Stories
Two-Faced
old/abandoned project
tldr; Hired as a healer, Bastion-Icthius follow their king's army until they're taken by the opposing force. Icthius quickly defects, hoping to gain rank with the rebels he'd never be afforded under his own king. The rebel leader, Tosetien, takes Bastion-Icthius to Star City to rendezvous with a contact and retrieve a powerful weapon. While on Star City, Icthius signs up as a candidate, and the pair bond Vzexee and Xyppia.
Tosetien promises Icthius a powerful position, unusual for a healer, if he does one mor thing to prove his loyalty: Take a mysterious substance and implant it in a loyalist camp. Icthius agrees, but Bastion protests. To prevent Bastion from speaking, Tosetien takes Vzexee. Bastion-Icthius return to the loyalist camp and plant the substance. They flee in the night, as the substance bursts into a gaseous form and executes the entire loyalist camp. Bastion is overcome with grief. Icthius is shaken and worried about how torn he feels, but his desire for power drives him on.
Bastion-Icthius return to the rebel camp, and Basion is reunited with Vzexee, who appears unharmed and the pair are lauded as rebel heroes. Tosetien treats them to a night of celebration in their (mostly Icthius') honor. Dozy with drink, Bastion-Icthius stumble back to their newly assigned tent, only to find an assassin lying in wait. Vzexee and Xyppia manage to use their developing magic and psionics to hold the assassin back long enough for all four of them to escape.
Wounded and betrayed, Icthius is overcome with shame and anger. They have nowhere else to go, now. If they return to their own king, they'll be imprisoned as traitors, but Tosetien clearly wants them dead. Bastion convinces Icthius to take down Tosetien together.
