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Zedaph - Blog Posts

3 months ago

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 2: Information Request

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60544732/chapters/161904352

Conflicting Lives (somewhat) returns! I apologize that's its been so long since I've done anything with this project. between life stuff amongst motivation for the story, its been hard to get as much progress done as I have hoped to. I will be trying to work on this more though!

Word Count: 1704

Scar and Scythe arrived at the Central Hero HQ with around 10 minutes to spare. As they walked out of the elevator that took them up to the meeting room, Spore was waiting to make sure everyone that had received the message did indeed show up. As they walked in, Scythe saw that each of the District Heads were gathered at the farthest point of the long meeting table, with the strongest heroes from each District taking their own spots in groups around the table.

Scar, with the help of his hero suit, walked over to Sumner and Ram, both Hermiton Heroes. Scythe nodded politely to the two heroes as they spotted him and Scar, but instead went over to stand with Archangel, his mentor when going through the Survan Hero Training course. Scythe was technically a Survan hero after all. 

“Hey kiddo! How have you been holding up?” Archangel said with a grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear as he wrapped his arms around Scythe for a hug. Scythe was never one to deny a hug, but Archangels hugs were like getting the air forced out of your lungs. Lovingly though, of course.

“I’m doing- good Archangel” Scythe said through gasping breaths, trying his best to put on a smile through his lack of oxygen.

Archangel put Scythe down, to Scythe’s untold gratitude, and looked at him, his white wings reflecting the light from the fluorescent lights above them. “Well that’s great to hear, Lux.” Archangel smiled genuinely at Scythe, and he couldn't help but smile back at his mentor and friend.

Right as he was about to reply however, Scythe heard Voidling speak from the head of the table, turning to see that the District's heads had sat down in their chairs. “Welcome everyone and thank you for coming on such short notice. I severely apologize for interrupting your schedules, but I believe that this is a matter of utter importance that must be discussed as soon as possible.”

All the gathered heroes took a seat. Scythe found himself in between Archangel and Stratos, an Empyrian Hero. He wasn't the closest to Stratos, but he had been assigned to missions with him that involved activity on the Survas-Empyria border. They didn't interact much outside of that, spare the occasional regular event (aka non-hero work) that Scar invites him to that Stratos was also invited to.

“There has been an increase in activity from villains around the Survas-Hermiton and Wynnra-Hermiton borders. Most of this activity seems to involve Nebula and Spindle.” CuteGuy, the Wynnran Hero District Head, said. The tip of Scythe’s tail flicked involuntarily in his lap as CuteGuy spoke, and he prayed that no one had seen it, especially other heroes with tails.

Thankfully, no one else had seemed to notice, and a different district head spoke, “The five of us had an idea of how to deal with the increase of activity in these areas, and wanted to call a meeting with all of you to get your opinions on the matter.” Tinkerer said, the Empyrian Hero District Head.

There were a few whispers between heroes as to what kind of matter would need the opinions of all of them, but Atlas, the Survas Hero District Head, spoke soon after, “We have each done some research, and have gathered a very short list of reporters who are the best in their field. Not only are these selected individuals highly credible, but they have each shown us their investigative abilities and the process in which they have found the information for each of their stories and reports.” “These factors lead us to believe that we can trust these individuals to gather the information we would be asking for. It would, however, be a high price to pay for such a task.” Strawberry, the Drimas Hero District Head, spoke next.

More whispers emerged after this, and the district heads let the heroes talk amongst themselves for a minute. A hero spoke up.

“How do we know we can trust the information that these individuals give us is completely fact?” Guardian, a well-known Empyrian Hero asked. “For commissions such as these, reporters often do it for the money right? Who’s to say they won’t give information to someone else who bids a higher price?” The room went silent after Guardian spoke, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone stayed silent for a few moments longer before another person spoke up.

