Thracian Empire

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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.

Sophia returned Emmett's smile, making a mental note that the resistance had been his idea. She was sure that information would be valuable to the governor. "That's great! I'm looking forward to working with you," she said. "My name is Sophia. It's nice to meet you. I'm glad someone's finally starting something against the governor..." She was curious to see how Emmett would respond to that.

Valin was glad to hear that Ronan was doing well. He glanced over at 'little' Mihael, who was taller than him, and managed to give Ronan a small smile. "That sounds nice. I'm glad you found him again," he said. "I've been traveling with Cerys... and... we were with Sascha and Meilyr but..." he gritted his teeth and glared at the floor. "Silas lied to us."

Mihael smiled as Cerys spoke, but his expression changed to one of concern at the last thing she said. "What... what happened?" he asked. He hoped they'd just gotten separated; that way, Sascha and Meilyr could possibly find their way to this town.

Ophelia giggled at Isadore's reaction. "You're so dramatic," she teased. "This was a nice, romantic afternoon, wasn't it?" She walked closer to the door and paused. Isadore had wanted her to leave, but now he was blocking the door. She decided to wait and see how long it would take him to figure out why she wasn't leaving.

The doctor's words offered Sascha little consolation; she was basically saying that there was no way to tell if Cato would be okay. It was a moment before he could speak. "I... I see... thank you." With that, he slowly made his way back into Cato's room and took a seat by his bed, gently taking Cato's hand into his own. He wanted to be there when--he couldn't let himself think if--Cato woke up.

Emmett was quite pleased with Sophia's enthusiasm. The group's morale needed something like that after everything that had happened. "I'm sure everyone will be happy to meet you," he replied, and then nodded at what she said. "Yeah, something has to be done before this province falls apart. We're not the first to resist, but I think our different approach should be more successful." Emmett didn't want people to think that certain death awaited them if they resisted. Fear seemed to be what Isadore wanted.

Ronan didn't like the sound of that, but he wasn't sure he understood what Valin was talking about. "Wait... what do you mean? Silas isn't even alive..." He didn't see what the man had to do with Sascha and Meilyr traveling with them.

Cerys knew that although Mihael wasn't too close with Sascha and even less so with Meilyr, he wouldn't like the news. "Well..." She glanced at Ronan as well, hoping to clear things up for him. "Meilyr's body couldn't handle the artificial magic that Silas put in him, and he passed away... and then Sascha... made it pretty clear that he was done with us." She said the last part a bit bitterly.

Isadore shook his head; he didn't associate either of those words with anything to do with that afternoon. Ophelia came closer and he watched closely, ready to leave if she had decided to get violent. However, instead she just stood there. "Please... I just want..." Isadore didn't know what he had to do to make her leave him alone. He looked at her for a moment before realizing what was going on. His gaze shifted to the floor as he stepped to the side of the doorway, a bit embarrassed.

Before leaving, the doctor told Sascha to keep an eye on Cato and that he should let her know if anything changed with him. Fortunately, Cato slept quite peacefully as the effects of the overdose wore off. When he finally began to regain consciousness, he still felt very drowsy but his head was much clearer. Cato didn't even remember the overdose and it just felt like he was waking up like any other day, except that he was more tired than usual. Even more unusual was when he opened his eyes and saw Sascha sitting right next to his bed. "Sascha...? What's going on...?" Cato rubbed his eyes; he felt like he'd been sleeping for quite a while.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them too," Sophia replied with a smile. From what she'd heard, most of the group's members were quite young, so she doubted they'd be difficult to work with. She nodded seriously at what he said next. "Yeah, I heard that people were trying to assassinate him but that's way too upfront... I think it's probably a better idea to start small and get a group together than to just try to take him down alone."

"He lied about the magic," Valin replied, lifting his gaze. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were burning with anger. "And Meilyr's dead because of it..." It was still hard for Valin to wrap his head around and thinking about it made him feel sick.

Mihael's eyes went wide as Cerys spoke. It was a horrible thing to hear. He hated that so many people were dying so unnecessarily. It seemed like it was never going to end. He hadn't known Meilyr, but the situation was extremely sad. "Oh no... that's awful... I'm so sorry that happened..." He looked a bit confused by what she said about Sascha. "Why...?" Mihael thought it would make more sense for Sascha to stick with his friends after losing someone close to him.

Ophelia giggled as she watched Isadore finally step aside. "I'll see you later," she said, winking at him as she walked past him into the hall. He really was too easy.

Time was passing impossibly slowly for Sascha. He kept looking down at Cato, but it was almost impossible to determine how he was doing. All he knew was that he wouldn't be able to handle losing his friend.

Just as he was beginning to fear for the worst, he heard Cato's voice. Relief flooded him and he let out his breath, which he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Cato... I'm so glad you woke up," his voice broke and he squeezed his friend's hand, "I thought..." He shook his head, holding up the medicine bottle. "Why did you take so many of these?"

Emmett nodded. Sophia really seemed to understand the situation and had realistic expectations, which was for the best. "Yeah, exactly. It's obvious that he's quick to strike down any rebellion, so what we need to do is sneak up on him." As long as he could fill his group with people who felt the same way, he was quite confident about not being caught and executed.

