I do not own 'Divergent' or anything related.
Commentator: Welcome back my divergent wannabe friends, to the latest chapter of 'War of The Five Cities'! Before we begin let's take a look at some of the reviews you've sent us. Professor! Open the shoot!
(The Professor does so, and out pops eight envelopes)
Wow, we've got tons of reviews this time! Hey Prof, do we still have that word limit to take no longer than a quarter of the actual chapter?
Professor: Yes Sir. So we only have seven hundred words to respond to these.
Commentator: Damn. That might not be enough. Oh well. Let's have a go! Our first review is from Eunice339:
Great job making Christina's eulogy as awkward as possible...I was cringing while reading it. No Zeke, Shauna, George or Nita? Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Uh oh. Did Anon really miss out on some of the people who took the bureau down?
Professor: Let me check, Sir. (checks the computer) Hmmm. No it seems that neither Zeke, Shauna or George were involved.
Commentator: Phew!
Professor: But Nita was.
Commentator: What, let me see! (Checks the computer) Damn! How will Anonymius get out of this one? Hmm, maybe they'll meet up later and - oh wait, she's in a wheel chair, so she wouldn't be that helpful anyway! Ahem, no offence to anyone watching this who is in a wheelchair, it's just that for what they would be going on to do it would be hard for Nita. As for the others, the only people who were invited were the ones involved in taking the bureau down so neither Zeke, Shauna or George were involved. Wait, who was Shauna again?
Professor: Zeke's girlfriend.
Commentator: He had a girlfriend? Ah right, okay. Also it's nice to see that Christina's eulogy was hard to hear, because even though it wasn't exactly nasty, it did include bits that you really wouldn't say in a eulogy unless you were depressed and upset at how people were misrepresenting someone they knew. So how are we doing on the word limit?
Professor: About three hundred to go.
Commentator: Wow, really? Damn, that might not be enough time to answer all of these! Let's see, where is a good one? (Rummages through the reviews) Hmmmm. Aha! Here's one from inopinion:
whuhoh... drama llamas all of them. Tobias just needs to stop running and start talking. he has to have room for other people's feelings and perspectives to lead what will be a diverse group to this new experiment. I'm engaged.
...Interesting that you brought that up, as what part of this fic is about is visiting places that have different perspectives and values, even if you may not agree with those values to the point where you might consider some of it to be wrong or even immoral. How are we doing on time?
Professor: About two hundred to go.
Commentator: Aha! So we might have time for just one more. This one is also from Inopinion:
wow, that's a lot of emotional manipulation! i am intrigued. thanks for bringing a new concept to the fandom.
Hey Prof? Is this fanfic really so unique?
Professor: Well let's see. Well, from what I've seen from the first page of Divergent fanfiction, the most popular with twenty percent each are AUs set in a real world high school or following an original character, followed by sixteen percent of those other AUs with characters making different choices, followed by eight percent each of no war fics and those romances redeeming Eric, with 20 percent miscellaneous including Tobias mourning Beatrice, deleted scenes, a tris, Peter romance, following a secondary character, a story involving babysitting and a no war story, but no, nothing about characters going to a different experiment.
Commentator: Wow, really?
Professor: Really.
Commentator: Huh. I guess it must be pretty unique. So there are those that-
Clock: TING!
Professor: And we're out of time.
(The Commentator shocks the Clock, causing it to fall backwards)
Commentator: That was really seven hundred words?
Professor: Six hundred and sixty nine to be precise.
Commentator: -Seriously? That was a quarter of this friggin chapter? Oh right, fine! Here's the next chapter, 'Truth or Lie'.
"Hey," Christina greeted.
Tobias was a little wary and confused.
"Hey."
"Is it all right if I come in?"
Tobias felt as though there was an invisible wall between them. He wanted to ask why she was here, but then decided that there had been enough arguing between them today.
"Sure."
Tobias moved out of the way to let her in.
"Hey, it looks like the whole gang's here! Hi Cara! Hi Amar! Hi Matthew! Caleb."
