Borneo; A Collection of Short Stories from Yavva

4. NAMELESS MONARCHS

The name "Xtremis Theo Cheri.'' mentioned in the earlier document is a name of a subgroup of a local gang. Their involvement in the current uprising is not clearly known.

Suspicion lands on territorial issues, you see, the royals of La Tulpe are currently in the talks of expanding their housing area, from the looks of it, they are planning on making a large golf course that would encompass a swath of land 'controlled' by Theo Cheri.

The Theo Cheri themselves are a local band of rebellious royals (e.g. the sons and daughters of the bourgeois living in the Highlands.) supported by some sketchy locals. They are a unique bunch, led by a former military genius allegedly kicked out from his house after his actions against his own family. An old man by name of Flare Llafn Seiger, although the gang had formed long before him, its existence had become somewhat of a hindrance against Highlanders since he joined.

Looking into the details, it may seem that Theo Cheri has a personal agenda in the cause against the government, especially their 'scouting' branch, the Xtremis.

The man leading the Xtremis is none other than Eric Tiziani Callahan.

The last name "Callahan" originated from Ireland, Eric's father was a broadcaster from Ireland (no exact details of where) and his mother, Chrisantiana Seiger Gathwyn, A banker from Wales, and the older sister of Sabiens' mother.

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Side note/Trivia; Theo Cheri means god's hand in Greek.

The philosophy behind the name is still unknown thus far.

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Lending to their eccentrism, they would ride around in camels found in the mountainous regions of the Highlands, probably a result of survivors from a local zoo. They also often raided houses near the edges of the royals' reach.

— — —

Talking about gangsters, gossip has been floating around about a ring of gangsters forming an alliance in La Tulpe's underground scene.

I am sceptical about the nature of this topic, yet Kwang Dae's journal seemed to confirm the existence of this alliance;

Excerpt from page 12 of the journal.

"An all out gang war may be at hand. The past actions of Snow have caused distrust among the underground community.

To this, his friend Eric had advised me to accompany him to a meeting, held secretly in the cover of the night by influential members of each gang — of this I could not mention their names for fear of my own safety.

To think such a thing exists —Honour among thieves— is quite surprising. Yet it soon became apparent why it exists.

To each location, and occupation, was a handler.

To the west, the Theo Cheri control the supply of stolen goods, they are located near the bourgeois' homes in which they raid by the day.

To the north, Gabriels, the chaotic nature of their members, trained by their location near the hills of Dago, made them strong warriors, muscle for hire.

To the east, Brigantines, they are the ones in control of the weapons trade, located near the edge of the city gave them easy access to smuggling.

And lastly to the south, Maanharkrs, they are the ones assigned to watch over the safehouses. A place to lay low or a place to party.

This alliance is forged on shaky grounds, since to most people —even members of their own gangs— this is a blasphemy, members of both Maanharkrs and Brigantines were in an open rivalry with the other two, yet among them, some of the younger generations have decided to set aside their differences and hatred to unify the city.

Scene was set in an undisclosed bathhouse, notable members of the gang were already there, Lucy of the Brigantines, Dave of Maanharkr are among the ones familiar. Other representatives started to introduce themselves.

(this part of the journal was burnt and hardly readable)

"And for christ sake, control that cat, unless you want the flame to follow his footsteps and burn us all." This time it was Lucy, he had seen Snow in action, there is without a doubt fear in his tone.

"What's the point of anarchy? If it was hindered? I say we capitalise on the chaos and strike the Lycans in their face." Raven argued.

"Ven, we were not to be harsh and calculate our steps." Eric argued.

"Never seen you like this Eric, where's the madman I once knew? Besides, don't you think our combined forces could silence them easily?"

"I would agree with him Eric" It was Dave this time. "If we move quickly, we may get away unnoticed, even take a whole base for ourselves."

Silence befell the room, everyone contemplating. Every choice they make, every idea, has their consequences.

Step lightly, this path we walked is not one that would end in a happy ending.

No way out peacefully, sooner or later, the Lycans would strike back."

(end of quote)

Let us dissect this further.

It is common knowledge that The Theo Cheri and Gabriels are allies, as are Maanharkr and Brigantines, to see them fraternising is not something one would expect.

Although as we know, Nexorcist once had a close relationship with Dave, maybe this is the start of their alliance, Dave's empathy towards Snow had created this alliance.

Now to see where this all fits into the bigger picture.

Based on what little information I could gather from the journal, it seems that this takes place just moments before the Kiara Riots which took place in the park just outside an area called Kiara Palta.

The Riot resulted in the overtaking of a moderately sized Lycan Military Base by the civilians. Days later, the Lycans launched a revenge attack which led to the death of one of Theo Cheri's leading figures.

I was on site on the day of the riot.

If my memory was correct, I saw members of every gang mentioned above in their respective uniforms. Among them was Snow himself sitting in the back by the cars with members of Athens Security and Defense Forces. Both Lucy and Dave were on site as well.

To think that this one man unified all of these different people would be surprising.