Thracian Empire

First topic message reminder :

Nikos knowing that Isadore was Mihael's brother took the boy off guard for a minute. He lowered his gaze and nodded sadly. "Yeah... I... I couldn't believe that he did that... the rest of us didn't see it coming at all and we didn't manage to stop him in time... I'm really sorry. And now he's killing even more people..." Mihael clenched his fists tightly at his sides. "I don't know why he did it... or why he's doing this now..."

Antony glared at Isadore, the impact of the slap infuriating him. He pushed the drunk away from him, crossing his arms. "That's enough! You can't even speak properly when you're in this state! You are the one who sounds like a plebeian! What kind of governor are you!?"

"Cato..." Sascha looked at his friend, feeling very thankful for his support. He didn't know how easy it would be for him to stop drinking, though. Cato needed a lot of rest and that was time where Sascha would be alone with his thoughts. He sighed. "I don't know what else to do." Meilyr's death had left him feeling defeated.

Sascha had been a bit nervous about how Cato would react, but his friend was understanding. Of all the crimes Sascha could have committed, a failed mugging was far from the worst one. "I guess that's a good way to describe it," he replied. He turned his head away for a short sneezing session. What Cato said next brought a small smile to his own face. "Yeah... you're right. That's over and done with.' It was strange to think that he was finally off the streets for good, but more than anything, it was a huge relief. "I couldn't have gotten out of it without you."

Emmett found Isadore's sudden shift in loyalties as strange as Cheyenne did. "Precisely." She was quite curious about what that meant for Massalia and Emmett surprised her by mentioning that he had connections to Massalia. "Ah... I assume these Massalian connections have proven themselves trustworthy?" Her encounters with the Massalian group hadn't left her feeling inclined to trust them.

Cato's smile only grew. He could only imagine how much Sascha's life had improved. As a boy trying to survive on the streets, he probably never smiled or had a chance to relax. "Oh, no... I can't take all the credit. You're a strong person, Sascha..." Stronger than himself, Cato wanted to add. "You got through it... and didn't lose yourself in the midst of it all." He knew that all along, Sascha had remained the good person Cato had known years ago.

A pleasant smile came to Emmett's face at Cheyenne's question. "Of course," he replied. She probably wouldn't feel quite the same way, given how much trouble the Massalians had given them before. "One even saved my life. I would have never been able to escape Silas otherwise. With him gone, the others are much more reasonable." Emmett didn't think it would do any good to hide the fact that the people they had once fought against were now his allies. He would only end up appearing suspicious.

"Cato..." It meant the world to Sascha to hear how much Cato thought of him even after everything. His friend had seen him at his lowest point, as a miserable, drunken asshole, and had pulled him out of that hell. "You know, I almost did lose myself," he admitted hoarsely. He coughed and took a sip of water. "I was ready to give up, but you refused to let me. I would have never found my strength if it wasn't for yours." Sascha would feel awkward talking like this with almost anyone else, but Cato was like a brother to him. The only things they'd ever kept from each other were the demons they struggled with when they were reunited.

It was surprising for Cheyenne to hear that one of the Massalians had saved Emmett from his predicament. Her expression became grim when she remembered that mission. Isadore had been horribly injured, Emmett had apparently been captured by Silas and Sascha and Cerys had completely disappeared. "I am relieved to hear you were able to escape Silas. I didn't expect it to be under those circumstances. Though, when I think about it, they were never a cohesive unit, even under his leadership." Taking that into consideration, she was willing to give the Massalians Emmett was working with a chance. "In any case..." She smiled. "Perhaps we should go inside so you can tell me what you have been doing thus far."

Over the last few days, Mihael had been keeping an eye on Calyx. It was a huge relief for him to see his friend's condition improving after his fight with Valin.

He went to Calyx's room and knocked on the door, announcing himself before entering. "Hey, Calyx... um, how are you feeling today?" Matteo wordlessly stared up at him from where he was seated on his own bed. Mihael offered him a smile as he waited to hear how Calyx was doing.

As Cato listened to Sascha, his eyes widened slightly. "S-Sascha..." Cato never would have considered himself strong, but Sascha was saying the complete opposite. "You would call me strong... after what you saw? I was... pathetic..." He dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve. "I... was just glad to be able to do something for you, after being so useless for so long..."

Emmett nodded as Cheyenne seemed to accept his alliance with the Massalians. He had been a bit concerned about how open-minded she would be willing to be, but it sounded like he didn't need to worry. "I would be happy to catch you up on everything," Emmett replied, starting for the door. "I'll prepare some tea."

Once they were seated, Emmett started by explaining the foundation of the resistance beginning with him, Ronan, and the Elis survivors. So far, their main goals had been to recruit more members and gain information, which had both been going pretty steadily until recently. He told Cheyenne about the maps they had created of military activity in the area as well. "But with funding, we'll be able to plan bolder moves," Emmett explained, already starting to imagine the possibilities. "The furthest we've gone so far is kidnapping one of Isadore's soldiers for information... but that was less than successful, to say the least. We ended up stuck with a pawn who knows nothing..."

