Chapter 15 - The Birthplace of Philosophy

Verwa stood there, grinning, as everybody surrounded him. I had to use my left arm, because I couldn’t move my other one. He had no way to escape, and no way to attack one of us without another person covering for them.

We had won. Together.

“Haha. Hahaha. Ame~”

Verwa turned his head to the side and stared into Ame’s face. His demeanor was too carefree for somebody that was surrounded.

“AME!”

He yelled in his face as Ame stood there, staring back at him, without as much as a blink. Verwa grinned. He had no right to grin. He didn’t have a reason to either. Ame had no way to lose this.

Verwa began to speak again. And yet this time, Ame wasn't as still.

“Why is it that you mentioned your fathers identity, but not your own?”

Ame flinched.

“Why is it that you haven’t attacked me yet?”

Verwa moved his face closer to Ame’s as he grabbed Ame’s sword and shattered it.

“It’s because you're weak, Ame. That’s why. Look in the mirror and tell me if strength is what you see. Tell me if it’s your father you see, if it's your friends, or if it’s you. But you won’t. You can’t. Because you’re a hypocrite. So, you’ll just keep watching me speak as you do nothing about it! Isn’t that right, Nell?”

Ame was furious yet frozen as he stood there, fists twitching at his sides, unable to do anything as Verwa snatched his gun back and strode over to me.

“I asked you if I was right, Nell. Give me an answer, or you’ll go back to where you came from.”

He was wrong. With every fiber of my being, I believed- No, I knew he was wrong. And yet it was hard to say out loud. The fear caused by staring down the barrel of a gun causes anything that you could say to not come out. I wasn’t told what happened after death. If I ceased to exist or if I went to a different place, I would no longer be able to build my identity. I would no longer be able to be with Ame. And Dominic. And Kaya, and Sy. That was the one thing I wanted the least. And yet, there was no purpose without them. My eyes subconsciously drifted to Ame. I saw him, along with everybody else, standing behind Verwa with weapons pointed so he didn’t shoot.

Ame was clearly distressed. He looked worse than I had ever seen him look before. He was doing this for me. I didn’t deserve any of this. Ame deserved more than me. I knew nothing about value, but I was forced to trust myself at that moment. Ame’s honor was more valuable than my life.

So, I only had one answer and one choice. I smiled softly to the best of my ability. Just like Ame always did.

“No, Verwa. You’re wrong. He’s doing all this for me. He’s not a hypocrite. I don’t even know what that means, but I know that he’s not one. He’s Ame, after all.”

I braced myself for death.

But… It didn’t come. Instead, there was a laugh.

“Haha. Hahahahaha. I understand why now. You’re not a human! Humans don't get born out of flesh balls that the city uses for energy, do they? Humans can’t overpower the fear of death with excuses. How could I expect you to answer this? Anyway, I don’t kill monsters. They will be forced to live with themselves. They don’t have the potential to see themselves like we do. So, you will live. Dominic, you’re up next.”

He walked away from me as he grabbed Dominic by the neck.

“New question, Mr. Maylem. What are those children to you? Children have no place on this battlefield, you shouldn’t have brought them. You don’t even have magic to protect them with.”

He pointed to Kaya and Sy.

Dominic spoke as well as one could speak while being held by the throat.

“What's it to you? You plan on killing me anyway.”

Verwa tightened his grip and stared at Dominic in fury.

“35.”

“...”

“That’s the number of soldiers you’ve slaughtered. 35 of them. What are two children in comparison? They’re nothing. Just another bit of roadkill on the highway that we both drive.”

Dominic looked angrier than I have ever seen him look.

“If you lay a single cell of your body on them, I’ll cut it off cleanly. Then, I’ll stab you in the heart and kill myself. Once we’re both in Hell, I’ll kill you again. I will hunt you down until every trace of your existence ceases to exist.”

His grip tightened again.

“Big words, Leader. You’re the only human here worth life. So, I will kill you. Be happy. Whatever family you have will see your head roll.”

Kaya and Sy both rushed at him at the same time, but got launched back with a single hand.

“It’s about time I leave. If you want to watch him die, Ame, come to Jeti City in a week. I’ll be there as the executioner, so there’s no point in not inviting you. I’m enough security for it. And take care of that wound of yours. Take some time to realize how much of a horrible fucking person you are so you can witness the entire city cheer for the death of this terrorist.”

With that, before anybody could run after him, he shot away with wind magic. And nobody said a word. The only two things I could feel in the air were despair and dust.