“Yes, and no.” Heads turned to Puppeteer as he spoke, but he didn't really seem phased by it. Instead, his gaze was focused on Guardian. “Yes, for larger commissions or asks such as what is being proposed, reporters are more likely to accept it because of the profit and the exposure to their business. No, it is very rare for a reporter to sell information to someone else for a better price.” Puppeteer looked around the table as he spoke next. “A few different names come to mind at what the district heads have proposed, and if the individuals are the names that I am thinking of, we have no reason to suspect that they will sell what they find to a higher bidder.”

The room went still for a moment as everyone processed what Puppeteer had said. He was well known for his ability to gather knowledge and intel on just about anything he was given and he knew how to work the system, so everyone trusted him in what he said, even if they didn't know the names of the individuals the heads had picked out.

“If I may ask,” Sting, a Wynnran Hero with a skillset similar to that of Puppeteer, spoke up, “who are the individuals you selected?” The district heads exchanged glances amongst each other, then towards a door to the side at the back of the room that led to a smaller meeting area. Voidling gave a small, almost unnoticeable sigh before speaking, “Come on in.”

The door opened slowly, and the first thing the heroes saw was translucent blue... hair? Three people walked out of the room, and they all stood semi-awkwardly at the end of the room behind the District Leaders. “This is Storyteller, Slime, and Snowfall” CuteGuy said, pointing each of them out as he said their names. Slime seemed to be a slime hybrid, but he was blue instead of the normal green. Snowfall seemed to be both Elven and Blaze; as well as just really stuck up in general. Storyteller was a lot more familiar to Scythe than the others, he did know them casually after all.

For a moment, Scythe and Storyteller even locked eyes with the other, but the both of them quickly looked away as to not draw any suspicion. Heroes started to quietly whisper between each other, wondering how much had been heard through the door before then. They quickly stopped though as Atlas spoke up, seemingly floating just above the ground as they tend to do, “We asked them to come here prior to summoning you all to lay out some ground rules and expectation in the case that you all agreed to this plan. If the majority vote is against this, then it won't happen.” The heroes from all districts looked at eachother, slowly realizing just how much was being left up to them. After all, it was usually the District Heads themselves who made decisions like these, and the last group vote like this had taken place long before any of them had even finished going through their respective training courses. Seeing the shock and tentativeness from the other heroes, Strawberry spoke up, “The decision doesn't have to be made today, but in a few days time we’ll send out another call to everyone to meet back here for the vote. Let's say 3 days from now at around 6:30pm we’ll all meet back here and make a final decision.” Shoulders relaxed and quiet sighs of relief were heard from around the table, nervous but relieved chuckles coming from a select few as well. “Well, that settles it then. We’ll see you all in a few days.” Voidling said as he stood up, nodding to the other District heads before turning around and talking with the reporters more. As he stood, so did everyone else, the room almost immediately bursting into chatter and talking. Scythe stood seated for a moment longer, looking towards the reports and subconsciously fiddling with the hair on the end of his tail. It wasn’t until he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder that he snapped out of it, jumping slightly and turning to look over his shoulder. “Sorry kiddo, didn;t mean to scare you” iWork said, a soft smile on his face, but a small bit of worry in his eyes. “You alright? You seemed pretty spaced out for a bit. The meeting’s over, we’re all going home.” he continued gently. “Oh- uh, right. Thanks I-dub – I mean iWork.” Scythe responded, silently cursing himself in his head. I-dub was what Archangel called iWork, that man had a silly nickname for everyone, Scythe swears it, and he was rubbing off onto him a lot more than Scythe was willing to admit right now. In response, iWork just chuckled and nodded, walking off to where Archangel was actually waiting for him outside of the meeting room doors.

Scythe took a deep breath before finally getting up himself, letting his tail fall back behind him from on top of his lap where it had been resting. Just before he reached the door to the room, he heard Tinkerer call his name, “Hey Lux, would you mind hanging back for an extra minute?”

As he turned around, Scythe saw that Slime and Snowfall were walking past him and out the door, and Scythe could have sworn that Snowfall glared at him as he passed a little too close by his arm. Only the District Heads and Storyteller remained in the room, other than himself. Scythe looked at the 6 of them, hoping the anxiety he felt in his stomach didn’t show outwardly, or as he responded. “Yeah of course, what can I help with?”


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