Darkness. That was all Barry could see; neither did he have any sense of thought in his mind, that is, if he was even alive. The last thing he remembered was stumbling out from the woods back to Shaco’s ruined town looking like a bloodied rag before collapsing from his vengeful attack on Lady Iris for what she had done to Puck.
Eventually, there was a voice muffling in the nothingness. “...oi…come on…” The words were incoherent for a bit until they became more clear. “Thalia, the kid's not waking up. Maybe stabbing him will do the trick; what do you think?”
A moment after hearing that, Barry felt a heavy splash of cold water spill all over his body. This instantly jolted him awake, lifting himself halfway up from the ground. He gasped for air, trying to regulate his breathing while also examining his body for the grievous wounds he had suffered from Lady Iris. “Wha-, where am I!?”
He was totally confused for a moment but quickly calmed down and realized that he was back in his dream realm. Barry laid near a pond, taking notice of Claude and Thalia observing him by his side. “Oh…I'm back here again.” He picked himself off the ground and looked at his mentors wondering the great question. “So…I take it I'm not dead? Or…am I?”
“Kid what we saw during your out lash against that villain; we were pretty confident death was coming to take you.” Claude commented, he then slapped Barry on his back, making him flinch. “But that’s not what happened, surprisingly. You have the moderators to thank for your survival, had that dryad not abided by their rules.”
Acknowledging that he was still alive, Barry felt grateful that he lived to fight another day, but at the same time felt angry at himself. Had the moderators not enforced their rules on Lady Iris, he would have been finished off by her hands. He couldn’t maintain his emotions at the time concerning Puck’s fate, hatred and rage clouded his judgement which resulted in his own defeat. He then thought about Puck’s current condition. “Puck! Do you guys know if he’s-”
“Calm down.” Thalia jumped in, seeing that his emotions were all over the place. Barry decided to take her advice and took a breather. The three sat in silence for a while until Thalia initiated the conversation again once she deemed Barry was ready to listen. “You’re currently back at the elves' homeland; resting and in their care. We can see who or what is near your unconscious body, but no more than that. So in regards to your friend, Puck; we can’t say for certain how he’s doing…”
Barry recalled the moment he left Puck in Shaco’s care; how he chose to ignore Shaco’s call to stay with him and Puck rather than seeking revenge for Puck. If he woke up and found out that Puck died, he wouldn’t forgive himself. “I allowed myself to get swept up in my temper; I shouldn’t have left Puck behind, I should have stayed with him. Maybe there was something else I could have done to help his condition, I don’t know. But…if he died…I’m sure he would have wanted me by his side…”
The frustration of himself showed from the squeezing of his fists and quiet yet seething aura. It was the comforting gesture of Thalia’s hand placed on his shoulder that broke him out of his self-loathing. “Though it's good that you are self-reflecting on your actions. What's done is done, you've avenged your friend by severely wounding the evil dryad. Your feelings at the time were valid, yes, but now you see the perspective on Puck's end. He cares about you, just as much as you care about him. He's a strong Kobold, one that has impressed both me and Claude. Have faith in him.”
“She's right, so stop fixating on the worst and start thinking about what you're going to do once you wake up from your nap.” Claude encouraged, he was familiar with the feeling of self-loathing quite a lot during his past life and didn't want Barry to make it a habit. “I know your team's been worried about you since you've been taken into care. They've been visiting you frequently; well, more notably- h-hey!”
Thalia elbowed Claude's shoulder, throwing him off sentence purposefully. “That’s not a bad idea, and I would suggest the same thing. Perhaps think about how you’re going to explain what happened to your team the best you can.” This was the first time Thalia had seen Barry appear so distraught despite his stoic attitude. She hoped for him to become more comfortable showing a bit more vulnerability to not just them but to his team. Overall, Thalia was proud of him for his current growth as a person.
Barry nodded, siding with what they were saying. “Okay, I’ll stop dwelling on the negative shit and start thinking about what I’m going to say to the others. My team will tell me about Puck’s condition regardless, but like you guys said, I’ll try to be optimistic about Puck’s status.” He held a belief that Puck was just as strong-willed as he was when it came to overcoming great difficulties.
His mentors gave him time to himself while they went on to do some self-training. Barry gave himself an hour to clear his mind and plan out his lines before informing Thalia and Claude that he was going to leave. They reassured him to think positive about Puck and to try not to be hard on himself prior to his reawakening.
