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The Queen of War’s throne was made of polished steel, with crimson cushions that spilled over the sides of the seat and armrests. On its high back was her emblem—a sword impaling a shield—outlined in red. It sat at the end of a long, windowless hall made of ancient gray rock, next to a rack of swords and maces and spears and such which all gleamed with a calm, thinly-veiled eagerness. Two torches hung on the wall behind the throne, creating an orange aura around the Queen and making the seat itself shimmer with ominous intent. The hall was wide enough that the light from the torches lining both sides of it did not make it all the way to the center, drawing attention to its sides. Not an inch of wall was bare. Shields, swords, pieces of armor, bows, banners, pelts. Dozens of each manner of trophy could be picked out even at first glance, just in case a visitor would be too frightened to take a second. It was all kept as clean as possible; a few near the door bore permanent blood stains, but that was unavoidable. War sat upright, hands hanging off the ends of the armrests, her feet flat on the floor. Even now she was in full armor. She glanced to her left, the side opposite the weapon rack: a wooden pedestal with leaves of gold wrapped around its edges sat just beyond her reach, and upon it rested a twelve-pointed crown nearly identical to the one she wore. The crown on display, however, depicted a mountain on one side, the emblem of the Queen of the Land. The iron doors at the far end of the hall swung open. Two guards stepped in, moved to either side, and proceeded down the hall, each with a hand on their weapon. Between them came a woman with dark blonde hair that fell onto the shoulders of her brown travelling cloak, which was just a shade darker than her tan skin. Flashes of red armor could be seen beneath the garment as she moved. War’s eyes wandered up to the crown she wore, and the teardrop-shaped symbol it displayed. The visitor dragged her feet across the stone floor, muttering, “Man, it’s cold in here.” She cupped one hand in front of her mouth and exhaled a brief puff of flame. As she rubbed both palms together, she looked up at War and smiled. “War, thank you ever so much for having me. I know you must be busy organizing and reorganizing your precious collection—I really appreciate that you’ve taken some time out for me.” War inclined her head. “Not at all, Queen of Fire. It is a rare treat to see other Queens come to me.” Fire stopped a few feet from the throne and rubbed her shoulder. “Indeed.” She squinted. “It’s so dark in here, I can barely see you.” She snapped. The torches all flared with new life, growing to twice their normal size and making the hall a bit brighter. “There, that’s better. I think this body’s eyes are starting to go. And so young, too! Perhaps I should re-evaluate my lifestyle and take more precaution next time.” War stared silently. “…Here I thought it curious you had no jester, and now it all makes sense,” Fire said. “I should’ve expected it, really. Perhaps public executions are what get you smiling instead?” A minute passed. “It really is cold in here,” Fire grumbled. “My apologies for your discomfort,” War said. Her expression had not changed, and her tone was less than sincere. “I’m afraid we’ve done all our climate will allow.” “For me? You shouldn’t have. I’ll complain either way.” Fire stretched. The guards jerked a bit, and she chuckled. “I suppose that’s all the formalities I can bear. The real reason why I’m here is in regards to Land’s crown.” War cocked her head. “Oh? How unexpected. If anyone, I expected her wife to come see me about that.” “Oh, she wanted to. She was ready to just lay waste to Kenzaria and leave your crown buried in the rubble, actually. But we’ve…talked her down.” War blinked. “We?” Fire shrugged. “Irrelevant details. I wouldn’t want to bore you.” “…Thank you for your consideration.” War rose to her feet. “You were a bit vague. What is it exactly that you want?” “Well, I shall be clearer, then,” Fire said. “I want to take Land’s crown back to Roche.” “I beg your pardon?” Fire leaned a bit, but her eyes locked onto War. “I’m not one to repeat myself.” After a moment, War walked towards the crown. “Such a baffling request. I killed the Queen of the Land. I am allowed to possess her crown for one year. Those were the terms we settled on when writing the laws of our region.” “You are still within your rights. That’s why I’m here rather than the Queen of Knowledge.” War’s head jerked, throwing her gaze over her shoulder and just short of Fire’s vicinity. Fire suppressed a cackle. “But, with the deadline coming up so fast, and you apparently being too occupied to send a messenger telling Roche when to expect the crown back, I thought that perhaps I would lend my assistance and make the return trip for you.” War turned around. “I do hope you will forgive me, Queen of Fire, but I am surprised. You do tend to usually only take part in matters that concern you.” “Don’t act like I’m not involved already, what with the bait you used to get Gravity away being an attack aimed at my queendom.” The hall began to grow hot. “Ah. I meant you no offense, of course. The troops needed to be sent towards a queendom for the ruse to be effective. I assure you that Pyrada was selected solely for its proximity.” Fire’s teeth showed through a smirk. “I’m sure you meant that to console me, but that’s actually rather degrading from where I stand.” “My apologies.” “Don’t lie. You’re too smart for me to fall for it.” War chuckled and returned to examining the crown. “Well, I’m not about to deny it,” Fire continued. She walked towards War, and the guards tentatively stepped after her. “That’s why you’re so feared: not only are you destructive in a way no other living thing can emulate, you analyze every possible outcome and plan things out with unsettling accuracy. Only you would think to draw a Queen away from her domain just to stroll in, say hello, and stroll back out.” “That’s not exactly what happened.” “But it was your original plan, wasn’t it? You only wanted to make a display, so you could leave deep psychological scars in Roche and eliminate any threat it might pose. But when Land decided to fight back, things changed.” War said nothing. Fire paced to the other side of the hall, warming her hands with another burst of flame. “Admittedly, I’m impressed you haven’t pushed your advantage. A good move for your reputation. But I can see that you haven’t given up on totally decimating Roche, and that’s why I’m here.” War clenched one fist. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Fire sighed. “I’m being honest. You could at least return the courtesy.” War looked at Fire’s back as the visitor continued, “You’re clearly in no hurry to return the crown, and the longer you take, the more anxious Gravity becomes, until she finally snaps and charges in here on her own. Then you’ve got an easy kill due to her emotional instability, a queendom with no Queens ripe for pillaging, and, look at that, it was actually Gravity who made the first move, thus the blame falls on her.” She turned and looked into War’s eyes. “I’m onto you, War. And if I am, then do you really think Knowledge doesn’t see right through you? Do you really think she’ll let you carry out a plan like that?” They glared at each other. At last, War said, “This is all wrong.” She waved to the soldiers. They hesitated a bit, but then left the hall, closing the doors behind them. Fire laughed. “What, are you going to come after me now? I’d love an excuse to warm this frigid keep of yours.” “Why do you defend our current system?” War asked. “This brittle peace we’ve created is ridiculous, and you must know this.” Fire frowned. “Oh, so you’re resorting to this?” “Conflict is natural. Bloodshed is the way of the world, the only way for society to move forward. For instance: in the early days, when we all fought with each other and levelled this entire region, all of our peoples desperately struggled to develop new technology. Some of it went to the combat effort, some of it found other uses that enhanced the standard of living. Can you deny that?” Fire thought for a moment. “I suppose I can’t.” War stepped forward. “All progression, all advancement, all evolution begins in warfare. If we do not fight, we do not evolve. If we do not evolve, we grow stagnant. If we grow stagnant, then we will rot away to nothing. Peace is the road to our downfall.” She paused. “Does any of this make sense to you?” Fire smiled. “I should’ve known you thought of yourself as some kind of hero trying to save the world. You were always self-righteous.” War’s brows lowered. “This isn’t about me, Fire: this is about everyone! I’m not wrong, and you know it! Look at human history, even before we got here, and you’ll see that the driving force behind all evolution is war! If I am to carry that name, then it is my responsibility to spur on the development of the human race so that it doesn’t ignorantly fall into its own extinction!” Fire’s eyelids went up. War stalked down the hall. “You and the others are so selfish. All you want is to keep yourselves safe, to avoid getting your hands dirty. None of you even try to see my point of view.” She laughed. “But how could you understand? You are an element. I am a concept. The only one who might understand is Knowledge, but she too has chosen to shut her eyes and enforce this grand jest.” Turning around, War said, “What you’re all doing is—“ Fire cut her off with a punch. She didn’t recoil from the blow, but it was enough to shock her into silence. The other Queen gave her an annoyed look and put one hand on her hip. “Will you just shut up? This ‘prophet of the end’ act is undignified.” War grabbed Fire by her cloak, but she continued, “I get it, you feel like an outcast because nobody understands your point of view. You think you’re doing the right thing, but so does everybody else, so there’s no resolution to be found. But what do you want from me? To suddenly change my beliefs and side with you? To feel pity for you, and look the other way just this once?” The torches in the chamber began to burn brighter and hotter. “You should’ve thought of that before you prodded Pyrada.” She batted War’s hand away. “I couldn’t care less about your glorious vision, and I’m not going to lecture you about the current system either. Truthfully, I don’t care either way. For me it’s much simpler. Land is dead because she wanted to help me, so that puts me in her debt. I don’t like being indebted.” Fire took a deep breath, and the torches slowly died down. “Now stop embarrassing yourself and just give me the crown.” War glared, then slowly walked over to where the crown sat. She grabbed it, and then looked back at Fire. “I will not forget this.” “Glad to hear it.” *** Fire rode across the grassy plains, her horse galloping towards the smog-wreathed volcano looming in the distance. The diamonds in her crown glittered for a moment as a thought appeared in her mind. Fire: You left before I was put in this new body, so I wanted to send you a wave thanking you. I was about to go mad sitting on that stool, and it sounds like Gravity was nearing her breaking point as well. You said you felt indebted to us, but if anything, we are now in your debt. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, please let me know. However, we might not get to see you in person in the near future—Gravity has decided that Roche shall be isolated…and that she will see to it that our armies are strengthened. Can I ask you something? Do you think War might’ve been right: that we can’t really develop unless we fight each other? It troubles me. Regardless, thank you again, and please do keep in touch. Land Fire scoffed. “Of course she was right—Gravity is proving that.” She rode on. Eventually, she groaned and composed a reply. Land: Don’t worry so much. War was just trying to defend her crazy beliefs, and you know she’d say anything to demoralize a potential adversary. She’s afraid of you, and Gravity, and Roche, so there’s no need for you to be afraid of her. If she does try to stir anything else up, let me know so I can finish settling my own score with her. For now, just be with your wife. She missed you. Fire She sent the wave, and then focused again on reaching Pyrada. “Ugh, I’m sick of this freezing cold!”
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The cab rolled to a stop in front of the line of dingy white storage units. The back doors opened, and out from one side stepped a fair-skinned man in his late 20s, wearing jeans and a simple white t-shirt and possessing short blond hair. From the other side stepped a Japanese woman around the same age, wearing a black suit with a long skirt and carrying an old-looking purse. The woman paid the driver while the man ambled towards the unit. He looked at the tennis racket in his hand, spinning it around absent-mindedly. When the woman joined him, he said, “So, Hanako—“ She held up one hand. He stopped talking, and then followed as she approached a storage unit and drew a key from her purse. Rather than a modern key, however, this was an ancient skeleton key, looking at least a century old and covered in cracks and dark spots. Hanako looked back to make sure the cab had departed. She then tapped the lock with her key, waved it upwards, and said, “Akete.” At her command, the door unlocked and flew open. Once the two of them had stepped inside, she waved downward and said, “Shimete.” The door slid shut. She flicked on a standing lamp in the corner, shedding yellowed light on the assortment of treasures within the unit: a rack of swords, an umbrella, nearly a dozen Noh masks, four pairs of sandals, a grandfather clock, one oar, a table with a few small boxes on it, and, against the back wall, a Japanese sliding door with browning paper that displayed a row of bamboo shoots in gold ink. “Tadaima,” Hanako said, putting the key away and removing her shoes. A slight jolt seemed to run through the room, each object rattling in place for only a moment. She turned to her companion and said, “Please have a seat. I’ll call and see if we can talk to Tennou-sama now.” He nodded. After removing his own shoes, he pulled a cushion out from behind the clock and sat on it in front of the sliding door, setting his tennis racket on the floor. “Sorry, Tess. If I had been paying more attention during that third blast we could’ve finished the job before we got caught.” The racket shook a bit, shifting so that it angled towards him. He smiled. “Thanks.” Hanako was on her cell phone, talking in Japanese, for about five minutes. When she hung up, she said, “Jeremy, he’s ready now.” Jeremy straightened his spine and folded his hands in his lap. Hanako set another cushion beside him and approached the sliding door, pulling it open gently before going to her seat. On the other side of the door could be seen another room, with three green paper walls and one open wall through which poured a stream of sunlight. The floor was made of tatami mats. An elderly Japanese man sat at the room’s center holding a wooden staff about four feet in length, with a symbol at its head that resembled a tall rectangle with two horizontal lines inside it about one and two thirds down its length. Hanako and Jeremy bowed, the former saying, “Thank you for taking the time to see us, Tennou-sama.” The old man held the staff upright and rapped it against the floor. The lines inside the rectangle marking moved closer together suddenly, and then moved lower very slowly. A square mark appeared beneath the rectangle and they heard a high-pitched voice speaking in Japanese; when the voice went away, so did the second symbol. Hanako and Jeremy sat back up. Jeremy looked to Hanako, who said, “Tennou-sama wishes to hear from you how the mission went.” Jeremy looked directly at the staff. “Ah, yes, well…you see, Tennou-sama, I went to see the streetlight we had heard about, and it was indeed a tsukumogami. Tess and I began to fight with it, but before we were able to purify it, the local authorities detained me. The streetlight does not pose immediate danger, but it is not in a good state to be left alone.” “We used our connections to retrieve him, and I intend to wrap up matters with the streetlight this evening,” Hanako said. “But, if I may say: while Jeremy does show potential, his inability to fully transition to the Empathic Plane is proving to be an enormous hindrance to the swiftness of our operations. I recommend that he be taken off of active duty until he can learn to leave his physical form.” Jeremy looked at the floor. The square appeared on the staff again, and the voice said something else. Hanako replied, “I am aware it is very difficult to find people capable of hunting tsukumogami these days, but regardless of how short-handed we are, Tennou-sama, if I must take the time to retrieve Jeremy after so many of his assignments then I will not have time to complete my own. He should be sent to a training facility, or at least assigned as a Kōrogi in the nearby area. We will soon need someone new to watch over the Liberty Bell, after all.” Jeremy looked up. “In my defense, Tennou-sama, I feel like I’m learning a lot more actually going out and doing things than I would just standing guard at a monument. I know that I make mistakes, but I have completed several assignments without incident, and with how many tsukumogami are appearing now I think I’m still more useful in action than as a Kōrogi or in training. Not to speak ill of Kōrogi, of course, I just mean—“ Tennou-sama’s “eye” shifted towards Jeremy, and he fell silent. He spoke again. Hanako frowned, but then bowed. “Of course, Tennou-sama. We shall keep you informed of how things develop.” Confused, Jeremy bowed as well. Hanako stood and closed the sliding door. When he sat up, he asked, “So, what did he say?” Hanako walked over to the table and began sifting through her purse. “He wishes you to remain on active duty.” Jeremy grinned. “But consider this probation. He desires constant updates on your performance, and if you do not show signs of improvement he may very well assign you as a Kōrogi when Matthews leaves in December.” Jeremy’s expression fell. “That sounds fair.” Hanako rummaged a bit, then sighed and turned around. “I don’t mean to sound like I mind helping you, you know. I’m just trying to think things through practically, and it becomes difficult when the results can be so variable.” “Don’t worry, I know you don’t mean anything harsh.” Jeremy got to his feet and stretched. “I think the whole Tea Caddy Order is on edge with this new influx of tsukumogami.” Hanako nodded and went back to her purse. “It’s certainly concerning. It used to be that an item needed 100 years to absorb