Copyright Ⓒ 2018 by B. Bailey All Rights Reserved   

Chapter Nineteen - A Matter of Perspective

Sera

"Injuring a fellow classmate is against the rules Tyr," Baldur states, sounding very troubled. "It is an oath that they take every day, to help protect each other. The punishment is a minimum of 2 months of detention."

"Yes..." Tyr says slowly, his eyes not leaving the Sphere.

The way he says that word gnaws at my mind. Slowly, as if he is thinking of something very important. It's cautious - edgy.

"How are these memories so well preserved?" he asks me, his green eyes bright and sharp.

"When I realized I had to grab the Spear, I knew it would ravage my mind. Donalda knew it too. That's why she didn't bother wiping my memories. I took my ming and compacted it so that my memories would stay intact. I have all of them. It was my higher cognitive functions that were burnt. I made that choice so that I could remember what I had been through." And what I had decided, not that it's any of their business.

"I also knew that Donalda needed to be confronted, " I continue. "She's the Head of my Year. She can't toss us aside to fulfill her own selfish desires."

"That was a difficult decision to make. I congratulate you on your quick thinking. Indecision is the enemy in real combat and you showed genuine strength of mind and will." He folds his hands over the wooden desk, deep in thought.

"You are correct about Donalda needed to be confronted over her actions. As a leader, one must always look out for their comrades."

"I will not tolerate what has transpired, " Tyr states with a steely look in his eyes that makes me shrink back in my chair. "These events are greatly different from what we assumed. Hemming, Aisling, and Donalda all had blank memories. We only knew that Donalda saved you because she was the only person there with SeaFoam."

"What did she show you?" I ask, feeling genuinely confused by how the Guardians missed so much.

"Her waking up in the commons room with Lord Hemming and Lady Aisling. You with the Spear stuck in your hands. She had to break into the barrier to get to where you were, drawing her sword and cutting off your hands. The Spear releasing a torrent of flames as she dragged you away before re-sealing the hall with Hemming and Aislings help. Then Freyja and Baldur showed as the Spear was breaking through the barrier."

"Lady Donalda risked much to assure her standing at the Tournament. Direct contact with the Spear could have killed you and only strengthened Seals hold. If it had broken through the barriers..."

He shakes his head, furious.

"How come you didn't see the real memories? The Tellus Sphere should have picked those up." I ask, trying to figure out how this massive gap in information occurred.

"Something eliminated them. We never found the Spears' flames within their minds so we know it wasn't that." He and Baldur stare at each other darkly, something meaningful and frustratingly silent passing between them.

"That is a matter we will have to investigate," Tyr tells me, his eyes settling on me once more.

Okay, I got attacked by the Spear, which had effects that the Guardians never taught us about. I just had to relive a horrible memory to let them know the truth and they shut me out? Talk about a double standard.

I hold his eyes, waiting to see if he'll talk. After a few minutes of his stony gaze, I bite my tongue, realizing that I won't get any answers.

"Are you going to ban her from the Tournament?" I ask, wanting to know what he'll do to make this right.

"What?"Tyr asks, startled, his eyebrows arched.

"Donalda did this for her appearance at the Tournament so I think that she ought to be banned from participating. It's happened in the past a few times for offenses less than this. I think that it's a fair punishment." I explain, not understanding why I have to spell this out to the Headmaster. A part of me is horrified at how blunt and rude I am being to Tyr but my anger is propelling me past proper decorum.

Hope surges through me as I look at the Headmaster, known for his strong sense of justice. Everyone knows to follow the rules otherwise you get a fair punishment to suit the crime.

He looks up from my face and stares at Baldur, his eyebrows drawn into a tight furrow which slowly smoothes out. Baldur has that effect on people - you look at him and calm down, gaining clarity over troubled thoughts. It's like his personality reaches out away impurities and shadows.

Finally, after his thoughts seem to settle, he turns his eyes back to me.

"No."

No. What does he mean by "no?"

"The Academy is not just a set of blind rules Lady Seraphina," he states, leaning forward over the desk. "It was created with the sole purpose of educating young Seedlings, shaping them into great Heroes. The Tournament will decide the nest two semesters' Mentors. It would do more harm than good to have Lady Donalda banned. The Mentors she has now will affect the lives she can save in the future. This problem is bigger than two students fighting."

My mind jams up as I sit there, trying to figure out words just came out of his mouth. I heard them but they don't make any sense.

click. The intent snaps into place, lining up with the swimming words.

"She almost got me killed! How can you let her get away with that?! The rules make it clear!" I scream, jumping out of my chair.

"Those rules are guidelines for our interactions. They are not laws. These can be bent if it will benefit the students. Donalda must compete now - It is one of the most vital ways the Lifs and Lifthrasirs keep the Realms' safe."

Tyr rises from his chair, walking to the edge of his desk and pointing to the stained glass wall to his left. Figures stand around 9 standing stones, holding hands as they stare up into the sky at the sun while 9 bright, swirling masses fill the area around them.

The Patrons. The 9th Generation of Lif and Lifthrasirs who made peace with the Realms after the warfare that came from Odin revealing Ragnarok. Each stone is the Accords, making a binding contract with the 9 Realms for peace, sealing our promises to each other.

"For each Realm we stand True; Protecting from harm to see our promise Through; Blood to Blood and Breathe and Bone; Unjust Violence against one another we will not Condone; Soul and Body flowing Free, binding us to the Great Ash Tree; Gates of Life and Death we do swear to Guard, Lest your faith in us be forever Marred."

