Chapter II – What Must Be Done

The great mining town of Narsche. Many in the recent years had taken to calling it a mining city, but in his mind it was and would always be a mining town. City implied civilization, intelligence, order, the Empire. And out here in this Minerva-forsaken land the Empire had little to enforce its laws upon the land with even less love from the people when it was received if it was at all. Wedge Antliones hated these types of mission, hated going to some backwater dump looting, pillaging, or killing; all for the glory of the Empire. Ha. There was no glory to be found here, only stupid people going all about with their stupid lives. They were nothing to him.

The Empire had giving him a task and he would carry it out. It was as simple as that; no more, no less. The only differences between missions were the when, the where, and who would get in the way of the Empire and would suffer the consequences. He never could understand why anyone would go against the Empire. They had ushered in a better age for Oni's sake! One of steam replacing coal, where wood houses were being torn down and being remade as buildings with iron and steel for their bonework which would never burn nor break, one where happiness was free and for all. Where poverty was slowly but surely being eradicated and peace was not a far-seen unknown hope of the future. The Empire had brought an end to strife all across the southern continent. War was a thing of the past. Or it should be, he thought as his mount once again shifted beneath him as it stepped forward and he unconsciously moved with it. If these people only understood what the Empire had to offer them, they would come willingly with gifts and praise for the glory and blessing of the Great Gestahl. They would fall at his feet and thank him for giving them peace and prosperity. They would serve him and the world would have order.

If only they could understand. But inside he knew it wasn't a lack of capacity to understand. It was a choice. Anyone hearing of the Emperor's greatness would submit if they let reason rule their actions. They choose to continually not see the vision. They allow their own personal fears and biases to dissuade them from a much brighter future. Away from what could and one day would be a bright and glorious day where all would be at peace and happy. He would fight for that dream. He would die for that dream. His loyalties were firm, his path straight, his mind unclouded by prejudice and foolish sentiment. He was charged with a task and he would do what must be done. So why does it hurt so much? He thought to himself.

He could hear the screams, the cries brought on by both anger and pain, see the flames as they licked at the bodies of those who had willingly fought against a brighter and better tomorrow. The snow that once was so cleanly seen was now tainted with patches of red and littered with the bodies of the dead and dying. There were scattered beasts as well, those whom the people had tamed and trained in the defense of the people. For every ten men there were at least three or four Lobos and one or two of the great Vomammoths of the North; their bodies seeming to add to the picturesque feel of the bodies strewn across the streets between them and their destination. Oh how he hated the smell of burning flesh. He would never become accustomed to it. The acrid smell that brought a twinge to the stomach and caused any normal man to gag and lose his last meal was strong in the air. It was always wherever he went; he seemed to never be rid of that foul smell. At least it wasn't as strong as when we took Miranda, he thought with a saddened sigh and regret in his own mind. It was a sad and regretful job but some things had to be done. They would never truly understand that this was all for them, to bring them into a time of worldwide peace, to allow them the opportunity to join the better creed.

The attack had gone off exactly as it should have. Shortly before daybreak the army of three rode out of the darkness from the eastern trees and moved swiftly to the entrance of the town. With quickening strides from their mounts they made their way quickly from the darkness and caught the town guard unprepared just as he knew they would be. He knew their type. They were counting down the minutes before they could turn over the watch to others with equally weak senses of duty who would keep just as careless an eye for danger as they would themselves. The night was cold, getting more so what with winter strong in its grasp of this land and they would be careless in their responsibilities. The unexpected attack meant that they were dead long before they had a chance to fight back or warn others. With the outlying guards down they moved with an even faster pace to the borders of the town itself, where they started to truly meet resistance in the form of foolish people who actually began to understand they were under attack yet still fell one after the other to the assault.

They were like chocobos lead to the slaughterhouse without any hope of fighting back. They ran about in such confusion it would have been laughable if one found it funny to mock them moments before their death. But Wedge wasn't like that. He hated the killing, the mindless hours of travel and wait for a few precious moments of confusion that were thrust on an unsuspecting enemy who would grasp death long before they would their wits. Confusion brought on even more so by the torrent of liquid fire that burst from the gaping maw of his mount as he walked solidly yet swiftly through the eastern road in the town.

