In the river of white roses, one man stood at its center if it ever had one. He walked and walked, till he would reach an end. As he moved forward, he watched a body of a dead woman flow by with pus ridden pores and light brown hair hanging on for life, but he didn't stop, later another body came, this time of a young woman, he walked past. He struggled forward, soon coming upon a body of a child, it looked no older than a 15 years old boy.
The man looked down at the dead body of the boy and said with an emotionless tone."It's only a matter of time…"
He let out a satisfied sigh followed with a smile.
Memor woke up in his bed without sweat nor gasping for air, he couldn't remember when he last had a good night's sleep, but he wasn't going to complain, it was a pleasant surprise. An even bigger surprise was that he didn't have a nightmare.
The execution is today, huh? I wonder who it'll be this time. Memor rose from his bed and did his usual routine of eating a Bayel flower then, clearing his brain fog with a splash of water.
It was two days after the parade, the merchants from Cafoori Village had already gone. As Memor walked towards the village square, he had just realized how desolate the streets were, it was unusual.
During previous executions, there were at least a couple of kids frolicking on the roads.
Maybe it's because of the Skruck attack, and them blaming it on the Willarians. Memor sighed and kept moving towards the village square.
The village square was a fest, Memor saw the whole village of people congregated in the area, farmers, hunters, shopkeepers, guards, children, all sorts of people had gathered at the square, waiting for the day's victim to arrive.
From the back of the horde, Memor could see the guillotine. He slithered through the crowd, in truth he could have stayed at the perimeter, but he had the idea in his head to get closer, to get the full view of the execution, even though his emotions beyond the seal felt otherwise.
Making his way to the front of the mob of people, Memor was stopped by a guardrail of soldiers, it was alright though, as the desire to move forward was gone.
You really want me to see this, huh? Memor took in his surroundings waiting for Uncle Ceres's voice to echo in his head, but it never came.
At the edge of his vision, he spotted a familiar looking individual standing guard, creating a distance between the people and the scaffolding. It was Calypso, she wore black loose clothes like the other guards and a scabbard of a jian hung at her waist.
Her face looked detached, as if she wasn't there to stop the hordes of people from charging at the criminals that's to come, but was staring into a void so boring, she couldn't look away.
Elena's death really did a number on her, huh? Memor maneuvered his way past the pack till he faced Calypso, though she didn't notice him.
Bringing his hand in front of Calypso's face, he snapped his fingers and said."Do me and Luni need to pull a prank on you?"
Grasping a sense of attentiveness, Calypso let out a soft smile, though her eyes still held the gaze of a lamenting woman."You know I'm going to kill you if you ever do that."
Memor chortled then said."Alright alright, I wouldn't dare anger you. When is this charade starting?"
"I thought you would love this kind of thing like the rest of the people here."Calypso commented.
"I only have a mere curiosity." Memor said, then his expression became serious."What happened with Natalie?"
Calypso's eyes became distant as she said hesitantly."She…Iro adopted her."
I didn't expect that…Well, he is a father, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Memor nodded slightly and looked up at the stage.
In a few moments Councilor Vicktor walked up the scaffolding, followed behind were three criminals each bound by aqua colored shackles, Etherium. Two of the prisoners were olive skinned, one with a scared eye while the last was a lady with light skin.
Wait, is that Iro? Memor gleamed closer, he was right, one of the people escorting the prisoners onto the elevation was Iro.
The prisoners were pushed to their knees facing the crowd, who hurled not only rocks, but insults at them.
Councilor Vicktor raised his hand, gesturing for the people to stop, in which they did as the aura Councilor Vicktor emanated was unsettling.
"People of Sal Village,"Councilor Vicktor said."We come here today to mourn and execute those who have caused our suffering…"
As Councilor Vicktor continued speaking, Memor turned his head towards Calypso who had spun around to get a full view of the execution.
Tapping her shoulder, Memor asked."Hey, why is Iro up there?"
"Aren't I here as well?"Calypso asked, confused, the morose still present in her eyes.
"I don't see you up there? Would you volunteer to escort the prisoners?" Memor questioned.
Memor heard a faint chortle from her and then Calypso said."Iro does it because his wife was killed by them…She was a hunter, Iro always talked about her to the Salvos, I hadn't joined the group then. Her name was Sherly, she had red hair and skin as white as salt, just like yours. During that time I had seen her from time to time strolling around the village. I would have believed it if they said she was a nymph of sorts…" Calypso let out a soft chuckle.
"...an eternal blooming rose they called her." Calypso paused.
I guess she wasn't so eternal, huh? Memor would have scoffed if Calypso's temperance wasn't off.
"Iro and Sherly, went on a mission together as protection for a group of travellers, but then they were ambushed. The Willarians attacked, Sherly was taken and…" Calypso didn't continue.
The people of Will really didn't rest after the war, huh? Memor didn't push for more answers as he knew how the rest went, through the separation he had with his emotions, he knew he would have felt a sense of pity for the sob story. With the fact that now Iro had to take care of not only Alara but Natalie, it's quite hard not to feel bad for them.
How unfortunate. Memor stared at the bold Iro emotionlessly, the sun beams flashed Memor's eyes off Iro's head.
"...these slavetraders from Will shall be persecuted for their crimes. For justice!" Vicktor said.
The crowd was riled up by his speech as they began to throw insults and stones at the criminals again.
The prisoner with a scar on his eye was dragged on the guillotine, his head meters away from the blade.
In the next moment, the blade dropped, cleaving through the criminal's neck. As the head rolled across the platform, the crowd screamed in satisfaction.
The next prisoner was put on the guillotine, it was the light skinned woman, when her head glided across the platform the horde of men woman and children screamed louder, then the next prisoner, the mob of people, turned into creatures of insane screams.
Memor watched the scene unfold, unreactive. He knew the reason as to why Uncle Ceres had forced him to attend this execution. It was a warning, and reminder, that if Spyro were to ever find out what Memor was hiding, it would be his head on the stake.
What a great day to be half Will. Memor thought sarcastically, as he granted the performance slow claps.