Loud gunshots were heard from close range, and a mix of screams quickly followed. Archer’s eyes immediately flung open from the loud bang that ricocheted off the frail house walls and wailing. 

He sat up and gunned it out the door, “what is going on?” Archer thought to himself as he ran down the stairs leading to the main floor and front door. Then he saw them—a man standing over his older sister and brother with two men behind him. The men were dressed in golden and white covered textiles. His older brother and sister splayed on the floor, blood puddling underneath them, soaking their clothes. 

The man looked up and saw him. He bolted out the wide-open front door and down the steep stairs. Archer heard barks of order and the heavy thump-thump of footsteps close behind him. 

Panic flooded his mind, “Are they dead?” He thinks about his siblings and the image of them collapsed on the floor floods his mind. He keeps running, past the deserted and collapsing homes, past the nearly-dead and sickly people that were laying on the hard broken concrete street floor. 

Archers breaths were becoming quick, heated, and short from running. He ran, his legs felt like breaking in half but his heart wouldn’t calm. The trees that surrounded around the outskirts fly past him, a mix of greens and browns, and hints of gray. 

He stopped listening to his quick pants and directed his hearing towards the men, he couldn’t hear their loud shouting or footsteps following him anymore so he slowed his run and came to a stop. Still panting, he sat on the grooves of one of the many trees that surrounded him. 

So many questions ran through his mind, “I need to keep going if I’m going to get away from them.” He thought, trying to keep a calm mind. He stood up and started walking to the left of where he ran. To the city, there he could get help.

On the left side of the city outskirts of Paris, Archer made it just before the crack of dawn. Cold and tired, he slowly walks down the road leading into the city. Dusk light shone down onto him every several feet from the street lamps, half of them didn’t work. 

Archer hears the cock of a gun and quickly looks up, the barrel of a gun directly pointed at his face. 

“Who are you?” The man behind the gun uttered. Archer couldn’t see the man, his face was hidden by the barrel of the gun and the street lamp directly above them wasn’t shining any light. 

Archer swiftly put his hands up in defense, “I’m just trying to get to the city,” he tried to explain.

“Not a good idea, mate.” Another voice from above him stated in a little bit of a harsh british accent, quiet but clear. 

Archer cleared his throat, “Who are you guys?” he asked, trying to put on a fearless mask. The street lamp above them held its light, the boy holding a gun had this black unkempt hair, dressed in dark clothing of blacks and browns. 

He pulled his gun down and pointed it at the ground, Archer looked up and caught a glance of the boy with the accent, short choppy blonde hair and dressed with a light brown tarnished cloak. 

“Did you come from the west side of the outskirts?” The black-haired boy questioned while looking Archer up and down, He nodded. “Trigger,” the black-haired boy stuck out his hand, Archer shook it quickly. “That’s Felix.” Trigger pointed up to the boy standing on the small building landing above them, Felix’s legs hanging off the edge as he looked down and smiled. 

“The Monarchs came after you, right?” Felix asked as he stood up on the edge, Trigger turned around and flung open a hidden door. 

“Monarchs?” Archer asked confused,

“The men dressed in gold?” Trigger replied back. 

Archer nodded, “They were in my house when I woke up, standing over my siblings bodies, I bolted out of there as fast as I could.” he admits. 

“You’re lucky to have survived. They kill everyone on sight.” Trigger grumbled. The two walked into the crumbling building, Felix stood at the top of the stairway leading to the roof. 

“Are you two survivors?” Archer asked, they both nodded. 

“We’ve been out for awhile though, they attacked the east side of the outskirts awhile ago.” Felix stated.

“The monarchs are a group of nobilities that are targeting most of the population, starting at the outskirts of the city. If they can take out most of us,” Trigger motioned with his hand towards Archer, Felix, and himself, “then they can reclaim titles and bring back the monarchy.” 

“What's being done about it?” Archer leans against the frame of the stairwell. Felix glances at Trigger, and Trigger shrugs back. 

“Nothing.” Trigger responds. 

“Nothing? How can the government stand by and let this happen?” He voiced.

“We don’t even know if the government knows who's behind these killings. Heck, we don’t even know the identities of the monarchs besides the fact that they are monarchs, they were nobility.” Felix comments. 

