The last thing I see June do before the doors close is her lunging at me. I would have let her too. I could never imagine having a good relationship with one of my parents and then hearing they died. If the person who killed my parent were in my room, I would want to lunge at them too. So, I don’t blame her for what she is feeling right now. I just hope that some day she will understand that it wasn’t an option to keep him alive.
“You did the right thing,” Theon says with his hand on my shoulder. It feels nice to have some sort of support, even if it is just my brothers.
“We should probably tell Amelia,” I say while sighing.
We walk into the throne room where Amelia gives her sweet smile. We tell her everything from Hammonet hitting me with an arrow to telling June what we have done with her father.
“This is such a surprise. I would have never thought that Hammonet would ever turn to Darkness. Are you sure it was him?” Amelia says. Her eyes show grievance but her face is strong like the true queen she is. After we nod at her, she looks to the ground. “I suppose we should hold a small funeral ball for him. He was the head guard in the castle after all. He was important to all of us and it is the least we can do. We will make it a small gathering with his family and friends.”
We nod again and turn around to head out of the room. Another funeral ball, just what we need. More and more people are turning to Darkness and all we are doing is killing them and then holding funeral balls for them. Darkness needs to be stopped once and for all, but how? Anger fills my chest and I don’t notice that my pace is faster until my brothers tell me to wait up for them.
“We need to figure out what our next steps are,” Strider says.
I halt in place and turn to him, grab is shirt, and get close to face as I yell, “Next steps? Try first steps. We haven’t done anything and every second we waste doing nothing, more and more people are turning to Darkness. We haven’t done a single thing about it and people are dying because of our laziness!”
Strider’s eyes widen and I feel Theon’s hand gripping my arm, pulling me away from him. Strider’s stuck in place while my heaving body is shaking.
Theon clears his throat and calmly says to me, “With all due respect, sister, how can we figure out our first steps if we don’t even know where to begin?”
“Maybe we could begin with capturing some people who have turned to Darkness and experiment with them instead of killing them off right away,” Strider suggests.
“Aren’t our scientists already doing that? How could we be any different?” I ask.
“They don’t have our magic. Maybe we can find a cure to whatever happens to Darkness’ followers within our DNA.”
“So do we try save the people who have turned to Darkness first, or the people who are about to die because they didn’t do what Darkness wanted?” Theon asks.
“We have to save the people who turned to Darkness first right?” I say.
“Why? Don’t you think that we should save the people who are about to die first so that we can, oh, I don’t know, save their lives?”
“But if we save the people who just turned to Darkness then we save them from death all together without a ticking time bomb about to go off,” I argue.
Theon and I both stare at each other silently, puzzling together what would be best for the world. Then we both realize at the same time that we have a genius of a brother next to us. We both slowly turn our heads to him, silently asking him what he thinks we should do.
“I think we could do both at the same time,” Strider says.
“Do elaborate, brother,” Theon says.
“If we imprison people who just turned to Darkness, we have more time trying to figure out how to save them. When they turn because they didn’t succeed in Darkness’ bidding then we can also experiment on what we can do to save the people who have turned into those monsters,” Strider points out.
“So, the first step we need to take is, going to find temple of Darkness and arrest some people in there,” Theon says.
“Let’s go round up some guards,” I say.
__________
We were able to contact one of our spies that are still in Chopver. We met at the same ally where we met the other one and we learned where another temple of Darkness is held. He was about to tell his men to burn it down until we stopped them and said that we were going to capture some people. They were confused but nonetheless they obeyed and called off the attack.
Now, my brothers and I are on the way to another temple of Darkness. Nerves crawl up my spine but they aren’t bad nerves. These nerves are buzzing in my body because we are finally taking steps to save the world. It has been centuries and now my brothers and I are taking matters into our own hands. We have scientists working non-stop in our labs but maybe the secret ingredient for the cure is something to do with my brothers and I.
The spy told us that where the temple of Darkness is and it coincidentally is on the same street as the one we burned a couple of weeks ago. It’s disturbing to think of how close these two temples are and makes me wonder just how many temples there are in this kingdom alone.
My body shivers even though it is scorching hot today. The thought of so many people turned to Darkness makes my body feel like I am in a desert of snow.
