Arc 4: What families entail
The choir sings for the children left behind.
The World cries for the lost light.
And yet they move anyway.
Dead or Alive.
Existing.
The people of Athens were strong willed, hard headed, filled with a joy for battle, and a love for life. To be strong, in every way. Today, they slowly walked the streets with fear and despair in their hearts. The villages were torn to pieces, the roads destroyed and consumed with combat, farms died out, and Mount Yelira was slowly built. The Capital was lopsided, its people completely divided, screaming and running through the streets. Whether it be to loot, to buy any food possible, to get home without getting stopped. To get to safety before the war swept them away, like it did to their friends and family. Leos' beaten, hardly conscious body struggled to breathe as he stared forward. At the streets, at his fellow Red Arrows dead and half dead upon posts like his own. Children, men, and women who looked through the gates of Athens castle to watch them. Letting his blood slowly drip into the pool beneath his feet.
Leo {I'm so sorry.}
In the reflection of his loss he could see his beaten face. His dead eyes, the purple bruises and bleeding cuts. Even the sight of his mustache, which was once so well groomed, now falling to a beard stabbed into him. The normally bright and sunny salty skies seemed to be stuck in a Ravoria style gloom. Like the Spirits themselves were sad by the war taking over, the hatred. Raining tears of snow down on the island to stack over war, bodies, and lives. The people stayed in their stone homes shaking, warmed by small fires, as fear did the rest. When a Warrior might burst in, when a battle might take over, if someone near you is a Red Arrow. If you are a Red Arrow. Trembling more than the cold ever could. Sniffling, twitching, painfully breathing. Painfully existing.
Leo {I'm sorry I let it stay like this for so long.}
Blades, spears, horses, armor, steel, the sea. Might, booze, family. Blood, loss, fire. Athens has been taken. Taken by fear. Fear of failure. Fear of Death. Fear of something indescribable. It could be the fear of losing what might be his last family member. It could be the fear of losing his world. It could be the indescribable panic that results from losing Athens. Sudden losses, battles, life changing events grounding themselves as undeniable trauma. To create the fearful, willful life that is. But for whatever reason, even in such a state after four years of falling and failing, Leo would continue if he was freed. He would swear it was so.
Leo {But I'll bring Bearguard back to the light, I'll bring Athens back to the light. Your light, mother, I just need a chance.}
The younger sibling longed for the family he missed out on. Cursed the strength he was apparently blessed with. Cursed the love his parents gave him. Because now, without their love anyway, his brother was left alone. Alone for so long. So long that it was too late to fix it. Instead it was his turn to feel alone, his turn to hear the laughter. He had to feel the suffering. That was what Beareguard thought. Kept warm by a large fire, drinking expensive whiskey, and staring down at his brother was Beareuguard himself. High up in the Tower of Athens as always, looking down through a massive window. Groaning, angry, and immensely tired. All he could do was stare out at the streets. Each house, each sewer grate, each alley. Where the shadows were. Where destruction and chaos might brew. In that darkness, in that chaos, came memories to stoke the hatred. The need for absolute control. Laughing. Constant laughter from his peers was kept there. From Warriors, nobles, his brother, his parents. It never stops. The sweat, the cold, the dread of a primal fear below.
Beauregard {I'm starting to see it everyday father. The teeth, the blood. How the fur got tangled, damp, drenched in the organs. How it painted the walls. How the cries of the children were all deafened to his roar.}
Julius looked over the books in his large office, scrolling his fingers across the bookshelves lining the walls. Silent, under the blowing winds and falling snow, simply existing. Something Beauregard seemed to enjoy. A company that wasn't arguing, fighting, or some special kind of idiot. As he would put it that is.
Beauregard {I'm worried that I can't stop. That once I lose my brother, once Athens is how I dreamed it to be, I won't be myself anymore. I know you understand father. To lose your humanity, to become a symbol. But I'm not strong enough to become a symbol. I'm nothing but a King. But King, the Beauregard in the history books, he will still be different. If I can even reach it.}
The statues of past kings and queens, the large painting of his mother and father loomed over him. When he looked around, past the window, it was all he could see. Eyes. So many peering eyes.
Beauregard: "Eventually he has to break, give in, right?"
Beauregard couldn't help but turn toward Julius, almost instantly trying to take it back, but Julius answered anyway. Without a glance or hit that he cared at all.
Julius: "Theatretically yes, you could break him into a moldable man. But if it is your brother you want, destroying his soul will not bring him to you."