I hold my breath, feeling as if my lungs are going to explode. I do not need a lecture on the Accords. I have to repeat this promise every single morning.

"The education of you and your fellow classmates is paramount to mortal mans' survival above all the other Realms safety. Humans are the weakest beings in the Realms and Midgard is the easiest to crush. The Accords serve mankind more than anyone else. I can not prevent that fact that you cannot compete in the Tournament but I will not permit another student to be held back from fulfilling their end of the Accords."

I reel back, horrified. That'an all this is to him? Making good impressions to other Realms by bringing out a new line of shiny Heroes just like they were promised?!

The rules that I've been taught to follow forever doesn't matter if he thinks it can beneficial to break them. And that's what this is. He isn't"bending" and rules - he's breaking them.

"You told us we have acted with having to honor! Was it all a lie just so we could put on a good show?! Or is our honor reserved for the Leaders instead of each other?!"

Tyr steps back behind his chair, looming over me.

"It is not fair but that is your life Lady Seraphina. A life you should be happy to be living at all. Without that promise, you would not be alive today. I will make sure Lady Donalda and every other student become great Heroes with a clear understanding of right and wrong. That is a matter that must take place outside of the Tournament as it is only 4 days away. Prodigy though she is, I sincerely doubt she will be able to grasp the morality necessary to wisely guide her actions in so short a time."

"Punishment is a matter for the Guardians, not the students, to administer. I have already discussed the matter of your grievous injuries with the Realms' Leaders and they agreed to take your marks into account and administer a make-up test after you have recovered to match you with a mentor. Now sit down Lady Seraphina. There are other matters that we have to discuss."

I don't care if he's the Headmaster or a God, all of the respect that I had for him as gone as my hands, vanishing just as quickly.

As I glare up at him the unilateral weight of the Accords shatters my control.

"We spend our entire lives serving the Realms!" I shriek, my stumps slamming onto the desk. "They gain the benefits of our whole life! We do all of their dirty work, follow every whim and do things that they are capable of doing themselves but don't bother with anymore! We're forced onto the front lines of every single war based on the ruling of the Council! Leaders aren't doing us any favors!"

Tyr points at me, his eyes glowing as the air crackles with power.

"You think that this is just about you? This cycle will end, just like all of the others and your Generation will pass into dust. Do you think the Mortals will survive then when they have the Elves, Dwarves, Jotuns, and so many other beings against them? They won't Seraphina. It will be genocide. All you have to do is show the Leaders that you can make their lives easier so that they renew the Accords each Year!"

"No," I say, feeling every nerve ending in my body humming. "How can you say this is right? I know that life isn't fair but you're supposed to be!"

Tyrs' face doesn't waver. "This is a fair as I can be."

My throat constricts as I glare at him, feeling betrayed by everyone.

"Tyr is correct Sera," A calm, golden voice rings behind me. "He is only trying to protect as many lives as he can. Keeping Donalda out of the Tournament may seem unfair to you but in the end, others will suffer for it."

I turn, staring at Baldur, the final justice of the Realms, known for his wisdom and compassion. His rule is indisputable, always giving-biased proclamations of pure heart and a sound mind.

That'sit then. It doesn't matter what Donalda does as long she can become a Hero and serve the Realms'. She could have well killed me and, if they thought she could be redeemed and save others, she would be allowed to walk away unscathed.

That'only rule that matters here. I turn away, feeling sick to my stomach because I've always known that the Leaders' control our lives. I always understand.No one ever had to explain the meaning of the Tournament to me. I looked at it and realized what it was. Just like I looked at the life of Heroes and saw them as more than glamour and fame.

I never thought that the Guardians, the real Guardians who train weren't the same as the Central Guardian Council made of the Realms Leaders' that heartlessly dictates our missions.

Tyr would hang out with us and play games when we were toddlers on the playground. Eir's treated our wounds ever since I can remember, making us laugh when all we wanted to do was cry because we were in pain, making up funny stories and doing incredible impersonations.

They claimed we're their family, that they look out for us and have our backs.

We aren't their family.

We're a resource to barter.

They aren't protecting me. They stabbed me in the back.

I've had to live my whole life following the Accords to the last dot under the watchful eye of the Guardians and they won't even uphold the rules that they made for the Academy? What about the Accords? We can't hurt the other Realms but we can attempt to kill each other? I guess it doesn't matter.

We aren't a being of any Realm. We don't belong to any Realm. The closest we relate to is Midgard and we have to live at the uppermost edge because the people of Earth didn't want us.

We don't even belong to race. We aren't human, god, jotun or ghost. We're just Half Bloods.

Servants of all, claimed by none. The only beings we can trust to look out for us is ourselves.

Something snaps as I look at the shining wall, looking at the faces of each being outlined in the glass, all of them making a brighter future for the Realms, none of them caring about what it meant for us.

Before I realize what I'm doing I've spun around, my right leg kicking up, sending the chair I was just in straight into the air. Then I rotate on my left toes, throwing my entire weight into a spin before jumping and kicking out again, launching the chair through the air.

A thousand shards burst into the sunlight as the chair flies outside, tingling as they fall to the ground below. By the time the last pieces fall I'm already bursting out of the silver doors, running down the hallway as quickly as my feet can carry me.