Diego Silva Torres's Story

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xxxx"We can't just let her die."

xxxxThe nobility are preparing their dresses. Donning their fine suits and jewels, putting up their hair and makeup in a manner even more complex than the styles worn to the execution. Only a short distance from all of this fuss, a slight girl meets with a young man wearing a uniform that marks him as part of the construction team working on renovations. He's hardly more than eighteen, not a soldier. If he had been found planting explosives along the the delicate bubble that is to hold the glittering birds, his life would end at that young age- not really that much shorter a life than Mel's own. Still, he looks down at the young woman as a leader, communicator of plans to be followed without question.

xxxxHer stone expression hides exhaustion, though passion and belief in the cause keeps her going without fail.

xxxx"Fuck you." As if she hadn't tried to save Valerie. As if she hadn't offered to go on her own if necessary. When it comes down to it, Mel follows Diego. She may be brilliant, she may be competent. She is not a leader. The young man looks at her like a foot soldier at a general.

xxxx"Everything is in place."

xxxx"Thank you. Go home- sleep." And he is gone. Mel leaves soon after. She needs to get dressed for the dance, after all.


xxxxAmelia is no stranger to the palace events. Certainly, she is hardly a regular, but occasionally she slips in among the servants, extra hands to bear the weight of the patricians' ambitions. She is one with the crowd, though one or two may whisper with some recognition- "Isn't that the King's commoner whore?"

xxxxTonight the excitement is too high for such comments. No one notices the young woman gliding about as though she belongs there, as though she doesn't feel the urge to pace like a beast kept in a cage. She is never too far from the King, an easy man to spot by the way people simultaneously move towards him and maintain a respectful distance. It is a strange pulsing ring. He speaks to his wife, to the Senator, to the foreign queen. The picture of a young king, charm and grace. Mel, despite her reputation for being cold when it comes to rebel missions, takes no pleasure in killing. But his is a head she is certain would look lovely on a spike.

xxxxThe first dance begins, and the nobility sweep to the center, twirling about in blurs of beautiful color. Everyone is light on their feet, no caution weighing on their minds. The rebel leader is dead- it is cause for celebration. A lightweight bracelet hangs against Mel's somewhat bony wrist. Across the room, she makes eye contact very briefly with Theo, who quickly disconnects and turns to make animated conversation with two women beside him, hands moving about excitedly.

xxxxAmelia sets off the detonators, and the sky seems to fall. Shards fall heavy against the glass floor, dragging ladies down by their fine dresses. Amelia plays the part of a frightened onlooker until she reaches the edges, and slips away unnoticed, with little more than a slight tear in the hem of her dress.

xxxxOn a still partially standing slab of glass, part of the original walls, figures clothed entirely in black spray large red words. They are gone before any guards can get to the other side- before most anyone even notices they were there. Chaos is more effective than the night in keeping Mel's people safe.


xxxxBread and circuses. The Roman Empire once grew too complacent, distracted by entertainment and food, the appeasement of the governing. But all empires, long and brief, must fall.


xxxxMel may slip away, but Theo is left in the fray. A large chunk of glass falls directly towards him and the women he had been speaking with. His arms shoot up and catch it, muscles tensing to stop it at the speed. His hands are bloody from being sliced by the jagged edges. For his trouble, he is thanked profusely before the two ladies run to the guards for aid. He stays on the fringes, watching- conspicuously offering help where it is needed, assuring those who ask that his hands are fine, it is simply a small cut.

xxxxOf course in these efforts to help in the pandemonium, he finds the Senator fainted on the ground. Others run past or around her, not interested in the woman. Theo would just as soon leave her, in different circumstances. But instead, he lifts up the dark-haired woman and rushes back to the edge of the still crumbling hall. He brings her to safety, passing Diego as he does so. He makes no sign of seeing the security guards- even in this chaos, his facade holds. With little care for her comfort, Theo drops Camille on the ground and takes a moment to breathe.

xxxxMel is nowhere to be seen.

Predictable. That was the word to describe every last one of these occasions Damian was commanded...er...invited to attend. Every time the High King would find himself surrounded by the prettiest women in the room and every time his Queen would show that she was not jealous by finding a horny soul to fuck with until her King came back. It was worse than a novella. Damian stood with his back to the cold glass wall with the even colder aquarium thriving beneath him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the night but assumed the guards did their rounds and everything was fine. If Kristopher were here and this was war he would be saying, "I have a bad feeling about this battle." Honestly, Damian would have probably listened to him this time around. He felt so naked without his two comrades. Without them he was still a guy you didn't want to piss off but he wasn't "The Snake" without Manny's abilities. Damian knew that if anything happened while he was in DC he would have to rely on himself, like the old days. But odds are this party would begin, middle, and end just like the others he's been too. DC, land of predictability.

