Plasmatropolis (Un-cursed) [OLD]

Desperation

Achillean sat on the couch, alone. He still desperately wanted Ingressus to visit as fast as he could, if only to see him after every day working with Black Plasma. Unfortunately, the jobs and meetings stretched late into the night, and by the time he was dismissed, he could barely keep his eyes open.

But this night, two nights before the battle, the meetings had ended far earlier than normal, as they all had to rest for their coming fights. He decided that this would be a good time to catch up on a bit of news, as he hadn't watched any since the previous week.

"Sendaris Madman strikes again!" The reporter declared, "Thalleous Sendaris has killed three separate Sendaris, who have appeared to have reformed their gang. They are under the rule of Ria Sendaris, who's father, Osivian, was killed by Thalleous. He has struck right at the inner city headquarters and the three corpses appear to be Aevatros and Ciantrius Sendaris and another guard."

Achillean's jaw dropped as photos of the murder were shown, an almost dismembered Ardoni corpse in hospital-fashioned uniform lay a few feet beside another Ardoni, who was dressed messily, as if he had just woken up. The guard held a spear in his hand, which was clean, implying no injury caused to his murderer.

The reporter continued narrating, "Ria is a dangerous individual, who also appears to be very skilled with persuasion, as she is allied with the forces of William Edward Lothan."

This, he already knew from the BPS meetings. He then turned the screen off, getting off the couch, trying to think over the entire situation. Ingressus and Nitrox injured, Thalleous nearby and William even more powerful than before. It all seemed so hopeless to him, and defeat felt almost inevitable. He let out a choked sob, climbing into the empty bed, not bothering to change.

Why me? Why must I hear of all this at once? How do I know that Thalleous isn't about to jump in and stab me to death right now?

He continued wandering through his forest of thoughts, before finally succumbing to the grappling hands of sleep.

*****

Seth propped up his chin, his elbows on the table. David frowned and Zach drew out a sheet of paper with text scrawled over it. The rest of the BPS animators were arranged around the table with Achillean and Galleous at the edge of the meeting. Krista sat beside Sam, Zikaitan sitting on her lap.

"Do all of you know why you were called for such a last-minute meeting?"

"No," Zach mumbled, "And I hope there's actually something to be discussed, otherwise I have wasted time to rest over in this room."

"Very well, I will be concise," David knotted his fingers into a fist and rested them on the table, "William Lothan has allied himself with the Sendaris who are not under Thalleous' command. They are being lead by Osivian's daughter, Ria, who is a very dangerous individual."

Sam picked up the report, "Thalleous has also begun a second killing spree, as the assassin who killed Tygren, Ciantrius, and his assistant Aevatros were found dead with a Sendaris guard. They were all reported to have the stab wounds characteristic of Thalleous' greatsword."

"William allying with Ardoni?" Seth inquired. "Doesn't that seem out of character?"

"It's not because he likes them, it's because an alliance between them would be mutually beneficial." Sam explained. "They have common enemies. Us, and Thalleous. I'm sure once they achieve their greater plans they will turn on one another in due time."

"And we obviously aren't going to ally Thalleous to counter them." Thomas added. "Our reputation is going to go down if we try that."

"Nay, we have each other. Our forces together ought to be large enough to crush the both of them."

"The other animators are enough allies to begin with." Skyfall pointed out. "I think we best leave it at that. We needn't worry about getting more help."

Zach crossed his arms, "Is that all we were here for? You could've called us, or-"

"No. Do not be so impatient. We need to revise our troops and our supplies. We cannot afford to take any risks either, not with the lives and freedom of the whole city at stake."

"Well then, I will address our first problem. Is Thalleous located at his base or roaming free in the city?"

Krista listened intently before answering, "I would assume he has fled to his base, most likely with an assistant of sorts. He would not want to stay at the scene of the crime and will be recovering from any injuries."

"That's a good point, so we might try to set up an ambush around Thalleous' base."

"Aye," Zach acknowledged the discussion, "That is a good suggestion."

Achillean narrowed his eyes at the congregation, and stepped into the light, "Are our battle plans for attacking William going ahead, or are we changing up our strategy again?"

David looked into the blank eyes of the yellow Ardoni, "The battalions will fight William's Droug and Ria Sendaris' forces. The true Droug ought to march here, Krista, you will be in charge of getting to the portal and alerting Adek about the battle tomorrow. If you can't make it back to fight as Knight's second in command, you will fight with Adek."

"That sounds good, I'll see you all tomorrow. It's ten at night, and we have a battle in less than six hours. I'll be resting."

With that, Krista left the room with Zikaitan, Sam following suit.

"The meeting has ended, you are all dismissed."

*****

He looked through the cabinets, sighing with relief as his hand met a spiral bound stack of paper. Tygren's notebook. Thalleous took it out, cradling the book in his grasp. Tygren's name was scrawled in messy lettering on the front page, and he laughed as he remembered how he used to make fun of the Voltaris' handwriting. The thin pages were filled to the brim with many sketches of many different objects and figures.

He felt a tear rolling down his cheek as he flipped through the repeating pages, examining the pencil sketches he'd already seen a thousand times. The sheets almost seemed to droop with the weight of the graphite, and he smiled sadly, as he reached the last page. All of this managed to produce a choked sob from his throat, as he set the book aside and lay back on his bed.

I miss you, Tygren, and as soon as I get my revenge on the ones who betrayed me, I'll find a way to honour your memory.

He then thought about the ongoings of the world around him, and he realised he had been so focused on getting revenge that he had not caught up on any of the happenings of Plasmatropolis. He pulled out his phone from his inventory and pulled up the news.

Sendaris gang allies with William Lothan, authorities investigating.

Now this just has to be the epitome of a joke, isn't it? I swear, this can't possibly happen.

He continued scrolling through the article, hair sticking to his face as he rolled over to his side.

I'll have to somehow eliminate their entire force before they try to dispose of us. I'll gather my soldiers soon and we will ambush William at his base.

He put his phone away, stowing the device back into his inventory. He turned back to the sketchbook on his table, gazing longingly at the plastic cover and the sheets of paper bound within. He rolled the thoughts and plans of the fight tomorrow. He quickly stumbled over to a microphone, which stood on a desk in the corner, and over the speaker system, announced.

"Get ready, we go to fight against the ones who've oppressed us tomorrow."