Empire Trove - 44EE

The clinking of glasses and soft murmurs filled the bustling bar. The plush vinyl sofa crinkled as people got up and sat down. The fast clicks of lighters followed by a cigarette or cigar being pulled out kept the throats of the bar's patrons adequately parched. Bottles of whiskey, gin and tequila were passed around, each glass was never empty for long. Meda stared at the collection of empty bottles being taken away by the waiters, disappearing behind two large metal doors. As the soft saxophone playing died down and people hushed their pointless small talk, a man walked onto the stage.

He wore a fine velvet suit with his hair slicked back. He tapped a spoon to his glass.

"Evening folks from the sun in the sky or the ones from the underground with the sharpest eye, I'll be your host for tonight's celebration!"

Meda put her, still-full, glass down and listened to the people sitting around her.

"Can't tell you why but he is. Took the money and fell for it again. Psh, it's what he gets for falling for someone like her."

"It wasn't fair. He pleaded that his club was broken but... c'mon, I tested it and it was fine. I think he can't take a loss, especially after the recent exchange crash. Whew."

"Trisha has to win. I mean did you see how tall her tower was this year? I doubt she has time for events like these."

Meda shook her head.

"It's as bad as I imagined."

The man sitting next to her leaned closer.

"Tell me about it. All they talk about is golf and money. Plus why are they all bald?"

Meda looked around, most of the people in the bar were bald. Not a spec of hair on their head.

"I think it's some purity thing. They hate Strand so shaving their head is a sign of... casting that away."

The man rolled his eyes.

"What a bunch of dickheads."

The man then looked up.

"Hey, you're up. Knock 'em dead."

Meda nodded and stood up. She wormed her way through the crowd, brushing past the smell of smoke and dirty money. She walked through the metal doors and through the dim, grey hallway that contrasted the moody red bar outside. Bar staff walked past her, rushing to appease the orders of their clientele. Sitting at the end of the hall was a door with a star on it. Muffled shouting could be heard on the other side.

Meda opened the door to see shoes and makeup being thrown around.

"Lyn?"

A woman was hunched over a mirror, in the reflection Meda saw the absolute wrath in her face. Smeared makeup and blood stained across it.

"It's you... fuck me."

Meda closed the door and walked in, in the corner of the room was a man covered in blood and a knife lodged in the top of his head.

"Oh. Is this a bad time?"

Lyn took out a syringe and thrust it into her wrist, her veins pulsing as a pink liquid entered her body.

"No. Yes. No. I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Just hurry up. I have to go out soon."

Meda walked to a sink and looked in her purse. She saw a purple crystal next to a heap of makeup products.

"So what's his deal?"

Meda washed her hands.

Lyn looked at the man's body in the corner.

"Straggler. Thought I could give him a chance but no. Asshole tried to get more than he deserved. I don't know why but every time I think I can give one of those... Strand users a chance... I'm forced to remember why I gave up being one."

Lyn buried her face in her hands.

"You understand right? How stupid those people are? Worthless fucks. Only thing they're good for is making one's tower larger."

Meda continued to get things ready.

"Mhm..."

Lyn turned her her.

"You won't... tell anyone, right? That I was once a Straggler. Please. Please tell me you won't."

Lyn clung to Meda and looked up at her with watery eyes.

"Please... if you tell anyone they'll... they'll feed me to their tower..."

Lyn began to sob.

"Please. Tell me I won't die. I don't wanna die. I'm sorry. I'm scared please..."

Meda gently hugged Lyn.

"I promise. I won't. C'mon. Let's do your makeup then you can go out on stage and get your award."

Meda wiped Lyn's eyes.

"Do you have your speech ready?"

Lyn nodded and rummaged around her bag.

"I-I spent all of last week writing it! Me! I wrote it. It was hard but... it felt great actually writing it. Not having someone else do it."

Lyn began to laugh as she read over her speech.

"It's good. Very good. I did such a good job. I did... good."

