Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"All this time, you were born in the North." Olivia said.

Caleb nodded.

"I was like you once." Caleb said. "Naïve and completely trusting of the regime. Of course, we were well off that we could avoid the purging, or so they told me."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"Let me explain."

Flashback

On the streets of Paris, a young couple was standing by the Seine River watching the erection of a large wall cutting along the river. With them was a young child in his early teens with short, combed black hair, who was also watching the construction.

"What are they doing?" The child asked.

"This wall is meant to separate the poor people from people like us, Caleb dear." The woman said.

"That's right." The man said. "The poorer half of the population have been deported to the new south region of the city while we remain in the north. This wall will keep them from escaping and revolting."

"Those who are found to have escaped deportation will be subject to purging." The woman said.

"When does the purging begin?" Caleb asked.

"Looks like now." The man said.

The three then tuned to see a crowd of screaming people running down the road, being pursued by a sleek, black limo. Gunshots were fired as most of the people fell to the ground dead.

"Caleb dear, get down." The woman said. "You don't want to get hurt."

"But I wanna watch."

"Caleb, listen to your mothe-" The man said before a bullet tore through his head and he fell to the ground dead.

"Dad!" Caleb shouted.

"Rupert, no!" The woman shouted running up to him until she herself felt a bullet pass through her chest, which was the last thing she felt before falling to the ground dead.

"NO!" Caleb shouted as he ran over to his parents and tried to get a response out of them, but to no avail. Caleb just sat down crying as more bystanders ran off screaming.

End Flashback.

"Oh my God." Olivia said shocked.

"I defected to the city in the south and made myself its leader through gang wars." Caleb said. "Met a new friend, two former bodyguards of Will IV and started a new street gang and began to assert my authority. Since the incident, I lost faith in not only the regime, but also humanity."

"Because of your parents' deaths?" Olivia asked.

"Because of the lies we've been fed since the beginning." Caleb said. "Because of humanity's desire to put it own pride and the pride of their home over the lives of the innocent."

"Like you don't do that?" Olivia asked. "You're the one torturing and killing as means of satisfying your own goals."

"At least I'm honest about it." Caleb said. Olivia said nothing as Caleb headed to bed. "You should get back to the inn before it gets dark."

"Okay." Olivia said as she left the factory and made her way back to the inn.


The next morning, Olivia woke up and made her way to find Caleb at the factory. When she arrived, she saw Caleb crouched down behind The Wall.

"Caleb, what are you…?"

"Shh." Caleb said.

"But I don't."

"Get down!" Caleb whispered. Olivia said nothing and just did as she was told.

On top of The Wall, a group of five men were lined up alongside each other, blindfolded and their hands tied behind their back. Approaching them were Will and Hannibal each accompanied by two Grand Army soldiers.

"Read the charges, Admiral." Will ordered. A bearded man in a highly decorated military uniform walked up and read off an open scroll in his hands.

"Prisoners of North Paris." He shouted. "You are charged with numerous counts of treason, disrespect to your Grand Leader and Eternal Patriarch and other blasphemous activity that is nothing short of unspeakable."

The prisoners just sat there whimpering.

"Your punishment will be determined by a quick examination by the Grand Army of North Paris." The admiral said. "You may proceed, Will."

"Do your thing, men."

One Grand Army soldier then walked around and examined each prisoner.

"Execute."

He walked to the next one.

"Execute."

The next.

"Execute."

The next.

"Execute."

The last.

"Reformat."

"No. 5." Will said. "Please step up."

"No, please." He said. "Anything but that."

"Get up, rat!" The admiral said picking him up.

"Please, not reformatting!" The prisoner said. "Kill me now. Do whatever. Just don't format!"

The admiral just walked away with the prisoner in hand as the rest just watched.

"Ready at my command!" Will shouted. The other three soldiers then drew their weapons and Hannibal raised his cane and held it like a rifle.

"And what pray tell do you plan to do with that?" Will chuckled.

Hannibal then fired a quick beam of energy that plowed through his target and blew him up. Will's eyes just widened.

"You aren't the only one with personal projects, William." Hannibal said.

Will said nothing and just turned back.

"The rest of you fire at will!" Will ordered.

"If only…" Hannibal muttered.

The three soldiers then fired their weapons, killing the prisoners and blasting them into the river below.

"What was that?" Olivia asked looking at the bodies.

"Looks like a public execution." Caleb said. "They used to occur all the time when Will IV wasn't sick."

"Will IV did no such thing." Olivia said. "I would've heard about it. The rest of the city would've."

"You could write a novel with all the things this city doesn't know about its regime." Caleb said. "You're a lot less informed than you think you are, even for the heir-apparent's fiancée."

"You really think that?" Olivia asked.

"I know that." Caleb said.

"Anyway, what did they mean by 'reformatting'?" Olivia asked.

"You don't want to know." Caleb said. "Anyways, you should head back. The Grand Leader returns to the city today."

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked. "Because I can stay a bit longer."

