Paramythi I: City of Glass

“The Capitol had given us our final warning months ago,” Reidonn threw up her hands into the air between scoffs of breath. “We agreed to stay out of the city at night after that, but never before had they dared to set the Prowlers out on us during recruitment days.”

Quincy nodded a little too quickly, eager to defend his friend’s statement. “We only ever get to recruit once a year. The capital’s Governor has been generous enough to leave us be on those days, so tonight should not have applied to our final warning.”

“It’s out of order! We gotta send this straight to them, Captain! We gotta set the order straight!” Neoma bounded forward, a balled fist thumping hard against the table beside her, rattling the emergency kit and playing cards sitting upon its polished surface. “We can’t just pretend this didn’t happen, right? Ciiria’s gonna call a meeting on this, yeah?”

Kane had long closed his eyes by this point. Neoma’s continuous declarations and plans to take their anger to Capitol’s doorstep played like a broken record and Reidonn’s booming voice of encouragement on the idea hardly helped the captain focus on their task at hand. Losses or not, he would have to take up these new recruits and give them the interviews they were waiting for. Delaying things any further would seem like horrible organising, and would almost appear hostile. They did not intend for their newly made volunteers to lose faith in what the Rebellion stood for. Kane would never allow that.

“I’ve already informed Zyki to discuss the matter with Ciiria. Whatever happens beyond that point is none of my business unless I’m asked for an opinion during our next council meeting.” Kane said. His tone edged with an exhaustion equal to how he felt. If not for his pride, he would have dropped himself down on a chair to approach the matter with a clearer sense of conversation. “Where’s Enzo? I need to ensure him that we will do all in our power to give Syra-”

“I’m right here.” Emerging from the dim corners stood Enzo. His face was devoid of colour with dark circles under his non-bright eyes and trails of damp tears running over his swollen, bruised cheeks. From afar, he looked similar to Zyki’s deadened appearance by nature. Up close he looked like a total wreck. “Good to see you, Cap'n…”

“Enzo…” Kane found his words clinging to his throat, refusing to surface, in case whatever he said might trigger Enzo’s fury. He had seen the man at his worst before and was quite informed on how violent Enzo could be. Seven years they had known each other now. Today, of all days, marked this anniversary. “You look…”

“Terrible?” Enzo laughed. His brows furrowed together, complementing the strain in his forced chuckle. He rolled his arms and rubbed the back of his neck, sighing heavily into the open space in front of him. “Yeah, well…Theo had to put me down. Got kinda ahead of myself when…when Syra was…” Time slowed in Enzo’s voice and face. The edges of his eyes visibly welled up and his hand snaked from the back of his neck and over his face, dragging his eyelids shut to hide the essence of tears from his captain and teammates. There was a smile, all white teeth, and false promise, while he inhaled deeply through his nose. “Well, life goes on, right?” He grunted.

Kane’s eyes averted with all due respect, understanding the kind of sorrow his old friend was facing all too well. A part of him was eager to speak up, to tell Enzo that Capitol would pay for everything it had done tonight. How they would salvage enough money to offer Syra the funeral she deserved and have enough coins left over to send off to her family outside the city.

Reality was the main reason he said nothing at all.

This part of him, the realistic part, knew that their main focus had to be on those volunteers in the next room. Taking them on and teaching them of the Rebellion would be the ideal way to lessen their fury and heal their wounds. Hopeful futures were all they could rely on and they were sitting outside that door.

“Ciiria will inform us on our main objective when we get back to base.” After clearing his throat, Kane was at ease to speak more fluently without fault. His shoulders straightened, granting a posture worthy of any captain across Galaxis. “I shan’t bother with the interviews until we get back to base. Quincy, please call for another craft to come down and collect them, in the meantime I want you to speak with them and calm them down before the craft gets here, Tovi can go with you. Reidonn, you and Neoma can manage the disposal of the Prowlers and contact for someone to collect the bodies of our friends.”

A course of nods and ‘yes, sir’ was mumbled into the air. Quincy excused himself into the next room and Tovi followed while Reidonn and Neoma took their own leave to clear away the motionless corpses scattered in the pub, out of sight from Elias and the others. Kane was exceptionally calm under the circumstances in comparison to what his companions had been expecting. Sadly, it had much to do with Enzo’s current state of false fronts, which encouraged Kane to mimic the action and hide his own fury behind the determination as the Rebellion’s captain.

With the room cleared, Enzo and Kane were able to stew in the juices of their fury and hatred.

“…they’re gonna pay.” Enzo whispered. His hands curled into tight fists at his sides. “Right?”

Kane nodded, slowly at first. He wished to lessen the atmosphere of hostility – despite his own urges to personally strangle a few snobs who were no doubt behind the Prowlers’ appearances tonight — with as few words as he could manage. Stiffening his jaw, the man lowered his eyes and examined the floorboards beneath his feet, pretending their shiny exterior could calm him down. “Yeah. They’re gonna pay.”

“Is that really the wisest of choices?”

