247 Old Wheelchair

"What the hell kind of decision is that?" Thomas spat, glaring over at the Knights' Academy, where Alexander had run off to. He began to pace: "Elero, we've all seen how well you fight. Out of everyone, you deserve this spot-" He paused, seeing as Elero wasn't listening. She looked for some place to go but there was only the flat, empty plane of the mountain's dirt peak.

In the cold night, among the sea of clouds and the starry sky, Elero's curses rang out like thunder: loud, powerful, and successive. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she let her legs turn back into mush. She put her face in her hands. Occasionally a muffled curse rang out. "Fuck this. Fuck the academy. Fuck everything. It's all just a bunch of bullshit."

"Is what General Alexander said true?" Frey asked as he caught Thomas by the back of his shirt, already tired of his pacing. Of everyone, only he spoke with clarity.

"Frey," Thomas said. "Look at her, just give her space. She told me that everyone has their dark sides. Leave her be. Let's go talk to the General."

Frey sighed, still focusing on Elero. "Thomas, you're wrong. I've seen my fair share of broken people. When Gwen, my dear older sister, first woke up and found half her body unable to move, she broke. She cried, but only from a single eye. She uncontrollably drooled onto clothes, clothes which she could no longer put on herself. She broke and I pieced her back together over years whether I wanted to do so, was obligated to do so, or most likely manipulated into doing so. Elero, you aren't broken. You are not weak like her."

Elero took a few moments to curse and threaten before she slid her hands away from her face. "No, but I'm getting there." She looked around with her puffy red eyes, wearing that I-need-to-punch-something expression of hers. "General Alexander was…partly truthful. I'm sorry you had to watch that. I don't really have anywhere to storm off to."

"So…" Thomas kept alternating his gaze from the academy to Elero. Frey could practically see a bit of his innocence decay and crumble away. "You'll be fine if the healer arrives? You called him Mr. Lich."

"Yeah," Elero said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "That's the plan anyway. There's still a chance, but it seems like whenever I get close to an answer, it just runs away from me no matter how fast I chase it."

Frey sighed. 'Maybe Mr. Lich is referring to someone else. Liches can't learn holy magic, even I know that, but…it's Doevm. Damn it, why does he have to be so good at everything? Why does the name have to overlap? Although, she is talking as though Mr. Lich and Doevm are two different people.'

"This healer," Frey said, choosing his words carefully as to not give anything away. "Do you know what he looks like? Are you sure that he's coming to heal you?"

"Doevm knew this man?" Thomas asked, a momentary surprise overtaking his inaction.

"He told me he was a contact for Mr. Lich, as Mr. Lich had previously healed him."

'Well damn.' Frey thought, having to bite his tongue to keep his poker face. 'Doevm is a Lich but it's also possible that he can talk to other Liches. He might have friends that I don't know about. If that's the case then I'd only be betraying the promise I had just made to Doevm. I'm horrible at asking people for information. It's like when Jameson asked me to watch over Doevm. He found me out in moments. Maybe I can be more subtle. I can't push the information out.'

Frey rubbed his chin and made direct eye contact with her: "What did Mr. Lich look l-"

"What's happening to you?" Thomas accidentally cut Frey off, having finally gathered his bearings. "General Alexander said that you're doing this to yourself. Can't you just stop?"

"It's not that easy Thomas," Elero said. "It's been like this for a long time. I am determined to continue like this. I don't have a choice. I haven't even seen Mr. Lich's face under that strange mask of his. If I wasn't cornered, I wouldn't rely on him."

Another pang shot through Frey's heart as he tightened his grip around Doevm's spatial ring. 'Why aren't you here…' he thought. 'To tell me what to do? From everything you've told me, we could die if I slip up. The world, all of Enloa, would turn against us. But she's our companion, and I can't just let her die while waiting for someone who's never going to appear.' He cursed under his breath. 'It's not me who should make this decision.'

General Alexander appeared in a puff of golden life essence, making Thomas jump. "Did you all say your goodbyes?" He reached for Frey and Thomas, golden life essence still gathering around his body.

While there was life essence, Alexander didn't use it to speed up his grab. It was so slow, just a simple reach for Frey's arm. His heartbeat sped up. His mind grew hot under the boiling pressure, the weight of the ring on his finger. He had the shard of Doevm's mask. That one thing is all it would take to save her, but it was that same gesture which could get them killed.

Every detail of Elero's desperate, borderline hopeless face etched itself into Frey's memory, the same went for Thomas's look of unacceptance. Frey froze. Time marched on. His vision flashed gold. Too little too late. His indecision determined his decision.

…

They were gone, leaving Elero as a teary mess on the ground. 'Fuck…Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. I'm so useless.' She reached into her spatial ring by habit, searching for her braces. All that she pulled out were destroyed pieces. She took a deep breath and went for the earlier model of her braces, a sad wooden wheelchair. She propped herself up in it and immediately felt splinters stab into her skin. 'I hope this still works.'

She moved her hands to the wheels, which were still covered in old scratches and dried mud from all the times she had messed up while adjusting to her broken form, rehabilitating what was left of her mind and body. "Freak" was still crudely carved into the seat, the last, painfully memory of her oldest friend. She gripped both wheels and pushed.

The wheelchair skidded after only a couple of feet, the rusted ball bearings screeching to a halt. She squeezed some oil onto each side before trying again, this time gliding across the flat dirt towards the Knights' Academy.

The Generals and instructors had stepped down from the stairs in order to let the students ascend, yet only Jackal and his underlings stood atop the stairway. Even though Elero was still making her way towards the building, she could see the glint of metal weapons in the students' hands. 'What is that murder doing now?' she thought.

"You can't do this." One of the ash-covered nobles cried out. His cry ended in a fit of coughing. Over half of the nobles were still lying over by Oliver, who was still working with Miss Vessa to get them back on their feet. In comparison, Jackal's men took up the stairs and the first floor of the building in coordinated formations.

The noble who had just spoken out turned to General Marble with that infamous look of noble indignity. General Mable shrugged. "If you don't like it then fight. If not, I am going to sleep. I have no idea what the rules are anymore nor do I care, for today only."

The noble's face flushed red as he jabbed a finger towards Jackal. "I thought you said you wanted unity. This is just abusing your position of leadership. How dare you kick us nobles out of the academy. Do you know who I am?"

"What are you blabbering on about?" Jackal said, his smile replaced with a sinister sneer. "To the winner go the spoils. Yes, it is my goal to convince you nobles to join us, but until then, you all are my enemies. Why the hell should I let my enemies sleep in the same building as me and my allies? Don't talk as if you earned this. You didn't. End of story. There is no discussion nor will there be negotiations. Deal with it."

"B-but where are we supposed to sleep?" The noble argued, alternating his pathetic look between General Marble and Jackal.

"The dirt. Good night." Jackal and his men retreated inside and slammed the door in their faces. "Now let's celebrate!" Jackal's voice rang through the building, which had been cleared of smoke. The nobles burst into a frenzy of cursing, threats, and how important their families were.

"General Brandon Von Trike," Elero overheard General Marble say. "You raised a vicious little shit, didn't you?"

"General Marble," General Von Trike said. "Please never talk about my son that way. I know it may not appear that way but I didn't raise him like that. My other son…" he trailed off before vanishing in a puff of life essence, quickly followed by General Marble.