4.4

Dare to dream

The cacophony of the explosion hit those who were watching with a wave of surprise and confusion. They could only look on in horror as a withered body fell from the sky.

Conrad was the first to act, the vagabond calculated the landing spot and rushed there with plenty of time to catch the small-town Icarus. It was too late, however, while the explosion was mostly directed outward, sparring the young man from being torn to shred. The force of it was enough to rupture all of his organ, killing him instantly.

His soon to be wife rushed to his side along with the audiences. Only Victor remained, looking at them with heavy heart. He knew what would come next and it pained the old doctor.

Owain was put to the ground as Caron desperately tried to heal him to no avail. No amount of blood infusion would work. The healer concentrated on her hands, but they refused to dissolve. And so, all she could do was wept for a life lost.

Hiro looked over and couldn’t see a trace of the cheerful person he once knew. Owain lied there, blood gushed out from all of his orifices. The young man eyes were gone, in their place were two empty void, disturbing but equally haunting. Yet on his mouth was a smile, Owain was happy.

Hiro fellow summoned, Conrad and Malcolm, showed no sign of being affected by this incident. The youth simply sighed and left the cane spinning in her hand.

Next to him was, Willow, horrified, mumbling to herself.

“It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault…”

“Don’t say that” Hiro said with a pained heart.

“I… I gave him that gem and it exploded, it was… my fault” The girl held back her tears and bit her lips in frustration “A citizen of Eden died, all because of me…”

“No” “Victor interjected “It wasn’t your fault”

The old doctor said kindly, his words shook the girl. While Hiro was used to this side of Victor, this was the first time he had been so gentle to her.

“He didn’t design a proper storage for all those energy, he didn’t devise a plan to steer, he never intended to land with his life intact”

“… But why!” Willow asked.

“Because his dream was to reach the sky and it ended there. He never planned to land in the first place”

“That… doesn’t make any sense” The girl couldn’t wrap her mind around this.

To Hiro, this was a painful confirmation about what Victor had been eluded to earlier. Something was wrong when a couple killed themselves, ignoring their child just so they could be together till the end. Something was wrong when everyone had their dreams around the same time, at such a young age.

Victor explained to Willow.

“So she never told you about this… As a citizen, we are all bounded by our dream, our singular dream that is unique to everyone. It gives us a reason to live and it will take precedent over everything”

“THAT MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE!” Willow snapped back at that answer “If that is the case, how could we this great nation even function. How could…”

“So arrogant” Victor cut the girl off “You are the daughter of the Divine, not just a commoner, how could you understand us, our dream”

“W… What…” He was mean-spirited but Willow had never seen Victor being angry.

“Unlike the Divine, the Herald, the summoned or you or your siblings, the citizens of Eden are simple. Their dreams are mostly to be with the one they love or to serve under the Divine. In most case, the latter will be more specific like serving the Divine by being a baker, a healer, a builder… That dream will decide a person’s vocation for life, they will then be rationed into different towns and cities so that Eden could function”

“…” Willow didn’t know what to say, the girl obviously never learnt of this.

“Why don’t you ask around. The lumberjack dreams to be a lumberjack to serve the Divine, the tavern owner dreams to be a tavern owner to serve the Divine, the fisherman dreams to be a fisherman to serve the Divine and you get the idea. And so they will continue to live, to strive for their dreams, one they chose of their own volition until their fifty years come to an end”

Those words somehow rang hollow. Victor looked down on the young man corpse, however, and Caron still weeping. A hint of emotions returned to the man voice.

“Of course, sometimes there are cases like this, where one dreams of grandeur. But they will live on forever chasing after it. Those are unobtainable, forever out of reach, or at least it was supposed to be…”

Victor talked of dreams, but Hiro couldn’t see them as such. The young man didn’t dwell on that, he was still filled with sorrow and the sound of crying hadn’t ceased.

Soon, the clock rang thrice and all the doors opened. It was another day for the townsfolks. They walked past the body with sadness in their eyes. They offered words of condolence but none of them stop. There were works to be done, their dream was to serve and serve they will.

Caron continued to weep, it was supposed to be a new chapter of her life, a chapter of happiness. Now everything was gone, in an instant. Just like when she was a little girl.

The healer could remember something, there was still a chance. She turned to the only man remained whom she trusted.

“Please, I beg of you, please brings him back to me, please…”

Even though Victor had braced for this, it still hit him harder than what the old doctor could ever prepare for. But still, he muttered.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t do that”

His rejection stunted the young woman. How could that happen, she couldn’t comprehend. It was said that the art of resurrection was child play for the Heretic. So why would he turn it down.

Because that was his choice, but that wouldn’t matter.

“Do it” Willow said “As… as your acting superior, I… I… I order you to do it. Resurrect him, please”

As the daughter of the Divine, she had power over him. But the doctor was still Victor the Heretic, defiance was supposed to be his nature. Nevertheless, the doctor complied. He knew that there was no saving his beloved ward, that her fate was sealed. At least he would use this opportunity as a reminder no one could forget.

“Bring him inside”

The Heretic gave his words. Positivity returned to Caron, her soon to be husband would live. But underneath, that positivity, Hiro could see desperation. Unlike the naïve princess and the voice, the young man could see what will happen if Owain remained dead clear as day.

