Summary: Lila faces Ms. Rinehart the angry people of Avila with the truth.
Author’s note: I lied! I know in the last chapter I said that was going to be the last chapter I’m posting in full to my blog, but I thought about it, and I really don’t want to do that. So chapters 1-14 of Omnigirl can still be downloaded from my book shop for free, but I’m going to just post the whole thing here. However, I won’t be updating what can be downloaded from my Payhip shop until the full story is posted. Just saving myself some extra work.
And as I said earlier, I intend to keep this story available for free until I’m feeling ready to publish it more officially (e.g. to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc…). Thank you for reading! 💖
Usually early morning traffic in Avila is close to non-existent, but today cars were everywhere. I let out an annoyed sigh as I sat on the motorcycle in the stop-and-go traffic. Whenever the most important emergency comes up, people just appear out of nowhere and get in my way. And even worse, they are the people that have absolutely no concept of time. Everyone was going in the same direction—towards the palace.
I looked at my watch. 6:15 A.M. Time was running short, and the traffic was not getting better. The streets in front of the palace were littered with people. They shouted and waved their fists at anyone who passed by. The crowds spilled from the sidewalks and into the street, getting in my way. If they knew that I didn’t have a license and had never driven a motorcycle before, they would have thought twice before stepping out in front of me.
People shouted, demanding change, not having a clue that I had the change with me. The cure was in one of my jacket pockets, and the digital camera was in the other. My laptop and the all-important DVD were in the back compartment of the motorcycle.
The closer I came to the palace, the worse the crowds got. I turned off the bike, unmounted, and walked it. The crowd tightly hemmed me in, warm and suffocating with the smell of tightly packed, sweaty people. I used more of the little energy I had left to force the motorcycle through the crowd. Being up all night was starting to take its toll.
I saw the stairs indicating the front of the palace in the distance. As I continued pushing the bike, I spotted Bridgett, Lydia, Linzie, and Cheryl, all huddled together in their school uniforms. I also glimpsed Julie and her friends in the crowd.
I got as close as I could to the grand palace entrance, but I was still far from it. The crowd was noisy and angry, once and awhile shouting, “The end of Sterling equals the end of starvation!”
I didn’t know how I was going to break the news I had to this plaza crammed with enraged people. They all seemed to be brainwashed—completely blinded by their bad situation.
Then Ms. Rinehart walked out onto the top of the grand stairs. A hush rushed over the masses.
“People of Avila,” she announced. “Let’s say ‘Hello’ to Emperor Sterling.”
Dr. Sterling was brought out in front of the crowd in cuffs and escorted by a man and a woman in official looking uniforms—Avila’s law enforcement. All I could see were the shadows of his eyes.
Automatically, the crowd started booing maliciously. I looked at the people standing next to me. They were turning down their thumbs and hissing. I can’t do this, I thought. If I go up there, these people could literally tear me apart. The booing calmed down when Ms. Rinehart began to speak again.
“Well, this is it, Emperor Sterling. Your time has come to an end. Do you have anything to say before you are removed and exiled?”
“Yes,” he said, lowering his head. The officers roughly brought him to the front of the crowd, maintaining a tight grip on him.
“People of Avila,” he addressed the crowd. “I have to admit that I may not have been the best emperor. I may have been cowardly or even passive at times, but there is one thing I want you all to know. I want you to know that I did not cause the famine that is now plaguing Avila. I couldn’t stop it, despite my tries, but I do not wish for Avila to suffer. Unfortunately, I have been unable to help you adequately in one of the direst times of our history. I guess this is where I have failed.”
The crowd remained silent after he spoke. Sweat glistened on his forehead. Ms. Rinehart stood there, completely unmoved.
“Liar!” she shouted, pointing at him accusingly. “Even on the day of his deposition, he is lying to us. If he didn’t want us all to suffer, why didn’t he find a cure? Maybe because he didn’t even try looking for one!”
The crowd was stirred up again.
“Take him away!”
I watched as they began to take Dr. Sterling down the marble stairs. Now is my chance to stop this and save him, but I couldn’t. My legs were stiff, iced up with fear.
