The Dustbin
Day 46: Parent-Teacher Conference
Fodlan Calendar Year 1179 has now come to an end.
Throughout the prior year, many actors of intertwining destinies have crossed and gathered to the very heart of this continent built upon faith and belief. The ambitious heir to a remnant empire. The idealistic prince to a dogmatic kingdom. And the cunning scion to a divided alliance.
Then there were those in the garbage bin. The ones found at the bottom by an unfortunate nobody. Together, they were able to defy their destiny of obsolescence.
Through their combined strengths and mutual guidance, they were made privy to the continent's secrets, overcome insurmountable odds, gained strength surpassing those who were living in the light, and their most brilliant of act yet, defied fate itself.
The Ashen Demon's patriarch was supposed to have met his end before the year had ended, yet the Dustbin prevailed over causality itself.
Now with the course of fate thrown completely askew, the Dustbin now find themselves once again at center stage of the coming calamity.
... Beginning at the place where the light of day never reaches its people.
4th of Guardian Moon, Morning
"Well, fancy seeing you down here, Lady Rhea," Karna greeted his superior, the former surprised to find the latter coming down to the slums of the Abyss of all places. And by herself, to boot. "To what business or pleasure do I owe you as of this moment?"
"Alright, I'm cutting to the chase;" she grimaced at the Professor's smarmy attitude, "I need you to kidnap Count Grégoire von Varley."
"My ears are burning!" sang Byron from afar, now in a state of in-between delirium and psychosis due to being in the middle of his adjustment period of hypothermia and thawing.
"Kidnap?" Karna questioned, admittedly just as interested as Byron, much to Rhea's disgust. "Okay, what did he do to you to piss you off? Declared himself as an Archbishop apparent?"
The Archbishop sighs before explaining herself. "As you know, this coming week is our Academy's annual Parent-Teacher Conference," she spoke. "My expectations are that every student with a living parent or a guardian come to Garreg Mach for our designated meeting to keep them up to speed with their children's education." Rhea then paused for a few moments while straining herself to keep down the frustration beneath her calm demeanor. "Unfortunately, Count Varley has proven himself to be a rather, if I may curse, a fucking annoying exception."
"How long?" asked Karna.
"Since Miss Bernadetta von Varley's first year here," she answered with her teeth bared in a pained smile. "Damn bastard didn't even have the decency to even send an advocate to at least pretend that he cared about the meeting..."
"This is really about your reputation, isn't it?" the Professor snidely pointed out.
"Can an Archbishop's authority be respected by those beneath her?" Rhea dropped all pretenses of her prior facade. "Simply put, I'm done putting up with his persistent attempts of disrespecting my authority. And that's where you all come in."
"Break into his compound?" he asked.
"Bring his ass to the Monastery by whatever means necessary," Rhea bluntly ordered.
"And by 'whatever means necessary, you mean 'don't kill anyone in the process lest we spark an international incident that you would more than willing to throw me and my kids into the resulting fire without a second thought'?" Karna's right eyebrow perked up in suspicion.
"At least you are aware of the consequences without having me to spell it out," Rhea smiled in satisfaction as she walked away from him. "I expect him to show up first thing tomorrow. That is all."
Karna sighs in frustration before turning towards the Dustbin huddling around a barrel fire. "Alright kiddos, we got a job!"
The students turn their attention towards Karna as he began to explain. "To wit, our new job is a break-in and abduction operation," he spoke. "Specifically, our target is the Empire's resident paranoid nutcase, Count Grégoire von Varley."
Cyrus and Topaz raised their hands up in the air. "Didn't we visit his region while we were being chased by Lonato's men last year?"
"And remember the place being an inhospitable swamp combined with ravines and other assortment of inhospitable terrain?" Topaz pointed out. "And yes, I checked a while back on my own, both in person and research at the library."
"Which is why I'm counting on your knowledge to help this mission succeed without a fuss," said Karna. "Now, the Archbishop all but stated in verbatim that we're not allowed to kill anyone on this mission, meaning that you can leave your deadlier venoms and sharp objects here, Topaz. We're not allowed to unless we all end up in the gallows!"
Topaz, with a grumble and a disappointed look in her eyes, voluntarily disarms herself with all of her assassination tools that she'd fashioned out of scrap metal and wild flora. "So what if the place is swarming with guards?"
"Then that's Byron's job," Karna looked towards the bookworm huddled the closest to the crackling fire. "His Ice Magic, when properly utilized, can serve as an ideal incapacitation tool. As for how he'll make it through the guards, me and Sorcha will act as the muscle."
"And wat of Vidar?" asked Sorcha as she pointed her thumb to the bandaged boy. "I mean, dat guy can punch a man te death."
"Which is why he will accompany Selene and Cyrus as our exit," Karna answered. "Gotta keep our ride safe lest we get caught with nowhere left to run."
The Dustbin then finally formalize their plan of attack/kidnapping. Karna, Byron, Sorcha and Topaz will act as the "inside" team, their job being to break into the Varley Estate and extract the Count out of his house quietly and stealthily as possible. The "outside" team consisted of Vidar, Selene and Cyrus, whose job is to keep their escape route safe while surveying the outside area for possible deviances to their plan and intercept them, preferably without killing anyone.
"Alright," Karna clapped his hands together, "we got our game plan. Now all that's left to do is get our things, secure a cart with some burlap sacks and rope, find a map and we're good to go!"
"Hardest job that we've come across," Byron groaned, "specifically the whole 'no killing'-rule."
"Quick question," Topaz raised her hand, "... 'no killing' specifically, correct?"
Just as Karna was about to answer, he flashes a slight grin at the probable loophole of the Archbishop's clause in their mission.
"... I know that look," Cyrus also grinned, "and the best part is that we don't have pay for the damages!"
"Archbishop Rhea should've worded 'er condition a wee better," Selene chuckled to herself.
The Dustbin on their way out run into Yuri, the leader of the Ashen Wolves and face of the Abyss and their residents. "Hey," he greeted the band of ne'er do wells, "heading out?"
"Mission from the Archbishop herself," Karna replied tersely, "specifically making sure that Count Varley doesn't end up on this year's Parent-Teacher Conference's tardy list."
"Yeah, she really didn't bother hiding her presence down here," sighed the Wolves' leader. "Saw from afar. Looked as if she'd swallowed a lemon."
Topaz's ear twitched upon the sound of Yuri's tone. "... You speak of this matter as if you're familiar with the Count."
"Did you know that he beat the daylights out of me?" Yuri mentioned with a dry and sardonic grin. "Broke into his place once, found me in his daughter's room, and lost a few of my teeth after being caned in front of her."
The Dustbin look at each other in understanding of why Bernadetta was so sheltered in her own dorm room.
"So with that said," Topaz spoke, "are you familiar with the layout of the Count's home? Any traps, secret passages, or hidden gimmicks that we should be wary of?"
Yuri scratches his chin in contemplation before explaining. "Don't know much but rumors indicate that the majority of Count Varley's collected taxes go into funding his own home's security," he pointed out, "so whatever you guys find in or outside of his manor, expect that he paid a pretty penny getting it."
"How expensive?" asked Sorcha.
"Believe it or not, Count Varley isn't what you call a lavish man," Yuri explained. "All of his spent money goes to what people call 'practical.' So I might be wary of mercenaries, bodyguards, extra fortifications, several new panic rooms that he might've installed, and oh, one more thing."
Yuri then pulled Karna down to a level where the former can whisper into the latter's ear. "... I actually broke into his place undetected through one of the passageways leading out to the dryer part of the surrounding swamp. There's a boat with an oar tied to a running river leading south. So if you want to cut him off, I'd recommend south."
Karna nods in acknowledge before Yuri walks off elsewhere. "Welp, try not to catch a cold out there!"
Byron looks back at the young leader as they walked further away from each other. "... Can't get a read on that guy."
"Neither can I," agreed Topaz. "All I can pick up is that he and this place are hiding something of great significance."
