Re: I must complete all my Missions-Chapter 21: Unprepared Speech of a Leader

Dimm stood on top of the marble pavement, his eyes wavering around the gathered crowds in the hall. Instead of expecting noise from these multitudes, Dimm rather got silence.

A kind of silence that wasn't of suspense, but from expectation. Everyone, especially Khobba wanted to hear Dimm out. She wanted to see how much, the boy who was a beggar would perform now he had been given a new fate.

Then, in his silence, the hall erupted again.

"Hail the One True Him! Hail the One True Him!!"

The crowd in the hall continued echoing, and Dimm could feel the eyes of hundreds upon him.

Just when it seemed like things would get out of hand from their echo, Minxx who stood behind Dimm came forward and ordered silence in the hall. And for this act, Dimm was very grateful. His mind was anything but at ease now.

He closed his eyes briefly, exhaled, and then began:

"Good day everyone," he decided to start by greeting them first.

The hall uproared with the voices of the people as they returned his greeting. Not orderly, but within a short period of time, silence fell over again.

"I don't know what you all expect of me...but I know what I expected of myself. And to be very honest, I didn't expect any of this."

He looked around, wishing the tremble in his voice he thought he noticed, was only noticed by himself. His hands slightly trembled, but he hid them behind his back trying his very best to stand firm.

This was his first time standing before a crowd. And, it was not easy to meet with the pierce hundreds of eyes coming from them.

He, however, raised his eyes above their heads. Not looking down, not looking up, just above their heads and continued.

"I was just a boy with sufferings that bore questions. My name? Nobody knew. I had little presence among people. So, I walked with my doubts as my only companions. Never thinking a day like this will come."

"Never thinking my steps will lead me to a place like this...to a people like you."

His eyes darted toward Khobba who stood in the front, just before him below. She understood what he meant, and so, stood silently, reverent.

"But just as it is said, change is always a constant. Today, something has changed. Not just in me...but in the world I saw."

"I was shown visions of a place full of illusions. A place where people danced on strings, chased prizes that never existed, lived lives designed by the hands they will never see."

"I saw the brave caught in traps..."

The hall filled with murmur at the instant, but also became silent almost immediately, giving Dimm the air to continue.

"...the hopeful turned into jesters, and the strong falling over and over again in games rigged to never end."

He opened his eyes wider now, meeting with each attendant in the crowd. The fright that held him seemed to have disappeared, and his voice grew firmer.

"That isn't just a vision. That's your world, isn't it? That's the world I now exist in."

For a while, he thought he made the wrong use of words. Minxx had told him only NPCs inherited this land of elves, using "your" as a reflective word might affect something.

He looked behind to meet Minxx's eyes, but like he didn't expect, she gave him a thumbs up to continue.

He turned back around, waiting for the murmur that swept across the crowd to die down. Minxx didn't interrupt this time around.

And then, there was silence. So, he continued.

"I know you have lived under threats, and even, under laws you did not write. You've bled for crowns you did not choose. You've danced for shadows, laughed when ordered to, cried in silence."

"And yet," he paused, tears dropping from his face. "...through it all, you were told it was okay. That this...this was how it was supposed to be."

Dimm took a few steps forward, wiping the tears that formed in his eyes.

"But I'm here now. And not because I am mighty. I hate to be mighty..." he said and waited for the crowd to lay out their commentaries.

"I am here now, not because I'm older, or wiser."

"I'm here because, for some reason, this scroll chose to speak to me. And you...chose to listen."

He paused, his eyes now scanning the entire hall for the second time.

"I didn't ask for this. I don't wear crowns in my dreams. Sometimes... I still fear the dark. But maybe... maybe that's exactly why I can lead.

"Because I have not forgotten what it feels like to be powerless. To be unheard. To watch the world spin out of your hands and feel like nothing matters," as he said this, memories of how he had suffered outside this game came flashing into his memories.

Then, he shot another glance at Minxx.

"You say this is a prophecy. That it was meant to begin now. That I am the 'One True Him.' I don't know if I believe all that."

"But I do believe in the pain I saw in those visions. I believe in the hunger for truth burning in each of them, apparently, represented by you. I believe in the right to live free, even though you are now."

"But, in particular reference to people like us," he said, hitting his chest first, then pointing at Khobba. "Not as players in someone's game, but as people with voices, hearts, and futures."

Dimm turned back to face the people fully, his voice resonating stronger now.

"If I am to lead, it will not be from above you—but beside you. Not as your ruler—but as your reminder. That we are not born to dance on strings. That we are not puppets in prophecy. That we still have the power to change the ending and craft a beginning."

"So I ask you now not to praise me yet, but earn courage for yourselves."

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"Stand with me—not because a scroll told you to—but because you believe... it's time."

"Time to break the loop."

"Time to rip down the veil."

"Time to reclaim your fate."

He extended his hand, before bringing them back to his chest.

"My name is Dimm. I never expected I would one day be a leader. But now that I see the truth... I will never let you be led astray again."

"I will do my best to grant protection—against threat, against false laws."

The hall erupted with shouts and claps of the elves in the hall.

Minxx came forward to Dimm, hugging him tightly. In Dimm's foolishness, what his sense reeled unto were the boobs pressing on him.

"I didn't think you did figure it out," Minxx said, releasing herself from the embrace.

"Hmm?" Dimm didn't understand.

"We all were Players just like you and Khobba before we became NPCs. We—"

Minxx still had words in her mouth when an Elfin guard rushed into the hall.

Everybody turned in shock, as well as in need to know what was wrong.

Then the elfin guard shouted, "Ogres!"