Not a Hero

Part 3: The City

In the night, Oliver slipped into a dream. As if he woke up in the middle of the night, he raised his head but saw neither of his companions. Wind blew across the grassy steppe, and stars twinkled above as clouds gathered on the horizon. The still moon glided into place, and Oliver felt serenity take hold of the world.
“Is this what you wanted?” a voice said from behind Oliver. He turned around, and waiting for him was the Dark King, Orkus Wrath, with a smile.
“You can’t be here. You were destroyed.”
“I’m not actually in your head right now. This is just a phantom message I left when you hit me with that Soul Rend spell. As I felt my spirit being ripped into million pieces and scattered across the cosmos, a fate much worse than death, I actually began to regret what I did, but just a little. I’ll tell you, it hurts to have your soul torn apart, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen to you if you keep resisting the call to darkness. Remember when I said that the book only deems wicked bearers as masters? What I meant was that the book doesn’t like being held by people like you. There’s actually a curse on the book where if the master doesn’t regularly perform evil deeds, it will kill them. In fact, actively using the book’s magic for the sole benefit of others three times does the same thing. I know I said that masters who die are turned into ghosts, but masters who are killed in this way have their souls obliterated in the same fashion as myself. You’ve already saved my daughter. That’s strike one. So enjoy what time you have left before Aster takes the book off of your husk.”
Suddenly, Aster appeared from behind the ragged King, giving the same smile that existed on her father’s face. The world, the stars, the ground, all turned to pitch black darkness. The black book materialized in Aster’s hand, and she spoke but one word. “Awaken.”
In the morning, Oliver woke up. The first thing he thought about were Orkus’ words, his message that the only way for him to live would be to commit acts of evil. He could not use the book for good, otherwise his soul would be destroyed. Was this how he was supposed to live from now on?
The next day, Oliver, Drodin, and Aster continued heading east until they reached the bright castle and kingdom of Asbaratus, where everyone is happy. The towering city could be seen for miles. Pristine white walls and structures were surrounded by farmlands to the west and oceans and a fishing village to the east.
First, Oliver and company walked past the farms growing all kinds of vegetables and fruit. Drodin was slightly irritated walking past the harvest, but withheld his opinion. Oliver enjoyed seeing the outer citizens make an effort to work for a living, something he felt he couldn’t do. Finally, the three paused at the giant gate leading into the city’s main road in time to see a caravan head out towards the dwarven city in the snowy mountains known as Dedradoron. Through the gates of Visterra’s thriving metropolis, Oliver, Drodin, and Aster looked upon bustling streets busy with all sorts of shops and stores and smiling patrons walking along. The three immediately took to a dark and empty alleyway where they could be alone.
“Where do we go now?” asked Oliver, not knowing anything about the city at all.
Drodin, eager to finally experience something beyond gardening peeked out of the alley, taking note of colorful signs hanging over different buildings. One particular place he was sure he wanted to look at was a street stand selling maps. Pointing to the stand, Drodin told his friends, “We should probably go buy a map to the city.”
“Buy a map? We don’t have any money at all. How do you expect us to get a map?” said Oliver.
Aster sighed, held out the Hellion Blade, and said, “I’ll simply kill the man and take his maps. Simple enough?” Oliver stopped her before she left the alley.
“No! We can’t just kill people on the street! The city would be on us in seconds!”
Aster pushed Oliver aside and said to him, “Very well master, I won’t hurt him.” She gave him the sword and walked over to the map vendor. Completing yet another transaction, the male vendor smiled back at his last customer before pocketing a few gold coins into a drawer on the stand. When he turned around, a beautiful girl with dark hair and a magnificent red dress stood with her chest out and hands behind her back.
“Hello there.” said Aster in a bubbly tone.
The vendor immediately blushed from embarrassment, but managed to spout out, “Hello to you too.”
Aster eyed the maps for a second and asked the vendor, “Can I have a map?”
The vendor regained some composure and responded, “Sure, for five gold.”
Aster faked a look of distress and said to him, “I don’t have any money. Could you please just let me have a map?”
The vendor’s eyes changed and his hands began to reach for Aster. “Maybe you could pay in some other way.”
