Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 3: With Strength And Right

In every man's life there will be a moment where they will shine the brightest among their peers.

Act 2, Prologue 3: With Strength And Right

Sitting in a barely lit room, the walls were comprised of corrugated metal. The ceiling was nearly 30 feet high with a small light providing him just enough brightness to read. This man was Elliot, calmly looking over a map and slowly tracing lines across the various roads of the city in this makeshift office in the warehouse he procured. He calmly glanced them over, lifting them up to make sure he was making a good route.

A knock on the door is heard and he turns his head up to look at the door. He felt himself tense as the door didn't really have a way for him to know who it was on the other side until the intercom beside him rang. “Wolf, the Mercenaries from INVICT have arrived and will be awaiting their payment details.” A familiar womanly voice said on the radio. It was calm, but a bit flat and dull sounding. This was his main lieutenant, Diane Kessler, also known as Fox.

He stood up from his table and gently pressed the button on the intercom, making sure to speak clearly enough so she could hear him. “Arrange them in the second warehouse, Di. I wish to speak to them as a group.” He responded, there was a short pause before the intercom crackled to signal it was turned on again. “Got it, Also... Call from your daughter.” She said, Elliot's brow perking as he grabbed his cane in one hand, slowly strolling to the door and opening it. It was much brighter, so bright it kind of strained his eyes when he opened the door.

He looked down at her, she was a bit shorter looking with somewhat of a dull face, tanned skin, brown hair strapped into a loose ponytail and bright green eyes. She held up a cell phone for him as he lightly took it, pressing his palm against the receiver so his daughter couldn't hear him just yet. “I appreciate it, Di. I'll be with you in roughly 10 minutes.” He said, Diana nodding her head and walking away to start barking out orders. He closed the door behind him and held the phone up to his ear to talk.

“Heya, Rose.” He said on the phone with a slight smile on this face, the normal stress lines faded and he had a legitimate smile. There was a brief pause before a high pitched, feminine voice rang on the other line with a happy voice. “Hey dad! Uhh.. I just wanted to call you to see if you were okay.” She said with concern, but he calmly paced his room and talked to her with a friendly voice. “Oh you know I'm fine, Rosalyn. Daddy's just got overtime again, I'll probably be back before you head to bed.” He said to try and reassure her.

“Well that's good... I don't know why you work such weird hours. I try to keep track of it but your work hours always change on me. Don't most people with jobs have schedules?” She asked, he closed his eyes a bit and gave a chuckle. “Well, it's kind of the problem with these kinds of jobs. I get called in when they need me, and they need me quite a lot.” What Elliot said was theoretically true, so he wasn't really lying to her about that fact. “Well... To be honest I don't even know what job you have sometimes.” The 14 year old girl said on the line, he couldn't even really admit this to her, so he came up with an answer that could brush her off a bit.

“Well, I tend to do a lot. I don't really know what I need to do until I get to where I'm needed.” He said, hoping that was a good enough answer for her, there was another short pause before she spoke again. “Well... I wanted to let you know how much I miss you.” She admitted, Elliot frowned just a bit and sighed. “I know you do.” He responded with some sorrow in his voice. “Ever since mom left...” Rosalyn was going to say before Elliot cut off her sentence a bit. “Look, I'm trying my hardest to make this world better for you. I can't bring Shauna back, but I can at least try my best.” He said, to try and reassure her.
“Look, I'll come back in a couple of hours. I'll see you soon, Rose.” He said, hanging up the phone and setting it back on his desk. He tried to make his face more brazen, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before slapping himself on the face with both hands. He grabbed his blue suit off the coat rack and slipped it over his black shirt, grabbing his mask sitting beside it and slid it over his face, strapping it to the back of his head. It was cold engraved steel, but also served as a useful face protector. He opened the door and looked around the warehouse.

On one side was a couple of shipping crates, pretty much stocked to the brim with his haul from the previous robberies they made. They have to still chemically process all the materials needed for the next step for their plan, but they're just sitting there and waiting the heat to back off a bit and allow them to work more freely. There were a couple of his workers just sitting around and talking over some sandwiches the cook they had managed to make earlier in that day. He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked over to the door, before opening it and walking outside.