"... We'll run into it..." Vidar remarked, "... just like... last month... and month before..."
"Well, given dat we're gunna be stuck 'ere til winter's over, chances are likely," Sorcha commented. "Den again, it's not like dis continent can't go a munth without somethin' exploding in our faces."
"I for one, welcome such chaos," Cyrus beamed. "Every obstacle is our chance to prove our strength and grow as warriors and badasses."
"Speakin' of," Selene remarked, "about last month's encounter with Thales and his goons... anyone still reelin'?"
Everyone then checks on themselves before ceding. "We can't afford to think about every single time that we've been injured, scarred, tortured, or wounded," commented Topaz. "Just don't die, that's our way of survival."
"Says the person whose arms are that of a monster's," Karna pointed out. "No offense."
"None taken," she replied as the group runs into the Abysskeeper.
"Archbishop told me everything on her way out," he explained. "Wagon and supplies are waiting for you guys outside the front gate."
"How nice of her," commented Karna as the group broke into burning daylight underneath the white of the snow.
"... I hate my life already," Byron groaned as he curled up into a ball, forcing Vidar to pick him up and carry him in a nearby basket.
"Suck it up," Karna remarked.
Upon Arrival at Varley Region...
"Well ain't this a surprise," Karna sarcastically remarked as he overlooked the surrounding area from atop of a tree around the Count's manor now crawling with swords for hire working in tandem with his own home guards. Not only the number of eyes and hands have increased, but temporary fortifications were erected around the isolated piece of land. Consisting of numerous spiked fences staked around the region, blockades to prevent carriages or Demonic Beasts from having any room to roam freely, and various large torches stationed around the barren town that illuminated its surroundings to peter out any shadows, the entire Varley Region was transformed into a veritable citadel overnight.
To make matters worse, it took over half of the day just reaching the swamp, being forced to abandon their wagon at the swamp's entrance after the ravine's exit, resulting in the Dustbin arriving at their designated location for their operation literal minutes before midnight. Now they only have 3 hours to complete the operation, and another 2 hours to get back to the monastery with their objective intact.
Behind him, Cyrus and Selene returned from their patrol of the perimeter. "How are things looking?" the Professor asked.
"Not great," Cyrus remarked. "Southern part of the region is swarming with the Count's color guards. Normally, we would kill em and dump their bodies in the swamp, but given the current clause hanging over our heads..."
Topaz lets out a seething sigh before looking at Byron, who hasn't moved out of his basket since this morning. "Well he's not gonna help. So what now?"
"Do what we've never done," sighed Karna as he realized that their options were not vastly limited. "Knock em out."
"Uh, how?" Selene asked. "I saw several guards around the southern passage. No way we're gonna incapacitate all of em at once unless bodies are hittin' de dirt."
Karna picks up a stone and hands to Vidar. "They're wearing helmets and armor, right?"
Selene nods. "Good," remarked Karna as he turned to their resident deadeye. "Selene, you're Vidar's spotter. Vidar, throw stones at them to get them away from their point. Cyrus, your job is to lead them on a wild goose chase and into the swamp where they'll be stuck in the mire for a while. This operation is more or less a prank rather than an actual divide and destroy."
"Ah, I see how this is gonna work," Cyrus grinned. "A literal prank warfare. And those parts of the swamp specifically so that they won't drown to death."
"And given that we're in a temperate climate, the swamps themselves aren't frozen over," pointed out Topaz.
Karna then hands both Selene and Cyrus their own set of gunnysacks and rope. "Each of you, save one for the Count."
"Wait," Sorcha remarked as she pointed to Byron, who still refused, "wat about 'im?"
"I'll carry him," said Karna as he then hoisted the basket over his shoulders and around his back. "A few extra pounds never bothered me."
"Makes me wonder why he's still predisposed even when it's only merely chilly," grumbled Topaz as the group went into their positions.
Inside the Manor...
"Captain, report," spoke the Count, pacing restlessly back and forth before his lit fireplace.
"No irregularities so far, Count Varley," answered the Mercenary Captain. "My boys are cooperating with your men swimmingly, and all torches are being relit."
"Any signs of intrusion?" asked the neurotic nobleman.
"Perimeter is still clear, sans a few mice and cats in the shed," he answered to his contractor. "Recent rounds of patrol have so far spotted nothing."
"At all or nothing of 'in significance'?" asked Grégoire, his neurosis still high strung as usual.
The Mercenary captain looks through his report again before answering. "... We've might've spotted a few tracks leading outside-"
"WHAT?!" the Count flipped as he wrested the Mercenary up by his collar towards him. "THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SEND A DIVISION TO TRACK THE SOURCE OF THOSE FOOTPRINTS DOWN!"
"... Y-yes sir," said the Captain before he was let go.
"... And I want another report within the coming hour," said Grégoire, his neurosis declining to tepid levels after his outburst. "Come a minute late, and that's coming out of your paycheck, understood?"
The Captain leaves one of the many reinforced panic rooms (that his men installed into the Count's Manor on the same day of their current employment) and down the halls of this barren manor.
Evidently, Count Varley had sent his servants home early due to them being "possible insiders" that might "do something" to him, leaving only his guards and the Captain's men occupying the place and the surrounding area.
"Goddess above, what is the count expecting?" grumbled the Captain as he finally let off his professional facade to release his pent-up stress of having to deal with the most paranoid nobleman in all of Fodlan. "The Death God Bandits? I mean, comparatively this is easy money and all, but come on..."
At the Southern Sector...
"Hey, when's the next shift?" whined the Fortress Knight.
"Not until for another hour," answered the Hero, "which we just replaced the prior guys about five minutes ago. We're just watching for the guys coming up next."
"I'm with the big man," remarked the Soldier as he leaned against the shaft of his [Steel Lance]. "I mean, isn't tomorrow the beginning of Garreg Mach's Parent-Teacher Conference?"
"Hey, I barely afford enough to send my kids to basic grammar school," the Hero said. "And you don't see me judging."
"Although I like to think since we really can't," the Soldier remarked, remembering one of the guards that were fired last week for suggesting a small personal protest against the Count's constant insistence of not attending the annual Parent-Teacher Conference.
The Fortress Knight lets out a groan. "Nothing ever exciting happens here, so why all of these fortifications? Or the boat a few paces away from here?"
Just before anyone can answer, a rock was slugged to his helmeted head with enough force to make him keel. "What the-?!"
"Wish granted!" the Hero then draws his [Silver Sword] as he stood up. "I'll go to the brush and flush out the smartass. You two keep watch."
As soon as the two saw the Hero disappear into the forest brush ahead, another rock was thrown to the Fortress Knight's head again, this time, from another direction. "Alright, that's it!" the large armored man then raises his [Silver Lance] with his giant [Silver Shield]. "Whoever's doing that is getting a lance up their ass!"
The Soldier then watches the Fortress Knight disappear into the forest where the Hero had gone, leaving the newbie all by himself to guard the passage.
"... Oh great," he whimpered, "first month on my new job and already I got ditched..." he nervously looked around the dark wilderness around him, with only a torch to act as his source of light. "... And on the clock to boot. I mean, for crying out loud, I thought I would be ditched after work..."
The Soldier then hears a snap, causing him to torque his head to his side. "... Hello?" he weakly called out as he raised his [Torch] towards the direction he was facing. "... Is someone there?"
Indeed there was someone.
Behind the Soldier, a bandaged visage crept up from the darkness.
Vidar seizes the new meat from behind by his neck before getting him into a grounded chokehold. The Soldier tried to call for help as his [Torch] was dropped next to him, but no sound came out as his windpipe was slowly and securely constricted, cutting off the oxygen from his brain and his consciousness beginning to fade into black.
"Shh.. shh..." shushed the ambusher as the last things the Soldier heard before he fell into stupor, "... quiet, quiet... please."
