ALTHEA
“Attention everyone!”
Theo’s voice cuts through the chaos like a blade. The room stills, conversations dying mid-sentence as dozens of heads swivel toward the raised platform. The makeshift headquarters, an old, abandoned theater hidden beneath the city, is packed tonight. Bodies line every wall, the air thick with tension, sweat, and the unmistakable scent of anticipation.
Theo stands under the cracked spotlight, tall and commanding. His face is grim, but his voice is steady.
“Well,” he begins, glancing around, “I’ve got good news and bad news.”
A few nervous chuckles ripple through the room. The tension is too high for laughter to last long.
“I’ll start with the good news.” He pauses, letting the silence stretch just long enough to catch everyone’s attention. “Thanks to the great work of one of us, we’ve managed to get the key to the archive room in the palace. The one where they’ve kept the books we need. The real ones.”
Murmurs break out instantly. The kind that hum with su
