After the two had run far enough away they stopped to catch their breath. After going down multiple different alleyways to get away from Kallen’s pub, Ren and the girl named Lilith stood there together. Lilith had mentioned something about knights, were they being followed by said knights? Well, if they were caught -- Ren thought -- then if he explained the situation then the knights would hopefully lay the blame for the damages to Kallen’s Pub and the other store on the lizardman, but Ren was a “priority citizen who had gained powers” as stated by Dee. If the knights caught him, would they take him in regardless? -- or would they even recognize him? The knight from the other day hadn’t appeared to recognize him, so would any of the other knights?
“Thanks again, Ren.” Lilith said.
“It’s -- no problem.” Ren said, still slightly out of breath. “Anyone of good character would do the same. If I hadn’t then I’m confident that one of the good hearted people in the pub would’ve helped.”
“That’s a nice thought, but most people actually wouldn’t have stepped in.”
“What? Why’s that?”
“The majority of people in this world don’t have powers. The ones that do become knights in Tye’s army.”
“All people with powers become a part of the knights?”
“Yes. It’s something only people with powers can do after all. Some may even go on to be an executioner.”
“Go on to become executioners?”
“Becoming an executioner is one of the highest honors a citizen can receive. It means they’re so powerful that they have the responsibility to use their powers to protect the people from threats. Those threats can be monsters, or those threats can even be citizens who rise up against Tye. Don’t you know about this kind of stuff?”
“No, actually.” Ren saw this as an opportunity to learn more of the world Tye had created. This girl seemed to be quite familiar with the knights and how they work. “Could you tell me a bit more about these knights?”
Lilith smiled. “Of course, but we need to get something to eat first. Those men interrupted my meal before so I never got to eat anything, and you had just walked into the pub when things went down. You’re hungry too right?”
“Oh,” the thought of food had completely left Ren’s mind, “yeah. I guess I could go for some food.” Lilith took his hand again.
“Then come on, I know a great place around here.” she said excitedly.
“Wait, around here? You know exactly where we are even after going through all those different alleyways?”
“Of course, you’d be in trouble if you didn’t know where you were going, wouldn’t you?” Ren thought of where they were at in relation to Sonon Road. They had headed somewhere deeper into the block, further away from Sonon Road. Just knowing which direction Sonon Road is sufficient to not get lost, just go down the alley in that direction and you will wind up at Sonon Road. But the size of each city block was actually very large, if one found himself towards the center of the block with no idea which direction was which then one could find themself going in the complete opposite direction than they intended. So being able to remember which direction is which is crucial in this city, but being able to remember where each building is in the block was an incredible skill.
Lilith led him down another alley and stopped in front of a building that had the sign reading “Mithian’s Diner” on it.
“I come to this diner quite often. The food here is great.” Lilith said with a smile.
“I don’t know this city very well so I’ll have to trust your judgment.”
“Oho? From one of the outer villages?” Ren knew this question could end up going badly for him. If he replied the name of a village and the girl knew it didn’t exist then she would know he had lied for some reason. He had to make an answer that was hard to prove false.
“My father and I lived alone in a house in a forest to the west. We didn’t really make contact with any nearby villages, but when we did my father would handle things. Things like going to get food and other necessities. I never had any interaction with the villagers, so I don’t even know what villages we lived nearby.”
“That’s quite the peculiar situation. I haven’t heard of anyone ever living by themselves like that. So what happened to your father, and how did you end up here in Centiria?”
“My father disappeared one day. I set out to find him. I wandered the woods looking for any human trace I could find. That’s when I came across a hunter and his party in the woods, they were looking for food. When I asked them if they saw my father they said they had talked to a man matching his description; the man said that he was on his way to Centiria. The hunters told me how to get here, and over the course of about a week, I made it here.”
“So you’re looking for your father… any luck?”
“Well, my first interaction with anyone in this city was with that lizardman and his minions, so I haven’t made much progress.” he smiled.
“Oh, and that’s why you don’t know much about the knights either. Your father hid you from the world so you don’t know much about this world do you?” Ren realized that maybe he could get even more information from Lilith now.
“Yes, you’re exactly right.”
“All right, leave it to me to explain things.” Lilith said confidently. “But the explanation can wait until after we eat, right?” Lilith’s eyes became stars at the thought of food. She was thinking more about the food than his story wasn’t she? Ren smiled a broken smile.
“Yeah, let’s go on inside then.” Ren said. Lilith happily complied as the two went inside and ordered food. That was when Ren realized the fatal error that he had even failed to account for at Kallen’s Pub: he had no money! Even if he had been able to sit down at Kallen’s Pub and grab some grub he wouldn’t have been able to pay for it in the first place. Luckily Lilith said she would pay for Ren’s meal, he had saved her after all. Ren’s meal was a steak with a side of fries that he enjoyed wholeheartedly. If there was one thing that was good about this world of Tye’s so far it was that Ren’s meal was absolutely delicious. Lilith downed her meal and finished at about the same time Ren had.
“You weren’t kidding, this diner is fantastic!” Ren exclaimed.
“Right? You should remember where this is and come here again sometime.” Ren thought that’d be nice but he’d have to know where he is in the first place if he was going to memorize its location in relation to Sonon Road. He wished that GPS was a thing in this world (which it could be, but he hadn’t found out for sure). “So? What would you like to know?” Ren sat up straight in his chair. This was his time to figure things out about this world of Tye’s.
“So these knights you mentioned, you said they had powers right? How did they get their powers?”
“They happened to be born with them, just like how I’m assuming the same can be said for you.” Ren realized that Lilith had an ability as well, the one she had used to heal Ren.
“So your ability is one you’ve had since you were born? Your ability to heal?”
