Brotherhood

"How does it feel to be back at the old place?" Jorgen asked Jemar in the dungeon.

Jemar remained silent. Typically, a regular criminal wouldn't dare to stay silent during interrogation because it would mean the questioning would never end, and they couldn't return to their life. But Jemar had no such concerns; he seemed content to stay in the dungeon, avoiding the difficult choices that awaited him outside.

"Let me give you some good news," Jorgen continued. "Nehari has protected you again. He used the excuse of 'enhanced defense' and his power of pardon to prevent me from entering the mansion and investigating how you managed to break out and take away the urn overnight. But that's alright, I don't need to investigate on-site to draw a conclusion: he let you out. Of course, along with the urn... he also gifted you a sniper. Perhaps more than one. Where did he want you to take the urn?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"No, you do. At first, I thought he wanted you to deliver the urn to the Bloodscar Crusader, and he could use the excuse that the Bloodscar Crusader stole it to absolve himself. The sniper was there to prevent you from acting on your own. However, this conclusion implies that Nehari himself and the Bloodscar Crusader have a secret agreement, maybe even that he is one of their secret members – which doesn't make sense. If that were the case, he wouldn't need to go through you to accomplish this. With his status and power, he could secretly transfer the urn anytime, anywhere. Putting aside his personal motives, I can at least draw this conclusion: Nehari is using you, Jemar. You don't seem like someone who willingly lets others manipulate them, so why is this happening?" Jorgen paused for a moment and then continued, "Is it merely because of the blood relationship between you two?"

Jemar looked at Jorgen. "What do you want to find out?"

"I want something simple: the truth."

"Aren't you from Military Intelligence Section Seven? For Stormwind City, you assassinate, sabotage in secret, twist the truth – why don't you just kill me and then deal with Nehari?"

"That's right, I work for Military Intelligence Section Seven, but I am also an individual with my own thoughts and decisions. And you, Jemar, no matter the reasons, you are striving to erase yourself as an individual and become a mere commodity between the Bloodscar Crusader and Nehari. To me, this trait is no different from being a Scourge soldier. Scourge soldiers don't need to think for themselves. Jemar, are you willingly becoming a mindless, identity-less ghoul?"

"Jorgen, don't draw conclusions for me..."

"You chose this path yourself. By remaining silent, anyone can impose their conclusions on you. But I can see that you have the desire for independent thinking, Jemar. You saved Coersta. I'm sure it was unexpected by both the Bloodscar Crusader and Nehari. To the Bloodscar Crusader, Coersta, who had contact with the plague, should have been your target for elimination, or at least someone you wouldn't bother saving. And to Nehari, Coersta's life or death would have been meaningless. But you made your own choice. This gives me a glimmer of hope for you. Are you going to leave some evidence of your individuality, or bury yourself back in the silent grave forever?"

Jemar lowered his hands and placed them on the edge of the stone bed.

"To answer your previous question... No, blood ties don't determine everything between him and me."

"So you admit it."

"He is my brother," Jemar's right hand rubbed against the joints of his left hand continuously. "There's nothing to hide about that. But that's not what you really want to know."

"Whether it's relevant or not, I'll be the judge of that."

Jorgen somewhat expected that Jemar would admit to this. Apart from his name, he was like an invisible person, with no background, no life, no emotions, no communication. He was tired of being an invisible person, enduring complete disregard. The night of the fire, he saved a girl and saved himself from the sniper's crosshairs, giving his humanity a release. He wanted someone, someone who would value him as an individual, to remember some things about him.

"I am interested in the different fates you and your brother experienced."

"It's not something we can control. In this world, nothing can be predicted, and nothing can be controlled."

"As the guardian of the prophetess Demitria, I didn't expect you to say such words."

Jemar shook his head almost imperceptibly. "We escaped from Andorhal together, wandering for more than twenty days, not knowing where to go because since the Scourge appeared, the sky has been covered with strange clouds and we couldn't even see the sun. We felt like we were back near Andorhal again, so we decided to stay in the woods. Nehari told me several times that there would be a day when we would see the sun again. In the woods, we could catch wild rabbits when we were hungry, but it was hard to find drinkable water, so we always drank the rabbit blood. However... because of the Scourge, even the rabbits were gradually getting sick. One day, shortly after eating rabbit meat, I developed a high fever, constant vomiting, and my face and back were covered with pus-filled lumps and black spots. I knew I was dying, but Nehari carried me and said we would get out of the woods and find a doctor. I was afraid of infecting him with my disease and asked him to put me down, but he refused, carrying me on his back until a person riding a warhorse and wearing a priest's robe appeared before us. At that time, we thought we were saved because, coming from a family devoted to the Holy Light, priests were always considered gentle, kind, and just in our hearts."

Jorgen stared at Jemar and noticed that even when recounting a painful memory, he never showed a moment of weakness or hesitation.

"He told us he could only save one of us because he couldn't provide enough food and water for both. I told him to take my brother since I didn't have much time left anyway."

"So, he took Nehari?"

