Chapter 39 The Global Conflict

Chapter 39 The Global Conflict
Luna POV

The attacks began at midnight.

At the same time, armies in twelve countries started marching. Human armies versus werewolf armies. It resembled an accidental battle. It was as though the two were now clearly decided to fight.

But Sophia knew the truth. The conflict was being created by the shadow government. They were taking our information that we gathered as an excuse to wage war. They were telling that Luna betrayed them, that Luna brought division, that it is the peace movement of Luna which caused the war.

Everybody is accusing you, Sophia, Sophia said. She looked devastated. They are playing the truth that it should be the other way around. They are taking advantage of it to cause havoc.

The wars spread. The entire world was hit in a few hours. People and werewolves were fighting the same way they used to fight before the peace movement began. The progress we had made. The lives that had been transformed. All of it was being undone.

Never before, though, was anything different. This time, there was the awareness of the reality about the shadow government. And they were angry.

Reporters began pawing at the information Sophia had provided us with. They began to discover the relationships. They began to reveal those people who organized the fights.

The shadow government is returning, David said. He was liaising with peacekeepers throughout the globe. They are attempting to smother the journalists. They are attempting to avoid the dissemination of the truth. The internet is however quicker than they are. It is already in circulation.

The wars came to a halt within forty-eight hours. Not because anyone won. But since people on either side figured out that they had been used. They understood that human beings and werewolves were not really hostile. They also discovered that the actual enemy was the shadow government which had been dictating on them.

Mass demonstrations broke out in all the countries. People demanded change. Individuals required openness. Citizens wanted the shadow government to be dissolved.

And then my father appeared.

I only did not know that I had a father. He had not been referred to by my mother. But seemingly he had been watching. And evidently, he was somebody.

He was the head of another shadow group. A group that had been waging war against the shadow government over a long period of time. A few years back he had sent my mother to Pine Ridge to stay safe. He had been observing me as I grew up. Until a time when I would be well enough to assist him.

I do not want to belong to some dark organization, I said to him. I would have the world be as shadowless as I can make it. I would have everything in the light.

"I know," my father said. He looked like me. Same face. Same eyes. Same obstinate will. And that is why you are the one I would confide with this. I am bequeathing to you my organization. I am giving you everything I have worked my life to accumulate. And I'm requesting you to go with them and bring light to all the dark governments in the world.

"Why should I trust you?" I asked. You are a shadow government yourself.

"Yes," my father said. "And I'm tired of it. The other old man was tired, just like my one. As with any other person in power, after too long, he/she too gets weary. I would like to contribute to the development of a world without shadows. Will you help me?"

I looked at Ethan. I looked at Kieran. I stared at Sophia and David and my mother. I looked at the council and the community and all those who had struggled to achieve peace.

"Yes," I said. "But we do it together. Not as a shadow organization. As a public movement. Everyone knows our names. All people are aware of what we do. We do this in the light."

We proceeded to publish details of all shadow organizations all over the world over the next month. We exposed corruption. We exposed lies. We revealed the systems which had been controlling the people without their consent.

It created chaos. But good chaos it was. It was the riot of men getting up. It was the turmoil of the people discovering that they had strength. It was the disarray of people who needed actual change.

Governments fell. New ones were built. Some were better. Some were worse. But now they were all transparent. They all had a share to answer.

And my father kept his word. He gave me his organization. But I transformed it. We did not work in shadows, but in the light. We did not control people, but educated them. Rather than drawing boundaries, we constructed fences.

But I was tired. So exhausted as to be barely able to stand.

The grandmother of Elena and Sera contacted them on the other side of the barrier. They sent me a message. A simple message. Something that clarified it all.

"You can rest now," they said. "You've done enough. The next generation is time to come. You need to live your life and not save the world.

But I couldn't rest yet. Something was again arousing the barrier. Something familiar. Something that seemed like a threat.

And I could only imagine one individual who can produce such commotion.

Sarah.