Chapter 14: Goodbye, Part 2
"Fine, fine. God. He was-touching Angel. It pissed me off. She's like my sister, I practically wanted to beat him to a pulp," he muttered the last part. Rena had a huge grin, patting the boy head.
"Good, good. You gotta assert your strength to the other male. Beat the molestererer up!" she teased.
Storm shrugged her hand away, as he was used to taunting from Rena.
"Rena. I'm not in the mood right now. Something's-worrying me, I guess? I don't know, I'm just having a bad feeling," he said to her, staring at the wooden floor of his room as he sat.
"What's wrong? Seriously, tell me," she asked.
"There were ships. A bunch of them from Nova, leaving quickly. They were heading here though, which bugs me. Something doesn't feel right. That was a few hours ago, though," he said to her, standing to look out his window. He saw the crowd gathered by the front gates and remembered the ships from Nova parked at the port.
"Well-look, I'm not worried. My dad went to Nova, and he was supposed to come back earlier today. I'm sure he's fine. If you're fine, he's definitely fine!" she said to him with a smile, kicking her feet.
Storm then turned to her.
"Rena. Celeste destroyed the island," he said to her, Rena looking at him, standing up.
"What?" Was all she managed to say to the boy, the woman gave a worried face.
"Look, I'm sure he came back. I just saw the ships out there. Let's just check before making conclusions," he said to her. She nodded and opened his door, running out.
Getting from Storm's room and down to the entrance, they reached the front doors, which were opened and the center of the commotion. It seemed the crowd was pushed back to the courtyard, a bit more controlled by the castle guards, but not by much. Citizens and such had heard what had happened in Nova and wouldn't stop shouting about the commotion. The two stepped down the stairs, watching the commotion.
"News sure travels fast-" he said to Rena, the girl no longer in a playful mood.
She was searching for her father, who she couldn't see in the crowd. In the center of the crowd stood a figure Storm still had fresh in his mind. Storm quickly grabbed Rena and hid behind the walls in the castle, examining the figure. A man with damaged armor and a certain handle bar and chin puff emerged from the crowd. The man looked up to see him. Duvont.
He gritted his teeth in anger, a vein pulsing in his forehead. Duvont turned in Storm's direction, seeing the boy peeking from behind the wall. He then grinned and suddenly showed a face full of fear. Storm was confused, not understanding. At that moment, Duvont began to scream.
"HELP! T-THAT BOY! HE'S THE ONE WHO ATTACKED ME AND MY SOLDIERS! GET AWAY! GET AWAYYYY!" he yelled out, the crowd paying attention to him and Storm.
Duvont's acting was terrible but was enough to convince the crowd which became riled up, not even knowing who Duvont was referring to. The courtyard gates burst open suddenly, a furious silence filling the courtyard. As she walked, Celeste looked to see the people riled up and angry. Storm dragged Rena quickly behind the wall he was hiding behind, so she wouldn't be seen.
Celeste had just returned from the voyage and had heard most of what they were saying. She looked to her people, inhaling and exhaling softly before resuming her walk. The others moved aside to let her pass and walk inside, however one man stood by the castle doors, looking to Celeste.
He pointed towards her, daring to utter words to question her authority.
"Corrupt," he said, the crowd looking to him in surprise.
"Defiant," she said to him, crossing her arms.
The man wore a simple white shirt, brown shorts with a hat, and looked to be in his fifties. His shirt and shorts were dirty with grease, and he had some tools on his belt strap. It seemed that he was one who built machines for the public to use, perhaps vehicles?
"-Dad-!" Rena said silently.
"I saw it all. The battles, the island sinking. All of it," he said to aloud. Celeste looked towards him in silence.
"I escaped with my life. Barely! As the fight started, I ran, as I had my daughter to think of and got onto a ship. We sailed, and only a few minutes later I saw a blade strike the island, and the whole area sank into the ocean!" he told the people around him.
It was clear that the people were beginning to fear Celeste, some were angry as they had friends and family over there as well. The signing would've brought everyone together, and Celeste planned to surprise her people. However, it obviously didn't go well.
"You've no idea what happened. Stand aside-otherwise-" She didn't finish and looked down.
"Or-? You'll what, you'll kill me?" He walked over to her, and she took a step back, the man still speaking.
"The hell's he doing?" Storm asked Rena.
"-I-I don't know," she replied, looking at the two talking.
Storm began to worry, somewhat considering stepping out to say something, but stopped, feeling Celeste's energy spike. Rena felt it as well, the woman trembling in fear.
"Holy crap-" he muttered. Rena's father continued to speak to Celeste, and people were looking at her with even more fear now.
"Leave-" She spoke in a dangerous tone.
"You've no right to be queen. I know the truth and stopping him like this-it won't work. He'll return. Do your job properly, before this whole world falls to Asu--" Celeste silenced him, running an orange energy blade through the man's chest.
He was silent, his legs shaking, blood falling to the floor. The people were silent, though small gasps were heard from in the crowd. Celeste looked at him, and the man looked back at her. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"I warned you-" she said, almost inaudible to the crowd.
Rena attempted to run, but Storm held her back. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"NO! I NEED TO SEE HIM. I NEED TO! He...he can't-he can't die-!" She broke down crying. Storm held her shoulders and comforted her as she sobbed silently.
Celeste didn't seem to hear Rena or anyone at that moment. She just stood, seeing the man fall back on the stairs, barely breathing. Celeste merely stared blankly at the scenery, trying to process what exactly had just happened. Rena watched, seeing Celeste stand idly. The man laid on the side of the steps trying to sit up but slipped and fell again. He looked, still seeing Celeste and sighed, coughing a bit of blood and looking to the front doors, where he saw Rena's face behind Celeste. Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to get up, but this proved to be futile.
Rena couldn't bear it and attempted to leave Storm's grip multiple times, but Storm knew that if she let her emotions get the better of the her, she'd probably do something extremely irrational. Just like he had done earlier that day. The man had seemed to be speaking into his hand, and afterwards removed a small ring with a green crystal from his finger, subtly placing into the potted plant beside him.
The people were riled, and a multitude of people were shouting "Corrupt! Corrupt!" in the courtyard, unaware of what the man was doing. Celeste was in a daze and didn't notice this either. The man didn't dare look behind Celeste again, as he knew Rena had seen what he had done. He merely tilted his hat, so she wouldn't see his face, and then crossed his arms as he laid on the steps, his shirt stained with blood.