A collision of opinions: Part 2

"Sometimes, we all just want to give up. Tired of the lives we live. We tell ourselves that what we do has meaning that it all has a purpose. Often though, we forget or simply don't believe this. When you're exhausted and broken, who cares about purpose, who cares about anything. The world is in a perpetual cycle of pain. Every time we think we change, things get better. We forget things never stay the same. We believe in a false hope that nothing can go wrong; we are all in this together, through thick and thin, side by side. But often, the reality is that when the time comes and darkness strikes, we must face it alone. This, though, is hard to accept! For who would want to believe that those you put your faith in would shatter it. That all you believed in was nothing but a farce. That all the achievements you had gathered are nothing but trinkets that would fade in the stream of time. When you are at rock bottom, I ask you this. What will you do? Talk is cheap. We always say when the time comes: "I shall do this…" but in truth, it takes a great amount of dedication and courage to act in times where others give up."

-Author: Unknown

-Time: Unknown

-Era: Unknown

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"Well…Uh…it's complicated…but I guess I can try and explain," said Steven while awkwardly scratching his head.

"We would appreciate that!" said Phillip with a headache, as he was trying to process everything that had happened, was happening and would happen.

"Well…Alright…so um…simply said…Colin and the guy who is next to him, by the way, is a captain of a ship…or was…that…captured most of my comrades and me and enslaved me…" said Steven quietly. He noticed that as he explained his relationship with Colin and the captain, everyone else was looking at Colin and the captain with eyes filled with killing intent, wanting to tear him painfully apart without any mercy. Wildly, Phillip and Evelyn stared at Colin with eyes that held an uncontrollable amount of rage. They couldn't believe that their best friend had been enslaved for so many years in such a terrible place. And now that they found out who was responsible for their friend's capture and disappearance, they wanted to do nothing more than brutally torture and kill Colin.

"Uh guys…just so you know, my comrades and I have been here only for around six years, not 17…and while I do know he is guilty, Colin didn't have a choice, and even if he wanted to help me, he couldn't. But even then, he gave me a lot of information about this world, that without it, I would not have survived up till now," said Steven in an attempt to calm down his comrades, especially Phillip and Evelyn, as he saw his two best friends who he hadn't seen in a long time weren't too keen on listening to rational and sane logic.

"Steven…even if they did not make you disappear from us 17 years ago, why should we spare them? What good enough reason exists to quell my rage!" said Evelyn with her eyes shining brightly with azure blue colour and slowly becoming light blue and covered by ice.

"Well… seeing as the other Foundation Faction members of this base are either dead or have already fled, wouldn't those two guys be very useful? They've been successfully sailing the River of Greed for a long time, no? And I'm sure they might know if there are perhaps some hidden ships in the vicinity we can use to get away from here, depending on where we want to go off course. There are various other reasons, but the most important one for me is that I want them to live. And I will to the best of my ability to try and protect them, said Steven with a severe expression while standing up and walking over to Colin and his unconscious captain. Once he had reached them, he stood in front of them, putting his words to action and showing that he was serious.

Phillip's comrades and Evelyn's junior sister scoffed when seeing this and started to laugh at Steven. He was ridiculously outnumbered and was clearly much weaker than everyone else. There were many, though, that did not laugh. Those people were Steven's comrades, those that had later joined his group, Temarr, the scarred man, the older man, as well as Evelyn and Phillip. They all looked at Steven seriously and contemplated what he had said. This was due to various reasons. For Temarr, the older man and the scarred man, Phillip's group were all but strangers to them. They had joined the group only very recently and had no connections to the group. So now that they had fulfilled their purpose in bringing Phillip and his comrades into the Foundation Faction Harbour and defeating the present Foundation Faction members, they didn't see much sense in staying with the group.