They had torched the city. Not randomly as he was sure they would be accused of doing later, but with planned accuracy as he swung the mouth of the beast to torch another building of business as his mount shuffled past in its unnatural gait. Businesses were always hit first, they were the easiest to rebuild after the battle would be done, with taverns and other places of ill repute following when he saw them. Homes were always spared. He would never knowingly burn a home, not even of someone who professed to be an enemy of the Empire. People had little and he fought for the people but not for their misguided beliefs. Homes would become cages of flame and death to any children trapped inside and he would not kill an innocent. There were so few of those still in this world that he knew that he had to spare them if he could.

With competent accuracy he caused the beast of metal and death to rear up higher and shoot a blast of fire above the houseline over to another part of the town to aid in the confusion of where they were truly attacking from. And if more people were drawn away to quell the fires so he would be forced to kill less than he had to otherwise then it was all for the best. He disliked not knowing what target he had hit and caused to burn in the distance but he couldn't afford to care right now. He knew the general layout of the town, having studied it on the map he was given with the mission orders so he knew which direction the business district was in and hoped that it was one of the expendable buildings that he hit and not a home.

He chanced a glance to his subordinate and close friend Biggs Duelitre that was to his side on his own mount of destruction. His face was pale ashen and he looked about to lose his stomach at any moment but still he trudged on. His loyalty to the Empire was commendable and he would see to it that Biggs was highly praised upon their return. He may not enjoy the work of expanding the Empire but not many truly did. Death takes its toll on a man when he has seen it, worse if he was the hand that dealt it. But it was always important to never lose their touch with humanity, with their reason for fighting. They fought for the people whom they disagreed with, for those who wished for peace yet had no real strength of their own to fight, for the innocents who he tried so desperately to keep away from the pain and death of the world.

And so it was they trudged on through the ever more burning landscape of the town that once held a semblance of peace. They had killed many men so far today and he knew and dreaded that the battles were far from over. The sun was creeping over the horizon and fully in view for all those who could look away from the scene of death for a moment. He always liked the sunrise, it reminded him of the Emperor. Out of darkest night came the light which chased the horrors of the dark away. It cleansed my soul and burned fear from it, and with its rays I was healed of doubt and pain. From the pages of his favorite book, Leaving Dark Behind by Garland Chaosbane he recalled a passage that mirrored the feelings he felt upon seeing a new sunrise. Written during the War of the Magi when mankind almost was driven past the precipice of destruction, it was a rare find and the book was an heirloom of the Antliones family and had been for more than twenty generations. Its pages withered with age and use but still held every bit of feeling and awe for him. The Emperor was like that, from the darkness of chaos and uncertainly he had risen up and given hope to the people of Vector. With him came peace and order and just like the cleansing rays of the sun, he had showered hope to the people of a war-torn continent; he had united them behind a firm and just cause and Wedge was more than willing to give his all for the great man who had brought peace to one continent and was bringing it to a second.

For that cause he fought on, he killed those who opposed the Emperor hating in his heart being the one to deal death to others and even deeper hated himself for being willing to do it. But he was the superior officer in command of the operation, of the mission. He had to stand strong, not letting personal anguish or sadness conquer him when the Emperor was never conquered. He would stand tall and fight hard for the dream of a better tomorrow, and would deal burning death to those in his path. He would not back down, now or ever from a task no matter how daunting. And so he thrust the levers on his mount's console forward to provide greater speed to the deathly beast. The quicker this is over, the less we will have to kill, being the thought that pervaded his mind as he charged another group of miners armed with pickaxes and courage; neither of which were effective to deter him from his cause.

The mines were carved out of the rock wall of the canyon to their north and not more than a few hundred paces away from the grizzly procession of destruction. The guards having not long ago learned that they weren't being attacked inside of the buildings and that if they stayed at a distance without attacking then they were spared their lives. Having no desire to send themselves to an early grave they had resigned themselves to standing watch over the homes of their families and friends from the doorsteps, almost seeming to dare the attackers to near the houses and attack; fear clearly evident on their faces yet willing to fight and die to protect those they loved; an admirable trait indeed for any man, even more so if he were properly trained and taught the value of service to the Empire.

