AVENIR

Chapter 14: Him

CONGRATULATIONS!  You have reached the first climax of the story.

Sentences written in bold are Enjolras POV

It was a beautiful moment, there, with my brother and my new amis.  After awhile, they slowly drifted off to go about their various duties, except for Courfeyrac and Marius.

"Marius," I said, tears in my eyes. "Courfeyrac knows now. About everything. We don't need to hide it anymore. And Jehan," I said, looking back at my brother, "will help me tell the rest about my abilities." I was hoping Jehan would also bring up his own abilities, yet he remained silent. A look of discomfort crossed his face, so I wasn't going to push any further.

We started walking back toward Courfeyrac's apartment, my hand in my brother's, and I leaned against him. "What do they call you now?" he asked.

"Avenir," I breathed, a smile crossing my face. "And you? Why are you known as Jean Prouvaire?"

"Ever since I discovered this world," whispered Jehan, "I immediately started taking history classes at the collegiate level. I wanted to know everything," he said, looking directly at me, "about our history, and how Marseilles came to be. So I learned about the origins of this horrid monarchy, I learned how it was the disastrous effects of the monarchy that led to our society in Marseilles. I shared my findings with the amis, but I digress. I loved learning about the Middle Ages, thus, Jehan Prouvaire."

"But why, brother, why can't they know about your abilities? Like how they know about mine?"

"Because, sister, then they would know that they would fail."

I stopped in my tracks, looked over at Courfeyrac and Marius, and spoke, "Excuse me one moment."

Pulling Jehan aside, I hissed, "And what if you're wrong. What if them knowing their fate would actually help us change their fate? Isn't that the whole point of me being here? Of us ending up here?"

"Sister, as I said before, my goal is to save the future. Our future. Our lives."

"And what about their future? What about all of Enjolras's hopes and dreams?"

"Sister, I am not discounting ANY of that. And I never will. It is my choice to not tell anyone about my abilities because of what that might mean for the future. You have chosen to tell some, and it is up to you whether or not you tell the rest of them. We will have to agree to disagree on this. What we tell them now can impact the rest of history. If they know they are going to die, they might give up the fight. I fear for them."

"You are wrong. I know Enjolras would never –"

"Enjolras," he said, suddenly stopping.  Avenir, you have to see Enjolras."

"Brother, what are you saying? I don't –"

"He ran away from the rally today because he saw you. You need to go to him, you need to find out what's wrong, because we all tried talking to him and he won't talk to any of us. I fear you are the only person he'll listen to. He hasn't been in his right mind for a long while now, since Lamarque got sick.  We will finish our discussion at the meeting tonight. You have your artifact?"

"Of course," I breathed. "I left my satchel back at Courfeyrac's apartment, with the Les Misérables book inside. But I keep my artifact in my pocket at all times – at least, my half of it. Brother, do you know if Enjolras has the other half?"

Jehan had paused, a look of horror crossed his face. "I don't know, Avenir," he said shortly. "Listen, you need to go see Enjolras now. I'll be finishing delivering pamphlets with Courfeyrac and Marius, otherwise they will suspect."