Chapter 1: In the Dead of Night

"Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Future cares have future cures,
And we must mind today."
― Sophocles, Antigone

Five years later...

It was late.

Antigone knew that it was late. She did not know how late it was, but she knew that it was too late for her to still be awake.

She finished looking over the last proposal, one from Butterfly territory, and sighed heavily, rubbing her temples. She looked over at the clock.

Two-thirty AM.

Too late.

But there was still so much work to be done. Her people were counting on her. They trusted her, and in this world, trust was hard to come by.

The world as people knew it more than five-hundred years ago was gone. In the cold, dark aftermath of the apocalypse, a feudal society had developed to replace the anarchy left by the war. In the twisted deadly hierarchy of a rural area known as the Badlands that was separated into territories: Armadillo territory, Butterfly territory, Pickaxe territory, Narwhal territory, Peacock territory, Grasshopper territory, Fox territory, and Phoenix territory. Barons were the leaders. They also controlled land and monopolies over commodities, and were served by a massive workforce of slaves known as cogs, as well as a prostitute class known as dolls. Each baron maintained power through an army of assassins commonly known as Clippers and Butterflies.

Phoenix Territory's army and soldiers were known as Firebirds.

The Firebirds were a military-like defense army whose goal was only to defend their homeland, promoting peace, justice, and equality throughout the Badlands. They refused to engage in any shady deals or fight in any wars unless it was absolutely necessary.

This made them the target of several ruthless Barons, as well as the target of some of their own people, who claimed that they were weak.

Antigone would never forget the day that she lost her entire family in a single instant.

It had happened in the middle of the night. She and her sister were eleven years old, chasing each other around the ballroom. One moment, they were happy and playing. The next, Antigone was unconscious. When she awoke, her mother and father's dead bodies were lying at her feet. Her sister was nowhere to be found.

The Firebirds had come rushing in shortly after, saying that the territory was under attack. Antigone had no time to grieve or process her trauma. With her parents dead and her sister missing, she had become the Baron and sole leader of Phoenix Territory at just eleven years old, making her the youngest Baron in the history of the Badlands. She had not wanted to become a leader, but she had no choice. Her people needed her and she refused to let them down. She was forced to mature at a young age. Many people tried to take advantage of her, especially men, and she was pressured into getting married so that Phoenix Territory would have two leaders, like almost all of the other territories.

She kept finding ways to avoid marriage throughout the years, putting it off, saying that she would get married even though she had no plans to do so. She knew that she was making the right decision. She would be able to do far more for her people on her own than she ever would with a man to hold her down.

She was seventeen years old now and still unmarried. She intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Antigone looked carefully over Butterfly territory's proposal. The usual: they wanted ash. Ash was a commodity that only Phoenix territory possessed, which was where the territory got its name. The ash symbolized what came before the phoenix was re-birthed into a powerful bird: the hidden potential for greatness. Every time that people looked at the phoenix symbol on Phoenix territory's flag, they always thought, "Never judge a book by its cover."

Antigone was a generous person, but as a leader, her people were her top priority. Though she had very good relations with Butterfly territory, she hesitated to deliver more ash to them without something in exchange, something that would benefit her people. She could either decline the request or use the request to her advantage. Out of all the territories, Phoenix territory had the best relations with Butterfly territory. The Butterfly territory's Baron was widely known as the Widow, a woman who was infamous for murdering her husband. Antigone knew better than to make prior judgments and waited until she actually met the Widow in person before she decided what to think of her. She had actually met one of the Widow's top Butterflies first: girl named Tilda who referred to the Widow as "Mother". Antigone had just been made the baron of her territory a month prior and that was her first official meeting with the Baron of another territory. They were to discuss a trade-off. In that instance, she had desired oil.

Oil was a commodity that everyone in the Badlands seemed to always want and Phoenix territory desperately needed it at the time. The two territories had been in the stages of a trade-off and the Butterflies were trying to decide if they wanted to trade their oil for ash. Even though everything had not been resolved, the meeting went well.

It was the journey back that was scary.

While she was in her carriage on her way back from Butterfly territory, Antigone was ambushed by a group of Clippers from Fox territory, led by Baron Juliet Chau. Phoenix territory had many enemies, so the motive behind the attack could have been any number of reasons. All that Antigone knew was that the Widow and her Butterflies saved her and her Firebirds' lives, including Erastos's life. She was so grateful to them that she offered to form an alliance with them should they ever need her. She gave them some of her territory's ash as a gift and they gave her some oil in return.

What kind of a person would Antigone be now if she declined their request?

Before she could become lost in thought, there came a knock at her door.

She lifted her head, a sharp pain shooting from her neck down her back, and winced. She had been looking down for far too long.

"Who is it," she asked, her voice coming out louder and less controlled than she meant for it to.

"Your worst nightmare," came a playful voice, muffled from the other side of the door.

She couldn't help but chuckle, "Come in, Erastos."

