Revolution Radio - A Critical Role High School AU

Chapter 5

It was strange, being here again, Vex thought as she ducked into Greyskull Keep, leaving Trinket outside to keep watch. As soon as she crossed the threshold a massive wave of comfort washed over her and she immediately relaxed; though they had only built the place a little over a year ago, they still had fond memories attached to this place.

As she cast her eyes around the interior, she watched as Grog held up the roof as the sound of hammering could be heard from above, a clear indication of Pike working to patch up the rusted holes in the roof of old corrugated iron that the twins had scavenged from the local dump. Turning her attention to the back of the surprisingly spacious interior, Vex watched as Keyleth prodded with a stick in the small makeshift oven that she'd put together from large pieces of stone as a slightly tarnished copper kettle began to steam.

"Nice to be back, huh Stubby?"

Vex jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of her brother's voice over her shoulder. 

"Wow," he said, smiling cheekily, "I haven't managed to scare you in, like, months. Either I'm getting better or you're slipping."

Vex laughed, playfully punching his arm. "I was distracted, that's the only reason you got me. But yeah, it is nice to be back. It's weird though, it kinda reminds me of our old place; y'know, before we met the others. Except it feels more comfortable."

"Maybe it's because this time it's on your own terms rather than because you had no other choice." Grog's voice startled the twins who looked around to see a rather thoughtful smile on his face. "I mean, back then it was this kinda thing or nothing. Now you're here by choice. The power is yours and you can go back to wherever if you need somewhere warm or something."

Vax chuckled. "I forget how insightful you can be sometimes, big guy."

They heard a rattling and looked to Keyleth who had just taken a pack of antibacterial wipes from her satchel and was going about thoroughly cleaning the mugs that were still somehow there and intact from their last visit. 

Soon, Pike had returned from patching up the roof and Keyleth set the cups of tea she'd just brewed for them around the rather weathered table.

A grim silence fell as they all tried to figure out how they were going to solve this problem. In the past, it had been simple infiltration missions, like with rescuing Cassandra and gathering enough evidence to indict the Briarwoods irrefutably. This was different, though; they were up against major corporations with millions of dollars of lawyers and they were just a bunch of teenagers in a band.

Suddenly, the sound of Keyleth's phone shattered the silence and made them all jump. Glancing down at the caller ID, Keyleth gave a sigh of relief; it was only her father. However, as soon as she picked up the phone, his panicked voice made her heart leap into her throat.

"Keyleth. I just got a call from Circonis, Raishan Dynamics. just demolished Pyrah! I--"

Keyleth didn't hear the rest of what her father said as the phone dropped from her hand, whole body beginning to quake uncontrollably as images of the town reduced to rubble flashed through her mind, horrific visions of children pinned beneath the rubble and screaming in agony.

"Hey, Kiki? You okay?"

Keyleth jolted out of her fear-induced trance, staring wide eyed at Vax. 

"K-keyleth?"

She sank to the ground, hugging herself tightly and trembling; her mind an indecipherable mess of fear, anger, grief and guilt. Almost immediately, she felt Vax's arms around her and she clung to him, trying to suppress the tremors. Several times she opened her mouth to try and speak, but all that came out were shaking and stilted sounds.

Vax's phone went off next; a loud rock song that got shut off almost immediately and the phone cast aside. He just held Keyleth tightly, gently stroking her hair. It went off again, not sounding any different but still seeming to be more urgent. "Vex, get that for me, I'm kinda preoccupied."

Vex nodded and picked up the device, answering the call. 

"Vax'ildan, it's Corrin; Keyleth's father. Is she okay? I got cut off from her and with what's going on I fear for her safety."

"Oh, Corrin." Vex's normally unreadable voice betrayed concern and mild surprise. "Actually this is Vex'ahlia; Vax's twin. My brother is currently comforting your daughter; what you told her seems to have distressed her a great deal. What happened?"

"One of our sister towns, Pyrah, has very recently been destroyed by Raishan Dynamics in what looked like a bid to win power for Thordak Co."

Vex's eyes narrowed, her voice becoming stern. "And why did you tell her this? Surely you knew it would have this effect."

Corrin hesitated before replying, "my intent was to warn her to stay away from Pyrah and Terra and to postpone heading to Vesra. We're unsure if this is a one-off occurrence or if Raishan Dynamics is targeting the Ashari directly. If you can, tell her that Zephra is safe for the time being. If the Diseased Deceiver and her goons come for us, we'll be ready."