Hypocrite

After just a few more steps I’ll be able to see the fruits of my labour. The process has been fairly long and took a lot of work, but it’ll be over soon. Flint and Allirea will be fully avenged and Cordelia will get her ring back.

I was on the last step and was looking at the entrance’s frame. It was rather large, way too big for any practical means. I’m slightly nervous to go inside as the team would likely make me do a victory speech. I hadn’t really prepared one and I wasn’t the best at giving unprepared speeches. Whatever, now’s not the time to back out, I’ll just have to suffer their humiliation at my stuttering.

I’m getting so bored. Seriously I thought this ‘demon’ or whatever would quickly show up. What kind of leader doesn’t even come to the main event? This Hue person has been frozen for so long I think I’m just about ready to give up on the appearance of this demon.

Well I guess I might as well go find him. It would make it far more fun than just sitting around here. This plan was a bust then, oh well.

I make my way over to the sculpture. The face still had a smug looking smile to it. Sorry, but it seems your leader didn’t show up to save you. He didn’t even show up to avenge you.

You’re no longer needed in my plan so I’ll end it once and for all. Goodbye Hue, your dying moments were a treat to see. The happiness and faith you died with was so undeserved for a loser such as yourself that it makes me sick. With a flick, the sculpture’s head cracked in half and fell to the ground. After that, the rest of it followed suit, breaking into multiple pieces.

I heard the crashing of what sounded like glass. Maybe this wouldn’t be the happy reunion I imagined it to be. Maybe they had still been fighting in there as I was out here daydreaming. This idea caused me to feel slightly pathetic.

Resolving myself, I quickly burst around the corner and through the entrance, readying my rifle. I looked around trying to get a gauge of what was going on. There was no one inside. There was a bunch of ice, some damage to the room and a decent amount of blood, but I couldn’t see any bodies from my initial glance.

“Hibiki?” A familiar voice called out, causing me to look in the direction it came from.

Tracing the voice back to its owner, I could make out a silky purple hair that I was well acquainted with. The dress the person wore was also the same design and same colour as the person who had fixed me up all that time ago.

But looking at the face of the person. Their eyes had lost the light which once lit them up so beautifully. Instead it looked as though there wasn’t even a soul inside anymore.

“Celestia?” I questioned why she had been there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Hibiki.

“Wait, what about you?”

Why did Hibiki of all people show up here? It seemed he had some blood on him, could he be hurt then? Wait, but that thing in his hand. It’s the same weapon they were using when those people attacked me.

I couldn’t get a good look at his finger, so it wasn’t quite clear if he was the one I was looking for. But if he had that weapon, then it would have to mean he was working with the others right? Or could he just have picked it up on his way here? That still would not explain why he was here in the first place.

“Hibiki, tell me why you are here.” I pressed.

“Celestia…..” He started. Putting the odd weapon into one hand and hiding the other behind himself. Letting out a massive breath, he continued. “I am here to finish off this corrupt place once and for all! For too long now have The King and Queen abused the people of this kingdom. They favoured nobles, taxed the poor, and killed those in disagreement. This place needs to burn for all its done.”

“Hibiki, I know you’re angry but-.”

“You can’t understand what I’m feeling. I was an innocent man who was tortured and then enslaved. After I had lost everything, I had been bought by another. As I was finally starting to gain something, anything, it was taken from me again. The reason it was taken from me was because of this monarchy.”

“You’re right, Hibiki, I don’t understand. But isn’t there a better way to go about these concerns than joining the rebellion? Their leader won’t know your pain either.”

“Better way? All other ways would be crippled and destroyed by the royalty of this land. They care nothing for others, and would much rather sit at the top waving around their power.” As he continued speaking he began waving around the arm behind him to get his point across further. “They would never allow us to want something. To them we were nothing more than wallets that they could take from or throw away.”

As he continued his tirade I wanted to calm him down from his anger. I wanted to make him see that the situation could still be solved. He was someone I didn’t want to kill, so I wanted him to see that he could still get out of this. If he just stopped spouting such nonsense and ran without anyone seeing him, he wouldn’t have to die.

But, I couldn’t tell him this, because as he waved around his arm, a distinct green glow was coming from it. The gold which wrapped his finger shone from the rays of light that was cast upon it through the window. There was no doubt about it, that was my ring.

