Chapter 38 - Pilse Arc
The next day, Sonny attends the meeting he arranged with Calo and Zoa. All eight members of the Pilse Council are present. The room is quiet when he enters. Eyes track him. Some curious, some skeptical.
Calo motions for him to sit. “Let’s begin.”
The council starts with a full debrief.
They go through everything they know. Documented incidents. Names of individuals tied to the Antis. Estimated size of their base. Population numbers. Behavior patterns. Potential motives. Piece by piece, they lay out what they know.
Then come the incident reports. The tone shifts. Each account is heavier than the last. Homes destroyed. People taken. Residents brutally harmed, even killed. Survivors left with stories no one should have to tell.
One council member hesitates before speaking again.
“…There is something else,” he says. “About their leader. Ruin.”
The room stills slightly.
“Few people who have encountered him… don’t describe him like other Anti members,” the man continues. “But they all agree on one thing.”
“What’s that?” Calo asks.
The man swallows. “He does not feel human.”
Another member adds quietly, “A survivor from another village said he watched Ruin strike a man once… and the body exploded. Like a bomb was set off in his body.”
“I’ve heard he takes these… supplements,” another chimes in. “Apparently they boost his magic and energy. He keeps the strongest for himself. Uses them more than anyone else. That’s how he maintains power and control over Anti Society.”
A low silence follows.
Sonny says nothing. He sits still through all of it. No reaction. No questions. No visible emotion. Only silence. Processing everything he is being fed by the council.
By the end, the numbers tell the whole story of what has happened in the basin. Dozens murdered or assaulted. Twenty-eight taken. And that is only Pilse. It does not account for the surrounding villages.
Hours pass before Calo finally calls for a break.
“I think we can adjourn for lunch. Thirty minutes,” he says.
During the break, one of the council members, Rafe, approaches Sonny.
He studies him for a moment before speaking.
“You’ve been quiet,” he says. “How do you feel about everything you just heard?”
Sonny meets his gaze with his normal blank expression.
“It’s tragic,” he says. “What’s happening here… shouldn’t be happening anywhere.”
His tone is calm. Measured.
Rafe watches him, then frowns slightly. “That’s it?”
Sonny says nothing, just peers back at Rafe.
Rafe shakes his head, like he’s disappointed, and walks off.
A few minutes before the meeting resumes, Zoa finds Sonny.
“You better bring your A game,” she says bluntly.
Sonny looks at her. “My A game?”
“The way they see you,” she replies. “You haven’t asked a single question. You haven’t reacted to anything. You’ve barely moved. You’re just… sitting there.”
Sonny stays quiet.
“They think you’re a waste of time,” she continues. “Some of them think you might even be working with the Antis.”
That gets his attention. “…I see.”
Zoa steps closer. “They’re going to ask for your plan. And if you don’t say something that inspires confidence, the council won’t trust you.”
Sonny studies her expression.
She doesn’t back down.
“Calo believes in you,” she says. “Now you need to make the rest of them believe too.”
Sonny nods once. “I understand.”
The meeting resumes. As expected, the council turns to him.
Calo speaks first. “Sonny. We’ve told you everything we know about Anti Society. Their members, their base, their strength, and their atrocities. How are you planning on fighting the Antis?”
Sonny stands slowly and speaks. “My plan is simple,” he says. “I enter through the front gate posing as someone looking to join their group.”
The room reacts immediately. Murmurs. Scoffs. A few eye rolls.
Sonny continues anyway. “They’re isolated. Their focus is domination. Control,” he says. “A group like that is always looking for strength.”
He lets that settle.
“They are a group of primarily amateur magicians, many of whom only discovered their magic a few months ago and have no formal training.”
Someone interrupts. “You think they’ll just let you walk in?”
Sonny replies, “I’ll make them with a show of strength they cannot turn away. My strength alone will be enough to force them. Someone who shows enough power to rival Ruin will surely be of interest to him.”
That quiets a few voices.
He continues, gesturing slightly. “Once inside, I maneuver toward Ruin. I confront him directly.”
Another council member leans forward. “And the others?”
“From what I understand from the debriefing,” Sonny says, “there are around twenty devoted followers. The rest are villagers who were taken.”
He pauses.
“I will try to avoid harming those villagers, but I cannot promise everyone will return home.”
“It may be hard to distinguish between one of the devout followers and a kidnapped villager,” someone mutters.
Sonny doesn’t respond to it. It’s something he knows but does not know how to handle yet.
Rafe speaks next.
“A lot of your plan depends on how strong you think you are,” he says. “What if you are underestimating them? What happens if you fail? What happens when they retaliate?”
The room quiets.
Sonny pauses. He looks at Calo. Then at Zoa. He remembers her words. He exhales once.
Then decides to tell the truth.
“I’ll come clean,” he says.
The shift in his tone is immediate.
