Volume V: The Tragic End of Treason

Chapter 13: Awakening

            When the world around me goes insane…what are you supposed to do when everything you think you know is fiction? How do you deal with your family tearing you apart from the inside?  How am I supposed to hide my fury? The one I love, the girl I would do anything for, Toryn…you betrayed me. They all betrayed me.

            Excuse my insanity. After the tale was told, I lost myself deeper in a world of fiction. I went through my library of lies because something has to be real. All I want is truth. I’d give whatever I possess – my empire of dust – for honesty. And after that, I’ll have vengeance. Sweet, sweet revenge…

            My troubled mind goes back and forth, up and down in turn. Not knowing what to think, where to begin and why. Trust became a mere shadow of a darker reality that I kept myself hidden away from. Things were quiet on our end, for the most part; I kept away from the group for sake of my shattered sanity. They stayed away from me as well.

            She finished telling her tale, and I finished my insane rant. I let go of her, leaving red marks where I’d clutched her so tightly. I was shaking, more out of rage then anything else. She got up and paced around the room, a safe distance away, still shaking as she moved. She was near the door at all times, ready to dive out. I got up from where I was and looked her up and down, reaching out suddenly to grab hold of her. I held her away from me, arm’s length, my hands locked on her arms, eyes piercing through hers. And I threw her straight back against the

wall; she stayed there, frozen with shock. I held her there and kissed her on the forehead, my eyes still burning.

            “We’re forgiven,” I whispered to her, leaning as close as I could, my eyes shooting daggers and my voice breaking ice. And I let go and walked out the door, right past her. Down the stairs and out to my streets.

            The night was...typical. We were in the middle of a war, being out alone was dangerous, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t feel it anymore. I walked for awhile, wherever my body carried me. There is always business to tend to, there always will be, but I had personal affairs to sort out. I had decisions to make and actions to take. And I would take action. Time, and patience.

            Betrayal...years of betrayal from the people closest to me. There weren’t words to describe the pain that thrived in my heart. You can’t imagine how it feels when your family betrays you, or maybe you can. I wouldn’t know now, would I? I don’t seem to know much these days. It comes and goes with my tortured sanity. I remember bits and pieces of my past, the harder I try, the more that slips through. But if I let go and just relax, it all comes flooding back.

            I walked past old landmarks, the Dragon, the hospital... I went to the bar. I went to drink, to drown my sorrow the only way I could fathom how. Hours passed there, Morgan’s ghost lingering in the air. You could still hear her above the clink of glass if you listened carefully enough. Hours...it felt like years, drowning in my own madness. I was beyond intoxication when someone came and sat down with me.

            “Rough day, pal?”

            I looked at him, staring up and down slowly. Marcellus stared back at me with unfeeling eyes. He was leaning back in the chair, tilted at a bizarre angle. He had a drink with him and he was more human in his features. He’d come down a step from his high horse.

            “What do you want?”

            “I just want to talk.”

            “I have nothing to say to you.”

            “Did she make it?”