May 14th, 2022.
In the infirmary of the Amit Metropolitan Center, two former partners met again for the first time in over a decade. Talen Amit and Alora Illustrious.
The eyes that beheld her gorgeous features shimmered. Eventually, he averted his gaze, leading her to raise a brow. Stepping closer, her hand gently raised.
"What's wrong?"
Her hand was grabbed before she could touch him; held tightly between his fingers as he turned his head. Now, the two of them were closer than ever, gazing into one another's eyes. She stifled a chuckle.
"If I were any other girl, the way you're holding me would probably hurt. Aren't you lucky?"
As usual, all of Talen's friends had to tease him one way or another, much to his displeasure. Once he released her, she smirked, inching ever closer—lips mere centimeters away from his ear.
"The usual place. Meet me there in five, 'kay?"
Leaving him with a coded whisper, Alora left the infirmary, spotting Anthony fleeing the vending machine. Two drinks of water in hand, he beamed at the enforcer. While they inaudibly chatted behind him, the lawyer contemplated the meaning of her message. Shooting his eyes toward the nurse treating the other patients, Talen briefly refrained from displaying his surprise.
Finishing his talk with Alora, Tony walked in and now stood beside his friend. Handing him the water while busily chugging down his own, Amit gradually took the bottle into his hand. Gazing into his distorted reflection but briefly, he sighed.
Talen groaned. "Come on," he said, dragging his friend from the infirmary.
"Huh?! Didn't we just get here?" Tony complained.
"Don't be too loud. I'll tell you when we get there."
"Ugh… MORE STAIRS?!"
On the rooftop of the Center, Alora was revealed to be patiently waiting for Tony and Talen.
Hair swaying in the wind, her blue corneas targeted the duo upon their exit from the elevator.
"Took ya long enough," she greeted them both.
"Uh, do any of you feel like explaining while we're talking on the rooftop?" Anthony asked.
"The Syndicate and the Enforcers are organizations overlooked by Supreme King Barron. It's no surprise one of them, sent by the Angel, was here to look over Alora and listen in on our conversation. That way, they could relay information to the mastermind. That nurse had a halo tattoo implanted on her neck. I hadn't noticed before but…"
Talen thought back to the agent his family interrogated following the attack on his home. Unmasking them revealed an identical halo tattoo plastered over their neck: the Mark of the Angel.
"Each agent under the command of the Angel has that mark. That's the way to identify the imposters," explained the lawyer.
"Good to see you haven't lost your touch, Tal. Speaking of this Angel, I believe I've confirmed the truth of his identity. Yesterday afternoon, I was sent to the industrial district to investigate a Fate-sourced disturbance. There, I fought a Violator and was about to beat him. But, someone saved him. That someone, however, brief their appearance, wielded the same aura as our Uriel Barron. It may very well be possible… that he's still alive."
As she spoke his name, he remained silent. Closing his eyes to block out the world, he shakily exhaled. Once a chuckle slipped his lips, the lawyer nodded, beginning to open his eyes again as Anthony nervously watched.
"Yes. I thought as much. A few days ago, I went to speak to Anthony here and he told me the possibility does exist that Uri still lives. Back, I was reluctant to believe it. But this is no mere coincidence. The Angel alias, the usurpation plot—all of these lead to the conclusion that my best friend… is still alive."
"Yeah, which still begs the question: how is he even alive in the first place? I thought necromancy was a forbidden technique and impossible?" Tony questioned.
"It should be. Then again, it's still possible he faked his death, to begin with. The body we saw and the blood that splattered—all of it could've easily been fabricated," Alora suggested.
"Why, though? What does he gain from doing something like that? If Uri's turned out to be such an evil guy, why? What's his endgame?" Anthony turned to Talen. "You got anything?" he asked.
Removing the hand from his mouth and glancing at Tony beside him, the lawyer nodded. "His last meeting with me. He said some things I didn't understand at the time, but in retrospect, it makes more sense the more I remember it. Maybe I…" His voice grew shaky.
Alora noticed the sparkle in his eyes. "Tal?"
