08-31-2021, 07:42 PM
The Cauhloc
August 31st, 8:00 am Xiomeran time
The sun had just risen not long ago; it was looking like a warm and pleasant day would grace the Xiomeran capital. The man being led into the courtyard squinted as he looked up. This was the first time he had seen the sun in months.
It would also be the last time.
He was led to a post planted on one side of the courtyard. Restraints at his ankles and wrists ensured he wouldn't escape, not that escape was possible anyway.
The commander of the group of ISA guards looked at the prisoner, no expression visible on her face. "Do you have any last words you wish to have recorded for the record?"
The prisoner laughed slightly. "The leaders of this regime would never allow any words of mine that had any meaning to ever reach the ears of the people anyway. There are no words necessary now. Do what you will. Your act, and my fate, will speak louder than any words, and they will help bring you all down someday."
As the commander scowled and walked away, Cozamalotl looked up into the sky one last time, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. A slight breeze stirred his hair, and he smiled. "I am ready," he said softly.
The troop of ISA guards on the other side of the courtyard raised their rifles.
---
"So it's done," Calhualyana said, after the echoes had died away. "A firing squad is an unusual method of execution," Prime Minister Toquihu observed. The Empress snorted in response. "He didn't deserve the honor of sacrifice to the gods."
"I am still concerned that we may have created a martyr here," Toquihu said as the two of them walked inside.
"Perhaps we have. But martyrs aren't ghosts or spirits. They aren't about to trouble us from the afterlife. The dead do not speak," Calhualyana replied. "Some misguided fools may put his face on t-shirts, write songs about him, use him to try to inspire themselves. But only the living, in the end, influence what happens in this Empire. Cozamalotl was a threat, and that threat is now eliminated."
Toquihu nodded, although in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think this would turn out to be a mistake.
---
Mocentlalia, noon
Mocentlalia was a very old bar in the Italman section of Tlālacuetztla. Its name meant "gathering", and it had been a place for people outside the Xiomeran mainstream to gather for decades. Normally, it was a place of joy, one where the people that Xiomeran society considered misfits could be in peace together.
The mood inside the bar was anything but joyous now.
"I can't believe they actually did it," Margaxi said. He stared at the television, which was showing Xiomeran state news coverage of Cozamalotl's execution. "I never thought they would actually kill him."
"Then you haven't been paying attention," Eyatzin replied bitterly. "There is literally nothing these animals won't do. They meant to send everyone a message using Cozamalotl as the messenger."
"The question is, are we going to just accept this message and let it be?" Maloxili slammed her own glass down onto the counter. "Are we going to accept being herded to the slaughter as passively as Cozamalotl did? Or are we going to resist?"
"Don't talk like that - the man is barely dead, and you insult him?" Margaxi retorted.
"I don't insult him at all. Cozamalotl was brave - braver than any of us. But he sacrificed himself, and what did it achieve? He's dead, and the government is still in power. Calhualyana is still the Empress. The XCP is growing stronger every day. We are sliding into fascism, and no one is standing up to stop it. Cozamalotl always preached peace, and I used to admire him for it. But we see what being peaceable brings us from this regime, don't we?" Maloxili frowned.
"Maloxili is right," Eyatzin said. "Cozamalotl tried to bring about change in a peaceful way, and they killed him for it. They flaunted their power to do so, to both Xiomerans and to the world. They made it clear they don't care about peaceful protest, or about people who merely ask for change. If we want to stop the XCP and Calhualyana, peace is no longer an option. There aren't many of us left, who believe in reform. But if we don't start fighting back now - treating the regime and its agents and lackeys the way they treat us - soon none of us will be left at all. You've all seen the roundups and the arrests happening, just as I have."
As others in the bar began to murmur in assent, Maloxili took a dagger from her boot and slammed it into the bar. "The regime and its servants only understand one thing - force. They have to be met on the same terms. The time for us to be peaceful is over."
August 31st, 8:00 am Xiomeran time
The sun had just risen not long ago; it was looking like a warm and pleasant day would grace the Xiomeran capital. The man being led into the courtyard squinted as he looked up. This was the first time he had seen the sun in months.
It would also be the last time.
He was led to a post planted on one side of the courtyard. Restraints at his ankles and wrists ensured he wouldn't escape, not that escape was possible anyway.
The commander of the group of ISA guards looked at the prisoner, no expression visible on her face. "Do you have any last words you wish to have recorded for the record?"
The prisoner laughed slightly. "The leaders of this regime would never allow any words of mine that had any meaning to ever reach the ears of the people anyway. There are no words necessary now. Do what you will. Your act, and my fate, will speak louder than any words, and they will help bring you all down someday."
As the commander scowled and walked away, Cozamalotl looked up into the sky one last time, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. A slight breeze stirred his hair, and he smiled. "I am ready," he said softly.
The troop of ISA guards on the other side of the courtyard raised their rifles.
---
"So it's done," Calhualyana said, after the echoes had died away. "A firing squad is an unusual method of execution," Prime Minister Toquihu observed. The Empress snorted in response. "He didn't deserve the honor of sacrifice to the gods."
"I am still concerned that we may have created a martyr here," Toquihu said as the two of them walked inside.
"Perhaps we have. But martyrs aren't ghosts or spirits. They aren't about to trouble us from the afterlife. The dead do not speak," Calhualyana replied. "Some misguided fools may put his face on t-shirts, write songs about him, use him to try to inspire themselves. But only the living, in the end, influence what happens in this Empire. Cozamalotl was a threat, and that threat is now eliminated."
Toquihu nodded, although in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think this would turn out to be a mistake.
---
Mocentlalia, noon
Mocentlalia was a very old bar in the Italman section of Tlālacuetztla. Its name meant "gathering", and it had been a place for people outside the Xiomeran mainstream to gather for decades. Normally, it was a place of joy, one where the people that Xiomeran society considered misfits could be in peace together.
The mood inside the bar was anything but joyous now.
"I can't believe they actually did it," Margaxi said. He stared at the television, which was showing Xiomeran state news coverage of Cozamalotl's execution. "I never thought they would actually kill him."
"Then you haven't been paying attention," Eyatzin replied bitterly. "There is literally nothing these animals won't do. They meant to send everyone a message using Cozamalotl as the messenger."
"The question is, are we going to just accept this message and let it be?" Maloxili slammed her own glass down onto the counter. "Are we going to accept being herded to the slaughter as passively as Cozamalotl did? Or are we going to resist?"
"Don't talk like that - the man is barely dead, and you insult him?" Margaxi retorted.
"I don't insult him at all. Cozamalotl was brave - braver than any of us. But he sacrificed himself, and what did it achieve? He's dead, and the government is still in power. Calhualyana is still the Empress. The XCP is growing stronger every day. We are sliding into fascism, and no one is standing up to stop it. Cozamalotl always preached peace, and I used to admire him for it. But we see what being peaceable brings us from this regime, don't we?" Maloxili frowned.
"Maloxili is right," Eyatzin said. "Cozamalotl tried to bring about change in a peaceful way, and they killed him for it. They flaunted their power to do so, to both Xiomerans and to the world. They made it clear they don't care about peaceful protest, or about people who merely ask for change. If we want to stop the XCP and Calhualyana, peace is no longer an option. There aren't many of us left, who believe in reform. But if we don't start fighting back now - treating the regime and its agents and lackeys the way they treat us - soon none of us will be left at all. You've all seen the roundups and the arrests happening, just as I have."
As others in the bar began to murmur in assent, Maloxili took a dagger from her boot and slammed it into the bar. "The regime and its servants only understand one thing - force. They have to be met on the same terms. The time for us to be peaceful is over."
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