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Occupied Territory: MoonSide
20th Day of Month 6, Year 1628 DG
The oldest lies are the heaviest.
That’s how it seems to Unisa as she cradles the weight of the Everlasting Journey in her hands. She once thought it was a work of paper and ink, but it must be constructed of something stronger, more dense. It’s lasted so long, and has been used in the foundation of the world’s most deceitful institutions. It must be made of stone, iron, or steel.
Or ore.
Unisa flips the text to the final pages. Hay-Ro’s letter, the only honest words in the Catacombs, stare up at her. A long breath escapes her lungs and she declares, “I’m ready.”
Fading light of the setting suns drips through the inn’s windows. Alba leans on the sill, her hands folded in front of her, palpable irritation in her body language.
“I’m not entirely sure what more to say, Uni.”
“The entire truth.” Unisa is prepared to remain seated in place, on this bed in a MoonSidian inn, until she feels liberated from the darkness.
Alba scans the room. As if the walls are iron bars, her eyes display recognition that she isn’t going anywhere.
“Unisa, you were correct last night, when you said no one had a stronger moral code than the original Primes did. Their intention in forging the Library was exactly the ideal the world still believes the city to be today. But that all changed when that text you’re holding entered the Catacombs.”
Unisa’s fingertips begin to burn. The book of lies that eroded an entire city’s moral foundation. She places it down on the bed, as far as her arm can reach.
Alba continues. “The ruling Prime made a decision that bartered integrity for innovation. That spoiled the spirit of the city. SunSide’s alliance with the Library has always been public, but has never been transparent. Together, the MegaParents and the Primes have spent ages playing an artful game of manipulation.”
Unisa rolls the word around on her tongue. “Manipulation.”
Alba nods. “Red-Lo’s rewritten history, sullying his wife’s legacy, painting her with his own violence and irresponsibility, became the precursor to SunSide’s long history of modifying and influencing the records within the Library. It proved that the Primes were willing to sacrifice their ideals for their own benefit.”
Unisa’s face drops into her hands. “How does deceit run so deep that generations of Librarians are unable to weed it out?”
“I’ll say it again: manipulation. The Primes created the ideas of the Fully Bonded and the Fully Broken as a means of control. One personified loyalty, conditioning Librarians to surrender to every word that sprang from the Prime’s tongue. The other was demonized, assigned to anyone who thought critically about what they’d witnessed beyond the walls.”
“Then why rehabilitate the Broken?” Unisa lifts her head, but her voice emerges barely louder than a whisper. “I’ve seen, with my own eyes, Librarians escorting the Fully Broken to rehabilitation.”
“Where does the rehabilitation take place?” Alba asks.
The question catches Unisa by surprise, leaving her speechless.
“History is not all that’s buried under the city, Uni. You’ll find equal parts books and bones.”
Unisa’s heart drops. Nausea rises from the deepest trench of her bowels. “No.”
“Yes. The extermination of the Broken is a fail-safe, in the event that the indoctrination breaks. The Prime expects eyes to be deceived when hearts and minds are under control.”
Unisa steps off the bed and rises to her feet. The image of the young boy’s corpse flashes in her mind, and her throat tightens. “Even when those eyes witness unforgivable evil? It doesn’t wake them up?”
“Unforgivable evil is always preceded by dehumanization and desensitization. It doesn’t matter what Librarians or citizens witness if they believe in the ultimate goodness of SunSide and its warriors, and the inherent violence and savagery of the Doruh.”
Unisa falls back onto the bed, sitting on the edge in disgust and disbelief. “What about those like us? Who do see the truth?”
Alba pauses, but maintains a strong line of eye contact. “They must face reality. The truth that they are culpable in every drop of blood spilt by SunSide’s swords.”
The nausea builds and Unisa wraps her arms around her stomach. “I feel sick.”
Alba’s tongue runs with the current of a river. “We are all responsible. Generations of Librarians have been ranked and trained to perpetuate the lies. If any do wake from the control, they’ve already invested years, sometimes decades, to a code of ethics they believed to be morally sound.”
“We educate the continent for him. We authorize and edify him. We give him credibility.” The words seep into Unisa’s heart and tear her world apart. “We’ve been lied to, but we aren’t victims, are we? We’re perpetrators.”
Alba slowly steps toward Unisa. “That line was blurred generations ago. Librarians have given all of themselves to a false narrative; we’ve lost the ability to consent to what knowledge we pass on.”
She stops walking and her eyebrows scrunch together, as if a wayward memory has found its way into her mind. “Remember what I said last night? About knowledge?”
Unisa nods. “Knowledge empowers. As long as he knows more than us, he has power over us.”
“Correct. The Prime knows that the Catacombs paint evil as good. He knows that Red-Lo etched his lies into history. And he knows that, as long as the Librarians are ignorant, or as long as they feel responsible for the havoc, he’s in control.”
Unisa turns, grabs the tattered text, and forcefully lifts it into the air so Alba can see it. “What’s the point then? Why send me on this journey for the truth when he knows it’s a lie?”
Alba sits on the bed next to her. She holds her palm open and Unisa hands the text to her.
“Two days ago, you walked into the Prime’s office and created a situation that’s never existed before. No one’s ever challenged the integrity of the city directly to a Prime’s face.”
