The Rise - Chapter 72

Important Recap:

It’s been a while since I released Chapter 69 – The Realm of God. So here’s an important recap in order to understand this chapter. In Chapter 69, Leon needs Veronica’s help to get access to the polls so that he can rig the elections (George Tomhawk later figures this out and stops Leon’s plan in later chapters). However after breaking into the school at night, Leon finally tells Veronica that she is his half-sister. Veronica completely loses it and she disappears – Leon is unable to chase after her. We know about nothing that happened later that night.

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Eighteen hours earlier, in the high school after Veronica left. Leon rushes to find the polls frisking through the papers with his heart racing trying to keep a level head. There was an itch of Veronica in his thoughts as he tried to stop thinking about her. Going through the boxes in the room, he suddenly collapses falling on his bottom. He curls up pulling his knees into his face as his hands start to shake. He tries to hold his sniffling and dampens his trousers with his tears. No matter how hard he tried to pull himself together, the burning sensation in his chest consumed him – feelings of weakness, defeat and frustration.

“I’m sorry…” he whimpered to himself

Leon looks up at the boxes he was sieving through with intense eyes. He gets up weakly and slowly. He launches his hand throwing the boxes aside to the floor with all his power. He looked down at the papers scattered across the floor breathing heavily, thinking to himself – ‘what’s the point anymore…’ His eyes fall on a poll with a familiar name, he picks it up and sees it’s one of Jessica Twint’s polls. It was the final round of polls, right after the Presidential Debate. His eyes wandered down looking for who she voted for. There was a small but clear tick for Leon Lapuzi.

“Why…?” he asked himself burrowing his eyebrows.

He looks at the clock on the wall in the room, quickly starts pilling up the polls and collecting them. He left the box with all the polls in the room ready for him to pick up when he came back. He leaves carefully through the back of the school, in order to avoid Gideon’s men who were waiting for Leon at the front gate. He knew, given the situation, that Gideon would not let him take another detour, especially this late at night.

Holding Jessica’s poll, he walked the dark streets making his way to her home. She didn’t live close by, but she wasn’t too far either. After several minutes he finally arrived. He couldn’t enter from the front door, especially if her parents open the door – too many questions, not enough time. He runs around the back of the house. This was a familiar task for Leon, he had to sneak into Jessica’s room several times during the early days of their relationship in middle school. The tree he had to climb, the jump he had to make to the edge of the window, the latch of the window he had to force open – they were all exactly the same. He got into the room, in pitch darkness, and closed Jessica’s window behind him slowly. He entered the room backwards through the window and as he placed one foot down into the room he is suddenly grabbed viciously and launched into the floor. He suddenly found himself in a compromising position with Jessica locking both his arms and pressing down on his throat. Just as she was about to call out for her parents she makes out the person that just broke in, was Leon.

“Leon? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she whispered pulling back away from him.

Leon rubs his throat. He got up, and looked at Jessica with nothing but the moon lighting his face.

“I ended things with Veronica.” he said with a defeated voice

Jessica gets up and looks away and back at Leon confused.

“And…?” she said

Leon looked down at the poll he was holding, Jessica noticed it was hers.

“How did you get tha- wait. Leon. I hope this isn’t what I think it is.” she said as she burrows her eyes looking at Leon with fierce eyes.

“You ended things with Veronica, and came here thinking I was just waiting for you? My Romeo breaking in the middle of the night and I’m just the poor little Juliette waiting for you to choose me?” she said as she started smirking

“Please Leon, I already buried everything to do with you.” she continued

“No, that’s not why I came he- I mean, I-I just, it’s more than that…” Leon was barely able to make out a sentence.

“Leon? I’ve never seen you like this, what happened…” she said taking a step forward.

Leon looked down with a blank face.

“Veronica’s my half sister.” she said bluntly

“What?! How the-”

“It doesn’t matter.” said Leon cutting off Jessica’s outburst.

“These past days, everything flipped on its head. My parents abandoned me, my grandmother manipulated me, her second in command is trying to use me, Justin detests me and now Veronica is…” Leon stopped then looked at the poll “Then in the middle of it. Asking myself, who the hell do I have left. I always thought I could rely on myself, but that feeling of abandonment was more than I could handle. Seeing your name, seeing this vote, no matter what you meant by it, it just…” Leon stopped again midway

“Even after I attacked you at the debate.” she said

“I know my grandmother put you up to it. I found out the reason she chose you was so that she could groom you for me. She knew I wouldn’t respond to weakness…” said Leon

“And yet here you are in front of me, weak, shaking like a newborn calf, unable to even finish his sentences.” said Jessica

She moved forward and placed Leon’s head on her shoulder. He simply submitted himself to her.

“But I’m glad” she whispered into his ear “that you came to me, that you trusted me with this version of yourself. How does it feel, rich boy? Is this your first time, feeling absolute defeat and loss?” she said jokingly

Leon chuckles pitifully still burying his head in her shoulder, with her hand wrapped around the back of his head.

“I hate it. I hate it more than anything. I hate everyone that let it happen to me. I never want to feel it ever again.” he vented as he clenched his fists.

The two stood wrapped around each other in the glow of the moon that disappeared and reappeared as dark clouds passing by blocked the moonlight.

“Then remember it. This feeling. And never let it happen again.” she said

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Eighteen hours later, Leon is on the helicopter with the Emperor on their way to an unknown destination. The Emperor has just disclosed to Leon that he plans to give the throne to his mother and the Cottonwood family. Leon was still in disbelief at the sheer magnitude of the situation, a colossal shift in the entire history of the country with unimaginable consequences and he was right in the middle of it. And that’s when it hit him. He looked towards the Emperor who was smiling at him.

“I understand that your highness will relinquish the throne to my mother, but there’s one thing I can’t wrap my head around. Why am I on this helicopter…?” said Leon with a worried and confused look at the Emperor.

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Author’s Note:

This was one my favorite chapters to write. I know flashback chapters can be a nuisance especially when you want the story to progress – so I will be posting the next chapter super soon God willing! But this was a very important chapter. We finally see Leon, lose all hope. No matter what happened to him, he always found a way just get through it. Even after Gideon told him Veronica was his half-sister, Leon screamed atop of the roof in the rain, but then went back to business as usual. But I feel after Veronica’s reaction to finding out, it finally hit him. Here he was losing everything, but all he was worried about was the polls. He always tried to shrug off emotional distress by focusing on his ambitions, but it didn’t work this time.

Why did Jessica vote for Leon in the polls? Personally I think it’s because she felt guilty about the way she attacked him in the debate. Maybe this was her way to make herself feel better, no matter how futile.

Are Jessica and Leon gonna get together? It really seems like that’s gonna be the case, it would seem like Leon’s grandmother always gets her way (remember she’s trying to groom Jessica for Leon)- which is kind of terrifying. But I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. Jessica already told Leon she “wasn’t just waiting for him to choose her” and that this isn’t Romeo and Juliette. She’s comforting him because of their past connection, but it may take Leon a lot more than just pouring his emotions in front her to convince her to be with him – she’s different now.

Thanks for reading! Next chapter we’ll find out why Leon is on the helicopter!