A New World

Chapter 8 - Blake

"Mom!" Hayato shouted as he struggled to push through a wall of people to get to Grace. "Mom!" He wasn't able to stomach another minute of the event and wanted nothing more than to get back home to familiar surroundings. He did his best to keep an open mind like his mom wanted, but for Hayato, there was no exchange of differing views.

For the most part, everyone that attended had made up their minds that the current world system was somehow corrupt with the radiant beings being at the center of it all. The beings that captivated his imagination as a child and still held his interest as a young adult were being slandered without so much as both sides of the coin being examined. This was more than several people voicing their frustrations. For Hayato, this was personal.

"Hayato...what's wrong?" Grace slowly turned around, keeping her attention on the stage.

He struggled to communicate with his mom despite attempting to raise his voice above the commotion around him, "You purposely didn't tell me this is what the event's about. You knew if you told me earlier I wouldn't have tagged along with you so why'd you bring me here?"

"I wanted you to learn from this event. You're young, so I don't think you fully understand what the rest of us here are complaining about".

"Sorry, but I don't believe there's anything for me to gain here. I'm done. I'm heading back home. I think we should leave," Hayato said, grabbing his mom's shoulder to get her attention.

"Sorry son, but you'll have to go home without me. You've already made up your mind that this movement isn't for you, but I've made up my mind that this is the very thing I want to be a part of," she said shrugging Hayato's hand off of her shoulder.

He didn't understand why his mom was so engrossed in this new movement. It was like he was talking to a wall. "Have it your way." Hayato squeezed through the crowd once more and eventually found his way out. Within the crowd it was difficult to tell, but once the distance between him and the event grew he saw that it attracted those who were walking by.

From what he could tell, only a small fraction of those passing by actually stayed to hear Blake speak while others continued about their day realizing what the event was for. It occurred to him that he wasn't the odd one out, this was still a minority view in the world. The only thing that was on his mind was to leave the strange atmosphere he found himself in and head home to talk to his dad.

"Excuse me! Hello? You there, the young man walking away." Hayato turned around to see Blake calling out to him from the stage. "Ah, you stopped. Thank you. Can I please have you come up to this stage?"

"Why is he calling out to me of all people?" Hayato thought. The crowd cheered and made way for Hayato to meet with Blake. Confused but persuaded he stepped onto the stage to meet the man dressed in black.

"Thank you for coming back. What's your name sir?"

"Hayato. Why did you call-"

"Everyone! I sensed something amazing in this young man, in Hayato. I feel that he could be a great asset to our cause and help spread the word."

Hayato put the pieces together and realized he was probably the first person to try to leave the event. Such a thing would've been easily noticed by anyone on stage. However, he wasn't about to buy into Blake's movement like everyone else seemingly did.

"No thanks. I don't agree with this movement. I'm sorry." Some in the crowd gasped, experiencing slight shock after hearing Hayato's words of disagreement. Silence replaced the cheering and eventually turned to whispers of confusion.

In the crowd he saw his mom still standing next to Ephret and Joyce. He could tell she was uncomfortable seeing him get called out on stage by Blake in front of several hundred people. She understood he had a strong stance against the movement and her views but the mother in her didn't want others to know about it, especially at an event like this where he could receive a negative response from the crowd.

"Everyone! Please, please. We should be prepared that not everyone will agree to our message. I respect your opinion sir but if it's not too much to ask, do you mind telling us what about the current system do you like? I believe having open dialogue with differing viewpoints is a wonderful thing and this is a great opportunity to have such a dialogue."

Blake moved closer to Hayato and pointed the mic towards his direction. Unsure of how to respond, he looked towards the large crowd, his gaze was met with expectant glares. Hundreds of people were staring back at him waiting for an answer as to why he would disagree with the movement and its goals. He wasn't sure if he should use the opportunity to speak his mind or turn it down as he didn't do well speaking in front of people, let alone a crowd of this size. How Blake and Jeremy captivated the crowd was beyond him.

"I uh...well, the reason I said I didn't agree is because for the past millennia, we've lived in an unrivaled peace. There's not much to complain about in my opinion..." His response was met with chattering in the crowd. He could tell he was the minority with this viewpoint at the rally.

Blake raised his hand for silence as he addressed Hayato's point. "Yes, that's a great point and a valid one at that. However, the problem the majority of us have is we must live under their laws and government, correct?"

"That's true." Hayato answered hesitantly.

"My question to you, and this whole crowd in fact is, who are these beings we call the radiant ones? We know little pertaining to who they are or where they derive from. How do we know they aren't otherworldly beings that have simply used their innate abilities to conquer our world for their own?" Blake asked the crowd. "I believe that for the past one thousand years, we have been sold a false narrative about the radiant beings and this world. It's with this false narrative that they have been able to rule over us without resistance, but that time is over." He slowly turned to Hayato for an answer.

The crowd whispered among themselves as they pondered Blake's hypothetical scenario. Hayato could hear many in the crowd respond to Blake's view with astonishment. It was difficult to believe that the lives they've been living up till now has been a lie, but what about if it was true?

Hayato had no answer for him. Not for a minute did he take Blake's scenario as plausible but he also had no rebuttal to offer. He was currently on his own journey for answers after all and knew just as much about the radiant beings as the average person - nothing.

"...I'm not sure. I don't believe that to be the case but I have no way of saying why or why not..."

"No worries sir. I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you but your time was much appreciated. You may leave but I hope our short conversation gave you something to ponder about."

Blake took off his glasses and bowed as a show of courtesy to Hayato which was met with applause from the crowd for the impromptu debate from the two.

"Ya..." As Hayato turned around to leave the stage, he looked into Blake's eyes. Something within Blake stared back at him; stared into the fiber of his being as if searching for something. Without any warning, a picture of the tall dark figure from his prior dream flashed in his head as he recollected the burning eyes. He quickly became uncomfortable and excused himself from the stage.

Hayato couldn't help but get the feeling that Blake strategically used his disagreement with the movement to further cement many in the crowd to join the cause. His naivety didn't stand a chance against the reasoning skills Blake had, no matter how flawed he believed his argument was. Beyond that, he found himself wrestling with what Blake said. Sure, he didn't believe that the radiant beings were somehow ruling over humanity in his strange earth-takeover scenario, but how did he know that wasn't true? One thing he was sure about was the fact that there was still so much about this world he didn't know. It seemed to him like everyone else knew what was going on except him and Rouge.

His dad was keeping information - granted it was due to his profession. Blake seemed knowledgeable as well, although his motives remain shrouded in mystery. And his mom...if what Blake said had any merit, her reasoning for not agreeing with the current world system would be sound.

Now more than ever he needed to get to the bottom of this. His journey started out of simple curiousity but now he was encountering numerous unknowns in his life. As someone who relished learning, Hayato could not go about life as if it was business as usual with so many new revelations. He needed to tell his dad the truth about his dreams and hopefully get some answers.

And beyond that, for his own sanity he needed to confirm that humanity was not a slave to other worldly beings. This too would be the catalyst that would eventually propel him to the truth he's yearned for for the past year.