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Fortunately, the people Chloe had been after had hidden, so Kyran didn’t have to see her murder someone with his own eyes, but he could still sense their blood all over her blade, and it bothered him so much that he felt faint.
He wasn’t one to feel much. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he was human. As a matter of fact, when he was really little, he felt a lot. It was like he was a sponge and the world was his teacher, as if he had been chosen to be one of life’s historians or storytellers. He consumed it all. The beauty, the colors, the concepts, the landscapes before him.
But very quickly, he discovered that beauty and peace were fairytales. He didn’t live in the lands of his books. He resided in something else entirely. And for some reason, that pissed him off. It was as if the adults in his life had lied to him, preparing him for a life that he couldn’t possibly live.
If everything was supposed to be so wonderful, then why didn’t the adults act like it? Why did they kill each other so easily? Why did they put on a mask in front of the children, but at night, when Kyran would sneak and watch—they turned into the monsters or bad guys that plagued his stories?
At first he thought they were villains, and that he was the spawn of evil.
But then he saw that all adults were that way. Even the few that seemed good—he treated with a healthy dose of skepticism and doubt. With each passing year, he purged himself of their lies.
He burned their books.
He ignored their teachings.
He embraced what he saw, and not what they told him.
Because that was truth.
What he saw with his own two eyes was truth. It was undeniable. It was plain. It just was.
And when he met Chloe, he was just as skeptical. Over time though, he realized that beauty had been preserved, and that the stories of his childhood had become embodied in the vibrant eyes of his blonde haired girl with the silver streaks. Over time he saw that she was the beacon of hope that he thought didn’t exist. In a sense, she became his all.
His dreams. His religion. His hope.
Everything that he could not quantify in numbers or explain in detail, he chalked it up to being possessed by her. She was powerful and yet sweet. She was beautiful yet scary. He did not understand her, and yet, no one else made him feel more alive. She, and she alone, had restored his faith in humanity, and slowly but surely, he began to adopt her principles.
Silently of course, but adopted them all the same. He began to trust others. He began to care for others besides her, and he began to feel...actual feelings.
He never considered that there was darkness inside of her, or that she kept her most obscure thoughts a secret. He never asked because he truly thought they weren’t there. But now...now he wasn’t so sure.
The question blared through his mind: how was she able to be controlled?
When he saw Bastion being taken over earlier, not once did he think that Chloe would actually succumb to the same fate. Yes, he knew that she had been touched by Gideon. But Bastion was known for his loss of control. He had a dark side like the rest of them. But Chloe? No. Surely she was just fighting off the sensation itself like a cold. It wouldn’t actually take hold.
But the blood on her sword told him a different story.
And he saw the truth now.
She was human like the rest of them.
And that scared him...it scared him so much.
For if he didn’t have Chloe, what did he have?
“Chloe?” Kyran whispered, and she turned to face him with her twin pools of black. Kyran winced at the sight. He felt like throwing up. It was a strange sensation. To face his opponent and feel so helpless.
“You’ve got to stop this,” he said, wondering if Arimus was in position. “This isn’t you.”
Chloe didn’t reply. She took a step toward him and that’s when an invisible chain wrapped around her neck and pulled her back. She fell onto her butt but Kyran didn’t move to help her. He glanced up at the roof above her and saw Arimus manipulating the winds like a puppet master. Chloe growled and fought the restraint. She did manage to turn her attention toward Arimus, however. As he kept her at bay the best he could with the wind, she put her forearm in front of her and slowly walked forward.
Kyran sighed and unsheathed his dagger.
For a second, he thought of killing her. It was an unbelievable feeling. He could stick to the plan and knock her out, but would their marriage be able to survive the fallout after she woke up? Was it better to take her down now and remember her as she was? Or allow her to live and let the good times become tainted?
“I can’t hold her much longer!” Arimus shouted as she broke free of the wind. She ran toward the wall to climb up it when Kyran sped forward. He sheathed his dagger quickly and then wrapped his arm around her throat, squeezing as hard as he could. She spun around and slammed him into the wall behind her. He didn’t let go. Chloe raised her longsword and tried to aim at him, but he kept swaying out of the way. She grunted and stabbed herself, trying to reach him too, but he leapt up and kept his feet up on her shoulders.
