“I guess we should talk about it, huh?” Violet said.
Kenrich looked around awkwardly.
“It’s okay. I get it. Let’s get back to Atlas first,” she said.
They made their way back to Atlas in silence. They had a lot to be happy about right now, but the uneasy atmosphere made that difficult for Kenrich. Escaping prison and offing one of the commanders of the fourth division was reason for celebration, but too much else had happened that canceled out most of the good that came. This left a large melancholy cloud that seemed to follow both Kenrich and Violet as they made their way through the forest. Kenrich did not know what Violet was about to tell him, but he was worried. Violet on the other hand, had already laid the groundwork for her confession, which eased the implications in her mind. They finally returned to Atlas. Violet took out a carrot from her bag and gave it to him while running her fingers through his mane.
“Y’know…” she started. “I don't feel like this will be that hard of a conversation. If anyone would understand…I think it would be you.”
Kenrich gave a small nod and waited.
“I assume you remember what I told you about my past…”
He nodded again.
“Well…It’s true. I didn’t want to come to Aquarium just because I thought Queen Puri might help us. I’m not sure if she will be able to or not. I came here to visit Fae’s grave.”
“Her grave? She’s buried here?”
“In Paradise Falls, yes. I lied when I said I’ve never been to Aquarium. I came here once before…”
“For Fae’s funeral?”
“Correct. She spent her early childhood here.. I assume you know where this is leading.”
“I do. I’d probably do the same in your position. Why not just tell me from the start? I understand wanting to bring back someone from the dead. I have a few people I’d like to bring back as well…”
“I didn’t know whether I could trust you yet. I’m not the type of person to dig up my old wounds for people I don’t know very well. At this point though, I think you deserve to know. I was going to tell you once this was over anyway. That’s why I decided to tell you about her.”
Violet looked down at her feet as she sat on the log near Atlas. Kenrich took a seat next to her. At first he did not get why her wanting to revive her best friend in Aquarium was so shameful, but he suddenly understood once he thought about the timeline of their journey.
“You…You knew the power of the ring the whole time!” he suddenly blurted out.
“Sort of…”
“Why didn’t you tell me from the start?!”
“I didn’t know if I could trust you! You were just some random villager I had never met before!”
“What the hell was the point of going to Fril then?!”
“That was your idea. I couldn’t just try and convince you that we could move on without knowing its power. Would you have let that slide?”
“No…but you should have just told me then! We almost got killed there!”
“To be fair, I did get killed.”
“Now that I think about it, I only found out its power after accidentally using it on you…So, were you ever planning on telling me?! If I never brought you back, were you still going to keep it from me?! What if I died?! Would you have brought me back, or just left me to rot?!”
“Calm down, Ken. Of course I would have brought you back. I swear I would have.”
“Why should I believe you?! You never blink at all of this blood and gore, so why the hell would that change if some ‘random villager’ dropped dead?”
“You’re a lot more to me than that, Ken. Please, calm down. Let me explain.”
“Go ahead. I’m listening. Tell me why I shouldn’t have the right to know the reason why I’m being hunted from every corner of this fucking world!”
“If you would have just given me the ring back in Millin, you wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with! It’s your own fault!”
“There was no chance that I was going to give the Admian military a new weapon! They already took enough from me, and from the rest of the fucking world!”
“Wow! You’re such a fucking hero, Ken! You put your village through weeks of torture for that selflessness of yours!” Violet was standing up and pointing straight at Kenrich’s face as she spoke.
Kenrich got up and faced her.
“You’re right. I fucked up back in Millin. But at least I want to help this world. You’re only in this for yourself! You don’t care about anyone else, do you?!”
“I care! I don’t want them to get the ring either!”
“Only because it’s fucking convenient for you! Don’t you dare say that you’re doing this for the world…or for Fae! You only want to undo your own mistakes!”
*slap*
Kenrich stood silently, holding his face. Violet kept her hand held out and lowered her head – tears were streaming down her face.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“I’m sorry…that was too far,” Kenrich said, averting his eyes.
“The fact that I only slapped you…should be proof enough that I care.”
“I’m sorry, I lost my cool. I’ll shut up and let you explain. Fighting isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
Violet wiped her tears and nodded. She took her seat back on the log, and patted the spot next to her. Kenrich sat back down.
“I didn’t think I could cry anymore,” Violet said.
“I thought the same thing,” Kenrich smiled.
“Jackass…Okay, listen. I did know that the ring could revive the dead, but I wasn’t sure about the limits, or if there was a catch, so I went along with going to Fril hoping that the description stone might tell us something more about it. I really didn’t know that much more than you, but I knew enough to where I had already chosen the first thing I wanted to do with it. When you used the stone on me for the first time, I got to be the tester. I got to feel exactly how I knew Fae was going to feel if I used it on her. And that was enough for me to believe in its power.”
“Did you not believe that it was the real thing?”
“Not completely. It looked correct, and the intel seemed good, but without using a descriptor stone, or testing it, I couldn’t know for sure.”
“Were you ever planning on telling me what you knew?”