My brothers and I decided that it would be best to bring horses and a wagon along with so that we can be safe with the prisoners now that they have access to weapons that can severely hurt us.
My brothers and I stop our horses a couple of blocks away as to not arouse suspicion. The last thing we need right now is people to find out they we are on our way and then they pick up and leave, leaving no trail for us to follow. We bring a few soldiers with us to help arrest people and they hide among the streets, waiting for the signal we will set off. It will keep suspicion down as well since Temples of Darkness are illegal, the soldiers have every right to arrest them.
We arrive at the temple which is above the ground this time. The building is made out of stone with pillars of wood on the outside. A big red door with a beautiful stain glass of the ocean in the middle of it. There are black-out curtains covering the windows, preventing us from looking at whatever is going on inside.
From just looking at the outside, it looks an ordinary shop that would sell herbs to make medicine or something similar to that, but I know once we head inside that this place will become one of the most ugliest place in the kingdom.
I take a deep breath before I lead my brothers inside the temple. The interior of this temple is very different from the last one we saw. The one where we capture the four prisoners that are currently residing in Amelia’s castle.
The last one was full of wood but this one seems to be not only covered in wood but also covered in velvet. Crimson red carpet matched the covers that are all over the chairs and tables. Golden accented decorations are scattered along the room.
The buzz of chatter fills my head as I take in what is happening around me. So many people are cramped in so little space. They all are in their separate groups, talking to one another as if this is a party and they haven’t seen each other in a couple of months. The thing that disturbs me is that most of the people in here have chalices filled with, what only I could assume is, wine. They are casually acting like this is their everyday event and that this isn’t just wrong.
My stomach starts to feel bubbly as the furry builds up in my body. I can’t bare to look at this nightmare any longer. There are too many people here and it makes me so sad for the world, but it also fills me up with motivation to capture as many people as possible and try to find this cure.
“Are you ready to execute the plane?” Strider whispers to Theon and I. We both nod in response and head to the spots we have planned on our way here. My brothers head towards the two corners that are closest to the door, ready to capture anyone who think that they are going to escape. I make my way to the other side of the room, ready to create a fire that will burn this temple to the ground.
No seems to notice us, or if they did, they aren’t suspicious enough to keep an eye on us. The buzz of the chatter becomes louder in my head and reverberates in my skull. I decide to listen in on a conversation before I execute the plan.
“Have you heard from Klein about the plan that Darkness plans to execute?” a man with a bigger built and a tiny black mustache says to a skinny lady with a big nose and her curly red hair pinned up.
“The one where we get to see his children ourselves? The plan that will finally show those spoiled brats who the good people really are?” the lady responds.
Are they talking about my brothers and I? What plan that will have them see us for themselves? Honestly, if they want to see us so bad, they could have a little more awareness and look around the room.
I’m more curious about the plan they are talking about. Darkness has always wanted my brothers and I to join his side but he always tried to convince us himself. He didn’t include any mortals and if he is getting desperate enough to start including them not then we need to hurry because I’m not sure how much faster he will try to recruit them.
I take a deep breath before I subtly get closer to a large table covered in a red tablecloth. Food is spread everywhere and you can clearly see what the people liked and didn’t like out of the options they were given. On the end of the table, there is a pile of plates and next to them are some extra chalices.
I get a plate and some utensils. I decide to pretend to drop a fork so that it is not suspicious when I bend down and the fork is not loud enough to get anyone’s attention. I bend down pretending to get the fork on the ground, looking around to make sure no one is watching me. My hand doesn’t move to the fork but instead moves to corner of the table cloth.
Flicking my wrist, a spark appears followed by a flame. I grab the very end of the cloth and plant the flame on it.
Before the flame can get any bigger, I subtly walk over to the other side of the room, making sure the blame could not be blamed on me. As I am walking to the other side of the room, I nod to my brothers, telling them that I have completed the first step of our plan. They nod in return and get in a stance, ready to arrest people at any second.
Theon subtly let’s a snowball out of the door, letting the soldiers outside know that we are about to execute the plan. We decided earlier that Theon should let a big enough snowball outside where it can be seen by the soldiers but also melt quick enough so no civilian would get confused or suspicious.
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Now that everything else has been done, the final step is to ensue panic and chaos so that no one would pay attention to the people who get arrested. I take a deep breath in, reminding myself that we only have one chance to get this right otherwise we would have to find another temple of Darkness and who knows how long it would take us to find another one.
