192 Though The Heavens May Fall (1/2)

His commitment to this particular matter was not open to any form of discussion.

It would be done.

But before the final vote was made, Reed had one last task to do — something he dreaded but had resolved himself to do for the sake of equality, truth, and justice. He had to lay down all the cards on the table... including his own.

”You have been shown the darkest failures of those who were supposed to protect you, but that is unfortunately only half of the story. Now, I would like you to see something else before you decide a verdict on the sinners who failed you... I wish for you all to see... my failures.”

Transparency must come from all sides, not just on those who were unmistakably in the wrong. No one must be exempt from this inquiry, for it is necessary to remove every single stain off the continent if this renewal of the spirit and integrity is to succeed.

Not the gods, the angels, nor even myself.

This was the apex, the crowning jewel of all the acts Reed would do today, perhaps even surpassing the Eventide itself.  It was an unprecedentedly outrageous and terrifying move, even for the likes of the Dreaming Council, the Four Royal Families, and all the Noble Houses that served them.

It was one thing for him to cast light on their evils, but he would even shine that revealing light on himself? Madness. Pure, unadulterated insanity. At first, they thought that this had been some kind of grand coup of power whereby Reed would instate himself as something surpassing the Four Sovereigns.

Underneath all the grandstanding on virtue and his soapbox preaching on their crimes, they had expected him to become something no different than them. They did not believe him.

They believed that he wanted to become a god-king that would reign supreme over the continent with his absolute power, but now... they had realized this was not that at all.

No, it was something completely different and once they comprehended that, they felt genuine terror form in their hearts.

”In a different life, I would have eventually been made king. I would have been dressed up in a suit of fabricated mysteries and then had a castle of lies built for my inevitable coronation.

This is the truth; I have seen this... plot to throne me for a long time coming and did nothing to stop it as I wallowed in great apathy over my... unique station in life. What I was told I would do and later become, as part of an immense conspiracy to arrange my destiny for me.”

A series of memories unfolded across Iliai — Reed's memories — of what he had known all along.

Of how facts were misinterpreted of his and Lu'um's feats during the Twilight War.

The Final Night of Lei-en fell on him alone. The destruction of many cities including to, but not limited to the ones affected by the release of the Infested Pupae, but also of those that might've been experienced loss by extension.

There were some innocent men and women that never returned to their homes, only to leave behind broken families in their wake in cities not destroyed during the Twilight War. They were also accounted for too, as they should be.

Of how a sense of allure and mystery had been purposefully created to elevate his status beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary.

When in truth, he and Lu'um had been intentionally showered with elegant, but hollow royal titles, prestigious awards, and enormous attention to develop their prestige and in return, their future authority.

Despite knowing deep down that Reed was being turned into a fairy tale, a product for the indoctrinated people of Mulia to eagerly consume and obey, he had done nothing but idly stand around like a child while the people around him continued to lie in his name.

Of his most terrible neglect of responsibilities and the consequences of his cowardice. The creation of the fissures that threatened the safety of the very continent that they lived on.

It was a betrayal of trust. They, as inhabitants of the land, rightfully should have been made aware of the crisis that had almost engulfed their homeland. There was nothing else to be said about it other than it was another critical failure of his that needed to be disclosed to the public.

And of the secret of their world. The truth about the nature of Mulia and what lay outside of it. What threatened them and the grim fate of a reality now breathing its final, dying gasps. This, in particular, was something that needed to exposed regardless of what sort of reaction it would cause amongst the populace.

They deserved to know the true state of affairs, despite the fallout that would ensue.

Thus, the truth had finally come out into the light for all of Mulia to see.

”...I am no hero. I was a foolish boy who had been drawn in by the illusion that he was one. Granted power, yet lacking the wisdom nor the humility required to appropriately wield it, I caused many of you undue suffering and loss. Even now, I still feel the same way about myself, so I have summoned you all here to deliver judgment even upon myself.

And so, my memories are all there for you see, unfiltered from beginning to end. No lies. No half-truths. Only the incontestable facts. Make of them as you will.”

The wretched demon that had haunted him for so many sleepless nights finally departed into the night.

”Why would I, the one who currently has the most power, do this to myself? The answer is quite simple: I have never thought of myself as a god, despite what I am capable of. Never. And I do not think myself above mortal judges, nor human morality, or even my own conscience. Unlike them, I do know what it feels like to be powerless, to be oppressed, and treated without any respect or form of human rights...”

A dim, somber scene crept up like a shadow into the minds of everyone present in Iliai.

It was a cold, dark, and damp place without the slightest bit of cheerfulness. The scent of rot was overwhelming in the filthy dungeons of Reed's original homeland, the sacred capital of Faaltrate.

He had only been twelve years old when he had his first run-in with the taste of starvation, humiliation, and pain.

His crime had been the theft of a book supposedly appraised with a value of three gold pieces. It'd been the first time he had experienced the uniquely demoralizing and infuriating feeling of powerlessness.

As a holy city of forgiveness, healing, and unshakeable faith, it had been considered sacrilegious to discriminate against any man, woman, or child, no matter who they might be. Unfortunately, these ideals were not always held by everyone in Faaltrate.

”You see, the issue laid with the fact that I was poor. Though I was within my rights to be in the more affluent district where this bookshop was situated, I was not welcome there.”

He had been treated as if he actually were a rat and therefore, had not been allowed to possess the rights a human did.

He had been an eyesore. It was as simple as that. A poor, dirty slum rat had no place in the world of humans. To the bookshop owner, the perception of his bookshop being frequented by the poor and dirty was tantamount to the destruction of his livelihood.

The implication had been that a business that even the poor could afford to visit held nothing of value to the upper echelons. These would people would do anything to avoid living in reality, refusing to acknowledge the fact that ugliness existed in their holy city.

Naturally, they were unable to physically create walls to keep the poor and weak out of their districts, as it would be considered a profane act, so the rich and powerful built an immaterial, invisible barrier instead.

”My position in life had already been decided at birth. I was expected to fit the role I'd been assigned to. Anything else was considered a breach of rank in my world...”