'More walking! And plus it stinks! I'll sneak into the royal bathes when I come back in the palace. I hope they'll believe the kid, I saw nothing, nor did he!' Thought Prem, torturing his mind to endure the pain in his legs.
After twenty minutes, they saw multiple groups arriving south. All of them wore a plain smile and goods that weren't theirs in the first place. The soldiers used the empty area to fill their pockets with anything they found in abandoned mentions.
The stabbed dead bodies on their way and when they noticed the four, they made hand signal.
Jaggar and Picco made one hand gesture to identify themselves as soldiers. Putting their right hand to their head, it meant they hadn't gone savage. Plus the royal servant behind them helped a lot at not being killed on the spot. Two guards were detached from the main group to escort the team to the palace.
On their way, they saw multiple families being expelled of their houses. Most citizen took refuge under the first house they had at hand, while other were owners, but still expelled, as an excuse for plunder.
They became bystander of violences against the Dayal family on their way back. The kid were hit while the mother brought in a rear alley. Her screams did not stop any of the soldiers nearby. It made things even more exciting.
Keith had no visual, but the tearing yells had many similarities with his mother's. They had to ignore it all, it was none of their business. 'Can't you make this noise stop, Mister Show? I don't like it. It hurts my heart, I can't explain why.' He said to the monster, but the shadow was helpless under the bright sun.
'I can cover your ears. Nothing more for the moment.' He said as small particles engulfed in the kid's ears, the cold made him calm down a little and the following silence too. Things were calm anew, Jaggar even proposed a piggy ride.
The soldier was the most tired of the four. His peace of mind was shattered but thankfully the lunatics seemed done for. They hadn't spotted one ever since they woke up.
Once they reached the inner circle, the heathy part of the city, they all heard multiple conversations concerning the south gate events.
"Did you hear those guards? They said one person slain his way down here, he had a merciless rampage, nothing survived on his way!" Said one.
"How can you be so sure about that? No one really knows what's happening south!" Said the other.
"I am sure of it, because the man inadvertently crossed the soldiers shielding the road, and he continued to kill everyone on his way until he was stopped by the defence unit. He's still alive to tell the tale!" The man replied, followed by many "Ooh" of astonishment.
In the palace's hall, Keith was unexpectedly announced by the servant. "Seven, sorcerer of the king came back unscathed my king! We've defeated evil." Said Prem, eager to take credit.
"And what proof do you have?" Said Kianush, balancing the court's point of view between two distinct sides. Those who knew Keith's power, and those who never tried it.
The kid answered firmly. "I have nothing to prove you. I came back with those two soldiers that can say much about our trip in the southern area, nothing back there is still alive nor any lunatics still stands. I would like to rest in my room." He was tired, mostly because digestion was a slow and energy consuming process.
No plan involved Show's existence to be revealed. Why bothering giving a proof then? The king still had plans to get rid of the kid. That's why. Of course the question came from his main assistant, but to connect the dots there was no need of an expert. Show knew about it, he never lowered his guard, being on the king's line of sight was a daily basis.
They were never treated as saviours. The court had no common thought and their judgement would turn out useless under the king's command.
"Then you shall be escorted to it. Prem, have a day off." Said Chandragupta, making sparks erupt in the servant's eyes.
'It's the second time my king says my name! How fortunate! I'm going to live until I'm a hundred years old.' Thought the servant, deeply moved.
Outside, many soldiers and guard had to go in the southern district to help get rid of the corpses. The place where Keith did his ritual was considered as 'already cleaned' and no one was concerned about it.
Under twenty hours, nearly nine hundred people became lunatics. In total, two thousand and five hundred corpses had to be picked up from their locations. Mutilated bodies were spread on the pavements, some were nowhere to be found, small children had been entirely eaten. Animals fled the area faster than the humans, but they also suffered casualties.
It took four more hours to stop the soldier's rampage in the southern district. They added salt to the wound by aggravating the mood of the citizens, but the soldiers had a higher consideration as for their social class.
And after all. Better give the population a little boost after such a massacre, right? Their mind were marked, scarred with the memory of their brother in arms savagely being eaten by their family. No one in the army was ready for Varanasi's brutal decadence and malicious intents corroded them from the inside.
