Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 60

"Well, Idia..." Vil said as he approached the chariot. "I'll see you at school."

Idia appeared confused. "...Huh? Oh, uh, I guess your memories are all still intact..."

"Huh?" said Leona. "What about our memories?"

"He was gonna wipe 'em," said Floyd. "Don't worry. Ona and I would have put a stop to that real quick." I nodded in agreement.

Idia winced. "Erk. Anyway, I guess I've joined the ranks of the SSR Epic Troublemakers now. People all over the world are probably gonna hold me accountable as the mastermind behind this whole incident... And I'm ready to face that... So... I doubt I'll be coming back to school. I mean, wouldn't causing trouble on this scale be grounds for immediate expulsion?"

"You gotta be KIDDING ME!" Epel cried in anger before I had the chance.

Idia seemed flabbergasted by this response. "Wha?"

"Your people completely wrecked Ramshackle Dorm! You'd better take responsibility and fix it."

"Yeah, that's right!" said Grim. "We'd JUST finished patchin' all the leaky spots too!"

Rook chuckled. "Heh heh heh. You make a good point. Our SDC reward money will have to go toward repairs now."

"Actually, 50,000 thaumarks wouldn't even begin to cover that amount of damage," said Jamil. "I expect you to repair the building entirely."

Idia frowned. "Uh... Sure..."

"And fix up the botanical gardens too," said Leona. "That's the best napping spot on campus."

Idia blinked. "Naps...? Okay, sure..."

"You should also restore the stables and damaged fields," said Riddle.

"I'm pretty sure YOU burned those - you know what? Never mind. I'm not going there."

"You know, we never did finish the game your troops so rudely interrupted," said Azul. "And as I recall, I was winning. You'd better not be trying to cut and run."

"Uh, excuse me? I was definitely winning. Could you NOT rewrite history here?"

"Also," I said, speaking loudly to be heard above everyone else, "you need to return to school because you and I need to have a long conversation about reforming this institution of yours."

Idia stared at me oddly. "Reform?"

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Yes. The overblot incident aside, do you realize how many rights violations you and your people committed? You can't take people against their will to study them no matter how noble your intentions. You can't terrify people like me, thinking people they care for have been taken off to their doom. And you can't justify it by wiping everyone's memories afterwards. All that does is insulate you from scrutiny. This secrecy has to go. With no accountability, there is bound to be many abuses. It's abhorrent that you think you can get away with all this."

"To be fair, Styx has been around since the age of the gods, a time when the concept of 'rights' hardly existed," said Azul. "But you are correct. Styx is past due for a change."

Idia groaned in response. "You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," I said. "Your secrecy gives you way too much power, and power corrupts. This incident should prove to you that your family is not superior to anyone else. Independent oversight is desperately needed."

Idia sighed. "It's not like I can do anything about it."

My expression softened. "That's not true. Listen, I know you hate your fate, but don't you see the opportunity it gives you? Once you take over, there will be no one above you, right? You can do whatever you want. You could change everything. There's no reason for you to be ruled by the past."