Additionally, the scarred man was contemplating whether he would stay and help Phillip fight against the Foundation Faction. He truly hated the Foundation Faction, but when he saw the subtle traces of insanity and uncontrollable rage in Phillip, he knew if he stuck too close to Phillip, he would suffer. As one day, Phillip would explode with rage, with uncontrollable insanity that would consume everything around it. Steven's comrades also didn't laugh. Instead, they stared at the people that laughed at Steven with eyes that could kill and prepared themselves for anything that would come next. Although they agreed Steven was naïve, that he was idiotic, and not pragmatic, they decided they would follow Steven and protect him wherever he went. For he was like a light to them in the darkness. His naïve and kind personality did not look at their faults. Instead, it looked at them as human beings. Beings who yes made mistakes, but if willing, could change. Steven showed kindness to those who least deserved it. He gave people a second chance when they would have instantly killed the person who wronged them. But this didn't mean Steven was perfect, he was far from it, and he had many flaws that were highly irritating to his comrades, but even so, they were willing to follow, for they had found a person who reawakened a part of them they thought never would have returned. Other than that, Phillip and Evelyn also seriously contemplated what Steven had said, for they couldn't afford to lose Steven. His disappearance heavily impacted them and brought them to where they were now. They didn't know what awaited them in the future, but they knew now that they had Steven back in their lives, they wouldn't let anything happen to him again.

They were seeing that quite a few people weren't laughing at Steven and were contemplating what he had said and even had started to stare at them in contempt. Phillip's comrades, as well as Evelyn's junior sister, became incredibly silent as if they were shocked to see their leaders and so many others react so seriously to what they saw a young man simply bluffing and using his connections to get what he wanted. Yet, for some reason, quite a few people did not think so. This made the ones that had initially laughed at Steven extremely curious. What was so special about this young man that he was able to convince extremely strong people and a large group of people to take him seriously and not just kill him. While thinking this, a loud exasperated sigh could be heard.

"Sigh…Alright, Steven…let's make a deal. You and whoever wants to join you come with me, and I'll see what I'll do with that man and his captain. I can't promise anything, but if they prove useful, they shall live. If not, they must answer for their crimes," offered Phillip, directly looking at Steven.

"Well…I guess that might-"answered Steven to Phillip before he was suddenly interrupted by Evelyn.

"Now now… let us not just charge into rash decisions, no? Steven, come with me. As you have most probably already heard, there are many dangers in this world, so large that you could not even imagine. The world that once was is long gone. Even geographically, the world is much larger and different than it once was. You don't know about so many things that you wouldn't even understand if I were to mention them. Steven, I have a special position in an extensive and powerful organisation. I can't tell you about the details here, but know this, with me, you will truly be safe. You won't have to fear anything. And I can arrange some things for comrades so that they can have a comfortable life as well," explained Evelyn calmly as her hair fluttered in the wind.

Hearing this, Steven didn't know what to decide. He clearly understood that something had happened between Phillip and Evelyn, as they both wanted Steven not to join the other person. Steven didn't know how he would solve this dilemma, but he knew that he had to find some temporary solution. Otherwise, the conflict would break out any minute, as he saw that Phillip and Evelyn looked at each other with hateful expressions that could kill. Racking his mind to find a solution, Steven noticed that it was already too late to find a solution as both Phillip and Evelyn started to argue with each other once more.

"Damn it." Said Steven quietly as he knew it would be hard to solve whatever was about to happen.

"Give it a break Evelyn. Don't try to manipulate Steven as you once did to me and so many others! So, what if you have someone strong backing you? You'll just abandon Steven once you grow tired of him, or you will make his friend "magically" disappear, just as you did to so many of our friends all those years ago! I would rather die than hand Steven over to you!" shouted Phillip with red rage-filled eyes that threatened to attack at any moment.

"Naïve as always, Phillip. Do you think you can hide your evil deeds by revealing mine? Do you think you are innocent? Are you pure? After living 17 years in this rotten cesspool of a world?! Do not joke with me! You know nothing! Do you honestly think you can protect Steven with your minuscule faction called the Crowned Knights of Freedom?! A bunch of ragtag slaves?! What a joke! You have barely scratched the surface of the Foundation Faction, yet you think yourself strong. How pathetic!" said Evelyn with her azure blue eyes glowing with icy intent.

"You better hold your mouth, you vixen! You don't know what Phillip has suffered through with us! You don't know anything! Go back to your palace of luxuries! You are powerful and safe and don't have to worry about people wanting to enslave or kill you! Do you think it's easy? Do you think we don't know that we are hopelessly outnumbered and inferior in strength?! We know! We know it's almost hopeless, but we have no other option! We either fight, or we die! We don't have the luxury like you do to rely on some powerful faction!" shouted Tiana in anguish as tears flowed over her smooth skin, dropping onto the ground.

