RETURN TO CENTURION

It had been ten years since Emrhys left the Centurion city and as he looked around, he realized that some things had changed but some things were still the same. From the window of his carriage which zipped across the city on mechanized line networks, he could see vampires wearing sunrings, walking freely among humans. 

Emrhys wished Constance had lived to see this. This was the world she dreamt of, the species coexisting as one. In the ten years since the "Constance Edict" had passed, humans, elves, werewolves, mages and faeries had come together to rebuild the Centurion city. When he had first brought Constance here, she had been horrified at the State of the Centurion city. It had been a slum, abandoned to the poorest of poor who made the streets their beds, while the old buildings were taken over by gangs and bandits.

However since the clave had taken over, the city had been transformed into the economic centre of the new world and was now one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a tourist attraction for many. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jade asked, it seemed she could read his thoughts, "Even Ross could not believe his eyes when he came to the city two years ago?"

"The clave has done a wonderful job." Emrhys replied, keeping his eyes outside as the carrier zipped across the city. 

"It's not the clave, it's him. " Jade didn't say his name, maybe because she knew how painful it was for Emrhys to hear his name, even after all these years, especially after all these years. Not like it mattered, after all they were on their way to see him. 

Emrhys never thought he would visit the city again in this lifetime, they were too many painful memories attached to it. He was here to honour an old friend; Senator Remus Abernathy had been killed three days ago while visiting Vadania. Abernathy was a good man, one of the best. He had believed in what the clave was desperately fighting for, a united country made up of the seven states. Emrhys had long lost hope that the species could live together, they were just too different in some ways and too similar in other ways. 

Ten years ago, the five hundred year war ended. 

The humans started the war in a dangerous quest for power but by the end of the war, humans had nearly wiped themselves out and had been taken over by the mages who ruled cruelly and brutally. The lycans and faeries had also been taken over by the mages who ruled them even more cruelly than the humans, they cast a spell over the moon, that stopped the lycans from transforming for over a hundred years and bound the wings of the faeries which stopped from using any magic. 

The undead had always held the belief that they were superior to all other species, they prided themselves on their culture and beauty. So even though they did not agree with the mages, they chose not to fight them. The vampires had retreated to their homestate of Vadania, where they avoided the outside world making a law banning the creation of new undead. They had sealed themselves off from the rest of the world and stayed out of the war, it was a decision that Emrhys could never forgive them for because it had left them alone fighting for the freedom of humans, faes and lycans, a war that cost them dearly. Eden always fought for those that could not help themselves, but when they needed help. No one come.

Emrhys turned to look at Jade, she wore a black robe with covering for her head in compliance with the mourning ritual. Remus had turned her thirty years ago, he had always been a rebel. Abernathy had gone against his people to create new undead to help in the war against the mages. He had come to Emrhys and Eden at the turn of the fifth century. Together with his foundlings, he had fought in the war of the favourites ten years ago and after that had campaigned for the unification of the seven states. 

Jade seemed like a stranger now. If this was thirteen years ago, they would have made the ride laughing. Emrhys didn't have much people he could call family now but once, Jade was one of the few people he could call "family", until the battle of the favourites eleven years ago. She and Remus had chosen to stay in Centurion city, and create the clave. Emrhys had been furious.

Emrhys could still remember their last words to each other when they had faced off, "He can change it, he can make a difference." Remus insisted.

"You fool" Emrhys spat at him, "You aren't changing anything, haven't you learned yet? History teaches that history teaches nothing"

Emrhys could see it on Jade's face, she wanted to tell him, "I told you so." They had done it, rebuilt Centurion city, made it a safe haven, an utopia for all the species. But Jade was young. Barely forty years old as an undead, she was turned when she was fourteen and would remain the same till she was killed or chose to die, forever young, forever on the cusp of womanhood. Emrhys had lived a very long life, he had seen people. He knew what they could do. What they were capable of.

"I wanted to visit you, many times." Jade's voice broke the silence once again, "but I wasn't sure i was welcome back."

"You are always welcome to Eden, little one." Emrhys assured her. "You always have a home with me."

Beside him he felt Callan stiffen, Callan who had been silent throughout the journey. He hadn't spoken not even to Jade, it was hard to imagine that the two had been raised in the same temple after their turning. Remus might have been their maker, but Emrhys had raised them , hidden them away in Eden where they were trained for the war. They had once been as close as twins. Maybe that was why Jade's betrayal hurt Callan so much.

"How is abbot?" Jade asked again.

Emrhys opened his mouth to answer but this time it was Callan who answered.

"Maybe you have forgotten the ways of Eden, but we do not speak to outsiders of what goes on beyond our walls?" His voice was hard and cold.

Jade's face broke into anger, "Oh yes. How could I forget? God forbid that you actually care what goes on beyond your walls?"

"We care for our own." Callan replied sitting up. 

"Only your own " Jade spat back, "You care for only your own. After the war, the outside world was burning and you didn't care, all you did was sit in your castle and hide away."

"Hide away?" Callan's voice had gone higher, "We were driven away. Driven by the very humans we fought for, the very human you chose to side with. How could you? Choose them over your own?"

"I didn't choose anyone." Jade was visibly shaking with anger now, "I chose to fight for everyone. That is what the clave is, we are creating a world for everyone."

"Really?" Callan let out a bitter mocking laugh, "Is that why Remus was lynched to death in Vadania? Why Luther continues to run free? Is this the world you created?"

Jade opened her mouth and closed it as if she couldn't answer, but it didn't matter because Callan kept going, "You accuse us of hiding away in our castle but you are the one hiding," Callan went on, "you hide in this city and tell yourself, look they are all living together, look everyone is happy, when you know outside these city walls, the same faeries that shake your hand will line up to rip away your ring and let you burn, just like they did to Remus." 

"How dare you?" Callan continued vibrating with barely restrained fury, "Accuse us of hiding? When the world hid, Eden stayed. When everyone ran, we stood. No one has sacrificed more than Eden, no one has given more than Eden."

"That's enough." Emrhys finally intercepted, "that's enough, Callan."

They both turned to look at him as if they had forgotten he was there. Jade's eyes lingered on his hair, partially covered by his hood. "We are here."

The carriage had finally stopped and the doors slid open. "Welcome Senator Emrhys"