Curse the Mainframe! 93 Ignorance

Alec left Bunbun and Fenrir with Kieran, who waved him goodbye. There was an abundance of those who were below eighteen years old trying to join the Heavenly Ascension Sect. Most of them looked like they were around his age.

Alec thought that it was likely the parents thought that it might be easier for them to get in if they were younger.

They were all eyeing each other, and Alec could see some of those who were already quickly making friends here and there.

There was a multitude of different personalities, some clashing, others not, all jammed in one place just beyond an empty space behind the sect gates.

As far as the eye could see, Alec spotted waves of people. They moved haphazardly, without any sense of patterns at all, and Alec felt sick just seeing it.

They were endless. And numerous. Too numerous.

Alec shoved down the knee-jerk reaction to leave, maintaining his image. He was already attracting some looks because he came from the area where the pegasus had landed, but not too many.

"Make way, make way!" he heard a voice shout out, and almost every head turned to look at the loud voice who was forcing people apart so that they could squeeze through.

Alec immediately took the chance presented to him and slipped into the crowd, blending in, no matter how much he preferred to hold himself apart.

It was only then that he turned to look at the commotion that was taking place.

Alec listened to the whispers that had started up in the presence of the voice.

"That's the Citrine Clan's princess, Melanie Citrine. Why is she here?"

"Huh? Who?"

"You haven't heard of the Citrine Clan? Then, what about the Citrine Thunder Sect?"

"Oh, yeah! Why is she trying for the Heavenly Ascension Sect, then?"

"How should I know?" the voice said, sounding uncharitable.

Alec turned his eyes towards the supposed princess of the Citrine Clan, Melanie Citrine.

The trio made up the three primary colours. Red, blue and yellow. Alec's lip twitched.

There were two boys flanking her, the blonde one holding a look of abject proudness on his face, while the blue-haired individual was more subdued. Though he wasn't flaunting it, he wasn't hiding it either. All this for being able to stand by her side.

They looked around eleven or twelve, their cheeks still holding the baby fat that made adults coo over children's cuteness. The most striking thing about them was the way their eyes shone gold and yellow, like their clan's namesake. Citrine crystal.

Melanie Citrine had long, red hair. Rather than the shade of blood, her hair colour resembled the red roses that so many people loved to use as a symbol of their love. Combined with her golden eyes, she made a striking picture even though she was still young. She drew attention without even trying.

Even now, it could be foretold that she would have many people chasing after her.

While the two boys were proud about all the attention on themselves – inferiority complex, the voice in Alec's head whispered – but the girl in question, looked distinctly bored. When Alec looked closer, there was a faint tension running through her shoulders. She was trying to hide how uncomfortable she was.

The trio moved through the crowd, which parted for them like they were entitled to it, the voices hushing while they passed by.

Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They were treating her like she was royalty or something, which he couldn't really fault them for. Judging from what they said, she was from a prominent clan and should have went to their clan's joined sect, but for some reason didn't.

'Princess' of the Citrine Clan. Why was it that she was here? Were there some sort of ulterior motives, or was there something happening in the background that Alec didn't know about? Was the political climate changing?

However, they were partly alienating her just because of that, either intentionally or because 'they just weren't good enough for her', which was exactly the kind of reason that caused certain personalities to form.

She'd either be completely aloof in a couple of years, or she would take it upon herself to be the 'big sister' type that solved problems for people. There was no in-between. Yet another typical common plot point.

Alec wanted to sigh, but it wasn't his problem.

He didn't know her, nor did he have any intention to try and help her out. They weren't friends, nor were they ever going to be. He was not in any shape or form a Main Character, who would somehow, miraculously change her entire worldview with barely any effort on his part.

A few minutes later, there was a similar commotion as the crowd parted around someone, this time the whispers were louder almost.

They backed away even further than they had for Melanie, almost tripping over themselves and eliminating all sense of personal space from themselves as they distanced themselves from the boy.

It was precisely because everyone abruptly backed off that Alec was briefly pushed almost to the front, catching a glimpse of who they were avoiding like the plague.
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There was a boy, similar age to himself, with light purple hair that brushed the nape of his neck. With slightly darker purple eyes, the boy kept to himself. Though, not before Alec saw the flinch that he hid inexpertly.

The boy shoved his hands into his pockets, looking straight ahead emotionlessly. He showed no other signs of being perturbed by the behaviour that he'd been shown.

The whispers were loud. Though they were whispers, when everyone was whispering, the resulting sound was loud and completely obvious.

"I can't believe they let a Sin into the sect!"

"Huh? There's a Sin here?"

"How do you know someone is a Sin?"

"Have you been living under a rock? Obviously, Sins are all required to wear that black band. If you see one of those, you better stay far away."

"Hey, quiet. What if he decides that he doesn't like how we look?" someone said nervously.

At that person's words, the whispers grew quieter, as if they were completely terrified that the Sin would suddenly break out in a show of violence from the slightest trigger of their words.

The only thing that could have possibly alerted them to the sign of the boy's Societype was the black band sitting on his neck. Though the band wasn't a tattoo, it didn't seem to have a latch that would allow him to take it off either.

The boy seemed like the only Sin who had come here to try and join the Heavenly Ascension Sect, and Alec briefly admired the guts that required to stand in a crowd full of naysayers.

Then, Alec wondered whether this was the reason why his mother had immediately gone pale as she learnt of his Societype. Had he not had Annalise as his mother, would he too be facing issues like this?

Shunned by society in such an obvious manner?

No doubt Alec would have snapped a long time before that, leading them to further believe that it was normal behaviour from Sins.

From how they were treating that Sin, he was like a tiger the zoo. While he seemed domesticated, one would never know whether or not they were truly harmless because of his base nature. They much preferred to see him behind bars rather than facing him up close.

It disgusted him. The black, tar-like feeling that welled up inside him had little to do with charity, and all to do with the wilful ignorance that these people were showing, buying into every aspect of Sins that were 'known'.

Even though they were Sins, that didn't mean they didn't have emotions. They just seemed to feel in a different capacity.

The crowd seemed to both fear and disdain the Sin at the same time, which almost made Alec break character and frown.

He just couldn't understand. It was like a vicious cycle. If the average person reacted this way to a Sin, then there was no way that they wouldn't act out. After the Sin committed violence, the ones that had been disdaining him would feel like they were justified in their treatment of the Sins, and the cycle continues.

Alec felt frustrated at the lack of logic these people showed.

Could they not see what they were doing? Were they all so blinded that it had come to this?

Alec's gaze cooled, and a few people shivered at the decrease in temperature. Was it always this chilly?

Alec wondered if the brief glance that the Sin shot in their direction was his imagination, but the violent onslaught of shivers that started around him led him to believe that it wasn't the case.

Chapter end

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