Chapter 3-A: Calm before the Storm

I sigh and pick Dormii up before taking him down to our room and placing him on the bed

Sleep there

Me: Ok.. fun time is over. We need to get you some help

=I contact Zeru=

Me: Zeru, we have a problem, get to Dormii's room

I don't need help?

=I point at the blood trail=

Me: Really? Come on, get on the bed, let me take those shards out.

=i shake and cough, falling off the bed=

What shards? What are you pointing at?

=I pick Dormii back up=

Me: Here we go, just please lay down.

=I look for what is wrong with Dormii=

He is fine, i patched his arm up. He just needs rest.

I remain stood there, unaware of the blood dripping out of me

=i arrive= u sure coughing that bad isn't a good sign snow take care of jay i'l deal with dormii

No, no, no, no, no, no, no...not them. Take me! I'm the one you want! TAKE ME! FIGHT ME COWARDS!

=i move like I try to get up but I don't go anywhere=

Me: Why is it that you are just unaware of everything. Just let me fix you, even if you don't know what is wrong with you.

I sigh and as i hold my arms out i suddenly notice all the glass and blood

Wow. Erm. Wow.

=i scream as loud as I can at Zeru and Snow= WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! LET ME GO! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME COWARD! NO-ONE HOLD DORMII MALI PRISONER! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NOBODY!

=i continue to fight against whatever chains hold me down=

Me: Now do you want to bleed to death?

=I start to take out an IV container.=

WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU! FIGHT ME COWARDS! IS THIS HOW YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED WHEN YOU DIE?! ATTACKING A MAN WHO IS TIED DOWN AND CAN'T MOVE! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!

YOU DO NOT HOLD DORMII MALI PRISONER AND NOT HAVE REPERCUSSIONS! FIGHT ME!

=I look down at her on the ground, unphased=

Me: Lets get to work

=I take out tweezers and start picking out glass, trying to ignore Dormii's screaming=

I WILL KILL YOU! NONE OF US HAVE DONE ANYTHING! We were all little obedient Spartan, following orders, never asking questions. SO WHY DID YOU TAKE US?! WHY TAKE US WHEN WE CAN BETTER FIGHT OUT THERE?! DO YOU WANT TO PROVE YOURSELF TO THE GODS? IS THAT IT?! THEN LET ME GO! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DIE WITH DIGNITY!

LET ME GO, AND FIGHT ME! COWARD! YOU'RE ALL COWARDS!

Me: PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO HELP LOVED ONES, SHUT THE FUCK UP!

=I continue on Jay=

=slaps dormi- snap out of it

You are weak, pathetic. You steal a man when he is asleep and tie him down so he can't escape. Why? WHY?! So you can feel better about yourself?! That you don't have the power that we do?! IS IT?! LET ME GO!

=screams at him back= what would someone like u know about power if u can't even overcome your own mind a weakling like that has no right to judge others

YOU ARE NOT A SPARTAN, SCIENTIST! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE US! WE ARE NOT GIVEN A CHOICE TO OUR LIVES! WE ARE TAKEN AND TOLD TO FIGHT! ALL I DID WAS EXERCISE THAT POWER! YOU CANNOT BLAME ME FOR THAT SETTLEMENT! YOU MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY! YOU MADE M-

=i pass out and regain my senses=

What the fu**? What happened?

Dammit, anyone hurt?

=i see Jay passed out= Oh, sh-t. oh, sh-t, oh sh-t! No, no, no, no...

=I put my hand out=

Me: It is ok, nothing to serious.. well for you spartans it isn't

=I pick more glass out of Jay=

=slaps bull= get a hold of urself this is what keeps causing it

Please tell me I didn't do it. Please tell me I didn't do it. Please tell me I didn't do it...

=slap Dormii again= i said get over it

Me: From what I have seen, it wasn't you.. but it is possible

=I pick the last piece out and start on the IV=

Me: Want some souveniers?

=I point to the glass=

=to Zeru= What would you feel if you found out that you could've hurt Syaa? Wouldn't you freak out a bit?

=to Snow= Put them in a bucket. I'll use them for something later.

Me: Heh, I wasn't serious but ok.

=I take out a plastic bag and put them in the bag and mark them "Jay's memories"=

=to Zeru= That...is brave, I'll give you that.

=to Snow= Watch it. I'm going to put her on the bed. =i pick Jay up and lay her on the bed=

=i turn to Zeru= =angrily= Are you trying to say that you are going to threaten millions of people, and Jay, to prove a point?

=i take my knife out and hold it to his neck. I pin him against the wall, his arms trapped behind his back and his legs off the floor= =quiet and threatening= Do not, ever, threaten Jay. I will kill you, slowly, painfully, making you want to die, to beg for it. Your skin will be taken, one layer at a time. Your muscles unbound, one stand at a time. Your bones snapped. One. At. A. Time.

=i drop him= Do not, ever harm Jay. You will regret it.

=to all present= Leave. Now.

Me: Very well..

=I leave to go to a random room=

=i push Zeru out of the room= Remember what I said, for I spoke the truth.

=i lock the door and fall asleep leaning against one of the walls, fearing what I might do if I get in bed with Jay. my knife is still in my hand=

=as I fall asleep, i carve the Sign of Purity on my chestplate, hoping that it will help me in my future. tears are in my eyes as my head bows forward=

=I unholster my pistol and put it under the pillow=

=I keep my helmet on and activate the black overlay=

Me: Good night. Sleep tight..

=i wake up, dropping the knife, embedding it in the floor. i forget all about it and grab the guitar and go to the edge of the hole in the wall. still dazed from sleep, i hook the guitar to my armor and i climb up the side of the building. i reach the top, just as the sun rises and i take a moment to sit there and watch the sunrise. i take the guitar off and think of a song to play, simply to distract myself from this life i live=

Of course, this'll be perfect.

=i begin playing Hands Held High by Linkin' Park=
Turn my mic up louder I gotta say somethin'
Light weights step to the side as we come in

Feel it in your chest, the syllables get pumpin
People on the street, they panic and start runnin'

Words on loose leaf sheet complete comin'
I jump on my mind, I summon the rhyme i'm dumpin'

Healin' the blind, I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways, we march to the drummin'

Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumpin'
Fu-- that, I want to see some fist pumpin'

Risk somethin', take back what's yours
Say something you know they might attack you for...

=i continue playing, ignoring that my hand is in a splint and that at any moment i could pass out. i try to ignore what i did to Zeru, what Snow received on the fringes, and what i almost did to Jay. i focus only on the song, and what my helmet tells me to do next=

Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for

Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor

Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank

These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect

For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

-sends dormi a message for when he wakes up-

=that proved my point u misunderstood the question and lost control if u don't do the ken procedure u may do something u will regret it's up to u though=

=I notice that there is a message waiting for me. I read it, but I keep playing without missing a beat=

Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen



In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen

World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions

Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep

Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me

=i finish reading the message and think to myself, all while playing=
Thank you, Zeru, but this is my struggle, and I don't take shortcuts

Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away

It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday

There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes

My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show

My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine

On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"

Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen

(if you don't know the song, it's not done quite yet, there's some more lines)