“That’s correct. And your ability, the ability to create your sword and change the appearance of your outfit, you’ve had this ability since birth?” There were two answers to this: go with Dr. Tirion’s story of how people got their powers after a near-death encounter with an executioner or agree with Lilith’s story of how people had powers from birth.
Choosing to say that Ren had gotten his powers yesterday could end up becoming suspicious to the girl, so Ren chose to say, “Yeah. I’ve had my powers for as long as I can remember.”
“And that spell you used at the end -- ‘waterburst’ is what you yelled -- where’d you learn to use magic?”
“Well, I learned it from my father of course. There wouldn’t be any other place I could’ve learned it from.”
“Oho? Well, magic is actually something only taught to high level knights. Perhaps your father was previously a knight, fled the service, and took up residence in the forest. You seem to be about my age so it’s entirely safe to say that he wasn’t a former Averaelian knight who fled because of the usurpation last year. He instead fled the Averaelian knights many years ago. That’s quite curious, why would anyone have a reason to flee from Averaelia?” Ren wondered if she was questioning the legitimacy of Ren’s fake background story or whether she was truly intrigued by the false story.
“Oh yeah, this Averaelia you spoke of. Just what happened to Averaelia?”
“Averaelia is the previous capital. One year ago our ruler Tye appeared along with five executioners and overthrew the royal family. They slaughtered everyone within the palace and declared Tye emperor.”
“Wait, so Tye took over and the people just accepted that?”
“People didn’t accept at first, but the changes that Tye brought about made people quickly change their opinion of him. As soon as Tye became ruler there has been almost no crime due to the fear of the executioners. Economic plans were put in place to better the lives of everyone in the empire: roads were created, businesses boomed, private organizations were built to further scientific and magical research. The quick change Tye has brought about has bettered the lives of everyone here and so they accepted Tye’s rule wholeheartedly. Over the past year people’s devotion to Tye has become increasingly strong.” So people were living happily in this false world? They considered their lives to be good? Then did Ren have a reason to stop Tye if the people were living happy lives? Of course if people found out their lives were a lie then they would want to go back to the original world, but if they didn’t find out then they would live their lives happily here. Ren was one of those people. Ren wanted the world to go back to the way it was, but did he have the right to destroy the happiness of the people in this world? His answer had to be yes. No matter the moral or ethical questions put forth to him he was obligated to revert the world to normal because the very god of this world asked him to. So no matter what, he had to kill Tye and bring back his world.
“There have been people who have rejected Tye’s rule.” Lilith continued. “A group of rebels calling themselves Remembrance has been around causing trouble for the empire. They’ve avoided being destroyed by the executioners for nearly a year now. They’re the only ones known to have given the executioners a run for their money, but that’s not by strength. One executioner alone could obliterate the rebels, but the rebels have been sneaky. So sneaky that even the executioners have been unable to find them.” Ren wondered how a large underground base beneath the city was sneaky -- it was clever, but for them to have remained hidden for a year has been a miracle. Especially from monsters such as Finite. If there was a monster amongst the executioners who excelled in knowledge rather than strength, then Remembrance would most likely not last much longer. “Tell me. Where do you think these rebels are hiding?”
“Huh?” The sudden question brought Ren out of thought and into reality.
“These rebels appear and disappear throughout the city whenever they want, how do you think they do it?” Lilith stared at him intently from across the table.
“Well,” Ren shifted his head to the right, “if I were a rebel --” he couldn’t say underground since that was the real answer so how about, “then what about the sky?”
“The sky?” Lilith asked, surprised. “And just how would they pull that off?” she asked, almost laughing at the ridiculous answer.
“Well, you did say that they were sneaky, and they’ve hid from the executioners for a year now haven’t they. Wouldn’t that most likely mean they’re hiding using a method that would be hard for the executioners to consider? For example, what if there was a member of Remembrance that had a power that none of the executioners thought possible? Maybe one that allowed the members to fly or teleport?”
“True, maybe they do have an ability that the executioners haven’t caught onto. Although, if they were ignorant enough to only think of a few possibilities rather than myriad possibilities in a world of magic and abilities then they wouldn’t be as much of a threat, don’t you think?”
“Y-Yeah…” Ren agreed with a stutter. The way Lilith said that sent a shiver up his spine, making him feel that Remembrance wasn’t safe from the executioners.
“We should probably get going. We’ve been taking up space in this diner that could be used for customers to experience the delicious food here.” Lilith stood up and Ren did as well. “Come on.” she said, once again grabbing his hand and pulling him along.
“Wha--” Ren almost said “What?” reflexively as he was surprised that Lilith was once again taking him somewhere. “Where are we going?”
“To take a look around the city of course!” Lilith smiled. “You don’t know your way around right? I’ll show you around!” Yes, exploring the city was Ren’s original goal after all. After Terra had said Ren was going to be walking around on his own he was a little depressed that he didn’t get to walk around the city with Terra, but now he was being shown around by a cute girl. Lilith dragged him out of the diner and pulled him off down the alleyway.
“Do we have to hold hands?” Ren questioned.
“At this time of day we have to.”
“What?” What was the reason?
“We’ll get separated by the crowd otherwise.” After being pulled through a series of alleys the two emerged on Sonon Road. The road appeared more busy than it had earlier -- no, it appeared much busier. The number of people walking down the road had probably tripled. The road was completely crowded with people. “The stalls that are set up here at this time of the day have the best food.”
“Stalls?” Ren questioned. He looked and saw that stalls aligned the road on both sides. “So that’s the reason for the crowd?”