"He's... he's dead?" Ronan was definitely shocked by that news. Meilyr always seemed too tough to go down that easily. He recalled Silas saying something about how safe the procedure was, so this complication wasn't expected. "Well, I'm not really surprised that Silas would lie like that. He used Mihael... he got what he deserved."

Even though Meilyr had been a part of the opposing group, Mihael was still clearly saddened by his death. Cerys supposed she hadn't known him that well either, but the situation was just so sad. Nobody deserved that fate. "Well..." Cerys sighed at Mihael's question. "Sascha just stayed in his room and drank after it happened... and that was all he wanted to do. I was just an annoyance to him apparently because I got in the way of his important task of drinking himself senseless." Recalling some of the things he said was making Cerys angry all over again.

Isadore breathed a sigh of relief when Ophelia left without doing anything else, but the events of the day had stressed him nearly to the limit. Once he was certain that Ophelia wasn't nearby anymore, Isadore left his room and went to the wine cellar, where he immediately opened a bottle and started drinking. Isadore couldn't handle thinking about the terror he was married to. He knew he needed an heir, but just the thought of doing that with Ophelia made him practically sick with anxiety. Isadore downed the wine steadily.

Cato could tell that Sascha was upset about something. "Of course I..." He trailed off when he saw that his friend had his medicine bottle. After a moment he recalled when he last took them, and that he had increased the dosage. From the way Cato felt and the way Sascha was acting, it was pretty clear that the dose was dangerous.

"I just... I..." Cato really didn't want to explain the whole, pathetic story but Sascha needed to know what he was doing. It was just so hard to talk about. "I didn't mean to take too many, it's just that... I started taking these a few days after I started living here. I... I only wanted to get some sleep with the pain..." Cato's gaze shifted away from his friend. "But... I started taking them more than I was supposed to... every day, day and night... and I keep taking more and more... I-I'm sorry, now I can't... I can't stop..." His voice shook. "I'm s-so pathetic..."

Sophia had suspected that was this group's plan, as they'd yet to actually act. However, they'd obviously need more people before they could make any significant moves. Sophia decided that she would have to try to sabotage their recruitment efforts as much as she could. For now, she nodded at Emmett. "That seems much safer for sure." She offered him a smile. "It seems like you really know what you're doing... do you have military experience or something?" She needed to find out more about this man.

"Yeah... he's dead." Valin swallowed hard; it was still painful to think about. He blinked at Ronan. "What... happened to Silas?" he asked apprehensively. He wasn't one hundred percent sure if he wanted to know. He was furious that Silas had lied to him like that, but he'd also taken Valin in and he'd been had been attached to Silas for so long that it was difficult for him to reconcile his feelings toward the man.

Mihael frowned as Cerys described Sascha's behaviour. He recalled Isadore getting upset with the rogue for drinking a few times, so it wasn't surprising that he'd done it after his friend died, but it sounded like he'd completely pushed Cerys away as a result. "That's so bad... why wouldn't he let you help him?" Mihael couldn't imagine ever choosing a vice over his friends.

Hearing Cato explain the situation saddened Sascha. The only thing that gave him any relief was the fact that Cato hadn't been trying to kill himself. He'd been living on his own in pain for all this time and on top of that, he'd been overmedicating himself. "No... you're not pathetic," Sascha said softly. "You were in pain. But why did you start taking them so much?" He already knew it would be difficult for Cato to explain and the answer would probably be hard to hear, but Sascha needed to understand why his friend was abusing sedatives to the point of overdosing.

Emmett was a little surprised by Sophia's question. He was just doing what seemed to be the best course of action, which really had nothing to do with experience. "Oh, I don't have anything like that," Emmett replied. If he had followed in the footsteps of his father and brothers, though, the military was where he would have ended up. He didn't mind where he went instead. "I was the butler at the governor's mansion while the previous governor was alive, so I know some things that'll definitely help out our cause."

Ronan recalled that Valin had gone too early to even know that Silas wasn't alive. He glanced at Mihael and knew that he couldn't go into too much detail when the boy could hear him. "Silas was killed back at the last facility where were all together..." Ronan lowered his voice, as he didn't know how much Mihael knew. "The butler did it."

Cerys shook her head. "He was just impossible. He didn't want to be helped, and that was that." The situation had been so frustrating. For all she knew, he was still sitting in that inn room, a drunken mess, and it was completely preventable. "I guess he just didn't care what happened to him. But it should have been obvious that Meilyr wouldn't want that at all."

Cato looked down at the floor. He couldn't believe that he wasn't pathetic, and he didn't want to see Sascha's reaction to what he was going to talk about. "I..." It was going to be hard to talk about. "I started taking them so I could sleep at night, but... during the day... there was nothing I could do. It... hurt too much... and there wasn't any point. I-I would always be crippled and... completely alone..." Cato's eyes started to tear up. "I couldn't take it... anything would have been better. So... I t-took the medicine... e-every day and night, and didn't move from my bed... for all that time." He glanced up at Sascha, tears now streaming down his face. "How c-can you say... I-I'm not pathetic?"

