Fireproof - Kenric and Oralie

Villains aren't born, they're made

Months later

Kenric's POV:

He stared at Eternalia, the broken buildings crumbling and the cracks along the road.

He rubbed his forehead, wiping away the sweat and blood. 

The Council and the Black Swan was no where to be seen. It had been a long 4 years of fighting and battles with the Neverseen.

It was finally over. 

Kenric stood up from the hard ground, cringing as his head throbbed, giving him flashbacks from the time he was kidnapped.

The memories and trauma faded away a little bit, but it was always still there, and it always will be.

These entire 4 years, he had been waiting and waiting, fighting and battling, just to get to this moment.

The moment he could finally retire from the council with Oralie, and never have to worry about the Neverseen ever again.

For some reason, he felt meloncholy. He sighed and started to walk aimlessly, hoping to find the others.

But he stopped and stared at his warped reflection in one of the broken buildings. The piece of purple jewel stuck up from the ground, and he saw blood all over his face, filled with cuts and bruises. 

His surroundings were silent, quieter than it usually is. They'd evacuated all the elves from Eternalia before they battled. 

It would be the last time he walks these roads as a Councillor.

Was this the right decision? Or would he be making another grave mistake?

He had an intense feeling in his gut that this would be far from over. They'd stopped the Neverseen for now, but it wasn't the end.

There was more. He saw it in the memory he recovered.

A wave of panic washed through him. 

Should he have shared the memory with the others? Was it a mistake to keep it a secret? I thought I would be helping their sanity if they didn't know, but what if the reason I kept it a secret is the reason their sanity would be destroyed?

Recently, he'd been overthinking all his decisions, to the point where he would get nothing done at all.

Most people thought he'd been corrupted by the guilt, or the trauma, but both Kenric and Oralie knew it was neither.

He'd stayed emotionless. He'd masked all his true feelings, all except for one.

He only let that feeling show whenever she was around.

Walking closer to a nearby hill, he could hear voices.

Cheers

Shouts

Celebrations

Kenric smiled a genuine smile for the first time in months, and sighed. 

Maybe he would finally get peace. Maybe he would finally have control of his life again.

He would just have to leave the Council.

Kenric stopped, sensing someone behind him.

He jerked his head around, turning to see Fintan.

"Fintan- what are you doing here?" Kenric said, surprised. 

"I'm here, because you understand." Fintan said slowly, almost a murmur.

Kenric said nothing and stared blankly at Fintan.

The group of voices beyond the hill were getting quieter and quieter. Almost as if they were moving away.

Fintan cocked his head sideways at Kenric. "You know this isn't over, right? You'll never have peace as long as you're on the Council." 

Kenric gave a sad smile at Fintan. "I know."

"Thank you. By the way. For not attacking me." Fintan said warily, not showing any of his usual cockiness.

"You're calmer than usual." Kenric admitted, still not showing his emotions. "At peace." He looked away, back facing the hill.

"It's when I use my fire." Fintan said, and let a small flame dance around in his hands, morphing it into a diamond ring.

Kenric hated fire, even more so after what had happened. But he didn't flinch or step away.

"My happiness. My counterpart. You understand, right?" Fintan said with a mournful and heartbroken tone.

Kenric studied him for a moment. "Is that why you left the Council willingly?" 

Fintan looked up from his hands and slowly nodded. "I loved her. I loved her so much that I let pyrokinesis be banned. She loved me so much she let the fire consume her."

Tears slipped from Fintan's cheek, and even Kenric was astonished. 

"You remind me of myself when I was younger. All I wanted to do was help the elves, use my power for good. But the fire. The fire ruined everything. It ruined me." Fintan let the flame die out.

"What are you trying to say?" Kenric said calmly, almost feeling bad for Fintan.

"I know I'm your enemy. And I know what I did-" Fintan said, his voice breaking. "But- don't make the same mistake I did. I hurts to remember, and if I hear that it happened to you, you would be heading down my same path."

Kenric swallowed. "Is that why you joined the Neverseen?" He asked, and Fintan turned away.

"She always loved humans. She would do the opposite of everything the Neverseen is doing right now, if she were alive. It was my fault. I tried to stop the Neverseen's plans at that time by trying to join them, but I'm stuck." Fintan said with a panicked tone.

"I'm stuck, and it's all my fault. I chose to do this. I can't go back." Fintan buried his face in his hands.

"I'm- I'm the villain now." 

Kenric reached his hand out to pat Fintan's back, but pulled away before he touched him.

"Villians aren't born, they're made." Kenric whispered. 

"Hey-!" A voiced called out from the hill, but neither Kenric or Fintan could be bothered to turn around. "Is that Councillor Kenric? And is that Fintan?"

"Oh no- Councillor Kenric is in trouble!"

"Fintan is there, go- we need to arrest him!"

"Please don't get hurt Kenric, please don't get hurt."

"Run away Kenric- what is he doing?"

The voices came closer and closer, and Fintan slowly rised, his anger and evil slowly taking over.

But he turned back to face Kenric one more time, and he broke a bit. The fire in his palms quavered a bit.

"Think about what she'll say if you do this, Fintan." Kenric said with a pleading tone. "Don't do this."

Fintan closed his eyes as the people, now that Kenric could see clearly, were the Councillors and the Black Swan ran closer. 

"I can't. I'm too far in. I can't go back. I can't I can't I can't." Fintan cried as his voice shook from anger and grief. The flames rose around him, circling him, causing Kenric to step away.

Then the flames died. And Fintan looked at Kenric.

Kenric gave him a singular nod.

"I'm sorry. Please don't make the same mistake I made." Fintan said as he threw a flaming ball of fire straight at Kenric, sending him to the ground as Fintan disappeared.

Oralie's screams were the loudest out of everyones, but they were all muffled as the world faded to black.