Having never entered the Narsche mines before Wedge was unprepared for how dark it would be. He had seen moonless nights before, he had been inside the dungeons beneath the capital Vector but he had never seen such utter and complete darkness. It seemed almost alive as it swallowed the group of three as they entered the threshold that granted passage to the location of what they had come to find. Without having entered not even a hundred paces of the entrance, the dark had encroached upon him so much that he was forced to light the way with the beam of light from the mouth of his beast. Although fearsome and mighty with strength and the power to destroy they also were capable of so much more. He likened himself to one of the mounts he rode so often, useful, strong, with the power to destroy yet only used in that manner when needed to further the needs of the people as a whole. A tool was used in any manner in which it was needed, a prime example being the miners that lay dead in the city. Their pickaxes were used to mine, to build, to provide for their families; but when the need arose their purpose changed, to one of war, where a beneficial tool became a dealer of death because there was no other way to fight. How sad that those tools would return once again to their original purpose and not think any better of it.

The ceiling was high for a normal man and therefore tall enough for the miners to walk in easily but with the mounts the Magitek Riders rode, it made it impossible to stand tall and straight for the majority of the time. He could see just fine from his perch, but being the over six foot 4 inch man that Wedge was, it was often difficult to stretch his back as they travelled ever deeper into the black darkness. Around a thousand and a half paces in the tunnel branched into three passageways with absolutely no indication in which direction was the way to their destination. Wedge reached down to his side and pulled out his map of the town hoping that it a portion dedicated to the underground labyrinth that they were in.

"Damn," he said swearing loudly, frustration evident in his voice after looking at his worthless (underground at least) map they were given. "There's no way that we can find our way through here without a guide and I doubt that the people back there would be very willing to show us the way." Just wonderful, we have no hope of completing our mission without personal knowledge of these damn tunnels and we need to be out of here before too soon. We haven't slept in over twenty hours and they'll just hide in wait in here for when we stop to rest and then they will attack us unawares and we fail. There has to be a solution to this. He angrily put the map away so as to free his hands to control his mount and looked at the three openings. One of them had to lead to the Esper, but which one?

After contemplating for several minutes the different passageways and finding absolutely no sign whatsoever as to which one he should go down, Wedge was just about to simply guess the right one and hope that it led to where they needed to go. Finding no other idea he had come up with appealing either he started toward the opening when he heard one of the Magitek Armours begin moving toward the center tunnel. Turning he saw that it was the girl that was with them. Having known how silent she had been and how she had no free thought he ordered her to stop and explain to him what she was thinking of doing, going off on her own.

"It is down there," she said in her quiet yet easily heard voice. "How in Oni's name do you know that? You have never been here and I sure as hell know that you didn't ask someone for directions," Wedge stated more frustrated at his own lack of knowledge than at her own choice of tunnel. "I can hear it." Came the soft and emotionless reply. "It beckons me for release, for freedom from the chains that bind."

Thoroughly confused by what she said, yet knowing her innate ability might actually be useful now he consented to allowing her to take front. Not to let it look like he was allowing her to lead he stated, "We will find this thing, and take it back with us before the people of this foolish town even realize that we have found it. You, Witch, will be taking point. I do not want anything to surprise us okay? You see it and if it isn't the object we kill it." His disdain of both her and the Esper could easily be heard but she acted as if it had meant nothing to her, perhaps it hadn't but who really knew what went on in a women's head, let alone a witch's one?

Having said that, they began once again treading their way through the dark passages of the Narsche Mines, hoping that the girl really could "hear" the way to their destination. She led them down tunnels and through intersections with rarely a glance to a different path or behind, her intents and focus clearly on what was ahead of her. Wedge thought that they had seen that same turn twice before when he saw the passageway begin to open up and they walked into an expansive and impressive cavern. Walking further into the cavern on his mount he paid little attention to what was in front of the girl until he heard a slight increase in the whir and hum of the beast of metal on which she rode. That was all the warning he had before a cackle of electricity was heard and what seemed to be a lightning bolt shot forward from the mouth of the girl's beast to hit something in the distant end of the cavern.

Once the shock from the bright light and the harsh sound had faded slightly Wedge turned to face her, anger apparent not only on his face but reflected all the way up to his eyes as he shouted loudly, "What in the name of the burning hells were you thinking, just randomly shooting off bolts. They didn't know where in the caves we were but now they heard that all the way to the entrance I bet. You're going to get us killed Witch!" His tirade was cut short when he heard a low feral growl come from the end of the cavern that was hit. He turned his gaze straight to the creature that was slowly snaking its way over to them. Its growl was deep and throated and he could tell by the sound that it was quite large even if he wasn't listening to the shuffling sound of flesh and scales on rock that was coming closer.

