“This view is amazing,” he said, gazing out of the passenger car at the land below.

Although I had seen a lot of amazing views and picturesque landscapes in my centuries of wandering, for some reason, this particular scene struck a very deep chord with me.

There was something calming about the rolling hills that weren’t all that high but still managed to reach the clouds because of the high altitude of the ground. A stream gushed out of a hilltop covered with a low lying cloud, as if the heavens themselves were bestowing their favor upon the land. The sun shed a brilliant golden glow all over the already picturesque scene and turned it into something ethereal, perhaps bordering the divine.

“They say nature is the greatest artist of all,” he said. “Looking at this, wouldn’t you agree?”

I nodded.

It was like a painting. A painting with dashes of brilliant gold and deep black accentuating a landscape exemplifying everything I loved about my world. There were people living down there; all of them with their own lives, their own families, struggles, dreams and beliefs. They lived with the world around them yet did not rely on it for their survival.

I’d always admired them. Admired people, that is. But I never wanted to get involved in their stories. To get involved in their struggles, dreams and aspirations. I had never, in all those centuries of wandering aimlessly around the world, wanted to get to know someone. I had never wanted to risk being hurt again.

Because they were human. They could look up at the hills and the clouds and the stream gushing out from the heavens and think that there was something above them. They could look at the world around them and appreciate it. They could admire the scenery. They could admire the painting in front of them. They could love, dream, hate and cry.

But I couldn’t. For the longest time, I couldn’t admire the painting. I couldn’t let myself stare at the scenery and go ‘wow, that’s amazing!’

Or perhaps, it wasn’t that I couldn’t but that I wouldn’t. After I lost Jeffi and Yunni, I had let my emotions explode so powerfully that when they eventually simmered down, I was empty. An empty husk that didn’t care, for the longest time, about anyone or anything else. I wouldn’t let myself care about people anymore.

They could love their family. Have fun with their friends. They could live a normal life because even though there would be pain and suffering, and there would be goodbyes and farewells, that was okay… because they were human.

They didn’t have to live with it forever. Their pain would end. And for most people, they would be content with death. Because they could look up at the sky and think of something above them. For them, the Goddesses were absolute. Many believed that they would become a part of their Goddess and reincarnate once again. Their Goddess would judge them based on their merits and bestow upon them salvation or punishment.

But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t look up to the heavens and pray to some higher being for salvation. There was no contentment for me. No religion to comfort the reality that I faced.

Because I knew that I wasn’t what people thought I was. I couldn’t absorb someone’s essence or soul or mana or whatever and regurgitate it according to my will. Although I didn’t know for sure if I was doing it without realizing it, I felt as certain as I could be that I wasn’t doing anything of the sort. These people weren’t being reincarnated. They were being comforted by empty promises and dreams as intangible as the clouds that covered the hills down below.

There was no salvation. The Goddesses were useless. Our existences had no meaning beyond giving people a pipe dream to cling to or something to be afraid of.

So I could never live like an ordinary person. I couldn’t live an ordinary life. I didn’t want to care about anyone ever again because I knew… I knew… that once they were gone…

… they were never coming back.

If there was a way to bring someone back. If there was something after death. Then the only one who knew… was Fate.

And in some ways, that was even more disheartening.

“You’re not going to enjoy it if you’re all tensed up like that,” he said. “Come on. Learn to let loose. There’s no harm in trying it.” He smiled. “Who knows, you might just end up liking it!”

He had said that before getting on the Ferris wheel when he saw that I was hesitating. And yet, it rang true in so many ways. Right now he was staring out at the hills and the forest, but perhaps unknowingly, he was staring at my insecurities too and telling me exactly what I needed to do to overcome them.

So I followed Kai’s gaze to the awe-inspiring scenery below and let myself enjoy it. I let myself forget everything and admire the world around me. It was an experience unlike any other. Something I had never let myself do before.

And that’s how I started appreciating the world. My world; Erath.

It was strange how quickly things changed. Centuries of stagnation and self-imposed isolation and now I was sitting on a Ferris wheel with friends.

In fact, having friends was strange enough. Jeffi and Yunni… I cared for them, I loved them but they weren’t friends as much as they were family. My relationship with Lily and the others was different.

Sure I wanted to protect Lily, or at least that’s what I wanted to do at first, but now I cared for her and laughed with her. We went shopping together, gossiped together and even pulled a prank or two on the boys.

And although I was skeptical of Runir’s motives and didn’t trust him one bit, I had developed an odd liking for him. Watching him bickering with Lily was one of my most enjoyable pastimes and he was, arguably, the leader of the group.

Of course, there was also…

“The wind’s nice up here,” said Kai, his hair blowing in the wind.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s very nice up here.”

He turned to me and smiled. He was about to say something important. I could tell by the way his eyes were staring straight into mine. I held my breath, waiting for him to speak.

“Wake up!” said a voice that did not sound like Kai’s.

The Ferris wheel shook. The mountains and forests rumbled. The painting collapsed.

And I awoke.

“I didn’t think you were the sort to fall asleep in class.”

“What? Oh, sorry,” I mumbled.

That’s strange; I’m not supposed to feel tired. I could go without sleep for centuries.

“Can’t blame you though. This class is boring as hell,” he said. “How to resolve conflicts in an eternally conflicted world. That sounded so kick-ass on paper but I should have known that it’d be just another class on politics and government.”

“Why’d you take it then?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Just checking it out. Probably won’t come back to it again,” he said. “A better question would be: why did you take it?”

“Because Zoe took it,” I replied, gesturing to the little girl snoring next to us. “And she took it because you did.”

“Because of me?” he asked.

“Yeah, for whatever reason, she really looks up to you. Did you say something to her?” I said.

“Nah, she probably has a crush on me or something,” he said. “Kids these days.” He shook his head.

“Right,” I said, giving him a deadpan stare.

The class ended and the other students started filing out of the room. I shook Zoe awake.

She stretched and yawned. “School is nicer than I thought it would be.”

“But you’ve slept through every class so far,” I said.

“Exactly!”

We walked down the hallway to our next class. Another boring one, I assumed.

Why did Kai pick all of these boring classes? He doesn’t listen to the professors anyways. He probably already knows most of this stuff or doesn’t care about it… so why did he pick them?

We went down a few staircases and soon the crowds of students walking in the hallways got thinner and thinner. We were deep inside the Academy now. Kai opened a rusty iron door and we followed him inside.

“Oh, you must be the new kids!” said someone with a husky voice. “I thought I’d be all alone down here for another year. Welcome! Please sit down!”

An old man with a long, gray beard sat behind a lone desk inside the dark, damp room. There was a single dust-covered bench in front of the desk and a couple of flickering torches on the walls on either side of the bench.

Kai walked into the room unfazed and sat down. Zoe followed him curiously, pulling me along. The situation was unsettling and made me uncomfortable so I ended up glancing all over the place until I met the seemingly crazy old man’s pensive stare.

And then he confirmed his craziness by spontaneously bursting into laughter.

“I love it, I absolutely love it!” he cackled wildly. “I’m Professor Doodeduddy, but you can call me Professor Doode.”

Yes, he is most definitely crazy.

“And if you thought that I was just a crazy old man,” he said, causing me to jump. Had he read my mind?

“Then you should know,” he continued. “That you were absolutely right!” He cackled wildly again.

Even Zoe was growing a little apprehensive yet Kai acted as if nothing was wrong at all. In fact, he was taking notes.

Why is this the only class you’re taking notes for?

“Introduce yourselves already or I’ll give you nicknames myself,” said Professor Doode.

“Kai.”

“Joey.”

“Amia,” I said, using one of the fake names we’d decided to use at the Academy.

The chances of someone looking for us were slim but it never hurt to be careful.

He snorted and grabbed a bottle that he chugged down ferociously.

“Those names are terrible. You,” he said, pointing at me. “You’re red. You.” He gestured towards Zoe. “Cookie.”

He threw away the empty bottle.

“And you,” he said, pointing at Kai. “You’re taking notes. Good kid. You can keep your name.”

That’s not fair! What is up with this guy?

“Anyways, thank you for expressing interest in one of the most ancient arts known to mankind. It is a skill that anyone can learn but not many can master and possesses the power to shape the minds and hearts of its targets.”

I didn’t even check this class’s name. Is he going to teach us some mysterious forbidden magic or arcane art?

“Welcome to…” He struck a strange pose. “Improv 901!”

“Improv?” I said, confused. “What’s that?”

“Exactly!” he said. “It’s absurd that such an illustrious art-form is so widely unknown to the people of Erath. It’s one of our most wonderful traditions and used to form an integral part of our culture yet nobody even knows about it anymore!” He tried to stroke his beard but it fell off. “Strange isn’t it?”

We nodded slowly.

“Good! Finally, a batch that gets it! Now then, let us get the basics out of the way,” he said, throwing away his fake beard. “First rule of improv: nobody talks about improv. It’ll ruin your social life.”

He paused, probably waiting for laughter or applause.

He got neither.

“Second rule of improv,” he continued, apparently unperturbed by our less than enthusiastic response to his jokes. “Always put the other person first. Accept what they’ve come up with and roll with it.”

He clapped his hands together. “And that’s it! That’s the last lecture you’ll be getting from me. Now get off of that bench!”

“Kai, this is really weird. Can we ditch this class?” I whispered.

“I heard that red!” said Doode. “For that you’ll be helping me demonstrate a bit of improv for the rest of the class. Sit down on the bench again.”

“Make up your mind,” I grumbled under my breath.

“What was that?”

I didn’t reply.

“Let’s get down to it then! Imagine you’re on a bench at the park. Someone sits next to you on the bench and does something that makes you want to run away.” He sat down next to me. “Like this!”

He put a finger in his nose and tried to touch me with it. I promptly shot out of my seat.

“That’s the spirit! Go with the flow. Accept your partner’s actions!” He grinned maniacally.

“I really don’t like this class…” I muttered.

“Your turn, cookie. Do something to make me get off the bench,” he said, grinning at Zoe.

“Okay!” she said, smiling as she skipped up to him and plopped onto the bench.

“Smiling isn’t going to make me-”

She lifted her shirt a little.

“Sweet Goddess below!” he cried.

Zoe let go off her shirt and began swinging her feet.

“This is fun!”

“What in the name of the Goddess… no never mind, best not to talk about it,” said Doode, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Note taker, go on. Try to be gentle though. The cookie’s been through a lot.”

Kai sat next to Zoe and flashed her a smile. She grinned back.

“I’d really appreciate it if you got off of this bench,” he said.

“Sure,” she replied, strutting away happily.

I exchanged a glance with the professor.

“That was… actually you know what, I don’t think I have a funny quip for this one,” said the professor.

Kai shrugged and beckoned with his hands. Doode cracked a smile and started the next round.

Soon, we were on a spy mission but kept getting our partner caught in outlandish ways. We did inappropriate things at a funeral: ironing clothes or sunbathing on the coffin. We were princes and princesses trying to convince our parents to let us marry commoners. A pirate being made to walk the plank but doing something unexpected instead.

I have to admit, it was the most fun I had had in a long time.

Zoe threw a spider at the professor and made him scream. We danced with our feet tied together, tripping over each other and falling flat on our faces. Had a water balloon fight. Reacted to each other in crazy ways. Died dramatic deaths. Laughed at the most random of jokes. And had a great time playing with the old man’s fake beard.

Before we knew it, the class was over and we bid professor Doode farewell before walking back up to meet Runir and Lily.

“Why do you guys look so… happy?” asked Lily, puzzled.

“Nah, it’s nothing,” said Kai.

Zoe tugged his sleeve and he bent down. She whispered something in his ear that made him laugh uncontrollably. Zoe started laughing too and since I had a fair idea of what she had said, I joined in.

Lily and Runir stared at us blankly.

“What the hell happened to them?” mused Runir.

“Must have finally cracked. I always thought we’d all go crazy eventually,” said Lily.

“Crazy?” I said, smiling. “Yes, I suppose that’s true, in a way.”

“And she admits it…” muttered Lily.

The sun was beginning to set and crowds of students were making their way to the dorms. A few of them followed us outside the Academy, presumably because they lived outside or were renting rooms in an Inn like we were.

On the way back, we talked about what we’d done during the day. Although we tried to share the craziness of our last class with Runir and Lily, they didn’t seem to understand just how much fun improv could be. In fact, if it wasn’t for Zoe being absolutely in love with the class, I suspected that Lily would have told us to drop it immediately.

Contrarily, Runir and Lily told us about their seemingly ordinary day. They attended a few boring lectures, made some new acquaintances and explored the campus a bit. No strange old men dancing with weird beards in the basement.

Yet, they obviously weren’t telling us everything. There was a certain tension between them and Runir in particular was very reluctant to provide details about their day- brushing off most of our questions and repeatedly remarking about the dullness of their day.

But since they didn’t seem to be at each others’ throats just yet, I decided not to probe too deeply into the matter.

The sun set over the horizon just as we stepped into the Inn. We had dinner, chatted for a few more hours and then made our way to our rooms. I was sharing a room with Zoe so I could keep an eye on her.

However, she immediately collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep today. She slept calmly and peacefully, just like she always did after Kai gave her that ring. But unlike her, I was restless.

Thinking about our day made me remember some of the things that Runir had mentioned last night.

Just what were the limits to Kai’s Ability and how did it work in the first place? Several instances from today buzzed around inside my head. I couldn’t dismiss the feeling that something wasn’t right. Or maybe, everything had been too right. It was something I’d noticed whilst traveling with Kai.

A lot of things just seemed a little too perfect.

The improv class had come at just the right time to help fix Zoe’s mood and resolve my own anxieties as well. The randomness had been exhilarating. The break from social norms had been liberating. And the overall experience had been just what we had needed.

Was all of that a coincidence? Had Kai stumbled upon the improv class or chosen it because he thought it sounded interesting, or had he known how it would affect us? Had he wanted to make us laugh and forget our worries, or had he wanted to manipulate our emotions for whatever reasons?

You’re over-thinking this Aia. The real problem is that you aren’t willing to trust him because you don’t know how powerful he is. He’s fun, kind and caring and has done nothing to earn your mistrust.

I thought back to the Ferris wheel.

Yeah, you’re being paranoid.

Since I didn’t need to sleep and Zoe seemed to be fine, I left the room to stretch my legs. However, I bumped into someone as I closed the door to my room.

“Oh, Amy, couldn’t fall asleep?” said Kai.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well after the day we had, I can understand if you’re a little too pumped up to fall asleep,” he said. “I was going for a short walk. Care to join me?”

“Sure,” I said.

We walked down the hallway in silence – the only sounds the snoring of the people sleeping inside their rooms.

Might as well ask…

“Hey Kai,” I said. “Why did you pick the improv class?”

“It seemed interesting,” he said, nonchalantly.

“Did you know what it was about?”

“I had a hunch but needless to say, it went well beyond my expectations.” He grinned.

We walked out onto a balcony. We stood there gazing at the stars for a while.

“So you knew it would be a fun class?” I asked.

“I knew that improv is fun in general but like I said, I hadn’t expected it to be this entertaining,” he said.

“So you wanted us to take a fun class?” I asked.

“I wanted to take a fun class myself. You two followed me off your own volition,” he said.

“Yeah but you knew Zoe would choose the same classes as you and that I’d tag along to take care of her,” I said, turning to face him.

He hesitated, then released a quiet breath and smiled.

“Well sue me for wanting to have a good time with my friends,” he said.

Friends?

I couldn’t process that for a while. The word seemed both familiar and alien at the same time. I could feel that we were friendly – despite all the underlying tension and intrigue within our party – yet I hadn’t had any friends… ever.

It was strange hearing someone say that I was their friend.

“Besides, after the laugh we had in the Wastes, I realized that the two of you were the only ones with a decent sense of humor,” he said, shaking his head. “That uptight demon lord and that self-righteous Hero couldn’t appreciate the beauty of improv if you hit them in the face with an imaginary pie!”

I chuckled.

“See?” he said.

“Well that joke was a funny one,” I said, remembering the joke he’d told Zoe and I while we were sitting on the deck of the ship whilst traveling across the Alderan Wastes.

We chatted for a little bit before going back to our rooms. I lay on my bed like always and began waiting for the morning. I didn’t like sleeping and tended to avoid it if I could.

However, for some reason, I found myself drifting off for the second time that day.

Well, a little nap couldn’t hurt…

–

“Amy, Zoe, wanna hear something funny?” said Kai.

“Sure!” chimed Zoe.

I nodded.

The boat was whizzing past the swirling mists and gliding over the oozing sludge. Lily had gone to give Runir something to eat and Zoe was getting restless. It would be nice to have something to occupy her for a while.

“It’s a really funny joke. I know you’ll love it!” he teased.

“Quit stalling and tell us already!” complained Zoe.

“Fine, fine,” he said. “It goes like…”

After hearing the joke, I started giggling. Zoe was bent over with laughter and had tears in her eyes. I couldn’t control myself and started laughing like crazy too. Kai sat there smugly nodding his head with his arms crossed.

“The chicken gets them every time,” he muttered.

< Back | TOC | Next >

“Which courses should we choose?” asked Amy.

“Whichever ones you like. Oh, but you need to avoid any courses that involve using magic because, you know…”“Right.”
“Why can’t big sis Amy take magic courses?” asked Zoe. She was in one of her ‘nice’ moods tonight.

“Because everyone else would get jealous of her, of course,” I answered, patting her head.

“Seriously though, should we try to stick together or…” said Lily, her voice trailing off.

“You just wanna leach off of me, don’t you?” I smirked.

“No! Never, I just…”

“Well I don’t really mind. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to school here for real. But, it might be a good idea to have some fun and meet new people. We only need to ace the final exams to get into the Shrine and you could just follow me after I do. It might be a better idea to use this time to actually learn something,” I said.

“That sounds boring…but alright,” she said.

I nodded. “Kai isn’t back yet?”

“No, he said he went out for a bit. Wanted to see the sights,” said Amy.

I thought to myself, would it help ease my mind if I voiced some of my concerns. Perhaps getting it off my chest could do some good and maybe a different perspective could help me sort things out better. Of course, I wouldn’t tell them everything nor would I reveal the extent of my suspicions.

“Right, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you something,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Something important.”

“About Kai?” said Lily bluntly.

“Yes,” I said. “His Ability is amazing. It’s helped us through a lot of tight spots but don’t you sometimes think that it’s a little too amazing?”

“Yes,” said Amy. “Sometimes it feels like he can do anything.”

“Exactly. We know he has some limits. He couldn’t make Van Drake leave without a price and he couldn’t cut through the rock instantly, but, even then, doesn’t it feel like that’s absurd anyway?” I said.

“Big bro Kai is awesome! I like him,” chimed Zoe with an innocent smile. Then her expression darkened. “But I don’t like you.”

Just how unstable was she?

“You know what, forget it. Just keep an eye out, will you?” I said, getting up.

“Do you not trust him?” asked Amy

“I do.”

“Then why are you so concerned about his Ability?”

“I just like knowing who – or what – I’m dealing with. It gets annoying not knowing who your friends are,” I said, as I closed the door to my room.

Lily’s voice barely made it across the door, “I agree, it sucks.”

–

We went to the Academy early in the morning and handed in our course selections. My first class was ‘Magical Phenomena 452’ so I made my way to the classroom. It was one of the more interesting courses that were offered here and was one I really wanted to take because I hadn’t had the opportunity to read up on magical phenomena in the Demon Lord’s library.

There were long benches laid out like a stepped theater, which reminded me of the auditorium at my high school. A middle aged woman stood on the wooden stage below, ruffling the papers in her hand. I took a seat in the back row and waited as the other students filed in.

Most people sat in the front rows, eager to absorb whatever the professor had to say. A few of them even glanced at me with disdain before turning away. Even the professor frowned at me for a bit.

Guess backbenchers weren’t a thing here.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to get here,” I said.

“Shut it. I joined this because it looked interesting, okay?” said Lily as she sat down next to me.

“Sure.” I smirked.

