The Guardian Vesuvius, Chapter 10: Worlds Dividing
"When we think about friendship and love, it is only natural to see only the happiness they bring. When you are making a friend or realising a love it never crosses our minds the terrible pain that could come at any moment. It could be that this is because we would rather enjoy the time that remains than live in fear of the time that it ends. However, it simply isn’t a decision so consciously made. For most of us, it is not as if we do not know of the pain a loved one can cause, it just evades our minds. We go on inviting more and more people into our hearts, into our world, regardless, as they too invite you into theirs. Your worlds come together. Once that has happened you can never go back, and if your worlds are forced apart they will never be the same.
Then there are those who have closed their hearts, closed their world. They refuse to allow people in anymore. The pain that it could cause has happened too many times before and destroys their faith in the risk. For these people, when they think about friendship and love, they see only the pain. Though they know of the happiness, it never occurs to them anymore. Their minds have inverted. Their world is safe, but alone
It is possible to live a life free of misery, but also free of joy. There is nothing to feel for, good or bad. To become numb, in this world where precious things are disappearing far, far too often, may be the answer for those who cannot hold their special something, or for those who will not look for it, for fear of the pain its loss could bring.
Nothing is ever so simple as a blessing or curse."
There was a peaceful silence in Vesuvius' cell now. A lot had happened in that small room recently, and Vesuvius might have enjoyed the chance to breathe, but his mind was still troubled by what had happened, having to recount the whole ordeal from start to finish in detail for the council was not easy. He didn't deserve to forget though, he thought, and for definite other guardians, like Dion, would not let him. If he was stripped of his guardian title then the pain and shame would likely never ease.
Vesuvius confused himself with this train of thought. As much as he was persecuted for what he did and as much as he was now hated, he still could not regret his actions. Every time he thought it through, he could not bring himself to think he made the wrong choice in saving Misaro and Fayth. Were his priorities really so messed up? Regardless, he continued to write the report. Even with his confusion he could do that; the report was simply a factual description of what happened and that was the only clear thing to Vesuvius about this. He didn’t even have to pause to remind himself; he remembered each action perfectly. It unsettled Vesuvius, how clear his memory was of the events, like it might never leave his mind.
Misaro at least was making something of this quiet time, sleeping soundly. For now, he had escaped what was happening. Vesuvius glanced over his shoulder to see him and smiled. "I hope he’s dreaming of something nice," he thought.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor outside, the silence was about to shatter. Someone with every intention of making a very loud point was coming. Voices were heard but what they were saying could not be made out, though one voice in particular was familiar. Vesuvius’s eyes widened as he realised who it was, he rose from the chair so fast it tumbled to the floor. As the door clanked open, Vesuvius could only stare into the maddened eyes of this, his most furious visitor.
"...Dion."
Dion scowled at Vesuvius as he stormed into the cell. Not stopping, he marched right up to Vesuvius, grabbed him by his top and slammed him heavily against the wall. Vesuvius gasped at the surprising force Dion used. Leaving Vesuvius with no time to catch his breath, Dion was right in his face as he shouted at him, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! YOU BASTARD! A GUARDIAN WITHDRAWAL?! YOU... YOU MURDERER!" Dion pushed against Vesuvius with his knuckles as he yelled at him. Vesuvius stared silently at the floor; he had no excuses or justification to offer. What could he possibly say to Dion now? He just kept silent. Dion's voice dropped but it was still writhe with anger. "Nothing to say?! I'm not surprised. You’re a disgrace, Vesuvius. No, you’re a traitor!! A traitor to your family, a traitor to Zanados, a traitor to me, and worst of all, a traitor to everyone on the surface that you have doomed!"
The commotion woke Misaro, attracting Dion's attention. Dion hadn't noticed the sleeping boy before; his focus had been on Vesuvius. Dion snarled at Misaro, yanked Vesuvius away from the wall and pointed at the child. "Is this him? Is THIS the single person you betrayed us all for? ONE pathetic kid! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!". Vesuvius seemed to turn dead, hanging lifeless in Dion's hands, eyes not veering from the ground. Dion grew even angrier as Vesuvius seemingly ignored him. Misaro yelped as he saw the terrible conflict right before him.
"RAAAH!" Dion screamed as he threw Vesuvius down on the floor in rage. Vesuvius slumped against the wall. Dion was losing it and was becoming more violent. He pulled Vesuvius’s head up by his hair. "LOOK AT ME! YOU PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU HANG THERE LIKE I’M NOT HERE... JUST!..." Dion was exhausted by his outburst and in his fatigue, his anger gave way to sorrow. His voice reduced to a pained whisper. "Just... how little did our friendship mean to you... that you would betray me... all of us... for some stranger?"