“Yeah!” Lilith exclaimed, her eyes had once again become starry as she looked at the food stands. Lilith then grabbed Ren’s arm and began tugging on him.“Oh! That one! That one has delicious desserts! We’ve gotta get some, Ren!” Ren wondered just who this girl was. She could go from seeming really serious to being really happy in an instant. She seemed like a joyous person to be with. That thought brought Sal back into his mind, and he smiled a pained smile. He may have only been a fake friend with fake memories, but the person he had been was real -- and he was now dead. Ren’s facial expression quickly changed back as he was dragged by Lilith into the crowd to grab some of the delicious dessert she had been talking about. The two stood in line together for what seemed like an eternity. Ren stood there uncomfortably amongst the enormous crowd of people while Lilith stood there with her starry eyes anxiously awaiting her turn to buy dessert. Once they had finally gotten to the stall, Lilith asked Ren if he wanted any and he declined. Once Lilith had hers the two exited the crowd and stood against the wall of one of the buildings. Ren watched as Lilith downed her dessert.
“So fast!” Ren quietly exclaimed. The speed at which Lilith ate the desert (one that appeared to be a large slice of chocolate cake) was astonishing to Ren.
“Hm?” Lilith turned to him as she finished swallowing her dessert.
“Ah, nothing!” Ren said as he turned his head away. He found himself looking at the massive crowd in the road once again. He once again found himself wondering if vehicles existed in this world. Ren almost asked Lilith the question but remembered the backstory he had told Lilith. He had never been anywhere besides the forest and Centiria, so he probably wouldn’t have even known the term “vehicle” if he had grown up as he said he did. “So how do people find the time for this?” is the question he found himself asking.
“Find the time for what?”
“Well shouldn’t people be working? Most of my father’s time was spent collecting firewood and giving it to a nearby village. In return the villagers gave us food and clothing. My father called it his job. So how do these people have the time to do this at this time of day rather than working?”
“Well, that’s just one result of Tye’s rule. People get paid more so they need to work far less than before. That’s due to those economic reforms I mentioned in the diner.”
“I see…” Ren was beginning to think less and less that this world was one made out of an act of evil, and yet the way Tye had acted in front of Ren stuck out to him. Ren didn’t think the state Tye was in could be called sane, but had he actually created a peaceful, happy world aside from the executioners and Remembrance?
“All right! It’s time to continue the tour!” Lilith exclaimed as she pulled Ren along once again.
“Continue? We already started?” Ren questioned.
“Of course! I showed you the diner didn’t I? And then the food stands?”
“All you’ve shown me so far is food.” Ren said as Lilith continued to pull him back into the alleyway.
“EH?! Did you want something other than food?”
“Really?” Ren could do nothing but smile as he was pulled through alley after alley. He was having a fun time being pulled around by Lilith, he almost didn’t want it to end. That was when Lilith stopped dead in her tracks and Ren stopped just past her. In front of them stood the three minions who had been with the lizardman.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” Yelled one of them. “We had a heck of trouble getting away from the knights because of you!”
“Oh? And where’s your friend, the lizard?” Ren questioned.
“He’s already recovered. He should be somewhere else in the city looking for you.” The same man replied.
“People like you never know when to give up, huh?” Ren asked as he took his stance. His uniform became his combat outfit and his sword appeared in his hands. “Stand back, Lilith. I can take care of them.” Ren didn’t look back at Lilith behind him, so he didn’t see her expression right away. It was an expression that seemed completely uncharacteristic of her.
“Oi…” she said in a quiet rage. Ren finally turned around to look at Lilith.
“Lilith?” he asked as he saw her face, it was one of pure anger. Her snow white hair slowly changed into a crimson red color and so did the iris of her eyes. Ren’s eyes widened in surprise. Before he could even ask, “What?” he saw Lilith’s hair extend at lightning speed and heard the sound of a liquid splashing around behind him. He slowly turned around to see that Lilith had torn the three minions to shreds. She had used her threads of hair as individual swords that she had complete control over and used them to shred the three men into bits and pieces. As Ren stared down in shock at the three “corpses” Lilith began to speak.
“I hadn’t counted on those thugs being so persistent and now look. They’ve ruined our date. The fun’s over now isn’t it?” Ren slowly turned his shocked face around to look at Lilith.
“Wh--Who--” Ren stuttered as he tried to speak, ”Just who the hell are you?” Ren had wondered just who this girl actually was for the entire time he had spent with her. She seemed to have more knowledge about the knights than the average person so Ren thought she was just a normal knight, but she was in fact...
“Ah, I knew you wouldn’t be able to think of me the same way. I’m sorry. I lost it when those three came back out of nowhere and interrupted our date. Yes, it is just as you have surmised. I am one of the five executioners. I am Executioner M. I am… your murder.” Ren could say nothing. He continued to stare in shock. “Don’t worry,” Lilith said as she walked closer to Ren’s face. She put her hand on the right side of his face. “I won’t be your murder just yet. I haven’t been ordered to kill you yet, but I can foresee the order coming soon.” She licked her lips. “I’ll make sure you die by my hands rather than someone like Finite’s.”
“Murder!” Yelled a deep voice from behind her. Ren looked past her to see Dee standing there. “You weren’t supposed to make contact with the boy yet!”
“Oho? Who said?” she asked.
“Finite, of course! He’s the leader after all!”
“You expect me to obey his orders? I’ll do what I see fit concerning Ren.”
“You would go against the Finite’s plan? You must understand that failure of this plan means your dream won’t come true.” This comment seemed to strike a chord within Lilith.
“Hmph,” was all she could say in response to Dee.