Enzo and Kane shared an expression of shock, mulled together with guilt and surprise. They turned their heads, following the sound of such an abrupt voice to see their Sylvannix companion looming in the dimness of the room. Neither could be sure just how long Theo had been standing there. It was likely he had been present the entire time, observing and noting the little orders and collected comments his fellow friends and acquaintances shared among themselves.

“Surely there is a much more…appropriate way to approach this mishap.” Stepping out from the shadows, Theo sighed and crossed his arms over the broad tones of his chest.

Ever since the incident with Merine’s arrest six years ago, he had been unable to use the full potential of his hand from the bullet he took. It was a gentle reminder for everyone else that the loss of one’s friend or loved one was not the only thing sacrificed along the way.

“Doing something as foolish as that? Don’t you think the pair of you would be arrested on the scene?” Theo’s single, sparkling eye turned on Kane. “You would both be sentenced to hang. Now…that would be a ridiculous way to go out.”

Enzo raised his chin, unable to catch the hint Theo was so carefully trying to display. “What’s it to you? Compared to everyone else, you didn’t really lose anyone tonight. No-one you cared about, at least.” Puffing out his chest, the brunette approached his partner and jabbed him in the shoulder with an elongated forefinger. “You wanna just lay down to Capitol's Governor like that?”

“Not at all.” Replied Theo. “I am merely thinking of our captain. After all, Capitol is likely expecting him to stroll on into their main headquarters now that they've made their move. It would not do for the sake of our newest recruits to see their captain-to-be so…reckless.” Hissing the last word seemed to make his statement far more collected and serious behind the wide smile spreading across his dark lips. “But, hey, who am I to say Captain Kane won’t go ahead and prove me wrong?”

Enzo’s brow twitched. Sometimes, or most of the time, Theo’s complacent behaviour made it difficult for their partnership to work as smoothly as they pretended it did. “You always gotta make it sound like you’re right, huh?” He took another step forward and jabbed his finger against Theo’s shoulder twice as hard than before. “Why did you join the Rebellion if this is how you’re gonna act when Capitol does something remotely unreasonable? If it’s all the same to you, then maybe you should go back to your own Kingdom!”

“Enzo! Theo! That’s enough!” Kane’s voice was as hardworking as his arms when he pulled the two men apart. His blue eyes were glowing with memorable fury and he kept his hands pressed against either of the men's chests to keep them at bay from each other. “This is getting way out of hand. Don’t you two see that fighting between yourselves is what Emvolo...no, Galaxis wants out of the Rebellion? They need to prove a point. They want us to be the example as to why our Kingdoms are no longer aligned.” Calming himself, Kane inhaled deeply and lowered his hands back down to his sides. “So, please, just help me interview these kids so we can rebuild what we lost tonight, and tomorrow…” trailing off in his sentence, Kane closed his eyes and tipped his head back; a motion which promoted defeat in his character. “Tomorrow…I will go to the Bank and request to speak with one of Capitol’s favourites.”

A smug smile crossed Enzo's face. He looked like a little kid who just won an argument with their sibling with the aid of their parent's words. He could have given himself a high-five in that moment just in order to show Theo how much Kane appeared to be looking from his point of view. With a flash of his teeth and no more false fronts, Enzo pat Kane on the back with a scoff of laughter and thanked him before turning to leave and help Reidonn and Neoma with their task of clearing away the pub.

Kane could feel Theo’s severe gaze on him long before Enzo’s silhouette had disappeared through the door. The young captain prayed silently to the Gods above that he would not need to lecture the Sylvannix about his decisions and reluctantly looked over to see Theo’s keen, observing eye twinkle in the dimness of the light above.

They shared this intense staring for a good few seconds before Theo moved away, his single eye blinking and breaking their connection with a silent message of idle annoyance.

“I suppose the usual questions for the interview will commence even now?” Theo said. The solid soles of his shoes seemed louder than the volume of his voice as he made his way over to the door and placed his palm upon the doorknob. “Unless you want to take out the question ‘What can you imagine yourself doing in a situation involving one of Capitol’s surprise attacks?’”

Kane’s jaw tensed and he killed the urge to send Theo a glare from over his shoulder. He had swallowed down his fury from earlier and did not wish to stir it up again now that there was a relatively calm aura left in Enzo’s wake.

“No,” said Kane. “I doubt that question will be turning up in any future interviews.”

Elias was giddy with a certain excitement when Quincy showed up and introduced himself to the small group of new recruits. Naturally, there had never been a public announcement on who actually worked within the Rebellion, so Elias had never even known of Reidonn or Quincy’s existence until today during their introduction. There had only been Kane before this. He was the public figurehead for the Rebellion and was always so keen to keep the identities of his men as secret as possible.

It was an interesting sort of play, thought Elias. Mainly since the Rebellion’s troops were always so carefree when they made their rounds in the city. It seemed the only person who was worried about the Rebellion’s inner identities was Kane. Elias decided that he would gladly share such a burden when his interview was over and he was, hopefully, accepted within the Rebellion’s ranks. The last thing he needed was for Maxa to hear some public announcement that ’Elias Kara had been recently taken on board among the Rebellion units.’

His life’s journey would surely be over in a second if such a thing were to happen.

“I have called for an aircraft to come down and take you all up to our main base. We will hold your interviews there,” Quincy explained, addressing the six kids huddled on the floor.