The moon was smack dab in the middle of the sky, the spring nights were always slightly too cold for it to be comfortable, especially if the wind kicked in. Almost like nature heard his musings as he walked between the two large warehouses on the docks. The wind kicked in and started to flap his long blue leather coat. He sighed and turned to face it, as it was coming from the Glass Lake. The water was still with the reflection of the moon almost perfectly mirroring the sky in reverse. It would be a mirror if there wasn't boats slowly drifting along the waters to break the symmetry.

They called it the Glass Lake because it has no tide, or waves that affect it outside of the wakes of boats, so it reflected almost a perfect image unless a storm kicked in. Elliot would have called it 'Mirror Lake' instead but no one ever says he gets to name things. He slipped his hands into his pockets and swung the other door open. This warehouse was much more empty, pretty much being a flat, smooth concrete floor with nothing inside barring a small risen metal platform with stairs on each side. It doesn't really seem to be used for another purpose, but it made a pretty neat stage.

He walked up the stairs, watching as Fox was currently sitting near what appeared to be a PA system. She was currently fiddling with the microphone connector and blowing into it to make sure it works. A couple of loud hissing noises and feedback came through the speakers as they were attached near the roof to make the sound fill the room. Elliot turned around from her to look back at the empty floor space... only to find it completely packed shoulder to shoulder with people.

Fox turned off the microphone and turned to Elliot, handing him the microphone and patting him on the shoulder. “I had the boys set up the PA system so you don't have to shout the entire time. I know how much you hate that.” She said casually, he looked at the microphone and began to inspect it a bit, finding the red switch near the bottom so he could turn it on when he needed it. “Thanks I guess.” He replied, turning to her and crossing his hands. “I'm a bit surprised.” He mentioned.

“Why?” Fox asked him, turning to look at the same crowd he was. There were a good number of people wearing the Silent Fall uniform.. but nearly a third of the crowd was wearing street clothes... The other third were wearing an all black uniform with a red insignia he couldn't exactly make out. “I didn't expect us to have so many people here.” He admitted, it was quite a pleasant surprise, but when your words get this much traction you begin to wonder about things.

“Hey, maybe it's just because people are as frustrated as we are.” She said to try and reassure him with a pat on the shoulder. “Now let's see you do what you're good at.” She said, before walking off stage and out of the door back to the other warehouse.

He turns on the microphone again, clearing his throat as he spoke into it. The PA speakers echoed with a slight delay at his voice as the chattering quelled and started to pay attention to him. “I would like to thank you all for choosing to join us tonight.” He first said, his voice projecting forward a bit to show a bit more confidence. “Not all of you will stay through this, that is just an inherent fact about the nature of what we are discussing. You have decided to come here on your own volition, we did not force your hand.” He warned, just making the fact more clear to anyone who was harboring any second guesses.

“This is your last chance to turn around and return home before I begin addressing you.” He said, noticing some people in the back slowly begin to funnel out of the room. He waited for about a minute as whoever intended to back out did, before he continued. “For those who have decided to stay, you understand how truly depraved we as a society really have become.” He stated, walking closer to the crowd and looking down at them as they just observed. There were a couple of shouts in agreement from the back.

“Each and every one of you is a good, wholehearted individual deep down.” He said, trying to compliment them before continuing. “Yet... We are turned to violent answers, not because we choose to do it. But because we feel like we've run out of options.” He calmly explained, the crowd still staying quiet. He began to slowly pace the floor, taking a deep breath. “The people in charge want to keep the status quo... Because they are worried about anything shaking up the very foundation they built upon.”