I wait until the fire is too big to save before I let out a dramatic gasp which brings some people who are the closest to me, attention. “Is that a fire?” I ask.
The people around me look to where I am pointing and analyze it before they start to scream themselves.
“Fire!” someone shouts.
“Everyone get out of here. We can’t put it out,” another person shouts.
Everyone panics and runs out of the building all at once. Theon and Strider pretend to bump into people accidentally while arresting them. People are pushing left and right, people are falling to the ground and getting trampled. I get glimpses of blood on the ground, assuming people have hit their nose or smashes their teeth to ground.
Once I confirm that everyone is out of the building, I create a spark in my hands again and create a bigger fire, burning the whole building to the ground. I have to make sure no one can scrounge up anything after the fire is put out. Everything that is ever part of this evil temple and community should not have the opportunity to rebuild what they have lost. They should realize now that they should never rebuild and give up. They should try and be saved and turn to the Light side, the right side.
I run out of the building and into the streets where I only see my brothers, the soldiers, and the prisoners we have captured. All of the prisoners are yelling and saying that Darkness will punish us and them if they are not let go. Some of them are more scared of what Darkness will do to them than what we plan to do.
We tie the prisoners up and put them in the cart, getting ready to head out of town and to the prison.
“You will never get away with this. Darkness will come and destroy you all. You followers of Light are nothing but idiots. He will come save us and you will be destroyed,” a man says. He was the hardest one to get in the cart because he is the heaviest person we have captured. His bald head and his mustache go with his bushy arms.
The man keeps saying the same thing over and over again. Telling us that Darkness will come to us.
Check.
That Darkness will try and destroy us.
Check.
And that Darkness will save them all.
Still working on that.
The man won’t shut up and I can already tell that my brothers and the soldiers are annoyed at him. The ride back isn’t short so this will not be fun.
Theon tells everyone to wait when we are about to start moving. He gets off his horse and climb up the wagon full of prisoners, walks up to the man who won’t stop talking, rips off the bottom part of his shirt, and ties it around the man’s mouth. The man attempts to bite his hands as Theon is doing this, but Theon seems to be way stronger than the man will ever be.
The two women we captured, gawk at his torso where they can see the bottom part of his abs.
Disgusting.
Theon gets off the wagon with a smile now that there is peace and quiet, and get back onto his horse. He says that he is ready and we head off to the castle.
On the way back, I think of the specific questions I want to ask these prisoners, like where they heard about the temple, what made them want to turn to Darkness, and last but not least, have they heard about the weapon that could fatally hurt my bothers and I.
We get to the castle and get the prisoners into separate cells. They put up a good fight but not good enough to succeed in their escape.
Once we get everyone into the cells, my brothers and I regroup where the prisoners can’t hear us.
“So, where should we start,” I ask my brothers.
Theon gives a slight shrug and looks at Strider. Stider has that look on his face when he is deep thought. I can tell he is trying to figure out what is the best approach and how we should start our research.
“Does anyone have a point they would like to get to with these prisoners?” Strider asks us.
“I want to know what their motives for turn to Darkness were and if they know about the weapon that Hammonet hit me with” I respond.
“I want to know if they are willing to change to followers of Light or if they are devoted to Darkness,” Theon says.
“Why would that matter?” Strider asks with genuine curiosity.
“Think about it, if some people are willing to change, we might have more success with curing them than the people who are not. It could be a change of heart that is an ingredient to finding this cure.”
“Huh, you’re right. I have never about it like that before.”
“And you’re supposed to be the smart sibling. Look’s like I am becoming smarter than you.” Theon playfully pats Strider’s shoulder. Strider responds with a glare.
“Okay, so maybe we should start with asking what they wanted so badly, first, and then we can ask them who is willing to change. If we can rule out who is willing to change, maybe we can have an easier time figuring out what the weapon Hammonet used and how we can stop it from happening,” I say.
My brothers agree with me and we head back to where our prisoners are being held. The big man with the bald head and mustache is talking non stop again but the other prisoners look more sad and in their head.
I walk over to one of the two women we captured. This woman looks to be in her mid thirties. She has long wavy brown hair and pale skin that brings out her dark eyes. When I walk over to her, she looks up at me with her cheeks damp and her lip quivering.