Sophia looked a bit surprised by Emmett stating that he had worked for the previous governor; it was strange that he hadn't remained loyal to the family as servants typically do. It was also unusual to see a butler so politically motivated. Sophia felt like there must be more to the story, but there would be time to find that out later. "Oh, I see... you must have some inside knowledge, then." She figured it was a good time to test how much inside knowledge. "Do you know what happened to the previous governor? I heard they don't have a suspect yet or anything..."

Valin's eyes went wide when he heard what Ronan had to say about Silas. He'd expected as much based on what the guy had been saying earlier, but hearing that he'd been killed felt like a stab in the heart in spite of everything. It was a moment before he could even speak. "H-he's..." Ronan then said who did it and it made more sense; Silas' plan had been to capture that man and apparently something went wrong. Valin didn't even know what to say. He was feeling both anger and understanding toward Emmett at the same time and it was incredibly overwhelming. "I can't believe this... everything is so messed up now... it feels like nothing will ever be right again." Meilyr's death, everything with Silas and the situation with the governor was a lot for Valin to deal with at once.

It was sad for Mihael to hear what had become of Sascha and he knew it must have been difficult for Cerys to have to deal with. "Of course not... no one would want that for him... but you did the most that you could for him. I guess... that sometimes, people just won't take the help." That's what was happening with Isadore, it seemed.

Sascha was quiet, letting Cato speak. What his friend had been living was worse than Sascha had even expected. He could feel himself tearing up as he tried to imagine Cato's life being hard enough to push him to the point of not wanting to experience it at all. Cato was crying by the end of it and Sascha did nothing to hide his own tears as he shook his head. "I don't think you're pathetic," he repeated gently. "You... you just felt like there was nothing left--" He sighed shakily. "I'm so sorry... you shouldn't have had to go through this alone. And now you won't." He reached out to Cato, offering his friend a hug.

Emmett could tell by Sophia's interest in everything about the resistance that he didn't need to sell it to her. After telling her about his connection to Theodore, it wasn't really surprising to hear her question. "Well, I wasn't there when it happened, but I know that it was definitely murder." Emmett knew he could probably get more information from Mihael, but the boy was still quite shaken up and it wasn't too urgent either. He had a suspicion that he wanted to investigate, but he didn't want to bring it up until he could investigate it more. "The governor had next to no enemies, so that's probably making things difficult."

Ronan could see that Valin hadn't been prepared to hear something like that and was having a bad reaction. He never really knew what to do when the guy got like that. "No... that's not true. Now that he's not around, maybe things can be less messed up. You have Cerys, right? That must be better!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Cerys had been wondering if there was more she could have done, but Sascha just had been so resistant to everything she said or did. "I can only hope that he snapped out of it on his own, but I don't know... I just can't imagine choosing a miserable life like that when there are people trying to give you the chance to do something better."

Cato started to cry even harder as Sascha spoke. The last three and a half years had been like torture for him and although it was painful to talk about, his tears weren't just from the pain. Now Sascha was there, miraculously alive, assuring him that he would never have to go through that again. His old friend was going to be there for him despite everything he would have to deal with, and Cato was overwhelmed with gratefulness and relief. He accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around Sascha and crying into his shoulder. "Thank you..." His voice was a little muffled, but still clear enough. "Thank you so much, Sascha... you're... you're the best friend I could ever ask for..."

Sophia nodded. "That's what everyone says," she agreed when Emmett stated that the governor had been murdered. She was aware of the circumstances surrounding his death, but it seemed the resistance had yet to get that information. She frowned at the next thing he said. "Really? That's weird... especially since his son took over with no problems. There wasn't a coup or anything. Doesn't that make it seem like it was personal and not political?" She hoped that promoting this line of thinking would deflect attention from the possibility that Isadore's ascension had been the plan all along.

Valin was on the verge of tears after hearing what had happened to Silas. It frustrated him that he still felt anything for that man knowing what he'd really been like and that was just upsetting him more. However, when Ronan mentioned Cerys, Valin was able to give him a hint of a smile. He wiped his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, that's been a lot better," he said, swallowing. "We've been traveling a lot... what about you and Mihael?"

"I can't imagine it either..." Mihael shook his head. It definitely seemed counter intuitive to him. "Um... I think... that's kind of what Isa's problem is too... when everything was going wrong on missions and stuff, he wouldn't listen to anyone and now he's like..." He shook his head, not wanting to think about his brother too much. "...like this."

Sascha held Cato as he cried, softly rubbing his back. After hearing what his friend had suffered through, Sascha couldn't imagine leaving his side. The fact that Sascha had been able to find him was nothing short of a miracle. They had been struggling for years, Cato even moreso than Sascha, and he had to hope that this was a turning point for both of them.

He shook his head when Cato thanked him. "You don't have to thank me... you just have to promise that you're ready to stop using the sedatives." He couldn't help but feel touched by the next thing Cato said. "That's only because I learned from the best," he replied with a small smile. Cato had been his best friend from birth and had always been there for him when they were kids.