Aster had enough. This act made her extremely uncomfortable and seeing the vendor’s grabby hands infuriated her almost enough to kill him on the spot. Instead, she took hold of the man’s wrist and held it in a monstrous grip. From the alleyway, Oliver and Drodin could see his eyes grow wide from the unbearable pain. He didn’t want to scream for fear of Aster’s, now obvious, murderous intent. Still holding on to his arm, Aster grabbed a map and let the salesman loose before walking back to the alley. The boys in the alley saw the man’s arm was broken and flopped down where Aster had held on tightly.
As Aster entered into the alley, she said to Oliver, “I’m so sorry master, but he forced my hand.”
She gave the map to Drodin in exchange for the sword, and Drodin unfolded the paper, trying to forget what just happened. “We should probably get away from here before guards start looking for us.” said Oliver.
“We could go here!” said Drodin pointing to what looked like a town square in the city.
“Then let’s go!” said Oliver wanting to get away from the crime scene. Once the group arrived at the square, Oliver and Drodin pored over the map while Aster stared at citizens walking by, trying to hold back her anger for all of their joy and happiness. “We could go over to the museum and check out the city’s art.” suggested Drodin.
“Maybe we could go to…. Hey, wait a second. What’s this Grey District for?” said Oliver. He pointed to a small shaded area between the King’s Castle and Bumbleberry’s Bakery.
A kind passerby overheard Oliver’s question and answered, “The Grey District is the prison. That’s not really a place for tourists to check out. Oh! You should go check out the Yellow District. The King is giving a speech there today.”
“Why is that?” asked Drodin. “You must not be from around here. King Pristime found the Virtuoso Blade! It’s been gone from our kingdom ever since the death of the hero king, Exemplus. But now, it’s come back to protect our wonderful ruler and ensure peace in our kingdom.”
Aster was shocked and wanted to clarify, “Exemplus is dead?”
The passerby answered, “He’s been dead for nearly twenty years, but now that the sword is in the King’s good hands, his spirit may rest peacefully.”
Aster receded into her thoughts, but Drodin said to the citizen, “Thanks for the information. We’ll be sure to check out the speech.” The citizen waved goodbye and walked away from the three, leaving them to think of what they would do next.
The Grey District, a place inhabited by the delusional and the damned, or at least Oliver assumed. The curse on his life sounded real enough from the words of a man who would be getting the chaos he wanted, and it weighed on the student who already feared life, let alone death. If Oliver wanted to stop the book from killing him, he would need to create a bit of chaos, enough to satisfy an artifact that held murderers in high regard. He needed enough time to find a way to stave off his death, and though it guilted him, the idea of unleashing the city’s criminals sounded like the perfect selfish solution.
“Okay then! You two can go see the king’s speech if you want. I have something I need to take care of first.” he said to his companions as he slowly backed away.
Aster reached out to him. “Master, I don’t think I shouldn’t leave your side. I’ll go with you.”
“Where are you going?”, Drodin asked Oliver.
Oliver knew he could trust Aster enough to let her know of his plan, but Drodin would probably disagree. Oliver wanted to lie. He said, “I have to get something real quick. You can go see the speech, and we’ll meet you there when we’re done.”
Though the question was not answered, Drodin shrugged it off and agreed to meet later. Next, Oliver and Aster headed towards the Grey District, while Drodin went off to see the what the ruler of this happy place was like.
As Oliver and Aster navigated the packed alleys and streets of Asbaratus, Aster asked her nervous master, “What crime do you plan to commit, master?”
Oliver was startled as to how Aster knew what he was planning. The pair stopped, and Oliver asked her, “How do you know what I’m planning?”
Aster calmly said to him, “Apparently, my father left us both phantom messages just before he was destroyed. He told me that you needed to commit evil deeds otherwise you would die and that if I was a loyal fool, to help you as if you were him. All I want is the same thing as what the master of the book wants. If you want to live, then I’ll help you.”
Oliver said to the princess, “Thanks. Maybe you can help me find a way to release all of the city’s criminals in the Grey District. That should be evil enough, right?”
Aster was surprised at her allegedly weak master’s plan. “You want to let loose all of the city’s hardened criminals to wreak havoc on Asbaratus?” said Aster.
The princess grew a smile, and grabbed Oliver’s hand. Then, she ran with him in her grip in the direction of the prison. When Oliver first felt her hand on his, he was scared to death that she would crush it to dust like she did with the map vendor. However, even as the pair excitedly sped through the city streets on their way to create mayhem, Aster’s grip on him was actually rather gentle and warm.