enough emotional energy to develop sentience, but now we’re running into tsukumogami that are only a few decades old. Just last week I retrieved a VCR that had come to life—it can’t be more than 40 years old. At this rate, keeping the tsukumogami under control and out of public knowledge might become impossible soon enough.” Jeremy picked up Tess, staring at the racket thoughtfully for a few moments. “So, what’s the plan for the streetlight?” Hanako pulled something out of her purse: a bronze pocketwatch on a long chain with a few kanji engraved onto its rusty cover. “Since you’re staying on-duty, we should use this as an opportunity to train you. I’ll use Ji-kun to give you some cover. Hopefully, if you don’t have to worry about people seeing you, you’ll be more relaxed and find a way to abandon your physical form.” Jeremy looked up at the Noh masks on the wall. “In that case, could I maybe—“ “No.” “Exactly, can I use the Noh masks to—“ “Stop that, you know what I meant. Mask tsukumogami are dangerous even when their wearer is in the Empathic Plane. We have no idea what could happen if you use them as you are now, and I have no desire to find out.” Jeremy shrugged. “Well, it was worth a shot. Either way…thanks.” Hanako smiled. “I’m just following orders. You should get some rest; we’ll leave at sundown.” *** The road was quiet, with only a handful of cars occasionally driving down it. Lining the sidewalks were a multitude of shops with their neon signs crammed against one another, vying for the attention of the people strolling by, hoping themselves bright enough to break through the dusk and land fresh prey. Hanako and Jeremy focused on their destination: a streetlight that flickered at odd intervals, as if not sure if it wanted to light the way or leave it in shadows. Pulling the watch from her pocket, Hanako said, “Now, Ji-kun will pause time for regular humans in this area, so even if you retain your physical form you will not be seen. But remember that he can only work for a maximum of five minutes. At that point, I’ll have no choice but to step in and settle things myself.” Jeremy eyed her purse warily. “I understand. I’ll make it so you don’t need to.” Hanako stood still and took a deep breath. At once she vanished from sight, though no one but Jeremy was paying enough attention to notice. Jeremy closed his eyes and took a similar breath; when he opened them, he could see Hanako again, but she had a faint white aura surrounding her body. He looked down at his hands. There was no aura around him. “Dang it.” “It’s alright. Just focus on the tsukumogami, and see if the rest comes to you.” He turned to the streetlight, which had developed an aura of its own. It bent and twisted, shining light in his eyes, and then the edges of its dish closed together as if it were blinking. Sharp metal teeth began to grow from the edges of the dish, giving the appearance of a robotic Venus flytrap, and the pole elongated and became loose, twisting like a squid’s tentacle as it reached out, snapping as its head came closer. Hanako flipped open the pocketwatch and muttered something in Japanese. A pulse of purple light radiated from the watch, and the other people walking down the street suddenly froze in mid-step. “Five minutes.” Jeremy raised Tess—she, at least, was glowing, and that would be enough. The streetlight reared back and made a gagging sound, and then spit a ball of light at Jeremy. He swung Tess at just the right moment, batting the orb back at the streetlight and making it recoil. Jeremy advanced, holding Tess in both hands. The streetlight lunged at him. He carefully sidestepped, and then bashed Tess against its “neck”, causing it to go limp and fall to the street. “Not falling for that one again!” Suddenly the streetlight rose and swung itself around him, wrapping around his midsection and lifting him into the air. “Oh, great.” Hanako watched the clock. “I can step in now if you—“ “No, no, we’ve got this, right Tess?” The streetlight snapped at him, but he smacked it away with Tess and then began to beat against the stretch of pole holding him. It lurched and hurled him against the pavement, leaving him dazed, and then began to cough up another ball of light. Tess jerked back, pulling his arm behind her and barely deflecting the attack, though it flew against one of the shops and left a dent in its sign. “Ah…thanks, Tess…” Jeremy rolled to his feet, and the streetlight sank its teeth into the concrete where he had laid. He retaliated with a quick backhand, and then jumped back before it could snap again. Tess’s net began to glow red. Pulling her back, he said, “Okay, let’s try that!” A fireball formed in front of the racket, and Jeremy swung, launching it at his foe. The streetlight recoiled and screeched, slowly slinking back towards its initial position. Jeremy wasn’t much different: the attack had left him drained, and he was desperately trying to catch his breath. “We’ve almost got it,” he panted. “Just a little more…” The streetlight faced him and spat a light ball. He avoided it, but it followed by lashing out and headbutting him in the chest, smashing him back against a wall. Jeremy collapsed and dropped Tess. Hanako checked the clock and then put it into her pocket. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a glowing battle axe and waved it to get the streetlight’s attention. As she took a step forward, she noticed Jeremy grab Tess’s handle. The streetlight reared back and roared. That was when Jeremy sprang up, hitting the streetlight on the head so hard that it rocketed down against the street. When he fell, he brought Tess down on it once again, and a burst of electricity came from the dish. Jeremy looked up at Hanako, smiling. “Thanks, but I got it.” Hanako cautiously nodded, and then returned the axe to her purse. Jeremy knelt down and touched the streetlight. It growled at him. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said in a low voice. “I’m sorry I had to do that, but it’s the only way to dispel all that negativity. You were just scared, right? All of a sudden you have thoughts and feelings of your own, and it’s all being immediately overpowered by the anxiety and road rage coming off of these commuters. It must have been so overwhelming.” The streetlight fell silent, and began to squirm a little. “That’s the way it usually is with tsukumogami. But it doesn’t have to stay that way, you know? No matter what emotion brought you into being, once you shake it off, you get to choose your own feelings, and they can be just as good as they can be bad. You can form your own identity now.” It twisted around to look up at him. “You don’t have to do it alone, either. If you’ve become a tsukumogami, then the rest of these lights aren’t going to be far behind. You can help them—stop them from drowning in anger like you were, and they’ll give you strength in return. Having someone to look after is a wonderful feeling, I’m told.” Slowly, the streetlight got up. Its teeth retracted, and the glass of its broken bulb began to mend itself. After retracting a bit, it looked back to Jeremy. With a grin, he said, “Take it easy, alright? I’ll stop by soon to see how you and the others are doing.” The streetlight pulled back to its original position and stiffened, looking like a regular light once again. Hanako checked the pocketwatch. She signaled to Jeremy, and he limped over to her side. As the people walking by began to move again, the streetlight maintained its brilliance, no longer flickering as before. Jeremy and Hanako went back the way they had come, and Jeremy rested Tess on his shoulder and took a deep, pained sigh. “Sorry.” “You calmed it, didn’t you? You don’t have to apologize.” “I still wasn’t able to transition.” “Well, that’s why Ji-kun and I were here.” “Yeah, and I mean, thanks, but I know you can’t be there every time I fight a tsukumogami. I’m really trying to figure this out so I won’t be such a pain, it just—“ Hanako raised a hand. “Jeremy, it’s alright. I know you’re doing your best. As long as you keep doing that, I’m sure you’ll figure out where your problem lies and how to resolve it. Until then, we’ll just have to manage. So don’t worry.” Tess vibrated in agreement. Jeremy thought for a moment, then said, “Right…thank you.”
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The Queen of Gravity strode down the dirt road, her scratched iron armor clanking with each step. Before the gate of Roche castle were five robed individuals—three men, two women—who knelt with their hands behind their backs, each with a knight on either side holding a weapon against their neck. Dozens of others were gathered along the sides of the road, including the Queens of Light and Land, who watched nervously. Gravity stopped in front of the man who sat in the middle of the line. With a short nod, she commanded the knights flanking him to step away, and then glared down at him. He set his face and looked at the ground. “You were the one who organized the rebellion?” He did not answer. “You have lived safely in Roche your entire life. What do you seek to gain from overthrowing the rule of Queens?” Still, no answer. “…Fine. Whatever your reasons may be, you have committed treason.” She stepped back and raised one hand to eye level, keeping it flat and palm-up. The man was lifted to his feet. He continued to be pulled upward, but his feet remained planted on the ground. As his body stretched, he grunted, and his arms began to spasm. Gravity flicked one finger, and the man screamed as his body was pulled even tighter. Light put a hand over her mouth. She turned to Land, who was watching with a blank expression, and then looked back as Gravity let the prisoner fall. As he began to get back up, Gravity swung her arm out. His chest became pinned to the ground while his limbs were pulled up, making him shout again. Gravity slowly clenched her fist, and the man’s limbs gently curled in towards his back, producing cracking sounds that were quickly drowned out by his screams. “Stop it.” Land faced Gravity, who apparently hadn’t heard her. “Gravity, stop, this is excessive.” Her words failed again to reach. The man shrieked as his arms popped out of their sockets. “Gravity, enough!” Gravity’s armor came to life and yanked her arm aside, disrupting her concentration and causing the man to go limp. She gave a bewildered look to Land, who glared through her tears and took a step forward. “What do you hope to accomplish with this? Don’t you realize what you’re doing?” It took Gravity a moment to reply. “I…I’m making an example. People need to know what happens when they go against the Queens.” She looked back to the man and started to raise her arm again. Land shook her head. “All you’re doing is giving people more reason to hate you! You’re acting like a monster!” Gravity froze. “You’re acting like…” Land caught herself before she could finish. She bit her lip, and then walked to Gravity’s side. “Gravity…don’t do this. I’m begging you, please don’t sink to their level. I know you’re only trying to do what you think is right, but…” She gestured to the man. He lay face down, his body shaking and an endless series of pained sobs streaming out of him. “How is this possibly right?” Gravity gaped at her, dumbstruck. Land turned to the knights and ordered, “Take them to the dungeon and make sure they’re restrained. Station guards, at least ten mages, and send a healer as well.” The knights obeyed, dragging the prisoners off. Land looked back at Gravity, who remained silent, and then walked into the castle. *** Light pushed open the door of the library. Magic lanterns lined the domed ceiling, and dozens of towering bookcases lined the walls, some jutting out at right angles into the open center area. At one of the many tables, next to a tall window looking out over the lake, sat the Queen of the Land. “Pardon me.” Land looked over her shoulder, her face tired. “Oh, Light. Come in.” The Queen of Light sat in the chair next to her. “The prisoners have been restrained, and the healer has seen to that man’s injuries. She says he’ll live.” Land nodded. “Thank you.” They sat silently for a while. Land looked up at the window, towards the mountain wall surrounding Roche in the distance. “Light, do you know how large the world outside Roche is? The world beyond this region ruled by Queens?” Light followed her gaze. “Honestly, I have no idea.” “I do. When I focus, when all is still and I draw upon the deepest recesses of my divine power, then for one brief moment…I can feel the entire world.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, Light…it’s magnificent. Out world is larger than anyone thinks, and somehow I just know that it’s filled with wonders even we can’t imagine. Knowing that, wouldn’t anyone want to see it? Want to go explore the wide, grand, beautiful world?” Light chuckled. “It does sound fascinating. I’m sure anyone would want a closer look.” “I did. Immediately I did. But, you see…it passed.” Land turned to look at Light. “Make no mistake: I still want to see the outside world, to venture into this vast, glorious unknown I’ve had only the slightest taste of. But I don’t need to.” “You don’t?” “No,” Land said, looking back out the window. “And do you know why?” Light didn’t say anything. “Because Gravity is enough. Even in the face of all that wonder, I knew for a fact that as long as I had my Queen of Gravity, I didn’t need to see any of it.” The shine in her eyes quickly faded. “…But…now, with all that’s happened since War’s attack…now…” She put a hand over her face, and her voice became very small. “I feel like I don’t even have her anymore…” Light hugged Land’s shoulders as she began to cry, and patiently waited until she was finished. She pulled back and said, “I’ve heard about War attacking, but can I ask what happened after that?” Land started drying her tears. “Once I was back, Gravity became adamant that Roche needed to be secluded and our military needed to be enhanced. She could always be overprotective, but this was beyond anything she had ever done before. At first…it was nice.” Light nodded. “It must’ve been after what you’d gone through.” “It was a lot for my new body to take in—it took a few lifetimes to figure out how to deal with the trauma, and I felt safer knowing that Gravity was doing everything possible to protect me. Even at my worst, all she had to do was hold me close and all my worries just went away.” She smiled for a moment, before looking down at the table. “But, eventually, I was willing to start moving on. I didn’t want that incident to define me—to define us—for the rest of time. Gravity, though, wasn’t ready to let it go.” Land fidgeted. “I let things stay the way they were. It was safe, for the both of us. I love her dearly, I love just being with her, but she…to protect me, she runs Roche all on her own, and she refuses to tell me anything she thinks might upset me. And it turns out she expects just about everything to upset me.” Looking back out the window, she said, “I’ve managed to hear enough from my servants. A lot of our people aren’t happy. War’s incursion was meant to psychologically cripple Roche for generations, and it’s working. She’s even managed to kick up this strife between me and Gravity.” She shook her head. “No, maybe that’s just me blaming her.” Light took Land’s hand. “Don’t say that—it sounds to me like all this stems from the wounds she dealt to the two of you. It’s not your fault.” “You’re right.” “And I know that it isn’t Gravity’s either. War just twisted Gravity’s love for you into something awful. She’s still a good person, and I’ve never doubted that.” Land smiled a few tears. “Thank you. I was worried everyone but me had given up on her.” “I can tell you that even after the way she’s been acting, a lot of people still see you two as the closest thing we have to Goddesses of Love. Her reputation isn’t beyond saving.” Land took a moment to breathe. “I don’t want to be kept in the dark. I know it might be difficult, but that just means that Gravity is going through all that pain on her own. I’m ready to share that pain with her now. She’s just so stubborn, and I don’t know if I can bring her out of that without hurting her even more.” Light put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll find a way that works. It’ll probably be hard, but the love you two share is unlike anything else in this world. I believe in it.” The door opened. Gravity cautiously stepped in, looking more than a little confused. “Um…Land. I was hoping you’d be here.” Light turned to Land, who nodded. She stood up and left, smiling at Gravity on the way out, and quietly shut the door. Land stood up. “We really need to have a discussion.” Gravity nodded sluggishly. “I’m…sorry for what happened earlier. You shouldn’t have had to see that.” “You’re apologizing that I saw it, not that you did it?” Gravity bit her lip. “You got carried away, Gravity. You’ve been getting carried away a lot, probably more than I know. This isn’t…” She reorganized her thoughts. “I know you just want to protect me, and I love you all the more for that. But your methods aren’t working any more. For either of us.” Gravity looked at the floor. “I’m not sure what you mean.” “My gosh, Gravity! You need to stop withholding information from me. You need to stop doing your best to keep me out of the loop, and leaving me ignorant about what’s going on in our queendom. We’re supposed to rule together, aren’t we?” “I don’t want to overwhelm you, Land.” “So it’s overwhelming you, then?” Gravity mumbled. Land crossed the floor, grabbing her wife by the shoulders. “Gravity, did you really think I wouldn’t see how much you’re hurting? And can’t you see that I’m hurting despite your best efforts? Back then, after War killed me, I needed to be sheltered, and it means so much to me that you didn’t think twice to take on such a burden. But dear, how long has it been?” “478 years, 10 months, 8…” The numbers were rattled off before Gravity even realized what she was doing. She averted her eyes, embarrassed. Land touched Gravity’s cheek. “Can you look at me?” Gravity complied. “I’ve had time to heal, dear. You gave me that time. Now I want to give you a chance to heal, but you have to give me that power. Please.” She gave a distant smile. “I want to go back to the way things were, when the two of us ruled Roche as equals. When I could catch you when you made a bad step, and you could enlighten me when I was being too naïve, and we were so in love that each second seemed like a perfect eternity. Maybe it won’t be exactly the same after all that’s happened. But maybe, if we try, it could be even better.” Gravity closed her eyes. “…Land…” She put her forehead against Land’s and sobbed. Land rubbed her shoulders, whispering, “It’s alright, dear. We’ll be alright.”