"Hm, I guess that's possible." Emmett could definitely think of a personal factor that could have been involved. He really couldn't come up with many possibilities for what could have happened, but he didn't want to wait until the knowledge was given to the public. There was no guarantee that would even happen. "Well, either way, what's important now is stopping his son before things get any worse than they already are."

Ronan returned Valin's smile. He didn't want to see the guy have a total breakdown or something. "Me and Mihael..." His smile faltered as he remembered what things had been like until just recently. "We were separated after that incident when I last saw you. It was for quite a while... but now we're together and we never have to be apart again!" His eyes had lit up again.

At the time that Isadore was leading the missions, it had been hard for Cerys to see past his horrible, aggressive behaviour. He must have been very unhappy to be acting like that. "I guess some help would have really done him a lot of good, huh..." She wanted to say it wasn't too late for him, but that seemed too much like a blatant lie. "Well, I did everything I could for Sascha, and I'm sure you did everything you could for your brother. We did the best we could."

Cato sobbed gently without saying anything for a bit. He had been unsure about telling Sascha all this, but now he didn't regret it at all. His friend was just so supportive, even after all this time. "I... I promise... I'll stop for good..." he said, his voice still muffled by Sascha's shoulder. However, his friend then gave him a compliment that made Cato lift his head and manage a smile. It hadn't been hard to tell that Sascha used to look up to him, but it meant a lot that that image hadn't been totally ruined by the way Cato was now. "Sascha... I'm so glad... that we found each other. You've grown up to be such... such a wonderful person... I'm proud of you." Sascha may have ended up on the streets and had a drinking problem, but he was so kind, understanding, and selfless. Cato felt he had every reason to be proud.

Sophia nodded. It seemed that Emmett really didn't know anything about what had happened, which was good. "That's right," she agreed. "What are we going to do first?" She had to find out how far ahead the resistance had planned. They were still small, so she doubted there were any serious plans in place.

"Oh... well, I'm glad you got to reunite with him." Valin liked seeing Ronan so happy about being Mihael. It was enviable that it took so little to please him, but at the same time Ronan was a nice guy and deserved to be happy. His smile was faltering a bit in spite of this; there was just too much on his mind, especially regarding Silas. The only thing he really wanted to do was sleep. "I'm really glad to see you're okay... I think I need to get some rest now though. We've been traveling and..." He trailed off and just glanced toward Cerys somewhat urgently, unsure if she was finished talking to Mihael or not.

Mihael nodded. It was disheartening to know that there wasn't more that could have been done, but it really seemed that way in both cases. "Yeah... you're right... I don't know what else we could do for them..." He fiddled with his hair, frowning slightly. People were turning out to be far more frustrating than he'd ever thought possible.

In the kitchen, Pavel was slowly mashing vegetables into paste. The task was tedious at best, but he tended to drag it out because taking it to Nikos and having to face him was brutal. He knew that what he'd done to his cousin was horrible and being reminded of it every mealtime made him feel like the worst person alive.

Once the vegetables were as close to a liquid as Pavel could get them, he trudged up the stairs and into Nikos' room. Avoiding his cousin's gaze, he offered him the bowl. "Here..."

"Good... I know you can do it," Sascha said, relieved that Cato was so willing to get off the sedatives. He knew first hand how hard it could be for someone to pull themselves out of a rut and it was admirable that Cato wasn't making excuses. Sascha wasn't surprised by that, though. What Cato said next made his face light up. Hearing that the friend he had admired as a child was proud of him meant the world to him, especially since Cato knew that Sascha hadn't been making the best choices lately. It gave him even more of a reason to stop drinking to avoid his problems. "Thanks, Cato. Hearing that from you really means a lot. I'm glad we found each other too... meeting you again is the best thing that could have happened to me."

"Hm, well..." Emmett hadn't really had a chance to make plans too far in to the future, but he had some ideas for what he wanted to do next. "I think before we start doing much, we need to know what we're dealing with. I'd like for us to explore this town and the nearby areas to see how much of the governor's military is around here. I'm thinking I'll hold a meeting to talk about that soon."

Ronan nodded and smiled; reuniting with Mihael was all he had ever wanted. "Oh yeah, traveling is pretty tiring. The beds here are comfortable, too," he replied when Valin mentioned needing rest.

"Yeah, it's definitely a tough situation..." Cerys hoped that Mihael wasn't blaming himself in any way for what his brother had become. It seemed like there was nothing that could be done for Isadore to begin with. She then noticed Valin looking at her. "Well, it's been nice talking to you Mihael, but it's been long day." Cerys looked to Valin. "Let's get some sleep." She then led the way to her and Valin's inn room.

Nikos sighed as he looked out the window. All he wanted was to leave that bed and be out there for a change. He hadn't been able to get much sleep since the incident; pain in either his jaw or ankle woke him up or kept him from getting comfortable. Nikos kept reminding himself that he would better in no time, but staying completely happy was a bit difficult at times.