Upon sensing that the Soldier was now knocked out, Vidar lets go of him. Seeing a tree nearby, he then drags the unconscious Soldier before setting him down next to the trunk and wrapping him around it with a rope.
"... There," Vidar proclaimed as he tightened the knot that Byron had taught him how to tie a while back. From the brush, a neigh was heard. "... Darius?"
"It's me," said Cyrus as he dragged a burly man by a rope tied around his bridle. "Don't worry, he's still alive. Just got kicked in the face after Darius got spooked."
Vidar then flaps open the Fortress Knight's gums, revealing a few missing teeth. "... Helmet?"
Cyrus tosses the knight's helmet with the caved-in visor to Vidar's arms. "Any thinner, and his head would've exploded," the Battuian boy remarked as he hung the tied-up Fortress Knight above one of the tree's branches. "Have to say, Fodlan's metalworking is quite above the standard!"
"If ye two are dun talking, den listen up," said Selene, dragging behind a Hero who was foaming at the mouth while the borrowed [Bowgun] was strapped around her back. "I spotted 'nother patrol surveyin' de area, so better make ourselves scarce..."
She then scoops up a ball of mud from the swamp before loading it into the [Bowgun]'s feed.
"... Or prank... them?" Vidar asked.
Selene nods, which prompts Cyrus to evilly grin as he also picks up a ball of mud from the swamp. "Being subtle ain't our style," he cackled to himself. "We'll take out their eyes first."
Nearing the Compound...
"Bloody hell..." sighed Karna as he, Sorcha, Topaz and Byron (carried by the first) peeked around the corner of the house where they hid behind to see the streets and roads crawling with Grégoire's men and hired goons. "Feels like the whole region's locked down for an invasion."
"... Ye know, I'd actually love to break in and kill all de fools," commented Sorcha, disappointed at their current state of affairs, "but den again... we can't 'ave nice thins'."
"Staying on the ground will result in us getting caught," Topaz then climbs up one one of the cottage roofs before pulling up both Karna (with Byron) and Sorcha with her mutant strength. "We'll traverse from above. The night sky and their indolence shall be our refuge."
The three (four) of them traversed across the roof lines that all closed into the manor at the center of the territory, evading the patrolling guards and sellswords with their elevated plane of view.
"Oi, just askin'," remarked Sorcha as they hopped from building to building, "but won't de people inside notice dat we're the ones hoppin' roof te roof?"
"Varley's got the whole region under lockdown, so even if they want to, they're not allowed to," answered Karna as they landed on a town hall's roof before skipping towards a grocery shop. "The only ones crawling outside are us and the guards."
"... Houses... boarded up," mumbled Byron while remaining in his semi-cationic state, "... everyone... locked in... guards... breathing mist..."
"Byron, please come out," said Topaz as they neared towards the Varley manor, "it's not even snowing out here. Let alone freezing."
"Give him time," Karna protested as they came to a halt, hiding behind empty crates away from the patrolling guards, "because for now, we're here."
Karna then unstraps the basket around his back before handing it to Topaz. "Alright, Sorcha, on my mark, we're gonna choke those two watchmen out," he ordered as he pointed to the two Soldiers adjacent to the gates, once in the clear, we're going to have to move fast."
The four then hear the gates creak open, and around the Mercenary Captain's belt were a ring of keys that jingled around his waist. "Alright, you two," he spoke, "your replacements should be in about a couple minutes, so in the meantime, I better not catch you sleeping. Got it?"
The Soldiers nod before walking off elsewhere. "... Wonder where the boys are at this time..." he grumbled to himself as he unknowingly walked past the four hidden behind the crates, "they better not be drinking, I swear..."
As soon as the Mercenary Captain got out of earshot, the plan came into action as soon as Karna picks up a stone before showing it to Sorcha. "On my mark."
He then tosses it to the Soldier's helmet, clanking it off of its steely surface harmlessly, but nevertheless bothering him enough to break posture. "What the-?!" he sputtered before pointing his [Steel Lance] outwards. "Show yourself!"
The two Soldiers then advance towards the direction where the rock was thrown from, only for a cat to leap out of its place.
"Tch," one Soldier clicked his tongue, "what do you think we are?" he remarked as he shone his lit [Torch] into Byron's face from the basket. "Nobody's that dumb-"
From behind, the two guards were then choked from behind by Karna and Sorcha as they dragged back the Soldiers to where the rest of their group were hiding behind. After a few moments of strangulation, the guards finally passed out and the four approached the door.
"Well that worked without a hitch," Karna remarked as he looked back were the guards were hidden at.
"Tell me about it," Sorcha commented as she commandeered the torches for herself and the group. "Den agin', didn't see the two not falling for the whole 'just an animal'-trick comin'."
"Realistically, maybe a rock wasn't a good idea to pair that up with a cat," Karna commented back before Topaz finished picking the gate's locks open.
"We're in," she spoke as the gates were creaked open quietly as possible. "Now we must get past the courtyard and into the manor itself."
Karna then looked towards said patch of grass and shrubbery standing between them and their target's location. "... Well, gotta give Yuri's intel some credit," he remarked as he noticed the courtyard before the manor being roughly the side of a small frontier settlement's farm field, "when he's right about Varley being a man against extravagance, he's right."
At the Swamps...
"What are we even doing out here?!" groaned the Soldier as he and his patrol group led by a Swordmaster trudged through the muck and slime permeating through their boots.
"Captain's orders," answered the Swordmaster, leading the way with a torch. "... But I agree, Count Varley is not an easy man to work under."
Already the Count's infamous paranoia had proven to their group of sellswords to be an annoyance. Even the promise of them earning three times their usual amount was starting to come to doubt of their cost-benefit ratio of their current contract. Out of the gate, they were responsible for both fortifying and barricading the entire region and the Count expects the men to patrol the whole area, without sleep, for a whole week.
And just for context, this was night number 1.
"... Alright," yawned the Swordmaster, "as soon as we find these bastards, gut em. I don't care who they are or where they've come from, but I doubt anyone will find their bodies in a swamp of all places-"
Something wet and heavy splashes past the Swordmaster's face, killing the torch and leaving the whole patrol group blind.
"... Why did we bring only one [Torch]?" asked the Soldier.
"Because you babies kept whining about being too tired!" snapped the leader of the patrol.
Afar from the darkness, Selene kept her gaze locked onto the standstill group of men she'd sniped with her [Bowgun]. "Alright, dat outta keep em pinned for a while."
"Now what?" asked Cyrus. "Leaving them alone would spell unneeded chaos."
"Simple," she then loaded another ball of mud loaded with course sand (made from Vidar crushing a bundle of pebbles with his brute strength) into the [Bowgun]'s feed, "take out der leader's eyes, den de group will be more discordant dan chaotic."
The shot was made, and the increased density of the mud ball that had struck the Swordmaster across his face was the perfect balance of blinding and forcible enough to knock him out on the spot.
"Vidar," Selene remarked as she saw the whole group now panic through the darkness, "choke em out, one by one."
Quickly, the panicking group of Soldiers were then incapacitated one by one by a joint effort of Vidar and Selene turning the swamps into their personal and metaphorical killbox. In no time flat, the group and their leader were all rounded and tied up to a tree, had all of their belongings and pocket change stolen.
"Hey, I found booze!" Cyrus remarked before took a swig from the pilfered flask.
"So, how does it taste?" asked Selene before Cyrus spat out the concoction.
"Ugh, tastes like piss and spit," the Battuian boy commented in disgust. "Cheap bastards..."
Back Inside the Manor...
Escorted by his own guards, Count Grégoire von Varley moved from one panic room into another. Another (debatably) ingenious idea on his part is that all of his panic rooms connect to the same escape route. Normally, one would make more escape routes, but the possibility of infiltration from the outside is lessened if there are less holes to poke through. That and he didn't have the time or the legal clearance to make more secret tunnels (the Empire's Land Reform Laws leaned favorably to independent civilians starting small businesses and Noblemen like him have to do the same paperwork, which he doesn't want to).
