Story Time

[Zekk the Tyrant]

Hi!

This isn't your typical character development page but I wasn't sure what else to do with it. But I'll tell you what you're looking at. A lot of things happen in the IC, right? Like, a lot of things. And when you're in there a lot, it's hard to keep track of everything that goes on. Things people said, things that happened but weren't said, etc. SO, I've taken to writing small stories with my characters to try and give myself (and others) something concrete to look on and go "okay so THAT happened." Sort of like fanfiction, but canon. So, enjoy Story Time!

[Zachary Rechin]

Felicity was gone.

That was not really anything spectacular or life-changing news for him, really. In a way, he had expected this. Deep down, he knew this would not be the thing for her. She would see it too much as following Cato on a whim and less of what the G.P. was really about. But no matter. He couldn't fault her for asking out. And what is done is done. He held no grudges.

It was even less of a surprise when Cato told him he would have to kill her now. That order didn't even really have to be said. He knew the emperor well enough to know when silent orders were given. In some ways he knew Cato better than Cato knew himself. That man, so obsessed with the rest of the world and fixing it, had no time to learn of himself. That was just a part of his personality.

The real surprise was his response to the order. He knew what would happen if Felicity asked out. He knew that there was a significant chance that she would ask out. But for the small chance that this would work out, that he perhaps would not feel so alone, he put his neck out for it. And now he would have to suffer for that. This was his fault. It was no one else's. So less than a week after Cato put words to the silent order to kill Felicity, he left. Vanished. He was done with people. It was his turn to take an out.

He needed to go somewhere that nobody could possibly find him. Anywhere in the country, or near any civilization at all, he knew that he could be found. And the consequences of anyone bringing Zac back to Cato but himself would end in death for him. He looked to the mountains. The Atlas Mountains. Fortunately being in the G.P. part of your training for the program is learning to survive in any environment. He would manage just fine there.

Fast forwards a few months, he's just finished conforming a hut he'd made with a giant slab of stone as the back wall. Part of his own instinct, never leave the back unguarded. He did not bring much with him to the mountains, just a few things to make life easier. Blankets, a few simple tools, some cooking equipment, a book on foraging and what was edible and what was not edible. Some clothes, and hygienics. Traps to catch game were the trickiest part but after two weeks he had it down.

He had a companion, too. A little black bear cub. It would be dangerous to keep growing up, but the mother was dead and in all truthfulness he was lonely. Being alone was something he would always be able to handle, and he had really become one with the serenity of nature. But this little guy made it a lot easier. Having someone to look out for besides himself gave him purpose. He named the bear Santa, and Santa only three months old was the best friend he had ever had.

But there was a deeper reason he had chosen the Atlas Mountains. With the demititans running around, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something more to this place regarding the name. So after having settled himself in not too far for, the top of the mountain, properly acclimating himself to the environment, he hiked to the top. If he could find Atlas... He really didn't know. But he would be a little less alone than before, and he did not care much for the other consequences.

He felt the presence more than saw it at first, but he rounded a corner at the top and instead of the tip of the mountain you can see from a distance, it was actually a small crater that had an arena-like shape to it. Maybe it was The Mist that obscured this from mortals, otherwise this should have been found by now. And there was a very tall being in the center, lifting some invisible burden. And he knew he exactly what this was.

He came forward, but kept a strong distance. If he was right, and the stories were right, he had to be wary of any trickery into switching places with the man. He took a deep breath, and spoke calmly as he could. "Hello, Atlas."

[Deleted]

Fear.

Fear was a driving factor for Tyler, and in fact it may be his biggest motive. He was deathly petrified of death, and being a demititan he just knew that no matter how good or bad in life he was, the afterlife for him would be the same. Because of his heritage, he would be condemned to the Fields of Punishment, or worse Tartarus. Being immortalized by his mother did not make this fear any less potent. If anything, it made the fear stronger. Because he knew how he could die, the only way he could die.

And somebody found it.

He had been careful, very careful, not to let anyone find it. No one, not even his fellow titan brethren. Especially them. Anyone could stab him in the back, literally speaking in this case. And the more time someone spent around him, the less he would trust them. He could not be at peace with himself until he had helped bring the Titans back to glory, and his afterlife was assured as something less than destined agony for infinity.

But that damned Pluto girl, Felicity. He had gotten into a fight with her about a year ago, and in gamble with blind luck she threw a shadow strike that almost got him in his point of weakness. He had not really slept much since. He had more frequent nightmares of death, and the grim reaper had her face. Surely she was laughing now, mocking him even a year past the event. Maybe the whole camp knows.

Regardless, he had to end her. He could not begin to find peace with himself until he at least established that much confidence that the one person who knew was dead. Felicity had to die. There was no other way around it. But killing someone, that was nothing to him. He was the camp executioner, death was casual. In fact, it was soothing. Every death he delivered was one step closer to his own happy ending after life.

So he bought a gun. And sitting on his bed, he held that gun now. It was a 1911 Ed Brown handgun. He'd taken time to learn his firearms before just buying anything on the shelf. This one was a little pricey, but he would spare no expense for the price of his serenity. He would call it the Peacemaker. Pretty cliché, but nobody had to know the name but him.

He tucked the gun away and left camp. He was barely allowed to keep a sword on campus, and Cosmos would probably consider it treason if he found Tyler carrying a gun now. So he kept it in a self storage unit he was up-keeping in town. He kept a few belongings there, but right now the rest were not so important. He smiled as he locked the storage unit behind him as he left. For the girl's sake he hoped she was a daddy's girl. Her family reunion would come around much faster than she expected.