I was lost. I didn’t know what to do. It felt like the world was frozen around me. Verwa had left with Dominic, and we were simply sitting on the floor. He won.

Dominic would be executed. Ame could help. Ame had to help. He knew how to solve this. He had never failed to solve it before. But he was injured. I had to heal him.

I crawled over to him, and healed the wound on his arm, only for somebody to tug on his shirt.

It was Kaya. Before I could fully heal his wound, Kaya crawled forward and hugged him while sobbing. Ame hugged her back without a single word. He had an incredibly serious look on his face. I had never seen anything like it. I wanted to do the same thing Kaya just did, but I hadn’t known Dominic for that long. I didn’t have the right to.

Within moments, Ame stood up as Kaya stayed clinging to his side. Sy stood there, staring blankly at Kaya. I could only imagine he wanted to do the same thing Kaya was doing as well, but I didn’t know what was stopping him.

Ame’s face twitched slightly. Not enough for me to see any cracks in his mindset, but there was something there.

“Nell. Get on Little Man. We’re going to east Jeti City.”, he said.

All I could do was nod as Kaya and Sy both solemnly walked over. We got on her back as I put the worm on my lap. Ame pointed to the direction we had to go and Little Man started moving. The air was silent until Ame spoke. He tried to cheer everybody up to the best of his ability. We all had a spark of hope, and yet there was not a single piece of kindling in the world that could make it blaze fully. But, Ame still tried to turn it into at least a small flame.

“We’ll go to a town in Jeti. I’ll take this opportunity to investigate Justin Beckwith. You three can do whatever. Stay strong. I’ll do everything I can. I’ll kill whoever. The only reality that matters is the one where all of us live.”

Nobody responded, but Kaya’s expression was less solemn.

Despite being ignored, Ame still managed to smile softly at me.

I tried to smile back at him and spoke.

“Thank you.”

He nodded as everybody went silent.

With extra time, I poured all my leftover energy into healing my arm. I thought I would stay awake, but I miscalculated. I collapsed onto Ame’s lap and passed out. The only thing I heard before I fell asleep was a giggle from the God of Time. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t help earlier. If she helped, none of this would’ve happened. I was too asleep to get angry, but too awake to be content with what I had.

…

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Inside of Verwa’s designated military base to the east of Jeti City, Dominic sat strapped to a chair with a thin rope. He was able to break out at any moment, but he knew better than to do that. This was because Verwa was standing in front of him, giving a lecture that Dominic didn’t care about.

“That’s why, Leader, Ame should’ve died back then.”

“I’ve heard this before from his own mouth. Also, I’m not the leader. Ame is. I’m a guide.”

Verwa scoffed at him.

“I refuse to admit that man is the leader. You’re a respectable man, despite your race. Why do you follow a person like him?”

Dominic’s demeanor softened, because this was the first question that he felt comfortable to answer.

“I followed him because he was the first person to let me follow him. He laid down the cement for my road. I don’t care where it ends. Because he let me walk it. Kaya, Sy, and now even Nell are all standing on it with me, despite me not having one when I met Ame. That's why I follow him.”

Verwa turned his head to the barred window and stared outside at the busy street.

“I guess a broken clock is right twice a day.”

They both went silent for a moment, before Verwa spoke up again.

“I know a bit of your past. Your time in the Maylem army, your path, and the death of that wor-”

Dominic stared dead into the eyes of Verwa. The ropes around him snapped as he shot up and gripped his neck. Verwa was not concerned. His face was straight. He could still speak, despite being strangled.

“Why do you walk down the path you do, Dominic Karna? You don’t need to exist. You can kill yourself at any time. So, why do you carry your sins with you in that sword?”

Dominic gripped his throat harder and leered at him.

“The reason isn’t something given to you. It’s something you make. That’s what I’ve been told many times. Unlike you, I remember what I’m told.”

Verwa grinned.

“Then remind me.”

Dominic let go of his throat and sat back down on the chair.

“I told you. I’m a guide. That’s the purpose she led me to.”

Verwa held his hand out and cut Dominic’s arms with wind as he sat.

Dominic grit his teeth and looked out the barred window of the tiny room.

With a new strenuous and desperate look on his face, he spoke.

“...What should I do now, Eternal Flame?”

Verwa stared down at him.

And, in Dominic’s mind, he began to remember a story from long ago.

…

…

…

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Dominic’s birthplace, Cittaglia, is also known as the birthplace of philosophy. And yet, he did not know how to view the world. He had a road to walk, and walked it blindly. He was trained in the sword by his parents from a young age, due to the lack of magic in all people born of Cittaglian descent. The sword was not for defense, nor was it for offense. It was simply an artform. Just as dancers would perform, so did enlisted military members.

