Chapter 41 - Don't Look Down

I stood there, completely still as Aqlli engaged in a battle with the president in front of thousands of citizens.

People were sprinting away from the venue. Aqlli’s sword blocked every hit from the president's fist, and the president redirected every hit from Aqlli’s sword.

The president pulled out an object from his suit as Aqlli jumped back.

A gun similar to the one I had seen while playing laser tag was sitting in his hand. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do with a harmless object.

He pulled the trigger, but instead of it being a small light, three heavily concentrated beams of magic shot towards Aqlli. He held his sword and deflected the first one and dodged the second one. But he didn’t have time to react to the third one.

Ame pulled out a water sniper and shot the president’s blast out of the sky and off course.

Aqlli took this opportunity to shoot forward and circle the president, shallowly cutting him up.

He got stopped only a moment later, as the president slammed his fist down on the floor, pushing Aqlli back with wind pressure.

They were evenly matched.

Everybody watched on as Aqlli fought. They all saw him be on equal terms with the person they believed to be the strongest.

I wanted to feel that too.

I wanted to be seen by all these people too.

For a while, I had known that there are multiple types of value. Every kind of value stems from observation.

The first type- inherent value. For example, when there is one rock, that rock has the value of 1 attached to it. This is because it is observed by The Original Sin or the universe.

The second type is realized value. This was the only one that I cared about. When observed by another person, an object then holds a value that they attached to it. Self-value, friendships, and all other types of connections step from this.

I thought I only cared about realized value from members of Eternal Flame. But when I picked up that newspaper and saw my name, something changed.

I wanted to be seen by everybody. As long as it wasn't inherent, I wanted more.

…

I jumped down off the roof and joined the battle against the president.

“NELL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Aqlli told me that I would die if I came close. But I believed in myself.

The president appeared in front of me, faster than I knew humans could move.

He grinned and grabbed my skull.

“Thank you, Nell. This was the chance I needed.”

He held his gun up to my heart and yelled to Aqlli.

“Put your sword down or he dies!”

This wasn’t what I wanted. Not at all.

Aqlli dropped his sword.

“Now move closer.”

He began to walk towards the president.

The president held his palm up to Aqlli’s head. If he did not move, he would die.

But Aqlli did not fret. He was as calm as ever as he spoke under his breath.

“I didn’t think I would have to use this again. From warrior, to erudite, to king, and back to warrior. This is not me reverting, world.”

A golden aura encased him. My eyes widened. For a moment, I thought this was the same Maylem awakening that Dominic had.

There was an energy leaking from the foggy city of his internal world.

This was the privilege that only befell the ones chosen by a god. A privilege that only befell a king.

It was a borrowed divinity.

His fist teleported to the president’s abdomen as he was shot back into the crowd of people.

Aqlli picked up his sword and appeared on top of him.

He didn’t say anything as he stared into the president’s eyes.

Not a single word. There was only one task he had. And that was the only thing he would do.

He pulled his sword up, and stabbed it into the heart of the president.

In complete silence, he walked over to me and awkwardly looked towards a cameraman and then back to me.

“That was an amazing plan, Nell. You did a great job distracting him. You truly are fit to be a king.”

He stared into my eyes menacingly before whispering something into my ear.

“Play along or your head will be under that camera man’s feet. You’re an idiot, but I can use this. Do not fuck this up.”

I nodded to him and spoke.

“Y-Yes. I do indubitably believe that my amazing plan was amazing. You are welcome for the help.”

The people in the crowd were screaming.

Aqlli raised his voice as loudly and sternly as he could.

“Calm down! I have punished your dictator for the crimes he committed at the banquet. Jeti will be fine, and a new ruler will be appointed by your government.”

He held his sword and turned to the president’s assistant with murderous intent in his eyes.

“Right?!”

The assistant vigorously nodded until Aqlli smiled.

“Good. So! People of Jeti! Do not be afraid.”

He held my hand up.

“This man will be your new ruler. His name is Nell Moren. He is not a terrorist like the papers have said. He is an intelligent, wise and kind person. There is no better man fit to be your leader than him.”

Huh.

Huh?

Everything that just came out of his mouth was a lie.

I heard Ame have the same reaction as me from the roof.

“HUHHH????”