"Careful. Be very careful. I can only show so much mercy before I can no longer tolerate such disrespect," warned Evelyn with strong killing intent, threatening to strike out at any moment.

"If I may? Uh…say something to you bickering fools? You are not helping resolve anything. At all! You guys are just making the situation worse and more complicated. Do you honestly believe Steven can choose either of you two after having not seen you guys for 17 years? Especially seeing as how much you two have most probably changed after these 17 years. If you both are truly Steven's best friends that he spoke about during the last six years, I would expect you guys to understand this, no?" countered Xiang with a steadfast expression, placing himself next to Steven to reassure Steven he wasn't alone, as well as to inform the others that they couldn't just do whatever they wanted to.

Xiang knew that Steven had a hard time choosing what to do or, better said, what to say to his friends. He knew that Steven was extremely unclear on how to properly decide what to do due to having suddenly being reunited with his friends, which he hadn't seen after six years. That's why Xiang agreed he would be there for his friend, as Steven had always been there for him and was something he could not afford to lose, even if that meant he would be in conflict with Steven's best friends, which were far more substantial than he and his group were. This did not apprehend Xiang and Steven's other comrades to gather around Steven and prepare for whatever they were to face. They were not afraid, they faced much worse, and even if they died, they knew they would not regret dying, as it was for someone who meant absolutely everything to them.

Seeing their resolution to even die in what they believed in, Temarr, who stood further away, was shocked. He hadn't seen something like this ever before. This was due to him not remembering any of his memories from five years ago. Temarr didn't know why but he knew it wasn't natural to remember anything about his life. Therefore, because Temarr was essentially discovering everything as if it were his first time, he was shocked to see such a strong sense of camaraderie with Steven and his comrades and how they didn't submit under those who were much more potent and in higher numbers. Temarr was highly fascinated by this and wanted to know why they were willing to go so far for someone seemingly useless.

Seeing this Evelyn smiled coldly, she wanted to do nothing else but kill those pesky things that prevented her from being together and leaving with Steven, but she knew that she would never be able to be with Steven if she did that. Although slightly different, she had already noticed that Steven was no different than he was 17 years ago. That meant that he was still the same Steven that she once knew. He hadn't been corrupted or killed off in some desolate corner. This pleased her immensely, and she could not wait to have Steven for herself. But she knew that she had to be patient and show grace to those who stood in her way, for if she did not, Steven would never be hers. Therefore, Evelyn decided not to kill the pesky things in front of her but instead followed Steven's plans.

"Alright, Steven…I see that this all is still too much for you…that's why I will join you wherever you go…until you are ready to decide who you want to follow properly," negotiated Evelyn with a calm and kind smiling face.

Hearing this, Steven sighed in relief. But some people had an entirely different reaction. Hearing Evelyn talk this way made Phillip realise that he was in an extremely difficult situation. He knew Evelyn's true personality, which was twisted and broken beyond belief, but he knew if he told Steven about this, he would most likely not believe him. Steven tended to have the habit of putting trust in people that did not deserve it. Adding onto that, Steven, from what Phillip could observe, had not changed much for some reason the last 17 years. Meaning he was still very trusting of others, especially his best friends. Knowing that he had to act before Steven fell into Evelyn's trap, Phillip decided to compromise and see what Evelyn's true intentions were and what she had planned so that he would be able to ensure that she would not be able to hurt his comrades as well as ensnare Steven into her trap.

Standing beside Evelyn, her junior sister also had an extreme reaction. She had rarely seen her sister react in such away. Although her elder sister sometimes showed her a slither of kindness, she mostly ignored her. And as for treating others…She knew that this was not a part of her elder sister that she would see anywhere else. This made her extremely curious about who this man was that could make her sister show such a different side of her. She, therefore, decided to closely observe Steven and find out exactly what made him different from others and what type of a connection he had with her elder sister so that she too might potentially be able to see much aside from her elder sister.

"You know what, Steven…Evelyn is rig-ri…Uh…is right…Let us follow your plan and scout this area as well as find everything we out we can about what awaits us and see from there onwards what we will do." countered Phillip with a twitching smile that could barely hide his difficulty in saying he agreed with Evelyn.