He raised both his arms out into the air, clenching his fists a bit as he looked upon the rest of the crowd. “You folk who came here... You have finally understood that no one was actually listening to you, or what you think. And thanks to Silent Fall, I'll be one of the few people who could help you.” He continued to explain, raising his gloved fist in front of him and clenching it. “We've been trying to be more subtle until we had what we needed to carry out our message in a more direct manor. Unfortunately this means the situation is going to get quite bloody in the next couple of months.” He continued, looking at the audience to see if they were still interested.

“I'll still be frank with you all, this is a much bigger crowd of people than I originally estimated.” Elliot mentioned, slipping his free hand back into his front pocket. “Having this many people want to go out of their way to change things in such a desperate manner just makes me realize even more how desperate the times we live in. Monsters are attacking us every single day and we have to rely on a bunch of ignorant teenagers being indoctrinated by our military to help us, instead of just being able to protect ourselves... And even then, the rich refuse to help us out when we lose our homes.” He stated, getting a couple of cheers.

“As long as you help me... We'll be achieving something amazing... One of the first times we as a people have ever stood up to the people who control us and telling them that something must finally change.” He said, more cheers and applause coming from the crowd before he kept speaking. “Some of you will not be able to sleep at night after committing some of the acts we've been forced to do just for someone to understand our plight... But no one has ever said starting a revolution was going to be clean, nor predictable.” The metal stage made a loud hollow noise whenever he walked, lightly pacing back and forth on the platform

“As for the members of INVICT.” He said, turning to face the several mercenaries standing near the back of the warehouse. “I will not shirk my responsibilities and you will all be paid in full... Half up front, and half when I consider you no longer needed.” He added, the mercenaries chattering among themselves as their asking fees were just met without any renegotiating for a lower price, it was a pretty good deal.

“This will be our day. I hope for all of you that you stay with me until the very end.” He said, finishing his speech by turning off the mic and placing it on a nearby table, slowly walking down the steps as the crowd cheered again. Fox walked back onto the stage to turn the microphone back on. “Oh, and we now have catering! It's in the third warehouse... I think we're serving pizza or something.” She said to just the same amount of cheers. While they were glad they were part of a big movement, free pizza is always a good thing for a large amount of folk.

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 2: Blood

No answer is ever solved without bloodshed

 Act 2 Prologue 2: Blood

The lights of the small arena dimmed, leaving the spotlights to light the ring in the center, it's mat was blue, with red ropes and white turnbuckles and ring posts. The crowd was nearly a thousand people sat along the seats surrounding it. A woman in a red hooded jacket put her hands into her pockets as she stood just before a small flight of stairs and a curtain. She was lightly shadowboxing the air as a man stood beside her, handing her a bottle of water so she could take a sip from it.

“Alright, Weasel. This is the last fight, you've been at it for a whole week and the prize money is on the line.” He said to her, hoping to hype her up a bit. The girl peered her hood up a bit to glare at him with her sharp red eyes. “It's been 6 months since I joined the club, Ritters... Why do you still call me weasel?” She asked, he just chuckled and patted her on the shoulder some. “Oh come on, it's a good nickname!” He said with enthusiasm, Maria just sighed a bit, leaning down to adjust her gloves some more, before he lightly shoved her over to the stairs. “Your fight is up, Weasel... Go get em!” He shouted, Maria nodding and climbing up the stairs, bouncing on her feet some as she swung the curtains open with both of her arms.

A lone spotlight shined on her, some boring metal music she picked out earlier began to play as she started to shadow box at the top of the ramp. “For the Riverside Amateur Featherweight division 3^rd place prize... Our first competitor!” Maria raised a fist as he continued announcing her, her red vinyl hoodie kind of covered her eyes but it was a straight shot to the ring, she couldn't mess this up if she tried. Her coach slowly walked behind her, slightly out of the spotlight.

“Hailing from Riverside city, Rosewall... ” He continued, Maria punching the air some more as she broke out into a dash, the spotlight tracking her with a slight delay in reaction as she took a leap up to the ring post, pulling her hood down and letting her shoulder length messy hair rest on her collar. “Maria 'Battle Weasel' Roth!” He shouted with enthusiasm, the crowd giving a fairly big cheer with some intermixed boos. Maria just glared back and growled at Ritters. “You changed my nickname!? I was supposed to be 'The Spider!' ” She shouted, the music too loud for any of the crowd to hear her. “Things happen, Maria!” He said, not even sorry. Maria just sighed and slid into the ring for her opponent to arrive.

