Drew and Soren had made their way down to the first-floor cafeteria where Rider awaited their arrival. The Unicron looked just as terrible as the duo did. His silver hair had lost its luster and dark eye bags hung under his eyes hiding behind the smudges of his glasses. To Drew, this wasn’t too shocking but Rider looked even more miserable than he typically did in the dorms.
“So this is who you said wanted to talk to me.” Rider said lazily looking at Soren.
Despite the manner of his statement, Soren could feel the hostility within his words.
It had been many years since he last spoke with Rider but after what had happened to Rider, Soren believed that he should at least try to make amends. He didn’t want to create the thing that nearly destroyed the Khan family in the past and yet the Khan family’s actions were doing just that.
Without realizing it, the Khan family had created an enemy out of their own. Soren became aware of that but his family always told him to stay away from Rider. Stay away because Rider had that cursed Ability. But could Rider control the Abilities he was born with? Of course not! The elders of the family were foolish and they needed someone to blame. A scapegoat.
Rider was that scapegoat.
A target of their past anger and resentment towards Puppeteers.
If Soren had continued listening to those very elders, he probably would’ve thought the same way as them. Potentially worse.
Rider’s treatment was unjust.
It was too cruel.
“What does the future head of the Khan family have to say to me.” Rider scoffed. “You know that I’ve basically cut ties to the Khan family.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” Soren answered bitterly. “But what I wanted to say is that it is too cruel.”
“Oh really?” Rider replied in probably the sassiest tone Drew had ever heard come out of his mouth. “Says the person who ratted me out because of my Ability after I saved his ass from falling off a cliff.”
Soren grits his teeth.
It was understandable that Rider would blame him because Soren was the one who created this mess.
“I-“ Soren stuttered. “I was ignorant. I didn’t know any better!”
Rider retorted, “Yes, but you knew our family history! You knew how much the Elders hated Puppeteers!”
“Ha,” Soren laughed. “Those Elders are still stuck with their old grudges. It’s so pointless that they even took it out on you. You, a kid like myself at the time, who hadn’t done a single thing.”
“And because of that very grudge, I was expelled from the family. But,” Rider smiled. “It was better than being glared at with scornful eyes. Being considered a monster by others.”
Soren was taken aback by Rider’s comment. He couldn’t say a thing.
“I can’t apologize enough for what the family has done to you Rider.” Soren continued with a bitter expression. “Not even allowing back in would be enough either.”
“It’s fine,” Rider sighed patting Soren on the shoulder. “I knew you didn’t have any bad intentions when you told the Elders about what happened. It’s not your fault for not knowing. I don’t resent you for that at all. Besides, I’m quite content with my life right now. “
“Are you sure?”
Rider shrugged.
“It’s fine. The problem is with the Elders and I want nothing to do with them nor the corruption in our family.”
Rider paused.
“You know, Soren, despite how much of a wreck the Khan’s are, with a person like yourself, I think there’s hope for change.”
“Why?!” Soren wailed, his calm demeanor breaking down. “After what I did…why?!”
Rider couldn’t help but sigh.
“Geez, Soren. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a half-decent guy. You’re not the one at fault here but you did give me a nice apology. Better now than never. Let bygones be bygones.”
“Rider-“
Soren had finally broken down into tears.
“I’m seriously terrible at comforting others.” Rider muttered to himself. “Hey Drew, you got some tissues on ya for this crying mess?”
“Sorry,” Drew replied. “My pockets are empty. I’ll go grab some for him. You two finish your heart-to-heart talk.”
With that, Drew left the scene smiling. Smiling that the two family members were reconciling after many years apart. He was a bit envious that
“Hey, Soren.” Rider called to the young heir who had completely ruined his image. “If you really feel this guilty about what happened then change our stupid family mindset. Defeat those rigid elders for me will you?”
Soren stopped sniffling.
“How so-“ Soren stammered.
“I think you should stop having the family make those decisions for you. You need to start making your own. Don’t let them use you as a puppet. Don’t allow yourself to dance to their tune. To be honest, I’m not even sure what’ll happen but even then, whatever actions we take now will shape the outcome, at least somewhat, into what we want it to be.”
>>>
Soren had had his life planned out by the Khan’s ever since he was young. Hence he’s never made his own decisions. Everything he did was dictated according to the Khan’s will. As a result, Soren desperately tried to meet their expectation without questioning their motives. He was their lifeless puppet, a hollow shell for them to impose their ideals. A way for them to indirectly maintain control, to maintain the power they had held onto for so long.
Rider was different. Rider questioned everything. He questioned the Elders. Their philosophy. Their intentions. His curiosity is what made him stand out in the family. He was their black sheep. Their black Unicron. Then, Rider awoke his ability and he saw his fate. His endless curiosity allowed him to understand to consequences of him being a Puppeteer. For years, he feared being found out, afraid of his outcome.
But then, his fears became reality the moment he saved young, oblivious Soren from that falling cliff.