"If Will finds out you didn't show up for his father's arrival, he'll get suspicious." Caleb said. "Go on, I'll be fine."

"If you say so." Olivia said.


In the center square of the city, right by the Zanbato Industries tower, a celebration was being held to celebrate the return of the leader of North Paris: William Dunbar IV. People were dancing in the streets, bands were playing and soldiers were guarding the entryway to the tower. Female soldiers were perched on rooftops as snipers, keeping a watch on the festivities from above.

"At arms!" Theo shouted as the soldiers held their rifles out.

Will and Jonah were standing with him waiting for their father to return before they would come down and join. Just then, Olivia ran up.

"Olivia." Will said. "You're three minutes late. What took you?"

"Had some business to take care of." Olivia said. "What matters is I'm here, right?"

"Of course." Will said. "After all, Father hasn't arrived yet."

"Oh, look at that." Jonah said pointing to a stretch limo slowly pulling up to the entryway. "We'd better get down there."

The three then made their way down as Hannibal walked down the walkway between two rows of soldiers, each on opposite ends of the path. Unlike the other soldiers, these soldiers were dressed in grey overcoats and military caps and wore sabers around their waists. Hannibal walked up to the limo and opened the door.

"Present!" Hannibal shouted. Immediately, the soldiers drew their sabers and held them up vertical and close to their face and immediately held them in the air in front of them at an angle.

Stepping out of the limo was an old balding man with white hairs dressed in an elegant tuxedo. He had pale skin that was covered from top to bottom with nasty purple lesions. Walking with a cane in one hand, he grabbed Hannibal's hand with his other hand as the latter helped him out.

"Will, my brother." Hannibal said hugging him. "Welcome back."

"Ah, Ethan, good to see you." Will said in a raspy voice. "I take it your interim term went well."

"Indeed, my brother."

"Father!" The younger Will, Theo and Jonah shouted as they walked up to their ailing father and kneeled before him.

"It's so good to see you again." Theo said. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better, Theo." Will said. "But I'm glad to be able to spend my last days with you."

"Don't say that." Jonah said. "It breaks my heart knowing that you have such a negative outlook on your life."

"We all have to accept the fact sooner or later, Jonah." Will said. "No matter what happens though, I couldn't be more proud of what you and Theo have done."

"What about me?" The younger Will asked.

"Oh hey, other kid." The elder Will said dully. "Anyways, Theo, I heard about the wedding. Congratulations. I wish I could've been there."

"It's no big deal." Theo said.

"Excuse me, Sir." Olivia said. "I just want to say it's an honor to finally meet you."

"Olivia, please." Will V said. "Don't speak unless you're spoken to."

"Other kid!" Will IV scolded. "Shut up and let the young lady talk! Glad to meet you, madam. Mind if I ask for your name?"

"Olivia, sire." Olivia said. "I'm Will's fiancée."

"Oh." He said. "About time he did something right with his life."

"Brother, it's time to greet the admiral and chairman." Hannibal said.

"Very well." Will said as he and his brother walked away, but not before turning to his sons. "Make sure the Victory Day festivities will be prepared for the parade."

"Yes, Father." The three said in unison. When Will and Hannibal were away, Will V then walked up to one of the officers in the line.

"Can I help you, sir?" The officer said.

"You were two steps out of formation." Will said.

"My apologies, sir." He said. "I must've not noticed."

"My brother instructed you hour after hour, day after day making sure that you got your formation and everyone else's formations correct." Will said angrily. "You obviously don't care enough about your Grand Leader if you slacked off in memorizing basic formation."

"Sir please, I…" The officer said nervously.

"Now let me ask you this: Who would I rather blame for this, you or my brother?" Will asked.

"Well me, but that doesn't mean…"

"That is correct." Will said drawing out a large, ornate sword from his tuxedo jacket. "Your prize is a downgrade in your punishment; instead of being reformatted, you will be executed."

"No, sir!" He shouted. "You can't do this! I have a family waiting for me. You can't just…"

But that sentence was cut short. The last thing he felt was a swift slice to the neck as his head fell from his shoulders to the ground and his body fell, bleeding heavily from his neck.

Everyone just remained startled and slowly eased away.

"That will show them."


Will IV and Hannibal approached the front entrance where he met Mackie Jolivet and the admiral.

"Mr. Jolivet, Admiral Philippe." Will said greeting them.

"Welcome back, my liege." Mackie said.

"Good day, sir." Philippe said.

"I trust everything has gone smoothly since my absence."

"Well…" Mackie said. "We did run into a bit of trouble three days ago when Will tried…"

"Say no more. I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him."

"Sir, it wasn't his fault." Mackie said. "He…"

"Don't want to hear it." Will said. "At times like this, I wish you were my son and not what's his name."

"You always say that." Mackie said. "Even when he and I were both kids."

"Both of you return to your posts." Will said. "We still have Victory Day to prepare for."

"Yes, my liege." The two said as they headed off while Will walked inside the tower as the crowd cheered.


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