As Lyn read over her speech, Meda stood behind her and held the purple crystal up.

"You did..."

The saxophone began to play once more. It echoed through the whole bar as people idly chatted. The purple crystal began to glow as Lyn screamed. No one heard her. Once the job was done, Lyn's lifeless body slumped against the wall. The crystal glowed with a warm essence in Meda's palm.

"Sorry, Lyn."

Present day

MEEP MEEP!

Meda shot up. She looked around and found herself to be surrounded by thick fauna and a deep jungle. As she slowly got to her feet she heard the beeping sounds again.

MEEP MEEP!

"Hey move it, lady! Some of us have places to be!"

A voice shouted from behind her.

Meda spun around and looked down to see a jaguar in a wooden car.

"Uh... what...?"

The jaguar honked its horn again.

"I SAID MOVE IT NOW!"

Meda moved out of the way as the jaguar sped off into the jungle.

"Was that real?"

"Sure was. Don't worry about him though, the jaguars just like to get places fast."

Meda turned to see a kid wearing a green cloak and a wooden mask of a hummingbird. He was leaning against a wooden convertible.

Meda just stared blankly at him.

"And you are? Start talking."

Meda moved closer to him.

The kid held his hands up.

"Woah woah! No need for that. I'm just your chauffeur."

"Chauffeur...?"

"Yeah! They can drive you around and you tell them where to go and-"

"I know what a chauffeur is. I'm questioning everything else about this situation!"

The kid put his hand to his chin.

"Hm. Like what?"

"This whole interaction! Why do you have a wooden car? When did I order a chauffeur? Why is there a chauffeur in the middle of a jungle? And where did that jaguar learn to drive!? Everything here is crazy!"

"I guess? I can't really tell what you mean by all of that. All of that is normal."

"No, it isn't!"

The kid opened the car door and reached in.

"Perhaps you'd like some refreshments while your mind takes everything in."

The kid handed Meda a glass of water.

Meda sighed and drank it.

"Can you at least explain everything to me?"

The kid nodded.

"Of course. My name is Will. Right now you are on Father's Island, here you and everyone else will witness each other's past to cast away your shell of humanity. I am the one sent to guide you toward Father."

"Others? So everyone else is here?"

"Correct! If everything goes according to plan then your friends will be heading to the same place we are."

"How do you know who I'm talking about?"

Will looked off into the distance.

"It's a long story."

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Meda stood firmly.

"If you don't tell me I can't trust you."

Will sighed.

"So you're one of these ones. Okay then. Each of your friends will have a guide similar to me, not me exactly but another of Father's flock. Everyone in his flock is connected by the land, or as we call it, Prin. Prin is the land itself. She has a human body but it acts as the core of the entire jungle, bringing everything to life. In simpler terms, Father is the island while Prin is the life on the island. This includes all life, even us. Through Prin, we of Father's flock can communicate."

"Not that long of a story."

"I just couldn't be bothered repeating it."

"Does that mean other people have come to this island?"

Will nodded.

"Not as many as today. Occasionally we would get a lost child or wandering traveller."

"Lost child? On an island in the middle of the ocean?"

Will chuckled.

"Oh sorry, I forgot you haven't lived here your whole life. Before we became an island we were a cave beneath the town of Jia."

Meda's eyes widened.

"Oh, I know about that. But Jia hasn't had any reports of lost children in recent times?"

Will stared blankly at Meda. His mask hid his expression.

"Hm. I suppose that's a query for later."

MEEP MEEP!

Meda turned to see a line of cars all waiting behind Will's.

"Uh..."

Will quickly got into the car.

"Crap, we better get going. Get in."

Meda got into the car as it slowly started.

"How does this even work?!"

Will leaned back.

"Wood."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

Will and Meda drove off into the forest. It would be a bumpy ride.

Hiro grabbed his biker helmet and hung it on his belt. Javier wrapped a cloth sweatband around his forehead and Ala slung her fishing rod on her back.