“Good morning everyone, I’m Professor Rowetta and I welcome you all to Magical Phenomena 452. Since the term is almost over and your exams are right around the corner, today we’ll be going over some of the most important magical phenomena covered in this class. Most of us have discussed these phenomena at length but.” The professor glanced up at us. “Anyone joining us for the first time would do well to listen closely.”

“Oh, she meant us,” I said, chuckling.

“Hey Runir,” she said.

I looked over.

“You said you were annoyed because you didn’t know who Kai was.”

“Yeah, aren’t you?” I asked.

“I am but at least you know that I’m the Hero, you can even see my status.”

“Not anymore. We have these now, remember,” I said, tapping the ring on my finger.

Another inexplicable result of his Ability. Although I loved these rings, not only was it strange for rings – or any object for that matter – to have these kinds of effects but those effects themselves were absurdly powerful. I mean, these things didn’t just hide your status, if that was all they did, they wouldn’t make me worry so much. No, they disguised your status. Right now, anyone who tried to Appraise Lily’s status would see a perfectly ordinary Dark magic user with a mundane title and Ability.

Did they work by manipulating your status or the Appraisal skill or did they influence the user’s mind and make them think that that’s what they’re seeing? It was that kind of possibility that made me wary of Kai and his Ability. Because it could lead to so many possibilities-

“Zoning out again?” she said, snapping a finger in front of my face.

“Oh yeah, sorry. Just thinking about stuff,” I replied. “Now hush, I need to listen to this lecture. Some of us came here to study you know.”

“Hey, I came to study too,” she said, turning to the stage below.

“…the Anomaly is the most famous and most feared magical phenomena on Erath, despite being so rare that most consider it a myth. However, well documented sightings of Anomalies have led many experts to agree that they do, in fact, exist.”

“Anomaly?” asked Lily.

“I don’t know either. I was distracted by someone,” I replied.

“…studying Anomalies is incredibly difficult, not to mention dangerous, because of their tendency to trap anything that falls into them. The few tests that have been conducted suggest that these Anomalies are immune to magic and physical contact and cannot be moved. They appear and disappear randomly but are rarely found in human settlements or well trodden roads. Now, the history of the study of Anomalies dates back to…”

These Anomalies… I don’t remember seeing anything like them in the game. Were they created after the Haze?

I sat back in my seat and put my hands behind my head.

“Hey Runir,” said Lily.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Are all schools this boring?” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, this is my first time in a real school.”

“Wait, you’ve never been to school before.”

“No, the old lady at the orphanage made us go but we just ditched as soon as we could.”

“That’s…well yeah, schools are like this. Not exactly like this though. This is more like a college although I can’t say for sure. I’ve never been to college after all.”

“You haven’t been to college?”

“Yeah, I mean, I haven’t even graduated high school yet.”

She leaned back in her seat too. “Huh, I always thought you were older.”

“No, just sixteen. I mean, do I look twenty to you?”

She looked at me for a while, her eyes traveling up and down before replying. “Yeah, you look old.”

“Even if I looked twenty, I wouldn’t look old,” I said, frowning.

“Twenty is old to me. Almost don’t need to steal booze anymore.” She shrugged.

I frowned. “You stole alcoholic beverages?”

“You see, this is why you’ll never be popular. ‘Alcoholic beverages’…really? Damn it, this is just sad,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had booze before?”

“Of course I have.”

“Then why is it so weird for me to steal them?”

“It isn’t, I guess, considering who you are.” I sighed.

“And who am I?” she said, turning to face me.

What’s gotten into her? She seems awfully on edge today. Did something happen?

“A better question would be: what are you?” I said.

“All right, what am I?”

An angel being led around by the devil. A pawn to be moved at my whim. A piece…

“Stop zoning out and answer the question!”

“Oh right, you wanna know what you are?”

“Yes, what do you think I am?”

“An idiot.”

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Then she got up and left the hall. Surprisingly, instead of stopping her from leaving, everyone turned to face me. Even the professor was given me a reproachful look.

Did I do something wrong?

–

I met up with Kai and Zoe for lunch and managed to catch sight of Amy for a split second before she ducked into the girl’s bathroom to avoid a couple of boys who’d been following her down the hallway. She’d apparently become incredibly popular after attending music class. Something about “the voice of a Goddess.”

However, I couldn’t find Lily after that first class. My second class for the day was “Elementary Management Theory 394” and I was certain that she’d copied my course list and would be there too.

I settled in the back row of the hall and leaned back in my chair. I closed my eyes and began thinking up an apology. Calling her an idiot might have been a bit too harsh after all.

I heard someone sit next to me.

“Hey, I’m sorry for thinking you’re an idiot. But you know, being an idiot isn’t so bad. We’re both sitting at the back aren’t we? I’m just as much of an idiot as you,” I said.

Needless to say, I wasn’t very good at apologies.

“Calling someone an idiot for sitting next to you? Pretty sure that’s a new level of idiocy right there.”

That wasn’t Lily’s voice. I opened my eyes to see a black haired girl sitting next to me.

“Oh sorry, I thought you were-”

“An idiot?”

“-someone else.”

She smirked. “Aw, and I thought I’d found a fellow idiot.”

“Oh?” I started, sitting upright.

Weird, why did I react like that. It wasn’t even that surprising.

“Sitting at the back makes you an idiot, remember?” she said, smiling. “And I’ve been sitting at the back of all my classes for years now.”

“What a coincidence,” I said. “So have I.”

“Really? But I’ve never seen you before. Heard you just enrolled.”

The professor cleared her throat.

“Yeah, I went to a smaller school before,” I said.

“Oh, one of those local academies? Which one?” she asked.

Somehow, I got the feeling that she knew the name of every local academy in the kingdom.

“Well it wasn’t really an academy, just some retired professor teaching the kids in our village,” I said.

“A retired professor? That’s interesting. Most of them stay at the Academy after retirement. What was their name?” she said.

Shit…

The professor was glaring at us now. She might have come up to strangle us if she wasn’t afraid of messing up her boring lecture.

“Sorry, I don’t know his name. We just always called him old man,” I said with a halfhearted chuckle.

She raised an eyebrow.

“Speaking of names,” I said quickly, hoping to change the topic. “Mine’s Rurin. What’s yours?”

“Saariel,” she said. “But no one calls me that. I go by Saar, mostly.”

“Saar huh? Well, nice to meet you Saar. Now if you excuse me, I better focus on this lecture or the professor might fail me for revenge,” I said, smiling at the scowling professor below.

The smile caught her by surprise since we’d mostly been ignoring her for most of the lecture.

“What’s the point of sitting all the way back here if you want to listen to some batty old lady prattle about management ethics?” she said. “Besides, don’t pretend like you don’t already know everything she’s saying.”

What? How does she know-

“How do I know what you’re thinking?” she said, cutting off my thoughts. “It’s because I can read you like an open book.”

What the hell? Is it an Ability?

I Appraised her status.

Name: Saariel Jadus…level 23…Title: Rebellious Prodigy…Ability: Visionary

I focused on her Ability.

Ability: Visionary…facilitates user in thinking and planning for the future with wisdom and imagination.

“Impressed by my Ability?” she said, smirking.

“Yeah,it’s amazing.”

“That’s not how I know what you’re thinking though.”

“Oh?”

She stared at me. “It’s written all over your face. You’re not very good at hiding it. All of your emotions, all your feelings. I can read it all like a book.” She smiled. “It’s a nice book though.”

I was shocked; not by her perceptiveness but by my own inability to mask my emotions like before. Although I had been more outgoing and expressive with Lily and the others, I had convinced myself that it was all an act. That by taking off my mask of apathy, I could wear a mask of emotions and hide my true self with that.

In a way, I’d thought that my normal face was just as fake as my poker face. Even if I smiled and laughed, my real thought would still be hidden behind a veil of superficial emotions.

But this girl had just seen through my veil. I couldn’t help but think, could she have seen through my poker face? Could she have read the Runir who had just been summoned from Earth as easily as she had read me today?

“I’m glad you liked it,” I thought, recovering myself.

I felt exposed. Like someone had seen me naked, which, in a way, was an apt description of what was happening right now. She was seeing my naked emotions, reading my thoughts. It terrified me. My head was the one place I felt at peace. It was my place. Mine.

The real reason the statues and the song had made me feel uncomfortable was because they knew. They knew what was going on in my head. They knew what I was planning. They had invaded my thoughts and that invasion of my mind, my sanctuary, was what really put me on edge.

And it was happening again. I couldn’t let her learn more about me. Hide it. Hide everything.

“I did like it, but I don’t like the face you’re making right now,” she said, her smile dying down.

I was wearing my poker face. My foolproof poker face. Nobody could see through this. No matter what, my thoughts were safe now. I finally calmed down.

“Your face…is pretty pathetic right now.”

The class was dismissed and she walked away.

I sat fixed in my seat for a long while. That comment had stung a lot worse than I thought it would.

Pathetic? Me?

I left the hall in a daze. I stumbled in the hallway and bumped into a lot of people. Most of them ignored me, a few gave me angry looks and one of them even shoved me into a wall.

But I didn’t care. I was too busy thinking about my ‘pathetic’ poker face.

I slammed into something while thinking.

“Hey, watch it dumb ass!”

“Huh?” I said, blinking my eyes. “Oh, it’s you.”

Lily was sitting on the floor, rubbing her head. Since I was at a much higher level than her, the collision had hurt her a lot more than it hurt me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she asked, getting up. “Actually, you know what, I don’t wanna know. You probably deserve it- hey, what’s with that face?”

The face again. Is she going to call it pathetic too?

“Why do you look so sad?”

What?

“I thought we’d fixed that up already. You always had this miserable look on your face back when we first met. I thought you’d gotten rid of it.” She frowned. “That and that god awful laugh.”

“I-yeah, the laugh. I decided it was a bit much,” I said.

“Good decision,” she said. “Anyways, we better go to the next class.”

“We have the same class again?” I asked.

“Yeah, I copied most of your courses. Except for that management one. Sounded boring as fuck,” she said.

“Well that’s a relief,” I said, under my breath.

“Did you say something?” she said, walking down the hallway.

“Nothing, go ahead and leach off of me again,” I said, following her. “And Lily.”

“Yeah?” she said, tilting her head towards me.

“Maybe you’re not an idiot after all,” I smirked.

She nodded her head and smiled. “Good, maybe you’re not such a jerk after all.” She turned away.

“Now we just have to work on that creepy smile.”

< Back | TOC | Next >

The blockage came into view several hours later. A single, giant rock lay on the road, crushing some of the trees of the forest and stretching into the purple mists on the other side.

There were several tents in front of the rock. People bustled about, talking, drinking and, in some cases, sparring with one another. The most prominent tents belonged to a group of people wearing black robes with a white swan emblazoned on their backs. They didn’t mingle with the other groups, preferring to talk to each other instead.
As we approached the site, a few gazes turned towards us but they didn’t linger for long. We weren’t suspicious in any way. Just another group of travelers waiting for the road to be cleared.

However, we quickly became the center of attention as, instead of setting up a tent, we walked up to the rock and started conversing in hushed tones.

“We sure about this?” asked Lily.

I scratched my head. “It’s the best choice we have, I’m afraid. And my Ability’s telling me that this is what we should do so…”

“But you don’t seem too sure,” she said.

“No, I’m not. It’ll attract a lot of attention and one of us will be severely restricted from now on. Which reminds me,” I said, turning to face Kai and Amy. “Who wants to do it?”

“Can’t be me,” said Amy. The rest of us nodded.

“I don’t want to,” said Lily.

“And I can’t afford to,” I said, eyeing Zoe who stared at me blankly before suddenly nodding.

“Well, I do everything around here anyway,” said Kai as he walked up to the rock and put his hands on it.

People started muttering but Kai ignored it. Someone walked out of the group of black robed people.

“Are you also an Earth mage? We have a couple of Earth mages too. We are working out a schedule for clearing up the road. If you like, you can join us in our tent and we can go over the details together,” said the black haired young woman who approached us.

“No, it’s okay. Just let me enjoy my few fleeting moments of fame,” said Kai as he waved his hands.

A huge hole appeared in the center of the rock as it crumbled. Kai waved his hands a few more times and the hole became deeper and deeper until it became a tunnel. He kept walking while waving his hands, causing the rock to crumble and cave-in in front of him but no debris fell on him at all.

Even if he hadn’t volunteered, I would have asked him to do it anyways. Since no one except for the Demon Lord and the Hero were supposed to be able to use all kinds of magic, anyone who used Earth magic in front of a crowd like this wouldn’t be able to use any other type of magic during our stay at the Academy.

And I needed to be able to use Dark magic at the Academy. Although people from all over the Alliance were accepted there, the administration heavily favored students from the Dark kingdom. If I wanted to make the most of my time there, I needed to be able to establish myself as a talented young Dark mage.

Amy was a Fire mage and using Fire magic in public would associate her with the Fire kingdom and, hence, the Holy Union. As such, she would attract way too much attention. We’d already decided that she wouldn’t reveal her magic at the Academy and would either go for the purely academic courses or not join any courses at all.

Zoe was also an Earth mage and we could have asked her to help out but her mana pool was too small for a task this size. We also didn’t want her to have to go through a mechanical process like this again, after all she’d been through in the factories.

Lily…I didn’t want her to do it because she didn’t know that only the Demon Lord and the Hero were supposed to be able to use all types of magic. I’d worked very hard to keep that information from her. I’d have to keep a close eye on her at the Academy. Couldn’t let her find out or she might start to suspect my identity. Then again, she’d inevitably find out. She was smart and I couldn’t hide the truth forever…but I could try to hide it for long enough.

And that left Kai. Although he, as far as we knew, couldn’t use Earth magic, his Ability could replicate the effects of basic Earth manipulation magic relatively easily. Of course, he’d told us that his power had limits and it would probably take some time before he could dig a stable tunnel through the rock but it was the best option we had.

Moreover, I personally wanted him to be restricted at the Academy – at least in public. My plan was nearing fruition and Kai was the biggest variable at the moment. I needed to contain him as much as I could.

“Stop, this is reckless! It’ll collapse on top of you!” shouted the black haired woman.

“It’s alright, he’s good at being reckless,” said Lily.

“Gerard, Tami, come help this fool out!” said the woman, signaling to the people who’d appeared from inside the tent.

“What’s all the commotion about, Perse?” said the tall man with stubble on his chin.

“Someone’s trying to dig his way to the other side, we need to drag him out before he kills himself!” she said.

“It’s his own fault isn’t it? No need to risk our own necks for him,” said the boy wearing a bandanna on his forehead.

“That’s true, but-”

“Stop worrying about him. He’ll be fine,” I said, turning to Zoe. “Pass the salt will you?”

She passed the salt.

“Thanks.”

“And why are you people having a snack when your friend is in such mortal danger?” she said, indignant.

“Because we’re hungry,” said Amy as she munched on a sandwich.

The black robed people stared at us blankly. The young woman pursed her lips and angrily stomped back into her tent. The tall man followed her, shooting us a short glance along the way. The teenage boy snorted and folded his hands behind his back before following them.

“Is it okay to attract so much attention?” asked Lily.

“We’ll stand out at the Academy no matter what we do. Kai said his rings should keep anyone from recognizing us so we should be alright,” I said. “In fact, having a bit of a reputation wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

The rock shuddered from time to time but the tunnel didn’t cave-in. Still, no one entered it, fearing that it would do so. Eventually, no more tremors ran through the rock and the crowd went silent. We finished our meal and packed everything up before walking into the tunnel.

We later heard that the crowd waited several hours before following us.

–

The rest of the journey was uneventful – something that most people couldn’t say about a journey through the infamous ‘Corridor.’ Most people crossed it in groups or with large caravans with hired guards and mercenaries. Although the rock we’d just passed had been abnormally large, it was quite common for debris to come flying out of the purple mists.

Worse still, monsters frequently attacked travelers along the Corridor, ambushing them by hiding in the thick forest undergrowth. That was why all the Inns had guards too.

Of course, we didn’t have to face any of that. We shot most of the debris with magic and Kai’s Ability took care of the monsters. In fact, it made me think about Kai’s Ability again.

How did it keep away monsters? Was he releasing some kind of pheromones or the scent of an insanely powerful monster. Perhaps a dragon? Or was he manipulating their minds into thinking that we weren’t prey?

I thought back to the encounter with VanDrake.

Yeah, the pieces are falling into place. His power is absurd, but I guess I already knew that. The only question is…who is he?

“Hey Runir?”

“Yes?” I said, turning around.

It was Kai.

We’d stopped at an Inn to use the toilets for a bit. Surprisingly, the toilets on Erath were pretty well developed. A combination of Earth, Water and Fire magic helped make the plumbing on Erath exceptional.

Magic is wonderful, isn’t it?

“There you go again!”

“What?” I said.

“You keep zoning out. In fact, you’ve been acting weird ever since we found you in the Wastes. Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t look convinced. Was that concern I could see on his face? I wasn’t used to seeing that emotion on his face.

In fact, now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen a lot of emotions on his face. He’d only been angry a couple of times but other than that, he was always happy. It reminded me of something…

…my poker-face.

“And you did it again!” he said, breaking me out of my thoughts again.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Whatever. Oh, looks like the girls are out. How much farther do we have to go?” he asked.

Somehow, I got the feeling that he already knew. He turned away after all. Probably wasn’t listening.

Why was I noticing all of these things now?

“Oh, a few thousand years,” I said, in a serious tone.

“Great, let’s go.”

I sighed as I left the Inn.

–

We reached the Academy Town just as the sun started to set. It was a beautiful town, not unlike college towns on Earth. The town itself had a suburban feel to it as it lacked the city walls and castles most cities on Erath possessed but it’s buildings emanated an archaic air all their own.

The Academy’s gates were already closed so we couldn’t enter it until the next day. The town didn’t have a wall but there were a few guards standing on the road, checking everyone’s paperwork. We went through the security check the same way we always did – with Kai’s magic paper.

What’s with the paper anyways? How does it work?

How did it know what to show? Did it change to whatever Kai wanted it to or was it based on the target’s thoughts? Showing the target an officer they respect or someone they’d only heard about but never seen.

Or did it make up a completely fake persona for him? But then that couldn’t work unless he-

“Runir? Hey Runir!”

“What?”

“What would you like to order?” asked Lily.

“Whatever you’re having,” I grumbled.

“Fine,” she said, turning to the waiter. “Bring him some of this.”

The waiter nodded and went away.

“Kai was right, you’re zoning out too much,” said Lily. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just, you know, planning for the morning and stuff. Have to get into the Academy, ace the exam, go to the shrine and- where are the others?”

“They left when you were staring at that glass of water. Went shopping for Zoe since she doesn’t have anything to wear. I’d have gone along too but someone had to look after you,” she said, with a sigh.

“Right, sorry. I’ve just been so caught up in all of this lately.”

“All of what?”

“You know, or well, you don’t know. You don’t know anything. Must be fun living in a world where everything around you isn’t screaming a conspiracy, isn’t shouting for you to uncover the truth before it’s too late. Isn’t-”

“Runir!” she shouted, causing the other people in the Inn to look over in concern.

“Sorry,” I said. “Just feeling a little. You know?”

“Bitchy?”

“Er…yeah. Bitchy,” I said.

“That made no sense.”

“You’re the one who said it!”

We continued bickering as our food arrived. I complained when the waiter placed a bunch of bones in front of me but the waiter said that was what I had ordered.

“Lily, why did you-”

“It’s dog food. Perfect for someone feeling a little bitchy.”

I stared at her for a while, then I stared at the steaming pile of animal bones on my plate. And then, despite everything that I was grappling with in my head, I laughed.

“You’ve finally cracked, haven’t you?” she said, frowning. Clearly this hadn’t gone as planned.

“Yes.” I laughed. “I’m totally cracked. Cracked up, that is!”

Lily groaned and the other diners also looked at me in confusion. The waiter told me to quieten down but I dropped some money in his hand and got up.

“Come on, we need to go,” I said.

“Go where?”

“What, did you really think we’d just pop by the world’s foremost educational institution and get in like we usually did? There’s an entrance exam you know? We need to prepare!” I said, pulling her out of the Inn.

