For a while, Riven simply stood there in silence, his eyes shifting between the dagger resting in the Duke’s hand and the Imperial Anatomist kneeling before him, as although he understood perfectly what the Duke wanted him to do, he somehow could not rid himself of the hesitation to carry it out.
’Does father really want me to kill a man? Or is it just a test?’
Riven wondered, as he took a slow step forward towards the Duke.
On one hand, he wondered... no prayed that the Duke was merely testing him.
As, truth be told, he did not want to kill an innocent man.
However, although his conscious mind desperately wanted this to be a test, deep within his heart he knew that the Duke was not probing him for kindness.....
.... That the hope that he would be rewarded if he showed mercy, was nothing more than a stupid dream.
And so, despite his hands trembling slightly, he took the dagger from the Duke’s hand, and turned towards the Imperial Anatomist.
"What are you doing, boy? Don’t you remember? I’m your doctor.
We are friends!
I spent countless nights caring for you..."
The Imperial Anatomist pleaded, as panic rapidly overtook the composure that had defined him only moments earlier, while his restrained body instinctively struggled against the guards holding him down, desperate to put even the slightest distance between himself and the approaching blade.
"Riven...
Riven, look at me."
He begged, as his voice quivered uncontrollably.
"Nine times...
Nine separate times your heart stopped beating during the Section Carving process, and nine separate times I brought you back.
I refused to let you die.
I stayed beside your bed day and night while everyone else slept.
You can’t kill me...
You simply can’t."
The old man said, as tears gradually welled within his eyes.
"I’m... I’m like your grandfather.
I’ve cared for you as though you were my own grandson.
Every medicine that entered your body was prepared by my own hands.
Every wound you suffered was treated by me.
Every setback nearly broke my heart.
Please...
Please try to remember."
His voice cracked, as he watched Riven continue advancing one slow step at a time, the dagger trembling faintly within the boy’s grasp.
"I celebrated every bit of progress you made.
I praised you every time you endured another operation.
I never abandoned you.
Not once."
The Imperial Anatomist continued, his breathing becoming increasingly frantic as the cold edge of the blade drew closer with every passing second.
"Riven...
You know me.
You know the sort of man I am.
Have I ever hurt you just for the sake of making you feel pain?
Have I ever raised a hand against you except to save your life?
Please...
Don’t do this."
He begged, as tears finally spilled freely down his weathered face.
"I know the Duke gave you an order, but think for yourself.
Just this once.
Please...
I don’t want to die."
The old man whispered, his entire body trembling violently despite the guards pinning him firmly to the floor, while Riven continued walking towards him in slow, measured steps, each one carrying him closer to a decision that neither of them could ever take back.
"DON’T DO IT, RIVEN!
ONLY A HEARTLESS MONSTER WOULD KILL THE MAN THAT CREATED HIM!"
Karen screamed from the back of the laboratory, as for the briefest of moments, Riven’s footsteps came to a halt.
Instinctively, he looked around him, and everywhere his eyes wandered, he found the same expressions staring back at him.
Fear. Disbelief. Horror.
None of the assistants or researchers who had gathered inside the laboratory had imagined that the Duke’s arrival would culminate in such a scene, and many now looked towards Riven with pleading eyes, silently begging him to lower the dagger before it was too late.
However, before their expressions could linger within Riven’s mind for even a few seconds longer, Drew calmly turned his gaze towards Karen.
"You may not speak in my presence unless spoken to."
The Duke said, as he slowly raised a single finger in her direction.
*FSHHHH*
A tiny crimson flame suddenly shot from the tip of his outstretched finger before crossing the laboratory in the blink of an eye and striking Karen squarely in the chest.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!"
She shrieked, as scarlet fire instantly erupted across her entire body, clinging to her flesh like molten oil while she desperately clawed at herself in a futile attempt to extinguish the inferno.
"Red Death."
The Duke muttered indifferently, as Karen’s screams grew louder with every passing second, filling every corner of the laboratory as the nearby assistants stumbled away in blind panic, their faces drained of all color while the smell of burning flesh rapidly filled the air.
Within less than ten seconds, the screams abruptly stopped.
The flames vanished just as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving behind nothing except a small mound of grey ash where Karen had once stood.
Not a single person inside the laboratory dared make another sound from that moment onwards.
"Apologies for the interruption boy, carry on...."
The Duke encouraged, as Riven shifted his gaze away from the Duke’s blue eyes and towards the Hypnotist, who gave him the final confirmation he needed.
’It is inevitable.... So there is no point in turning back now.’