Her visitor cracked open the door to reveal themselves: a young man, tall and stocky. He was wearing a playful grin, but his eyes, misty and green, showed concern. "You've been in here for hours," he said, brushing his short ebony black bangs away from his eyes.

"And I'll be in here for hours more, as long as it takes to get the job done," she said, looking back down at the proposal. "I have business to attend to that needs to be done quickly."

"You won't be able to get any work done if you can't hold your eyes open," he retorted.

He had a point, but she refused to let him know that.

When she made no reaction, he spoke in a stern tone of voice. "Antigone," he declared. "As your loyal regent, it is my duty to ensure that you are well-rested and at your best to perform your duties."

She heard him walk forward, closing the door behind him. He pushed her papers down gently so that she was forced to meet his concerned eyes. "Sleep," he insisted.

Antigone and Erastos had known each other since they were children. Erastos was the orphan son of a cog. Not much was known about his mother, other than that she came from a high-class family, but it was well-known that his late father came from a long line of cogs who were known for rebelling against and killing their en-slavers. Antigone and Erastos met in the marketplace when they were nine years old. Antigone had run away to escape her dreaded homework for the day and found Erastos trying to steal food from the market. She stopped him and accused him of being a thief, but when he explained that he needed the food for his ill mother, she was kinder to him. She explained to him that he should not steal and that there were other ways to get help besides do crime. She paid for the food and wished him well.

He had been in love with her ever since.

Of course, he would never tell her that. He knew how she felt about being in a relationship with anyone and he did not want to pressure her into anything. He dreamt that one day she would open her heart to love and see that he had been waiting for her all along, but he was content knowing that that day would probably never come. So long as she was safe and content, he was happy.

After Erastos met Antigone for the first time, they kept bumping into each other around town, and he eventually met Ismene, whom he also developed a close relationship with, though he was never as close with her as he was with Antigone. He lost his mother to cancer shortly before Antigone lost her family. When Antigone lost her family, he had been the first person at her side, and if it weren't for him, she would not have been able to handle things as well as she did, so she offered to make him her regent.

Every baron needed a regent. Regent was the highest rank that any assassin could receive. Being given the title of regent by a baron essentially meant being made royalty and the baron's right-hand soldier. Antigone trusted her current army with her life, for they had also served her parents, but Erastos was the only other person who seemed to understand her besides her sister. He had not been trained to be an assassin, but his father had taught him how to defend himself if a war were to ever come about, so when Antigone asked for his help, he could not refuse. He upped his training regimen and was slowly becoming one of the strongest fighters in the Badlands.

Though Antigone had a strong connection with Erastos and he understood her more than anyone else did, she had not yet met a single person who understood her truly and deeply. Not her family. Not even Erastos. No one. It was always almost, but never fully. Never completely. Her father always said that one day, she would meet someone who was like her, someone who understood her, but she was getting rather tired of waiting.

Luckily, she had lots to distract her.

Sleep was the last thing on her mind. She only slept when she absolutely needed to, as in, when it hindered her ability to be the leader that her people needed. She avoided sleep as much as she could, because every time that she closed her eyes, she was brought back to the day that she lost everything. The fact that she had frequent blackouts only made matters worse. Ever since she was a toddler, she dealt with blackouts. She could only ever remember having very few blackouts because her parents kept her as secluded as possible so that she would not get cut or bleed, for that always seemed to be the cause of her blackouts. It still happened after their deaths and she could never put her finger on what was wrong, but her Firebirds always knew exactly what to do to help.

"I can't sleep right now," Antigone told Erastos firmly. "There's too much work to do. People are counting on me and this proposal is so risky."

"You can't be a good leader if you don't get rest," Erastos reasoned. "You'll have no ability to reason or think logically."

Once again, he had a point. He always seemed to keep her grounded and sensible, especially in dire situations. She could not have asked for a better regent or a better friend.

"You're right," she said, with a sigh. "Let me just finish my notes and then I'll head to bed, okay?"

He raised his eyebrow, "I won't find you pacing around your room or sneaking out of bed after I leave, will I?"

That had happened before and it was what she usually did in the middle of the night, but something told her that she would need to rest if she wanted to deal with the issue at hand.

"You won't," she said. "I promise."

He gave her a look, his clear green eyes piercing into hers, almost as if he could see right through her.

Almost.

Finally, he sighed. "Okay," he said. "I'm gonna go now, but I want you to keep your word, all right?"

"All right, Erastos," she said. "And I want you to get some rest, too. I don't need you awake all night trying to do my job or check security. The other Firebirds can help me with that when you need rest."

He wanted to argue, but he backtracked. He had no leg to stand on after what he had just told her before, so he smiled. "Okay," he said softly, and she could tell that he was being genuine.

"Good night, Erastos," she told him, smiling before looking back down at her paperwork.

He watched her with a dreamy glint in his eye, a soft smile spread across his face. "Good night, Tiggy," he whispered.

He smirked as he turned around and left, waiting for her reaction.

Sure enough, she hollered at him seconds later, "You know how much I hate that nickname!"

