Your name is Vesperia Makara and you are uncomfortable with what you are currently witnessing.
The crowd before you jeers and beckons for blood while the grown troll beside you remains motionless. Not just any troll.
THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD.
You, his descendant/ adopted daughter must be present for all executions, not matter how horrid they may be. It is law. You are used to it by now but this time it makes your stomach turn. There is a lowblood, mutant troll hung by his wrists against the massive stone below you. His bright, red blood spills from his several wounds and onto the dirt below, staining it. You've never seen such red blood before.
It's almost disgusting.
The crowd quiets as your Gruardi-…..Highblood stands from his twisted throne. Although many, including yourself, contain the same majestic indigo blood as him, he remains the most dangerous, ruthless, "highest" blood. He picks up his massive club and points it towards the "lowest" blood attached to the stone. "PATHETIC! YOU ARE BROUGHT HERE TO DIE, LOWBLOOD YET YOU SAY NOTHING!? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY WORDS FOR THEM? ANY "SERMON" FOR YOUR FOLLOWERS?! SPEAK!" His roar, followed by a deep and chilling laugh, silences the crowd. The bloody troll raises his head as much as he can from his chest. Speaking calmly, he breaths, "I have been peaceful… I have been kind… I only dared to speak what others have been dreaming for so long." The Highblood scowls. His facepaint is smeared, his eyes blazing with rage. "I had dreams too", the prisoner continues, "dreams of what might have been". Below him an oliveblood cries out in sorrow. The Highblood stares her down while a jadeblood, the "Dolorosa", tries to comfort her. The jadeblood's hands are cuffed behind her back as 2 bluebloods force her to stare at the prisoner. The oliveblood, captured the same way, tries to escape but is met with a blow to her shoulder by one of the guards. This quiets her cries to a whimper.
You stare back at the prisoner as he straightens himself, "Where blood was simply blood and all of us… were equal". The crowd erupts and looks up to the Highblood who silences them with a raise of his club. "Equality? What is the madness this lowblood spea-". Before you can finish he meets your eyes with his, "SILENCE!" You slink back into your own throne. It's small compared to his but is just as twisted and stained with the blood of trolls that he had killed before you in the Castle-Hive.
The prisoner looks directly towards you and the Highblood. "If wishing for that is heresy... then, yes, I deserve to die." His head falls, looking to his Disciple and Guardian, "I've seen acts of the most sublime kindness…" His eyes dart to you, "… and the most vile cruelty." The Highblood growls while the prisoner's eyes grow full of pity, "They say powerful beings find anger when they have no room for love." He shakes his head, questioning, "What made you so?" The prisoner's eyebrows furrow, "Are you scared of change? Scared of those who are different?" This makes the Highblood scoff but the troll doesn't stop speaking. He looks down at his blood dripping from his wounds. "I realize… I am different than you." His voice rises as he stares out to the crowd, "I have known feelings that none of you can ever hope to know!" His gaze reaches high into the sky as the Condescension's ship hovers overhead. "I have known the comradery of a friend who supported me against all odds." The Dolorosa chokes back tears as his eyes fall to hers, "I have known the compassion of a guardian who took me in when no others would and raised me to dream and hope". He takes a deep breath and his voice shakes, "I have known a love and passion that transcended definition." His disciple cries out again unable to control her sobbing. You stare back and forth between the crowd and the Highblood. That mutant troll is winning the favor of the crowd quickly and you can't help but to believe in what he says, even a little. You try to ignore the sound of cracking wood as the Highblood tightens his grip on his club. You lift your head enough so that you can see the prisoner better as he raises his voice for everyone to hear him. "There's no use hiding it now. You all can see me for what I am!" The crowd never takes their eyes off of him. "The Signless…. The Sufferer…..The MUTANT. My blood burns brightly for all to see!" You can hear the anger growing in the prisoner's voice and it frightens you some. You have never heard such familiar rage in a lowblood's voice before. He yells up to the Highblood, "It is the flame of a revolution that you cannot ever hope to quell!" The Highblood before you digs his claws into his club and the wood begins to break off. You feel your horns scrape against the back of your throne as you push yourself away from him. You have seen him enraged before, but never like this. Never so angry. Never so full