I was confused. But I wasn’t angry. I was too overwhelmed to feel the joy that I expected, but it was somewhere in that knot of emotions.

The people in the crowd had mixed reactions. It was either cheering, screaming, or silence.

Before I had any time to think, Aqlli dragged me off of the stage and into a nearby building while motioning to the rest of the group to follow. He slammed the door in the face of reporters who were chasing after him and spoke to me.

“I lied. You will not be the true king of Jeti.”

That was about what I expected.

“But. You will be seen as one. Your maneuver was idiotic, but it gave me an excuse to put you as the figurehead. If I outright exclaimed that Jeti will no longer be independent and join Cittaglia, the citizens would not be happy. That’s why I inserted you as the ‘government’ to give the people a sense of being their own nation. But, their military will join ours. Under the disguise of a sovereign nation, we will have what is called a puppet state. As their king, your duty will be to keep appearances and hold on to this story. Mistakes will not be tolerated.”

Everybody looked on in shock as he explained.

Ame tilted his head.

“I-Isn’t this plan a bit obvious? You just killed their old leader and introduced Nell at the same time…”

Aqlli scoffed.

“It is obvious. But the majority is too stupid to do anything about it.”

Ame’s jaw was wide at the audacity of this statement.

Aqlli turned back to me and spoke.

“From this day on, you will be royalty. I will take you to meet your new military, Ame and Dominic to meet with the press, and Kaya and Sy to speak to the citizens. Inda and I will speak with the existing government.”

I simply nodded. This was all I could do. I had to trust Aqlli that everything would be okay.

Ame grinned at me and waved goodbye as I followed Aqlli down the hallway. We walked in silence for a minute or so. Then, he stopped in front of a door.

He turned to me and spoke.

“Beyond this door are hundreds of soldiers who will serve you unconditionally. This entire military will be seen as under your control. You will sit on the throne in front of all of them and speak. One of my officers gathered them here. Do not make any mistakes.”

I nodded silently as he opened the door for me.

I stepped into the room. My eyes were closed. I couldn’t handle seeing all these people watching me.

I used my RME to sense my way over to the throne. I put my hand on the arm rest, and I sat down.

I opened my eyes.

Hundreds of people were lined up in the massive room, kneeling to me.

I leaned back on the throne and thought to myself.

When I observed these people, what value did I apply to them? I was a creation of the divine, who thought of himself as human. The blue and red rings on my hands were both presenting themselves to me, as if I had to choose one.

I looked down at the person closest to me. He was the 2nd commander of the Jeti Army, directly under Justin Beckwith.

I gave him value when I observed him. Was it inherent, as a divine being? Or was it realized, as a human?

He was bowing to me. No matter how human I thought I was, I couldn’t shake this feeling. This feeling of joy. This feeling of glory.

I grinned and spoke.

“Subjects! Don’t look down! I will watch you carefully, and when I do, you will watch me back. Not as an equal- not as your leader- but as your god!”

Aqlli’s eyes widened as everybody lifted their heads and spoke simultaneously.

“As you wish!”

I stood up from my throne and walked back to Aqlli. He stared at me carefully.

“You’re getting carried away, imbecile. That was a nice performance though.”

He hit my back and spoke.

“Go wait in the lobby. You’ll see Ame’s interview on the screen.”

My eyes lit up as I ran to the lobby.

I was tired. I didn’t want to think anymore today.

______________________________________________________________________________

Nell turned on the TV, seeing Ame and Dominic standing in front of a building, surrounded by microphones and cameras.

“Ame! What is your connection to Kozui Nishimura?”

“Mr. Nishimura! What is your relationship with Nell Moren?”

“Ame Nishimura! What are your thoughts on illegal immigration to Jeti?!”

Ame looked a little overwhelmed. He was getting hit with hundreds of questions.

Dominic pulled his sword out and yelled.

“One at a time!”

All the reporters went quiet for a moment.

Directly after that, Dominic got hundreds of questions thrown at him as well.

He was doing a slightly better job at answering them, though.

“Dominic Karna, how did you defeat Verwa without magic?”

“He was very powerful, but I was simply stronger. That is where my path led me.”

“Is it true that you spent time in the Maylem army? If so, how was it?!”

He thought for a second.

