Assassins

I found Arthom alone at the bar, as usual. It surprisingly wasn’t hard to find the “Hound of Zynii”, but perhaps nobody was game enough to try anything with him as of yet.
 
I knew exactly what I needed to say and do to push him where I wanted him to be. The entree, where he was going next (no plans), making things up to Ko (I knew he’d bite), the successes of the group (he seemingly forgot about how we saved the Grove). The only thing I didn’t expect was that he was so self centred enough to not ask a single question about me other than “What’s next for Syrus?”. No matter, I needed him back as part of the team, the rest can come later.
 
Just as he was starting to budge, he suddenly went outside and commanded a bird to find Ko so we could deliver the crystals back to her. He then came back, sat down, and declared that he saw Victri assassins coming towards the bar - towards us.
 
Ever since the mansion, since the crystal warehouse raid, I knew someone would be coming for us. Funny how me and Saib were able to disrupt and damage the gangs so greatly without a single person figuring out it was us (gang war is easy when you don’t pick a side!) but after just over a week with the Misfits we’ve become enemy number one.
 
I tried to steel Arthom with a bit of divine energy, but he just gave me a strange look and grunted. One of the assassins walked straight up to us, declared his name (Sir Alistair), and declared that he would kill us for “harming innocent women and children”. To be honest, I had no idea what the hell he was talking about - the Victri ambushed, drugged and attempted to kill us, parading me and Saib around as a puppet and draining Arthom of his energy. But he didn’t seem to be open to a discussion on ethics and morality at this point.
 
The Victri quickly stabbed Arthom in the chest, and I instinctively tried to launch a Rising Sun Arrow at him, but I was still getting used to the power and missed entirely. I swear I could hear Kah cackling somewhere in my head, but I pressed onwards, only to be hit with a familiar silk net by none other than Lacey, whose girlfriend I killed back at the mansion.
 
I could see a hatred in her eyes that I’ve not seen in any foe so far. She didn’t just want my death, she wanted me to suffer. I rolled out of the net, and fired off a couple of arrows in her direction. These were more on target, hitting her directly in the eye, enraging her further.
 
Arthom got managed to distract Alistair while I fought Lacey, when suddenly the Gleam Boyz arrived to help Arthom (and me by extension). Ryder tripped Alistair over with a swift kick, while Forge and ((uhhh the other one)) attacked Lacey while she was off guard.
 
That’s when things started to go off the rails, unfortunately. Lacey started to draw symbols in the air, that echoed over and over in my head, obstructing my vision and thoughts until they completely consumed me. I could see the same happening to everyone else, as they got lost in the hypnotic pattern.
 
Just as I started to feel myself slipping away, a blinding light filled my vision, with Kah himself moving the symbols away and carving a path back into consciousness. As I floated back towards the moment, he gives me a sly knowing smirk. “The rest is up to you, child.”
 
As I opened my eyes, I tried to fire off a Rising Sun Arrow at Alistair again, hitting him directly in the chest and knocking him off guard. He was stunned enough he stayed out of the rest of the fight, while Lacey cast a spell to create duplicates of herself.
 
Seeing this is my chance to wake everyone up, I launched two more arrows at her. One was somehow redirected to me, hitting me in the chest, while the other shattered her duplicates. Alistair began to recover from the shock of “being hit for the first time”, and also stabbed me while I was recovering.
 
Before I knew it, Lacey hit me with another spell, kicking me lot the floor and leaving me bloody and bruised. This was it, what my life had been leading up to. Another dead body in a bar, left abandoned and alone. Wonder how Kah would react to this. What would my parents think? What would my brother think?
 
With that last thought, I remembered the last thing my brother said to me before I left. “Stay safe … and if you die, I’ll kill you!”. His smile permeated my body, even now. I won’t. I can’t. Not even for him. Not for Arthom or Saib, not for Ko, Gurval, Talu, Lucid, Zyanya. Not for my parents, not for anyone.
 
I’ll live for myself.
 
I felt my battered body get up, and without realising, smiled a wide grin across my face. I finally understood it now. I don’t need to hid from myself anymore.
 
I’ll live for myself.
I’ll fight for myself.
I’ll fight for what I want.
 
I want to save my friends.
 
I launched two more arrows at Lacey. The first one was diverted to me again, but I knew to expect it this time and took it in stride. The second arrow - straight for her eye again. But this time, it split the previous arrow, and pushed the head back into her skull, killing her.
 
Her body slumped to the ground, and I could see everyone else start to come back to consciousness. Panic set upon Alistair’s face as he realised that he was losing, and he declared that he would remember my name and “see you soon, Syrus” before disappearing.
 
Arthom quickly came and healed me, making sure I was okay, before I ordered a round for everyone. Arthom claimed the next round, and promised to stay with us, at least until the group is back together. I promised Arthom we would meet back up tomorrow morning, to try and find the rest of the group. From the tavern chatter, it seemed like this was an eventful night in Zynii for more than just us.
 
When I returned back to the hideout, I was surprised to see Saib still awake. He saw the state I was in, and asked if Arthom did it to me. I informed him of the situation with the Victri, and he smiled, glad that I was okay and that Arthom was back on our side. There was a strange glint in his eye I hadn’t seen before, of concern for me and my wellbeing. I told him again he had nothing to worry about - the plan to get the Misfits back together is working so far, we just need to keep working on getting Ko back on side.
 
I went to sleep that night, that for the first time in weeks, I was sure of what is to come next.