“What is your name?” I ask, getting straight to the point. There is no point in wasting more time than we already have.
“Juniper,” the woman responds.
“Okay Juniper, we have a couple questions. Are you willing to answer them?” I ask.
Juniper nods and then lowers her head to the ground.
“What was the reason you were in that temple today?”
“I was going to ask Darkness another favor.”
“Another favor? So you have been a follower of Darkness before and you have asked him for something?”
Juniper nods.
“How many thing have you asked?”
“If I asked today, it would have been my second request.”
“What was the request you made before and what was the one you were going to make today?”
Juniper looks up at me rapidly. Her eyes start to release big tears and her breath becomes rapid. “All I ever wanted was a baby. Ever since I was little girl, I have always dreamed of becoming a mother. I was the oldest out of my siblings and I had so much joy taking care of them while my mother was out getting food. So, when my husband and I couldn’t get pregnant, I went to the temple. It was the only thing that I could think of that would help be get pregnant. I wanted a child so bad. I prayed to him and he said that if I wanted a child that I would have to conceive with the man of his choice. I cheated on my husband to get pregnant but my husband doesn’t know that. He thinks we just had a miracle baby.
Well, a couple of days ago, my baby got really sick and we are afraid that she will die soon if we don’t figure out how to help her. We didn’t know what to do. So I went out of the house when he was busy to go and request Darkness to save my baby.” Juniper starts to sob harder. “I can’t lose my baby. She is everything I have ever wanted and more. She is my whole world. Please, let me go back and save my baby. I need her.”
Juniper falls to her knees and cried loud enough for it to each throughout the prison.
I turn around to face my brothers. Strider looks like he is trying to figure out how to keep questioning her without getting her to desperate to leave or to not have her cooperate anymore. Theon is looking at her and not even paying attention to me. His eyes are grieving along with her and his face is trying to figure out how to give her comfort without overstepping boundaries.
I turn back to Juniper and say, “I’m so sorry to hear about your baby. We will give you some time to yourself and we will come back. Thank you for answering our questions.”
Juniper ignores me or doesn’t hear me because she continues crying on the floor of her cell.
We walk over to the cell next to Juniper’s and look inside. There is a skinny old man with a long gray beard, sitting the corner, rocking himself back and forth. He seems to be mumbling something to himself but I can’t quite make out what he is saying.
“Excuse me,” I say.
The man doesn’t move from his spot.
I attempt to get his attention again. “Sir, we would like to ask you some questions.”
The man still doesn’t answer. I turn to my brothers and both of them shrug and I take it as an answer to move on to the next person. So, we do just that.
The next cell is the other woman we captured. This woman seems to be in her early sixties and she also has long wavy hair but hers is gray with highlights of silver scattered around it. She’s so skinny you can see her bones easily and she looks like you can tip her over with just a single breath.
“Are you willing to answer some questions?” I ask.
The lady is closer to the prison door than the man before and so I was able to easily see her. She is sitting on the ground and so I decide to get on the ground to try and show her that I am trying not to be intimidating.
I sit on the ground and cross my legs, leaning over a little.
In my sweetest voice, I ask again, “Are you willing to answer some questions.”
She slowly turns to me and I can get a better look of her face. Her nose is as cute as a button and her eyes are as blue as the ocean. She was definitely one of the prettiest girls around when she was younger.
She brings out her hand and waves her finger, gesturing me to come closer. I lean in a little more and the lady’s mouth opens, but instead of an answer, she spits in my face. “Get the hell away from me you Light following scum.”
She turns back to facing forward and sits with a sulk on her face.
My brothers rush to pick me up off of the ground.
“Are you okay?” Strider asks.
I nod in response and head over to the next cell. The one that I was trying to avoid but now the time has come.
The big man with the bald head and the mustache is still leaning against the cell door. Yelling every single word he can without his voice cracking, telling us that we are going to die because of this and Darkness will save him because he is the most loyal follower.
Jokes on him, my brothers and I can’t even die.
I have no hope for this prisoner but I still ask, “Are you willing to answer some questions?”
The man ignores me and keeps on yelling the same few sentences over and over again, only breaking to take in breaths.
This is going to be long and hard research and I am not looking forward to it at all.