Calyx didn't enjoy spending so much time sitting around waiting to feel better one bit. He was still in plenty of pain, but he thought he would scream if he had to spend another whole day hanging around at the inn. The place was horribly boring, aside from getting to talk to his friends from time to time. Calyx stood at the window, watching the townspeople mill about. He turned when he heard the knock on the door.

"Oh, hey Mihael," Calyx returned the greeting with a small smile. "I'm a little sore but not bad, really. Bored more than anything! I feel like I've been sitting around here forever!" His swollen tongue caused him to speak with a bit of a lisp and the large bruise above his eye was a deep purple colour.

Hearing Cato put himself down saddened Sascha. "You've never been pathetic. Everyone struggles." It was something Sascha knew well. Just then, a coughing fit racked his body. After catching his breath, he continued. "You did so much for me... and I'm glad I was able to help you too. Everything's changed so much since all that..." It felt like a lifetime ago.

Cheyenne listened intently as Emmett spoke, Liani at her side. It sounded like the resistance had been working hard to get off the ground with the resources that they had. They hadn't managed to make any big moves yet, but that was to be expected. There was still plenty of time for that and the funding Cheyenne's family was going to give them would give them a bit more of an edge.

Her eyebrows shot up when he said that they'd managed to capture one of Isadore's soldiers. She hadn't been expecting them to have done anything that bold yet. Unfortunately, it seemed that it had been a fruitless endeavour. "That sounds like a rather big risk... but I suppose risks are necessary if you hope to achieve anything. It's a shame he was of no help... what became of him?"

Mihael was glad to see that Calyx seemed to be in pretty good spirits. He was definitely sounding like himself. However, his injuries still looked painful and Mihael was quick to cast a healing spell to offer him some relief. "I'm really glad you're starting to feel better... you don't usually sit around like this, do you? I guess it makes sense that you're a bit bored... hmm... maybe we could do something today?"

A small smile came to Cato's face as he listened to Sascha's encouragement. His friend always knew what to say and just the fact that it was coming from him gave it that much more meaning. Cato gave his eyes another quick wipe. "Everything's completely different now..." he agreed. "And I'm so thankful. I almost feel like a totally new person... I never want to go back to who I was when we met again."

Emmett nodded. Cheyenne seemed to understand what she was getting into, at least. "Well..." Her question brought up a delicate subject. "He's still being held here. Now that he knows about us and our base, letting him go would be far too dangerous..." Emmett recalled the look in the man's eyes when he begged to be returned to his family. They had probably assumed the worst by this point. "But I'd rather not keep him here forever."

Mihael's spell helped to lessen the pain, and Calyx made sure he knew it was appreciated. "Yeah, you get it! There's literally nothing to do in here!" He grinned at Mihael's suggestion. "Now that sounds more like it! Wanna hang out at the bar? It's not like there's anywhere else to go in this ghost town." Calyx hadn't gotten to spend much time with Mihael lately, so he was looking forward to it.

Sascha couldn't help but smile back at his friend. "I feel the same way," he replied. "I don't think either of us have to worry about that anymore, th--" A violent coughing fit interrupted him and he looked rather embarrassed as he took a sip of water.

Cheyenne frowned as Emmett revealed that the soldier was still at the inn. She knew he had a point; sending him back to Raunati wouldn't end well for anyone. However, continuing to hold him hostage was just unnecessary and Emmett seemed to agree with that. Cheyenne thought for a moment before realizing how she could help the man. "Perhaps instead of sending him back to Raunati, I can bring him to Chorasmii to seek refuge. If he has a family, I am certain that my father would be more than willing to arrange for them to be reunited with him there."

Mihael didn't know what else he would have expected to Calyx to come up with, but hearing his friend immediately suggest that they hit the bar came as a bit of a shock. While Calyx was obviously feeling better, his wounds were still healing. Still, he knew the boy would probably go with or without him and Mihael would rather be there to make sure Calyx didn't get hurt. Plus, it would be nice to hang out with Calyx since they hadn't had many opportunities to do so lately. "Well... okay, as long as your'e feeling up to it," he agreed with a smile. "I've never been to the bar here before... but you seem to like it a lot." After everything that had happened, Mihael couldn't say that he'd object to getting drunk again, either.

Cato started to nod in agreement with Sascha, but ended up cringing. Sascha's coughing sounded painful and he wanted to help him in some way, but there wasn't much he could do. "Hmm... I'll have to see about getting some soup for you. It might help a little bit..."

Emmett was surprised at the simplicity of Cheyenne's solution. If the soldier could escape to Chorasmii safely, he would have no reason to return to Carystos and reveal anything to Isadore. "That would be greatly appreciated," he replied, a hint of relief in his voice. "It would certainly resolve the situation and give us one less thing to worry about." A small smile came to Emmett's face. "You've only just arrived and it looks like a lot of our problems are already solved."

