The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Maximus’ Resolution and Vivian’s Test.

Maximus entered his wife’s room, his footsteps unusually soft as he approached her unconscious form resting peacefully on the bed.

Pulling a chair close, he lowered himself into it, his eyes fixed on her serene face. Gently, he reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek, his touch lingering for a moment.

“I really messed up, didn’t I?” he murmured, a weary sigh escaping his lips.

Once, things had been different. There was a time when he had truly cared about his family, a time when their happiness had been his greatest treasure.

He remembered how happy he and Vivian was when they had their first child. He remembered promising to protect them, but somewhere along the way, he had failed to keep his promise.

He had let his quest for power blind him, turning him away from the very people he had sworn to protect.

“Where did it all go so wrong?” he whispered, his voice heavy with regret. But he didn’t need an answer. He already knew.

Maximus and Vivian’s marriage was an arranged one, done by their families. His father, seeing how talented Vivian was, decided to snatch her into the family to increase their power standing.

And what better way to do that than asking for her hand in marriage for his son who he knew had absolutely no interest in marriage.

But what started as an arranged marriage between two people that were uninterested in each other, blossomed into something else entirely.

They genuinely fell in love with each other and that love had lasted until he let power blind him.

For the first time in years, Maximus felt powerless. His strength, his wealth, his position—none of it could undo the mistakes he had made. None of it could erase the fact that he watched his wife die today.

“Reid was right” he chuckled in self derision “I am the biggest failure of all.”

“You know, I always hated my father because of his greed for power” Maximus slumped into the chair as he ran a hand down his face “I always promised myself to be better but I ended up becoming exactly like him, if not worse.”

The events of two days ago served as a harsh wake-up call for Maximus. What if Vivian hadn’t had a phoenix? What if Reid hadn’t arrived in time? The thought losing his wife permanently made his chest tighten with an unfamiliar, suffocating dread.

He had come to believe that he stood at the pinnacle of the world, that power was the only thing that mattered but two day back, he was humbled.

Malrath showed him that he was just a frog at the bottom of a well, Reid showed him that you didn’t need to stand at the top to be useful and most importantly he got reminded that his family was important by almost losing one of them.

“How do I even start making it up to you?” Maximus said as he leaned forward.

“Reid hates my guts,” Maximus muttered to himself, a bitter smile forming on his lips. “And honestly, I can’t blame him since he has every right to.”

“Even if I try fixing things now, I’m not sure he’ll even forgive me” he sighed “But I promise I’ll fix this, for you Viv.”

Vivian remained silent, her steady breathing was the only reply he got. He knew she couldn’t hear him but that didn’t matter, all that mattered was the promise he was making right now.

He felt as if a burden he had unknowingly placed on his shoulders disappear.

A knock came and with his permission, the door creaked open. The family butler walked in, his expression unreadable as ever.

“The council is demanding your presence, Master ” The butler informed “they want you to call a meeting to answer their questions.”

Maximus nodded, an idea coming to him. If he wanted to fix his mistakes then the council was the right way to start.

The council was just a gathering of old geezers who acted as advisors and overseers for the heads of the Fletcher family.

They were responsible for making sure the family head makes decisions that benefits the family, for example, kicking out the failure (Reid).

Although Maximus couldn’t entirely blame them since he was the one with the final say, they did have a major sway over his decisions.

“Lead the way” He said before kissing his unconscious wife’s forehead and whispering “I love you”.

A word he had once said so often that it came as naturally as breathing—until it didn’t. Now, it felt foreign, awkward, as though it didn’t belong to him anymore, yet it had somehow found its way out of his mouth.

Maximus proceeded to follow the butler outside and towards the meeting hall where those geezers were already waiting for him.

What Maximus didn’t notice was the twitch of Vivian’s fingers when he left. Unknown to him, she had heard everything but just wasn’t able to open her eyes yet.

__________

Vivian woke up in a world of flames just after she passed out. She looked around and all she could see was an endless amount of fire.

Although the flames seemed be burning really hot all around her, she felt none of the heat on her skin.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to do in this world of flames so she just started walking forward, with no direction in mind.

Since the fire didn’t hurt her in any way, she didn’t have a problem walking through it.

Vivian walked for what felt like hours or was it days but the environment didn’t change. It was still a fire filled land with seemingly no end in sight.

She walked more, since she didn’t feel tired and soon enough, she spotted a structure in the distance. It looked like a massive stone temple of some sorts.

She did what anyone in her situation would, she quickly walked towards the temple and touched the stone door.

As soon as she did so, the stones on the door became a reddish orange glow and Vivian was teleported into the temple.

Behind the door lay a vast stone chamber with a ceiling that seemed to stretch upwards forever.

In the center of the chamber stood a pedestal, atop which a golden ember was burning.

Entranced, she walked towards the ember and outstretched her hand to touch it. As soon as she did, a pillar of flames rose from the ember.

The flames then took the shape of a bird which flew to the ceiling before returning back to Vivian.

Vivian watched the bird’s movement in awe, she recognized the bird to be a phoenix but wasn’t sure if this was the same as her forged-beast.

“Hello Vivian” the voice of a lady sounded from the phoenix, surprising Vivian.

“You can talk?” She asked, the surprise evident on her face.

“Yes, while we’re here, I can” the phoenix replied, coming close to her.

“Are you my forged-beast?” She asked unsure, since her forged-beast although it looked like a normal phoenix had never spoken before.

“Yes I am” it replied “more specifically, I am the core’s ego”.

“Core’s ego?” Vivian didn’t understand what it meant so the phoenix explained.

“I’m sure you’ve also noticed it before” it started “but most forged-beasts have some kind of emotion.”

The phoenix paused, waiting for hear to absorb what she just heard. Vivian’s mind went back to Reid’s forged beasts and his banter with them. Understanding what the phoenix meant, she nodded.

Even her forged-beast showed emotions sometimes and this shouldn’t be possible, because even though they were biomechanical beasts, they were still machines in some sort of way.

“This is because of the ego present in the cores used to forged them” it continued “Although those egos do not affect the bond between the tamer and the beast, it does grant the semblance of a personality which thereby develops into emotions”.

“If the egos of the original beasts is present in the cores, then does that mean they’ll turn on us someday?” Vivian asked.

“No,” the phoenix replied, soothing her worries. “Just as the egos do not interfere with the bonds between a tamer and their forged-beast, they also do not influence the beast’s actions”.

“You can think of them as templates for the beast’s personality, with all their hatred for humanity deleted” the phoenix continued “The fact that I sacrificed myself to save you should prove I bear no hatred against you or other humans.”

“I see” Vivian nodded, accepting the Phoenix’s explanation before asking “so why am I here?”

“You’re here to prove that you’re worthy” The flame phoenix glowed brighter “you’re here to take part in a test”.

“Test?” She asked, confused “what tests am I taking part in?”.

“A test that will determine if you’re deserving of the power you’ve been granted” it replied “you’re here for the Phoenix’s test.”

A pillar of flame rose behind the phoenix as soon as it announced the test’s name.