[Prologue]
Shadows flicker across the cobble-paved streets, creating a beauteous illusion of dancing figures in the night. That is, until one glances up and looks upon the utter carnage that is the burning palace in the centre of the chill urban sprawl of Grandomina. Towers and twirling spires are blackened from the smoke billowing from the windows, the once-beautiful palace now destroyed...and it is all down to the work of five young men's plotting, and a candle to the ground. The sounds of sirens can be heard in the once-silent night, and the vast majority of the populous of the decrepit and corrupt city have been dragged from their warm beds and from their sweet nightmares by the sound of a commotion outside in the streets.
Four young men are rushing in from different sides of the city, desperate to reach their destination, the royal palace, and to meet a fifth man, the key cog in the rusted clockwork of their plan. A mechanist, a pilot, a thief, a vigilante, and a prince, all a part of this grand masterplan to kill the king, and yet all just as surprised as each other that the young nefarious prince could go to such great lengths to kill the wicked king Hux as to set the palace aflame.
The five men involved in such a plan had met purely by a strange twist of fate, as they all possess a mutual burning desire to kill the king and Cardinal, and rid Grandomina of its corruptive influence, all for their very own rather selfish reasons. The pilot, to exact his revenge upon the Cardinal and king for treating him as one might treat a slave, and for taking his family from him as a young boy; the thief, purely for his own selfish gain, as a result of his jealousy over the empire's riches; the mechanist, to avenge the girl he had loved, Avalon, being taken from him and killed, and to avenge his mother who had suffered at the hands of the Cardinal; the vigilante, to avenge the death of his father as a result of the Cardinal's wickedly atrocious actions and impulsive decisions; the prince, to claim back the girl his heart belongs to, his beloved Eveline.
...The vigilante, rushing away from the J.U.N. corporation in T.ville at a speed that suggests he is used to such exercise, curses himself for his stupidity as he runs through backstreets and dodges through alleyways, avoiding the blaring sirens of fire engynes as they rush towards the centre of the urban masses. If only I had entered the building sooner, I could have obtained the supplies I needed before this happened! He curses. And it's all that Princey's damned fault, if only he had been more bloody patient... Of course, the vigilante (known simply to the public as the Necromantic) knows he should not curse Princey's actions. They are far beyond anything he himself would have done, and are far more effective, if the screams of patriotic and religious nuts in the streets and the roaring of sirens are anything to go by. He just wishes the prince would have held off a little longer so that perhaps the vigilante could have finished his task, instead of escaping from the building hastily as soon as a guard had called for "all units on hand to the T.ville depot" under emergency precautions. Curses, I'm losing my touch, slowly but surely... This is the only thought on the vigilante's mind as he rushes towards the burning palace.
...The thief comes sprinting down a cobbled street, from the direction of the Incebridge riverside, having just committed another rather proficient mugging. It always pays to steal from the rich - for him, at least; the profit is all for himself, of course. It is because of his greed and envy of the rich that he first agreed to Princey's utterly mad plan, to kill the king and the Cardinal...but he didn't think, back then, the boy would've gone to such fukka extremes! And to think, the palace would have made a perfect reward for all the thief's trouble...well, he did help come up with the second phase of their plan, right? Kind of... At that, the red-haired rascal rushes along the street, the riches he just obtained mere moments ago forgotten as he comes ever-closer to the burning palace.
...The mechanist stands proudly upon a hospital rooftop in Knightwall, watching the flames engulfing the palace climb ever-higher in the dark sky, blackened by smoke. A beautiful sight, and this snow seems only to make it a more beauteous sight for my eyes. These eyes are covered by a pair of thick brass goggles, the kind usually worn during his hours of work, and not whilst he is watching the royal palace burn to the ground. I should perhaps think about heading to meet the Militia right about now. He thinks, gripping his large, long-handled iron hammer tightly in both hands as he turns to leave the rooftop. Just as he proceeds to walk forwards, he sees a group of what appears to be peculiar moving shadows, with the shape of a heart split into four separate pieces displayed upon their masked foreheads. I'm not alone here...
...The pilot is standing on the bridge of his great hulking engyne Bruceburn as it speeds steadily towards the Oldeeside's long-abandoned freight station. From there, he plans to travel on foot to the royal palace, where he shall meet his associates, the Militia of the Lost, to see if Princey's attempt at killing the unruly King Hux has been successful. Just as he glances up from his navigation panel, his eyes widen, the image of the royal palace aflame capturing his attention almost in an instant. I hadn't thought the lad would be quite so drastic...what the hell? The sound of his fireman's voice crackles through the speaker to his left, and he can barely pick up the man's words as he speaks. "Lou...Lou, can't you...see it? The palace...in flames!"
...The prince struggles through the palace, carrying his love, Eveline, in his arms. She stirs in the sheets she is wrapped in, just as he passes out of the palace's gates, breaking out into the city and then slowing to a stop. For a second it is as though she still loves him as a small smile plays around her lips; then she speaks, shattering the prince's blissful illusion in a second. "Princey...leave me here, please. The Cardinal will look after me. I have told you before, this was all a childish dream..." His hearts shatters into pieces, much like the picture upon the masked foreheads of the Heartatak, as he looks down at his blaze-haired love. After everything that has just happened, all he has just sacrificed for her...and still she refuses his love? Still refuses to break the mindless law forcing them apart? Still wishes to go to the Cardinal, to have him keep her as more of a pet than a lover? At that, the nefarious prince watches and waits, willing the four other members of his Militia to hurry, to arrive at the royal palace before the Heartatak do - or, worst of all, the Cardinal himself.
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[Author's Message]
Like little ol' panda-faced me didn't already have enough FVK fanfiction written and uploaded here, I decided to write this little wonder. Yes, a lot of thought and research and asking people questions (to see if I was accurate enough, of course) was put into this, so some feedback is much anticipated and appreciated! Also, I'll be updating this every Friday, so that'll give me some time to write some badassery for the first chapter. Until then...go strum me a beat, fukkas!
Keep the peace, stay awesome and faith always...El Panduardo 0(@.@)0 ;; x