Nikos looked to the door when he heard someone enter. "Oh, it's you." He hadn't had much desire to see his cousin since the incident and even though he was unbelievably hungry, he never looked forward to the food. Nikos took the bowl from Pavel. "Looks delicious," he said, though his tone indicated that he felt otherwise. After glancing down at the paste, Nikos looked back at Pavel. "So, do you feel like you're making up for what you did?"

Cato wiped the tears from his eyes and gave Sascha a small smile. His friend was being so encouraging, and it made him happy to see the effect words had on Sascha. "It's... it really is the best thing that's happened... for a very long time. I... I can't remember the last time I... was this happy..." Cato sniffed and wiped his eyes again. "When I feel better again... we're going to go to the theatre... just lke old times."

"That seems like a good place to start," Sophia agreed. From the sounds of it, this group really hadn't been doing much so far. She'd arrived just in time. "At least then we'll know what we're up against and how much leverage we'll have. Do you have enough people to do it really soon? Hearing about this resistance really got me fired up to do something." She hoped she was coming off as more eager than nosy.

"It's been nice talking to you too... it's really good to see that you guys are okay," Mihael replied to Cerys with a smile. "Have a nice rest."

Valin managed to smile at Ronan's comment about the beds before heading to his room with Cerys, where it didn't take him long to fall asleep.

Mihael turned his attention to Ronan, latching onto his brother's arm and looking up at him. "Um... I think maybe you should get some more rest too, because you were sick and I don't think you're fully better yet..."

Pavel ignored Nikos' commentary as he thrust the bowl into his cousin's hand. He started to leave without saying anything when Nikos asked his question. Pavel whirled around and faced his cousin. "No, but I'm doing more than you'll ever do about what you said." Even as he said the words, he knew it was fruitless; what he'd done had been excessive payback for what Nikos had said to him, so it wasn't like he could really use that against him.

Seeing Cato's smile made Sascha feel like he'd really managed to show his friend how much he meant to him. "That's great. I want you to be able to always be this happy." He couldn't think of anyone who deserved happiness more than Cato and the fact that he hadn't been able to experience in so long was heartbreaking. He smiled and nodded at what the guy said next. "I'm looking forward to it." He knew that at the moment, Cato's condition was the most pressing matter, though. "Do you need water or anything?"

Emmett nodded. It sounded like Sophia was really motivated to actively resist, which was the kind of attitude the resistance was going to need. "Well, I think it would be better if we had a few more, but we should have enough for the scouting. Splitting into small groups would probably be best anyway." He knew that scouting wasn't the most exciting thing for a person who was fired up about resisting, but it needed to be done.

Ronan smiled when Mihael latched onto him. "I don't feel too bad. I want to spend more time with you because I've had to rest so much lately..." He coughed, as if to prove Mihael's point. It had been quite a nasty virus, and Ronan wished he hadn't been sick ever since his brother was finally reunited with him.

Nikos gave his cousin a cold look. He hadn't really been thinking of what he said to Pavel, but it didn't really matter. He couldn't have done anything to deserve what the guy did to him. "You're not the one that's been confined to bed and not even able to eat real food," Nikos retorted. "I guess you haven't been able to go drinking all the time anymore, but that's actually a good thing."

Cato couldn't stop smiling as Sascha spoke. He was just so happy to have such a great friend. "Thank you, Sascha..." He needed to wipe his eyes again. "Um... well I'm not really that thirsty... just... really tired. I'm sorry... to make you look after me like this..."

The only thing about this that Sophia wasn't keen on was that they would be splitting up; it would be more ideal if she was able to observe everyone. However, she supposed it could still work out as long as she made sure that she was in a group with Emmett, as he seemed to be in charge. "That makes sense for sure. As long as it's subtle, it won't even be too risky and then we'll know what else we can do."

Mihael thought it was sweet that Ronan wanted to spend time with him and he didn't exactly want to be alone. However, he knew that the man needed to rest. "I wanna spend more time with you too... but you should at least lay down, okay? I can just sit on the bed, or beside it... or well, maybe my bed is close enough to it... hm, we'll see... anyway, I don't want you to get any worse."

Pavel narrowed his eyes. "Don't turn this on me," he snapped. "Oh wait, that's the only you know how to do. It's not like you'd ever take responsibility for anything." Saying that reminded him of how everyone in the inn viewed the situation and it frustrated him immensely. "Maybe you should take up drinking. At least it'd make you honest."

Sascha nodded. "Yeah, some rest will help you feel better." He shook his head when Cato apologized. "I'm just glad I can help you at least a little bit. If you need anything, you can just let me know."

Sascha did what he could for Cato as his friend was recovering from the overdose. He was still shocked that Cato had been on those drugs in the first place and he knew that once he was feeling better, getting him off of them was going to have to be his number one priority. Sascha was ready for it, though. No matter how difficult it was going to be, he knew it would be worth it.

While Cato was resting one afternoon, Sascha went into town and purchased a cane. He was sure that being able to get out of the house would help take Cato's mind off of things.

When he got home, he quietly entered Cato's room and placed the cane at the foot of his bed before heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Yup, exactly. After this we'll be able to plan a better course of action, and hopefully taking action will get us new members too," Emmett replied. He knew how dangerous it could be to fight back against Isadore, but he had a good feeling about this. With careful planning, Emmett believed it could be done. "Attracting people trained in combat would definitely be handy."