The first thing that he sensed upon regaining his self-consciousness of reality, was the comfort of the bed he was laying in. It was the comfiest thing he had ever slept in aside from his favorite couch in Abe’s spectral carriage. Barry opened his eyes slowly, observing his surroundings and acknowledging the nursery room he was stationed in. And sitting on one of the chairs near him was Luna who was snoozing. ‘She must be here to keep an eye on me.’ He assumed.
A couple of minutes passed until Barry decided to say something in order to get Luna to wake up. “Hey, Luna.” He called out a few times.
On his fifth attempt, Luna’s ears managed to pick up the sound of her name being called out and woke up. She looked at Barry with tired eyes, yawning as she placed a hand to cover her mouth. “Oh…Barry, you’re awake…” She said in a soft tone, seemingly unsurprised but then soon realized what she had just said herself. “W-What!? Barry! You’re awake!” A look of astonishment then drew on her face as she hopped off her chair and greeted him by his bed. “H-How are you feeling? Are you still hurt? Should I-”
“I’m all good now. Nothing to worry about, relax.” Barry replied, though he still felt somewhat sore. “Before anything else. Luna, you know what I want to know. So please don’t sugar coat it and give it to me straight.” Luna knew what he was going to ask based on the look of concern forming on her, but gave him her undivided attention. “Is Puck alive?” He asked calmly.
At first Luna gave a hesitant nod to his answer, debating on how best to explain to him about Puck’s situation but inevitably provided him a firm answer of truth. “Yes. Puck is alive; thankfully.” She gave a sigh of relief, pleased of the outcome herself ever since Puck was taken into care as well. “He received immediate health care from some of the healers that helped us during the event challenge at Shaco’s town. So don’t worry about him for now…”
Though Barry was relieved to hear that Puck wasn’t dead, it seemed to him that Luna was still hesitant about sharing something else related to Puck. He chose to let it slide for now, since he was satisfied with hearing the important bit. “Good, thank you for telling me.” He sunk his head deeper in his pillow, settling his mind for a bit in the silence.
“Um…” Luna wanted to let the others know about his awakening but decided to ask him first if he wanted company over or not. “Just as a courtesy; do you want me to let the others know about you waking up? Or would you prefer to rest some more until you’re ready?”
“I think I’ve rested enough. How long have I been sleeping for? A day or two at least, right?” Barry guessed, believing that had to be the case.
Luna looked at him for a second and gave a nervous laugh. “H-Haha…a day you say…uh…” Barry raised a brow, wondering how much longer he could have been out cold. “...it’s been about a…week?”
Barry’s face turned to shock, as he began forcing himself out of the comfort of his cozy bed. “A week!? No, no, I can’t stay here-”
“S-Stop, stop!” Luna shouted while cloning herself to prevent him from getting out of his bed. “We knew you’d act this way, but please, just wait here while the others come and catch you up to speed about what else has been going on. We’ll make it short, I promise.” She insisted.
Though he was reluctant to abide by her words, Barry submitted to them and fell back into his pillows, wearing a frustrated expression. “Fine. You’re lucky this bed is disgustingly comfortable to keep me waiting.” He crossed his arms in such a passive aggressive manner that Luna had to hold herself back from laughing.
After Barry’s given approval, Luna already had one of her clones by Anna’s side to inform her of when Barry woke up. And in about 15 minutes after letting the others know, Barry received more visitors coming in through his door. Entering was Kat, Anna, Fae, and Basil; it was weird to Barry how he didn’t see Ron from amongst the others. “The hardass wakes up from his dreaded nap. What a miracle.” Anna joked, receiving an eye roll from Barry.
“Yeah, a damn miracle I get to live again to hear you talk shit once more.” Barry bantered back which she found amusing. The two scoffed at each other in a friendly manner. Everyone else appeared to be happy to hear him speak again after courting with death days before. “Luna already told me that Puck’s alive, so I assume he’s also still resting. But what about Ron? Where is he?”
The room fell silent, the five of them eyeing each other awkwardly in front of Barry who was puzzled by their whole interaction. “What? Just spit it out; I understand there must have been a lot of crap that happened while I was gone so just say whatever it is you need to say.” Barry asked, giving them the green light.