of hate for another being. The rage of the Highblood only pushes the Sufferer below to speak louder, "My memory can be erased but my ideals will never die!" He lifts his face to the setting sun, "My mistake was believing I could change a world infected by hate and corruption!" As if speaking to some unseen figure he glares at the sky, "You've taken the freedom of an innocent troll and turned his blessings into a curse!" Quickly, his scrutiny turns to the Executor, Darkleer, who has his traditional bow in hand. The strong bow is already armed with an arrow. "The pity you've taken on my Disciple will wound her! She has known TRUE LOVE and you FORCE her to a life of SOLITUDE! You've forced a mother to watch her son DIE!" The Executor's eyes fall to the Disciple and the Highblood roars. It is clear now that the Highblood had not known of Darkleer's pardon on the Disciple or the Dolorosa. You hope that Darkleer will be wise enough to flee after the execution. You don't want to know what would happen if the Grand Highblood got to him, especially in this rage. Suddenly it seems the Sufferer takes in the palpable rage of the Highblood when he announces, "I see you for what you are… I always FUCKING HAVE! I thought I could FUCKING CHANGE YOU!?" He gazes out to the audience who now begins to cry, some begging the Highblood for the Sufferer's life. "FUCK ME FOR BEING A FUCKING FOOL!" The Executor raises his bow with a heavy sigh and aims it towards the prisoner regretfully. You jump from your seat the Signless yells, "fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUCCKKK!" The Executor releases his arrow just as the Highblood thunders, "KILL HIM!"
Silence.
You stand frozen in place while the world seems to have stopped. The only thing audible to you is the heavy breathing of The Grand Highblood. 'It's just another execution', you try to tell yourself. Your mind is clashing with itself. You've been told that lowbloods like the ones before you DESERVED to die, yet you believe in what this one preaches. Equality. Could it be so bad? You are tossed from your thoughts as you hear a shuddered breath erupt from the chained Signless. "fuck…". The crowd raises their heads to his voice in hope, but none say a word. The Highblood stands hunched over in disbelief as he carries on his 'sermon'. "I am angry…..because I forgive you." His eyes, full of tears and blood, rest on the Highblood. He coughs again and takes another breath. "I may be the biggest fucking fool on Alternia..." He takes a final, sorrowful look at his Disciple, Guardian, and the crowd. "…but when I close my eyes I see a world where we all work together…"
The crowd begins a chorus of sobs and cries. You feel yourself shake some when the Signless brings his eyes back up to the thrones. He doesn't seem to be looking at the Highblood now, but rather past him, to you. You freeze at the sight of his beautiful, peaceful eyes. He gasps, "…and it's so… fucking… beautiful…" His eyes fade and his chest ceases its rise and fall motion. His sorrowful expression is replaced with an unfeeling appearance as his head slowly falls, motionless. An explosion of screams erupts from the crowd. The Dolorosa is released and left by the giant stone along with the Disciple who buries her face into the ground. You can't help but to feel like everything about this execution was unjust. How could someone so eager for peace be a criminal? The Highblood chuckles and speaks out to the crowd, "YOUR LEADER IS DEAD. THE EXECUTION IS DISMISSED." He turns to you and rests in his throne gladly. How could he be so unfeeling? "What do we do now?" you ask. He cocks his head towards you and smiles, "WHAT WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE. THIS IS NO SPECIAL OCCASION. THE EXECUTION IS OVER. WE SHALL RETURN TO THE CASTE-HIVE AND CONTINUE ON." He pounds his club on the ground and several lowbloods come to his aid, lifting his throne and your own. They turn away from the Execution Grounds and towards the Castle-Hive. For what seems like the first time you actually look at their faces, full of pain and exhaustion. You look back to the crowd that is now beginning to depart. The Disciple and Dolorosa are pulling the lifeless body from its chains as The Executor releases the bindings. They hold onto him so tightly as to give their lives for his, but to no avail. Darkleer rests his hand on their shoulders and looks to be whispering something of comfort to them. He soon turns away and begins to follow back to the Castle-Hive and to what will surely be a whipping, if not worse. You cannot stand the sight and sit again in your throne. The Grand Highblood keeps his eyes faced forward, apparently lost in his own mind. His eyes are glazed over and his deep, black hair flips in the small wind. As your trip continues you hear whimpering amongst the villages and towns.
Some whisper, "Signless". Others, "Sufferer". You only think,
'Savior'.