Familiar Faces, Worn out Places

[Shang Tsung]

The residence of Argento Camarinos was just as Shang Tsung remembered it—plain, unimpressive, and utterly mundane. Leading the way, the sorcerer tried the knob and found that the door was unlocked, if it even had a lock in the first place. Passing over the threshold, Shang frowned as he surveyed the bare furniture. Aside from the map of the Pale Moors on the wall, there were no real decorations, except for some arms and armor left behind by the paladin. A trunk in the corner served the purpose of holding provisions, and some smaller boxes were filled with religious knickknacks.

Despite the deep frown on Shang’s face, his companion didn’t seem so perturbed. “Not a terrible place,” Atelos remarked as he walked over and put a foot on the wooden pallets that had previously served as the ‘dead’ warrior’s bed.

At that, Shang let out a soft laugh and glanced over at his associate. “You come from a city-state where people are trained to enjoy nothing but grunting and stabbing things with metal phalluses.”

“At least I’m not soft,” Atelos shot back with a grin as he smacked a fist against his very solid chest.

“And I am?” Shang retaliated as he drew the paladin’s hammer and swung it lazily through the air. The hammer left behind a soft glowing trail that lasted for a few moments before fading into nothingness.

The Spartan’s response was to grunt and walked over to the map that hung on the wall. “We traveled a great distance with the paladin,” he muttered as he traced a line from Darkshire to Silent Hill. After that, he traced a second path from the town to a location on the map marked by a castle. “Castle Dracula…”

“He’s their boogeyman,” Shang mumbled as he picked up one of Argento’s spare chest plates and started to theorize how much he could make selling the piece of junk. After a moment, he dropped it to the ground and turned to look at the Spartan. “He was some sort of lieutenant or follower of Diablo who took advantage of the power vacuum. He calls the shots in the interior of the verse.”

“That makes him our enemy.”

The sorcerer nodded his head. “We’ll get to him soon enough, but for now, we need to deal with enemies closer to home.”

The Spartan nodded. “Something is wrong with the town. The people seemed even more scared than normal.”

“Do you blame them? They’re a hardy bunch, but if you find yourself unsupported, your resolve will eventually waver. How do you think they’ll react when they learn that their noble, valiant Argento has been lost in Silent Hill?”

“He was a fool,” Atelos shot back as he opened a chest and pulled out a glass container of water, much like the ones they had been offered on their first visit.

“A fool who left a vacuum that needs to be filled…” Shang replied as he set the hammer down in the corner of the room. “Filled by two powerful, sturdy champions like ourselves.” At that, the Spartan turned around and lifted an eye, which caused even the sorcerer to let out a soft laugh. “It’s always been the plan, Atelos. These people need a champion… we are those champions. We’re not naïve or guided by silly, moronic principles.”

“This town is falling apart.” Atelos replied as he drank some of the water. “They put that boy in charge, and he can’t even get out of the asshole of politicians to speak with two ‘returning heroes.’ That tells me that something is broken.”

“It’s a serious situation, but it’s not beyond salvaging. I’ll go speak with the Lieutenant…I’m certain I can get the information I need out of him. Once we have that, we can make a plan.”

The Spartan shook his head. “We do too much for this place.”