Chapter 5

**Behind the Eyelids** is the fifth chapter of Abi Umeda's manga Children of the Whales.

## Summary

As the imperial soldiers continue their massacre, Orca narrates that it is important that they record the details of the massacre, in order to show the entire world the proper path to follow. As Tobi's younger siblings cower inside their room, they make a plan to find Tobi and Chakuro and run outside.

Lykos runs from the room that had imprisoned her, and thinks to herself that she must fight to protect the people of the Mud Whale, who are not the vicious savages she was led to believe, even if it means betraying her brother. She thinks that the ship has something that the people of the Allied Empire lost long ago.

As Suou heads outside, he is met by groups of children wh have fled from the carnage and Shinono. Shinono tells him that Lady Taisha is dead, and that the Committee of Elders has gone silent. Suou, determined, orders her to gather everyone in the central plaza, and have the vigilantes surround them for protection. Suou states that there enemies are human too, and if the Committee of Elders won't act, he will settle it.

Meanwhile, the moles are still under attack by the imperial soldiers. Enraged by his friend's death, Aijiro attempts to attack the soldiers with a spear, but the soldiers use thymia to take his spear and kill him with it. As the soldiers inch ever closer, Nibi tells them to not come any closer despite his fear.

Then, Ouni arrives. Kicha runs toward him and hugs him in tears, as Ouni notices the bodies of Buki and Aijiro. Ouni kneels next to his departed friends bodies and gently closes Aijiro's still-open eyes as he bitterly wonders if this was the outside world that they had been longing for all this time. As the soldiers throw their weapons towards them, Ouni activates his thymia, and says that he doesn't care anymore.

At the central plaza, the inhabitants of the Mud Whale have gathered in the central plaza. As Suou heads off to confront the invaders, Ginshu of the Vigilante Corps introduces herself, and states that they'll protect Suou. Suou orders them not to kill the invaders, stating that violece will only lead to more violence, and that he is sure that the attack is a misunderstanding that they can resolve. Privately, Suou thinks that he can't believe that Lady Taisha is dead, but this is what she would have done. Furthermore, the Mud Whale doesn't have weapons to defend against an attack like this, so even if they fought back, it wouldn't end well. Before he can finish his thought, blood drips onto his face.

Suou looks up, and sees Ouni impaling an imperial soldier with a sword. Shocked, he watches as Ouni fights and kills the attacking soldiers. The moles also watch, huddled in a corner. As Ouni stabs another soldier, he states that he doesn't care about this world anymore. A member of the Vigilante Corpse calls Ouni a monster, and Suou asks Taisha what they are doing. Isn't a world full of demons and monsters the very definition of hell, he wonders?

Chakuro sits in the field, clutching Sami's dead body. As the soldiers approach, Chakuro thinks to Sami that he'll close his eyes with her. Suddenly, soeone calls Chakuro's name, and he looks up. It is Tobi's younger siblings, who rush towards him, asking where Tobi is. Chakuro, horrified, sees a soldier slowly walking towards them. He grabs the soldier's leg, and begs him not to hurt them, but the soldier brutally kicks Chakuro down and prepares to finish Chakuro off with his weapon. Chakuro, seeing that the weapon would him Sami as well, activates his thymia and pushes the soldier back. Chakuro yells at the soldier to stop as he suffers fro mental anguish. Tobi sees his siblings and Chakuro down in the fields.

Chakuro activates his thymia and grabs the weapon that the imperial soldier dropped. He manages to defeat the soldier and cracks his mask, revealing him to be a boy around Chakuro's age. Tobi runs up to his siblings, scolding them, and then yells at Chakuro, telling him to run for it. As more imperial soldiers begin to surround Chakuro, he lifts his arms up, and orders them not to touch Sami. Suddenly, the soldiers' guns are lifted out of their hands by thymia and broken.

Lykos reveals herself as the one behind the thymia. As the soldiers prepare to open fire on her, they are ordered to stop. A commanding officer approaches her and tells her that he heard that her ship was destroyed on its way to exterminate Falaina, and asks if there were any other survivors. Nezu and Ro can be seen eavesdropping. The officer asks her to come back to the ship, but she refuses. The officer asks her if being away from the Nous has made her lose her mind, and states that the Supreme Commander of the operation to destroy Falaina is her brother.