Carleton watched and wrote on his clipboard.

"You all ready?"

Hiro took a deep breath.

"As ready as we can be."

Carleton nodded.

"Remember, you're going in there blind. We believe ignition and some other 3rd party will be present soon so we can't waste any time scouting. You need to find the Haab'."

Javier cracked his knuckles.

"We'll be out before you can count your toes."

Carleton looked down at his feet.

"I doubt that."

Ala scoffed.

"Don't be reckless you blockhead. If we mess up this mission it'll be your head on the platter first."

Javier flexed.

"I won't! Just watch. I'll beat down any Ignition soldier or Necrobeast that comes our way."

Javier begins to air-box.

Hiro made sure all his equipment was in check when Carleton came up to him.

"Stay safe, Hiro."

Hiro squinted.

"I know."

Hiro turned to Javier and Ala.

"Come on. Let's not waste time. Chances are Ignition already knows we're here. Secure the Haab' and make it back. Nothing else matters."

Javier chuckled.

"You really became the leader didn't ya'?"

Javier leaned down and whispered.

"Trying to impress someone?"

Hiro glared at Javier.

"Do your job. Ala's right, if this mission is a bust you'll have Lord Vivian to answer to."

Javier sighed.

"You two are so lame! Lighten up a bit!"

The three of them ventured into the forest. The lush greenery surrounds them. As they traversed deeper it got darker, sunlight reaching in as far as it could but soon the forest fell dark. Hiro held up a glowstick, the bushes and colourful fauna glowing beneath its light. Rustles in the bush kept Hiro's eyes open, he rarely blinked and his ears twitched at every noise. Each step caused small reptiles to scurry away and for leaves to crunch.

Javier and Ala held up glowsticks as well. The sinking feeling of being watched encroached on all of them. In the distance, the flapping of bird wings could be heard. Hiro turned to look at Javier and Ala, he motioned for them to keep up. Their journey quickly picked up as they jogged through the darkness, sunlight breaking through the trees as they began to run.

"Up ahead! A clearing!"

Hiro led the charge as they kept running.

Javier and Ala tried to keep up with Hiro but he was too fast. When they reached the end of the jungle they saw the beach, they saw the camp, they saw Carleton standing there with a confused expression.

Javier looked around.

"What? What happened?"

Ala looked as confused.

"How did we... I swear we were walking straight the whole time!"

Carleton tried to analyze the situation.

"What happened? Did you get attacked?"

Ala shook her head.

"No. We went further into the forest but when we saw light, Hiro ran toward it. We followed him and came back here..."

Carleton then looked into the forest.

"But... where's Hiro?"

Hiro burst out into the light. He closed his eyes as the light was blinding him. When he opened his eyes he was in an office space.

"The hell? Javier are..."

Hiro turned around to see a wall.

"Javier? Ala?"

"OOO ARE YOU OUR NEW TEAMMATE?"

Kaleido ran up to Hiro, her colourful eyes scanning over him.

Hiro's eyes widened as he backed away.

"Huh...? K-Kaleido...?"

Hiro gently reached out his hands.

Kaleido gasped.

"He knows my name!"

Kaleido ran and hid behind Casper.

"He must be evil..."

Casper chuckled softly.

"We're all evil here Kaleido."

Casper smiled softly at Hiro.

"Don't mind her too much. She's excited to meet her new teammates."

Hiro stared blankly at Casper.

"Uh... it's fine. Weird question... where am I?"

Casper looked surprised.

"Huh? Oh, welcome to Squadron 51A! It's the newest squadron this year. We're still recruiting members and Annabelle saw your profile. You stood out so welcome aboard."

Hiro clutched his head.

"Annabelle? Your sister right? She's okay?"

Casper looked a little weirded out.

"Yeah. She's fine. Why?"

"No reason. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this..."

"Well don't worry too much. You won't be the newbie for long. Annabelle's collecting our final member. Forgot her name but soon we will have a full squad!"