“That’s right. Now come on. Let’s get back to the tower.” Lilith agreed and the two began walking away. “Oh, that’s right.” Dee stopped and turned to Ren. “Ren. I still don’t have an order to kill you yet, but I’ll make sure to be your Death. Stay alive until then.” Dee then turned around and continued to walk away with Lilith. Eventually they were gone. Ren was still standing there in shock even after the two had disappeared from his sight. Ren dared not look behind him at the remnants of the men who had been there only a minute ago. They had died in an instant. Once again, people who most likely lived normal lives in the original world were once again dead, and Ren was helpless to do anything against it. Ren began to walk forward, unsteadily. He fell against the wall on his left to support him as he walked. He walked, and continued to walk, until he wandered back out to Sonon Road where he took one more step to get out of the alley and was knocked over as he had stepped out in front of someone who was about to walk past the alley. As he laid there on the ground, he made no effort to get up. He laid there with his back on the concrete as he gazed into the blue sky above. That was until he heard the voice of the person he had run into. By some miracle he had run into Terra.
“Ren!” she called out to him. She had been knocked over as well, when she realized the other person who fell had been Ren and after she saw the look on his face she crawled over to Ren and hung her head over his. “Ren, what the hell happened to you?” Terra’s concerned face was enough to pull Ren back into reality.
“Terra…” he said quietly. “One hell of a lot, that’s what.”
“Come on, let’s get back to base.” she replied. Ren agreed. Terra stood up and grabbed Ren’s hand, pulling him to his feet as well. As the two walked down Sonon Road, Ren remained entranced in his thoughts the entire time. He had been thinking this world might be peaceful? Happy? Those three people may not have been the most pleasant people, but they had still been people. No, there was more to them. Ren recalled what the lizardman had asked Ren: “What if she was a murderer?” Those four… were they aware of her identity? Were they people who gained their powers, knew that this world was fake, and they were attempting to fight the executioners to fight against Tye? Was there something that could’ve been done differently? Could they have just talked it out? The lizardman and his goons going straight to the idea of dueling certainly didn’t help the situation, but was there anything else Ren could’ve done. There was no use in thinking about it now. Ren’s naivety resulted in the deaths of three innocent people.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
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Character File
Executioner M: Murder (Lilith)
Age: ???
Eyes: Crimson red
Hair: Long, crimson red
Height: 5’ 9’’
Clothing: Likes to wear dresses
Information: The executioner with the power to use her individual strands of hair as sharp swords. She also possesses the power to use her hair to heal wounds. The reason she didn’t let Ren die remains a mystery to him…
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“So you met another executioner?” Dr. Tirion’s surprised voice echoed throughout the room. Ren was sitting in Dr. Tirion’s office along with Terra just as he had done the night before.
“Yeah…” Ren trailed off.
Dr. Tirion put his hands on head as he said, “There was yesterday when you survived an encounter with Dee, and now there’s your encounter with another executioner today? Ren, are you some kind of executioner magnet?”
Ren scoffed. “Maybe I am. I am some ‘priority citizen’ after all.”
“Priority citizen?” Dr. Tirion questioned.
“Yeah. Dee called me that yesterday and today. He said he wasn’t allowed to kill me without permission due to my status as a priority citizen. You haven’t encountered any other priority citizens?” Ren looked over to Terra who was seated next to him. “I would’ve guessed that if there had been others then it’d be people who were close to Tye like Terra or Steven. Terra,” he turned to face Terra, “you’re not one of these priority citizens?”
Terra was reminded of her near-death encounter with an executioner. “I--Some--No, I was never told anything about some ‘priority status.’ That’s evident by their attempt to kill me.” Terra looked away from Ren so as to not show the pain the memories brought to her.
“You’re the first person we’ve ever heard of with such a status.” Dr. Tirion said. Ren turned back to look at him. “Perhaps it’s because you were Tye’s best friend. You were the one closest to him after all. That’s the only explanation that seems reasonable, right?” Ren agreed. “Hm. Maybe there’s some way we can use that status against them.”
“Heh, probably not. Dee said that Finite had the ability to overrule my priority citizenship. So if I cause enough problems, Finite won’t hesitate to end me, personally.” Ren said. Dr. Tirion sighed as Ren just threw away a possible hope. Terra turned back to look at Dr. Tirion.
“There’s still hope.” Dr. Tirion looked up at her as Terra said this. “I found out where they took it.” Dr. Tirion shot out of his chair.
“Really! You know where it is?” Dr. Tirion seemed to be incredibly excited. Terra must’ve been talking about what she had gone into the city today to find out about.
“Yes.” Terra replied.
“Magnificent!” Dr. Tirion exclaimed. “Quickly! We need to gather our forces! We must strike tonight before they move it again!” Terra nodded her head and quickly exited the room to do just as Dr. Tirion had said. “Ren. I know you’ve been put through a shocking experience but we need all the fighters we can get, will you be able to join us tonight?” Ren didn’t need to think about his answer at all.
“Of course!” he yelled. Was this world a peaceful one? A happy one? Could it be when such murderers existed? The executioners, the upholders of the so-called justice in this world, why did they murder without any compassion for human life? The three men that Lilith had slaughtered, the multitude of people killed by the executioners when they overthrew the Averaelian nobility, and the rebels of the previous world who had been killed by Finite -- as well as Sal! -- those were the examples Ren had to base his conclusion on. If the world was to be left in the hands of murderers then the only thing left to do was bring them to justice. “They called themselves my death, they called themselves my murder, and they even called themselves my end. If that’s what they are, then I am the beginning! I will become a hero in order to save our world!” Ren proclaimed as he looked at Dr. Tirion fiercely. Dr. Tirion was thrown aback.
“There’s a fire in your eyes, Ren. We’re going to need that kind of motivation tonight.” he smiled. Ren didn’t know what the goal of this operation was but he got the sense that it was important, so important that it could mean the destruction or salvation of Remembrance. He wished he had a little more time to prepare, time that he could use to visit Mana and ask for advice. No, that was something that Ren could do right now.