Tony heard the quivering in his voice. "H-hey…" he put his hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Both of his friends widened their eyes; shocked to see the strongest man they knew, fall to his knees and start crying. Tears staining his cheeks, he eventually keeled over, burying his face in his hands.
Alora ran forward, placing his body in the touch of her arms. Holding his friend's shoulder as he now knelt beside him, Tony worriedly looked at him; listening as the sound of saddened words croaked from Talen's trembling lips.
"If I'd known better… if I understood then the way I did now… maybe none of this would've happened! Maybe… I wouldn't have had to witness him die right before my eyes! If I'd been smarter, if I knew what he was saying, I could've prevented it entirely!"
"You have to stop beating yourself up over it. That was over ten years ago. It's not your fault," she reassured him.
"She's right, Tal. We were all there when it happened. You're not alone in this. It's not just you, it never is."
Alora pulled him forward, holding him in his arms while Tony sat behind him.
Nestling into her chest, Talen continued to sob. "I'm so fucking weak. I can't even save my best friend…"
"Shhhhh…" Alora stroked the back of his head. "It'll all be okay. If you're weak, then so are we," she whispered.
"Yeah." Anthony smiled, throwing one arm over his knee and looking to the vast blue sky. "Let's all be weak together."
…
Evening.
Talen slept in his bed, hugging the pillow close to his chest.
Alora pecked his forehead and walked away, closing the door and leaving him in the darkness of his quarters. Leaning against the wall behind the door, Tony looked at her.
"How's he doing?"
"He just fell asleep," she replied.
"That's good. He needs the rest," he said.
She started walking to the living room, swatting the curtain that served as its entrance. "Mhm. You got a lighter?" She sat on the couch, lifting a joint from the ashtray.
"Always. Here, catch." He threw it to her, looking around for a chair he could use.
She caught it and ignited the flame, watching the smoke lift from the spliff's end to envelop the room's air. Inhaling rather briefly, she exhaled from her nostrils shortly thereafter.
"So—" He piled up a chair to the table bordering them. "—how've you been?"
She snickered. "Good. Is that the best you can do at making small talk?"
"Well, besides the occasional visits from Tal, I haven't talked to anyone in over ten years so…" He shrugged.
"I'm sorry. I tried my best to fight for you but the voice of one measly enforcer is irrelevant to the opinion of the King."
"You don't have to apologize. I know you and the others believed in me. Having said that, I wish I could say that same for him," he lamented.
She exhaled more smoke, removing the joint from her lips. "I know what you mean. Ah, I guess he's always been like that though…" she leaned across the table to hand him the stick.
He chuckled, putting the joint in his mouth. "I believe that. Say, what's the deal with you two? I mean, I've known you for a while but I always wondered if you and him… well, y'know," his muffled voice spoke.
"Oh, no. He and I are close but it's never been like that. Neither he nor I ever had feelings of the sort. You see, it goes back to childhood for us. The Amit Family House was influential and I was a mere outsider. Even so, when Talen was young, the other kids always used to bully him. They said things like, 'where's your bodyguard now?' or something like that. Everyone else would look at it and avert their eyes. Not me, though. You see, a mere outsider protected the prodigy of the Amit Family. I beat all their asses and sent them home crying to their parents—"
She trailed off amid her story, gesturing all over the place and closing her eyes while moving her head. Upon turning back toward him, he was leaning forward on both hands, anticipating more of her ancient tale. She smiled, spotting the youthful glint in his eyes.
"I was noticed by his parents. They decided to take me in. They said he needed a friend—someone to keep him on the straight and narrow. So, we grew up together. I taught him how to defend himself, and how to hone his Fate abilities. Eventually, he got the hang of everything and he became so strong he didn't need me to protect him anymore. However, he didn't bench me, nor did his family. I, him, and Uriel were all part of the same group when we volunteered to become agents for the Syndicate. Throughout our teenage years… we got close. All of us." She grinned sadly, withholding a sniffle. "It always made me so happy to see him laugh so hard with Uri by his side. But, nothing lasts forever."