Hiro nodded slowly.

"What's... the date today?"

Casper thought for a second.

"January 7th."

Hiro squinted.

"Okay... thanks. I'm gonna go sit down for a bit."

Hiro walked out of the room.

Kaleido looked at Casper.

"He was weird."

Casper sighed.

"Yeah, a little bit. I think we all are though."

Hiro walked down the hall, his head ringing. He stumbled into the wall as he groaned. A constant thumping hit his head.

"Fuck... quiet... where am I?"

Hiro hit his head against the wall to get it to stop.

"Why am I here...?"

Hiro fell to the floor clutching his head.

"Stop! STOP!"

Century looked down at him.

"You all good?"

Hiro snapped out of it and looked up. He was met with the jungle once more. He was breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

"Wh- Where am I!?"

Hiro shot up.

"When am I?!"

Century backed away.

"Calm down dude!"

Hiro grabbed Century by the shoulder.

"Are you real?!"

Century grits her teeth.

"I said calm down!"

Century punched Hiro away.

"What's happened to you?"

Hiro slowly calmed down. He took a deep breath and stood.

"I don't know..."

Hiro then looked up at Century. His eyes widened.

"YOU!?"

Century looked offended.

"There a problem!?"

Hiro looked around for Javier and Ala.

"What did you do with them? What are you doing here?!"

Century groaned.

"Just relax for a single second! Geez..."

Century sat on the floor.

"I have no idea who you're talking about but for why I'm here... I'm here to kill a hero."

Hiro turned to her.

"A hero? Seriously? Don't tell me you're still chasing that dream of being the number one villain."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's childish."

"You just watch. When I kill Werren, the Lords will have to bow to me!"

Hiro sighed.

"Whatever. I'm getting out of here. You're not a part of my mission."

Hiro began to walk off.

"Good luck. Asshole..."

Century watched him walk off before turning around.

"See. Told you we don't get along. That was a dumb idea."

A kid in a red cloak and wooden owl mask hopped down from the trees.

"Okay okay, I understand now. Guess we'll have to try another way..."

Hiro kept walking through the forest, it wasn't as dark as before meaning he could easily make his way through. Suddenly a red figure dropped from the sky.

"IT IS I!"

Hiro screamed and punched the kid down.

"What the hell!?"

The kid caressed his mask.

"Ouch!"

Hiro looked at him.

"Who are you?"

The kid slowly stood up.

"My name's... Ezra. I'm your guide to Father."

"And that's supposed to mean...?"

"You're on Father's island. Here you'll face the past and-"

Hiro walked off.

"Not interested."

Ezra looked shocked.

"W-Wait! Hold on!"

Ezra ran up beside Hiro.

"Let me finish! You'll face your past so that you have nothing to hide! Then you'll find all your friends or something!"

Hiro kept ignoring Ezra.

"LISTEN TO ME!!!"

"Just get out of my way. I have a mission. Go find your parents."

Hiro pushed Ezra away.

Ezra sighed.

"What if I led you to the Haab'?"

Hiro stopped.

"That's what you're looking for right? If you follow me then you'll find the Haab'"

Hiro turned to look at Ezra.

"How can I trust you?"

"Well... I'm a part of Father's flock. I know where the Haab' is and how to get to it. I can't make you trust me but... I want you to try. Please."

Hiro looked down.

"Try..."

Hiro bit his lip.

"Fine. If you do anything out of line I'll kill you."

Ezra's spine shivered.

"Got it! No betrayal from me! Yep!"

"Oh, one more thing. Someone will be joining us."

Hiro turned around to see Century standing smugly behind Ezra.

"Yo."

Hiro groaned.

"You're joking."

Ezra nervously chuckled.

"Nope!"

Hiro and Century locked eyes. A clear disdain for each other that has come from nowhere. With their pasts interlinked, they'll have no choice but to take this journey together.