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“Fredrick, you can go first,” the moderator replied after looking one by one at James and the other three competitors. Fredrick, a large burly man with a beard almost as impressive as Arimus’, cleared his throat, stood up from his seat and then slammed his hands against the fragile table at his waist. It creaked and whined under the impact of his mighty hands.
“We should go back to Terra,” he replied, bringing on a host of chuckles, gasps and murmurs. Fredrick slammed his hand on the table again, silencing the room. “I’m not joking,” he replied. “Listen, I’ve been keeping my cool for most of these debates so that I would make the cut to the finals, but now I have to reveal all. I have to put some sense into your heads. We must go to Terra. It is the birthplace of the Sages. Paragon hates us. And most of all, we would be able to form a coalition of our own, without an overseer or a ruler to tell us how to conduct our business. That is how the Sage Academy was in its infancy.”
“May I?” Harry asked, raising his hand in the air. The moderator nodded as Fredrick sat down in his seat, armor and all. The crowd hushed as they waited for the chair to crumple under his weight. Their wait would continue.
“What Fredrick fails to remember is that the Sage Academy was continued by Thorn a long time ago for his own purposes. Not to mention that the Sages in charge weren’t as noble as the stories portrayed them to be. We only have to think about Lakrymos and Orchid, and Fredrick’s argument falls apart.”
“Not necessarily,” Fredrick interjected, jumping to his feet. “Okay, the Sage Academy was born out of questionable means, but it doesn’t take away from all of the good it accomplished. Without it, Catherine and the other Sages would not have been reborn. They would have never gone on the journey of the five stones and eliminated Thorn and the ether.”
“It’s common knowledge that they were being pushed into that journey,” Harry replied, glancing over at James. “Yes, they succeeded in the end, but it could have easily gone the other way. Even so, all it shows is just how unfit he and anyone else in his former group are. If they can be manipulated like that, then how do we know that he’s not being controlled by Paragon at this very moment?”
“I’m not,” James said with a scowl. “But you can continue to believe so.”
“That’s it?” Harry scoffed. “That was your rebuttal? Where’s the fire that you had in the previous debates?”
“I like to kindle a flame first. That way, once it’s reached maturation, it doesn’t go out like a whimper, such as your speeches tend to do.”
“Ooooooooooooooo,” the crowd rang out in unison.
Harry’s face began to turn red and he looked to the moderator for help. “Is this allowed? Cheap shots?”
“If you’re going to be leader,” the moderator replied, “then you have to know how to defend yourself.”
“Fine,” Harry huffed, turning back to James. “Well, I have little to say to you. All one has to do is look at your track record and they know that we can’t deal with you for another second.”
“And why is that?”
“Are you kidding me? All we have to do is bring up Gideon.”
“Alright then. What about him?”
“The story is out, James. He was a former Sage, at the Academy on Terra, and he concluded that you and your group were toxic because of the negligence you showed your students. If they weren’t part of your inner circle, they were cast aside and treated as fodder. They were killed and barely remembered. And as far as the old world was concerned, there would be little consequence for your actions. In the old time, if someone died and went to Paragon, they weren’t going to be the one to exact their revenge as violence would disrupt the harmony. But now, we are in a time of war, and you must answer for your previous negligence. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m glad you brought this up,” James said, casting his gaze down toward the table. He stood up slowly, as Catherine stood up in the back of the room simultaneously. Was this it? The moment James had talked about?
“There is no apology I can give that will rectify what I’ve done,” he said. “And I will forever think about what I’ve done. It was not my intention to neglect anyone, but that is also no excuse, for we know that intentions mean little. It is the actions of a person that determines all, and that is why I am removing myself from the race.”
“What?!” Harry shouted. “Are you kidding me? Why?”
“I will still stand here before all of you and debate the rest of the time, in order to help determine the best person for the job. But I won’t be voted for. I won’t accept anyone voting for me. I formally concede the election to the other candidates.”
“Is this some kind of trick?” Fredrick asked, standing back up to his feet.
“None,” James said. “I’ve realized that I am a soldier, not a leader, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We all have our place in life, and for too long, I’ve been placed in a role in which I’ve not shined. Whether it was being by Catherine’s side on the throne, working with the Orders in Allay, or leading the Sages here, I’ve not done a good job, and I’m not going to pretend like I did. But I will say I’ve tried my best. I understand that’s not good enough, but at least now I know my weaknesses, and that means I can focus on my strengths. And I think that that is being a soldier.”
“You’re no soldier,” Fredrick scoffed. The crowd booed him.
“I agree,” Henry said. “Stop trying to pretend like you matter.”
James sighed. Time to pull out the trump card.
“Did you know that Gideon is still alive?” he said. The room went silent.
“You know where he is?” Harry whispered. Fredrick and Lucy—the so far silent debater—looked at one another.
“I do,” James replied. “And whomever becomes leader, they will have to deal with him directly. He is currently imprisoned by us.”
“And you did this on your own?” Fredrick shouted. “Without consulting anyone?”
