The Partner

Chapter 20: Truth

A large explosion came from outside and shook the building.

"We had better go..."

Alexander nodded.

We made our way as fast as we could outside of the room and into the hallway to see the rebel soldiers running through the hallway and out of the building towards the capital.

Arthur clenched his fists.

"Looks like they broke through..."

We made our way outside of the building and walked as quickly as we could to the house of the elders. A large palace like building where the Valarian elders live.

It has four towers like a castle and I made out of stone. There are decorative gargoyles and large murals that are painted along the walls, depicting scenes from the Valarians history. Surrounding the building is a large fence, which is now broken. A number of other buildings alongside the walls.

We followed the rush of soldiers and found ourselves inside the building, walking up the large sets of stairs, beautifully covered in vibrant rugs.

The organization members we encountered looked at us, but simply stepped aside from us.

As we made it to the top of the building we opened the two large doors leading into the elders meeting hall, a large room where the elders would address the public.

Now, there are a lot of human rebels standing along the walls, a projector projecting the picture of two black wings over a heart against the wall, and a camera recording Lance as he held onto the last Valarian elder, the other ones killed and on the floor...

Lance grabbed the elderly Valerian elder by his black business attire and pulled him close to his face.

"The age of the Valarian Empire is over! You hear that old man?"

The elder stayed silent.

Lance dropped him onto the floor.

"Tell me, elder, why do people keep their secrets even in the face of death? Why do people lie?"

The elder feebly tried to stand.

Lance stepped on his back and shoved him onto the ground.

"The answer is because people don't want to admit their secrets-they don't want to admit what they did was wrong! They don't wish to acknowledge what they allowed themselves to do... are you feeling that right now? I promise to let you live, as long as you beg at my feet for mercy and plea for forgiveness!"

Alexander pushed himself off of me and stumbled forward, but caught his balance.

"Enough Lance!"'

Lance looked at us.

"Ah... so you did survive... how quant. But I have no more reason to go after you, or Joshua, or even Arthur. You may be traitors... and you Joshua may be a Valarian but I feel you have proved to me that you can coexist with us humans. However... for the rest of your kind, I do not feel have proven they deserve such a right."

Alexander grabbed the knife that Lance used to cut through Alexanders and my wrist. He opened the hilt of the knife and pulled out a flash drive.

"Lance... I want you-I want everyone to see this..."
Lance laughed.

"I've already won... it doesn't matter what is on that drive of yours."
Alexander shook his head.

"It doesn't matter... we all need to see this."

Lance looked at us.

"Fine... play it."

Alexander weakly made his way to the projector and inserted the flash drive. On the wall a password prompt appeared in place of the symbol. Alexander typed in a few letters and clicked a button as the screen faded to an old man wearing a purple garb, sitting on a desk. He has dark purple hair, neatly combed and purple eyes.

"My name is Altair. I am... or rather was... a Valarian elder. By the time of this recording being seen... I will be dead, as I will have poisoned myself. To all who are watching, I ask that you please listen to me. There is a great deal of lies that have been said by us, the Valarian government. We have hidden the truth for far too long... and the regret has gotten too large for me to carry on the weight of my shoulders. So... I will tell you all the truth-the truth about or world. 100 years ago, 50 countries from this planet sent out rocket ships to colonize mars. The project that they embarked on was called project Valor, and the ships that carried them were called the Valor ships. As time continued on... the people still on earth nicknamed those they sent into outer space Valarians. What this means is... we are no different species-we are only humans. All Valarians on this planet... are human. We separated ourselves from this planet many years ago... and the countries that sent us did not respond well. That is when the war between the people of this planet and the Valarians started-and our colonies on Mars were soon destroyed. All the Valarians banded together, and created a new government called the Valarian empire-ruled by fifty elders, one for each country that sent people to colonize. We lost our homes on mars, and so we decided to take this planet for our own. We created new ships, built ourselves weapons of war and came down to this world to make a place for ourselves... but as the time grew-our new government began to fall apart. As the war raged on... we grew more radical. We soon genetically altered ourselves to be different from the rest of the human race... so that we could branch off. However, many of the elders did not wish to stop after conquering land for us to live in-they wanted the entire world and they wanted the people who sent us to pay for destroying our homes. Soon, we became overwhelmed with ourselves and treated the people we captured as slaves-we treated our own kind as another race entirely. As we finally conquered this world... I found myself appalled by what I had helped create. The Valarian empire became a completely dominant dictatorship-far from our once dream of a utopia. We became cruel, and oppressive of those who never deserved such punishment. We made ourselves out to be a superior race far from the heavens when we are only humans. We killed anyone who had discovered and tried to show the public what we are-human. We created police forces instead of a military, of which to rule with an iron fist. And those born from both human and Valerian parents were killed off... or simply treated as human slaves like the rest. One such place that harbored those born from Valarian and human parents... was found and burned to the ground by another elder. I managed to save fourteen children from the fire-everyone who is now a member of the moderators. I have now said all that needs to be said... do not believe the rest of the elders. They will only try to lead you astray into a world they fabricated for themselves. To my children... the moderators... please forgive me. I am sorry for what I have done... please think kindly of me... but I know that may be impossible. We are all human after all..."
Altair grabbed a bottle and out it on the desk. He clicked on a button on whatever he used to record himself and the screen faded to black.

Everyone in the room stayed silent.

Valarians... are human...

There has never been any difference... between us... and the hum-

So this is the truth...

Alexander looked at me.

"Now you know the truth, Joshua. This is the world in which we live in. I have never thought of you simply as another race, but as a person. Valarians and the people who are oppressed by them still are two separate groups of people... but that does not make them another race that is superior to the other. We are all just people..."
Lance started laughing. He laughed louder and louder as he pulled a pistol on the Valerian elder under his feet.

"Is this true...?"

The elder shook as he began to cry.

"Yes... its true... everything..."

Lance laughed even louder as he shot the elder through his chest, and then into his head.

Lance put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

Alexander stood up and made his way to me.

"Do you understand why I didn't tell you...?"

"I do... but it's a truth... I have accepted..."

Alexander looked at Arthur. Arthur closed his eyes and started to walk away.

Alexander leaned against me.

"Let's go Joshua."

I helped him stand with my arm and we slowly walked away from the building.