Still Vesuvius could only look away from Dion. Inside, Vesuvius was weeping. He yearned to find words to say but there were none. Dion's rage set back in just as fast as it left. He drew back his fist to strike Vesuvius but before he could, Misaro leapt in the way, standing between the two guardians. Tears fell down Misaro's stern face as he looked up at Dion, who was heaving his breaths in anger and exertion. "L... LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Misaro closed his eyes tight as he fought his fear to stand up to the frightening spectacle of the enraged Guardian.
Dion scowled down at the boy. "You... YOU! THIS IS AS MUCH YOUR FAULT AS IT IS HIS!" Dion brought his fist down towards Misaro.
Now, Vesuvius's eyes left the floor.
In Valyos's tower. Fayth had realised the meaning behind what he had said to her earlier.
"You... you can't be serious... NO!" Fayth nearly shrieked, her hands clasping over her mouth. Valyos’s statue-still face stared back at her. "It seems you understand what I mean. Good, I could do without the bother of explaining it any further." Valyos sneered at Fayth's shock, for him, it carried no wieght "I don’t see what you’re so bothered about; we don’t know each other. We are far from friends, in fact, I think it’s fair to say we don’t think very much of each other. Don’t you have people who are actually close to you to be concerned about?"
The sudden question took the shocked Fayth a while to process, "W... what do you mean?"
Valyos lifted his arm up and slowly pointed downwards. "Your friends on the surface, they live in the area of the guardian withdrawal. They are in grave danger with no guardians around to hold back the true scale of mankinds evil. Or have you forgotten about those close to you, like your 'hero' Vesuvius?"
Fayth frowned, jolted back to her defiant self by Valyos' attack on her. "No! I haven’t forgotten about them. In fact, one of the things I want to talk to you about is getting this..withdraw
al thing to stop! I don’t know the full story but I’ve gathered that the guardians have taken it upon themselves to protect the people on the surface from the same horrid evil that left them without a reason to live. Evils that are getting out of control. You’ve taken an oath, haven’t you? You have a duty to these people... You can’t just leave them for dead, you just...CAN’T!".
Fayth may have continued if Valyos hadn't suddenly started speaking. He was unphased by Fayth's pleas. His voice and face remained the same as ever, dismissive and cold "You’re right, you don’t know the full story. In light of this, do you think you’re in any place to be telling me what my duty is? And as for our oath, you should be reminding Vesuvius of that. He is the one who has left those people for dead. The withdrawal of our guardians is to prevent the catastrophe that would occur if we were ever discovered. It is for that same reason that you and Misaro can never leave this place; the secret of our existence must never be known by those on the surface. Once again, you can thank Vesuvius for that."
Fayth seemed defeated. Valyos was right, she didn’t know how this place worked or how things like this were dealt with here. Still, she couldn't accept that just letting so many people die was the best way, her heart couldn’t accept that so much death was ever necessary. She thought of all her friends, those who were the only people who gave her a life outside Funuchi. She couldn’t bear to lose them, not after all they had done and all they meant to her. She simply had to save them and if the guardians wouldn't do it, then she would do it herself. Somehow.
Lost in this thought, Fayth hardly noticed Valyos preparing to leave. "Hey! Where are you going?"
He continued with what he was doing, not even looking at Fayth, replying almost subconciously. "I have to be present at the control centre. The withdrawal will be managed from there and all council members are required to be there."
Fayth yelled at the boy’s back. His nonchalant attitude to everything, even these pending horrific events, was beginning to get to her. "HOW CAN YOU SO EASILY DO THIS? DO THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE MEAN SO LITTLE TO YOU?"
Valyos sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? You’re misdirecting the blame. Maybe you find it easier to blame every other guardian than the one you favour, but Vesuvius was the one who disregarded the lives of all those people. He was aware of this possibility when he broke his oath. We are only doing what we must to prevent the worst. Now, I cannot be detained by your ignorance any longer." Valyos made his way over to the door, the guardians who had escorted them here earlier opened it as he approaced. "Take her back down to the cells, this time have her put in a separate one to the traitor and the boy...and be sure to lock it," he instructed them. The guardians nodded and fixed thier eyes on Fayth as Valyos moved past. She gasped and backed away from them as far as she could. She couldn’t be put back in a cell now, she had to find a way to get to her friends, she had to escape and get back to the surface and warn them.