“I don’t like this…”

“Right, I’ve heard the bookstores here are amazing. Ah, that one’s famous all across Erath! Let’s go…”

I dragged the struggling Hero into a bookstore and forced her to read up on Erathan history and geography all night.

I really was an evil Demon Lord after all!

–

We entered the Academy gates early next morning. We asked around for the principal’s office, but were told that he wasn’t in town. He’d met some unexpected difficulties while attending the Air kingdom’s Exhibition.

“That sucks but hey, could you tell us where to sign up for the entrance exams?” I asked.

“Sure, right up that hallway.”

We followed those directions and came upon a large, wooden door with a swan carved into it. We knocked on the door and were told to come in.

“Yes, how may I help you?” said a bespectacled old lady as she signed some papers.

There was a golden plaque on her desk that read: “Professor Morgianna Mehlin. Academy Dean.”

“We would like to enroll at your institution please,” said Amy.

We’d decided to let her do the talking this time. She could use the practice.

“Very well, we can administer the written examinations right now,” she said, reaching under her desk. “Please follow Galvin to Hall B.”

A middle aged man appeared and led us down several hallways. We passed several people along the way, most of whom wore the black robes with a white swan which was the official uniform of the Academy. Most of the people wearing something else were staff members and faculty, it seemed.

There was some crazy stuff too. A bunch of black robed students once ran into the hallway waving a flying black ball making disgusting noises. A girl ran crying out of the bathroom with her eyebrows sliding off of her face. We even saw a bearded professor crying while hugging what looked like a jar of human feces as he walked out of a room full of giggling students.

We finally reached the hall and sat down to take our exam. We were given papers and were warned that cheating was a crime punishable by death and since I’d read up on the legal code in the Dark kingdom, I knew it was true.

Of course, that wouldn’t stop us from doing it anyway.

Question: In what year did the fifteenth Holy War take place?

I knew the answer so I wrote it down.

487 PH.

As I wrote down the answer, I put my pen down and snuck a glance at Lily’s desk. She tapped the desk with her pen, seemingly contemplating a question, but then her eyes lit up and she started moving the pen over her paper.

However, the words that appeared on the paper didn’t follow her hand movement at all.

I sighed. Kai took the fun out of everything. I began writing the answers to the rest of the questions, sometimes letting the pen write an answer on its own when someone else answered a question before me.

I used that time to think.

How did these pens work? How did they copy my answer and how did they regurgitate it onto someone else’s paper? Kai used his Ability to make these pens work like this but this was ridiculous. He’d said there were limits to his Ability, but from what I could see so far, those limits were at best limits on the magnitude or strength of his Ability, not its versatility, and that thought was frightening. Or rather, the implications of him being able to do anything, to a certain degree, were terrifying.

If his magic paper and his ability to turn away monsters and maybe even this pen, worked on the basis of manipulating minds, then could he do the same to us? Could he control me or influence me without me even knowing about it?

What if he can read my mind? What if he was reading it right now? Did he hear what I just thought? Does he know that I’m onto him?

What will he do? What does he know? What should I do?

Calm down Runir. You need to gather more data. You need to test this out. Probe the extent of his Ability. He showed that he could barely influence Van Drake…or was he just pretending? Either way, you know he can make an ancient dragon walk into lava so he must be powerful.

What was his Ability called again…rewrite? If the name is any indication of what it does and if his limits are, at least, as high as I think they are, then I need to form contingencies and I need to form them fast.

But for now…stop thinking. Stop thinking. Stop thinking…

We turned in our answers several minutes before time was up – at different times of course – and went back to the Dean’s office. We were directed to another hall for our physical exams, but those didn’t involve the use of any magic and was based on physical fitness and health alone.

The Academy didn’t discriminate against people who couldn’t use magic at all, since they could still do well academically. They did require some sort of proof that we were from the Alliance, but Kai’s magic paper covered that.

And that’s how we managed to get admitted to the Academy. Even Zoe passed the exams since there was no age restriction. We were allowed to stay in the dorms but chose to stick to the Inn outside the Academy instead.

We left the black gates just as the sun set over the horizon and the gates slammed shut.

< Back | TOC | Next >

Castle…piece…crumbles….

The words echoed inside my head as I fell through the mists.
No…not again! Not again!

I struggled; both mentally and physically. I lashed out with my fists, guarded my thoughts by trying to think of something else but it was all in vain. The song kept playing, over and over again.

…build…castle…just to…crumble…

I heard a loud crash behind me. The boat had smashed into pieces as it hit the ground. Luckily, I hadn’t.

Get out of my head!

I grabbed my head and rolled on the ground.

“You okay Runir?” I heard someone shout from above.

Can’t show weakness…no vulnerabilities. Can’t let them see…snap out of it…snap out of it!

I steeled myself and cursed as I picked myself up from the wreckage.

“And why couldn’t you grab me too?” I complained.

“Can’t let you get too close to Lily,” said Amy as she landed.

“I knew you’d be fine. You have a hard head,” said Kai.

“Don’t know which is worse…” I muttered.

“Besides, you could have used Air magic to soften the fall. Don’t know why you didn’t,” said Lily.

Shit! She’s right. I was too distracted by the voices…wait, I can’t hear them anymore?

“Hey Runir,” said Lily, snapping her fingers in my face. “Stop zoning out.”

“Ah right, sorry,” I said. “Yeah, just a little tired, is all.”

“Now that you mention it, it is getting pretty late, we should make camp for the night,” said Kai.

“Don’t need to. This is the Corridor. There are rest stops and free public inns all along the way. Should be one nearby,” I said, remembering what I’d learned from the books I’d read.

“Aw, but I like camping out…”

“Shut it.”

“Hey!” shouted Zoe suddenly.

I looked at her. Come to think of it, she’d been frozen stiff ever since we fell off the sludge-fall.

“How did you two fly?” she asked, pointing at Amy and Kai.

“Ability,” said Kai.

“Spell,” said Amy.

“Don’t answer so easily!” said Zoe. “What kind of spell lets you fly?” She pointed at Amy. “And you used your Ability to make that soup. I saw it!”

Kai laughed uneasily. “Damn, looks like I’ve been caught. I’m a good cook but I use my Ability to give it a little extra zing.” He winked.

“Zing…” said Lily.

“It was a special spell I made myself…” said Amy, shyly.

…How the fuck did that twerp make them reveal their secrets so easily? I’ve been trying to do that for-

“So you two are cheaters,” said Zoe, pointing at Kai and Amy. Kai gave her a sheepish grin while Amy refused to meet her gaze.

“And you two are useless,” she said, pointing at Lily and I.

“I am not useless kid!” said Lily.

“Yeah, she makes good sandwiches,” I said.

Lily glared at me.

Hey, it was a compliment wasn’t it?

“Whatever, stop fooling around already. It’s late and we need to find an inn,” I said.

I sighed.

Seriously, why do I always have to tell them to stop messing around? I feel like a babysitter.

“I can see some light over there!” said Amy, pointing down the road.

We followed the light down the road, taking in the sights in the waning daylight. To our left was the wall of mist that we had fallen through and to our right was a dense forest filled with tall trees and thick undergrowth. The road itself was paved with stone, not asphalt like in the Air kingdom, but this stone was maintained by magic formations carved into rocks placed every few hundred feet or so.

This was the ‘Corridor.’ The most famous road on Erath. Running between the Twilight Forest and the Alderan Wastes, it was the only route the invading forces of the Holy Union could use to reach the Demon Lord’s Castle. Although we couldn’t see it right now, those stones had been covered with blood countless times. The corpses of the dead were thrown unceremoniously into the Wastes but many believed that their souls continued to haunt the Corridor.

A small building appeared on the side of the road ahead. It was a homely cottage with a wooden sign hanging beside the door. A single lamp hung on a pole standing in front of a fence circling the cottage. There was a vegetable garden inside the fence, with what looked like cabbages and pumpkins growing in it.

As we approached the Inn, we instantly noticed a sour smell wafting through the air. Behind the cottage was a lemon orchid with small yellow fruit peeking out from within the leaves.

We pushed open the fence and were greeted by loud barking. A white fuzzball jumped out of the pumpkin patch and growled at us.

“What’s this?” said Kai.

The little fuzzball was glaring at us with its beady eyes but it didn’t look menacing at all. In fact, it looked-

“Cute!” said Zoe as she bounded over and grabbed the stunned fuzzball.

It struggled in her grasp but it couldn’t get away.

“A torabal?” said Amy.

“Yeah, it is pretty adorable isn’t it?” said Lily.

“No, she means it’s a ‘torabal;’ a kind of domesticated monster. They’re harmless and make great pets. You have to watch out for the fur though. It can get stuck in your throat. Really annoying,” I said, recalling what I’d read in a book.

“Ah guests! Please come in!” said someone from inside.

Zoe turned her head to listen to the voice and the torabal used the opportunity to jump out of her grasp. It landed on my head. Kai and the others entered the Inn. Zoe stared longingly at the torabel on my head but reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged inside by Amy. I began to follow them.

“Hey, let Fuzzy go!”

“Hmm?”

A little girl stood in front of the lemon orchard. She glared at me angrily with her arms stretched to her sides.

I turned to the girl. “Fuzzy? That’s a great name. So original. Wish I had that kind of naming sense.”

The girl’s face lit up. “Really?”

“Yep, whoever thought up that name is a genius,” I said, smiling sarcastically.

The girl smiled so brightly that I almost felt bad about making fun of her naming sense.

Almost.

“But it looks like Fuzzy here likes me. Don’t you ya little fur-ball?” I grabbed the torabal, as it tried to jump off, with one hand.

“See?” I said, stroking the squirming torabal with my other hand. Surprisingly, it settled down and started purring.

The girl’s face fell. “Fuzzy…you…you…traitor!” She ran away crying.

Er, I might have gone a little too far. Oh well.

“Shoo, I don’t need traitors,” I said, throwing Fuzzy the torabal in the direction the girl had fled.

Having satisfied my conscience, I entered the Inn. As expected, it was a simple Inn with a reception desk and a space for eating. A wooden staircase adjacent to the desk probably led up to the rooms and a door besides that presumably led to the kitchens. Behind the desk stood a middle aged man talking to Amy. Kai, Zoe and Lily were sitting around a table, talking to a teenage boy with a notepad in his hand.

“Are you sure?” asked Amy.

“Yes. I’m sorry miss, but I’d be lying if I told you I knew when the road’s gonna clear up,” said the middle aged man. “We’ll have to wait for the Earth magicians but all the Earth magicians in the kingdom are busy clearing up the mess at the Air kingdom. It could be weeks before one gets here.”

“Would you like some drinks with your order? Our beer is famous all along the Corridor. Try it, you won’t regret it!” said the boy.

“Sure, five glasses please,” said Kai.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Unless you’re planning on drinking two,” I said as I sat next to them.

Kai frowned. “No, there’s five of us. Unless you’ve forgotten how to count.”

“Um, Kai, did you just order beer for Zoe?” asked Lily.

“Yeah. Oh I get it, did you want something else Zoe?” said Kai.

Zoe shook her head. “It’s fine.”

“Er, so you’ve had it before?” asked Lily.

“Yeah, that’s how they made us wash down all the drugs,” she said, nonchalantly.

Right, she’s a messed up kid. I guess a little beer wouldn’t be all that bad considering everything she’s been through. Still…

“But you’re only ten!” exclaimed Lily. “You can’t-”

“We’re stuck here,” said Amy as she sat down. “Some rock fell out of the Wastes and blocked the road for miles.”

“Wait a second-” began Lily.

“Can we fly over it, please?” asked Zoe excitedly.

“No wait-”

“There are camps on both sides of the blocked road. We’d be seen immediately,” said Amy.

“Well, can’t we just plow through it with magic?” I asked.

“We should lay as low as possible after what happened in the Air kingdom. Being able to use different types of magic and at such a large scale will draw too much attention.”

“I give up.” Lily folded her arms.

“True,” I said, ignoring Lily completely. She glared at me and I smirked.

“That’s unfortunate, but what really surprises me is how interested you are in all of this, Amy,” asked Kai. “It’s not like you to be so concerned about anything, Amy.”

I blinked my eyes in surprise. Now that he mentioned it, it was unusual to be the one asking the questions for once. And from Amy of all people!

Amy was also visibly startled by the question. She gave a nervous laugh and said, “I just thought I’d play my part too. I just want to make sure we get there on time.”

“On time for what?” I asked.

“The exams. Don’t you remember? You’re the one who told us about them.” she said.

“Oh right. Yeah, the exams,” I said.

“Well, it’s great to see you taking a more active role in the party,” said Kai, with a large smile on his face.

There’s something going on here.

“Here you go!” said the boy as he laid a couple of dishes in front of us.

We thanked him and he went away. His dad – the old man behind the front desk – came soon after, bringing a flagon of beer with him. He poured us five glasses and thanked us for our patronage.

“Let’s leave this discussion on hold for now. We can figure something out in the morning,” said Kai.

We all agreed and started eating. The food was great and the beer even better. Also, it was non-alcoholic. Lily’s expression loosened as she realized that Zoe wasn’t about to get drunk. We finished up our meal and made our way upstairs to our rooms. The boy led us up a dark staircase with only a single flickering lamp to light the way.

“So your name’s Sett?” asked Lily.

“Yep, Sett Uratoh.” said the boy.

“That’s a nice last name. Don’t think I’ve heard anything like it in Erath,” said Kai.

“Thanks, ah here are your rooms,” said Sett.

The others went into their rooms but Sett told me that mine was on the other side of the hallway. He apologized for separating me from my friends but I told him it was fine. Along the way, he told me about some of the paintings lining the walls.

A blue horse with a turtle on its back. A castle set on fire. And a raging storm at sea.

As we walked along the hallway, I noticed a group of paintings that Sett hadn’t explained. Probably because he didn’t need to.

A painting of a thick-bearded, middle aged man hung there with words written on a golden plaque beneath it.

“Seta Uratoh, a loving father.”

Next to it hung a picture of a young boy with his family’s characteristic blonde hair and gray eyes.

“Sett Uratoh, a wonderful son.”

And in the end was a picture of a smiling little girl with a familiar fuzzball on her head.

“Setsu Uratoh, a beloved sister.”

I was just about to comment on the pictures when we reached the end of the hallway and Sett gestured for me to go inside before running down the hall while answering his father’s call.

The room was a simple one. A single bed and a small table with a couple of chairs. There was a window with drab, black curtains pulled across it but I went over to pull them open. Moonlight shone into the room; with its dancing silver beams lighting up the otherwise boring furnishings.

I stood at the window for a while, running the events of the day through my head. We’d toppled a kingdom and sent thousands to their doom while trying to save thousands from oppression. My plan was proceeding flawlessly and the two biggest variables – Kai and Amy – were becoming less threatening as I managed to guess their identities. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.

The statues and their song had made a mess of my head. I kept racking my brain trying to figure out what it meant but I couldn’t unravel any of it. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was important. That I needed to understand this shit at all costs.

Having made no progress on this for a few hours, I decided to stop thinking and relax. Watching the moonlight bathe the vegetable garden in silver hues, the dancing shadows cast by the fence in the flickering lamplight and the swaying leaves of the lemon orchid blowing in the gentle breeze helped calm my heart a little.

I’d done this before – calming myself by looking at nature. When the bullying got too hard to endure or the pressure from my parents made me suffocate, I’d always climb up to the roof of my house and loose myself in the world around me.

The sound of crickets chirping used to fill the night. Nightingales sang, owls hooted and sometimes, a bat screeched in the distance. That’s what I remember hearing from atop my rooftop.

Of course, other sounds – unwanted ones – would find their way to me too. A loud curse. Someone shouting like at the top of their voice. Something crashing against the wall. Something else crashing against the ceiling.

But those weren’t memories I wanted to visit tonight. Tonight, I wanted to remember the few times I was happy on Earth. Funny, how I was always alone. Well, I wasn’t really alone. No one was ever alone.

We’re always surrounded by life; in its many forms and shapes. At least that’s what I believed. It’s what kept me going for all those years. I was never alone, I was important. I was a part of something greater, something grander than any friendship or family could ever hope to be!

On Erath, however, I didn’t quite feel the same. I still valued nature. Still loved to immerse myself in it. Yet, this was only the second time I’d let myself forget everything and admire the world around me since I’d come here – the first being the night I’d been summoned here.

I was distracted by my Lily and the others. My friends. Maybe they kept my loneliness at bay. No, if that was the case, then I must have been pretty lonely back on Earth and calling the world my friend would have been an excuse.

But that couldn’t be true. I was seeking solace in the moonlight and the trees and the shadows right now. This has nothing to do with my loneliness, it’s just something I like to do when I’m feeling…cornered? Is this how I handle despair? Is this the shell I go into to escape my worries?

Funny, I drown myself in nature, in the world itself, to escape the world I can’t handle.

A flicker of movement caught my attention. It wasn’t natural like the swaying of the leaves or the dancing of the shadows. There was something down there.

Must be that little fuzzball, I thought.

However, although the torbal did emerge from the lemon orchid, it wasn’t alone. It met my gaze and held it. I chuckled, internally chastising myself for entering a staring contest with a living plushy.

I jumped out of the window and landed silently on a pumpkin. The torabel started growling, alerting its owner of my descent. Of course, it wasn’t like I was trying to hide anyways.

“Hey, what are you doing up so late?” I said, smiling.

The little girl blinked her eyes, then she pointed at me and said, “You’re the thief who tried to steal Fuzzy!”

“I’m not a thief, although I can hook you up with the best thief on Erath if you like,” I said.

“Liar! You’re a thief! A Fuzzy thief!” she proclaimed.

“Er, do you see any fuzz on me?” I said.

“No, I mean you’re a thief who steals Fuzzies!” she said. “Listen better next time!”

“Explain better next time!” I said. “Wait, what am I saying, what ‘next time’? We’re leaving in the morning.”

“You’re leaving?” said the girl.

Oddly, her eyes were welling up with tears.

“Wait, why are you crying?” I asked. “So what if I’m leaving? You don’t even know my name!”

“Leav…you too…but…so long…” she sobbed as tears rolled down her cheeks.

I sighed. “Well I’m not leaving right now, so save your crying for the morning.”

She kept crying.

Giving up, I sat down on the grass besides the vegetable garden and forgot everything again. The moon was bright, the night was warm and comforting. I blocked out all the annoying thoughts in my head, all the annoying voices echoing inside my mind were forced to shut up.

However, the only voice outside my head kept on bawling her eyes out.

“Hey kid, shut up and sit down,” I said.

She ignored me.

“Come on, I’ll teach you how to never be lonely again.”

She stopped crying. A few hiccups and sniffles, then silence.

“How?”

“Sit down and I’ll show you.”

She did as I said.

“Now the trick is to realize that even when you think you’re alone, you never are! Listen, can you hear them? The birds in the trees and the insects hidden in the grass. Or maybe the animals in the forest or even the monsters lurking somewhere in the darkness.”

The torabel on her head hopped over and started rubbing against my head.

“And hey, you have this little guy with you right? He might be a useless little fuzzball but at least he’ll love you for as long as he can. Pets are great that way,” I said, stroking Fuzzy’s head.

The little girl sat up and grabbed Fuzzy. “Mine.”

I raised my hands in surrender, “All yours.” I chuckled.

She dusted herself off and rose to her feet. I close my eyes and let myself drift in the nighttime symphony one last time before doing the same.

“Setsu right?” I said.

The girl nodded. “Setsu Uratoh. And you?”

“Runir, Runir Candela.”

“Weird name.”

“Look who’s talking.”

We walked back towards the Inn without saying anything. Fuzzy had fallen asleep on her head and was snoring loudly.

“Hey Runir,” she said.

“Yes?”

“I wanna show you something.”

“All right.”

I followed her across the vegetable garden. A strong, sour smell hit me as she led me into the lemon orchid. Rays of moonlight illuminated the path forward but it was hard to see nonetheless. Soon, she came to an abrupt stop in a dark patch under a giant lemon tree.

She bent down on her knees. The wind blew and the leaves shifted, letting a few rays of moonlight shine through.

