NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35: Confrontations
When Luisa awoke once more, her hands and feet were chained to a wall behind her and a dank, awful smell hit her nose almost immediately, it smelled like rotten flesh and vomit and she swore she could feel how the insides of her nose was burning away at the smell. The source of the small she found to be an unmoving body next to her, she could see whisks of smoke emitting from it and it was shackled to the wall the same way she herself was.
If it wasn’t for the very small movements of the bodies chest, Luisa would have assumed it was a corpse, but it wasn’t a copse, it was the body of Hanna.
Luisa looked at Hanna and it felt so extremely wrong what her eyes were telling her, ever since first meeting her Luisa had felt that Hanna had a certain aura around her, arrogant brash and extremely sadistic, there were seldom moments when Hanna didn’t seem like she could and would kill you at any moment and in moments were Hanna gave way to her anger and you happen to look at her in that moment, it felt like death itself was staring right at you.
But now, Luisa looked down at the once terrifying and imposing body of the monster who burned down an entire village out of a thirst of revenge, the body of the one responsible for the destruction of an entire noble lineage, and she felt nothing but disgusted and contempt for it and not even a hint of fear flared inside of her when she looked at that body.
At First Luisa had thought Hanna to be a fearsome beast, someone who could And needed to be feared, someone who did what they wanted and held absolute control over their own life, never letting anyone else stop them in the path she had chosen to walk, but with time, that illusion shattered and the truth was revealed to Luisa.
Hanna was barley above a raging animal, constantly searching for someone to blindly kill, never once stopping to properly plan or even to just think for more then a single second, constantly rushing in with no regard for anything like a hungry, wild animal.
Luisa often wondered why she accepted Hanna‘s proposal that one fateful day, but if she was honest with herself she knew why and she just couldn’t bring herself to accept that her hopes from that day, had been crushed into a fine powder. On that day, Luisa had looked into those crimson eyes and had seen the horror beneath it, it was a cold uncaring stare that told her she didn’t care for anything or anyone else besides herself, in those eyes, the life of someone was but a single toy to amuse and entertain her until it was no longer useful, at which point it would be tossed aside.
Luisa had hoped that she may follow this monster and be obedient to it, so she may taste even a fraction of that power over others, that control that she had only been a victim of for her entire life, this was her chance to finally be the one in control, the one with the power and at first it worked brilliantly, but over time… something changed and Luisa hated that change.
Luisa‘s head perked up as she heard steps coming towards them and soon enough a tall man in armor was standing before them, in his arms he was holding his helmet, open which one could spot a symbol of a swan with its wings spread out forming a circle around the animal.
The man was talking, that much Luisa still noticed, but she couldn’t hear what the man was saying, her heart was beating to fast for that, her hands balled into fist and her entire body tensed up and if it weren’t for the shackles that bound her to the wall behind her, she would have jumped straight at the mans face, but she couldn’t and so she had no choice but to stare in pure black hatred at the man in front of her and even once he had left, she continued to glare until he finally disappeared behind the walls and corridors and even after he had left it took shy of an hour for Luisa to stop remembering the mans long and pointy ears.
Looking back towards Hanna, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation, as she realised how right she had been. When elfs were around she was just as bad as Hanna was around everyone.
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"THIS IS ABSOLUTE MADNESS! HOW CAN YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!!!???" It’s not often that he lost his temper and if does everyone knows that whatever made him lose it, was truly unbelievable. And everyone around him right now shared his disbelief, his shock and his anger, they all had reacted similarly when they heard it for the first time.
Lord honourable James Wilting was by all accounts the most influential noble of the Kingdom of Fahrgust, he made his name in the upper class through his stunning wealth, intellect and military success, while the lower classes knew him through his generosity and willingness to speak for them in regards of political change.
He was one of the first to realise that keeping the lower classes happy and giving them access to certain things resulted in better taxes and more power for himself, but in truth that was secondary, his father had been one of the hero‘s of the war, the people that appeared in a shining light from beyond this world to turn the tide of the war and save the kingdom.