Soren had told the Elders about Rider.
He described the silver strings. How delicate they looked but the immense amount of strength they contained within them. How they danced to the movements of Rider’s hands akin to that of a conductor instructing an orchestra. Yet, in spite of Soren’s praises, the Elders remained unchanged.
And so, later that day Rider was called into the Great Hall. All nine Elders in their seats of honor glaring down upon young Rider. Soren, cowering behind his father, the Head of the Khan Family, who sat right in the middle.
"Rider Sanin Khan-" Soren heard his father's voice boom but other than that, he couldn't hear anything else. He couldn't even recall it if he wanted to.
Soren thought he was doing a Rider a favor, giving him the honor he deserved for saving his life but all he received was condemnation in return. A few days later, Rider was no longer to be seen wandering through the halls of the Khan Family Manor.
From then on, Soren spent his days trying to forget. Trying to forget what he had done, succumbing to the family's will. Yet, guilt wouldn't leave him. There was always a small place in his mind where the thought lingered.
Then the opportunity came a decade later.
Drew Li.
Drew happened to know Rider who was coincidentally doing volunteer work at the South Wall Hospital. Drew also happened to be in the same friend group as Rider and Soren saw an opportunity. An opportunity to forgive Rider for what he did. Thus, Soren intentionally provoked Drew with a challenge. From the very beginning, Soren intended to apologize to Rider while Drew was the means to his goal. However, seeing Drew's background, he intended to rope him over to his side. Despite his win, Soren knew that Drew was destined to go farther. He could see it and who better for Drew to join hands with than Snow. The miracle maker, the defier of odds, the innovator. Thus, Soren willingly gave up that bet and declared his win as a loss.
He was finally able to settle what he couldn't all those years ago.
He was free from the shackles of guilt.
He felt relief.
>>>
Drew ran back with a handful of tissue for Soren who had stopped his embarrassing crying session.
"You still need these?" Drew asked glancing down at the crumpled tissues.
Soren shook his head side to side, "No. I'm fine. I'll be taking my leave then and I'll keep what you said in mind, Rider."
"Will do," Rider smirked. "I'll see you 'round."
"See you."
With that, Soren left the scene, leaving only Drew and Rider alone in the hallway where only silence remained as their company.
"Did he tell you everything?" Rider asked glancing over at Drew.
"Only parts," Drew shrugged. "Your conversation with him right now made everything clear to me."
"Aren't you mad? About me hiding about all this and stuff?"
"No. It would be extremely petty of me to get angry at you over something like this."
To be fair, Drew had a number of secrets he was hiding so he wasn't really mad about Rider hiding a few of his own. It really seemed like he wanted to get away from his past but today changed that. He and Soren were able to face each other for the first time in what Drew assumed to be years, confront their past, and make amends. While there does seem to be some lingering resentment, Drew noticed that both Rider and Soren felt relieved.
"Are you sure? I mean my true Position is one that everyone despises."
"So what. I mean it's not like you can choose what Abilities you're born with. If anything, your family and society are the ones who are at fault. They've classified what Abilities and Positions are good and bad. I mean, I'm no different than you. I was born with [Aegis], the lowest of all Abilities there are in existence."
"[Aegis]!" Rider exclaimed. Rider knew that Drew had a Defense-Type Ability on him but he never thought it would be [Aegis]. Drew had never explicitly mentioned it to anyone other than his buddies from Glass Road.
Drew laughed.
"Yeah. That's my Ability."
"Well, it makes sense now that I think about it. I mean, you literally asked about it in class. Damn, I can't imagine what you had to go through. Hiding your Position is much easier than hiding your Ability but [Marionette] is definitely easier than [Aegis] to conceal."
"Don't worry about it." Drew continued. "I've received a lot less ridicule about it at Star than I did when I was in Compulsory Education."
Rider was starting to see the dots connect in his mind.
In Compulsory Education, most people tend to be ignorant of Abilities and how they work. They only understand the general ranking of abilities and which ones are considered good or bad. However, Star is different. To get into Star, one must rely on their own Abilities. If a person with a low ranking Ability is able to receive admission to Star, that means that they should not be underestimated. Furthermore, most of the students at Star are much older than those in Compulsory Education; hence, they have some level of maturity to them. On top of that, there were many students with low ranking Abilities at Star so Drew pretty much blended in with the crowd.
"You okay now?"
Drew smiled.
"Of course, I mean I have friends who aren't are so superficial."
Rider chuckled, "Wow, that's a low standard to go by."
However, Rider saw that Drew had frowned a bit. It appeared that he touched a wrong note.
"But I mean it for real," Drew replied. "Thank you for being one of my friends."
Rider nudged Drew with his elbow.
"I should be telling you that."
"Anyhow, I feel like I'm forgetting something."
Somewhere, a few stories above, an elderly Cyclops was sitting in her chair, wondering where exactly the glass bowl she lent disappeared off to.
thanks for the chaper