"Alright," the Count remarked as he entered through the reinforced door, taking the keys in with him, "all of you, sweep through the halls to make sure that there are no intruders within the premises. If the Mercenary Captain comes back with something, take him to this room."
The doors shut, leaving Varley's guards outside before their dispersal. Unbeknownst to both the guards and the Count, the manor itself had already been infiltrated. Specifically by Karna and the "inside" team, now making their way through the halls being patrolled by the guards.
"Alright, we're in," Karna remarked as he peeked around the corner, spotting a guardsman walking away from their direction. "Can't afford to linger at one place for too long... gotta start by thinning the numbers."
Sorcha gives a nod before speeding towards the unaware Soldier before throwing her whole body weight at him with a concentrated dropkick to the back of his head followed up with a mounted knock-out palm strike to his lower jaw. Upon dragging the unconscious body into one of the unoccupied rooms, she then gives a thumbs up from the door, signaling everyone inside.
"Where are we?" asked Byron, now slightly more roused upon being inside, where it was significantly warmer.
"The kitchen," Topaz surmised as she saw the empty pots and produce. "And the body?"
"Wine cellar," Sorcha answered as she pointed towards the cellar doors with her thumb.
Karna taps his foot in contemplation as he tried to discern on how to deter Byron's condition, if at least temporarily. "Say, Mr. Byron Amadeus Noa."
"Listening," he tersely replied.
"It's not even snowing in Varley, yet you act as if you're in a middle of a blizzard," the Professor pointed out as Sorcha lit the stove by striking a flint with a meat knife. "Is your condition... psychosomatic?"
"My mind is adjusted to an internal timetable," explained Byron, "hot, cold, it doesn't matter where I am. I was wondering through the frigid wilderness of Faerghus for the majority of my life, and said tribulation continued long after I met Vidar. Since then, I've just learned to accept that this quirk was a part of my life that I have to work with. The annual hibernation of the devil inside me that kept me alive."
Karna sucked his teeth. "I see." It was clear to the Professor that despite everything about Byron, he was nothing more than a traumatized boy that only grew strong in prowess, but not in heart. Beneficially, he was a textbook example of a high-functioning psychopath, but deep down, it was clear that Byron wasn't born this way.
"Made you like this, huh?" Karna remarked as he then smelled something savory floating in the air. "What the-? Sorcha?!"
"Wat?" she remarked as she sliced carrots into the bubbling pot of cabbage and mutton stew. "He's freezin' regardless, so I thought I'd make somethin' to warm 'im up."
"Hey is someone cooking a midnight snack-"
The entered guard was then immediately seized by Topaz after she'd punched him in his crotch and then dragged towards the roaring fire of the stove. Sorcha ignored the panicking man as his interrogation began.
"Talk," ordered the Hassashin as she grabbed the Soldier's head and inched it towards the fire, "and don't raise your voice beyond a whisper."
The Soldier whimpers in acknowledgement.
"Where is Count Varley?" she asked, her grip around the Soldier's head tightening enough to make his helmet slightly crumple in her grasp.
"Panic room, fifth door on the hall down to the right curve," he confessed. "Doors are all identical-looking, but the one leading to the panic room as bigger rivets that hold up the specialized locks behind the door."
Topaz then delivers a swift chop to the back of his neck and knocks him out cold. "Alright, we have a lead," she stated. "Now all we need to do is catch up to him before he makes his escape."
"By the way, Topaz," Karna then looked at the guard foaming at the mouth. "... He isn't dead, right?"
"Of course not," she reassured as she dragged the body towards the cellar doors before tossing him in with the rest. "I'm now at the stage of my strength where I'm able to instinctually differentiate between lethal and nonlethal blows. And it is disgusting."
"... I'll go check if his pulse is still running," Karna remarked as he went down the cellar with a spool of rope.
"Soup's ready," Sorcha remarked as she then served a bowl to Byron. "Eat up. You'll feel better."
"... Since when did you know how to cook?" asked Byron.
"Since we weren't allowed in de fekin' kitchen," she snarled before shoving the whole bowl into his mouth, "so eat!"
As Byron was force-fed the soup, another guard walks into the kitchen doors from the commotion. "Hey, what are you doing-!"
Topaz immediately seizes the man before tackling him through the window behind him, inadvertently alerting every single guard in the premise from the sounds of his screams and the glass panes shattering.
The little Hassashin clicks her tongue in frustration at what she'd done. "... Crud."
Then the sounds of numerous footsteps began to quickly close in on them.
"Oi, we gotta go!" Sorcha hollered. "Topaz feked up!"
"WHAT?!" Karna cried out from the cellar after he finished tying up the two Soldiers around the support beams. "Damn it all, this is really bad-!"
Then they all find the exit completely swarmed by Varley's men. "End of the line, dirtbags," said one guards. "Let's see how the Adrestian Supreme Court convicts you vandals!"
In spite of being cornered, Byron then heaves out an apathetic sigh towards the situation around them. "Say," he spoke, Byron's prior despondence no longer being as prevalent, "you said 'whatever means necessary' as long we don't kill them, correct?"
Karna nods, to which Byron smirks evilly as the whole room and the hallway outside plummets in its overall temperature.
"... Then I guess means it's my turn."
A tidal wave of ice sweeps over the surrounding guards, trapping them all in ice from the neck down outside the room and pinned against the manor's walls.
Upon finishing his work, Byron then gets up out of his basket that he was carried in, takes the whole pot of stew from the stove before chugging its entire contents in a single gulp. "You're right, Sorcha," Byron spoke with a cadence of a devil reborn, "it really did warm me up."
"Took ye long enough," said the Brigidian girl. "Come on. He said fifth door to the hallway at de right hallway, right?"
"Stealth is no longer an option," Karna then kicks the now-empty basket into the lit stove and sets it ablaze. "We need to hurry, now!"
The four then bolt down the hall as smoke began to proliferate throughout the manor's halls. The fire itself was merely a distraction to concentrate all of the available guards within the premises to get them off of their designated routes, and upon turning right, the five identical doors were spotted dotting the walls.
"Fifth one!" Karna then ran towards the door at the end of the hallway, kicking the door down only to reveal a spotless looking room filled with pieces of Adrestian Empire's cultural art. "SHIT! WRONG DOOR!"
"He said fifth!" Sorcha exclaimed as she ran down the halls, kicking down every door she can see. "Sunnuvabitch was lyin' te us!"
"Wait!" Topaz remark as she then saw the bolts on the first door adjacent to the hallway intersection. She then counts how may doors were in the hallway, including the one standing before her. "Five," she remarked as she then noticed the bolts on the door before her being slightly bigger than the ones that were kicked down on. "WE'VE BEEN HAD! 'FIFTH' DOOR WAS THE FIRST WE PASSED!"
"Stand back!" Karna then performs a flying reverse-spin kick onto the reinforced door, only for his kick to bounce off. "SHIT! NOW HE KNOWS FOR SURE THAT WE'RE HERE! WHAT IS THIS THING MADE OF?! A PIECE OF EMBARR'S GATES?!"
"Allow me," Topaz then unfurls the bandages around both her arms as both the [Crest of Maurice] and [Crest of Gautier] shone from her mutant arms before their claws and [Blutgang] dug through the reinforced door and pried it off of its hinges before throwing the entire contraption of wood and iron to the Soldiers and Mercenaries running towards them, knocking all of them out before they went inside the panic room.
Inside, the scattered shelves and furniture were signs that Count Varley had left the room. "DAMMIT!" cursed Karna as he and the others frantically looked around the room while Topaz was outside, tossing kicked-down doors and valuable pieces of Imperial art at the patrolmen coming towards their location, "WHERE'S THE HIDDEN PASSAGE?!"
Byron then notices a faint draft coming from the extinguished, but still-smoking fireplace. He then kicks aside the ash and soot, only to find a hidden lever buried underneath. Grabbing onto the handlebar, Byron pulls onto it until a faint click was heard, unlocking the mechanism that reveals a hidden passage behind the floor panel before the fireplace.
