The Beginning After the End: Book 7: Divergence

by TurtleMe

  “You’re going to run away?” I asked incredulously, my lips pressed against the receiver.

  “No… well, I guess, in a way.” Nico sighed. “You make my well-thought-out plan sound like some sort of prepubescent rebellion.”

  “Because it sort of is,” I scoffed. “Do you think the government will let you get away with Cecilia? As far as they’re concerned, she’s a national asset.”

  “Trust me, I know. But after Cecilia and I no longer need a guardian, we can drop out of school and go to a different country. The new prototype of the ki limiter I made is already several times more stable than the previous one, and that accounts for the growth in her ki levels.”

  “How much has her ki level grown?” I asked despite myself. A part of me didn’t want to know the answer.

  “According to her latest report—more than double.”

  “No way. That’s—”

  “Impossible? Nope. Apparently, it’s not just her inherent ki level that’s monstrous, but its growth as well. At this point, I just hope the team of researchers watching over her knows what they’re doing—no form of explosive growth can be perfectly stable.”

  “Still, that’s ridiculous,” I said, lowering my voice. I couldn’t even imagine myself having a ki level so high. A majority of my training with Lady Vera consisted of compensating for my levels of ki despite the endless resources she had spent on medicines and supplements. If I had those ki levels, becoming a king would have been just a matter of time. No wonder the government wanted to control her so much.

  “Training still rough?” Nico asked. He asked this question every time we talked.

  “It’s getting a bit more bearable now, but yeah. Lady Vera’s tough, you know, but whatever it takes.”

  “Why are you doing this to yourself?” Nico’s voice had grown cold and serious. He normally didn’t pry for details, but I guess he couldn’t contain himself. When I didn’t answer, he kept talking. “I barely see you nowadays. Hell, Cecilia isn’t as busy even with the government training sessions and politicians hounding her. When I do see you, you’re either bloody to the point that it's seeping through your uniform or you’re so sore you can hardly stand. Is being the king that important that it’s worth throwing away everything else?”

  “You know it’s not as simple as that,” I said wearily.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s apparently the dying wish of Headmaster Wilbeck for you to avenge her by wasting your life. Except that I really doubt she’d have wanted you to kill yourself for her, Grey, and especially not for some stupid revenge fantasy. Be honest with yourself. You’re not doing this for her at all; you’re doing this for yourself. You feel helpless, and you think becoming king will make you feel powerful.”

  “Are you done?”

  The line was silent for several long moments before Nico spoke again.

  “Look, I didn’t mean to come off like such a jerk. I just wanted to say that Headmaster Wilbeck wouldn’t have wanted this for you—either of you. She would’ve wanted you and Cecilia to live as normal students and be happy with normal lives and families.”

  “You know I can’t just let it go, Nico. Not after her murder was covered up as an accident and the whole thing just swept under the rug. Those assassins are part of a bigger organization, I just know it.”

  “So you become a king and then snuff out the organization that killed Headmaster Wilbeck. Then what?” Nico pressed.

  “Then I retire. Find a quiet place and ‘be happy with a normal life and family.’”

  “Let’s hope it’s that easy.”

  “What about you and Cecilia?” I asked, trying to change the subject of our conversation. “Do you have a particular country in mind, or are you content with going wherever the wind blows you?”

  “Engineers never ‘go wherever the wind blows,’” he said with a scoff. “It’s all planned out—and it’s all legal, just… low-key.”

  “Well, have you explained this master plan to Cecilia?”

  “Not entirely, but—oh, speak of the devil.” Away from the microphone, Nico called out, “Cecil! I’m up here talking with Grey!”

  There was a pause, then: “It’s been a while, Grey. How is training going for you?”

  “It’s been going well,” I replied awkwardly. “How are you, Cecilia?”

  “Fine. Thanks.”

  Nico must have had his head right next to the receiver, next to Cecilia, because I heard his voice immediately after. He said, “We were just talking about our plans, Cecil.”

