Chapter 6 - Epiphanies and Mutinies

"What do you mean you're not supposed to be here?" Izzy asked.

"I'm supposed to be at Laronda's school for Re-living and Re-building." Dante replied. It was all hitting him now, how did he not notice his dad picked the wrong pamphlet?

"That makes no sense, you attended the open day, completed the entrance exam and got the uniform mailed to you. How could all that be an accident?"

"I didn't do any of that."

"What?"

"My mum and dad just payed for an entry spot. I thought this was some other school but apparently not. Unless it's normal for schools in Donegal to have water-bender mermen, demons, and animal whisperers."

Izzy paused the conversation to think for a minute. She fell on her back again, eyes still on Dante.

"Dante, are you an organic?"

"What the hell is an organic?"

"Oh my god you ARE an organic! This explains everything!"

"Explains what?"

"Why you're the ONLY person that seems to be weirded out by everyone's abilities. You're not entities like us."

"Entities??" Dante pressed his hand against his forehead as he was suddenly getting light-headed. There was just so much to take in. Wrong school? Entities? Organics?? All because he stole a pack of sanitary pads???

"I need to lie down." As he did, Izzy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I promise I won't tell anyone. Just try not to freak out. Everyone here suspects nothing already, okay?"

"I don't know what I'm gonna do..." Dante was beginning to drift off, his mind was still on the craziness of everything from this morning. His body was demanding rest though, and soon he was on his side dozing off. Izzy kept her hand on his back, equally as exhausted from their hectic morning. The last thing Dante heard from the redhead was words of encouragement. "I'm here for you."

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It was the afternoon when Dante and Izzy woke up. The glare of the sun blinded the pair as they crawled out of the tent. Dante wouldn't say he slept like a baby. He actually had a nightmare about his parent's locking him in his house when they found out what school he was actually attending. In retrospect it didn't make sense why his father was angry since he was the bafoon that enrolled him here. But the child wasn't in the mood to analyze his dream, he just wanted an actual bed anywhere.

Dante and Izzy were the last to come out of their tents as the other kids were chatting in low voices about where to go and what to do next. When Kimmy and Bernie spotted the pair, Kimmy was in no rush to jeer at their bedheads and tardiness. "You two sure took your sweet time in there."

Bernie tugged at Izzy's messed up hair. "Get good sleep, frizrilla?"

"Okay, fine but at least I'm not HER." The four turned to look a girl chatting with Lucky. Her hair was just as bad as Izzy's. Clean but clearly never combed. The girl didn't seem to care. She just chatted like this hairstyle was all the range. Dante rolled his eyes at Kimmy and Bernie's teasing. He didn't care how his hair looked, he didn't HAVE ANY. Dante was proud of his buzzcut, but with how badly he slept, he wouldn't be surprised if it was lopsided or something.

Dice practically floated out of his tent, in a better mood than a few hours ago. "I just a spectacular dream that Tootie and I were racing around a cheese island!"

When Claire heard that, she smiled and whispered to Pablo beside her. "That was me."

"So, my loyal subjects," John crawled out of the same tent Dice did. "I purpose we start the afternoon with a praising ritual."

If looks could kill, John would have about twenty-two holes in his head by now. Kimmy voiced her distaste first. "Why would we listen to anything YOU say after what happened just a few hours ago?!"

John turned to her nonchalantly and replied, "Because I am your Lord Fernsby. DUH! Now praising rituals are rather simple, you just honker down on all fours like this-" The lord bent down on his knees with his hands pressed on the grass. "Look up-" he looked up toward the sky. "And repeat this chat: Oh Lord Frensby wise and great! Oh Lord Fernsby who creates, Oh Lord Fernsby we adore, Oh Lord Fernsby forever more!!"

The entire class watched in horror and confusion as John repeated the hym three more times. Eventually Dante had enough, he was scared, sad, still damp from falling in the river and mostly angry. Now he had the perfect target to take it all out on. Without hesitation, he picked up John's 'crown' and tossed it far from their campsite. John now had the murder look. "How DARE you disrespect your Lord like that! I might just kill you for that!"