Dominic would ask his parents about everything. It was as if he did not view himself as having free will. When he left to go buy ingredients for the dinner he wanted, he would always ask his mother what to buy. His mother simply responded with “My mind is not yours”. Dominic nodded and asked his father, who said the same thing.

Dominic had never gotten the shopping done. Not a single time. He had to go with his sister, who would decide for him.

On the shopping trips, he and his sister would rarely speak, for they never needed to. Dominic wouldn’t ask her anything because she already knew what to do. Despite a lack of communication, Dominic still cared for her very much.

His parents were incredibly sick and bedridden. The lung disease they had came out of nowhere, so the medicinal chemists were still working on a cure. If the cure was created, there would be nothing to worry about.

He returned to his house. He walked towards his mother’s bedroom to bring her a pre-made meal from the store. It was as cheap as the ingredients, and Dominic did not need to ask how to make it.

He opened the door, and sat beside his mother and father’s bed. His mother had dark brown hair, slightly darker than Dominic’s hair. His father had light blonde hair and was a bit more skinny than the average person.

“What should I do?” Dominic said, the food in his hand.

His mother was used to this question. He would ask it every day, and she was never annoyed by it. She understood the place Dominic’s mind was in, and the only worry within her mind was that Dominic would no longer be able to function after her death. So, she responded.

“You should sit down. Place the food on my bedside.”

He did what was asked of him. He sat in silence for a second before asking another question.

“What should I do now?”

His mother simply smiled at him.

“Never ask that question again. Not unless it is absolutely necessary. Pick up your sword and move forward without looking back. I don’t care where you end up. Just move. Learn what you will and believe what you will.”

Dominic stared at his mother with a staggering pain in his eyes.

“Why? I can follow you, mother. Father can help me train as well. What do you mean I must move forward? What shou-”

“Shhh.”

Dominic’s mother put her finger up to his lips, and then brought him in for a hug, with her torso half off of the side of the bed.

“I am going to die, Dominic. Father will too. You have infinite choices. You are strong. You are free. And yet, that does not mean you ought to do anything.”

Dominic stared into the wall behind her, eyes wide.

His mother took a long, shaky, deep breath. She spoke one last time.

“It feels so weird to only be able to think of somebody else when dying, doesn’t it? Maya. Dominic. As your mother, I would like you to listen to me. I have had this question for my entire life, and never got a chance to answer them. If your god has morals opposite to yours, what do you do?”

Dominic, with a shaky voice and tears overflowing with his eyes, tried his best to think of an answer.

“Y-You… I-I d-d-don’t-t-t knowww..”

His mother smiled, giggled, and hugged him and his sister tighter.

“Exactly, Dominic. Now, what do you do when you don’t know something?”

He answered again, shakily.

“Y-Y-You ask… I as-ask yo-u-u.”

“And what will you do when I’m gone?”

Dominic burst out in uncontrollable sobbing, trying to speak. But his mind was too jumbled to think. Every answer flying towards his brain was shot out of the sky by another rogue emotion.

His mother smiled.

“I love you Dominic, Maya. That’s why I’m telling you this. Keep running forward. Your life is a road. At the end of every road, there is a cliff. In Cittaglian philosophy, we call it the cliff at the end of the world. On that road, you’ll see many amazing things. People often wonder why you must traverse it. Some say it is what God wills, and some say there is no inherent reason. But, I think that the reason isn’t something given to you. It is something you make.”

Maya looked over Dominic as she saw that her father had already passed. Without a single word. He was simply listening to his wife talk as he died.

The mother saw this, and smiled.

“He always said I talked too much. I suppose he was correct if he died from my rambling. It’s about time I go as well.”

Dominic, still sobbing, looked at his mother.

She was dead. Both of his parents were not breathing, for their lungs had collapsed.

Not a single person knew how. Dominic’s sister, Maya, took it incredibly hard. Children are naturally curious, and a situation such as this would only make this innate desire for knowledge even more rampant. Maya’s mind was racing on how they died, and what her mother meant. The words echoed in her mind, until she couldn’t take it.

Dominic, who was fifteen at the time, was sitting beside the bed of his deceased father and mother. His sister was next to him, crying just the same as he was.

He turned to Maya, with a look of desperation and confusion on his face. He spoke in a shaky voice, as if he was about to collapse.

“W-What should I do now?”