“It was only a week before you found out the power on your own. If we weren’t able to find out in Fril, I would have told you later. I promise I would have. Like I said, it’s hard to trust someone after only a week of knowing them, especially with information that my parents forbid me from sharing.”
“Okay, I think I understand. I’m sorry for raising my voice at you. Everything you said makes sense, so I won’t pry anymore. Well…she’s waiting for us. So, let’s go bring back your friend.”
Violet looked straight at Kenrich, gave him a sweet smile, then put her arm around his side while placing her head on his shoulder.
“Thank you…I’m sorry for keeping so much from you.”
“Just promise to trust me more in the future…or I’ll stop bringing you back from the dead.”
“That’s cold! Whatever, I’m not planning on dying again anyway.”
“I’ve heard that line before…”
They both laughed.
“Are we still going to see Queen Puri after we bring Fae back?”
“Even though it was a plan I came up with on a whim, I don’t think it’s a bad one, so it’s worth a shot.”
“You said that there was a way to destroy powerful stones when we first started traveling together, was that true?”
“More or less. It is just an urban legend, but so was that ring on your finger.”
“Destroying it would definitely be the best outcome. If they found the ring buried miles underground in a small village, then it’s hard to say if there’s anywhere they wouldn’t be able to track it to.”
“Which is exactly why we’re always getting cornered. The amount of resources they will pour into finding this ring are limitless. For both Admia, and most likely for the Coalition.”
“Let’s hurry to Paradise Falls then. Once we finish using the ring, it would be a good idea to finish up our mission as soon as possible. The Coalition would stop chasing us at the very least.”
“The military sure wouldn’t though. We’d need to go into hiding for the rest of our lives regardless of what we do with the ring. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it though!”
“Seems like an important thing that we’re putting off…”
“Shush. Well, let’s get a move on. We just killed twenty Admian soldiers and one of their top commanders, so it’s likely that we’ll be hunted even more than before.”
They gathered up their supplies and got back on Atlas. Violet was pretty sure she knew the way to Paradise Falls from here, so they continued their journey.
Violet was happy that they were both finally on the same page. She did not enjoy keeping her true intentions from Kenrich, especially after he had been there for her this entire time. The relationship between the two of them was now stronger than ever and the hesitation that they both once felt was now gone. They were ready to put their lives on the line for each other without question, even without the ring. They had both gone through so much in their lives, but they no longer had to deal with their past, present, and future demons on their own, which is more than most people can hope for. In that way, they were lucky. Nothing brings people closer like going against the entire world together.
Ravine was the last city they would need to pass through before making it to Paradise Falls. The journey would only be around an hour and once they passed over the first hill on the road, they spotted the city in the distance easily. Kenrich had thought that Fril was massive, but after witnessing Paradise Falls, he felt he truly knew nothing about this world. The city walls spanned the entire horizon and went just as deep. It felt like this entire half of the world was only this one city. Even though they had more than half an hour of riding to do, it felt like they had already arrived. Was this going to be the perfect place to blend in, or would they be recognized immediately? They would not know until they finally crossed into those walls.
They finally arrived at the gate. Kenrich got ready to receive the guards who were standing menacingly in front of the gate. This atmosphere was the opposite of what they were used to when entering Aquarium cities. The guards always seemed indifferent and borderline useless in the earlier cities as they appeared to let anyone in no matter how shady they looked, but these guards were different. They looked at Kenrich and Violet with hate rather than indifference. Kenrich got off of Atlas and put up his hand to greet the guards.
“Good day!” he said.
The guards said nothing to Kenrich, but one of them took out a piece of paper in his pocket and started talking to the guard next to him, quietly. Kenrich stood there silently while Violet continued looking on from the top of Atlas. A few more moments passed, before the guards walked towards Kenrich. The guard put up the piece of paper next to Kenrich’s face, as if comparing them, then nodded.
“You must be Kenrich,” the guard said. “And that’s Violet, huh? I expected someone a little more…fierce.”
Kenrich felt a cold sweat come over him. Violet stayed in her same position. She did not want to give anything away.
“Uh…I’m…We’re not…”
“Calm down, buddy. You’re not in trouble…even though you should be. The Queen heard that you two broke out of the jail in Ravine, but she’s willing to forgive you for making a mess of it. You should be grateful.”
The guard waved his hand in the air, and the gate started to lift. As it lifted, Kenrich and Violet spotted a caravan of guards waiting on the other side.
“They’ll take you to her majesty,” the guard said, gesturing towards the men past the gate. “She wants to speak to you two, urgently.”
“What if we refuse?” Violet asked.
“I know you two have left a long path of blood at your feet, but you won’t make it very far here in Paradise Falls, I promise you that.”
Violet knew that he was probably right. Having one of the largest cities in the world pursuing you, would probably be too much for them to handle regardless of their previous feats.
“Fine. Let’s go, Ken.”
“Really?”
“We wanted to see her anyway, she’s just making it easier for us. And, I can’t help but be curious about what she has to say. We can accomplish our other goal after our little meeting.”
Kenrich nodded, then they began following the guards towards the large palace in the middle of the city where they would finally learn a vital piece of information that would extend the duration of their journey much longer.