Peace for Anlesa came quickly, not for the city, but for the moment, the trio didn’t care for the wilder population. All that mattered was that the people around them were safe.
Mary and Max, Maca, Lavender and Ethan. They were all safe.
They sat inside the manor as they watched the staff still rushing around. Lord Hall and Havier had a lot on their plate, and now Mary was involved in signing off items and eventually preparing for a speech.
[Huh… Everything is over now…] Eva looked down at her pristine hand. Thanks to the healing of Eva and Syrus, not a single injury from the encounter rested on their body. Not that they received many to begin with. It was the first fight where, from beginning to end, they were in the dominant position. The only disadvantage was the numerical one, which was somehow completely ignored.
The trio and friends hadn’t left Lord Hall’s manor at all these passing days. Mary's and Max’s identities and current location had been revealed. Anlesa would’ve liked it if those two could have at least been allowed to hide in Lord Hall’s house for a while longer, but with the removal of the head, certain information groups that had been kept concealed were freely revealed.
Many bits of information were slowly and quickly revealed to the public. It was a messy situation that people were trying to keep stable.
[Everything is a strong world, but yeah, time for us to rest.] Syrus clenched their hands and rested back on the chair.
[Though there are certainly a few things for us to continue to worry about.] Luna’s eyes drifted down the hallway.
Then there was the situation with the boy in the backroom. It had taken a while, but Alba was finally beginning to recover. The long-term damage meant even after Anlesa’s healing, he was never perfect, but he managed to hold on.
Of course, the boy’s situation was a grim one. The only child of the now-dead former prime minister and mass murderer.
Lord Hall and Havier had a solution for the boy. When the formal announcement of what happened to Abea was sent to the city, along with suspected crimes, there was an announcement that the remaining family would be questioned with the exception of children, with a further comment that Abea’s son had been suffering from long-term poisoning.
That was the only snippet of information that was given about Alba, and the public was left to guess with the obvious clues what that information meant.
[His name wasn’t revealed, but I’m not sure if that matters too much.] (Luna)
[The people who would want to look will do so either way, but at least it means the people who aren’t interested won’t be bothered with the information.] (Syrus)
Anlesa grabbed a book from the small table near the chairs and began reading to pass the time. Most people weren’t exactly in the mood to make conversation. Max and Ethan stayed together in the former's room, allowed to have their own personal space through this chaos.
The voices were quiet, but Syrus overheard one of the staff members come up to Lord Hall in the room above to discuss troubling information. There were issues in rounding up the people from Abea’s organisation, and they had run into extreme difficulties in finding the information they required on the extent of Abea’s activities.
[The problem when the main culprit is dead.] (Syrus)
[...] (Eva)
[It was for the best… he… was a risk.] Luna reiterated the fact they already knew, but in the end, their decisions had consequences. So many leads potentially permanently lost. Abea was a man who kept many secrets close to his chest, which was causing the country great difficulty in finding the remains of his webs.
The only ones who knew best were his secret forces. A massive headache that had been hidden away for decades. Such an organisation did have some leads for them to grab now that the head had been slain. There was bound to be confusion from people within the group, but it still took over a week to catch anything.
Mary didn’t hide anything she learned from the group. Now in a position of power, she was told everything about the investigations, and, potentially going against the advisor's suggestions, she told her small group of friends and acquaintances about what was happening.
Anlesa couldn’t tell if this was a way for her to release stress or simply something she did because she didn’t want to leave the people who had helped so much in the dark.
A few theories of Anlesa were confirmed as somewhat true. Abea had built this organisation mostly after the plague, with a skeleton likely existing beforehand. It was pitched to the people who joined it as the country’s special unit, designed for espionage and routeing problems before they emerged.
Such words only made Luna frown. People brought in to protect the country? Clearly, they hadn’t kept to that promise. She could only imagine how many innocent people were murdered who were stated to be ‘causes of problems’.
She understood the methods. For people who could be more conflicted, keep them away from the darker missions or have them work in other countries, or if they were too problematic, then silencing them would be a solution. Then there was the matter of time; methods could be used to erode a person’s morals. All plenty of possible outcomes that would explain the situation perfectly!
That was what Luna told herself anyway.
In truth, she just wanted a nice reason that would make sense. For why so many people follow such a cruel man? Her thoughts did contain truths, but thinking about it also made her remember her time at the church, where, in its own ways, they eroded her morals and view of the world.
Despite their trying, their thoughts continued to circle the incident. So much was unknown, so much was unfair.
[Was it really just to kill the royal family?] Eva asked her question to no one, but her sisters gave their opinions anyway. The whole situation was still weighing on her, the desire to have wished she could have done more, but such a possibility would’ve required action years ago.
[Is it better or worse if it was?] Luna asked with an ominous tone.
[I…] Eva’s curious mind had already thought of the options, and she knew the pain of Luna’s words.
[Let’s not question it. It’s ugly either way.] Syrus butted in to stop them from saying the words aloud. Because she knew that would only make Luna and Eva feel worse.
Whether thousands of people died because the man despised people with those attributes or if they were killed simply as scapegoats, an excuse for the murder of the royal family. Either option was fundamentally horrifying for Anlesa.
[...] (Eva) (Luna) (Syrus)
Despite being victorious, Anlesa was tired. Not from any physical pain, but the sheer mental exhaustion of this situation plagued their minds.
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