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Chapter 1 The unarmored blue FM-ian yawned loudly. His tiny gray box of an office was empty, as it always was. The giant, glowing portal to the Astro Wave was clear, as always. And the stretch of Wave Road leading from the portal out into the distance was, predictably— KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK The guard snapped to attention. Floating just outside his office was an FM-ian shaped like a large harp, eyeing him with a bored expression. “Oh, Miss Lyra!” the guard said, quickly saluting. “My apologies, I didn’t see you coming!” Lyra smirked. “Nodding off, perhaps?” The guard gulped. “Oh, don’t worry, dear, I won’t tell anyone. I hardly blame you: guarding this place must be dreadfully tedious.” “Y…yes, ma’am. Thank you very much, ma’am.” Lyra moved a pace away. “I’m here on official business. Could you open the gate for me, please?” “Oh, of course! I’ll get it immediately, ma’am.” As the guard reached for the lever, Lyra casually floated towards the portal. The blue pillar of light turned green, the bars surrounding it disappearing one by one. Poking his head out, he said, “It’ll only take a moment, Miss Lyra. If I may ask, where are you going? Hardly any off-planet assignments have been handed down these days—do you have some kind of special mission?” Lyra watched the locks continue to open. “Something like that.” A light on the control panel flashed. The guard turned to a viewscreen, which soon flicked on to display a large yellow FM-ian. “Gemini, sir!” Lyra spun around. “This is an alert for all Astro Wave guards,” Gemini said. “One of our elite soldiers, Lyra, has betrayed the FM King.” She turned back to the portal. Only one more lock to go. “We believe she is trying to make it off-planet. Should you see her, you are ordered to turn her in to the authorities.” The guard looked up. “I-I see. Um…sir?” The last lock disappeared. Lyra leapt into the portal before the guard could do anything, feeling the world rush past her as she was transported to Planet FM’s upper atmosphere. “Yes? What is it?” Gemini asked. Staring at the portal, the guard said, “Um…I’ll let you know if I hear anything…” *** Sonia walked down the dirt path cutting through the park, staring up at the stars. She had hoped to explore the city a little more, but she was so recognizable lately that she couldn’t go anywhere without attracting a mob. No one was in the park except her—she had some room to breathe here. Of course, she might have been able to look around if she had her staff with her, but her manager didn’t even know she was out. He had insisted she stay in and spend the next few days practicing, regardless of the fact that she knew all these songs backwards and forwards and could play them in her sleep. (She had played in her sleep once—for how unnerved her manager had been she thought he would’ve remembered.) She stopped in front of a large flowerbed and looked at the open field beyond it. “So that’s where the stage is going to be?” she mumbled. “Hm…this looks good. We should be able to get a lot of people out here.” So many people. She shook her head. Sonia walked to the nearest bench and sank into it, pulling her guitar onto her lap and exhaling loudly. At the instrument’s head was a small screen that displayed a Transer menu—she touched through the options and skimmed her email to pass time. This is still boring, but…I guess it’s better to be bored out here. She picked at the guitar for a bit, and then looked down at the sunglasses clipped onto the neck of her hoodie. She held them up and examined them: they had wide, pink, oval-shaped lenses that mashed together at the center, with concentric semicircles etched into their surface. Sonia slipped them on. “Haha…they’re not very fashionable, but I guess I shouldn’t complain.” She started playing again. About half-way through the song, something caught her eye; her fingers stopped and she looked up at the sky, seeing a bright white light streak across it. She leapt to her feet. “A shooting star?” The light kept moving, seemingly growing brighter by the second. “Weird, they’re not supposed to last this long…well, more time to make a wish, I guess!” She closed her eyes and thought. An image of her mother came to mind—she tried to think of something else, but that was all that came. …I guess, she thought, I wish I had a chance to know more about her. She didn’t think shooting star wishes really came true (not for several years now), but she still felt silly for not wishing for something a little more realistic. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the light was still getting brighter… And it appeared to be angling towards her. “Huh?” She took a step back and bumped into the bench, falling onto it. When she looked back up, her sunglasses started flashing, forcing her to shut her eyes. “What’s going on?!” She opened her eyes just enough to see the bright light barreling down on her. “Ah!!” Sonia was knocked off the bench by some blunt force and hit the ground. She was dazed for a few seconds; when she could see straight again, she grabbed her guitar and was relieved to see it was unscathed. “Whew, that’s good…” She stood up and dusted herself off. Stooping to pick up the sunglasses, she wondered, “What the heck was that?” “Hello there.” She spun around. No one was there—even the strange light had disappeared, leaving the park just as dark and empty as it had been a minute ago. “Weird,” she said, putting the sunglasses back on. She blinked. The glowing neon platforms in the sky didn’t go away. She took the glasses off, and the lights disappeared. She put them back on—they came back. “…Huh,” she said. “Excuse me, dear?” She turned around without taking the glasses off, and now saw a large, flaming harp with a face floating in front of her. “…Oh, um, you mean me?” Sonia said after a short delay. The harp smiled. “Yes, you. I know you can see me with those.” Sonia ran a finger along the glasses. “Is that it? Why? This has definitely never happened before…” The harp frowned. “You don’t know what the Visualizer does?” Sonia shook her head. Is this a dream, maybe? “I see…well, put simply, it lets you see EM waves, which humans normally can’t perceive. I’m an EM lifeform from Planet FM—it’s only because of your Visualizer that you are able to see me. They were off, so I jumpstarted the battery for you. Apologies for the rude landing, but I was having some trouble aiming.” Sonia crossed her arms. This being was being polite enough, but somehow she couldn’t help but feel…patronized. “So you’re an alien?” “Yes.” “Okay.” The alien raised one eyebrow. “You’re being awfully calm about this.” Sonia smiled nervously. “Well, even if this isn’t a dream, panicking won’t really get me anywhere.” The harp laughed. “What an interesting human…my name is Lyra, by the way.” “I’m Sonia. Sonia Strumm.” Lyra’s eyes widened. “Did you say Strumm?” Sonia cringed—having her name recognized was a bit concerning even when talking to humans, let alone sentient instruments from outer space. “Um…yes?” “I see…” “…So, um, what brings you to Earth? I mean, if it’s okay for me to ask.” “Considering how I made my entrance, I believe you’re entitled at least to that,” Lyra replied. She spoke a bit slowly. “Some brutes from my home planet are looking for me. Earth is sort of out of the way, and…” She trailed off. Sonia waited expectantly, but all she got was, “It just seemed like a place where I could find a friend.” “Really?” Sonia said. “Is there anything I can do to help you?” “Hm? You want to help out an alien you just met?” “It sounds like you’re in trouble. I might not be able to do much, but if most people can’t see you then I feel like it falls to me to at least try to help.” Lyra looked at her for a moment, and then grinned. “…Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that.” The alien disappeared in a burst of pink flame. Sonia looked around, and then heard laughter coming from the screen on her guitar. “The EM technology of you humans is still a bit primitive,” Lyra’s voice said, “but this should do for now.” Sonia looked at the screen—Lyra was floating inside it. “Huh? Hey, please be careful! This was a gift from my mother!” Lyra’s face shifted. It bothered Sonia in a way she couldn’t articulate. “Really…did she give you the Visualizer as well?” “Huh? Well, yes, but…” “Forgive me if this is sudden, but can I meet your mother?” Sonia blinked. A pit began to form in her stomach. “…Um…” “She must have some experience with EM waves if she had access to a Visualizer,” Lyra explained calmly. “Such a person would definitely be able to—“ “I can’t.” “Hm?” “I’m sorry, but…I can’t take you to Mama.” Lyra eyed Sonia warily. “…And why not?” Sonia lowered the guitar and looked up. “She’s in Heaven.” After a moment, Lyra asked, “And where is Heaven?” “What?” “Is it someplace far away? Is that why you can’t take me?” “You…don’t know about Heaven?” “I have some basic knowledge of this planet, but nothing in-depth. Is it on another continent, or the other side of the world?” Sonia shook her head—her chest was starting to sting. “No. Heaven is, um…it’s where you go, when you…pass on…” Lyra had been edging closer. She now recoiled, wide-eyed. “…Oh. Oh, dear, I’m so sorry.” She sounded far more sincere now. “That’s alright,” Sonia said, and her unease began to subside gradually. She started walking back towards town—no use standing around in the park all night. “But, you really don’t know about Heaven on your planet?” “…Our beliefs are a bit different,” Lyra quietly returned. “We FM-ians have a legend that says when we die, our waves drift through space and eventually coalesce with those of our ancestors in the form of a star, or maybe in a larger constellation if you have a prestigious lineage.” Sonia brightened up a bit. “That sounds beautiful.” “In a way, I suppose.” Sonia hummed. “I’m not really sure where to take you. You say it might help to see someone who has experience with EM waves, but I don’t know anyone like that.” “…I hope I don’t seem rude in asking, but…you don’t know any co-workers or friends your mother might have had?” “No, sorry. She did used to be a scientist, but she left that job about three years ago; she never really talked about it much.” “I see.” “There was one friend she had who I met a few times after that, but I don’t know how to get ahold of him. I could try looking him up.” “That’s alright, dear; thank you anyway. I’ll figure something out.” As they reached the park exit, Sonia became aware of a strange buzzing sound. She looked up at the buildings that loomed above, and her eyes were drawn to their brilliantly-flashing signs, which were pulsing with an odd frequency she had never seen before. “That’s strange…” Suddenly, one of the signs burst apart, raining glass shards and live sparks on the road below. Sonia jumped. “Ah! That’s definitely not normal!” “Rats,” Lyra said. “Looks like this wasn’t the best place to hide after all.” “What do you mean?” Another sign burst. “This can only be the work of EM viruses.” “Viruses? But viruses are easy to keep in check—they’ve never caused problems like this.” Lyra shook her head. Well, her whole body, really, but Sonia assumed it was an equivalent gesture. “These are EM viruses from Planet FM. The entire planet is made up of strong EM waves, so our viruses are a lot more powerful. Some of them must have been on my tail; I can’t believe I didn’t notice…” More signs began to erupt. Sonia dashed away from the dim street light she was standing next to. “So we have to stop the viruses, right? Can you do that?” “Normally it’d be a breeze. But, the EM waves on this planet are so much weaker, I don’t have access to my full power. These viruses picked brawn over brains—they don’t get as bad a penalty as intelligent waves like me.” Sonia ducked behind a bush as the streetlights in the park started popping. “Isn’t there anything you can do?!” Lyra hesitated for a moment. “…Do you see that? Over there, on the ground?” Sonia looked. A whirlpool of orange light was spinning on the ground a few feet from her, right next to an old tree at the edge of the park. “What is that?” “It’s a Wavehole. Distortions like that link the Real World and the Wave World, and—oh, there’s no time for the specifics. If you want to stop this, then step into the Wavehole!” Sonia nodded and ran. She entered the Wavehole a bit tentatively, but didn’t feel a thing. “Now,” Lyra said, “no matter what happens, just follow my lead, alright?” “Alright,” Sonia said. A bit reluctantly, she added, “I trust you.” Lyra faltered. “You…a-alright. Good. Raise this device and say ‘EM Wave Change! Sonia Strumm, On the Air!’” Sonia raised her guitar, then: “Wait, what?” Another streetlight exploded. “Er, I mean…EM Wave Change! Sonia Strumm, On the Air!” Light blinded Sonia, and a feeling like a mild static shock ran through her whole body. The sensation lasted for what felt like a long time, and when it passed, she looked around and discovered she was now standing on the Wave Road above the park. “How did we get up here?” She then looked down at herself. She was wearing a pink dress with a large heart-shaped armor plate over her chest, and black fabric over her legs and shoulders; her lower legs were encased in thick pink armor, and the fabric on her arms was striped pink and white. She held up one hand and looked at the yellow cuff and pink glove now adorning it. “…What is…?” She touched her head—it was now covered by a helmet, and the Visualizer had transformed into a visor. A long white scarf was hanging from her neck, and she saw that her guitar had changed to look more like a light blue harp with a microphone stand growing from its top, a face carved into the head just above the mic. “I’ll explain as we go,” Lyra replied, her voice coming from the guitar. “Just brace yourself. They’re going to come to us now.” Sonia nodded. “…Um…is this…permanent?” “No, this is a temporary transformation.” Sonia wore an exasperated grin. “Well, I guess I always did dream of being a magical girl…” The lights that were still flickering returned to normal, and a creature appeared on the Wave Road in front of each one. All of them looked like black dots with nothing but eyes and feet, hiding under oversized hard hats that sprouted antennae. They advanced down the road like a mob. I’m so sick of mobs. “We’re going to have to fight them,” Lyra said. “I thought you said you didn’t have your full power here?” “I don’t. But when you EM Wave Changed, we fused together to create this new form. It restores my power, but you’re the one who has to use it.” Sonia looked at her guitar and exclaimed, “I don’t know how to fight!” “You know how to play this instrument, correct?” “Well, yes.” “Then you’re in luck! No one is better than me at weaponizing sound waves. Just play something and I’ll handle the rest.” The viruses kept moving forward. Sonia faced them, took a breath, and strummed her guitar. A large musical note appeared before her and flew at the viruses, plowing into a small group of them; they exploded on impact, and the shockwaves knocked over a few of their companions. “Whoa!” Sonia said, taking a half-step back. She played a chord, sending out a few more notes that thinned the oncoming group even more. “Wow. But, there are so many of them…if only we had—“ Before she could finish, two box-shaped speakers appeared on either side of her, and at the next note she played, they sent forth additional notes that wiped away the majority of the surviving force. One of the viruses summoned a pickaxe. It struck the Wave Road, sending out a shockwave that destroyed one of the speakers. Sonia jumped back, avoiding another shockwave, and sized up the threat: fewer than ten viruses remained, but they had successfully closed the distance and could attack her at any time. “Now might not be the best time to test your evasion tactics,” Lyra said. “I can take them out in one go, but since you’re new to this, the strain might be a bit much.” The viruses raised their pickaxes. “Fine with me!” Sonia said. “If you say so.” Sonia raised her arm high and then brought it down on the strings. A massive, heart-shaped shockwave pulsed out from her, sweeping away the viruses and the smoke and flames that they burst into one-by-one. “Amazing…” She began to feel lightheaded. Stumbling to the side, she sat down on the remaining speaker and caught her breath. “You okay, Sonia?” “I think so.” “Sorry to throw you into this headfirst. For what it’s worth, you handled it quite well…I’m actually impressed.” Though the FM-ian sounded somewhat condescending, Sonia was too drained to care. “Haha…thanks…” She went back to examining her outfit. This was a lot to take in: aliens, super-viruses, magical transformations, battles…Lyra was already seeming like a lot of trouble. …But…she needs help. And she doesn’t seem that bad. After resting another minute, Sonia stood up. The speaker vanished. “So?” she asked. “I’m sorry?” “So, what do we do now? If those viruses were able to follow you here, then the others you’re running from will probably be here soon too.” “Yes, probably…and they’ll surely want to pick a fight. I guess I’ll just have to be ready for them.” Sonia nodded. “Alright. How do we do that?” “Hm? Wait, do you mean you still want to help me?” “Well, yes. I said that I would, didn’t I?” “Yes, but that was before I said anything about actually fighting. I’d hardly be offended if this was a deal-breaker.” Sonia shook her head and smiled. “It is sort of scary, but…I want to do what I can, I guess. Besides, Mama always told me that I had to keep my word!” It was a while before she received a response. “You truly are an interesting human…” Lyra laughed. “Very well, then! I’ll teach you how to use my power so that you can defend us both. But, for now, I think we could both use a little sleep.” Sonia yawned. “Yeah. How do I get off the Wave Road?” “Just step back into the Wavehole, dear—that’ll separate us again.” Sonia walked back into the swirl of energy. Another flash, another shock, and she was back in the park, looking like her normal self. She took off her Visualizer and sighed deeply, and then headed back towards her hotel. Well…I’m certainly not bored. (Review)