There was a tiny tombstone under the tree. It didn’t have anything written on it, nor could you make out a grave beneath it. In fact, you might have thought that it was just another stone if it wasn’t for the flowers laid down in front of it.

“This is…”

“Someone very important to me,” she said.

Ah, her mother? Didn’t see her portrait up in the Inn. Guess now I know why. Only the living can get their portraits made.

“I see,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

The wind blew again and the moonlight dimmed. Only a single beam could make its way through.

“Ever since she died, I’ve been so lonely,” she said. “Family, friends, I didn’t talk to any of them.”

“I can understand that. I never wanted to talk to my family either. Never had any friends either.”

Until now, I thought, but I let that remain unsaid.

“Fuzzy’s made it easier but you’re the first person I’ve talked to in a long time.”

“That’s…”

You should talk to your brother, I wanted to say, but since I didn’t know her situation, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“Hey Runir,” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t go.”

I paused.

“Sorry, but I have to.”

Silence fell again.

We stood there for hours, it seemed. She sat there, facing a tiny grave in front of a massive lemon tree while I stood respectfully behind her. The only ray of light that could get past the leaves struck her hair, bathing it silver.

She eventually stood up and apologized for keeping me awake so long. I told her not to worry about it and that she’d helped me clear my mind too. I went back to my room and went to sleep.

In the morning, we had breakfast at the Inn. Kai and Zoe were talking about something while Lily and Amy chatted with Sett. After eating our fill, we paid the Innkeeper and made our way out of the Inn. Although the road was blocked, we figured we’d come up with something after we saw how bad it was.

Since we were the only guests at the Inn, Sett decided to see us off.

“We don’t get a lot of visitors so come by again if you’re ever in the area!” he said.

“We’ll try,” said Lily, smiling.

“Well, this is as far as I go. Good luck!” he said, waving at us as he closed the fence.

“Thanks, you too!” said Amy.

“Give our regards to old man Seta too,” said Kai.

I turned to leave like the others but I stopped.

“Oh yeah, where’s the little girl?” I asked.

“Little girl?” said Sett. “There she is!” He was pointing at Zoe.

“No, I mean the little girl in the portrait upstairs. Your sister, Setsu.”

“My sister? Oh no, you’ve got it wrong. She wasn’t my sister, she was dad’s sister,” he said.

“Was?”

“Yeah, there was a war back when my dad was a kid.”

I felt my scalp go numb.

“She got hit by a stray fireball when the fighting reached the Corridor. Burned to a crisp is what my dad says.”

I stood there dumbfounded; my feet rooted to the ground. I recalled her words in my mind,

Ever since she died, I’ve been so lonely…

You’re the first person I’ve talked to in a long time…

…please don’t go…

A flicker of movement caught my eye, but it was just the wind rustling the leaves of the lemon orchid. It carried the sour fragrance to me, stinging my eyes and making tears fall out of them.

I turned away. The others had already left down the road, but I couldn’t help but look back one last time.

A homely cottage with a wooden sign reading “Firefly Inn.”

A still burning lamp hanging on a pole.

A vegetable garden with what looked like cabbages and pumpkins growing in it.

And a lemon orchid with small yellow fruit peeking out from within the leaves.

As I watched, a lemon fell from a tree and hit the ground, startling a tiny white fuzzball that jumped in fright.

Its hair stood on end and it looked completely unsettled, but then its eyes drooped and it started purring.

Like someone was stroking it.

< Back | TOC | Next >

They found me on the ground several hours later. I hadn’t moved a muscle – the events I’d just experienced had been too overwhelming. Lily poked my cheeks and told me to get up but I didn’t respond. Annoyed, she poked even harder, but my high Defense meant I could ignore her with ease.

Lily reached for her sword.“Hey, we don’t have to go that far, Lily!” said Kai.
“He might be hurt,” said Amy.“Nah, the asshole’s smirking!” said Lily, bringing her sword down.

I rolled out of the way. Fixing my robes, I stood up and faced the frowning party.

“You always manage to cheer me up. Thank you, Lily.” I smiled.

“Whatever,” said Lily. “What the hell were you doing lying around in the middle of this swamp?”

I blinked. I checked my clothes and realized they were covered in slime. I looked around and took in a deep breath.

It’s gone! The hill, the statues…it’s all gone!

“Are you done acting like an idiot? Now come on in and get changed. You’re covered in gunk.”

She walked back onto the boat and the others followed. I took a new robe out of my Inventory and got changed before boarding the boat. The boat was tiny but we managed to sit down comfortably enough. Kai waved a hand and the boat started floating across the sea of slime. A gust of wind blew out of the prow of the boat, clearing the purple mist from the boat’s path.

“Where’s Gale?” I asked, noticing his absence.

Zoe looked down.

Kai turned to me. “He’s fine. I saw the Goddess save him when the island fell. He’s probably being pampered in the castle as we spea-”

“When the island fell? What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

Lily’s expression darkened.

“You didn’t know? Well it turns out that the laborers were propping up the kingdom, literally. Once we freed them, the whole thing fell to the ground,” said Kai.

“Fell to the ground?” I frowned. “Oh.”

Silence. The implications of our actions weren’t lost on us. We’d messed up, big time.

“We should go back. Maybe we can help?” said Lily.

I shook my head. “No, we’ve done enough.”

We sat quietly in the boat as we let that sink in. We’d meant well but we had possibly caused far more pain than we had prevented. Then again, what do I care? I did what I needed to do to carry out my plan. The Air kingdom was in turmoil and the Alliance significantly weakened. For some reason, those thoughts made me feel uneasy. It reminded me of the statues and the song.

What the hell was that anyway? I’ve never heard of anything like it. None of the books in the Demon Lord’s Castle said anything about a circle of creepy statues.

And why did they let me go? If they were some kind of monster, they would’ve attacked me and killed me. That’s what monsters do around here. If they wanted something from me, I was right there, lying prone on the ground! Completely defenseless! They could have taken anything they wanted to but they didn’t. And that just makes me even more confused.

If they weren’t out to kill me and they didn’t want to take something from me…then why me? Why target me? I’m sure they targeted me. They wanted me to come to them. One of them had my face on it, didn’t it? Yet, why would they do that? What was their purpose?

Did they want to mess with my head? Was that it? No, no, that’s too simple. That shit wasn’t simple.

I feel like I’m missing something here. It’s right in front of my eyes and I can barely make it out but I just can’t see it! What is it? ‘Castle’…what castle? The Demon Lord’s Castle? No, it’s not that simple. It doesn’t feel that simple.

Was it just another weird encounter in an even weirder world? I’ve met a lot of strange creatures here. An apologetic dragon, a family of soul sucking monsters, and a masked creep leading an army of crazy fanatics. A circle of singing statues wouldn’t be all that out of place, would it?

But then why am I still brooding over it. It was a random encounter. A bit of bad luck. Get over it Runir! You have a plan. You know what to do.

You know what to do…

Wait…do I?

The words were replaying in my head. Over and over again.

But I still couldn’t understand what any of it meant. Perhaps I needed to see this from a different perspective? I could always try asking someone for their opinion on it.

But who should I ask?

Kai? He might know about it but I can’t trust him yet. Too many variables. Perhaps he was involved somehow? He might mislead me too. I’ll come to him if I need to.

Lily? Nah, she wouldn’t be any help. She came here with me. The chances of her knowing anything relevant are slim at best. I mean, she still hasn’t realized that I’m the Demon Lord. I’ve been accidentally dropping hints too. Probably getting lazy.

Note to self: stop being lazy, your plan goes to hell if Lily finds out that you’re her archenemy.

Zoe wasn’t an option. She’d lived her entire life inside what was effectively a cage. But all that left was Amy.

Interesting…this idea may be worth pursuing. Let’s call her out when we’re alone. Maybe I can confirm a thing or two about her identity at the same time. But for now, I’d better-

“Oi, Runir!” said Lily, interrupting my thoughts. “Why the hell are you sulking in the corner? Do you want to eat or not?”

She passed me a bowl of steaming hot soup.

“Not if you’re the one who made it,” I remarked.

Lily frowned. “Kai made it of course. But I’m a good cook too.”

“Doubt it,” I said, blowing on a spoonful before bringing it to my mouth.

“Fine! I’ll make some and shove it down your throat,” said Lily as she stomped away.

I have a bad feeling about this…

I finished the rest of my soup and got up. The boat wasn’t all that big but there was enough space on the deck for a small table and a few chairs. Kai and Amy were sitting on the chairs talking about something while Zoe leaned over the side of the boat and stared at the sea of sludge below.

“Where’s Lily?” I asked.

Kai laughed at something Amy said and then turned to me.

“She’s in the kitchen below-deck,” replied Kai.

“Great,” I said. “I thought we were trying to avoid the sludge, not make it.”

I chuckled but the others ignored me.

“Whatever.” I made my way to the table and sat down. “We should start planning our next move.”

“Never a moment’s rest with you huh,” said Kai.

“Nope.”

Kai folded his arms on the table. “Fine. But before we decide what we’re doing next, I think we should decide why.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

“He means we need to think about what we’re doing next time. We don’t want to mess up another country,” said Amy. She turned to Kai. “Right?”

“Yep, we’re thinking through our every move properly from now on. And that means defining our goals first,” said Kai.

That was interesting. Did he want us all to come clean about our motives? Why would I want to do that?

“Come on, almighty Demon Lord, don’t you want to tell us your master plan? Gloating is half the fun of the job, isn’t it?” said Kai as he smirked. He leaned closer. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell the Hero.”

So he really does know…that changes things.

I’d been sure that he was at a higher level than me but there was no way to confirm it until now. An exchange of information would be in my benefit in this case. After all, I knew next to nothing about him whereas he could presumably read my Status like a book.

Besides, he’d already offered me something in good faith, even if it was something I’d already suspected.

“All right, I’ll play this game. But only if you offer your own motivations in turn. Both of you,” I said, shifting my gaze to Amy.

“Sure,” said Amy.

“Fine then. What would you like to know?” I asked.

“Why are you traveling with Lily?” asked Amy.

“Because I need her.”

“Well, isn’t love beautiful?” said Kai with a dry chuckle.

“I’d already figured as much. But why do you need her and what for?” pressed Amy.

“Hey, I’ve already answered your question. It’s my turn now,” I said. “But don’t worry, my question is a simple one. Who are you?”

“Kai.”

“Amy.”

“I know that already!” I sighed. “Fine, I get it. We aren’t getting anywhere until we get more specific. I suppose asking the really important questions will have to wait. So tell me, why aren’t you telling Lily about who I am?”

“Because I know what will happen,” said Kai.

“Me too,” said Amy.

“Great, so now we’re getting somewhere.”

“My turn,” said Amy. “Why do you want to go back to your world? Is it really that amazing a place?”

“Honestly? I don’t really want to return to Earth. Back home I was a nobody but here, I’m the god damn Demon Lord! I’m virtually a God here. Why the hell would I want to leave?” I said.

“Then why are you looking for a way back?”

“Nice try but no follow ups. It’s my turn now,” I said. “Why do you care about my motives? Neither Lily nor I knew you before you thrust yourselves on us. And you have no reason to help us find a way home, yet you insist on following us. Tell me, why the hell do you care so much?”

This was the question that had been bothering me ever since we met. Lily and I were looking for a way home, or at least, there was a reason for us to stick together but why did these two want to come with us?

“I was tasked with protecting Lily. That is my mission here,” said Amy.

“Protect her? From what?”

“From you.”

“Oh?” I smirked. “But can you do that?”

The corners of Amy’s lips twitched. That settled it, I was nearly certain of her identity.

“Want to try?” she said, scowling.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t want to be burned to a crisp,” I said, chuckling. “And you Kai?”

“I’m just tagging along. I was bored,” he said.

Bullshit! Like I’d believe that!

“And we just happened to find you sleeping in a bush?” I said.

“Yep.”

“You can see why that’s hard to believe, can’t you?”

“Sure, but it’s the truth.” He shrugged.

“Zoe! Get away from the edge!” shouted Amy as she got up.

“It’s so pretty!” said Zoe, reaching down to the sea of sludge.

Amy grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up. Zoe struggled in her hands but eventually gave up. Zoe and Amy started talking in quieter voices but I could tell that they were arguing about something. However, I didn’t pay much attention to it. There was a more pressing matter to attend to.

It was time to confront Kai.

“You’re lying,” I whispered.

“What?” he said, confused.

He’s really good at this. But I’ll break that facade.

He’d always been in control. In every conversation we’d had, I had never been able to gain the upper hand. I needed to push back. I needed to force him to give me some real answers.

“You’re lying. You didn’t follow us on a whim, you aren’t doing this to alleviate your boredom. You see,” I leaned closer, “I do things for fun. I do things on a whim. I know what it feels like. I know how someone who’s bored out of their wits acts like and you sure as hell don’t fit that description. No, I can tell, you want something. I don’t know what and I don’t know why but I am sure as hell certain that you aren’t here for shits and giggles.”

He stopped for a bit, staring at the teacup that had appeared in his hands out of nowhere.

“You’re right,” he said. “I am not here for shits and giggles.”

“I thought so,” I said, waiting for him to continue.

But he didn’t. Instead, we sat silently. The sounds of Zoe and Amy bickering, the boat cutting through the sludge and something clanking below-deck pervaded the silence yet they were nothing more than background noises. I felt sweat trickling down my spine for some reason.

Was I afraid of Kai?

Certainly, his Ability was frighteningly powerful and his level was higher than mine, but would he really attack me in front of everyone? No, that wasn’t right. If he wanted to do that, he could have done so at any time.

No, whatever he wanted to achieve, whatever goal he had in mind, it required my assistance or at least my presence. That was the only logical conclusion I could reach. He needed me.

I could use that.

“Then what are you here for? You know who I am, you know who Lily is and if you’re anywhere near as smart as I think you are, then you know who Amy is as well. So tell me, why the hell are you hanging out with a messed up party like this? Why did you help us rescue slaves, topple a country and fight off a God? Wait…” I took a deep breath. “You fought that Origin thing when even Amy couldn’t leave a dent on him. You-”

“Open wide douche-bag!”

“What? Wait no! Lily-”

I gagged on the sandwich stuffed in my mouth.

Damn it Lily! I had him! Why the fu-

“Well why don’t you eat this while I help Amy. Looks like Zoe isn’t giving up on that sludge!” Kai chuckled as he walked over to Amy and pet Zoe on the head.

And he got away…perfect.

I sighed, or at least I tried to. My mouth was aching because of that god damn sandwich.

“Here, eat it,” said Lily as she grabbed my lips and helped me chew.

Damn it, first you barge into the conversation and foil my trap and now you want me to eat this disgusting sandwich. It tastes like sh- Hey this is pretty good…

I munched on the sandwich. It was a cold chicken sandwich with mayonnaise. Wait, mayonnaise? On Erath?

I bit off a chunk of the sandwich and gulped down a mouthful. I fired some water magic into my mouth and drank it to wash it down.

“Where the hell did you get mayonnaise from?” I asked.

Probably not the most pressing question right now, but I had to ask.

“I sto-borrowed some from the Palace kitchens back in the Light Kingdom,” she said.

“That’s…”

“Just shut up and eat.”

I decided to do as she said.

Zoe still hadn’t given up on the sludge so Kai jumped down and grabbed some for her. Lily sat down next to me with a triumphant smile, reveling in the satisfaction of having shut me up. I didn’t like admitting that I was wrong but…

…damn, it was a good sandwich.

“So, still think that I’m a bad cook?” she said.

“It’s just a sandwich. Anyone could have made one,” I replied, finishing off the last bite.

“Guess you don’t want seconds?” she said, walking away.

I cursed under my breath. “Fine, you’re a good cook,” I grumbled.

“Thank you! But I’m out of mayo anyways so I can’t make any more,” she said, winking at me.

“Fucking-”

“Look!” said Zoe, pointing straight ahead.

There was a wall of purple mist in the distance.

“I assume we’ve reached the end of the Wastes,” I said. “Perfect, now we head through the Corridor, circle around the Twilight Forest and head for the Academy.”

“Wait, what?” said Lily.

“Didn’t we decide that we’ll think over our next move properly?” said Amy, frowning as she clutched Zoe to her chest.

“Pretty!” chimed Zoe.

“The Academy…” said Kai, his voice trailing off.

“Well we’re still looking for a way back to Earth, aren’t we?” I said, casting my gaze over the others. “The Air Goddess told Lily that our best bet is to ask the Dark Goddess, but the problem is, no one knows how to get to her shrine.”

“No one? Not even the Demon Lord?” asked Kai.

Kinda pushing it, aren’t you? I thought, glancing at Lily with the corner of my eyes. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have noticed.

I glared at Kai.

“Yes, even the Demon Lord can’t find it. And since the Goddess never leaves her shrine, the only way to meet her is through the Academy.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious, but just so we’re clear, the Academy is a school right?” asked Lily. “A school of magic?”

“Yes and no,” I answered. “It is a school of magic but it isn’t just a school of magic. In fact, it’s primary purpose is to train the leaders of the Dark Kingdom. ”

“So it’s a big deal here?” asked Lily.

“Oh it’s a very big deal here. Politicians, civil servants, generals and merchants, all of them have been to the Academy at some point. Many people consider the Academy the backbone of the country. Some even accredit the Dark kingdom’s survival despite the frequent premature deaths of the Demon Lords to the Academy and its training and teaching methods.”

“And why do we have to go to a school to find the Dark Goddess?” asked Lily.

“The Academy was founded by the Dark Goddess and it’s a well known fact that it is the only thing in this world that she really cares about. She won’t do anything all year but on the first day of Spring, the Academy holds a test and the five highest scoring students are allowed to go to the shrine to receive the Goddess’s personal training. That’s how we’ll meet her.”

“You want us to give a test?”

“No, I want us to ace it!”

“Um, in case you didn’t know, I’m not all that good with studying at stuff,” said Lily, grimacing.

“It’s all right. As long as one of us makes the cut, the rest can follow them to the shrine. She’s a Goddess so she can’t interfere with our plans.”

“Wait, if she can’t interfere with our plans then why can she stop us from finding her shrine? Isn’t that interfering with our plans?”

That was a good question. Why hadn’t I thought of that? The Goddess shouldn’t be able to stop us from finding her shrine. It was one thing if there was a restriction carrying over from the game, but there was nothing of the sort in ‘Choices.’

There was something going on here and I didn’t like it.

“Maybe it-”

“Yay! Pretty wall!” screamed Zoe, suddenly.

Her mood swings had been getting worse. Ever since we brought down the Air kingdom and freed the laborers she’d been vacillating between an incredibly childish personality and an eerily mature one.

Ugh! Why are so many things happening at the same time?

Kai grabbed Lily and Amy hugged Zoe tightly to her chest as the boat hit the wall of mist. I was hit by a falling sensation as the boat tipped over the edge and tumbled downwards.

Great, a fucking sludge-fall.

Kai and Amy jumped up and hovered in the sky.

Note to self: Learn to fly.

I disappeared into the mists.

< Back | TOC | Next >

My head hurt like it was being pressed down by an anvil. I raised a hand to my forehead and rubbed it but immediately stopped. There was something…slimy on my hand. I tried to wipe it with my robes but the ensuing squelching noises told me that they were covered in this filthy sludge too. What the hell was this?

I opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings.

The Alderan Wastes? Shit, not good.

I recognized the sea of viscous ooze and the roiling purple gas. The Alderan Wastes were at once the most famous and the least popular attractions in the Dark kingdom- everyone wanted to see it but no one stayed for long. And you couldn’t blame them, this wasn’t exactly the most picturesque place I’d ever seen.

It was also a very dangerous place. The purple mists and the bubbling sludge would instantly kill anyone below level 50. In fact, I could feel my HP dropping right now but luckily it regenerated immediately. I probably didn’t need to worry about this place and most of the others should be fine too. And as long as Zoe was with Kai, he’d probably figure something out.

But how did I get here?

Last I remembered, I was climbing the stairs to the top of the tower after leading the laborers out of the catacombs and telling them to leave the city. Then I heard a rumbling sound, stumbled and hit my head.