After all of this was said, Steven felt quite happy with himself. What he failed to notice was that most of the people had highly peculiar faces. Many people cringed seeing how Phillip and Evelyn acted and tried their utmost to withhold their laughter. This was indeed something that they had never seen nor experienced, and they couldn't help but find the situation hilarious. Following this, everyone had calmed down to quite an extent and started to look at Steven to see what he was about to say what they were to do next. As currently, if anyone said anything else that might be against Steven, they would potentially, no, they would most definitely die an excruciating death.

"Well, alright…You got to be kidding me-" Said Steven just as he wanted to explain his thoughts to the group. For he had noticed that his mind was falling unconscious and he was falling towards the ground. Within a few seconds, Steven had fallen out and landed on the floor. Seeing this, everyone's eyes widened in shock. They didn't know how to handle what had happened. Phillip and Evelyn were distraught. They immediately kneeled and tried to find out what had happened to Steven. A sense of panic and anxiousness had spread to everyone, not knowing what had led to this happening and some people being afraid of how Phillip and Evelyn would act if something terrible had happened to Steven. Although before anything like this could happen, a sigh could be heard from Xiang.

Everyone turned their attention towards Xiang and the rest of Steven's comrades. What they saw surprised them. Steven's comrades, although worried, weren't nearly as concerned as everyone had thought they would be. Instead, it seemed that they were somehow used to this as if this had happened more than once in the past. Seeing this reaction, Phillip stood up and intimidatingly loomed over Xiang, wanting to find out what was happening.

"You better tell me what is going on now! Before I make you tell me!" said Phillip with his eyes glowing with a bloody red colour. The majority of Phillip's comrades did not care less what would happen to Steven and his comrades, but due to Phillip being their leader, they had not antagonised nor provoked Steven and his comrades in any way. So, they were pretty pleased to see that something was finally being done to show the people they were the ones in power here. Only a select few people showed worry about how Phillip was acting, and some showed some contempt. The ones showing contempt were Temarr, his master, as well as the scarred man. This was due to them not being a part of Phillip's group, and when they saw how Phillip acted when he was angry and didn't get what he wanted, it somehow reminded them exactly how people from the Foundation Faction worked. Granted, this was quite normal in the new world.

Nevertheless, when they saw how Steven and his group of comrades interacted, even though it was only like a glimpse, they saw people treating each other with respect and care. This was a thing that was seldom seen in a large group as well as individuals. It was not very common, and those that still showed compassion and respect to others without expecting something in return only showed it to their significant others. Yet here, with this group, they saw that somehow, through Steven, Xiang, and the rest showed these traits. This made them unexpectedly yearn for the same thing. Temarr for example did not know how to define his relationship with his master clearly. He did not know if his master actually cared for him or if he was just using him. But when he saw how Phillip and Evelyn reacted when seeing Steven and how Steven's comrades were, Temarr knew that he had to find out more and experience it for himself so that he could truly learn the purpose behind his master taking care of him these last few years.

Therefore, when he and some others saw how Phillip handled Xiang, they were not very impressed and even looked down on Phillip. It proved to them that he had little control over his emotions and was prone to violence. Although a good leader and a good man, it showed them that Phillip had many issues that prevented him from being a good leader. If he couldn't control his rage and had an outburst that he couldn't control, he would regret it. Phillip had many potentials to become extremely strong, but that potential, combined with his rage, was nothing but a ticking time bomb that would harm all those in its vicinity. This made them want to deescalate the situation and try to separate Phillip from Xiang. Before they could act, Xiang sighed and laughed at Phillip.

"You sure are spitting on Steven's face, aren't you? For all the great stories he told us about you and his other best friends, you sure prove him wrong!!! Hahaha!!!" said Xiang with a smile that wasn't one while laughing menacingly at Phillip.

Hearing this, Phillip wanted to crush Xiang's head for saying such things to him, but when he thought about Steven, he slowly started calming down. He knew this would not help his friend, and if he would hurt Xiang and the rest of Steven's comrades, when Steven woke up, he would not understand nor accept Phillip's apologies and excuses. Controlling himself, Phillip let go of Xiang and took a deep breath to calm himself down. After doing this for a while, he looked at Xiang with emotionless eyes that could freeze even the hottest places. From the side, Evelyn's eyes squinted as she saw something she didn't like, but she didn't want to think about it at the moment and pushed her thoughts regarding Phillip and his ice cold, emotionless eyes to the back of her mind.

