Chapter 28: The Reason (Part 2)

Ro: "Ethan Kales. How does he fit into all of this?"

The one loose end came to his mind.

Barry: "Well, to be honest, no idea."

Ro: "Huh?"

Barry: "During the battle between Ozyllus and Abyss, there was a person in Ozyllus' faction, someone by the name of Sagax."

Ro: "Yeah, he was the man whose eyes could never be deceived."

Barry: "Right, it seems Ethan somehow plays a similar role in this war, whatever that may be."

Ro: "You are telling me …"

Reid: "Wait now, what is all this?"

Ro turned to Reid and saw a shocked look on his face.

Valdis: "You never told us about any of this."

Valdis says with a concerned expression.

Barry: "Because I never got the chance to."

The three look at Barry wanting to know the explanation to what he just said.

Barry: "Before I brought Ro here, I was following Ethan. I saw him trap Ro and kill him."

Ro: "You were there?"

Barry nods and continues,

Barry: "I also noticed how he used my name to scare you and all that."

Ro: "Uh, that …"

Ro tried to come up with words to retort, but Barry cuts in.

Barry: "But anyway, what immediately caught my attention was him saying that he had seen ghosts."

Ro: "Huh?"

Barry: "I wouldn't be that surprised that someone working with an Aural would know that ghosts exist. I was a little surprised that the Aural herself didn't know though. That said though, the fact that a normal human like him could see ghosts was the most concerning matter."

All three of them nod in understanding.

Barry: "That is why; I followed him. I had already known Ethan Kales is someone who is causing problems for Vermillion so I also wanted to find out just what card does he have up his sleeve. But I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary even after following him for four hours, his aura was completely normal and it looked like all he had got on his side was a cunning mind. That is when I had decided that I would stop following him, but …"

Valdis: "But?"

Barry: "I then suddenly saw his soul being pulled into a void … and I followed suit. The place that void led to looked like the interior of a cave or a tomb. When he woke up in the there, he took one look at his palm and knew only his soul is present there."

Reid: "And how'd he do that?"

Barry: "Don't know but it looked like his eyes were glowing."

Ro: "Does he have some kind of special eyes?"

Barry: "Probably something like Sagax has. But I didn't know it back then so I kept following him. I became more and more curious about his secret. And then he came across … Kais."

Valdis, Reid and Ro simultaneously raised their eyebrows and widen their eyes in surprise.

Barry: "There, in the conversation they had, I found out three things."

Valdis: "And what were they?"

Barry: "The first, they had met once before that point. Second, Ethan had those eyes or at least similar ones to what Sagax had. Third, he was present there on that day 12 years ago."

Valdis, Reid and Ro remained silent. The shock of these revelations was already too heavy on their minds for them to speak anything anymore.

Barry: "After Ethan's conversation with Kais, he decided he would turn back and leave. I followed him back as well. I think Kais noticed my presence when I tried to get away because he was being really cautious and putting up a barrier and whatnot. Either way, after he reached the point he had entered from, his soul returned to his body. I came back from there the same way."

He continued seeing how no one else was trying to say anything.

Barry: "Then, I went to bring Ro here and that brings us to the current situation."

After a moment of silence,

Valdis: "I … see. This Ethan Kales – till now I had only thought of him as a small nuisance and so I was glad that he is causing problems for Vermillion, but now I understand that was my mistake. He might be a detrimental factor to our plans as well."

Barry and Reid nod.

Reid: "He could be the biggest obstacle in our path. We need to take care of him as quickly as we can."

Barry: "I would agree."

As they said so, a sudden realization hit Ro's mind.

Ro: "If his eyes are similar to Sagax's, then could it be he knew you were following him?"

Ro asks nervously

Barry: "It's possible, but I don't think it would be that much of a bother."

Ro: "No, you are misunderstanding."

Barry got curious as he urges him to continue.

Ro: "Could he have known that you were following him before the whole incident with me happened?"

Barry: "Uh,"

Ro: "If so, it could mean that the reason he mentioned that ghosts exist was for you to hear and not for us. So he could make you keep trailing him till later."

Barry: "Well, it's possible but I doubt he knew that he would be pulled in a place like that. And other than that, nothing really happened with him so I don't know what he may have wanted from making me trail him."

Ro: "I-I see. But even so, this current situation where he killed me and you brought me here and we are discussing all of this, it could all be part of his plan, couldn't it?"

Barry was left speechless. Ro's assumptions, if they are true, could very well mean that everything that's happening is part of his plan.

Valdis: "If that's the case, you two need to hurry and get to Kais before he can. We can't allow his plans to keep succeeding."

Reid: "Yeah, I doubt his end goal, whatever it is, would work in our favor. We can't take the risk."

Valdis nods as she looks at Barry's horrified expression. Feeling a little concerned but trying to put her duty as the vampire queen before that of the elder sister, she said,

Valdis: "Barry, I want you to go there along with Ro and bring Kais to our side."

