New Eos

SSSHHHHHSS!

Ding!

Archamed and Kaizen exited the elevator into the ballroom of the fiftieth floor. The commotion had left the entire area in a state of disarray, evident by the overturned tables and chairs, broken champagne bottles and random miscellaneous items scattered on the ground. Nevertheless, the Farrunners had set up a conference table in the middle of the room where five of their representatives sat. Henry Daffodil, the woman in the red dress, the asian man with the neon green sword, a bald dark skinned fellow with a muscular build and a heavy beard and finally an asian lady who wore a beautiful kimono and a purple blindfold tied over her eyes. 

Archamed turned his head to see Nico sitting with his back to the wall, repeatedly flipping a silver coin into the air. Myra was near to him, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. The two did not care for the Farrunners’ hospitality nor did they trust them.

Myra looked over to their direction and her eyes brightened slightly.

“Arch…” 

Nico turned his head and noticed them as well. He nabbed the coin out of the air and stood up to approach the two.

“This is a tough one Arch. I didn’t expect to run into Blinded who were aware of us, moreover ones who were willing to cooperate,” Nico informed him, sighing.

Myra walked up to Archamed and squeezed his hand slightly.

“Did you get through with your end of things? I see that Kai is still with you.”

Archamed turned his head from Nico to Myra. Kaizen was surprised as he saw Archamed’s eyes soften slightly.

“I did. And as for Kaizen…he’ll be joining us for this mission.” Archamed replied.

Myra’s eyes widened.

“Arch, are you sure that’s wha…”

“Ha! La called it! You really are getting soft!” Nico exclaimed, putting Arch in a headlock and ruffling his hair.

Archamed elbowed Nico in the stomach causing him to let go.

“Don’t push it,” Archamed responded. Kaizen couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was Archamed actually…joking around with someone?

“Ahem.”

The four turned to face the Farrunners group seated at the table. Henry Daffodil spoke up,

“If you don’t mind, we’d like to discuss that agreement now.”

Myra and Nico were hesitant but Archamed walked over to the desk and plopped into a chair. Without complaining, the two others followed suit. Seeing as there were no more available seats, Kaizen took a nearby toppled chair from the floor and sat down next to Archamed. He felt a bit awkward as his chair was lower than the others. 

“Now then,” Mr. Daffodil started “As I’m sure you’re aware, we are a group known as the Farrunners.”

“Yes, yes we know, the shadow mob responsible for uniting all four of the Acuti Family gangs in New Eos. You are the scum responsible for managing all of organized crime in this area,” Nico responded, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the table.

Henry Daffodil laughed boisterously.

“Yes, very good young man, you are correct,” Daffodil praised, adjusting his monocle. He continued,

“While I’m sure our actions qualify us as ‘scum’  in your eyes, we are of the belief that we are what you might call…a “necessary evil”.”

Nico scoffed, “How unoriginal.”

Daffodil continued, “What you don’t know, is that everyone you see here was originally high ranking L.T. officers in The Hold empire.”

Everyone froze. The tension was so thick after that statement Kaizen felt like he might suffocate.

“And I don’t mean the public empire,” Daffodil said, narrowing his eyes.

Archamed’s irises  glowed orange slightly.

“Is this a set up?”

The tall asian man who attacked Nico reached for the sheathe from beside his seat. Daffodil gestured to him to be at ease and adjusted his monocle.

“The Boy in Black…as scary as the rumors say.” 

“That name again…” Kaizen thought to himself.

He leaned back in his chair.

“Don’t worry, this is not an attempt to trick you. Only a fool would assume they could attempt to cross three Saints in a room and come out unscathed.”

The glow on Archamed’s eyes receded.

Daffodil nodded to the Asian man with the sword. The man sighed then spoke up.

“Good evening, I am Kixik Otonai. To make this brief, two years ago, the group you know as the Farrunners discovered a damning secret while working under the instruction of the Hold. It was also during this time we discovered your existence while combing their hidden archives. After that day we all pledged never to work under their kingdom again and fled our duties.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. 

“Blinded escaping the Hold’s grasp…that’s a bit fishy,” Nico thought to himself.

Otanai continued.

“The crime network we formed in New Eos was not to pursue our selfish interests, but rather to become an organized nuisance against the Hold’s efforts and be able to track their movements. We are committed to their dismantling, no matter what underhanded or shady actions that would lead us to.”

“And?” Archamed questioned them, “What’s the point of all of this?”

“It means, Saint, because of the things we’ve seen we will turn to any enemies of the Hold for assistance in taking them down…”

Otonai squinted his eyes and looked at Archamed.

“... Even if that means those allies are delusional kids who believe in an invisible sky man.”

CRCCKKK!

Archamed’s finger’s cracked the edge of the wooden table although his face did not change expression.

“Excuse me?” Archamed responded.

“I’m saying that if taking down the Hold requires the help of glorified magicians like yourself… then we have no choice but to cooperate,” Otonai stated.

