[Fiore's castle, dungeons]
"So, are you ready to tell me? Why did you lie?" Emily asked nicely.
"Well, I just thought that I don't deserve to live, you know? I betrayed the Jackson Clan for my own selfish desire. I joined an organisation that annihilated the entire clan. I almost killed Zack and Kate and I was even in the plan to capture you. I killed tons as well. I need to be punished." Erik explained. He paused and took a deep breath, "So, I lied on purpose to get my punishment, my execution. Also, making Zack hate me is a good thing, at least he wouldn't be sad if I did get executed. It's like killing two birds with one stone."
Emily's impression of Erik had changed completely. She did not know that he was this selfless. When she first met him, she thought he was just a cruel maniac, just like those other phantoms.
However, he was not.
He was different.
"Hey, if I can get you out of this execution... Do you want to work under me?" Emily asked shyly.
"Pfft— Work under you?" Erik snorted.
"Is that a no?" Emily asked as she shot him a droll look. She then crossed her arms and said sourly, "Fine, whatever."
"Come on, now. No, I was just surprised." Erik replied, "Well, I'll be a free man if I were to get away from the execution. There's no place I could go. Phantom has probably decided to throw me away. So, why not?"
"Phantom threw you away?" Emily repeated.
"Yeah, you can say they had 'ditched' me, that's how the 21st century says it, right?" He said with a grin.
He then lowered his gaze onto the cold ground, "I was just their pawn, to begin with, I'm not that strong as compared to the others. I'm not that special as well. So, I can be replaced."
"Oh." She choked out through the thick depressed air.
"Since you said that you will work under me, I'll get you out," Emily announced as she stood up. She patted her pants to clean the dirt off them.
She headed for the gate and before she left, she said, "Just wait for me, alright? I'll definitely figure something out."
Emily did not have a strong presence, she was not even physically strong, but somehow she had really bright and strong eyes. It was as if there were tiny flames in her eyes.
Emily's eyes were similar to Lilian's.
Looking at her eyes, Erik could not help but trust her. Somehow, her determination had made him felt something... And right now, he did not feel like dying.
...He wants to turn into a new leaf under Emily's watch.
Emily walked out of the dungeons to met Jai and Ben, but she was surprised that Beck was also there.
"Emily, you alright?" Beck came rushing towards her just as she stepped one foot outside.
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I got Erik admitted that he lied."
Ben swung his arm over her shoulder and said, "Way the go, Emily. So, I guess we are heading to Zack's room now?"
"Yeah." She replied with a serious look on her face.
"Okay, let's go then," Ben said as he guided her while having his arm slung over her.
"Wait, the majesty did say that Zack is not in the mood to talk." Jai reminded as he followed behind with Beck.
"But, I guess we can still try, right?" Emily fought back with a hint of hope in her voice.
"That's true." Beck agreed.
Jai shook his head and sighed, "Honestly, I can't believe you all just threw his majesty's words out of the window. Sometimes I get surprised when you guys actually completed the missions given by the king since you all rarely listened to him."
"It's not fun if you follow every single order," Ben said with a grin hanging on the side of his mouth.
[Fiore's castle, Zack's room]
The four of them — Emily, Jai, Ben and Beck, had reached Zack's room after walking around the castle, which was more like a labyrinth to Emily. It was still surprising to hear that the three had no problem finding their way through this ancient structure.
Emily took a deep breath and gave the door a couple of knocks, but there was no response.
She did it once more while saying, "It's me, Emily. Can you open the door?"
Again, not a single response.
"Zack, I'll be honest. I've come here to talk about Erik, but this is something you want to hear." Emily persuaded further, but that was not enough.
"Come on, Zack. This is imp—" Just as her voice began to sound more desperate, Ben stopped her, "Hold on, I got an idea. Wait for me here."
All of a sudden, he disappeared in front of her.
And, the next thing Emily heard was a thud coming from the room and Zack saying, "What the—"
A few seconds after, the door swung open and Ben was behind it.
He grinned and said, "Ta-da."
Zack came up behind him with a rather depressed expression, "...You can't just break in like that."
"I didn't, your window just happened to be unlocked." Ben corrected while retaining his grin.
Zack rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed, head first.
"I really want to be alone, right now."
