---
Leo waited.
Not with crossed arms or an impatient sigh — but with stillness. An eerie kind of silence that made even the evening wind avoid brushing past him.
He simply stood there, motionless, staring.
Staring at Arnold.
From a distance, it may have seemed like a mundane thing — two men locked in a wordless gaze outside a café. But there was something in Leo's eyes. A cold calculation. A predator studying another predator, wondering whether to fight, flee, or offer meat.
Arnold stepped out of the café, blinking in surprise.
There was a man. Watching him. Not blinking. Not moving.
"…That's not creepy at all," Arnold muttered under his breath.
Still, his instincts buzzed. The café had changed him — awakened something inside. And that something was telling him the man in front of him wasn't just another busybody.
Leo was the first to speak. His voice was flat, decisive.
"Come with me."
Arnold paused. "No name? No introduction?"
Leo turned without replying, his cloak fluttering slightly as he walked down the cobbled road.
Arnold, after a moment, followed. "Well, that's not suspicious at all…"
---
They walked in silence through the fading streets of the capital's outer districts. The buildings here were old, worn, and half-forgotten by time. Vines crept over stone walls. Rusted lamps flickered uncertainly. The light from magic-crystal lanterns barely reached the edges of the cracked sidewalks.
It was the kind of place people avoided unless they had a reason. A good reason.
Eventually, they arrived at an abandoned playground — once bright and cheerful, now overrun by weeds and silence.
The swings creaked slowly in the wind, one of them moving just slightly too long after it should have stopped.
Leo turned and stood about ten meters from Arnold, hands still in his coat pockets.
"To be honest," he said finally, "I was very surprised to learn there was a second customer. So soon."
Arnold raised an eyebrow. "With a place like that café? I'm surprised it took this long."
"That's fair," Leo nodded. "Still, it's a delicate thing. Secrets like that—like what we've found—they don't stay hidden for long. And when they get out, people die. Empires tremble."
Arnold didn't flinch. "Is that a threat?"
"No," Leo replied. "It's an invitation."
Arnold folded his arms. "To what? Tea and treason?"
"To survival," Leo said. "And maybe power."
The words hung in the air for a moment.
Arnold tilted his head. "Let me guess. You want me to join you."
"Yes."
"And you assume I'd agree?"
Leo offered a thin smile. "You're no fool. A man walks into a mystical café that grants power — and finds another man already ahead of him. That man then approaches him, alone, and offers alliance. If I meant to kill you, we wouldn't be speaking."
Arnold didn't respond at once. He was studying him now. Not just his words, but his posture, his tone, his eyes.
Cautious.
"Is this about leverage?" Arnold asked finally. "My cult leader identity? Because if so—joke's on you. Everyone in power already knows. They tolerate it."
Leo's expression didn't change. "I don't deal in blackmail. That's for short-sighted people."
"Then what is this really about?"
Leo took a slow breath and looked toward the cracked stone walls of the playground.
"This empire is dying," he said quietly. "The founding ideals — freedom, justice, unity — they've all been buried under politics, rot, and gold. The Senate is a hollow shell. The noble families are a cancer. The arcane academies teach obedience, not truth."
Arnold blinked. "And you want to change all that?"
"No. I want to burn it down."
"…Subtle."
Leo chuckled. "I'm past subtle. I've seen the truth. The café is more than a curiosity — it's a spark. And sparks ignite revolutions."
Arnold narrowed his eyes. "So what do you want from me?"
"When I rise," Leo said softly, "I want your cult to become the empire's primary religion. Recognized. Funded. Protected."
Arnold stared at him for a long time.
"…So that's your angle," he said slowly. "You want to tie your army to a faith. Wrap blood in robes."
Leo shrugged. "It's been done before."
Arnold shook his head. "You're not subtle, but you are smart. And that's the problem. Because we both know no real religion joins a war between kingdoms. The moment you pick a side, you abandon the faithful on the other. That kind of betrayal breaks faith itself. If I join you — I rise and fall with your state. My faith becomes your ornament."
Leo didn't deny it.
"That's true," he admitted. "You see clearly."
He stepped forward.
"But that café — that power — it will be hunted. Studied. Feared. You and I… we're anomalies now. You know the cults. They'll see us as corrupted. The nobles will see us as dangerous. The academies will want to dissect us."
Arnold said nothing.
Leo's voice dropped.
"You don't have a choice."
A long silence followed.
Finally, Arnold muttered, "I know."
Leo stopped walking.
"And?"
Arnold looked up at the sky — a faded purple canvas of early dusk.
"…It's an alliance," he said. "Nothing more. I'll work with you. But I won't be your subordinate."
Leo smiled.
"Good enough."
They walked toward each other. When they met, their hands extended and clasped in a firm handshake.
Two strangers. Two paths. Now twisted together.
---
They sat down on the broken slide nearby, the rusted metal groaning under their weight.
Arnold broke the silence. "What's your plan, Leo?"
Leo paused. "First, we gather. Others will come. The café doesn't just call the desperate — it calls the curious. People hungry for change."
"And then?"
Leo's eyes gleamed. "We give them purpose."
Arnold nodded slowly. "And your Council of Ash? You'll make it public?"
"No," Leo said flatly. "Not yet. Right now, it's an invisible hand. The moment it becomes visible, we become a target."
"Smart."
Leo looked sideways at him. "And your cult? The one the nobles tolerate?"
"They don't know how deep it goes," Arnold admitted. "We've infiltrated five county academies and seven baron noble households. They think we're a group of philosophers with odd hats."
Leo grinned. "Good. Keep it that way. Until it's too late for them to resist."
They sat in silence again.
The wind picked up.
Arnold stood up first. "I'll consider this alliance. But the moment you start preaching lies or leading sheep, I walk."
Leo stood too. "I don't want sheep. I want wolves. Angry, thinking wolves."
Arnold extended a hand again. "Then we'll get along. For now."
They shook once more.
Leo turned toward the shadows of the alleyway, cloak fluttering behind him.
Arnold lingered, then muttered under his breath, "What the hell have I gotten into now?"
He turned and walked the other way.
Somewhere behind him, the wind carried the faint creak of a swing moving on its own.
---
(Hey people, how is the story coming along?)
(If like it reccomed it to your friends and drop a few power stones)
(Pls🥺)
(Anyways, this is the radical faction, people who want change, there are also conservatives but they will come in later)