The lights changed from the reddish white lights to a purple color of lights along with some cheesy radio guitar rock started to play as the curtain opened on the other side of the arena. A fair skinned, black haired girl that was tightly tied into a ponytail. Her coach walking behind her was a rotund man, balding with a black ponytail on what little hair he had left as the announcer rang in once again over the loudspeakers.

“And now our second competitor... From Cherry Springs, Rosewall.” The voice echoed, the referee quietly getting in the ring around the same time the girl climbed up the stairs and slid in between the ropes. “Braith 'Black Cat' Dogwood!” The crowd cheered for her a little more than they cheered for Maria, though she had no idea why, maybe her fights were more entertaining than Maria's were. It was a rookies only tournament after all.

Braith didn't wear any fancy ring gear like Maria did, since she got the hoodie from Jonah. Maria pulled her coat off and gently folded it before handing to her instructor. Maria and Braith were wearing similar fight gear, a pair of slightly padded gloves with bare feet and leg wraps, a small tanktop like outfit for flexibility and a pair of shorts, though hers was tighter and Maria's looked kind of baggy. Her theme music ended as an announcer grabbed a mic that descended from the top of the arena.
“We welcome you to the penultimate match, the one that decides which person is going to take a seat on that podium and which one is going to go home falling just short!” He said to the crowd with his entertainingly baritone voice. He was in a black tuxedo with his hair slicked back that Maria wasn't sure where the hair ended and the grease began. “In the blue corner, wearing the red trunks with black trim...” He said, pointing an open hand to Maria in her crimson and black gear. Maria lightly bounced on her toes, swinging a couple of punches.

“Standing at 5'2 and weighing in at 124 pounds... She is a freestyle boxer with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, all which were earned of this 3 week tournament, even if she's only 16 years old. Maria Roth!” He shouted, Maria lowering her head and pumping her fist in the air as her coach reached up to help put her mouthguard in, just making sure all of her teeth don't fly through her nose if she gets kicked too hard. “And in the red corner... With the black trunks and silver trim..” He continued, the girl folding her arms and quietly watching him as he talked.

“Standing in at 5'4 and weighing in at 126 pounds... She is a hapkido practitioner with a record of 5 wins... 2 losses, all of her wins have been by knock out. Braith Dogwood” He shouted loud enough for some feedback to ring through the speakers, this made Maria cringe some and rub one of her ears from pain. The announcer cleared his throat, tapping the mic a couple of times so it would stop. “This fight will be for five sets of 3 minute rounds. Not being able to defend yourself, being knocked out 3 times in one round, and tapping during a submission will result in your loss.” He explained the rules of the match, Maria slowly stepping back against her corner, leaning into it and feeling the squeak of the ropes stretching against her.

“There will be no eye gouging, no groin shots, no elbow strikes and no kicks to the head while on the ground, This fight will start when you are both ready.” He said, Braith nodding and walking back into her corner for the bell to ring and signal the fight. It quickly did, Braith walking up holding out her fist as she put in her own mouthpiece in. “Good luck, Combat Weasel.” She said, Maria walked up and bumped gloves with her. “Okay, seriously. My nickname wasn't combat weasel.” Maria corrected, Braith just smirking some as she raised her fists to her face. Maria entered a combat stance and lifted onto her toes.

Maria lightly tried to gauge the distance with some light jabs, but Braith instantly swung a roundhouse kick straight to her head. Maria dipped underneath it swiftly, she was still recovering from the kick as Maria dove in to punch her in the face. She groaned, tilting her head off to one side to soften the blow, blocking Maria's second hit to punch her firmly in the stomach. Maria winced, before swinging her leg to smack into her stomach with a loud snap. This made her step back, before leaping onto one foot and cracking Maria in the side of the head like a whip.