Everyone greeted Chistina back. Tobias couldn't help but notice the cold tone when she said hello to Caleb. He guessed she hadn't exactly forgiven him for betraying Tris either.
"So anyway, as I was saying, I'm going to join Yamaru with trying to bring peace to this place. You're all welcome to join me, but I won't hold it against you if you say no."
Matthew stood up.
"I'll join you. I knew about these people's existence, and I said nothing. I bear the burden of guilt more than any of you guys, so the need to make amends is more on me than anyone else."
Soon Cara stood up.
"I was part of the plan that took the Bureau down. If these people are dying because of me, then I need to do something about it."
Amar then stood up.
"Sure, I don't mind having one last big hurrah with your guys!"
To Tobias' surprise, Caleb stood up.
"I was useless the last time we tried to do something like this. Beatrice died so that I could live. Maybe I can now use my life to save these people."
And to even more of Tobias' surprise, Christina stood up.
"Sure, why not?"
Instead of pleasing him, Christina's desire to join them only irritated Tobias.
So that was it. Everyone was in.
"We'll meet before midday, at the same place where we first left the city."
Everyone got up to leave.
"Christina, can I talk to you?"
Christina stopped to turn around. She stayed behind.
"What are you doing here?"
He didn't mean it as an accusation, even though that's how it came out.
"What do you mean?"
"Earlier today you made it perfectly clear that you had no interest in helping these people, now suddenly you changed you mind?"
"Well, I thought about it, and decided maybe I am partially responsible for what is happening, and that I should do something about it. Besides I – didn't like how we left things."
Tobias nodded.
"Me neither."
"Hey, is it alright if I see Tris' ashes?"
Tobias felt stung when she said that. Probably because he had always referred to the urn in his head as 'Tris' rather than making any direct reference to what was inside.
"Sure."
He led her into his bedroom. When Christina saw the urn, she started to cry.
"Why? Why did you have to burn her?"
This took Tobias by surprise.
"Candor isn't big on cremation, I take it?"
"Not really no. Well, some do, but many prefer burial. Personally I don't like the idea of my body being torched after I'm gone or those belonging to my loved ones. It seems wrong somehow."
This especially angered Tobias.
"So you respect the remains of the dead to the point that you consider cremation to be desecration, yet you feel the need to say whatever you like about them when they're dead?"
Christina looked stung.
"I'm sorry," Tobias quickly apologised, "I shouldn't have said that."
"No, I think you should have. It's best we talk about this."
"Christina, now's not the time!"
"Now's the perfect time! If we're really going on this adventure together then it's best we get this cleared up in case we have another blow up! There's an old saying among the Candor; if you have a problem with someone, better it's out in the open rather than letting it fester inside you."
Tobias considered this.
"Funny. For Abnegation it was the opposite. For us it was if you have a problem with someone best keep it to yourself and suffer in silence rather than making anyone else suffer."
"Yeah, because that sounds healthy!" Christina laughed, "What do the Dauntless say on the matter?"
Tobias thought about it.
"Not sure. Probably to duke it out."
"Yeah!" Christina laughed, "That definitely sounds like the Dauntless route!"
Both laughed. Perhaps talking about this sooner would have prevented the blow up earlier today, yet Tobias also knew that being honest wouldn't have helped when speaking with Caleb after the funeral either. He guessed that in some situations it was best to be honest, and in others to be selfless. The question was, which was it best to be in this situation?
"I shouldn't have said that Tris had darkness inside of her."
"No you shouldn't have."
"But I'm not apologising for anything else I said."
"Excuse me?"
This wasn't exactly the apology he was expecting.
"Look, I'm sorry Four, but from my perspective, it was the lot of you who were disrespecting Tris' memory."
"US? How – why – what kind of logic is that?"
"Four please," Christina pleaded, "Please try to see it from my point of view, how it was as I listened to all of your eulogies for Tris, how it bugged me, the way everyone painted her, as if she had no faults. Even Cara I thought would have something to say negatively about her. I mean she did kill her brother and all. And I know Tris had no choice," Christina quickly added before Tobias could interrupt her, "But you should have heard the things Cara said about her. And that was her way of trying to defend her!"
