Chapter 109: Silent Confession

It took Diana ten whole minutes but she finally broke through the wood prison. She glared at Paul but before she could do anything the boy was teleported back.

"Uhhg, That was horrible. Are you guys done, we have patriots and nationalists to recruit and the sooner that's done the better."

He wanted to avoid the conversation, but before he could run, Diana was already in front of him. She didn't say anything, she just punched him. She barely held back, and she broke his jaw.

The boy flew into five different trees before the momentum was stopped. Barely holding on to his consciousness he stood up.

"Heal yourself, we aren't done yet." She ordered, and he obeyed.

A thirty-minute session of brutal beatings followed, and the old man stopped watching long ago. He didn't want anything more to do with their little quarrel.

"We are still not done, and we are going to have a long, and I do mean LONG talk about trust later Rony, now lead the way." She said, her voice cold.

He knew he hurt his partner, but it was unavoidable. There was a risk involved, and he wasn't ready to play with her life.

He led the way to their first target, a group of convicts.

They were in prison for political crimes. These people were convinced that the Kingdom would never have a single bright day, as long as the Empire existed. They were the prime targets for recruitment, strong, stubborn, and spiteful.

The problem came with their numbers. The main group was made of convicts, but over time it had swelled. Boosted by old people, who still remembered the bloody conflict, and young people, who searched for any reason to start a conflict.

They numbered in the thousands, six thousand four hundred twenty-eight if the General's information was to be believed. And among them, there were plenty of mages and even some Grand Mages. None of them were in the divine ranks, but they were still a force to be reckoned with.

Even Ciaran had no idea how he would convince them to follow him, but he had to try. He had made promises, and he prided himself on always delivering.

The patriots were scattered, but they still kept in touch with one another, the plan the boy came up with was to go to a camp, and see where that would lead him to.

It was no plan at all, but he had no time, no resources, and after the beating, fewer living brain cells to try and come up with something better.

He was fresh out of luck as well, the particular camp he was in held not one but two Grand Mages, and they immediately locked on to the environmentalist.

Before they could even ask, Ciaran took off his mask, once again making Diana's hands so itchy she felt as if an ant colony had made themselves at home there.

"Hello, you know who I am. You know I like anarchy. And now you have a reason to cause it in the borders of the Empire." He said as he threw the documents about the poachers at them.

"Help me deal with them, and I can vouch for your reasons for crossing the border. Kill as much of the Hunter as you wish, but to bring an army as big as yours, you will need someone to vouch for you in front of the authorities, or you will have someone in the divine ranks to worry about. I need an answer now, or I am taking this deal to someone else." He said, and the mages frowned.

They hated the Empire and its citizens with a passion, but Ciaran was different. He shared with them his alchemically enhanced material to keep the mortals warm. He shared with them a way to keep them fed, and he asked for nothing in return.

The boy also had quite the reputation for causing trouble, and not abiding by the Empire's rules. They didn't trust him, but they didn't hate him either.

"Mr. Clades we can't just-

He threw at them a seal.

"I wouldn't be talking to you, or even known who you were if I didn't have approval. General Mira Avery sent me your way. No excuses are you in, or do I go to my next target?" He asked with no room for negotiations.

He was, once again, punching way beyond his weight class, but he had no choice. Every day the Hunters got more and more organized. Soon they would smell his scent, and by then he would either have to leave the Tundra, which he couldn't as his mission came straight from an Archmage, or hide like a coward, just like he did on that mountain.

He could go with option two, it was absolutely not beneath him, but it would slow down his progress, and that, that he could not tolerate it. So, if order threatened his peace, he would create chaos.

The two looked at each other and nodded.

"We are in, but we will need time to organize everybody."

The boy raised his hand and interrupted them once again.

"Why do you think I went to the office of the Iron Lady because I wanted to make friends? I wanted to deal with this as quickly as possible because there is no time. Those fuckers will be gone in a day at most, and the larger our numbers, the longer it will take to cross the borders."

He said as he extended his hands, one for each of them.

They were confused, but they grabbed them, and soon images of his journey here were projected in their heads. Images of the poachers, and his sincere intentions to cause chaos. Of course, he only allowed them to see what he wanted, but they didn't know that.

This wasn't magic available to all people, as at the higher levels it could even manipulate memories, and not just show them.

The patriots were passionate believers in the values of the Kingdom, that's what made them such extremists, and they respected magic most of all. Seeing the boy share something so valuable with them, and showing them so much trust, they bowed their heads.

It was an uncommon sight, no matter where people went to see mages, Grand Mages at that bow, but here they were.

"We will gather everyone we can, and join you at the border in an hour. Mr. Clades, please wear your mask, and never share your identity with anyone else. Not all of us share the same values, and some would gladly sell you out, rather than fight for the Cause."

They had completely taken Ciaran as one of their own. These people were more of a cult than anything else.

The boy nodded and led his group to the border.

When they got to the promised location Diana had the old man scan to see if anyone was near, and then build them a makeshift house so she could yell at the boy in private.

The old man wanted to play peacemaker, but one glare later, he was kicked out.

"So, mind telling me what the plan there was Ciaran? Go and talk with the General, not just any General, their fucking Iron Lady. One of the strongest people to have ever walked this world, and you just what, when there and made friends? "

Ciaran gave her his hand and she grabbed it, eager to see what he would show her. What she saw shocked her. Not because of his conversation with Mira Avery, but because he showed her everything.

He showed her his every thought, his every feeling, and all of his plans. When she asked herself how he got like this, he showed her. He showed her how he had become full of himself and almost got Ariadne and himself killed. He showed her how much pain he endured when the damn birds mutilated them. And finally, he showed her how he got his revenge, and how good he felt when he watched the thing choke on its dead children.

He showed her how much he liked to cause pain and suffering. He showed her how little he cared about the mortals. He showed her how to hurt he actually was when he was forced to live in the Academy, and how worse it got when he learned the truth about his family.

He showed her all of that, so he could show her how much he cared about the people he loved, and that for some reason, she was on that list.

He could never put it into words, he was mature for his age sure, but he had no experience in talking about those things. He was deathly embarrassed by both his feelings and the fact he realized what they were way too late.

He knew, of course, that despite his body he was just a kid. And compared to her, he was a powerless kid to boot. And yet, he showed her how selfish he was, as he wanted to play the hero he knew he never could be. Just once, he wanted to see what it was like to be the good guy that did dumb things for the girl. To sacrifice himself so she could be safe. He understood that in that scenario, he was the damsel in distress, but he chose to ignore that.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she could say.

"I don't need your answer, or your pity Diana, as I showed you, I am fully aware I am an idiot. And as I promised you just now, no more heroics. From now on, we play the role we were always meant to play. From now on…

We are the villains. "He said with a wicked smile on his lips.