The Midnight Leave: What It Means to Be Human

Axis stared at Card’s held out hand in hesitation, showing no intention of shaking it. Honestly, Axis didn’t even know where to begin; it was confirmed that they shared the same enemy, but they had entirely different goals, and on top of that, though they seemed to know Axis and Demkil all too well, Axis still knew nothing about them. Yet, Card stubbornly kept his hand out, patiently waiting for Axis to take it. Before Axis could say anything, Vilda cut in between them.

“I knew this was what you were up to, Card! You plan to get a child involved with this coup of yours?!”

“I’m not getting him involved,” Card replied to Vilda, just then retracting his hand as he recognized that further discussion was required. “He’s already involved. Demkil, as it stands, will keep hunting Axis down until he surrenders, which won’t happen, so they’ll exhaust every possible resource to defeat, or at least detain him. Demkil has too many other problems to be wasting resources like that, which is why we have to take over, and help the people perceive the real problems that they’ll be facing.”

“I’ve heard all of that before, Card! That still doesn’t make it acceptable! Dragging a child into a civil war, whether he’s the Prince or not, is just wrong!”

“You’re not wrong. He shouldn’t have to get involved, but it’s too late. I’m sure he’s told you that himself, didn’t he?”

Card’s words caused Vilda to freeze up, recalling the argument she had with both Axis and Vena. It must have killed the remaining energy she had to argue with, because her shoulders slumping as she turned away signified her yielding to Card’s reasoning. Still, Card found it necessary to once again close the argument.

“I appreciate how concerned you feel towards him, but since the start of our cooperation, you made it a point to declare you didn’t want to get too involved in Demkil’s affairs. You’ve succeeded in your mission in bringing him to us along with the others, so the rest has nothing to do with you. Does that make sense?”

“Hey!” Axis suddenly cut in, triggered by what Card said. “Don’t talk to her like that! She risked her life to save me from that bastard Swinger, and even as shit escalated beyond her expectations, she didn’t abandon me! She deserves much more gratitude than you’re giving!”

“Axis,” Vilda tried to deescalate, “it’s fine. Please calm yourself…”

“No, it’s not fine! Saying this has ‘nothing to do with you’ is an insult! It’s not something you should say to someone who has done so much for you! That’s why…”

Axis’s words died in his throat when he realized that his anger against Card was actually towards himself. Card had realized it as well, but still turned to Vilda.

“Listen, I apologize for that. I didn’t mean to make it seem as if you should be completely uninvolved. If you want to fully join our efforts, you’re always welcome to. It’s your choice, and it’s Axis’s choice as well, whether or not he wants to work with us.”

Both Axis and Vilda were taken aback by Card’s sudden apologies, though for different reasons. Regardless, to prevent an awkward atmosphere from lingering, Axis brought up an important point.

“Anyway, you guys want me to help you, but I don’t even know who you guys are.”

“Huh?” Card seemed puzzled. “You don’t know who we are?”

“Of course not! I just met you a couple of days ago! In fact, I’ve known everyone in this room for only a couple of days…”

Card glanced back at Seraf with a raised brow, raising a silent question. Seraf only shook his head, as if not understanding. Card looked back at Axis apologetically.

“Apologies for that. I’m surprised you’ve never heard about us, though I could guess why that would be the case. I’m known as the ‘Wild Card of Demkil,’ but people just call me Card.”

Axis tried not to glare and express his disappointment.

“That’s definitely a name you made up… Hold on, you’re giving me your handle instead of your name?!”

“I’m better known by that name than any other.”

Axis could only sigh away his vexation.

“Sure… Fine, whatever. What about Seraf? From what I can tell, he at least used to be a Slayer.”

“He still is, but Demkil will no longer accept him. Of course, that’s not the reason he fights anyway.”

Axis glanced at Seraf while Card spoke, but he just stood there as if he wasn’t a part of the conversation.

“So… Why can’t he speak for himself?”