“Well…” Kat decided to be the one to tell him in a nervous tone. “During the event at the town…me, Luna, and Ron encountered a mysterious mage that…um…” She fidgeted with her hands. “...demanded to take Ron from us. So now he’s in the company of that mage…”
This came as sort of a surprise to Barry; he recalled Ven telling him about the stranger that was stalking them and how he wanted to take Ron away from them for some reason. Barry wondered what was going to become of Ron and for what purpose. “Okay, and did he take off alongside this person? Is he no longer traceable?”
“N-No.” Kat confirmed. “Ron and the mage are currently at one of the inns. Ron was able to convince him to stay for the time because he told him about our progress concerning the prisms.”
Anna then chimed in. “I tried talking to this mage myself about his deal with Ron but he was tight-lipped about his reason. Practically telling me to fuck off and that it wasn’t any of our business. But he does seem very interested in these prisms.” Her thoughts shifted to another matter and figured she might as well inform Barry about it. “Aside from that prick, and going back to Puck…he’s recovered from his fatal condition but he’s not…his usual self anymore.”
And before Barry could say anything, Fae spoke up to provide more clarity. “Before coming here, we told Puck about your awakening but he denied visiting you. In fact, he’s only ever come to visit you once since you got here. I’ve tried providing solace to him about his worries but he insists that your fatal injuries were all his fault.” Barry was taken aback upon hearing this. “Barry, he clearly feels guilty for the events leading to your grim state. No matter what we tell him, Puck immediately contradicts what we say and flips it back on himself. We were hoping you could get through to him instead.”
Barry had an idea of why Puck saw it as his fault for getting Barry hurt in the end regardless of his own intervention. “I see…alright, I’ll have a talk with him once we’re done here. He’s always been worried about my well-being despite me always telling him not to.” He then remembered Shaco and the people that were released to help them. “What about Shaco and the people that assisted us? What happened to them after?”
It was Basil’s turn to explain the following events. “Based on what was told by your party; when all the chaos ended in the cursed forest, this Shaco person presented himself to my clan as the perpetrator for trapping all the lost victims. He is currently held captive, though there is talk about executing him for his actions. We decided to postpone his trial because we wanted you present for when it happens.”
For all that Shaco had done, it was valid for the elves and his victims to want to put him to death for basically enslaving those that wandered into his territory. Despite these people never actually dying, the amount of years these trapped souls had lost was nothing to shrug about. Still, after reading Ophen’s journal in regards to Shaco and hearing his backstory, Barry believed there had to be another way for him to make amends. “Seems like everyone’s been waiting on me for a lot of things for a whole week. Fucking hell…”
Everyone then stood back once they saw Barry pull off the covers and get back on his feet. It was a bit of a wobbly experience for the first few moments now that he was standing on his own, but his body soon adjusted itself. “The first thing that I’m going to do is check in on Puck. But while I’m doing that, Basil, prepare the trial and let me know when it’s time. As for this stranger that wants Ron, he’ll be last on my agenda. Sound good?”
They all agreed and that was that. Basil would leave to inform the council of Barry’s awakening and arrange Shaco’s trial to be taken. Everyone else told Barry of where Puck was and wished him luck on revitalizing the poor Kobold’s weak spirit.
When he left the nursery house, he received stares and praise from the local elves around him. In their eyes, he was the hero that not only unraveled the mystery behind their lost clan members, but also freed them from Shaco's command. Barry wasn’t sure how to react to this type of treatment, it was awkward to him because he didn’t see himself as being someone heroic and also they didn’t know the whole story of why Shaco did what he did. Regardless, he gave simple nods of acknowledgement and rushed off to locate Puck.
The directions given to Barry eventually led him to a place that was high up in one of the treehouses. He figured Puck chose that spot in solitude because it reminded him of his own treehouse back at home. When he arrived at the mid section of the tree, he found a gloomy looking Kobold sitting on a bench looking down at the rest of the homeland. ‘He’s really just been sitting here the majority of the time I’ve been sleeping? This is the first time I’ve seen him look so depressed in a long while…’
Barry wasn’t sure how to approach Puck, but what he did know was that he didn’t like how Puck was being so hard on himself and that had to end. “Hey Puck.” He first called out, thinking it was probably best to announce his return to start. The Kobold flinched at the sound of his voice when he spoke. “Mind if I-” Suddenly Puck hopped off the bench and began making a break for it by sprinting away from the scene. “W-Wait! W-Why are you- Puck!”