Most of these hero’s became nobles of the kingdom afterwards and they were blessed with an incredible life span, They settled into their new life’s And brought with them many ideas that completely disassembled and reconstructed the political system as the people had known it, there were elections and political representation and the king no longer held absolute authority, it was still a long shot away from the democracies of earth but it was a start.
James‘ father had raised his son to hold nearly identical values of freedom and democracy as he had, but with time those mellowed out, as much as he wished it, he couldn’t change the century old system within a couple of days, it would take time and many people for this to happen, he always told his son to continue to reform the system, to make the place a better place.
Luckily for the old hero his son pridefully continued to hold his father’s ideals of freedom and democracy in high regard and ever since ascending to the royal council of nobility, he would try and convince the other nobles to enact changes to allow for more freedoms of the people. Most of his ideas were rejected outright, but some came to discussion and a lucky few even managed to come into effect.
The other nobles didn’t question the genius of James, they respected him and held him in very high regards, they simply believed such radical changes shouldn’t be applied 'with little to no regard to the possible dangers to society as we know it' as they officially called it, in reality, they simply didn’t want to lose every privilege they had so quickly, but there was one exception to this.
Lord honourable Donner von Bolt was the noble in control of the two most southern regions of the kingdom, he had become somewhat of a hero himself after he successfully stopped the invasion that had come from the Southland desert and was only rivalled in fame by James himself and perhaps Trace, the now captain of the royal guard, at least in the capital and it‘s surrounding regions, in his own two regions, the peasants called him, 'The Iron Fist' or in more hushed tones, 'The butcher of the south'.
Born right at the tail end of the war against the demons, the old noble had fought many a battle and had ruled over many subjects in his life and he absolutely loathed the attempts of reform that the other nobles are trying to push through, he had lived as a rule for longer then any of them, he knows how the peasants act when given more freedom, they become rowdy and unproductive and they are never satisfied, it takes true and complete rule to hold them in line and nothing else, they should know their place.
Right now, Lord Donner was the man sitting across from the young Lord James, who was clearly very displeased by the actions the old noble had taken over the last couple of hours, a sentiment most other nobles that were present seemed to share, a sentiment Lord Donner couldn’t give two shits about.
"Of course I can. It was my personal men that captured it and so I can do as I please with them and what I’m doing is for the safety and security of the kingdom."
Lord James stared at the old man in front of him in complete disbelief, they rarely ever agreed on anything, but that didn’t mean he didn’t respect the old noble, how could he not? He was the perfect example of the rags to riches stories his father used to tell him, a poor farmers boy rising to one of the most influential positions in the kingdom through smart and clever decisions and charismatic leadership, but right now, all he saw was a paranoid old fool, risking the safety of the entire kingdom, for no good reason.
"For the safety of the Kingdom? You keeping it alive is a far greater risk to the kingdom‘s safety then anything else! It burned down an entire village and slaughtered its entire population save for a single boy and you are telling me, keeping the thing responsible for this atrocity is making the kingdom more save?!"
He exploded into the old nobles face, his hands banging on the wooden table between them, causing the many cups on it to shake violently, his outburst was so explosive that the nearby guards all instinctively reached for their swords, believing that Lord James was about to jump onto the old noble, even the nobles in support of James winched at the sight.
Lord Donner, for his part, remained completely unfazed by the outburst and simply waited until Lord James calmed down enough so he may speak again, but when he spoke there was a certain edge to it, clearly the old noble wasn’t as uneffected by the young ones outburst after all.
"We both know who now sits on the throne of those Demons and we both know what that means no? That monster is one of the few things that is actually capable of scaring them into submission, so long As we hold that beast in our hands they would not dare to attack us and risk that we release it upon their lands, in the past there were multiple and we needed a coalition of all to stop them, so even if it just one, it can destroy them from the inside, or at the very least distract them long enough so we have the ability to shore up our defences."
"You would leave such a monster alive, and risk the life of so many people for something as this?! We don’t know how he will act through his reign, for all we know he could mellow out or become our ally, I don’t see how you can risk so many lives because of a single scenario that is so extremely unlikely! And you would release it into there lands?! You would put so many innocent life’s at risk for this?!“
This outburst was less loud but just as explosive as the last, though this time Lord James refrained from hitting the table in front of him, his hands were still slightly stinging from last time after all.