“He has a difficult time speaking with others,” Card answered, as if prepared in advance for the question. “You can consider it a type of trauma. That’s why I tend to answer complex questions for him, so he doesn’t have to strain himself. Though, he will call me out if I get anything wrong.”

Seraf nodded in agreement behind Card. It annoyed Axis, especially since Seraf was able to talk to him more freely a couple of days ago. Thinking back on it suddenly reminded Axis of the vision he had, the one that caused Seraf’s behavior to change. However, before he could even bring it up, Card dropped a sudden revelation upon him that made him forget entirely about it for the moment.

“You see, both of us were taken in by the late Queen of Slayers, Terra Demkil, your mother.”

“Huh?!” Axis reacted suddenly enough to cause the two Elves to jump up as well.

“So,” Card simply continued as if what he said wasn’t as monumental as it seemed, “you can consider Seraph and I your kinfolk.”

“And you expect me just to believe you?!” Axis pushed back. “First, you said you were enemies of Demkil, now you’re saying that you’re actually part of the royal family?! This all could be some kind of trap, for all I know!”

Card gestured with a hand for Axis to calm himself, but Axis would have ignored it and kept going if Vilda hadn’t gently placed her hand on his shoulder. With a nod of appreciation towards Vilda, Card focused back on Axis.

“First, it’s smart of you not to just believe what others tell you, so I don’t blame you for your… Seraf, what’s the word?”

“‘Skepticism,’” Seraf answered.

“‘Skepticism,’ that’s exactly the word I was thinking of! Thank you!”

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

“Anyway,” Card continued with Axis, “I don’t blame you for your skepticism. But I also said that the current Demkil is our enemy. After all, just like yourself, Seraf and I were rejected by them as well. You see, the three of us are true Demkils.”

“That doesn’t make sense…” Axis argued. “Didn’t you say you were both taken in by my mother, as in, adopted?”

“Being a Demkil has very little, almost nothing to do with blood. It’s about the spirit. You see, the King and his supporters treat the name as a fancy title they can throw around to exert their power, and that’s why they’re not true Demkils. To be a true Demkil, you have to have the spirit of one, just like your mother had, and the spirit within her was passed onto you.”

Axis paused, looking away from Card, considering what he said and how much should have been taken at face value. He then noticed that, at some point during the conversation, a couple of people randomly appeared to fix the door to the old building. Though, they clearly stopped to listen as the conversation had gotten interesting, only just getting back to work as soon as Axis noticed them. He shook his head to focus back on the topic.

“But…”

Of course, there was one thing that contradicted all of what Card said; it was the one thing that had been beaten into Axis again and again…

“How do you know this spirit is really within me?” Axis turned back to him with such a question. “I was born a Monster, apparently…”

“I thought you don’t just believe what others tell you, but you believed that?”

Axis narrowed his eyes at Card, and Card once again gestured, this time for Axis to wait and let him finish.

“To answer your question, ‘the eyes are windows to the soul.’”

Axis’s eyes proceeded to widen upon hearing those words, again, just as Card anticipated.

“That’s…”

“Yeah, it’s one of the late Queen’s favorite phrases. In other words, I can see it in your eyes, Axis. You are one of us. For more proof, you’ve seen it too, haven’t you: the ‘Dead End’ of this world?”

Axis didn’t respond verbally, but the expression on his face gave away the answer that Card expected. Meanwhile, the Elves were left clueless as to what exactly he was referring to, and Seraf was still as straight-faced as before while Card continued.

“Whatever causes it is our real enemy, the antagonist of our story. We’ve got to overthrow the King, and get Demkil in a better place to prepare for the true threat. Otherwise, we’re all fucked. Does that make any sense? Any questions at all?”

Card actually posed the question to everyone there, but there was silence as they all waited for Axis to respond first. The people working on the door even stopped once again, curious about how he was going to react to everything they all had heard. As the silence grew heavy enough to crush a mammoth, Axis could only think of one last question to ask Card before their conversation could conclude.

“Yeah, I got one more for you. It’s a question no one else has been able or willing to answer, so… What exactly does it mean to be Human?”