Chapter 10: Truth to be told
Soft winds brushed past her skin as her nerves began to function. Silence embraced her ears and her limbs moved, no longer numb. Jaden opened her eyes and saw what appeared to be a tent’s roof, only blue. Observing its material, it almost resembled Mannihilator tents that she saw when she first entered the Mannihilator city, except that it was blue rather than brown. Looking at how a tent just had to be blue in color, she almost giggled. When she rubbed her face however, she realized that something was missing: her blindfold.
“No wonder the tent appears blue. I am not wearing my blindfold. Stupid eye glow.”
Jaden sat up while messaging her aching head, trying to remember how she fell unconscious. She recalled an invasion in the Mannihilator city, attempted by Iblisan’s cultists, led by an Energy Bladesman whose name escaped her. She then remembered Reed, who looked down upon her as her eyes went shut.
“Are you alright, Miss Highland?”
Jaden turned to the familiar voice of Lord Nightfall. The darkness within the tent was enough to conceal him and the expressionless look on his face. He was sitting on a stool and as she looked around, she happened to be resting on a bed. Without her blindfold though, everything was blue to her, much to her annoyance.
“Lord Nightfall? You don’t happen to see my blindfold, do you?”
“I do. I was holding on to it for a while.”
Nightfall passed the blindfold he held on his hand to Jaden, who quickly wore it to be free of the blue world.
“Sorry if taking off your blindfold offends you in anyway. I find your eye glow to be…intriguing.”
“Why would it intrigue you?”
“All humans I meet who has an eye glow as bright as yours are victims of Magical Overflow and that means two things: They are Iblisan’s servants or mindless Magic abusers. Yours is probably the brightest I ever seen, yet you are neither of those. It is amazing to me.”
“Well, I am glad that you think of me as neither. My mind is my own. Working for a Fallen Angel or a murderous wretch will never happen as long as I breathe.”
Strangely, Nightfall was barely smiling; rather he was frowning and showing an intimidating glare at Jaden. He sat silent for a few seconds before he stood up and turned his back on her. He then asked, “Regardless, your eye glow shows that you are one of the many Magic users out there and I don’t believe that trusting you will bring any benefit to my people.”
“What is it with you and Magic users? Why do we scare you so much? In case you haven’t realized, Iblisan is not discriminate over who he attacks as long as we are not his slaves.”
Nightfall refused to answer for a while, though he let out a deep sigh. He looked up and rubbed his neck and Jaden could easily tell that something was disturbing him in his thoughts. Eventually, he turned to her, his expression showing his seeming despair, and told her his reasons.
“I have been the Lord of the Mannihilators for only a few years now. The previous Lord was…killed…because of something I did.”
Nightfall sat on the bed, right next to Jaden, and continued his story.
“See, just like Ser Nora, I used to believe that every human must unite, both Mannihilators and Magic users alike. I was the understudy for the previous Lord and my father, Anders Nightfall. I often tried to propose to him that we formed a unity with straggling Salvagers and Qurrentine but though he initially refuses, he began forming truces with such groups. Eventually, he invited two Magic users. One of them is your good friend, Reed Robinson.”
“Reed? Are you serious? Where did he come from?”
“He, along with his partner, Maverick, claimed to be Salvagers who managed to escaped Dissidia. They were invited in by Anders, albeit with reluctance, and taught on how to become Ohmni Knights.”
“What? Reed an…Ohmni Knight?”
“Well, if memory serves, Reed succeeded in destroying his Magical Energies, thus gaining Omega Energies. He was a full-fledged Ohmni Knight. Ask him if you want to learn more. I am honestly surprised he didn’t tell you all this.”
Jaden began to feel a surge of anger within her. She clenched her fists as she learned that Reed did not tell her everything that he should have probably told. The thought of strangling him the next time she sees him began to appear in her mind, humorous enough to cause Nightfall to chuckle when he read her thoughts.
“Now now Jaden. No need to get angry over Reed. He probably has his reasons not to tell you. Try to understand that.”
Jaden, listening to Nightfall, nodded and was able to calm herself. A sense of relief surged through her body as she cleared her mind of Reed.
“Anyway, after Reed and Maverick were invited in, Anders told me that anything that the duo does is my responsibility. I never managed to meet them in person, though Ser Nora will tell me everything that they did. In the weeks that follow, more surviving Salvagers were allowed refuge in our cities, until one fateful day.”
“Maverick approached Anders and told him that a Qurrentine emissary wishes to meet him in a discreet location on Mannihilate. Ser Nora read his mind as he speaks but some kind of mental barrier blocked her attempts. Anders, convinced that Maverick may not be telling the full truth, brought a full battalion of Mannihilators with him and followed Maverick to the site. In his absence, I was to take over his position.”
“Weeks flown by and I heard from neither Maverick nor Anders. I began to fear for my Lord’s life and Nora told me that Reed was training well, apparently not affected by Maverick’s disappearance. I sent out search parties to look for them but to no avail. Eventually, Maverick returned…with an army of Iblisan’s cultists with him. Unlike the last time I saw him, Maverick’s eyes glowed bright blue.”