"I FOUND THE HIDDEN PASSAGE!" Byron cried out the scattered furniture were then used by Topaz as improv weapons to fend off the coming guards and sellswords alerted to their location. He then tries to walk into it, only for a magical barrier to forcibly repel him back. "SHIT! HE'S BLOCKED IT OFF WITH [FAITH MAGIC]!"
"Allow me," Karna remarked as he rolled up his sleeves. "Byron, just keep handing Sorcha whatever you can find in this room that Topaz can use as a projectile."
The Professor then immediately gets to work with a plan in mind. Normally, I can easily brute force through this haphazard contraption of [Ward] and [Nosferatu] with any of my spells, but the results might be a tad... volatile... He then ruminates on his possible options before paring it down to one possible way forward. "... Very well," he sighed in partial resignation as he tugged his gloves in tighter, "another battlefield experiment it is."
Karna then starts the composition of his spell using [Miasma ∆] as a basis. Normally, [Hades Ω]'s sheer destructive output would've been the quick and easily solution to breaking through the barrier, but said spell will result in collateral casualties, which he can't afford right now due to the clause of their mission. He then applies the principles of [Mire B]'s corrosive properties into [Miasma ∆]'s gaseous formula to create a dissolvent solution, combining both the basis's (relative) precision with the supplement's potency and properties.
"ALRIGHT KIDDOS! HOLD ONTO YOUR BREATHS!" Karna warned as he unleashed his evolved variant of his spell. "[EXPIRATION ∆+]!"
From his hand, a jet of acidic black miasma spewed through the magical barrier barring them from entry, melting through the enchantment instantly and partially dissolving the integrity of the masonry making up the passageway's frame.
"WE'RE IN!" yelled the Professor as he dragged Byron and Sorcha in with him. "TOPAZ! WE NEED TO GO, NOW!"
With one last yell, she then throws one of the guardsmen out of another window before running into the secret passage where the others have run into. Spotting a weak point within the tunnel, Topaz slams her right mutant arm against it, causing the whole entrance of the secret passage to cave in on itself along with the entire panic room above to sink with it into a small sinkhole.
With them now in the clear from the guards that were at their heels prior, the four then run through the tunnel shaft as fast as they could.
"FEK! HE'S ALREADY MADE TRACKS!" heaved Sorcha as she and the others kept running. "WE AIN'T GONNA MAKE IT!"
"Then allow me!" Byron remarked as he grabbed onto everyone. "[WARP]!"
The four then rush through the dark tunnel as Byron kept spamming his [Faith Magic]-based spell to expedite their pursuit of the paranoid Count.
Just Outside...
"WHERE THE HELL ARE THE GUARDS?!" screamed Grégoire before he found three tied around a tree while unconscious after spending his last [Warp] for the day. "USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! ALL OF YOU ARE COMPLETELY USELESS!"
Now he only had himself as he took off into the woods where his escape boat was waiting for him by the river further south. But just behind him, his four pursuers were now spotted coming out of the tunnel that he'd just came out of.
"THERE HE IS!" Karna pointed towards the fleeing Count. "AFTER HIM!"
As the four ran, Byron immediately collapses onto the floor, back his despondent state of mind after the burnout of using all of his [Warp] spells for the day.
"YOU TWO GO AHEAD!" Karna remarked as he picked Byron up by his shoulder. "I'LL CATCH UP!"
The pursuit heats on with Topaz and Sorcha running after the surprisingly-fast-footed Count. While Grégoire had the advantage of a head start, Sorcha and Topaz proved extremely nimble and agile through the uneven terrain of the swampy woodlands making up the majority of the Varley territory.
"YE GO CUT OFF 'IM OFF!" barked Sorcha. "I'LL CORNER DE BASTARD!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" bawled the Count as in the heat of the moment, he blasted [Aura] at a random direction, only for it to end up hitting Topaz directly and causing her to slow down significantly while the ensuing explosion from the spell caused the terrain before them to get even more uneven, slowing down the pursuers significantly.
"TOPAZ!" Sorcha cried out to her downed compatriot.
"I'M FINE! GO!" she ordered as she picked herself up, slightly reeling from a blast that would've killed a lesser human being.
Thanks to the bought time, the gap between the Count and the pursuers has widened to a significant margin, with Sorcha herself beginning to feel winded from the lack of adrenaline, she saw the Count get smaller and smaller as the sounds of a rushing river could be heard faintly.
"SHITE! HE'S GONNA GET AWAY!" Sorcha cried out in desperation.
"No he's not," then from Grégoire's side, Cyrus leapt off of his horse's back and tackled down the count before pinning him to the dirt and binding his arms with rope with finesse.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" he shrieked, thrashing and flailing all the while. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM-!"
The pathetic man's curses were silenced after a swift punch from Cyrus was delivered across his lower jaw, knocking him out instantly. "Got the package!" he hollered. "I repeat, we've secured the package."
"Heard ye de first time, Cyrus," Selene remarked as she and Vidar came out of the woods with Karna, Byron and Topaz finally catching up to her. "... So," she and Vidar looked down at the captured Count, "this 'im?"
Karna then checks the Count's body and finds his Crest branded onto the side of his neck behind his collared suit. "It's him," he stated as he performed a rub test to ensure that the Crest wasn't painted on. "Alright, into the gunnysack you go!"
Count Grégoire von Varley was then stuffed into a burlap sack as the Dustbin rode off discreetly as the manor was now manned by panicking guards and sellswords trying to put out the small fire in the kitchen.
Now Archbishop Rhea's annual Parent-Teacher Conference had perfect attendance.
10th of Guardian Moon, Afternoon
"... And that's how we ended up capturing the Count and resulted in both the Empire and the Church to pay off roughly 6 million gold's worth of damages to cover our asses," Karna remarked over the tea table. "Honestly, how are paintings worth more than the actual person who painted them?! Let alone, how many manors can you buy with just one of them?!"
Chuckling across the table was non other than Duke Arundel, current chairman of the Continental Educational Board, or rather, Thales, one of the Seven Sages of Agartha, in disguise as the former. "It is amusing," he mused himself before he sipped his tea, "Varley has always been a paranoid and neurotic man, and the only reason why we tolerated him for long as the Empire did is because there's literally no one willing to replace him."
Karna holds in his chuckle at the thought. "... Is the position of the Southern Bishop really that undesirable?"
"No one is willing to live in a swamp unless they're a complete recluse," stated the chairman. "Let's just say that you and your ragtag group of rejects have proven that no fortress to them is impenetrable, and that the Empire is now considering to perform a revised stress test on all important facilities in about the next few months."
"Hm, quaint," Karna then took a scone before taking a large bite out of it and washing it down with a bottle of wine.
Arundel/Thales raises his eyebrow at that. "... You know that it's only the afternoon, right?"
"Oh please, we're just about done with the Parent-Teacher Conference happening for the whole week and I rather forget that my group weren't allowed to kill anyone for a whole week," he remarked. "And this? I nicked a few bottles from Varley's wine cellar."
"Speaking of Varley..." said the chairman, "how was he during his meeting?"
Karna lets out a dry laughter before going sour-faced at such thought. "No exaggeration, but I basically had to threaten his life at scythe-point just to get him to remotely cooperate," he pointed out before he took another swig from the bottle. "The man's refusal to listen to anything that's not from or appealing him is borderline legendary."
Arundel/Thales chuckled at the thought. "Thank you for giving me some ideas, old friend."
"Aw save it, no hard feelings will be felt the next time we meet on the battlefield," Karna flipped off the chairman.
The two then share a laugh before falling back into quiet. "So," asked the chairman, "I'm curious."
"About what?" replied Karna.
"About the kids without parents," said Arundel/Thales, "where are they?"
"Oh," Karna then awkwardly looked to the side, "about that..."
At the Abyss...
