*Flashback begins*
*On a cloudy night with rain and thunder pouring down, A young Zelina was comforting a shaking deer demihuman who was female and on the verge of tears. A young Andrade was standing by Jade in a room and looking over at a young Silas with a shocked expression. Silas was standing over the dead body of a middle-age human who was male and in his hand was a gun*
(Andrade): Silas. . .what have you done?
(Silas): What I had to do. I got here sooner than you guys to meet with Dominic to retrieve the document on Equal Rights for Demihumans. As I made my way back to his office I heard shouts of struggle so I went back to check. I saw her being forced down on the desk about to get raped. I had to save her. Before I knew I pulled out my gun and fired at the man. I didn’t know it was Dominic, I swear.
*Sirens could be heard outside of the building*
(Andrade): Oh no. Once they see this everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve will be ruined.
*Andrade was beside himself. He and the others had been working for years to present their document before the major kingdoms. Most of them were on board with the proposal and after tomorrow demihumans would finally start to receive better treatment in the kingdoms and settlements. But after this stunt from one of their own who knows what will happen*
(Jade): No. It’s not ruined.
*Jade walks over and grabs the gun from Silas*
(Jade): Because the person who killed Dominic was just a stray demihuman who was about to get raped. Me.
*Everybody was shocked at what they just heard*
(Silas): No. No, not you, Jade. We need you.
(Jade): No you don’t. We’re so close to accomplishing everything we wanted to have. We can’t let this one mistake stop us. If one of you guys goes down then the movement is over. They haven’t met me, so they don’t know that I’m associated with you guys. Now get out of here! I’m leaving the rest in your hands.
*Andrade grabs Silas and pulls him out of the room while Zelina helps the deer demihuman out as well. The four managed to avoid being seen as they escaped the building. Back in the building knights entered the room and saw Jade standing over the body of Dominic with the gun in her hands*
(Knight #1): Hands in the air!
*Jade slowly turned around with her hands in the air. The second knight grabbed the gun and handcuffed her while the third went to inspect the dead body. Jade was soon brought in for questioning where she told them that Dominic attempted to rape her and she fought back in self-defense which resulted in his death. The knight questioning her knew she was hiding details and that there was more to the story. Unfortunately, without any other witnesses and the cameras turned off during the time of the incident there wasn’t much the knight could investigate for evidence to disprove her testimony. On top of that their captain was under direct orders from his superiors to wrap this up as quickly and quietly as possible. Jade was sentenced to prison for twenty years*
*Flashback ends*
***
*In an undisclosed room, Jade was slowly starting to open her eyes as she came to. Once she opened her eyes, she found herself still in her dress and both hands handcuffed to the bed overhead. The room didn’t have much to offer. No windows or fancy decorations. Just plain white walls, one nightstand with a lamp, a bed, a restroom off to the side, and a fan hanging from the ceiling. Jade shuffled a little to sit herself up to gain a better look at her surroundings*
(Jade) *Grumbles* Can’t believe I got gassed. Now where the hell am I? No windows and I can’t hear any noise from outside which means I must be underground.
*The door opened and in came Silas now wearing a skintight bodysuit that was black and featured the Blood Moon logo on the back in red*
(Silas): Ahh~, glad to see you’re awake. I was beginning to think the dosage was too much for you.
(Jade): I can’t believe you gassed me.
*Jade looked at Silas with a look of disapproval which actually made him panic a little*
(Silas): No. I’m sorry, believe me. Gassing you was the last thing I wanted to do, but you gave me no other options. This was the best course of action to stop us from hurting each other.
(Jade): I suppose you’re right. I was going to hurt you, but I’m calm now. Why don’t you take these handcuffs off so I can give you a taste of the sweetest honey?
*Jade batted her eyes at Silas and licked her lips which made him blush. It was a tempting offer. He hadn’t been with a woman since Jade and that was years ago. He could still remember the taste of her lips. The subtle moans she made in arousal and her tail swaying back in forth to convey her excitement. It would be so great to relieve all the stress he had pent up over the years with the woman he loved, but he knew better. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jade where his face was inches away from hers. It seemed like Jade’s seduction worked and he was going in for a kiss*
(Silas): You almost had me.
*Silas got up*
(Jade): Really? That had no effect on you?
(Silas): Trust me. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than stripping you out of that dress and going down on you. But. . .as much as it pains me there is still work to be done. Like finding Andrade and Zelina.
(Jade): So they escaped?
(Silas): Thanks to your friends. They’ve caused quite the racket throughout the city, but it’s only a matter of time before we find and capture them.
