Broken Circles

Part VI

Achillean is left fighting for much more than his own life when he realises what the Voltaris' endgame truly is, and Yvana is left with little other choice than to submit herself to the very aspect that got both her and Riorden into this mess

Of course, it all comes at a cost; but will it be waived by something unexpected?

Author's note: okay *now* we start getting to the good shit. all I ask is that you enjoy a backstory dump and pls don't kill me; that'd be great XD

I rewrote so many parts of this chapter because I desperately needed to make it flow better. there was this one bit towards the end that was not only abysmally written, but also very lazy and unbelievable. it was baaaad; so that's why this chapter is slightly longer than a couple of others, but based on where we be going, it certainly isn't the longest XD

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"Dad, you are going to be just fine. You will pull through this. You will, do you hear me?"

"Achillean, you know as well as I do that my chances are dwindling with every passing minute that we are stuck here. They are coming, but they will not get here in time."

"They will and you will make it. I will not let you die on my watch. This is not how you are going down."

"Listen to me, Achillean. I had this coming. You know that I had this coming. I have done my part for the Ardoni and now I must suffer for my own insolence."

"Dad, what you did for Ardonia... You should not have to suffer – not like this! Put your arm around me. We are walking you out of here and you will get help, and you will pull through."

"Achillean, stop. Please, son, stop. Do not do this to yourself. It is not fair. It is not fair on you; it is not fair on me. We are not kidding anybody down here. They will not find us in time, but you... you will be okay. I promise you that you will be okay-"

"Dad, no, you aren't listening to me. You cannot give up. One bullet will not stop you – it has not stopped you before; this is no different! If you will just let me help to get you out of here, then we never have to talk about this again; not until the time is right."

"The time is right here, Achi. Right here, right now; and right here, right now, you need to listen to me. What I have done will have repercussions. There will be retaliations, there will be uprisings, resistances, and defiance. You are going to make sure that war cannot rise again. Quell the demons, son. You have it in you."

"Stop talking like that, dad. You act as though you have done nothing good, and it is like you are asking me to clean up after you. You have not done anything bad-"

"Achillean. Past wars have come at a cost. The Voltaris... They were the strongest... We had to weaken them... We rained our forces down on them the hardest and, in the eyes of Dominus, that will not look good. We took down every clan's mafia, but the Voltaris were hit the worst... Despite what we tell the world, they will only see it from their perspective. Do you want to tell me, now, that I do not deserve this?"

"I... Dad... You did what you had to. I do not think that anybody could have done anything differently and, regardless of what you did to them for the sake of the rest of the city, you did not deserve to... be shot, dad, I..."

"Watch your brother for me, okay?"

"Dad, no..."

"Honour my name."

"Dad..."

"Keep up the good work. Honour yourself, Achillean."

"Dad, please... It is not too late..."