CHAPTER 33: Vile

"A spy? But what does he do?"

"He keeps close to everyone in this province, along with others like him. They look out for any suspicious activity or persons, and either sabotage their plans or give a heads-up to the generals. He's relaying it to the next-in-command right now before you take over and assign your own subordinates. Didn't Tangente tell you about this?"

"No. He says he's feeding me bits and pieces of information as my training goes on. He said he'll get to the more controversial stuff when I can handle it. It's stupid, I know. Regardless, the generals then 'Silence' the rebels, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I will have a nice talk with Tangente when my vacation is over. Until then, I literally can't do anything. Tangente said I need this vacation and that he won't respond to me until it is over. He himself is having his own vacation while his right hand is in charge. Someone he trusts above his generals. Look, it's getting late, so I'm going to head to bed. We better make preparations for where Luna and Oceano are going to sleep."

The next morning, Antigua was left alone to wander the village in search of some old friends. Young adults played a new sport in the field that Antigua had never seen before. It was strange, to see work-abled playing instead of working. Tangente's prosperity was much farther reaching than Antigua would've thought. He came up to them to see some matured faces of people he'd once known. What was he thinking? It had only been six months, nothing too drastic. They looked back at him and froze their game. A discouraging sense of awkwardness grew within the air as stares rained down on him.

"What are we waiting for? Let's play! Hey, Purity, talk me through how this game works."

Purity stared at him wide-eyed. Then Antigua remembered.

"Oh, it's me, Redwind! I know, I look a little different. Amazing right? Now come on..."

Purity's mouth hung open before almost reluctantly saying. "Ah, Redwind! Ok..." he paused "l-let me show you how it's done."

After a long and drawn out explanation, it was time to choose who's team the fanged calamity would be on.

"Oh, come on guys, one of you has to take him!"

"Listen, whoever chooses me will get the first win! That being said, I'll hold back and make it fair. Don't want to make the game boring, after all." Antigua said with confidence.

"Fine, come over here..." One player said. The game started off a little slow, but gradually picked up as the players got into the mood. Antigua got bored very fast, as he had to slow down his movements to a snail-like pace just so that the others could keep up with him. It was a game centered around a ball, where you had to kick into the enemy's goal while protecting your own. Its origins were unknown, but Antigua knew that Tangente and his guests from his previous colony had something to do with it. Antigua flaunted the other players with impressive footwork that was all too easy for him. But he let them get the ball, and had to fake trip to let them score. After a seemingly close series of events, they tied.

"Aight, good game! I'll see you all later." He said as he took a walk up to other houses. In a gathering place, Antigua could see Luna flexing her textile skills on a group of women and children by finishing her craft of an advanced pattern of clothing. She then began walking them through the steps. There was something peaceful about watching them, and Antigua decided to join in. On the fifth step, he laughed, already messing up. There was a strange tension around the group towards him, a tension that he soon countered by talking with them. He cracked jokes, asked genuine questions, and gave some pretty decent advice to anyone who decided to join in on the conversation. Slowly but surely, most of the talkers began dropping their guard, and laughing with him. After hours in the cool shade made by a tarp and sticks Antigua had finally successfully made his own design. He knew exactly who to give this to. He said his goodbyes to Luna and the ladies and marched triumphantly to the place he was waiting to go all day. And there she was, crafting pots while talking with her friends. She was gorgeous, her hair like a river of silk and her eyes as piercing as a jewel. Antigua's breath left him as a weight pressed down on his chest and his heart raced. His hands became antsy and shook as he held his gift in his hand. Imagine: the future general of this province, too scared and flustered to speak with such a girl. He became lightheaded, and regret poured into his arms and legs, making them become iron. What if she rejects your gift? What if she doesn't receive your feelings? This was a choice that Antigua was powerless against. He was terrified and awed. Should he really be doing this now? There was always a tomorrow. No. Do it now. You have to. There is no other chance. Blood rushing through his face he painstakingly walked up to her in silence. She turned to look at him.

"Hi… You remember me, right? Redwind. It's been a while!" He said with an awkward smile with his fangs slightly beared. She was taken aback for a second, but recovered.

"Yes...and?" She said, eyeing him up and down questioningly.

"I made this for you… please accept it!" He said quickly and nervously. He stuck out his arms to reveal a fabric satchel of sorts. It was very colorful, and had the same design that she commonly made on her pots. Slowly, she took the bag out of his hands and examined it thoroughly.

"Anyways..." He said, his anxiousness reaching an all-time high. "Would you like to go somewhere… enjoy a view or something?" He choked out of himself. Silence. Why did there have to be silence. Answer me! At least let me be condemned without wait or torture, Antigua screamed inside his head. Finally, she said something.

"I'll consider it." She said in an unreadable voice. Antigua's hope flooded through him, euphoria lifting the weight off of his limbs, he was shaking with joy.