When the creature came within seeing distance of the light, he realized how massive it really was. It looked like a turtle, if a turtle had ever grown about five men wide and at least three men tall with a large snaillike spiral shell that crackled with energy. It crawled on its two front legs that were wider around than his own waist, with two even larger hind legs carrying the massive weight of the shell. Claws were sharp as they scraped the ground and made a screeching sound when the creature walked as the claws were longer than the distance that it lifted up its legs. Its beak was hooked and opened wide to shriek out a statement of anger and dislike. While looking at the thing he realized what it was he was staring at. "Damn it all. We were told to avoid the Whelk if we could. It will be nothing but a hindrance and too dangerous to attack head on without losing one or more of us." Thinking quickly he was just starting to formulate a plan of attack when the Whelk opened up its jagged beak and let out not a screech but a bolt of electricity that seemed as if to weave through the air as it curved towards the few who were across the cavern.

The explosion was deafening, the light blinding and for a few moments before the white light began to fade, Wedge wondered if he had been killed so easily in the service of his Emperor. That fear quickly subsided as white faded to darkness and he saw the girl, the witch, standing high on her mount before them as the air still seemed to crackle about her and the slowly closing mouth of the metal beast she was on. Then it clicked in his shock-addled mind, she had fired a bolt straight at the coming assault and had It either deflected or explode prematurely before it hit the group. Wanting to thank the girl for the close call but quelling the thought before it could effectively manifest itself he vocally starting barking out orders to the other two officers. "The Whelk has the Oni's strength and control over lightning and we can't get close enough to attack it with those claws of his. He moves faster than you would think or give him credit for. Don't let it fool you. Keep a good distance and assault it with the ice beam that you have Biggs. Don't even think of attacking it with your bolt again Witch, for every bolt we send its way, we're going to be on the receiving end of a stronger one."

The irony of his command to the girl was lost to Wedge as he thought desperately on how to come out of this both alive and in one piece. The creature was strong, that was for certain, and if he wasn't careful, none of them would make it out of this. Come on, come on, there has to be some method of beating it, he thought as he moved his mount to the side to hopefully get out of its sight to ready an attack from behind. His ears were still ringing from the last blast and he had managed to evade the brunt of the hit, he didn't want to think what would happen if he were actually hit by a blast from the creature. What were we told about this thing? Big beak, check; sharp long claws, check; lightning breath, painful check; anything else they told us?

His mind went back to a few weeks ago when they landed near the South Figaro port and were given their final debriefing. "There is a beast that roams the caverns and underground landscape up in the northern mountains. It has been rumored that the Narsche people have tamed a creature and are capable of using it as a means of defense during an attack. Take heed that you do not come into contact with it. It has a strong body and an even stronger shell. What makes it so dangerous is the capacity to discharge electricity through its beak. This may come as a shock to you but the Whelks are surviving creatures of war that were left after the War of the Magi ended nearly a millennium ago. As a race they were touched by the Gods themselves and were given command of the lightning element. The natural cause is that their limbs have a thick almost tar-like substance that it uses as insulation. The benefit to that is while moving it can slowly charge up lightning in its shell which it uses as a cache of energy while the insulation in its legs allow it to contain that energy without losing any of it to the earth. That makes it a verifiable thundercloud of potential and is lethal on the best of terms. There was one found a few decades ago in the mountains and we believe it to still be alive. They live quite long for beasts. Should you encounter it, engage it with extreme caution and avoid it if possible." His superior had given a lengthy explanation of the beast and its mannerisms, but how could any of it be used to take one down right now?

As he thought of this he let his anger build just as it always did when he was reminded of the beings that also partook in the War of the Magi, the Espers. These Whelks were comrades in arms to the insidious Espers and if they were allies of them then they deserved death. Hatred was apparent on his face as he quickly decided that the best way to deal with this and any other beasts that were related in any manner with the enemy of old was the same as the rest; with flames and death. With that thought in mind, he urged his mount to quicken its pace to move around and flank the being that deserved destruction. The group slowly were scattering about the cavern not a one of them getting closer than they had to in order to avoid the long dagger-like claws that scraped and pierced the ground as it turned one way then the other in an attempt to see all of its attackers at once, yet each preparing for an attack that could very well bring swift death to any of them.

