Chapter 9- Episode 27-...the real virus...

ejaredallen (60)in #story • 5 years ago

The real virus...

Hercule sat himself down upon a ledge at the end of the wall, which ran into the side of the mountain that the city was built on. His feet hung over the precipice, hundreds of feet fell off before him. Here, balancing between certain death and the sky, Hercule felt like his soul could breathe and his mind was set free.

But the longer he sat here in reverie, the stranger his thoughts became. He saw what he thought were visions begin to dance in his head; visions of the past; of his young friends in a peaceful time. Hercule loved his times when he could escape and get away from all living things. But lately these visions had grown increasingly more lucid and more frequent. He’d told Ketari about them, and the wizened man suggested he inform his team of ‘healers’, as Ketari called them. Hercule didn’t feel like giving the hacks another reason to run tests on him, so he kept this to himself.

He saw Chora, far away in the mountains and the forests, running for her life. Something was chasing her but the vision never saw that part. Chora was a woman, she’d become a ranger of some kind and gained rank among the ranger sects, but the Imperials were still looking for her. Maybe they were the ones chasing her? Hercule didn’t know. That part worried him: knowing something was wrong that He needed to be there to fix, but feeling helpless to do anything.

Hercule saw visions of the others in similar situations. Everyone was running for their lives; everyone except Kareve. Hercule didn’t see any vision of Kareve. It was as if he had passed on the other side of a dark shroud. All of his movements were obscured, like shadows in the night. There was something off about these visions. Either they were warnings of something serious happening to his friends, or simply more overwhelming evidence that something was seriously wrong with his mind. Hercule, when he was cognizant of himself and his state was terrified that the damage done to his mind may be permanent. The stress over that possibility was killing him slowly as he sat squalid, trapped inside purpose without direction. What was the next step here?

Gazing down at the fall, he contemplated what would happen to everyone if he just jumped, ended it here. The world would be rid of one more monster and he could do no more damage. The thought grew in his mind, seeming better and better the more he considered it. He could save them all by saving them from himself. Everything he touched turned to rubble. The world was better off without him.

“Hercule.” Ketari’s familiar voice called to him from the base of the wall, some 10 feet below. “What are you doing?” The resolute normality in the voice stilled Hercule’s anxious spirit for a moment.

He swallowed, saying nothing, but bending over a little to look farther down the smoke covered mountainside and a fall no man could survive.

“Hercule, that may look like freedom, but it is a prison. Killing yourself will only help the Imperials win.” This gave Hercule pause and he leaned back ever so slightly. Ketari continued to talk him down. “If they wanted you dead, they could’ve killed you in Eruval. But there is a greater part you play in the grand scheme of things, one that makes you incredibly more valuable to the Uprising alive.”

Hercule glanced back over the edge. He was tired of being the puppet of powers and a clean up man for the loose ends of the Uprising and the Imperials. Death was the only out.

“Hercule, don’t! Don’t do this.” Ketari’s voice took a sharp turn, it was clear he had more than a passion interest in Hercule’s importance to the cause. “You cannot help your friends by ending your life. I assure you that if you are dead there is nothing to prevent the Imperials from killing the other four.” Ketari paused to breathe heavily, he hadn’t realized it, but he had been shouting over the wind and across the distance. “You are what they want, but if they can’t have you, they’ll destroy everything you love.”

That was it. Hercule snapped and jumped up on the narrow wall ledge, one misstep from certain death.

“Why do you keep saying that? Why does everyone keep saying that! What is so special about me?” Hercule yelled out into the void before him.

“Hercule, listen to me. Now, come down and we’ll talk-”

“No!” Hercule spun around to look down at Ketari, getting dangerously close to the edge of the wall. Ketari feared he’d slip or loose his balance. “I want answers! I’m done with talking in circles, being a pawn for both sides of the war: their kill dog.” Hercule scoffed at himself. What a pathetic life he lived. “I’m done being played by every power who claims to have MY best interest at heart, then discards me to cover their crimes!”

“Hercule, I never played you.” Ketari held nothing but sorrow in his heart for what the young boy had become. He was so helpless yet full of confidence, so feeble, and yet strong in spirit. Now look at him: broken, senseless, a shell of a man. This was war, not just for Kodaia, but for Hercule, for the minds of the common folk. This was what Weeping Blood could do to a man… though the virus didn’t live in Hercule, something far worse did.

“I won’t let you manipulate me any more!” Hercule screamed, drawing the attention of others on the citadel grounds. “I will save my friends, and the Imperials will pay, but my way, not yours!” Hercule’s veins began to stream with lava red blood, his system seemed to glow through his skin as the element he held within his body took over.

“Hercule stop! Calm yourself. You don’t know what you’re doing.” Ketari’s voice grew louder as he yelled over a rushing wind noise as the atmosphere around Hercule began to grow stormy and dark. Clouds rolled overhead, obscuring the sun and mighty gales swept in from the wild east. Ketari held a hand over his face and began to back away.

“I will make the ground run red with rivers of Imperial blood. Kodaia shall weep in tears of joy and the people will be avenged.” Hercule’s voice was that of a beast, low and guttural as he barked words he didn’t think. The virus within him, the antidote to Weeping Blood took over. It and Hercule’s feet left the wall as his body rose into the air. How was this possible? The earth fell out from beneath his feet and his body began to glow red from within. “Blood will weep in the land!” Hercule cried out with the last of his energy and then the light went out.

Hercule’s spirit faded and his body fell to the ground in a heap. Ketari raced to the form of the man and lifted his face to check for a pulse. He was alive. But what was he capable of? What kind of monster had he made, had they all made? Only James Savoor truly knew what the antidote was capable of, and now Ketari knew why the Imperials wanted Hercule so badly.

The monsters that could be made from something like what dwelt inside Hercule’s bloodstream… it was unthinkable! The Uprising could not allow Hercule to fall into enemy hands, but could they contain him if they tried?

Thanks for reading episode 27!

There's three days left in this challenge and about 6k words still left to write. It's been fun y'all but it ain't over 'til it's over. I've got some tricks up my hoodie sleeves before it's all said and done:) Upvote, share, comment, all that jazz! You're epic!!