Chapter 28

The next day Ven made his way to Rendall’s office. He needed to talk to him privately about how they were going off to pull of their plan, as well as inform Rendall that Ven’s team was apprehensive at first but willing to help in the assassination. As always, he paused outside Rendall’s office knocked twice and entered, immediately he noticed the absence of William, something which had never happened before the man was always behind his desk.

“Is William sick?” asked Ven.

“Just shut up and listen, in a matter of minutes, someone will be coming to take you to meet Vassillissa, she has requested an audience with the first giftless man on the Honour Guard. I have no way to be certain if that is indeed the reason she has summoned you or she has an ulterior motive, keep up your guard up and don’t make any slips. Once you’re done with her, come straight back here, no detours. Summoning you the day after we had our talk, I don’t like it, she knows something,” said Rendall as he nervously paced behind his desk.

A loud knock made Rendall pause, as he took a deep breath and composed himself before telling the person to come in.

“Sir, I am here to escort Knight Ven,” said a nervous young man in a suit.

“Go with him,” said Rendall as he pretended to be uninterested.

For the first time since he had come to the Palace someone led him outwards into the vast gardens instead of going into the Palace. Ven followed silently as he thought of what reason Vassillissa could have had for summoning him, he had done a good job of keeping a low profile, he was considered insignificant by almost everyone here.

As Ven caught eye of where Vassillissa was sitting he realized she was painting, a hobby his wife had had as well, just how could this woman imitate Vas so well. It was uncanny! As they got closer, she turned around and gave them a warm smile as she signalled for the young man to leave.

“So, you’re Knight Ven, I saw you in Lilliana’s ballroom a couple of times but would never had guessed you were giftless,” said Vassillissa. “It is quite the achievement.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Ven respectively as he stood at attention.

“No need to be so formal, we’re both on the same side after all,” said Vassillissa with a warm smile.

“Yes, we all serve His Majesty,” said Ven immediately.

“Not the side I meant, I mean we’re both working for the rebels,” said Vasillissa with a wink.

“I am sorry, but I don’t know what you mean,” said Ven defensively.

“Don’t worry, no one can hear our conversation out here, it’s the reason I called you out here,” said Vassillissa as she gestured towards her canvas, “I can see that you’re not convinced, ok, how’s about this then, I know how you lived as Ravendra in a simulation.”

Ven looked at Vassillissa in stunned silence, how did this woman know about that.

“From your expression, I can tell you’re wondering how I knew about the simulation. Well, it’s because your rebel base leader, Ravi, is a naïve man, he didn’t keep an eye on what his peers were doing. Zacharias was stealing children under his nose for years. He took them to his hidden base where he ran a copied version of the simulation on children as well. The biggest differences being he only chose girls and instead of living Ravendra’s life, he had all the girls relive Vassillissa’s life.”

“As the young girls finish the simulation, they are trained and sent to join the UTF, same as what you do in your base. The goal has always been the same as well, kill Ravendra and end his never-ending rule on Nagiri.”

“But when I exited the simulation, everyone knew I was the person they were waiting for, the person who would end Ravendra’s rule. For you see my gift is that I can change my appearance,” said Vassillissa with a vicious smile.

“What do you want?” asked Ven with narrowed eyes.

“It’s so amusing to see your body language, it is exactly like Ravendra’s even though you aren’t really him. What I want is for you to join me and Ravendra,” said Vassillissa with open arms.

“Wait, you don’t want to kill him?” asked Ven with a confused look.

“Tell me Ven, if you had come out of the simulation and found Vassillisa alive, could you have killed her just because someone asked you to? Just because someone thought they could do a better job?” asked Vassillisa.

“I could never hurt her,” said Ven truthfully.

“I know, for even though you look different, in your mind you are Ravendra, and Ravendra could never hurt his Vas,” said Vassillissa as she looked directly into Ven’s eyes.

“Why did you call me here today?” asked Ven as he looked away.

