger the more she spoke. She didn't mean to kill them, so why was this so damn difficult?!

She swallowed again, this time a slightly larger brick of anxiety. "...I'm not sure what happened to the third, honestly...but...When I left, he was most definitely dead..." As soon as she said that, she wished she hadn't; how odd did that sound...Not remembering how you had killed someone? It was too late now to take it back, though.

"Am I late to the party?" Liozu asked as he wandered into the room, the air thick with tension. A glance cast around the room told Empress most of it was coming from the Water Knight.

Aw, poor, shivering sweet little thing. Let me eat you. Or your dragon. Snickering in her mind, Empress shook her head mentally to focus on the outside.

"I was a little... busy. I hope no one minds," she said with a wide smile, easily concealing the predatory air to it and showing the cheerfulness to the front.