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Chapter 51- The Aftermath
Part 1- The Aftermath
When we finally got back to the safety of the outpost, we thought we would be given a hero’s welcome for our hard work, as it turned out that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Almost as soon as we got back, we were taken to a large facility near the outpost along with all of the others who had been in the city. We were told that the government was worried that due to our close contact with the creatures in the city we may carry and spread the so-called virus and cause another outbreak later down the line. The facility they kept us all in was cramped and baron of any real distinguishing features. Alex was about to lose it and try and break out after a couple of day’s but luckily we all managed to talk him out of that before he did anything stupid. We ended up being kept locked up under the guard’s watchful eyes for a whole month before they were finally convinced that we were safe to re-enter society. Even though we had only been locked up for four weeks, so much had changed that it might as well have been years. The government had tried to keep everything that had happened in the city. They swore everyone who knew what had happened to silence under non-specific threats, I even heard of a few more loose-lipped people disappearing under suspicious circumstances. Even with all there efforts, somehow the story got leaked to the media. Within a week the story was being spread everywhere by everyone. Riots were starting up all across the country, from Sol Dantol to Seaside. The government went into full damage control, saying that they had no other choice and that if they hadn’t have done what they did it could have spread across the entire country. Even though what they said was pretty much all true, by that point there were no stopping things, the publics' rage was growing at an exponential rate with many even calling the actions taken as treason. In the end, an emergency vote was ordered with many guilds being hired to take and count the ballets. In the end, the current president and his entire party were deposed and replaced by a new one, promising to be more open and honest with the public. Even with the changes in the government, the people still didn’t feel any safer. The horrors that had happened in the city were out for all to see and the people knew that at any moment for any reason the same thing could happen to them.
Part 2- Crossed Paths
Liz, Alex, and Bip waved at Edgar and Calem as they walked off in the other direction. They watched until they were completely out of sight. The group stood alone in an empty wide-open field just outside the makeshift camp that they had been kept in for the last weeks.
“Well… looks like this is it,” Liz said. “ So what’s next.”
“Well I guess the next step would be to go to Steel Lake and see what we can dig up there,” replied Alex.
“Sounds like a plan to me, Let’s book it back to the nearest city and we can catch a bus to…”
Liz turned around to walk off before stopping in her tracks as she sores a familiar figure standing in front of her.
“Well well, it looks like you really were in the city like they said,” Es said as he stared down the pair. “If I had known that going into the city I might have gone a little faster.”
“Wh… what the hell are you doing here,” stammered Liz?
“Oh, nothing really… just catching up with an old friend.”
Liz took up a fighting stance, spawning in sharpened icicles all around her pointing towards Es. Alex followed Liz, reaching out his hand and spawning his blade in a cloud of smoke before preparing himself for a fight.
“Yeah… I find that hard to believe,” Alex said.
“Haha… you have such a low opinion of me. Honestly, I’m only here to see how much you’ve changed, although if I could, I definitely would like to test your new strength but that not in the cards so whatever.”
“And why exactly is it out of the cards?” Asked Liz.
Es looked away off into the distance.
“Government's been tracking my every step, pretty sure they have someone watching me right now in fact. Something about keeping me in check and making sure I don’t go spreading any nasty little secrets, don’t know why it matters… I mean not that it matters anyway, everyone already knows everything that went down in the city now anyway… Anyway if you remember thanks to you I'm not actually a mage, so if I killed you it would be straight to jail for me.” Es said before looking back to the others still standing ready to fight at a moment's notice. “ Would you two drop it already, I said I'm not gonna attack you… what more do you want?"
“You to leave… now!” Liz ordered.
Es shifted his gaze across to focus solely on Liz. His eyes met hers, noticing a dark and ominous oraer circling around just behind them. He let out a slight chuckle.
“Looks like you’ve changed a lot since the last time we met. You’ve seen some shit haven’t you, or maybe even done some, never the less your not the same scared, frankly pathetic little girl I fought before,” Es taunted before looking back across to Alex. “You’ve noticed it to… haven’t you.”
Alex locked eyes with Es for a moment before averting his gaze away, trying to block Es’s words out, despite already knowing it to be true.
“I’d really love to fight you now but oh well… guess that nothing can be done about it.”
Liz growled an irritated growl as her gaze grew more and more frustrated and bloodthirsty.
“Ok… ok. geez you guys are no fun,” teased Es before turning around and beginning to walk away. As he walked he waved behind him. “Until next time…”
Liz and Alex watched as Es walked off into the distance before letting down their guard.
“Can you believe him, just showing up here and expecting us to trust him, yeah as if. And what was all that crap about me changing, honestly what is he talking about?”
Alex once again averted his gaze as he thought on Es’s words. He turned around and walked off, ignoring Liz's question.
“Come on, let's get going,” Alex muttered as he walked.
Liz looked at Alex as he walked off before staring down at her own hands for a few seconds. She shook her head snapping herself out of it before following on after Alex.
Part 3- The Clean Up
A large group of people covered in yellow hazmat suits rummaged around in the ash and scorched earth. One of the people grabbed at a large piece of scorched black metal and with a hefty push moved it to the side. They looked back to where the metal had once sat, their eyes widening at what they sore. Underneath was a small safe completely untouched by the fires that had destroyed the city. A man dressed in a suit and tie with masks covering their mouths as they looked over all the workers going about there business. General Barker walked up beside the pair.
“Thank you for coming down here mister president, but
I assure you we have the whole situation under control,”
“That may be the case but even still I need to ensure that we find it. such a power… it would be a shame if it were to be lost forever.”
“General… General!” came a yell from further down the scorched street.
The pair looked over to the source of the noise to see one of the men in hazmat suits running over to them at full speed. They came to a complete stop as they reached the pair, taking a moment to catch their breath.
“Oh… mister president…you’re here too,” the man panted.
“Don’t be so rude, this is the president your speaking to…” General Barker scolded.
“Don’t worry about it, what do you have to report soldier,” said the president.
The soldier looked up to the president for a moment before reaching up to hand to him, holding a piece of neatly rolled paper up to him.
“Sir…” The man panted. “We found it.”
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TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thanks you for reading Chapter 51 of Mage. This is the last chapter of this arc, im really happy with how this arc has went down after i was slightly unsure of how it would go when i started. ill be taking a break next week while i work on the next arc so the next chapter will be uploaded on the 20th. If you like what you see please consider dropping a Kudos and maybe checking out the rest of my work. Also for any updates or if you just wanna see my cosplay adventure please consider follwing my tumblr here https://www.tumblr.com/blog/50funny and until next time have a good one.