When Wedge had reached about parallel to the side of his enemy, he let anger and hatred get the better of him and caused his mount to send a concentrated blast of flaming death at the whelk. It saw and predicted the attack and retaliated in kind by turning its face to its new target whilst loosing its own blast of crackling death. The two forces collided and caused both to veer off target creating two more massive explosions in other areas of the cavern. Biggs, not letting the opportunity go to waste darted in quickly on his mount and pulled his personal sword out of the scabbard on his hip and quicker than the creature could realize it, had struck it on its hind right leg while the beast, acting on quick instinct struck fast and hard at the thing that had wounded it with the arm that was on the same side. The cringing sound of claw on metal could be heard followed not long after by a cry of pain as he hadn't been able to evade the glancing blow that had easily shred through the supposedly reinforced Magitek Armour. Biggs urged his now wounded and bleeding beast of metal to get out of reach of the whelks quick claws before it had the idea or opportunity to attack again.

Wedge heard the cry of pain, he saw around the edge of the whelk to his now injured friend. He didn't look very good. His left arm hung limp with brackish liquid seeping through the shoulder of his brown uniform that caused it to look almost black in the dark area. His mount was damaged, badly. Wedge harbored no great hopes that he would be able to defeat the beast without Biggs' assistance if he was taken out of the fight. He glanced down quickly at the display in front of him on his Magitek Armour as he urged it forward in a sprint hoping that it would be able to fire another shot of flame quickly and serve as a distraction to cover Biggs' escape. Cursing under his breath at seeing that time was not on his side at the moment, he charged anyways while pulling his own sword out and hoping to play the distraction sufficiently. Before he could reach his target though, he saw a ball of flame roughly a foot in diameter scorch the face of the whelk. He turned his head swiftly to his right and saw the outstretched hand of the witch and her look of concentration and fatigue as he heard the screech of pain that came from what was hit. His attention now focused on the whelk as he saw that the flames had burned its eyes enough that they were closed to shut out the pain and it was squealing in both anger and pain.

Looking at his display again he saw that the Magitek Armour was quickly charging and would be capable of wielding death by the time he had reached the beast. He slowed his approach to hopefully mask his sound as the creature still thrashed about in pain and blindness while uttering both growls and shrieks that curled his blood. When he believed that he was sufficiently close to his enemy's face, he pulled a lever on his mount that caused the Armours beak to open and fire a point blank blast of roiling death to the face of the whelk. Its death cry was painful to the ears and it thrashed as life left it. The flames continued to eat at its face and the cries grew strained as the throat and other facial structures were charred and burned and then melted under the unending heat and destruction that brought an end to its sad existence. Without waiting to watch it die, Wedge sped quickly to his companion's side hoping that the injury he had sustained wasn't life-threatening.

"How bad is it?" Not even bothering to ask the witch of her state, his question was directed straight at his friend. "Not as bad as it could have been. The Magitek Armour took most of the blow. I'm not saying I haven't felt better but I can take worse than this," he replied with a pained smirk. Wedge allowed his shoulders to relax slightly knowing that if Biggs had the energy and disposition to joke around than it couldn't be that bad. He turned to look at the woman and was debating whether to thank and congratulate her for her quick thinking and help or just ignore her. After some internal debate, he looked at her and while she was still breathing quite heavily from the exertion of performing her magick he offered a quick, "I'm glad you didn't let him die." As that was the closest thing to a thank you as he would ever offer the witch, he turned back to his friend and watched him trying to wrap a piece of cloth around his upper arm to quell the bleeding.

Misinterpreting the look that he was receiving as disappointment, Biggs was quick to tell his superior, "I apologize for not firing the ice blast like you ordered, I saw how it reacted to your attack and thought that if I could get in close enough then it wouldn't be able to react in time. When it hit me, it bashed in the cannon on my Armour so I wasn't able to get off my ice attacks. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more use to you Wedge." Regret was obvious in his voice but there was still a trace of happiness in it as well. He is probably happy that it was himself that was injured and not me, he's always such a martyr like that. Well if you say that you're alright then let's go grab this thing and get back out of here before they come charging in here thinking that they can stop us and you get even more injured than you already are now.