But I was in the middle of the Air kingdom. How did I get all the way to the Alderan Wastes in the Dark kingdom? The Wastes might be right next to the floating island but that doesn’t mean I can just wake up in the middle of the damn place!

I took a deep breath to calm myself. This was only a slight inconvenience, the plan was coming along perfectly. Or well, almost perfectly. The appearance of Origin and Circle was not expected and had made me rework my plans several times, but as it stood, I felt confident that I could achieve my aims.

I’d received a power-up from the Air Goddess and reached level 498. She’d been surprised to learn that I was still alive so I could conclude that Azoth hadn’t told the Goddesses that he’d failed to kill me. This confirmed my hypothesis; Azoth wasn’t working for the Goddesses. In fact, it was entirely plausible that they didn’t know about his actions at all.

Either that or the Air Goddess was just a hopeless shut-in that didn’t know anything anyways. However, in either case, the fact that Azoth did not have the support of the Goddesses on his side meant that I could use them against him, if needed. The actions of the Air Goddess suggested that not only were they able to involve themselves in the affairs of mortals, they were willing to do so if it affected them. Now I just had to make sure that it did.

Shouldn’t be a problem, since my plan pretty much affected everyone. I’d already ruined a couple of countries, though in my defense, only one of those was on purpose. Circle’s rebellion wasn’t something I could have hoped to plan.

But when I learned about the bonded laborers and met Zoe, I knew I’d found the perfect way to complete the next stage of my plan. Of course, I did not like the way the laborers were being abused and a part of my motivation for freeing them had arisen from a noble desire to help the oppressed.

But does anyone really lead a revolution or undermine a government because of a desire for social justice for someone who is completely unrelated to you? Some people might, but I wasn’t one of them. I could condemn evil or objectionable actions when I learned about it, maybe even do my bit and sign a petition or something but I’d never go as far as kidnapping a king and leading a prison-break to help someone else.

The reason I was willing to go so far was because I’d soon realized that the Air kingdom’s economy relied on the mana from these laborers the way humans on Earth relied on fossil fuels. Free the laborers and you take away their energy source, thereby crashing the economy completely.

With that, the Alliance would lose a lot of money and weapons, which was exactly what I wanted. It was all a part of my grand strategy.

Did it make me a bad person because I didn’t want to free the laborers just because they were oppressed? Was I selfish? Did I only care about my own goals? I don’t think so. Apart from the fact that I was at least partially motivated by my disapproval for the treatment of the laborers, apathy doesn’t make me complicit to their actions. I wasn’t the one whipping them, or abusing them. I hadn’t done anything wrong. So why did I have to go fix it?

I shook myself out of my thoughts. I was alone in the middle of the most mysterious place in the world. No one knew what was inside the purple mist. People passed down tales of monsters and spirits which, if this wasn’t a fantasy world where monsters and spirits really did exist, would have been entirely unbelievable. If the legends were true, I had to be really careful here.

Even the game didn’t tell you much about the Wastes. The monsters here were deadlier and much higher leveled compared to the monsters outside but the game didn’t show you much of the scenery. In fact, the whole place was supposed to be flat ground with purple mist floating above it. No landmarks or anything.

Which made the hill I saw in the distance all the more unusual. The hill wasn’t in the game nor had I heard about any statues in the Wastes. This wasn’t the best place to display your art, after all. But still, a creepy circle of statues on a hill rising out of a sea of mist and sludge was unsettling, no matter how you looked at it.

Whatever, I should probably look for the others now.

The only problem was; I didn’t know where they were. I could shoot some magic into the air and hope they saw it. Or maybe using my communications prism would be a better idea.

I took the prism out of my Inventory and began to focus my mana. I was just about to pour it into the prism when I stopped.

Do I really want to find them right now? Maybe it’s time to leave. They’ve helped me take down the Air kingdom and they’ll probably make a mess here in the Dark kingdom too. Lily’s strong enough and even if she wasn’t, Kai and Amy won’t let her die anytime soon. The Hero’s growth is going even better than expected. In fact, she might be growing a little too fast. If I leave now, I can go to the Dark Goddess’ shrine and get her blessing. The others will never be able to find her shrine on their own so it’ll be a power boost just for me.

It was an interesting question. This might be my best opportunity to make sure that I was far stronger than the Hero. I’d need to be, if I wanted the plan to succeed. Besides, other than Lily and Zoe, I couldn’t really trust the others. Kai was a wild card that I still knew nothing about. A variable I couldn’t control.

And based on the strength Amy revealed while fighting Origin and the high-ranked spells she used, her identity was all but confirmed. Only a handful of people could be that strong and only a couple could use Fire magic. Considering all of that, perhaps going off on my own would be the wiser course of action.

I put down the communications prism and prepared to follow the moon’s path through the sky. The sun and moon on Erath followed the same pattern as on Earth, so following the moon’s movement through the sky and moving accordingly would allow me to leave the Wastes and enter the Corridor. From there I could make my way to the shrine alone.

Guess that’s it then. Oh right, I should probably toss this, I thought, turning the ring on my finger.

Kai had said it would serve as a tracker of sorts, so I would have to dispose of it if I wanted to separate. I was slightly unwilling to throw away one of Kai’s rings but this was necessary. I’d already sacrificed a lot for my plan and I was determined to see it through to the end.

I hesitated some more. I couldn’t quite understand why though. Tossing the ring, going off on my own and carrying out the rest of my Grand Strategy was the most logical thing to do. It would give me power, wealth and fame. What more could I ask for?

But then, was that really what I wanted in the first place? I’d enjoyed my time in the Hero’s party. I’d always told myself not to get used to it. That it was all a farce and that I would betray them at the first opportunity. But I found it increasingly more difficult to do that.

When I laughed at their jokes, I laughed for real. I enjoyed teasing Lily and getting her riled up. Kai’s cooking was amazing too and Amy was a wonderful person. Although Zoe was a little unstable, she kept things lively and I didn’t know if Gale was still with them but watching him interact with Zoe in that terribly awkward way was funny as hell.

I don’t remember ever being this emotionally open with anyone before. On Earth, I’d barely opened up to my parents and I didn’t have any friends either. At least not for long. For some reason, people didn’t like me.

But that was okay, I didn’t like them either.

My hand hovered over the ring. I was still wondering whether to leave the party when a beam of light shot through the mists and hit the ring. I reflexively reached for the ring and tried to pull it off but it was stuck. I stared at it for a second, then sighed.

Guess I don’t have a choice anymore.

I gave up on taking off the ring but made a mental note to complain to Kai about a sore ring finger. The light would probably lead them straight to me so I could wait where I was and relax. But I decided to follow the light anyway. Standing in the middle of a putrid sea of sludge wasn’t exactly my favorite hobby.

I trudged through the slime and used air magic to disperse the mists but I still didn’t make a lot of progress. Even though I was almost level 500, the slime was still seriously restricting my movements and I couldn’t see far ahead of me because of the mists.

Soon, I realized that the light ran straight into the hill I’d seen rising out of the mists. Although the statues gave me pause, I decided that getting a vantage point would be helpful. Maybe I could see them off in the distance or look for some other noticeable landmarks along the way.

I climbed the hill, cautiously, while appraising the statues. Most of them were crumbling and had barely distinguishable features. But I could make out a few faces, some limbs and even some runes and symbols that I unfortunately couldn’t recognize.

Wait, that’s odd. The Demon Lord automatically learns every language on Erath, just like the Hero. Is it gibberish? Or is it not a language from Erath?

I felt a shiver run up my spine. This place was way too creepy. I almost gave up on getting to a vantage point but the rational part of my head convinced me otherwise. I was the Demon Lord and I was at level 498. There weren’t a lot of things that could hurt me.

Being scared of a bunch of crumbling statues was a little embarrassing. If Lily found out, she might end up making fun of it like she does for my aversion to heights. Although, at least in this case it might be a legitimate accusation. After all, I wasn’t afraid of heights. I just couldn’t trust myself to stand next to Lily if I was high enough to push her to her death.

The urge to kill her was getting stronger alongside her own increasing strength. The boost from the Air Goddess’ blessing helped her more, both because the Hero grows faster at the later levels and because I needed an increasingly higher amount of experience points to level-up.

That’s when I realized something. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why I had wanted to leave? Was I afraid that I’d kill Lily if I saw her become stronger? It was entirely plausible and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to consider it. I couldn’t quite say why though.

As i was lost in thought, I reached the first statue. It was smaller than the rest and had beads running around its neck. There were no other distinguishable features on the statue itself but I noticed that the grass around it was shorter and a brighter shade of green than the others.

Hang on…grass? In the Alderan Wastes?

I stared at the startling discovery I’d just made. There were patches of grass around all of the statues; some tall, some short, some fresh, others withered. But regardless, finding grass in the middle of the world’s most poisonous place was extremely unusual. Sunlight wouldn’t be a problem since the hill was raised above the mists but there were no water sources in sight.

Worse, the area should have been tainted with poisonous substances and Dark mana. It shouldn’t be possible for anything to grow here, let alone grass. There weren’t any plants in the Wastes. Even the monsters relied on absorbing mana for sustenance rather than consuming food.

There was a loud roar behind me. I turned around but there was nothing there. My heart fell when I noticed that the noise had made me jump inside the circle of statues. I held my breath, expecting something to happen.

But nothing did. The statues didn’t glow or explode or anything. Quite anti-climatic but I’d prefer it over the alternative.

I calmed my breathing and chastised myself for being afraid of a bunch of statues. Then I reminded myself to always be cautious because only idiots would think that these statues didn’t have some kind of secret to them.

I took the chance to get a closer look at them. There were twelve of them in total and starting from the one I’d first seen-which was also the smallest one- they became progressively more worn down in a clockwise direction. In fact, the statue on the other side of the smallest one was remarkably well preserved.

I walked up to it. Unlike the others, it had a face with barely identifiable features. Raised eyebrows, a thin nose and slightly sunken cheeks. This statue looked oddly familiar but I couldn’t quite say why.

“…cas…”

I turned around.

What the hell was that?

“…pieces…”

“…crumble…”

More voices floated around me. I instantly tried to use void step to leave the circle but I couldn’t go into my shadow. I panicked and tried to shoot a fireball into the air but nothing came out. I tried to run but I ran into an invisible wall.

Crumbling sounds came from the smallest statue. Dust blew off it…no, dust blew onto it. In fact, dust started swirling around the other statues too, with the most worn down ones surrounded by larger clouds of it.

“You…”

The voice came from the most well preserved statue. I stared at it, expecting it to move.

“Built…”

This time it came from behind me. A statue as tall as me but thinner and more curved. Probably a statue of a woman.

“A Castle…”

The dust was filling in their features. The one that just spoke now had a robe on its body as well as hair.

“Piece…”

This one was wearing a strange tunic.

“By Piece…”

Thin lips, arched eyebrows.

“You built a Castle,” said the statue with long hair rolling down its head.

“Piece by piece,” said the statue with a strange hat.

“You took a brick,” said the statue wearing a hood.

“Laid it down at your feet,” said a husky voiced statue with a wicked grin.

“And built a Castle without a wall,” said the statue of a little girl.

“Only to see it crumble…”

“and Fall.”

The dust clouds were disappearing now, leaving behind twelve statues that looked like they’d been freshly sculpted. The sculptures were lifelike; frighteningly so. I was certain that they’d attack me soon and since I couldn’t even use magic, I felt terrified. I’d already gotten used to the feeling of near invulnerability that my status as the Demon Lord and my high level gave me. Even though I’d faced dangerous situations before, I’d always felt like I could at least struggle for victory.

But without my magic, I was just an ordinary teenager in a world of monsters and demons. I wouldn’t have felt this way on Earth, and in fact, I hadn’t been nearly as scared when Frank pulled a gun on me as I was right now. But I’d gotten used to the sense of safety and security. I’d gotten used to being stronger than most or at least to being able to run away whenever I wanted to.

“You built a Castle.”

It was an old man this time.

“Piece by piece.”

A young woman.

“You wanted your own.”

What are they doing?

“But didn’t know why.”

Their words were getting louder and sharper but there was something else too. It felt like they were…

“You wanted your Castle.”

…singing.

“But did it want you?”

The smallest statue moved. A little girl skipping around a field, except her eyes were frozen in a dead stare.

“You built a Castle.”

The hooded man followed the girl, sweeping over the ground without a sound.

“Piece by piece.”

“You thought you had it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“So you left it to the cat.”

“And ran away.”

“Like a filthy rat.”

They were speaking in turns. Popping into verses randomly before moving a little. Each of them had their own movement: the girl skipped, the old man swept his hands and the one with a hat bowed dramatically.

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“You found a brick.”

“With a tether.”

“You lift it up.”

“And it rose.”

“Then came a hand.”

“Out of nowhere.”

“Smacked the brick, to the ground.”

“But it never made a sound.”

The song didn’t even make any sense and the meter was totally off. Yet, even though the song didn’t make any sense at all, a strange feeling arose inside me.

I need to get out!

I tried to jump out again but this time the hooded man caught me with his arms and threw me back in.

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“Strong and sturdy it seemed.”

“No flames, no storms.”

“Could break its walls.”

“And so you rested easy.”

The circle shrunk. The little girl’s mouth was frozen in an eerie grin. The old man was cackling. The young woman was sneering and the man with a hat had a polite smile. Their motions were getting faster, the verses more out of tune, and the dance crazier and wilder. Cold sweat poured down my back.

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“It had a Tower.”

“You made it taller.”

“Until it reached the sky.”

“Then you made the Sun.”

“Fight the Moon.”

“And in the sky, lay the Tower.”

“Caught between, two sacred powers.”

“So all it could do…”

“Was crumble.”

There was a pain in my chest. And I didn’t know why. Tears streamed down my cheeks. But I didn’t know why.

No! No! Make it stop! Make it…

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“It had a gate.”

“To keep the monsters away.”

“But you left it open.”

“Still no one came.”

“Because the real monster was you.”

No! Shut up! Shut up! S-shut…

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“It had a king.”

“But no throne.”

“Because who would bow.”

“To someone so low.”

“When they had a cat.”

“Who could chase the rat.”

“Back, into its hole.”

I closed my eyes and lay on the ground. They were running so fast it was all a blur. A hat shot out. A bead bobbed up. A wicked grin flashed. Their voices were loud too. They were speaking over each other. The same words over and over again.

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

Over and over again. Skipping, hopping, running and gliding in a blur. Singing in their disjointed tunes and awkward voices. Laughing, snickering, chuckling and smiling. Were they spirits? Haunting me, taunting me, mocking me.

It was too much. Too much…too…much…

Then it all stopped.

They stopped singing and dancing and skipping and running and whatever else they were doing. I hesitated. I didn’t want to look up. Didn’t want to look them in the eyes even though I somehow knew that was what they were waiting for. My heart thumped in my chest. I waited for what seemed like forever but I couldn’t make myself look up. I couldn’t. I just…couldn’t.

The ground shook a little. One of them moved.

It was the hooded man. The one I’d been staring at before they all came alive. The one that had seemed slightly familiar. He walked up to me and stood in front of my face-his stone knee inches from my face. I steeled myself. I had to do this before he forced me to.

I took a deep breath and looked up. I met his gaze and froze.

He looked familiar because he looked like…

The statue’s hood crumbled, revealing a face that looked just like mine.

“I built a Castle, piece by piece. I wanted to win, so very bad. That when I won, I didn’t see, the Castle up above. I knocked it down, on my own. Watched it crumble. Watched it fall. And so it fell, at my feet. All the pieces, on the ground. My own Castle, broken down, by my own insanity.”

The statue had a deadpan, emotionless expression that terrified me more than anything else.

“So now I know, the price of power. So let me now, save the tower. Before the Moon, outshines the Sun. We must go soon, before it’s done. And we’re the kings of no one. We’ll build a Castle, piece by piece. It won’t crumble, it won’t fall. Because the pieces, will forestall. The tide that sweeps it all away.”

The statue stretched out a hand and poked my forehead. I fell flat to the ground and drifted into unconsciousness but even as my vision faded to darkness I could still hear…

“You built a Castle.”

“Piece by piece.”

“ And now it crumbles.”

“With the sand.”

“Oh, beware the raging seas!”

“They’ll consume.”

“All your hopes and dreams!”

“And leave you an empty beach.”

“So you can start all over again.”

“And build a Castle, piece by piece.”

“Just to watch it wash away again.”

< Back | TOC | Next >

I’d learned a lot of things on the Hill outside Reneste. A lot of things about this world, about its people and the lives that they lived, the challenges that they faced. Their hopes, their dreams, their struggles and their joys.

I’d also learned a lot about myself. Not just about my powers or my Ability. No, I’d learned a lot about who I was as a person.
Sure, I’d learned what my identity was in the hearts and minds of the people of Erath. I was Fate. The ever present force that dictated their lives. I was feared and worshiped. Hated and respected. Loved by some, detested by others. For most people, I evoked a mix of conflicting emotions and I understood that. I understood how they saw me and what I meant to them, which helped me understand my position in Erathan society.

But perhaps the most important thing I’d learned about myself, was who I was as a person. My personality. What made ‘Kairo Mezai,’ ‘Kai Zero.’ The emotions I felt. My beliefs, my wants, my desires. I’d learned it all.

On the Hill, I had learned who I was. And it had been a meaningful experience.

Was I pleased with who I was? Of course not. Some aspects of my personality disgusted me. But then there were others that I could objectively praise. But no matter what I’d learned, one thing was clear to me; I was not the kind of person who could let the evils of this world weight down on his conscience.

After all, I had made this world. All of the problems facing its people were, in a way, caused by me.

However, I wasn’t naive enough to think that the people of Erath were completely innocent. The bonded laborer system was not of my design. It was not something I had made.

But I had to share some of the responsibility for it. The Air kingdom initially hired laborers to offset the loss of mana crystals from the bottom of their floating island. At first, they’d mined the crystals because of their insatiable desire to improve their battle capabilities because they had discovered the crystals’ potential for war.

But then they realized the value of the crystals or the ‘Breize stones,’ as they’d come to be known, in other aspects of life and had used them to fuel their economic and industrial development. The crystals were to the people of Erath what oil and gas was to the people of Earth.

And their actions had proven that analogy.

So a part of the plan I had made on the Hill included a way for me to undo the mistakes of the Air kingdom. To free the laborers and to rescue their economy from its absolute dependence on the crystals. But like the rest of the plan, there were some restrictions and considerations to bear in mind.

After all, I had to look at the bigger picture. Since I was the only one who could see it. And speaking of the bigger picture…

Map.

A map of Erath stretched out in front of my eyes. I focused on the capital of the Air kingdom, Laput. Houses had crumbled and roads had cracked apart. The city was in shambles.

I zoomed in on the palace, towards the throne room. The tower was lopsided and a huge chunk had fallen out. The roof of the attic had caved in but the throne-room had avoided a similar fate.

“Did you find them?” asked the woman wearing goggles.

“No, my Goddess. We could not find any trace of them,” said the old lady with her head bowed low.

The Goddess sighed. “As I suspected. If those two have teamed up, we cannot expect to find them. Even my hands are tied.”

The queen regent looked up. “Forgive my insolence, oh exalted one, but is it really true? Are the Hero and the Demon Lord really-”

“Yes. For whatever reason, they are working together. In fact, the only reason I can say this is because you’ve already heard their names and arrived at the same conclusion. Which reminds me, how is your son?”

The queen’s gaze fell. “His physical health is fine but as for his mental state…well, it will need some time to remedy.”

“He doesn’t trust us anymore, does he?” asked the Goddess.

The queen shook her head. “No. This experience has thoroughly shaken everything he believed in. He’s locked himself in his room and won’t let anyone in. Not even Ms. Taiker.”

The Goddess looked out the window. “So many questions…this whole thing has been a confusing mess. The Hero and the Demon Lord, two entities that should have been at each others’ throats, worked together to bring down the Air kingdom because they didn’t like the bonded laborer system? They both came to me to get their blessings. How could they endure letting their mortal enemy get stronger? How could they possibly resist the pull of Fate? And that’s not even the most confusing part…”

“What could be more confusing than that, exalted one?”