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The Queen of the Land strolled through the gray-walled, torch-lit hall of her castle. The skirt of her orange dress swept the floor, with the gleaming chain mail sewn into its front and back jingling softly. Mail was also sewn into the shoulders of the dress and around her ribcage. Her golden crown gleamed even in the faint light, showing the mountain-shaped emblem it bore just above her forehead. She passed a knight headed in the opposite direction: a well-built bald man with a layer of mud on his armored legs. He bowed. “Your Majesty.” She nodded. “Commander.” Both continued on their way, Land thinking, Seems something new has happened. The hall terminated at two large stone doors, one bearing the emblem on her crown, the other bearing a symbol composed of eight wavy lines radiating out from a single point. She gently pushed it open so as not to make a sound. Beyond was the audience chamber, a large and rather bare room. Two golden thrones sat at one end, an orange banner between them displaying the same marks that were on the door, with the eight-pointed sigil above the mountain. There were no windows along the walls, with light instead coming from two magic lanterns—massive orbs of white light embedded in niches in the high, rounded ceiling. Standing in the middle of the room facing the thrones was a tall woman with skin the same dark shade as Land’s, gently tapping one iron-covered foot against the floor. She wore a light blue dress beneath a cloak of identical color, and silver gauntlets covered her forearms. Her long black hair was tied in a braid, and atop her head sat a golden crown with the emblem of eight points. She had her arms crossed, body stiff, oblivious to Land tip-toeing into the chamber. Land reached out with her magic, taking command of the metal in the other woman’s boots. With a short swirl of her hand, the other woman was pulled back a foot and spun around to face her, her arms shooting out to steady herself. “L…Land, please don’t do that…” “Haha! Sorry, Gravity, but I must find some way to get your attention when you become gloomy.” Gravity put a hand to her head as she found her footing. Land frowned, asking, “So, what is it that’s troubling you? Does this have to do with the knight I passed?” “…Well, yes, but it is no great trouble, really—not something you have to worry yourself with.” Land put her hands on her hips. “Now dear, what have I told you about keeping me in the dark like that? Tell me.” Gravity averted her eyes and rubbed her neck, humming reluctantly. Land leaned in closer and hummed even louder. Gravity cracked a smile. “Alright, alright. We received a report that a company flying the banner of Kenzaria was seen marching towards Pyrada.” Land’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh…and your response?” “I said to ignore them. This does not concern Roche, so Roche will not become involved.” “…Ah,” Land said, leaning back. Gravity’s face went blank. “…You disagree?” The other Queen fidgeted with one hand. “Well, it’s just…rather…” Gravity threw her arms apart. “W-What, did I do something wrong? If War means to start a conflict with Fire, I don’t want us to get dragged into it!” Land sighed. “I know, dear, but—and I mean this in the most loving way possible—sometimes you’re a bit too single-minded. If we have the opportunity to help Fire, especially in a case as simple as just one company, then I think we should take it.” Gravity crossed her arms again. “Hmmm…I certainly don’t bear Fire any ill will, but War is someone we need to tread by carefully. If we destroy one of her companies, then I don’t imagine she will simply forgive us.” “Well I’m not saying we should kill them. You could just…” She made a sweeping gesture. “Fling them all back to Kenzaria! War might get angry, but I doubt she’ll be willing to fight three Queens at the same time. Even she isn’t that berserk.” Gravity closed her eyes. She rubbed her chin and said, “…I suppose, if a conflict were to arise, the two would essentially be fighting on our doorstep. This could be a chance to stop that before it begins.” Land smiled and wrapped her arms around Gravity’s midsection. “Mm-hm. Sounds like a good idea, don’t you think?” The embrace was returned. “You know, one day I’m going to win one of these disagreements.” “I dearly hope you will; being right all the time is really quite boring.” “I imagine so.” Gravity touched Land’s face, smiled, and kissed her. When they separated, she said, “In the interest of time, I shall go…” She made a slightly jerky sweeping gesture. “‘Fling’ the troops personally. Based on their projected course and speed, I imagine I will be gone for about three days in total.” “I believe Roche can function with only one Queen for that long. But a day longer, and we might fall entirely to pieces!” The two of them laughed. Land stepped back and made an exaggerated bow. “Please hurry back, dear Queen of Gravity.” Gravity knelt on one knee. “Yes, Your Majesty.” *** Land sat on her throne, fingers digging into the armrests. Outside the doors of the audience chamber, she could hear guards shouting, screaming, and ultimately collapsing on the floor. This can’t be happening… Slowly, the doors swung open. In stepped a muscular tan-skinned woman with long blonde hair, covered from the neck down in armor—mostly silver, though her breastplate, arm guards, and greaves were golden. A broadsword was sheathed at her waist, its bronze scabbard encrusted with gemstones of various reds and blues and greens. She too wore a crown, though her emblem depicted a sword impaling a shield. Land swallowed hard and tried to harden her face. The intruder walked to the center of the chamber and stopped, bowing slightly. “Good day, Queen of the Land. I have come to seek an audience with you.” “…Queen of War.” She tried not to look at the corpses just beyond the door. “If I may say so, I find your methods rather excessive.” War rested one hand on her sword’s pommel. “I assure you I only acted in self-defense.” Her tone was smooth, as if this matter were as trivial as a crooked painting. “Those who attacked me met with a swift end. Everyone else was left unharmed.” Land ground her teeth for a moment. “Perhaps you should simply state what brings you here. Something about revenge, perhaps?” “Ah, so I take it the Queen of Gravity was riding for my company after all? Good. Then she shall be gone awhile.” “…I see. You never intended for them to reach Pyrada in the first place.” “Your wife would never allow me an audience.” Land shot to her feet. “You would sacrifice your own people as bait?! That’s despicable even for you!” War raised one eyebrow. “Sacrifice? The Queen of Gravity will not kill them. If I am right, then the only reason she went is because you asked her to, and I know you would never ask her to kill someone.” She received no reply. “Back to the moment at hand, I merely wish to be sure that my point has been made.” Land hung her head. “…That’s all this was? Making a point?” She laughed. It was a dry, hollow sound. “You really are terrible. Maybe I’m terrible, too, because I understand it. With this, you want the people of Roche to see that you’re the one truly in charge, correct? That you can manipulate Gravity and me and stride in here whenever you please, killing anyone who gets in your way?” After a slight pause, the corner of War’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Something to that effect.” She made an about-face. “With that conveyed, I have no further business here. Please give my regards to the Queen of Gravity.” War walked towards the exit, her boots pounding a slow melody against the floor. The doors suddenly slammed shut. She halted. “…You forget something, War,” came Land’s voice, barely more than a whisper. “There is still a Queen in Roche.” War looked over her shoulder. The chain mail on Land’s dress was spreading, seeping out like a puddle in the rain, clinking and rustling ever so slightly, until it came together in one single sheet that covered her entire dress. Additional, thicker armor rose from her boots, sleeves, and torso, bleeding out from the mail and quickly hardening into steel rivaling that of the finest craftsman. Land looked up and opened her eyes, letting them bore into War’s soul. “I see,” War said. “I suppose that, if you were to defeat me, it would undo all I have sought to accomplish.” Land just stared. War grinned. “Very well.” She turned and drew her sword with a ringing scrape, holding it with both hands as she watched Land. Several seconds of silence passed. A stalagmite shot up from the floor beneath War. She jumped to the side, not suffering any damage, and quickly launched herself towards Land, blade arcing towards her opponent’s neck. Land raised both hands—two shoots of metal burst from her arm guards and entwined together, shaping into a thin sword to parry War’s attack. The chamber shook from the clash. Rocks rained down from the ceiling, forcing War to back off and dance around the falling stone. Before long, however, the rocks all froze in place, many in mid-fall. War looked to Land, who carried her new blade in one hand and held the other aloft, open palm facing the ceiling. War’s eyes widened. She leapt back just in time as all the loose rubble converged on the spot where she had stood, forcibly mashing together into one single boulder. It pursued her, plowing her right through the doors and down the hallway. Shaking off the pain, War braced herself and threw a punch, pulverizing the boulder into dust. Something whizzed by her. A cut formed on her cheek. Land was advancing, commanding the floor to carry her forward at a pace beyond that of human legs. War thrust, so Land altered her path, being carried onto the wall and sweeping past her opponent. War jumped against the opposite wall to avoid her swing. The wall opened up to embrace her, but as the rocky fingers wrapped around her and pulled, she tore herself free of the stone’s grip and threw herself into Land, launching her farther down the hall. Land ended up on the balcony of the castle foyer, a wide-open room with brick floors interspersed with a few patches of flowers, a tall five-tiered fountain at its center. She turned back to see War running towards her, and took up a more solid stance. War leapt forward and pulled her sword above her head. Land jumped off the balcony, and as her enemy struck it, she commanded it to pull itself off of the wall and carry War through the opposite wall and out of the castle. She hit the ground a bit hard, but recovered quickly and commanded the castle doors to swing open. She walked towards where the balcony had fallen just a short distance down the dirt road leading up to the entryway. The castle was built into the mountain ridge that circled Roche in its entirety, with windows and turrets carved into one side of the ring’s interior, with one end of this design terminating at the waterfall that allowed fresh water into the queendom. Clusters of stone buildings dotted the grassy landscape, most of them reasonably close together, but none close enough to the castle that she would have to worry about the civilians. War lay pinned beneath the balcony. With a single push, she rolled it away, and she was back on her feet in a moment. She raised her sword once more, but Land simply kicked the ground. The earth beneath War fell away, letting her tumble into the sudden abyss, and when Land brought her hands together, the walls of the crevice closed in on their prey with a deafening thunderclap. Land took a deep breath. “What are you waiting for?” A geyser of crimson light erupted from the ground. Debris rained down around Land, and when the light faded, a 90 meter-deep crater twice the radius of the now-vaporized balcony lay before her. War climbed out of it, covered in dirt and laughing the whole way. When she stood on its lip, she looked to Land, eyes gleaming, body shaking with each hysteric heave, tracks of grime and blood running down her face. “Doesn’t this bring back memories, Land? I haven’t seen you like this since the old days! Hahaha, and here I was worried you had forgotten how to fight in your millennia of complacency! Ohh, I am so thrilled to be proven wrong! Hahahaha!” War rushed forward. Land parried and retaliated. War ducked and punched, sending Land sprawling, and then swung downward. Land rolled aside and tapped the ground, commanding it to knock War into the air, and then came up on her knees and thrust one palm towards her foe. Bits of rock burst from the castle wall, shooting at War like a flurry of arrows as she fell. War twisted, deflecting a few of the projectiles with her sword, and a small rectangle of crimson light then appeared to protect her from the rest. When she neared the ground, Land ceased the barrage and had the earth rise up to meet her; War merely swung at it, cleaving the soil in two and landing without further harm. Land tried taking control of War’s armor, but before she could, War closed the distance and cut her arm. She dropped her sword and had the ground pull her away from the next swing. War pressed her advantage, but Land stood firm. Before the combatants came close again, two long spikes grew out from Land’s armor, piercing War’s shoulders. The spikes detached from Land and carried War back and up, before Land pivoted and they took War back through the castle wall, driving her through the fountain and sticking her to the foyer floor like a bug. She laughed. War ripped the spikes out of her shoulders, oblivious to the pain. The foyer started to tremble as a legion of stalactites fell upon her. She flexed and crimson radiated from her body, smashing anything that came near her. Her aura faded and she stepped forward. The surviving stalactites then swarmed her, binding together in such a way that she could not move an inch. And still she laughed. Land walked into the foyer, commanding her sword to return to her hand. “You have a vulgar sense of humor, War. Perhaps next time you should select a body with a bit more self-control.” “Hahaha! You speak as though you’ve won, Land!” The fused stalactite started to shake. Land tried to keep it whole, but before long it crumbled apart, War using her new freedom to swing at Land yet again. After a quick parry, Land swung in return, giving an extra magical push to the blade. War was able to block it, but she could not pull away. They remained locked like this as fissures began to form in the floor. Land grunted. “What has Roche done to wrong you, War? Try as I may, I cannot fathom what vendetta would bring you here like this!” War flashed her teeth. “Vendetta? You are mistaken, Land—you and Gravity have not wronged me in any way.” Land pushed harder, forcing War back. “Then why?!” “Simple! You—that is to say, Roche is the biggest potential threat. If Kenzaria were ever to go against Roche, there would be very little chance of success. The might of two Queens is something that no one can fight head-on. And, when there exists a power one cannot deal with through direct force…” War ducked. She sprung forward but stayed low, and with no resistance on her blade, Land tripped forward. “One must find a strategic way to cripple it!” War cut Land’s side, her blade slicing straight through the armor in its way. Land shouted and fell. A thrust was aimed at her spine, but she rolled aside and jumped at War. Her fist connected with her opponent’s armored shoulder, and she used a short burst of magic to make the metal twist inward and pierce the skin it was meant to protect, scraping against the bone beneath. As War staggered, Land raised both hands, willing a rock roughly 10-meters in diameter into being above them as blood dripped down her mail-covered skirt. With a heave, she dropped the boulder on top of War, and then clutched her side and tried to catch her breath. War laughed. She crawled out from beneath the stone, her armor dented in several places. Reaching to her injured shoulder, she tore off the plate Land had affected, unstopping a brief torrent of blood. Turning to Land, she threw the scrap of armor, hitting her target on the hand. An audible crunch followed. Land cried out. War stood and swung again. The blade sank into Land’s forearm, becoming stuck in her armor. War tried to wrench it free, but Land pulled her in and drove a knee into her ribs, once again distorting the armor she hit. War doubled over. She managed to pull her weapon free and stumbled away, clawing at the edge of her breastplate, but Land generated another, smaller stone and shot it at War, hitting her like a hammer and sending her skidding across the floor. Land stepped forward. Her legs buckled, and she fell to her knees. “…You…shall not… have your way…!” She slowly rose to her feet. “Roche will be kept safe! That is my duty, as one…as one of its Queens!” War sat up, burying her sword point-first in the floor. A crackling chuckle left her lips. “You…you are truly a force to be reckoned with, Land…this is exactly…why I knew I had to c…cripple…Roche.” Land coughed. A trail of blood slipped from the corner of her mouth. “Come, then. But I promise: I shall not be the one who falls today!” War pulled herself to her feet and leaned on her sword. After taking a few deep breaths, she looked up at Land and smiled. With a roar, she uprooted her blade and broke into a sprint. Land threw her hands up, and a pillar of rock rose from the ground and bent towards the attacker. War turned, letting it impact her shoulder; she fell, but she continued to roll forward, and when she came up, she took her sword in both hands and thrust. “Guh!!” Land’s arms fell to her sides. She looked down and saw War against her, the blade buried in her chest and sticking out of her back. “…Huh…ha!” War exhaled. Her face grew calm, and she brought herself next to Land’s ear. When she spoke, her tone was steady and even, but this time with a deep sincerity to it. “I want you to know that I have the utmost respect for you. In your absence, I will not touch Roche without provocation. Gravity will be allowed to grieve in peace.” Land’s breathing became shallow. She could feel her heart trembling, fighting with all its might to push out the obstruction that had pierced it. But it was futile. War pulled back and looked Land in the eye. “And…thank you. I haven’t been forced to fight like that in far too long…and, in a way…” She gave an oddly soft smile. “It was nice to see another Queen grow as ferocious as me.” Another moment passed, and then War withdrew her sword. Land crumpled. The light faded from her eyes, and as one final breath escaped her lips, her crown dropped from her head and rolled across the floor. *** A thrill lanced through her body—a feeling not unlike having a narrow brush with death, yet somehow completely different. Thousands of years’ worth of memories poured into her mind in an instant, leaving her stunned, and something unspeakably primal flowed into the deepest part of her being, melding itself to her so completely that when the moment passed, she could no longer remember what it felt to think of them as separate. “Land?” She blinked. Looking down, she saw a larger, slightly younger body than her last, clad in plain orange robes. The comparison seemed strange for a moment, but it passed as she remembered her circumstances. She sat up—a hand helped her, and she became aware of Gravity standing over her. For a second she was intimidated, before remembering the two were now equals, as they had always been. “G…Grav…ity…?” Her new voice had a different pitch to it. That would take some getting used to. Or, had she always been used to it? This dissonance was like no other, but it was also entirely familiar. Gravity nodded. Her eyes were puffy and wet, and her shoulders shook slightly. “It’s been about a year, Land,” she said in her calmest, gentlest voice. “Once the allowed time of possession passed, Fire got your crown back from War, and we found a new body for you right away. How…” She hesitated, then finished, “How are you feeling?” The new Queen of the Land looked around. She was back in the Queens’ bedchamber in Roche castle, the single magic lantern in the ceiling casting its illumination on the elegantly carved bookshelves and wardrobes that lined the room. She was sitting on the bed, its canopy drawn up and the dark blue sheets slightly uneven, and she and Gravity were the only ones in the room. Flashes of memory returned to her. She remembered War taking her crown to Kenzaria, setting it on a shelf in her audience chamber for all to see. For an entire year, Land just sat there, still self-aware, but having no means of interacting with the world around her, seeing so many people come and go but being totally, completely alone. Air evaded her lungs. Her arms jerked towards Gravity. She was pulled into her wife’s shoulder, and together they wept. When the tears finally stopped, they just sat there, holding each other in silence. Touching their foreheads together, Gravity whispered, “I’m so sorry, Land. I promise: nothing like that will ever happen to you again. Roche shall be cut off from the rest of the world, and we will grow so strong that not even War will dare to challenge us. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe for the rest of eternity, my love.” Something in the back of Land’s mind protested. This proposal seemed so extreme, she thought, so unnecessary…so lonely. But she nodded. She threw her face back onto Gravity’s shoulder, and found she was perfectly willing to just melt away from the world.