"Hello, one and all," greeted Byron as he stood over the podium, "and welcome to the very last meeting of our Loser's Club."
Before Byron were a group of gathered students whose parents weren't available to come to this week's annual Parent-Teacher Conference (either because they're dead or too far away), or have no available guardians advocating for them. Membership included the Dustbin, the Ashen Wolves, Dorothea, Petra, Annette, Ashe, Sylvain, Pit and other students, mostly of the commoner class, but there were a few noblemen dotted about. Cyril himself rejected the invitation on the account of being "too busy for extracurricular activities," while Dedue, despite being an orphan himself, refused to join due to Rufus advocating for both the Duscurian and Dimitri during the Parent-Teacher Conference, using this as an excuse to avoid the group. The same could be said for Raphael as well, with Ignatz's parents all but adopting him and his sister Maya.
As for how and why the Abyss ended up being the meeting location, Byron himself already revealed to Aelfric that the knowledge of the Abyss's existence was pretty much an open secret to the student body after the Dustbin caused several noise complaints/explosions during their prior sprawls down here, and the fact they're a Church protectorate means that they have nothing to fear even if they were revealed.
"As you all know, this week we've been graced with the sights of seeing various students of Garreg Mach being reunited with their parents after a long time away, sans us," explained Byron. "Together in our loneliness, we've gathered to discuss our peculiar circumstances, and for the past week, we've sort of... bonded. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and with that, I'd like for us to share our experiences as orphans one last time. Anyone have anything else to share about themselves?"
Annette raises her hand, which Byron then allows her to speak. "I still have a mother, but ever since... father disappeared, she's... been barely functioning," she confessed. "... Can't blame her though... I mean, I wish my mother to be here, but it's been... really hard for her to leave the house without... you know... breaking down."
Annette sighs before slumping down to her chair, her back being patted by Ashe for reassurance.
"You know," Byron remarked, "despite well, everything, we never talked about our possible futures upon our graduation," he pointed out. "I mean come on, the Parent-Teacher Conference is about talking about our future once we graduate. So, in that spirit, I propose today's topic to shift into that of talking about our future! Effective immediately."
"So then," Yuri pointed out, "what's your future, big boss man?"
"I for one would like to be part of this continent's academia and start my own scholarship," said Byron. "The intellectual standards for this generation of students is abysmal to say the least, so I hope to raise the bar while opening up said standards to everyone! Universal funding for general education as a step towards Garreg Mach as higher education! Free, tax-funded public libraries so that the commoners can learn to expand their worldview! Foreign exchange student programs to spread our reputation! I mean, Garreg Mach Monastery's Officer's Academy preaches excellence, does it not? I'd say we let the whole world know rather than stew in our own isolationism! Information desires to be free! The human mind is constrained from their full potential because the people are sheep! They try to stop me?! I say let them try. My mind and gluttony for more egalitarianism will devour them first!"
Everyone was blown away by Byron's surprisingly selfless aspirations. "... Wow," Dorothea remarked as she blinked once, "... almost makes me forget that you were a complete piece of shit the first time."
"And what of you?" Byron asked Dorothea. "What do you seek?"
"I'm still aiming to becoming a star at Mittelfrank Opera Company," Dorothea huffed. "I have lots to owe Miss Manuela Casagranda after she'd took me in from the slums. And like you Byron, I won't let anyone or anything stop me! Including hecklers like you!"
Everyone applauded at her conviction, including Byron. "Nice to see that you finally grew a proper spine," he commented sincerely. "So, anyone else?"
Petra raises her hand before getting up. "I like for Brigid and Fodlan to have friendly relationship with each other," she declared. "There's bad blood between us, so I like for us to dig down the hatchet and make good with each other."
"Fek dat!" Sorcha exclaimed before she sprang up from her seat and confronted her liege. "I ain't gunna make nice with de continent dat shat on us for years! Ye wanna be der bootlicker for life?! Go then, cuz as soon as I'm out of 'ere, I'm driving out every single Fodlanese colonist from Brigid meself, by meself, if I 'ave to."
"I'm with 'er," Selene remarked. "Princess, ye forgot wat it meant to be a proud Brigidian. Yer dead, Petra. De MacNearys 'ave gone soft."
"Ye 'nd yer proud McCarthys have done nothing but kill us all!" Petra snapped back into her Brigidian dialect. "Are ye tryin' to kill us all?!"
"BETTER TO DIE A MARTYR THAN LIVE AS A COWARD!" Sorcha and Petra then pounced towards each other, only for both of them to be intercepted by Balthus grabbing the two by their collars and forcibly separating them.
"Take them away somewhere else for them to cool off, and not the sluice where they can possibly try to drown each other," said Byron as the giant man took the two confrontational Brigidians away from the meeting, with Selene following after them in their exile. "... Political crises aside, anyone else?"
Ashe stands up. "I still want to be a Knight of Faerghus," he stated with conviction, "but it no longer for the sake of fulfilling a childhood fantasy of mine. Rather, I want to be a knight to not only honor Lord Lonato's memory, but also to protect the weak from the wicked and evil. Call it idealistic fluff, but I sort of agree with Sorcha's words; I'd sooner die trying to do good rather than live as evil roams free around the continent!"
Byron sighs before giving a faint applause. He himself hated Faerghus' chivalry that only served as a mask for their hypocrisy. But there was something... more disgusting about Ashe being the one true believer of that propaganda's message. But unlike Sorcha, he at least knew to keep his opinions to himself to avoid further disintegration. "... Anyone else?"
Constance raises her hand. "I wish to restore the Nuvelle House to its former glory," she addressed. "I care not for the reasons why it had been scorched to the ground, only that I wish to undo the damages and start over from scratch. And once I finish rebuilding, I shall fulfill my noblesse oblige and become a beacon of aspiration to the people!"
"Basic, but something worth working towards," commented Byron. "Anyone else?"
"I want to find the place that I was born in," stated Hapi.
"I want to live free of my crushing debt!" Balthus hollered. "And after that, I'm gonna start an international fighting circuit called the King of Grapplers!"
"I guess, I want to find a dream of my own first," Yuri remarked. "Maybe I can stay here and take over Aelfric's place or go outside and explore the world? I dunno, just the possibilities being endless is an aspiration itself."
"... I want... to heal... my wounds," Vidar grunted as he began crying tears of blood, "... and talk... not like this."
"I want to be like the Archbishop!" Pit declared. "I want to spread good and justice throughout Fodlan because doing good feels great!"
"I want to find my father," declared Annette, "so that I can drag him back home myself and be a family again."
"I want to lead my people back at Battu," Cyrus declared, "so that I may lead them as I was supposed to."
As the other students in the crowd of fifty clamored out their hopes and aspirations, only two have yet to speak.
"... Hopes and dreams, huh?" Sylvain snarked. "That's nice."
"Oh really now?" Topaz commented. "Never took you for the cynical type, let alone unmotivated. Care to elaborate?"
"At first, I thought everything would work out just fine as long as I played the part of the whole 'dutiful son' in front of my father," he stated, "then he died, and I let my pent up feelings out on Miklan. Not only stemming from my piece of shit brother, but also to my father and my mother as well." Sylvain dryly chuckled to himself before continuing. "... It was around that time when I realized that deep down, they weren't my family. They were just people I was forced to be stuck with since I was born, as a mere piece on realpolitik game board. Like tree resin trapping a bug in its goo. Only Prince Dimitri and his cohorts gives me the room to be... well me. I can now flirt with girls on my own terms rather than seeing them as baby bags like father told me they were, and when duty calls, I can take solace that I can fight and die for someone that is worth doing those two acts for."
"That's nice," Topaz remarked. "And utterly incomprehensible."
"... What do you mean?" asked Sylvain.