Elias, Kaira, the blonde girl with the serious eyes, the Faeman, a Sylvannix girl who had tried to soothe Kaira’s cries during their wait – but failed miserably – and a youth who had yet to make any sort of self-announcement, and would have likely been forgotten by Elias if not for their intense red hair.

“We will also provide refreshments to calm you all down and possible shelter for those of you who may need it tonight. We know how unsettling it can be when Prowlers are on the possible loose.” Clasping his hands together, Quincy forced a smile and exhaled slowly. “Any questions?”

The recruit with red hair shot their hand up and their voice quickly followed to ensure they would be the first to receive notice from Quincy. “If we’re accepted into the Rebellion, how long would it take for the training and stuff to happen before we’re actually sent on missions?”

Elias stole a glance towards the redhead upon hearing their raspy tone of voice. With such an unidentifiable pitch and androgynous features making up their shade of honey-coloured skin and transparent blue eyes, Elias was caught up in staring and the redhead sent him a glare to stop his analysis any further.

At the same time, Quincy replied with a muddled expression; as if he was unable to come out and explain the terms he had in mind. “Well, it honestly depends. Some of you may not need the amounts of training which others will certainly require. We have a small team which will be monitoring your progress throughout the first year of your training. Depending on your results by the end of this year, we will hold a meeting to discuss which of you will be paired into groups of two, since that is how the Rebellion’s units work. Keep in mind that your partner will not be like you. To ensure equality and open-mindedness, we have pairs group up from different races or countries. Everyone gets a fresh start from that point onwards.”

“So,” the redhead continued, “you’re saying some of us may need to stay the whole year for training, and some of us won’t?”

Quincy’s previous outlook of muddled feelings returned and he looked up to avoid the recruits’ eyes while he thought of a plausible example. It mattered little in the end when Kaira stood up from her spot on the floor and took a step forward. Her face was red and stained with tears. Her eyes were puffy and swollen. Whatever colour had been in her cheeks before had drained away and her hair was a mess from where she had pulled at it with frustration.

“I want an interview with the others.” With little to no humour laced in her tiny voice, Kaira spoke up.

“Kaira?” Quincy held back the total surprise in his person when he looked back down and marvelled over the girl’s transformation. Whether such a transformation was for better or for worse, Quincy was unable to say. Yet he was rather convinced it could be for the latter if he did nothing to stop it. “You know the rules, Kaira. You cannot join the Rebellion yet. You’re far too young.”

“I am not!” Kaira shrieked. Her foot stamped against the floorboards beneath her, perfectly displaying Quincy’s point of reason and she balled her fists at her sides. “I’m nearly twelve! And the training would only be another year like you said…so I’ll be thirteen! Nearly fourteen!”

“Even at the age of fourteen, it’s still two years too young, Kaira.” Quincy said softly. He wished such a reasoning did not have to be so hard to get across; much less to the motherless child he was looking down at.

Kaira had always been filled with a kindness, albeit childish, and gentle nature. Ivana had often spoken aloud to Kane and his group how she hoped and prayed that the Rebellion’s struggle would be long over by the time Kaira hit sixteen, so her brightening qualities would not be tainted or stolen away.

“I’m sorry.” Whispered Quincy as he reached out towards the girl in hopes of offering her a comforting hand, Kaira shrieked and darted for the front door.

Elias felt tension rise in his throat throughout the scene. He could recall everything on the day he lost his father as if someone had filmed his emotions and were playing them on repeat in front of him to swallow down and accept. He had felt the need to bolt out of the door that day just like Kaira had now.

Alas, unlike Elias, Kaira did not make it over the threshold when she was hoisted from the ground and into Tovi’s arms securely.

“No!” Shrieked Kaira. “Let me go!”

The tension died down in Elias’ throat now, only to be replaced with an unease which questioned Tovi’s appearance. Had he been standing there the whole time? Had he excused himself from the next room after leading Kane on through to speak with Reidonn? In reality, such a skill as that would be used highly within the Rebellion, and at the same time, it felt utterly wrong to use in the highlights of such a situation as grief.

“Tovi, please be gentle with her.” Quincy’s levelled tone was surprisingly audible over Kaira’s continuous wails and pleas. “She still has a right to live with us back at the base, so please accompany us when the craft comes down to collect our newest recruits. I shall put her in your responsibility for today.”

While Elias was expecting some kind of disgruntled argument to come from Tovi, the man looked self-assured, and instead, simply nodded and rearranged his arms around Kaira’s small waist. He held her close as her pitiful screams died down and she succumbed to resting her head against his shoulder.

Once again, Elias felt swallowed up in his own daydreams as he planned out what he hoped to do next instead of physically acting on it. The four recruits around him began to fire questions at Quincy right up until the aircraft arrived. When the craft did appear outside the pub, Quincy had looked down and smiled patiently when he asked Elias straight up if he ‘had any questions of his own to share’. This put Elias on the spot, and though the boy wished for all of his questions to be answered, he was subjected to shake his head and murmur a ‘no’ just so the group could head on towards the aircraft and be flown up towards the Rebellion’s base.