Eternal Lifeline

Chapter 6 - Morals and Ambition

The rest of that night was a bit hazy for Sebastian,—— he had gone to many of the homes to see the true damage that had been done. It seemed like Zuri made haste to put an end to the Hellhounds that made their way to the inner part of the town, so the town square, which his parents were working on, luckily, wasn't affected. He knew his dad and mom had spent countless hours on finishing what they had already completed, so they would likely have gone haywire if it were damaged, which would inevitably end up biting Sebastian in the ass. Was it sick that he was only worried about the town square because of that? Maybe, but he didn't care.

The biggest issue wasn't even the cleanup. No, Eden Village had dealt with such issues before, mainly because of fires that couldn't be handled properly. The biggest issue would be the terror of what was out in those woods. The fear of the Hellhounds by the townspeople would likely cause mayhem among the village, resulting in a decrease in production and a lower quality of life in Eden.

Sebastian didn't blame them, though. Who in their right mind would want to go out in the woods when those terrible things came right from them? The first response would probably be a one day vacation for the people so they could calm their nerves and figure out what had just happened. However, many of those people would be involved in cleanup, so their "vacation" would be more of a day off to do more work.

In the town, there was little need for government intervention, for its structure was self-sustaining and easy to operate with people leading themselves, but there were, at times, issues that even the people didn't want to touch basis on, and as a result of that, they would put the issue in the hands of the Nine, a council of nine of the wisest and most fit to lead in the community. Sebastian wasn't too sure how they were selected——some accounts saying that they created themselves and controlled the most important of matters in the village, others saying that the town's elder, Tobias Freeman, selected the names of the people and chose suitable replacements in the case of one passing away. Whatever it was, nobody knew.

Most of the town's decisions were made in the upper floor of the Town Hall, where anyone who wanted to go there would have their own vote. Typically, fifty to sixty townsfolk would go there every month, but if an issue was particularly pressing, around two hundred to two hundred fifty would arrive. There, they would nominate a temporary president and vice president to control the flow of the meeting. To Sebastian, it was archaic and inefficient, but he wasn't going to be changing any minds any time soon.

Besides, Sebastian knew that the people who were making the real decisions were those in the Nine, and everyone was content with their wisdom up until this point, so there was no reason to do anything other than that. Sebastian knew that a secretive government like that would bite people in the butt one day, though. Even so, that would be years in the future, a problem he would face later down the road, assuming humanity hadn't left the forest yet.

***

Sebastian spent that night at his grandpa's house on the upper floor. He had a guest room at all times, which was convenient for when Sebastian would hang out with him. His visits were more frequent when he was younger, but ever since he started his job as a lumberjack, he was unable to spare any time in his schedule to actually visit the old man.

He lay in the bed, looking up at the ceiling, feeling nostalgic about it all. The noise out in the village had died down substantially, but there were still the occasional lights turned on within some of the households. Sebastian wondered what those people were talking about——what they were thinking. Their whole sense of security had been uprooted in one day, and anything they thought was safe now seemed to be a threat for them. That's how he felt, only a few days earlier.

This was all so much, especially for them. He could understand the fear that the people felt all too well. They didn't know what else was out there, not even Sebastian, but at least he had Zuri, and at least he could use magic. Every once in a while, in fact, Sebastian would close his eyes and sense what was around him, wondering if each time that a crimson figure would be greeting him, ready for another attack against the village.