Uneasy Alliance (A Roleslaying with Roman story)

The Plan

Noise groaned as his eye slowly fluttered open. He vaguely felt himself get lifted up into the air by something wrapped around his chest and waist, then more bonds came down and wrapped around his arms, holding him aloft. He looked around weakly, shaking his head a bit to try to reset his vision. His head pounded as oxygen was finally reintroduced to his system, and he winced as he felt an ache in his chest and throat.

He looked up to see Tempo staring up at him with an unnerving smile. "Huh. Well look at that. You're the first one that's actually woken up so far. We did manage to capture a few of the others before we found you."

"Wha-...?" Noise looked to his sides and tensed.

His eye widened as he saw another guard, suspended in the air like he was, though instead of vines holding them up, a thick, shiny block of amber was formed around them. Vines framed the amber, wrapping around it to keep it in place. Noise started to struggle, even more so when he looked down to see the bright, orangish, sap-like substance start to fill the area he was trapped in. He looked up at Tempo and started to tremble.

"What do you hope t9 gain from all this? Wh-what, you're just going to kill every guard until there's no one left? Most of these people are completely innocent!"

Tempo chuckled and shook xier head. "Ha! No, of course not! We're well aware of the Bard King's manipulation tactics. We've even spared a few who proved themselves worthy of being spared. We wouldn't have subjected you to this, but your situation is more... symbolic. Besides, you won't die. When the amber hardens, you'll be completely aware of all of your surroundings, and it's enchanted in such a way that you'll simply stay in the state you're currently in for all eternity! Someone could break you out thousands of years from now and you'd be perfectly young and healthy. No, this is just to get you all out of our way so we can deal with the king. And, you know, mother does like to collect trophies."

By the time xe had finished talking, the amber had reached Noise's waist, greatly inhibiting his ability to move. The vines around him pulled back before the amber reached them, receding back up into the layer of vines above him. It continued to steadily rise as Noise got more and more panicked.

"Y-you... you won't get away with this! Roman and Youngblood will-"

Tempo laughed again and looked up at him. "Please, what could they do? And that's only if they notice your disappearance. I've already sent Arpeggio to take your place."

Noise's breath hitched a bit, not helped by the fact that the amber was slowly hardening around his chest and arms. "N-no... Y-Youngblood will know the difference.."

Tempo shrugged and walked away. "We'll see."

Noise went to say something else, but the amber got there first, quickly covering his slightly-parted lips and smothering his cries for help.