"I guess even Erudite understand that you don't speak ill of the dead, even if you might have hold a grudge against them."
"Yes I'm well aware of that. I know what happens in other funerals, how people overlook the deceased's failings and magnify their strengths, making them out as if they were perfect, wonderful people. I still remember what Eric did to Al at his funeral, making him out to be someone he wasn't, it was disgusting! It was like taking his body and twisting and mutilating it to the point that it was no longer recognisable! It was the worst thing he had ever done to him!"
Tobias was surprised to hear this, as he thought Eric speaking positively about Al was the best thing he had done to him. He remembered though how upset Tris was over what he said, how he portrayed the boy's suicide as courageous rather than a sign of weakness.
"What's wrong with not talking about the deceased's failings or emphasising their strengths?"
Somehow Tobias knew the answer before it was given.
"What's wrong is that it's dishonest! That mourners are being dishonest to themselves and they're being dishonest about the departed! When someone in Candor died, at their funeral everyone who spoke at their eulogy says honestly what that person was like, good and bad."
"What if there's nothing positive to say?"
"Well usually there's at least something positive to say about them."
"Really? Even Peter?"
"Well okay, there are exceptions to the rule, but you know even he had some redeeming qualities. Besides why bother saying anything positive about someone who was rotten in life?"
"Because you're not supposed to say anything negative about someone when they've died," Tobias tried to explain almost through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, see, I've never really understood that. I mean surely the best time to speak about someone honestly is when they're dead, isn't it?"
"Why?"
"Why? Well they're dead, aren't they? It's not like they can hear you so why worry about offending them?"
Tobias was stunned when he heard this. He had told Tris something similar, after Al had died, how he couldn't hear anyone now, although in that case he was talking about how it was pointless to reprimand him rather than saying whatever you wanted about him.
"Well it's not just for the deceased's sake, is it? What about the loved ones? I'm sure they wouldn't like anything negative said about the deceased."
"Four, I came from a community that valued honesty about everything else! The family would prefer that those who knew the deceased spoke honestly about him or her!"
"Even if it was something really negative?"
"Like I said, we value honesty above everything else. Even though that's not the same for everyone else. I guess I really should have taken that into account, that the rest of you weren't Candor and you don't necessarily want the truth to be brought up at a funeral."
"It's not a question of truth and lie, it's a question of respecting the departed's memory."
"But that's the thing. It's not their memory you're respecting!"
"-I don't understand."
"I mean it's one thing to misrepresent them at their own funeral, but people go on with this distorted image of their loved ones even long after they're gone. I mean in all these months you've mourned Tris you've probably forgotten the last time you had a fight, haven't you?"
That was none of Chrstina's business, Tobias thought. Then again, did he and Tris ever fight? He couldn't remember.
"Everywhere I go, I hear people talk about Tris, even total strangers who didn't know her, like she was some perfect girl, like she could walk on water. But that's not the Tris I remember. Don't get me wrong, I loved Tris, I meant what I said at the funeral, she was my best friend and she's irreplaceable. And in many ways she was an amazing girl, brave, smart, selfless and all that. But she wasn't perfect. She had her flaws and to deny she had any is to deny what made her, well, Tris."
"It's not denying who she was," Tobias tried to correct, "It's just not drawing attention to those certain aspects of her."
"Except those aspects are part of what made her who she was! A girl who was brave, but who did have a temper. Selfless, but could be unforgiving to those who wronged her. Intelligent but emotional at times. That's the Tris I knew, the one I want to remember, the one who made a fuss about kissing in public when I first knew her. That was my best friend, not this perfect, saintly, noble, bigger than ordinary people person that everyone else seem to remember her as! I mean you know the reason why Candor wear black and white, right?"
Tobias nodded.
"Because you believe that the subject of truth and lying is black and white and your clothes reflect that."
"Well, it's partly that I suppose, but I like to think that there's another reason."
"And what's that?"
"That by wearing black and white, we accept that there is good and bad in the world, light and dark. And we're okay with that, because it's the mixture that make us human."