Maria shook it off, another kick coming to smash into Maria's shoulder, she grabbed the leg and pushed up so she could land an uppercut, completely ignoring her poor block, before swinging her arm to uppercut her knee as well. Braith shouted in pain as she felt her leg buckle, she lifted her other leg to Maria's chest, pushing off with a kick to land a swift backflip back to her feet. The amount of force required pushed Maria against the ropes. She rebounded, pulling her fist back for a huge punch.

She spun for a spinning back kick to hope and cash in on Maria's momentum, but Maria was really throwing a faint, quickly ducking the kick and punching her in the rib cage with a loud smack. Braith stumbled and fell onto her back. She stumbled to get her hands and legs in a position so she could stand back up. But Maria dove quickly over her legs to land a smashing punch right on her jaw as she pounced on top of her. This caused a big splatter of blood on the mat as her nose started bleeding
She growled a bit, Looking at Maria as she attempted some mounted punches, she caught Maria's fist and spun around, throwing Maria on her side and twisting her wrist to attempt a joint lock. The crowd began to cheer for them both as the fight was quickly turning into a slugfest. Maria spun using her legs to stop her wrist from being twisted, before hand springing back to her feet. Maria kicked Braith on the arm, forcing her to release the wrist and slowly stand back up to her feet.

“Not bad...” Braith said with a smile, lightly wiping off the blood leaking from her nose with her wrist. “Anything to stop you kicking me in the face again.” Maria replied, about to swing another punch as a loud siren began to go off in the distance. Suddenly, all of the lights in the Arena turned back on, removing the spotlight effect in the fighting ring as the crowd began to boo. “I know that sound...” Maria muttered, The ref raising his hands as the bell rung. “Unfortunately this event has to be delayed.” He said, as the doors swung open.

“Unfortunately missy that seems to be the curtain call.” Sebastian said, climbing off of the ropes and looking at Maria. “I'll see you when you get back to the acadmy. Mr. Ritters sighed, getting away from ringside and following the rest of the civilians up the stairs. Maria turned to him, running to the ropes and hanging her hand over it to point at him. “Hey! Come back! I need your car!” She shouted, though he was kind of either too far away to hear her or was ignoring her.

“We're with Spectrum, The area is going to soon be flooded with Riftfallen, we need to get you guys to a nearby shelter!” One of the 6 people from the team of Spectrum members shouted. The crowd was filled with chatter and complaining as they stood up and slowly started to file out of the arena. Maria groaned and pulled out her mouthpiece, as Braith climbed down the ring and slowly walked to the locker room. Maria lowered her brow, leaping over the ropes in one swift leap as she was intent on following her.

“Hey, What are you doing!?” Maria shouted, running after her as Braith walked into the locker room, putting away her fighting gear but leaving her clothes on as she saw Maria following her. “Getting my stuff and leaving. Delays like these happen all the time.” Braith responded, zipping up one bag and opening another to pull out her street clothes. “Please tell me there's gonna be a rematch, I was hoping for the prize...” Maria complained, Braith slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to the shorter fighter. “We'd have to wait for the phone call. Until then, I live 6 miles off.. I should be safe from the Riftfallen if I drive fast enough.” She stated, Maria looking at the floor before looking up at her.

“Uhh... I work for Spectrum, and I think my coach left as well, he's the guy who drove me here. Can you drive me back?” Maria asked, but Braith just looked at her up and down a bit and sighed. “I don't really know you, and I don't want to waste time.” She stated, Maria frowning a little bit as she started to leave the locker room to get dressed elsewhere. “Good luck getting back, kid.” She said, the door closing as she left.

Maria put her own gear in her bag and started to get dressed in her Spectrum outfit while Gale manifested, covering his eyes so he didn't see anything he shouldn't. “Isn't it a little irresponsible of you to be this far away from the academy?” He asked, Maria looking up at him with annoyance as she kept swiftly dressing. “Hey, if I'm on my off hours I can do what I want.” Maria said, getting her pants back on before going to get her shirt back on as well. “Anyway, this was going to be my money for the month.. I'm always just scraping by on handouts.” She complained, the bird nodding his head some as he kept covering his glowing pink eyes with his glowing orange wings.