Ronan thought it was so sweet how Mihael was so concerned about him. "Aw, well I don't want to make you worry. Okay, I'll go lay down. I'll have to do my best to get better for you!" With that, he immediately started heading toward his and Mihael's room. Ronan went right to bed when they arrived, and found that he really did need the rest. "I wish I didn't have to get sick when we finally got reunited..."

Nikos hadn't been in a very good mood to start with, and Pavel wasn't helping. He bristled at his cousin's comments. "How can you say any of that? Everyone knew exactly how much responsibility you took when it came to helping with work! Making this food is probably the first helpful thing you've done around here, too!"

"O-okay... thank you, Sascha..." Cato felt like with his friend there, things could start getting much better. He hoped he would be able to repay the man someday.

It was a hard process, but Cato began to feel better as he rested. The worst part was not being able to rely on his medicine to sleep, which resulted in lying awake for a while at night. However, Cato was happy to find that he could still sleep naturally and that it would get easier with time.

Cato had been sleeping lightly when Sascha entered with the cane. His eyes didn't open until his friend left the room, and he looked around to see what Sascha had been doing in there. Cato almost considered going back to sleep when he noticed something at the foot of the bed. He crawled out of his sheets and got closer. Smiling, Cato picked up the cane and looked it over. "Sascha..." The man was always thinking of him, and Cato couldn't help but feel touched.

Using his new cane, Cato left the room and went to Sascha. It felt nice to have something supporting his weight besides his legs, which were still fairly weak. "Sascha, it's perfect... it'll be a big help." He knew he couldn't be up too much in his condition, but he absolutely had to thank his friend. Cato gave him a big smile. "Thank you so much!"

"That would definitely be helpful," Sophia agreed, considering the point that Emmett raised. That would be something useful to know as well. "Do you have many people who are able to fight right now?"

Mihael smiled when Ronan got into bed and sat next to him. "I know... it's really bad timing... but you seem to be getting better all the time so hopefully you'll be all recovered really soon... and you should be, because you've been resting a lot and stuff."

Pavel shot a glare at Nikos. On the tail of what he'd said during their argument, his comment was hurtful. "There you go, turning it around on me again because you can't defend yourself. Well, fuck you. I hope you choke on those vegetables." Pavel didn't mean that, but he was so frustrated with Nikos that it came out. With that, he turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

He hated the things Nikos was saying to him. He already knew that he'd been a disappointment to his family; he didn't know why his cousin had to keep reminding him of how awful he was. He went straight to his room and curled up on the bed. He couldn't stop thinking about his parents and all the times they'd argued. The last conversation he'd had with them had been a fight. Tears filled Pavel's eyes and he started sobbing quietly into his pillow.

Sascha looked over his shoulder when he heard Cato enter the kitchen, a small smile coming to his face when he saw that his friend had found the cane. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." It was sweet that Cato was so grateful to him for such a small gesture. "You look like you're starting to feel better, too. Think you'll be hungry for dinner soon?" The guy could really use the nutrients.

"Hm, well..." Emmett wished they had a few more actual fighters. "There's only one really good one that I can think of, but there's probably at least two or three more that can fight a little." He didn't know if Cerys and Valin were sticking around, but they'd be a great help. Ronan was definitely the best one they had at the moment. "Can you fight?"

"Yeah, I hope so..." Ronan yawned. "Then we can go do something fun... there's a lake or something nearby, I think. It sounds like a fun lake too..." The bed was very comfortable and he felt himself drifting off a little.

Nikos shot Pavel an angry look, but didn't get a chance to respond before his cousin had left the room. He didn't mind too much though, he really wasn't in the mood for any of it. The things Pavel had said stuck with him for a little while, but Nikos pushed it out of his mind. There was no point in thinking about it. He sighed and tried forcing down some of the vegetable paste, but he couldn't get very far. Both the taste and texture were just awful. Nikos set the bowl aside and tried to go to sleep to pass the time, but found he couldn't.

Cato nodded, still smiling a little. "Yeah, I feel somewhat better. I should be hungry enough soon, I think... I've been feeling more like eating lately." Over the years, Cato often didn't feel well enough to eat much, so he was looking forward to enjoying Sascha's meals. "What are you making?"

Sophia managed to contain a smirk as Emmett explained their situation. The resistance was small as it was and they only had a handful of fighters on their side. She shook her head in response to his question. In reality, she had combat training and was capable of using magic, but she didn't want to raise any suspicions about her origins. "I can defend myself, but I don't really have any good fighting abilities."

"A lake? That really does sound fun..." Mihael was already looking forward to visiting it with Ronan when his brother was feeling better. "We'll have to go for sure." He could see that Ronan was drifting off and decided to let him, since the man really needed the rest. Mihael was still quite mentally exhausted from everything he'd been through, so he didn't mind crawling into his own bed for some rest.

