Now that Alys knew what was going on behind the scenes – that her father had been doing experiments to find how people bind to certain Titans and his experiments were, in large part, responsible for the massacres that were going on, she decided that she would need to correct his mistakes. She left the village, with Sparrow following, and went to the capital of the island, where the king lived.

She had always been cautious of using her aspect before, choosing to use its power as little as possible due to watching herself murder her own father on her first conscious use of it. But now, she felt she had nothing. She didn’t necessarily care about the White-Bound as individuals, nor did she care about the innocuous Red-Bound. The entire system was a problem, and the individuals faded into obscurity in response.

As her rage built, the power behind her aspect shifted in the same way it had before, when she demolished a large portion of her own town. But now she felt no reason to attempt to contain it. Anyone she ran into died, most before they even knew she was there. The leader of the Enforcers, who has spent the last thirty years using the fortunate happenstance that he had survived, and his unique knowledge to constantly improve his position, fell without ceremony. His aspect may have been able to protect himself from Alys’s normal aspect, but the ever-increasing energy within his body due to her enhanced one would not be released in any way other than pure destruction.

She strode all the way to the king, who cowered before her. She looked at him and felt nothing. She expected to feel a greater rage, or perhaps disappointment or pity looking at how weak the person ultimately responsible for everything was. But all she felt was emptiness. He was the person at the head of the system that had caused so much pain, but he was incapable of changing it. Perhaps if he were stronger, or more capable, he would have been able to make a difference if he had wished. But he was not, and he did not.

Her aspect faded, and a spring of hope appeared in his eyes. And as he stood, desperate to flee – the thought he might be able to kill her never cross his mind.

A voice spoke to Alys as she watched the king stumble through the door. Whether he was capable of being more or not did not matter. He was responsible, even if anyone in his position would have been just as responsible. He should not escape his fate. He could not escape his fate.