(Jade): You won’t catch these guys, Silas. It’s only a matter of time before they find me.
(Silas): Don’t be so sure. I’ve taken great measures to ensure nobody finds the hideout of Blood Moon and only top members I deem worthy know the location. Still, I must admit, I didn’t expect them to last this long in the city. I didn’t even expect to see you.
(Jade): And I never expected you to believe in fairytales for children.
*Silas gave a puzzled look at Jade*
(Jade): I know what you’re trying to do with the blade, Silas. The Stampede doesn’t exist. I’ve searched the whole city and area from top to bottom for years. Didn’t find a trace of it at all.
(Silas): And I’m here to say you missed one spot. It took a lot of extensive research but I managed to find the map that was hidden all these years. Your father truly was a clever man. Hiding the map on your blade and encoding it so that no one would ever think to look there. To think that all this time the map to The Stampede was so close all these years and that The Stampede was under our feet this whole time.
*Jade took a moment to think*
(Jade): The lake.
(Silas): That’s right. Buried in the deepest parts of that lake lies the temple where The Stampede resides. With the power of The Stampede I shall crush all humans all over Rein.
(Jade): All over Rein?
(Silas): Yes. I’m going to end the conflict between humans and demihumans once and for all.
(Jade): And your answer is mass genocide?
(Silas): It’s the only way to end the conflict. You’ve lived for years you’ve seen the conflict between humans and demihumans. It’s a never-ending fight. No matter what we do humans will never fully accept us. There’s only one way to end it, one side has to be completely eliminated and I’m choosing us over them. Just like I should have done before on that fateful night. I shouldn’t have left you there alone. I should have stayed with you. After you were sentenced to prison I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror because of how pathetic I was. . .let alone come visit you.
(Jade): You couldn’t. If they found out you were connected to me it would have undone everything.
(Silas): You think I didn’t know that? So I had to get creative. I had one of our guys on the inside look for you, but she said you had escaped months ago. Why didn’t you come see us?
(Jade): I had to go into hiding and keep my distance from you guys. I know things got hard for you and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. I know that if I was things would have been different with me by your side.
*Silas begins to laugh*
(Silas): Wow. I don’t know what clouds your sense of judgment more. Your guilt or your sense of morality. Jade, I forgive you for not coming to see us. I understand fully why you had to keep your distance. But why, why in the name of the Goddess Midori, are humans still alive? Ignoring all the years of suffering they’ve put our people through. Blindly and stupidly discriminating against us for no reason. The families they’ve torn apart. The friends they’ve sent to the hospital. The children and women they’ve traumatized. When you escaped I thought this was it, we’re finally going to stop playing nice and get the results by whatever means necessary. When I took over Blood Moon I saw this as a sign and got the troops ready. I was preparing an army for you to lead on the humans and send these evil creatures who are worse than Eclipse to the deepest pits of Hell, all in your name.
(Jade): *Takes a deep breath* You really don’t understand, Silas. I don’t think you’ve ever understood what me and the others were trying to do.
(Silas): What? Take the high ground and prove you’re better than them? Because crossing that line would be too hard and your moral code won’t allow it.
(Jade): No! Are you kidding me? It would be so easy to cross that line. Every time I see one of our people locked in a cage, sold to slavery, or beaten for no reason my blood boils. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t think about subjecting humans to every horrendous act they’ve done to us and then ending them. But if I do that, if I allow myself to give into those dark emotions and start slaughtering every human indiscriminately no matter what gender or how old they are. . .the person that you know as Jade will cease to exist and in her place will be an unstoppable monster that nobody can defeat.
*Silas stood there silent taking in everything he just heard*
(Silas): But why? I’m not talking about killing elves, dark elves, merfolk, or even other demihumans. I’m just talking about humans. Just them. And doing it. . .because they kept us away from each other.
(Jade): I’m sorry Silas. I can’t do it. Not even for you.
*Silas looked at Jade with emotions rapidly flowing through his mind. Anger, sadness, confusion, betrayal, and then finally determination and the resolution to do what everyone has been afraid to do*
(Silas): Then I’ll cross that line, not just for you, but for every demihuman out there who was too afraid to do what has to be done. Tomorrow will be a glorious day, Jade. The day that humans started to become extinct. Once the dust has settled and the last human draws their final breath, I shall return and we can finally be together.
*Silas walks out the door and closes it where he comes face to face with two members of Blood Moon and Han. One was wearing a black owl mask and the other was wearing a black squirrel mask. Both demihumans were wearing the same bodysuit as Silas except theirs were white. Han on the other hand wore his traditional priest clothes*
(Han): You’re not seriously going to keep her here and do nothing are you?