"That's good to hear," Sascha replied, looking pleased when Cato said he was regaining his appetite. "I think you'll notice a lot of improvement just from eating decent meals." Sascha was fairly certain of that; living as a rogue, there had been times when he'd managed to find plenty to eat and times when he was barely able to find anything and the difference was quite noticeable. "I'm making rice with vegetables," he replied. Sascha's cooking abilities were very limited as he'd never had a chance to learn to cook properly, so he couldn't make anything too complicated. He intended to improve, though; Cato could probably benefit from meat in his diet, so Sascha wanted to learn how to make it. "Does that sound okay?"

"I see..." Emmett knew that the resistance needed every person it could get, but another fighter would have been very helpful. "Self defense is definitely a good thing, anyway. Maybe we could get a little practice in for the people who are more willing to fight." He then realized just how long he'd been talking to Sophia, and she didn't even have an inn room yet. "Well, I'm sure you've been traveling for a while, so you could ask me more tomorrow if you want. There's no rush, but I can still talk now if you want." There wasn't anything too pressing happening at the moment.

"Mm... yup, we will..." Ronan managed to mumble. He didn't even notice Mihael move, and was very soon fast asleep.

Hearing that from Sascha was very encouraging for Cato, especially now that his friend was there cooking him some real food. He was definitely ready to start feeling better. "That sounds great," Cato replied with a smile. "That's probably one of the best meals I've had in a while..." He was a little embarrassed to admit it, since it was a fairly simple dish. "Thank you for doing this for me... someday I'll have to cook something for you."

"Definitely," Sophia agreed. "I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about fighting." She shook her head at what Emmett said next. "No, I think I should get checked in and get some rest for tonight. Thanks for all the information." With that, she went and booked her room. She was satisfied with what she'd learned so far and felt like this was going to be an easy enough job.

Within a few days, the new arrivals had gotten settled in and it was time for the resistance to hold a meeting regarding their first mission. Mihael had been spending most of his time dealing with Nikos' injuries and Ronan's illness, so he hadn't really been paying a lot of attention to any buzz about the resistance's planned activity.

When he made his way to the main room where the meeting was going to be held, he greeted Emmett with a hug before taking a seat at the table. He noticed that Sophia was already there. He hadn't spoken to her before, but from what he could tell she felt strongly about the resistance.

Caimbrie knocked on Nikos' door before entering. Luckily, he had been cleared to use crutches now but she knew that his injuries were still difficult to deal with. "Hey, are you feeling up to going to the meeting? I can help you downstairs if you need me to."

Sascha felt bad that Cato hadn't been eating well. He remembered the wilted vegetables and moldy bread he'd found when he'd first arrived. At least Cato wouldn't have to live like that anymore. "You don't have to thank me. I just wish I was a better cook," Sascha replied. He smiled at Cato's offer. "Sounds good." It didn't take long to finish preparing the meal. He dished it out and served it at the table, taking a seat across from Cato. "You still like these vegetables, right?" He'd used the ones he remembered Cato being partial to as a child.

"No problem," Emmett replied with a smile before Sophia left. Now that the resistance had a more respectable number of members, he could start planning their first actual mission, even if it was just scouting. It would be an important first step for the group.

A few days later, Emmett spread the word that he wanted to speak to the entire resistance about a mission. Calling it a mission probably sounded a little intimidating, but he doubted anyone would have a problem with just looking around. It was very unlikely that there would be any danger, anyway. The room Emmett chose for the meeting ended up being a dining room, since it would be a bit cramped if everyone tried to fit in his and Ronan's room again.

Emmett greeted Sophia when she arrived, impressed by how early she was. He had gotten the impression that she was enthusiastic, and she was proving it. Mihael then entered the room and Emmett gave him a smile before returning his hug. Ronan wasn't far behind him.

Nikos was testing out his crutches when Caimbrie entered his room. He had tried them out before, and he could tell that they would take some getting used to. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to the meeting," Nikos said to her with a smile. "We're going to start making a difference around here!" He moved toward her, and could feel how weak he was from all the days of lying in bed and eating so little. Nikos stumbled a little as he reached the door. "Uh, yeah... I might need help with the stairs..."

After everyone had assembled in the dining room and taken a seat, Emmett stood at the end of the table. He was glad to see that everyone at least had some interest. "Okay, now that we're all here, let's talk about the mission," he began. "It's a simple one, but it will be really important for any future missions. We need to find out where the governor's forces are stationed in our area, since there must be some to keep an eye on things. If we can get an idea of how many there are and where they're located, that'll help us when we need to plan something a little more risky. How does that sound?"

Cato smiled back at his friend. It didn't matter what Sascha was making for him, he just really appreciated that he was doing this for him. When Sascha served him the meal, his face lit up at the sight of the broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. "Yes... these are some of my favourites. You remembered," Cato said to him, smiling. "The first couple of times I went shopping after my injury I bought some of these, but after that..." He shook his head, and then tried some of the food. "Oh... this really is delicious." Cato was already eating more before he could say anything else.

Caimbrie assisted Nikos as he made his way down the stairs with his crutches and then sat next to him at the table. She was intrigued by what their first mission could be.

