Divided We Fall

"**Divided We Fall**" is the fifth episode in Season One of *The Demon's Light*.

## Synopsis

Atticus and Marshall run into trouble in a big city, Melissa finds connections to her old life, and Chris Wellington meets a stranger.

## Narrative

### **Atticus Anoethite and Marshall Rooke**

*Events from the previous night flooded his dreams. He felt the touch of the water on his face as it filled his mouth and nose, flooding his world. As soon as he felt himself slipping away, he was pulled back, back into the air.*

*Soon thrown to the ground, he laid there, listening as his friend approached the beast. Knowing what he had to do, he waited for the right moment. Flinging himself upright and into the woods, he ran as fast as he could, hearing his friend do the same behind him. Knowing that the beast would more than likely pursue them again, they needed to find shelter somewhere.*

As the morning aged, the sun rose over the trees and shined directly into Atticus Anoethite's face. Opening his eyes, his surroundings became clear to him again. He lay on a tree branch, high above the ground, his back arched against the tree.

Looking around, he noticed other trees near him, with Marshall Rooke located on a branch below him.

"Marshall, wake up. It's morning."

After a couple more attempts to wake the boy up, Atticus succeeded. "Where do we go from here?"

Marshall wrapped his arms around the branch he was on, lying on his stomach as he surveyed the area. "We should be close to the city."

"You've said that several times already," Atticus replied.

"Yeah, but I'm certain of it this time. Let's get down from here."

Walking through the forest, the two made their way towards the direction Marshall had pointed out, carefully listening for any sound of the beast from the night before.

Eventually walking out onto a trail, they noticed a set of steel gates in the distance ahead of them, a large city behind it.

"Is this the city you were talking about?" Atticus asked as they approached the gates. "It's huge."

"I think so," Marshall assured him.

Walking up to the gate, Atticus and Marshall had a view into the busy streets ahead of them. People were walking across streets and driving cars around, tall buildings littering the background.

Once at the entrance, the two were greeted by five armed soldiers dressed in metallic body suits.

"Hold up!" The leader of the group called out as soon as they approached, steadily making his way to them until he was towering over the two teens. His face was barely visible due to his helmet, but his strong voice rang out clearly. "What reason do you have for entering Silivia? Something seems shady about you two."

"Uhh," Atticus started, looking over at Marshall, who simply shrugged. "Well, we're looking for some people. We recently got into some trouble and got separated from them. This was the closest city."

"Trouble, eh?" The guard replied, in an almost bored tone, as if he'd heard the same thing many times before. "Just what kind of 'trouble' did you encounter?"

One of the guards behind the leader began to scuffle lightly and muttered under their breath, barely audible, "Probably just got drunk and lost their riches to some bitches or something, haha."

"Could you not be a jackass perhaps?" Marshall spat out. "We're just trying to enter the city."

The guard in the back laughed at that, pushing his way through the small crowd of guards and stopped when he was in front of Marshall. "This one has quite a bitchy mouth."

A loud clanking sound was then heard as Marshall lifted his fist up and took a swipe at the guard's face, clashing against his armor.

"Fucking bitch!" The guard screamed as he reeled against Marshall's blow. Another guard suddenly stepped forward, jabbing the spear he had in his hands at Marshall, who ducked under the rushing blade and kicked the man in his back with enough force to send him to his knees.
The original guard then leaped forward again, lunging at Marshall and kneeing him in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Now now boys, that's enough horsing around." A female guard came out from behind the gates, pushing past the guards. She was short, and had long purple hair thrown up in a messy bun and blue eyes. "I'm off break, for now, before you do anything rash." She walked forward and offered out her hand, helping Marshall up and looking over him and Atticus.

"Are you two okay? Do you need any help?" The guard asked them, as the rest of the guards whispered among each other.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just pissed. So funny how your guards like to team up against people like that." Marshall spat, visibly angry still.

Atticus then stepped forward, glaring at Marshall before shaking his head and turning his attention to the woman. "We're not exactly "fine" at all. We were recently separated from our friends and we're kinda lost."

"Hmm," the female guard replied. "I can give you this." She pulled a map from a back pocket and placed it in Atticus' hand. "It's a map of the city. It will help you navigate around, and hopefully find your friends if they are here."

Atticus wrapped his hand around the map, pulling it from the woman's grasp and then looking down at it, amazed at how well-drawn and detailed it was.