Barry listened to her. He knew that he needs to do just as she said. He knew they need to hurry, but …

Barry: "12 years ago,"

They turned to look at him in surprise,

Barry: "The reason I did all that –"

His hands were shaking, his voice was weaker than usual and the impression it gave of him was far different from the impression he would usually give.

Reid: "What's wrong?"

The most astonished of the three on seeing that sight of Barry was Reid. He had asked this question out of genuine concern.

Barry: "Call him; call our strategist and ask him about the truth of the legends."

Reid: "Huh?"

Valdis: "Huh?"

The two are left in surprise by Barry's sudden words.

Barry: "He and I had kept these things secret from all of you for a reason but you need to know. Tell him I want him to answer; I am sure he would catch on."

Just as he told them to, they asked their strategist about the legends, he sent some books that would explain to them the truth that they had been ignorant of. He sent enough books for there to be one for the four people in that room and the four generals.

What would they have thought after reading those books? What would they have thought of Barry who had kept those things a secret from them?

Barry had made himself suspicious in the eyes of Reid and Valdis. But that was nothing new for him. Barry is someone whose actions have always raised questions. He has always been mysterious. Why did he use the invisibility technique on his jet to try to follow Ethan when he knew about his eyes? Anyone who is around him often ends up thinking questions like these.

The answer is a really simple one though – It's because he wanted to test out if Ethan's eyes really are the same as that of Sagax. Even though his actions may sometimes look stupid or suspicious, there always is a genuine reason for them.

This is why, when a truly suspicious question comes up, it becomes really hard to want an answer to it. This is why the question of 'Why did he cause that tragedy 12 years ago?' was something no one really wanted an answer to.

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Barry: "You don't know why you are crying, huh?"

Yeah, it's true. The eight-year-old Kais was crying. But why was he crying?

Barry: "Let me tell you why you are crying then. You are crying because you can see yourself in me."

His eyes widen in shock as he looked at Barry.

Barry: "That entire time playing house you could only admire that kind, good-natured façade of the man you called your big brother. But now that you have seen this horrible side of him, you can actually see yourself in him, isn't that true?"

Kais was left speechless. That's how true the answer was.

Barry: "Ah!"

Seeing that, Barry turned around and started walking. He ignored Kais and anything he may have said from that point on and started walking.

Barry: "There, you happy now?"

He said in a soft voice. And a reply came back from within,

"I am. I am very happy. By doing this, you have set him on the path to become my successor."

Barry: "Is that so?"

"Yes, yes. You should be proud of yourself, Barry. Even though you are incapable of saving the world from the Ghost Nation, you have managed to push your brother on the path of doing so."

Barry: "I should be proud, you say? What the hell should I be proud of? Should I be proud that I showed an eight-year-old this horrible scenery? Should I be proud that I killed so many people? Are you kidding me?"

"Well, I guess this was a pretty horrible act and you would be hated for the entirety of your life for this. But I am sure at the end of the day, you can find solace in the fact that all of these things are for the greater good."

Barry: "Greater good my ass! You only want him to fulfill your own goals. You don't care if the world gets destroyed. And I am helping you. There's nothing in all of this that is for the greater good."

"Now, now, don't be so pessimistic. It's not like you are helping me out of you own violation after all."

Barry: "Of course I am not."

"Right, the only reason you are doing this is because you knew this was inevitable. You knew I would make this happen by the hands of someone else if not you, so you decided that you will take the burden of doing this on yourself in order to keep anyone else from getting involved."

Barry kept walking.

"You are such a kind soul, Barry. I do feel bad for making you do this. But you know, at the end of the day, it really is for the greater good."

Barry kept walking as the voice continued to talk in an elated tone.

"After all, what good can be greater than trying to bring your god's ambitions to fruition?"

Barry: "Shut the hell up! You are no god, Ozyllus. You are just an arrogant ghost of a psychic who was more powerful than others."

Ozyllus: "Oh?"

Barry: "Yeah, because you were powerful and defeated a demon or two, you are put on a pedestal and praised as a god."

Ozyllus: "And that doesn't make me a god?"

Barry: "Huh!?"

Ozyllus: "Face the truth, Barry. If people think I am a god, then I am a god. Their perception is all that matters."

Barry: "You-"

Barry stopped walking. He was forced to stop walking.

Ozyllus: "Oops! It looks like our conversation here is over."

Ozyllus said as he cut his link off Barry. Barry, at the place he was, kept standing unable to a move as a red liquid flowed out of his chest.

Kais: "Die, Barry! Die!"

Barry fell as the sharp object piercing through his chest was pulled back. In his last moments as a living being, he took a look at Kais – but he didn't find him. The only one he could see was the demon who had taken his place.

Barry: "A-Abyss!?"

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