“What have you guys been doing about it then?” Archer asked precariously, he walked around the empty building and swiped his index finger across a dusty counter. 

“We started a rebellion, a monarch rebellion.” Felix confesses. Archer's eyes widened, two and two clicked in his brain. 

“You’re the Bullion Hounds. The rebellion everyones been talking about.” Trigger solemnly nods. 

Loud shouts and yelling were heard through the window like thunder, “We better get out of here.” Felix adjusted the belt on his pants, and Trigger quickly threw his cloak hood over his head to cover his face. 

“Are you with us?” Trigger asked by the exit, Felix pulled out a cloak from his satchel and held it out with his hand. Archer silently nodded and grabbed Felix’s hand and was pulled into the hidden exit.

“Quick! C’mon!” Trigger darted around the corner, his cloak flicked in the air after him like an open flame. Loud bangs and crashes clanked and vibrated the hallways following Archer and Felix. 

A monarch soldier threw himself at Felix crashing him into the wall, Archer withdrew his bayonet from back under his cloak and lept at the soldier on top of Felix. “Get off!” He heard himself shout, he gave the soldier a quick stab through the chest and heavily pushed the soldier off of Felix.

“Watch out!” Felix shouted and rolled from underneath me, Archer turned around with his bayonet and clashed it against a sword wielded by another soldier. A bang sounded and the soldier collapsed on top of him, Trigger standing behind him with his cocked gun. 

Archer quickly shoved the dead soldier off his lap and scrambled up onto his feet, “Well, what are you waiting for?” He asked as he quickly turned and headed back down the hallway that Trigger had come from. A long, large spiral stairway leads down to the first floor to the door of freedom. 

The three hopped onto the stairwell fencing and slid down the tens of feet and each landed on the floor with a thump. Archer motions them to follow him out the planned escape door. More loud shouts and running footsteps from above sounded throughout the mansion. The three quickly ran out and across the big yard under the bright moonlight. 

Felix starts laughing like a hyena and jumping while running, “We did it boys! We killed one of the Monarchs!” Archer started laughing and jumping with him, up and down under the night sky. 

“Quiet. We’ll get caught and killed if you keep being loud.” Trigger hisses under his breath at them but couldn’t contain his smile underneath the cloak either.

Shortly, the Bullion Hounds find a hidden spot next to a small pond. Laid next together looking up at the stars, smiling and having small chatter. The night was bright and they were full of excitement. 

They shared stories of their previous lives under the stars, Archer found out that Trigger was the eldest of all of them by a few years and that he was the oldest of several siblings, Felix was the youngest and was an only child. 

They all had lived different lives before any of this changed . “It’s a little crazy how much has changed and how different we are of people to come together like this.” Archer admitted openly, 

“I know! I don’t like to think or say this but I’m grateful that I met two lads like you.” Felix replies back, Trigger groans at his use of “lads”. 

“I genuinely can’t believe I’ll be 18 tomorrow,” Archer sighs, “my siblings and I had a plan to visit the city on my birthday.” 

Felix sat up, “Why don’t we just go into the city tomorrow?” 

“We’ll get caught, idiots.” Trigger scoffed, 

“And what if there’s an off-chance we don’t? We should pay a visit to our station as well.” 

“Station?” Archer asked interested,

“Nevermind. Fine.” Trigger gruffed and rolled on his side, facing away from them. Archer turned on his side to face Trigger’s back, watching Trigger’s body slowly started to heave up and down, in rhythm with his breathing. 

Archer laid back down on his back and sighed again before closing his eyes and wishing for dreams of his siblings.

In the early dawn, the three made their way deep into the city of Paris. After walking for what felt like hours, in actuality mid-evening; Trigger stopped in front of a brick building with lavoushing bone-white windows and trim. He rasped on the door, gently the door opened a crack and a brown haired girl with green eyes peeked one of her eyes through the crack. 

“Who is it?” A voice in the house shouted from some distance away. The brown girl sighed when she saw Trigger.

“It’s just the boys.” The brown haired girl closed the door, the door made a bunch of clicking noises and then was opened fully. The girl stood there with long, and smooth curly brown hair, she was dressed in formal-wear. She quickly ushered them inside when she laid her eyes on Archer.

“Whose this?” She asked deafening, a little annoyed. 

