Chapter 34

The next day Ven got up early and made his way to the palace with Frank. It was an awkward and silent journey. Ven didn’t ask what Frank had decided. He didn’t know what the day held for him, but he felt a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He knew what he had to do now, he didn’t know how he would do it, but the doubts were gone.

As he got out of the car he paused, “No matter what happens today, I just wanted you to know I enjoyed working with you,” said Ven as he closed the door before Frank could say anything.

Not knowing where he was supposed to meet Vassillissa he stood still for a moment before making his decision.

“Vikram, lead me to the garden where I met Vassillissa,” said Ven.

“Oh, we’re talking now. Take your first right and then keep going straight until you’re in the Palace grounds. Just so you know, I’ve told Ravi what you did last night,” said Vikram.

“Which means Zacharias knows too,” said Ven.

“Probably, but you sure made a risky move today, how do you know they haven’t already contacted the Honor Guard?” asked Vikram.

“I don’t, it’s their choice,” said Ven.

“You’re definitely the craziest person to come out of the simulation,” commented Vikram.

“I probably am,” said Ven with a loud laugh.

“You seem to be in a good mood, Mr. Servant,”

Ven turned to the right and saw Vassillissa standing in the shade of a tree. Today she was wearing a long blue dress with frills on the arms. Next to the tree were two chairs and a small white table with an assortment of snacks on it. He noticed there was no one else here besides the two of them.

“Where’s Divya?” asked Ven.

“I’ve dismissed her, her services were no longer required,” said Vassillissa as she sat down.

“You do know Rendall and Lilliana still want me to kill you,” said Ven.

“Should I be worried?” asked Vassillissa with a smile.

“No,” said Ven.

“Then I don’t need Divya. Are you going to keep standing or?” asked Vassillissa as she gestured towards the empty chair.

“Did you know about the facilities?” asked Ven as he sat down.

“You know, you still haven’t thanked me for saving your life,” said Vassillissa.

“I am not afraid of dying, living, that’s the challenge,” said Ven with a sigh.

“Would you please not be so depressing. Look around you, it’s a beautiful day and we’re sitting here without a worry in the world,” said Vassillissa as she broadly gestured around them.

“Vassillissa, stop avoiding my question,” said Ven.

“I didn’t know. Are you happy now? You got your stupid answer,” said Vassillissa.

“Just what happened to him?” asked Ven.

“Who knows, he’s been alive for so long,” said Vassillissa as she looked towards the Palace, “Perhaps we would have done the same in his shoes.”

“You can’t seriously think that?” asked Ven taken aback.

“I want to say I would never let something like this happen, but it’s an easy claim to make. I have no way of being certain and neither do you,” said Vassillissa as she turned towards Ven.

“I wouldn’t let it happen,” said Ven firmly.

“You always were stubborn,” said Vassillissa with a small smile.

“Do you ever wish you could go back into the simulation?” asked Ven.

“Well, no. I died in that thing,” said Vassillissa.

“I never figured out how Rayleigh managed to capture you from the negotiations,” said Ven as he left the sentence hanging in the air.

“I never should have forced you to agree to those negotiations,” said Vassillissa with a sigh, “There was man with the gift to teleport people waiting for us in the tent. Naturally, I recognized his gift the moment I saw him, but it was too late, by the time I shouted out, we were in Rayleigh’s castle surrounded by soldiers. You need to stop blaming yourself for my death, there was nothing you could have done.”

Ven said nothing as he looked down at the table to avoid eye contact with Vassillissa. She was not his Vas he reminded himself, this was someone else. No one could replace his Vas.

“Are you going to make him close the facilities?” asked Ven as he continued to avoid eye contact.

“What will you do if he doesn’t close them down?” asked Vassillissa with a firm voice.

“I don’t know yet,” said Ven as he finally looked up.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted no more fighting! You were completely against my plan to unite the world! And now you’re planning to start a new rebellion!” said Vassillissa angrily.

“I haven’t planned anything like that!” said Ven honestly.