“I confronted them to buy you some time. Just before you surrounded them with your guards, I blew out the candles and tried to take down the other members of their party but…I was blocked by something. In the end, I could do nothing but leave empty-handed.”

The old lady frowned. “But two members of their party disappeared? If you didn’t take them away, where did they go…and why?”

“The Demon Lord went to the catacombs. He slid through the shadows and rushed there as if he knew the place like the back of his hand. He knocked out the masters and riled up the laborers even before they were released. Then he led them to the surface as the catacombs began to cave in. By the time we fell to the ground, he had already rescued every single laborer.”

The old lady’s eyes widened. “And the other one?”

The Goddess closed her eyes, as if contemplating something. “She went somewhere else. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal much more than that. Please forgive me.”

“No, no exalted one!” said the old lady frantically. “It is I who should apologize for prying into your matters. Please, allow me to apologize for my transgressions.”

“It is fine.” The Goddess walked up to the window. “Besides, that’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me today.”

“I understand. The deaths of your people must be weighing down on you, oh merciful one! But do not worry, no one will doubt that you did everything in your power to-”

“That’s not it.”

“My Goddess?”

“I almost wish that were the case…”

The queen blinked in surprise. “Did something even worse happen, oh Exalted One?”

The Goddess’ figure vanished and a gust of air blasted through the room. “You’ll see…”

The Queen stood near the window for a while; frozen not just by her respect and reverence for the Goddess, but also by her confusion. She stood up with a jerk as someone knocked on the door of the throne-room.

“Enter,” she said, in a regal and majestic voice that conveyed her authority and status.

“My Queen,” said the guard as he entered the room and bowed low. “The damage reports you requested are in.”

The Queen nodded her head slowly. She sat down on the throne and brought out a bottle and a glass from her Storage. She poured herself a drink and gulped it down quickly.

“Very well, let me hear it.”

The guard spoke and the queen’s glass fell to the floor.

“Is that true?” she asked. “But…how could that be?”

I zoomed out, having seen what I had wanted to. Everything was going according to plan. But then again, I’d never doubted that it would.

After all, I knew exactly who I was and that didn’t leave much room for doubt.

–

I heard someone groaning beside me. I turned to see Lily slowly opening her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to regain her bearings. Her eyes widened as she seemed to remember something. She looked at me.

“Kai! Why are you- where are- what happened?” she gasped.

“Calm down, it’s all right. Everyone’s safe,” I said, flashing her a reassuring smile.

She wasn’t convinced.

“But Zoe was…and Gale…and Amy and Runir…” she said.

“Like I said, they’re all safe. Look over there,” I said, pointing at the bodies lying next to her.

She turned to see Zoe sleeping soundly on the ground with a cloth draped over her. Her face was expressionless, indicating that she was not having one of the nightmares that had plagued her since her birth in this world.

Next to her sat Amy, her back turned to us as she gazed into the distance. She’d heard Lily wake up but hadn’t said anything to her. In fact, she’d ignored me even as I rescued her from the trap she’d fallen into. It should have been surprising that a Goddess had fallen into such a simple trap but I knew better. However, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about for now.

“Gale…” said Lily.

“Was rescued by the Goddess herself. Apparently Fate didn’t stop her from interfering. I assume it’s because killing a little kid wasn’t a part of your plan.”

“Right..I…” Her face paled. “I killed them…I killed so many people…I…I…destroyed a kingdom.”

Can’t let her fall into despair.

“No you didn’t. It was Fate.”

“Fate?” she said, somewhat hysterical. “Don’t give me that shit! I broke the key even though I knew what would happen. No, I did it because I knew what would happen. I…I killed those people because I wanted to. I wanted to weaken the Alliance. I knew it would be a big blow to their military strength and a huge help to the Union.”

“No, you wanted to help the oppressed laborers. They were living a life of slavery and cruelty. Wanting to free them was a good thing and that was your real intention, your real motivation.”

“At the start, sure!” she cried. “But near the end, I could tell from Gale’s expression that he was telling the truth. Freeing the laborers would destroy the whole damn country! A lot of people would die! But I did it anyways. No, I did it because I knew it would happen. I wanted to kill those people. I wanted to destroy the whole place. I didn’t give a damn about the laborers or about getting revenge for Zoe.”

She was crying now.

“I just wanted…to win the war.”

If there was ever a time when I’d felt my resolve weaken, this was it. I’d chosen every aspect of my plan with care. I didn’t doubt for a second that my plan was perfect; that it would yield the results I wanted it to yield. But I did doubt, for just a moment, whether it was worth letting Lily- one of my only friends in this world- wallow in self-pity and loathing.

But I had to look at the big picture.

“Look, Lily,” I said, drawing my face close to hers and looking into her eyes. “Remember what I told you before? It is your choices and your intentions that determine who you are. You intended to do something good, to do something brave and kind. You wanted to free the oppressed. You saw the pain Zoe went through and comforted her better than any of us could and you sought to change the system for the better even though it would take a lot of time and effort on your part.”

Her watery eyes stared back at me. “But I-”

I raised a hand to silence her. “Let me finish. Your intentions were good. Your intentions were just and noble, and I doubt that anyone could possibly contend otherwise. It is not your fault that you did not know the true function of the laborers. All we knew prior to the events at the palace was that people were cruelly tortured and abused for profit and ‘progress.’ Wanting to change that was the right thing to do.”

“But that’s not why I freed them! I did it because-”

“Because Fate wanted you to inflict damage upon your enemies. I admit, that is not the most tasteful motivation and nor is it noble or just. But, was it really your fault?”

“Don’t give me more of that Fate crap. It was my fault. I wanted to kill those people. To destroy my enemies. It was me…all me…”

“Really? Then why are you crying about it right now?”

She hesitated. “Because…I don’t like it. I don’t like what I did.”

“If I gave you the chance to do it again but without the influence of Fate to sway your actions, would you still do it?”

She thought for a while before answering in a low voice. “No.”

“Then you already know that it was not your intention nor your aim to inflict pain on others. In fact, you wanted to alleviate it! You wanted to help the laborers. And when Fate forced you to inflict pain on innocent people, you did manage to resist. After all, you managed to hate yourself for doing it. You managed to regret what you had done. I don’t know about you, but I think that was a pretty heroic thing to do.” I smiled.

“I agree with Kai,” said Amy, without turning around. “You are not at fault here. You were brave, honorable and kind. You were, no, you are everything that a true Hero should be.”

“Hero…I am the Hero…” whispered Lily.

“No, that’s not right,” I said.

Lily looked up at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

“That’s not the right way to think about it. You keep calling yourself ‘the Hero’ as if you want to live up to your title. As if the only reason you wanted to help those people was because of your title,” I said. “But that’s not true. The ‘Hero’ of this world has no obligation to save everyone. In fact, as you found out, they may be driven to deplorable acts of cruelty and senseless violence. History suggests that the Heroes have been just as vile and vicious as the Demon Lords. So although it may be true that you destroyed the master-key because Fate forced you to desire death and destruction, your desire for justice and freedom for the bonded laborers originated solely from you and you alone. You didn’t want to free them because you were the Hero, you wanted to do it because you are a good person.”

Lily looked at me and nodded slowly but her eyes quickly clouded again. “But I still killed thousands of people. Even if it was Fate that made me do it, I broke the key. Even if I know that that’s not what I wanted to do, it doesn’t change the fact that I have blood on my hands. A lot of blood.”

My resolve was tested yet again. It would be so easy to tell her the truth. To fix everything right now. After all, my Ability could do anything. I had no limits nor restrictions. My actions had no consequences that I couldn’t fix.

But that would defeat the point. Although I had absolute power, all it did was make sure that I knew exactly why I couldn’t fix everything in a heartbeat even though it would be as simple as snapping my fingers.

Was my goal worth making Lily feel so depressed? Was it worth letting her punish herself for an action that she had no control over? For an action that, in a way, I was responsible for?

Although I asked myself these questions, I already knew the answer. It was worth it. I knew the big picture. I knew what I really needed to achieve. I had a plan and I had to stick to it. No matter how wrong my actions may seem at the time, I knew that my intentions were right. My intentions were just and noble.

“No you don’t. The only one with blood on their hands is Fate. Remember what I said about the monsters?” I said, reassuringly. “They kill because they have to, not because they want to. It is our choices that determine who we are, not the choices made for us by others.”

Lily put her head between her knees. She wasn’t convinced, I could tell. But I had gotten through to her enough to let her deal with it on her own terms. Whatever answer she came up with, whatever amount of blame she wanted to ascribe to herself, would be her own decision and I didn’t want to meddle with that.

I was meddling with enough things as it was.

Zoe stirred. She struggled awake before throwing out a bunch of incoherent questions just like Lily had. I answered them patiently.

“The laborers are free. I saw Runir lead them to safety,” I said.

“Huh? Where-” asked Lily.

“He led them to the gardens at the back of the palace and told them to leave the city immediately. Since the kingdom was occupied by more pressing matters, I’m sure they managed to make it out safely.”

“No, that’s great and all but-”

“Don’t worry, I doubt they’ll be caught any time soon. Even if they did manage to catch them, setting up the contracts and the master-key will take years, assuming they even pursue that route now that their floating island is so thoroughly grounded.”

“No I mean, where is Runir?” asked Lily as she spread her arms wide. “In fact, where the hell are we?”

“Oh right, well to answer your second question, we’re-”

“In the Alderan Wastes,” finished Amy, still refusing to turn around. “The most dangerous and inhospitable place in all of Erath.”

Inhospitable was right. We were currently sitting on a hill surrounded by roiling purple gas and a sea of putrid sludge. Nothing grew for miles in any direction and there were only a few patches of dry earth sticking through the gas. This wasn’t exactly the most perfect picnic spot.

“Right…by the way Amy, why are you-”

“No reason,” she said, her back pointed straight at me.

“Well, whatever.” I shrugged. “Anyways, to answer your first question; Runir is fine. We’ll meet up with him soon. He got separated with us during the collision but he fell somewhere close by.”

“And how do you know that?” asked Zoe. The others were too experienced to ask a dumb question like that.

“Because of this!” I said, pointing to the ring on my finger. “Put some mana into it and-”

Four rays of light shot out of the ring. Three of them landed close by-on the fingers of the three people around me, in fact. While one of them shot into the distance.

“There’s a tracker on the rings…” mused Lily.

“Yep!” I exclaimed.

Lily sighed and got up. “Whatever. We should go get that idiot then. I guess we can rely on you for a way across this slimy wasteland?”

“Of course,” I said, pulling a small boat out of my robes and placing it on the sea of sludge.

Zoe hesitated but the others got on without complaint. She’d get used to it eventually.

“Do you know what Runir’s doing right now?” asked Lily.

“Yes,” I smiled. “He’s singing.”

< Back | TOC | Next >

“I suppose that migraine was a blessing in disguise. And here I was, disappointed that I couldn’t attend the Exhibition. Praise the Goddess, her foresight is magnificent,” said the Queen.

“Mother?” said Gale. “These people aren’t bad. You don’t have to-”

“Hush boy! Letting yourself get kidnapped so easily. And inside the sacred shrine of all places! Disgraceful. I’ll need to redouble your training since it is so obviously inadequate,” she snapped.

Gale’s face paled and he dug into Kai’s side. It said a lot about someone if their own kid would rather stick to their kidnappers than their own mother.

The Queen frowned. “Silly boy. Guards, apprehend these criminals and rescue the king!”

The guards readied their weapons and charged at us. Some of them held torches, shedding a flickering orange glow around the room. The shiny, metal ceiling reflected the torchlight, casting rays of light across the somewhat dimly lit room.

Kai blew out his own torch and threw it away. “Anyone wanna watch a little magic trick? I’m about to make myself…”

He waved a hand and all the torches blew out.

“…disappear!”

The room was engulfed in darkness again. I felt a strong pull around my waist and barely managed to hold in a shout of surprise as I was hurtled through the air.

“Go! I’ll hold them off. You need to get to the top and destroy that master-key. And don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” shouted Kai.

He pushed me forward and I found my hands resting on two shoulders. I resolved myself and ran forward while urging the kids to follow me. We carefully made our way up, feeling out the stairs because it was too dark to see.

Despite being the most technologically advanced kingdom on Erath, the Air Kingdom never managed to make a freaking light bulb. Guess science doesn’t work the same way everywhere.

“We’re here,” said Gale as he pushed open a small wooden door.

The door swung open, revealing a lavishly decorated room. A rich carpet, intricately embroidered curtains, an ornately carved wooden bed and expensive sheets and furniture; just what you’d expect from the room of the king.

However, there were quite a few surprises inside that made it apparent why no one but royalty could come up here. Next to sophisticated oil paintings of ancient kings and queens hung posters of famous singers and celebrities. The rich carpet was stained in several places, the curtains had holes in them and the bed sheets were in disarray.

And of course, there was something downright strange inside.

“Your Highness!” We were greeted by a familiar voice.

“Ezu?” Gale said, dumbstruck.

Floating in the center of the room was a translucent head. It belonged to the scientist who had been hosting the Exhibition at the shrine- Ezure Taiker. The projection was coming from a communications prism that was embedded inside the coffee table in the center of the room.

Do they have cameras on the kid too? That’s just creepy. A little sad too I guess. The king’s a prisoner in his own castle.

“Your Highness, please listen to reason! You know why we can’t let these terrorists-”

She was interrupted by the sound of something breaking. Sparks flew out as the communications prism broke into pieces.

“Shut up!” cried Zoe, still pointing her air gun at the coffee table.

Gale stared at the empty air where the hologram had been, then he stared at Zoe with a blank look in his eyes.

“Stop wasting time. Where’s the key?” said Zoe.

“There should be an attic up there,” I said, pointing at the ceiling.

Zoe nodded and before Gale could protest, she fired her air gun at the ceiling. Chunks of stone and wood fell on the ground, littering the room. A cloud of dust filled the air, making us cough.

As the dust settled, several holes appeared in the ceiling. We couldn’t see anything inside but I could barely make out a dull glow on the edge of one of the holes.

“No ladder? How do we get up there?” asked Zoe.

I walked over to them. “Like this.”

I grabbed them and jumped towards the ceiling. The hole I’d chosen wasn’t wide enough so I hugged Zoe and Gale tightly to my chest and crashed through the stone bricks and wooden paneling.

The attic was dark and damp. The roof was full of holes and water dripped into pools on the dirty stone floor. There was no window so the only source of light were the holes in the roof and the big glowing thing in the back of the room.

It was a strange contraption; kind of like a mix between an old school radio and a giant locket. It had an antenna that wound its way up a chain and was swiveling and rotating in a seemingly random pattern. The chains connected the lower half, which had buttons and knobs on it, to the upper half where a large gray colored stone lay glowing brightly inside a glass case.

“So we just have to break this?” said Zoe, raising her gun. “No wait, I want to enjoy this.”

She walked over to the machine and flipped the air gun in her hand. She raised it and got ready to swing it at the glass covering the stone.

“Wait!”

“You again?” said Zoe, glaring at the floating head that appeared next to her. There was a communications prism on the machine too.

“Your Highness, please listen to reason! You know the numbers. You know the stats. You know what will happen if you do this!” pleaded the floating head.

“You really need to shut up. Gale knows what’s right. He’s not going to listen to your crap anymore. Goodbye!” She swung the back of her gun at the communications prism.

“My king, listen to me! Trust me! I’ve taken care of you since you were born. Please, trust me!” she shouted desperately. “You’re the king. You can’t let yourself be tricked by these criminals! Please little Galey, listen to me!”

“Stop!”

Zoe froze, the end of her gun inches from the machine. Her eyes were widened in disbelief. She tried to move the gun but she couldn’t. She tried to struggle, tried to flail but she couldn’t move anything but her eyes.

Several emotions flickered in her eyes. Anger, frustration, unwillingness and disbelief. She shifted her eyes to glare at Gale reproachfully. She knew she’d been frozen against her will by the king’s orders. She was a citizen of the Air kingdom so Fate forced her to follow the king’s orders.

“I’ll hear both of you and then I’ll make a decision,” he said, raising his quivering chin. “You first Zoe.”

“You back-stabbing piece of-”

“Stop.” Zoe’s mouth froze shut. “Insulting me isn’t going to help. You need to convince me through logic and reason. Give me an argument. Persuade me!” He gestured towards the hologram. “Show her how it’s done Ezu.”

“With pleasure, my king. The bonded laborers are the backbone of our society. Our manufacturing industries rely heavily on the laborers to produce our products. Releasing them from their contracts will not only cripple our economy and send thousands into poverty, it will also be a regressive step for science and innovation on Erath. Our progress over the past few centuries has improved the quality of living of millions of people on Erath and our inventions are used all across the world.” She took a deep breath.

“Screw that! Have you seen what the laborers go through? Can you seriously say that you’ve improved the lives of people while you make so many of them live a life like that?” I interjected.

“Stop, please let her finish,” said Gale.

“Thank you, my king. Our productivity has increased by over one-hundred and fifty percent in the last quarter century alone. Childhood mortality rates have halved since the discovery of facilitated breathing techniques and the creation of machines that enable better quality medicines to be produced. Harvests in the fields of the Light kingdom tripled after they adopted our machines. This increased the overall agricultural production of Erath and helped feed hundreds of thousands of people. International trade revolves around our products and presents the best possible route for peace- or whatever semblance of peace we can maintain within the restrictions of Fate- and above all else, our products are an essential part of the lives of millions of ordinary people around the world. Take away the laborers and everything we’ve built will collapse! The whole world as we know it will cease to exist!”

Gale nodded. He turned to Zoe.

“Your turn. Please keep it civil.”

“Fuck you!”

Gale sighed. “Whatever.”

Zoe cursed him a few more times before finally calming down a little.

“I thought you’d learned your lesson. Knew we should have tossed you off the ship,” she grumbled. “Have you forgotten everything we talked about? Have you forgotten what you saw in my room that day? Hell, have you forgotten what’s on your back?” she spat.

“But Ezu’s right too. I’m the king, I have to look at the big picture. I-”

“Fuck, what kind of king lets people live a life of misery and pain? Besides, what right do you have to make that choice for us?”

Gale blinked. “I’m the king. It’s my duty to lead my people-”

“Your people are just fine on their own! Keep your god damn hands to yourself. We don’t need you to choose for us. You’re not the one who has to spend years breaking rocks with a hammer. You don’t have to get whipped for dropping something by accident. You don’t know what it’s like to keep doing the same thing over and over again without food or sleep because you keep getting pumped with crap that keeps you going forever!” she cried. “You don’t know what we go through. What I went through. So shut up and let me do what you’re too stupid to do. Let me do the right thing!”

“It is not the right thing! It is the most illogical, irrational, and detrimental course of action we could possibly take!” shouted Ezure. “My king, we have the numbers and the data, you’ve heard her argument, she has nothing! No facts, no logic. All she has is an irrational appeal to an intangible sense of morality. I know I’ve taught you better and I know how talented you are. I trust you’ll make the correct decision.”

Gale gestured for both of them to be silent while he closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. I remained silent but I was lost in thought too. If Gale chose to go back on his promise, then I’d have to get over my disappointment real quick. He may not know what the right thing was, but I did and I had to make sure that all our efforts weren’t in vain.

Gale sighed. “All right.” He opened his eyes.

“Ezu,” he said, facing the projection. “You’re right. Our economy depends on the efforts of the laborers. The world is, overall, a better place because of our system. Our progress, our development, our achievements in science and technology are worthy of praise and respect and none of it would have been possible without the system.”

“Thank you my king. If you can just hold them at bay for long enough, the guards will come apprehend them-”

“No.” Gale looked away. “I understand all of that. I know what the science says. I know what my head says. Everything points towards it but I can’t do it. After everything I’ve seen, after what I know now. Ezu…I’m sorry.”

“My king, don’t! Don’t do it!” shrieked Ezure. “Don’t do it Galey!”

“Zoe,” said Gale.

Zoe looked up at him.

“Do it.”

Zoe’s lips curled up into a smile. “Finally!”

She brought the gun down on the glass. It cracked but didn’t shatter. Zoe grunted and pulled back the gun again.

“My king! Please don’t-”

“Ezu, I’ve made my decision,” breathed Gale as he looked at Zoe.