"Thank you for considering. Take your time. I'm excited, can't you tell?" Antigua said, giving a stifled laugh.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now." He said, trying desperately to repress his energy. He turned and walked out of sight before sprinting and jumping two body lengths high off of his surging adrenaline. He did it! He had always had a crush on her, and wanted to talk with her all the time. She was always busy with her own friends, though. They had gotten to talk as acquaintances, but not quite friends. He ran around the paths, trying to burn off excess enthusiasm. Then he heard from his left, a chuckle. Voices. Were they mocking? The way they sounded disgusted Antigua. He halted. Where were these voices coming from exactly? He went down a small branch road. He saw a cluster of men standing in a circle, laughing in a tone that would make anyone uncomfortable. Like some sort of guilty pleasure. He walked so silently to see what was going on without disturbing them. In the middle of the circle was the final familiar face, one that he'd known all too well. Hyme laughed in a sort of annoying, immature way as three guys hoisted a small frail body out of her chair and laid her on the floor.

"That's what you get, brat! Damn you! Talking about us like that! Now let's see you crawl your way to that wheelchair like the worm you are!" Hyme cackled. The target of their harassment was Antigua's oldest friend, Dune. Because of an incident when she was young, she was left paralyzed from the waist down. That didn't stop her from being the biggest loudmouth ever. When she saw a problem, she would voice it in the most inefficient way possible, leading her to have quite a "Unique" reputation in the village. She would always learn her information after-the-fact, causing much grief and many misunderstandings. Antigua never got why she did that. She, the weakest of all the village, would challenge and piss off even the most hot-headed members of the village, which always ended in Antigua having to clean up her messes. Antigua sighed. He moved in between the wall of men to grab her thin wrists and hoist her up to her wheelchair, which they had luckily not attempted to mess with. After putting in her chair, Antigua turned around.

"I'm sorry for any trouble she has caused you. How about we settle this wisely and-"

"Hell, no!" he said as he started swinging. Though Hyme had the consciousness to not harm Dune, Antigua was always the free punching bag in their conflicts. Some things never change. Except Antigua was stronger. Punch after punch was efficiently evaded, while Antigua ducked and dodged effortlessly. Antigua waited until Hyme tired himself out. Thoroughly embarrassed by how much he was being shown up in front of his boys.

"You done yet?" Antigua asked. Hyme wheezed tiredly.

"So this is what you've been doing while working for the king? How could you learn so much in six months?"

"Not much, but the work is hard. These also help..." Antigua stretched back his lip with his finger to reveal his right four fangs. Hymes' eyes widened, and he looked away nervously before checking them out again.

"Damn, metal teeth? And those fangs, let me see them better… yeah, let me see the other side too."

Antigua displayed all eight fangs as all the guys observed them intently.

"So, like, what exactly are you now?" Hyme said bluntly. Antigua went into thought.

"Something stronger than a human, lets just leave it at that." Without another word, Antigua pushed Dune along out of the crowd of degenerates. After they were some distance aways from the group, Antigua spoke up.

"Could you stop screwing shit up and causing drama for five minutes? I can already tell that you've been doing this for the entire time I've been gone."

"Those bastards deserved it, though! They were messing with Bluewing's property. He's growing old and deaf, so they were testing how much they could get by without getting heard. I made them feel guilty about disrespecting an elder-"

"One of these days, someone might actually start to get physical. Yes, I get it, you want to make sure that people get treated properly, but you could just ask the guards stationed here-"

"-And they said that they wouldn't do anything! Basically said 'Not my problem'. Swines."

Antigua was silenced. He didn't know they were like that. Once he had command over this area, things would change. He would get out these incompitent guards and replace them with ones he trusted could do not only their primary job, but actually cared about the people they "protected". From what Antigua had learned from Tangente, the guards he sent were meant to defend against any foreign invaders or rebels, should they pop up. He never did say anything about keeping criminal order, though. Antigua had another revelation. Of the provinces, Tangente probably cared about the northern one the least. Agriculture was vital, yes, but the northern province wasn't his only resource cow for the city beneath the earth.

"Ah, fine, I'll fix that. Enough talk about work, how's your practice on that one 'game' going?" Antigua sighed.

"It's called chess, and yes, I'm practicing it every day. I've probably gotten better than you at it."

"Hmm, I don't know about that. We'll test it out once we get you back to your house."

"Yeah. I don't know. I've just been very bored lately. I still can't help out with almost anything around the house. I just..." Dune stopped herself.

"Yeah? Continue." Antigua egged her on.

"...Have been feeling like a dead weight recently. If we find a way to make me walk again… that's the first thing I want to do. Not just any job, either. One where I'm always moving, doing something. I'm stuck. Stuck in this chair. It's been like this for a while, but… getting used to it doesn't help." Antigua saw as her head tilted and he knew she was bottling her emotions up. He stopped rolling the wheelchair for a moment, and kneeled down to give her and the chair a big hug.

"I know I won't always be here for you, but know that when I do get time off, I'll check up on you, and spend as much time with you as possible. I have to fulfill my duty to the king first. That is the price I pay for us to be safe and protected. By the way, why didn't you come to my reunion celebration? Mother invited you, because you're practically family, after all. "

"Sorry, uh..." She hesitated yet again. Antigua took his hands off of her and rubbed his palms down his face.

