City Hall was in ruin. The building looked like it had been the battleground for two opposing armies. While Draven and Sygvar had been negotiating with Pami. Raylen and his forces had attacked City Hall, storming the building. Their goal of assassinating Nero was stopped, but they did manage to kidnap Nero's wife and son. Draven found himself following Sygvar as they swiftly headed to Nero's office.

Sygvar pushed the doors open and headed inside. Draven followed after his master, and he first noticed how damaged the room was. Bullet holes littered the walls of the office. Books were scattered across the ground. The wooden floor was broken and damaged. The chandelier had fallen onto the ground, shattered glass littered the floor. Nero was sitting behind his desk with his face in his hands.

Draven's eyes landed on Helkith lying on a gurney. Doctor Minito and nurse Kimiko stood over him, giving him medical attention. Draven walked over to them. "What happened?"

Helkith lifted his head from his pillow and opened his eyes to stare at Draven. "Oh, it's you." He played back down, "I had to defend the President, something that you and your master should have been doing. Now I have a hole in my chest and a broken leg."

Draven looked at Helkith's broken right leg. Bone was jutting out of his limb; luckily, the blood had stopped leaking, thanks to the doctor. Helkith's shirt had been ripped open. Exposing a white medical patch covering the left side of his chest. Blood painted the patch crimson red in some places.

"Don't be modest. Helkith saved the President's life," Kimiko said as she grabbed a syringe containing green glowing fluid. She touched Helkith's chest, "Be still, and this might hurt a little." He stabbed the syringe into Helkith's chest and injected the contents into him.

Helkith's eyes widened, and he grunted. He then relaxed and smiled at Kimiko, "That wasn't so bad." His skin started to redden, and he began to sweat. He clenched his mouth, preventing a scream from escaping his lips. His hands clenched his bed sheets as his veins bulged across his arms and face.

His broken leg snapped back in place with a sickening popping sound. The muscle and skin regenerated around the limb at a visible rate. Slowly stitching itself back together and then wholly closing it all together. Helkith stopped squirming, and his breathing slowed.

Helkith turned to face Kimiko, fury in his eyes. "Fucking hell, woman! That hurt more than a little!"

Kimiko laughed and ripped the medical patch off of Helkith's chest. He yelled as the action pulled out some of his chest hairs. She then tapped the area where the bullet hole had been, "Good as new."

Helkith glared at Kimko and then sat up from the gurney. "You're the devil."

"Thank you for the compliment," Kimiko smiled as she helped Doctor Minito pack the various medical devices.

Helkith then turned his attention to Draven and Sygvar, "We could have used the both of you earlier. Now, Raylen and his people have Nero's wife and son as hostages."

Draven glared at Helkith, "We were getting Pami as an ally like Nero asked us to."

"It took you all night to negotiate with Pami?" Helkith air quoted the word 'negotiate.' "You two were fucking around while I and Nero were battling for our lives!"

"Would you two stop fighting!" Nero's head shot up from resting his hands. His eyes were red, and dried tears stained his cheeks. The small man was trembling from rage, but Draven thought it was mostly from misery. "My family has been kidnapped by a madman, and all you two are doing is trying to blame each other."

"I agree. We should be working on a plan to get your family back." Sygvar's joyous voice filled the air.

Nero's eyes shifted to Sygvar. He frowned, "The plan is we storm wherever the bastard has my family held, kill everything in our path, and rescue my wife and son." Nero's voice was on the verge of breaking.

Sygvar smiled, "There is one major problem with that plan. We don't know where they are being held."

Nero shanked into his chair and sighed, "How could this be happening? My Elinor and Rykar are gone!” Nero began speaking to himself.

"Sir, may I suggest something?" Helkith said.

Nero waved his hand, not bothering to look Helkith in the eyes. "Go on."

"We mobilize all our forces, police and military included. Then we should raid every known rebel base until we locate your family. And while doing so, rid Urith of the Rebels plaguing it once and for all."

"Are you stupid?" Draven approached Helkith and Nero.

Helkith turned to Draven and grimaced, "What was that?"

"You heard me." Draven smiled and snickered, "The first few raids will be successful, but the rest will be very. And I can guarantee that the vast majority will end in failure. Once you raid the first few, the rebels will be alerted to our actions and will prepare countermeasures. Besides, Raylen is probably holding Elinor and Rykar in a base that is unknown to us."

Helkith marched up to Draven and grabbed the young Al'Manti by his shirt. "You think you're so smart, huh? That you know everything? I don't see you suggesting another plan of action."

"Helkith!" Sygvar shouted as he slowly walked towards Helkith. The room went silent, save for Sygvar's slow footfalls. "Take your hand off my disciple before you lose it," Sygvar said in his most polite voice with a smile.

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Helkith scoffed and released Draven. He glared at Sygvar and then Draven, "Go on and suggest a plan."

Draven readjusted his shirt and then cleared his throat, "I think we should contact Pami. Her or her people might know where Raylen took Elinor and Rykar."

Helkith laughed, "I can't believe you want to turn to more rebels after what they did."

"Maybe the boy has a point." Some life had returned to Nero's voice. "Pami preaches nonviolence, I'm sure she would be willing to help."

Helkith was surprised, nearly choking as he stopped laughing, "Sir, you can't be serious? How could you still think working with Pami would be a good idea after what Raylen did?"

"I want my family back." He then turned to Sygvar, "Call Pami."

"Gladly," Draven approached Nero's desk. He plugged in his phone to the hologram projector. Shifting through his contacts, he located Pami's numbers and dialed her. Seconds ticked by, and then she answered. A miniature projection of Pami and Mydren appeared on Nero's desk.

