Vindicate (5 page)

“Why are the ones who know divided?” Marc asked , befuddled.

Alamos crossed his arms. “Several reasons. The majority of the population has no clue ; only the priests who reside over the cities have the notion that a shift in power has occur r ed. Some of those priests believe that because the court was not executed , Donalt’s soul is not at rest – that now they will suffer even darker times . T
hose people are seeking the lives of each person in the court. I believe the underground group is called ‘
Redeemers of L
ight.
’
From what I understand , they are taking credit for the coll apse on the island last night. F
or the battle Willow won single -
handedly. Then …” he looked at Drake , “
t here are ones that are seeking to rule . T
hey argue that Dra ke is not the child of Donalt. T
hat with the execution of the current court , a new sovereign is needed. T
hey are seeking the death of Drake simply to take away the memory of Donalt.”

Perodine nodded along. “Then , of course , there is the general population that is blindly obedient to the myths that were told to them as a children ..
. that Drake with the heart of his soul mate will redee m this world, and they believe that a dark man has trapped her heart . That until he dies they will be trapped in darkness.”

“Seriously?!” I said in a frustrated tone. “Wh y can we not just go out there and lay it all out ?
Tell them this is what happen ed. Who Donalt was -
who I am. And tell them to get over their foolish f airytales and take the peace I’
m giving them?!”

There didn’t seem to be any way to win . T
hose that knew Donalt was dead were either calling for Drake’s death or Landen’s , and the blind public was waiting for me to love Drake . T
hey were all wrong , and I wasn’t going to sit here and listen to how jacked up the entire thought process was. I had a good min d t o carry both Drake and Landen away from t here and never look back.

“Willow,” August said , walking to my side and holding my stare. “Could you imagine going home to Infante and telling a nyone there that their beliefs, their religion was false ? T
hat what has been told – preached and practice for thousands and thousands of years was untrue ?
”

“I’m not going to argue religion with you,” I said as respectfully as I could to him.

“Yet, you want to argue with theirs , ”
h e countered in his common wise tone.

“Donalt is not religion , ” I said shortly as the hatred I had for that ghost bellowed in me.

“To them he is , ” August said , taking my hand and forcing me to feel his calm emotion. “The people in this dimension all belie ve in one source of God. That was Donalt, and they have divided into different beliefs on what is to happen. To some , this is the dreadful end of days ; to others , this is a blissful beginning, and there are even those who are unaware that any of this is transpiring. W
e must tread carefully. B
eliefs are precious, and i f you plan to fulfill your fate you must rise ab ove dualities. Y
ou cannot take sides.”

“Dualities?
”
I repeated .

August ’s eyes captured mine. “It is a lesson I have been striving to teac h Landen from his first breathe . Dualities. S
eeing one side to be right and the other wrong.”

“But there is one wrong side , ” I argued.

“Is there?” he asked as a sparkle illuminated in his eyes. “Tell me , Willow. I f you were the princess of darkness…if ending light was your desire - your pur pose – what you needed for survival . W
ould you not see the ligh t as evil?
Duality is taking sides , seeing one thing as correct and the other as wrong . A true r uler. P
rophet . S
ource of change, would not see those. T
he y would find love for each side. Reason for each action. F
orgiveness.
”

If this was any other day I might have agreed with him.
“I cannot forgive these actions.
I cannot forgive the murder of innocents. F
orgive anyone for taking someone’s energy – their purpose, and command ing them to follow obediently to conformity , ” I argued.

“Let me be clear , ” August said as he reached for my other hand to maintain the calm emotion he wanted me to feel. “Perceiving one to be innocent and one to be guilty is taking sides – embracing dualities. N
o one can take another’s energy ; it is giv en freely b y the source it is created from. N
o one ca n command another to conformity. A person has to cho o se to follow.”

He was so hard to argue with. “August.
D
o you not see what state this dimension is in? Do you not see how they have been reduced to nothing?
Redemption is required.
”

His solemn eyes fell into mine.
“I do , ”
h e said calmly. “But I see the same in every dimension.”

“No , not all of them , ” I mumbled .

“Are you referring to Infante or Chara ?
” he asked .

“Both.”

“Conformity lives in both.
” August replied gently.
“
R
emember the home you were raised in. Were there not social stand a r d s that had to be met for acceptance? Were there not laws and rules that had to be followed, and if they were not , punishment was given ? I s that not what your dimension teaches it s children from birth ? A re the children not rewarded for following direction and punished for ignoring it?” He tilted his head. “Even in Chara , it exists…each day , people are brought to our world by the ones they love…they are expected to find their purpose …and rising to that expectation because they were told and not because they felt that desire is a form of conformity. M
any times , the desire to reach their purpose blinds them. E
ven tho se born in Chara face that command. S
ome want to be travelers simply for the glory – for the gifts and protec tion they feel that role brings, and that desire is completely human. Sometimes it leads born members on several paths of discovery . T
here is not one single dimension that does not have some form of confo rmity - some grasp of dualities. N
ot yet.”

