A Circuit of Time: Book Two of Spark (A MPHFPC Fanfiction)

Chapter Eleven

*

Bodhi Yang brought them to another room with a long table and a dozen chairs.

"Take a seat, you must be tired from your journey." Bodhi asked as he sat down. "So, what kind of wind blew you guys here?"

"The spiritual kind." Miss Bittern replied.

"So it's true then," Bodhi seemed surprised, "You found the Mother of Birds."

"We know where it is." Miss Bittern told him, "But we aren't in the condition to retrieve it right now."

Bodhi nodded, "I see. We can provide you some weapons and an escort of five people. I suggest you wait until this Saturday."

"That's two days later. Why? Caul is also looking for it, and we can't let him get it." Olive asked.

"If Caul can find it before you guys do, he would have gotten it by now. This Saturday, their main force wouldn't be focusing on wherever you're going, because we have a gift for them here. About one thousand people will march down the streets of Nanjing to show Valeria we don't agree with her rule. This will be the first-ever peaceful protest where peculiars and normals stand together." Bodhi said proudly.

"They will just be slaughtered!" Miss Bittern said.

"Exactly, it will be a massacre." Bodhi agreed with her.

"And you will let it happen? Why?" Emma asked, not out of disapproval, but genuine confusion.

"Yes, I will." Bodhi said coldly, "The people of this nation has been sleeping for way too long, it's time for them to see the true nature of their rulers."

"And you are willing to spill innocent blood for this?" Miss Bittern demanded.

"Wouldn't you?" Bodhi replied, "Valeria's government has been feeding us propaganda and lies for way too long. Her social system pit peculiars and normals against each other, because as long as we keep holding on to this hatred, we can't see the real oppressor. It's time to remind people who the real enemy is."

"There must be other ways to do that!" the ymbryne insisted.

"There simply isn't. This nation was already drowning in propaganda even before wights took over, people had forgotten how to question what they are being fed. We need to shove the truth in their face." Bodhi sighed, "I don't want to do this either, but I'm leading a revolution against one of the most powerful beings on earth. Sometimes imperfect situations must be tolerated in order to achieve a greater good. I figured if anyone could understand that it would be you, Miss Bittern."

"I do understand," Miss Bittern said, "But I will never let innocents get hurt just to prove a point to the world. There must be other ways to expose them."

"Weren't you listening to what I said?" Bodhi replied impatiently, "There's no other way! When wights took over the normal government here, they took it from inside. Because unlike America or England, China was ruled by only one group of people. They used many things to maintain power, and propaganda was one of their most powerful tool. People here were already used to being told what to believe, instead of deciding it for themselves. But their party was already infiltrated by Caul's people at the time. You should have seen how easy it was. They didn't waste a bullet and inherited all the influence and power of the former regime, and soon used their military power to bring down the few surrounding nations wights couldn't control. Then they started telling people how the old regime treated them like slaves, which isn't exactly wrong, but Valeria's government are way worse. The point is, the old government already laid the foundation for Valeria's propaganda machine, and by the time she started peddling her peculiar supremacy views, people had forgotten how to question what they are being told. We need to wake them up."