AFFLICTIONS AND ROYALS – FAUNA BLIGHT'S STORY
In Aturia
"You have to promise me that you will listen to this story with an open mind," Hinata says. "Not everything is always as straightforward as it seems."
"OK," Naruto says.
"First it is important that you understand the Beast Clan and Beast Kingdom are different. The Beast Clan is the species made up of beasts, our equivalent would be the human race. Animals start with an intellectual disadvantage to humans, that is why it is harder and rarer for them to break through. Once upon a time Michel was just an ordinary horse. When he understood 'serenity' and became a class 1 warrior, that is when he became a member of the Beast Clan, that is when he learned to talk and when he became intelligent. The Beast Kingdom is different, it is a ruling hierarchy with a king and his subordinates. Not all members of the Beast Clan are part of the Beast Kingdom, but most join that hierarchy willingly.
"The hierarchy formed before the war, back when the world was made up of smaller nations, the Beast Kingdom were the power behind one such nation. Back then humanity's kings and queens didn't get along with one another, often fighting wars over land and power. The Beast Kingdom was fundamentally the same as any other kingdom, except with one difference. Humans and beasts were free to roam any of the human kingdoms, the royals of the time didn't see any reason to stop them. The Beast Kingdom was not willing to accept anyone who was not a beast in their borders. One of their kings was very anti-human.
"When the Dark Dimension invaded the Beast Kingdom joined the war against them. Homeworld was their world as well, they had just as much interest in stopping that invasion as the human kingdoms. At the start of the war the Beast King wasn't as strong as modern royals, most royals were much weaker back then. He was one of the first to die when the invasion happened, it was a threat from the Dark Dimension to the rest of the world.
"As you know Yuuki Terukatsu tried to organise a resistance movement on behalf of the humans, but unity did not come easily to us. The War Council was formerly a place where the human kingdom's sent their warriors to air their enmity. My father emerged during the war with his elite team, my mother, my uncle and Furst Jonas, together they unified the humans of Homeworld. My father did travel to the Beast Kingdom and met the new king, petitioning him for an alliance. That Beast King was a rival of my father's, he refused that alliance, favouring the isolation they had always enjoyed.
"My father went on to defeat the Empress of the Dark Dimension and became the first emperor of Homeworld. He brought unity to the humans of Homeworld and consolidated the old kingdoms into seven larger ones. He ruled Okarin as King and Homeworld as Emperor and other royals were selected for Aturia, Ewoa, Gavaria, Seblix, Cheqitori and Fayoth. It was at this point that the problems truly started to begin. Almost all of Homeworld was united under human control, and the isolated Beast Kingdom was still the tiny patch of land they had before in North Seblix.
"The new royals worked hard to strengthen relations between their new kingdoms. There was lots of new trade, they began to exchange culture and critical resources, information was also shared on a scale we had never seen before. Humanity was thriving, but the Beast Kingdom was now backed into a corner. They asked for help with critical resources and they wanted to trade necessities, but why would anyone trade with them? Before humanity traded with them because we needed to do so, but we knew they hated us. Now that it was no longer required of us, why trade with people who disliked us so intensely?
"My father saw that this was a problem, but he did try not to interfere in the running of the kingdoms. There was only one viable trade partner for the Beast Kingdom, that was Seblix. The Tyrant King was not willing to give them anything that could help the Beast King to rival him, that didn't change when Nadia became queen either. There was nothing we could do, our own unity had to come first. We couldn't throw that away for people who had always hated us. As you can imagine that made the Beast Kingdom desperate.
"The Beast King was my father's rival, he was strong, very strong. Most beasts are stronger than humans in the same battle class, they often have unique abilities that we do not. There were several cities in Cheqitori and Seblix that were wiped from the map overnight. We didn't have the communications network that Furst has put together now, by the time news of the invasion reached my father it was too late.
"Naturally there was a war as humanity began to fight back against the beasts. My father tried to speak with the Beast King to reach a peace treaty. He was willing to significantly expand their territory, but the Beast King refused to even meet with him. He was now convinced that all humans were the enemy, and like the war with the Dark Dimension, for him it became all of us against all of them.
"As the war raged on humanity's best scientists realised something. This was Jonas and Max, we thought they were on our side at the time. They noticed that as the Beast Kingdom's territory expanded the rate at which beasts were breaking through had increased. Beasts found it difficult to break through before this, but now for some reason it was easier for them. The expansion of beast-run territory was introducing an imbalance. They were recruiting new warriors to their forces much quicker than we were. Things looked desperate.
"As time went on and the royals involved themselves in the war the violence escalated. People from both sides were dying and they were dying for nothing. My father himself got involved in a peacekeeping role, he minimised casualties where he could. It was at this point that he met Michel, a prominent member of the Beast Kingdom and discussed a possible peace deal. When Michel returned with a deal that would have solved all the Beast Kingdom's problems the king threw that deal back in his face. This war was going to keep going, it would not end peacefully.
"My father had no choice but to get involved in the fighting himself. He asked my mother, my uncle and Jonas to help him with the war. They were going to pull out the troops and end the whole thing themselves. There seemed to be no choice, they would keep fighting, keep killing until the Beast Kingdom gave up. But Jonas had a different idea, one that he had been working on with Weiss Max, an idea to end the war without much killing.
"That was the affliction we now know as Fauna Blight. When an animal first gains divine energy and becomes a class 1 warrior, it is then a beast. Jonas' affliction means that when one warrior breaks through for the first time and becomes a beast another more powerful beast will die. This means that the number of beasts could never increase. It wasn't a pretty solution, but it didn't involve killing anybody. Anyone could die at any moment, from the weakest beast right up to the Beast King. Winning the war became impossible for the Beast King who attacked my father out of rage. In the end he fought until his death, nobody could prevent that.