Now chasing Puck down, Barry tailed him all around the tree, realizing that Puck was probably incredibly nervous about talking to him. ‘I didn’t think he’d actually try running away from me! This is worse than I thought it was going to be.’ It was now a game of tag with Puck leading Barry higher and higher up, Puck’s agility and small stature showcasing how slippery he can be.
Puck’s pathing would eventually take the two to the last level they could reach, a clearer and more broad view of the landscape below them. Having realized there was no where else for Puck to go, the Kobold spotted a trash bin and saw no other choice but to hide inside. Barry reached the last area to find Puck and emitted his pulse scanner to locate him. His eyes locked on to a familiar figure hiding inside the trash bin, recognizing that it must have been him yet pretended not to notice. “Shoot. I think I lost him…” Barry lied, as he gave up and leaned next to the trash bin.
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There was no reaction from Puck inside his hiding spot, Barry figured he might as well spill out his own thoughts for Puck to listen since the Kobold was too scared to present himself. “I really wanted to hash things out with Puck, it’s too bad that he seems guilty for what happened. I would have expected him to be happy upon seeing me alive again…”
Some light shakes from the trash bin was noticed, Puck hesitated to leap out and admit that he was relieved to see his best friend back from the dead but stopped himself. Barry continued to act oblivious and kept speaking his mind. “I can understand why Puck feels he’s not ready to see me though. I told him to back off when facing Lady Iris but he neglected my warning, having got caught up in his own emotions out of protection for me. But the truth is, I too am at fault for getting swept up in my selfish attempt to avenge him. That’s how I ended up on my death bed; because I couldn’t hold myself back either.”
Sniffling and rustling could be heard next, Barry assumed that Puck was struggling to contain himself from weeping. Taking a heavy sigh to himself, Barry made one more comment that would break Puck out of his shell. “If Puck was here right now, I’d tell him that he’s not to blame for my possible demise. And if he still denies it, then I’d tell him that we both were at least to blame for our actions. We’re like two brothers looking out for each other. But regardless, he shouldn’t feel so guilty for wanting to protect me, just as I wanted to gut the bitch for inflicting harm on him. Our actions had consequences, yeah, but that doesn’t mean we were wrong to feel that way. We just…can’t help ourselves.”
His words appeared to have such an impact on Puck that he abruptly burst out of the bin, scrambling on the floor and cluttering trash all over. “N-No! P-Puck was s-stupid!” The Kobold stuttered, his face full of tears. Barry kept quiet and listened to him. “P-Puck didn’t listen a-and you still got h-hurt in the end. A-All because P-Puck w-wanted to help but P-Puck can’t even do that.”
It felt rough seeing how damaged this must have all been for the little guy, Barry hoped Puck would be able to forgive himself. “You’ve been plenty helpful during our whole journey Puck, you kickass all the time when we face off against our enemies. However, when you rushed in to help me, despite knowing you could die at any given moment, you wanted to prove to me how strong you’ve grown and that I should stop telling you to put yourself in even greater danger. But Puck, listen, there’s nothing for you to prove; me and everyone in our team acknowledges your growth. Yet even still, I’m always going to be concerned for your safety, no matter what.”
It was touching to hear Barry praise him, however, Puck was still troubled by how he acted and feared that the same thing would happen again. “B-But Puck’s scared that you might die if Puck doesn’t do anything. How is Puck supposed to know if you’ll be safe from the bad guys? How will Puck know if it’s okay or not to help you?”
“That’s another thing Puck. We can’t always see into the future or predict exactly what will happen, it makes you question what the right thing is to do in certain situations. However, what we can do to make things work somewhat in our favor is by controlling our emotions and thoughts.” At this point, Puck had begun to calm down, sitting still and quietly listening to him. “It sucks when everything doesn’t go your way or as planned, but it would suck even more if we let ourselves succumb to trauma and fear over one frightful event. I let my rage take control when I saw you hurt when I should have been by your side, so I am to blame for getting myself hurt, not you. Shit happens Puck; we can reflect on our actions, but not to the point of total dread.”
Kneeling and looking at Puck, Barry patted him on the head as he shared his last words of encouragement. “ I’m not mad at you for ignoring me. Because at the end of the day, we’re both just looking out for each other. And I know for a fact that this won’t be the last time we’ll encounter something this disastrous. So let’s both agree that if we act out of line for the intention of helping each other, that’ll we’ll pull through and survive. Got it?”
