Chapter Three Part Seven

"Did you want to do any of it?"

"No, never. The magnitude of my decisions spoke volumes in ways that I can only wish to take back."

"You had a choice."

"Absolutely, but sometimes the best choice is cursed with ugly representation."

Eric was consumed by the double doors that guarded the entrance to the syndicate's headquarters. He stepped inside the maws and began prying at the teeth that tried to crush him. The red walls and golden floors felt eerily like a beggar's cup. Out of nowhere, a guard suddenly appeared from behind one of the marble pillars. Shots were fired into the air. One grazed the shoulder of the guard. After that, Eric kept running towards the room with the syndicate heads. A loud shot was heard in the distance.

"Finally."

A bullet with a planned trajectory lodged itself deep into his back. 

There was questioning in the courts after what had occurred the day of Eric's revolt against the syndicate. A homeless man, who ended up being a witness, testified in front of the judges which were paid off by the syndicate.

"Mr. Whiptail, will you testify and prove that Eric York was indeed the cause of all of this destruction?" 

Whiptail's eyes lit up with a fury that seemed to have been sent from the Heavens.

"Who are you to judge a man for his unrighteous behavior? I have seen God himself strike down a man with a thunderous bolt of lighting, yet I can't tell you if he deserved it or not. It was a building that was hit by the lighting, and even with all the modern technology today, fire plagued its infernal heat onto it, and the building slowly began to crumble. I knew that there were terrible people in that building. I knew of good people there too. And that, that, that sound. To this day I still hear the screams that followed after the loud clash of electricity shooting up into the atmosphere. I knew for sure that at least one of the men that were in that building deserved God's judgment, but I don't know who. Maybe I am a fool for even believing that one of those men deserved it, but God sent hell to someone."

"Mr. Whiptail, When you speak to the judges you will refer to them as 'your honor,' and what does that story have to do with anything in this case?"

"Apologies, your honors, but if you're looking to condemn this Eric York, who may even be dead, alive or just plain forgotten, wouldn't he need to be at this trial, and isn't there a rule of innocent until proven guilty?"

The courtroom erupted with endless questioning. Then the gavel was struck by one of the judges and the trial proceeded forward.

"Order, Order, Mr. Whiptail, can you please give your witness of Eric's fiasco trying to end an innocent organization?" One of the judges restored the superiority in the courtroom.

Mr Whiptail then replied. "Your honors, if you want me to condemn a man I only saw for a quick second, then I can only offer you the comb of a beehive when you crave the honey." Whiptail then handed a journal to the judges and began speaking again. "I jotted down some of my assumptions on who Eric York is, but they are about as true as grass is green."

"I am sure that whatever you have will suffice. We will compare your writing with this Marshall's story." One of the judges answered.

"Does he have a last name?" Whiptail questioned.

"That's not important to you. All he said was that it was an incomplete source and that he had to go to the most forgotten places in order to find some truth.." The judge answered.

"Ah, I knew it all along." Mr. Whiptail said with a slight chuckle.

"Knew what?" A judge questioned.

"You'd know it too if you listened more carefully." Whiptail said with a visible smirk on his face.

"Mr. Whiptail, state what you know. Save us all of the trouble and just tell us what we should have known. We don't want to imprison you for withholding evidence." A judge pleaded with Whiptail like holding a piece of steak above a dog's head.

"Ah, you see, to tell you would be reveal the secret of the pyramids. The world would have no wonder, and everyone would tire and become bored with the insanity of age, and you threaten me with imprisonment, ha. It's an insult to a deaf dog. I digress, if you truly want to know, the answer has been in front of you this whole time. You sit in your rooms at night and pick something to entertain and take away the sting of age, and you ignore the thing that calls the most. It knocks, yet you do not hear, and you do not care for you think that everything in this world was designed for you to take, but you stray further from the truth. Give this old beggar nothing but your own conclusion, for if you want my witness, if you want the answer if Eric's alive, find it out yourself. I would much prefer you to come up with your own ideas on these matters than try to squeeze a drop of water out of desert sand." 

"Whiptail, we only ask that you might help us understand where Eric York might have disappeared to not squeeze a drop of water out of dirt or whatever you said"