"I also apologize about my guards. They can be a bit.. immature, sometimes." She walked over to the line of guards, crossing her arms. All of the guards hurriedly moved to the side, opening the gate. "Oh, and in case you need anything, my name is Kailan. You are always welcome back here if you need help."

"Alright, thanks... Kailan," he said, distracted by looking at the map. Once the guards had fully walked away, Marshall walked over to Atticus and grabbed the map from him, taking a glance as well.

"You could have just, like, asked for it." Atticus replied, rolling his eyes at Marshall's behavior.

"Unneeded." Marshall said, glancing up from the map and looking around the city. "I say we head over to a café and get something to eat."

"We literally have no money. We also need to be careful where we go. In case you forgot, we're probably wanted criminals.."

"Do you truly think we need money?" Marshall laughed, ignoring Atticus's other statement. "Just follow me."

Atticus glared as Marshall walked farther into the city without seeming to have a care in the world, walking behind him shortly after.

The strong smell of freshly-cooked food filled the air as Atticus and Marshall turned around the corner of the street and headed near the café. The café was a large out-door restaurant lined with a circular counter wrapping around cooking machinery and cooks who were working steadily on their creations. The counter itself was covered in plates filled with food, with waiters calling out and people walking from sitting behind wooden tables placed in front and around the counter to get their orders.

"Like what the fuck, man?" Marshall eagerly said to Atticus as they walked closer. "Those guards were so, ugh."

Atticus stopped walking and sighed, slamming his palm against his forehead. "You've been going on about them for ages now. You're driving me insane. Can't you focus on something else?"

"Like what?" Marshall exclaimed, stopping his walk as well and throwing his arms in the air.

"I don't know? Locating the others? Or how about you just shut up and look around this café for something?"

"Hmph, fine."

The two continued walking again, walking right up to the counter and being handed two menus by a waitress.

"Hmm, the food here looks good," Atticus said, looking over the menu. "But we don't have any money, so—"

Marshall chuckled, throwing his head back slightly and looking over at Atticus. "We don't need money. Just follow my lead."

After ordering food and sitting down at a table close to the counter, Marshall began a small talk with Atticus, who sat on the other side of the table.

"How do you think the others are doing?"

Atticus stared back at Marshall, thinking over the question while holding his hand against the side of his face.

After a few minutes of silence, Atticus went back to eating his meal.

"Uh, well?" Marshall asked.

"They are probably well, wherever they are," Atticus said slowly, further in thought.

Upon completing their meal, Atticus stood up from the table and ran his hands down his face. "Alright, so how are we going to pay now?"

Marshall, still seated, chucked.

"We're not."

"Uh," Atticus began, looking over his shoulder and back at the café. "We can't just steal food."

"We can and we did," Marshall said as he got up from the table as well. "Now let's go."

He began to walk away. "Either come with me or stand there looking like a fool."

As Atticus began to walk off with him, he heard a loud shout, clearly from a man, from behind. "HEY! You can't just leave without paying!!"

"Shit!" Marshall exclaimed as he started to sprint off back towards the street they had come from.

Atticus began to follow him, hearing the shouts of the café workers as they started to run towards the two.

"Atticus, wait!" A female voice shouted, stopping Atticus in his tracks. *Huh?* He thought, *How did they—*

Something seemed familiar about the voice, but he couldn't recall where he had heard it.

"Dude, run!" Marshall yelled, looking back at him. Atticus, shaking his head, ignored the girl's shout and followed behind Marshall, disappearing into a crowd of people walking among the streets.

Marshall navigated through the crowds of people, occasionally looking back to see if Atticus was still behind him.

Finally, Marshall exited the crowd into an alleyway filled with trash, Atticus soon followed. Seemingly losing the angry workers, Marshall seated himself on a crate located among the scattered trash.

Upon following, Atticus knelt to the ground next to the crate, placing his hand on it for support and watching the busy crowd flow passed the alleyway entrance.

"So, what are we going to do now that we're also street thieves? How are we even going to find the others?"

"We run." Marshall looked around at his surroundings. He saw a few trash cans, bags, old newspapers, and a dumpster. Then he spotted some old clothes, hanging on the corner of the dumpster. "Here, put this on." He said as he handed Atticus a ragged shirt. Marshall fished another shirt out from the dumpster and put it on.

"What are you doing? Why do I need this?" Atticus asked, standing up and taking the shirt, looking down at it.

"We need to find out where we are, but we can't be spotted. Chances are, we've already been reported to the cops." Marshall paused for a moment. "All I know is that we will find the others."