“You better not be lying to me,” said Vassillissa threateningly.

“Since when did I become smart enough to trick you?” asked Ven and they broke into laughter.

“You never were the trickiest person to figure out,” said Vassillissa as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“You on the other hand, I can’t count the number of times you made a fool of me and the guys,” said Ven as he sat back in his chair.

“I am glad we managed to have this chance to talk openly,” said Vassillissa with a warm smile.

“Me too,” said Ven, “Although this might be the last time we meet.”

“What do you mean?” asked Vassillissa.

“I told everything to my team,” said Ven.

“You didn’t! How naive and stupid can you be! If Pratabh was here right now, he would’ve kicked you!” said Vassillissa, “Just what are you hoping to get out of this?”

“You’re right about that, he would’ve been really mad at me!” said Ven as he smiled thinking about Pratabh, “I am just tired of the lies, if they want to turn me over to the Honor Guard, I don’t care.”

“I always hated this side about you! It’s because of this lack of concern for your own life I always made you promise me you would back to me!” said Vassillissa as she picked up a small cake and threw it at Ven.

“I never knew,” said Ven as he failed to avoid the cake.

“Of course, you didn’t! I never told you why I did it! You! Stupid! Man!” said Vassillissa angrily as she stressed the last three words.

“What’s done is done, I can’t change it,” said Ven trying to placate Vassillissa, “And why do I matter anyway, you’ve got Ravendra.”

“You’re dismissed for today! I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning!” said Vassillissa as she stomped off leaving a confused Ven.

Ven looked at the time on his phone, he had the whole day and nothing to do. Getting up he decided to make his way towards the training hall, might as well see what his team had decided. He smiled thinking about Vassillissa’s comment about Pratabh, she wasn’t his Vas, but it was nice to reminiscence about the past with someone.

He took a moment to prepare himself in from of the door to the Training Hall, he would respect their choice. He wouldn’t show any signs of being disappointed if they chose to leave or hand him over to the Honor Guard. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked in.

The scene he saw left him speechless as he made his way towards to where Natalie was standing alone in the center of the Hall. She turned around and gave him a smile as he got closer.

“Did they all quit or am I going to be arrested?” asked Ven as he tried to keep his face emotionless.

“You know, both of us lived as Ravendra for a while, but I can see why you got a better score than I did. I would never have told my team the truth if I was in your shoes,” said Natalie.

“Thanks for the compliment, but does it matter?” asked Ven as he shrugged, “No one stayed.”

“Look over there,” said Natalie as she laughed while pointing to a corner of the Hall, “That’s their gear, I sent them out on a jog before we stared anything else.”

“All of them?” asked Ven.

“All of them. They all agreed you’re crazy for even considering doing something like this, but they also agree that they can no longer trust Ravendra. They don’t know what else he’s hiding,” said Natalie.

“I was hoping they would stay, but I was mentally ready for them to go their own way,” said Ven.

“It’s not like this world has been especially good to them, they were bullied and thrown to the side when thought to be useless,” said Natalie, “I guess you made the right choice by choosing people with their backgrounds. How was your first day with Vassillissa?”

“It was fine, we talked about the good old days,” said Ven.

“Are you sure she doesn’t have any ulterior motive for having you as her Servant? This is Vassillissa we’re talking about,” asked Natalie.

“I don’t think she has any ulterior motive; she seems to be fixated on making Ravendra happy. Other than that, I haven’t noticed anything unusual about her,” said Ven as he scratched his chin.

“Does she know about your decision?” asked Natalie.

“Of course not,” said Ven, “This isn’t about her, he needs to pay for his crimes and this country needs to stop treating him like a god.”

“She’s gonna kill all of us if she finds out,” said Natalie, “This is no longer just about you, don’t forget that.”

“I know,” said Ven.

So, I was originally planning on making a double post. But with how long this chapter is, I decided to keep it to one chapter :)

I hope you guys enjoy it, things are building up.

As always, stay safe out there and take care of yourselves. We live in crazy times!!!

Anderoth