“I plan on marrying Ravendra, the love of my life and to live the life which was stolen from both of us because of my untimely death. I have been informed by Zacharias that Rendall and Lilliana plan to have me assassinated by you and your team, but that is not what you are planning on doing, you are planning on assassinating Ravendra. Yes, Ravi is being monitored more closely than he believes.” said Vassillissa, “I know of all your plans. But why are you doing this, why are you listening to them? What have the rebels given you? A life which wasn’t really your life, a mission you never asked for, tell me why?”

“You can’t deny that Ravendra has done some horrible things over the years,” said Ven.

“Life isn’t always black and white, occasionally there are some grey areas where there isn’t any right or wrong answer. But he did the best he could, grief stricken and alone, for so many years. He deserves some happiness in his life, he has earned that much, don’t you think?” asked Vassillissa as she scratched her nose.

“You always had a habit of touching your face when you weren’t telling the truth,” said Ven with a smile, “Please tell me the whole truth.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” said Vassillissa with fake exasperation, “You know what my goal has always been, apparently it will take more than one lifetime to get it.”

“A world united under one banner,” said Ven with a smile as he thought about the number of times, he had heard Vas say that to him in the past.

“Exactly, will you help me? We got this far with one Ravendra and one Vassillissa, imagine how far we could get with everyone who has completed the simulation, a small army of us!” said Vassillissa excitedly.

“You’re assuming everyone will join you,” said Ven.

“They have more in common with Ravendra and I, than they do with the rebels,” said Vassillissa calmly.

“The surrounding nations won’t let us take over just because we ask nicely, there will be war, a lot of it,” said Ven.

“All for the greater good, we have to keep our eyes on the things we can’t see yet. A world where no one gets trampled or pushed down just because they are of a different colour or race, a world where everyone belongs to the same people! Together all of us can do it! Genesis is proof it could work!” said Vassillissa.

“Does Ravendra know who you are, and what your plans are?” asked Ven.

“No, not yet. I will tell him eventually though,” said Vassillissa.

“I see and what do you plan on doing with Zacharias and the rest of the rebels?” asked Ven.

“They are a talented bunch, so having them killed would be an utter waste. I would prefer if they willingly join us, but if they don’t, we don't have much choice but to execute them,” said Vassillissa.

“What of Rendall and Lilliana?” asked Ven.

“We need Lilliana and I owe Rendall for keeping Ravendra alive for this long. So, don’t worry about their safety,” said Vassillissa.

“You really do think that you’re her, don’t you?” asked Ven.

“A person is the combination of the experiences they have experienced. I have experienced everything she did, so I am her. Just as you are Ravendra, even though you don’t look like him,” said Vassillissa.

“Then just tell Ravendra everything now, you don’t need me, if he confronts Rendall and Lilliana directly, they will back down,” said Ven.

“Ravendra has changed a lot since the time I knew him, after all it has been hundreds of years. I know you are the man who finished the simulation with a synchronization of over 90%, you are the closest to how Ravendra was back when I died. You understand him in a way I simply cannot. If he doesn’t want to fight, I need you to convince him to fight!” said Vassillissa.

“And what if I don’t want to fight?” asked Ven.

“You’ve been in this world as long as I have, you know that people still suffer, there is still inequality, would you not fight to help them?” asked Vassillissa.

“Haven’t we fought and killed enough?” asked Ven, “Ravendra deserves happiness, but don’t we deserve the same? Just marry Ravendra and have him name someone else as King.”

“Perhaps you’re right, it would be nice to not have to worry about the world and live out the rest of my days happily,” said Vassillissa with a smile.

“If you promise to do that, I’ll promise to lead Rendall and Lilliana around by the nose and make sure the assassination attempt is a failure,” said Ven with a smile, “But I do think you should tell Ravendra the truth about yourself, he would still love you.”

“You have a deal,” said Vassillissa with a warm smile, “We always complemented each other well, you taught me how to be kind and I taught you there are moments we need to steel ourselves and do certain things even though we don’t want to. No wonder you got a synchronization of over 90%, I am glad we got a chance to speak.”

Finally a proper meeting between Ven and Vas, I tried to do my best and make it interesting without having too much of an information dump. It's one of the reasons the chapter ended up being shorter than the last one. But I hope there was enough in it to get you excited for the next chapter :)

As always stay safe out there,

Anderoth