truth _____s upon the brave

Zane spread some newspapers over the table, author name circled on various articles. All the same one: Lydia Rine. A prominent freelancer who sold numerous articles to gossip rags, just a week’s glance at her writing indicated that she didn’t pick her targets on a whim. Many contained personal information likely provided by sources determined to ruin the target of the article; this time, someone bribed Lydia to publish smear articles on Lucian, though her follow ups on Zane and Shay proved less successful.

If it had been any other Guardian, they would’ve had the knights throwing them in a cell already. But Addison loved playing games—Zane figured she instructed the knights to hold back for now. The articles even told the story in a way that avoided the obvious why not just hand them over to the knights question, not describing the actual illegal things they’ve done in exchange for playing up their more undesirable personal traits.

It probably wouldn’t be long until Addy put out a head hunt out for them. Predictable. Lure them into a false sense of security, have them stick around, and pounce the moment you got the chance to give yourself the upper hand.

Pearce was a straightforward guy. He followed them, cornered them and tried to take them down. Just like that. When he lost, he limped back home—or maybe the Dwim caught and jailed him after they left. Zane didn’t care.

But Addison never did as she was asked. Or at least, she never performed her duties normally. Like animals who toyed with their food, pried their mind to pieces before their bodies. They always had something screwed up about them, and she was no exception, always finding ways to mess around before finishing the job. She enjoyed it. She craved it, and that was saying something considering Zane’s own enjoyment of getting into stupid fights.

Though, in this case, it wasn’t really something admirable anymore.

“I’d say we have a couple days until she gets us,” Zane said. “But she’s a freak. So it’ll be easy for us to get a chance to face off with her.”

Shay groaned. “I doubt she’ll be sitting around waiting for us to kick her ass.”

“No, actually, she’s already waiting.”

“What.”

Zane shrugged, tapping a finger against a newspaper. “Yeah, she’s probably laying her cards on the table. Trying to show how powerless we are by taking us down a few notches. We’re building back up, which means its the best time to make a honey-pot to catch her in. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s waiting for us to do something risky so she can find an excuse to come fight us herself.”

“So you’re saying we’re gonna give her an opening to kick our asses?”

“Nah.” Zane waved a hand. “We gotta show her that it’s not gonna be that easy.”

Shay waited. Waited, waited… “So, you got a plan to show her? You know the crazy chick best.”

“Oh, I’ve got no plan at all.”

“Then lead with that next time! You were getting my hopes up, kid!”

Lucian entered the room with a tray of lemonade and cookies. Zane happily helped himself while Shay kicked him under the table. “Still don’t got a plan,” Zane said, “and thanks for the snacks.”

“You’re welcome!” Lucian sat down, fiddling in his seat. “I just wanted to thank you guys for not minding the, uh—”

“There’s nothing to mind, kid, I really don’t care about your tragic backstory,” Shay said.

“…Thanks?”

“You’re welcome. Anyways, luring out Addy. Got any ideas?”

“Um…” Lucian pursed his lips. “I’m sorry. What?”

Shay took a long sip of his own lemonade. “Addison’s targeting us. Sounds like we gotta show off and send a message that her messing with us isn’t gonna work anymore. So, got ideas?”

Lucian hummed, looking over the newspapers. For a while he said nothing, until his eyes lit up, to which he slammed his hands down. “Wait! Isn’t it obvious?”

He gestured to one article after another. “She’s been focusing on Effie’s union, hasn’t she? Oh, I’d hate to impose on her, especially after everything, but I wonder… if she might be who we need to rely on in order to stop Addison.”

“Oh!” Shay snapped his fingers. “Effie’s gotta challenge her to a fight, right?”

“No, that wasn’t what I was thinking at all!”

Zane shrugged. “I’ll talk to her. See what we come up with. I’ll tell you guys later, okay?”

“Oh, say hi for me!” Lucian said.

Zane gave him a thumbs up. “Of course.”

Maybe the constant back and forth bits finally got to him, because Zane figured a chance to talk to Effie about everything sounded well overdue. He ditched the pair and headed out to the pier, where Effie shouted people down and handed out fliers. He waited and watched until she gave out each last one, then approached.

“Clocking out for the day?” he said. “You’re doing good on your own. Still, sure you don’t need help with anything?”

Effie gasped, wrapping Zane in a quick hug. “No, I said I could handle this myself now and I meant it!”

“Ooooh, I see, you don’t want us to drag your image back into the mud again. Boo-hoo.”

She pushed him away, pouting. “Shush. You know that’s not what I mean.”

They both laughed, the hiss of the ocean louder than usual behind them. “Okay, okay, I’m serious,” Zane said. “You’re done for today, right? Not interrupting anything?”

“Clear as day!”

“Great. We might need your help with handling Vitam’s Sadness. We’re ninety-nine percent sure she’s not gonna let up on targeting you or us until we confront her directly, but we’re gonna need your help to do it.”

Effie hummed, hands buried in her pocket. “…Okay. Come with me.”

The two headed away from the pier, walking through the streets of Orie. The people talked as always about anything and everything, the hostility of yesterday replaced with a new sort of fervor. Most wisps of gossip related to Effie, some in derision, but most with interest. People had a fickle attention span, Zane noticed, and a weak heart for holding onto hatred. Not in some altruistic way where deep down, they wanted love and peace or something stupid, but they just couldn’t be assed to worry about things that weren’t troubling them directly. Supply issues? Yeah, that got people pissed, but some guy doing something bad years ago? That was old news.

Addison probably had more rumors up her sleeve. But Zane wanted to deal with her before she pounced on using any of it.

“You see, I’ve got some plans,” Effie continued. “We’ve got a good number of people on our side. But Shining Beacon’s refusing to come to the table, so we’re gonna need to take direct action. Like… you get it, right?”

Huh… “You’re gonna start a war?”

“No, we’re gonna strike, stupid.”

“Oh, yeah.” That made more sense.

Effie smiled. “And now, I’ve got a good reason for you guys to be there. Once again: You get it, right?”