Chapter 44 – The Leader (1)

"Okay," I say, as I see the five sit on the respective couches… Tyle respected the two empty couches, and still stood by the wall, even when there was a chair. "As pointed by Drego and accepted by Hailo, the topic on whether we must take action on Rahambose now or not arises."

[The innocent kids left astray… would have become new set of chaos by themselves. And this could only be evaded thanks to the person standing calmly and communicating with each and everyone… respecting each and everyone. Caring for each and everyone. And that was the kind of leader Skyto had become. The kind of leader Agusth believed he'd be.]

"Everyone choose one side… rise your hands and maybe give a reason of which side you're at, so others are made to think twice."

That might look childish but… it always worked with them. They weren't that shy… now at least.

I make eye contact with Street and Agusth's couches. Wyrom believed that their souls would be present there, watching over us.

Besides, the carving was from Agusth herself… we couldn't dare touch the fine art. The two couches still belonged to someone.

One day when Agusth returns to us… after we prove our worth to her… and after she has mourned enough of her sister's death. I knew how broken her heart must be… but Street was made sure to have a proper burial, of it could make anything any better.

Hailo and Drego lift their hands, and I move to look at them.

"I accept with it," Leo says, without lifting his hand.

We turn to Leo, and wait for him to continue: as he sips some water. Detecting that all eyes are on him, Leo twitches just a little… even while holding a blank face.

"Don't stare at me."

And so everyone instantly looks away, making me internally sigh.

"So like, do you have a point on it, Leo?" I ask.

"What more point is there to say? Rahambose is stronger everyday that we leave him alone. So we must defeat him now or he just gets stronger tomorrow. We can't increase our pace enough to match him even if we try. So we go at them, one by one. According to the list we have on the Rahamboses."

"I'm against it," Tyle moves from the wall.

Everyone looks towards Tyle, but he doesn't flinch.

"You think Rahambose will be alone out there? We'll be risking our everything. We better go out there and find the Prophecy Heroes, which is our best shot."

"What do you say, Skyto?" Wyrom asks.

"As the leader, I exempt my vote. It's your call. And whatever it is… it is my duty to help you with it. I split my vote."

It did feel weird to call myself the leader out loud… but those days were past too. Many things were in the past now.

"As the leader, you need to lead us. You need to vote. There are six of us here, so we need your vote too," Tyle says.

"I say we find the heroes too then. Personal opinion."

"I'm with it too," Wyrom says.

Everyone then look at the last person… Spythun.

"As the dumbass of the group, maybe I must exempt my vote?"

"Come on Spythun," I sigh.

It sucked when I had the days of silence shared with him but… this guy sure was annoying on a daily basis.

"Couldn't someone just make the decision for me? It's really about whether we must go kill my dad or not… and I'm a little nervous here," Spythun chuckles.

"Is it the leader elections or what? I wasn't told about it," a voice from behind the window arrives to us. The figure outside waves to us. That was Line… Tyle's dad. Leo and Hailo's grandpa.

"I'll go get that," Spythun gets up and leaves to the door. "Mr. Line."

"You seem nervous. Then it must definitely be the leader selection. Don't worry, I'll vote for you," Line smiles while patting Spythun's back.

The two come in and Line sits at Spythun's couch. As Spythun turns to sit at the chair… Line shakes his head towards me, and mouths that I'm the one he'd vote for.

"We are actually deciding on whether these kids must really go fight Rahambose right now. It has become a tie and we were waiting for Spythun's word as the final," Tyle explains.

"Oh then let me help you out, son. You people better get out there soon, that is MY vote. Like it or not."

Now everyone looks at Line with mixed feelings.

"Rahambose is taking action," he says. "Tyle, switch on that T.V., that should answer what I mean."

Tyle takes big steps and switches on the thing which we rarely used. It was safe enough to use, we had made sure. Line holds the remote and switches to the frequency I wasn't familiar with.

"Yes, we are taking action," Lithin, on the T.V., says, with the screen below him titling him as 'Lithin: The Wise'. "The kids have been away for too long. No wonder this happened. But turns out, the great general had them under his fingers always."

"He has framed you, Tyle. All of you actually, for kidnapping the Queen and the two led astray princes."

"What proof?" Leo scoffs.

"Oh that is the best part, Leo," Line smirks.

"The Queen can't really talk now. She is under necessary treatment. So please wait for her statement, kindly. After the citizens approve, we shall find the imposters. Thank you."

"The Queen?" I ask.

"Like a fake?" Spythun adds.

"We have no idea. Me and Tony found Elena, in skin, around the castle. She then went away with Lithin. Tony is still onto it."

"It must be someone like Drego," Leo says, and Drego seems to agree too.

"Oh Drego," Line says and pulls out a book from inside his coat. "Here is what you asked for."

The book's cover a black and golden colour. The only thing different about the plain background of the colour black: was its gradual degradation through time. The golden part merged looked as if it used to be a upper cover, which was carved out in a pattern, and pasted upon the black. But both definitely were one cover.

I take a closer look to see it, the writing on the golden part, which Line allows me to see… in bold white colours 'The Diary' and just below it, in silver, 'of Minerva Talon'.

Drego grabs the book from Line's hands, and admires it. "Thank you."

"I think Minerva, or at least Tarragon would be glad that their story will be known. So… thank you," Line smiles, and Drego nods.

"So it really is time to fight," Leo breaks the ice.

"It seems so," I say.

We exchange glances… glances which assured the other that they were scared too. Glances which still assured… the exact phrase… 'It is time to avenge them'.

"As long as everyone co-operates in battle, we'll be good," Drego blatantly says.

Wyrom just gets up and starts taking big steps towards the door.

"It's past ten; this is no time to-" I try to say and stop him, but nothing could stop him from storming out like that, to heaven knows where.

"I'll go get him," Drego sighs.

As Drego starts leaving, even Leo wordlessly follows. And the room goes silent, just like that.

Would this right here, be enough to fight Rahambose? It had to be… there was no other choice. There was no other person willing to. And even then… were we strong enough, besides worrying about the comradeship here… would we ever be ready to be a team?

Six kids. Friends who only knew joy, as they met. Time sure had put a lot on us. The losses, the mind-sets, the growth, the setbacks, the silence, the fights…

Were we even friends anymore?