(Silas): Why wouldn’t I?
(Han): Excuse me! She’s still alive!
(Silas): And she’s going to remain that way until I get back. Unless you hold the secret to killing an immortal.
(Han): Silas, I understand you love her and that you believe that story that she’s immortal, but you know as well as I do no one lives forever. She’s using a trick. One that I would like to know.
(Silas): You’re free to talk to her, but if you lay even a finger on her, we’re going to do our own little experiment: what kind of horrendous acts can I subject you to before you die. You two, keep a close eye on her.
*Silas walks off leaving a disgruntled Han behind*
(Han): You don’t give me enough credit, Silas.
***
*Back in the city of Carnivale, dawn was slowly approaching and outside of Andrade and Zelina’s house laid members of Blood Moon who were unconscious or tied up. Inside the house was Dust and Alita. Both of them had the same idea and raided the house for different reasons. For Dust, he was hoping one of the members of Blood Moon knew where their hideout was. Alita on the other was looking to bring a change of clothes back to Andrade and Zelina. Dust ditched the suit and was back into his normal wear of clothing interrogating a tied-up member of Blood Moon in the living room. The member of Blood Moon was a young male otter demihuman with short brown hair, blue eyes, and an eyepatch covering one of his eyes. He wore a white bodysuit as did the rest of the members that Dust and Alita had taken out. Alita entered the room holding a suitcase and had Jade’s blade on her*
(Alita): I’m all set to go. Did you learn anything?
(Dust): Aside from the fact that the members of Blood Moon know as much about their organization as vegans know about meat, nothing. So I’m just gonna bust this guy’s kneecaps for fun before we go.
*Dust grabs a crowbar and gets ready to swing*
(Otter demihuman): Wait, stop! I think I know where they are! The Church of Midori! They’ve gotta be there!
(Dust): Baseless theory. What makes you think the headquarters is there?
(Otter demihuman): Han’s a member of the group. As soon as he became the head priest he started closing off areas of the church to the public and Silas always makes a huge monthly donation to the church for everyone to see.
(Dust): Hmm~, interesting. A holy ground where everybody is limited on where they can go sounds like a good hiding spot to me. Congratulations, you just saved your kneecaps.
*Dust drops the crowbar at the feet of the demihuman*
(Dust): Now if you wouldn’t mind, please watch the house in our absence and if anything gets broken, stolen or catches on fire your kneecaps won’t be the only thing I bust. Understood?
(Otter demihuman): Y. . .yes.
(Dust): Good man.
*Dust pulls over a stand and Alita places a cup of water with a straw on the stand for the demihuman to drink*
(Alita): It’s going to be hot day. Stay hydrated.
*Dust and Alita walk out the front door leaving the deihuman alone with his unconscious comrades. With nothing else to do he tilts his head over to the glass of water and takes a sip of it to stay hydrated*
Author’s Note: This is definitely the most emotional chapter I’ve written in the novel so far. The opening scene was inspired by Yakukza 1 where Kiryu takes the blame for a murder he didn’t commit. After that, I wanted to get a laugh out of the readers before we get into the heavier stuff which was the conversation between Jade and Silas. Now this conversation by two things. The first was Under the Red Hood where Batman and Jason faced off against each other near the end of the movie. Best scene of the movie in my honest opinion, because it’s Jason pouring his heart out to Batman and getting him to side with him. He loves Batman more than anything and he wanted Batman to love him so much that he would break his one rule in order to avenge him. It’s a sad scene because you feel what Jason is going through but know that Batman will never break his rule not even for him. The second was The Prince of Egypt where Moses confronts Ramses about freeing his people. This is another good movie with a great seen that has stuck with me ever since I watched it. They perfectly capture Ramses’s emotions from sad, to regret, to anger, to vengeful all in one minute. I wanted to show how much Silas loves Jade and wants to be with her so much that he’s prepared to destroy an entire race just to give the demihumans peace. You agree with his fight and struggle but don’t agree with the means he plans to do to achieve his goal. As for Jade, we see how she cares for Silas but can’t agree with what he’s doing because she knows that everything is off the table if she goes down this path. If she’s willing to wipe out humans, what’s to stop her from wiping out elves, merfolk, or even other demihumans because they said or did something that threatened her race? Before she realizes it she’s killing everyone until she’s only left and that’s when she’ll truly be broken. Looking back, this may just be one of my favorite scenes in the novel so far because of how many layers there are to it. After that heavy scene, I did want to end on a laugh, so I had Dust and Alita return to the house to get clothes and threaten another demihuman for information. An emotional chapter but it still has a few laughs to even things out. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.