“Dr. Tirion, I’ll be resting in my room. Wake me up when it’s time to go.” Ren began to walk out of the room.
“Taking a nap at a time like this? I guess it is a good idea to make sure you’re well rested.” If Dr. Tirion was going to continue speaking or not was something Ren didn’t consider, for he had already exited the room. Ren quickly went to his room and laid down for a nap. It only took a few seconds after he closed his eyes. He reopened his eyes to find Mana leaning over him.
“Well that was awfully brash of you. Shouldn’t you have listened to what Dr. Tirion had to say?” Mana questioned. “Maybe you even could’ve helped with whatever kind of preparations they needed.”
“No, there was no time for that. I needed to come here.” Ren began to stand up and Mana moved out of his way.
“Oh? What for?”
“If you were watching over me then that means you heard the same things I heard about the knights and the people of this world. It never came to my mind last night but today burned the question into my mind. How did the people of this world get their powers?” Ren asked this question because of the ever growing number of people he learned actually had powers. There were the rebels who gained powers due to a near-death encounter (Ren knew the rebels most likely gained their powers due to the concept that they realized that powers existed in the world and that changed their perception; thus, Mana’s perception is power statement holds true); then there was the lizardman, someone who had powers yet was not a member of Remembrance (since Ren didn’t know his background the lizardman can be assumed to have gained his power due to the previous method or the next method); and the final way people gained their powers --
“You want to know how people were born with powers?”
“Yeah, that’s what I don’t get. There’s no way for their perception to be changed at such a young age.”
“That’s correct. Their perception has not changed.”
“Then how?” Mana’s expression got more serious as she began to explain.
“If they were born with them and knew how to instinctively use their powers, wouldn’t that mean that there was something in their mind that explained to them how to use their powers? Ren caught on to what Mana was getting at.
“Wait-- you mean that Tye not only implanted false memories into people, but he gave them powers as well?”
“Yes. The reason for that? I haven’t the slightest idea.” Those words shocked Ren. How could a goddess not know? “Think about it. You would think that Tye’s goal would be to prevent anyone from ever having powers so that no one would ever be able to take over, yet people have been given powers regardless. It’s as if his own actions are contradicting himself.”
“Wait, if Tye gave people powers along with their memories, then what does that mean for the members of Remembrance?”
“If you want to know what I think, I don’t think they gained their powers due to a change in perception. I think Tye gave them powers along with their false memories as well. The reason for this conclusion? You heard it today in your conversation with the executioner: the knights are a group of people with powers. The people of the world know this, powers are common knowledge. If people already perceive powers as possible, then there’s no need for a change in perspective is there?”
“But their memories -- why did their memories come back?”
Mana frowned as she had no response. “It makes no sense!” she exclaimed, “I’ve been trying to take it all into account: his motivations, thought processes, behavior, but it’s all incorrigible! It’s as if he has no sanity left to make coherent decisions!” This was the first time Ren saw Mana look so defeated. Mana looked back at Ren and saw his surprised expression and pulled herself back together. “I don’t know. That’s the answer.” The two stood there in silence and averted their eyes from each other. Only when Ren spoke up again with the real reason he had come to Mana’s realm was the silence broken.
“The other reason I came here,” he said quietly, “I think you know about this as well from the conversation I had with Lilith.”
“You mean the hidden meaning behind her speech?”
“Yeah, I don’t think Remembrance can remain hidden for much longer -- no, if you look at what she was implying then I think the executioners already know about the underground hideout.”
“I would agree with that conclusion. I think that was the reason she proposed that question about the rebel’s whereabouts to you in the first place. She knew who you were and that you had made contact with the rebels so she most likely asked you that question to put fear into your heart. Fear that the end is coming.”
“That’s why I think this operation tonight is going to be crucial. Whatever it is that Terra and Dr. Tirion are hunting for we have to ensure that the operation is a success. Otherwise I think Remembrance is done for. That’s why I need your help!” Ren said this to her with the same confidence he had shown to Dr. Tirion. “I need your training in order to become stronger! Otherwise I’ll never be able to beat those executioners!” Mana stared at Ren as he burst with confidence.
“You almost look like a hero right now.”
“A hero?” Ren was confused at how the conversation had gotten here.
“Mhm.” Mana nodded. “A hero. I’ve never actually seen one in my eighteen years since my world has never needed a hero, but I’ve heard stories from Heron, the god who raised me. He told me all kinds of stories about the heroes he’s seen in his world. Valiant heroes who stood up against impossible odds…” Mana’s energetic look turned solemn as she stopped speaking. Ren was curious why she looked so dejected all of a sudden and was about to ask before Mana began to say something else, “Of course, it was I who forced you into this position after all. I forced you to become the hero who must shoulder all the burden all because of my ignorance.” Mana looked truly pained as she said this.
Ren had no idea how she had been ignorant as a goddess nor did he know if he could understand; even so, Ren said, “Mana, I’m sure you’ve done all you could. I don’t blame you for any of this. If I’m the only one who can save the world, then I must. That’s all there is to it.” Mana looked a bit happier after Ren said this.
“Thanks, Ren, but there’s something we need to talk about. You see… heroes must overcome trials in their journeys. Some trials are a walk-in-the-park for some, but others go through experiences so trying that a hero may even take their own life after accomplishing their goal. That’s why you need to realize this journey.... it’s not going to be easy, and it may be hard to accept, but whatever happens you need to promise me that you’ll stay calm and rational, got it?” This was perhaps the most serious look Mana had ever given Ren.
“Right. I promise, Mana, I won’t lose my cool no matter what happens.”
“Really? You won’t? I’m going to be really mad if you do.”