The Hypnotist conveyed through his eyes alone, as despite not muttering a single word, he gave Riven all the information that Riven needed.
He had no other choice to make here, as although every instinct within him urged him to search for another path, he already knew that none existed.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
Slowly, he walked towards the Imperial Anatomist before lowering himself onto one knee in front of the old man, the dagger still trembling faintly within his grasp.
"I’m truly sorry for this, Doctor.
I know in my heart that although you experimented on me, you never wished me any harm.
And for that... for everything that you sacrificed to make me who I am today, I will forever cherish your memory.
But this is goodbye...
Lord Father has spoken.
And I cannot disobey."
Riven said, as the sincerity within his voice made the words hurt far more than if they had been spoken with hatred.
*Choke*
The Imperial Anatomist opened his mouth to reply.
However, no words came.
His lips trembled helplessly as whatever he wished to say became lodged within his throat, while tears continued rolling freely down his aged face.
For several long seconds, he simply lowered his head.
Then, after drawing in one long, unsteady breath, he slowly looked back up at Riven once more.
"I understand...
Perhaps this is karma for the seventeen subjects that died by my own hands before you. I spent years convincing myself that every failure was simply another step towards saving the next child, and maybe this is the price that I was always destined to pay.
It’s just... I wasn’t ready to die today, so forgive me if I’m a little shocked. I always imagined that when my time finally came, it would be quietly in my bed after another long day of work, not here... like this.
But don’t worry about me, boy. I’ve lived a full life, and I’ve already achieved more than I ever thought possible. So... be brave and do what you have to do. Don’t let these old tears shake your resolve.
I’m ready...."
The Imperial Anatomist said, as although he desperately wanted Riven to believe those final words, his trembling body betrayed an entirely different truth.
His breathing had become shallow.
His hands refused to stop shaking.
A dark stain slowly spread beneath his knees where he knelt upon the cold stone floor, silently revealing the terror that his pride refused to acknowledge.
Every instinct within him still desperately clung to life.
Yet despite that overwhelming fear, he forced himself to look into Riven’s eyes one final time, choosing to face what he believed would be the final moments of his life with whatever dignity he still had left, rather than begging for more like a crack addicted beggar.
"You and what you achieve in the future is my legacy boy.
So, whenever you feel content in life, and are not aiming for more.
Just remember that I did not craft your body with such care and perfection, just for you to accept mediocrity.
Now do it.
My life is the last thing I can offer you.
But I do it gladly."
The Imperial Anatomist instructed, as he closed his eyes for one final time while Riven slashed his throat.
*SPLAT*
Warm blood sputtered onto Riven’s face, while the Imperial Anatomist gagged and tried to instinctively hold his throat shut for a few seconds, before eventually flopping to the floor, as the guards lowered his lifeless body.
’What have I done? I–I took the life of an innocent man.’
Riven thought, as for a moment, he simply stood there in silence.
His breathing became strangely shallow, while the hand gripping the dagger refused to stop trembling no matter how tightly he clenched it.
*Gulp*
He instinctively swallowed, desperately trying to force the growing sickness back down, as his eyes remained fixed upon the floor without truly seeing anything before him.
His expression remained blank.
Almost unnaturally so.
Yet beneath that carefully maintained facade, his thoughts slowly descended into complete chaos.
Only now did the true weight of what he had just done begin settling upon his conscience.
He had just taken the life of a man who had never deserved such a fate, and the realization struck him with terrifying force.
If he could bring himself to do something like that today, then what did that say about his morals?
Just what sort of a man was he becoming if he could convince himself to take another person’s life simply because doing so served him well?
If he was capable of crossing a line that he had once believed no decent person ever should, then where exactly did those lines end?
And if this was only the beginning...
Then what else could he one day become capable of?
’In trying to become a noble, have I lost who I really was?’
He wondered, as that final thought hollowed him out from within.
’Don’t do it. Don’t puke.... If you do, father will be disappointed....’
Riven told himself, as he desperately tried to bite back the bile rising through his stomach.
And yet, ultimately he failed.
"Urgh..."
His knees buckled beneath him, as a mouthful of vomit spilled onto the laboratory floor while his entire body shook uncontrollably, unable to withstand the crushing weight of his own conscience.
"WEAK!"
The Duke declared immediately, as his eyes turned towards the Hypnotist in disgust.
"A DAWNRIVER DOES NOT FALTER AT THE SIGHT OF BLOOD."
He admonished, as Riven wiped the lingering bits of vomit from his mouth, before standing straight back up, as he tried to make the most of a bad situation.