But that raised the question, why would Victor refused to bring the young man back? Perhaps… Hiro was filled with dread by all the possibilities.

Owain was brought onto the living sofa. Victor stood over him and removed his gloves. The doctor left hand was missing a chunk, the part that turned into smoke when he tried to intercept the take off. Of course, Hiro noticed it.

“You hand… why is it like that”

“Hm, that’s why Ayurveda isn’t taught, a slip of the mind and body forever displaced. Don’t worry, This could be fixed”

Victor reassured the young man then let out a whistle to summon his Cerberus. The creature came out of nowhere, it’s heads divided as usual. After a great struggle for balance and control, the dog moved to it master and from the middle head, two blobs of mush were puked out.

The doctor held the blobs into his intact hand and soon, black smoke started to rise. When he opened it again, in his palm were two new eyeballs, it was blue oh so familiar.

Soon, more smoke would come out and engulfs Owain. But it wasn’t thick enough to obstruct all vision. Hiro could still see the young man being cleaned, his wounds mended as if nothing had happened. When the smoke retreated, Owain was back to normal, except for the two holes on his face of course.

The doctor inserted the new eyeballs and this process took longer than healing the entire body itself, nearly an hour even. But Hiro, Willow and Caron stood there looking motionless for every single minute.

Finally, the young man was now intact.

What came next was supposed to be the climax, a dead person brought back to life. The very act of defiance against God that earned Victor that title, Heretic.

But nothing really happened, the old doctor simply placed his hand on top of Owain head and soon, the young man sprung back to life. Just like that, so fast, so simple, resurrection. Hiro was not sure how to feel about that.

But that was soon overwhelmed by a feeling of hope inside the young man. Even though every fibre of his body screamed out Hiro still had hope. Willow was overjoyed and Caron rushed on to hold her beloved.

Owain looked around confused, the young man then let out bone chilling shriek. His face contorted into one of pure terror. He then dove his head straight into the table edge but was held back by Caron. Owain then clawed at his own face. The scream was no more but his mouth was still while open, and yet no sound came out.

“What did you do!”

Enraged, Willow drew her blade straight at Victor’s neck.

“I revived him”

“Then what is he doing, why is he like this!”

“Can’t you tell, the poor man is terrified by what is left of him”

“What…?”

“Oblivion, princess, that is what remains. His dream is complete, his reason to live gone but he still walks this plain. There is no longer any reason, any purpose to his life. All that left is a huge empty void”

Willow turned back to Owain. Black smoke coming from Caron now forced it way inside the young man, paralyzing him from the neck down. He tried to bite his tongue to no avail, his jaws couldn’t move. Caron had barred him from death. She wanted to spend her life with him, whether he liked it or not.

Owain looked straight at Willow and her sword. Even while being overwhelmed by pain, his intention was clear.

The girl looked at him, horrified. Shakily, she readied her sword, but that of course didn’t go unnoticed. Caron gazed at her and soon, a flame erupted, threatening to consume the princess. Fortunately, it was choked out a dense black smoke. Victor stepped in to hold back his ward.

Nothing left in her way, Willow raised her sword… and fell to her knees. Everything was happening so fast, she couldn’t do it, she didn’t know what to do.

Owain’s gaze turned onto someone else and it was met with an answer.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH”

With a scream, Hiro slashed at the man’s neck, Suiren’s naginata in his hands. The blade cut deep, but it wasn’t enough, Caron’s smoke was fixing the wound. With another scream, the young man chopped down again, and again, and again, and again.

After five attempts, Owain’s head fell to the ground. It rolled down and faced with Hiro. The young man was horrified to see that there was still consciousness in that head’s eyes. The blue orbs tainted with pain and desperation, they were gazing into the great void. And nothing was more frightening than the unknown. Not for long, soon Owain died for good, freed from his immeasurable pain.

Hiro dropped the polearm, his heart torn apart. But there was no time to grieve as a problem remained.

It was clear that this time it was permanent, Owain was gone for good. And his betrothed shall follow. Her purpose, her dream extinguished, Caron pulled out a knife and drove it at her neck.

This time, Victor didn’t stop her. Now all that awaited her was the void as well. Having once gazed into it, the doctor knew death was a true release from the unending pain.

But her hands were stopped by Hiro. The young man didn’t even know what he was doing anymore. But the young man didn’t want to see more bloodshed. And so, he struggled with her, not realising her pain was the same as Owain’s, the same pain that he had struck that young man down for.

Smoke soon condensed around Caron’s neck, her own smoke, chocking her own life out.

Victor also decided to step in to stop Hiro, he couldn’t bear to see this. His mind cruelly filled with the memories of a little girl tugging at his white coat.

But something soon appeared, a faint memory within Hiro’s mind. An idea, his last hope. The young man reached out and grabs Caron’s head and the young woman slumped down. Her eyes empty for a moment before life returned, not entirely.

She calmly stood up and fixed her attire from the scuffle.

Victor could immediately recognise this person. It was his ward, the one who was aimless, yet without a purpose. It was a Caron who simply existed.