Semmy stood behind her friends. She'd heard Analise and Amlis comments. Should she tell them? She really had hoped to tell them when they were a bit more emotionally stable.

It's waited twenty years. It can wait one more day. She said trying to reason with herself. They're tired. They have every right to be. They need some sort of hope. Semmy looked up. She could still see the moon shinning through the trees. What was she to do? What she knew would give them hope, but what if this twenty year old secret turned out to be a dead end? Would it make things worse? More over, was she willing to take that chance?

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"I don't know," Analise replied with a heavy sigh as she stared at the patch of earth. "But at this point, almost anything seems better than waiting for something to finish us off one by one." She sighed heavily again, this drive for action was so uncharacteristic of her. She was peaceful by nature, but the loss of another friend threatened now to destroy whatever semblance of calm she might have had. She glanced up then, only now noticing Semmy who came to stand behind them. "I just want to know the truth," she said finally. "Maybe this is foolishness, but for me anyway, I feel that if I knew the truth behind the massacre of our people than maybe, just maybe, their deaths might not be in vain."

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"The reason will not change that fact. Their deaths will still be in vain," Semmy said stepping into the middle of the group. "But if you and everyone else wishes to know everything about that day and the facts surrounding it," Semmy paused then with a sigh continued, "I will tell you."

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"It has been twenty years," Analise said quietly. "I would hear it, no matter how dark it may be. For I have heard it said-the truth can kill or set you free."

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Aaron sighed, and brushed stray hair out of his eyes. He had always wondered about the details of that fait-full night, but he had given up the thought that he would ever learn. Now Semmy said that she knew and would tell them if they all desired to know.
"Wait a second," he said, coming to stand before Semmy. "You're telling us that you knew everything about that day twenty years ago? That you have been keeping that information from us for twenty cursed years? Why haven't you said anything before?"

He wasn't too close to any of the other Merta, except maybe Dredge, because he had traveled by himself for a few years before returning just recently. Maybe it was because he was the youngest of the group by two years and didn't want to seem a burden. But one thing was for sure because he wanted to know exactly what happened, and was searching for answers.

(I hope all that about traveling by himself is alright...)

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

((Yeah Eru, it's fine.))

Semmy had been prepared for Aaron's words. She probably even deserved them. "I had been waiting for the time that I felt we were all ready. You ready to hear it, and me ready to tell. I am remembering demons that took me years to partially forget. Don't think it was easy caring this."

Semmy ran her fingers through her hair. Where to begin? "King Corban was a prince at the time. He never liked the fact that the Tranners wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for our people. When the king, his father died, he blamed it on our people. He gave them a week to hand over the killer or face total destruction. Our people never gave into his demands. Twelve hours before the armies came the six, now five, of us were gathered together to be sent out. Before we left my mother took me aside..."

Flash Back
"I don't understand! The kind died 'cause his heart stopped."
"Semmy please listen carefully. There is not much time. The king was murdered."
"By whom?!"
"The prince."
"He would kill his own father?"
"He wanted the throne, the power. And he wanted to get rid of us."
"What are we to do?"
"You are to take your friends, hide in the forest. Someday you need to come back to this spot. This is where all the information you will need to ring down the prince."
"I don't think I can do this!"
Semmy's mother grabbed her firmly by her shoulders. "You are the oldest. You have to! Now go!"

End Flash Back

"We went into the jungle. I hid you as best I could then went back. By the time I'd gotten back to the village the fighting had started. I don't know how or why they didn't see me. I stood in the bushes and watched. I don't know how long it went on." Semmy's voice faltered and she closed her eyes. She'd known it would be hard to relive these memories, just not this hard. "There so much streaming, so much death, so much blood. Suddenly the solders stopped and left. There was silence, a deafening silence. I walked around. I tried to save them, but they were all dead. I came back to you guys, and you know the rest." She looked into each of the eyes of her friends. Some how she'd managed to make her face like stone, unreadable. She stood silently waiting to see who would speak first.

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Analise remained silent, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight with a mixture of both sorrow and anger. She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath in an attempt to steel her emotions. "All those people, why-why was it just us to be saved?" she questioned. After drawing in another breath she looked Semmy squarely in the eyes. "Your mother-" she whispered in a calmer voice. "did she give you any information on who the killer might be or any information for us to clear our people?" she asked finally.

(I was not sure if the Merta can read minds or not -since the memory came in flashback form I was not sure if we were allowed to know it or not)

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Amlis stood in silence while Semmy talked, bulding up with the things she was telling the ideas she had herself. She remembered more than she told the others of that day. She was four years old, and for twenty years she had been knowing that something like what Semmy just told happened. Only, there were always been supposition, until that night.

She hears Analise's voice asking if Semmy's mother gave her any information and listened with interest exchanging a look with Aaron, who also stood silent during Semmy's speech.

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Aaron remained silent, looking down the whole time Semmy spoke. When she finnished, Aaron waited for her answer to Analise's quetion.

As the saying went, what you're looking for is sometimes right under your nose. It had been true. He caught Amlis's look, then looked back down at the ground. Things now felt like they were being set in motion.

(um... maybe we should wait for Tonks...)

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

(Don't worry, I'm still here)

Dredge stood as the group gathered and moved in next to Aaron. He listened to Semmy in silents, her words echoing in his brain. He looked at Aaron to see what he thought of the new information, but younger man was silent. Dredge shifted his weight to his other foot, waiting for Semmy's answer.

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I was Nymphadora Tonks

"My mother told me that the prince killed his father to get the throne and so he could get rid of our people," Semmy said looking over at Analise. "She said there was information that showed that. She also showed me that spot where it was supposedly hid, but the solders ransacked then burned the village to the ground. I have no idea if it's still there." She paused to see if what she had said sunk in. "If it is still there," she continued, "we could use it against him."

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When Semmy answered, Aaron stood there for a moment, looking down. Then he looked up at the others for a moment. His emotions now seemed mixed. He went back to leaning against the tree and realized Dredge was there. So he had heard too, and now they all knew.

Aaron took a deep breath, getting over the fact that Semmy had kept the information from the rest of them.
"Then what do you say we do? Should we rist our lives to pursue justice? Is it really worth it all in the end?" he whispered, but in the silence of the night, he knew the others could hear him perfectly fine...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

"It is," Dredge answered Aaron's question, "We have lived in hiding all this time, it's time to do something about it." He stood up a little straiter as he spoke, emotion underlieing his strong tone. "I say we go and find this information."

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I was Nymphadora Tonks

"I agree with Dredge," Analise echoed. "We could do nothing but flee twenty years ago, but we are no longer children now. I think it is time we uncover whatever secrets remain." If the situation was not so grim, she could have laughed at her own words. She hated open conflict, and here she was supporting the idea that risk their lives to find the truth to expose the king. It was so out of character for her, but something about it felt right, as if it was something that she was meant to do-even at the forfeit of her life.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"Are we all in agreement?" Semmy asked turning as she did to look at Amlis. She hadn't heard her opinion on this matter yet. Though she would be surprised if her sentiments did not echo the other's. Still for all the excitement and hope she felt, a feeling of fear was silently creeping over her. What had she gotten them into?

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"Are we all in agreement?" Semmy asked, probably waiting for her Amlis' answer. Amlis stood in silence while the others said their opinions about that. They wanted to do something, to react. Only Aaron looked not so convinced.
Amlis wasn't sure of what to think. In the end, they lived almost in peace those twenty years. They could go on like that. And Amlis didn't love changes.
On the other hand, she wanted to react. They spent twenty years of their lives hiding, and now they had the occasion to get justice done.

"I agree" she simply said.

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