Damian noticed a shift in music which could only mean that Queen Kate has latched on to a new victim which also meant...Damian's eyes scanned the room for pretty women because he knew that's where he would find Marcello. And just like clockwork that's where he was, chatting it up with a newly appointed Senator and The European High Queen, arguably the two most attractive beings in the room. Damian eyes stopped on Queen Helena and her silk dress that just begged for men to fantasize what was underneath. Her jet black hair falling over her shoulders and onto the dress contrasted so well and was soothing to look at and Damian didn't mind looking. An abrupt and awkward looking motion by the Senator took him off guard and Damian chuckled to himself. Whatever she just said looked like it failed. Speaking of failing, the Senator looked like a commoner whore and not like her usual; a Supreme whore. Kris explained the difference to Damian months ago:

"You just know when someone is a whore. You have to stay away from the commoners though because they'll take your money. Actually, stay away from all of them because the supreme whores can easily find eloquent ways to royally screw with your life."
"I didn't know there was a difference between the two."
"The difference? Oh, that's easy, Damian. Commoners hide the fact that they get around for their reputation is all they have left. Supremes could lose all the respect in the world and still have abilities, money, and power. I tell my son the same thing."
"Kris, your son is 13!"
"Yeah, but he has his old man's looks. Those sluts will be all over him."
"You should really stop calling women that, Kris."
"I will stop calling them sluts when they stop acting like sluts"
"I don't know why I picked you to be in Alpha."
"Because I'm the best and you know it."

Damian truly missed his friends and quickly mumbled a prayer that they were okay. He was expecting to receive a status letter from them tomorrow. Damian's smile dwindled as Theodore entered the conversation. So this is what he did instead of fight with Alpha? Drank wine and champagne with foreigners? What a waste of talent. While Theo stands there licking the boot of Queen Helena (and whoever that other guy next to her was) there were hundreds of commoner soldiers dying on the battlefield. But seriously who the hell was the other dude with Queen Helena? The European Queen's male maid that she brought around with her was essentially attached to her side.

And just like that, she was off. Helena and her sidekick walked over to the dance floor which was a few meters closer to Damian's solitude corner. Theo, who's hunger for whatever was under Helena's boot quenched, disappeared to talk to other Supremes. Damian watched as the King and the Senator took each other in their arms and began to dance as well. In that moment nearly every human in the room was dancing or conversing with someone...except for Damian. He knew he was being antisocial but having people marvel over him being a war hero wasn't really his cup of tea. He would much rather be at his gym helping all of the-

"You have to be kidding me," Damian shot up from his relaxed leaning position to avoid a shard of glass impaling him. The glass ceiling above him started crashing down all around him. He sprang into action, removing his suit jacket, and running toward the dance floor. He could overhear guards urging people to stay calm but didn't actually see them doing more than the bare minimum to help. Damian almost lost his footing as the ground beneath him began to crack and separate, "you have to be kidding me," he said again. He was really missing his team now. Kris's speed could have saved a ton of people and Manny could have held parts of the floor together with aluminum. But what could he do? He couldn't stop time. The people closest to the exit were making it out fine but a few were in deep shit...actually deep water. Blood tainted the clear water red and screams grew louder by the second. The attractive Senator was off in a corner playing a dreadful combination of musical chairs and wack a mole at the same time and a douchey blonde character was floating on top of the water chopped in two.

It was then that Damian noticed Helena in the water frantically swimming. She was staring at something but he couldn't make out what. "YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!" Damian noticed the shark racing towards Helena. He stood on the last bit of stable glass floor and focused his attention on the shark. He took a deep breath and sent a signal towards the shark that slowed down its ability to bite and Helena was able to dodge the hit. It quickly doubled back and tried again. Damian watched and timed another signal to slow its bite and Helena ninja kicked the living hell out of it. Damian in that moment was equally terrified and attracted to his soon to be new best friend. The shark swam away but all knew it would be back. Damian jumped into the fish tank and swam towards the Queen.

"You're gonna be fine, Helena," Damian took a hold of her waist, not giving a damn about courtesies about touching royalty. It wasn't the time to bow and ask permission, "I've been fighting sharks all month." He sent a strong signal to every shark in the tank to slow their processing of heat which would give him a few more seconds to get out. He never had to send so many signals at once to animals so huge and his head was beginning to pound. He ignored it and kept swimming towards the jagged edges of the floor next to the exit with Helena in his right arm, probably kicking with all her might. When they reached the edge Damian grabbed onto it tightly with both hands, "use me as a ladder," he commanded the European Queen. Blood exited newly made slits on his hand, running down his arm and into the water. That meant soon the sharks would be on their way. He could feel the approach of the sharks and knew he had to send a huge signal to get out of this one which would definitely reveal his power to Helena, a chick he knows nothing about. Once Helena was on the platform he turned so he could face the sharks coming at him. Damian had just about had it with sharks for one lifetime. Once the sharks were in attacking range he sent his strongest signal which blocked all communication between muscles and the brain for a few seconds. The sharks stopped dead in their tracks, dumbfounded. Damian hoisted himself onto the glass floor as the sharks regained themselves, chomping at his leg as he barely escaped their grasp.

Damian had a feeling Helena wasn't the type to like being saved so he decided not to pick her up. Instead he stood in front of her, back towards her, and knelt down. "Piggy back time," Damian gestured to his back for the Queen to hop on so they could get the hell out of dodge. He then carefully jogged the remaining 20 yards to the exit, avoiding precarious looking cracks in the floor. The sharks followed underneath, hoping that their food would make a mistake. As Damian exited he made eye contact with Diego Torres, a commoner he trained a few years back at his gym. "Glad that Marcello and Katelyn have someone like you protecting them," Damian smiled at his old student, "thank you for getting them out safe, Diego. Don't know what would have happened to them if you weren't here." Damian turned to look at Helena to make sure she was okay before heading off to find that other guy, "where is your man maid?"