I can’t do it. What would the people in the crowd do to me? What would they think?
“It doesn’t matter what other people think,” the memory of Ms. Remarque said in my ears. “I thought you already knew that…”
My mind closed out the chaos around me. Ever since I’ve known Ms. Rinehart, she’s always tried to intimidate and override everyone. She wants everything to go her way, but when someone stands up to her and says “no,” it brings her down. As a teacher she was ruthless and didn’t care about anyone. If that’s how she exercised power over her students, imagine a whole nation. I’ve stood up to her before. I’ll have to stand up to her again.
I opened the back compartment of the motorcycle, took out the laptop, and tucked it under my arm. I began to push through the crowd, yelling as they took Dr. Sterling away.
“Stop! Stop!”
My voice cut through the boos, and silence slowly came.
“Don’t take him away. He’s innocent!”
The officials with Dr. Sterling stopped halfway down the stairs. I worked through the crowd, pushing people out of my way. They stared at me, apparently wondering what I was doing.
“Emperor Sterling is innocent!”
Then I heard someone in the crowd yell, “It’s Lila!”
It sounded like Linzie.
Then someone else shouted, “Lila!”
“It’s Lila!”
“Lila Collins!”
The crowd began to confusedly murmur my name. My determination was revived. I began to walk up the steps of the palace entrance. My dress shoes clapped against the marble. I passed Dr. Sterling. He looked like he had aged twenty years from all the stress of the past week.
“Lila?” he whispered hoarsely.
“Don’t worry. I’m here,” I replied gently. Then I walked all the way to the top of the stairs. Ms. Rinehart stood there with a familiar magenta-crimson color rising in her cheeks and her large arms crossed. It was like my days in her class all over again.
“Miss Collins, what is the meaning of this?”
“The meaning of this is to show the people what a horrible person you are,” I sneered at her. “You’re going down.” I turned to the crowd, hugging the laptop in my arms.
“People of Avila, I’m here to tell you the truth and nothing else,” I announced in the loudest voice I have available. “The truth is that Ms. Rinehart has misled you, causing you to turn against an innocent man. I don’t know why she speaks of finding a solution to the crop failure, when she caused it herself!”
The crowd began to mumble, and Ms. Rinehart redoubled her efforts.
“She’s lying! Does a little girl so easily sway all of you? She doesn’t even have proof. Take her away.”
Two officials came up to me and began trying to drag me down the stairs, but I resisted, kicking wildly and yelling, “I do have proof!”
I looked at the faces in the crowd turning cold and disbelieving. I had to convince these people somehow.
Then I saw Linzie throw up her fist in the crowd and yell, “Call the Avila Counsel!”
The mood quickly changed, and the crowd chanted, “Counsel! Counsel!”
The people’s wishes could not be ignored. Ms. Rinehart passively ordered for me to be let go, and the rest of the Avila Counsel was called. In no time the other nine members of the counsel sat at the front of the palace, facing the crowd. A projector and a screen were brought in for me, and speakers were hooked up so the audio on the DVD could be heard. I connected my laptop to the projector and downloaded my pictures. Show time.
First, I presented to the counsel the pictures I took. A few of them looked impressed, but others looked skeptical. That was okay. It wasn’t really the pictures I expected to make an impact anyways. After that, I prepared the atom bomb. I set the DVD at the spot where Ms. Rinehart and Mr. Roberts were having their conversation. I took a glance at the crowd and then the counselors. I clicked play.
Everything came through with absolute perfection. The words of Ms. Rinehart floated over the crowd, causing people to stir and mutter. The counselors exchanged surprised looks.
Ms. Rinehart screeched, “The video’s a fake! How do you know that is me? You can’t even see my face.”
“What? That is sooo you,” I retorted. “If you can’t see that, you must be blind. Why don’t you go get those three inch thick glasses of yours checked?”
“Take this girl away for verbal assault!” Ms. Rinehart yelled at the counsel.
“Down with Rinehart!” shouted Marcie. I knew it was her because she has a very distinct voice, and then the crowd followed, chanting, “Down with Rinehart! Down with Rinehart!”