-
The young man glared down at the chains around his wrists. Two knights grabbed his arms and dragged him forward, pausing as the wooden double doors were swung open from the inside. Beyond was a long hall with walls made of gray stone, with seven windows on either side to allow plenty of sunlight in. Between each window hung a banner made of white cloth and displaying an emblem: a sun with its center divided into seven equal parts. As he was led down the center of the hall, the armored feet of his escorts scraping along the floor as they went, his hateful gaze combed over those assembled, picking out something detestable in each and every one of them. This knight was clearly arrogant; that spellcaster, too well-dressed; those standing closest to the walls must be cowards; and all of them were so dreadfully, disgustingly pleased with the situation. The elites of Bivor are such filth. At the end of the hall, beneath a banner three times as wide as the others, was a simplistic throne made out of iron. It bore no decoration whatsoever—it was barely fit to be called more than a chair. The only trait possibly worth noting were the velvet cushions attached to the back and seat, making it more comfortable for the one who sat upon the throne. That one—she was there now, sitting up straight, looking at him with a mix of irritation and, if he was right, boredom—that one, he turned his most malicious gaze upon. In the face of this, her expression did not change in the slightest. The knights halted a short distance before the throne and bowed their heads for a moment. One of them announced, “As you have commanded, Your Majesty: the leader of the recent attack, Riniyon, has been brought forth for judgment.” The Queen chuckled softly. She gave a small smile and said, “I don’t believe I said anything about judgment, exactly.” Angered by this, Riniyon growled. “Do you mock all your captives, Queen of Light?” Her smile faded. Now with a very serious expression, the Queen rose to her feet, straightening out her long pink gown as she did so. She took a few steps forward and looked directly into Riniyon’s face. “I meant you no offense, Riniyon. Merely, I wished to be clear that I have not called you here for the sole purpose of condemning you. I am more interested in answers.” He ignored her, glaring up at the crown she wore. The golden ornament glimmered in the sunlight, and the diamonds embedded in its twelve points shone so brightly he could not look at them directly for very long. On its front, just above the Queen’s forehead, was the same emblem seen on the banners, the ancient symbol of Light that had come to represent this Queen and her queendom. “You founded an independent nation about five years ago, as I recall,” the Queen continued. “I remember you quite adamantly refused to form alliances with myself or any of the other Queens. I thought nothing of it at the time—it could be seen as admirable, in a way, that you wished to remain independent. However…I see now that the cause of those actions is the ill will you bear towards we Queens.” Riniyon snorted. “You learn quickly.” The Queen narrowed her eyes for a moment. “Your beliefs are your own. I will not ask you to justify them. But I do wish to know what it was that prompted you to launch an attack against my queendom.” With a toothy grin, Riniyon replied, “It is because you were the easiest target. Your military is far too small for a dominion so out in the open, and it is poorly organized at that. Also, I had heard rumors…rumors that I now see are true…that your current body is aging faster than is usual.” His eyes focused on the Queen’s lengthy yellow hair. “You—no, all of Bivor had an air of weakness about it. I saw it as the best opportunity to test out my strength.” “…Strength?” the Queen repeated. “What made you think you were strong?” Surprised, Riniyon shouted, “What?! You question my strength?! My army has laid to waste countless nomads in just five short years! In all that time, not a single Queen, not even that bloodthirsty demon in the east, made a single move against us, and I know why.” He grinned once again and finished, “It is because you fear me.” The Queen of Light slowly put a hand over her mouth. Behind it, she was smiling. He thought we feared him? No, he still thinks that we fear him? Goodness…I feel as though I should tell him the truth, but there’s no kind way to let him know his tiny kingdom was simply too insignificant to draw attention… “Hahaha, even the Queens fear me!” Riniyon raved. “Why would I not press that advantage? Why should I allow you monsters to remain when I have the power to bring about your end?” After a moment, the Queen asked, “You do recall why you are here now, yes?” Riniyon’s enthusiasm faded. “You do recall,” the Queen continued, “that your army did not perform anywhere near as well as you had hoped? That the ‘weak’ soldiers of Bivor held them off, while you snuck into the castle like a coward to attempt to strike at me? That I detected you and rendered you unconscious before you launched a single attack against me?” Riniyon gritted his teeth. “…This…was merely luck.” “Of course. Regardless, luck was not on your side. I fail to understand why you still see yourself in a position to make these ridiculous claims.” Clenching his fists, Riniyon said, “Oh, you are about to understand…” He released the energy he had been storing. The fire magic flowed out from his arms, melting through the chains and singing his escorts’ hands enough to slip free of their grip. Drawing a wand from his robe’s sleeve, Riniyon lunged forward and yelled, hurling a blast of lightning straight at the Queen. “You are right.” The blast never hit. White light rushed between the Queen and Riniyon, forming a transparent, solid barrier that blocked the spell. “I do understand now.” Panicking a bit, Riniyon ran, narrowly evading the knights as they tried to grab him again. “You still don’t comprehend how powerful a Queen is.” As the barrier disappeared, the Queen of Light raised one hand. Riniyon was still running down the hall, somewhat surprised that no one was trying to stop him. In fact, they appeared to be moving farther away from him for some reason… He had almost reached the door when it happened. Focused light burst from the Queen’s fingers, lanced down the hall, and struck Riniyon square in the back, knocking him to the floor with a heavy grunt. He rolled around a bit, too dazed to stand up. The Queen of Light strolled down to where he had fallen. After kicking aside his wand, she looked down at him and smiled brightly. “I do apologize, but as it turns out, I will be passing judgment today. Riniyon, I sentence you to life imprisonment.” Riniyon tried to grab the Queen, but the pain wracking his body kept it from obeying his commands. The Queen turned and walked back to her throne. After she gave a short waving gesture, knights swarmed Riniyon once more, dragging him to his feet and holding him steady. A spellcaster approached as well and grabbed his wrists. Over the course of around a minute, the caster’s magic created new, stronger chains to bind Riniyon’s hands, and then commanded them to tighten to the point where he could barely move them. “You Queens!” he roared as he was dragged away. “You’re monsters! All of you! This isn’t over, Queen of Light! Do you hear me?! I swear I shall have my revenge!” The Queen of Light sat back down and waved cordially to Riniyon. He screamed, but it was cut off as the doors to the chamber slammed shut. *** Many years later… *** The blinds were drawn open. As sun filled the room, the Queen of Light rolled to her other side, burying her face in her pillow. Ironic…I am Queen of Light, yet my body is averse to the morning… This was not a new phenomenon, of course, but it was one she had yet to fully adapt to. She had been in her current body for not even ten years. It was only natural that there still existed a slight disconnect between the two sides of her person, especially given that the body was already well into its second decade of life by the time she had begun to inhabit it. Servants moved about, advising her that it was time to rise. Reluctantly, and with great effort, the Queen sat up and, after pausing to yawn, exited her bed and got to her feet. She watched as two servants set about making the bed—not an especially difficult task, as it was only slightly larger than the common size. She had never seen the need for such grand sleeping arrangements as some of the other Queens were accustomed to. Moving to the dresser, her servants helped her change from her nightgown into the pink gown she frequently donned. Such a garment, or some variation of it, had been the focus of her wardrobe in all of her lifetimes—a constant of her appearance no matter what body she inhabited. Still, her human side could not help but frown. That side of her had a feeling that the dress was somewhat too extravagant. It was by no means a gaudy dress, but a more billowy material of a lighter shade had been used in the shoulders and part of the skirt, and black and golden thread hemmed its edges and formed lines around her waist and down the front of her torso. That alone was enough to fuel the misgivings. Regardless, she wore the gown regularly, and donned it this morning without a second thought. She then moved to the mirror to examine herself. Her shoulder-length hair was still a vibrant shade of red, she was glad to see. Absent-mindedly, she ran one hand through it. When her hand reached the edge of her crown, the headgear suddenly became translucent, and her fingers encountered no resistance as they passed through it. They emerged on the other side, and the crown returned to its solid state. The day begins, then. The Queen of Light dismissed her servants and then exited her bed chamber. As she made her way through the castle halls, she felt the slightest bit dizzy for a moment, and slowed her pace. If another Queen was sending her a telepathic wave this early, she feared it might be something important. The sensation passed and a thought appeared in her mind: Light: I just wanted to remind you that the messenger I sent should be arriving in Bivor today. She’ll have the maps and reconnaissance reports you requested, and, if it’s not too much trouble, I told her to propose some new potential trade agreements. I’ll let her cover the details. Also…I don’t mean to be a pest, but you never did tell me exactly what you wanted these reports for. You did say not to worry, but I’m afraid I cannot help it. Is there anything you can tell me? Sea Smiling, Light mumbled, “I knew she wouldn’t stop worrying…” She cleared her mind and called upon her magic, creating the basis for the wave, and then started to compose its contents. Sea: I look forward to hearing the proposal. Thank you again for sending the reports—it will be much easier to refer to physical copies than to recall information sent by wave. As for my intention, I will reiterate that it is nothing to worry about, but if you wish for details, I can tell you that it involves the strange occurrences you told me of. If I am right, it involves someone I wish to deal with personally. You have the best understanding of the situation, but as that is neutral territory, I fear that if you spend much more time there it will give the impression that you wish to expand your queendom and set some of the others on edge. The Queen of War has been uncharacteristically quiet for a while now. I suppose I’m a bit anxious. If it’s alright with you—and I was planning to ask once I had a more specific course of action in mind—I was hoping to take over the investigation so as to take their focus off of you. Of course, if you wish for this to be handled differently, I will respect your wishes. I will let you know when I have reviewed the reports. Light Deciding to end the message there, she finished structuring the wave and focused on the Queen of the Sea. The diamonds on her crown sparkled as the wave was transmitted. Once that was done, she continued on her way. The walk down to the audience chamber was uneventful after that. The Queen sat on her throne and, beckoning to a robed man standing nearby, asked, “Nesenian, how many audiences are scheduled for today?” The man checked the scroll in his hands as he moved towards the throne. “Only three, Your Majesty—two property disputes set for this morning, ready to be brought in at your earliest convenience, and one military audience later this evening.” “Hm…this evening, that’s when the scouting party dispatched last week will return and deliver their report, correct?” “Correct, Your Majesty.” “Excellent. I am ready for my first visitor. After you let them in, please head to the barracks and request that our soldiers keep themselves unoccupied, as I may call upon them for a meeting today or tomorrow.” Nesenian bowed and replied, “Of course, Your Majesty.” “Ah, one other thing: if you could find someone, please station an extra sentry at the gate. I’m expecting a messenger to arrive, and I would like to be informed the moment she does.” “I shall see it done, Your Majesty.” “Thank you, Nesenian.” The first audience was a disagreement between two farmers over where the boundary between their land had been drawn; the knight who had responded had hesitated to bring it to the Queen’s attention, but as it was nearly time to begin planting seeds, she had thought it best to get the Queen’s word on the matter quickly rather than wasting time. The Queen preferred to be the one to settle these disputes, in a way, as her current body had also been a farmer before being selected to be Queen. She heard both sides of the story, asked about how well off both families involved were, and then had a servant fetch her a map—the line was drawn so that both regions were nearly equal but provided more land for the farmer who had had a less successful harvest the previous year. “I may consider redistribution in the future, pending this year’s harvest,” she told them. “As for now, I believe this to be the fairest method. Do either of you object?” The farmer who had received less land did not exactly seem pleased, but he conceded this would still leave him enough land to bring in an even larger harvest, so he did not object to the Queen’s ruling and both parties went on their way. The second audience was with Serin, the spellcaster who the previous Queen had (near the end of her life) tasked with keeping watch over and improving Bivor’s system of education. Her case was that the children would benefit from more room to study, but in order to expand the school building, they would need to build upon land currently owned by a noble family. Serin had already approached the head of the family and tried to come to an agreement, but this proposal had been rejected. “Truth be told, they aren’t even using this land for anything,” Serin explained. “I have seen the family take one or two strolls through the area, but there are no crops, no buildings, no gardens…nothing at all. If I may speak my mind, I find it a waste.” The Queen nodded thoughtfully. “I do remember the schoolhouse feeling a bit cramped. How long do you think the building process would take?” “Well, should we secure the land, I’m sure our carpenters can draw up schematics in a matter of days,” Serin said. “Building it could take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months depending on how many people we have available, and then it will take about another week for me to properly construct the soundproofing magic I’ve been using to lessen distraction—half that if I can get another mage to work with me. That mage would need to become familiar with the process first, and though there will be plenty of time during the building’s construction, they would need to be selected and begin that study right away.” “And the nobles would not see any results of their sacrifice during this span of time,” the Queen said. “Hm…I suppose I can see where their discontent may come from. However, your plans for improving education have met with great success thus far, so I am inclined to agree with you on this matter. That being said, the nobles must be compensated if they are to give up their land.” Unfortunately, the castle did not have much extra gold to use for this compensation. The Queen thought a moment before saying, “We shall present them with one of our rare tomes in exchange for the land. Ownership of details for casting uncommon magic is considered more prestigious than ownership of excessive land—I don’t imagine they will argue. Once we have negotiated the land, we will contact you and begin implementing your plans, Serin.” Serin bowed in gratitude and exited the audience chamber. The Queen had a small group of knights and one of the royal advisers take a tome and set off to meet with the noble family in question, and then returned to her bed chamber while she waited for news of the messenger. As the Queen was finishing her mid-day meal, a servant informed her of the messenger’s arrival, so she swiftly returned to the audience chamber. The messenger was brought in immediately, along with a few other soldiers from her home country who had been sent with her. Each wore a few plates of silver armor over their green and white tunics, and their tan skin made Bivor’s citizens seem pale in comparison. They all bowed in respect for the Queen. “Your Majesty, Queen of Light, it is an honor to meet you,” the lead messenger said. “The Queen of the Sea sends her regards. We have brought the information you requested.” She motioned to one of the others, who withdrew a few scrolls from her bag and handed them over. The messenger held them out, and the Queen walked forward, took the gift, and unrolled one scroll to examine its contents. “Thank you very much,” she said, smiling at the messenger. “All of you. I know this must seem a rather unusual request.” “Not at all, Your Majesty! Bivor and Ceandi have always been allies—sharing information such as this is certainly not out of the ordinary.” The Queen handed the scrolls to Nesenian and sat back down. “I suppose…well then, the Queen of the Sea said she wished for us to negotiate some trade agreements. There has not been trouble with our exports, has there?” The messenger stepped back, and a third soldier from Ceandi took the lead now. “No, Your Majesty. Actually, we were wondering if you would be open to importing more fish for food or other purposes.” The Queen thought for a moment. “…I see. Possibly, but may I ask why?” The soldiers hesitated. “Simply,” the Queen continued, “I know that Sea has always been very particular about her trading. She keeps the agreements very organized, and tightly manages all of Ceandi’s resources—if she wishes to make a significant addition to the amount exported through one agreement, it makes me wonder if something has happened to one of her other agreements.” “…Her Majesty did not want you to take pity on her,” one of the soldiers finally responded. “Ceandi’s trade with Arbolana has come to an unexpected halt. The Queen of Nature has refused to import anything more from us, yet has not given us a reason why.” The Queen of Light grimaced. “Ah, Nature. Knowing her, she probably found a way to breed her own fish so that she wouldn’t need to cooperate with Ceandi anymore. Always looking for more ways to be more self-sufficient regardless of how it might impact the rest of us.” “Still, Your Majesty, the Queen of the Sea does not want you to offer help beyond your means. We know that the demand for our exports here has not been especially high as of late. Still, if there is a reasonable way to expand upon our trade, our additional products would be offered to you at half the cost we agreed upon for regular trade—possibly less, if that would affect your decision.” “I see.” The Queen smiled. “Well, I’m sure we can find something. But I’m afraid the best I can offer is about…a 20% increase. Will that be adequate?” All three messengers were shocked at this. Clearly, they had not expected her to offer that large a figure. “Uh…y-yes, Your Majesty!” one of them said. “That would be wonderful! Thank you for your generosity!” Following this, the exact details were refined—the additional imports would be brought along with the regular shipments, extra crops would be added to Bivor’s payment, and the agreement would be evaluated again in approximately six months. The messengers were then shown to their chambers so that they could rest overnight before heading back to Ceandi. Returning to her own chamber once more, the Queen of Light opened the scrolls and began to comb through their contents. For almost a year now, several strange incidents had been occurring along the coast just north of Ceandi’s border. Nomads wandering through the area would disappear, with those that survived claiming they had been surprised by an attacker wielding magic. There were also reports of sudden bursts of light appearing on the horizon, some visible from northern Ceandi and even Bivor’s western edge. Animals seemed to be fleeing the area as well. As for what they were fleeing from, no one knew for sure, but the Queen of Light had a hunch. She read through report after report until the sun fell low and her chamber grew dim. Cupping one hand, she held it about a foot above the corner of her desk and focused, willing an orb of soft light to form so that she could continue. She left it to hover there and rubbed her eyes. “Come now,” she muttered, “someone must have gotten a decent look…” It was almost time to meet with the returning scouting party. She had hoped to find the information she was looking for before then, but it seemed she would have to delay putting together her plan until at least the next day. The Queen skimmed down the remaining length of the scroll in her hands, trying to determine if she could finish it before the audience, but she paused near the end. “One of the surviving nomads gave us a description of what he saw,” it read. “Just before the onslaught of magic began, he had spotted someone coming up over the hill. The figure is described as being an elderly man, likely just over five feet tall with fair skin and a head of short gray hair. He carried a wand that looked well-used and wore dark blue robes bearing a strange crest on the sleeves.” Scribbled in next to these words was a hastily-drawn sigil that appeared to be a sword pointing up and to the left, with some sort of aura surrounding the blade and the halves of a crown cut in two on either side. The Queen clenched her teeth. It was a crest she was well familiar with, and it was all she needed to confirm her suspicions. “Riniyon.”