Back in the cell, Dion's anger at Vesuvius had driven him to a blind rage as he went to strike Misaro. Throughout the entire ordeal Vesuvius had been paralysed by shame before his once close friend, unable to say a word or move a muscle against him, unable to defend himself because he could find no grounds on which he could do so. Vesuvius knew he was a traitor, he knew that Dion was right to be angry at him, but suddenly life rushed back into him as Dion turned his rage on Misaro. Before Dion could land his blow, Vesuvius sprang to his feet and clasped Dion's fist in his palm, his movement so fast that a gust of air and dust dashed about the cell.
Slowly, Vesuvius finally raised his head till his eyes met Dion's, those piercing eyes he once wore now returned. Dion was too lost in shock to pull his hand away, not that he easily could, Vesuvius gripped it fiercly with a rigid arm that refused to move. After a tense moment, Vesuvius spoke, his tone an angry whisper, like he was giving a warning to Dion. At the sound of his voice, Misaro slowly opened his eyes to see Vesuvius standing strong and daunting like he used to, protecting him once more. "I will accept any hate you have for me without question. Strike me and yell for all eternity and I would only understand and agree with you. I have committed the unforgivable and so I will not defend myself when I have no right." Vesuvius stood upright and seemed to double in size from the weak, hunched figure Dion had pinned to the wall. "But the moment you try to place any blame on Misaro, Fayth or ANYONE other than me, then my duty as a guardian tells me to protect them."
Dion snarled and angrily snatched his hand away from Vesuvius's grip. "How can you speak to me of duty? You betrayed every duty you had."
Vesuvius' stern gaze did not falter. The two guardians scowled at each other, a near tangible force of opposition between them. Other than in their memory, no sign of their bond remained. "I know that, and I will pay whatever price I have to for it... but you won’t harm my friends for what I did."
Dion's face screwed up in utter fury. "DON’T TRY TO SOUND LIKE THE REPENTANT SINNER! THE PRICE OF YOUR SIN IS BEING PAID BY US ALL, EVEN THOSE ON THE SURFACE!" Dion stepped up to Vesuvius and came right to his face, lowering his voice, he looked Vesuvius up and down demeaningly. "And last I remember, you couldn't care less about your... friends." Dion tried to hide his sadness, but Vesuvius could read the pain, could sense how Dion's heart was torn apart. And why shouldn't it be? The man Dion had placed all his trust in after his tragedy, the man who he had become close friends with and shared his childhood with had seemingly turned his back on him and everything they once stood for. He had betrayed him.
Suddenly Dion turned away and stormed back to the door. He paused as he passed Misaro and glared at him, the boy wide-eyed at the scene that played out before him. Dion angrily snapped his words out as he spoke to Misaro. "Listen kid, you may hold this guy in high regard now, but one day you'll see he's just a... just a worthless LIAR!" He left without another glance at Vesuvius. The door was shut and locked by the escorts outside.
Vesuvius listened as Dion's heavy footsteps pounded down the corridors, each one shuddered in Vesuvius' heart, only once the sound had completely gone did he relax his body. He gave a heavy sigh and turned to Misaro. "Hey, are you okay?" Misaro looked up at him and nodded, still a little shaken by the whole thing. Vesuvius helped him to his feet and smiled. "Thanks for helping me out back there… Looks like you’re getting braver, Misaro."
Misaro blushed and awkwardly looked around. He had long since forgotten how to respond to a compliment and it was clear. "...Uhh… thanks," was all he could think to say. It wasn't like he believed he was getting braver but he didn't want to argue with Vesuvius about it now. It wasn't really important. Besides, Misaro had something else on his mind that he wanted to ask Vesuvius about. "Who was that man? …He spoke like he knows you well."
Vesuvius sighed and picked the chair up before struggling onto it, his body sore from Dion's attack. "That was Dion. He and I were close friends back while I was still being trained as a guardian. Now though, because of my betrayal of the oath, things couldn't be more different between us. It’s not just about what I did, something happened to Dion before Zanados brought him to the sanctuary that makes him... particularly sensitive when it comes to people betraying and abandoning him. Believe me when I say, Misaro, that he has every right to act like that towards me."
Misaro, who was more eager than ever to learn and understand all he could about Vesuvius, couldn't help but pry further. "What was it like...your training?...and what happened to Dion?"
Vesuvius smirked at the enthusiam and gave a little chuckle. "Oh? You want to hear everything, huh? Well, I guess I could lay off this report for a while. And anyway, the more clued in you are, the easier it will be for you while you’re here." Misaro nodded in agreement and sat himself down on the bed to listen to another part of Vesuvius' past.
