Chapter 24

It's Not Too Late

In and out of his vision, Seval flashed between two worlds. In one, he saw the Queen being marched across the podium, a bloody rag wrapped around her mouth with other signs of harm done to her. In another, he saw her dead. He saw everyone dead. Only himself stood among a pile of corpses. Only him. It struck him in a place he didn't like being touched. It made him sick and angry and sad, all at once. What could he do?

This has all happened before. You're just repeating the past. Omni's voice fell to a whisper that was right in Seval's ear. Don't make the same mistake. Don't wait.

When the Queen fell to her knees, Seval heard thunder clapping his ears awake. He was frightened of a future that almost seemed impossible to avoid. One where he had no friends or company to cherish, no love to share or give, and simply no purpose to be found. A desolate future that had him nowhere. It was a man's worst nightmare, an embodiment of isolation, vacancy, and just simply nothingness. No purpose, no duties, no life. Just an abyss with nothing but darkness in all directions.

Seval didn't want to end up there. He wanted to end up high in the heavens above, with all the friends and company, all the love and laughs, all the vibrant colors and wonders to stare and gape at. It wasn't even a want at this point. It was a need.

The leader's mouth moved with no words being formulated. In fact, no sounds were produced. Seval heard only his heart thumping inside his ears. Each thump shook him to the core, like every second matter. But they were all wasted. Seval just stood there and waited for it to happen. He patiently waited for his friends to die, starting with Marien, the one that he most cared about. The flashing images of her corpse wouldn't leave. They were now reality in his eyes. His throat was parched and his tongue lashed out for relief. Sweat poured down his face as he started to bear the dreadful feeling of realizing his friend was dead.

"Seval?" a voice disrupted Seval from aside, which startled him into yelping. His vision blurred until fixating into a normal state. Marien was not dead. Yet.

"Yeah?" Seval replied, and set his eyes upon his sword that was held by Trinity. "Now. It's now. We must act fast. Give it. GIVE IT!" Seval's heart was rapidly beating, so fast and loud that he couldn't hear or see anything but Marien dying. The guilt crushed his soul, as remorse chained him to the floor. He needed it done. Now.

"Okay, okay," Trinity replied, confused at the sudden outburst. He extended the sword out, as Seval stared at it with unblinking eyes. It flew to his cuffed hands, freeing them in an instance. He saw the guards pull out their clubs and pistols. He saw an executioner climb the podium and prepare his swings. He didn't know what was real and fake. He just knew he had to stop it.

As expected, the guards and crowd alike backed away, their faces grim and pale. None of them contested Seval, who slowly trotted his way toward the front of the podium. His face twitched, some aspect of his humanity being lost. But he was still Seval. And by hell, he was not letting Omni do a single thing. This was all him.

Seval stopped in front of the podium, a million pair of eyes burning into his own. He soaked it all in, using his sword as a means of relief. Beside him, he saw Marien look up at him, bewildered. This time, he was the one assuring her everything would be alright. For the first time in forever, Seval was doing the talking, with Marien sitting back and taking notes.

"Hello," Seval awkwardly announced, the crackling of his sword's flames piercing the dreadful silence lingering about. The faces in the crowd were all blanks, not a single speck of interest or excitement shown. They were all grave and wanted nothing but Seval to step aside. Truthfully they just wanted to see him die, after the Raven and Queen were attended to. That wasn't going to fly by, though.

"Do you . . . know what's about to happen?" Seval sputtered, his face hot red. His right hand shook in both fear and excitement. It wanted so badly to swing a sword round and round until there weren't anymore heads to cut off. Seval begged to differ, his approach much more peaceful than violent. 

"You're watching lives being reaped from their rightful place, calling the finish line early. Do you not know how wrong that is?" Seval gulped in search for more to say, but the crowd was already there.

"Lives that don't deserve to be standing among us!" a dwarf exclaimed in the crowd, a swift approval following in rhythm. Seval wiped the sweat off his forehead and attempted to regulate his quick breathing. Nothing could be done about it.

"Uh . . . but . . . but . . ." Seval trailed off into oblivion, his mind shut off. Booing and jeering beat him relentlessly on all sides to force him into a corner. He had no way out.

You've made yourself a fool, Omni declared, disappointed. Is that how you want to go out? A jester? You're so pathetic that even the weakest are laughing their arses off at you. You could kill them, sure, but would you? No. I chose wrong. You wouldn't kill if it meant your life, your friend's life rather.