“Of course, of course. Do you really think I’m the type of guy to lose his calm so easily?” As Mana listened to him speak, she questioned to herself whether Ren really understood what Mana was implying may happen.
“All right then. Summon your gear. The training will be extra intense today.”
“Thanks, Mana.” Ren summoned his sword and transformed his uniform into his combat outfit to prepare for battle.
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After Terra had come to wake up Ren to tell him that they were ready for the operation, each and every member of Remembrance had gathered in the large room Ren had seen when he first entered the underground hideout. Dr. Tirion appeared in front of everyone to give orders. All he mentioned was assume “formation A” and report any sign of combat immediately. Terra explained that “formation A” was a long single file line formation. In order to travel through the tunnel created by Dr. Tirion, and bring every soldier with them, they needed to travel in a line in order to fit everyone, but allowing everyone to go through the tunnel was not the only purpose given to the single file line. Once out of the tunnel, the line was to remain in formation. Each person in the line was to be at least five feet from the next person. So long as the line was held, it allowed a two way chain of communication: either to Dr. Tirion’s end of the chain or the opposing end of the chain. While not the most effective strategy, it was the one that fit in the most with their plan. Ren was to be up at the front of the line behind Dr. Tirion and Terra (so third in the line).
The operation began immediately after Dr. Tirion gave his orders. Ren filed into the line behind Terra and Dr. Tirion began using his terraforming ability to create a tunnel in the direction Ren believed to be north. So they were heading back to a building in the district of private institutions? They walked for quite a distance until the person behind Ren told Ren to pass along the message to Dr. Tirion that they had arrived at their destination. Ren passed the message along while questioning how someone could know they had arrived. Perhaps the person standing behind him had been placed there as a sort of GPS coordinate. Perhaps he had some kind of power of location that told him where he was and so Dr. Tirion placed him behind Ren so that the message would arrive to Dr. Tirion that they had arrived at their destination while Dr. Tirion stood directly under the building. Perhaps it was even planned so well that the message hadn’t originated from the person immediately behind Ren, but maybe Dr. Tirion had strategically placed the messenger in a location much farther back in the line so that when the message to stop reached Dr. Tirion he would have already been standing under a very specific spot. Ren thought that possibility was a little too farfetched so he chose to believe the first one.
Dr. Tirion raised his hand to the ceiling above and used his power to create a hole. The ceiling above Dr. Tirion opened and Dr. Tirion then created a ladder out of the wall in front of him so that they could climb out into their destination. Terra followed up the ladder and then Ren did. As Ren emerged from the hole in the ground, he looked around at the room he found himself in. It looked incredibly advanced technology wise. There were large screens on the walls with complicated looking terminals to use them. There were large aquarium-like tanks in the room that were empty, yet still made Ren question just what this building was.
“Let’s move out.” Dr. Tirion said quietly. “Pass the message along to maintain formation. From what it appears this building is empty just like the last one was but we can’t be sure that they didn’t add in security.” Terra agreed and passed the message to Ren who also passed it along. Dr. Tirion then led the chain out of the room and down various hallways after confirming the hallways were empty. He entered room after room after room in his search but couldn’t find whatever he was looking for.
“Where do you think it is?” Terra questioned after she began to question if what they were looking for was truly there or not.
“I don’t know…” Dr. Tirion trailed off as he walked into yet another room. Ren stood there behind Terra and began questioning their situation.
“Why are these facilities always so empty?” Ren asked Terra.
“Work hours for the people here are very forgiving. You won’t find anyone in here after hours.” she replied.
“No, not that. Why no security? You’d think that with something so important hidden inside that they would want to protect it, right? That’s what makes no sense. If we’re so desperate to get some important item and yet it’s unguarded, doesn’t that mean the item must not be valuable enough to protect? Or…” Ren trailed off as he didn’t want to consider the thought, but he was going to have to. The sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the building. Dr. Tirion ran out of the room he was searching.
“What the hell was that?” Dr. Tirion yelled. “Send a message down the ranks, tell me what’s going on!” Ren sent a message to the next soldier asking for them to explain their situation. Surprisingly, they were quickly met with a message: the knights had surrounded the building. “What? We need to retreat back to base --”
“No!” Ren yelled back. “Executioner M already knows about the hideout, we can’t return. Especially not now with all our forces in the field. We need to fight.” Ren looked at Dr. Tirion with determination in his face.
Dr. Tirion didn’t question what Ren said, he simply said, “Pass the message along. Get out of the building and gather into ‘formation D.’” Ren gladly passed the message along. “Let’s go!” Dr. Tirion yelled as took the direct method of escaping the building: he walked in one direction only. What about the walls in his way? He removed the walls from his path by terraforming them out of the way. Dr. Tirion, Terra, Ren, and the line of soldiers behind them continued this way until they were outside the building.
They exited the building to be blinded with spotlights that had been setup on the ground. They had been pointed exactly at the spot they emerged from the building as if the knights foresaw that the rebels would emerge in that exact location. Ren tried to look past the light to see where they were. What he could see directly behind the spotlights on the ground was the central tower of Centiria, and they were close to the midpoint of the inner square too since the central tower was directly behind the spotlights. That meant the staircase leading down to the garden was there, too. Ren could also see that surrounding them was a large force of the knights. They all carried what appeared to be broadswords and wore the same black with red striped uniform. Ren thought their appearance looked similar to the robes one would see on mages in a video game and questioned how knights could fight wearing that. Perhaps that was another one of the contradicting concepts that had leaked into Tye’s world.
