Part 1: The War
Chapter 6
Fire of Wrath
"The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves." ~Eric Hoffer
Lina Inverse stood by the sea. She leaned against the wooden rail at the edge of the land, and looked down at the clear water several feet below. The ground there ended at a sharp drop-off, giving an amazing view of the sea. It jutted out slightly from the rest of the surrounding area, so the view was unobstructed by anything else off to the sides. For the past several days, she'd stood there most of the day, when she wasn't eating, waiting for her next mission from Phil.
What if he'd heard of her failure? What if he wasn't going to offer her any more jobs because he thought she couldn't handle it?
No. Even if he was going to do that, he'd still send her a letter telling her she could go home. Or a ship to take her back if he couldn't take the time to write her a note himself.
Lina let out a huge sigh, and folded her arms over the rail, watching the waves crash up against the rocks. She wished she could get moving and get going again. She knew that once she was going and doing something, she'd be able to get her recent failure off her mind for even a little while. But without anything to do but stand around and think, it was her inability to defeat Rezo that her mind invariably settled on.
She knew there wasn't anything she could have done to change what happened. But it could have ended so many different ways. She could have been killed by Rezo... She could have tried to fight him... But either way, she still would have lost.
"Oh, shut up already," she said angrily to herself. "What's done is done. Put it behind you! Later, when he does do something evil, you'll be ready to kick his butt!" She sighed again, and closed her eyes. "You know, you shouldn't talk to yourself," she said. "People might think you're strange. But I'm so bored. I need somebody to talk to..."
"Lina Inverse-san?"
Lina jerked up sharply, and looked around. She saw a man in nondescript blue and brown clothing standing beside her. Who was he? How did he know her? Lina was just about to demand these things from him when she saw the crest of Seyruun on the pocket of his jacket. Seyruun! "Do you have a message for me?" Lina asked, trying to keep the hopeful note out of her voice.
The messenger nodded. "It's from King Philionel." He held out a folded note, stamped with Phil's seal in the red wax. Lina took it, and double checked to make sure it was Phil's seal. When she was positive, she looked up to tell the messenger he could go, but he was nowhere in sight.
She just shrugged, and broke the seal on the letter. The unfolded it impatiently, and began to read it. Phil's handwriting was messy, like he wrote it with a shaky hand. That didn't seem right, though... He didn't look like the kind of guy to get shaky very easily.
Lina Inverse,
I'm writing to tell you of your next mission. My sources tell me your target is heading back to the Old World, and will be residing within the palace at Kyre. You no doubt want to know why you must--
Here, there was a blotch of ink, like the writer's hand had convulsed, and completely smudged the next word.
--this man, who goes by the names Val or Valgaav, has committed a most serious crime against the throne.
The next few lines of the letter were so shaky, Lina had trouble reading it.
This man, this assassin hired by King Feron, has killed not only my wife Lydia, but also my daughters Gracia and Amelia. In the name of justice, this man must pay for his crimes.
Lina stared at what she just read. Images of Lydia, Phil's smiling wife, and his adorable little daughter Amelia, who couldn't have been more than six years old, flashed in front of Lina's eyes. And Phil's other daughter, whom Lina had never met, but was near to her own age. How could someone kill them...? What could possess a man to kill a little girl and her mother...?
A sudden flare of rage overtook Lina. She clenched the letter in her fist, her hands tight by her sides. How could someone kill those innocent people? Her heart burned in her chest, and she had to lock her jaw to keep from shouting. That man killed a child, a little girl. He had no right to live anymore. His life was forfeit as soon as he even thought about killing a child.
"I swear to Ciepheed, Shabranigdo, and whatever Gods or Dark Lords are listening..." Lina managed to get out around her clenched teeth. "I swear, I will kill that man." She felt tears sting the corners of her eyes at the thought of Lydia and Amelia dead, at the images of swords and blood that flashed through her mind. She punched the wooden rail to vent some of her anger, and shouted to the sea, "I'll kill him!!"
Authoress Notes
Wow, no footnotes this chapter. By the way, sorry for the shortness of the chapter and how long it took to update. Writer's block is setting in, but I wanted to get this down before it fully took over. I wanted to get to Lina's first kill this chapter, but I don't want to write it badly because of the WB Demon, so I figured I'd wait until the WB Demon left, and then I'd write that part, because that is one chapter that I know I want written well. Again, I'm sorry it's short, really I am. I'm going to try everything possible to get rid of the Writer's Block Demon, but he doesn't leave willingly, and he doesn't respond well to force. And I don't want to be nice to him. Maybe if I just ignore him... *shrug* Any ideas?