His fists were clenched and he was staring at her hard. He was still conflicted. The gun came down again and the glass shattered. However, the stone was still glowing and the antenna was still moving. The gun was raised again.

Zoe brought it down even harder this time. All of her frustration, all of her anger, she was letting it all out with this strike. This was it. This was her revenge.

“The mines are empty!”

“Stop!”

Zoe froze, the gun inches from the glowing stone.

“What do you mean?” asked Gale.

“The mines. The Breize stone mines,” said Ezure, her eyes staring downwards. “It’s a secret we haven’t told anyone. Not even the royal family…”

She sighed. “The mines are empty.”

Gale frowned. “We’ve mined them all up?”

“No.” She’d gotten him to stop but she still looked defeated. “They’re empty. They’ve always been empty.”

Gale paused. “But the stones…we’ve been using them for five centuries! If we weren’t mining them, then where-”

“We’ve been mining them. Just not at the Breize mines.”

“Is that why no one was allowed there? Only laborers and priests from the shrine?” Gale said. “But my ancestors saw the mines! I’ve read the books-”

“The books I made you read?”

Gale froze. “Oh…”

“That doesn’t change anything,” I said. “In fact, that just proves you can’t trust them. Let Zoe break the damn thing already. We can deal with their lies later.”

Gale looked at me and nodded slowly. “Right, this changes nothing. I’ve made my decision. Zoe, go ahe-”

“We mine them from the bottom of the island. Right here in Laput,” interrupted Ezure.

Gale snapped. “So what! Just let it go already Ezure! I’ve made my decision and…oh” He froze.

“It’s good to see that my hard work wasn’t wasted. At least you can still think,” said Ezure, testily.

“You mine them from the bottom…”

“Yes, my king. Now please order these criminals to stand down. The guards are almost here.”

Gale hesitated. Then, he nodded slowly.

“Sorry Zoe, I can’t let you do this.” He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. “I’m so, so sorry…please, step away.”

Zoe’s eyes swam crazily. While her body walked over to Gale smoothly, her eyes flicked between both of the objects of her captivity. But she wasn’t the only one who was unwilling to let things slide so easily.

“What the hell? I don’t get this. So what if you dig up those damn stones from the bottom of the island?” I said, frustrated.

“Quiet you thug, your king has made his decision,” said Ezure.

I frowned. “Tell me Gale, you know what’s going on. The shrine just wants to maintain its power. You’re the king, why the fuck won’t you stand for what you know is the right thing to do?”

“Because it isn’t the smart thing to do! If they’re mining it from the bottom of the island, then…” he trailed off.

“Then what?” I asked.

Ezure interrupted. “You don’t need to bother with this thug, my king. Just order her to go-”

Gale raised a hand to silence her.

“The bottom layer of this floating island is made of mana crystals. It’s what keeps us afloat. And if our ‘Breize stones’ are actually those mana crystals, then judging by the amount we’ve used over the centuries…”

“You’ll fall,” I finished.

Gale nodded. “Right.”

“But what does that have to do with the laborers?” I asked.

“My king, why are you wasting your breath on this hooligan? Just tell her to-”

“Silence Ezure!” scolded Gale.

The floating head frowned but didn’t say a word.

“It has everything to do with them. All the laborers in Laput are stationed in the catacombs underneath the palace. They provide the mana needed to run the city. But if the mana crystals are being depleted, then they probably serve another function as well,” said Gale.

“Which is?”

“To keep us from falling back to the ground. If you break that master-key right now, you’ll send us crashing to our doom. The entire kingdom will go up in flames. Countless lives will be lost. Years of progress undone. So please, I beg you Ms.Lily, just come with me.”

He bowed his head. However, for some reason, I wasn’t affected by his pleading at all.

“My king! Why are you bowing your head to a worthless criminal? Just order her to stand down! She-”

“I can’t! Don’t you think I haven’t tried? I have no power over them. They’re not from the Air kingdom!” he shouted. He turned to me. “Please Ms.Lily, think of the consequences. This island is our home. It is the pride of our country.”

So what?

I jumped towards the machine.

“No! Didn’t you hear me? If you break that thing, hundreds of thousands of people will die. The Air kingdom will be severely crippled for centuries! It would be a disaster!”

I hesitated. Why had I jumped here so quickly? I’d let them all ramble for so long, so why did I suddenly jump over now?

I unsheathed my sword.

“Please Ms.Lily! Families and homes will be destroyed. Our livelihoods will disappear. Trust me, I’ll think of another way to power the mana crystal layer. We can hire paid magicians instead.”

I pointed my sword at the glowing gray stone inside the device.

Wait…why? Why am I doing this? I understand what he’s saying. It makes sense. If I do this now, a lot of people will be hurt. Hell, the people I’m trying to save will probably die too! Why am I…

“The Air kingdom will suffer! The Alliance relies on us for their weapons. Our machines power the Alliance’s wars. The Union will overrun the Alliance without our help. You used Earth magic, I saw it. I know you wouldn’t undermine the Alliance. Please step away, Ms.Lily.”

People are suffering. Yeah, that’s why I’m doing this…for the laborers. For the people like Zoe…right? Their pain can’t be ignored, right? I have to do this for them, right? This is justice! This is the right thing to do! I’m doing this because I’m a good person. Because I know what these people are going through. Because…because…

I’m the Hero…

I drove my sword through the stone, breaking it in half. Its light dimmed but it didn’t go out. I heard someone screaming in the background, heard things crashing and breaking as the ground shook uncontrollably.

I brought my sword down, cleaving the entire machine in two. The antenna swung uselessly to a stop. The stone dulled and crumbled. The master-key…broke. The shackles of the bonded laborers…broke.

I’d done it. I’d freed them. I’d done the right thing.

But then why did it feel so wrong?

The ground trembled and a rumbling sound resounded through the air.

Ezure’s head bobbed frantically. “What have you done! My king, we have to hurry. Send the guards to the catacombs, have them take over for the laborers. It should still take some time for the island to start falling. We can-”

The ground trembled and shook.

“Why is it…? The key was just broken! The masters should be able to keep the laborers under control for a little longer. Why is it happening so fast. Who-”

“What have you done?” came a voice from all around us.

Wind howled around us, sending dust swirling about in the air. A figure materialized next to the broken master-key. Gray hair, a pretty face and a gray robe with a tornado emblazoned on the back. The figure glared at us through her goggles.

“Was it worth it? Tell me, are you happy? Letting your emotions drive your actions, disregarding science and rationality. Tell me, is your heart filled with joy now that you’ve sentenced thousands to death and millions to poverty? You ignored the facts, the science, the logical reasoning. Tell me, do you still think you made the right decision?” asked the Goddess.

I hesitated. Now that I’d done the deed, I felt…conflicted. Like something was eating away at my insides. I’d come here to do the right thing. We’d hatched the plan to free the laborers living lives filled with cruelty and pain. Wasn’t freeing them the right thing to do?

“It was your fault! The only reason I had to make this decision in the first place was because of the way you were treating your people. Freeing them was the right thing to do. I broke that machine to liberate those people. To end their suffering. To make sure no one had to go through what Zoe went through, again!” I said.

The Goddess’ smile was full of disdain. “Really? Is that why you did it? Was that the motivation behind your actions?”

My mind went blank. I couldn’t respond.

The ground trembled again.

I did it because I wanted to free them. I wanted to do the right thing. I…I…

I didn’t do anything while Zoe was frozen by Gale’s commands.

The right thing, it was the right thing…

When did I take action?

Right thing…right…

I moved when I heard…

Right…right…

That it would cause the deaths of thousands.

Right…

And cripple the country…

I…

Cripple my enemies…

I am the..

I hadn’t broken that damn thing because I wanted to free the laborers…

Hero…

I’d done it because it would hurt my enemies. I’d done it not because I was a hero, but because I was the Hero.

The ground trembled again.

The Goddess stepped up to me. She whispered in my ear, “But you can still make up for it. I can hold this island up with my mana. I can take over for a few years if needed and we can come to an arrangement until then. Only…I can’t do that because I can’t interfere with your plans. Please…let me do this. Let me save my people.”

I hesitated. I wanted to do it. I wanted to give her permission but I couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.

“Please,” she pleaded. “Just a yes. That’s all I need. Just nod your head, just once. And I can save hundreds of thousands of people. I’ll agree to let all the laborers go. I’ll take their place for however long I need to. I’ll even compensate them for their pain and suffering. Just please…don’t let my life’s work fall to ruin. Let me save my home. Let me save my friends and family. Let me…do the right thing…please.”

My mind was in turmoil. I wanted to, I desperately wanted to say yes. To nod my head. To give her some indication of how I really felt.

Do it! Save these people! Save your country, you damned Goddess! She was the Goddess. It was crazy that she needed my permission to help her people. It was messed up. This world was messed up. Fate was messed up.

I’d never really believed Amy and the others when they said that no one could resist Fate. I’d always thought that I could have fought it. That I would not be led around by some weird force that ran the world.

But I was wrong. I’d broken the master-key because Fate wanted me to do it. Or rather, it wanted me to hurt the Alliance. To kill my enemies and to cripple their resources. It wanted me to be the Hero. And now it forbade me from letting the Goddess save them.

It was forcing me to not only send thousands of people to their deaths but to refuse to save them as they died in front of me. To let the opportunity to save them pass me by just because I couldn’t nod my fucking head!

Tears streamed down my cheeks. The ground trembled again and the tower shook. The walls crumbled and the roof caved in. The last thing I saw was the sorrowful face of the Goddess.

Her eyes were sad and forlorn but more importantly, there was a hint of resignation in them. She’d come to plead to me, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to accept. She’d come to beg to me to let her save thousands of lives even though she’d ruined millions of them herself. She was a monster. A cold, cruel, heartless monster who had prioritized science and numbers over the well-being of millions of people over the centuries.

But right now, she was the one who wanted to do the right thing and I was the one who was getting in her way. Right now, she was the one who wanted to do something heroic.

And I was doing something evil. I was fulfilling my duties as ‘the Hero.’

The tower crumbled and my vision went dark as the roof fell on top of me. I felt someone take hold of my shoulders just as I faded into unconsciousness.

< Back | TOC | Next >

Surprisingly, the mood lightened quite a bit after that incident. Kai did a few more of his terrible pirate routines. Amy laughed and clapped at them like a crazed fan. I made fun of Runir while sitting on the prow of the ship. He said he wasn’t afraid of heights, but it was pretty hard to believe that when he refused to step anywhere near the edge.
But the most surprising development was between Zoe and Gale. At first, they avoided each other. Zoe still gave him a cold stare whenever they met and Gale flinched and ran away when he saw her walking towards him alone.

Yet, there was something different. Zoe could stand his presence now and as long as other people were around, Gale could stay in the same room with her without trembling. They weren’t exactly friends but it was a step in the right direction.

But I doubted whether it would stay that way for long. Zoe may be willing to let him go but would she be so forgiving for the other people responsible for her suffering? She wanted revenge, I could feel it. She was bottling it up for now, enduring as long as she could but she would erupt and she would go for the heads of her tormentors.

Unfortunately, most of those tormentors were Gale’s friends and family. He wouldn’t just stand by and watch them be killed.

Then again, we weren’t planning on killing anyone. Or at least I wasn’t. Couldn’t be sure about the rest.

Runir didn’t seem to care and since he came from Earth too, he probably didn’t share the weird morality of this world either. Amy was kind and caring so she probably wouldn’t do anything drastic. Kai was unpredictable but I didn’t think he would kill people. After all, he didn’t even let us kill monsters.

Even though I knew that none of them were the type who would kill people, perhaps Zoe could get through to them? But in that case, the person most likely to be affected would be me.

I could sympathize with Zoe, I could understand her anger, her desire for revenge, for justice. I’d felt it too. I had people I wanted to settle scores with too. If I saw an image of myself in her, would I be able to stop myself from helping her get her revenge? Was it fair of me to want to rip out my hometown mayor’s heart but stop Zoe from venting her anger on her tormentors?

“Lily, did you hear what I said?” asked Runir, jolting me from my thoughts.

“No, sorry. I zoned out,” I replied, apologetically.

Runir sighed. “There’s no point in having a strategy meeting if you guys aren’t listening. You don’t even contribute at all. Hell, Zoe’s been a bigger help than you in finalizing the plan! Can’t you at least stay focused?”

I shrugged. “Well what can I do, I’m a thief. I could help us sneak in but Kai’s disguises make most of my skills useless. I could help steal keys but I’m sure we can break down any doors we come across. More importantly, your Ability is only good for planning stuff so why should I take away your only chance to shine? You’re worthless otherwise.”

“How many times have you been rescued again? I’ve lost count,” Runir retorted.

“Screw you.”

“Focus please,” said Amy. “We can’t afford to mess this up.”

“Fine, let’s go over this again,” said Runir, grabbing a marker and a piece of paper. “The capital is just like any other city in the Air Kingdom, only bigger. Kai will help us get past the checkpoints like he always does but we don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves so we need to avoid all the groveling. Can you do that Kai?”

“Sure, we don’t have to impersonate royalty every time,” answered Kai.

“Wait, you made them think we were-”

“We’ll be merchants this time, don’t worry.” Kai smiled.

Runir sighed. “Whatever. Anyway, after that we have to get inside the palace. Luckily for us, a lot of the most powerful people in the kingdom are at the shrine right now. This includes most of the royal guards, since they were accompanying the king. However, the entire kingdom is currently on high alert so the palace is probably on lock-down. We can’t just walk in, we’ll need to sneak in.”

Yes! Finally something I can do!

But before I could offer my assistance, Runir gestured towards Gale, who was sitting next to Amy.

“Fortunately, we have the king with us. Gale will guide us inside through one of the palace’s secret entrances. Won’t he?” said Runir.

“He will,” said Zoe, glaring at Gale, who nodded quickly.

“Perfect! Now we just have to figure out where they keep the master key and-”

“What master key?” I asked.

“The laborers’ collars have mana signals similar to the kind used by communications prisms. These signals all lead to the same source. My Ability suggests that this source serves as a master-key that ties down all the laborers. It’s probably a way for the king to prevent anyone from amassing an army of absolutely loyal soldiers. As such, it should be kept somewhere in the palace. Gale, do you know where it is?”

“No, I’ve never even heard of something like that,” said Gale.

Runir stared at him for a while before sighing. “Like I thought, even though it was supposed to be a way for the king to retain control over the laborers, it’s probably meant to keep control in the hands of Breize Labs. They manufacture the collars, after all. Guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way. Kai, do you still have Zoe’s collar?”

“Yes,” said Kai as he took out the collar from his Storage.

He passed it to Runir and I noticed Zoe’s eyes follow the collar.

“We’ll have to search the palace on our own by following the signal to its source. Of course, something this important wouldn’t be left unprotected so we should be ready for anything.”

“Is that it? Are we done?” I asked.

“No,” answered Amy. “I don’t think we should take Zoe and Gale along.”

Zoe frowned and Gale looked surprised too.

“I know they’re weak, but I don’t think it’ll be hard for us to protect them, considering how strong we are,” said Runir.

“That’s not what she means,” said Kai. “Can we trust them to follow the plan? To keep their emotions in check?”

That was true. Zoe might just jump at someone with a dagger and Gale might run up to a guard or something.

“You don’t have to worry. I know what’s more important. We free the other laborers and then I can get my revenge,” said Zoe with a smile.

“I have already decided that the laborers must be released from their bindings. I hope that we can come to an agreeable arrangement afterwards, but I’ll follow your plan with the expectation that you won’t just blow up the palace when you’re done,” said Gale.

So he was finally acting like a king? Not that surprising, considering how he’d probably been learning how to be a king ever since he was born.

“Zoe, we’ll discuss what to do with the people involved in the laborer business later. Until then, you are not to try to take revenge on your own,” said Kai. “And Gale, don’t worry. If we wanted to blow up the palace, we would have done that ages ago.”

“That’s…” muttered Gale.

“Fine,” said Zoe.

“Good. Here’s your reward for being so understanding!” He tossed them small, brown boxes.

They looked at the boxes with confusion.

“Damn, so lucky…” muttered Runir.

“I want another one too…” murmured Amy.

I admit, I looked at them with envy too.

“Glad you liked them. Now then, we’re almost there, so let’s go admire the view.”

–

Most large cities on Erath were sprawling messes. Centuries of unchecked urban growth would inevitably lead to slums and poorer districts popping up around a richer central area that had existed since the Haze, making most of the capitals of the kingdoms incredibly fragmented.

But not Laput. The expansion of the capital of the Air Kingdom was completely planned out. Rings of newly developed districts lined older ones in an oval pattern surrounding the palace in the center.

Although there were no walls for the city itself, the palace was surrounded by large steel walls and barricades. Air guns were mounted on top of the walls and a few holes betrayed the locations of hidden guns and peep holes. Of course, there were probably far more that were better hidden.

We touched down on a hill several miles from the city and I put the airship into my Inventory, since it couldn’t fit in the others’ Storage. For some reason, it felt like this was the only time where my Hero status had actually helped us.

That was a sad thought.

We’d also made sure to distract Zoe and Gale while I did it and told them that Runir had put it in his ‘Inventory,’ since we couldn’t tell them that I was the Hero.

So now they wouldn’t appreciate the one thing that I did do.

Whatever Lily. Being a Hero is about making sacrifices. Yeah, sacrifices, I consoled myself.

Kai pulled out his magic paper like always and we were let past the checkpoint without fanfare. We spent some time shopping and touring the city.

We saw the perfectly kept gardens and the bustling cars and buses. It was a holiday because of the Exhibition, so the amusement parks were full of parents taking their kids out for fun and couples going on dates on the Ferris wheel.

There were restaurants selling all kinds of food. Stands full of snacks and trinkets. A vendor blew bubbles at a crowd of kids in a playground. An old lady sat on a bench, throwing breadcrumbs for the birds chirping and pecking on the ground.

We walked over to a fenced off building in the middle of one of the wealthier districts. There was a sign saying it was owned by Breize labs but we ignored it and stepped inside.

It was only when I saw the words ‘Breize’ written on a glowing sign that I realized that something was wrong about this city. We’d seen everything you’d expect from a city in the Air Kingdom.

Everything, that is, except for a factory.

I knew I couldn’t be the only one who’d noticed this and the grim atmosphere around our group confirmed it. Something wasn’t right. A city this size couldn’t run without factories full of bonded laborers firing off magic to charge Breize stones. There were no factories outside the city either, at least we hadn’t seen any on our way over.

But if that was the case, where were they?

We sneaked into the building through a hole in the fence, avoiding the guards standing outside the entrance. Gale led us to an open sewer-because secret entrances always went through the sewers- and we dropped down into the darkness.

Kai took out an old torch and lit it with a piece of flint. We couldn’t use Light or Fire magic in front of Gale or Zoe, after all.

Gale and Kai led us through the sewers while Amy and Zoe walked in the center and Runir and I brought up the rear.

Other than the awful stench, everything was going according to plan. Runir’s plans were always uncomfortably perfect. We’d planned everything that had happened at the shrine, and I remember feeling like it would all go wrong any second even though it never did.

But maybe I’d jinxed it this time.

Gale stopped and pointed at the ceiling. Amy climbed the ladder by the walls and bent open the barred iron grating before climbing out. The rest of us followed.

“Hey Lily,” said Kai, putting a hand on my shoulder as I stepped onto the ladder. He’d stayed back because he had the torch and Runir had just climbed out so the two of us were the last ones left.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing, really. It’s just that…I think you shouldn’t worry so much. About being a Hero or doing heroic things. Your roles in this world don’t define you. They shouldn’t define you. You don’t have to be a hero. You never chose to be one.”

I was taken aback. Had it been that obvious?

“Thanks. Don’t worry, I never believed in any of this Fate crap anyways. I’ll do what I always do; whatever the fuck I want.” I smiled and climbed out of the hole.

“Right, we’re in the Western courtyard. The signal from the collar seems to go towards the center of the palace, presumably towards the King’s courtroom or the tower above it,” I heard Runir whisper.