The fire that kindled inside of Puck was re-ignited, he went in for a hug with uplifting spirits, accepting Barry’s pact. “Okay…Puck understands…Puck’ll try to make better decisions. And Puck is happy to see you alive again.”
“Same here, bud. I’m glad to see you up. I hoped you’d tough it out in the end; who would be there to smoke fire up our enemies asses if not you.” Puck laughed in reaction to his joke, Barry smiled and rubbed his head some more before gesturing to head out. “Now come on, I’ve slept for too long and now we have Shaco’s trial to handle. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want him to be executed. You still care about him, don’t you?”
Puck nodded, despite knowing that Shaco was the one responsible for trapping those wandering into his territory, the Kobold knew the truth and didn’t want Shaco to be killed. “Yeah! Of course Puck cares about Shaco…so does that mean…you care about Shaco too? Like a friend?”
“W-Well…” Barry wasn’t sure if using the term friend was the right thing for him to say, but he didn’t feel any hate or illness towards Shaco since he never actually killed those he trapped and was able to turn over a new leaf. “His old method of making friends was wrong, no doubt, but he’s changed and has always been misunderstood and made out as a monster his whole life. So I’d at least not want him to die. Let’s leave it at that.”
Barry initiated their leave by walking away first, prompting Puck to follow; though he gave a slight smile thinking about how Barry was thrown off by his question of Shaco being his friend. Together they returned back to the others, pleased to see that Barry was able to convince Puck to break out of his direful mood. Basil reappeared also, sharing news to them that Shaco’s trial was to take place in an hour so they prepared to be present when it occurred.
And when the time came for them to arrive at the court, they caught sight of Ron and his mysterious guardian standing off to the side as a part of the audience. Ron gave a nervous wave at them, to which Barry and the rest acknowledged, but the cosmic person paid no mind to them aside from staring at Barry intently. ‘So you’re the stalker that Ven warned me about. What’s with the cosmic attire you’ve got going on?’
Barry and his party stood in the center of the court, awaiting for the trial to begin. The audience consisted of not only the elves, but those that were imprisoned by Shaco, eager to see the conclusion that was to condemn Shaco for his actions. Barry glanced at Basil and asked a blatant question that he was sensing already. “Hey Basil, I’m assuming that asking everyone to pardon Shaco is impossible? I mean, this is quite a lot of people are unhappy with what he did. And this isn’t even all of them.”
“Yes. This is a serious matter, and even after revealing Shaco’s tragic backstory, there is no guarantee that Shaco will live to see another day once we’re finished here.” Basil confirmed; it was going to be a challenge to get them to see Shaco in another light.
After a few more minutes, the 5 council members sat down and Jhord, the middle member, slammed his jury hammer a few times to announce the start of the matter. “Peace and order is asked, as we will now begin.” Everyone fell silent, Barry happened to look at Noldric who had been staring at him the whole time in disgust. Returning the same sentiment, Barry acted sneaky and quickly flipped a bird at him before going back to his calm demeanor. This pissed Noldric off but could not say anything; Barry laughed on the inside.
Jhord went through the entire process of announcing the reason for the court case, reminding those that knew and didn’t, while also applauding Barry and his party for solving the mystery behind the disappearances. Eventually it was time for the guards to be summoned and bring forth the perpetrator. All heads turned and stared at the sight of Shaco in shackles crafted to withhold his powers. He walked in a guilty manner, his head held low, eyes fixed on nothing but the floor unless spoken to. Shaco was the object of pity, Barry and the crew wished for the best outcome possible in his defense. The guards had him chained in place on the opposite side of them, his victims hurling insults at his being.
Jhord said somethings and reached to the point of questioning Shaco of his wrong-doings, clarifying his exact actions of trapping those that wandered in his cursed forest and if he denies what he has done. Shaco’s response was clean and simple. “I do not deny my faults; nor do I deny any punishment given to me. I know that there is no redeeming myself in the eyes of those I’ve forced my friendship upon, so I will accept my unkindly fate that is to be expected.”
‘Come on Shaco. At least say something about your reason for turning everyone into one of your shadow friends. Are you really entirely hopeless about your future?’ Barry was both irritated by Shaco’s sense of self-preservation and understanding of his position.
“There! You all heard him!” Noldric declared, pointing out Shaco’s admission of guilt. “Have him sent to death! There’s nothing else that needs to be said; it will do the world good for ceasing a person as twisted as this vile chaotic freak of nature.” The victims cheered and hollered in response to Noldric’s words; they began chanting for Shaco’s execution to take place immediately.