"Tell me, Sylvain Jose Gautier," she began, "what does it mean to be a person? Is it to be born with a family? Is it to have friends that you can rely on? Is it to find a purpose worth martyring yourself for? To all that, I say no," she answered. "To me, being a person means to submit to a mute, thankless, and inevitable death. Life itself means nothing when Azrāʾīl can easily declare when our time is up. Parents? No such thing, for we were all born into the truth; the truth of this cruel world without light. Friends? We will all die in the end, so why seek out another individual to bond with when becoming part of our God's greater plan is more suitable and dignified? Purpose? In this world? I have no need. I am not a person by all means, Gautier. I am merely Azrāʾīl's instrument until I have no more uses left. A weapon that that is to be replaced when I inevitably break or become dulled from age. But, if by some divine plan that none of us will ever fathom declares that I still have yet to fully live, then I shall submit to that decree."
From that speech alone, Sylvain didn't see a person. He only saw a walking void that only looked human.
"You were supposed to set yourself free from the world, Gautier," Topaz scolded. "Yet you clung on, to what end? What will you do? When you're the last one standing? Too late to save your so-called friends from their end?"
The orphaned noble was left utterly loss for words.
"Death is liberation from the great lie that is this world," preached the Hassashin. "The longer you Fodlanders cling to your life, the more unsightly it becomes. I see the truth, and soon you'll too."
"So why don't you just die?" asked Sylvain.
"Because it's not my time yet," Topaz answered. "The only one who chooses how I die is Azrāʾīl itself. To take my own life in deviation of my God's plan is beyond heresy."
"Now ain't that just convenient," the lone Gautier clicked his tongue.
The Loser's Club's final meeting in the Abyss proceeded until closing time.
At an Undisclosed Location...
"So..." remarked Thales as he took off his mask and set it on the table sitting in the middle of an indiscernible darkness, "... is everyone here?"
Around the void, several floating lanterns of blue flame lit themselves up, the light revealing six other masked figures sitting around the round table.
"Present," spoke Solon as he took off his domed mirrored-orb helmet and placed it onto the table's surface. "These past months haven't been easy on these old bones."
"Aw, what's the matter, old man?!" said the white and red-skulled Warlock, the mask clicking open its facade to reveal a roughish-looking man with dark sclera surrounding his deep-blue pupils. "Need some R&R for yourself?"
"Myson, respect your seniors," said Chilon as he took off his grill-masked helmet to reveal a mature, dignified man with combed-back hair in his thirties. "Your crass mannerisms has always been an issue."
"Come now, Chilon," spoke a sultry Dark Flier wearing a porcelain face mask of a maiden's visage with a pair of faint red lines running down from the eyes like tear streaks, taking it off to reveal a redheaded seductress, "let the boy have his fun. We're always bored to death down here."
"Like, seconded," said the rabbit-masked Valkyrie before popping it off to reveal a pink-twintailed lady looking in her preteens. "Seriously, we're already living on the edge in this Metro while those dirty gonks are taking up all the good spots of the real estate. Flatlining these 'ganics is practically the only thing fun thing to do around here aside from my downtime of composing song lyrics about my violent tendencies! I'd delta this meeting if it weren't for Solon and Thales."
The only one that hasn't spoken is the one Gremory wearing a gold-rimmed dark-blue and beaked masquerade mask underneath her veil.
"... Bias dear," spoke the Dark Flier, "can you help Pittacus take off her mask?"
"Whatever, mom," Bias rolled her eyes as she approached the despondent and doll-like Gremory and helped her take off her mask and place it at the table. "Next time Cleobulus, you help the joytoy."
"Oi, that's my girl you're talking to!" Myson remarked. "Don't go calling her that. It's rude."
"Whatever," scoffed the young Valkyrie as she took out her sewing kit and began patching her plush, button-eyed rabbit doll ridded with patchwork.
Thales lets out a small sigh before speaking. "First of all, thank you all for coming tonight for our New Year's meeting," he stated. "As you all know, last year alone have yielded more than enough results that may or may not decide certain factors within our plans in our favor."
"The meeting's main concern; the Dustbin," Solon stated. "Now one may initially think very little of those ragtag band of foreigners, fugitives, and one homeless academic, but the results have clearly shown that no matter what happens, regardless of the faction that triggers said action against them, be it of common crooks, foreign pirates, or governmental institutions, they, refuse, to die."
"Or rather, the ones we send to eliminate them..." Thales groaned in slight resignation at the Dustbin's improbable feats of survival, "... are usually the ones getting killed off."
"Oh come on," Bias snorted, "just how hard is it to zero those fodders?"
"To be fair, they've already proven their mettle as more than just 'fodders,' Bias," Chilon pointed out. "I faced a few of them myself, and they're a whole world apart compared to the rest of the student body in comparison."
"Eh, detes," shrugged the Valkyrie as she began stroking her bunny plush's ears.
Solon sighs before he concluded his report. "In conclusion, Thales and I, Solon of the Seven Sages, propose that all future planning will not directly target the Dustbin, in order to prevent any more unforeseen consequences being a factor to our possible failure," he stated. "The Dustbin are too wild and unpredictable to even approach, and any further attempts to excise them will result in a resource drainage."
"Hey hey, I heard that Thales was trying to get the Dustbin themselves to make good with us," Myson commented.
"It was the only possible way to remove them from the equation without having to expend or diverge our current investments," Thales confessed. "And yes, I did talk to their leader, Karna Yuga, and he has confirmed that we're his enemies, and the only reason why he didn't attempt kill me on the spot is that he'd learned how to behave himself in public."
"Tch, so he's a corpse rather than some stuck-up gangoon," Bias commented in disappointment, already punching her doll in its face repeatedly.
"Fucking buzzkill, that's what," Myson booed before turning to the Gremory. "Ainnit, babygirl?"
Pittacus remained mute to his comment.
"... Man, we're in up the creek, even after we've managed to secure a Crest Stone of one of the Four Saints," the Warlock commented as he stroked his stubble. "... Anyone got ideas? Cuz I'm out."
Cleobulus chuckled to herself, catching everyone's attention.
"Care to share what you have, Cleobulus?" asked Thales.
"Gladly," she remarked. "From one of my rumor mills, one of the birdies told me that there's something that's hiding within the Abyss itself. In fact, part of the underground's status as a protectorate of the Church is for the latter to hide something in the former behind the veneer of legitimacy. Less questions asked, less people poking around."
"And what's the thing hidden down there?" Myson asked. "A Hero's Relic that we're not aware of or forgotten? I mean, the [Vajra-Mushti] was only recently discovered wielded by that meathead shoulder-deep in debt."
"Oh Myson, you think so small," the Dark Flier commented. "Think bigger. Much, bigger."
Everyone around the table gives themselves a moment of contemplation before Pittacus raised her hand. "... A Goddess."
"There you go!" cheered the Dark Flier. "Well done, my taciturn friend."
"Ignore her, she's like that," Myson whispered to Pittacus to spare her feelings.
"Oh?" Thales remarked in curiosity. "A Goddess? Like the [Sword of the Creator]?"
"Even better," Cleobulus smirked, "a legitimate artifact linking to necromancy."
The whole room falls silent before Bias exploded into laughter. "Seriously?!" she exclaimed gleefully. "A fucking church has that object that they would deem beyond heresy lying in their basement, collecting dust?!" the Valkyrie continued laughing her guts out, both her legs kicking around in fits of hysteria. "That is some preem hypocrisy right there, yes sir!"
"Either way, an object with the power to bring the dead back to life is something that we must have," Chilon urgently pointed out. "Who told you and where is the artifact located?"
"Oh honey, I just had to bribe a couple of Faerghus dissidents in the Abyss to get them to blab a little," Cleobulus stated, "and even better, a man named Aelfric is all in on this object."
"Aelfric," Solon spoke, "you mean that deacon turned Cardinal is invested in this... heresy?" The old man smiled at the thought. "For once, that lovestruck puppy has proven himself to be productive."
"So what's this Aelfric trying to do with the thing?" asked Myson. "And what's this thing called exactly?"
