Lord Victor, the Madman

---Katherine---

"Now you know the truth. Do you feel cheated? Angry? Regretful? Do you hate the Elders for lying to you?" Lord Victor's voice was calmer now. He strode back and peered down at us.

"No. Kendric was bad, and you killed him. That's justified. But that was a long time ago; the Elders now are good people. They have never lied to us." Aaron said firmly as he raised his head from the ground. "You said it yourself that you erased that piece of history from the books. No one knows that another group of Rosewood Seven existed, or that one of the past Elders tried to take the power from the orb for himself. If the Elders knew about this, they would've told us."

"They would not," Lord Victor crossed his arms. "They are all the same. They act as if they are righteous and just, but if given the chance, they will turn against you to protect their own interests. Wake up, Aaron. You're living a lie."

"Honestly, Lord Victor, I think you overreacted. I can understand why you killed Kendric and even why you killed the other Elders, but why did you kill your classmates and innocent villagers? They didn't kill your friends. They didn't do anything to you." Aaron said matter-of-factly. Lord Victor's eyes widened with anger.

Although what Aaron said was true, now was not the time to be provoking Lord Victor. Lord Victor just relived the most painful parts of his past and went through the emotions he probably suppressed for a long time. I could see the tiny sliver of craziness in Lord Victor's eyes and how he was so, so angry—not at us, but at the injustices his friends and he suffered, even after all these years. He needed an outlet to release that anger, and Aaron was painting a target on himself.

I prayed that Aaron would stop for his own sake, but he just kept going. "You blame the Elders for the deaths of your friends, but it was really only Kendric. He also only killed Marcellus, Annalise, and Bianca. Your other friends died on the quest and from the previous evil lord. Why are you projecting your anger onto innocent people?"

"Shut up, you ignorant child," Lord Victor spoke through gritted teeth. His eyes glinted dangerously. "You don't even know what you're talking about."

Aaron ignored my desperate gestures to get him to stop talking. "And it's been, what, hundreds of years? Everyone from that time has died and turned into dust. Why are you still killing innocent people? Why can't you let it go?"

"You don't know what it's like!" Lord Victor finally exploded. He stomped his boot-clad foot onto Aaron's back, pushing Aaron back into the ground. "Marcellus and Bianca were my world. I grew up as an orphan, and they were the ones who showed me what family was. To see them die in front of you and see them condemned for something they did not do—"

"But the Elders—" Aaron started to argue again. This time, Lord Victor's boot came down on Aaron's head. I shouted out and tried to push myself to my feet, but fell down. Aaron coughed out more blood.

"The prophecy is wrong. Don't you understand? We killed the evil lord, but did it accomplish anything? No! If it wasn't for the Elders, we never would have believed in some stupid prophecy. We never would have gone on that useless quest, and all of my friends would not have died! Marcellus would've got to live the rest of his days with Annalise happily, and I with Bianca! It's the Elders' fault! Their fault!" Lord Victor was enraged. With every exclamation he made, he applied more pressure on Aaron's head and grounded Aaron's face harder into the floor. Aaron struggled and tried to pry Lord Victor's foot away but couldn't. Blood dribbled from the corner of his lips onto the floor. I feared that Aaron's skull would crack at any moment.

I stretched my arm and grabbed the hilt of my sword. 'Finally!' Using my sword as a cane, I managed to stagger to my feet. Lord Victor turned his head slightly to look at me. "You too, Katherine? You think I'm wrong, and the Elders right?"

I gripped Retribution with both hands and stood in a wobbly defensive stance. "What happened was very tragic. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that, but that doesn't give you an excuse to kill innocent people for hundreds of years. You became the very person you once swore to destroy."

Lord Victor tossed his head back and laughed maniacally, as if what I said was the most hilarious thing in the world. His laughter bounced around the throne room, and I heard the pain, disbelief, anger, misery, and everything he had locked away in his heart come out.

When Lord Victor finally stopped laughing, his eyes were blazing and crazed. He took his foot off Aaron's head and took a step towards me instead. My heart pounded. "So what if I killed 'innocent' people? Everyone condemned us. Everyone believed the Elders' lies. So everyone deserves to die!" He took another step. "The prophecy is a lie. You never could have defeated me. The power that I received from the orb is something no mortal can ever match. Your little quest ends here, and so do you."

His green eyes bore into mine. I felt a streak of pain run through my body as cold, wailing voices slithered into my brain. I dropped Retribution to clap both hands to my head, but the voices only increased in volume. "Join us," they said. "You have been lied to and betrayed. You are worthless and powerless. You cannot defeat the evil lord. You cannot save your friends. Hear them scream as they die! Hear their screams!"

Terrible, horrific screams filled my head, threatening to pull me under. "Stop! Stop! Make them stop!" I dropped to my knees again, bowing my head as the voices surged, accompanied by a pounding headache and wave of pain through my body. Dimly, I heard Lord Victor laugh again, like a madman.

Suddenly, the voices disappeared. The pain receded. Slowly, I looked up, my body still shaking. Lord Victor's eyes were wide with disbelief as he looked down at the five-inch blade that protruded from his chest. Blood splattered to the ground.

Then the blade was retracted, and Lord Victor toppled forward, his head hitting the floor mere inches away from me. Behind him, with a face of grim determination and a bloody sword in hand, stood Indigo.