The old noble leans forward from his chair and staring right into the anger filled and furious green eyes of the young noble in front of him, his face was set into a icy glare and they silently stared for a few moments, the air around them grew so tense that once again the guards took a step forward, ready to intervene at a moments notice.
Eventually, the old noble answered.
"I would gladly do so, if it means I protect this kingdom."
After that he leans back into his chair, while Lord James remained still for a few moments, he closes his eyes and stands up from his chair, without looking at the old noble one more time he turns around and walks towards the nearby oak door, once there he opens it, but before he leaves he says one more thing to the old noble.
"Then you are a fool, you will bear the burden of responsibility alone if anything happens, so be prepared for it."
And he slams the door behind him.
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There was a groan and shortly afterwards was the first ever movement her body has done in almost an entire year, at first she struggled to get up from her position as every single movement caused her pain and she felt extremely dizzy and had problems with orientation, as no matter where she looked, all she saw was an large expanse of white before, behind, above or below her, it was all endless white, the only colour was herself.
Eventually she managed to stand on her legs, but something felt wrong, beyond the never ending pain she felt from her body there was a second feeling inside of her, it was difficult to describe but she felt sort of empty, she tried to remember what had last happened to her, maybe that way she could see just what was missing.
That had been a mistake.
She fell to her knees almost immediately panting heavily and holding her head as unimaginable pain shot through her, in a single moment she remembered everything that had happened to her ever since she had somehow arrived in that fantastical other world and That truly included everything.
Her body was assaulted with every single sensation she had experienced prior, every pain, every pleasure, every breath she had taken and every word she spoke, everything, all at once.
And in the next moment it was all over except for the pain, her body was overwhelmed in an absolute way that no mortal being should have ever survived in the first place, she withered and wailed as the pain encased her, every movement of her hair hurt her, every breath she took burned her lungs and every cry charred her throat.
She didn’t know for how long she withered in her agony, seconds? Maybe a few minutes or perhaps an entire year, whatever the case, the moment it stopped was the happiest moment of her entire life, after what felt like a eternity of pain she was finally able to move her body without pain, take a breath without worrying it could suffocate her and don’t feel like her entire body was but a single moment away from combusting while her insides melted into a liquid paste.
She could finally, finally move without problems and so she stood up, but once she did she noticed how her body felt different, it felt… lighter, had she lost some weight?
Looking down to find the answer, she was greeted, not by the sight of her stomach, but rather a giant hole where her stomach was supposed to be.
Jumping back in fright revealed to her that both her arms and legs were also littered with holes where flesh and bone were supposed to be, her hands were both missing multiple chunks on her wrists and palm as well as anew fingers here and there, and touching he face revealed that even there multiple holes could be found.
She knew she was supposed to freak out right about now, maybe have a complete break down, she knew that was how most people would react and yet she didn’t seem to do that simple task, rather then fear she felt… nothing.
No fear, or panic, no pain or anger, confusion was there and some morbid fascination but beyond that… there was nothing, she felt nothing. She knew this isn’t right, this isn’t how she would react normally, normally she would be shrieking at the top of her lung, but she didn’t, so something must be wrong right? So what the hell was happening?
A sudden hand on her shoulder was what brought her back out of her thoughts.
"Hello there, you seem lost, and I think I can help you."
With a Start she turned around and came face to face with a small woman with blond hair, cat like ears perturbed from the sides of her head, she wore a simple crimson red dress with a short skirt of the same colour beneath it, a black overall on top of it all And heavy black boot on her feet. Behind her a very thin, almost needle like tail swished back and forth in a slow pattern and crimson red eyes stared at her, a small grin on the woman’s face revealed her razor sharp teeth and although her hands were hidden behind her back, she knew they were adorned with long and sharp claws, for she knew this woman.
She was staring at herself.
"Don’t worry Hanna, I think we‘ll come to a great decision at the end of all of this, so for now, follow me Kay?"
