Blue Eyes, White Lies

Chapter 18

I see a tear in Eric's eye as the last remnants of the scene fade. He quickly wipes it off, returning to the matter at hand. Ethan's face is grim as he sits there.

"I told you it wasn't pretty." I'm pretty sure I can hear him telepathically sigh.

Even Julian looks absolutely horrified.

"My greatest condolences go to you." He starts. "There is nobody on this earth who should go through that."

Ethan nods. "It's fine. I still feel like I'm in the wrong anyway."

There's some part of him that's stuck as Lysandre's ally. Some part of him that blames himself. Some part of him that's guilty. Coming back from something like that can't be easy.

"It's alright, Ethan. It's not your fault, you know. It never will be."

He nods with what little neck flexibility he has.

"Thank you... it's hard. Even after the damage is done, it's still damn hard to get out of that mindset."

He steadies himself, taking a breath.

"I've got more than that to show you, if you're willing. It's more background than anything, though."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, any knowledge is knowledge."

"I'm warning you, it's another long one."

His eyes close and the room spins again.

The setting for this one is far brighter. Happier. It's a forest, a bright one. One with holes in the trees and sun shining down. The picture is clearer. 

There's a smaller version of Ethan, probably no more than seven or eight. He's sitting down, staring at his hands. 

The scene pauses. 

"I haven't explained much of what I am yet, have I?" An image shows. It's an old book, leather bound. A red gem is in the middle, sewn details all around it. 

"That's one of the first spell books I ever got. I was eight years old. It's a family tradition. You start to practice at 8, and you get your official one when you're ten."

Young Ethan marvels in awe at the small sparks he's making in his hands. He reads from the book, tries it again, and again. He looks proud of himself in the cutest way possible. 

The scene fades to a montage, his successes and failures show in a slideshow. They show him getting his first real book, and his eyes light up. There's one where a fireball blows up in his face and he's covered in ash. Every one of them takes place in the forest. 

The sky greys. "I met him when I was 12." 

The scene fully flips. It's a semi crowded, rainy market. It's a small place. A twelve year old Ethan stands there, basket in hand, trying to avoid the rain. 

A hooded figure stands in front of him. The figure wears black robes with the occasional gold highlight. You can see a shine in the hood, something like a piercing. 

The man comes close to young Ethan, standing next to him. His hood comes down. Just as I suspected, it's Lysandre, the bitch himself. Ethan stares at the ground, uncomfortable. 

His voice is low and raspy as he speaks. 

"I've heard about you, little one... if I'm not wrong, you're Ethan. The young prodigy."

He nods.

The scene pauses, and the current Ethan starts to speak. "I've never been sure why he called me a prodigy. I sucked, sometimes I think I still do. Now that I think back, it's probably some kind of love bombing."

The fact he says what he says so nonchalantly scares me. How far is he done the rabbit hole if even a basic compliment fucks him up? It hurts me to see anyone like this.

The scene resumes. "A little birdie told me that you're quite the powerful little sorcerer."

Young Ethan smiles a little and blushes. I can feel current Ethan wanting to wipe the grin off of Lysandre's face. I can feel him wanting to be mad at himself for accepting that. 

"My name is Lysandre Grey. I'm part of a powerful group known as 'Seraphim'." He pauses, staring at Ethan, tapping his nose lightly. "Do you happen to have heard of me?"

Ethan shakes his head nervously. "No, Mr. Grey."

"Well then." He has a faint smile with an evil glint in his eyes. "I've seen your plight."

The scene pauses. 

"I'm the youngest of six. I thought Lysandre was some kind of magic for knowing it. Truthfully, he'd been looking for me and watching me since that first night in the forest. My parents never really cared about me." Ethan explains.

The scene resumes.

"You want to be noticed. You want them to love you. You want to be more powerful. But you consider yourself weak. And without proper training, you are." The devious glint in his eyes becomes more apparent as he speaks. "But unlike them, I find you worthy. You could become strong. You could become noticeable..." he nearly smirks. "And I'm willing to offer you that. Join me, young Ethan. I'll grant you that power. If you're interested, pack a bag with all of the belongings you have. Meet me in the forest clearing at eight sharp, I assure you, I will be there."

He vanished into thin air as soon as he finished the sentence. 

The scene changes again. This time, to a young Ethan leaving a note that he left. In the background, a church bell strikes eight. 

Lysandre pulls his hood down again, Ethan holding a smallish bag of his possessions and books. 

"Where are we going, Mr. Grey?" Young Ethan asks.

"You'll see little one. And please, call me Lysandre."

The scene fades out to another montage. Ethan switches through uniforms, some black, some white, some with different colored stripes. 

It fades back to normal.

"You know, I was a member of the high council. The cult's lawmakers. We held full responsibility, we were the most important- and the most dangerous. I was Lysandre's trophy child." His eyes close and he sighs. "I'm telling you this for a reason. This man is dangerous, and now that I'm in contact with you, he's going to use you to find me. Lucky for me I know every last thing about him. I spent eleven years as his right hand. Several of those I spent as a kid. They tell kids a lot. You're going to have to trust me when I say this, but in order to end this, we're going to need help."

I raise an eyebrow. "What kind of help?"

"Help from you, Keiji. Call me crazy, but we're going to need to get the message out. You're the only one here who's had recent access to the public. Assuming I've got their permission, and trust me, I never myself thought I'd say this, we're going to need civilians. And to get civilians, we're going to have to get you all out of the dark. Keiji, what do you say?"

I process what he's saying. The world we live in isn't like the one they grew up in. It's safer. It's time the public learns

"I've got it."

——

So there's three more chapters

I outlined them for once