Violence crept in their mind even though they did not fight. Violence came back in their home and begun breaking down more families.
In the evening, Foresee came to speak with Keith.
"We need to go dark one, your fate is reaching its limit and I can't allow it. We must run away from this doomed city." She whispered.
"What do you mean? Everything is over, can't I have some rest or at least a reward? I've planned to go by myself elsewhere anyway. Don't mess with my plans." Said Keith, not worried but instead annoyed by her irruption.
"I wish I had seen it before, please trust me, troubles will rain, the moon will betray you because you've seen the light too early!" She insisted, her tone became unstable and tears soon fell on her cheeks. "I promise to give you a new vessel, the one I'm growing in my womb, it'll be a quality one, but I beg you come with me, we need to run now."
Keith lift one hand up to ask her to stop speaking, just a minute of silence during which Mister Show said. 'I took her baby. If she knows, she has a grudge and she'll help the king against you. Else, she's not aware of it and says the truth. Want to bet?'
"Foresee." The kid said with a peaceful tone. "Your vessel is no more, under the king's order. You can only save yourself. I know the king is planning something against me. If he manages anything it'll come back a thousand time worse than the lunatics. You know, they sprouted in this city because of me in the first place."
Her face changed into dread the second she learnt about her abortion, then into terror when the kid said he killed five percent of the city's population. Yet she was reluctant.
"That can't be. I am still willing to exit this place right away, with you." Her resolution made an awkward tension in the room Keith did his best to negate. He undressed. His mask fell on the floor and he stared at her, stark naked.
"I... Killed my father, and ate both my parents. Those lumps of meat you're dragging under your dress are becoming more and more appetizing. You may be my next meal out here. I know you don't want to be protected from me and I hardly understand your motives. But if you stay here, you'll suffer more than anyone can endure, not because of the king but because of me. Woman, go away and never come back."
Keith did a fine job, because she jolted in her room packed her baggages and asked to go for an excursion to find a special ingredients the next minute, or so it was what she told the guards at the entrance of the palace.
The kid went to his chamber pot and stared at his reflection. He heard. 'How is it, being a monster in plain view?'
"I'm ugly but I can still enjoy some sort of freedom... While you can't."
Later the same night. Eight people entered Keith's room. They had no armors, only long robes and sleeves to hide sharp blades. They pointed their weapons at the kid's bed. A ninth person entered, accompanied by the tenth.
"What is it?" Asked the kid, not moving an inch in his bed.
"Good evening Seven. We are here to end the period of affliction the city is suffering by eliminating all evil from it. I am sorry to announce you that you are included. I'll introduce you to Ravi, sacred of the eighth temple. He'll be your executioner."
'Your what?' Asked Show.
"Is that how you reward me from cleansing your city?" Asked Keith.
"You've taken your due when you stole the two precious gemstones from my panther fur cape. Take him." The king said before disappearing.
The nine men's movements were connected to each other. Their fluid movements were like a snake's embrace. Any bad movement and Keith's throat was done for.
"It's not how it's supposed to end." The kid said, beginning to cry. "At least give me one hand for god's sake." 'What freaking gemstones? Did you really take something from him, wasn't it bluff?' He asked. 'No I had to use something precious to heal your eyes, they were too damaged, little one.'
'I saw the light too early, huh... And the one watching me from above is betraying me.' He pondered on Foresee's words. The eight priests around him sang prayers that had no meaning to the boy who was less able to walk with all his noise around him.
An iron glove was offered to Keith, it was to protect the one guiding the kid to his final place. Show was stressed because he already knew the way they had taken.
The temperature rose as they all entered the slaughterhouse near the palace. The kid was brought in front of the deep well. The place was crowded, not only because the butchers hired to clean the dead mess were overbooked, but also because it was a public execution.
The king was standing on the other side of the hole, waiting while his assistant Kianush lifted the mask.
Many were horrified to the kid's appearance. Keith spoke.
"You better not be here when I come back"
Keith spat on Kianush's clothes and Ravi decapitated the kid. With a kick, both parts were thrown in the hellish hole.