“Scarlett, this is Archer!” Felix said cheerfully, grabbing both of Archer’s shoulders as Archer awkwardly smiled and waved. 

Scarlett crossed her arms and sighed, “C’mon.” She motioned them to follow her up the stairs, she led them through a twist and turn of hallways and up more stairs until they reached what seemed to be a hidden attic. 

Two other girls were lurking within the hidden attic, wearing the same apparel as Scarlett. One was short and petite with straight jet-black hair and blue eyes, the other was a tall and athletic with wavy blonde hair and dark brown eyes; almost like dark chocolate. 

“You’ve already met Scarlett. This is Violet,” Trigger nodded his head towards the black haired girl,

“And this is Everly!” Felix pointed at Everly, “We missed you guys. It’s been so long since we last saw each other and it’s been awful without you.” Felix added dramatically, dragging out his ‘so’. 

Everly looked Archer up and down, “Well I suppose.”

Archer looked back at her a little offended, “I suppose?” He gave a tiny chuckle and walked over to Everly. “Am I not up to your expectations?” 

She looked him up and down again, “Ouch, I have expectations? A girl can dream.” Everly said sarcastically, “Maybe you are, I haven’t met anyone in the rebellion yet who can keep up with my sarcasm and independence.” 

Archer grabbed at his heart dramatically, “Oh, I think you have my heart already.” He tugged at his shirt collar.

“What’s our next plan of action then?” Scarlett scoffed, she didn’t seem very keen on Archer being there. Everly turned around to a file cabinet and with a fluid kick of her legs, thrusted a drawer open and pulled out an assortment of newspaper and documents.

“It’s been all over the news.” She stated,

“The monarch killings?” Felix asked and Everly nodded, she splayed the papers over the old rackety table and pointed. 

“I got some information from one of our insiders that they contain documents and records on the information of who they kill.” She grabbed a particular yellowed piece of paper. “One of the Monarchs, Henry Alison, contains these records.” She glanced at Trigger.
“We get these records and expose them.” Trigger nodded,

“Then they can be arrested for their crimes.” Scarlett stubbornly finished, everly nodded and gently pushed the papers into a neat pile and back into the locked file cabinet.

“That’s brillant. Good work, Everly!” Felix said excitedly,

“You’re sure full of energy and excitement today,” Archer commented and nudged Felix with his shoulder.

“How could I not? We’ll bring them to justice soon enough and then we can all go back to our lives!” Felix’s eyes looked around as everyone looked away uncomfortably, “Try to fix our lives and live a normal life, at least.” He added on. 

“Alright, that’s the plan then.” Trigger nodded acceptedly and headed down the attic stairway. Everyone else followed after them but Everly and Archer, Everly was tidying up the messy attic as Archer stood there watching.

“You need something?” She asked with her back turned towards him.

“No,” Archer rubbed his neck, “I hope I’ll see you again sometime in the future.” 

Everly turned around and propped her hand on her hip, “Oh, definitely.” She smirked. Archer smiled back and turned around to head down the stairs, Trigger and Felix were waiting by the front door. 

“Let’s go, the faster we get this done, the closer we are to freedom.” Trigger flung open the door, “We’ll keep you updated, Scarlett.”

Throughout the entire time there, that was the first time Archer saw the rude and stubborn Scarlett smile. 

“See you around.” Scarlett gently closed the door and locked it.

Archer nodded towards the street and they headed off into the street full of people. He turns around and glances at the house for one more moment, the thought that he might return to the house alone never crossed his mind.

~

Just at the last bit of sunlight, the three made it to their destination. Cloaks covering their face, they sat in the dark waiting for the perfect moment. 

“Alright, in through the back door, find the office.” Trigger pointed out at a layout of the house that was given by Scarlett. “We find the office, we find the documents. Get the documents at whatever cost and then we bolt.” Archer and Felix both nodded.

Trigger rolled up the layout and slid it into his side bag, the bushes rustled behind them. Trigger turned and withdrew his sword,

“Calm down, Trigger.” Scarlett hissed and poked her head out, she was followed out of the bushes by Violet and Everly. The three girls wearing more men clothing and the same cloaks as the boys. 

“Scarlett, what are you doing here?” Trigger hissed back, irritated by the sight of Scarlett. 

“Our insighter was killed after he spilled the beans, thought you might need some help.” Scarlett hissed back, Trigger remained silent and looked back to Felix and Archer.

