The Devil's Crown

XLVII Something We Don’t Know.

“I have it, West. I have the equipment.”

If West was relieved to hear those words, he did a good job to hide them. Allen was still washed up in relief as he came up with this in the first place. He was never grateful for anything that he has done as much as bringing along everything that he has in store.

Despite Julian’s nagging about how heavy the box was, he still insisted that he brings along everything. “Being outside in a place that we don’t know,” said Allen while packing that night. “You will be thankful for the familiarity of the things that you do know.”

Allen guessed that that made the trick since he never heard Julian's complaint after that. Though he would wish to see his face as he figures what his stubbornness has gained them. West, however…didn’t give much of a reaction. Well, what was he expecting? This was West he was talking about, there was no knowing what this man was really thinking inside that head. Not that Allen was easy to understand himself. Maybe that was the charm between them…between them all.

That feeling of standing out from the crowd in the slums. Oh, you can only imagine what it meant to stand out from the crowd in the slums of London. No one truly understood why they stand out, cast out by the other commoners. Allen only recently came to an answer to the question of why? Why did his friends at school grow distant? Why did his teachers try to beat some sense into him? By sense, they meant bowing his head to the greater power. Give in to the system that labels them as rats of the slum, this was their life, there was no getting away from it.

The cast-outs of their society were the ones that are born with a wide mind. Observing the discrimination that labeled them from the moment that they opened their eyes in this world. It was unmeant, a total instinct that humans are born with. The longing for a better life, the understanding of why they are forever to be slaves to the system placed by nothing but humans. Humans, the same flesh and blood as them.

Who were they to decide the fate of their lives and the lives of their off-springs?

It all started with that question.

This question brought them together. The Rebels. The outcasts of the society of the lowest level in Greater London. They took a stand together to try and show the world that they are not going to take it in, that their lives meant nothing if they can’t even have control over it.

“Allen!”

He snapped out of the daze to look at West who was looking at him with concern.

“When can you set it in place?” West asked again taking a better look at Allen who was finally sparing him some attention. “The equipment, Allen. When can it be put in place?!”

“O-Oh, I will get to it right away,” Allen stuttered as he forced his mind into the present moment.

West nodded once. It was enough a gesture for Allen to know that his conversation was over and headed towards the door after gathering his own stuff and laptop in hand.

“Allen…”

He turned to look over his shoulder with one hand over the handle, the other was balancing the laptop on its palm. For a moment there, he thought that the walls that panned West’s expression came down. It was ever so slightly that he had to question his mind. West cared…he cared greatly for all of them.

“This better work,” West spoke weakly as his eyes looked right into Allen’s soul.

Allen gulped down feeling the stare. All he could do was nod reassuringly. However, there was only so much that he is capable of reassuring him off. He shuddered. Doubt. There was no place for that in his mind nor heart. Not now.

Allen nodded and left.

~~~~

‘They have got plans,’ Orathan pointed out as he stared out at West sitting down alone. ‘The Cross something…the tensioned men from before. They had no plan.’

“But they are ought to come up with one soon,” Elfric replied, his eyes glued to West. “They better not be smarter than that Allen boy or else they are doomed.”

Elfric was already getting used to staying in the shadow but he has got to admit that it was tiring. As if his body is fevered, with every passing second he felt his head lighten up and his mind in a haze. Was that what Orathan meant by losing your soul if you aren’t capable of handling the darkness? He thought.

He did think too high of his body. His mind might have changed but it took more than just a change of mind to toughen up a body made out of flesh and bones. “Let’s leave,” Elfric stated weakly.

‘Well, I think this is enough exploring your abilities for now,’ Orathan said. By the end of the phrase, they were already back on the rooftops.

Elfric has got to say that being underneath the sunlight felt more reassuring. He could see clearly what’s in front of him, his enemies were within his eyesight rather than hiding in the shadows. There was no knowing in the realm of darkness if someone was watching you. There could always be a pair of eyes glued to your back.

The thought caused his shoulder to shudder for a moment.

“Wait,” Elfric stopped almost as if he was meant to turn to look at Orathan if he was indeed there. “You didn’t actually just do that…in order to test if I was able to handle it, did you?” he frowned.

Elfric was met with silence that only strengthened his point. He scoffed. He has trusted this demon a little too much, he thought. How in the world did he come to trust the devil? Beats him. He had no idea how. All he has seen from Orathan was a pile of unexplained things. Starting from why he choose him to be his vessel, to the fact that he can use his powers as if they were his own.

If did indeed want to change the world using this, he needed to start by understanding what he is…what he has become.

‘When are you going to do something more than waste your energy in spectating?’ Orathan changed the subject.

Elfric refrained from pointing out that it was his fault that he was losing energy rather quickly. Instead, he looked beneath his feet at the suited-up men in black gathering around the tent that Elfric just visited.

A smirk curled on the corner of his lips as he realized that the fun must be beginning. If it took them less than 3o minutes to come up with a plan then it only meant one thing…

“They know something that the world doesn’t know,”