The Guardsmen

Chapter 29: Flames of Despair

Applause fills the auditorium as young little Jane slowly walks on stage. The spotlight brightly shines on her as she approaches the piano. Her short orange hair bounces as her dress flutters with each step. Though it is a big performance for her, she remains expressionless. As soon as she sits, silence falls over the audience as they wait to be amazed. Jane places both of her hands on the piano. Beautiful music began to fill the air in the auditorium; the sounds echoing throughout. It was beautiful; so beautiful that a few members of the audience broke into tears. Once Jane finishes her performance, she slowly rises from her bench, still expressionless. She turns to her audience, and slightly bows. The crowd stands up and applauds as loud as they can; making as much noise as possible. In the front row is a younger man, probably in his mid 30's, with long silver hair. His clothes are very eccentric, yet he wears a subtle smile. Next to him sits a boy around the age of 16 or so. He shares the same hair color as Jane, yet his personality seems to be the opposite of the man next to him. A huge, proud grin covers his face as he claps louder than anyone else. Jane slowly picks her head up. Her eyes flicker for a second as she notices a silhouette of a man standing in the doorway of the auditorium. The shine from the spotlight makes it difficult to see him. She squints her eyes to focus on the man. The man steps to the side and takes a seat. A distant booming noise interrupts the applause and is then followed by the chilling ringing of the fire alarms. Smoke begins to seep out of the vents above, sending the audience into a sort of frenzy. Shouts and screams echo throughout the halls as dozens of people quickly rush towards the exit. Jane's gaze doesn't break from the man in the back. The silver-haired man quickly rises from his seat and rushes onto the stage.

"Jane! Snap out of it! We have to go!" shouts the man as he grasps Jane's arm.

Jane refuses to budge or break eye contact. The man quickly turns to look at whatever Jane is staring at, then proceeds to share the same expression as her. The man in the back slowly rises from his seat and makes his way towards the stage. Flames start to spew out of the vent; sending embers onto the flammable seats below.

"What are you two doing? We gotta' go!" shouts the boy as he climbs his way onto the stage.

The illumination of the spotlights reveals Acacius's face. The darkness in his eye has completely engulfing one eye.

"You...I have heard that something had happened to mother and her happy life. I never could have imagined it would be your doing" says the silver-haired man.

Acacius stares back in silence.

"It seems that you are slowly losing control of yourself, right?" says the man, "By the looks of it, you have given in to your power too many times and it is eating you up, correct?".

Acacius continues his gaze as he slowly makes his way up onto the stage. Smoke and flames begin to fill the auditorium.

"Reizo, Yal, and Jane. It's with a heavy heart that I sentence you to death" says Acacius.

Reizo looks at Acacius, his silver hair catching bits and pieces of ash in it.

He looks at the boy and says "Yal, I need you to protect your sister at all costs, okay? I will handle this and we can go home just like we normally do".

Reizo removes his thick coat and wraps Jane in it. He easily sweeps her off her feet and hands her to Yal.

"But what about you? Can you deal with this on your own?" pleads Yul.

Reizo places his hand on top of Yal's head and gives a subtle, yet reassuring smile. Jane stares; still expressionless. Yal breaks into a full sprint and makes his way out of the auditorium. Reizo slowly turns to face Acacius, the reassuring smile transformed into a scowl of determination. Indigo flames suddenly engulf Reizo's hands as he dashes forward. His eye begins to brightly glow with a matching color. He appears in front of Acacius at an amazing speed. As fast as he appeared, he brings his arm back and thrusts it forward. Acacius attempts to dodge, but cannot react fast enough. 3 large scratches from across Acacius's chest; blood slowly oozing from the wounds. Acacius winces in pain and looks at Reizo. On Reizo's hands, each of his fingers has a metal claw covered in blood.