WHEN KINGS RISE

The Paradise, although still heavy, was no longer doused in silence. People began either gathering or burning corpses, recovering what was lost, but still as heavy as lead. Only three hours had passed since Lynne had practically ended the battle; the monsters he had summoned, the God that assisted them and a strange mirage of a woman had all since disappeared.

Lynne was currently sitting alone in his chambers, cross-legged, with pained expression. His entire body was trembling and it looked pale, his clothes doused in sweat. His back ached, his front ached, his innards ached; all throughout, all he felt was pain.

“… you should just give in,” a child’s voice echoed out, causing Lynne to open his eyes. In front of him stood a familiar boy, with the exception of his hair being slightly less red than before. “Forcibly enduring backlash may leave invisible scars all throughout.”

“… looks like you used up quite a lot of energy yourself, huh?” Lynne said, forcing a smile. “You sure you should be lecturing me instead of resting?”

“There’ll be a time for rest.” the child said. “You really have gone too far this time around, and yet you’re still enduring the backlash. Are you a masochist?”

“… I just may be,” Lynne said, groaning. “Fucking fuck, this hurts.”

“Well, what did you expect?”

“… aah, no good,” Lynne said, taking in a deep breath. “I need to immediately summon council.”

“You don’t need to do jack shit,” the child said angrily. “Everyone’s barely hanging on as it is, so use this short period to recover. The scariest of it all passed.”

“… the scariest? Ha ha, far from it. Ugh,” Lynne coughed out a mouthful of black blood as he hunched over. “I lost contact with both Y’se and Thalia, I don’t know how Parsia or Ayya are doing, or anyone else for that matter. Fuck this backlash down to the ninth circle of hell, I need to go out and help.”

“… do you even understand what you did yourself?” the child suddenly asked in a strange tone.

“… what I did?” Lynne asked back.

“Let’s forget for a moment the spell art you created,” the child said. “You managed to bend Skyfire Flames to your will, didn’t you?”

“… yeah,” Lynne said, sighing. “It feels strange.”

“… it hurts my heart just how oblivious you are,” the child said, smiling bitterly. “Whatever. I’ll push the backlash down for now, so go and do whatever you need to do. However, I do need to warn you; it won’t be pleasant when you retry.”

“… if there’s one thing I’m used to, it’s pain,” Lynne said, smiling. “So, let’s get on with it.”

The child shook his head lightly as it disappeared. Lynne suddenly felt the ache of his body dwindle down to manageable, so he forced himself up onto his feet, limping left and right for a moment as he felt dizzy. Enduring it, he left the Tower and stepped outside. Everything was still a complete mess, and what little was built since the days they came here was all destroyed and razed.

Chuckling bitterly, he looked around and saw people moving either rubble or bodies left and right, the light in their eyes faint. His heart ached at the sight, but he didn’t call out. Instead, he moved toward the temple-like building where they usually held meetings, and arrived there half an hour later. Only two people were present: Y’se and Principle. Both appeared ragged and downcast, their bodies riddled with wounds. However, when they saw Lynne, they breathed out in relief, their expressions lightening up somewhat.

“Well, hello there,” Lynne said, grunting as he sat down on the top seat. “You two look rather well.”

“Look who’s talking.” Y’se said.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” the Principal said, smiling amiably.

“Fine? Ugh, don’t even get me started, old geezer.” Lynne whined lightly. “I’ll pay hell for this shit in due time. Anyway, should I even bother asking about others?”

“There are survivors,” Y’se said, her light expression tightening. “But most are too heavily injured to attend. And others, well… it’s either that they hate you too much, or they’re too terrified.”

“Ease it in sis, ease it in,” Lynne smiled bitterly. “What about Parsia and Ayya?” he asked immediately after.

“Parsia survived.” Y’se said plainly.

“… aah, fuck me dead,” understanding the context, Lynne leaned back in his chair, sighing. “It’s too late for regrets now, I suppose. I’ll deal with it as it comes.”

“What now, then?” the Principal asked seriously. “Although the damage we’ve taken isn’t light, it’s not beyond saving.”

“What about our casualties?” Lynne asked.

“Although it’s grim to say,” the Principal replied. “Most of the dead come from our stronger factions. Roughly 40,000 in total have died, but, from what I’ve researched, not a single Mortal or low ranking Magus had died. All things considered, we’ve gotten by lightly…”

“… 40,000, huh?” Lynne sighed, pondering for a moment. “It’s too much,” Lynne shook his head. “Our entire military force is practically gone.”

“Will you give up?” Y’se asked, arching her brow.

“Far from it,” Lynne shook his head. “I thought that you knew I never wanted my Kingdom to be the militant type, so the size of the army doesn’t matter much to me. In the long run, it doesn’t have much impact. However, short term…”

“It’s still a substantial loss,” the Principal added. “It will probably take at least two or three generations to replenish it completely.”