Beauregard: "What about the people then? They trust him, they want to follow him. Ever since this war started my ranks have been falling, trust in the Valentine family is falling, -
Julius: "Well you are wrong there, no? Leo is a Valentine. He has created an army through heart, family, kin ship with the world and Athens. All you have done is use hatred, history, and your own twisted goal."
Beauregard: "Be very careful what you say next."
Beauregard flew into a rage, sweating, gripping his fists, as Julius moved without a care in the world. Without any guards, and the iron door locked shut, it was just them. And in terms of strength, Julius was far, far stronger. But that wouldn't stop Beauregard from quickly walking up behind him and grabbing him by the throat.
Beauregard: "Are you with me, or against me?"
Julius: "I play for the winning side. It is the most logical choice, yes?"
Beauregard: "Yeah, but that doesn't answer my question."
Julius' arm flung upward, right into Beauregard's elbow. Injuring his arm, pushed him back, and allowed Julius to swiftly deliver a barrage of blows. Leaving Beauregard winded, gasping for life, and holding his chest.
Julius: "Give me a reason why you will win. Then we will see where my allegiance falls."
His snake-like smile grew even wider, pushing Beauregard's spirit lower and lower. The King, with an army on his side, in his very tower, and yet he couldn't help but feel that Julius was in complete control. He could have called for help, he could have asked for Calgary and Irsa to kill him, but he didn't. Because, in the bottom of his heart, for a reason he couldn't even explain to himself, he would keep Julius alive. He would keep him in a position, like he said, where he could emotionally bond. Instead of bond through a means to an end. To take his power, his control, and his familial bonds toward the second most powerful country in Saga all for himself. For Athens sake.
Beauregard: "Then I'll show you instead."
He stepped toward his desk, taking out a letter to read aloud. Sitting on his table with a grim look in his eye.
Beauregard: "Dear King Beauregard, as you requested my team and I did tests. And yes, Mount Yelira will be active soon."
Julius slightly lifted in surprise, but instead paced around. Staring up at the chandeliers, the glass ceiling, the massive moon.
Beauregard: "With this, Athens is mine."
Julius: "How so?"
Beauregard: "By ransom. Either the Red Arrows will leave or hand themselves over, or Athens will die."
Julius: "You are far more precarious than I first assumed. Quite interesting."
For whatever reason Beauregard felt as if he could trust Julius. It was strange because every other part of him was telling him that Julius was the devil. He couldn't explain it, the disgust, the distrust. But he could explain his logic. And so he would go on, staring out the window to obverse Athens, while Julius fell into thought.
Beauregard {For Athens sake, I'll protect Athens with whatever means necessary. And I'll keep Leo safe, like we agreed to. Father.}
Leo {For Athens sake, I'll make it through this, and I'll save them. I'll protect them, after my father is gone, just like I promised you, didn't I Mom?}
No matter the pain, the torture, both of their eyes were equally jagged. Dazed, hazy, filled with sorrow and confusion. A longing for something more, for something lost, fading into the hatred. Burning the family, the memories, the Athens that was away. So it could become the scared, burned, bloodied land it was today. The strength and will. Love and joy. Adventure and freedom. Nothing more than a faint dream. To become a breeding ground for something more. Attracting bounty hunters, racists, Pirates, criminal organizations, and even the Sect of Anarchy. But liberation, hope, the spirit to be more persistent. Heroes old and new, rising strength, the will and adventure that was stolen. A breeding ground yes, but for something more. To condense, push, and overwhelm anyone within. Either killing them, letting them fall down broken, or pushed to be more. From spending every night patrolling the streets to stop and save anyone in need, from training with the world's strongest man, from speaking to what should be a ghost, and all those preparing to arrive. Rebels, anarchists, or Knights. The Island of Athens, the Island of freedom, the island of flames. Its future is not yet decided, but one that's growing closer by the second.
Irsa: "God damn monster lovers."
An island flipped upside down. Where the Vice captain of the warriors smiled, cursed, and sniffed in disgust as they burned rebels. Whether or not they were truly rebels is still up in the air. But their Red Arrow would always exist, painted through blood all over. Carved into trees, villages, cut into grass, flown over stone walls, and burned into guard posts.
"Little much isn't it?"
Then there was the outlier; there was so much hypocrisy floating around it was too hard to count. Like the large, bulky Dark Elf. Older, blind in one eye, scared with scratch marks down his face. Wearing tan torn pants and a thick hood of leaves, such hood down to show off his bald head. It was the same bounty hunter who appeared in Solon Bay, paid for by Athens themselves. Smiling as he killed people fighting for his own people.
