Chapter 158: A Tense Interaction (Part 4)

Zeris nods a few times, “Yeah, pretty spot on.”

“And,” loudly says Ember, putting up a finger. “You said you would tell us about iris… you haven’t told us yet. You’re able to return people’s memories with a gun? There’s a second stage that will be more difficult than the first. And considering that you’re taking the time to explain all this shit, it seems like you want us to trust each other. Or at least trust you? I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that will happen. And I partly understand why you despise the queen; it sounds like this kingdom sucks, but what the hell are you two actually doing? One of you has spent the past few weeks murdering us, and the other is a military general working directly under this queen you keep talking about!”

Zeris exhales through his nose and looks over at Kane.

“We knew this conversation would be difficult. It’s going much better than we imagined so far, but you have to know… everything. Otherwise, there’s no way we can move forward together, and we have to move forward together. You don’t have to like me or want to be around me, but we have to trust each other, at least a little bit. Or we’re all going to die.”

Studying Zeris’s face, Ember sits back in her beanbag.

“You want to hear about iris? Let’s start there,” says Zeris, clicking on the remote and the image behind him changes to displaying a crystal shard.

Using the same presentation he showed Alex, Zeris teaches the survivors all about iris.

This included the three classes: internal, external, and mythic, as well as the seven categories: mind (myalo), body (soma), elemental (tochi), particle (ano), realm (resu), light (los), and darkness (kadil). Kane then delves into the history of ‘The Battle of Halos and Kadillan’ when covering the mythic class before talking about the two main components that comprise a gemcore, the outer gem shell and the protected iris core inside.

Not wanting to overwhelm Ember, Sky, Forest, and Hazel with too much information, Zeris and Kane decide to leave the topic of iris control and circulation for another day, along with other subjects about iris.

“Yes, we are able to erase and return memories to people with a memory gun. The memory gun is the device that the government used on all of you before the trials, and while it’s illegal for anybody outside of licensed individuals to have a memory gun, we’ve snuck one in from outside,” says Zeris.

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“What does it look like?” asks Forest.

“We’re not telling you. Remember, you aren’t supposed to know this stuff or your past. On a personal level, I want to give you back your memories, but that’s too big of a long-term risk,” answers Zeris.

“But it’s not a risk for Alex to know his past? The past that ignited his hatred for Armaros again?” says Ember.

“At that point, we thought it was better for Alex to know. Looking back, I’m not sure we made the right decision.”

“And I’m not sure you’re making the right one now,” snaps Ember. “Why don’t we have a say in whether or not we know about our lives? How come Quinn, Armaros, and Alex get off with a pass because you ‘weren’t sure’, while us four get the short end of the draw?”

“Do you wanna know about your past?” asks Zeris.

“No– not really. Something tells me I’m better off without it, but you just… disregarded us and our thoughts like we’re trash. Sky, Hazel, and Forest have a right to decide without your oversight.”

Zeris looks around the room at the three mentioned, who are all deep in thought, “Well. If that’s what they want, they can express that to me when they’re ready.”

Satisfied with that answer, Ember nods. “So that you know. If you want even a sliver of trust from us, or at least from me, you’re going to have to earn it. And earning it back will not be easy.”

“I understand. What was next? You wanted to know what Kane and I are actually doing, right?”

Ember nods again.

“I think the general idea has been tossed around a bit, but to make things clear. We want to overthrow Queen Divine, the person leading this kingdom. We want to get rid of her oppressive ways. Of the trials. Of the manual labor, that’s really just enslaved over half the population. Get rid of the famine. Of the Age of Divination.”

“The age of divination?” voices Sky.

“Every person that turns forty years old in this kingdom has to die,” replies Quinn.

“Oh. Uh, how old are you, General Kane?” asks Sky.

“Thirty-eight.”

“So you only have two more years. And you, Zeris?”

“I’m twenty-four. I’m okay for a while.”

Sky awkwardly smiles, “Yeah. So you both went through the trials, too..."

Kane nods while Zeris averts his gaze and says, "Yeah... we did."

Pausing momentarily, Zeris resumes with a different tone, “But Kane and I aren’t alone. We're working closely with three other people, and we want you guys to be onboard with us.”

“We actually have one more,” says Kane, getting a confused look from Zeris. “A lot happened today.”

Zeris slowly nods as he turns back to the survivors. " We… six, have been preparing for years. We’ve seen what’s happened to unsuccessful rebellions in the past, and we thought having a smaller, more covert group would be far more beneficial, and it’s worked out so far. Kane works in the same royal palace where the queen lives, so he’s fully aware of how things stand politically. Iasa is in a bad state. Ever since you stole the pure core from us, Armaros, we’ve been eating out of the hand that Racafi has been feeding us because we know we’re at Racafi’s mercy. So when it comes to taking down Quenn Divine, it’s all about timing.”

“Why not go for it now?” asks Forest. “What’s stopping you?”