“Still, that’s not the greatest issue,” Lynne said. “Barely any of the people living here have strong sense of belonging to this place. I’m afraid, with what just transpired, we’ll have more than a fair share of deserters.”

“Probably.” Y’se said.

“It’s fine,” Lynne nodded after a short thought. “Send out a notice: whoever wishes to leave should gather at the north top mountains, where temporary housing is. In ten day’s time, I’ll personally come to escort them and grant each of them 100,000 gold coins worth of items.”

“… are you sure that’s a correct move? It’s not like our treasury is overflowing.” Y’se frowned as she spoke.

“I agree with Miss,” the Principal nodded. “We barely have enough to cover the repairs as is. Giving it away… doesn’t seem like a smart move.”

“It’s fine,” Lynne said. “Monkey and I will do something about the funds. In the meantime, I want one of you to assemble the strongest force of at least 20 as quickly as you can.”

“What for?” Y’se asked.

“Search and eradicate every last one of the Beastkin living in the Wastelands.” Lynne said in a cold tone.”

“…”

“… I agree that their betrayal hurt us, but… every one?” the Principal said.

“Every one.” Lynne nodded firmly. “I know it’s not exactly fair, but that’s not what I’m going for either. I’m trying to build a Kingdom here, not run runaway charity.”

“… fine, I’ll do it.” Y’se said.

“Well then, I’ll have to ask you to spread the news about deserting, Principal,” Lynne said. “Oh?” Lynne and Y’se exclaimed at the same time.

“What?” the Principal asked, confused.

“Should I send him here?” Y’se asked Lynne.

“Yeah.” Lynne merely nodded. A moment later, space tore open in front of the table and a familiar figure walked through. “Aah, old friend, what brings you here?”

“This one bows before the Queen!” rather than replying Lynne, Fyre suddenly knelt down before Y’se.

“It’s fine, rise.” Y’se said casually.

“Oi, that hurt old man!” Lynne cried out. “Bros before-- okay, what do you need?”

“I’m here by the will of my Master.” Fyre said seriously.

“Oh? That old man is still alive? How is he?” Y’se asked.

“… not good.”

“Shame.”

“So, what does your Master want?”

“He wants me to aid you however I can.” Fyre said honestly.

“… now that I think about it, I do have tendency of working with people that tried to kill me.” Lynne said, smiling bitterly as a flood of memories surged within his mind.

“I’ll personally go and thank your Master one day,” Y’se said, getting up. “I’ll leave you to Lynne. Edo, let’s go.”

“Yes, Miss.” the Principal nodded toward Lynne and left with Y’se, leaving behind the two silent figures.

“Sit,” Lynne said as he suddenly took out two bottles of Heavenly Ale, pushing one toward frowning Fyre. “Don’t look so displeased. I know she’s beautiful, but I’m not half-bad either, right?”

“… you are too trusting. Just recently, I tried to kill you. Yet, you allowed yourself to be left alone with me, no less in the state that you are at. Are you an idiot?” Fyre asked as he uncapped the bottle and drank a bit.

“Of course I am,” Lynne said, smiling. “Didn’t you take a look outside when you arrived?”

“… I have. It doesn’t look good.”

“It’s not good,” Lynne said. “But, I’ll manage.”

“… you don’t really look like someone who just had his Kingdom battered and bruised to near death.”

“… hmm, is that so?” Lynne said, drinking half a bottle in one go and wiping his lips before continuing. “How can summons can you handle at the same time?”

“I can’t help you with rebuilding,” Fyre said immediately. “Minds of the dead are oriented only towards fighting, I’m afraid.”

“Ah, that’s too bad then.”

“… what happened here?” Fyre asked, frowning. Ever since coming here and seeing the destruction outside, he began wondering how this place even survived, let alone why its King is still alive. Did they win? Did they lose?

“Lots and lots of dying,” Lynne said casually. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much death in one place before.”

“…”

“Beastkin betrayed us,” Fyre flinched for a moment, looking deeply at Lynne who began playing with the bottle while looking down. “But it didn’t stop there. Mutiny all over the place… hah, it actually hurts a lot, seeing how many people betrayed me at the drop of a hat.”

“Makes it even less likely that you’d have survived, let alone won. So, what happened?”

“… I’m sure that, in a day or two, when things settle, you’ll pick up on chatter in the streets,” Lynne said, smiling mysteriously. “Why spoil the surprise?”

“…”

“You don’t like me very much, do you?”

“… I don’t. But, my Master has put his faith in you, and I do trust my Master.”

“Strange, isn’t it? Someone I’ve never even met puts more faith in me than my own people. But, I’m honored nonetheless. From the way Y’se spoke about him, I can see that he’s quite an existence. I won’t ask much of you,” Lynne said calmly. “Just linger about my Kingdom and kill whoever tries to stir up trouble.”

