72 One Moment, One life

For a moment, the world seemed to stand still. The birds froze mid-song, the winds stopped dancing, and the roar of life paused. All for one moment. For one moment in which fate intertwined two separate destinies together only to mercilessly shred them apart later.

All for the meeting and parting of him and her. Of them and us. Of the world and a brilliant light.

.

.

"As we hereby announce, the traitor Henny Bellor shall now be arrested on the claims that she failed her duty as a teacher of the academy, as a soldier, and as a guardian! Seventeen innocent and young children were murdered in cold blood under her care. The eighteenth found barely alive nearby. Even then, she failed to apprehend the killer while losing consciousness, truly a pathetic teacher. As punishment her original sentence was prison for life yet, Central is benevolent and considerate of the people," The man on the screen raised his arms in front of him, gesturing to the mob of people below him.

"You, as citizens and people of this prosperous Empire, have demanded death for the one at fault! Central shall answers your wishes! Having pushed for the death penalty, Henny Bellor will now be executed in two days' time!"

The cheers from the crowd sickened Hal. Angrily, he turned off the communicator on his wrist. It'd been two hours since Central took Haven away and they already held a trial? What original punishment? It was obvious they had already decided on what to do even before arresting Haven.

"Those bastards…" The disgust and hatred evident in his tone, Hal furrowed his brows.

Sighing once again, Hal tried to contact the other staff, but none answered his call. He couldn't break his way out either. The walls had been enhanced to withstand slyphir up to the light purple rank. Since he was only around light green it would be like an ant trying to fight a turtle.

Hal hung his head in his hands. After everything, would it really end like this? Greed triumphing over the injustice about to happen? In reality was it not 'good vs evil' but 'profits vs loses'? He'd already developed an animosity towards Central when he was younger but this, this turned it into a deep sense of hatred. A rage so crazed it clouded his reasoning.

"What do I do? What 'should' I do?"

Stirring slightly, Lydis shifted on her bed. Noticing her, Hal turned around and gently placed a hand on her forehead.

"How are you feeling? Pain anywhere? Soreness?"

Lydis shook her head side to side but instantly regretted the quick movements.

*whew* "Seems like you're doing better. Here, I'll help you sit up, it might clear your head."

Hal gently picked up Lydis's head, rising the bed to match her back.

Lydis stared around the room for a moment before opening her mouth.

"Hal, where's Haven?"

Hal's lips tightened into a thin line, his hidden fists clenched tightly.

"Haven was arrested by Central. They took her about two hours ago, the sentence has already been set and announced. She'll be executed in two days. There's nothing we can do…"

Almost as if he was telling himself, Hal's last words were directed at his own weakness.

"Haven…" Lydis tightened her hand slightly. If Haven had agreed to take the fall for the incident and claimed guilty to the charges, there really wasn't anything that could be done. Although Lydis didn't know Haven long, it still stung to know that through Haven's misfortune and death, her cover wouldn't be in danger. Her slip up with Edith and the slyphir, covered. Forever hidden in blood.

From the far side of the wall a loud bang echoed slightly in the room. After a few more hits the door appeared again and slid open rigidly. On the other side the teachers Hal had failed to contact were standing breathless.

*huff huff* "H-Hal, we found you…"

"Haven! It's Haven!"

"It's bad, real bad!"

They seemed to be stumbling over each other, trying to squeeze into the small room first.

Hal looked at the still dazed Lydis and turned around.

"First things first, let's move to another location. Lydis is still recovering."

The other teachers nodded in unison and moved away for Hal. Looking back one last time, Hal took one last look at Lydis before leaving, the door sliding back into place with stiff movements. Although it slid closed most of the way, the top corner of the door had been misaligned, leaving a small gap. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Hal ignored the gap and led his fellow teachers to a private room.

Once she was sure that Hal's group had been gone for some time Lydis cracked her neck, rotating her stiff shoulders a bit. Valfafer poked his nose out and yawned with a little squeak.

"Master, what now?" Already up and about, Valfafer stretched before prancing over Lydis's legs.

"I'm not really sure. I feel like I'm missing something important but I can't remember what. Like it was taken from me."

"Master sure has a lot of memory problems." Valfafer's remark earned him a quick head flick from Lydis, though it was all she could do at the moment without feeling nauseous.

"Valfafer, how did you get here?"

Hearing this Valfafer puffed up his chest and held his head high, his tail wagging madly.

"Truth be told, since I always know where you are I followed those two people from before, Haven threw me in with you yesterday, so I've been here awhile."

The triumphant stance and high head from earlier didn't seem to fit Valfafer's story.

"What about Ui? Do you know where Ui is?"

"Small robot?" Valfafer began to scratch behind his ear rapidly with his hind leg. Having calmed the itch, he continued. "I don't know. Why don't you ask it?"

"Wh-"

Lydis was interrupted by a small clink against the door. Buzzing softly, slowly a small shape began to wriggle through the gap. When it was through it flew directly to Lydis. She recognized the dragon-like head and it's red eyes but the mangled limbs and torn torso worried her.

"Ui! What happened to you?"

"R-reporting to Master Lydis. The situation does not seem favorable."