“Maybe you shouldn't be trying to bend the rules, maybe you wouldn't lose your pay that way.” He responded, Maria growling as she got her jacket back on. “You can look now.” She said, before actually replying. Gale nodded once again, uncovering his eyes and seeing Maria dressed in her black suit, Maroon shirt and black tie, the inverse version of the standard colors that was also available. “I don't bend rules because I want to! The rules are stuffy and written by some old guy who doesn't know what it's like to bust your ass every day.” She complained.

Maria started to walk from the locker room and out the fire exit, looking around the parking garage as she talked to Gale. It's been nearly 8 months since he's first manifested, they are still on shaky terms but he tends to be a bit preachy and likes to act like someone's mom and remind them of all their responsibilities. Maria halfway questions it's usefulness except for when it actually becomes useful for a magical bird alarm clock.

“Just pointing something out, Maria... By the way, it's Lily's birthday today.” He said, trying to remind Maria. Maria looked up and chuckled some as she walked off of the curb she was standing on, finding a bike locked against a rack of bikes. She grabbed the black bike and unlocked it with a key she had in her pocket, meaning it was her bike. “Thanks for reminding me, but I knew already.” Maria said, sitting on the uncomfortable black seat as she looked left and right, slowly starting to pedal it.

It was a kind of shitty bike, it didn't have a gear mechanism and any time she went up a hill she would be in a horrific life and death struggle just to push the goddamn thing. “I hate this bike...” She complained, feeling a sudden wetness on her lip as the wind started to push against it. “But it's really great for exercise.” He replied, floating along with her speed. “I get enough exercise, bird...” Maria complained, pushing the bike as she reached up to wipe off her lip. It was bleeding from the kick to her face just a while ago.

“Come on Maria, don't you want thighs that can push a truck?” He asked her. Maria sighed, pushing a bit harder as she started to bike up a hill. “No, not really.” She replied, huffing some as Gale chuckled at her. “Morgan gets a motorcycle and I get this piece of shit.” Maria complained, Gale shaking his head as Maria turned a corner to head down another road. “Don't be ungrateful of what you have, Maria.” He scolded her, Maria stopping the bike to glare up at him.

“Shut up, Bird-mom.”

Spectrum Act 2, Prologue 1: Silver

Everything has to end at some point.

Act 2 Prologue 1: Silver

The double doors to Lily's fathers office slowly pulled open as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her knee long dress. His room was big and spacious looking, lit by a chandelier along with a massive window about 15 feet wide. Lily never got why mansions always had such big windows compared to the typical home, but it was always pretty cool to have the entire horizon before you without even having to press your face up against the glass like at Maria's house, or the academy.

The large chair slowly swiveled back around to face his desk, a glass of wine was sitting on a table along with some papers. A man in his early 50's quietly took a sip, before looking up at the teenage girl standing in front of his desk. She looked a bit uncomfortable, yet had a face that looked like she was familiar to the feeling. “So Lily, are you done with your sabbatical?” He asked her, Tilting his head. He was wearing a white suit with folded back cuffs and a lifted collar, along with a red buttoned undershirt and tie. His hair was a shiny silver and there was barely any deep wrinkles on his face besides the ones on his forehead.

“I guess you could call it that.” Lily said, walking up to his desk and sliding a wooden chair to sit on, but first placed a cushion on top of it to make sure it was comfortable. He crossed his hands over one another. “I can't believe you would just abandon everything I've set up here for you for nearly 9 months, Lily.” He scolded, but Lily frowned a little bit. “You grew up here, you were my princess, I gave you nearly everything you wanted, yet you just... act like you can walk out and pretend like all of this never happened?” He ranted some, Lily sighed and looked at the floor.

