The Stonehearted Knight-Chapter 450: Meeting her again (2)

She gazed into his eyes. No words were said for a while. Then her lips curled. A smile. Soft and cunning.

"My plan is simple, my son. I plan to flip the table."

Silence descended once again inside the kitchen. The only sound came from another group who entered and hurried to load the trays with the bowls.

Despite the legion of questions Hex wished to fire at his mother, seeing the waiters shiver and avoid looking in their direction, amused him.

From their point of view, the little girl was smiling to no one in particular and looking at the dark wall. Hex hadn’t undone the Veil of Darkness as he had expected the waiters to come and go at unexpected intervals.

They worked like they expected the shadows to devour them and filed out at speeds that only Knights could display. They even pushed each other. The pain of heated bowls and cuts against the sharp edges of the trays didn’t stop them.

"People are funny." His mother laughed once they had gone.

"They would disagree, I think." Hex smiled back. He turned toward her. "What do you mean by flip the table? What table? And why do you wish to flip it?"

"That table," her mother said, pointing at one at the very end. It didn’t look sturdy. Or exceptional. It was messy and filled with bottles. With a sniff Hex determined the various condiments inside them. None were magical. Or poisonous.

"Why?" He repeated his question.

"Your face," she laughed. "You look like someone flabbergasted."

"Because I am. Please don’t be cryptic about it." Hex snapped back. He hadn’t expected there to be an actual table involved. He still didn’t believe her.

"Okay. Sorry." She held her hands up in surrender. "But I am serious. Some day I will flip that one." She looked at it and turned back to Hex. Hex was sure he still looked as lost as he had before. He had still no idea what she was implying.

"Come." She called, making her way to the table.

"Look at it and tell me what you see."

Confused, Hex observed the table before him.

"There are one hundred and eight bottles of various sizes. Each has a different spice or herb inside. Doesn’t look new. Scratch that, it looks like it has always been here. I doubt these things are cleaned...ever. Dust has settled below and between the bottles."

Hex began with the most obvious and mundane but as his senses started to pick more and more details, he realized there was an entire story of sorts playing out on the table.

So much could be seen and understood about this place, this shop, and the people around here from one simple, near-to-collapsing table.

From the bottles to the tiny organisms living between the lids and bottles, every detail told a story.

"Excellent. Your senses are beyond amazing," Medina praised. "But now. You observed so much. So tell me, how does this relate to my comment?"

It was a test. Hex knew it. One that somehow excited him.

"Let’s see. Your comment was to flip the table as a solution to my question regarding a solution for the impending doom once the Crack disappears, right?"

Hex gave it some thought before continuing. Medina nodded.

"If I assume this table represents Wrixia and we are all here, each with our own role and place, then flipping the table would destroy the current balance. There will be chaos. And in that chaos lies our chance."

Hex fell silent. He knew it was a valid solution. Without a clear path, distort all paths so your enemy would be slowed down as well. But that would only delay the inevitable.

"You don’t agree with your own path of thought, son." Medina, even as a fragment of a soul, saw right through him. Her wisdom stemmed from experience no one could match.

"...many will die," Hex said. "Like many bottles on this table. Chaos that ensues will leave only a few bottles whole. And that too by luck. The same fate awaits the people."

"The first rule of helping out others is to ensure your own safety first, dear," Medina said.

"I understand that. And I am not some messiah willing to sacrifice myself to save everyone else," Hex shrugged. "The thing is, this isn’t a solution. Chaos has no order. I could be the bottle that shatters first. And say, I survive. What then? I will still be hunted. In fact, I am certain I will be even more hunted down if I survive."

"Nice points." Medina clapped with a smile. "But my plan covers those. You did well. Based on the information you have. And your experience...is still limited."

Hex raised his brow. True he had been active a little over a year but what a year it had been.

He faced Heaven’s Vault. Lost his master. Faced Enlightened Knights. Saw his....okay, he didn’t know what Althea was of his...but he saw her transform into Heaven itself.

He found his mothers, lost both. Learned his identity. Knew his bloodline. Was told he wasn’t human. At the same time he was the last heir of the first warrior and the Godking Himself.

Could anyone boast such a list of....well, circumstances?

"All those things you experienced surpasses indeed everyone else’s life. I meant things you have done actively. Choices you made. Your Knight path. Have you found that?"

Medina seemed to have realized his thoughts once again. He wasn’t too happy being read so easily by her. Ignoring it, he focused on her question.

Indeed. Most of his life was reacting to what happened around him. He tried to take control. He seriously did. It wasn’t his fault his damn enemies were so strong even the world couldn’t face them head on.

He would have to outscheme a being who schemed and planned around since the beginning of time. He would have to outsmart the oldest being. He would have to face Fate itself.

Clap. Clap.

His mother pulled his attention.

"We aren’t going to finish this way. Let me explain."

She pointed at the table.

"Your observation is on point. You saw and sensed what there is shown. But there are some things that are present yet not seen."

Hex looked again. All his senses were pushed to the extreme. He didn’t notice anything more than he already had.

"I said they can’t be sensed. They are inferred," Medina smiled.

"Watch with your brains. You noticed the mold. The organism. The dirt. But why are they there?" She asked. Before Hex could reply, she answered.

"It means these were the spots assigned to them and never changed.

By flipping the table, you don’t only break the balance, you rewrite the story.

You make space for others to take these spots.

There will be a new order.

But...

Like you said, that order will come after the chaos.

And that chaos is what we will need."

Hex understood his mother. They both said the same thing with one difference. A big difference.

She didn’t worry about the bottles that would be destroyed in the process. She counted on it.

Her solution relied on new bottles emerging to establish a new order. Because these bottles would force a reassignment of the spots on the table.

Every bottle would be left alone to fight for their place.

It made sense.

He saw the hope in it.

But...

There were two important things on which this plan relied.

"How will you flip the table?

...and who will be the new bottles?"

Medina smiled. She patted his shoulders.

"Good. You saw the two main pillars this plan hangs on. I can see traces of myself in you. Finally. You got some brains."

She winked playfully. She was teasing him. And he knew it. But he still felt proud. It was absurd. He knew it.

She was the Witch. She had created him for a purpose. Not out of love. And still he felt as such.

"Anyway. To answer your questions," she continued a bit more seriously now.

"The new bottles? There are numerous Enlightened Knights, Sins, and pseudo Sages waiting for their chance. A chance to ascend above others.

Like the leader of the Snakefolk. Like the leader of the Witchkin. Like the owner of the oldest store.

And who knows. Even others. People who are just average humans or beasts might get a chance to tilt the world in their favor.

That’s the beauty of flipping the table. Everything can happen. Even the flipper of the table can’t predict the changes.

They might be good. They might be bad. What’s certain, there will be a change. And only through change can there be a chance."

Basically, a bet. That was how Hex understood the situation. She answered his second question. Not the first.

"How will you flip the table?" It was the first question for a reason. Without it, nothing would change.

Medina stared at him as her lips curved into a smile. Her eyes had darkened, he noticed. A sense of unease filled his heart.

"You don’t get it my son. I am not the one who will flip the table. The one to flip it will be you."