Calyx was pleased that Mihael agreed with his idea. It usually wasn't too hard to get his friend to go places with him, and the town was quiet enough that the bar wouldn't overwhelm him. "C'mon, you know I'm always feeling up to it," Calyx assured him. "The bar here isn't bad. I think you'll like it, it's a pretty laid-back sort of place. So it's settled!" He grinned. "We're going!" Calyx grabbed some money, not really concerned that it was the middle of the afternoon. He had visited the bar earlier in the day than that.

Sascha's coughing really was painful; his throat and chest were both sore and his ribs and stomach were starting to ache from the exertion. He offered Cato a small smile when his friend suggested soup. He was getting a little hungry and something warm, smooth and simple seemed ideal. "I think that would help quite a bit. Thanks," he rasped. He cleared his throat, but it didn't make his voice much stronger. "... well, I think my voice is as good as gone," he said, looking a bit sheepish.

It was apparent that Emmett was pleased with Cheyenne's plan. Apparently, he'd been very concerned about what to do with the soldier. Cheyenne could see why, though. It was doubtful that Isadore would show the man any mercy if he thought there was a chance he'd revealed anything at all to the resistance group. "I'm glad that I am able to help," she said, returning Emmett's smile. "Now... where is this soldier? For his sake, I would like to get his transfer sorted out as quickly as possible."

Mihael knew that Calyx was always up for going to the bar, but he didn't know if he should be. Regardless, the decision had been made and Mihael was quick to follow Calyx and Matteo out of the inn and to the bar. It was the middle of the day, but that might have been a good thing. Mihael hoped it meant the bar wouldn't be full of people looking to pick a fight. He remembered Calyx's black eye all too well.

The bar was actually rather small; it reminded Mihael more of the tavern he had been to than the bars in Raunati that Calyx was fond of. Thinking of that mission just reminded him of Isadore and he was quick to order some vodka just as he had that evening. "You know... this bar kind of reminds me of the tavern I think I mentioned... um, the one where Emmett and I got drunk..." He took a sip of his vodka, making a slight face as he did so. "This stuff doesn't taste so good at first but... it's what I drank there and it got better."

Cato managed a smile for Sascha. "Your colds always go all out, don't they..." He stood up again with the help of his cane. "I don't know how good the soup will be, but I might be able to find someone to help." Although he had been living on his own for years, Cato had little cooking experience to show for it, which was a bit embarrassing. After assuring Sascha that he would be back to check on him, Cato left for the kitchen to see which ingredients were available.

Emmett's smile almost faltered at Cheyenne's request. The soldier's injuries had had some time to heal, but it would likely still be evident that he hadn't been treated too well. "Of course that would be best. He's being kept in a spare room right now. If you'll just follow me..."

Emmett stood up from the table and headed for the inn room where the soldier had been detained. They'd had no choice but to bind him to keep him from escaping, but at least he was tended to often. Emmett had given the job to several different people and he had been pleased to see how well they did. "In here," he said, pushing open the door.

When they arrived at the bar, Calyx's eyebrows shot up by quickly and casually Mihael ordered a glass of vodka. He hadn't expected that of his friend at all. Not wanting to be outdone, Calyx ordered whiskey for himself and wasted no time getting started on it. "Oh yeah? I'm surprised you started with vodka, actually." He took a drink of whiskey and tried not to make a face from the sharp pain it caused the wound in his tongue. "The taste isn't really the point though. For most people, anyway. I guess I'm surprised that you went for alcohol at all!"

Sascha nodded grimly. Cato wasn't exaggerating; he'd seen Sascha suffer through some brutal colds and flus over the years. Of course, having Cato by his side had it made them a hell of a lot more bearable and not much had changed. "I'm sure it'll be good," he croaked. "Thanks, Cato." He watched his friend leave the room before flopping back down onto the bed. It wasn't long before he'd dozed off.

Cheyenne followed Emmett down the hall, curious to meet the soldier and pleased that Chorasmii could be of service to him. When Emmett opened the door, Cheyenne wasted no time entering the room. She was prepared to address the soldier and tell him the good news.

The words seized in her throat at the sight of him. The man had obviously endured some brutal treatment and as much as Cheyenne would like to believe it had been inflicted by Isadore's men, the wounds looked a bit too fresh. It was apparent from his defeated posture that he'd been in the inn long enough to feel a sense of resignation.

"Emmett... he's hurt," Cheyenne murmured, stepping closer to the man and kneeling before him. He flinched instinctively, only relaxing when he was sure that Cheyenne posed no threat. "What happened to him...?" She hoped there was a decent explanation.

Mihael watched his friend order whiskey. He'd never tried that before, but he intended to stick with vodka for now. "Well, I didn't really know what to try at the tavern," he admitted, "but I wanted to try something and I guess I ended up picking vodka because it seemed, um... milder than some things." Not quite mild enough, he thought, but he could handle it. He supposed it probably seemed odd to Calyx that he was drinking; he'd always passed when he'd gone to bars with Calyx because he didn't want to disappoint Theodore or get in trouble with Isabel. "Yeah... I guess I was curious, and then I kind of liked how it felt." He sipped his vodka and tilted his head at Calyx. "I think you've been a lot drunker than I ever have though..." He'd seen his friend in some interesting states.