Irsa: "Didn't you just break the back of some dude? Is Crevasse your name or does it mean where your brain used to be?"
Crevasse: "Hah! I like you, little spitfire."
Irsa: "You know just having to be near you is like torture right?"
Crevasse: "I know! It's really funny to see you get so mad over something so trivial."
Irsa: "What do you mean trivial!?"
Crevasse: "Just get paid and stop taking life so seriously!"
Irsa: "UGH! So be a lazy bum!?"
Arguing and arguing while Crevasse laughed. Unable to get through a simple mission without some sort of struggle. Brute warriors with stone for brains and rage filling their core stormed through the streets. Half of them trained, and the other half pushed through to insure their forces were stable. Cleansing streets in a Ravoira, horrific fashion. Use Spirit hounds to look for Demi-humans, then take them to either send them away. Or leave them for the crows. Holding their bloody weapons through snow, day, night, rain, or fog. Underneath it all moved the Red Arrows, protected by miles of stone, magical stones, and barely held supports. Moving supplies or injured men through the catacombs and sewers toward their heart. The large center space where Toll and many Red Arrows prepared for a battle to take back their Spirit.
Toll: "We could surprise them by coming out from under the tunnels."
"Wouldn't that give our position away?"
"Yeah! Our base might be uncovered!"
Toll: "Well what if we slowly fill buildings with Red Arrows, then wait until the perfect moment to rush forward and take him."
"They do checks to insure you're not housing Red Arrows."
"And they've got way more protection now, at least for that sector."
Toll would continue to jot through ideas, maps, and formations while all the other Red Arrows spoke over each other to get through it. Checking over their supplies, forces, abilities, to create something unavoidable. But a few affinities would do nothing against the strong hold. Especially when the Warriors have magic of their own. On top of the weapons, armor, food, medical supplies, and tamed Spirit beasts against them. As she looked over maps, her Red Arrows worried bruised faces, she rapidly tapped her hoof in anxiousness.
Toll: "A small unit then. Now we just gotta figure out who to send."
With a single person in mind, she smirked, unknowing to the fact such a person wasn't in the Red Arrows hide out. No, she was out in the night, again fighting off Red Arrows and thugs in the East end. People vs people was always a gamble. A few spells, affinities, and weapons wouldn't do much to turn the tide. It was the Warriors training, conviction, and gear that put them ahead. Without Leo's strength, it seemed the Demi-humans they had and Toll as their leader would be the team. But there was one, one person who wasn't captured. And she was cloaked with wind, bursting across ledges, and leaping over the almost full, massive moon.
Soku {Endless scum. Where do they keep finding these guys?}
The Warriors were smashing up shops, homes, and families searching for Demi-humans. Moving in groups, going street by street to check. Much like what Ravoria did during the height of the Demi-human war, but far less brutal and malicious. Holding their blades, some with faces of sorrow, to incapacitate them. Silencing their screams, hearts, and might all across the land. So Soku would smash through the old windows of top floors, changing brightly lit through the halls with her blade drawn.
"OVER HERE!"
All running forward, into blades of wind, blunt gusts, and Soku herself. She pivoted right as they were about to clash, using her momentum to push her like an ice skater. Sliding across the walls, roof, walls again, and floor to appear behind them.
Soku: "Such a joke."
She then pulled her blade back, throwing all of her mana into her Mark to ignite in strength. Before slamming it through the halls, against the seven Warriors. A torrent of blinding bright sharp green might. Overwhelming them, taking the world from under their feet, knocking their own air out of their chests, to send them all flying back through the window she entered from. Screaming and screaming until the loud thud of the end rang out.
Soku: "So much for the armor."
She stared forward with only rage inside. Frowning, groaning, filled with disgust. Now, alone, at the top floor of the apartment building, she could breathe. She could look toward the smashed doors, the piles of trash rubble and greenery, the scared shaking men, women, and children. Pulling away toward the closets and darkness, scurrying away from Soku's hand. Leaving her holding her chest in pain. As their reactions seemed to feed a massive hole of despair within. The dirt on their faces, the fear, the absence of life forcing her to remember her own time in such a life. Her face. Ophelia's face. Her mothers sick, starving, dead eyes.
Soku {I gotta get outta here.}
But there were still Warriors inside. There were still Warriors everywhere. And so she would walk down the steps, run down the steps, with blades of wind thrown just as much as she jumped. Carving like a web through the tight corridors to send the Warriors falling, bleeding, and screaming. Drawing them from the floors down toward the lobby, where she had just burst through. To the streets, looking up at red hot flares bursting in the sky.
