Mako was mortified. Ever since he sent Polyphemus on that mission to warn the people of Lower Galandria about Zork and his troops… Polyphemus hadn't returned or given any sign of life.
As a general rule, if someone had a contract with a demon, they should appear just by saying their name.
'Why isn't he showing up? If something happened to him… I know he'll be fine, but damn it. Not long ago, he was already sent to hell by Erick,' Mako thought.
From Galandria's castle, Zork was barking orders to his troops. Soldiers clad in heavy silver armor gleamed under the flicker of torchlight.
Mako watched the rows of armed men, each with a shining helmet. Zork hadn't just called on any troops—he'd picked the castle's elite.
"This'll be a bloodbath if Polyphemus didn't pull it off…," Mako muttered to himself, eyeing the marching soldiers.
"Forward! For Galandria!" Zork bellowed, leading the charge.
Mako, watching from the sidelines, quickly fell into step beside Zork, the echo of the soldiers' heavy boots thundering behind him.
◇◆◇
While the castle's soldiers marched toward the festival, in Lower Galandria, the party showed no signs of stopping. Sure, the celebration was about the dead, but that didn't keep folks from dancing, singing, and laughing their hearts out.
After Rebecca's speech, everything rolled on as usual. The dancers who'd hopped off the float were now helping haul a strange statue to the center of the plaza, wrapping up the main event.
"All set," said one of the many men wearing owl masks.
"Perfect," Rebecca replied, holding her mask in her hands. "Where's Louis?"
The masked man hesitated for a split second.
"He's still at the meeting with the other bosses, Rebecca," he said, his tone tinged with regret.
"Still?!" Rebecca snapped, a bit furious.
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the masked man, and he scurried off without another word.
The group of men and women in owl-like masks now danced around the strange statue in the plaza, torches in hand.
Their steps matched a tribal tune, each musician hitting the exact rhythm, each voice perfectly pitched…
It was as if the entire community moved in flawless sync.
The tempo kept climbing, faster and faster.
The owl-masked dancers started leaping more frantically around the statue.
Bit by bit, other men began tossing dry firewood at the statue's base.
When the pile was big enough and the music hit its fever pitch, each dancer hurled their torch into the center.
At first, the flames were shy, only licking a few pieces of kindling.
But soon, what started as a timid spark roared into a majestic blaze, engulfing the strange statue from head to toe.
A pillar of fire now lit up the heart of Lower Galandria's plaza.
"What a beautiful metaphor," Rebecca murmured to herself as she melted into the crowd.
Everyone in the plaza was mesmerized by the fire's vivid red consuming the wooden statue.
"The symbol of us rebels—a tiny spark that'll soon set everything ablaze," Rebecca finished, vanishing into an alley.
◇◆◇
While the plaza went wild over the fire, Rebecca slipped into a small, dimly lit room.
Before her stood a long table, candles casting just enough light to make out who was there. Or at least, enough to see their faces.
"You know how far this dump is from the plaza?" Rebecca quipped sarcastically to the group of men gathered there.
"We're not done talking yet," Louis replied from the head of the table.
The other men stayed silent, sneaking glances at either Louis or Rebecca.
Rebecca, hearing Louis's words, set her owl mask on a small table.
"What's left to talk about? You've had the whole damn day to make a decision," she said with authority.
"Miss Rebecca," one of the older voices among the men piped up, "you must understand, it's not that simple. Not just because of Fox's death, which hit our wallets hard, but your father's…"
"Yeah," another man chimed in, "it was a huge blow to our morale."
Rebecca wasn't buying the crocodile tears from these crime lords.
"You still haven't figured out who gets what slice of the pie? If you're gonna spend all night squabbling like vultures over the scraps Fox and my father left behind…," she said bitterly.
"Rebecca," Louis cut in, "that's not why we're here."
The old voice spoke again: "Indeed! Young Louis brings dire news—soldiers from the castle are headed this way!"
"We don't know that for sure," another crime boss countered.
Rebecca could barely make out their faces. But even as shadows in the dark, outlined by candlelight, she noticed something…
Unlike the faces in the plaza, these crime lords' expressions were steeped in cowardice. The people in the plaza, even with just a flicker of light on their faces, showed hope and pain in their eyes.
These men, though, just made Rebecca's stomach churn. Only one face didn't reek of doubt or mistrust:
Louis.
"Anyway, before you barged in, we were about to vote on a plan of action," Louis continued. He glanced at Rebecca and added:
"You can take your father's seat and vote."
Rebecca nodded silently, taking a spot at the long table.
'My father always hated being here,' she thought, a pang of pain hitting her as she recalled old times.
The vote began.
While the crowd reveled in the festival, the crime bosses controlling Lower Galandria now had to decide whether to act against the potential invasion of the castle's armed soldiers.
"All in favor of deploying troops for a counterattack?" Louis declared, raising his right hand in approval.
Rebecca raised her right hand too.
One by one, every member at the table raised their hand, voting in favor alongside Louis and Rebecca.
All except one.
"Well, that settles it," Louis said, standing up from the table.
The man who voted no didn't panic right away. He started to rise quickly from his seat.
"W-Well, if that's all, I'll take my leave," the dissenting voter stammered, but before he could slip away, Louis cracked him on the back of the neck.
The crime boss crumpled to the floor, knocked out cold with a single blow.
"He's the only one who's been backing us," Rebecca said, standing up too. "Right?"
The old voice spoke again:
"Yes, yes. He was one of the last holdouts against supporting you Rebels."
"Guess that means we'll need another meeting soon," Louis said, pulling a knife from his waist.
With cold precision, they dispatched the crime boss who'd voted against defending Lower Galandria. The others didn't flinch at the grisly sounds of his death.
"It's settled then," Louis said after the deed was done. "Every crime boss in Lower Galandria is with you now."
His words were aimed straight at Rebecca. She gave a faint smile in return.