The World's End | ONC 2024

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟬𝟱| 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗶𝗿

Wylan

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

As far as meeting random old men went, this would be my most surprising encounter. All because of the one girl that I wanted to get answers from. Axelle Henderson may be many things — rich, famous, dangerous but she was also incredibly naive. So naive that she trusted anyone that offered her any sort of help or pretended to.

It was quite challenging to determine where this girl would be on market day. Since her eighteenth birthday was five days ago, I presumed her curiosity would lead her out of her home and onto the streets.

And I could get what I wanted from her when she did.

There was a very close point in time when I thought the Verids would stop me from orchestrating anything with Axelle but her stubborn won. Thankfully.

The Major Verid led us deeper into the shadows of the city, and I was starting to get more worried. The Verids were dangerous of course, but the Majors? They were another league of evil. I didn't trust this man in the slightest but Axelle? She skipped after him without any fear. Keira and I on the other hand, slowly curated a plan to escape if things went awry. Who even was this man, and why was he offering us shelter?

Axelle was either utterly stupid, or she had her mother's protection anyway. Her mother could do virtually anything in Veridonia.

Madame Henderson, at the height of her power, which lasted almost fifteen years, was considered the most evil. To many, her story was inspirational. She had grown up in a post-war Veridonia and graduated in law. She was the only woman to ever take a seat at the Dominion Council. She was also the most dangerous person out there, her plans to develop the Verids still stuck. The Verids were more stealthy, and much more ruthless.

Because of her.

There was much more to her. Her family. My father's reputation fell to the shreds when Madame's husband disappeared. Madame Henderson personally made sure that my father lost his job, and his livelihood and confined him to his own home.

Did Axelle even know what her mother was capable of?

The newly restored flames crackled in the fireplace, casting flickering shadows across the room. I couldn't shake off the unease that settled over me. The Major Verid's statement about Axelle's father sent shockwaves through my mind. Now, it made more sense why my father's association with her father had caused so much trouble. It shattered my image of Madame Henderson as an influential and inspirational woman and now she was clear to me. She was a master manipulator. She was the most intelligent of them all.

If she could simply sacrifice my father's life for her own, what could Axelle do if she had the choice?

Beside me, Keira shifted uncomfortably, her arms crossed tightly over her chest which would probably bruise her body somehow. I felt my arm move over to hers, but I hesitated. She probably didn't want that.

Keira was staring daggers at the Major Verid. If looks could kill, Major Verid would've been buried deep in his grave by now. I felt sorry for her. She had absolutely nothing to do with this. Her presence here was a mere coincidence. It was unexpected and unneeded too. Axelle and I had subconsciously dragged her into the danger without ever stopping to think once that Keira could be very very hurt by this.

Keira could be hurt more than Axelle and I could ever be.

And that in itself, crushed me.

The total opposite, I saw a glimmer of determination in Axelle's eyes, a resolve to do something. She wanted to unravel the truth between the web of lies that was already spun all around her. I wouldn't expect more from a girl who lived and heard Melissa Henderson's words. Axelle may have been naive, but she was strangely stubborn, some may say she was resilient.