“We’re in, and immediately out.” Trigger quickly led the way in front of them, they all followed in pursuit. The back door was left unguarded, as usual for rich snobs like the monarchs. They didn’t believe that they were ever endanger. Trigger split up with Scarlett, Felix with Violet, and Archer with Everly, as they searched the house quietly from top to bottom until they came across the office. Trigger made hand motions behind the wall near the office door, Archer peaked in. A dressed monarch was sleeping in one of the chairs near an identical file cabinet like Everly’s. 

Felix snuck in, with him being the quietest out of all of them and quietly broke open the lock on the file cabinet. Archer and Trigger followed with Trigger keeping an eye on the monarch, his hand rested on his sword in its holder. Felix quietly rolled up the documents and gave a thumbs up. A loud crash was ruptured from the floor above, the monarch in the chair quickly sat up. 

“Hey!” The monarch shouted as Felix snuggled the last document into his side bag, 

“Bolt!” Trigger yelled, harshly throwing himself against the monarch which flung the monarch against the wall. The three bolted, the girls heard the shouting and took off on their own. Nowhere in sight. 

Down the hallway, more monarch guards showed up with shouting and loud footsteps. They ran into the kitchen of the home and found the girls, confused and slightly panicked. 

“What happened?” Scarlett asked Trigger,

“There was a loud crash upstairs, it woke the guard up.” He said out of breath. 

“Can we please get out of here!?” Felix threw his hands in front of him for dramatic effect. Footsteps were getting louder, pounding above them, but soon they realized that they were surrounded. 

Trigger drew his sword and stuck out his arm in front of Scarlett, “You’re gonna run when I say run.” He muttered under his breath.

“I’m staying with you.” Scarlett close to him, muttered back. The guards charged into them, drawing their guns and small knives. 

“Run!” Trigger yelled loudly, Scarlett remained by his side. Punching, kicking, beating the crap out of some of the guards. Archer and the rest of them bolted down another winding hallway.

Hands stuck out from a door way and grabbed Violet by her hair and she screamed loudly, Felix whipped back around towards Violet’s scream.

“Here.” Felix shoved his side bag into Archer’s arms, Everly looked at the bag and then back at Felix.

“No, Felix.” Archer protested, 

“Violet needs help.” Felix stated and took off towards the direction of Violet’s screams. Archer threw the bag around his shoulder and grabbed Everly’s hand and quickly lead her away.

He looks back at Everly to make sure she was still okay while they were running and she looked shocked, and confused like in a daze. Archer shook his head and shortly led them out the front door and through the front yard towards the main street and the leisurely decorative trees that were grown there. 

They ran and ran until the gunshots, the screams, the loud yelling, all of it was far behind them. 

“Stop. Stop,” Everly slowed down and eventually let go of Archer’s hand, panting.

Archer turned around and looked at her, “We have to keep going Everly.” He nudged her on.

“No- no, what. Scarlett and Violet, what about Trigger and Felix? They’ll find us here and we’ll make it back to the house.” Everly shook her head in dismay.

Archer nodded, thinking that he didn’t want to push any of Everly anymore. He sat down, Everly sat down next to him. They were miles away from Henry Alison’s mansion, what felt like hours of running tore like a sore pain through both of their legs and muscles. 

When the morning came after Everly and Archer slowly but heavily fell asleep after settling for the night, there was no sign or return of Trigger and the rest. Everly woke up to a hinder of emotions and disarray. 

“Everly, maybe they’re already back at the safe house.” Archer reached out his hand to Everly as she sat there with her head tucked into her knees. 

“Okay.” She took his hand and followed them, they took off their cloaks and hid them well as usual when they did entering the city. Archer followed Everly as he didn’t know the full direction towards the safe house. Loud hoards of people were centered around the center of the city, the inner part of the city, pointing upwards with commotion.

“What’s going on?” Everly asked confusedly, 

“Attention.” A man walked onto a wooden podium that was stationed in the center of the city, the podium that everyone was surrounded around. Everly and Archer drew closer to the commotion,

“We have traitors amongst us.” The man announced, quick chatter and dozens of gasps followed after. 

“Last night, we have found four of the murderers who have killed many of the civilians that live outside of town. Last night, they tried to claim another.” The man threw his arms over to the center of the city, to a large circular fountain.

