"Power of the body determines everything in the end, and only Might is Right." (The Once and Future King)
It's all over quickly, without having ever really begun.
They've had practice, of course, and have developed a certain methodology to use every time. The most skilled in fighting subdue the still-drugged soldiers and gather them in the square at the center of the city. The other bandits and the orphans spread out through the city, raiding the houses for anything and everything of value.
The thought makes the boy sick. His only consolation is that this time, at least, none will get hurt. There would be no new 'recruits' from this city. He clings to the thought like the lifeline that it is – it's all he can do to remain standing.
He has the "privilege" of sitting out this time, watching the soldiers with a few of the other bandits. He watches them awaken, one by one, taking in their surroundings in fear and confusion and despair. He watches as a few of them see him, recognize him, and curse him. He can feel their hateful, accusing gazes, burning him where he stands. He wants to hide, but he can't. He wants to explain, but he can't.
"But why…?" he hears the doctor whisper, on the ground with everyone else who had been in the watchtowers. It's almost more than the boy can bear. His reasoning feels so weak now…
…
"This is why they capture so many children." It's the green-haired girl, approaching him from behind, lugging an oversized sack over her shoulder. The boy jerks at the sound of her voice, but does not turn to look at her. He isn't sure if he can, at this point. "They use our friendships to turn us into their weapons."
"…You knew, then." The accusation is unspoken but undoubtedly present.
"Don't you realize?" the girl says, real emotion in her voice for once. "They would have made you do this one way or another. If not here, then next time, it makes no difference when. This way, at least, you'd have had a single moment in your life where you believed that you were free." She smiles humorlessly. "I guess you could consider it my thanks for your drawing."
She walks on, before the boy has a chance to respond. "…Is that all I'll ever get?" he finally murmurs. "Just a moment in a lifetime?"
…
As always, the world moves too quickly. The boy glimpses, out of the corner of his eye, the arrival of Axio, the last one present, as usual. One of the bandits runs up, says something. Axio's face breaks into a frightening smile, revealing every one of his golden teeth.
The first explosion lingers in the air. Smoke billows upward, rubble falls to the ground. The first flames begin to rear their heads. The soldiers in the square watch with horror and with sadness, with clenched teeth and with watering eyes. This is the city they had loved.
And Axio – he strolls forward leisurely in the stillness that follows, and his next three words stop the boy's heart. "Kill them all."
The first is never anything more than practice, a warm-up.
A second later, the city truly shatters.
The silence is deafening.
…
The boy leaps at Axio, screaming. Liar. Around them, the city burns. The bandits and the soldiers – the remaining soldiers – watch.
Axio casually lifts his leg and sends him skidding across the ground. He can't breathe, his glasses have flown off, the heat is unbearable, the guilt even worse…
"There are two states of being in this world," he hears Axio saying, above the roar of the fires. "You are crushed by others. Or you trample upon others to reach the top."
The boy's glasses are placed back on his nose, with a surprising amount of gentleness. "Open your eyes and watch closely," says Axio. "And be thankful that today, at least, you are not the one being crushed!"
…
"Lift your chin, child," he hears the doctor say, somewhere, sometime, somehow. "We have done our best." The boy knows it's meant to be reassuring, but it's not – faced with the leaping flames, what does it matter, the outcome is still the same…
"That is correct. You have done well."
The fires flare even higher, and onto the scene appears a Hero. Dressed in a suit of yellow. White-framed glasses resting on his forehead. Red hair slicked back. In his hands, a pair of golden nunchucks.
The boy stares and stares as the whispering swells around him. A story, a legend, passed from lips to ears. The best fighter. Revived an entire star system. Defeated seven entire fleets of Checkmate all on his own. A name, as well. Milong.
"You say that the only way to the top is through pushing down others," says Milong. "But what kind of view could you get from a summit like that?"
The bandits listen in fear. The boy, in awe.
"Right now, you have two options." The Hero lifts the nunchucks, sweeps it at the bandits. The firelight gleams off its surface.
Axio spits on the ground, a last act of defiance. The bandits flee.
…
"You're not thinking of staying here, are you?" The green-haired girl is the last one, sparing a glance backward at the boy, who has not moved.
"They'll never forgive you for what you did, you know," she says, with the faintest tinge of sadness. "Let's go." She turns and vanishes, like the others, among the trees.
"I…"
The boy is left alone with his thoughts. He stands, and he thinks, and, with a firm step, he turns to the city.
A/N: First, please please review! The goal of this, unlike most of the other things I write, was to make it understandable to everyone and feedback on that would really help! If anything doesn't make sense, ask (even if it is cinemasins-level nitpicky)! Any constructive criticism is welcomed and greatly appreciated!
Quick stuff to note:
This will be a five-part/chapter story; word count-wise, I'm not sure. This chapter will be the shortest, probably. I swear it gets better; this chapter was rather bleh for various reasons (part of why it took so long to write).
To me, the nameless boy is six years old in the first two parts (so don't hate on him for what he does), and eight or nine after the timeskip next chapter. Milong is somewhere in his early twenties.
Since it's been so long since I last updated, I'd like to take the time and just say RAINBOW SEA SEASON 2 CONFIRMED TO BE IN THE MAKING AFTER 4-YEAR HIATUS; PV PROMISED IN LESS THAN A WEEK; THE CHARS FEATURED IN THIS STORY HAD BETTER MAKE AN APPEARANCE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE
And sorry MO I'm a terrible person five months for not even 1k I swear I'll write faster