Ok, so he had a good point. But still. “Yes, but those are laws. R
ules that have to be in place. They are meant to protect people. What would you suggest? That children do as they wish? That there are no laws ? T
hat you can steal – murder and not expect punishment ?
Why is it wrong for Chara to ask it s citizens to find their purpose ? W
hat’s wrong with expecting everyone to find that joy?”

He grinned. Landen had told me more than once that August admired my tenacity when he came to debating philosophy.
“I’m simply telling you that this world is the same. There are laws – conformity in place for the purpose of ‘protecting’ people – to guide them.”

“Their laws are wrong.”
I said coldly.

“They are only wrong because of your perspective – where you cho o se to take sides says that they are.”

“Right , ” I said , letting his hands go. “Whatever.
I give up. I don’t care what they do here. Wake them up , and we’ll go . W
e will let this world destroy themselves.”
It was empty threat that I regretted as soon as I said it.

“Willow , ”
h e said , reaching for my hands again. “Why must you strive for extremes? My lesson to you is that if you are going to bring peace to this dimension or any other…you are going t o have to find an understanding. Y
ou are going to have to find a balance. Y
ou cannot command for them to believe the way you believe.”

“Then what do I do? What is this all really about? What fate have I chosen? Why am I punished for it?”

“You rise. Y
ou rise above dualities. Y
ou understa nd where someone is coming from. Y
ou embrace their beliefs with respect and honor. Y
ou never push yo ur point of view upon them.” He lowered his head to chase my wondering glance. He knew he was getting through to me. “F
or any awaking in any soul must come from them. Be the example. B
e the person your soul is leading you to be .
”

A heavy silence bellowed through the room. The anxious emotions from them all led me to believe that they felt that I alone I could do what August had advised.
They thought I needed Landen.
I knew I could be that person. But right now, anger was keeping me sane.
I wasn’t a lovesick helpless girl. I was a furious soul who could not understand why that each time I pushed for peace I found hell.

“
T
ell me, Willow, who do you know in this life that has no knowledge of dualities ? W
ho do you know that finds the essence of light in everything and everyone ? W
ho has been your guiding light ? W
ho whispers , ‘
patien ce’?
”

I glanced over my shoulder at Brady to find his eyes waiting on me. One might think that August was referring to Pelhan, his world, but Brady and I knew differently.
August was speaking of Allie, Preston, and Libby.

I looked back at August. “The children.”

A smile beamed across his face. “Correct …
by the time your purpose is filled. T
he world will be cons umed with people just like them. T
here will come a time when instead of teaching our children to follow conformity , we will teach them to follow their soul. T
o create their own path and avoid every path that has been made…for when they are on that path , their purpose will be hidden. I t is only when they are on the correct life path that doorways that can only be seen by them will open. T
hat will be when both light and darkness find peace…when it is no longer a war of right and wrong , but an existence that basks in the glory that it is…it will be time when war…hate…anger do not exist.”

“That is a beautiful endin g…but I still do not understand. A ll I see is a battle for my heart – all I see are trials that are cruel.” I swallowed my fury feeling the pain in my core once more. “All I feel is the desire for revenge on what has been done to these people.
To our family.
”

August sque ezed my hands. “Rise above that. R
ise above what you see , and seek what you cannot. I f a Scorpio can rise above duality – override the natural craving for revenge when wronged…then anyone can.”

Tears glassed over m y eyes. “I just want to go home.
I w ant to take him home .”

August let go of my hand and placed it on my chest. “This is home. Right here in your soul. T
he path you take – the very human emotions you feel today will be the lessons of tomorrow. N
o one in history reached great ness without hardship. W
ithout sacrifice.”

“
I will not sacrifice any of you.”

August let his hands fall from me . H
e was not smiling , but his eyes still sparkled. “L
anden has spoken the same words. L
ong before he ever met you. T
hat is how I know that both of you will prevail…my lesson today will not bring i mmediate change in your thought, but somewhere on your path , whether it be today or a hundred years from now , you will remember this moment. Y
ou will see what is escaping you now.”

“Yo u still think we are immortal. E
ven after every brush of death we have faced. With the one we’re facing now?”

August looked over his shoulder at my father , then back to me. “When I told you that your life would be long…and at some point you would grow weary of youth and accept age – you were help ing people. Y
ou and Landen were giving your energy to images that appear before you – you were helping your friends. T
oday , you have stopped that. T
oday , each of you are giving your energ y to each other and no one else. T
hat is making you very mortal.”

“I can’t help anyone if they don ’
t appear. T
he only people wh o have needed our energy is us. T
hese trials have stolen that privilege from us.”

“They have not,” August said , raising his eyebrows. “Your intent has . W
here your focus is , is where you’re led. Y
ou have forgotten the innocen ce of your beginning. T
he pure , innocent love you had. T
he desire to help others.”

“I’m trying to help millions , not just one anymore – can you not see that ?
”

“Can you not see that by helping one , you are helping millions ? T
hat if you throw a pebble into a river , it w ill cause a ripple , and that ripple will travel across the surface , making waves that did not exist before ?
”

I gritted my teeth. “Fine. If or when I see an image again , I will help.”