A Horrible End

“In a fit of scientific madness, I once surveyed the entire city of Iochefo. The question I asked was this: ‘would you be more hurt by mean words or a shove?’ And you wouldn’t believe which answer won.”

—Robin Benz

“Could government corruption have anything to do with the disaster?”

Everyone’s eyes widen. Mayor Crank is the first to recover. “Well, if I suppose the intruders should have been sent to confinement immediately. But instead, Roo Benz brought them to Chonti Village, causing the villagers grief. He was not thinking with his head.”

Fury simmers in my gut as I bite back, “It was because he brought us to Chonti Village that he could respond to the crisis so quickly. He saved Chekagi Tree from being fully annihilated!”

I still remember the daunting image of that tremendous magic barrier Roo had erected back then. Mayor crank shakes his head. “Sure, there were some good things that came about. But I would argue that more harm was done than good. As soon as the country learns of what Roo Benz failed to do, they will lose confidence in their future chief.”

“How so?” I implore.

Mayor Crank’s sigh is deep and rattling. He crosses his arms before replying, “He might have assessed your magic before bringing you into Chekagi Tree, but what if you had been hiding it? Being a pair of outlanders from another world, shouldn’t he have taken more precaution? Who knows—maybe your skin is toxic to those of us in the Realm of the Living and touching it would spell death.”

I wring my hands together under the table, wrinkling the gloves. Mirei and I continue to plead Roo’s case, desperate to salvage his reputation. If the mayor holds Roo in bad grace, then wouldn’t he be disallowed from participating in Chekagi Tree’s Rooted Xulte Festival of Dance and Song? I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least try to defend him.

The rest of the trial time is consumed in heated debate. The tension in the room reaches an all-time high once Hans Belostrer slams his folder onto the table twice. Everyone shuts up.

“And that’s time.”

My jaw drops. I hadn’t realized how fast the time went by, and now we have to end on a bad note. I run my fingers through my hair, trying to de-stress. The throb of an oncoming migraine pulses behind my eyes.

“This trial is now over,” Head Adjudicator Ohma announces, voice emotionless. “After all us adjudicators go over the facts and come to a decision, we’ll pass down the verdict. For now, all we can say is that the earliest we might come to a decision will be two days.”

The process of getting our things together and making it out of the courtroom passes by in a blur. While Mirei complains about Mayor Crank’s assumptions and Hans Belostrer’s leniency with him, I stay silent. It feels like the clothes and Magic Measurer in my school bag weigh one hundred tons in my hand. I trod through the empty corridor of the top floor, unthinking. Mirei ends up having to yank onto my shirt to stop my fall when I accidentally miss a stair.

“Sorry,” I utter beneath Mirei’s livid gaze.

“Watch where you’re going!” She shouts at me. Her voice slices through the chattering of the crowd at the foot of the stairs. Somehow, we’ve made it all the way to the ground floor. I shake my head, trying to ground myself.

“Takahashi siblings.”

Roo’s voice comes from beside the railing, startling me. He stands leaning against it, a porcelain mask adorned. I swallow the rock that had lodged its place in my mouth and break my silence.

“Not sure today went too well.”

“I assumed as such,” He sighs, voice solemn. “Your faces don’t look pleased.”

Roo pushes himself off the railing and makes his way through the busy people. We follow close behind.

Mirei pipes up, “The moderator guy was being too harsh with us and too nice to the mayor. He kept saying bad stuff about you and yet nobody stopped him!”

Roo frowns. “Well, I’m used to it.”

My gaze shoots up from the shiny floors to the back of Roo’s head. Then, realization dawns on me. Of course Roo would have already experienced negativity from the public—Arenah’s description about the nature of his birth explains that.

Loss looms over us in wake of today’s proceedings. I sense a dreadful verdict coming our way. I don’t want to see Roo’s despaired face or hear his poisonous words upon the day of the decision. Perhaps now is the time to push him away.

“Mayor Crank spoke of governmental corruption,” I mumble as we push through the exit doors, evening air crashing into us in a puff of hot wind. “He pointed out that you might be the heart of it. We couldn’t refute it.”