  “N-Nico. I don’t think we should be talking about that over the phone,” Cecilia said, her voice distant as if she’d pulled away from the microphone.

  “Come on, Cecil,” Nico said soothingly. “It’s not like we’re actually running away. We’re legally allowed to go to other countries, you know.”

  “Still…” Cecilia’s voice trailed off.

  I looked down at the watch strapped to my wrist. “My time’s up. I better get back down to the yard or Lady Vera will double my regimen for the rest of the day.”

  “I’ll see you both again soon… hopefully,” I said as I disconnected the line. I really did want to see them, but I could never be confident when that would happen.

  The day progressed normally, though I couldn’t shake Nico’s words, which followed me like a cloud throughout the day. Would Headmaster Wilbeck have wanted me to pursue this life? I couldn’t honestly say. It wasn’t as if we’d sat down and discussed the potential that she would be murdered and I would become king.

  I was so distracted that Lady Vera eventually gave up in disgust and sent me to clean up and rest, though only after leaving me with several welts from her foil for my inattentiveness.

  As I sank exhausted into bed, the phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize. Probably another reporter trying to dig up dirt on Lady Vera, I thought sourly. Since I had joined the ranks of the would-be kings and began training under Warbridge House, it was a regular occurrence for journalists and socialites to reach out to me, trying to get a story or an in with Lady Vera.

  Ignoring the call, I set the phone to silent and rolled over, falling asleep the moment my eyes closed. Too soon, the sun was peeking through the curtains. The first thing I noticed was the small blinking light on my phone indicating a message. Picking up the phone, I pressed the button for my messages and a pleasant female voice played from the speaker.

  “Hello. I’m calling from Etharia National Hospital for a Mr. Grey. I’m sorry to call so late, but you are listed as Nico Sever’s emergency contact. He was taken into urgent care a few minutes ago and is being prepped for surgery. If you get this message, please contact us immediately.”

  Before I could fully make sense of the message, a second recording began to play.

  “Hello. This is Etharia National Hospital calling again for Mr. Grey. We wanted to update you that Mr. Sever’s surgery is complete and he is resting comfortably. We still need to speak to you as his emergency contact. Please contact us when you receive this message.”

  Nico had been hurt somehow, but he was okay now. What the hell happened, Nico?

  “Hello Mr. Grey. I am calling from—No, Mr. Sever, it’s his voicemail again. You shouldn’t even be awake, sir, so I really don’t think—” For a moment, all I could hear was a scuffling noise and muffled speaking, then a different voice came on the line.

  “Grey! They took her! I had just dropped her off and was on my way back when I remembered I forgot to give her the new prototype. I saw them shove her into a car. She was unconscious.” There was a pause and I heard the hospital employee say something in the background, though I couldn’t make out the words. “I said this was going to happen, Grey. I told you! It was the enforcers.” Then the message ended.

  224

  In Her Element

  ARTHUR LEYWIN

  ‘Arthur. Take a look.’

  Sylvie’s voice drew me out of the memories of my previous life, which only seemed to get more vivid wit
h time.

  The sun had set, enveloping the wild lands of the Beast Glades in a blanket of darkness. We were still miles from the Wall, but we could clearly see the battlefield as spell after spell lit up the night in shades of blue, red, and green.

  They didn’t collapse the underground tunnel—or even let the beast horde get close to the Wall. I gnashed my teeth in frustration, sure that this had been the senior captain’s doing. I tried to swallow the rage building up inside, reminding myself that my plan had been a suggestion, but it had been up to the captains to defend the Wall as they best saw fit.

  But my decision to leave the beast horde and help Tessia was based on the assumption that my suggestion would be implemented. It should’ve been implemented. Even before I left, the plan was already being implemented.

  Ellie’s note was vague, but it felt urgent—desperate, almost. If anything happens to my family—

  ‘Arthur, we’re almost there,’ Sylvie said, interrupting my thoughts.