Archer met Everly’s eyes as the man spoke, four poles with a box like shape on top covered in drapes were at every side of the circle.

“As punishment for these murders and essential treason, they deserved a fate worse than any other.” The man looked and nodded at the men standing near the new poles, they ripped off the drapes on the boxes. 

Everly gasped and almost fell to her knees, Archer caught her and held her up. His heart was beating out of his chest, full of heaviness and shock. 

“Their hearts were cut out, and are being put on display for everyone to see. As embarrassment to their souls, and as a warning to everyone about the punishment of treason and murder!” The man yelled and pounded at the podium with every word, making the crowd jump with every pound. 

Archer forced himself to look at the boxes in the sky, four hearts. His teammates’ hearts. 

“C’mon Everly,” Archer holds onto her, to make sure she doesn’t collapse. “We need to go. Now.” He commanded, Everly nodded and let Archer hold onto her as he led her in the direction of the home. 

When they got there, Everly flung the door open and quickly shut it as quickly as she opened it and fell to the ground of the mudroom. 

“Everly..” Archer bent down on a knee close to her, 

“Do not.” She stuck her hand up to his face, 

“We have the documents, we can expose them. We can get out of here.” Everly looked up at him with tears in her eyes, 

“There’s no point anymore.” She muttered.

Archer grabbed her chin and made her look at him, “Yes there is. It’s not just about saving other peoples lives and returning to our own anymore. It’s about bringing the ones we love, justice. Do you understand? We need to bring justice and make sure every one of those monarchs receive their punishment.” 

Everly nodded and stood up, “What’s the next plan then?” 

“Everly has no plan? I thought she always had a plan?” Archer teased in an attempt to put a tiny smile on her face, and it was a success. She smiled and quickly wiped her face. “Our plan is we escape, there’s a boat dock I know by where I used to live. We sneak into one of the national transports to the States and there we expose every single one of the Monarchs with these documents.” 

Everly nodded, “It’s a plan,”

“Tonight we leave.” 

Everly shut the house door gently, waiting for the quiet click of the door. Their cloaks covering their faces, blending them into the dark from the darkness of the sky, only the shadows of the streetlights shone a spark of light onto their face.

Archer nodded at Everly when she turned around after closing the door, Everly nodded back in anticipation. Archer took down the street with the bag of documents clutched at his sight, his sweaty palm resisting to let go of the bag. 

“This is our last chance.” Archer thought and turned down the alleyway, quickly they made their way from the inner city to Archer’s old neighborhood where the boats were floating, unoccupied. 

The crunching of leaves, the snapping of twigs, tree branches trying to grab at their cloaks left noises in their wake. When they arrived in his old neighborhood, Archer stopped and looked around. It was deserted more than it had been before. 

Everly reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. As he continued walking the way to the port with Everly’s hand in his, a bright light shone onto them. Blinding them for what felt like minutes, loud shouts were screamed at them.

Archer immediately took off with Everly’s hand still in his own, no words came from his mouth.

“This is our last chance, please.” He looked up to the sky and prayed, gun shouts rang about and bullets whizzed past them. Archer took everly in random directions, running in a zigzag pattern. 

They eventually made it to the port with the Monarchs still on their tail a few hundred feet behind them. Archer threw the bag over the tall wooden fence, and then helped Everly over the fench by tossing her over. 

“Archer,” Everly hissed under her breath, grasping the bag close to her chest.

“Get onto that boat,” Archer pointed through the fence at the big naval trade boat at the end of the port. Everly looked at the boat and back at Archer, “Now.” 

Everly took off quickly, her cloak whisking behind her. Archer watched her duck in between the shadows towards the boat, rushing straight forward with the Monarchs on their tail would be asking to be shot. 

The shouts from the Monarchs get louder behind him, he took off to the left quickly heading for the stairs to the lower deck of the boat. 

Archer reached the lower deck and was thrown against the wall, a man pinned him down. He was alone, the Monarchs were still on the upper deck. 

“Who are you?” the man asked angrily, Archer could feel his hands trembling as the man had him pinned by the shoulders.

He pulled his hood down and showed his face, “I’m Archer. I’m just trying to get to the States.” 