“I knew that there was never any other way to get past all this. How could I simply just allow the terrible things that happened to the people around me, the others like me, and myself? I can’t calm down anymore and let things play out. Join me Celestia.” I reached out my hand, trying to get her to take it.

I wanted her to join me so that we could create a better country together. This one was just too lost and needed to be fully reestablished. I wanted her to help instead of being against me. I didn’t want to kill her.

She had stopped responding altogether now. She was standing there shaking at my words. Was my tone a little too angry and it caused her to be scared? Also what’s with all this ice?

I went to reexamine the floor while I waited for her response. There were quite a few things I didn’t notice from my original glance of the place. I saw that there was a dried bloodstain that originated from the carpet but went a little off of it, creating a puddle. I also saw there was water on the ground as well. It must have been because the ice had melted.

As I looked around a bit more, I saw some of the members from the advanced team. They were slightly behind where Celestia was standing, but they were on the ground. Their heads weren’t with their bodies. What had happened to them? I feared it could be the worst, but I wasn’t ready to count on it just yet.

But as I looked in front of Celestia’s feet, I saw the item which had caused me to originally come in here at the sound of it breaking. On the floor in front of Celestia was an ice sculpture which had been completely destroyed. It seemed as though it was made in the resemblance of a person.

The head of which had split into two pieces and stared at me eerily. I wanted to turn away from it but something about it was so familiar. This face…..it looked kind of like Hue’s.

Suddenly, all the pieces were starting to click in my head. I tried to resist the reality which had set into my mind but with each feeble attempt at trying to get rid of it, all it did was wiggle it’s way back.

“Celestia…..did you-?” I was abruptly cut off by an object which sped quickly past my face, leaving a slight cut on my cheek.

“Shut up, demon!” She cried aloud.

“Celes-”

“I said, shut up.” She spoke in a far colder tone. “You keep preaching, yet I no longer care. You have something which doesn’t belong to you.”

“Something which doesn’t belong to me?”

“That ring.”

She hit the nail on the head. This ring wasn’t mine, it was Cordelia’s. In my selfishness I clung to it as the only thing I had and in my desperation I even tried to sell it. Even I knew I wasn’t perfect and this ring was proof of that. But still, I was far better than the people I was trying to take down.

“You’re right! When I finish I plan to return it to its true owner.” I told her.

“True owner? Ahahahaha.” I laughed at Hibiki’s claim.

“What’s so funny?”

“Well if you want to return it to its true owner, then give it to me.”

“Why would I do something like that?”

“Because that ring is mine. A gift from my teacher.”

“A gift?”

“Correct. I want it back, you’re defacing it’s name by using it against the country.”

“That’s impossible. I already know who it belongs to.”

“Give it back now and cease your repulsive behaviour.”

“What do you mean I’m defacing its name?”

“That ring is created from the life force of my mentor. The lady who worked to preserve the glory of this country. For you to go on and use it to destroy the very thing she wanted to protect is disgusting. Now give it back!” With the end of my words, a gust of wind came roaring out slightly pushing him back.

How could you betray me like this? After I healed your wounds, after I helped you, after I saved you. I did all of that for you, so why can’t you just give it back? It doesn’t belong to you in the first place, so why are you holding onto it so desperately? Why do you look so determined?

It’s mine. It’s supposed to be mine. The ring barely fits his finger, but for mine it fits perfectly, right where it belongs. So why is he looking at me with such an intense look like I asked him to give me his life instead? Fine! If he wants to do this the hard way, then I’ll kill him for everything he’s done.

I knew that the black hair and black eyes meant he was the demon. That’s what all those features meant. I knew this but still trusted him. I’m such a fool. But I’ll correct this mistake.

He forced everyone to fight against the beautiful kingdom and its protectors. He is my enemy. He’s out of control so for everyone else’s sake and his, I’ll put him down permanently.

This is what this ring is made out of? So that must mean the person who sold to Flint was Celestia. But then why did she sell it? I felt bad for having this and keeping it away from her, but knew I still needed to keep it.

Wait a minute. If Celestia’s protecting this place, does that mean that she's….how could it be that? It’s not possible. But looking at all the evidence, it seems like it could be the only explanation.

I began walking my way back into the room so that I would not get pushed off the stairs by the wind she generated before. I stepped into the room and walked around its inner wall, trying to get beside her to make sure I didn't get pushed off.