“… kill?”

“… ah, you’re right, that’s too much.” Lynne sighed. “Can’t let my emotions stir me up here. Just lock them up and do whatever you want with them.”

“… can someone so disheartened even rule a Kingdom properly? Let alone revive it from ashes?” Fyre asked honestly.

“… the battle ended less than four hours ago,” Lynne chuckled. “Can’t I have a moment of despair and anguish first?”

“Then what do you think people out there are feeling? Shouldn’t they be your first concern?” Fyre asked somewhat angrily. From the looks of it, Lynne merely seemed exhausted and completely uninjured. Did he even fight properly while who knows how many of people died out there for no reason?

“… I can’t say that you’re wrong,” Lynne said, getting up as he grunted lowly. “So, accompany me. Let’s walk and talk.”

“…”

The two left the temple-like building shortly after and, in disguise, began walking through the rubble of the Paradise. When Fyre slowly began noticing the sheer amount of corpses, he could no longer maintain his calm expression. It was too much, far, far too much. Even though Lynne said ‘walk and talk’, neither spoke a word and only walked around aimlessly. Reaching the southernmost part of the Paradise, where the breach in the formation was, Fyre was finally overwhelmed as she fell onto his knees.

Before him was a gigantic hill of corpses, blood still flowing like a river, and, atop of it all, surrounded by castaway weapons and heads of the dead, was a young woman. She sat atop the hill, one leg crossed over another, spear pointed up toward the sky in her hand, face and clothes reddened deeply.

“… took you long enough to look for me.” Thalia said as she looked at Lynne.

“Saved the best for last.” Lynne smiled lightly, glancing at Fyre.

“Who’s this?” she asked.

“A friend. Said he wanted to look around.”

“What did you do to him? He looks like he’s about to piss his pants.”

“No, no, I’m afraid that’s your doing. Truth be told, even I’m kind of terrified at the moment.” Lynne said, chuckling.

“… you are not allowed to speak about fear.” Thalia sighed, shaking her head as she leapt off the hill and landed next to Lynne; only then did he noticed countless wounds scattered across her body. More and more scars, he knew, will be birthed of it. “What? Didn’t you say you don’t mind how many scars I have?” Thalia said smilingly.

“I don’t,” Lynne said, suddenly wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his embrace. “But these are my fault. I should have planned better… fought harder… endured more…”

“Ah, shut the fuck up.” Thalia slapped him lightly as she pulled away. “What are you getting choked up for? Truth be told, I love these scars.” she said suddenly, smiling.

“… w-what?”

“They’ll become a reminder,” she said pulling closer as she rested her head on his shoulder. “That I fought with my life on the line… for you. And that I helped, however little. At least, unlike others, these ones will have a meaning.”

“… writing poetry out of wounds. Aah, woman’s brain truly does work differently…” Lynne said, sighing. “I thought you’d be a bit more reserved after meeting me.”

“Is that why you were so late?”

“Yeah.” Lynne nodded, looking down, finally meeting her gaze. “I don’t care much what others will feel when they see me, but I can’t afford for you to grow distant.”

“Pfft,” Thalia suddenly burst out in laughter. “You truly are an idiot.”

“… I suppose I am.”

“I love you, Lynne Hyorn.” Thalia said warmly. “Whatever you may do, that won’t change. Anyway, what will you do now?”

“… rise to the occasion, I guess.” Lynne said. “It’s my job, after all.”

“…”

“What’s with the sudden silence?”

“Just thinking back to how you used to be,” Thalia said, looking up. “Right now, you’re standing in the sea of corpses, yet can even summon a laugh from within. Back then…”

“… yeah,” Lynne said, smiling weakly. “Whether right or wrong, I’ve already pushed all of that behind me at the moment I killed Yunchi. What’s left is only tomorrow.”

“I’m right here, you know?” Thalia said. “So, at the very least, you won’t face it alone.”

“I wasn’t planing to. Unfortunately, our wedding will have to be delayed somewhat.”

“It’s fine,” Thalia chuckled. “After all, you’ve thrown me the greatest engagement party of all time. However, I’m surprised you aren’t contorting in bed right now.”

“… oh, don’t worry. There’s still hell to pay for that.”

“Ugh…”

“Hey, you knew who I was the moment you agreed to marry me. No backing out now!”

“It’s just sad, you know? Whenever you show me your cool side, low and behold, you immediately show me the uncool one as well. It’s like… dude, where’s the consistency?”

“Ouch.”

“Anyway, what’s with him?” Thalia pointed at the still kneeling Fyre who was suddenly jolted awake by her words.

“I’ll go and do as you told me.” Fyre looked toward Lynne and said, suddenly disappearing.

“Well, there’s that. Now,” Lynne glanced back toward the Tower and rest of the Paradise. “It’s time for the King to rise and revive the Paradise.”