  I sent her a mental confirmation and activated Realmheart. Using it so shortly after my fight with Cylrit sent sharp waves of pain through my veins but I ignored it. The dark evening’s muted tones were washed away, replaced by motes of colors. Some of these wisps and specks were floating freely while others were being absorbed and clustered in preparation for a spell to manifest.

  Homing in on the Wall, I scanned the top line where rows of archers and conjurers were stationed, searching for Ellie’s distinct form of magic. I could only hope that my sister hadn’t run off somewhere.

  We hovered high enough above the Wall so as to not be accidentally shot at by alarmed soldiers, but it didn’t take long for me to find my sister. Not many mages were able to shoot such well-structured arrows of pure mana, making the mana fluctuations around her fairly distinguishable.

  There, I indicated to my bond, directing her to the battlement where Ellie was stationed and releasing Realmheart.

  Bolts of fire and ice drew arcs in the dark as they rained down on the battlefield a few hundred feet from the Wall, far from the underground tunnels that had been rigged to collapse. Alongside the various spells and mana enhanced arrows were streaks of pale light: my sister’s mana arrows.

  Sylvie quickly shifted into her human form as we neared our destination, and we flew down side by side. We landed softly but still sent a tremor of alarm through the soldiers stationed on the battlement. Weapons were raised against us, but the weight of my presence kept them from letting loose. These were all capable soldiers, but they could sense they were outmatched.

  It was only when I stepped closer to a nearby illuminating artifact that Ellie ran into my arms.

  “You scared the hell out of us!” my sister said in a strangled mixture of annoyance and relief. “The plan that was supposed to happen with the ground and the explosives—it didn’t happen! At first I thought that they were delaying the plan in order to draw more beasts toward the area where we set up the trap, but the soldiers that went out aren’t coming back.”

  I pried my sister away, partly to talk to her face to face, partly to not let her hear my heart beating against my chest. “Ellie. Where are the others? Are—are the Twin Horns out there?”

  Before my sister could answer, though, an officer in charge of this section came running toward me. After a hasty salute, he said, “G-good evening, General Arthur. My apologies that we weren’t able to give you a proper welcoming. I am Officer Mandir, if there’s anything I can—”

  “I’m fine, Officer Mandir,” I snapped, cutting him off. The man flinched and shuffled back a step.

  I turned my attention back to my sister. Sylvie had a consoling hand on my sister’s shoulder, calming her down enough to give us some solid answers.

  “We’re required to stay in our positions, but Helen, who was watching over me, was able to leave. She never came back, but before the beast horde arrived, I saw Mom in the medic camp set up on the ground level. Dad or the other Horns... I haven’t seen any of them,” my sister sputtered.

  “It’s okay, Ellie. Don’t worry, your brother will handle the rest,” I said, forcing a reassuring smile.

  “W-what should I do? How can I help?” Ellie replied.

  I shook my head. “Stay here. You’re a soldier now and this is your post. You wanted experience in a real battle, right?”

  “Okay.” My sister’s gaze hardened. After giving Sylvie a quick hug, she bolted off back to her station.

  “Is it safe for her to stay here?” my bond asked, unable to pry her gaze from my sister.

  “If they’ve decided to forgo my plan, it means that they’re trying to keep the Wall as intact as possible. It’ll be safer for the soldiers on this side of the battle. But those in the field…”

  I leaped off the edge, ignoring the surprised shouts of the soldiers. The two of us landed deftly on the ground level behind the fortress and made our way to the medical tents.

  I pushed aside a tent flap for the fourth time and was finally rewarded with the sight of my mother. Her hands hovered over a patient, brows knit in concentration. She barked out orders to some of the other medics to have the patient moved and properly taken care of, then another gurney was rolled in front of her, carrying another injured soldier.

  Her expression, her presence, her demeanor—it made me freeze in my tracks. The mother I knew and grew up with was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a strong and level-headed medic carrying the weight of the countless injured and dying.