“He succumbed to Magical Overflow and became a thrall of his Magical Energies. I had no idea why and after reading his thoughts, Nora discovered the full truth. He and Reed had an argument and the anger was too much for him to handle. As Magical Overflow began to set in, he began to fall under his Magical Energies’ sway and the reason why Nora could not read his mind previously was because his thoughts were occupied with his argument with Reed. Eventually, when fully controlled by his Magical Energies, he led Anders and his men to a death trap. Cultists slaughtered them all and now, they returned to finish the job. For killing my father and my Lord…I beheaded Maverick. That’s all he ever deserves.”
As Jaden listened to the grizzled man’s story, she began to feel a sense of sympathy for the Mannihilator. She knew well enough what it was like to lose a family member, although in Nightfall’s case, it was because of his willingness to let in Magic users. She rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.
“I shouldn’t have let Magic users into our cities in the first place. I should’ve listened to my father. After repelling the cultists, I ordered all Mannihilators to chase away all Magic users, including Reed himself. I vow never to make the same mistake again.”
“But I am not like Maverick. I am against Iblisan and Dark Viper.”
“Why should you be an exception? Your eye glow is telling me otherwise.”
“Listen, if you really want to know, my eye glow is natural. I was born with this glow. It cannot be that I have been suffering from Magical Overflow from the start. Besides, during my Proving, my Magical Energies, Light and Dark, vow to aid me and they have no interest in taking over my will.”
“What lies. Light and Dark Energies together and Magical Energies providing aid instead of taking over your thoughts. I do not believe anything you said!”
“And you are too caught in the past to understand what’s important!”
“I am the Lord of the Mannihilators. I have the final say of what’s important to my people!”
“Well then, you are not my Lord.”
Jaden and Nightfall stared at each other, clearly unhappy with one another. Jaden’s glow intensified, convincing Nightfall even more that she cannot be trusted. Regardless, Jaden sighed and slapped her thighs.
“I have enough of this. It seems to me that helping your people protect your city is not enough to convince you that we are not with Iblisan. Reed, Vader and I are leaving next thing in the morning. You, and your people, are on your own.”
Jaden stood up and marched out of the tent as Nightfall watched. He did nothing to stop her; he simply sat there and watched her leave. In his thoughts, however, he began to reflect on what he has been doing ever since he was proclaimed the new Lord of the Mannihilators. He recalled turning away all help provided by Magic users in the past and how Ser Nora would look at him with seeming disappointment. He then recalled Elysia Starnova, the infamous daughter of Dark Viper, attacking his city recently, though she focused on Jaden most of the time.
He remembered much of the fight. He remembered how Jaden fought valiantly with Reed by her side against the Dark Energy Bladesman and how Elysia was eventually forced to retreat. Just like Ser Nora claimed, Jaden was a formidable fighter, especially since she defeated someone younger than and just as powerful as Dark Viper. She risked her life to defend his people and he began to wonder why he turned away her help. Those eye glows, those twin lights, flashed in his thoughts and the horrifying sight reminded him of his father. For years, eye glows have been traumatizing him and he recalled one thing Ser Nora told him.
“How long are you going to let your fear overcome you? When are you going to fight back?”
Jaden’s eye glow, though still traumatizing, was strangely amazing to him. He never seen one so bright, yet Jaden’s mind seemed to be her own. Then, he recalled something he saw before being illuminated by Jaden’s eye glow: Her real eyes.
Those exotic and beautiful blue eyes caught his attention when she opened her eyes, albeit for a brief moment before her eye glow returned. He swore that he never seen such eyes and that made him wonder if such beauty was always hidden behind the glow. He wondered about Ariel Silver, the human whom the Mannihilators worshipped. She too had an eye glow but hidden behind it was a gorgeous pair of golden eyes.
“Beauty and grace through emotional control.” he muttered out. That sentence was carved onto Ariel’s statue at the heart of the city, referring to Ariel’s control over her eye glow; revealing her wondrous eyes whenever she hid the glow. He began comparing Ariel with Jaden and realizes that they are not so different, though Ariel was born without emotions while Jaden was born with a permanent eye glow. Ultimately, he knew one thing.
“I was wrong.”
* * *
“Jaden! You’re alright!”
Reed waved at Jaden as he spotted her leaving the tent and approaching him. Vader, who was beside Reed, watched his actions and tried to follow him, almost as if he was trying to learn human gestures.
“Jaden Highland has recovered. This unit is relieved.”
“Quit faking emotions will you Vader? You stupid VX Synthetic.”
“You sounded worried Reed.”
“Of course I am Jaden, especially after seeing Elysia toss you around like a doll. I am so glad the Mannihilators are willing to heal you after that.”
“Well, we don’t need their help anymore. Tomorrow morning, we’re leaving.”
“What? Why? Did you asked Lord Nightfall for help?”
“I did and he remained stubborn despite all we did for him. No use trying to convince a stubborn man when he will continue rejecting our help.”
“Well, after all he’s been through, I am not surprised he’s behaving this way.”
“And I believe you have something to tell me Reed, or should I say, Ser Robinson.”
“What?”
“You were an Ohmni Knight weren’t you?”
“Oh man. Why didn’t you keep your mouth shut Lord Nightfall?”
“Well?”
“Jaden, this is really a sensitive subject. Can we talk about this another day?”
Jaden sighed at Reed’s attempt to avoid the subject. She recalled asking him about him being a Magic user and he refused to talk about it. Regardless, she had enough of arguments for one day and said, “Fine. We’ll talk about it at a different day.”