Reaching my destination, I stared her down. While she didn't turn from her position to look at me directly, instead she looked at me with the side of her eye.

“Celestia, are you The Mad Mage?” I questioned her.

“You’re people have been known to call me that. But from my perspective you're the only ones who are mad.”

“How could you?”

“Stop saying those stupid words! I hate them.”

“Then answer the question!”

“What does your question even mean?”

“Why did you do all those experiments on innocent people? Why did you join such a villain like Clauffer? Why did you kill everyone here? Why did you do all this?”

“Why, why, why, why! Shut your mouth! All you have to say is why! Nothing I did was wrong. Everything I’ve done is to make sure that in the end everyone will be fine. I found out how to push healing magic further for everyone else. Yet still you all complain about how I did it. Look in the mirror you hypocrite, you’re attacking the country for your own goals. At least what I did was guaranteed to help people, but how does your action do that?”

“It will be better! Our way helps the people of the kingdom. It’ll take out the system that abuses and gives power to those who don’t deserve it. We’re saving people, and we don’t kill the innocent. I can’t say the same about you!”

“Innocent? The people I killed here attacked me. I just made sure to finish what they had started. If they were allowed to go free, who knows how many people they could have hurt. I did it for everyone else! The so-called innocent people, as you call them, were spies. They were trying to ruin this kingdom, the country my mentor was trying to protect. What did it matter if they contributed to the greater good? I did all of this so that everyone does not have to live in despair.”

“You keep talking about me preaching, but you’re doing the exact same thing! Doing it for everyone else? That’s just a lie! You’re doing all this for no one but yourself. You want this ring back? Well you can’t have it. You gave it away in the first place, it’s not yours anymore.”

“Damn you! I’m not doing all of this for myself, it’s all to help others. Someone as selfish as you wouldn’t be able to see it! I may have given that ring away, but I would have been fine if it went into the right hands! But it can’t belong to someone like you, someone who would use it for something like this!”

“So it should belong to you? Someone who tortured innocent people? You know, sometimes the people you think are spies aren’t actually always spies. Sometimes they get arrested on false claims, like me. This ring can't belong to you either by that logic.” I explained

“I was doing it for the people of my kingdom, as opposed to those who didn’t belong to my kingdom. This was the kingdom that Fae worked to protect, so that ring can’t be used for such devious purposes!” I retorted.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you this back. I will use it to create a better tomorrow, and then destroy it once and for all.”

“You will not destroy that ring!” I yelled at him.

Using magic with just my eyes, a wall of ice started forming underneath him. I’m going to squish him against the ceiling like a bug and then reclaim what was mine. I’ll make sure he survives so I can make him suffer for everything he’s said and done.

However, he reacted quickly and jumped off of the forming wall, stopping himself from being squished. He pulled out his strange weapon and aimed it towards me. I knew the damage those things could cause, this time I’ll stop it. Let’s see just what this weakling was capable of doing.

Firing off his projectile, I casted a gust of wind as it reached halfway and blew it away. As it blew off in a completely different direction, I saw his shocked expression at what had just happened. I had prepared for the strength of the magic crystal on his weapon, but it seemed he used it without it.

“I hope you’re prepared to die!” I called out to Hibiki after his futile attempt.

“I hope you are!” I called back to Celestia.

Damn it! That was definitely shocking. She reacted fast enough to use what was likely wind magic to blow away the bullet. I knew she had healing and electric magic, but now ice and wind. How did she learn all of this?

If my rifle was the real deal, then the bullet would travel fast enough that even she wouldn’t be quick enough to react to it. But with the way things were going, hoping for something like that would get me nowhere. The best thing I could do was either close the distance to make up for the speed difference or catch her off guard.

But with the way she was now, catching her off guard looked nearly impossible. Closing the distance also didn’t seem very unlikely either. If I was to get close to her on a whim she would easily kill me. I wouldn’t be able to react to any of her attacks the way I am now.

There was always the option of using the magic crystal but it would make the attack slower. Judging from the look of this room, there was also the chance she had seen the power of the gun when it’s infused with the magic crystal. I’m not sure if she can repel it, but if she can I would be in a lot of trouble.

Yet she may not also have accounted for the increased power of my shot thanks to the amplifying ring. It’s my only chance of evening the playing field at all. It may be risky, but it’s really the only option I still have available to me. If this doesn’t work, I’m as good as dead. There won’t even be any hope of saving me then.