After Rudrik threw his tantrum and voiced his griviences, an uncomfortable silence befell the frosted forest, the stark white grounds looked to be too still as if it was also scared of disturbing the aftermath of such a heated conversation. Everyone seemed to have been lost to one thought after another, the gravity of the words spoken was too powerful like a hurricane sweeping everything on its path. All of them had things to consider going forward but none of them seemed certain of what to say next. The one question that haunted her the most was...
How much of it can she take by heart and how much of it still needed to undergo processing. The most grueling one being: did she stand with the right people?
This was becoming nerve-wrenching because no one seemed to be forthcoming with details of anything that may shed light to her journey. They all seemed to assume she will figure things out all on her own while claiming to stand with her. Who could blame her for having her heart swayed at the first chance of an opponent sprouting malicious words fuelled by hatred and the thirst for destruction... who knows, maybe not all villains were born villainous but then, is there redemption beyond that line? She was stuck between arock and a hard place not knowing what must happen next. Everyone seemed to be anticipating her decision after everything was laid bare for her to see. Her mind was still trying to process everything at once which got her feeling a little dizzy from all that was said since she became aware of her the responsibilities she was made to shoulder for the entire human race. So what if she just gave up? What if she just let everyone deal with their own shit... won't that be fair on everyone? She hadn't realised she was taking all accounts into consideration when suddenly...
"Wait! When you said that people will shun me, does that include dad? mom?" her mind was starting to ring the bells of panic so she tried to reign on it before it escalates out of control.
"What purpose do you think is served when you server all your with them? Leaving without notifying them of your whereabouts... you are just a pawn Princess, seeing as you already blamed yourself for my job, you were an easy target to manipulate while deliberately obscuring consequences of the final showdown"
She felt that the guy was speaking in parables but she did get one thing clear, one thing she wanted to to confirm from the old man.
"Is that it? Am I just an airhead puppet on a string?" she felt the tight leash she had put around her emotions slowly slipping from the firm grip of her hand.
This was bad... this was too bad!
She felt her eyes fire up and she knew they no longer looked the calm hazel field that always a calm, serene stillness. She can't be irrational right now, she can't afford to... just incase it ends up looking like ahe ia taking a certain side that she may come to regret sooner rather than later.
"Calm yourself down Princess" the old man made a futile attempt at trying to reason with her
He isn't answering my question... He is not answering the damn question!
Her head flashed red at the blatant ignorance of her question, despite the helpless plea in the man's unseeing eyes, she felt the switch tug at her heart, wanting to be set free. The chaos inside her begged to explode since it was triggered so she figured since the old man and the Sentinel aren't willing to talk, it may as well be the confirmation she was waiting for... so did that mean she is siding with the enemy? Is she abandoning all of humanity? F*ck all that, she will see about it but for now...
"Dana!" she heard the frantic voice almost pleading with her from a diatance before a blinding blue light engulfed her whole being.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The Decider
"You shouldn't have said anything"
"What did you expect me to do, huh?" he replied angrily.
"You were too impulsive... who knows if she bought the story you spun her"
"I know I should've considered you before playing this card but we still have a card in our hands that we can still use" he smiled wickedly.
"Don't even think about it this time"
He didn't miss the glare nor the high pitched sound in which the sentence was formed so he softened a little.
"With your permission ofcourse" he countered.
"You know you weren't honest with her right?" he didn't miss the accusation but he feigned ignorance either way.
"I didn't exactly lie to her either" he pinched the space between his brows and took a deep breath before adding "I will make this right when the time comes but for now, there is no backing down from the path we have forged. It will all be worth it in the end, believe me" he reasoned.
"Well your move was impulsive ofcourse... I just cant help thinking whether it was stupid or just explosive"
He chuckled darkly at the irony of the last word, heck... this was all he needed to hear to put him at ease.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
"Why didn't you stop him" the Sentinel finally spoke when they reached a secluded location in the heart of the forest. He struggled to understand why the old man did not refute the words of the Lord of Vengeance when he could've clearly done so effortlessly.
"What do you think would've happened if we had stuck to bickering back and forth while she stood there listening?" the old man asked, his gaze still locked on the distance ahead.
The Sentinel was caught offguard with this question so he found himself in a daze as to how to answer this tricky question. The old man saw the dazed expression on the face of the ever so stoic face of the Sentinel and chuckled dryly.
'Who would have thought' the old man mused internally
"Some maturity is a given, like a gift from divinity but some can only materialise from years of experience. You are still young so you might find this difficult to comprehend. However, never let someone guilt trip you into falling to his verbal trap where your next move is in the palm of his hands. Do not let their foul words render you just a component of their massive destructive plan"
As expected, the Sentinel couldn't quite grasp on to every word of the old man but he got the picture that he was trying to paint him. He was indeed the Wise Owl.
"Will Princess return... unscathed?" he asked hesitantly, forcing himself to force his rage down to its minimal, he was in a dilemma.
"She wants the truth, not pretty lies. She knows to tell the difference between the two and she sure knows where each one lies" although it wasn't the answer he was hoping for, he still settled for it because he knew that was as far as his questions will be enetertained by an answer seeing that the old man had started walking forward.
She opened her eyes when she felt the sting of cold wind brush against her skin and she realised she was lying naked in the bank of ocean blue waters. They were calm and gave her a feeling of deja vú but she couldn't tell why it felt like this was recurring dream so she dismissed the feeling of familiarity clawing at her insides. She turned around and looked into the water and a confused look appeared on her face before realization kicked in. She touched her cheeks, feeling the texture of her skin before her fingers trailed to her eyes. Her eyes darkened considerably before she straightened up. Seeing as there wasn't even a single robe for her to use to shelter her body, she stood up on her feet and flashes of the events from the same night made an apppearance and a crooked smile curved up in her smooth face
'I am coming old man'