  I thought back to her words the last time we met, when we fought. She spoke of her duties here and the people that needed her help. Then I looked at the countless patients slowly recovering in their cots, all thanks to her abilities, and imagined how many would be dead already if it wasn’t for her.

  “Are you okay, Arthur?” Sylvie asked, her concern leaking into my mind.

  My mother’s white uniform was stained with blotches of red and brown, and her face was grimy with dirt, blood, and sweat, but she looked so… admirable.

  The patient she was treating gained consciousness, and, though his face was knotted in pain, he reached up to my mother and gently placed a trembling hand on her arm. Despite the frenzy of activity going on around us, I heard his words clearly; with tears rolling down his cheeks, he smiled up at my mother and thanked her for saving his life.

  Something bumped into me from behind, and I turned to see a started nurse looking over her shoulder at me. “Sir, you’re blocking the passage. Unless you’re critically injured, please—” The nurse stopped mid-sentence and scanned my body in concern. “Sir. Are your injuries bad? You’re crying.”

  “No. I’m fine.” I looked away, letting my bangs cover my face. “My apologies. I’ll get out of the way.”

  I walked back out of the tent to gather myself.

  Sylvie stood by me, tears welling up in her eyes as well.

  “She was right—they were both right,” I breathed, looking up at the starry night. I could still hear my father’s angry shouts as he called me hypocritical. My parents had tried to explain that I wasn’t the only one that could contribute to this war, but I was too stubborn and scared to listen.

  “It’s good that you’ve realized,” Sylvie answered.

  I turned to my bond, examining her face as she looked up at the sky. “So you thought so too? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Sylvie looked me in the eye. “I’ve been connected to you since I was born, Arthur. I know better than anyone how stubborn and sometimes irrational you get when it concerns the wellbeing of your loved ones. Would you have listened to my words if I had told you back then? Or would you have played the ‘I’ve lived two lives’ card and said you know best?”

  I opened my mouth to speak—to argue—but no words came out.

  Sylvie gave me a somber smile as she squeezed my arm. “Age isn’t always wisdom, Arthur. You’re learning that slowly.”

  I shook my head, scoffing. “I’m such an idiot. An arrogant, hypocritical idiot.”

  My bon
d leaned her head against me, letting me feel the warmth radiating from her horns. A wave of tender, comforting emotions radiated into me as she spoke. “Yes, but you’re our idiot.”

  We stayed this way for another minute, letting our shared emotions sooth us, taking a small break from the world and what it was throwing at us, before going back into the tent.

  “Arthur?” My mother’s voice was a mixture of confusion and worry.

  I held up a hand, “Hi, Mom.”

  Sylvie mimicked my gesture.

  My mother flashed a smile at the two of us before focusing back on the task at hand. “Arthur, hand me a pair of pliers.”

  Finding the bloody pliers in a metal tray, I handed it to her. Without looking up, she snatched the tool and used it to carefully set a snapped rib bone jutting out of the patient’s side back in place. The patient—different from the man we saw earlier—let out a gut-wrenching scream.

  Unfazed by the howls of pain, my mother continued her spell, and I could see the exposed bone slowly mend together. I realized that she had narrowed her spell to only release from the tips of her middle and index fingers, allowing her to precisely control where the healing magic was disbursed and likely saving herself a large amount of energy in the process.

  Several long moments passed as both Sylvie and I watched, entranced by my mother’s work. Despite the trauma that had haunted her all these years, I couldn’t see any traces of hesitation now.

  It was only after she had finished that she shifted her attention to us. “Sorry, Arthur. There are just so many soldiers that need my attention. Hopefully, once the traps go off, it’ll be easier for Rey and the rest of the soldiers out there.”

  “Wait, Dad’s out there right now, fighting?” I asked, panic rising in my voice.

  “Not so much fighting as luring them towards the Wall,” she said, confused. “Wasn’t that the plan? Bury the beast horde by sacrificing the underground passages?”

  No one had told her. It made sense—medics didn’t need up-to-date strategic information to continue doing their job. If anything, too much knowledge might hinder their focus.