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“Charlie, Eoin, you need to get out of there!” The mantis cringed at the Captain’s voice screaming through his earpiece, which was more than a little too loud for his liking. He turned to his companion, a fearsome gray lanius who was taking quite a bit of satisfaction from destroying his surroundings. “But Captain,” Charlie gleefully chuckled as he ripped a control panel out of the wall, “Eoin and I are having so much fun! Such work is indeed its own reward.” “Speak for yourself, buddy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- you need a different hobby,” Eoin grumbled. The mantis lifted one of his green claws to the side of his head, adjusting his earpiece as he addressed the captain. “Prior, beam us back anytime. By anytime I mean now.” Back on The Stardust, Captain Leopold Prior let a small smile shine through, a rarity as of late. It was nice to have another crew member, albeit one who was not human like himself, who shared his wit on this starship, but the incredible responsibility of saving the entire United Federation had dulled his own sense of humor. His fingers flew across the HUD in front of him, pressing various floating buttons as he glanced back and forth between several displays of his ship’s adversary- the Rebel Flagship, an enormous monstrosity that was the cornerstone of the Rebel Fleet. “Teleporter’s still cooling down, but you’ll be out soon. Boyega, how are the weapons looking?” Major Thaddeus Boyega was similarly engaged in his own controls in the weapons room. “Burst laser and breach missile fully charged. Permission to fire?” “Let ‘er have it, try to hit their shield system and their piloting.” Boyega frowned, always logical and always solemn. “Prior, I don’t believe this is the best course of action at the moment. I’d suggest we eliminate their shields and their mind control system instead.” Before, Prior would have either dismissed Boyega’s advice with a humorous remark or angrily ignored it. However, the journey to the Federation Base and the current battle had changed his demeanor considerably. “Whatever you think is best. Just make sure to hit them hard.” Nodding, Boyega set the targets of the weapons on his computer and fired. Outside of the ship, The Stardust’s weaponry let loose. A huge rocket fired from a launcher attached to the hull, followed quickly by three short laser bursts. The rocket hit the Flagship with a spectacular soundless explosion, completely eliminating its remaining shields. One of the lasers missed its target, but the other two hit the part of the Flagship’s hull covering its mind control system, disabling it. A faint whoosh alerted Prior that Charlie and Eoin had been successfully beamed back from the Flagship. Unfortunately, this was the least of his concerns, as red letters flashed repeatedly on the screen in front of him as sirens accompanied by an automated voice sounded throughout the ship. WARNING: POWER SURGE DETECTED Prior hurriedly attempted to activate the ship’s cloaking function, but to no avail- the system was still cooling down from the last time he had used it. Cursing, he turned on communications for the entire ship so that the entire crew could hear him. “Looks like we’re gonna have to tough this one out, guys. Brace! Diaz, get ready to dodge.” Jessica Diaz, the ship’s engineer, was too nervous to reply. Formerly a Federation linguist and expert of alien culture, she was beginning to have some regrets about joining the crew all those sectors ago. But she had been friends with Prior at the Federation Academy, and journeying across the stars certainly had been the experience of a lifetime. She had made numerous new friends and discovered bravery within herself she had never known existed. So she did what Prior said and braced. The captain could only watch as innumerable small cannons popped out of the Flagship’s hull, glowing bright with energy. At once, they fired, several green bolts flying towards The Stardust. Prior grasped at the manual controls of the ship. Some of the bolts hit harmlessly against the ship’s shields, while the captain managed to evade others. Two managed to find their way to the hull, rattling the entire ship and almost knocking Prior off of his feet. Adjusting himself, Prior glanced at the HUD and noticed with alarm that the shield operation room was on fire. Dr. Jones attempted to get up, barely managing to straighten himself against the wall. The dazed engi looked around at the destruction before him. Several fires blazed around the shield operation room, destroying machinery and slowly lowering the power of The Stardust’s shields. “Jones, put out those fires, now!” Jones, usually the cheery sort, found difficulty finding positivity in this situation. “Task impossible, resubmit request at a later time.” His optimism was soon restored as a door on the wall opened to reveal a zoltan woman carrying two fire extinguishers, one of which she tossed to Jones. He gratefully caught it and, despite not being able to smile, the engi’s voice brimmed with gratitude. “Envoy!” The zoltan known only as Envoy smiled, always happy to see the unassuming engi. However, as there were more pressing matters at hand, she turned back to the fire and began to spray the extinguishing agent it as Jones did the same, slowly but surely putting out the inferno. As the fires began to die down, Envoy glanced over at Jones to see that some of his mechanical plating was charred. Even then, the engi was still attempting to repair the damage done. “Jones, you’re being ridiculous. Get healed up.” “Negative. Adequate health to continue repairs.” “Get to the medbay or those burns won’t be the only thing hurting you.” Jones nervously looked up at the zoltan. “Meaning acknowledged,” was all he said before he sprinted to the medbay surprisingly quickly for someone who was injured as Envoy chuckled to herself. Once inside, Jones relaxed as the medbay’s healing nanomachines flooded through his body and repaired the damage done by the fire. Also present was fellow engi Starger, who had sustained damage from the second bolt of energy that had hit the ship. Starger was a bit more cynical than Dr. Jones. “Mission progress = satisfactory, agreed?” he muttered sarcastically. If engi were able to create facial expressions, Jones would have smiled. “Hope is valuable in such situations. Compensation for when ability is not adequate.” Back in the pilot’s room, Captain Prior glanced at the display that showed the various systems and subsystems of the Rebel Flagship. Just as in The Stardust’s shield room, fires blazed in the Flagship’s systems, but to a much greater extent. It had sustained quite a bit of damage, more damage than any ship should be able to. But if the readings before Prior were correct, the ship’s hull integrity was very low… He didn’t want to believe it until he saw the Flagship crumble with his own two eyes. “Boyega, give me some good news on the weapons!” “Lasers and missile almost fully charged. Give me the order and I’ll fire.” Prior knew that he should give the order now, but his old ego crept back and he took a moment to admire. Admire everything that had come before, all that his crew had accomplished. All brilliant, brave, and more than any captain could have asked for. He would certainly miss the adventures of The Stardust, and yet he knew that he would carry all that he had gained from their journey for the rest of his life. And so he spoke. “Let’s blow ‘em out of the water, Boyega. Open fire.” In reality, the missile was all that was truly needed. Regardless, both it and the laser bursts struck the hull of the Rebel Flagship until it could take no more. Fissures appeared throughout the enormous ship, numerous explosions bursting and almost immediately extinguishing themselves in the vacuum of space. Hunks of metal flew in random trajectories from the ship as it was consumed by the heavy damage it had sustained, until finally it shattered completely into several pieces. It was over. The Flagship was destroyed. The Federation was saved. There were a few seconds of silence. The crew of The Stardust stared at the screens in their rooms, dumbfounded at the spectacular scene of destruction before them. Then cheers resounded through the communications mixed with the laughter of those who had faced death and had done something truly great as a result. Listening to all of this, Prior simply leaned back in his captain’s chair and smiled. --- Thanks to the valiant effort of: The Stardust And her successful crew: Prior, Diaz, Boyega, Jones, Charlie, Eoin, Envoy and Starger The Rebel’s flagship was destroyed, throwing their fleet into chaos and ensuring a Federation victory --- A quick, hasty thing I wrote after my most recent return to FTL: Faster than Light. I had decided to return to it because I was bothered that none of my high scores were with the Kestrel Type A ship, which being the nerd that I am I consider to be the "canon" ship. So I decided to try again to create the playthrough that would be the definitive FTL game for myself. The Stardust succeeded pretty well, blowing my other high scores away at 5150 (playing on Normal)- 300+ more than my previous high score. In addition, one of my crew, Dr. Jones, claimed the spot of Most Repairs at 55. Also I managed to collect exactly 2300 scrap, somehow. More than that, I connected with the crew in a way I haven't in a while, which is something that really got my creative gears going and will hopefully help me with a more ambitious original writing project that you'll see some of soon. Now to destroy the Flagship with the three ship types with which I have yet to beat the game...
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Just finished booking flight and hotel for a week stay in Seattle at the end of February. I've never been there, let alone out of the country, so I'm super excited. It'll be mainly a solo vacation, as I've discovered that I like to do these things every couple of years. I found a great little boutique hotel that looks very homey. It's right in the middle of the Belltown area, which apparently is one of the best places for cafes, shops, and seaboard walking. I get the feeling I'll be doing a lot of writing while I'm there! On that topic, I've started to progress past the phase where one begins a book and then realizes that one needs to fill out more details of the story. I've always had the grand vision of this book with the important plot points, but realized that I needed a cast of characters. It's interesting as it starts out bigger than the beginning of A Play of Light due to the already established characters, but if I say more I would be spoiling some parts of the plot in Play right now. Another interesting thing to note is that I was worried I was moving on too quickly, and would get stuck in writer's exhaustion after finishing Play. It seems not - I've been able to write a bit every day. The chapters are turning out a bit longer, which I'm happy with since it feels like Play's were a bit too short each time I post them now. I may update again during or after Seattle. Look forward to that and perhaps a couple of pictures! =)
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Just a day or two ago, a topic started by -Takua- on deciphering the Gen2 runes made the front page. Naturally, it got a lot of traffic and many replies. There was, and still is, a great amount of excitement over a new BIONICLE language. Unfortunately, among many of the objective posts (most posts were either off topic or approval of adding a new language), the general concensus is that these symbols do not, as of this time, have any meaning and are simply decoration. Given the LEGO Group's aptness to heavily incorporate the old Matoran Language into the first generation before it became expected to do so, if these symbols do not mean anything, it is unlikely that they ever will. However, at least from what I have heard, LEGO has been known to accept fan input for the BIONICLE story from time to time. What I suggest is the creation of a fan-developed language, one using few other symbols outside of the ones featured in the shorts and inscribed on the Mask of Creation. This is really a time to be creative, so don't feel confined to the English alphabet (or grammar, for that matter). Get creative enough, and we just might be able to give a meaning to that endlessly repeating string of non-repeating characters. Before attempting to start this puzzler, I recommend seeing -Takua-'s post as well as SkullKid's (towards the end) as they are the most informative (there are a lot of posts). Even if LEGO still never gives the runes a meaning, this could be a sort of ongoing project/puzzle to give meaning to the meaningless; a "fanonical" language if you will, which is better than none at all. Feel free to post your thoughts even if they only are half baked. A fragment of an idea just may prove inspirational to someone else. NOTE: There still is a chance that these symbols do indeed currently have a meaning, it is just unlikely.
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Looking Back: My Past, Present, and Future (and Beyond!)
