Project Schemer: Higeki's chapter: Requiem

Arc 4 - Epilogue: Forgiveness.

"You sleep long enough."

"Alfred..."

"I won't question about the conductor, it is hard to ignore hatred but he is the same like all of us, a puppet... What is the point in mention about that."

"What about everyone else ?"

"Not so well, in the end i think this is so tragic and i feel sad for him. Twenty years remain and a lot of hatred for what he have to do, still i can't feel relieve, at least now i know how much i hate that secret council."

"So how is Alermond ?"

"He rarely speak but i know he doesn't bear hatred."

"Where is everyone ?"

"Out there, control the damage."

This have to happen, there is nothing we can hide forever, there is no eternal secret, now, the best thing we can do is dealing with the damage. And again the moment i walk toward the door, i feel like i want to give up and hide again but i need to guide them, i need their strength so i open that door and ready to face everyone. I never like to talk in front of a crowd, that is father's job but right now, people need an explaination, and i am the only one who can provide that, i have to stand tall and let everyone know the truth. Maybe they will show sympathy afterall, Orcress only have twenty years left. I really want him to enjoy that last twenty years of his life and i want the people of the haven to unite, that is the foundation of faith, i can't run and let other do this for me.

"I know everyone is confuse, some of you are filled with anger and a lot of people feel like they are betrayed."

"We need an explaination from you Doctor, why you choose to bring him here."

"Our god is the god of harmony, the god of music, the act of leaving someone in need is to goes against his teaching. And the fact, the conductor is not different from us."

"I heard the rumor he is controlled by the council."

"We also heard from some rumor that the conductor is nothing more than a puppet."

People of the haven are not a bunch of idiotic commoners, they know what they need to know, education in the haven is the most developed elements since the council of the haven have a bunch of children who can be called as genius. But people have doubt and it is my responsibility to answer every questions and so the conference is held, people can take turn asking question and then the information can be spread in the haven. This should be able to please the crowd of confused people, and the conference are simple, i only need to speak the truth and answer everyone since the truth is enough to make people sympathy for him. This also direct the hatred toward the secret council of Altoris and the moment Orthios arrive we should be able to continue what was left off.

"Why do you trust the conductor ?"

"Then let me ask you something, before you know Orcress is the conductor, do you hate him ?"

"He was a different person from what he did, but why that change occur ?"

"For his whole life, he was nothing more than a puppet, now he is free and he only have twenty years left his life, he will rest when his time comes."

"Thank you for answer our question. Can we also ask about the god of music and harmony ?"

"So what do you want to ask ?"

"Did you see him before ?"

"... Who are you ? You can leave before you become a lamb to ease the anger of the crowd. No, Korvos, you know what to do."

Traitor exist and they spread malicous words, but when they are caught, all of them act the same, denial and prideful, this is what we expected, a traitor in the haven is always expected. In the end, they can't hide themselves because the people of the Haven already know how the god of music and harmony look like. The conversation is simply the distraction because everyone know this is a traitor, we just sprung a nest and wait. They always put up resistance but in the end, they can't break our trust, the crowd will have the traitor and they can unleash their anger on the miserable man. I have no regret, i am a priest, a follower, i am his child, i must defend more than life and more than myself, i must keep people's faith safe because father is the only beacon of hope. But at least the best we can do right now is giving everyone an explaination for our action, the children doesn't require that much explaination, they always like Orcress and they are those who protect him from people. They do have some question but most of them are asking why the attack hate Orcress so much, to them Orcress is a part of their family, a big brother who always does his best to make them happy.

"At least everyone is calm now."

"We still have to make an public announcement, a speech and of course we must prepare to explain everything to everyone."

"This will be a busy week right ?"

"Well, we will share that fate, just let the children protect Orcress until everything is settled."

"I never like the idea of using children as a shield."

"We don't like that either but this is our only choice to keep everyone from tearing themselves apart."

"I will have to act now, Korvos, Da'Mok and elders, i need everyone in the square right now."

"Alright doctor."

"And thank you everyone, for believe me and every decision i made."

"You are remain as our true leader, we will always trust your decision."

I won't let anyone sacrifice anything, we lost so much in the first war and now, no one have to sacrifice anything, that is the world i want, people sacrificed far too much, they are tired and now, they deserve to rest in a peaceful world. The crowd doesn't want something souless, something scripted, the speech must move them, it needs to inspire them, to inspire everyone in the haven to stand up and fight again.

"Everyone, my utmost apology for hiding an great secret, but everyone standing right here know how much i love our home. But i have my own excuse to hide this from everyone like i have an excuse to save Orcress, i now, i know my place, i am the beacon of faith for everyone here, so i will share with everyone here in the haven, the excuse for my action. I am simply not an orphan, i am created by god of music and harmony himself, and honored to bear his name - Higeki."

And then people know the reason why i saved Orcress, the reason why i must keep this as a secret, all i wanted is peace and harmony for the haven. Seeking understanding is hard but people of the haven understand everything, the heaven on the ground, during the speech, Epsilon's father and a few members of Jbys organization return from their scouting duty. He quickly apologies for the interuption but he also found a scout from the city, so they are preparing to attack the haven even they know that will break the peace treaty. Right now, every pieces is falling in its place, everyone in the haven know the meaning of this, but we want something else, we want them to attack first and then counter. We also need to wait for Orthios's reinforcement and right now, the best action is to wait but not like last time, we also need to scout around the haven to prevent any information leak.

"Doctor, we found something in the scout..."

"Becareful."

The chip found in the scout explode but Kal quickly jump in front of the Jbys's member and shield all of them, Orcress also use his power to create a barrier to protect the people near the blast. The shockwave make me daze and i can't hear anything, people are panicking and i am the only one who can stop this but suddenly, i can hear everything again and the first thing i hear is the music, one of the man in the middle of the crowd is sitting on the ground, in front of him is the same instrument father used, the sound is soothing and i feel like everything will be alright. Everyone around him stop panicking and look at him, they stay calm just to listen to him. It seem like father gathered enough faith to let him descend on anyone. But i must be quick and go to check on Kal, Orcress is checking everyone around him to see any injuries or cut cause by the explosion.

Different from everyone, Kal took severe damage, he lost one eye along with some cuts and burn spots. Thank you Kal for sacrifice yourself to save everyone, my medical team and everyone in council will do our best to get you on your feet again. The medical team is quick and they check everything spot on him, except for the burn spot on clothing, there is no burn spot on his skin, some cut but that can be treated. The eye is concerning because the prosthetic eye can cause influence on his ability to let father descend but helping him is what we need to do right now.

"Thank you Orcress for checking on everyone and to you too my child and everyone in this haven for your effort, i can return to this realm upon descend."

"Father."

"Listen to me, the people of the haven, time to stand up once last time to liberate ourselves. The peace we have are nothing more but a fragile mirage, we need to stand up for ourselves. But this time, i will stand by your side."

In the end, people are a little less tense about Orcress, they can't trust him completely but they still welcome him like when he was Orcress. Father descend is unexpected but that help everyone stay calm and the city won't attack tonight because of him so we can have more time to expect them. But now, the important matter is fixing up Kal, he may escaped the grasp of death but there is a lot of operation before he can walk and pray again.