Now that he had her, there was no way she was going to get him.
She knew what he did for a profession, but she didn’t know the particulars. He was good at what he did. Too good. She would have to cut herself down to shreds just to nick him.
Chloe fell to her knees and gasped one last time as Kyran released a bit of the pressure. He didn’t want to kill her, at least not now. He was too weak.
Though the sun may have lost some of its luster, it still shined quite brightly to him.
Kyran let her down gently onto the pavement, letting her sleep. He stood to his feet as Arimus jumped down beside him. Arimus stretched his windmill eidolon toward Chloe and examined her. Kyran noticed that even while sleeping, she still had enough energy surging through her to continue manifesting her Sage robes.
“Is she still under his influence?” Kyran asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Arimus huffed. “I don’t sense anything strange anyways.”
“Good.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I don’t know,” Kyran said honestly. “I’m...I’m wondering how this was possible. That Chloe could fall under his influence.”
“We don’t know what Gideon is using to control her. It could be something as simple as swapping out her consciousness for his own. We have no idea what the extent of his powers are.”
“That’s true,” Kyran said with a noticeable perk in his voice. Arimus was glad to hear it, for he didn’t want to speak on the more probable cause—that Chloe was human like the rest of them.
“What now?” Arimus asked as he sensed someone behind them. He and Kyran turned around at the same time to see Gideon, crouched low and creeping forward. Once they noticed him, he stood up straight.
“I should have known you two would be on alert,” he said. “Especially after what you just went through.”
“You,” Kyran growled, striding forward with his green trench coat billowing behind him.
“I wouldn’t,” Gideon said. “Not yet.” He pointed to Chloe lying on the stone pavement. Kyran stopped in his tracks.
“You’re not in control of her anymore.”
“You don’t know that,” he said. “Just listen for a moment, and I promise you will have your shot at me.”
“No,” Kyran said. He took one step forward but then he was knocked off his feet by Gideon’s whip which had swept under his legs and left nasty cuts in his flesh. Arimus followed the whip as it returned back to its sword form, right into Gideon’s hand.
“Are you done playing around?” Arimus asked.
“I am,” Gideon said. “Now that the Cimmerians have done their part, I can begin the massacre. Any ounce of respect this community had for you is now gone. And so, I can kill you without repercussion.”
“I hope you’re ready to lead,” Arimus said. “I hope you’re ready to defend your cause when someone else rises against you and questions all that you have done.”
“That won’t happen, because I’ll actually listen to them and what they have to say. If someone does rise against me, it will be after a great deal of discussion. What is it that they say? The key to any relationship is communication?”
“There’s no reason for us to fight like this. We can still work together.”
“I have no desire to, and I know James and the others are coming.”
“We don’t need him,” Kyran said, going invisible.
Gideon closed his eyes and sighed. “This day will be remembered for centuries to come. Out with the old, and in with the new.”
“We’ll see,” Arimus said, sticking both hands, with palms forward, out in front of him. He twitched his index fingers and Gideon was thrown off of his feet. Gideon somersaulted in mid-air and was about to land on his feet when Arimus picked him up again, trying to throw him off balance. The whole time, Gideon’s eyes darted back and forth. Arimus was sure he was trying to keep track of Kyran, who was no doubt waiting for the killing strike.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Gideon said as he began calling forth armor from the atmosphere around him. Once it covered his torso and legs, he was so heavy that even the wind couldn’t keep him aloft. If Arimus had more energy, he might have been able to, but he was already weak from their fight with Chloe.
“This is more than a battle,” Gideon said as he charged Arimus. Kyran attempted to strike at his head, but Gideon swung his hand to the side and smacked him across the chin. Kyran went flying behind him as the Sage kept running toward Arimus.
Arimus summoned his windmill eidolon, but he knew it wouldn’t be strong enough to cut through his defenses. Still, he had to try.
Arimus swung at him as he closed the gap but a chunk of his windmill came off instead. Gideon punched the elder Sage in the face, so hard that Arimus fell onto his back and didn’t respond. He was still conscious, but the blow had hurt enough to keep him down.
“Disappointing,” Gideon said as he reached down and picked him up by his robe. He punched Arimus in the stomach and the elder Sage slumped over his shoulder. Gideon threw him to the side in disgust.
