Fools of us All - Chapter 17

I did not wake up slowly or gently. A loud sound roused me from my enforced slumber, causing me to strain forward against restraints that I could not remember being placed on me. My eyes flew open for a brief second, slamming shut against the bright light that seemed to surround me. I took a moment to evaluate.

My jaw was aching, a dull pain that spread to the rest of my head. My arms and legs were strapped down tightly, too tight to even consider moving. The room was uncomfortably warm, which, when combined with the bright light, made me think that I was in some sort of interrogating room. Slowly I cracked open one eye, giving it time to get used to the light. It was impossible to see anything else, so I sat back and just listened instead. A humming sound was in the background, faint, almost like a mosquito flying around the room at night. The shuffle of at least two pairs of feet on the tile floor came to me, which, when combined with the fact that I was very firmly strapped onto a table, showed that they really did not want me to escape. That, however, was my first order of business. I just wish I knew how.

"I thought I saw her eyes move," came a voice. "What should we do?"

The humming sound grew louder. "I can't tell if she is awake or not. This equipment is a piece of..." The thought was left unfinished as the door opened. Two pairs of feet snapped together.

I cracked open one eye and watched as the General I had noticed before entered the room. He dismissed the two soldiers who had been guarding me. As the door closed behind them I noticed the General's aide, the one with the cold eyes, regarding me thoughtfully as he conferred with one of the M.E.R.C. soldiers. Just before the door swung completely shut I heard the soldier say something about 'the other one'.

Before I could process any of this information, the General spoke. "Well my dear," he said, sounding friendly, considering the circumstances. "So we meet at last."

I opened my eyes fully now, able to stand the light, and knowing that there was no point in feigning sleep any longer. But I didn't speak, instead letting him carry the conversation.

"I must say, your picture doesn't do you justice. I see that your time in the past has greatly improved your sense of fashion."

I looked down at myself, at the dress and shoes that I was still wearing, a disguise from a time not my own. The wig had long fallen off, but at least a couple of the rings were still on my finger. A shrug was about the only reaction I allowed.

The General smiled down at me benignly. "Oh come now dear, don't be so bashful. After all, we are all friends here."

There was something about the way his smile changed that did not sit well with me. What exactly did he mean by that? A moment later the door opened and I had the answer. A large man walked through the door, a man large enough that he almost filled the entire doorway. He turned and spoke to his guard. "Don't let anyone in," he intoned, but that booming voice was hard to hide. He turned back to me.

"Bastard."

He took the epithet silently, merely staring at me. Behind him his guard seemed to be waving his hands or doing something. Whatever it was the General didn't seem to appreciate it because he went and closed the door manually.

Silence stretched out before us, covering the past that had been between us. It was he who spoke first, but only because I could find no more words to say. "I did not imagine, Caz, that when I took you under my wing that it would be you who would end up in this position." Dun, the man who had mentored me, trained me, and in many ways, been a father to me, stood before me now, hale and hearty, looking much less dead than the last time I had seen him. "The prophecy was quicker in being fulfilled than I had imagined it would be." He exhaled heavily. "I thought there would be more time before the chosen one was revealed."

Words found me again. "I suppose," I said vehemently, "that you wanted to spare me, or that you didn't want anyone to get hurt."

He shrugged. "It would have been my preference, but I'm not all that concerned. Death does not bother me, not when it happens to those who stand in my way."

"You make me sick." It was impossible to tell if my tears were those of anger or of sorrow.

That comment seemed to sting him ever so slightly, putting him in a mood to pontificate. "I think you are failing to see the entire picture here, but that is my fault, I suppose. You see, the prophecy which was shared with you was not the entire story. The prophecy that you knew was that you are destined to find the one to save the world, that you were to stand with him at the end, victorious. That was only partly true."

Despite myself, I was interested. What more was there to the prophecy? I raised an eyebrow, signalling him to go on.

"Still feisty I see." A small chuckle escaped his lips. "That is good to see. It will make your death easier. Because die you will. The original prophecy does not end so triumphantly for you, I'm afraid. The warrior will lead humanity to salvation, says the omen, but his herald, the one sent to bring him to this new glory is destined to die. There is nothing you can do, your story has already been told."

"But I don't get it. If I am going to die anyway, why did you have to betray the entire organisation, and why are you so determined to kill me now? What do you gain if my story is already told?"

"Funny thing about prophecies - they are notoriously hard to predict, and even harder to recognise when they are happening. The organisation was concerned about this, and so I was sent to find out all the information that I could. What I found shook my faith and changed my point of view.

"All of my life I had been raised with this promise, and as I grew older and joined the organisation I was extremely enthusiastic. But then nothing seemed to happen. There were great promises from the leaders, and preparations to be made, but nothing ever seemed to change. The world got worse and worse and by the time I was sent on the fact-finding expedition, I was wracked with doubt. As we explored the ancient teachings I found some seeming inconsistencies, some questions that I couldn't reconcile with the prophecy as we knew it. So I dug deeper, keeping my findings to myself.

"The prophecy we knew wasn't the only one out there. Another oracle had spoken, foretelling of one who is to wield fantastic power, greater than that of any mortal man before. To get that power, all that person had to do was kill one other person. But not just any other person. No, the one who died was very specifically laid out. It was the herald of one who would come to save the world. It was you.

"Understandably, my faith was shaken. How could both of these prophecies be true? I never reported my findings to the organisation. Instead I waited and studied, seeing what I could find. In the end I came to the realisation that one prophecy was false, and one prophecy was true." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a gun and levelled it at me. "Your fate was sealed the minute you walked into that meeting, Caz. I am sorry that it had to be you, but I cannot stand in the way of destiny."

A pair of loud thumps sounded in the hallway outside the door. It took a moment, but Dun finally turned and looked at the General, who merely shrugged and motioned at the door. With a heavy sigh the large man turned and opened the door. One of the M.E.R.C.s was standing facing the door. On either side of him were two soldiers lying motionless on the ground. There was a moment of shocked silence as the soldier looked to either side of himself and that back at Dun, shrugging with theatrical nonchalance, as if to say he didn't know what was happening either.

Then he raised his gun and fired.