Roo’s pointed fingers lace together behind his back as he strides forward, toward the direction of the mansion. “Oh?”

Mirei not-so-subtly rams the toe of her boot into my shin. I glare at her before moving farther to the side of the road. I let Roo sit on that as we walk farther down the road, crowd left behind. We are now in Benz Square, where only relatives and servants are allowed. Shops and crafting houses line the street at its edges.

After a while, I continue, “He said you were dumb to trust us enough to bring us into the city.”

“Really,” Roo simply says.

“He said you made a mistake that will cost the citizens’ confidence in your judgment.”

“Hm.” Roo has elected to merely hum in response, now. I bristle.

“What’s your problem?” I shout at his back, stopping in place. Mirei skids to a stop and frowns at me, mouth open in shock. Roo stops walking as well.

He doesn’t say a word. So I do.

“You think you can do whatever you want. That you can have freedom in your choices and stay happy. I don’t get how you still believe that even after everything!” I rage, throwing my hands up in the air. An ancient fury that had been simmering for longer than I ever realized rears its ugly head. “Wake up! You can’t be free and become Chief! Your face is bound to be revealed! Why do you make things harder for yourself when you know it will come back to bite you in the ass?!”

Mirei sucks in a sharp breath, hand clapping over her mouth. “Brother, that’s bad language!”

I don’t care enough to respond. Roo finally turns around, movements slow. He takes one step toward me. Then another, and another, until I’m stumbling backward, falling against the stone wall of a shop. That beautiful mask of Roo’s shoves itself right into my face. Behind the slits that were carved out for Roo to see through, his eyes narrow and glow. His chest is a mere hairsbreadth from mine as he looms over me. We’re the same height, yet his menacing posture doesn’t make it seem that way.

I swallow.

His voice trembles—with fury? Sadness? Something else?—and pierces my ears like knives. “Why do you care?”

Three words. They’re only three words, but they punch me in the chest with a force harder than any sand snake. Those dangerous eyes narrow even more at my silence.

“You care, don’t you?”

I inhale shakily. “...I—”

“Tell me, Haruki,” Roo’s voice gets louder and more oppressive with every word. “And be honest with yourself for once.”

My hesitance snaps. Pure, unadulterated fury ignites from the splinters. “How dare you assume that about me? What do you know about me, huh?” Poison coats my words enough to paint the illusion that they have weight.

I believe it.

“I know enough about you,” Roo snaps back.

“Really? Because I don’t think you do! You’ve known me for a week. A week!” My hands slam into Roo’s chest and I shove him back with all my strength. He doesn’t budge, the cad. “Why would I care about you enough to forgive you for messing up my life?”

Roo coils back.

I keep spitting poison. “The adjudicators are going to punish my little sister and I for your stupidity. We’re going to lose this trial and then our lives! You want to know what the fucking mayor demanded from us if we lose?”

Roo’s breath stutters. I don’t wait for his reply.

“He demanded our wealth and our dea—”

“Brother, shut up!” Mirei cries, tears pooling in her eyes as she knocks her small fists against my side. She must have come after us when Roo crowded me against the wall.

“Why? If we lose, it’ll be his fault,” I argue, trying to push Mirei away. She only forges her way back toward me.

“We’re not gonna lose!”

“Yes we—”

A muscular arm coils around my waist and before I can even scream, I’m hauled upon Roo’s shoulder, hanging over him like a sack of potatoes. My nose collides with his hip, just above that glimmering gold belt.

“What the f—” I start, but Roo cuts me off.

“So that’s what this is about,” He huffs, irritated. “I ought to throw you into the Benz Dungeon for throwing a fit over a bad day of debate. I should’ve known.”

My mouth falls open. Then, I blabber, “That’s not what this is about at all!”

“To reference what your sister said: shut up.”

And with that, he stomps all the way down the empty road. He won’t answer any of my words, whether they be insults or pleas. Mirei trods after us, arms crossed and lip quivering. Behind us, the suns dip below the courthouse, causing an eminent shadow to trail after us.