Title: Inspirational Sadness
Synopsis: Angelic Buster attends a meeting about the war against Darmoor and Magnus.
A/N: What can be written in an hour on a boring January night? This, apparently. Too short to be a short story. Too long to be a drabble. What do I call this?
Edited halfheartedly because I wanted to write something halfheartedly. Does that make me a bad writer? Yes, yes it does. This story sucks. Read the next line for stories where the writers actually tries instead of rolling eyes for 60 minutes.
Inspired by Eykiel's Maple 60 minute Challenge, Ten-faced's A Fire They Can't Put Out, and a comment made by Kyrastri a couple of weeks ago. Dedicated to them, naturally.
Reviews make me happy, so please tell me how much this sucked!~
From the moment that I learned to pick up the pieces set in place by those who walk in front of me, victory depended on how far I would set my sights forward. My name is Tear and my best friend had just been killed by Darmoor's greatest general. They set his body in the middle of the war-borders in a bed of ever-wilting tulips. They know none of us would go out and take it but summer is looming and we would be set to just watch him rot. Letting his vacant shell invade my thoughts would be a disservice to my memory of him.
They summon me for a meeting that I could not listen to. I have stayed in my Angel form for days now, all the while wondering whether it was fueled by hope or grief. Eskalade refused to propose answers, or perhaps just like my best friend, he too has abandoned me.
Well, good for him, and good riddance. He had done nothing but held me back with his perchance for secrecy and self-preservation instincts. I would rip off this gauntlet if it didn't mean tearing my arm off as well.
"We do not have much time," says one of them. They are all just 'them' to me, because what else would I call them? Leaders? Please. Not after a comment like, "Kyle failed to cut through Heliseum. We have so little left now."
"Well maybe if someone hasn't decided that laying siege would be the best option," returns another.
"We could always take up Cygnus's suggestion," offers a third.
"We can't just migrate the entire population to a whole other world. You answer the hate mail."
"Maybe I like a little hate now and again. It is preferable to complete annihilation by Darmoor."
Everyday it is the same arguments, the same plan. Bring down the wall. Kill Magnus. Retreat. Push forward. You go to one meeting, you heard it all. "If I don't have to be here," I elucidate every word, "can I just leave?"
"Of course not," one of them says, extending her tail in my path. "We might set up a concert tonight, an elegy to our fallen hero."
"Or," injects another. "We could say that Angelic was too saddened by the loss of her comrade in arms. That will rile up the fans."
"Then can I go?" I ask again.
"No. This is important. Have a seat. There. How about it, council. We move up the discussion on the concert. Let's be brief. What kind of effect would we want? What reaction are we aiming for?"
"For one thing, the news of Kaiser's death reached around the city by now. I would imagine most people are worried. How about 'the concert reassure people that everything will be fine'."
"As always you are poor on ideas. How about you," she points to a knight across the room. "I'm thinking of 'the concert improves our rate of applications and lowers the rate of desertion'. What would achieve that?"
"From my experience with my men, I would say a theme of 'Kyle sacrificed himself for us, now do the same for him'."
"I like that. Could that be in anyway combined with what we discussed last time: 'Kaiser will protect Angelic so you should too'. I'm thinking 'without Angelic, who would protect her now'. "
"Good, perfect. I'm starting to see the full picture. First a single on Kaiser, to start the nostalgia rolling. Then something about how the enemy killed him in—."
"You sure we can make a song on that?"
"That's a problem for our team of song writers to solve. Anyways, while Angelic is singing, we have displays of Magnus's mug on screen so that the fans can boo it. Think of the reviews and tabloids the next day. 'Angelic encourages people to boo at her concert'."
"Wait. Why don't we dress her in a Magnus themed outfit then? It will be the song of 'What will happen if Magnus gets her hands on Angelic'. That will surely get my men to become overly protective."
"Good, good. For a final song, we can have 'Angelic needs to be protected'. We have to make her look weak—."
"I don't think that's the right word, considering the morale right now. How about, 'fragile, but willing to also sacrifice herself'. For costume ideas, I'm thinking something modest, for the fragility, but also enticing enough to bring out the would-be applicant's protective instincts."
"Frills then like a princess or a doll."
"Whoa, wait up. We're going to have a concert with only three songs?"
"Of course not, Kylan. We'll rehash some of the older titles. An overall theme of 'Kaiser' would do. Or...'Love'. Yes, 'Angelic had a crush on Kaiser'."
"I thought we agreed that putting a love interest in there would alienate fans who wanted to ask her out to the prom?"
"No, don't you see. Kaiser is dead, that much everyone knows. Therefore Angelic is heartbroken, in need of new love—the love of her fans. Likewise those, what do you call them, Kangel shippers? Think of the rage. We can finally get those worthless female fans to do something for once other than cheer."
"I'm not sure drafting women into the military would be a good idea as of now, considering the controversy from last time."
"Perhaps, then someone here could stop shooting down the 'backwards and sexist idea' of a women's division."
"Ahh, the old damned if you do, if you don't scenario. Allow me to break the controversy on the matter. Having a women's division expands our ranks. Not having it, is just plain stupid. There. I said it."
"So be it! But I take charge of the division."
"It's settled then. We now have the songs, the themes. All we need now is the singer. Angelic. Are you in?"
I don't get why she always asks that at the end of every meeting. Why give me an opportunity to say no, when everything has already been planned for me, some destiny set by gravity. Maybe I should say 'no' for once, screw them for asking me to make an embarrassment for myself and my backup singers. For making my best friend an object to sway the emotions of people into signing their lives away. There is nothing wrong with Cygnus's suggestion. She was a pleasant ruler. She's the one who doesn't speak and listen, but she gets all the respect. I should just say no.
"Yes," I say in order that I can just go already.
"Free up your schedule for the next week. We still have no idea when this is happening."
The command crushes me. Another week doing nothing but wait. What did my friend die for?
I go back to my room, thinking that I should have never touched this gauntlet. If I hadn't that day, maybe I could have given something to Kaiser. I could have given him Tear, that girl who was the reason he fought. I could have made him change his mind. We could have run from this dying city, literally to a world where no one knows who we are. Damn our purpose. Damn our friendship too.
Ding. Ding. 'The concert is on Thursday, the third of next month. Please wear this bra that day.'
I set my sights on another performance, thinking about the day when I will retire.