TNTOS posted a blog entry in blogs_blog_1200
(NOTE: I'd recommend grabbing some popcorn and a soda because you're in for a long read. A long read.) As of yesterday, I posted the epilogue to my final Bionicle epic, In the End. Y'all know that already, of course (or at least my regular readers do, anyway). And I did it all before reaching my eighth year anniversary as a BZP member, which will be in October, which is next month. Coincidentally, I started writing Bionicle fanfics eight years ago, too. Eight years ... dang, that's long. During that time, I wrote over 50 epics, comedies, and short stories combined. Some were good, some weren't, but all taught me something about writing that I would never have learned otherwise. Through writing fanfiction, I have learned what my strengths and weaknesses as a writer are, thanks in no small part to the comments and critiques I received from my readers and fellow writers. And I am of course still growing and learning because the learning never ends in writing no matter how long you keep at it. I sometimes like to think of myself as the most prolific fanfic writer on BZP, though I honestly have no idea if that's true. I don't know of any other writers on here who have written and posted over 50 fanfics on this site, so until someone proves me wrong, I feel pretty comfortable holding that title*. At the same time, I've never been a very well-known writer. In spite of my longevity and prolific career, I still feel more or less unknown to the general BZP community. None of my works have really been breakout hits. I've never had even one short story featured on the front page (granted, most BZP writers haven't, seeing as they've only started featuring fan projects there fairly recently, but I still haven't had anything featured and probably won't, now that I'm done with fanfiction). I do have some regular readers, true, and I am thankful for every one of them, but it sure seems like most BZPers have no idea who I am. Which isn't a problem, really, as I write for the love of it and not for fame, but my apparent lack of fame does cross my mind from time to time. *Shrug* Whatever. It's just fanfiction. No big deal. I've been fairly active within the BZP fanfiction community, not just posting stories, but entering contests (though I never won any), judging in contests (granted, that was only once, but I still count it), being a member of the ECC (that was fun in spite of the drama), entering that comedies awards content expo thing we did a while back, and participating in several discussions about the Library. I've made a lot of friends through fanfiction, which I always thought is one of the best things about it (the other best thing being that you can mangle correct canon as much as you like and get away with it). Early on in my fanfic career, I followed the same writing/posting method that most fanfic writers did (and that most still do today): Write a chapter as fast as I could, look it over once or twice for basic spelling and grammatical errors and minor continuity errors, and then post it. Then I would start work on the next chapter and repeat the whole process again until I reached the end of the story, whether that took 100 chapters or ten. Nothing wrong with writing fast; nothing wrong, even, with performing only a light copy edit. The problem was that I could go on a writing spree in which I wrote tons and tons of work, and then go weeks without writing even one word of the next chapter. Posting schedule was always erratic and unpredictable; depending on the length and difficulty of the chapter and my level of inspiration, weeks could go by without me posting a new chapter, which annoyed some of my readers back then. Although that kind of writing and posting schedule is extremely common within most fanfic communities, I never did like it. Though every finished and posted chapter felt like a victory, anxiety would always follow because I would then have to come up with ideas for the next chapter and I often had no ideas right away unless I was on a roll. And since I never outline my fics, I could never be certain just how long the finished product would be, which meant that I could never be certain how long it would take me to finish the story. Also, even back then, I had dreams of becoming a professional, full-time fiction writer someday. I knew that the pros didn't publish books one chapter at a time, sometimes weeks apart, without any guarantee that they will not just get bored of it at some point and abandon the whole project. If I ever had any hope of going pro, I knew I would have to change my methods at some point. Another motive that spurred me to abandon the "write chapter, do light copy edit, post, repeat" method was my own personal dislike of writers who did that. I hated--and still do hate it--when I would discover an awesome new fanfic by a fantastic writer, read everything posted so far, and then learn that the last chapter was posted six months ago and the author left a note four months ago saying that the next chapter was "coming right along" and would be posted "any day now." (SHORT RANT TIME: If there is one thing I, as a reader, absolutely despise about the fanfiction community, it has to be this. Worse than bad spelling and grammar, worse than implausible shipping fics, worse even than Mary Sues, is the feeling of never knowing for sure when or if your favorite fanfic will ever get updated again. "Next chapter will be done any day now!" the writer's last post, dated two years ago, says. "Just be patient!" No, I will not be patient, Mr. New Favorite (but soon to be Mr. Newly Forgotten) Fanfic Writer. Even if you're the best writer in the world, if you aren't going to post your story on a consistent, regular schedule, then I'll go read the writers who DO post on a regular schedule, thank you very much, because I have no interest in investing my time and attention in a story and characters that won't go anywhere.[/endrant]) In spite of understanding the importance of writing the whole story and posting it a chapter at a time on a regular basis, I didn't actually put that method into practice until a BZP hacking (not the Dataclysm, but one before it that deleted a lot less content) resulted in the deletion of the original version of Tapestry of Evil, which I had not saved or backed up (which is another mistake I've never repeated). Since I hated how the original Tapestry of Evil had been turning out, I transformed a tragedy into an opportunity and redrafted the whole thing, not posting even one word of it until the whole thing was finished. Ever since then, I've always made sure to write the entire story out before posting it. Whenever I started posting it, I would make sure to keep a regular schedule, always a chapter a week, and whenever any outside forces delayed a chapter I would always make sure that my readers knew. I don't know if any of my readers appreciated it or not, but I think this method helped me as a writer more than almost anything else I've done in my fanfic career. It gave me a better understanding of how long it takes me to finish a novel-length story, which is crucial knowledge for any aspiring novelist, and probably made my readers less anxious about whether I'd ever post the next chapter or not. Having said all of that, I must now look ahead to the future, uncertain though it may be. Because while my fanfiction career may be over (it still feels strange to type those words), I haven't stopped writing at all. I've merely moved into the realm of professional fiction writing; more specifically, I've started indie publishing my work through my own publishing company and distributing it through Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and all of the other major ebook sites. Currently I've only published three books, but I have a couple more in the pipeline, as well a few short stories that I need to find covers for. Actually, I've been writing original fiction in tandem with my fanfiction for years now. Even finished several novels, but none of them were ever quite as good as my fanfiction, so I never showed them to anyone. It's only been within the last year that I feel that my original work has become as good as my fanfiction, which is why I am moving onto original fiction (that, and you can't make any money off fanfiction unless you get permission from the copyright owners of the work you've based your fics on, though I can't see LEGO ever paying me to write Bionicle stories, even though that would be beyond freaking awesome if they did). Unfortunately, I am not going to link to my original work on here, nor will I tell you what it is. That's because I publish under my full name, which I haven't revealed here on BZP and which I don't really want to (though I think several members here already know my full name, but I've never publicly posted it anywhere on the forums or this blog to my knowledge). If you want to buy my original works, however, just send me a PM telling me what ebookstore you prefer to buy from (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Smashwords, etc.) and I'll be happy to send you a link to it. I'm going to miss writing fanfiction, mostly because it really is a ton of fun. If I ever build up a large enough audience for my original work that people start to write fanfiction off it, I will feel totally honored. I know that some writers don't like fanfiction, but to me, as long as you are not claiming you own the original story or trying to make money off it, I don't have any problem with it. Granted, I probably won't be able to read any of it (don't want to be accused of stealing someone's ideas), but I would allow it. As I've always said, my ultimate goal is to become a professional, full-time fiction writer. That is a very difficult goal, even with the advent of easy self-publishing that offers writers far better royalty rates than what most of the big publishers are offering (which means more money for the writer y'all). And there is no guarantee that I will ever actually achieve that goal of mine. Plenty of writers try and fail to make a living at their writing, more than those who succeed sadly enough. While I have confidence in my work, I admit that failure is always a possibility. But no one ever said that making it in a multibillion dollar international business was going to be easy. While luck plays a part, hard work can help even the odds, so I've been working hard every day to get closer and closer to that dream. I'm not making tons of money just yet, nor do I expect to for a while. I just know that if I keep writing, publishing, and improving, eventually I'll make it, no matter how long it takes. Now this doesn't mean I'm leaving BZP entirely. I'm still gonna stick around, though I'm going to be a lot less active probably. With a possible return of Bionicle next year, I still have a reason to hang around, at least as a lurker if nothing else. Way I see it, if I'm going to make it as a writer, I must put more time and effort into my writing, at least the same amount of time I would put into any other small business (which is what writing is, at least when you're attempting to make a living off of it). That means cutting things that take away too much time with too little return, and BZP, sadly enough, fits that description to a T, at least for me. It's a great site, but hanging out here won't get me any closer to my dream, so I have to start focusing on the things that will help me (like writing a lot, for instance). Overall, I am pretty pleased with how my fanfic career turned out. I wrote a lot of fics, received a lot of helpful and positive comments from a lot of good people, made some good friends, and had a lot of fun to boot. What's not to like about that? *If someone in the comments proves me wrong, I will edit this section to reflect that correction. -TNTOS- -
Hey BZPower! As a writer, style is very dear to my heart. Another thing dear to my heart is having fun. While I was working on some basic sentence manipulation exercises this evening I had a thought: wouldn't it be cool to see how different people treat the same sentence? Yes, yes it would! Take the following sentence and modify it stylistically. Yes, feel free to add a bit more detail, but the main focus of this little game is how you manipulate what's already here. "The shore was quiet and the water was still and a soft light glittered across the black surface." GO! What will you do?
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First off: The Chima RPG Collab Contest-esque Thing (Contesque?) is heading into the home stretch (well, more accurately, it tripped over its own feet about a foot away from the home stretch and kind of laid there in the street for a week or so), so if you have any general ideas to input, this is your last chance! A full RPG opener post should be getting cobbled together in the near future. Second off: I'm bluer. Whoops. You won't see me around Q&A or Comics as much anymore (insert "when were you around comics" here, nyuk nyuk nyuk), but I am now FL for the Library as a whole, plus the Bionicle and Lego RPG forums. If you ever have any concerns, suggestions, or questions about those forums, please feel free to reach out to me - I'm listening! And while this has always gone as long as I've been staff, if you ever have any concerns about BZP as a whole, a member's behavior, or anything at all, my PM box is always open; I want to make BZP a welcoming and safe space for people. Third off: I'm in the middle of finals week (my final finals week, actually), so if I'm a little slow to respond to messages, that's why. I should be free done about a week from today. Fourth off: I wrote a thing again. When I get a chance to catch my breath, I'll probably have more to say about the process of writing Krahka and Onewa, but all that really matters is that Janus is the world's greatest editor. Think that's it for the moment. Happy springtime! ("But it's been spring for a while," some of you say. Some of you don't live in a frozen nightmare.)
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(Disclaimer: Most of the below was written at like, 1 AM, and it got a bit rambly.) I like writing stories. I dunno if you've noticed, but it's true. I also tend to be busy with school. I dunno if you've noticed, but that's also true. It seems appropriate to blog about the two, since they've been eating up most of my life lately. So that's what I'm doing. Blogging. About stories. And also school. Yeah. In all seriousness, though - I've got stories to tell. Well, eventually. I've got stories percolating, I guess. One's in the oven right now, another's in the crock-pot, there's one in the freezer that I've got to get around to pulling out and actually baking one of these days, there's one with the ingredients mostly lined up and one that's just a scribbled note on the fridge, to bring this tortured food metaphor to a close. So here they are. Journey: I've mentioned this on-and-off in my blog. It's over on the sidebar there, with a working title and a question mark by the date. It wound up being my NaNo this year, y'see. 50,000 words in three weeks, and still a war to go. It's been fun to write, I've got to say. With all due respect to GregF, there was so much more just waiting to be done with that alternate-universe-light-Teridax. "Villain except good" is boring. "Villain born of wholly different circumstances, whose personality is still rooted in the same faults and strengths of the original, put face-to-face with the destruction he's capable of" is fun. I wrote him in The Shadow and the Sea and was wholly unsurprised when he pulled a sequel hook into the ending. Never mind the half-mad once-Chronicler who winds up as the Makuta's partner. Or charge. Or enemy. It gets a bit blurry at times. And then there's the world said Makuta came from. What kind of Great Beings make the Makuta and then has them act as bodyguards and big shiny lightbulbs? (Ones that are quite fun to write and explore, for what it's worth, even if they aren't major players in the story.) Incidentally, the story's an absolute wreck right now. There's still two major chunks of plot to go, for one thing. Trying very hard to figure out who to kill and why. Re-reading sections and going "oh god there's so much talk of darkness and light you'd think this was a bad Kingdom Hearts fanfic rather than a hopefully decent Bionicle one." But wrecks are fun. You get to go back with a chainsaw and chop off all the messy bits, then dig straight into the heart of the thing and pull it out to the surface. If you haven't gone Mola Ram on your story, it's not done yet. (Also, "Journey" is still, technically, a working title. The trouble with working titles, though, is that you get used to them.) "Shadows' Gravesides": Now this one's an interesting case. To go back to the horrible metaphor, this is the one in the freezer. It's mostly written - I'd say about three-fourths. But somewhere along the line bits of it wound up spilling into Journey, and now it's sort of sitting there staring at me puppy-eyed. I may have to go back and finish it at some point before (or while? or after?) I start posting Journey. Bits and pieces aside, it might be fun to use it to do some thematic mirroring. Komae: Granted, he's not a story, he's a character. (Personally I'm not sure there's much difference.) The BZRPG's one of those things I've enjoyed my time in, even if said time is limited. I've got ideas, you see, and it's always fun to fling them out the window and go do something completely different. (There's also two other BZRPG ideas waiting in the wings. One's got a name, a species, a trait, and little else; the other's got a species, a job idea, and still needs a name. When will they show up? Heck if I know. Probably not in the next three weeks, for reasons to be detailed below.) Time Travelers: This is the one that's ingredients and little else. It's strange; this was the one I first went, "oh, I'll write this epic!" for, and now it's by far the least likely to ever get written. That hasn't stopped me from sowing a few seeds in Journey (on the contrary, it's quite fun building up these little connections), but make the question mark in "2014?" bolded in your mind. But maybe someday. (You may also recall I've mentioned an obscure adventure game by the name of Time Travelers; that was indeed the spark of inspiration, and if I ever do write this I'll leave a few homages in. Title'll probably change, though.) ...And then there's stories that have nothing to do with BZP at all, of course. Like the one I'm hoping to write next summer - the one with corporations that make kappas and the HR recruiter who's sick and tired of all these demons that keep talking down to her. That one's going to be fun too, I think. ------------------- Only problem is: there was something else in the title of this post, wasn't there. School, right. College, uni- whatever you want to call it. The thing that eats up time. It's weird to think I'm nearly done with my education (for now, at least). I'm in my penultimate semester, and between class and research my days are more than busy enough. (Things are going to be really packed from next week until two or so weeks later, so if I'm MIA from the 2nd to the 16th, there's your reason why.) I'll probably sit down and reflect on this whole 'education' thing more once I've actually graduated, but - it's been interesting. School's been a titanic part of my life, and especially these last two years, I've devoted tons of time to it. All those stories above still come second to making sure I get my papers done or my presentations ready to go. It's been rewarding, both personally and practically, but I'm getting ready to move on, I think. I know my limits, and I'm not anywhere close to burning out, but I've been tired this semester. It says a lot that I'm able to churn out 50,000 words of Toa and Makuta in three weeks, but the thought of writing an intersectional cultural autobiography of myself and the role the educational institutions I've attended played in my social development - a topic which is actually really interesting - that's likely to be a tenth that length just feels heavy at this point, for lack of a better term. I'm sure that in a year I'll be looking back on the whole thing fondly, but for now - I've come this far. I'm pretty ready to be done. ------------------- ...Sorry, things got a little heavier than expected at the end there. Point is - stories. I don't know when they'll get done, exactly (the hope for Journey is to start posting it in January, but you never know), but they're coming along, for the most part. BZP's always been a place for stories in my mind. Back when I first joined, I remember seeing so many stories. GaliGee, or T-Hybrid (was that his name? I'm pretty sure it was, but that was a decade (geez) ago), or plenty of others - they told stories, and they helped give this community life. Things are quieter now, but I like to think BZP's still got that spark of creativity. I guess it's just part of our DNA - I mean, this is a Lego forum. Building is what it's all about, in the end. At the end of the day, we create, and we enjoy what our fellow members do. The RPGs are all big ol' melting pots of people flinging stories at each other and seeing what sticks; we still get plenty of MOCs, our fair share of artworks and crafts, even a Matoran Dictionary or two - it brings a smile to my face. Basically: you're all right, BZP. You make stuff - good stuff. And I'm proud to be part of that. (Disclaimer, addendum: Told you it got rambly. Hopefully I'll have slightly saner entries in a few weeks.)