He grinned to himself, picking up his pace as he exited her office, waiting for her to inevitably chase him down the corridor.

This was how he tricked her into going to sleep sooner. He riled her up so that she would chase him. Then, she would be tired when she sat down to work again and would allow herself some time to rest, or she would eventually fall asleep at her desk. Of course, he knew when she really needed to push herself and stay up late, but he also knew when she needed someone to step in and make sure that she got the rest that she needed.

Tiggy had been his nickname for her since they met. When he was a little boy, he could not pronounce "Antigone", so he said "Tiggy" instead, and it stuck. Ismene thought that it was the funniest nickname ever and started teasing Antigone about it, much to Antigone's annoyance. It was easy to frustrate her by calling her that.

He heard her rapid footsteps nearing behind him and he picked up the pace. They were in a safe area, one with not many pointy corners or sharp edges, so he figured that it would be safe to tucker her out there.

"Get back here," she cried, trying to keep her voice low so as not to wake whomever was sleeping.

He stifled a giggle as he turned a corner, screeching to a stop at the end of the corridor before racing down the stairs as fast as his long legs could take him.

Her footsteps grew louder and he grinned, purposely stopping so that she could tackle him to the floor once she reached him at the end of the staircase.

"ERASTOS," she whisper-screamed, her voice even louder.

She was only a few feet away from him now and he braced himself for her to come slamming into him.

He whirled around to be met with her angry red face as she leapt forward, springing into the air like a cat with all four of its legs spread out, as if it was about to sink its claws into its unsuspecting target. He fell flat onto his back when she landed on top of him.

He laughed out loud and immediately slapped his hand over his mouth so that he did not wake anyone in the castle.

She huffed in frustration, her hands flat on the floor as she pushed herself up to look down at him, hovering over him as she roughly blew a strand of her long brunette hair out of her face.

"Tired yet," he asked, the corners of his mouth turning up into a sly smirk.

She scowled at him, heaving, "Oh, I see what you did."

"What did I do," he asked, feigning innocence.

She sprung to her feet, dusting herself off. "Trying to tucker me out, huh," she asked, breathless, as she smoothed out her hair. "Well, it's not going to work. Not this time."

He stood up, still smirking. "Fine," he said. "You win."

She glared at him. "You never give up that easily," she said. "You expect me to fall asleep, don't you?"

"Yes," he admitted.

She rolled her eyes and turned around, walking back up the staircase. "I will fight this, Erastos," she declared.

He chuckled, "M'kay. Have fun. Sweet dreams."

She flipped him her middle finger and he laughed.

She did, eventually, fall asleep at her desk. When he arrived to check on her, he smiled victoriously and crept forward to make sure that she was sitting comfortably. She was a light sleeper, so he knew that if he tried to carry her to bed, she would wake up. He opted for gently situating her instead so that she did not wake up with a crick in her neck. He admired her sleeping form, how she rested her head on her hands, her mouth wide open while she snored, drool dripping from her mouth. Her dark brown loose curls, frizzy and knotty, fell in front of her closed eyes.

Carefully, he put his hand on the paper that was under her hands and slowly pulled it away. He couldn't help but glance at what she was in the middle of. He knew that she had been working on making a deal with Butterfly territory. To sum it up, they wanted ash, (naturally), and she had been trying to figure out how to respond to their request. Butterfly territory knew how to be diplomatic.

He knew how much Antigone admired the Widow and her butterflies. They had saved her life. So, despite Butterfly territory's shady reputation, Antigone thought highly of them, for she believed that they were fighting for women's rights in the only way that seemed possible in their cruel world.

Erastos thought otherwise, but he never voiced his concern.

He filed the paper away with the rest of the treaties and proposals, organized neatly in folders that were on the shelves of Antigone's office. He was the one who had helped her organize them, so he knew exactly where to put things. She had always been a very disorganized person. Naturally, she had gotten better over the years, but Erastos was the person who helped her do that. Another reason why he was her regent.

After checking security again, Erastos wandered the halls, searching carefully for any signs of a threat. When he did not find any cause for concern, he stood beside the doors of the entrance, his hand on the hilt of his sword, prepared to fight at any moment. The sounds of silence echoed in his ears. It was blissful and soothing, but he forced himself to stay awake. If he knew anything, it was how dangerous that silence could be.

His instincts proved him correct.

In the dead of night, echoing in the sounds of silence that surrounded the palace, a faint thudding noise was heard.

Immediately, Erastos drew his sword.

Another thud, this time louder.

It was coming from outside, and Erastos feared that he might be hearing an explosion from afar, heading in the direction of Phoenix territory. Quickly, he rushed to alert the other Firebirds, who were already moving in the direction of the possible threat. Then, he rushed to see where Antigone was. He regretted putting her to bed now. If she had been awake a little while longer, then maybe she would have seen the attack coming. He had a bad feeling that she might have been the victim of a sneak attack, but he tried not to think about that. Instead, he rushed to her office.

His heart dropped.

She was no longer there.