A Crumbling Society

Part 3-22

When reaching the top platform there were no doors to welcome me but only an opening. It felt different as well, like I wasn't particularly supposed to be here. That, or the room didn't want me here. In short debate I waited a moment before entering, it was right that way. As it is a magic made space the space itself must know you or understand that you mean it no harm. I did just that in taking my time, the room was no larger than an office space with many windows. The light was beaming its way through, revealing everything I needed it to. While the moon sits above the sky it does the same at night. A table lie in the center of the room and shelves lined the perimeter, artifacts sat trophied here and there. My sanctuary was just the way I had left it, years ago and the magic prevented dust from settling. Photographs sat placed on one shelf in the entire room, that's where I ended up first. One of the photos showed myself when I was inducted into the hero work. Liza was standing beside me, but she moved at the last second to make a face. Next to it was one that Reena took against my will, or so it appeared. She was rowdy when I started training her, but thinking about it now, it was fun. A newspaper article with me in the headline was framed here, it was my first mission alone. Nothing compared to what I've fought in Valsyri but still an accomplishment here. It also wasn't anything that huge, a picture of my mother and I was present also. Some good times while they lasted, the reminiscing was also good until it wasn't. Walking away from memories I ran into another one, it was a mask that Liza had worn once. The shape only fit the bridge of her nose and circled at the eyes; it was here because she hated it. I can remember coming back here and her throwing it on the table, saying it was lousy. We had a laugh afterwards, then an alert went off and it was back to work. Normally it would have felt like home but not this time, the comfort was absent. Taking the seat at the head of the table I sat quietly, taking in the look of what my life was. At one point a few other members of the Warrior Legion sat here off and on. They needed my help on some magical problems and we would stay up all night to figure out how to fix them.

So many accomplishments, yet so much tragedy, the line between the two is blurred. Tabitha hoping that I would be okay spoke to me again, I now realize that I haven't taken the time to breathe. Within weeks the hero world spun out of control and crashed, then the magic world. Inevitability is always relevant but still, being in the middle of it all is a lot. It won't matter questioning what certain people would think or say, they're dead. And for those in the magic world that I don't wish to be around, they have their own problems. Clearly most of the heroes I helped save don't care and won't listen, and with others, nobody wanted to listen to me. Liza did, I just wasn't ready and now she won't be there to do so. The similarities in the Legion finding themselves outside of the team, it spoke to me. I found myself outside both hero and magic worlds, I wouldn't have come back. Reena couldn't have done it all on her own either, but we both had the vision, I did have some part to play. My only understanding is that I wasn't there, not one bit in the entire premonition. Everything else was connected to each member adding to the pot and unraveling the mystery. It seems as though I was only to serve the purpose of bringing them together, nothing else. A part of me feels and knows I did just that, but then karma interfered. I wonder what that's going to cost too, maybe it was Phaser turning the others against me. Hoping is the only thing that feels right with that one. With all this power, it would be so simple to fix the problem and bring them back. They would all be against it though; I wouldn't hear the end of how that would never truly fix anything. Plus, I would need the bodies and it didn't cross my mind to go find them. There are probably things in place to alert the villains if I showed myself, and they could have been taken as well. A lot could be going on with that theory, with the time crunch, Impersona would succeed and hell on earth would metaphorically happen.

All of these thoughts pulled the most important one out of me, I needed to kill the villains and stop them. There could be two things at play with this, I'm fighting them and fighting other heroes in the process. I'm not sure what's going on back at the canyon base but just in case, I'm keeping it in the back of my mind. Mega will most likely get them to understand the bigger picture. It seems dumb but if I have to do it then I will, for the sake of doing what I want. I would never kill another hero, just knock them out and make them forget why they're fighting. Even so, it's not something that I really wanted to have to do. Another option that I think is more likely going to happen is that I go in there alone. It feels like I've been alone this whole time with all my bad luck anyway. I'll just have to figure it out as I go like I've been doing, no matter the option, I'm still going to be seen as a villain from now on. Realizing that I've spent too much time in here I stood up. Walking down the length of the table I picked up Liza's ugly mask. "Why did you keep that hideous thing?", I can hear her saying, it made me crack a smile. Looking out the window I checked the sky, just hoping there would be a pink shimmer. Waiting for the same signal she gave me in Grandville to tell me she was okay. The same one I looked for in that place with Dusk, sadly, nothing happened, and the daydreaming was over, it was time to leave. As I placed the mask back on the table and turned to head back down the stairs, I heard a sound down below. Maybe a miniature explosion, gas bombs and a flash grenade lit up the stairwell. It caught me off guard enough to freeze for a second, I needed to think. The sounds of the steps clambered louder and louder, cocking noises could be heard in close range. They found me, my home, my hiding spot, there wasn't much time to think of how. Before I knew it the first guy showed up, firing off a few rounds to allow time for the others behind him. Blocking with a shield, I tried moving it forward to fill the entrance so I could cut them off, but the bullets were similar to the ones in the prison. Blasting me backwards they put up a fight, the contact on the shield made ripples that lit the ground up like light through moving water. By now there were ten men in the room all pulling triggers to keep me at bay. My shield around the apartment must've come down when I got here. Focusing on my emotions made me lose concentration, I better not lose it now either.