Vesuvius stared into space as he recalled the time before he was sent to the surface. "Dion came to the sanctuary a year and a few months after I did, so I was already into my training when I met him. When Zanados first brought him here he was reluctant to have any sort of contact with anyone. He was scared, as we all were when we first came here, remember we all came up here after a very painful time in our lives, but while I was brought here just after I discovered my house and family in flames, Dion wasn't found until weeks after his tragedy. He'd spent all that time alone and broken down and he was afraid to let anyone in at that point. I saw him every so often but I thought nothing of it. I was young and my mind was mostly on my training. About a month or so later Dion suddenly appeared in my training classes. I was told that he had quickly moved up to this level. He had become so single-minded that he didn’t speak unless it was a challenge to a sparring match and his only contact was fighting. We were both focused on our training so he and I would spar a lot even outside classes. Back then, it was more of a rivalry than a friendship. That was all we did with each other for a long time. It wasn’t until we were assigned a member of the sentinel council to continue our training under that we finally started opening up to each other."
Vesuvius smiled as he told the story. These were clearly fond memories. "We were given different masters and we would meet up and tell each other how we were doing. We would spar from time to time when we had something new to show off. I was 17 when we really started to recognise each other as friends, then Dion started to open up to other people too. To him, this was truly a place of healing. Four years from then, when I completed my training and received my area to serve as guardian, Dion approached me before I left and told me what had happened to him before he came here."
Now Vesuvius's voice took a sombre tone and his face became sad. "He said that his father's life long friend had murdered him out of jealousy. Apparently the two of them had loved his mother since they were young. His father's friend had sunk into drug abuse and had murdered his father and raped and killed his mother. Dion had known the man well. He came round and visited often, he said they even went out on weekend breaks together and Dion had built a strong bond with his father’s friend. Then Dion put his hand on my shoulder and thanked me for restoring his faith in the purpose of the heart and that he was proud of what we were doing now. Then I... I promised him to always value his friendship and never turn my back on him… To not betray him like that man did, I broke that promise when I put the entire sanctuary at risk by killing Funuchi."
Misaro stood up sharply and frowned. "Listen! I don't care what anyone else has said to you, Vesuvius, what you did was NOT wrong! Funuchi couldn't be allowed to go on doing what he was doing to Fayth!...and..everyone else!"
Vesuvius smiled weakly and glanced over at Misaro, standing as defiantly as he could, which wasn't very. "Don’t get me wrong, I don't regret what I did. Even now I would still have made that same choice. Yet, in doing that, I let a lot of people down and effectively killed a whole lot more, so I can't exactly be proud of it either. Every guardian in the sanctuary, especially Dion, has every right to be angry with me and lock me up like this.”
Misaro didn't know what to say, so he just fell silent. He knew in his heart that this couldn't be the best way. To lock away and hate the hero and to let all those people on the surface die. He didn't understand how an organisation built on protecting people could allow something like this to happen. He wouldn’t make anything of it, though; he just blamed it on not understanding this strange, new place. He started to worry about Fayth. She had been gone for some time now. Even in this castle in the sky, supposedly devoid of any evil people, why did he feel she was in danger?
Fayth tried as hard as she could to find a way past the two guardians that Valyos had ordered to put her into a cell, but they were too fast. These were guardians, warriors with strength, speed and reflex way beyond anything any normal person could realise. There simply was no way she could get past. She had to give up, falling to her knees in despair. There was no way she could save her friends or even get a warning to them of the terrible danger they were soon to be in. "Why… why would you do this to them?" she whispered under her breath, then she closed her eyes tight, clenched her fists and screamed as loud as she could at the sanctuary, at every guardian who would hear, "HOW COULD YOU!" Her voice echoed down the tower. Even guardians in the noisy forges below heard her, but it was no use, even though the guardians felt for her, no one would help her here, Valyos' orders were never disobeyed, more out of respect than fear.