“Who are the men that are following you? If they hurt me or my family-”

“Those men are the ones responsible for the recent massacres, please. I’m seeking for justice, let me go.” Archer asked pleadingly, “Get out of her while you can, they’re after me. Hide.” The man let go of his shoulders, and quickly pulled Archer onto his feet.

“I can get you up to the upper deck without drawing attention.” He started to run, Archer pulled the cloak hood back over his face and took off following the man. 

The man grunted and lifted a wooden blockade to a stairwell, Archer bent over and helped him lift. 

“Go.” He ushered Archer up the stairwell and lifted the blockade back into its place. Archer ran up the stairway and found the boat a few meters in front of him, he noticed Everly moving in the shadows a hundred feet down.

Archer ran around the side, grabbing a rope that held onto the side of the boat as he ran. He climbed onto the rope and pulled himself over the edge of the boat,

“Archer!” Everly called out in a loud of enough voice to catch his attention, Archer reached out his hand for hers but she gave him the bag instead. 

He threw the bag over his shoulder landing with a thunk on the floor, he reached his hand back out and grasped onto her hand. Hauling her up, she stood at the edge. Out of breath and panting, Everly looked at him, smiling. 

“We did it.” She whispered, still holding onto his hand in-between them, Archer smiled back at her. Then like a movie being played in slow-mo, a gun crackle went off. 

Birds flew away into the air from the loud CRACK, Everly looked into Archer’s eyes, water welling in them. Her mouth started to fall agape as her hand reached up to her stomach and felt as blood rushed out of a hole pierced through it. 

She fell into Archer’s arms, “Everly!” He held her up. More gunshots sounded and vibrated in the air, “You’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get out of here.” Archer promised her, he threw his cloak off and pressed it into the wound of her chest. 

“Archer-” Everly looked down at her stomach,

“What?” He replied back, panicked, holding his cloak more forcefully against her wound.

“I was the one who convinced the girls to follow you and the rest. It’s my fault.” Everly whispered, tears rolling down her face. 

“No, it’s not,” Archer quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, smudging a little of her blood on them. “Don’t believe that.” 

“I said we’d see each other another time. We will.” Shouts from the deck bellow them echo across the port.

“Everly, what are you saying?” Archer says even more panicked and lifts her face close to his.

“I’ll see you next time, Archer.” Her eyes grow lifeless, the color in her eyes seeming like they were drained. 

Archer sat there frozen with her near him, he quickly grabbed the bag and slugged it over his shoulder. He peered over the edge, instantly bullets wizzed past him. Gunshots were fired at the Monarchs as he dodged behind one of the storage units. 

“I saw you had a gun! Use it!” The man from early shot from a room overlooking the port at the Monarchs. Archer pulled the gun from his back holister and cocked it, aiming at the Monarchs. 

“Retreat!” One of the Monarchs yelled as the gunfire between Archer and the man became more fast-paced and constant.

The man hopped from the open window of the room over the port and slide down the side.

“We need to get you out of here!” He hauled himself up and saw Everly’s body, “You need to drop her back onto the deck,” Archer looked from the man to Everly’s body and moved quickly. 

He took her cloak and wrapped it tightly around her and dropped her, landing with a loud mix of cracks and one loud thump. 

The boat engine fired behind them and the lights above the boat started spinning, he was going to the States. He was free.

“Reports were made of the recent Monarch Massacres, the Monarchs have arrested and tried for hundred accounts of murder and treason against the France government.” The female news reporter boomed over the radio.

“That’s not all, a heroic story has risen from deep waters. A rebellion against these Monarchs, the hearts that were hung in the city center that were claimed to be the murders of these massacres were members of a rebellion who acted against these Monarchs.” The male news reporter boomed,

“That’s not all, Duke. According to one of the main managers and coordinators of the main Paris boat ports for international trade came out with his story on the night that one of the members of this Rebellion escaped from the Monarchs.” Papers rustle in the radio audio, “The man would not tell the name of this rebellion who we assume was the leader.”

“A very tragic story.” Duke the news reported commented.

A hand reached out and shut off the radio with a quick flick, Archer sat down on the hard wooden deck with his face in his hands. 

“You wouldn’t even know,” Archer mumbled, he looked up into the sky and watched the clouds slowly move. “In another life, I’ll see them again.” He slowly got up, that was the only thing he would believe.