Seval's whole body shook, with the crowd's unrest never ceasing to stop. He looked in all directions for some aid, some guide to take his hand where he needed to go. When his eyes stopped on Marien, he breathed out a cold breath, like he had been punched in the gut. Sense seeped into his gaping wounds, normality returning in a steadfast manner. Those amber eyes had made a statement: Marien had faith in Seval, who couldn't help but feel like he won everything there is to win in the world.

"You all want deaths this very hour," Seval declared clearly, his head slowly turning to face the hushed crowd. "You think it's justice. You may think this is what's going to free you of the guilt wrapped around your mind. A satisfaction almost. If you see blood, you'll forget the blood of those that had fallen, but yet still nestled in memory. Friends, family, neighbors, even a single casual conversation that tied you with a mere stranger. You think that if you blame somebody and kill that very person, it'll all go away. Just like it never happened." Seval chortled at the idea and shook his head. Marien was staring at him in confusion, unsure of what he was doing or planning on accomplishing. Soon she would understand.

"Blame will never save you. It just appeases you until it runs its course. But when the blame is wrong, you'll have to deal with more guilt that an innocent died because of you." Seval fanned his sword above the crowd, from left to right. "Yes, all of you. Every single one of you standing before me will be responsible. Why? Simple. None of you did anything but watch. That is truly as bad as the one swinging the axe, giving the wrongful accusations. You stood and watched, with keen eyes, if I dare say. You want them dead. You want your guilt resolved and gone with the wind. Forever forgotten, forever appeased." Seval frowned and let his sword drop to his side. A certain somebody was still raging within his mind.

Stop speaking big words! You can't hope to sway them! They're dumber than you, their brains but pebbles and unable to understand the littlest and simplest concepts. Just fail. Just give up. Accept your duty with open arms. Kill. Them. All.

Seval ignored the orders that seemed essential to oblige. Now wasn't the time. He made a decision and it was too late to back down.

"This is a twisted way of an excuse for rallying together the resistance. But there is no other way. We must see it in form to realize that it truly exists." Seval clicked his tongue and thrust his hand toward the prisoners beside him. "We're all in this together. We have a common enemy that has ravaged all of us. Why ourselves? That is the last thing we want. It is a certain path to failure, a bloody one at that."

"Ya be a human! Da one helping da Raven!" the leader suddenly shouted, and trotted over to the front of the podium, challenging the current one in charge. "Why would we trust ya? All lies and nothing more or less." He jabbed a finger against Seval's torso, but the boy stood tall, unflinching.

"I think the one lying here is you," Seval replied coolly, so the leader slowly let his finger drop in surprise. "Shall we see the true nature of the terror you've been defending this whole time? Shifting the blame onto somebody else that you saw easy to hate? I think I'll do just that."

"Do what, eh? Ya can't possibly do anything!" the leader snapped, just as Seval slid a tome out of his tunic. He held it with his left hand, the purple gem glowing. After showing it off, he opened it up, the dusty pages falling down, like weighted rocks.

"Will the Tracker come forth and translate this list of targets?" Seval asked, before Shimmer walked to his side. He handed it over to her, so she set her visor upon it.

"In the dead of night, lives will be sacrificed in the list that follows." Shimmer glanced up at Seval, who nodded for her to proceed. "Abnuham Vrahin, Barail Reinae, Lian Trillom, Relina Parivina . . ." With the crowd murmuring, the leader rushed forward to throw up his hands.

"Okay, okay! Stop with dis!" He heaved a sigh. "Dey don't want to hear da ones dat died. Leave it be."

"Spell it out for the crowd that the Raven and Queen are innocent," Seval requested, as Shimmer shut the dusty book. "Say it loud and clear that the cult is responsible for everything. If not, we won't hesitate to read all the names. That'll get some people stirred up, hm?" The leader grumbled his defeat and faced the crowd, like a horrid secret had to come out.

"We killed those in our way, every night. The Raven was just an easy target to blame." The leader was about to continue, just for a wicked grin to appear, unnoticed by a patient Seval. "Da Queen caused it all! She ordered us to kill all of ya! It's her head that needs to be taken off! Aye!" The guards nearby the Queen pulled out their weapons, but Shimmer disarmed them with the flick of a wrist. There was a split reaction in the crowd, some against the Queen, with others on her side. But everyone was angry.

"Take Marien and get out of sight," Seval whispered to Shimmer, who hurried over to the Raven to free her. He caught the Queen confusedly looking at him, but he curtly nodded to assure her. And with that, he faced the crowd once last time, a conflict brewing that had many lives at risk.