Pavel listened as Emmett spoke. Them finally getting a chance to take any kind of action against the governor was the first thing to give him a bit of hope. He listened to what Emmett was saying. "So I'm assuming we'll have to split up?" It seemed like the best way to cover the most ground and he was sure that Emmett had already of that. He glanced toward Calyx, hoping that he could go with him in that event. He definitely didn't feel comfortable grouping up with Nikos.

Sophia had expected this and she stayed quiet, avoiding eye contact with most people. They seemed to know each other and she wanted them to group up so she could join Emmett.

Mihael just smiled at Ronan and latched onto his arm. He wasn't sure if he would be able to go with Emmett or not, as Emmett was the leader of the group, but he was certain he could at least go with Ronan. He shifted his gaze to the front of the room, waiting for further instructions. He was proud that Emmett was able to organize all of this and he knew Theodore would have been as well.

Isla wasn't overly concerned by the mission. It sounded easy enough. Valin, on the other hand, was a bit bothered by the whole thing. He glanced at Cerys and then at Emmett. "How far are we going to be scouting?" He felt like getting anywhere near the governor was the equivalent of a death wish.

"Of course I remembered," Sascha replied, looking pleased by Cato's reaction. It saddened him that his friend hadn't been purchasing good food for himself since the accident. The more he learned about how Cato had been living, the more he realized just how much his friend needed him there. "I'm glad you like it," Sascha replied, taking a bite of his own food. "I'm going to have to practice cooking some more so I can learn to make meat dishes. The doctor recommended that you get more animal protein."

Emmett nodded at Pavel. "Yeah, we'll split into groups, probably four or so. We'll cover more ground that way. You can split yourselves up however you want." He assumed that they would divide themselves into groups that would be able to work together.

Ronan wasn't surprised by anything Emmett said, as he had heard him mention this idea before. It didn't sound like a dangerous job, but he would be there to protect Mihael anyway.

The mission sounded easy enough to Calyx, since all they had to do was walk around, from the sounds of it. Emmett confirmed that they would be splitting up, so Calyx looked to Pavel and nodded. He would have been fine working with Mihael too, but he knew that guy had his brother. Calyx always liked spending time with Pavel as well. Of course Matteo would be joining them too, so it seemed like their group was probably almost full.

Emmett could tell that Valin was more concerned than the others. "We won't be going too far. I'm thinking some can look around this town, and others can look at other small towns in this area. We definitely won't be going to Ranauti now," he replied. "So this should be a pretty easy job."

Cerys gave Valin a reassuring smile. The mission seemed like it would be safe and simple enough, and she agreed with Emmett about its importance. Before they did anything, they needed to know if they were surrounded by Isadore's soldiers. "We'll go together," Cerys said to him.

Acacia didn't have any objections to the mission, as long as she could work with her sisters. She wasn't sure how she felt about these people yet, and she hadn't really talked to any of them since arriving.

"All right, sounds great," Nikos said after listening to Emmett's explanation. "So after this we'll know what we need to start fighting back!" He was definitely ready to start doing that after lying in bed and thinking about it for so long.

Cato ate some more of his food and then nodded at Sascha. "Oh yeah, that's something I don't get much of... it would probably give me more energy." He was looking forward to not being so listless, especially now that he and Sascha had planned to do so much together. Cato wanted to be able to enjoy his time with his friend. "Whenever you need to get new ingredients, I'll go with you and help you find what we need." Cato didn't want Sascha doing all the work, so he intended to help as much as possible.

Hearing that they weren't going to Raunati gave Valin some comfort. It seemed like it would be a pretty safe mission. He visibly relaxed. "That'll be okay," he said, then smiled when Cerys said she'd go with him. "Thanks... I was hoping we would." Valin had figured that she would go with him, but he had a tendency to brace himself for rejection any time it seemed remotely possible.

Pavel returned Calyx's nod. He was actually looking forward to getting away from the rest of the group for a while. He just hoped that whoever else joined their group would be easy to get along with. He was completely certain that it wouldn't be Nikos.

Caimbrie was feeling optimistic after hearing the plan. It would definitely give them an advantage. "Hmm... who should we join?" she asked Nikos.

Isla glanced between Acacia and Bailey. "Do you want to group up together or join with some of the others?" It didn't matter to her; she knew they could work well together but at the same time it would be good to get know the rest of the resistance.

Sophia just let the others figure out what they wanted to do. She intended to go wherever Emmett did, so she kept her eye on him.

Sascha nodded; the protein would definitely give Cato the boost he needed. "I'd like that," he replied to his friend's offer to join him at the grocery store. "I'm not the best cook, so I'll definitely need all the help I can get."

Sascha spent the next few days looking through cookbooks he got at the library to get some ideas of where to start. He copied a few recipes down. If nothing else, it kept his hands busy while Cato was recovering and occupied the time he used to spend drinking.

When Cato was feeling up to it, the two headed out to pick up some of the ingredients Sascha would need. On the way to the store, a man passing by made a show of staring at Cato's cane. Sascha side-eyed him, but the man didn't seem to notice. "What's the good of a young guy who can't even walk? Can't work much that way! Another drain on the empire..."