Chapter 49
Present
"So that's what happened?"
Zing nodded. "At least, thats what the others told me. I pretty much lost consciousness after what happened with..." Kari placed her hand in his. They had sat down on one of the many couches in the fancy sitting room.
After hearing the tale, Kari was quite upset. Her friends went through all that, some even died trying to save her.
"What about Anya?"
"I don't know what to tell you. Her body was taken over by Dark Magic, so I don't think she'll be the same person ever again. I mean... She shot her own friends! She killed them without so much as a blink. According to Leon, Anya fought off the Magic before... And I want to believe that the real Anya is in there somewhere in that body.... But I just can't." Zing put his hand on his face.
Kari thought that they could save Anya. Dark Magic was hard to contend with, but if Anya could fight off the Dark Magic before, then there was still a chance.
"How did you get the idea to use dowsing to find me?"
"That was Leon. He came up with the idea." Zing said shrugging. "Don't ask me how though, cause I don't know."
Kari frowned. 'How could Leon have known about dowsing? Isn't he clueless when it comes to things related to Magic?' She considered this for a moment. 'I guess he could have just read about it in one of the many books in one of the many libraries.' She shook her head.
"And Tom? What did Melanie mean when she said, 'he observed the specimen and even lead us to more samples?'"
Zing frowned deeply. Kari thought she saw a look bordering disgust in his eyes.
"Tomas Dellinger, AKA Tom Diamond, was nothing more than a researcher doing an experiment with Sam as the test subject."
Kari felt anger rise in her stomach. "But... But if that's true, then-"
She stood up. He stared at her, but she didn't return his gaze. Instead, she extended her hand to him.
"Zing, let's go and join the others." He nodded and took her hand.
---
The others were eating in a larger than life dining room. 'One of the quadrillion in the castle.' Leon sighed. Just thinking about the vast number of rooms in the castle made him tired.
Leon picked at his food. He normally would eat, but he was too deep in thought.
Everyday there was something new that Leon learned about this place, Serenity Castle, and the country it was in, Avolin.
The Kingdom of the Twin Moons, Avolin, was almost 1000 years old. It was the only country on the dark side of the planet.
The other day when Leon heard that, he was skeptical. If Avolin was the only country on the dark side of the planet, then that implies that Avolin never sees the sun...
But when he saw a map of the world in the library, it was confirmed. The way the planet rotated on its axis prevented the country from facing the sun.
Avolin was a large nation, made up of various sized island provinces. Adalon, was the largest, northern most province and the place where the capital, Serene, was located.
Serene, of course, had the famous Castle in it. Leon was surprised to see that Avolin was indeed the only Nation of that side of the planet.
All the other countries were on the other side. The map called it the Solar Side. All the countries, except Avolin and one other small island called Belphagor. Avolin was on the Lunar Side, but Belphagor was between the two sides.
'So, that explains why I only ever see the moons and never the sun.' Leon thought then. 'It also explains why the moons only stay for 12 hours... Since Avolin, on the Lunar Side only gets the moons, then by that logic, Belphagor, which is on the border between the sides, should get both the sun and the moons. Like Earth.'
From what he'd read, Avolin was established by Wizards who were run out of their countries.
...
Long ago, Wizards were regarded as filth. The Elves, who possessed more powerful Magic, considered them at the bottom of the food chain. The Wizards were primarily used as slaves for the Elves. Eventually, the Wizards began to fight back against the oppression. They were able to gain their freedom and lived as they chose.
Unfortunately, the Elves were upset that the Wizards had succeeded with gaining freedom. So, the Elves started to kill the rebellious Wizards. Soon, they were almost wiped out. They were pushed even further down and forced to become slaves again in order to preserve their lives.
One of the Wizard families, the Avolins, decided that fighting for their freedom again wouldn't work. The Wizards needed to escape.
The Avolins leaded the small remaining group of Wizards on a perilous journey across the Solar Side. The Elves kept coming after them, making their already small group even smaller. Their group had reduced to 50 by then.
Serenen Avolin, the elder of the Avolin family didn't want for anyone else to die, so he lead the Wizards towards the BadLands.
It was a good idea, because the Elves valued their own lives too much to enter the Demon filled territory. Thus the Wizards were truly free at last.
Of course, they couldn't stay in the BadLands. None of them were strong enough to fight the Demons. Especially, since they were not used to using their Magic.
Serenen made another risky choice then. The Wizards were going to leave the BadLands and journey towards the Lunar Side.
It was a crazy idea at first, but the others came around to the idea after consistent Demon attacks.
Their journey proved a good idea. They established themselves on the Lunar Side. Eventually building a Kingdom and naming Serenen as their first King.
Serenen decided to call the newly established Kingdom Avolin and he took the name Saigan De Lune, which meant 'Savior of the Moon'.
From then on, the De Lune family lead the Kingdom towards prosperity.
...
Leon always felt overwhelmed when he learned something new about this alien planet.
'It's funny... It is an alien planet, but I feel as though I know it somehow...'
"Hey," Leon blinked and looked at Kari as she and Zing entered the dining room. She had a look on her face that was halfway between anger and sadness.
"Vice Admiral." The Princess approached Kari. Kari knelt onto one knee and placed her fist against her heart. "Please stand." Kari did so. "Zing explained everything to you, correct? Tell us... What is on your mind?"
"I have a few questions, your highness." The Princess nodded and motioned for Kari and Zing to sit in the seats next to her and the kids. "Firstly, Anya. Are we just going to leave her to be with the Hunters?" She directed this at her friends. Leon couldn't help but flinch at the question.