“There's a lot of reasons, dad.” Lily countered, rubbing her shoulder a bit as she didn't want it to turn into a confrontation. He stood up a bit, pointing at her now 8 month old scar on her face. “You go and join Spectrum instead of finishing your classes and moving to the university I SET UP for you.” He complained, Lily looking at the floor with a sigh. “It only takes a couple of years, you would get a masters degree in economics or business and you could easily take my place and keep this whole ship running.” He explained, Lily leaning up a bit and shaking her head quietly.

“Yet you join an academy for gung-ho violent thugs, staining your hands with blood and destroying your body for a cause we pay other people to do instead.” He ranted, Lily looking up and furrowing her brow. “Why say that? Spectrum is pretty much our best chance to help society out, you even fund the weapons for Spectrum after the council instituted the law barring any group not approved by the government to be unable to distribute Ash.” She argued, but he sighed a bit, sitting in his chair. “I don't hate Spectrum, but there are people meant to fight and people meant to lead or manage.” He started,

“You have everything at your disposal to learn how to become a leader, yet you want to fight with all of the grunts instead. You weren't meant to get your hands dirty..” He tried to justify it, but Lily just looked a bit upset at him, balling her fists and standing up from her chair to place her hands on the table. “Maybe because I just want to feel like I'm actually helping in a tangible way instead of just 'Sterling funds this!' 'Sterling funds that!' throwing money at things isn't always the way you fix a problem, dad...” She replied, but he gently started to stroke his chin with one finger.

“The Riftfallen victims fund is one of the highest grossing charities, helping people across the world. Don't you think investing in that is enough 'help' for one day? Why kill yourself doing more work when you have to? Work smart, not hard.” He said openly, Lily closing her eyes and gently pinching between her brows before looking at him. “Do you know what would be the best way to help the victims of Riftfallen? Protecting them. If there was no Riftfallen then we wouldn't NEED that fund.”

He lightly began to shake his head, standing up and crossing his arms around his back as he walked to her, leaning down a bit so they can be face to face. “Yet you still get hurt, that massive scar on your face shows me that maybe you're not cut out for a life of action. Why do you do it? Are you getting some kind of thrill off of risking your life?” He questioned her, She gently reached up and felt the scar on her own face. Her smooth skin elsewhere contrasted the coarse scar tissue, it still felt sensitive and sore even after all this time.

“I just want to be proactive for once. I want to stop feeling like a third party and finally take on an issue head on, instead of skirting around it.” She answered, but he just turned to stand facing his window yet again, walking back behind his desk and looking at the sunset. “If you are so desperate to be proactive want to be proactive, then buy a private military. Sterling's are meant to lead, not follow.” He demanded, she quietly walked beside him, looking at him. “I made friends for once, dad... I felt like a bird stuck in a cage, easy to make fun of. Even if everyone called me superior, I felt like I never got to experience the feeling of having people depend on me as a person, not as a figurehead.” She replied, but he looked at her dismissively.

“I got the papers of their current recruitment roster. That red headed poor girl I always brought over for you signed up 2 weeks before you did, even though her paperwork took longer to process. Was this a coincidence?” He asked, Lily looking away a bit as he shook her head once again. “No... I learned from Sienna that Maria was trying to join, I followed suit.” She replied, but he grabbed her by the shoulders to look down at her.

“So you did all this just to be with your friend?” He asked, Lily looking up at him since he was a couple of inches taller than her. “That Roth girl... She's a parasite in human skin.” He said, Lily's mouth opening slightly along with her brow as she couldn't believe he just said that. “The only reason she was friends with you is because she wanted the perks of being friends with someone better off than her. She's a leech and the longer you spend time around her the more entitled she will get about it.” He stated, Lily gently grabbing his hands and pulling them off of her, she was somewhat offended by that statement.

“How the hell could Maria be a parasite...? Her parents died, she needs as many people who care about her as she can get...” She said to try and justify it, but he just furrowed his brow, folding his arms across his chest. “And you act like losing your parents is SPECIAL? It's nearly the fucking apocalypse... So many people have lost their parents from this. She has enough people she can empathize with, you shouldn't coddle her with our money just to make her happy.” He said calmly, Lily growling in frustration and pressing her head against the glass of the window.