"No, the priest chose me and left Nehari in the plague-ridden woods. He said I, being severely ill, needed salvation more, and he sensed greed in Nehari's heart that didn't match his appearance. I couldn't understand his choice at all. After arriving at his residence, I found that the priest had raised dozens of war orphans from Andorhal. He cured my illness and let me stay with the other orphans. He himself was one of the earliest organizers of the Bloodscar Crusader."

"What was his name?"

Jemar pondered for a moment.

"I don't remember. Nobody remembers. Later, he got infected during a battle, and a few of us orphans who grew up together killed him. We tied him up, put him in a burlap sack, each of us stabbed him, and then burned the body. We believed we did the right thing; we purified the priest, and he finally entered the eternal light of the Holy Land, as he used to say to us every day, 'Ending the life of a plague-infected person as early as possible is the greatest mercy.' Do you think all the wounds on my body were endured to join the Bloodscar Crusader? Wrong. It was the punishment for killing the priest. I asked the person in charge of the whipping at that time, 'What I did was right, why should I be punished?' But all I got was more torment."

Jorgen somewhat understood why Jemar would save a possible plague-infected person. He had also been the most fanatical member of the Bloodscar Crusader, but those values were shattered within the Crusade. Jemar's spirit and faith were torn apart by what seemed like endless torment.

"But you at least survived. For so many years, you thought Nehari was dead and felt indebted to him."

"That's right. I sat on the priest's horse, and he stood alone in place, waving to me. This scene from over twenty years ago, I still remember it vividly, and I can't forgive myself. After returning to this battlefield, I knew he was still alive, and my first thought was to make up for my wrongdoing."

"That wasn't your fault."

"No, it was mine. I could have chosen to stay with him in the woods instead of obediently sitting on the priest's horse. I knew my true thoughts at that time: take me away, let me live. I was silently screaming this in my heart, but I said something else with my mouth. Yes, he used me. He let me out, gave me the urn, and had two snipers follow me. Yes, two. The other one might have returned to him by now."

"Do you have anything to do with the fire?"

"I didn't have anything to do with the fire. Saving that little girl was a coincidence. You could say it was fate. Fate led me to her when I passed that path. I felt like I should do something, so I carried her to the edge of the woods, and then..."

"You thought it might be a good opportunity to deviate from Nehari's plan. To use Coersta as a human shield and escape the snipers' pursuit."

This cruel conclusion had already formed in Jorgen's mind, but he didn't mention it to Elin.

Jemar bowed his head slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then raised it again. "That's right. In one moment, I saved her, which was an act of kindness, but in the next moment, that kindness turned into a sinister thought. I've been with the Bloodscar Crusader for over a decade, and that's how I survived. I killed many relatives of infected people, maybe hundreds, even though they appeared completely healthy. Part of me believed they would truly be purified, but I also felt sickened by my own actions. However, overall, I did it without hesitation. It was the same with what I did to that girl. Perhaps even before saving her, I already had the thought of using her as a shield; who knows? Nehari's people were following me, and I was certain they wouldn't harm the girl casually. Because, they were kin to her. But I wasn't. I was of the Bloodscar Crusader. Although I hesitated for a moment, if the snipers hadn't fired first, I can't predict my own actions."

"I understand. Now, there's still one core question, Jemar. What exactly is Nehari's plan?"

"I can tell you everything about me and Nehari without holding back, but this..." For the first time, Jorgen noticed that Jemar seemed troubled.

"So, you still have reservations."

"Yes. Concerns beyond Nehari."

"Listen to me," Jorgen slowed his speech. "Jemar, you don't belong to the Bloodscar Crusader. You're not Nehari's private property either. The reasons, as you've already understood, are clear. Now, I can help you get out of this situation: you don't need to reveal everything, I'll take you back to Stormwind privately, and you can testify against Nehari's suspicious activities in the military court, of course, as a protector of the MI7. Perhaps in the future..."

Jorgen had intended to say, "Perhaps you can live as an ordinary person in the future," but he changed his words. "...we can wait and see what happens. If you need time to consider..."

"No," Jemar said. "I'm sorry, Jorgen. Maybe you can truly help me, but I can't do that. You will know all the facts, but not today. One day, it will reveal itself. If not, then perhaps this whole thing never had any meaning from the beginning."

"So, you choose to stay here? Let me remind you that as long as you stay, Nehari will still control you. You don't owe him this much."

"No, I have to stay here until everything is over."

His pupils sparkled with unwavering determination.

"If you change your mind, have the guard call for me," Jorgen turned and prepared to leave. Before that, he heard Jemar say:

"Thank you, Jorgen."

Jorgen ascended to the surface. Except for the final question, he gained more than he had imagined. But he still couldn't understand why Jemar was willing to reveal his childhood experiences and secret events in the Bloodscar Crusader but kept silent about Nehari's plan. And he argued that the reason for continuing to withhold the information had nothing to do with Nehari.

Perhaps, I am like that priest, reappearing in Jemar's life twenty years later, giving him a chance to survive. He had regretted not saying "no" to the priest twenty years ago, and today, he firmly said "no" to me. Despite knowing that staying here was a risky decision, he chose to cut off his own hope of survival due to some concern.

Let me wait until the day when the truth reveals itself? Fine, I'll wait, considering you're willing to disregard even your own life.