Ignatius: The Final Hero (NaNoWriMo 2018)

Chapter 1.2- A Rough Introduction.

Flames. Towering far above six metres, they lit up the thick blanket of night sky with their light, shining brighter than the stars of Olympus, a last revenge from Prometheus to the gods above.

Ashes. That was what the lively, bustling village had been reduced to. Every living thing within a two-mile radius had been returned to their original form-- dust and shadows of the past, a mere memory that lives on in the minds of three.

And I, I stood at the precipice above the village, spectating the burning with indifference as the cool night wind blew through my body and straight into my soul, stoking the flame of destruction within me.

I turned to Abegail, my elder brother by four years. Once a small, timid and soft spoken boy, he'd grown into the tall, proud, and perfect Hero every young trainee in the Hero program idolised and wanted to become. Most days, he was just that. However, the other days... he was a mopey, pathetic bump of rags, with no motivation, content enough to watch the world burn.

Tonight was such a night. Slouched to almost half his height, Abegail Lance Kira gazed soullessly at the flames, eyes clouded with shame, guilt... and filled to the brim with conflict.

On second thought, perhaps I should not have burnt down what he considered to be his 'home village' before showing him the intelligence I had gathered.

The twenty something year old's sad, mourning eyes suddenly hardened the moment they met mine, as if to say, "What have I done to deserve this? What have they done to burn?"

And as much as I would have loved to fill him in on the deeds of his "fellows", now was most definitely not the time.

That's the thing with classified government missions- they stay classified, and will not be added to any Hero's record. Instead, they go on private files that only Prefects wanting Heroes would see- and that's if the mission is successful in the first place. If, somehow, the mission was not successful (otherwise known as "failed"), the government provided no coverage nor alibi for the Hero caught.

Instead, the Hero would be labelled a "villain", "degenerate", "rebel" by the media and by the people... and that pretty much ruins their careers.

I glanced down at my watch. There were two more minutes until the scheduled pick up, and yet neither of us were anywhere near the agreed upon location. Glancing back up at my brother, I attempted to a convey a sense of urgency through my eyes... which went ignored. I sighed in exasperation, latching an arm onto his shoulders to get his attention.

"Abegail, seriously. We need to hurry up. Your Prefect's expecting you," I begged, desperate.

That fool only held his nose high, and ignored my plea.

One and a half minutes left.

Okay. I do absolutely do not have time for such foolishness. Force will have to be employed.

And might I say that sixteen year old me was the scrawniest creature? A single tug didn't even make him budge a micrometer.

Pathetic.

Down to one minute now.

Should I leave without him?