Inverted

2. Davante

A/N: Important — Davante no longer has a POV. So eventually this chapter will be broken up and revealed slowly through the POV of other characters. I suggest skipping this chapter, but it's up to you of course 😉

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Davante Strithem is lost.

The maze of his new cavern home taunts him as he searches for Olive Lake. The frustration of retracing steps already trudged amplifies his feelings of being set adrift.

As he turns another familiar corner he passes the same pile of broken Calcite. Stopping a few feet past, he turns around and grabs a piece of natural chalk. There is a smooth portion of the wall begging to be decorated, and he is more than happy to oblige.

The chalk dust tickles his nose as the lines appear on the dark rock. The tears wash the dust away as he writes, "Sunday Afternoon – 2142 – R.I.P. Grace Strithem".

"Why am I here!" He screams to the empty tunnel. It is Planning Day so there are certain to be few bodies roaming the cavern. His breath lengthens as his mind finds the sweet thoughts of Freya. A rare smile forces a quick appearance as he remembers the day he met her. It was the first day since the accident that life felt...bearable.

Lost in thought he turns another corner. "Son of a bitch," he whispers to himself as the starting point of his journey meets him once again.. It's the Great Hall, and the crowd is undeniable. They stand on the other side of the cavern room with their backs to where Davante entered. He starts to head back the way he came when his periphery registers his father's figure at the front of the crowd next to Gilphem, the leader of the underground community.

Davante ducks behind a stalagmite and listens as Gilphem addresses the crowd.

"This community was formed just over 100 years ago. We began as a simple community with a simple goal – survive the Great Fall. We believed the best way to do that was to disappear from the chaos on the surface. Our founder, mentor and dear departed friend - Ernest Emerson believed that humans were intrinsically selfish and that we would do, ultimately, whatever was best for ourselves. He believed that the only way for Humans to survive peacefully was to make everyone interdependent – to make what is good for the individual synonymous with what is good for the entire community. That is what we have created here. Everyone has their place and their purpose, and if one person goes missing, the community feels the pain. The world that emerged on the surface after the Great Fall is the complete opposite. No one is truly needed besides the First 400.

"They make the decisions. They protect the people. They manipulate the public. They control the bodies of their citizens. They decide who lives and who dies. And the worst part? The citizens think they are free? They are not free. They are not slaves. They are somewhere in between, somewhere in which they are their own worst enemy, but because they have free time, food and shelter they accept and even police the constraints put on them.

"The members of the new Republic has lost the most basic of human rights. The existence of free will has been eliminated only most do not realize it. Their eyes fails to see what is right in front of them. We must wake them up!" The crowd screams violently and abruptly. Davante's mouth opens involuntary as a short scream slips out. He tries desperately to sink into the stalagmite as every eye in the crowd turns towards the high-pitched squeal.

Silence.

Eventually, Gilphem whispers into his father's ear. His father's voice feels the Great Hall, "Davante! Come up here, my son. You don't have hide. You need to hear this."

Davante's body doesn't move, but his mind moves through the consequences of turning and running. He is pulled out of thought when his father's voice grows and echos off the walls of the cave, "Davante! Son! Come here. Now!"

His legs feel like lead as he closes the distance between home self and stage. The crowd shifts to reveal a path he now has to walk down while the eyes examine his every step. He steps up on to the shallow stage as his father grabs his arm gently and guides Davante to stand next to him, "Now listen to Gilphem."

"We believe that the First 400 creates and orchestrates accidents." The crowd screams again and Davante feels his eyes trying to escape his face. He feels as though the entire cave has just collapsed into a singular tunnel. His vision blurs and he sees his mother being crushed by the falling rock. It had been an accident. That is what they told him. His mother was a victim of an unfortunate event, but what if that was wrong. Gilphem's words interrupt Davante's thought train.

"We believe the leaders of the Republic are plotting something far worse than any of their citizens could imagine. We believe they must be exposed and eliminated!"

A wave crawls across Davante's skin as the crowd explodes into the loudest battle call he had ever heard. He wants to scream with them. He wants to believe that his mother was taken from him by some intentional act. He wants a reason to live. He stands on the stage watching the crowd shaking each other and screaming as loudly as their lungs will allow.

In that moment, he realizes that the last six months since his mother's death have been a lie. He takes a deep breath, opens his mouth, and releases the tension, the hurt, the anger, the unceasing pain that has accompanied him since his mother disappeared beneath the wreckage. His scream overpowers the crowd, and his father looks at him with pride and sympathy. The tickle in Davante's ear forced him to dance in place as his father whispers, "Go on now. I will catch you up tonight."

Davante leaves the stage trying to remember what he was doing before his world was destroyed for a second time. As he leaves the Great Hall the same thought haunts him as it plays like a song he can't shake.

My mother was murdered.