“Silence!” ordered the vice-counsel man in his booming voice. He turned to me. “Lila, your evidence has been overwhelming and very convincing, but Ms. Rinehart does have a point. Dr. Roberts could be clearly recognized, and he will be questioned, but Ms. Rinehart’s face was hidden. If you had an eyewitness, I would consider going in your favor. However, since you don’t have one, I will have to—”
“It’s true! It’s true!”
The eyes of the vice-counselor and I turned towards the crowd. The people parted, making way for the motorcyclist who was pushing Dr. Roberts up ahead of him.
“It’s true,” Dr. Roberts whined. “It’s true. She put me up to it.”
It was the first time I had ever seen Dr. Roberts without his smile.
“Who put you up to what?” asked the vice-counsel man.
The motorcyclist let go of Roberts, allowing him to point directly at Ms. Rinehart.
“She did. She told me to alter the aphids and make them destructive. It was her idea to infest Avila’s greenhouses and bring us to starvation.”
The crowd began to murmur again.
“He’s lying too!” she cried.
“I’m definitely not. See, I even have the contract I signed for her.” He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. Ms. Rinehart’s eyes dilated.
“Let me see that.”
The vice-counsel man took the paper.
“It’s nothing,” spoke out Ms. Rinehart.
“We’ll determine that.”
He unfolded the paper and began to read it. The vast crowd was silent with anticipation. The motorcyclist turned his helmeted head towards me. I looked nervously at my nails. With the contract in hand, the vice-counseler turned to hold a secret discussion with the other counsel members, all of them huddled together. The people became restless. Then the vice-counselor faced Ms. Rinehart again with a decision.
“Claudia Rinehart, you well know that part of the job of the Avila Counsel is to give fair and just judgment, even if it involves the head of the counsel.”
Ms. Rinehart held her head high.
“We have decided that you are now under investigation for causing the crop damage and therefore bringing the famine on Avila. You are to be suspended indefinitely and taken through the proper process. Take her away.”
The two officials, who were taking Dr. Sterling away before, now cuffed Ms. Rinehart and began to lead her down the stairs.
“Wait!” she said, turning back to the counsel. “You may be able to take me in for questioning, but you can’t put Emperor Sterling back on his throne! He did not fulfill my conditions, remember, which was to find a cure to the crop damage and stop the famine. Therefore—”
“Wrong!” I shouted, stepping up. “Because I have the cure right here!” I pulled the test tube out of my pocket with the two little bugs crawling around in it, intact. The crowd became full of shock and confusion and hesitant applause and cheers. The whole ground seemed alive.
“Where-where did you get that?” she gasped.
“That should be the least of your worries. Ms. Rinehart, the game’s over. And you’re the loser.”
I turned towards the crowd and threw up my fist. “Long live Sterling.”
“Long live Sterling!” the crowd went on. I could have said “Lila is the queen of the universe,” and they probably would’ve repeated that too.
Anyways, Dr. Sterling was released, and he came running up the stairs to me.
“Lila, how will I ever thank you?”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said tiredly. “Let’s just go.”
I was losing my energy again, and I was beginning to feel faint. The motorcycle guy went down the stairs ahead of us. Dr. Sterling and I followed. The cheering ran in intervals.
“You’re going to pay for this, Lila Collins!” Ms. Rinehart threatened while being escorted down the marble stairs in cuffs.
“You’re not going to get away!”
On the last few steps, I felt her feet get entangled with mine. My body racked with pain as I stumbled and fell to the ground. The test tube left my hands on the way down. It flew through the air towards the concrete. I heard the screams of the crowd in my ears. Then, I didn’t hear anything.
Author’s note: The fall and blackout mirrors the symbolism of ego death. Lila has reached a point where her character as it is has fully accomplished its purpose, and she can let go of who she was.
Dear Mini-me: You managed to do what so many adults can’t—to stand up to that part within yourself that belittles you, undervalues you, makes you feel small, and only reminds you of why you can’t. That part of you called you “a little girl,” but you knew better.
Congratulations to you young lady for overthrowing the tyranny of the mind to embrace the true hope of the heart.