“Uh oh…” Nico muttered to himself.

Myra sighed.

In an instant, Arch zipped from his chair over the table with his fist pulled back.

Otonai got up quickly and drew his sword from his sheathe. He slashed across at Archamed’s neck as he flew towards him. 

Clop! Clink!

In the flash of the moment, Nico had leapt onto the middle of the table and grabbed Arch’s fist with one hand and stopped Otonai’s sword with two fingers from the other. A trail of blue electricity disappeared as he sighed from under his bangs.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough. We don’t want you Farrunners to be out of commission before we get what we need.”

Henry Daffodil nodded in agreement, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

“However,” Nico continued as his eyes glowed through his strands of hair , “If your friend disrespects the Most High again, I’ll shock him to death and back.”

Henry gulped and Otonai became agitated. He couldn’t pull his sword away. Even more unsettling, how could a mere teen grip an extremely sharp blade with just his fingers?

Archamed removed his hand and sat back into his chair, his face as emotionless as ever. Kaizen took his seat as well, not even realizing he had jumped up during the action. He hoped in his mind that it was to assist and not to run away. Nico released Otonai’s blade and the man stumbled backwards. Everyone settled down leaving a cold silence over the room.  Daffodil cleared his throat and continued.

“This is our offer,” he stated while tapping his finger twice on the table. 

Suddenly, a large holographic screen appeared above the table displaying the plan view of what appeared to be a facility. The screen flashed between the overhead perspective of different areas and rooms within the site.

“We are aware of the existence of the Quartext,” He revealed to them. 

Myra frowned. While it was certainly profitable for them to know how much data the Hold had concerning the people of Haven, it was equally as frustrating to have it thrown in their faces repeatedly. Moreover, the existence of the Quartext is a secret known by few core individuals. Not even the Holy Court Of Sovereign Divide knew about them. She looked across at Archamed to see his reaction but he was as unbothered as ever. Daffodil continued,

“We also know that two of the remaining texts are in the possession of the Hold,”

Nico gritted his teeth. This was news to them all. Kenta Lonestar had left behind instructions and riddles to uncover the locations of the Quartext, but somehow the Hold had beaten them to half of the four.

“Thankfully, we know their locations, which happen to be within two separate hold Facilities.” Daffodil tapped the table again and the screen switched to an outside view of the base.

“This here is…”

“Fort de la Nouvelle Vie,” Archamed stated. Daffodil raised an eyebrow.

“It’s one of the Hold’s most prestigious research bases on the southern side of Astia,” he leaned back in his chair slightly, “It’s also a disgusting genocide breeding ground.”

“Genocides? Ah yes, you must mean the spliced experiments.”

Henry rubbed his chin for a few seconds before smiling.

“Yes, very good. I guess we wouldn’t dominate an information war with an Ocarin.”

The word Ocarin boomed in Kaizen’s head for a reason unknown to him. He was determined to ask about it later.

“This here contains the location of the second Quartext.”

Daffodil placed a small glass cube on the desk before them. At a glance it didn’t seem to be particularly special, but a trained eye would notice the many holographic patterns and sequences running along its faces. Archamed took the cube from the table and Myra sighed causing Daffodil to chuckle.

“Frustrating indeed. Fortunately, I believe we all know a contact in Conkledirt that can read such an encryption, yes?”

Nico frowned. This man was dangerous.

“Usually in an ‘information war’, you don’t reveal this many cards so carelessly. What’s your game?”

“Well Saint, my first hope is that you would trust me-”

“That will never happen.” Nico assured him.

“I see. Well the other being that we want something in return of course.”

Nico looked across to Archamed.

“Spit it out then,” Arch told him.

“Certainly. As my friend was saying, we discovered something that if exposed, could bring the absolute downfall of The Hold. Found right in Fort de la Nouvelle Vie. ”

“That’s not possible, but tell us anyway.” Myra stated.

“Oh you might be surprised my dear.We discovered…that The Hold was responsible for the Excidium event.”

“WHAT!” Kaizen exploded as he jumped out of his chair.

“What do you mean?! Excidium was caused by a group of fanatic Terrorists. Everyone knows that! Everyone…”

Kaizen looked to Arch and the others for a reaction but they all sat silently.

“Guys! Say something!”

Nico spoke up, “Well you are certainly late Farrunners. Who else but the Hold would be responsible for such a tragedy? But the news of evidence still existing to this day is certainly interesting.”

Kaizen stepped back in disbelief.

“Y-You all knew?”

Myra nodded at him.

“That won’t be enough to take down the Hold. Besides, the destruction of The Hold isn't an interest of ours,” Nico continued.

“Oh? Saints and Magicians are natural enemies so I thought for sure our goals would align.”

“The Hold are small fry compared to the Most High. As dangerous as they are, our goal far exceeds their existence,” Nico assured him.

“And what might that be?”

He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up once more.

“The end of this world.”