"We're here not to fight but to unite. Unity not hate. To win this war, we must come together as one. It'll be hard and rough, but as one driving force, we stand a chance, though minimal." Seval made his way to the front of the podium, his sword glowering in a white light. "We may be diverse, either by look or tradition, but we all want reform. We all want the same change to occur in this cruel world. Do we not? Are we not against this one tyrant? Are we instead against each other?" The crowd buzzed in approval, but some still were stubborn in their beliefs. Seval had to take an even further stride.

"I see a battle where we all fight alongside another, not known by race or belief, but by loyalty." Seval thrust his left hand outward and clenched it into a fist. "It'll be won in ease. Nothing can dare stop us. The only thing we'll be holding is victory, sweet and lovely victory." The crowd muttered and still showed signs of uncertainty. Seval stood there, unable to proceed. He was out of words, ideas. There was nothing more to spur the crowd. Soon his persuasion would be overrun, and they would be back at square one. It would be all for nothing.

Seval dipped his head down in shame, his left hand falling to his side. The leader and his pawns were widely grinning, their victories settled. The power would soon return to their greedy hands. What else could he possibly do? He had nothing. At least he gave his best effort, at least he tried to stop an era of terror.

A hand suddenly grasped his left hand, pulling it high to the sky. Bewildered, Seval looked to his side. Against his orders, Marien still remained. She kept a sturdy face toward the crowd, unwilling to look at him. But it was sufficient. The new confidence pushed Seval to win the crowd over again.

"With me, we shall come together and defeat our common enemy. Not ourselves, not this resistance, but the real enemy. Stand with me!" Seval's lips quivered in excitement, his eyes wide. He hadn't felt such a feeling ever before. It was certain victory. But this time, he was the one holding it high and mighty above him. It was his to cherish.

Familiar faces piled out of the crowd. Ruck and Drak were the first to appear. They were extremely excited, not hesitant in the slightest. They wanted to do this. When they took their places beside Marien, they rose their hands as high as possible. Bravery. Not many souls possessed such a treasure.

The nobles soon followed, with Arena being the last up. In a line, the seven students stood, with Arena on the very left, and Isqiene on the very right. Eventually the Queen stepped in beside Arena to complete it. Four pairs. Two elves, commoners, nobles, and dwarves. All diverse but yet unified in one place. The crowd couldn't hold in their clapping and appraisal that started with but a few in the very back. It spread like a contagious disease, unable to be stopped.

"We'll seize the tyrant's throne ourselves! Restore peace to where it once belonged!" Seval cried, the other students muttering along. The most enthusiastic was Marien, who recited his phrase clearly and boldly. She shot him a quick smile before returning it toward the crowd. Seval knew she didn't like being next to Ruck, the one holding her left hand, but she tolerated it for when it truly mattered.

Seval chuckled at the applause, feeling greater than he had felt before. A gentle touch was wrapped around both his hands, even if for one of them he couldn't grasp it back. One was an elf, as the other was a human, but they just felt so similar.

"I underestimated you," Marien whispered beside him. "You never cease to surprise me, no matter how stupid or obnoxious you may be at times."

"Your welcome," Seval replied simply, so that shushed her. All of this was because of Seval, the one who unified everybody. He should be the one thanked. For once in his damned life, he wanted some credit. Just a little would suffice.

The leader that once controlled the crowd like sheep was taken away by his former guards. Order was restored. There was no going back now, for the staircase only went up to the skies. Progress could be grasped.

Seval bowed, a wave of his action spreading to those beside him. It was a chain reaction, reminiscent of how the dwarves pushed aside their unnecessary hate. Easy as that. Minds could be changed and manipulated in the blink of an eye. There just needed to be some very convincing evidence for such a reform.

When Seval let go, the moment was ruined. He felt so powerful, so godly, but now? Nobody was holding his hand, better yet those that he couldn't even dream of being in this very moment. The crowd's cheering was but a background noise. It had no importance. Seval glanced around him and saw smiles on everybody's faces. The only outlier was him.

Without anything left to say, Seval turned around and walked away. He knew confusion had struck his fellow academy students that were surely looking at him. Something else had settled in. His heart felt empty, void of meaning. He had done his job, and now he wanted rest. In his bed, in utmost comfort, he was going to sleep and forget that this day even happened.

He didn't know why, really. He didn't know why he wasn't with the others, all happy and victorious. It wasn't a lack of satisfaction, nor was it sorrow. He just felt nothing. For that, he made his way out of the podium, out of the cheering that would praise him as a hero. It was a job done, and there were many to come.