“It is true. It was a unique experience that gave me many life lessons that I wouldn’t have gotten without it.”

He was answering every question in the most normal ways imaginable. The camera turned to Ame as he finally began being able to answer questions.

“Nishimura! How has the attack on the banquet influenced you to form the group called Eternal Flame?!”

He was slightly nervous.

“I… I lost a connection with the world that day. It made me feel like more of an observer than a participant, so I wanted to find a person I could observe...”

The reporters went quiet after he said this. They stopped asking him questions about himself.

“Ame! The people have been wondering, is it true that Eternal Flame has met with Marē Mizouka, The Immortal Rain? Did he help you at all?!”

Ame thought for a moment. He was unable to tell the full truth about this, because of the happenings at the trial. But he was able to tell the story of the first time they met with him.

“Yes. Before Nell was a part of the group, we met with Marē to ask him for help against the president. He instantly shot us down and said that we were missing a seed, and an ‘Essence of Eternity’. We thought he was insane for a second, but now we aren’t so sure.”

They were about to ask more questions, when Aqlli walked over and spoke.

“Interview’s over. I need to bring them inside.”

He dragged Ame and Dominic inside as the interviewers began their outros.

______________________________________________________________________________

Kaya and Sy stood in front of thousands of people on the stage where the president had just died.

Neither of them had prepared a speech, and since there were no interviewers allowed on the podium, they both had to come up with something on the spot.

Kaya spoke up first.

“Eh… hello! We apparently own this country now! I’m in charge of the judicial system, hehe… None of the criminals hearing this will escape my punishment!”

Cheers echoed throughout the crowd as people began to chant Kaya’s name and moniker. She stood there proudly until Sy began to speak as well.

“... I hope everybody enjoys the new age of Jeti. We’ll try our best to make it nice for you all.”

His demeanor changed drastically as he turned his head and stared dead into a camera.

“Especially for you, Beckwiths.”

He could only hope they would see this. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was for his parents to acknowledge him, or maybe it was for his own enjoyment. He didn’t know.

And he didn’t care.

______________________________________________________________________________

Inda stood inside the office, arguing with the previous government.

“Inda Devas! What do you expect this 4 month old child to do as king?! Does he know what the word economy means?!”

The door slammed open as Aqlli walked in.

“Nell will not be the one leading this country. It will be me.”

The government stared at him, eyes wide.

He pulled out his sword and pointed it at the treasurer's head.

“This is not a request. This is an order. You will do as we say or your head will roll. You have ten minutes to swear in Heaven’s name that you will follow us unconditionally, or you will die.”

He left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Inda grinned.

“You heard him! Get to it~!”

The government officials scrambled around the office.

______________________________________________________________________________

I turned the TV off the second Ame’s interview ended. I had just slept, but I still wanted to sleep.

I couldn’t. I had work to do.

Aqlli walked into the room and spoke to me.

“There is a very specific reason I did this today. In three days from today, I will catalyze the final act of this miniature war. We will end it. You don’t have to do anything. Everybody will meet on the border of L’eau. Every king, every ruler. My sister and I will take out the ones who are directly against us, while the rest fight each other. You will stay here and do your due diligence. Have a nice rest.”

I was glad it was over.

But I was feeling many other things.

I was scared. I was scared that I wouldn’t get noticed for my efforts during the war if I didn’t take part in the final battle. That was what I wanted the most.

We wouldn’t lose to the kings. We hadn’t died yet, and we wouldn’t going forward.

I wasn’t scared of the fight.

I was excited for it.

I got up and walked back into the room that I had just left. I sat back down on the throne and stared at all my subjects.

They looked back at me in surprise as I spoke.

“Get your weapons ready. We will win this war whether Cittaglia wants us to join or not. For the glory of Jeti. All eyes will be on us.”

“YES SIR!”

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Nell’s Notebook: Page 19

Sin after sin

Mistake after mistake

Ame picks up after me.

Ame feeds me.

Ame wins for me.

And yet, I am a creation of my own.

When the world turns to ash, who will purify my soul?

Who will stick their fangs into my heart and draw out the poison?

It is not the divine, nor is it a mortal. It is none.

The poison will flow through my blood and lock my vision.

In

A Box

Of Water

And A Floor Of Blood.

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