“I consulted myself,” James said. “And that’s what a leader is going to have to do. You may tear me down, but it’s easy to point fingers when you’ve never been in the position yourself. I’m not saying imprisoning Gideon was the right decision, but it was still a decision I made.”
“But why?” Harry asked. “Why not tell us?”
“I’m glad you asked,” James said with a smile. Harry swallowed hard. What was James going to say now? And what was his plan here?
“There is no secret here. There are Sages. And then there are Solons. There is a rift between all of us, and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to mend that divide. But as some time has passed, I realized that I am not the man for the job, and furthermore, I don’t think that divide will ever truly be mended. No matter who becomes leader, that rift will remain, and so I believe that instead of trying to harmonize, we should embrace these changes. Identify the core beliefs that both Sage and Solon have, and then figure out where we should go from there.”
“I agree,” Lucy replied. James and the other two debaters were surprised to hear her finally speak.
“Please explain,” the moderator said with a smile.
“I think that we should develop our own code,” she said. “And then we should follow it to the letter. If Sage and Solon both identify what they most strongly believe in and then come to an agreement, then we would be united again while still acknowledging our differences. What many don’t realize is that codes have origins. The Sage Academy of old, for example...all of their rules and laws were based on what they themselves decided were most important to their time and situations. There was a beginning to their way of life, and that way of life is now outdated.”
James cast his eyes down to the floor as his thoughts overtook him.
Every code had an origin.
If this was true, then what were the Sages’ original code before it was tainted by Thorn?
All this time, he had been searching for the right answers. He wanted to know what he was supposed to do as a Sage. He needed to know his destiny, and the mantra he should follow. But life ensured that he was distracted, and he was never one to focus his mind.
When he became a Sage for the first time, he thought that was the end of his journey. To be able to pull an eidolon—his own soul—from his body, was a feat that few had accomplished. Surely he would be a great and legendary warrior.
But somewhere along his path, he lost his way.
He had become the most powerful Sage in the land back when they fought Thorn.
And then he had begun to fall apart.
The age of peace had softened him. Bastion’s arrival on the scene had scared him. Lakrymos had crushed his spirits, and then he had been killed. Going to Paradise was soothing at first, but then he realized how little he would see of Catherine. Taking over as leader at the Sage Academy was out of necessity, not want. He led because the people wanted a ruler, and there was no one higher in rank than he. All of the Sages from decades or centuries past had long gone off on their own, never to be heard from again.
Perhaps there was a reason they left.
A good reason.
Perhaps they were following their own code—the original code of the Sages before Thorn intervened. He had to find out what that was. He needed to know what he should do with his life next.
“There is no way we’re all going to agree on everything,” Harry replied. James cast his thoughts aside and listened again to the arguments.
“I’m not saying that,” Lucy said. “But there should be some kind of middle ground.”
“Even in negotiations, there is usually a clear advantage for one of the parties.”
“You’re a Solon, aren’t you?” Lucy asked.
Harry was taken aback. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s not a big secret. I figured there had to be at least one Solon up on the panel.”
“That doesn’t mean I am one.”
“Well, if you are one, then I want to make a proposal. That you and I be the leaders. Together. We both have an equal voice and we both must decide everything together.”
Harry wasn’t sure what to say.
“That’s insane,” Fredrick huffed. “You can’t do that. Besides, we need to stay on topic. We’re supposed to be talking about going back to Terra and rejoining with Allay.”
“Allay is aligned with Paragon,” Harry retorted. “And they are under the rule of Tyuin, a former Prattlian. Allay is not a Sage’s haven like it once was.”
“A Prattlian?” he growled. “I thought he was an Allayan.”
“He renounced the title of Prattlian in order to marry the two people and cultures together,” Lucy said, staring at Fredrick through her long black hair. “He has united Prattlian and Allayan, merging them into one. A model that we might want to consider.”
“Speak for yourself,” he snapped.
“I’m with Lucy and Harry,” James said, giving Harry a smile. “Personally, I think the two of them should lead together. Lucy has proven that she is open minded and considerate. Harry can be a little passionate at times, but it’s only because he cares about his Solon people. I think the two of them together will form a balanced alliance.”
“Well,” the moderator said. “ As long as Harry and Lucy agree to that arrangement, we can finally move forward.”
“What about me?” Fredrick asked.
The moderator rolled his eyes. “People like you because you don’t back down from a fight, and that’s it. Your ideas are ridiculous and the only reason you’ve gotten this far is because the other contenders did so horribly that you were pushed along.”
“Hey, he did his best,” Harry said, speaking up for Fredrick for the first time ever.
“Yes,” Lucy said, turning to Harry and nodding. “We should honor his attempt. Not many could do what he did.”
“My apologies,” the moderator said to Fredrick. Fredrick snorted, crossed his arms and then nodded toward him.
“So!” Lucy shouted to the crowd. “What say you? Harry and myself?”
The crowd rose to their feet clapping, happy that both sides of the rift would be represented. Though it would be hard harmonizing the two ideals, it was a step in the right direction.
And the people were so thrilled, they didn’t even notice that James had left his position and slipped out of the room with Catherine a few minutes prior to the conclusion.
