Chapter Fourteenth:The Rebirth of the Fallen
Flion saw his little brother being taken away.
He panicked.
He wanted to speak, but his body did not listen; he could not walk yet.
Flion started to crawl through the ash before he could walk or even stand.
His palms scraped against the dirt and ash and the stone beneath it; pain flowed through his body through his fingers, sharp enough to force a scream out of his throat.
Yet all he could think of was his little brother, his face being taken away; he pushed himself to the edge, knees starting to heal and then breaking again, his skin tearing as he pushed through the stone path with the hot ash.
The world spun, yet his mind couldn't adapt to it now.
Smoke burned his lungs; every breath tried to choke him to death.
Then he saw him, his little brother lying on the ground.
Unconscious,broken he saw the shadow's face.
It was Duke Veridian himself in the flesh.
For a second, just a second, Flion's heart surged with relief.
It's Him.
But that relief did not last long.
Diablos Veridian
The greatest duke of the empire. The man everyone looked up to, the man Flion had idolized since he learned how to walk—the symbol of strength, justice, and order.
Why was he here?
Flion staggered, bumping into the rocks as he limped; he tripped again and again, his shoulder slamming into a stone covered in ash, knocking the breathtaking breath from his lungs. He bit his lips hard in pain. His visions blurred with tears—not from physical pain but from the pain of his brother being taken away.
He watched as Diable looked down at Marcus.
"I'm sorry, Marcus, as I told you, this is the least I can do."
Truth pressed harder on Flion; his mind screamed for the meaning of the words he spoke, his mind asked.
"Sorry? Why is he saying sorry?"
If he is sorry, then he knows.
Diable started to walk away with Marcus again.
"Marcus"
Flion Gaspe d.
Flion reached out his arms for Marcus; he wanted to reach him, but then.
"Didn't I always think that if I didn't have a family, I would follow my dreams and live without any care in the world? The duke is a great man; I'm sure he didn't order our destruction."
If he shouted, he would have his freedom, his dreams taken away.
If he didn't...Marcus would be gone.
His chest tightened; he wanted to make a choice, but his soul wanted both.
A thought crossed his mind.
"Can I really abandon him? Have I cared for others long enough now?"
Memories started to flood his mind with the memories of Marcus laughing, giggling over his brother's bad jokes, hugging him when his mother scolded him, and when he hugged Flion tightly during storms.
Aurelius trusted him with his brother.
Or did he?
When Flion's mind manufactured an excuse to scream, it also found a reason to stay silent.
Am I selfish?
His head screamed the same sentence again and again.
My brother lost everything, and now...he has just me, and I am abandoning him?
No, I lost everything too. I cared for everyone my whole life. Can I just once...just once live for myself?
His mind didn't answer; it just questioned.
Because these types of choices are left to the heart by the mind.
His body trembled against the pressure of two choices.
"All my life..." Flion whispered, "...I gave everything...just this once I want to live for myself."
And then Flion won in the fight against himself.
He started towards Diable; his bones screamed in pain as he took every step.
And that pain ended quickly.
Flion felt a blow on his head, and the last face he saw was of...his idol, Diable Veridian.
Darkness.
Not the kind Marcus experienced beforehand.
It was new,it didn't bind affect the eyes it swallowed the heart whole.
And Marcus was no exception.
There was no pain.
No sound
Just emptiness.
The kind that remains after a change.
Marcus was floating in an endless void where he seemed to deny himself.
But something pulled him out.
A pulse, the desire to survive.
Then the pulse continued.
And with it came the price of survival, pain.
It spread slowly across his body, reminding him he survived.
His eyes opened—slowly.
Blinding light passed through his pupil to the retina.
And then he saw.
A ceiling, white, royal, unfamiliar.
Marcus blinked once, then twice, and so on.
The scent reached him next.
Not ash, not the blood from before.
He returned his head slightly and froze.
Something, someone was sitting beside him.
Silently.
Duke Diable Veridian
Marcus's body reacted on natural impulse.
His muscles tightened, and his breathing became uneven.
And memories rushed back.
Fire, scent of blood.
Grandfather---
"..."
His lips parted, but no words came out.
Diable spoke first.
His voice calm, his kind collected.
"You're awake."
Marcus stared at him.
His eyes trembled.
Searching.
Demanding.
"...what...is happening...?"
His voice was broken.
Barely able to reach Diable's ears.
Diable looked at Marcus.
Carefully, patiently.
Then he spoke.
"The imperial family issued an order...the rest you can guess."
Marcus's breath stopped; he knew what happened, but he denied everything before, but now...
He asked one more question.
"Didn't my grandfather try something? Did he save anyone?"
Diable heard his question and then looked at him.
And so did Marcus realize he did save someone.
Diable spoke again.
"Your grandfather, he was a great knight; he fought till the end."
He paused...and continued.
"But the imperial squad hasn't failed a mission, and the record still stands after yesterday."
Marcus's world didn't explode; it disappeared.
But a fire still burned in the void; it wasn't there before; it was born out of nothingness.
The desire for revenge was the fire's name.
Marcus looked at Diable with hatred behind his eyes.
He spoke directly to the devil.
"You know what I want now, but I don't know what you want from me."
Diable made eye contact and prepared his words.
"I want you to help Valen overthrow the empire; give him your power, and I will offer you my protection, my family's name until…"
Diable stopped.
Marcus grew inpatient and asked
"Until what?"
Diable replied.
"Until you enter the Imperial Academy,then even the Emperor can't attack or harm you unless you have betrayed the empire before."
Marcus was confused.
"Why? What is in the imperial academy that stops the empire?"
Diable once again gives Marcus an answer.
"The unknown emperor."
Marcus was shocked; he gritted his teeth.
"Even in death he can hold back the strongest empire."
Diable placed his hand on Marcus and started to channel his willpower energy onto Marcus.
Marcus's bronze-colored strands began to fall off; his face began to sharpen.
He began to look less like him.
And then Diable announced
"From now on you are...Faux Veridian."
End of Chapter Fourteenth