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Due to entries from this period being lost, a condensed version has been made available for your convenience. Basically, WROTE A FIC, GOTTA REPOST IT WENT BACK TO COLLEGE, DROWNED IN PROJECTS GOT POKEMON, DISCOVERED THE EXP SHARE WAS PRETTY OP BUT DIDN'T REALLY MIND BECAUSE IT SAVED TIME ALSO GOT THE ENGLISH RELEASE OF SCREAMING LAWYERS 5, HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO THE SAME GOT PROMOTED TO FA, BECAME THE ＥＴＥＲＮＡＬ ＲＯＯＭＢＡ DUSTING OFF AN OUTLINE FOR A REALLY LONG FIC FOR NANO NEXT MONTH, WHO KNOWS IF IT'LL ACTUALLY GET DONE ACCIDENTALLY WALKED INTO AN ELLEN DEGENERES TAPING, IT WAS A NEW EXPERIENCE That is all.
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On Individual Characters vs. Broad Trends
HeavyMetalSunshineSister posted a blog entry in blogs_blog_1774
I have recently seen an instance in which a single female character was portrayed overreacting to something. The scenario was played for laughs, and while a good amount of time could be spent going over the joke itself and why it was or was not funny, a more important issue is some of the criticism that the joke received - that having this character, who was female, overreact in an emotional manner, was sexist. That it implied the attitude that all women were prone to overemotional reactions. This, I believe, is a flawed judgment, for the reason that some individual women are, in fact, prone to overemotional reactions. This is not because they are women. This is because they are human, with any of an assortment of personality quirks that come along with that condition. I know more than a few men who are prone to such an overreaction. And perhaps, one might say, it would have been better to use a male character for that role - to make a man overreact instead of a woman, to deter the accusations of sexism. I disagree. Women are approximately fifty percent of the human population, and it is probable that approximately fifty percent of overemotional freakouts are had by women. Simply because years of consistent portrayals of a trait as a quality exclusive to women has made it a sensitive subject does not mean that this trait can never again be ascribed to women in fiction, nor does the ascribing of such a trait to one character mean that the writer is sexist. For that to happen ,the writer has to consistently portray the majority of their female characters as overemotional basket-cases - have a look at a good many sitcom writers if you need an example. Having one character with this trait is not sexism, it's having a character with believable human qualities - or, in the case of some works of amateur comedy, somewhat unbelievable human qualities. Even exaggerating these traits to absurdity in one case, however, does not make the writer a sexist - anymore than making a male character an unbelievably smug windbag suggests a belief that all men are cartoonishly smug windbags. When writing fiction, it isn't healthy to constantly be looking over your shoulder to make sure that nothing you write could possibly offend someone. Just write natural characters that fit the story you're writing. And even if you can't do that, a bad joke doesn't make you a bigot - perhaps a bit thoughtless, and certainly not a master comedian, but not necessarily a bigot. -
It's been about a month since I last posted on this little bloggy thing, and plenty of stuff's been happening, so I figured it was overdue. So! Work. Microsoft continues to be a pretty sweet gig, if a busy one. And man was E3 awkward around the office. Anyway, I'm usually there from like 9 to 5 or 6 most days, so if you're wondering why I seem to only be around in the evening these days, there's yer answer. Writing-wise! I put some entries in the Flash Fiction Marathon. You should too! Or barring that, go read 'em and vote! They're short and sweet and some of them are Pretty Darn Good. (It is not for me to decide if my own stuff is included in that last category.) In the longer-term, still plucking away at that next epic (total aside I may have brought up in the past, but am I the only one who always thought the term 'epic' was a bit... grandiose? I digress.) If there is one advantage to Bionicle getting cut off so abruptly you'd think it was an episode of Game of Thrones that somehow wound up on Nicktoons, it's that it left a lot of fertile plot threads dangling, and it continues to be a lot of fun to write about the alternate-universe's "Good" Teridax and a certain other character (whose name I omit so's not to spoil The Shadow and the Sea for those who haven't read it). I'm still hoping to get the lion's share of it done by the end of summer. So in the words of many a Japanese game developer, "Please look forward to it." Speaking of the vidya gaems, I haven't been gaming that much this summer, but I'm giving The Walking Dead a go. There's a lot of stuff that needs polishing, but it's refreshing to see a game where you have to make tough choices and there isn't just a magical "everything's fine if you have enough Charm/charisma/what have you" dialogue option. And at this point it seems like basically everyone has Animal Crossing, so I'm probably going to crack and pick that up sometime this weekend. (Hopefully a physical copy, 'cause Nintendo's download systems leave a lot to be desired.) And of course on July 25th the Japanese version of Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies comes out. Because I am the kind of guy who finds the lives of fictional lawyers unspeakably entertaining (and because I help run a fansite dedicated to said fictional lawyers), I'll probably be sinking a lot of time into that for a week or so, so if I'm not around BZP, just follow the sounds of people yelling "OBJECTION" unreasonably loud. (Also: gave the first episode of the Dangan Ronpa anime a try. Yeah, not that confident in it so far. 13 episodes is not much time to pack that entire game into. The LP of Super Dangan Ronpa 2 continues to be excellent, though! Wish I had a PSP of my own.) Other miscellanea? I celebrated AMERICA DAY on the top floor of a high-rise, which was pretty cool. The Otter continues to put up with my playing what appears to be the single most Pollyana-esque BZRPG character he's ever seen. Seattle is awesome as always, though I did kind of prefer my apartment last year where I had a bike path next to my apartment instead of a really steep, really busy street. So, anyway, that was your cool story for the day, bro.
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Flash Fiction Marathon 2 [OTC Topic :: Entries Index] With the success of last year's Flash Fiction Marathon, here we are again with another one (approved by HH)! Once again, you are to run a marathon. A marathon of short stories, or, more appropriately, flash fiction pieces. For the next ten days there will be ten themes. Five will be OTC-themed, and five will be Bionicle-themed.Sound like something you’re interested in? Then make sure you read the following: Contest Rules and Important Information Each entry MUST be under 750 words in length. This is flash fiction.One new theme will be given out each night. Each theme will be given out around Midnight, EST, every night for 10 daysThe contests will alternate between BIONICLE and OTC. The first contest will be BIONICLE, the second will be OTC, then going back to Bionicle and so on.Bionicle entries may be human-Bionicle, if you wish. Just as long as they have some sort of relation to Bionicle. As usual, the story does not have to follow the canon storyline -- you may create your own characters, settings, etc., as long as in some way the story relates to Bionicle.Bionicle themes must be Bionicle. The OTC themes are for non-Bionicle stories.For each theme, contestants will have 48 hours to enter – so, if it’s a Bionicle theme, you will have until the next Bionicle theme is announced (as there will be a OTC theme in between) to enter your story; the themes will overlap.After the 48-hour entry period, the entries will be placed in a poll for you – yes, you! – to decide the winner for the day. At the end of all 10, the 10 winners will be pooled together and judged by judges for a final prize.It is very likely that an extra prize will be given for those who enter all 10 challenges, both COT and Bionicle.If you are going to post your stories, do so in the correct forum; OTC stories belong in OTC, Bionicle stories belong in the Short Stories section of the Library.All entries must adhere to BZPower's rules and guidelines.Your story must be new and never before posted on BZP. You can certainly have been working on your entry before this, but it must be posted on BZP after the start of the contest for it to be eligible.Keep it PG-13-ish appropriate. So no overly gory descriptions, excessive violence, sexual content, inappropriate content, et cetera.You cannot edit your entry once that theme's entry period is over. So if you post your story on the first day, you have another whole day to edit. If you post your entry last minute, you will not have much time to edit. The polls will be going up the night that the theme ends.If your story is not posted in this topic with the correct format, your entry will not be entered into the contest.Do not use unnecessary formatting -- see more in the "How to Enter" section. ---------------------------------------------------- How To Enter: There will be two main topics, one for Bionicle (this one) and one in OTC (link pending); make sure you post your entry in the right one. If you are entering a OTC theme, post in the OTC topic, not this one. To enter, please use this form:Member Name:Theme:Word Count:Story: NOTE: Do NOT link to your story. It is fine if you wish to post it on BZPower, but for entering this contest, we ask that you post your story in this topic. Thanks!Furthermore, do NOT have any unnecessary coding when entering your stories. This means no color, no signoffs, no indents, etc. You may use italics, underline, etc. if it’s used for the body of your story, but please leave your posts as bare possible. If you have a pre-set posting style, just know that the story will be removed of its formatting. ---------------------------------------------------- And so, without further ado, I present to you: Theme #9: Paradise Any interpretation is valid. Remember that this is an Bionicle theme, and your story must comply with the contest rules.Deadline: July 6th, 11:59PM PST. Previous Themes: Theme #1: A Dark Hunt Theme #3: The Chronicler Theme #5: Find the Power Theme #7: The Order ---------------------------------------------------- It is our honor and pleasure to host yet another contest for you. We wish you all the best of luck, and hope we receive as many entries as possible! Your hosts,Andrew (Velox)John (55555)
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So now that this semester is finally drawing to a close, I'm actually starting to have free time again! It's crazy. Anyway, in the interest of keeping this short and sweet, here's two things I plan to do with said free time: I'm finally going to be able to sit down, finish hashing out this outline for my epic (total aside, but I've always thought 'epic' was a bit flowery a term for 'multi-chapter story', but whatevs), and get down to writing it this summer. It's a follow-up to The Shadow and the Sea in that it takes place afterwards and follows Alternate!Teridax and a certain other character, but other than that 'starting point' it's not a direct sequel. It's looking more and more likely that I'm going to give the BZRPG a shot this summer as well. So! BZRPG people: what advice can you give to a fledgling newbie? (I've already read through the FAQs, backstory for the year, and Friar Tuck's Common Sense guide, of course, and I've got a rough character drawn up.) Most likely, I'd be starting sometime next week, since I'll be without internet this weekend. And in other news, lots of Ace Attorney 5 goodness happening. English release! Japanese demo! Edgeworth! This is all very exciting if, like me, the lives of fictional lawyers keep you entranced.
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I am pleased to announce today that I finished editing the sixth draft of my upcoming epic, Dawn of the New Century. Why is this so important to know, dear readers? Well, it's important because this is also the end of the editing process. Which means that tomorrow, Monday, April 22, 2013, I will post the first chapter of Dawn, followed by the second chapter on Friday. You may have noticed that I am going to post two chapters this week, instead of the usual one. That's because Dawn is 29 chapters long, which, if posted once a week, would take 29 weeks to post completely, which is roughly half a year, which is also way too freaking long a time for anyone to follow a fanfic, no matter how good it is. I feel it will be easier to keep up interest if updates are frequent, though not too frequent; otherwise, I risk turning off readers because they never have time to read the latest chapters because they know they'll always be behind. Thus, expect new chapters of Dawn every Monday and Friday, though if I am unable to post any on a particular day, I will do my best to make up for it as quickly as possible. See ya, -TNTOS-
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New avatar! It's been a good five months or so of Child's Play, but I think it's time to retire it until later this year, when the drive picks up again in earnest. In the meantime, though, Ace Attorney 5 finally got some more solid details, including the return of Apollo Justice as a playable character. Apollo was the star of the fourth game of the series, and while he kind of got overshadowed by Phoenix, I loved his personality and am really glad to see he'll be playing a major role in the fifth game as well. But really, can we stop and appreciate this cover for a sec? From left to right, there's a defense attorney whose first name is Phoenix and has the Superman cowlick; an 18-year-old attorney who specializes in psychology and has a supercomputer in her necklace that can read people's emotions; a prosecutor who is also a convicted murderer, and a guy named Apollo Justice who has a magic bracelet that lets him spot people's subconscious tells. (And never mind how he dresses when injured.) And that's just the main characters. I love this series, because no matter how insane you think it can get, it always finds a way to top itself. Anyways, in other news, between covering this AA5 info for a different site and university, I've unfortunately been pretty busy lately. Still, I'm chipping away at the plot for a follow-up to The Shadow and the Sea; it was far too much fun writing alternate-universe Good!Teridax to leave it at that. With any luck, I can really buckle down and write the most of it this summer.
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Synonyms are those neat little words that can help writers add color to an otherwise monotone passage in any work, whether fiction or nonfiction. In fact, many writers (such as me) use synonym finders to help them find that specific word they're looking for but can't quite remember. I believe anyone who writes regularly ought to have a good synonym finder on hand to help them find just the right word. Yet it is possible to go overboard with synonyms to the point where your writing can go from clear and exciting to puzzling and boring. Here's an example of what I mean: In this passage, Jack and Bernard become the "other" and the "enemy swordsman" to "pirate" and "soldier" to "sea dog" and "landlubber" all in one paragraph. It makes it sound as though there are multiple different people fighting, when in fact it's only two men. Here is the improved version: See how much clearer it is? Jack and Bernard's names are used regularly, reminding us who is attacking who and who is dodging what, while only two synonyms -- pirate for Jack, soldier for Bernard -- are used to break up the monotony and repetitive use of names. The number of people in the fight is clearer as well. Think of synonyms like salt. Too much and the dish loses it flavor; too little and it barely affects the dish's taste. Just enough, however, and it makes the dish delicious. -TNTOS-
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So I just got a new laptop last night. It has, like, 400 GB of memory and all kinds of shiny new apps and features I haven't even tried out yet. But you know what the absolute best part of it is? We downloaded OpenOffice onto it. And thanks to OpenOffice, I have access to my Microsoft Word story files again, meaning I can get back to work on Dawn of the New Century, among my other projects. And I am so happy about that right now that I can barely even begin to describe it. Also, Skype works well on it, although it's kind of different. Just gonna have to get used to it, I suppose. -TNTOS-
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When it comes to Bionicle, I'm a pretty simple guy. Give me some Toa, a few Matoran for them to protect, and maybe an unexpected mask power, and that'll usually get me pretty far. It's pretty telling that I stopped following the story closely around the time of 2004. Which makes the fact I enjoyed Cederak's Cenotaphs pretty crazy in my eyes. It's a story from the outlaws' perspective, a story that rather than use the usual heroes and villains and settings opts to build a world out of the blank spots in canon. Cederak shows off any number of overlooked species, islands, and technologies through the eyes of a farmer-turned-mercenary living near the end of the Barraki's reign, and in doing so he gives a very real texture to the universe. We always had the view of a Toa - here's a view from the rest of the world. Maybe this post is redundant, given Cenotaphs (very deservedly) hit the front page a few months back, but I wanted to make it anyways. If you've got some time, go start reading it, and join me in marveling at how much more you can build out of the backstory of a nearly-three-years-halted constraction line.
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My friend showed me a song recently that made me want to write, or just find, a story where the fate of the world hinges on Pong. And, like, the characters would challenge each other to these world-changing, mind-smashing rounds of the game with: "Let us play Pong." And it'd be all dark and serious and stuff. *makes ominous hand motions for dramatic effect*
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(this has been approved by Black Six) So, the Ambage is getting ready to start its next published Anthology (after the successful completion of X:15). However, while the set-up was cool (15 themes, 15 writers, etc.), it was a little crazy coordinating and organizing everything. As such, with this next anthology, instead of having a bunch of themes, we're focusing on a single genre/overarching theme. So you could write for any theme, as long as it fits within the "genre" of the anthology. Select which "genre" (or genres) you like best--the one with the most votes (or if some are tied and are compatible [i.e. Fantasy/Sci-Fi], then more than one) will be the overarching genre for the next anthology. While the anthology itself is open only to Ambage members on Skype (more information on how to participate will be posted in the main Ambage topic soon), feel free to vote in this poll even if you are not an Ambage member. Also keep in mind that we will be doing a Halloween anthology later, in case that helps you decide which theme(s) you choose for this one. This poll will close Sunday, March 3rd, at 11:59 PM PST.