“You have no idea how any of my friends think of me... They actually respect me and listen to my input on things... Sometimes I even forget I have money, I even sometimes forget that you're my father when I'm around them.” She argued, he looked down at there, tilting her brow. “What do you mean by that?” He asked, Lily looking up at him, trying to grow enough of a spine to speak up to him. “I mean exactly what you think I mean, dad... You are barely there for me, it feels like you just want to turn me into a younger version of you.” She complained, he raised a brow, placing his hands on his hips as he turned to her.

“And I'm pretty much the richest man in this whole damn republic. Is being like me really so bad?” He asked her, She looked at the floor, slowly turning around and walking back to the other side of the room. “And you wonder why mom divorced you..” She said somberly.

Alexander slammed his fist on the table, spilling the little wine in the glass left over. “You couldn't possibly comprehend the reason she left! You wouldn't understand something like that for at least another 15 years!” He shouted at her, Lily frowning as she shook her head. “That's where you would be wrong... You don't trust with anyone and you act like everyone in the world just wants to be like you just because you happened to find a formula that got you power. I feel like you don't love me, and I bet mom felt just the same way.” She said, hoping it would sting, and it did. His stubble covered face gritted his teeth a bit as he glared at her.

“And where has all this come from? You have never complained about this before, have you? I've taken care of you and raised you, haven't I? You're not dead on a street, you're not struggling to make ends meet... you have fairly reasonable morals and you still act like you're being mistreated? How much more could you possibly want?” He asked, Lily slowly turned around to open the door. “I wanted you to give a shit about anyone else's feelings, dad.” She said, turning back to him. He was kind of surprised by her cursing at him, the Roth girl must have been rubbing off on her.

“At least I remembered you were turning 18 today.” He stated flatly, Lily frowning even more. “And you yelled at me for showing up!” She complained, before sauntering back up to place her hands on the now wine stained table. “I'm an adult now, and I'm choosing to stay away from you for a reason. I'm sorry dad... money doesn't fix every problem.” She said, a bit sad. He sighed and sat back down in his chair.

“Fine... Just go.” He said, admitting defeat. Apparently his love wasn't the thing she wanted in her life, and since she was old enough he couldn't really hold her hostage over it. Suddenly, all the lights in the house turned off. “W-what the hell!?” He said out of confusion. Lily tilted her head, walking back up to the window and looking out at the clear sky. “That's weird. All the years I've been here I've never seen the power go out.” She stated, he turned to the window and stood back up out of his chair. “We had a backup generator, something somehow cut both our main power and the back-up as well.” He said, before a faint orange glow began to flicker near the ground. He looked down, confused at what could be causing it. They were on the third floor of the manor and he couldn't see what was happening near the front of the courtyard.

Lily turned around, running out the door and not waiting for him. “I'm going to check what that is, follow me if you want!” She said, running down the darkened hall, using her memories of running down it as a little kid to take a sharp turn and swiftly head down the stairs, her physical training making her able to do it in a record time. She grabbed the huge double doors on the bottom floor and shoved them open.

Sitting on the bricks of the courtyard was a pile of weapons, swords, knives, spears, shields, crossbows and many others. It was stuck between piles of wood and other flammable objects, it was lit on a massive bonfire. She was confused, walking around it as she saw a red arrow painted on the ground, behind the fire a couple of feet. Her father ran out as well. “Who lit this bonfire?” He asked, out of confusion. Lily pointed to the ground to see the red arrow facing toward the house. They both quietly walked up to it, before turning around just as the arrow said to do.

The white walls of the house were defaced with red paint in words written over the window of the third floor.“What the hell...?” He asked quietly as he read the words in the pale orange light of the fire mixed with the sunset. Beside it was a stylized picture of an animal skull, with something looking like blood pouring out of it's empty eye sockets.

"THIS MUST END"