Soku {Dammit.}
In an instant she fled. Ingulfing her body with wind, taking it in while pushing it away at the same time, creating the boosting effect that pushed her through the alleys. Jotting between the collapsing buildings, swinging off of old clothes lines and vines, all to easily escape the Warriors. However, they still came with wagons across the streets screaming and roaring for her capture.
"Don't think we don't know you're out there!", "Come out now before we have to call for back up!"
In an instant she took toward the roof tops, tossing out wind blades at the backs of archers before jumping off of their backs. Soaring over streets to land on the face of another archer, dodge arrow after arrow with swift ducks and turns, to leap once again.
Soku {You think they wouldn't be this easy. Even still I should probably get back, before they really do call for back up.}
The protectors of Athens were being silenced again and again. Their resources stolen by Pirates, used to the brink for constant battle, destroyed in such battle. Its life has been cut off, and its loneliness has almost eroded it to death. Soku tried and was forced back underground. Walking back with shame, with stamina unused, and Red Arrows waving along. However, seeing them gathered gaze at her with a spark. Stepping on with purpose, toward the heart of the base. Toward Toll.
Peter: "Dammit! What do I do!?"
But while she walked that long walk, Peter continued rolling around his room in desperation of something. Without the strength to fight, with the fear overtaking him, all he could do was the only thing he knew how. To build. To create. To refine and inquire. Staring over his many dottles, notes, junk, and schematics. Sokus' glider sat in the corner, forcing him to embarrassingly recall its use over and over again.
Soku: "Like this?"
Peter: "Yeah!"
Soku had jumped off the ledge of the base's heart, from the top floor through the center. Extending the wooden glider's green bat-like wings before stepping off. She cloaked herself with wind, smirked as the many Red Arrows around looked and cheered out, to soar -
Soku: "NO!"
The wings snapped right off due to the strain of Sokus wind, leaving her falling down onto the railing of a floor below. Screaming out, hitting, and throwing Peter around with wind for about an hour after. Leaving him bruised, with bandages, and a bit sore as he spiraled around his room. All he could do was try and find metal that would fit the glider. Without the smithing of Cretan, scraps were his best friend. So he held a prototype, one of two vambraces he had been working on for a while. When he placed it on, he focused as best he could, to spark mana. Just as he did, a thin blade came out of the thick vambrace. Leaving him with a soft smile.
Peter: "Finally."
Without locking up, breaking to pieces, failing completely, or shooting out the blade. It was slow, it was barely functioning, but it worked. Even if it was just once. It was enough to let his cold heart grow warmer. He didn't stop. He instantly went back to his table. Covered in elemental crystals, small balls of paper, metal, and tools. Brushing it all into piles to begin working.
Peter: "I swear, eventually I'll make something that'll make me strong. Make us win!"
With his sling shot, vambrace, and poppers, he broke them all down to build them back up better again and again. The glider, his tools, his schematics. Forgetting to sleep, to eat, going over maps and maps, just has he had for the past four years. From braces to prosthetics, to making weapons, to teaching basic blacksmith skills, to lending a hand anywhere he could. Falling up and down and up again, to fall down harder into fear and anxiety. Slamming his hammer down again and again, ringing out through the halls, doing the best he could. Similarly ringing around the hall, down at the base floor, was Sokus' steps. Causing all eyes to turn toward her. And causing Toll to smile.
Soku: "I think I can help. I can lead the rescue, hell, I could be in and out with him in a flash."
Toll: "Well then. We got some things to go over."
With cheers, smiles and booze in the air, the Red Arrows lifted the somber Soku into the air. Throwing her up and down, momentarily making her forget how much was against them. However it all slammed back into her in an instant. Staring up as she flew, right toward Peter, locking eyes with the despair between them. As Leo's life was now truly in the balance. In Sokus hand. Leo's dream may soon come true, and Bearguards may fall into the abyss. To unite is to unravel something else it seems. Stepping on toes no matter what they did. Their needs and wants, all that they've lost, have to be molded into something tangible. Into a victory they can grasp. Instead of the despair they keep losing themselves in. Edward and Gray might be elsewhere, alone and training. Julius and Rosemary were stuck in Athens tower. But Peter, Soku, and the Red arrows were ready. It would only be a matter of action, conviction, and a bit of luck on their side. To save Leo, to save their friends, and use their new strength to triumph where they previously failed. To take Athens back, to take Walgonia back, and get the happy ending they've fought for their entire life.