She let herself be captured but had already proven to herself she wasn't one to give up so easily. Inside still burned an unflinching determination to somehow escape and stop this from happening. Even in this situation of distress, her mind was calm and collected. She decided she would see what she could do once she had been left in the cell. Perhaps there was some way of escaping. Despite her deep concern for her friends on the surface, she still had room to worry equally so about Misaro and Vesuvius. Vesuvius had had nothing but persecution and despair ever since he got there, and Misaro, how would the poor boy ever be able to cope, imprisoned up here? How could this be the place where those in pain came to heal? How could this be the place that protected the whole world she thought, when ever since the three of them arrived, things had only got worse and worse for them
At this moment she was clueless as to what she would do. She knew next to nothing about the place and certainly didn't know her way around. Who knew how many thousands of feet off the ground they were? The more she thought about it the more hopeless it became. If only she could talk to someone who could stop this from happening. When she thought about someone she could talk with, a name came to her mind. What about that Zanados that Vesuvius and Valyos had mentioned? He was apparently the father of all the guardians, the master of this Sky Sanctuary. If she could just find him and talk to him, surely someone who created an organisation to protect the world would be kind enough to hear her out. Yet she wasn’t so sure about that, she hadn't seen much in the way of kindness here yet. Either way, she had no idea what he looked like or where he would be in this huge place. She quietly sighed as every train of thought lead her to the same dead ends. Still, she wasn’t going to give up yet. If she had to wander blindly through the entire castle till she found him, then that’s what she would do! After being taken down what seemed like hundreds of stairs and corridors, she was finally placed into a cell. As the cell door was closed and locked, she started straight away to try and find a way to get out. She had to find this Zanados, or someone who could take her to him, before it was too late.
At that moment, Zanados was at the control centre with Ferrah. The control centre was located in Ferrah's tower, and was where all guardian movement was planned and monitored. It was also where the Sky Sanctuary could communicate with the Guardians on the surface using a special frequency only Guardians could pick up. Here would be where Zanados would announce the withdrawal, and he and Ferrah would carefully guide the guardians back to the sanctuary whilst protecting them from being spotted. The control centre used a series of powerful cameras positioned on the sanctuary’s underside that rapidly recorded images of the surface and send them to the computers inside. With Ferrah's expertise, it could even acquire images from parts of the world thousands of miles from the sanctuary’s location by downloading them from satellites. It was the perfect unit and had allowed the guardians to operate in complete secrecy and confidence all this time. The room was shaped like a cone, with rings of computers getting progressively smaller as they descended to the centre, where the master computer that was operated by Ferrah stood. With the whole centre in full activity, as it was at this urgent moment, it was likeable to and indeed looked somewhat like an orchestra, with Ferrah as the conductor surrounded by his musicians. Zanados stood by Ferrah as he readied the systems to execute the complicated withdrawal. The numerous guardians at the surrounding computer rings spoke to each other through their headsets, creating a chorus of murmurs that seemed unintelligible, but each person heard what they needed to.
Ferrah turned to face Zanados. The master of the guardians looked into nothing and glanced at Ferrah when he felt his eyes on him.
"We’re about ready to start, Master Zanados. Once the rest of the council has arrived we'll just be waiting for your order to begin..." After a pause, Ferrah's tone turned from a purely informative one to a concerned one. "...Are you sure about this? You know what this will do to your..."
Zanados sharply cut him off, the powerful voice commanding silence, even in his relaxed, reassured manner of speech. "Don’t worry, Ferrah, I can withstand it easily. Save your concern for those people who will be without our protection during this time, those poor souls are the ones who are at the most risk." Zanados looked away from Ferrah, glancing up at the entrance above as he waited for the other council members. "This is the only way. Lets just get it done and hope it never has to happen again."
Ferrah nodded, but of course Zanados could sense he was still worried. He placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I am grateful for your concern, but please concentrate on the task. I will not buckle to the pain, this I swear, so please be at ease with at least this. We have too much to have our minds on now to allow us such little worries. I am sorry to ask this of you, as sorry as I am to have to make this decision".
Ferrah smiled. "I won’t let you down." With that he turned back to the computer and started the final preparations.
Zanados closed his eye and breathed deeply, in his mind, a name and a deep feeling of sympathy. "I’m sorry... Sandra."
Down on the surface, completely unaware of the terrible danger he was in, Alex Davids stared out of his apartment window. Closing his eyes and breathing out his smoke, he let several photos and notes, full of scribbles, crossing out and highlighting, slip from his grip and fall to the floor. As hard as he had worked, he hadn't got any further in his search for answers. Not just for the mysterious killer of Funuchi but also of something many years prior, something much closer to his heart. One thought crossed his mind before he begrudgingly switched off the last light in his apartment and forced himself to bed.
"I’m sorry... Sandra."
To a small portion of the world, the reality of the terrible corruption and evil of mankind was about to become painfully clear, as it smashed through thier windows, crashed through thier doors and destroyed thier lives. Like a bursting dam, swallowing everything in it's path
Only God could save them now...
Fankooooo for reading *glomps* I hope you all had an awesome christmas =^w^= *jingles bells*
Chapter 11: His Face is a Map of the World
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