Chapter 16 The Evening's End

"'It?'" Agawa asked.

"The Trigger," I replied. "The event where all weapons capable of a mass loss of life disappeared. Nukes, bioweapons, chemical weapons, everything…it all vanished into thin air. With the fail-safes gone, there was nothing left to hold us back. Nothing left to protect us from ourselves."

Considering it myself, it was like a horribly dark joke. To think the only thing that prevented all-out war between us wasn't kindness or benevolence; instead, it was the threat of mutual destruction. As it turned out, the armorers and weaponsmiths of war were the ones keeping the peace all along, and therein lies the joke…the cruel paradox of a species gone mad with power.

"I remember that day," Agawa said, shifting her gaze downward, "my parents panicked and bought months' worth of supplies. My father even got a license for gun ownership… He hates guns."

It wasn't surprising to hear how her folks reacted. Given how she was, I imagined they were quick thinkers too. "It sounds like your parents were smart people."

"I'm sorry," she apologized profusely, "please continue."

"Don't worry about it," I said to ease her worry. "Now, where was I…." Sifting through my mind and replaying the event chain, we'd arrived at the night the chandeliers reminded me of; the night of my graduation.

"I stayed out late with some friends to celebrate our graduation. A few of them decided to say farewell to the place that nurtured their youth by trespassing on it."

She giggled charmingly before falling back into a sweet smile.

"And so," I continued, "we entered the school grounds, wandering for hours. There were some goofy stunts pulled, but none of that is important. Eventually, we ended up on the roof. We wanted to memorialize the night like fools."

I paused and took a deep breath. What came next was a sight I'd never forget. The strobing lights, the blotched night sky, the deafening vibrations. It was then I realized the daily peace we so enjoyed was built upon the backs of a million sacrifices.

"It was dark," I proceeded, "so we heard them before we saw them. When we turned our heads, our eyes were met by a thousand dislocated stars, only they were flying away at high speeds."

"That's when I knew they weren't stars at all… They were signal lights belonging to hundreds of military transport helicopters, all of which were in the process of shipping bodies to a conflict on foreign lands."

Remembering my past, I felt a distinct, growing regret gnawing at my eyes, threatening to overwhelm them with fluids. I took another breath to hold it back.

"The sight stirred feelings in me. Among them was my desire to honor my country and be a hero. I decided then and there that I'd enlist in the military. I'd use my ideals to change the battlefield and save lives."

Reciprocating my story, the melody of the music shifted. Rather than an uplifting and inspirational rhythm of cheer, it became restrained and forlorn.

I forced a smile. "But that was just a dream…. The first thing I learned after boot camp was that for every person you saved in war, you took the lives of several more. I learned that being a hero in war just wasn't possible."

Amid my story's ending, Agawa became energized and jerked me from my thoughts back to reality. "That's not true!" she shouted, attracting the attention of other partygoers.

I didn't tell her that story to draw attention, so I tried easing her down from her frustration. "Agawa please don't ye-"

However, her time of listening to me was over. "Look, you're a soldier. It's your job to fight. I won't pretend to know the hardship you've gone through, but saying you haven't saved anyone is stupid!"

She forced our dance to a stop with a new determination fueling her. "It's like you said, because of people like you, people like me can enjoy the peace back home. You fight so we don't have to; that's the textbook definition of a hero!"

I had never met anyone like this girl before.

She was loudly outspoken and quick to wit when defending her opinions. The way her personality was, she managed to push boundaries and respect them too. She was speedy to insult and even faster to console.

Like the Sun, her rays of warmth evaporated the negative emotions festering inside me. "Maybe you're right," I smiled slightly and relaxed my body, "maybe I have done some good…."

Looking at each other, we exchanged what would be the most heartfelt expressions of relief and joy that I'd ever experienced.

Neither of us spoke after that. Instead, we resolved to enjoy the music and each other's silent companionship.

Almost as if it were queued to our silence, the ballroom's lights dimmed, and the musical melodies faded with Weiser appearing onstage. "Greetings, my dear heroes! Have you enjoyed yourselves thus far?!"

His question was met with a symphony of applause and cheering.

"That pleases me more than anything! I'm delighted that you all enjoyed the festivities thus far! Now, Dear Heroes," he smirked, "shall we move on to the next event?"

Among the crowd were various murmurs of uncertainty. However, only my countrymen were distressed by the announcement. In fact, it wasn't confusion taking hold of the nobles within the ballroom. No…those were expressions born of trembling excitement.

"Excuse me, old man," Tachibana approached Weiser, "you didn't mention anything other than dinner and a dance. There's more?"

Weiser smiled. "Indeed, there is. You see, the final curtain call for tonight's festivities has yet to be concluded. That said…shall we end it now?"

The way he said those final words, my insides squirmed with angst. It was faint, but I could sense malicious undertones lurking within his courteousness.

I tried to warn my countrymen, or at least Agawa, but it was too late. Before I could utter a syllable, Weiser snapped his fingers.

One by one, my countrymen fell limp and crashed to the ballroom floor. The beat of repeated thuds echoed throughout the hall, replacing the once-welcoming classical melody that preceded it.