"Why not? She deserves to be with those evil people." Milo said darkly. Kari looked at him.
"Because she killed Alphonse and Freddy?"
"She killed Cam too." Leon flinched again at Milo's cold words and Kari noticed from the corner of her eye.
"It wasn't her that did that."
"Like hell!"
"The Dark Magic-"
"Leon said that she fought it off the first time, so why did she just let it get her again? She could have fought it like before!" Leon flinched a third time at the sound of his name. He felt really uncomfortable talking about this.
Kari frowned. "Maybe it was stronger than before-"
"Stop!" Milo yelled, slamming his fist against the table. Leon was surprised as the dinnerware shook. Kari, however, didn't seem to notice as she gazed at Milo. "She killed him! She's evil! How could I forgive her? She's a cold-blooded killer! I won't! I can't forgive her!"
"But-"
"Kari." She looked over at Billy, who spoke suddenly. "You didn't see the look in her eyes... You didn't feel the power of the Dark Magic... I don't think- No. I'm positive Anya will never be the same."
"Did you have a vision about it?"
Billy shook his head.
"Then I doubt your words." Kari thought as she slowly looked at everyone. "How do you all feel about me?"
Everyone gave her questioning looks.
"What do you mean?" Deandra asked.
"I mean, how do you feel about me as a person? Do you think I'm a good person?"
"What does that have to do-"
"Please answer." Kari said interrupting Deandra.
"Well," Shela started. "I think you are a good person. You always want to help others. Even now, you want to help Anya, even though-"
"Even though she's a murderer?" Shela nodded at Kari's words. "What if I told you that I'm a murderer too?"
"I don't believe you." Leon said confused. Kari smiled sadly.
"Anya killed them under the influence of Dark Magic. I, however... I have no excuse."
Leon's eyes widened.
---
"H-How'd you mean...?" Leon asked hesitantly. Kari smiled sadly.
"I am one of the Vice Admirals of the Royal Avolin Marines. Before that however, I was part of an elite group of assassins called the Griddea." Some of her friends gasped. She felt Zing tense beside her. "I helped them kill a few hundred people before I was promoted."
"A few hundred?" Hex questioned.
"Yes. Didn't you know that?"
"No. After basic training, you and I were separated into different groups before meeting again in the R.A.M. I knew you were part of some elite military branch, but I didn't know which. I certainly would have never guessed the Griddea." Hex said shrugging.
"That's because it is a top level Government secret. Assassin groups are supposed to be secret." Roger said frowning. "I didn't even know... You must have been traumatized."
"Why? Because I killed people on a daily basis?" Kari shrugged. "All of my Military and Assassin training was squeezed into 3 months. It happened so often, I got numb to it. I honestly don't even think about it when I kill. Its almost... Automatic."
Kari looked around to all her friends, except Zing and her kids. She knew what her kids were thinking, she told them a little bit about this before. Zing though, she didn't want to see the look on his face. Everyone else had the obvious shocked looks on their faces.
Kari put her hand on her left eye. "This scar... I got it because I refused to complete a mission with the Griddea." She put her hand on the table. "There was this kid, and he was targeted for some reason. It was my first assignment. I didn't understand why I had to kill some kid who was younger than me. So I refused. I even tried to help him. In the end, he was killed by another of the Griddea. And I was severely punished. I didn't save the kid. In fact, deep down, I resent him. And I resent this scar. It reminds me what happened when I tried to help him. It reminds me that I was weak. From then on, I just completed all the assignments I was given, no questions asked."
She took a deep breath. "Do you see now? You all thought I was a good person, but in reality, I'm the biggest monster here. Even though you have that knowledge, a majority of you would still save me if I need it." Kari softened her tone. "Anya may be the 'evil' now, but once we remove the Dark Magic she'll be back to her old self! We can still save her."
Kari got up. She walked towards the exit leading to the hallway.
"Kari..." Zing said.
"Vice Admiral... Didn't you have more questions?" The Princess inquired.
Kari turned back and bowed towards the Princess with her fist over her heart. "The other questions can be answered at a later date. For now, I would like to walk around by myself for a bit. I didn't get much exercise before. Please excuse me."
"Of course. You may go." The Princess nodded at Kari.
Kari straightened up and left the room before anyone else spoke.
She sighed as she made her way to the castle garden in the east wing. She had only been there twice before, but she knew exactly where it was, as it was her favorite part of the castle.
She knew her friends would be shocked by what she had said, but it was necessary for them to see the parallel between her and Anya.
They had risked their lives for her, a murderer, but they didn't want to save poor Anya who had been possessed by Magic? That, to Kari, was contradictory. Kari did leave out details in her story, but they were unnecessary for her point to be proven.
Anya could still be saved. It was too late for Kari, however.
Hell, Kari didn't even know if she herself could be considered good. She was too messed up to be saved.
Kari entered the garden and took a deep breath. She didn't know she was tense until she relaxed at the calming aroma of the various flowers and plants.
And she would have kept relaxing too, if it weren't for the bright orange light and the body that suddenly landed in front of her.
The body, clearly a man in his late twenties, sat up. He brushed off his brown cloak and ran a hand through his long silver colored hair. His hair fell over his shoulder. He looked at Kari with green hazel eyes. Kari saw his eyes widen, but for just a second.
"Oh! Hello there!" He said getting up.
He was a few feet taller than Kari and he had a slightly muscular build. Kari normally would have her guard up, but she was curious as to who this stranger was.
"I need to find The Chosen One. Have you seen them?"