"Ugh, stop pausing all the time!" Antigua said.

"I was just tired yesterday."

"Yeah, sure you were."

Back at Dune's house, Antigua played on a board of cut and polished stone with wood-carved pieces. The score was 10-3, in Dune's favor.

"Are you SURE you're a general? Doesn't seem like it." Dune bragged. Antigua groaned.

"You've gotten better, I'll give you that. But chess is bullshit. Where are the geological advantages? Where can you strike at the enemy's supplies? Where is intel? All this game is is memorizing strategies you can almost exclusively use in chess. Some war game." Antigua said, his temper getting the better of him.

"Checkmate, by the way." Dune said smugly.

"What? How? Oh, nevermind." Antigua said as he dropped his head down on the table while Dune did a little dance with her arms.

"I've had enough chess for one day. We can just talk until it's time." He murmured as he nearly drifted off.

"So, how's it feel to be back? Even though you've got another year before you can come back permanently..." Dune started.

"It's been ok. Catching up with my family has been nice, but my friends no longer recognize me almost at all. They're still scared of me, but I at least had a good time with them. Oh, and guess what?" Antigua announced with the energy of a big dog.

"What?" Dune responded, influenced with the raw power of his excitement.

"I finally asked." He didn't need to give context. Dune leaned forward in her chair.

"Oh, great! And what did she say?" Dune couldn't look Antigua square in the eyes.

"She said she'd think about it! Better than saying no!" Antigua exclaimed with barely hidden euphoria. Dune cringed.

"Ugh, what a BITCH." She said.

"Why would you say that?" Antigua asked, eyes trained on Dune.

"I'm just kidding!" She laughed with an awkwardness even Antigua could pick up. "But in all seriousness, I don't trust her. I've heard some of the conversations she's had, and when she's interested in a guy, all she mentions is looks. Haven't heard a single thing that she likes about a man on the inside. Hell, I've even asked her once, and those were the responses she gave."

"So what? You think I won't qualify?" Antigua asked, half sarcastic and half concerned.

"No, I don't mean like that. It's just… nevermind. Let's talk about my day!"

It was just the usual stuff from then on, though Antigua did enjoy it thoroughly. When the sky and its clouds grew a flower-red, Antigua walked off to go home. In the shadows of a violet dusk, he heard amongst the voices of the streets his awaiting love yet again. He was drawn towards the voice, and heard her talking with her friends.

"So, will you accept Redwind's invitation?" One girl asked.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I will!" She said. Antigua's heart skipped a beat, and he wanted to rush up and envelope her in his arms. But before he moved to reveal himself, she promptly continued.

"For who would not want youth and power? I'll get close with him, and as his 'princess', what will he not deny me? Money, a sprinkle of influence, and best of all, the eternal youth of the king's creatures. Some types of his creations remain fair after their transformation, I've heard. You see, Rivera, men like him are ignorant. Too ignorant to suspect all sorts of things. I'll use him for what he's worth, and honor my end of the contract of marriage. But I care not for him, whatsoever. Yes, I've known him in the past, but he was never the object of my desires. He always looked thin, greasy, and shriveled by the sun. He is a farmer's boy, who thinks he is entitled to be with someone above him. Yes, he struck a deal with the king, but a farmer is a farmer. I would never degrade myself like that. I'll just wait until the tides of battle consume him. It will happen eventually. He's a fool, after all."

Antigua felt dizzy. And sick. She was nothing like he had thought her to be. It took all of his strength, right there and then, not to slaughter the two. With a squealing grunt and tears, he fled into the streets away from his house to allow himself to process his own thoughts. Why did Tangente give him such power? A bull-headed fool like him… How could he not sense such a betrayal? He really did deserve what came to him. As the indigo sky was consumed with a star-spangled void, his loathing festered. His mind filled with revenge plots and grim scenarios, all fueling him to walk further. After hours in such a state, Antigua grew apathetic and tired. He didn't feel like going home that night, so he settled down in the wilds near the village where no one would see him. As the tiredness soothed him. More rational thoughts came into his mind. There wasn't much he could have inferred about her change over these six months. Or was she always like that? In hindsight, it was so foolish to ask her when he never did get to see her bad sides first. He was always admiring her from a distance or striking up brief conversation, but he never really tried to analyze her from a neutral perspective. One thing was for sure, he would never expose himself to vulnerability like that again. In his training, he had worked to the point of nearly fainting and still had the strength of will to push on. But this feeling, it was miasmic. So vile and ill-willed. It sapped his energy, mindfulness, and enjoyment of life. It was a pressure equal in its own way to Tangente's glare. One that blossomed only anxiety and insecurity from its core, and with it, a grave feeling of dire hopelessness that makes the body and soul alike quiver with a furious cocktail of emotions. To think, a harmless girl could bring a general to his side with just a couple words. How pitiful, how pathetic! Antigua breathed in and felt the breath of reality fill into his lungs once more. He was in the middle of fucking nowhere. Antigua stood up, and went back to his house in the middle of the night. He really needed to get a hold of himself. He couldn't let anyone see him like this.