Seeing that Phillip had calmed down, Xiang shook his head in disappointment, but he nonetheless started to explain what was happening as not to create another situation.

"So, you want to know what's happening to Steven? We don't know either. We just know that he tends to do that once in a while. What happens during that period we have no way of determining, but all we know is that he will most likely wake up in an hour. So, I would recommend if you cared about Steven to make yourself comfortable." As Xiang said this, he turned towards his comrades and nodded to them in Steven's direction. Following this, the group started to sit down and relax while waiting for Steven to wake up.

Seeing that nothing would come from arguing or becoming angry over what had happened to Steven, Evelyn signalled her junior sister to sit down with her. Phillip knew he no longer held the upper hand, and if he did anything to oppose the current situation, he would be put in a hazardous situation. Furthermore, he knew that he was currently exhausted after having continuously fought for many hours. Therefore he decided rather than being any more unreasonable, he would patiently recuperate while waiting for Steven to awaken. After thinking this, Phillip signalled his comrades to sit down and recover and wait patiently for what was to come next. As they saw this, many of Phillip's colleagues were extremely unhappy. But they knew they had no other option than to obey and let those who were so disrespectful towards them back off.

Following this, everyone sat down in their respective groups and quietly waited for Steven to wake up. The atmosphere, although calm, was quite heavy due to what had previously happened. It also did not help that when Phillip was looking around in boredom, he saw the man who had once all overpowered them lying unconscious next to a beautiful woman and a little white unconscious dog. Phillip's eyes widened in shock. How could such a powerful being from previously now be lying helplessly unconscious on the ground, entirely at the mercy of others? Phillip's comrades seeing their leader looking shocked at someone, also turned their attention to the man and reacted with shock just like Phillip. This made the atmosphere further tense, as now Phillip and his comrades were visibly unsettled, having seen that extremely powerful man that treated them like ants now lying unconscious in the ground. Sensing this mood Xiang, although reluctant, knew he had to do something since if this atmosphere continued any longer, something would most probably break out and lead to more conflict. Therefore, Xiang started talking with his comrades and talking about their adventures over the last five years.

In the beginning, the conversation was extremely awkward. This was due to Steven's comrades not being interested in each other, as the only thing that united them was Steven. Yet, the more Xiang began to talk about their experiences, and the group slowly started to open up and join the conversation. Gradually transforming the atmosphere from a very brittle kettle close to exploding to an atmosphere where one group was actively laughing and sharing their experiences and the rest curiously watched this transpire. For the others, although together, were actually in extremely fragile relationships. It was true that there were some signs of camaraderie, as well as some relationships that went beyond just camaraderie. This was not represented in the majority, for Phillip's group and better said the entire faction, were held together by their mutual hatred for the Foundation Faction, the need to survive in this new world, as well as the strength of top brass of the faction keeping the rest of the members in line and obedient.

This was why when they saw how vibrant Steven's comrades had become, they felt a tinge of envy. For deep down, they also wanted something like that for their group, for their entire faction. When they saw Steven's group, they tried to mimic it somehow or have the same effect in their group. They were too prideful to join or ask Steven's comrades why they were different. Instead, they would observe and try to find out on their own why they were so different and see if they could apply the same effect to their group. They did not know, though, that Steven's comrades were only at the beginning of their transformation. Only at the beginning of getting their emotions back and becoming something more than just emotionless beings. And it would still take quite a while before they could become an example for others to follow and implement in their lives. Therefore, it would be best to see and learn and experience why Steven's comrades were so different. As much later on, when Phillip's comrades would try to implement what they had observed into their groups and factions, they would set their future towards a dark path, as what they would be twisted, incomplete, and hollow as one cannot truly experience something if one only imitates it. Instead, one must truly engage oneself wholly and entirely to share it honestly.

This aspect would impact Phillip's faction, but rather it would involve all human beings of the earth who had undergone Awakenings and had transformed into different beings. As moths are attracted to the light, the Crowned Knights of Freedom would burn and shine like a bright fire drawing all of those similar to them, creating a genuinely frightening reality for the rest of the world to deal with.

Location: Unknown

Time: Year 17 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

"Ugh…where the heck am I this time?" asked Steven with a grim expression as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Yo…long time no see, eh? Other me…" said a person standing in front of Steve.