"I've heard the name 'The Chalice of Beginnings' being thrown around," said Cleobulus, "after that tidbit, I decided to do a little research on my own and here's the basic gist of what I've learned."
The Dark Flier then presents a slip of paper with written content all related to the Chalice of Beginnings.
"To wit, yes, the Chalice of Beginnings was made for the intent of bringing the dead back to life, however, it appears that the only recorded attempt runs on the concept of 'equivalent exchange,' meaning that human sacrifices were required to fuel this arcane contraption," she explained, "but here's the catch; the sacrifices have to be Crest bearers, and not just any Crests, but four specific Crests of Aubin, Timotheos, Chevalier, and Noa."
"... Oh, em, gee," Bias gasped as she hugged her bunny doll, "that's literally four of the members of the Ashen Wolves, right?!"
"He plans to kill his four kids to begin with," the old man smirked. "I've never thought he'd had it in him."
"Just what is that gonk even planning to bring back with that nova artifact that we should klep like, yesterday!?" asked Bias, already chomping on her doll's lop ear in anticipation before spitting out a ball of wet wool and fabric.
"Solon's words imply that the Cardinal's planning something big, given the expensive human cost coming with it," Chilon pointed out. "Simply, we're going to have to commandeer his plan for ourselves."
"Ooh, I like the sound the sound of that," giggled Myson. "Maybe in the rush, we might get front-row seats to the carnage!"
"If I'd known that a mere churchgoer was that twisted and desperate..." mused Cleobulus as she read the information all over again, "... then I would've hung poor Rufus out dry and have him serve me instead. Although, I wonder..." she remarked, "what drove him to this point? Just what did the Church do to him to... break his faith in the Goddess to resort to the practice of necromancy?"
Pittacus slightly tilts her head before shrugging.
"All that matters is that we now have a low-risk, high-return opportunity," Thales grinned to his fellow Sages. "We now have a course of action. Chilon, my good man, how are our agents?"
"Odesse and Dolofonos are dead, Warlord is under extensive maintenance after our engineering corps discovered his Crest Stone Engine was on the verge of cooking off, Kronya's Chrome implants are being replaced, and Plaguebearer is ready for future deployment," said the Great Knight. "As for our recent addition... she's currently under the Flame Emperor's watch."
"Remind me, why did we even bother giving that poser belonging to that doughgirl gonk Miss Who Chrome implants?" asked the immature Valkyrie.
"To maintain the facade," answered Solon. "The Flame Emperor thinks that we're to be disposed of at leisure. Keep it that way while we sharpen ourselves for the inevitable reprisal."
"Not to mention, the implanted Chromes are basic at best, outmoded at worst," Myson commented. "She wants to turn on us in the name of that Lame Emperor with the toys we gave her? Sistah and 'er friends are gonna be in for a rude awakening when they do, that's for sure!"
"And yet, she somehow managed to kick Solon's ass from afar," snarked Cleobulus, recalling the incident at Remire two months prior where that person of interest's explosive arrows blew up in front of everyone's faces, the eldest Sage's included. "No offense."
"None taken," Solon huffed before he turned towards Thales. "Sage Thales, I also have another... proposition."
"Let's hear it," the armored man nodded as the old man whispered something into his ear. "... I see. Another test?"
"Two of our own reserve field agents recently have been diagnosed with an incurable disease targeting their neural system, resulting in a brain tumor that will kill them within this month," the elderly Sage confirmed in a downcast manner. "Those two volunteered to have prototype versions of our latest Chromes implanted into them and desired to die fighting for our cause rather than waste away from an incurable disease."
"I see. Regrettable," sighed Thales before concluding his Sage's decision. "I'll allow it. They'll serve as our vanguard for this operation."
"And regarding Kronya's role in the plan..." Solon then begun whispering into Thales's ear as the Seven Sages of Agartha began their plot to finally get rid of the Dustbin while at worst, cripple Garreg Mach at the same time, effectively killing two birds with one stone.
"My fellow Sages..." Thales then stood up from his seat around the table, "... best prepare yourselves. We're about to undertake our boldest action yet. Should we succeed, then we are one step closer to reclaiming the surface from those beasts!"
"This is gonna be great!" Myson giggled as he rubbed his hands together. "Finally, I can show off a little! Imma party real hard in the rain of their blood!"
"This is just another job," Chilon stoically pointed out. "Everyone, be vigilant as usual."
"Right right, we'll see," Bias shrugged as she tossed her plush bunny aside, "so I'll have my fixers ready... ehh, how many Titanus? I mean, if we're going down-low, I guess I can spare one or two of my tin cans. I mean, that Chrome Jock's gonna need all the help he can realistically get if those Dustbin yonos are gonna get ended up deep in our biz. Just gotta be prepared to at least slow them down, neh?"
"One will suffice," Solon reassured. "Save your specialty when the appropriate situation demands it."
"Toys aside..." Cleobulus shook her head dismissively as she got off from her seat at the table, "I'll be sure that my 'connectors' outside the Abyss are blissfully unaware of the ramifications until it is too late. Then again, the Church will do most of the work for me, but I can afford to exert some elbow grease on my part."
Pittacus nods before getting up from her seat before the rest of the Seven stood up.
"For the glory of Agartha..." Thales declared with a clenched fist.
"... And to bring death to the beasts of the Fell Star!" recited the other six Sages as they raised their fists in solidarity.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: So, I'm back. Just like I promised in mid-to-late May. Anyway, school was brutal, my grades for my final semester were in the passing range, and overall, I can finally breathe a little.
So, this is more or less an interim chapter before the rest of the Cindered Shadows chapters are adapted, but with a few twists in that the Agarthans are now racing for the Chalice as well, and the Dustbin are bunking in the very place where shit's about to go down, meaning a three-front war for the resurrection device is all but inevitable.
And oh, the Dustbin's mission to kidnap Count Varley? Part-"Character Rerailment," part-"Kick the Son of a Bitch." He didn't die painfully, it's just that his house caught on fire and several priceless pieces of art have been destroyed. But "exact words" came into play, meaning that Rhea had to shell out 6 million gold to cover both her and the Dustbin's asses.
So, thanks for your patience. I'm now doing a once-per-week upload rather than my prior twice-per-week upload schedule for the sake of myself and my overall quality control of my writing. And also I have to leave room in my week to write my resume and book I plan to publish sometime in the future.
Next time, the Abyss War Arc shall begin. And speaking of, what school-related terminology would fit the best for that kind of arc? Please leave your suggestions in the comments section.
References:
- The entire kidnapping plot of Count Grégoire von Varley was inspired by elements of Splinter Cell and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2's "Takedown" mission.
- Karna's evolved variant of of the [Miasma ∆] spell, [Expiration ∆+], is named after Grima's breath weapon from Fire Emblem Awakening.
- The "Loser's Club" consisting of orphaned/parentless students of Garreg Mach Monastery is a reference to Stephen King's It.
- Balthus' post-debt dream of creating an international fighting circuit is named after the King of Fighters series while incorporating his canon "King of Grapplers" title into it.
- The remaining members of the Seven Sages are based off Oneirio's "Ashen Demon Route" design for the Agarthan characters (and again, I do not own the art nor I have a Twitter account of my own), and in the fanart, rather than as generic Gremory, Bias is a Valkyrie while Cleobulus is a Dark Flier. Only Pittacus is still a Gremory.
- Myson's pseudo-"frat boy stereotype" being based off Delisaster's mannerisms from Mashle: Magic and Muscles. His mask is based off of the Game Master's mask from Kamen Rider Geats.
- Bias herself is taking some cues from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Rebecca and speech pattern-wise, she incorporates Cyberpunk 2077's streetslang. Her rabbit mask is based off the one that Tomo-chan is a Girl!'s Carol Olston wore in one episode.
- Cleobulus's mask is based off Aki Izayoi's Black Rose Witch persona from Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds.
- Pittacus's mask is based off Oberon's from a Fire Emblem fan game/ROM Hack, Staff of Ages.