"Honestly, at this point, please do!" Dante yelled right in John's face. "Much better than you bossing us around like you know what you're doing, but you DON'T! You have no idea what's going on, you just wanted an excuse to kill Dice's rat and wear a head on your head!"

"Okay, that was fun. But I started a fire to keep us warm."

Dante gestured behind John to the debris and burnt, fallen trees. The ash seemed to stretched on for miles. "THAT kind of fire could've KILLED us!"

"...Well you already said you wished you were dead so-"

Dante left hooked John without a second thought. It all happened so fast, one second he was thinking I really wanna punch this guy. Next John was on the ground holding his nose. That doesn't mean Dante stopped his rebelling. He turned to the crowd, they were all flabbergasted. "People, do you want THIS GUY to be you're 'Lord?' For pete's sake he wore a rotting head for almost SIX HOURS."

The other kids began realizing how messed up this situation was, and how their supposed 'Lord' was responsible for this. John was livid, his face showed it. If his flaming red eyes weren't creepy before, now they were glowing like a lightbulb. Dante backed away immediately into Bernie. Crap, shouldn't have punched a..what did he say...'raaksha?'

"That was a bold move Dante Fairheart." John's voice no longer sounded like him. Well, it was him, and a deeper voice with a raspier voice all speaking out of the same mouth. Like he layered and distorted his voice to sound like a dozen people. A boy laughed from the back, "You're surname's FAIRHEART?"

"How did you know that?" Dante was full-blown terrified now. John didn't answer his question, he just muttered those bone chilling words again, "That was a bold move Dante Fairheart." He began walking toward Dante, each step his eyes glowed brighter and brighter. Dante grabbed Bernie's hand out of fear. He knew it was embarrassing, but this guy didn't look like he would discriminate between bludgeoning a rat and a human. Bernie flashed red for a minute before turning away.

John was just reaching his hand out when he was struck in the forehead with a pebble. Everyone turned to its source. A boy with glasses and brown hair, holding a rat's tail. "This. Is for Tootie."

One rock from Dice, followed by another from Kimmy, and a third from Claire, all hitting John. The former king scrambled to his feet while still being stoned. He said in his normal voice, "You maniacs! I created all of you!" The kids ignored his cries and continued their mutiny. This raaksha got them into this mess and now it's time he paid!

John sprinted across the burned trees of his mistakes as his former subjects gave chase, all armed with rocks and tossing them at him without question. Were they actually out to hurt John? Yes, but not BADLY, just enough so y'know...he cries or something. No bleeding. We promise.

As the children dashed for their victim, the charred grass and fallen trees became more of a blur as John became the only thing in their focus. Kimmy threw a rather bigger pebble at the demon. Unfortunately, John was swift as he jumped over the ditch were the river was and continued the race. Only half the children shooting behind him managed to pull off such parkour, with Lucky, Bernie, Pablo and Izzy slipping into the ditch and abandoned in the dust. Nobody even looked back for a second.

John eventually saw something familiar in the distance, a burned bus crash. He was almost out of the woods! And not at a more convenient time, it seemed at this point his formerly-loyal subjects were gonna light torches and make this a full-blown Lord of the Flies sequel. As he got closer he noticed people around the bus, in some sort of emergency uniform. Maybe he could get to them and play the victim before they figure what happened. He used his last bit of strength to jump over a scorched tree trunk and fell in front of the uniformed strangers. Right away they bent down to his assistance. "What's wrong pet, you're bloody everywhere." One lady said.

"Help...me." John groaned. Soon his attackers came barreling out of the forest with a shrill war-cry. Their screams of vengeance soon died down to murmurs as they approached the crash site.

So let's set the scene, a bunch of children with rocks chasing a string-bean boy that has blood dripping from his nose, smeared over his face and dried blood in his hair. He looked dishevelled and exhausted, they all were, but they weren't the ones being chased with rocks.

Yep, not really a good look for the supposed tortured subjects.

All remaining five kids dropped the stones in unison as if they weren't out for bruises and tears. The lady holding John turned back. "Brian, we found the kids!"

Everybody turned to see a Korean man chatting with an officer. He spun around and had a scowl on his face that read "I am not in the mood today." He marched over and inspected the remaining kids with his chestnut eyes and said: "What have you dipsticks done?"