“There’s a tower in the center of the palace?” I asked. That wasn’t exactly a normal castle design.

“Yep, the King’s quarters are at the very top. But from what I’ve heard from Gale, there’s an attic above your room that’s always locked. His ‘adviser’ from Breize Labs said that there was nothing important there and she even showed you inside once. What did you see?”

“Nothing,” answered Gale in a hushed voice. “It was empty.”

“They might have hidden it from you. My guess is that the master-key can’t be moved or else the connections will be severed, which explains why they don’t just shift it to the shrine,” said Runir.

“So we get to see your room Gale. Isn’t that sweet?” said Amy.

Gale nodded stiffly and looked away. Guess he was shy.

We carefully made our way to the central tower, avoiding the guards patrolling the hallways. It was late in the evening and the shadows were more than long enough to hide us in their dark embrace.

“This is it. The main doors are heavily guarded so we need to find another way up,” said Runir.

“Or we could just knock,” said Kai as he tapped the door before any of us could stop him.

Damn it Kai! What the hell are you doing?

“Who is it?” came a voice from inside.

“Hey pumpkin, your wife sent you dinner!” said Kai in a female voice.

“Oh right, I forgot.” The door opened. “Wait a-”

The guard fell on the ground. Kai retracted his hand and smiled.

“Sorry pumpkin.”

Zoe and Gale gave him weird looks but the rest of us followed him over the unconscious guard’s body.

Was it strange that we’d gotten so used to Kai’s weirdness already? Judging by the way Zoe was choosing to stick to Gale, maybe it was.

Even though it was a tower, it was also the only way up to the King’s throne-room so the stairs were wide and well decorated. The walls were lined with jewels and ornate carvings and the grown covered with rich carpets and tiles.

But on our way up, I noticed that while many rooms and floors were designed or decorated differently, one thing remained the same-the metallic ceiling. It was strange because it felt so out of place; a silvery metal ceiling that sucked the life out of the vibrant, colorful rooms below.

It just didn’t fit.

We didn’t meet a lot of guards on our way up. Runir was right, most of them were probably at the shrine. In fact, Runir had predicted that the palace wouldn’t be too heavily guarded because most of the army and guards would be out searching for the king.

Runir’s plan was working perfectly, just like it had at the shrine. All that was left was to go to the king’s quarters, find a way up to the attic and break the connection from the master-key to all the collars on the bonded laborers.

Simple, wasn’t it? Everything was going according to plan. There were no complications thus far.

We opened the door to the king’s throne-room and I realized, one again, that no plan was perfect. There were always complications.

And the first one was standing in the center of the king’s throne-room, glaring at us through the goggles covering her eyes.

“So you’re finally here, you ignorant children.” She frowned. “And you brought a bunch of friends along too. Perfect, now please release the king and leave my kingdom. There is no place for irrational idealists and naivete in my kingdom of science.”

Her gray hair and robes blew in the wind even though there was none. Her eyes glowed as she raised her hands and aimed at us.

“Leave!” roared the Air Goddess, her voice echoing all around the room.

“Why should we? You can’t interfere with our plans. You’re bluffing!” said Runir with a smirk.

“I can’t interfere with your plans, true, but I’m not the only one here.” The Goddess smiled.

I had a bad feeling about this.

As if to confirm my suspicions, a gust of wind blew from above, blowing out the torches and engulfing us in darkness. I reached out to Zoe, who had been standing beside me, but I hit empty air.

Where did she go? Did someone take her away?

I reached out to the other side, where Runir had been, and grabbed empty air again.

A torch flickered to life in front of me. Kai’s face was highlighted by the torchlight but his eyes were cast in shadows, as if he was about to tell a scary story. And with how grim his expression was, it might just be a terrifying one.

He held Zoe and Gale in his other hand. How he’d gotten to both of them in time was beyond me.

More importantly though, Amy and Runir were nowhere to be seen. The Goddess was gone too. Instead, the room was now being filled by guards appearing through secret entrances spread across the throne-room.

They gathered beneath the throne, wielding their spears, swords and air guns and glaring at us menacingly. Sitting atop the throne was a gray haired old woman with frown lines on her forehead.

“As the former Queen and Regent of the Air Kingdom, I, Ganili Talbert the fourth, order you to release my son and surrender so you can be tried for your crimes against the state. If you submit now, I promise that your sentences shall be lenient,” said the old lady.

And that’s when I promised to never jinx a plan again. Things always went wrong. There were always complications.

And right now, we were surrounded by them.

“They’re coming up on starboard. Hoist the main sails! Liver down the hatches! Shiver up the timbers! Ahoy!”

“Shut up Kai! That doesn’t make any sense!” I cried.
“Oi ye scurvy-eyed mutineer! I sailed the uncharted waters off the coast-a Meneria on a rotten raft with nothin but tha skin on ma back! Don’t ye be tellin me how ta sail!” he shouted in a terrible pirate accent.

“Amy, Runir, tell him to stop!” I said, covering my ears.

“Why? He’s doing a perfect Captain Selworthy impersonation,” said Amy, looking impressed.

“Captain Selworthy?”

“A legendary pirate from Erathen folklore. He purportedly discovered the Northern Continent back when the Bridge of Babel hadn’t been built and the continents were further apart than they are now. Or at least, that’s how the story goes in the Union. Here in the Alliance they claim Selworthy was based off the coast of Kalmarsh in the Water Kingdom and discovered the Southern Continent instead,” said Runir with a smile. “No one knows how he actually spoke but that’s pretty much how every kid’s story portrays him.”

He pointed at Kai who was laughing while turning the steering wheel in circles. Kai kept shouting weird lines that made me cringe but worse still, rather than staring at him blankly like Zoe, Amy just kept nodding appreciatively which made him act even crazier.

A loud crash rang through the air as the ship shook violently.

“Could you do the castrated black-beard impersonations later? We’re being followed by freaking dragon!” I shouted.

“Wyverns,” corrected Kai. “They can’t keep up with my ship for long!”

He returned to his crazy routine while I nursed a fast-growing headache. I took a moment to calm myself and sat down next to Zoe. She was staring at the little king who was still tinkering with his cube.

“Hey, what is that anyway?” I asked in a tired voice.

The boy didn’t respond, as if he hadn’t realized that I was talking to him. Zoe nudged him and he flinched before his cube fumbled out of his hands. He didn’t reach down to pick it up, choosing instead to shrink into his seat as far as possible.

Another crash and the ship shook again.

“Relax kid, we won’t hurt you,” I said, picking up the cube and holding it out to him.

He looked at the cube in my hand and then at my face. He met my gaze uncertainly, like a wild animal about to bolt away. He reached out and snatched the cube.

I frowned. Well that was rude.

“So what’s your name?” I asked.

He hesitated before speaking. “His Majesty King Galemor Talbert the fifteenth; ruler of Air and Wind, jewel of Laput, blessed by the kind and merciful Air Goddess, and-”

“Right, we’ll go with Gale,” I quickly interjected, feeling my headache worsening.

He blinked. The ship shook again and Kai’s laughter reverberated through the air again.

“I’m Lily. This is Zoe. The crazy guy on the wheel is Kai and the idiot clapping for him is Amy. The one coming towards us with a creepy smile is-”

“Runir Grayscale, nice to meet you, Your Highness,” said Runir with a smirk. “Forgive me for not bowing, your majesty, I have a thing against bowing to my captives. I’m sure you understand.”

This time the boy-king frowned. Runir really was quite good at pissing people off.

“Why did we bring him along?” I asked.

Zoe leaned close to the boy and twirled his curly hair. “Are we going to chop off his head and wave it on a stick to scare them into doing what we want?

There was silence after that chilling suggestion. Even Kai stopped laughing in the background. The boy-king was frozen solid.

Zoe looked at our expressions and frowned. “No? So we’re whipping him in front of the others so they fall in line.”

The king whimpered. Runir and I exchanged a concerned look. There was another explosion and the ship rocked again.

I could see the confusion in Zoe’s eyes. She frowned.

“If we didn’t bring him here to torture him to get his people to do what we want, then why did we bother taking him alive? We should throw him off the ship right now.”

It was frightening hearing someone casually suggest that we chuck a kid off of an airship because they couldn’t think of a reason to keep them. It was terrifying when the person suggesting this was barely ten years old and when they were confused because you weren’t about to torture someone or cut off their head.

What a fucked up world.

“Zoe…we didn’t pick him up so we could kill him or torture him or something,” Runir said, flatly.

Zoe furrowed her brows. “But then…why did we bring this asshole with us?”

I frowned too. “You just met him. How can you call him that-”

“Just met him?” she cried furiously. “I’ve known bastards like this for a long time! Him and all the self entitled pricks sitting on their asses with a silver spoon in their mouths while his cronies do this!”

She lifted her shirt to show the crisscrossing scars and nauseating burn marks on her stomach. She turned to face the paling boy-king, her eyes full of disdain.

“So if we’ve got no use for him, we should kill him already. Or rather,” she smiled crazily. “How about you give him to me? I’ve always dreamed about a little revenge. I made a list of all the worst things they’ve done to me.”

She moved her face closer to the trembling boy trying to shrink even further into his seat.

“I’ll need supplies though. Needles, knives, acid, hot metal, something to shove up his ass, scissors to cut off some fingers, maybe a bottle of something to make him choke on. Oh and give me something to chop off his-”

“Stop it Zoe!” I shouted.

“No!” She glared at me. “I want my revenge! I want to make him pay! And then I’ll go to the other bastards behind it and I’m going to make them pay too!”

“Zoe, he’s the king!”

“So what? Daddy was the mayor.” Her voice was quieter but thick with emotion. “And he deserved to die. He deserved it. He deserved it…he…”

She was breathing quickly now. I reached for her shoulder but she jerked it away and turned her back to me.

“I’ll be in my room.” She walked down the stairs, slamming a door below-deck.

Another explosion and the ship shook again. None of us said anything but Gale was still trembling and his cube had fallen onto the ground unnoticed. Zoe’s reaction had left us all shaken.

We knew she was facing a lot of mental anguish. Her emotions were always all over the place. She’d be fine one moment and wallowing in anger or self pity the next. Then again, she’d lived a pretty messed up life here and if what she’d just said was anything to go by, her previous life may have been even worse.

A gust of air shot past me. I turned to see a giant gray wyvern barreling towards the ship. Just as I prepared to fire a Laser at it, the ship swerved violently to the side and I fell on my back.

I stood up and glared furiously at Kai. He laughed and spun the wheel again.

“This was fun mateys, but now it’s time fa cap’n Kaiworthy ta disappear!”

He left the wheel, took a bow facing the angry wyverns and waved his hands magnificently. Then he steered the ship in a completely different direction and started laughing again.

The wyverns shot past us and stopped. Then they shot past us again. They shook their heads from side to side and breathed loudly. I could barely hear their riders shouting something but couldn’t make out what they’d said.

Soon, we’d left them behind and were safely cruising across the sky. I sighed and Runir shook his head. Even Amy didn’t cheer for Kai this time. If he could have done this all along, why did he go through the cheap pirate show?

Kai chuckled. He left the wheel and joined us.

“Hi! Mind telling us who you’re trying to signal with this? I’ve cut off all communications anyways so it doesn’t matter but I’m still curious.”

He picked up the cube and handed it back to the wide eyed Gale.

“N-no one! It’s a prototype. It doesn’t work yet,” said Gale, stuttering.

I didn’t buy it. There was no way that the king wouldn’t have some sort of emergency gear on him but I decided to trust Kai’s Ability for now. Besides, the kid had had enough of a verbal beating.

“I originally planned to leave you somewhere safe after we left the shrine but since Lily says that the Goddess won’t help us achieve our goal, I’m afraid you’ll have to stick around for a little longer. But don’t worry, we’re loads of fun to be around!” said Runir, patting Gale’s shoulder.

Gale nodded cautiously. “But you will let me go right?”

“Of course. I don’t plan on keeping annoying brats with us for long,” I said, flashing him a smile.

“I agree. However, there is something we need to ask you.” Kai turned to face him. “How do we free the bonded laborers?”

Gale looked confused.

“Why would you want to do that? All the scientists and statisticians say that would be a disaster. The numbers indicate that free labor constitutes half of our total labor. Without them, our production would fall drastically!”

“Not this bullshit again. That damn Goddess has everyone spouting the same heartless shit,” I snarled.

“How dare you speak about the Goddess like that!” said Gale indignantly.

“How dare you speak about people like that! They’re not numbers or statistics. They’re real, living, breathing people. How can you talk about production and money or whatever when you’re treating people worse than animals?”

“We have the lowest rates of poverty in all of Erath. Free education, free hospitals, and cheap food prices. Our unemployment rates are envied by all the other countries. Everybody wants to be us but they can’t!” said Gale. “At least that’s what Ezu says…”

“Ezu? The scientist hosting the Exhibition?” asked Runir.

“Yes, she’s my chief scientific adviser. She gets her orders straight from the Goddess so I know I can trust her judgment.”

“And why do you think you can trust the Goddess’ judgment? She’s a bitch,” I said.

“Stop insulting the Goddess!” Gale stomped his foot. “What do you know anyway? Who are you to talk about her that way?”

“Trust me kid, I can say what I want about these damned Goddesses of yours. Besides, can’t you see that your Goddess is wrong here? She promotes torture and slavery! How can you respect her when she doesn’t even respect her own people? You’re a king, you should understand that logic,” I said.

“She does respect us! She loves us! She blessed us with knowledge and ingenuity and the bonded laborers are made to work hard, sure, but it’s all for the betterment of society. So what if some people’s freedom has to be sacrificed for the betterment of all? We’ve maximized happiness!” insisted Gale.

“But is it worth it? You’ve seen a bit of the hate you’ve created,” said Runir.

“What do you mean?” said Gale, turning to face him.

“Zoe. She’s a freed laborer. Didn’t you see the hate in her eyes? The revulsion on her face? She detests you and everything that you stand for and, if I may, she has every right to.”

“But, doesn’t she realize how effective our system is? How many people’s lives she improves through her hard work? The graphs all say-”

“Screw the graphs and the numbers! Go see the fucking scars!” I spat. “God! I thought you were a kid so it wouldn’t be so bad but I can’t do this. You’re going to grow up to be one of them. Just another useless piece of shit getting fatter while everyone else rots in hell.”

“Lily! You’re going too far, he is just a kid!” said Amy.

But I didn’t give a damn. I could understand Zoe’s anger because I’d felt it too. Watching your ‘leaders’ getting praised for increasing the GDP or productivity or whatever while your stomach is empty is unbearable. Knowing that you’ve been ignored, knowing that you’ve been sidelined, dismissed as a number or a casualty of the system is infuriating.

If I’d met the mayor of my city who was being adored by the media for his welfare schemes while my mother died of hunger because he’d actually been pocketing that money for himself, I would have wanted to rip his guts out too.

I could only imagine how much worse the feeling was for Zoe. For her, the gray haired kid in front of me wasn’t just a kid being led around by adults, he was complicit in her pain. In a way, he could have stopped it. He could have saved her years of pain and torture, but he didn’t.

How could Zoe think of him as just a kid after everything she had been through despite being just a kid too. Wasn’t it unfair that he gets pity and sympathy when all she got was ridicule and disdain? She’d lived two lives like this. She’d experienced two messed up childhoods.

Didn’t she deserve some justice? Some kind of revenge to give her a bit of closure?

And if the king was so pathetic that he still didn’t realize his mistakes and if he was so utterly brainwashed by that damned Goddess, was it really okay to let him go back? Wouldn’t he go back and continue this messed up system?

Then again, killing him wouldn’t change anything either.

“Scars?” said the boy-king weakly, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Hmm? Yeah, scars. You should get a look at what you’ve been a part of. What kids like you have been going through while you sat on your throne playing with your toys while your maids fed you numbers and charts. Go get a look at the real word, kid,” I said, walking below-deck.

“I think that’s enough for today. We should reach the capital in a day or so but for now, you all must be very tired, so please go rest in your rooms. We’ll need to be at our best to pull off the next part of our plan,” I heard Kai say as I slammed the door behind me.

–

I’d tried to go to sleep but I couldn’t. Zoe’s words were still echoing in my head. I couldn’t dismiss her feelings because they reminded me of my own, or at least, of the way I’d felt before the old lady picked me up.

I sighed and sat up on my bed. I slipped on a robe and walked out of my room. I walked aimlessly down the hallway, trying to think through what I was feeling. I didn’t even notice when I walked up to Zoe’s room.

All of the rooms had been labeled with our names for some reason. No doubt Kai’s work but I didn’t see the point. Then again, Kai did a lot of pointless stuff.

Should I go in to comfort her? Maybe tell her that I knew what she was going through? I might be able to help her get over her hate or at least teach her how to ignore it the way the old lady had taught me.

I stopped. I’d heard something. Whispers? Was Zoe talking to someone? Was there someone else in the room?

I pressed my ears against the door and filled them with mana, activating a small Air magic spell.

“…get out.”

“No! I must apologize for everything I’ve done. I want you to forgive me!”

“That’s not how it works. You don’t get my forgiveness just because you want it. Besides, you’re a pathetic pervert too. I’d kill you right now if the others hadn’t told me not to.”

“It was a misunderstanding! I came to ask you why you hated me. I wanted to know your story but-”

“But what? Were you too scared to come in and decided to peep instead?”

“I wasn’t peeping! I just-you were-I…”

“…just get the fuck out of here already.”

Something shuffled about and hit the floor.

“Please! Forgive me!”

“Fine, I forgive you for peeping. Now get out!”

“No, not just that. You know what I’m talking about. I saw them! I…saw them…I’m sorry.”

“You think grovelling at my feet changes anything? You think it makes up for all of this? Or for this? Or this? Or this? Of course it doesn’t. Come on, you’ve already seen them, look at them again.”

“I-”

“Don’t you dare look away now! Look at this one, it was the first one I got in this world. I don’t remember how I got it because I was still a baby. A baby. They gave this kind of scar to a baby! You gave me this! You!”

“No, I-”

“Let’s go to one I remember. This one. I got this one because the owner needed money for a wedding ring and wanted to make us work harder. Kept poking me with a red-hot iron rod. Over and over again. The manager got bored so she started doodling. Here, look at this. Artistic isn’t it?”

“I’m s-”

“They tried connecting us to a machine that drove needles into slackers. Of course, I was the test subject. Look at this, looks like a pincushion doesn’t it? Just put me on your goddamn desk why don’t you.”

“Please, I-”

“They tried out different whips too. Look at this, pretty pattern isn’t it? Or this, it has flowers and shit on it. Oh look, a butterfly, Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Stop it please!”

“Stop it? Do you know what happened to anyone who said that back at the factory? They got this!”

“…that’s…” He sounded nauseous.

“A hole, yes. Magic is amazing isn’t it. Look, I can poke a finger through it. Wanna try? Or how about getting one for yourself? You can keep a pen in here if you like.”

“No! This is wrong! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m s-sorry!”

Sobbing noises. Someone banged the floor a few times too.

“Please, I’m sorry. You-you can do whatever you want to me. I’ll do anything you say. I’ll accept any form of punishment. Torture me, kill if you like. But please…please…forgive me.”

More sobbing.

After a while, someone stood up.

“Fine, take off your shirt.”

“W-what?”

“You said you’d do what I say. Take off your shirt and turn around. Now.”

A pause. Then something rustled.

A few footsteps. Nervous disjointed breathing. A deep breath. A sharper breath.

Then someone screamed.

Someone pushed me from behind and the door opened. Gale was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Amy had appeared by his side while Kai stood next to him.

Runir pushed past me and walked up to the boy rolling on the ground.

When did they get here? Wait, more importantly…

She stood there expressionless, her hands still outstretched. She was looking at the boy with cold eyes. Unforgiving eyes.

Kai waved his hand and the boy stopped flailing. Amy ran her hands over his body, checking for injuries until she noticed something.

“Have you forgiven him?” I didn’t even notice as the words came out of my mouth.

Zoe walked towards me. Her shoulder brushed past mine as she left the room.

“No.”

Amy turned the boy over and stared at his back. There was something written there.

‘I am not the master of my people, I am their slave.’