Dead Men Smiling

1.0 THE RISE OF THE PHOENIX

You and I both know I was not the villain of our story but if you want to play victim, I'll be the villain you need.

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Maximus was usually very peaceful and refrained from doing or saying anything that might make you think otherwise but as he read the letter, he thought maybe just this once he was excused from playing nice. He then scoffed to himself showing his more than obvious displeasure towards the letter he had just received from a good friend of his.

Why was he considered a bad person when he did not go around burning orphanages whenever he was in a bad mood?

Was this some kind of twisted joke to make the rebellion look bad?

"I'd like to see how they pin this on The Rebellion as well."

He let out a sigh when he realized the guilty party was in no way affected by his anger. Heck, they probably did not know of his existence. As far as they were concerned, so long as the majority loved them, nothing really was the matter.

The birds started singing their melodies reminding the male that he had to get his day started and sulking probably was not the best way to accomplish that particular goal.

Talk about joy coming in the morning.

He got out of bed, reached for his glasses by the bedside table, and smiled, as his vision slowly got clearer. He began to hum to himself as he took a pink pill from his container and chewed it, enjoying the strawberry taste.

After a shower and a daily confirmation by a full mirror check that the pill did not randomly stop its magic, he put on a pair of brown slacks, a white long sleeved button up and a pair of brown boots.

His humming got more upbeat as he skipped to the living room and picked up his guitar. Once the instrument was in his hands, he played along to the tune that had been playing in his head for quite some time.

By the time his private concert was over, he heard slow clapping and froze before telling himself that he took the pill and was ok. He turned to face his audience before he smiled.

"Ren," he acknowledged. "What brings you to my humble abode? Didn't you say that you'll have your break next week?"

"Can't I lie and say I came to see you?" the other chuckled.

"No."

"Fine. I came to get His Highness' poem. Epic? Sonnet? Gods know what you call it but I didn't expect a show." He shrugged.

The brunet nodded his head slightly before walking to his bedroom where Nero's poem lay on his desk ready to be signed and handed to the messenger.

Maximus scrutinized the poem before kissing his teeth in slight frustration; his personal opinions of the guy really made it difficult to do so much as write one good thing about his royal pain in the ass.

Better than writing how much of a douche bag I think he is.

He sealed the poem after signing it and prayed to no one in particular that this would be the last time he would so much as interacted that clingy creature.

Sadly, the life of Maximus never went according to plan. "What the heck are you doing reading my things?"

Ren looked up so fast Maximus was afraid his neck had snapped; but when he looked at the other male, all the former saw was fear in his gaze.

"Ren," he tried to reason. "It isn't what you think-"

"So you aren't a member of Dead Men Smiling? You don't want to overthrow The Emperor? You aren't behind anything that happened since they started to cause problems in the empire?"

The brunet shrunk back slightly before reaching out, "Let me explain-"

"Why does everyone always want to explain why they do bad things? We wouldn't need to explain anything if you just didn't do these bad things in the first place. Lay it on me Max, what reason do you possibly have for wanting to overthrow The Emperor?" "Uh... how can I put this?"

"I'm waiting," Ren reminded him when he took too long to answer.

"Nero is a bad person, Ren. You have to trust-"

"I don't want to hear it. You're lucky I respect you enough not to snitch but I never want to see you again."

He furrowed his brow as he wondered what Nero would think. He would be livid if Maximus left without an explanation. The other male sighed, "I'll deal with The Emperor. I'll say you need self-isolation or something like that."

His gaze turned violent, "If I find you here tomorrow, I'll kick you out of the house myself. Goodbye, Max."

Maximus' brain still had a hard time processing what just happened; did he seriously lose a home because he is a dedicated member of the rebellion?

He felt tears slide down his cheeks and did nothing to stop them. He just slid to the ground and sobbed; why did life always have to take a left turn when everything was going right for once?

A sigh left him as he slowly stood, not feeling the essence of being happy. He walked to his room or his former room and took out the things he would need: money, his pills, some paper and pens.

He put the straw hat on his head and looked at the mask in disgust, "This is your fault."

"I know that I'm asking you to do a lot but I'd appreciate it if you kids fought for what you see as right. Remember my loves, stand for what you believe in even if it means-"

"You're standing alone," Maximus finished the thought that kept the team pushing. He was not going to abandon them again because he hit a dead end.

This time he was going to finish what they started even if it kills him in the end.