"Would you shut the hell up?" Lia finally hissed, as the warmth of a teacher faded from her voice and face. "I don't want to be here any more than you do."
She dropped into the chair beside an empty seat. A glass of scotch sat waiting there, untouched. Lia stared at it with a mix of shame and grief. It seemed as though the amber liquid was a window to another life.
"I suppose this was your doing too, Jax?" she muttered.
"Yup. Aiden's favorite drink," Jax replied, his grin curled to a snarl. "He'd be here sipping it right next to you if you hadn't given that damned order."
"Now, now, let's all calm down," Aisha interjected gently. A lavender bush sprouted into a low hedge behind the table as if to provide some privacy, its fragrance soothing. "Lavender helps with anxiety," she added with her trademark smile.
Kez joined them, his wolf padding to his feet, the crow bristling on his shoulder. "Look, Jax. Lia didn't give us an order. We had no leader. We were anarchists from the start. We did what we had to."
Levi blinked back into the physical world, mumbling, "I barely knew the guy, but I knew he had to be stopped."
Lia's voice cracked. "Jax, listen. We all loved Aiden. He was the face of the revolution, the strongest of us all. We were engaged!" Tears spilled as the words tumbled out. "But we did what we had to. Look around you — our ideals were realized. People are happy, Jax!"
The room trembled faintly as Jax glared at them, rage simmering. Kez's crow flared its wings, and the wolf growled low under the table, it's fur standing on end like needles. The Holo-communicator beside Levi started flickering rapidly, like tiny flashes of lightening in a jar.
"Let's get this over with before I get too emotional," Jax said with a sarcastic smile. He stood, raising his mug high. "To Aiden."
The rest of The Hand echoed the toast. Each took a sip, then poured a measure into the glass at the empty seat.
Just then, the taverns lights shut off and the holo communicator burst to life with a screech of static that made every person in the tavern flinch. The projection bloomed to life in the center of the room. A hooded man sat upon a throne of stone and rubble. Silence stretched, heavy and eternal, until he spoke.
"Are you sick of equality? His voice was a low rumble that made the scotch in the patrons' glasses ripple. In this new world, we are not created equal!" His voice, growing louder, dripped with malice. He rose, revealing a physique that looked as though it was carved from granite, scar slashing across his torso. Lia couldn't take her eyes off of it, her heart beating wildly inside her chest.
"Why should Ascendants like myself be equal to normal humans? Even among Ascendants, there were classes during the revolution. And now we throw it all away because a handful of people said so? Today, I say enough!"
His voice thundered even louder with each word. "I announce the beginning of a new age — the age of the Apex Faction! Those of you who are strong, join me before it's too late. I will rule this world, and I am coming for the heads of The Hand and all their allies!"
The transmission cut. Silence stretched, eternal. Aisha's plants shook violently as she collapsed to her knees, tears streaming. Lia sat frozen, staring at the hologram, barely breathing. Jax buried his head in his hands. Kez stroked his crow, face twisted in a solemn frown.
The silence ensued for what felt like an eternity until Levi's eyes flickered a purple hue and he blurted out, "Table Mountain. South Africa."
Jax shot to his feet, grabbing Levi by the hoodie and hauling him into the air. "What the hell did you just say, boy?" The earth trembled beneath them.
Two vines lashed out, yanking them apart and forcing them back into their seats. "This is not the time or place, Jax," Aisha said firmly.
"It's unmistakably Aiden!" Jax snarled. "And Table Mountain is where our final battle ended!"
"What do we do now?" Kez asked, calm but grave.
"Lia?" he pressed. Silence.
For the first time in her life, Lia had no answers. In fact, she could barely comprehend what she had just seen. The man she loved, the man she struck down with her own hands, who she watched take his last breath was standing there, threatening to end her life as well as the lives of her comrades. Her mind and her heart, completely overwhelmed....
"LIA?!"
Before anyone could react, Lia's body went limp. She collapsed from her chair.