“Wait! Wait!” Jhord demanded silence once again, silencing the now dying crowd of blood hungry audience members. “There is a process that we must abide by and we will not jump to immediate conclusions just yet. I dislike what he’s done, but the reason why we’ve waited to settle this was for Barry to have his own input before reaching a hasty decision.” Noldric mumbled in annoyance while Jhord averted all eyes onto Barry. “So Barry, the floor is yours; do you have anything to share for us?”
Taking a gander at the room around him, his team wondered how he was going to help Shaco who himself continued to dwell on his own self-loathing; Barry formulated his thoughts and went with his gut like he usually did. “I do have something to share for everyone. But first, is there anyone from the crowd of victims that were taken when Shaco first got his powers?”
From amongst the audience, a group of townsfolk and children came forward, the representative was a middle aged woman who wore a hateful expression. “Yes, we were there when that thing manifested its horrid abilities. Our children interacted with it when it was one himself; now he's a full-fledged monster whose done more harm to others just as I expected. What’s the point of calling us out, eh? Just kill that damn freak already!”
“Really showing your true colors by calling him an it, when you never even considered him a person to begin with. Maybe everyone should start calling you a bitch because that’s what you’ve always been.” The court gasped in awe at what Barry had just said, Luna and Anna found it hilarious just as much as he did when everyone saw the woman’s jaw drop. Shaco was astonished to hear Barry defend him in such a way.
The woman fumbled her words, frustration rising inside as she tried to find a way to respond back to his rude comment. “Y-You- Y-You- I-I thought you were a hero! What type of hero says such vulgar things to an innocent like me! We’re the victims of his actions! So-”
“Bullshit!” Barry bellowed out of anger, causing the woman and the entire room to fall silent. His voice sent chills to everyone, what they saw wasn’t a benevolent person who rescued a whole lot of lost souls, but rather, an intimidating individual that demanded honesty and truth. “You and everyone from your town claim to be a victim from Shaco’s doing, yet you all don’t see that your own damn actions were what caused this trouble to begin with. And if you’re all really that fucking blind to see what you did that started this mess, allow me to say it in a phrase that everyone should know. ‘Treat others how you would want to be treated’.”
Speechless, the woman and her people were unable to say anything, for they knew what he was getting at. Barry cackled, it was amusing to him how stupified they were. “Haha! What’s wrong? Have nothing to say because you just now realized it!? You’re right, I am no righteous hero, I’m just a guy that enjoys putting people in their place when they know they’re in the wrong. You treated Shaco like an abomination when all he wanted was to seek someone’s friendship; he did no wrong in the beginning but you gave him a reason to. The fuck do you think was going to happen! You guys specifically damn well deserved it at the least!”
The rest of the people that were bound under Shaco’s powers chatted amongst themselves, some were understanding of Shaco but most still held the belief that Shaco should be punished. The woman spoke up this time, though her tone was rather nervous. “I-It doesn’t matter! L-Look at all these other people who he enslaved! He didn’t stop after trapping us, he kept going!”
“Yeah, because he was traumatized by how you people always treated him based on his true appearance and not his personality. I don’t know what he looks like under his mask, but frankly I don’t fucking care but you all do apparently.” Barry countered; he was curious of Shaco’s face reveal but not that curious. “Trapping your souls and converting you all into one of his shadow people was practically him forcing his friendship onto you once you all showed fear. And I don’t agree with that method of his. But he never meant to do any harm; he just wanted a meaningful friendship with someone who cared about the real him.”
“And who would want to be friends with someone like that?” The woman spat back, the venom in her voice irritating Barry.
A menacing glare from Barry stared back at her and the townsfolk, scaring them. “I’m glad you asked bitch. Because there was one person that genuinely sought friendship in Shaco. And his name was ‘Ophen’. Does that ring any bells?” Shaco was both astonished and puzzled by Barry’s statement of someone from the town who wanted to be friends with him.
“Ophen?” One of the townsfolk repeated, as they all recalled the person in question. “Is he referring to-” The woman covered the person’s mouth, gesturing for him to keep quiet.
Barry scoffed at the woman’s attempt to hide something from him. “What’s the matter, bitch? It seems that you’ve got your own secrets that you want to hide but are too afraid to share it with everyone. That’s alright, allow me to do the honors of unveiling the curtains for you and everyone else's innocent facade.” He then approached Shaco, strolling with confidence in the evidence he was about to present.
