The Shadowing Towers [#NaNoWriMo14]

15.

His eyelids weighed down on his eyes. The heaviness on his eyes got lighter and lighter until finally they were wide open, still uneven from the glass ball that replaced one of them. He managed to prop himself up on his elbows as he turned to look around, the black spots in his sight slowly clearing away to reveal an unfamiliar room in the Province of Life and Belonging. It took him a while to realise his body wasn't faded and pale like it had been earlier, which led him to believe he was in his own time again. The memories were gone, leaving the truth in their wake.

"A day," a gruff voice came at Regan from his right, and he flinched slightly, looking in the direction of the voice to see the Province of Peace and Love leaning back against the wall nearest the door. He was lying on a bed; it was sitting dead centre in the middle of a rather large bedroom chamber, clearly meant for the Province of Hopelessness and Dejection when he laid claim over the Embassy. Now that he was gone... well.

"A day?" Regan repeated, and Peace nodded.

"For you to come back," he explained. "You have been unconscious for that long. Your friends have been worrying for you. They didn't understand the situation."

Regan didn't say anything. He wasn't ready to talk to one of his parents' murderers yet.

"We have told them already what I'm about to tell you," Peace continued. "We thank you for all you have done for Mayleeria; you have stopped it from falling into great peril, and there is nothing we can do to repay you fully for–"

"Stop," Regan interrupted coldly. "I don't want to hear another word from your filthy, lying mouth."

Peace hesitated. "What did you see?" he asked finally, and Regan looked up to meet his eyes.

"You took my parents away from me," he whispered, eyes wide with disgust for what he saw. Peace looked down, guilt washing through his expression. "The memories I have of them are lies; you took them from me, Peace."

"They were-"

"Don't speak of them to me," Regan hissed, retracting further away from Peace the more the man spoke. He held himself back from hurting the man. "You have no right."

"We want to help you, Regan," he pleaded. "Hear me out; nothing we say can make up for what we did to your parents. That was my one regret, that day. And nothing can bring them back to you."

"Too right," Regan snapped. "You have no idea what you've done."

"Hear our offer," Peace insisted, a little uneasy now. "We are giving you your hospitality back. The Insurgence, as much as we thank it, cannot stay together, but we are giving you your Lacum back, with your belongings. It is the least we can do, but it is all we can do. The Void must stay this way, out of sight from Mayleeria. We are giving you a day's notice. We will leave you here for the time being, and in twenty four hours we will return and expect you to surrender, and let us take you back."

"Are you serious?" Regan demanded, clenching his fists together tightly. "After everything I've just seen? You stole my life! The only way you could ever pay for that is with yours, but I'm not like you. I'm not going to take a life because mine isn't powerful enough." He pursed his lips, trying to calm his mind. He could still feel that heavy feeling of darkness, floating there ever since he learned the truth. It made him nervous. "We belong here, in the Province of Life and Belonging, and you stole it from Mayleeria. That makes you a monster. So tell me, monster; why would we surrender willingly to you? We are going to put up a fight, trust me. You are not taking our home away from us for a second time."

The Province of Peace and Love grimaced. "I wish it were that–"

"It's not that hard!" Regan exploded. "You just have to tell the truth! There really is no hard way to it! You have been lying to the whole of Mayleeria because my parents were kind and fair and just. They did nothing but good, and still you killed them. We deserve that life again, the life you took. And we are not going to rest until you stop and leave us be." Regan glared at the man, hate the only expression he could muster to hold back the rage. "Now leave or so help me I will make you."