As the rebels in the line behind them caught up, the size of the rebel force standing at the exit of the building seemed to be a size comparable to that of the knights’ force in front of them. That meant the rebels of Remembrance were at even odds with the knights. A fight of abilities versus abilites. Ren thought about the blood that would be spilled by this fight. Numerous people would probably die on both sides. Souls from the original world would be lost forever. Ren hated that thought. He swore that he would ensure to not kill a single one of the people standing before him. He summoned his gear and took his stance, just as all of the rebels took their stances and the knights as well. Neither side moved. Neither side said anything. All they did was wait for the other to make the first move, and who was it? Who made the move? It had been none other than Dr. Tirion.
Dr. Tirion raised his hand into the air and then sent it down in front of him to signal a charge to his troops: “CHARGE!” he yelled with all of his strength. The members of Remembrance let out a roar as they charged forward. The knights did the same as they began to charge in to fight the rebels. The two forces clashed swords, with Ren at the front lines. The first opponent he met was a man with spiky black hair. The way his eyes shone with resentment only reinforced Ren’s motivation to fight back. The man in front of him was fighting not out of loyalty or respect for Tye, but because he was brainwashed to believe so. That thought gave Ren all the strength he needed to win. As the two locked swords, Ren kicked the man in the stomach causing the man to fall to his hands gasping for air. Ren finished him by knocking him out with the hilt of his sword. Then came the next opponent. A man with blond hair came running at Ren from the left. Ren dodged the man’s initial horizontal strike by ducking, then uppercutting the man in the chin, giving him a suckerpunch to the gut, then grabbing the man’s head and connecting it with his right knee. The blond man was down for the count. Then Ren saw one of the knights cut down one of the rebels in front of him. The rebel yelled in pain as he fell to the ground, bleeding out quickly. Ren grimaced at the sight. The knight then caught sight of Ren and walked towards him. This knight was a girl with black hair who had tied her hair into a bun. Ren took his stance as she continued to approach. The girl never stopped walking forward. As she got within striking range she thrusted her sword straight towards Ren’s chest. Ren deflected the sword but was quickly met with the same attack. It was as if the girl were attempting to fence with a broadsword. Being able to attack like that with such a heavy sword was commendable, especially because she remained so agile. Ren feared what this fight would’ve been like if the girl had a rapier instead of a broadsword. As the girl thrust her sword towards Ren again, Ren cast waterburst to blur her vision just as he had done to the lizardman earlier in the day. He did this as he was in the middle of tilting his body out of the way to dodge the attack while also getting closer to his opponent. He grabbed the girl’s right wrist with his left hand to prevent her arms from moving and sent a strike to her abdomen with the hilt of his sword in his right. The girl then fell over and passed out from a lack of oxygen.
As Ren defeated his third enemy, he realized that there was someone who he needed to protect. He looked around the mass of fighting people and scanned for Terra. He found her striking down an opponent. As her opponent fell to the ground, Terra looked up and saw Ren staring at her amidst the fighting. She smiled at him, and Ren questioned whether or not he should smile back. Ren hadn’t thought Terra was that great with the sword but he just witnessed her striking down an opponent. Perhaps that was due to the amount of time she had spent in this world as a rebel. Ren didn’t know if that was something to smile about; nonetheless, if it was Terra who was smiling at him he couldn’t help but smile back.
That was until Ren saw the figure emerge from behind her. As the sword pierced through Terra’s heart -- just like it had done to the commander in the previous world -- Ren’s face became filled with horror. Terra was lifted into the air, impaled by the sword. The fighting stopped and everyone, knight and rebel, turned to see what was going on. Ren reached out his hand towards Terra as tears began to fill his eyes. Terra had managed to tilt her head up towards Ren. She was alive! She stretched her hand out to Ren. Ren smiled due to a delirious false hope as he stretched his arm out further, but his world was obliterated by the sight that followed -- an extra step occurred that had not happened to the commander in the previous world. In the previous world, the commander’s body had been thrown aside, but not Terra. Instead, Ren watched as Terra’s body exploded into a storm of blood. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s as if Terra became blood and exploded, raining blood as if there was a thunderstorm.
Ren fell to his knees, wide-eyed, spirit broken. That’s when he stepped forward towards Ren, it was Finite. Ren raised his head to see the red eyes, the eyes that signaled the end, staring down at him. Four other figures appeared behind him, two of whom Ren had met: Dee and Lilith. The other two were --
“It was you?” Ren heard Dr. Tirion question. “You were an executioner this entire time?” One of the two figures standing behind Finite that Ren didn’t recognize stepped forward. He began laughing a crazed laugh.
“Ha ha ha! Yes! It was I! Really, I can’t believe you were so gullible! I really was the most suspicious person you could have ever let join and you did anyways! HA! Imagine! You accidentally took in your own enemy as an ally! You let your soldiers die due to false information! You’re a terrible leader!” That was the statement that broke Dr. Tirion.
“I--I failed?” Dr. Tirion became lost in thought, only for a second, but that was enough... the executioner appeared in front of Dr. Tirion and sent his arm through his chest. There was no reaction from Dr. Tirion, not even a grunt from pain, only the regurgitation of blood that came with one’s chest having been decimated.
“That’s right. You failed. You let an Illness into your ranks and eventually succumbed to it. Yes, to me...” Illness dropped Dr. Tirion’s motionless body to the ground as he shifted his attention to Ren. “Hear that Ren! I’m Executioner I, Illness! Apparently we need to introduce ourselves to you, so here I am! What do you think?” Ren looked over at Dr. Tirion’s body. Could he have even done anything to save him? He couldn’t even save Terra…
“And for the last one…” Finite turned to the last figure that Ren had not seen before. “Go on. Introduce yourself.” Ren looked up at the final figure, the final executioner. The executioner looked much different than the rest. There was Death, the lizardman; Murder, the girl with crimson red hair and eyes; Illness, the deranged looking man with black hair dressed in a black cloak; then there was this executioner --
“I am Executioner S. I will be -- your slumber.” was all the executioner said. Slumber was a knight, not meaning one of Tye’s knights, but a true knight. Adorned in black armor with red stripes, Slumber appeared to be what one would actually think of when they think about a knight. Slumber’s broadsword was stuck in the ground in front of him (Him? Her? There was no way of telling who was under the armor, not even the voice made it apparent.), it was the same color scheme as Slumber’s armor. The way Slumber looked with both hands resting on top of the sword’s hilt and his tall, collected posture made him seem very intimidating.