"What the hell did he do?" Interrupting me was Agawa's full weight; she'd gone completely limp. "Hey, are you okay?!"

But she wasn't okay. None of us were.

All across the ballroom, my countrymen dropped like flies. Like them, the vibrant and sunny girl I shared a dance with now lay deathly still in my arms.

I prepared myself for the worst and brought two fingers to her neck. Opposite what I expected, I felt the rhythmic thumping of a steady heartbeat, though faint. 'Just unconscious...' I felt relieved, but the fact didn't change the dire situation.

Still confused, I sought out the nobles for help but seeing them only added to the despair. Their once joyful and welcoming expressions contorted, becoming maniacal and bloodthirsty. What reflected from their eyes wasn't compassion or worry; it was a craving for murder.

"Heh," I chuckled and sighed, "it figures." I was never so regretful about being right. Right that the manor was a death trap disguised as a new beginning, all along.

I gently laid Agawa's body to the floor, drew the knife I'd stashed, and readied myself for death. Though I hadn't known why I was allowed to remain conscious, I wasn't about to waste the opportunity. 'If I'm meeting death… I'm taking company.'

"C'mon, you f*ckers!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and took a killer's stance. "Who's first?!"

Many of the nobles changed their crazed glares into that of genuine surprise upon seeing me. "Why is that one still awake?" one said haughtily while pointing at me. Rather than fear, it was like they had been addressing a minor inconvenience.

"What can I say? I'm a defiant b*st*rd!" I proudly responded. "Now c'mon!"

Responding to my challenge, Weiser approached slowly. "Dear Hero," he gave a sinister smile with outstretched arms, "isn't it customary to eat the food your gracious host gives you in your country?"

"...food," I mumbled, feeling the onset of an epiphany. The food that I stopped myself from eating. The food that my countrymen consumed with jovial smiles on their faces.

'The food…'

"you drugged it?"

"Correct!" Weiser arrogantly exclaimed. "I had you pegged for a smart one, Dear Hero!" He accompanied his false praise with a series of steady and mocking claps.

"I figured you suspicious b*st*rds were up to something," I sighed, then flourished my blade. "Want to tell me why you did it before I kill you?"

However, the time for talk was over. Rather than a verbal retort, Weiser answered with an arrogant grin and raised his hand. He mockingly chuckled, and our duel to the death was underway.

'I've seen that motion before,' my eyes narrowed. It preceded the moment he cast 'magic.' Another tidbit of information I knew from our time in the tower; it took a few seconds to prepare.

Not wasting any time, I propelled toward him at full tilt. I had no luxury for fancy tricks, so I tackled the challenge head-on.

"That's the spirit," he smiled at my approach.

"I wouldn't be so cocky!" I growled back at him; his arrogance genuinely irritated me.

As the sky-blue orbs of energy gathered, millions of ice fragments condensed in the air around Weiser. Though the room was dark, the space around him shimmered with reflective luminance.

In seconds, I was nearly upon him, ready to plunge my knife into his throat.

"I'm taking you with me!" I shouted with triumph.

To counter, he waved his hand in my direction, forcing every shard to merge into large projectiles.

Once fully formed, the icy chunks zipped through the air until they collided with me. Following loud thuds, they fractured into hundreds of pieces against my body.

Luckily, I had my vest on. It dulled the impact to being near negligible. It was almost like being pelted with small pebbles by a group of children. Nonetheless, the tiny shards left frosty patches on my armor, impeding my movement further with each new addition.

Still, for every inch my feet scraped back, I stepped two forward. I trudged on and smashed through his frozen wall with brute force. The ice crackled and screeched, shattering into dozens of fragments as I burst through.

Sadly, the reckless push forward wasn't without consequence. My body ran wholly sapped of heat, leaving patches of my skin black with frostbite.

"THIS IS NOTHING!" I winced, clenching my teeth through the pain and pushing through. Once he was within slashing range, I lunged toward him and wound up my arm for a swift thrust. A thrust aimed straight for the Adam's apple of his throat.

I smirked, thinking I'd take the bastard with me upon my tale's end, but those hopes died when I realized he was smiling back. That's when I noticed a crucial detail. 'His left hand…where is it?' I averted my eyes downward to find it by his waist.

An inconspicuous stream of purple-hued power spiraled around his missing hand in a miniature quasar. Sadly, though I saw the fractal branches of luminosity, it was too late to retreat.

My blade was millimeters from piercing his throat's flesh. That opportunity ended when a flash of light converted my body into an electrical conductor.

Twitching skin, spasming muscles, and a sharp throb in my heart. That's how it felt for my flesh to short-circuit.

I couldn't control my legs, so Weiser casually stepped aside, allowing my force to carry me into the floor. Finally, my mind started slipping away from reality.

In my last moments of consciousness, she'd be the last one I saw.

Upon the stage, standing amongst the thin border of flame, she was there. Her crimson-red eyes pierced through the darkness as they bore into my soul.

"K-Kiri…na…V-Vlad."