For hope of a new world to be possible, it needed a voice, a speaker for those left behind. The auditorium was full of people who needed to hear the voice of encouragement, a voice of what their future could be. They needed Nashra. Jamie organised a team backstage to make sure the mics and lights were working. They needed their leader to be heard, to be seen.
The crowd cheered when she walked on stage. She waved and smiled, a performance to make them happy. She greeted them all with a welcoming speech. Nashra spent over ten minutes thanking them for coming to see her, how they took some time out of their day to listen to a humble woman like her. But that wasn’t why she organised this congregation, she needed to give them something to believe in. Something to inspire their hearts and minds. She required their faith in her and her ideals.
‘Like you, I was changed by the Cascade.’ She clicked her fingers to conjure a bright white flame above her thumb. ‘But unlike you, I wasn’t cast aside by my friends or family. We are all human, but I looked the most human. Because of my fortunate circumstances, I can work, own a house, drive a car, and live among society. But not you! The Cascade changed you, mutilated your bodies to be something different, modifying your bodies without your consent or knowledge. You had no power to prevent it, no one did.’
Nashra walked to the edge of the stage to take a knee, lowering herself to the crowd below. ‘But let me tell you, you are not burdened with a curse. The world fears change, for it can’t understand something so sudden can in actuality be a blessing. A change for the better! Instead, the world sees you as monsters, to be left behind and die in their streets while the rich and fortunate sit inside of their ivory towers. Wall Street sees you as a burdensome labour-force. People who don’t deserve a paycheck for your hard work.’ The crowd chat amongst themselves, furious at people in suits who see no value in them. An anger Nashra would utilise. ‘When we begged for aid, POTUS looked at our struggle and said “no can do, ever since they’ve changed they behaved worse than the immigrants who snuck through the border.” Not even the senate can say we are human while they argue what humanity even is!’ She stood up, overlooking the rowdy crowd as they sneered and argued how they should deal with the government that abandoned them.
She raised her hands to silence the crowd, at the same time she noticed the scarred reptile enter the building. ‘What I see is an opportunity. I know people here who can lift a truck over their heads, some can fly, others have the power to recover from injuries that would normally kill a man. Most of us have one power, some have many.’ With a subtle movement of her right hand the white flame diminished to be replaced with the projection of the known universe above everyone’s head. The crowd watched in wonder, how nebula’s are just at an arm’s reach of them, how the stars were like fireflies that danced around their fingers.
Nashra continued her speech, she spoke how the world walked away from them and it was time for them to fight for their right to be part of it. But at the end of the auditorium, the reptile leaned against the wall and watched. He didn’t cheer when the crowd sang their praises; he didn’t raise his hands to touch the universe when the crowd believed that they'd touched a hopeful future. The reptile just stood there, waiting.
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But she continued talking up the people, her flock. Her message of a better world gave her the power of faith. A form of magic that could be harnessed for her own gain. It was what made humanity a powerful species, the dominant force. All humans are connected to the flows of magic, some more than others. But the most common form of magic all can perform is the power of faith and hope. But belief itself couldn’t create, someone or something had to use that power and focus it. Nashra knew the fundamentals, she just needed more time to harness it.
The coronation stopped when everyone heard a horrific scream outside. Everyone sat in their chairs, scared of what they heard. They needed their shepherd to lead them, to investigate what happened. Nashra jumped down and walked out of the building with her flock following her to where the scream came from. It was there when they saw it. Hanging from the lamppost was a man, his neck snapped and distorted. His stomach was burst open, their guts on the cold ground like tinned spaghetti with steam emanated from them. Sobbed at their feet was their wife, the poor soul stumbled upon the corpse of their lover. A mangled mess for the world to see. There were no footprints, no markings of struggle or someone else participating in the gruesome murder.
Then, it hit them. The stench of their opened bowels flooding their noses. Some puked at the smell alone if the sight didn’t make them gag, others walked away to call for help, but all were mortified. There was a murderer on the loose. They all wanted answers, they all wanted to know who killed the man and why.
‘This is their doing!’ Nashra shouted, drawing the attention of the crowd. ‘The person who killed our brother wanted to send a message! This! This murder! Is done to divide us! We will find whoever did this, and we will bring them to justice. But I need your help, all of you. Find anyone who might be involved in this man’s murder.’ Everyone disbursed in search of any evidence, anything that could help Nashra. She needed it.
She walked over to his corpse, Jamie comforted the devastated wife while Nashra examined what or how the man was killed. But all she found was how effective the killer was, she could tell a sharp instrument was used. Her eyes widened, she knew who it might be. She turned around in search of the reptile; she remembered who they were, why they were there. ‘Jackson,’ she mumbled in horror. She should’ve known, she fought with him in Blackwater. Her eyes darted around, trying to find the reptile. But he disappeared.
Nashra knew she couldn’t escape, that would expose herself to the reptile. She knew she couldn’t openly tell everyone of his presence because that would make them a target. I have to stop him! I have to! She thought to herself over and over again. Trying to come up with a plan to combat the dangerous beast inside her commune. Nashra knew it would only be a matter of time before the Order would find her, but now she needed to escalate her plans. If she wanted to ascend to divinity, she would need to do it now rather than later. The only question she had however, was why did the reptile kill that man?