“And with that, we’ve all been introduced! -- so can I kill him now?” Illness said this as if he were a kid anticipating that he was about to get a chocolate bar.
“No. Follow the plan.” was all Finite said. Illness’s smile faded as he retreated behind Finite. Finite then looked down at Ren whose face still appeared broken as he sat there on the ground. “There you have it. We -- are Tye’s executioners! -- and we shall be your DMISE!” Finite declared this to Ren by exclaiming it, throwing his hands up into the air, and forever burning the words into Ren’s memory. As his hands fell down slowly, as he gazed at Ren, he said, “No reaction?” He continued to stare at Ren, but Ren could do nothing but sit there, lost. “Tsk! I have no patience for this! Come on, let us return to the tower!” Finite began to walk away, the other executioners began to follow, except for Illness.
“Eh? Can’t I just kill him now?” Illness questioned.
“Kill him, and I’ll kill you.” Slumber answered.
“Wha?!” Illness exclaimed this as if he were truly shocked at Slumber’s words. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell me who I can and can’t kill!”
“Killing him means to ignore the plan,” Slumber stopped in his tracks, “and to ignore the plan means to go against Tye. That would make you an enemy to us executioners, wouldn’t it?” Slumber’s head tilted back to glare at Illness as this was said. Illness begrudgingly agreed and began following the executioners back towards the tower. At the top of the staircase, Finite turned around to look at the troops who had stopped fighting due to the appearance of the executioners.
“What are you waiting for? Kill each other!” Finite exclaimed. “But not the priority citizen sitting there on the ground! -- the sorry-looking one who couldn’t do anything to save the girl he liked!” Ren twitched after hearing this. “Anyone who kills him will be killed by me, so avoid doing anything of the sort!” The knights turned and looked at each other, unsure of what they had just seen. What had the executioners shown up to do? Weren’t they supposed to help fight the rebels? The knights then turned back to the rebels who no longer had a leader. Both sides once again took up their arms and began to fight as the executioners disappeared from sight as they walked down the staircase to the central tower.
Ren remained there on the ground as the two sides fought each other. Blood on his right, blood on his left, innocent people were dying for reason -- and for two of them to have been people he knew -- and for one of them to be someone he felt a strong attraction to… could he just sit there? The only thing that Ren could think of… was killing Finite!
Ren began to stand up. The knights who had been fighting rebels close to Ren saw that he had begun to move and moved further away from Ren (since they didn’t want to accidentally anger Finite by accidentally hurting a “priority citizen”). Once Ren was on his feet he began to slowly walk towards the staircase, to the tower. The knights who had been in his way cleared a path for Ren because they were unsure how to treat him. Ren grimaced as he continued to walk. What the hell is this world? -- was the question he asked himself as he trudged along across the road to the staircase -- it was a world created by the person he considered to be his best friend, but the world was paradoxical. A world of brightness for the people living in it, yet it was a brightness only to those whose mind’s had been filled with lies -- false memories -- while the others struggled to take back their world, a meaningless fight. The rebels of this world were attempting to fight monsters that were stronger than they could ever imagine, the executioners: Death, Murder, Illness, Slumber, the End; they formed a division of killers called DMISE of whom no human stood a chance of defeating… and then there was the false god who ruled over them. Even if the executioners were beatable, the rebels never would’ve been able to beat Tye. Without understanding willpower, Tye could just wipe them from existence if he chose to. That was one of the principles of willpower that Mana had explained to Ren: overall willpower. Without knowing how to use willpower, one will not have the change in perception needed to expand their overall willpower to a level in which Tye cannot overrule. That was one of the inherent laws of the world, one that even Tye nor Mana could alter. That’s why Ren had been naive. There was never a hope that the rebels could overcome the executioners let alone Tye. This was something that Ren should’ve realized from the start; the consequence was losing one of the people dearest to him and losing many other innocent lives. It was all Tye’s fault. He created this world against the will of others, people attempted to fight back, but he forced his ideals upon them and eradicated them.
Ren had reached the bottom of the staircase and was now standing on the level of the central flower garden. Ren gazed down at the flowers that aligned the path to the tower. Red, yellow, green, azur, violet, teal, scarlet, and many more vibrant colors; they were truly beautiful… yet they made no sense! Why was there beauty in a world such as this! How could the creator of a world such as this create such a world with such beauty yet allows for such brutal conflict! This world is a contradiction, a paradox! Ren continued down the path towards the tower. There was no door at the base of the tower, not on the north side at least. Ren circled around the tower until he found the door. The door was on the south side, and it was the only door that led into the tower. Ren opened the door and walked inside to see a very peculiarly laid out room.
The entranceway was a small ledge, only a few feet until a large drop into a black abyss, with a bridge leading to a central, circular platform that hung over the black abyss. On the other side of the platform was another bridge leading to the opposite side of the room where there was a staircase. The only problem was that there was an obstacle impeding Ren’s path. Ren walked across the first bridge and stepped onto the circular arena to greet the obstacle. Slumber stood there with his hands on the hilt of his sword as it stood there vertically on the ground.
“Where’s Finite?” Ren questioned in a strained voice filled with rage.