Anthony nodded, handing the joint back to her. "Ya know, I only spent a little bit of time with you guys. Despite that, it meant so much to me. Being labeled as a monster because of someone I couldn't control and even so, you all loved me. Tal, Uri, his family, you. To be honest, I… always liked you the most," he confessed, sheepishly rubbing his nape.
"Really? In what way?"
"Well, I mean, I always thought you were hot. Then again, I was like 15 back then so—" He chuckled nervously.
Holding it between her fingers, she pushed out another cloud of smoke. "And? What about now?"
"Honestly debating if we should talk about this any further," he admitted.
"Why? Because of what lies within you? Are you afraid?"
"More worried. What if something were to happen to you because of it?" He retorted.
She stood from the couch, shuffling around the table to trail her fingers along his shoulders. "I'm flattered by your concern for me. But… how about you and me? Dinner. Maybe… tonight? Tomorrow night?" she suggested.
He slowly nodded, grinning softly. "I'd like that. How about we do it at my place? The balcony," he added.
"Sounds like a plan."
As a spark of romance flickered between the two of them, Talen continued sleeping soundly in his room. Hugging his pillow close to his chest, the deceased image of dear his friend opened his eyes, thrusting him back to the land of consciousness.
While he was idle amid the stasis of unconsciousness, his Angelic counterpart continued plotting for his father's usurpation. Having gathered everyone in one location underground, Uriel sat with crossed arms in a circle of chairs; a polite smile staining his lips. Surveying his present whereabouts, he glimpsed his new comrades' faces and the personalities they held.
"Now, let's get this meeting into order, shall we? Nameless the Cruel, Marie the Insatiable, Sadie the Sadist—I'd like you to meet my right-hand man: Demise the Unequivocal." Uriel gestured to the Violator seated two chairs to his right. "He'll be my lieutenant throughout this operation. I advise you to get along with him."
Demise stood up. "It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to fight alongside you all. I hope we can achieve great things together," he said, sitting back down slowly.
"That's it?"
They all looked to the man in the middle: Nameless the Cruel. Legs crossed in the spiky chair he sat in, he removed the hand from his cheek, revealing the sharpness of his monstrous claws.
"I don't know what you called us here for, but it surely wasn't for us to introduce ourselves like mere children in kindergarten," he said.
"Well, the key to good teamwork is an undoubtedly good friendship. I realize all of you are monsters and rather uncaring for that sort of thing but… none of you have a choice. Or more accurately, YOU don't have a choice," Uriel informed him.
Nameless raised a brow. "Meaning…?"
The Angel snickered, interlocking all of his fingers. "Meaning I'll torture you if you don't comply," he said.
The Violator grinned. "Good! That's the kinda cruelty I like to see!" He burst into maniacal laughter, garnering the puzzled stare of Marie beside him. "Fine, then! I'll play along, and if you're only excluding me, that means you already have the wenches here under your thumb. So… what do you want us to do?"
"December 25th, 2022. In the Capital of Kismet, here in Barronia, there will be an uprising. Between the army of monsters dancing on my strings and the righteous Enforcers of my forsaken father the King. Only then will our ultimate fate be decided. During that Great War. I'm sure each of you will want in for your own sick and twisted reasons, but two things must be accomplished before we enact this."
Uriel raised two fingers. "First, immobilize Eros Amit and steal his Unconquerable technique. Second, get Malum the Disastrous and Anthony Whitlock to turn to our side."
Sadie leaned forward, resting her hand on her chin. "Wait wait wait, I thought this Anthony kid suppressed that Malum beast," she said, grinning.
Uriel's evil grin bore teeth. "Do you think so? I'm not so sure…"
Within Tony's lax soul, the dormant demon began awakening, for the scent of his flesh lingered in his nostrils and awoke him from his deep slumber.
Trivia: Barronia is the Royal Capital of the Kismet Empire. However, there are other kingdoms. As Barronia sits in the semi-center of Kismet, there's Arronsburg in the East, Helenheim in the West, and Jotan in the South. These are the four major kingdoms of the Kismet Empire. Technically, King Barron rules over them all but his influence is much greater in the royal capital than anywhere else. As of right now, he cares not for the state of the other cities, for he is only focused on locating the perpetrator who seeks to usurp his Crown.