The Devil's Crown

XLV Becoming Darkness.

Elfric thought that he heard the Rebel chuckle underneath that mask with amusement. Something inside him was telling him that he came out to that terrace knowing that he was going to shoot. Well, it was an easy conclusion that anyone that has dealt with the Noblemen would understand. Their blinding power makes them unaware when they are in actual danger.

A situation where all their fame, money, and connections weren’t going to save them. The only thing they can do is behave as they are told. That man…standing behind that Noble lady, he never hesitated to pull the trigger before and there was no reason for him not to do that again. That Rebel needed to make that point clear to General Toptenov.

General Toptenov’s face appeared on the screen and Elfric saw that the death of that noble was indeed poking something inside him. Sweat was beading on his brow as he clenched his jaw.

“Tell us your demands!” The General exclaimed in the mic again. “Leave that Lady alone now!”

The mask that hid the Rebel’s face moved into what seemed like a smirk from underneath it. He tossed the woman to the side to be held by his comrade, shifting his full attention to the General now that they were going to finally have a proper conversation – to an extent.

“David Bakker, Mathews Payne,” the Rebel said. “My comrades that you now have chained in one of your dungeons. We want them, unharmed.”

The General frowned. Which meant two things, he either had no idea who these people were or he did and that request was so off the table.

‘Are these two really worth all of this?’ Orathan wondered.

“Well, I can’t say since I don’t know them either,” said Elfric. “I don’t know them. I wasn’t interested much in all…this.” He tilted his head to the side.

‘Cause, it was hard to keep up?’

“Cause it only made me realize the harsh world that I live in,” he said instantly. He did indeed turn his back towards all of this. What good would it have done when he feels helpless? He already knew that they weren’t exactly having a good life, he didn’t need anyone to shove that truth down his throat.

“I will see what I can do with my superior,” General Toptenov finally spoke.

“I hope that you return again,” said the Rebel. “You wouldn’t like it too much when if I decided to kill a hostage every hour now, would you?”

The General tsked as he turned around to leave and the Rebels did the same.

“They aren’t going to negotiate,” Elfric stated.

‘But they just said that they will,’ Orathan puzzled. Elfric fought hard not to imagine a shadow staring at him ignorantly with…a literally faceless expression. That night at the club was going to cause him trauma…he thought.

“They are playing with them, the Rebels. They think that if they stall they would get enough time to come up with a plan and force their way inside.” Said Elfric. For a moment there he thought that he could become a movie director, but aren’t movies based on real-life events? It only made sense. 

“Let’s watch and see what that General is going to cook up with his superiors,” he smirked.

~~~~

“We can not give them what they want!”

“But you have heard them, My Lord General,” said someone of the crowd that was sitting around the table that was assembled a fair distance from the Casablanca Hotel. “They might actually kill hostages for every minute we delay!”

“We can come up with a plan before then,” General Toptenov joined in. Only to get a glare from one of the men in a similar uniform.

“You mean like the plan that you came up with that has already gotten a Marquis killed?” the man stated, mocking the man in front of him. It wasn’t just him, it was everyone on that table. This wasn’t going to get swiped under the rug any time soon, that was for sure.

“General Akimov, I’m sure that you wouldn't have done any different under the same circumstances,” said Toptenov. “Taking into their demands was out of the question. What they did was a crime and we shouldn’t be surprised. They are criminals. Marquis Micheal will be mourned and we should think of a way to stop anyone from following him.”

Gossip of agreement ran around the room but that agreement seemed that it didn’t reach General Akimov. He ran a hand over his breaded face while closing his deep blue eyes that could be mistaken for black in the dim light of the tent. He was clearly dissatisfied with the other’s approval of Toptenov’s words. They were nothing but pep talk to these ears, an attempt to make his position seem better after having his feet in the mud.

“I believe that these words have some truth to them,” Akimov breathed out, leaning forward to support his weight on the table that extended along the line of Generals of the White Cross and Black Cross on the other side. “I believe that maintaining our image right now is the best course of action. We have already received quite a blow nationally…maybe even worldwide.”

The tent was still quiet as they gave the only man with a thought some time to gather his brain together.

“We keep the façade,” said Akimov. “We keep the Rebels thinking that we are negotiating. It won’t last forever but, we would stall for time to come up with a plan to go inside and get everything back under our control.”

Nods and approvals were given.

“What if…”

They all turned to look at General Toptenov.

“What if that plan doesn’t work?” said he. “We can’t go without a backup plan.”

Akimov blinked once by the time he was opening his eyes again, the attention in the space was shifted towards him. “Well, wise words, General,” said Akimov. “I’m afraid that in that case, we would have no solution but to negotiate as they asked. We need to secure the safety of the Noblemen in that Hotel, that’s our first priority. We can always deal with those rats later.”

He pushed his chair, tired of the meaningless meeting. They all knew that it would come to this. They needed a plan to get inside and fast.

…

“They really are a bunch of idiots,”

At first, Elfric thought that he was always going to be traumatized by shadows and darkness after that….unpleasant encounter with the devil down in the basement of Devil’s Den.

The screams of the people fell in the walk of that Shadow – the same shadow that was residing inside him at the moment. And also, the same shadow that got him enveloped inside the shadows himself as he foresaw the conversation between the Generals in the darkness of the tent.

“I never thought that you could do that,” Elfric confessed.

‘You never asked me,’ said Orathan ‘Darkness, hell, shadow…they are one and the same if you think about it. I…no, you…can always go back into them since you are one. You just need to be able to take in the darkness. This is as much as you can take now or else your soul will break apart. It’s a miracle that it hasn’t yet honestly.’

As Orathan came to an end to his sentence, they were both back to the rooftop with blinding sun compared to the total nothingness that they have been enveloped in. Elfric took a couple of seconds before he could open his eyes comfortably.

Elfric was silent as it was a lot to process what he has just been through. Standing there in the shadow of the corner of the tent, nothing about him felt different yet…he was invisible. It would normally be hard to miss his presence not only because of his unusual looks but also the fact that he was a commoner standing in the middle of a top-secret meeting. Nobody was batting an eye at him.

Perhaps he really was darkness now…