Tobias thought about this. He laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"It's ironic really. That people whose ancestors were designed to be more than human appreciate what it means to be human more than anyone else."
Christina sighed.
"Oh Four. Don't tell me you're going on about that genetic purity, damaged rubbish David tried to indoctrinate us with, are you?"
Tobias laughed even harder. There was something strangely beautiful about Candor's commitment to truth, to the reality of things. The problem was that they can be so blunt about it, like having a light shoved in your face.
"So, are we okay now?" Christina asked.
Tobias stared at her. He nodded.
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
"Let's just say that you won't have any more outbursts from me during this mission."
Christina smiled.
"That's better than nothing, I guess."
She turned towards the door.
"See you outside the city."
"So you're boss is perfectly happy with you leaving work like this?"
"Let's just say saving the world has it's benefits."
She walked towards the door.
"Just out of curiosity," Tobias said.
Chistina stopped to look at him.
"If you were given the chance to speak about Al, what would you have said?"
Christina shrugged.
"Just who he was. A kind hearted boy who was helpful to his friends, who got twisted by the initiation process, and died because of it."
"That sounds more like a fair picture I guess. And what about me?"
Christina now looked concerned.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Just curious as to what you would say at my funeral."
Christina smiled.
"I'd say you were brave, and kind. But you could also be a jerk at times."
"Fair enough. Just so I know what to expect."
He turned away.
"Four."
Tobias turned back at Christina. She was giving him a worried look.
"You're not thinking of dying, are you?"
Tobias was taken aback by this question.
"What, no, why would you think that?"
"Be honest with me, you haven't chosen to go along with this because you think it's going to be a suicide mission, have you?"
"What, no!" Tobias hadn't even thought of that, "Christina, no! I have no intention of dying!"
Christina examined him, as if checking for any signs that he was lying.
"Good," She sighed, "Just checking."
"You don't have to worry about me, Christina," Tobias tried to assure her, "I was raised Abnegation. We don't believe in suicide."
"Then what do you call what you tried to do last year?"
Tobias was reminded of the time that he had almost drank the memory serum. He didn't think of it like that at the time, but he guessed in a way it would have been suicide.
"No one believes in suicide. But that doesn't stop those if life becomes too much for them. It's just that I worry about you, Four. I stopped you from drinking that memory stuff, to encourage you to keep on living, but have you been living? Or have you just been staring at that urn most of the time?"
Tobias didn't know how to respond.
"Well, like I said, see you outside the city."
And she left. Tobias thought about what she said. Had he been living? He tried to think about what he had been doing for the past year. He had always been busy at work, but what had been doing outside of work? He couldn't remember. He remembered how people, old friends asked him to join them, but always telling them that he was busy, which was actually a lie. Had all he'd been doing was laying on the bed, looking at Tris' urn, talking to his dead girlfriend? He also remembered something else. Some time while at the bureau, he and Tris quarrelled over him being against them, and they broke up because of that. He had completely forgotten about that fight. Did they have any others? Maybe Christina was right. Maybe people do have a tendency of idealising their lives with certain people when they're gone. But he didn't want to remember those bad times, he only wanted to remember the good. He didn't want to remember anything that tainted his memory of Tris. But according to Christina, not embracing the bad stuff was itself tainting Tris' memory. Well, maybe that's how the Candor felt, but Tobias wasn't Candor. Just because he believed in being honest didn't mean he had to accept the extremes that Candor took! Tobias found that he still couldn't completely forgive Christina for what she said. Whereas he could understand her point of view, he still believed that it was wrong to bring up anything negative about the deceased at their funeral. Her almost callous disregard for the deceased also unsettled him. But he thought that his personal feelings shouldn't get in the way. Regardless of what Christina had been taught that it was better to say anything that troubled you out in the open, he knew that the truth could easily destroy a bond as much as it could strengthen it. And he couldn't let anything jeopardise what needed to be done. Putting on a jacket, Tobias turned towards Tris' urn. He pressed his fingers to his lips before placing them at the top of the urn.
"I shouldn't be gone for too long," He told the urn.
And who knows? Maybe I'll end up joining you.