"I guess you're right about the reported thing, but maybe we should stay here for a bit and get some rest?" Atticus suggested as he quickly changed shirts. "I want to find the others just as much as you do, but we need to make sure we don't tire ourselves out."

Marshall nodded in agreement. "I suggest we find somewhere to stay, unless you want to stay in this crummy alleyway with the rats." Marshall looked down. He saw a strange coin and picked it up. He glanced at it and shoved it in his pocket.

"I think staying here would be our best option for now, as you said we could have already been reported."

Finishing his sentence, Atticus looked back out into the street, keeping an eye on anyone that came near. "By the way, there's something I want to mention to you. It's kind of bothering me."

"What is it?" Marshall asked. He got up and started looking around the dumpster and trash. He pulled up some cardboard. He laid the cardboard on some crates and grabbed some trash bags. He stuffed some paper trash into the bags and placed them on the cardboard.

"Well, earlier, when we were at the café, I swear I heard a girl call my name out. It's so weird. I just can't make sense of it."

Watching Marshall mess around with the trash, Atticus placed his hand against his mouth, getting deeper into thought.

"Literally cannot remember anything before waking up at that barn. Did she know me from before that or something?"

"Huh, that's strange. Maybe there's just something wrong with your hearing and vision," Marshall made another makeshift cardboard cot and pillow on the other side of the alleyway by the trash cans. "Welcome to our new home." Marshall fished a bottle from behind the dumpster and placed it by the trash cans. "There's our toilet."

"I don't think so, I am certain I heard it clear as day."

Atticus sat down on one of the crates and stared at the bottle with a blank expression, thinking over various insults to call Marshall over suggesting such a thing as their toilet.

"If you say so."

### **Chris Wellington**

Lost and confused, Chris Wellington took a look at the building he was in. It appeared to be some sort of abandoned bookstore. After escaping from Alchem, he found his way to this city and eventually took refuge in this building for the night.

Warily stepping outside of it, he found himself once again on a busy street. Maybe he could keep a low-profile in this city, until he had managed to find his companions, assuming they were in this large city. A middle-aged man with brown hair and a large mustache then approached him.

"Excuse me, sir, are you lost?" He asked Chris.

"My precise coordinates are unidentifiable, so absolutely," Chris backed away, a bit bothered that the man was inching towards him.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, just saying, a lot of people are lost these days. Mighty funny way of talking you got there." The man said.

Chris relaxed a bit and then realized the man had said something that could prove a liability to him.

"You proclaimed you had been company to lost individuals?" Chris silently hoped he could find the others.

"I have seen two," the man looked at Chris with a puzzled look. "Both girls with long brown hair. I helped one of them, the other refused my help."

Chris wondered if the girls could be Melissa and Savannah, but didn't get the chance to ask the man about it.

"I need to go now, nice meeting you," the man said, hurrying off.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Chris said, as the man walked away and left Chris standing by himself again.

### **Melissa Devlin**

"Melissa, wake up. Melissa Devlin, wake up."

Hearing a man's voice above her, Melissa opened her eyes. She was lying on a park bench, curled up still. Looking upwards, she noticed the man standing in front of her. He was tall, and appeared to be middle-aged, even though he had solid white hair. His dark brown eyes stared at her and matched the sweater he wore.

Noticing she was awake, the man bent down and placed an arm on the bench. You've been gone quite a long time and you contacted me not once." The sense of relief in his voice was strong.

"W-what? What do you mean? Do I know you?" Melissa asked, confused, as she sat up on the bench.

"What, Melissa?" The man reeled back, confused . "Of course, I'm your uncle. Never mind the contact part, I'm just glad you are okay."

"My uncle? What are you talking about?" Melissa wrapped her arms around herself, feeling lost.

Sitting on the bench next to her, the man surveyed her. "Oh dear, I fear there is something wrong."

Shifting away from him, Melissa replied. "I don't know who you are! I lost my memory and I don't even know where I am, who I am, or anything."

The features on the man's face turned into a look of pity at this moment and he reached over and pulled her into an embrace.

He began to speak slowly. "You're Melissa Devlin, my niece. Right now, you're in Silivia, the largest and most well-known city in Thales. I'm Richard Smith, your uncle, and I run a laboratory here. Is this clear?"

Pulling back from the embrace, Melissa stared at him, processing the information he told her.

"If we're family, do you know what happened to me then? Why I was on my own? I woke up in a barn yesterday randomly, with barely any memory of anything before it."

