The Great

Evay Maver: I felt….dizzy to say the least.

Geon, Lila, Aurora, and I were all inside a tiny stone room with two royal guards and Professor Vylen. The tension in the room was palpable and both royal guards gave off an incredible amount of power. The guard on the left had long, dark hair and glistening white skin. He wore a long pitch black cloak with royal golden embroidery stitched into its hems and sleeves. His eyes were just as black as his robes and his expression gave me the impression that his soul was just as black as well. The guard on the right had long, black, curly hair which flowed down to her shoulders. She had light brown skin and big, dark eyes which seemingly observed everything around her at all times. She wore an ivy-green sleeveless shirt which had beautiful golden embroidery stitched into it, and she also wore six big, golden rings—about the size of a dinner plate—on her arms. Emerald crystals were embedded into the rings and a line of turquoise diamond circled around the rings as well—connecting the emerald rings together.

I looked around at everyone but no one dared to do the same. We were all waiting for something, and that something had a lot to do with me… Professor Vylen spoke up.

“Jugo, Lela, it's been quite some time.” The two guards didn’t move a single muscle.

Professor Vylen kept talking. “I’m assuming that you’re going to report back to the emperor after this, however, we’re all still not sure what you’re trying to report. Why have you brought us here?” The two guards looked at each other and the man, Jugo, spoke up.

“Long time no see, Neo. We’re here in order to question you and your students about this new situation involving Evay Maver. We were waiting for an official approval from Eden Academy or from the emperor, but it seems we can not wait much longer.” Black tendrils of smoke bellowed out from Jugo and a giant scythe with a smooth, mahogany wooden handle and a gleaming obsidian blade appeared in his hand. He pointed it at us and began to speak.

“Lila Fairheart, Aurora Maple, Geon Leventen, Neo Vylen, and Evay Maver, I, Jugo of house Mourta, second division guard of Emperor Varun Batara, enact the curse of order onto your being. For the next ten minutes and thirty seconds your lives are bound to the truth. We ask you to abide by our directions and answer our questions truthfully—or suffer certain death.” Professor Vylen stood up quickly and glared daggers into Jugo’s eyes.

“Curse of order! Jugo, these are students and children, I command you to—“

“Respectfully, Neo, you are in no position to command me anymore.” Professor Vylen clenched his fists and spoke in an angry whisper.

“Lila, Geon, Aurora, and especially you, Evay, I need you to listen closely. A curse of order binds your soul to the absolute truth of any matter. If you lie to the person casting the curse, you will die without exception. You need to answer his questions truthfully, for the sake of your lives.” Professor Vylen kept glaring into the eyes of Jugo, but Jugo didn’t seem to be intimidated.

Jugo finally spoke, “very well. Firstly, I would like to ask Evay Maver a very simple question.” I felt my body turn numb and my heart freeze with fear as Jugo looked at me with his deep, dark eyes.

He was a royal guard, it wasn’t fair…The personal guards of the emperor were warriors who were specifically chosen by the emperor to serve at his side. They were the nation’s most elite warriors, people who had beaten out millions of other warriors for a coveted position in the royal guard. It wasn’t fair.. What was I supposed to do, fight him? Stand up for my dignity? Say anything to defend myself? How? Why? He’s practically invincible, what can I do? Nothing has changed, then and now nothing has changed…. Jugo spoke, “did you have any part in the incineration of Evian’s Warrior Youth Championships stadium? If not, how have you come back to life after being considered dead for nearly one full week?” The room went silent. I looked over at Aurora with pleading eyes. Her face contorted with confusion, helplessness, and anger as she knew that nothing she could say would save me right now. Lila and Geon couldn’t even look at me while Professor Vylen looked at me with weary dread. The entire world shrank around me as I realized that it was truly over… I’d been caught…I’d have to admit it…I killed those people, all 500,000 of them. I created a crater inside of a country with loving mothers, fathers, innocent children, and wise elderly women and men….I decimated land which a family called home, I incinerated the lives and hopes of thousands of people. I deserved it, right? This was what I wanted…I wanted to get caught…It was about time..It was my destiny. All of those people….I had killed all of them… I felt my heart calm down and my mind started to clear. It made sense…my crimes wouldn’t go unpunished and I was willing to accept that. I wouldn’t be like the nobles…I wouldn’t run away from my crimes…I’m not like them…I would never be like them…This was the right thing to do…I’d finally be able to have some peace.