"Alright. I'll wait here till you're really to talk." Emily said as she sat beside the wooden door.
"Princess, the floor isn't clean," Jai said as he pulled Emily up.
"It's okay, Jai. It isn't my first time sitting on the floor." She replied as she gave him a smile, "But thanks for looking out for me." She pulled herself out of his grip and plopped herself on the ground.
However, Jai stopped her once more.
He shook his head and let out a sigh, "Well, guess I have no choice." He then pulled out a silk napkin in one swift motion and laid it on the ground, "There you go."
"Oh wow." She thought as she stared at the white fabric, "Why is he acting as if my bum is made out of diamonds or something."
Emily then sat on the ground... On the napkin.
A minute has passed and Zack still refused to move an inch from his bed.
Another five minutes has passed, and another and another and another...
And another.
"Seriously, you're still here." Zack groaned as he turned toward the door.
"Mm-hm," Emily said as she retained her smile. "Zack, you're ready to talk?" She asked in the sweetest voice.
"Yeah." He replied with a hint of sadness
Emily walked into his room and sat on the carpeted floor while Zack pushes himself off the bed and onto the ground to join her.
However, when the three other was about to come in, Zack asked if they could wait outside because he did not feel comfortable with that many people in his room.
They accepted his request and decided to wait for Emily outside.
"So, what do you want to say?" Zack asked as he sat down next to her.
"Well, I've talked to Erik and he told me that he had lied about him killing the 'two survivors'. Those two survivors didn't exist, to begin with." Emily explained as she looked at Zack for his reaction.
When he heard that, he was a little dumbfounded.
"...Why?" He questioned as he shifted his attention to the ground.
"He wanted to be executed as a punishment for all the crimes he did and if he were to be executed, he did not want you to feel sad. So, he decided to lie, in order to make you hate him. That way, his death would not sadden the two of you." She answered as she hugged her knees close to her chests.
Saying that made her feel a little melancholic. Even though that act was indeed selfless, it was also just sad.
"...He's so stupid," Zack muttered under his breath.
"I guess he likes you guys so much that he didn't want you two to feel sad for him," Emily said with a sad smile. She took a deep breath and asked, "So, do you want to vouch for him? You can save him from the execution."
Zack said nothing in the first few seconds. He was considering whether he should save his older cousin. He had the ability to save Erik if he wanted to. Just saying: 'he was involved with us', was literally the key to freeing Erik from his execution.
Emily was sure that after listening to that, Zack would change his mind.
However, some people can be unpredictable.
And he was one of them.
With his head hung down, Zack shook his head, "No."
Hearing that made Emily's heart sank. She was sure that he would say: 'yes'. Puzzled, she stuttered in disbelief, "W-What—Why?"
Kate joined in as she asked desperately, "...Yeah, why, Zack?"
Kate did not what happened entirely, but one thing she knew for sure was that Zack had a say in Erik's execution.
"He was part of the organisation that destroyed the Jackson clan, including my parents. He betrayed us! He almost killed both Kate and me! Not only that he killed countless! For that filthy organisation! ...He deserved to be punished! And since he agreed to die already, we can just give it to him." Zack replied in such a harsh tone that Emily could barely recognise him. His eyes were scary, they showed nothing but hatred.
Looking at how Zack reacted, Emily wanted him to snap out of it. She wanted him to know that Erik was not a good guy, but that does not mean that he should just die like that.
After all, no matter how bad of a guy Erik was, his life was still a life.
Zack had the opportunity to decide on the involvement of Erik with the Jackson's clan. Erik was involved but Zack lied in the heat of the moment to get his cousin executed.
Isn't that the same as murder?
"...I get it," Emily said she stood up. "You know, when people are upset, they tend to forget about the good side of people and only criticise the bad side of them."
"Zack, I want to let you know that I get it you lied about Erik's involvement because you're angry. But, that lie is going to lead to his death. If that's the case, aren't you acting somewhat like a murderer?" Emily questioned as she headed for the door.
Zack did not reply, so Emily continued, "I thought you had questions you wanted to ask him, like why did he join the Phantom. If he dies, you wouldn't know the reason, you know?"
Just before she left, she questioned him, "...What if despite everything that Erik said, he actually did not want to die? What if he..."
"Wanted to change?"