Pami took in the room, looking at each person and finally settling on Nero. "What can I do for you, Nero? I don't expect to hear back from you so soon. You looked over your demands that quick?"

Nero shook his head, and a sad smile blossomed across his face. "I have not had the opportunity to do so. I would prefer if you listed them yourself, and then we can begin discussing our agreement."

Mydren laughed, "You seem eager for an alliance with us. Did something happen?"

"You damn mutt!" Helkith barked out. "We know you have spies in City Hall. You already know what happened here! Give us the location of where Raylen has taken Nero's family."

"Ha, sister, how can you entertain people who speak to us like this?" Mydren shook his head and then clasped his hands together. "Though I would love to cut off Raylen's head with my axe. I think the better option is not to pick a side. I say we let these evils fight and destroy each other."

"Mydren and Pami, the both of you are warriors of the common people. You would never turn your back on them. If we both come to work together, we can stop Raylen, save Nero's family, and get the reforms that will benefit the common citizen of Urith." Draven spoke up.

Pami nodded. She then began to rub her forehead, furrowing her eyebrows. "True, but I can't shake the feeling that we're being played by the government. We have been fighting for reform for years. Time and time again, the government has made empty promises and made me look like a fool."

Sygvar smiled, "Oh, but you forget you have three advantages this time. One, Nero wants his family back. Two, Raylen is trying to destroy Urith. And three, the Al'Manti are here this time."

"You sneaky bastard," Mydren laughed, "He's right. Sister, I'm starting to like this guy."

"Before we agree, I want to hear what she wants first," Nero said.

"Our demands are simple, but I fear you will reject them in the name of culture. End the segregation between non-mystics and mystics. End—" Pami stopped speaking after she was interrupted.

"Hold on, what segregation are you talking about," Helkith interrupted Pami.

Mydren glared at Helkith and hissed, "You let my sister finish first. Then you can ask you questions?"

Helkith dismissively waved his hand, "Go on then."

"As I said, I want you to end the segregation between non-mystics and mystics. For example, currently, there are two school systems, one for mystics and another for mundanes. The School for Mystics reserves far more funding than the School for Mundane. Also, we want policies to end the discrimination against mundanes. Mundanes are often looked over when applying for jobs that a mystic has applied for. Even when the role doesn't require any magic. Mundanes should also be allowed to hold government positions. This is a democracy, a government that advocates that it is the people's voice. Most of the population are mundanes, and they should be allowed to hold government positions. Also, mundanes should be taught mind and body supremacy; both are disciplines that anyone could learn."

Helkith scoffed, "She wants to arm the common people. This will create a population that could overthrow the government."

"No, this will empower the people of Urith, who will then go on to strengthen Urith through their energy and perseverance."

"All those demands seem like they would help your rebellion become even more powerful." Helkith turned to face Nero, "We can't trust them. If we give them this, they could use their power to turn against us."

"The longer we spend chatting, the longer Raylen has to enact his plans with the Blight spawn and whatever he has planned for Nero's family," Draven said. We need to strike as soon as possible."

Helkith turned to Draven, smirk on his face, and said, "Don't pretend that you care about Nero's family. All you want to do is get revenge for what Raylen did. I've read up on you, Draven, and I was surprised to find out that you were a survivor of Leto. Seeing Raylen must have stirred up some dear memories of your family."

Draven placed his hand on his sword. His eyes began to shine a bright crimson glow as Essence started to surge through his body. Glowing veins of power shone through his pale skin, "Watch your next words, worm," Draven hissed out through tight lips.

"Everyone needs to calm down," Sygvar placed a hand on Draven's shoulder. "We're all on the same side. And we all have one thing in common, we want to bring down Raylen. Let's come together and do so. Besides, these reforms to the Urith law have been long overdue. Sooner or later, they would have been enacted."

Nero sighed, "I can end the segregation between mystics and mundanes. But the other demands are just too much. Election season is next year, and I want another round of being President before I retire."

Mydren laughed, "You think being reelected as President is more important than the suffering that mundanes undergo every day of their lives. You need to get a grip on reality, old man." Mydren then turned to his sister and shook his head, "I told you that the government couldn't be trusted. We gave them a list of simple reforms, but Nero still refused to see the reason. We should just go with our original plan."

"Yeah, you should go with your original plan. There is no way we are going to enact any of your demands. They would upset the great families, the very allies that put Nero in his position of power. Sir, we can't possibly risk offending the great families by allying with these rebels." Helkith voiced.

"The great houses only have a problem with Arken's and Raylen's factions. They are against the rebels who seek to cause change via violent means. The great families are actually indifferent to Pami and her faction. In fact, some actually support her nonviolent means of change." Sygvar responded.

Helkith growled at Sygvar, "That may be true. But the reforms they are asking for are just too much. They would shake the core of our society. These changes would majorly impact everything, and there would be so much chaos."

"Good, it's about time things got shaken up," Draven said. "Urith is in dire need of change, lest it be left behind by other societies of the Nine Realms."

Mydren laughed, "I agree with the boy. Plus, a little chaos is always fun."

"I fear what Helkith has said is right. Giving people that much power would quickly cause chaos. But that chaos would be short-lived. And the long-term benefits for Urith would far outweigh the short-term consequences," Pami said.

Nero nodded, "Then I accept your terms. We will enact all of your reforms, and I will sign them in after our meeting."

Mydren jumped up and down, thrusting his fist into the air joyfully.

A small smile grew along Pami's lips. "Thank you. You will not regret your decision." Pami bowed.

"Now, tell me where Raylen took my family," Nero's voice grew serious.

"Gladly," Pami smiled.