The Cast Die

Pisistratus sighed as he observed the chaos in the council room. The chaos on the sky island Aeolia only continued to increase, and considering the fact that others were starting to collectively target the Republic of Rome, it was time to raise the question of whether it was worth holding onto the sky island anymore. ‘It’d served us well in the past, but I don't mind discarding it now. The bigger problem is the situation here.’

The whole project had been Psistratus’s idea from conception, and so he was getting all the blame, particularly from those who wanted to take away his role as head consul. He'd been a young man then, not even a council member. It'd been his big break to get here. ‘These shortsighted fools can't see the bigger picture.’

He looked over the table to calculate who stood where on the matter. His eyes naturally drifted to Serena, the young head of human resources. ‘My favorite council member.’

Unlike the others, she was neither trying to usurp his position nor was she mad at him in particular, despite having opposed his plan from the moment she joined the council. ‘She’s truly the most just and fair person here.’

He then sighed as he looked over at Crassus, the head of the merchants guild and the richest man in Rome. The wily man had maneuvered his way on to the council. ‘I can appreciate the man's abilities, but his ambition is something to be wary of. He is clearly coming for my post. Best to keep him where he is, at an arm's distance, close enough to use yet far enough to dodge the inevitable betrayal.’

His eyes shifted to Nepo, the loudest person in the room who served as the head of the Roman Treasury. ‘In name that is. The fool only got here through his family connections and lineages that some still hold as valuable. He's normally quiet, but it seems Crassus has planted ideas in the boy’s head. But it's no matter, I can handle that one.’

And last but not least was Marius, the longest serving council member and the head consul before Pisistratus had taken over. ‘Marius is as inscrutable as ever. I have no idea how he'll act, but the man has supported me well enough so far.’

There were others on the council of course, but as long as he controlled his relationship with these four, he could hold his position.

First he'd deal with the loudmouth who was just about to stop talking. Nepo was at the end of his rant, as he said, “And so, on behalf of the rest of the council I call upon Pisistratus to step down as head consul.”

‘A relatively decent talk by the boy’s standards, but not enough.’

With a sigh, he began to respond, while sending a signal to his aide. “I do regret the recent events and take responsibility for the errors in judgements made. I underestimated the opposition on the island. However I do not regret the project itself. It served us well for the past twenty-so years. We are the true followers of Minerva. Above all else, we must be rational. I do not hold my position to be any more or any less important than the ones any of you hold. As for the matter of my replacement, if someone capable of filling the role while also covering for the spot they were in appears, I'd gladly step down.”

Nepo took the bait, and stood up, likely to nominate Cassius, but before he could, the messenger arrived on cue and handed the letter to Nepo who cursed as he took it. Pisistratus smiled to himself as he saw the Nepo’s face turn pale as he ran out, barely excusing himself. ‘The kid won't be helping Crassus any more.’

Crassus attempted to switch gears by nominating Serena. ‘Looks like he wants to get me out first any way he can.’

Unfortunately that showed a fundamental misunderstanding of Serena, who was nothing like Crassus. She sighed and said, “I am honored by your nomination, councilman Crassus, but I'm afraid I don't believe it's appropriate for us to discuss this matter right now. There are more important things to decide. While I disagree with some of our head consul’s decisions, I have no issues with him in terms of ability. Right now our priority should be making a decision regarding the project on Aeolia.”

‘Of course. Given the amount of time it'd take, Serena would not like wasting time on trying to overthrow me. She'd only take over if she felt it to be necessary.’

With the shift in topic, he turned to Marius and asked, “What do you think, Councilman Marius? As our head of defense, you oversee our military and ensure it's strong. Your experience is useful here.”

Marius had kept his eyes closed so far, but now the old man opened a single eye and answered, “We shouldn't waste more resources on the sky island right now. We have other matters to deal with here.”

Pisistratus nodded and said, “I concur. I move that we end the project here and consolidate our resources here. All in favor?”

With most of the council’s approval, the motion passed. The island of Aeolia was now officially free, and the message would be sent via radio waves. It was experimental technology, and they could only communicate using predetermined codes, but within half a day the retreat was underway.

Pisistratus sighed as he focused his thoughts. ‘The die likely hasn't been retrieved yet. I suppose I can give Alexander another chance. Unless the boy survived, it shouldn't be too difficult.’

Nero sighed as he readied his bag for the journey ahead. He was not happy about leaving his home, particularly since they were finally beginning to gain the freedom they'd sought for so long. The followers of Minerva were beginning to retreat from the island. They'd even done his people the favor of taking away most of the things they'd brought here.

But he owed Vac, who'd been an integral part of making it all happen, though there were other factors outside their control which helped make it happen. ‘I will bring him back to our ideal home.’

As he reached the meeting spot, he saw Morta in an intense conversation with Marcus. While Morta had agreed to only wait thirty minutes, she had been so drained by the fight that she collapsed in exhaustion while receiving medical attention, and Marcus had chosen to let her rest and delay the rescue operation by a whole day, which she was now upset about.

Aurea was stuck in the middle and was trying to mediate, but upon Nero’s arrival, Morta stopped with a huff and said, “Alright. It's time for us to head down. Marcus, I hope you've at least managed to secure transportation for that?”

Marcus winced at her tone, but with a sigh answered, “Yes. We couldn't get hold of an airship, but we managed to steal a hot air balloon. It should be enough for the three of you.”

Marcus glanced at Cassius and amended, “Well, the four of you, I suppose.”

Nero cursed as he remembered that fact. ‘Ah right, that asshole is coming along. I wish I'd been allowed to kill that traitor the first time around. At least I injured the fucker.’

He pulled up the tied Cassius and had him walk slowly towards the others. With a sneer he said, “You'd better behave. I see the slightest hint of you betraying us again, and I'll finish what I started before.”

To his irritation, Cassius simply murmured something to himself. He observed the others. Morta was clearly focused on getting back Vac, whereas Aurea was shackled by the guilt she felt for failing. They boarded the balloon, which was pushed out by the others. When the followers of Minerva had left, they hadn't bothered to take the ancient artifact to control the barrier. And so they could leave the island, as they began their slow descent to the land below.