On a String

Chapter 20

What was one more gravestone in a forgotten graveyard?

Nothing. It was worthless to everyone.

[-Like him-]

Insane.

Damaged.

Insane.

("And you belong-")

OhmyGod-

("-BELONG-")

-Don't say that-

("-BELONG TO US NOW!")

STOP. He wanted to scream it. STOP, please, it's just too noisy and busy in here and I don't understand why anymore, and-

No. He knew why. Deep down, he knew.

He'd been reckless, but he'd also cared too much. Unlike everyone thought, he hadn't only accepted that solo mission because of the adrenaline and 'heroics', but because he'd felt that no one else would've been able to handle it.

Wu was too old and Lloyd was too young. Jay could be ignorant; Zane inflexible. As for Cole, it would have been impractical for the team's leader to be absent for an extended period of time. And there had been no way he would have let Nya take on that group. No way.

Even back then, the reports had indicated that the group was too strong; too dangerous. So he'd reasoned that it was the duty of the able to protect those who could not protect themselves in the face of such danger.

Protect them at all costs.

(Or so he'd thought.)

At all costs.

But he was quickly seeing that viewing the world in absolutes was a dangerous view to possess. Even if he paid no attention to self-experience, a quick look at the world's history easily confirmed that.

Justice and Liberty and Freedom could not be achieved by extreme measures, which was why every war ever waged always did more harm than good. And it was also common knowledge that morality did not fit into a black-and-white world.

So, to sum this all up, the problem now was that 'absolutes' led to unrealistic responses driven by unreasonable emotions.

... Well that was all nice and good, but he was no closer to understanding any of this. What a waste of time! Whoever said that it was better to 'think things through' was obviously-

Emotions could lie.

("They're not coming for you, Fireboy. You've been abandoned. How does that feel?")

("You should be scared. It makes our job so much easier.")

They'd played their prisoners through their feelings.

Oh.

Oh, crap.

So-

That meant-

This was what happened when one was completely ruled by their emotions.

[-BEWARE OF BREAKING YOURSELF WHILE SAVING ANOTHER-]

It was beginning to make sense. The problem disguising the real problem was beginning to unravel....

What a mess.

What a bloody mess.

How could-?

What had he done?

How could this be stopped? How could the gang be stopped? Who understood? Who knew? Who would help him?

Cole.