The trio turned their mounts to the far end of the cavern and although Biggs' Armour was damaged its speed wasn't hampered very much and they were able to make their way quickly to the other exit of the room where they fought. After traveling for a few hundred more paces, the tunnel opened up once again into another cavern though this one wasn't quite as expansive as the first. Staring across the smaller cavern Wedge's eyes looked for the first time upon what they were there for. Their lights were refracted and reflected through the ice that held it imprisoned causing all manners of disturbing shadows to coalescence on the walls as they approached.

It stood about three men tall and stood on two legs, but that was where the normality ended. It had a birds face and a hooked powerful beak that seemed as if to strain against the ice itself as it was carefully watched by the group. From behind its back came two powerful looking wings that were not as long as he had expected; they seemed to be intentionally cut short or at least that's what it appeared to him. But what it lacked in length it more than made up for with color. Each feather looked to be a different color, ranging from those found in nature, to some that Wedge knew would never be found outside of a clothing market or as dye. With the ice and the light around the Esper the colors seemed that much more vibrant as he studied them. Yet the most disconcerting part of it was its eyes. They showed an intelligence that was unmatched outside of man himself in the world. They were not a beasts eyes, but of someone or something that knew what was happening around it. If he didn't know for a fact that this thing had been dead for almost a millennium he would have sworn, in the name of Minerva herself, that they were watching him. With every step he took , an uncomfortable itch increased between his shoulder blades and he felt like he was being watched. It was a very disturbing feeling when you knew that there was no one else in there but them.

Nearing the entrapped being, Wedge began thinking of possible ways to bring it out of there. The tunnel walls were too short to pull it out and he didn't have the time to widen and expand the already well-used tunnel system. It was just too big, that's probably why the people of the town still hadn't moved it either, he thought. He was beginning to think that his superiors had given him an impossible task when the girl started urging her mount toward the creature. Curious and slightly fearful, he turned to watch what she was doing. Sure she had led them here, but that just presented another issue of just what she was truly capable of now that she was in close proximity to the Esper.

She stopped no shorter than two dozen paces from the thing and just stared at it. No words, no motion, nothing; that disturbed him more than anything. The fact that she had moved of her own accord and just stood there was becoming more and more creepy and disturbing by the moment. He caused his mount to approach her and ordered her to tell him what was happening. "It cried for freedom." "Why would it do that and how? It's been dead for a thousand years." He questioned with little credulity in his voice at her words. It can't be asking for its freedom, the tales say that these things can read the minds of man and it knows that we aren't here to free it. "What are you saying? Are you telling me that it is asking us, the people who came here to capture and contain it for freedom?"

"No. It cried not for its own, but for mine." Before he could even begin to wonder what she was talking about, he felt the ground begin to shake slightly under him. He turned to Biggs to see if he was feeling it as well, and by the look on his face he knew that he wasn't imagining the rumble. Then a light flashed in the corner of his vision and he turned hand at the ready on the lever that would send death by fire to anything foolish enough to approach.

When he looked though, nothing was different. The thing was still in ice, and the stupid mindless girl was staring at it unmoving. No, wait; the thing had shifted. No, that couldn't be right, it was frozen, it can't move. But then he saw a glow emanate from the ice and it shifted slightly to more straightly face the women. As his fears of what was going on started to escalate, Wedge felt the ground start becoming more agitated and a flashing blue light start to not only come from the Esper, but to be repeating faster and faster. As he glanced back at Biggs to see if he was seeing what he was, a black light started to coalesce under him and began widening quickly. Without less than two heartbeats the shadow had reached wider than his mount was and then it started to raise up off of the ground as if it was a living being. He heard a cry of shock and fear from Biggs and barely had enough time to start his own before the blackness rose up completely enveloping him and he knew no more.

Writer's Notes

One of the most intriguing aspects of war that Final Fantasy VI has shown us is that although the soldiers fight and kill others, they do so following a cause not for wanton destruction. War is evil, there is no doubt of that; but those who fight in wars are not always so. War has no heart, no regret, no remorse; but warriors do and always will because they are living and have feelings. I wanted to show that through the minds of Biggs and Wedge, two of the most understated and underdeveloped characters in the FF VI universe, both canon and fiction. Everyone has their own beliefs and misguided though they may be, still care strongly for their own perceived rights and wrongs.

I do ask that those who read this please inform me of how I can do better. Constructive criticism is appreciated as the only way to better oneself is to be told what you're doing wrong. Through reviews or otherwise I can better this story and my writing as well as make it the very best that it can be.