“I walked straight into the lion’s den.”
Alba shakes her head. “No. You walked into its mouth. You gave him the opportunity to test the limits of his control. To toy with you. And with me.”
“Toy with us? What do you mean?”
Alba’s eyes grow soft and apprehensive, and Unisa feels the Ambassador’s body tense. She swallows hard and speaks in a low, strained voice.
“Ana and I planned to leave the Library, Unisa. This week. I can no longer live as an ideal he forces others to strive toward. My presence in the Library feeds his control. The only way I can take that power from him is to vanish into anonymity. I told him I wouldn’t let him use me anymore.
“When you walked into his office, he saw an opportunity to keep me under his grasp. Forever. He sent you on this journey to prove that his grasp on you would hold, regardless of what you saw. That you’d choose of your own volition to be part of the Library’s continuing legacy.”
Unisa shakes her head. “Never.”
“If you return to the Library Fully Bonded, he wins. He’ll allow Ana to escape, but I’ll be forced to take his tunic after him. However, if you are awakened, he says he’ll let both Ana and I go freely from the Library. That’s why I came. To protect you, and to ensure your awakening. My freedom is now in your hands.”
Alba’s final statement burrows into the forefront of Unisa’s mind.
Alba’s freedom. In my hands.
Every word he’s written and spoken, every ideal Unisa has digested for him, all dissolves before her eyes. Hours, days, weeks, years—all wasted to the devotion of a city of lies.
“You were right. We’re all playthings for him. But now he’s lost. I’ve awakened to the truth.” She turns to the mari. “You’re free, Alba.”
There’s a long pause in which Unisa expects joy, excitement, relief. At the very least, acknowledgement that they are successful.
But there is none. Alba continues to run her fingers along the beaten text in her hands. “No, I’m not.”
Unisa raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Of course you are.”
Alba raises her eyes to meet Unisa’s. “I’ve been so foolish. I didn’t realize until now, he can only win this game. If you return Bonded, he gets me. If you don’t, you’ll be deemed Broken and end up in a grave. He knows I won’t let that happen.”
There’s a long pause in which Alba’s eyes dart back-and-forth. She appears to piece more of the puzzle together before she speaks again. “And that’s why he sent Rafael on this journey to question the TreeKeeper. He knows it doesn’t exist, so Rafael’s mission can only fail. Even if you return from the mission Broken, he still has Rafael to ensure he wins. Rafael’s his foolproof backup plan. The Prime knows he’s won. One way or another, I end up in the black tunic; either because I couldn’t break your indoctrination, or because I sacrificed myself to save you or Rafael.”
Defeat weighs Unisa down like stone, iron, or steel. “What are we going to do?”
Alba closes her eyes, as if the next words she speaks are covered in thorns. “We are going to complete the assignment. Then you’re going to return to the Library Fully Bonded and let him think he’s won.”
“What about your freedom? You’ll lose it.”
Alba’s voice is little more than a whimper. “I never had it. I will die under his thumb.” Water wells in her eyes. “But Ana can still be free. We can still save her.”
Unisa considers her words carefully. “I understand the sacrifice you want to make for her, but how can I pretend to support SunSide after what I’ve seen Bravers doing to the Doruh? I can’t indefinitely devote myself to that.”
“What if it isn’t indefinite? Once he’s freed Ana, a new game will begin. One that will burn the Library to the ground.”
Unisa shifts uneasily. “Burn it to the ground? Alba, what are you saying? It’s ages old. Let him install you as his heir. Once you’re Prime, you can change things.”
Alba shakes her head. “The Supreme Librarians would convince the entire city I had lost my mind and become Broken. There would be a parade following my public execution.”
“So your solution is to burn it to the ground? What about the strong moral code of the original Primes? Is there no way the city can be salvaged to revert it back to the good intentions with which it was founded?”
A half smile appears on Alba’s face. “Your idealism and your optimism are remarkable. I’m sorry, Uni, there are always good intentions behind the things evil people weaponize. But do you think anyone cares what the swordsmith’s intentions were, when the blade is at their throat?”
Her words strike Unisa’s heart.
“We’ve been sharpening that blade for him,” Unisa admits. “How are we going to wipe our hands clean? How will we carry out justice?”
“Justice is strange,” Alba replies. “There is relief in conquering evil, but so much pain for all those who were hurt along the way. But the longer we allow the current to accelerate, the harder the river will be to wade.”
“So that’s our plan? Complete the mission, free Ana, and begin plotting the Library’s downfall?”
Alba nods. “Others will join us, eventually, for the battles to come.”
The word alarms Unisa. “Battles?”
Alba sighs. “There will be conflicts, Uni. This isn’t a path that will be free of violence.”
“I told you how I felt about that,” Unisa reminds her.
“And I told you, not all problems can be solved peacefully. Particularly not ones of this nature. You’re a Librarian, Unisa. You have to accept that at some point in your career, you’ll experience bloodshed.”
“How do you know this plan will even find success?”
A half-smile appears on Alba’s lips. “As I said before, as long as he knows more than us, he has power over us. But the Prime is ignorant of the plan.”
Unisa understands. “Knowledge empowers.”