“You can’t go through with it,” James said from behind him. Gideon turned around and faced him. Lily stood at his side, glancing down the street to make sure there weren’t any pedestrians.
“What are you talking about?”
“You could have killed Arimus and Kyran. We wouldn’t have made it here in time. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.”
“I’ve killed plenty of people in the name of my cause.”
“Yeah. They were just that though. People. People you didn’t know. They might as well have been nameless and faceless. There was no emotion involved in the decision. But now? Now you’re trying to strike down the very people that made you what you are. And deep down, I think you know that we’re not evil. We’re certainly not perfect, but we’re not evil. And neither are you.”
“I’ll do whatever needs to be done.”
“Then why stop at the Delilah leaders? There couldn’t have been many, as the Delilah pride themselves on governing each other. They hold each other accountable so there’s little need for a superior. And the few Sages you did kill, I’m sure it was out of necessity. Maybe they knew what you planned to do. Maybe it was self-defense. Either way, you’re no more of a killer than I am.”
“But you are a killer,” Gideon declared. “We all know this.”
“I’m only a killer if I take pleasure in the act, and if I do it when it’s not necessary. I understand that I’m a soldier and so for the greater good, horrible calls must be made, but I only do it when it’s a last resort. I don’t seek out trouble. I don’t try to take a life.”
“And so what are you really saying? That I should cease my mission? That we should go into the public square like Prattlians and debate who is right and wrong?”
“We’re only right or wrong when we affect lives other than our own,” James said, bowing his head a little. “Yeah...I think that’s it.” He raised his eyes and stared directly into Gideon’s eyes. “You live your life on your own terms. You do the best you can, but if it starts affecting people on a grand scale, that’s when you’ve messed up. When you start pushing your beliefs on others...that’s when you’ve become a bully. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Gideon scoffed. “Apologizing?”
“Because I should have listened to you and the other Sage cadets more. I get why you’re mad. My job was to train you, but I neglected that in favor of my own personal life—a life I no longer have. I was wrong to neglect you. And I’m going to try to make that right. But you’re wrong now too. Killing people. Unleashing Chloe and Bastion on others. Forcing some to follow you. That’s wrong. That’s when you start blurring the line between hero and villain.”
“No one knows who the heroes and villains are,” Gideon replied. “Not until the battle has long been over. History will tell the tale of our respective legacies, not us. I want you to think deeply about this. Say I give up now. What happens? I go to prison. I answer for what I’ve done. It doesn’t matter who sees my side or not. I will be branded a criminal. And all I’ve done will be for nothing. In the meantime, the rest of you are free to indoctrinate others and turn them into the very thing I hated about myself: A Sage without purpose.”
“It doesn’t look like I’m going to change your mind, am I?”
“No,” Gideon said adamantly. “I will see this to the end. Because really, my reluctance to take your lives is all that is holding me back. Even now I stand at the cusp, looking over the edge and seeing the valley of promise before me. All I have to do is cast away my doubts and jump.”
“Not everyone survives the fall,” James said.
“No, but we will see, won’t we? I must fight without restraint to take your lives, but you...you must hold back. Because the Sages under me are waiting for the outcome of this battle. They are waiting to see whose ideals are superior, and what age they will have to live through: an age of liberty, or an age of oppression.
“You can’t kill me,” Gideon snickered. “Because I will be a martyr, but I can certainly kill you. This will be quite difficult.”
“We’ve been through worse,” James muttered.
“Then let us see how this turns out,” he said, turning to look back at Chloe. For a second his eyes turned black, and then they returned back to their normal red color. “Your Chloe has been restored. She is no longer under my control.”
“Why would you do that?” Kyran asked, shimmering out of view. He had been by her side.
“Because,” Gideon said. “I want you all at your best. In order to kill you, I must be in danger. Though my odds of winning decrease by a minuscule amount, in the end it will help me take that leap toward becoming the man I must be. However, in the midst of battle, don’t think I won’t try to control all of you. I would be wary.”
“He’s trying to make us nervous,” James whispered to Lily. “Don’t pay any attention.”
“I don’t even know if he can control me,” she said. “Since my makeup is a bit different.”
“Give it your all but don’t get reckless.”
“I hope you’re done strategizing,” Gideon said. “Because it may have been the last words you’ll ever say to each other.”