"No, dear. All we know is that you left a few months ago after I told you to get some candles for me and you didn't tell us why. We've been so worried about you."

"We?" Melissa asked.

"Yes, we. I'll explain soon," Richard looked at the girl quivering in front of him. "You look exhausted and cold, let me take you to the lab and I can help you out better there."

Melissa paused for a moment before nodding, knowing it would be better than staying in the strange city alone. "How far is it?"

"Not far, about ten minutes from." Richard replied. "I take a walk here every morning from there."

"Alright." Melissa looked around them one last time, taking in the city and park sights.

"Come with me, it's this way," Richard said, getting up from the bench.

As the two walked, they spoke to each other.

"How long have I been away?" asked Melissa.

"You've been gone a good month or two. Did you ever get the candles?" Richard replied.

"The what?"

"Oh never mind. Just happy you are here."

Richard smiled at her as they walked up along the sidewalk and stood outside a large black iron gate, an enormous building located behind it. After Richard opened it, the two began to descend down a cobblestone driveway and stopped at the cornflower-colored entrance of the building. Nodding, Richard opened it and the two stepped inside.

The inside was vast, with light-blue walls and a white floor. Several tables lined the place, chairs scattered around. High-tech computers were placed atop the tables, with various people working on them.

"Welcome to the Laboratory of the Unexplainable!" Richard exclaimed proudly.

Melissa looked around shyly and in wonder. "Why is it named the Laboratory of the Unexplainable?" she asked, suddenly distrusting.

Richard explained. "We investigate the things most scientists can't even begin to understand. The strange phenomenons throughout Euclid. The 'unexplainable'. Come, let me show you."

Melissa paused hesitantly, before speaking again. "Alright, show me."

Just then, a tall blond haired man walked in from a door on the right of them. He had a ton of files in his hands and seemed intent searching through them as he walked. The man appeared to be around Melissa's age, and wore a long lab coat over a casual green shirt and gray pants.

Bumping into Richard by accident, he looked up from his work and instantly started to apologize. "Uncle, I'm so sorry. I was just —"

He was then interrupted by Richard. "It's fine, Steven, but," the older man then beckoned towards Melissa.

The man, Steven, looked towards her and stepped back in surprise. "Melissa, you're here!"

He dropped all of his files and jumped towards her, hugging her tightly.

She shoved him off her, stepping back. "Don't do that please. Who are you?"

"It's me, Steven," He said, confusion heavy in his voice. "Your brother…?"

## Epilogue

Baptiste eyed the morning sky as the forested outskirts of Silivia came closer into view. As the aircraft began to approach the city, its acceleration slowed and it started moving downward. Taking it as their cue, Baptiste's troop of nine got up and approached the aircraft's backdoor. Quickly, they all jumped out and fell a few feet onto the grassy floor below. As the men situated themselves, the Alchemilia hummingbird rose into the air and flew into the distance without a driver.

From his bag, Baptiste took out and eyed a glossy black tablet. He turned to his troop. "They say he probably went for Silivia. *If* he's here, then he's about to be trapped. Boys, you know what to do."

"Course, Bap," said an armored guard. "Once Victor's party makes it, this will be an in-and-out mission." Confidently, the guard began to type things on a tablet similar to Baptiste's. His goal would be simple — Alchem's relationship with the city ensured an interception would not be difficult.

"Not the best security around here. Do one, two, and —"

In an instant, the bustling city of Silivia was silenced. Televisions and billboards were now blank. Phone calls and radio stations were cut off, outputting only white noise. Shocked, a large amount of the Silivian population stopped what they were doing. Those who experienced the event in the streets were especially confused.

Then, there was something. Digital screens lit up once again — this time, with a familiar green "A." Recognizing the infamous logo, the Silivian population proceeded to fall into a mix of fear and apathy. As murmuring about what was happening started, a loud voice began to reverberate throughout the streets. The voice was almost omnipresent, being heard on televisions, radios, and speakers.

"Morning. I am Baptiste Rousseau, a Director of Robotics at Alchemilia Corporation. That name may mean a lot to some of you; but trust me, we do not intend to take up too much of your time. Now, if anyone is able to identify one 'Chris Wellington' — a young male, short, brown hair, blue eyes, tanned skin — we'd appreciate if you report him to us. A search party with photos is on the way. There will be a large reward for any information leading to his capture. Please, don't mind us. Keep walking."

The Alchemilia interception ended once Baptiste finished speaking.