I opened my mouth and spoke, “I—“,

“Stop.” An extremely clear and powerful voice rang out inside my head. “Stop, do not say a word.” I felt my heart rate go up again as I tried to communicate with Hiem.

“Heim, is this you? What do you mean? How, I’m bounded by—”

“Stop.” The voice rang out inside my head and seeped into every fiber of my being. It was strange…Heim’s voice was usually filled with arrogance and haughtiness but it never felt evil or villainous. He exuded arrogance in his words but it never felt forced. His confidence never felt faked or fabricated, and his haughtiness never made you feel like you were being oppressed—it just made you feel wildly inferior. But this time, Heim’s voice was different. His voice cut deep into my soul like a flaming blade, and his cold, harsh tone made me want to crawl into a deep dark hole. He wasn’t himself at all. “You’re lying to yourself. You don’t want this. You were never like this. You’re afraid, too afraid to die.” My hands turned as cold as ice and sweat flowed down my face as my eyes went as wide as saucers. “You want to live, to be unpunished, to be free, you don’t care about those…people. You don’t care about lives or families. You want one thing…I know what you want…deep down in your soul you want one thing.” I felt myself start to hyperventilate, my eyes grew so wide they felt like they were gonna pop out of my head, and an eerie smile creeped across my face. “You were never the person you thought you were, or wanted to be…You’ve been trying so hard to be the “good” person, the “right person.” What have they done for you? What has anyone ever done for you? Come, work with me, say the words, Evay Maver. Do it.”

I clenched my fists.

“Do it.”

I clawed at my hair and clenched my teeth until I felt them start to shatter.

“Do it.”

My heart felt like it was going to explode as I felt my mind implode on itself.

“Let me show you then, what I will do.” My eyes went wide,

“What? Heim? What do you mean—”

Aurora came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. I turned quickly and looked into her eyes as she gave me a reassuring smile, “take your time, we’ll be with you”, she inched closer to me, “no matter what.” She smiled and finally,

put her hands in mine.

Suddenly, events and memories flashed through my eyes in an extravagant blur of color. Screams, blood, fire, death, forests, ethereal vines and flowers, bending space, red streaks of lightning, a grave of flowers, super bright heat and light, golden robes, deathly shadows, and an image of a man with a crown on his head flashed before my eyes. Hiem spoke again in his eerily cold and unusual voice, “That’s right, you will be the greatest one of them all. Will you do what you need to do? Tell me, what will you do with appreciation and praise of the world? What will the love of this world do for you? You’ll be one of the good ones right? One of the clean peasants, one of the “great” ones. If that happens, what about father, what about mother? What about the brothers and sisters, the children you deeply cared for? They were ripped apart by them, by the world, by the people who wish to punish you. Are you going to give it to them? Are you going to punish yourself and show them your loyalty, your righteousness? To the same people who used all of them? The same people who used and abused Amie like a toy doll. Do it, say the words. Do it, I’ve shown you how this story goes. Do it, you know what you need to do. Erase, raze, punish them. Keep fighting, keep going, keep pushing even if your heart pleads for you to stop. Even if your very soul is ripped from your body, even if your mind and heart break from the pain, keep going. Keep fighting. After all, don’t you remember, why you’re here in the first place? Don’t you remember what Noble Wyren did? Mother? Father? It’s always been this way…It’s never been about friends, love, or anything. From the very beginning of your existence you were born to fight, to grovel at a hope of life. Do it–say the words. Keep going, sacrifice, fight, until you can’t fight for anything anymore.”

I stared blankly at the marble tiled floors and spoke in a barely audible whisper.

“I was saved by my barrier and by Gold’s veil. After the huge explosion of light surrounded us I exhausted myself by running around the surrounding forests of Evian, chasing down a fleeing figure.” Everyone in the room tensed up and Jugo, as well as Lela, dawned a serious look on their faces.

Jugo spoke, “a figure? Why were you chasing this figure?”

Hiem spoke again, “Keep talking.”

“I chased him until I dropped to the forest floor with exhaustion. I managed to recuperate and made my way back home. As for your question, I was chasing the figure since they were the ones who caused the explosion.” Professor Vylen’s face filled with shock. “I saw him, before the implosion of light, high above the arena. He possessed skill far above an average warrior, and skill incomparable to a student.” Jugo tensed up and spoke with extreme caution.

“Evay Maver, your words lead me to believe…that—“

I spoke, “A foreign nation, specifically a warrior from a foreign nation, caused the attack, sir. Do you not believe me? Look at me, sir, my life is still bound to the truth, and yet I am not dead.”