Grace for The Fallen

Truth

Ariston Nox

    Ariston… he’s the different one. He’s special.

   Daetheia’s voice echoed in my head as we walked into the interior of the pavilion. She doesn’t hate me. I was ashamed that I had doubted her, but the shame was trumped by relief. He’s special.

   “Wipe that ridiculous grin off your face, Nox,” Theron hissed as he walked past. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

   “And there goes my good mood,” I muttered. At least Lydia had made him start calling me by my name. Even if it was my surname, which I wasn’t too fond of because it reminded me of my parents, it was better than ‘human’.

   Theron moved off to sit just left to Lefal, and I just stood awkwardly in the corner of the pavilion. I didn’t really know what to do.

   “Wipe that confused look off your face, Nox.” I grinned and turned around.

   “That was a truly terrible impression.” Daetheia smirked.

   “Oh, I know,” she replied. She moved smoothly and stood next to me.

   “You’re not normally that graceful,” I joked, “What happened? And how did you even come so close without me noticing?” It may have sounded harsh, but it was true. Tay was normally one of the clumsiest people I knew.

   “Gift,” she mumbled, and I made a small ‘oh’ in understanding. She winced and I rubbed her back comfortingly.

   “That bad?” I asked. She shrugged.

   “Getting the gifts was really painful, but I actually enjoyed my time there. It was really beautiful, and the Skrul was… surprisingly good company. Better than your sorry self, anyways,” she nudged me teasingly and I gasped dramatically. She giggled softly. I smiled, but something was bothering me.

   “You’re not telling me something,” I whispered. Her smile turned tense before it dropped altogether. Her shoulders sagged.

   “You know me too well. It’s nothing, it’s just…” She was interrupted by Lefal calling the meeting to order. “You’ll find out soon enough,” she whispered in my ear, and I nodded. By the tone of her voice, I could tell that she really didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push. I turned to the meeting.

   “… appreciate you all coming on such short notice,” Lefal was saying, “We are here to discuss a matter of great importance.” She seemed to draw herself taller, and even smiled, “The Elf of the prophecy has been found.”

   A raucous cheer erupted after her statement as every Elf in the room raised their voices in celebration. Well, almost every Elf. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Theron whip his head towards Daetheia, looking at her in disbelief and anger. But I was not paying attention to Theron. I was staring at Daetheia, my mouth opening and closing as words tried to form but didn’t make it past my lips. 

   “I’m sorry,” she was looking at the ground, “I wanted to tell you, I just…” her voice trailed off as she seemed to struggle to find the right words. I put my hand under her chin and gently lifted her head. Blue eyes met golden, and I smiled softly.

   “It’s ok, Tay,” I whispered, “I understand. It’s ok.” She smiled gratefully and hugged me tightly.

   “You’re the best,” she mumbled. I smirked but before I could make a cocky remark, Lefal began to speak again.

  “The Elf in question went to the Skrul and came back with 12 gifts. The Elf of the prophecy is Daetheia Grace.” This was met with little gasps at the number of gifts, and creaking chairs as everybody turned to look who Lefal was gesturing to. I could almost feel their disgust as they beheld their Elf of the prophecy in the arms of a human. I know Daetheia felt it as well, because she tensed. As I was about to step back, however, she didn’t let me. She held me tighter and looked each of the Elves straight in the eye, and I fought the urge to laugh as they all quickly turned back around in their seats. I had been on the receiving end of one of Tay’s glares, and it was not a place that I wanted to be again.

   Daetheia squeezed my hand and stepped away, walking with her chin high to where Lefal was waiting for her with an amused little smile on her face. Daetheia came to a stop beside Lefal and gave her a respectful nod, and I felt pride for her swell inside of me. She had always been so shy, the only time she stood up for herself being when she was standing up for me. But now she looked like she was settled into her skin, and I only felt a twinge of regret that that skin wasn’t human.

   I had always believed that Elves weren’t as bad as people said, and what I had seen in The Valley had only confirmed that. The fact that my best friend was now one of them hardly bothered me at all. The only thing that I wasn’t happy with was the fact that she had a new life now. A new family. And I was worried that that family didn’t include me.

   “Daetheia Grace. By the request of the Skrul, the council will now tell you the story of The Fall. The day the trust of the Elves was broken and the treachery of the humans proved. I will start. Anyone from the council may provide input where they see fit.”

   But as soon as she began talking, I knew that she would not be interrupted. Her voice changed, becoming deeper and menacing. Her words painted pictures in your mind so that for a minute you almost thought that you were there on that fateful day, the day of The Fall…

   “Over 100 years ago, humans and Elves lived in peace. The Elves used their gifts to help the humans and in return, the humans provided them with safety and a place in their society. Everything was good. Our Elf Leader guided us justly and fairly. But the leader of the long-lost city of Verchon became jealous and paranoid. He saw the Elves’ power and wanted it for himself. But he was afraid of us. So he came up with a plan to get rid of the Elves and make himself the most powerful person in the world at the same time.

   ‘He planned a visit to the Elf Leader and told him that he had something important to tell him. To tell all the world leaders. So, in the true spirit of Elf hospitality, the Elf Leader threw a party and invited all the world leaders and their families to attend. He hosted the party in his own home. He provided his own Elflings’ play-area for the human children and other Elflings. He never once suspected that the leader of Verchon had something else planned. Something terrible. That was his first mistake. We once blindly trusted the humans, and look where it got us.”

   I felt a pang of searing guilt and shame inside of me. At that moment, I envied Daetheia more than I had ever done. I wish I wasn’t a human. I was pulled out of my guilt when Lefal continued.

   “No one knows what he told the leaders that day. Maybe he was trying to convince the other humans that the Elves needed to be eliminated, and they didn’t listen. But, whatever he said, he got mad. When he, in his anger, revealed that he had planted a bomb on his own child, the other leaders tried to stop him from setting it off. But he was ready for that. The other leaders, in good faith, hadn’t brought any weapons or guards into the room with them. But Verchon’s leader had. The Elves managed to kill most of the guards, but they were too heavily outnumbered. One by one they fell, until only the Elf Leader was left.

   ‘Verchon’s leader forced him to his knees and made him watch while he detonated the bomb, killing all the children and the Elflings in a single blast. Then the leader of Verchon brutally severed the Elf Leader’s head from his body, and stumbled out of the house as if in a daze to tell the world the ‘truth’ about the Elves.” Her gaze flitted between Daetheia and me, her face stony.

   “And I think you know the rest,” she sighed, “Verchon’s leader became the first Elf-killer, and from his treachery stemmed a whole new hell for the Elves. He knew this, and decided to christen our planet. ‘Kolasi’, he called it. Hell. And that is indeed what it became. Hell for the Elves, and if not hell for the humans then a manufactured heaven. It is hard to tell which is worse.”

   She became silent, and with that silence came a new sense of disgust towards my own species. We boasted about being superior, being enlightened, while in reality we were worse than animals. Killing on nothing more than a feeling. Exterminating another species on the planet simply because they held power that we would never understand. The thought almost made me sick. I looked up to see Lefal looking at me. I could barely meet her eyes. She seemed to sense the reason for my hesitance, and her eyes softened. She gave me a small nod and a smile.

   I don’t blame you, she seemed to say. The tension went out of my shoulders and I gave her a nod of thanks. It didn’t get rid of the shame, but at least I knew that I wasn’t blamed for what had happened all those years ago. Just then, I caught sight of Theron glaring at me and sighed.

   Never mind.  

-Rebecca Underwood