“I was raised in the mountains above this region,” he continues. “I was part of an organization known as the Omegas.”
The room stills.
“They were assassins. Every member, including myself, was on par with, or stronger than, any Top Fifteen magician in Bronzeland.”
The council displays looks of shock, disbelief, and skepticism.
“For years, unknown to me,” Sonny says, “our leader protected Pilse and the surrounding villages without your knowledge. Likely in exchange for materials.”
Calo’s eyes narrow slightly, but he says nothing.
“The disturbance you heard on the mountain days ago,” Sonny continues, “was me fighting our leader.”
He meets their gaze. “I killed him. And the other members.”
Silence.
Then whispers fill the room.
Zoa’s eyes widen with shock and awe.
Rafe leans forward, disbelief written across his face. “You’re saying… you murdered the people who protected this basin?”
“Yes.”
“You killed the people who raised you?”
“Yes.”
The bluntness lands harder than anything else he has said.
Sonny continues before they can spiral.
“You’re asking why you should trust me,” he says. “All I’ve known throughout my life is pain, suffering and death. I would like to change that. I don’t expect trust, but candidly, I am your only option.”
He steps forward slightly.
“I’ve seen and endured things on par with what the Antis are capable of. I’ve lived through them. I am not afraid to do what will need to be done to free Pilse.”
A pause.
“I was supposed to die,” he adds. “The fact that I’m here at all is… a wish come true.”
His gaze moves across the room.
“I want to move forward. Change my path. Let me start by helping Pilse.”
Calo watches him. Then smiles faintly. The rest of the council remains quiet.
Finally, Calo gestures. “I think it’s time to vote on whether or not we, as representatives of Pilse, send Sonny here to battle with Anti Society.”
The decision passes.
Six to two.
Zoa and Rafe the only opposers.
After the meeting, Calo approaches Sonny. “You handled that well,” he says. “You have my full support.”
They shake hands.
Sonny steps outside. Zoa catches up to him.
“Was all of that true?” she asks, her tone sharp, yet disappointed.
“It was.”
She stops. “You didn’t tell me.”
Sonny looks at her. “I don’t like talking about it.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s full of pain,” he says. “And things I don’t want to remember. It makes me seem like a monster”
She looks down. “…Is that why you always look so sad?”
“Yes.”
A quiet moment passes.
Then Sonny speaks again. “It’s ironic,” he says. “I ended something that caused many people to suffer and die, but in turn has made the basin suffer.”
Zoa looks back at him.
“Then fix it,” she says firmly. “Defeat the Antis. Free the people. Let that be your first step towards redemption."
Sonny nods once. “Redemption it is.”
“I leave tomorrow,” he adds.
She steps forward and hugs him. The warmth hits him immediately. For a second, it reminds him of Ellie.
She pulls back. “Good luck.”
That evening, Zoa visits her parents. They immediately notice her somber mood.
“How did the meeting go?” her mother asks.
“It went fine,” Zoa says, though she sounds distant.
“You look upset,” her father says.
Zoa sighs. “He’s still going tomorrow.”
“You’re worried about him,” her mother says gently.
“Of course I am,” Zoa replies. Then she hesitates. “But… he’s not exactly who I thought he was.”
Her father leans forward. “What do you mean?”
Zoa shakes her head. “I can’t really explain. Council business. I’ll just say, some of your criticism of him was right.”
She looks away. She doesn’t tell them the truth. That Sonny’s past is soaked in blood. That the Antis are allowed to ravage Pilse because he removed the Omegas. That she doesn’t know if she should trust him anymore.
That night, Sonny returns to his resting spot. He sits and meditates. His mind reaches back toward Draco.
“We need to talk.”
Sonny relays everything from the meeting.
Then hesitates. “There’s something else.”
He thinks about the Antis’ power.
“If their supplement is demon ether… could the Demon Reaper technique remove it?”
Draco is quiet for a moment.
“I am not sure” Draco says. “I don’t think so.”
Sonny replies. “Why? I’ve never used it purposefully before.”
“Demon Reaper removes demons,” Draco says. “If no demon is present… it takes a human life instead.”
Sonny’s eyes narrow.
“Possibly even the user,” Draco adds.
Sonny processes that. “So it might not be a feasible option.”
“It might,” Draco says. “But this artificial demon ether is uncharted territory for the Demon Reaper technique. It could just as easily kill you… or someone nearby. In the end, it’s the Reaper’s choice.”
Draco pauses. “Why not just kill this Ruin person?”
Sonny answers immediately. “The village chief requested I bring him back alive to pay for his crimes.”
Another long silence.
They continue discussing strategies. Risks. Outcomes. Contingencies. Eventually, they exhaust every workable outcome based on the information they have.
Sonny exhales. “That’s enough. I think we have our plan.”
He lies back to catch some shuteye. Tomorrow is coming.
