Wake up
Trenton bolted awake, throwing his body to a seated position, eyes wildly scanning the environment around him. He sat in a simple stone room, window with some daylight streaming in to his left, rectangular slab bed beneath him, and a single chair by a shadowy door to the side which Wimbleton sat in, looking absolutely furious. His eyes gleamed with that unnerving red and black glow, the crimson strands shifting about like they had somewhere to be.
Across his body, sticking out at odd points, were some of the purple crystals Trenton had seen the man creating. They looked stable, neither growing nor shrinking, instead slowly chipping off and shattering on the ground, slowly dissolving into nothingness before his eyes. At Trenton’s stirring, Wimbleton seemed to have no reaction. He continued to watch the boy with the same dull, exhausted look.
“What-” Trenton started.
“Happened?” Wimbleton interjecting, a certain bile infecting his tone. “A lot. I’d explain, but honestly, I think it’d just make you more confused. Come on. If you’re conscious, then you can walk,” Wimbleton stood, heading out the door without waiting for Trenton to follow.
Trenton stumbled to his feet, coordination somewhat dulled by whatever had occurred while he was unconscious, numbly making his way after Wimbleton down the long never ending corridor of darkness . It was completely black, impossible to see save for the small modicum of light generated by Wimbleton’s eyes. Were it not for the remarkable, vibrant touch of the earth all around him, Trenton would likely have no idea how to proceed forward. Wimbleton seemed to have no trouble.
“Where is everyone?” Trenton asked.
“Alive, and you’re damned lucky. Tracking everyone by touch across hundreds of miles of city isn’t exactly an easy feat, but I managed. Grabbed every last one of you before the ruin could take effect.”
“Ruin?”
“The crystals. They release a virus when they break. You can think of it like super cancer. Shuts down your organs instantly if you’re inexperienced,” Trenton panicked, feeling at his torso and face, recalling the crystal that shattered just before him in the room. “Relax, I’m neutralizing them. I happen to be one of exactly two people in existence with the counter to that ability. Were it not for my presence last night, you’d be waking up to nothing but a field of corpses.”
“You don’t sound too pleased about it.”
Wimbleton stopped, swiveling his head and squinting his eyes to look at Trenton, “Do you have any idea what it feels like to manually pump your own heart? Agonizing. And if I hadn’t been forced to babysit your unconscious body for the last 13 hours, I would’ve been able to see a healer about it. But no, I’m not quite that lucky. Currently, I’d wager just about every godsdamned organ in my body is MIA. So no, I’m not very happy. I am, however, in an extraordinary amount of pain.”
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“I-I’m sorry.”
“Save it. You should be more worried about yourself.”
They continued walking, making their way forward in silence. Trenton hadn’t really considered it when he woke, much more pressing matters grabbing his attention, but where were they? Underground? Couldn’t be, he was certain he’d seen sunlight, natural sunlight, filtering through that weird window when he woke. And yet, here they were, traveling through countless miles of earth and stone towards some unknowable destination. At the very least he could take comfort knowing everyone was alive…more or less.
Just then, a light, barely a prinpick, illuminated the end of the tunnel. Finally, they were getting somewhere. After another handful of minutes walking, they burst through a similar doorway to the one they’d left the room from, entering into the dazzling sunlight of the great outdoors. It took a second, but Trenton’s eyes adjusted fairly quickly, allowing him to fully take in the all too familiar scene before him.
Below him, full mountain burst from the ground at odd points, breaching the skewed earthen plates and reaching towards the sky with unwavering determination. Most of them were shattered beyond belief, remnants of the battle that had undoubtedly taken place there. Between those, massive holes had been bored into the earth at random points, each one a mile long at least, the earth ripped asunder in every direction as if something massive had been dragged across it. And what little he could see of the city was no better, hundreds of towering spires of stone, a forest of corpses, the wall naught but rubble–the city naught but ash.
It was a scene Trenton had hoped never to see again, something he’d wished to avoid for every day he had left. He thought he was better. He thought he was stronger. But he was wrong. He’d failed. He lost control. They were dead–and it was all. his. fault. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to weep. But no matter how hard he tried, neither came. Instead, he collapsed to his knees, lamenting his name with every damnation he could muster, acknowledging the truth he’d been trying to avoid all this time. The Demon of the East was right. There was no monster other than he. He had destroyed Aria. He had slain his brethren. And now, he had destroyed Korak, too. This blood was on his hands.
Wrong
But it wasn’t wrong, he knew it wasn’t, no matter how much that little voice in his heart told him otherwise.
Listen
How could he? Could he even be trusted at all? His heart and all of him, was blacked, charred, corrupted.
Salvation. Hope. Control. Grasp. Fight. Win. His. Falters.
Win? How? He didn’t even know what he was fighting against, what he was possibly hoping to win. There was no salvation. There was no hope. And there certainly was no control.
My Name. My Banner. Our Name. Our Banner. Trust Me. We Win. Always. Chin High. Shoulders Out. Rise. Counting On You.
Somewhere, deep within his heart, a feeling–a memory–stirred. He felt bold, unconquerable, strong. And it hurt, like blades burrowed into his gut. But the stakes were high, far too high. So, he rose, pressing past the agony, and looked his assailants dead in the eyes, grin on his face. But he could not see them, could not remember them. All he saw was the mountains, the ruins, the devastation. The memory was gone, faded to nothingness. But the feeling, the feeling remained, that indomitable, fiery spirit which blazed with the brilliance of a million hearths. He could afford to bear no weakness. Today he was weak. Tomorrow he would be stronger.