Descent of a God

Terrorism

Kathyln's POV:

I remembered one time being lectured as a child by my home instructor. I had little memory of why I was chastised, but from what I was told, I had refused to participate in class with some of the other nobles' children; apparently, my mother had thought it was a good idea for me to make friends while I was learning.

That hadn't work out as smoothly as she had hoped it would because I ended up throwing a tantrum on the first day, saying that I didn't want to make friends with them because they weren't princesses like me.

Ignoring the kindly knitted words of discipline from the home instructor, I had barged into my room and slammed the door shut, refusing to come out.

Later that afternoon, after the other noble children and the home instructor, had left, my mother knocked on the door even though there was no lock.

She sat down next to me on my bed and ran her fingers gently through my hair; even though I couldn't remember how I responded, what she had said to me left such a lasting impression that, even as a six-year-old, I can still almost recall her exact words:

"My little Kathyln, I know you think you did nothing wrong; everyone gets angry and fights for what they believe in. What I want you to know, my baby is that before you are a princess, you are a person. It doesn't matter if it's a king, a servant, a powerful mage, an elf or a dwarf. A person is a person.

My mother was sensible and smart but not in the least bit cold like her appearance sometimes implied. She cared for everyone as people, not as humans, elves, or dwarves. She disciplined my brother and me heavily when it came to any type of discrimination, whether it was by social classes or race.

At the sound of the explosions, all of us bolted up from our seats and immediately headed outside. I couldn't help but cringe, tightening my fists in both frustration and disappointment upon seeing the disastrous scene laid out before us.

There was a thick cloud of smoke rising from the area near the centre of the campus.

Behind me, I could hear Claire click her tongue as she continued to mutter a string of curses under her breath.

Half of the recently-constructed building was up in flames while the other half was crumbling down, collapsing beneath its weight. Students were evacuating out of the building while some capable staff members and professors nearby were already going into the building to look for those stranded or stuck.

"I should've known they would aim for this building at some point," Theodore swore aloud as he stomped his foot into the ground.

We hurriedly made our way to the site.

This building was named Tri-Union Hall. It served as both a museum and a monument for the alliance between the three races. My mother, who argued heavily to persuade the rest of the Council to erect this building was the happiest when it was first built.

She had explained to me that it had been built to be both a symbol as well as a place for the three races to learn about the differences in each other's cultures.

For it to have been a target, my a.s.sumption could also only lean towards the same radical group that had been creating a mess these days.

I strained my eyes, holding my tears back.

Claire ordered Kai to alert the rest of the professors and staff. When she ordered Feyrith and me to help the mages who were already there to put out the fire before it brought down the whole building, I couldn't help but notice his expression turning from angry to dejected.

Before I had the chance to do something, Theodore, who had been helping an injured student, spotted him as well, and without even a word, augmented his body before furiously dashing towards Charles.