When he reached Shaco, he could see that the hunched man was shaken by how things were going. “Shaco. You have Ophen’s journal right? And I’m assuming you haven’t decided to read what was inside?” Barry asked in a calm manner for only him to hear.
“Y-Yes, I have not and it’s in my coat b-but…” Shaco didn’t know if all of Barry’s effort to make him appear like a genuine kind-hearted being was going to be enough. And aside from that, he was still guilty of doing what he had done to those he trapped. “Barry, you don’t have to-”
“But I am.” Barry declared, as he reached into his coat and pulled out Ophen’s journal along with some photos inside it. “I’m basically your lawyer right now and what I’m telling you and everyone else here, is that you were never a monster from the day you were born; just branded as one.” Barry flipped through the book, stopping at one point before providing Shaco a last couple words of hope. “Hold your head high rather than looking down so low. I’m going to put this shit to rest and make a mockery of those assholes.”
Leaving Shaco’s side, Barry raised Ophen’s journal up high for all to see. “This here is a journal from an old man named Ophen! And in this photo is him and his dog!” Barry presented the same photo that Puck and Shaco found from the shed in town. “Who the hell is this guy, you’re all probably wondering? Well, in short, he’s someone that looked out for Shaco indirectly.”
Everyone was surprised by this fact, the woman specifically was more nervous than anyone as Barry resumed speaking about Ophen. “Ophen became ill at his late age and he loved his dog so much, but one day his dog went missing, only to be found once again after seeing Shaco save it from a hunter’s trap and tending to the dog’s wound. Ever since then, Ophen provided support for Shaco from the shadows. Whether it be his favorite tea or desserts. It was kind of him to do so; he was basically the only thing that kept Shaco going from day to day life.”
This news stunned Shaco as he now remembered the dog and all the minor gifts that magically appeared in his past life as a kid. The audience listened intently to the story. “But that all changed when he was discovered giving Shaco acts of kindness. Ophen was treated poorly to the point of death, having his demise covered up by an illness that he had already. From whom do you wonder? Take a wild guess but look no further, because those wretched bastards are standing in this court as I speak.” Barry then jabbed a finger at the townsfolk, shifting all eyes onto them full of astonishment. “And what happened to his dog, you might be thinking? Well, apparently his dog went missing again…permanetly. I wonder how that happened…”
Shortly after hearing Barry reveal this information, the court room was overwhelmed with loud rants and shouting directly towards the townsfolk. All of the audience’s anger and disgust was now directed at the townsfolk for severing what was Shaco’s last line of sanity before breaking his world and resulting in him trapping the other people that wandered into his sanctum. Had it not been for the townsfolk bullying Shaco or ending Ophen and his dog’s life, Shaco might have learned that he did indeed have a friend and possibly turn out for the better. But no, everyone now blamed the townsfolk, seeing that they were really the ones that made Shaco do what he did. Barry couldn’t help but smirk at how he was able to flip everything around back at them.
“Settle down! Settle down!” Jhord demanded, the restless audience doing as told reluctantly. Pinching his fingers between his brows, Jhord looked upon Shaco for a moment, now truly imagining the pain and suffering he had to endure all his life. His eyes shifted to Barry, the two looking at each other and ending with Jhord passing a slight nod to him before speaking to the rest of the rest of the council members for a bit. “We will now decide Shaco’s fate. All those who wish to see Shaco condemned, raise your hand…”
It came to no surprise as Khasca and specifically Noldric raised their hands, as did the townsfolk. But yet, only those hands held high, no one else, and this stunned them. Barry and his team were held in suspense the entire time, they couldn’t imagine what was about to happen next. “And all those who choose to forgive Shaco. Show it.” Jhord, Kaiya, and Fhleu then stood up and bowed in forgiveness.
Suddenly, the rest of the audience aside from the townsfolk copied the same gesture, some verbally apologizing for Shaco’s mistreatment and lack of understanding. It was a phenomenal scene that would forever be engraved in Shaco’s mind, it brought forth a rush of tears and emotions that made him cry.
Shaco then felt Barry’s team hug him wholeheartedly, surprised by this sudden kindness. He then looked at Barry, speechless at what was now happening. “What did I tell you?” Barry replied in complete confidence. “Hold your head up high. Your story may have started off terribly, but that doesn’t mean it was always going to be.”