"The senior warriors of the Beast Kingdom agreed they would return to the small kingdom they started with, and that they would go into seclusion once again. They believed at that point they would live with Fauna Blight for the rest of their life. Even now if a mouse understands 'fire' energy on the other side of Homeworld one of those senior warriors could die. At that point they decided they needed a new ruler. For beasts succession isn't like human kingdoms, beasts seldom have any blood relatives other than animals. Their children are born without intelligence and they can't talk, so they can't inherit the throne. A new Beast King was chosen from the senior advisors of the kingdom, a man who fought bravely during the war. That Beast King reigns to this day.
"The Beast Kingdom doesn't talk to us anymore. They hate us more than ever because we used Fauna Blight to end the war, and we hate them for refusing our offers of peace and killing millions of people. Honestly Naruto I don't think that peace between us could ever work."
Naruto pauses to consider what this means. Boruto and Himawari do the same before looking to him. Usually Naruto ends up on the right side of history in these sort of situations.
"Who decided that the Beast Kingdom would not accept humans?" Naruto asks.
"The decision was made by one of the early Beast Kings. He would have made the decision unilaterally," Michel says. "The Beast King is chosen from our most powerful warriors and when he is recognised he is granted total authority over all policy both domestic and foreign."
"And that continued for years?"
"Since long before any of us were born. I suspect that the general dislike for humanity in the Beast Kingdom was a consequence of his decision not to trust humans."
"And one person made the decision to go to war?"
"Yes, a different Beast King."
"It sounds like the entire Beast Clan is suffering because a couple of Beast Kings made some stupid decisions," Naruto says. "I don't think that the entire clan should be punished because of a couple of stupid leaders. You said this solution didn't kill anyone Hinata, but it did, the affliction kills them every day. Fauna Blight has robbed them of all hope just because a few of them were bad. I think that is wrong, humanity responded too harshly."
"Without Fauna Blight the Beast Kingdom may well have gone on to win the war," Michel says. "I gladly bear this affliction in the name of peace, many of my fellow beasts do as well."
"Speak for yourself," Claude says.
"But we don't know that this is the only route to peace," Naruto says. "One man declared war and another started years of hatred. Perhaps this time we can break the cycle, perhaps this new Beast King is the one who doesn't hate humans. How can we hurt so many people when we have not tried for peace?"
"Akashi did try for peace," Michel says.
"With one beast? With a tyrant who has total authority over millions?"
"He was the rightful king," Hinata says.
"Says who? As far as we knew Furst Jonas was the rightful Emperor of Homeworld when Clyde tried to kill all of us," Naruto says. "You weren't happy when Boruto decided to kill Homeworld in retaliation for crimes far greater than the Beast Kingdom's. Tell me Hinata, why is it OK to punish all the beasts but not all of you?"
Hinata glares at Naruto. This is the first time she has felt such hostility between them. Yesterday was as close as Endou Hinata had ever been with Uzumaki Naruto, today they could not be farther apart. He is now accusing her of the most heinous hypocrisy and what really stings is that she cannot find an answer to his accusations.
"Naruto," Mana speaks up. "Emperor Endou Akashi saved my life. In time he became a father to me. He was my hero, my saviour, the greatest person I have ever met. Right now you are effectively calling him a war criminal. We all thought you and he were so alike, why do you bring shame to his memory like this? You are saying such terrible things to his daughters, do you hate us that much?"
"Hate you? I don't hate you."
"Why? Don't you believe Akashi was a killer?"
"I believe he made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"It was an easy mistake to made. Any of us probably would have done the same thing. But I think he probably knew that he was wrong," Naruto says. "I never met your father, but he understood 'life' energy, like me. He must have realised how special all life is. He must have hated this affliction just as much as I do. You mentioned a non-interference policy. Once his decision was made was curing Fauna Blight even an option for him? Or did his duties as emperor prevent him from undoing it?"
"He… he wouldn't have undone it," Michel says.
"Just answer. Could he have undone it if he wanted to?"
"… no he couldn't."
"Mana, Hinata, your father was given several terrible choices. No matter what he chose people would die, there were no good options. He made a terrible choice but he couldn't do anything to change that choice even if he wanted to. I doubt he ever mentioned Fauna Blight to the two of you again, because he was ashamed."
Hinata sighs. Naruto is right, after the end of the war Akashi never mentioned Fauna Blight to either her or Mana. She recalls discussing it with her mother, but her father never covered the topic with her. Now that she looks back it can't be a coincidence that they never discussed it; it must have been deliberate.
"So you don't think my father was a bad person," Hinata asks.
"No. Your father was not a bad person."
"But what would you have us do? Cure Fauna Blight?"
"Yes, I would," Naruto answers.
"But my father…"
"Your father couldn't cure Fauna Blight because the other royals would use the non-interference policy to stop him," Naruto says. "The new royals are not on our side Hinata, they are fighting against us. We don't have to worry about a non-interference policy. The decision about what we do now is ours and ours alone. There is a new Beast King to negotiate with, a new hope for peace. Let's do what your father wishes he had done, let's negotiate peace with the Beast Kingdom!"
Hinata doesn't answer.
"You have the mind of a beast Hannah; what do you think we should do?" Naruto asks.
"A lot of people have said you are just like Endou Akashi. If you had unleashed Fauna Blight, I know you would regret it. I came to you as an enemy, but you saved me and became my friend. I think it has worked out well for both of us. The Beast Clan deserves another chance, I think we should cure Fauna Blight."
Mana and Michel look to Hinata.
"What will you do if they do the same thing again?" Hinata asks.
"I will stop them."
"Will you take responsibility for the people they kill, people who would be dying because they believed in you?"
"Hyuuga Neji died believing in us, Hinata. I wake up each day and think of him and all the people who gave their lives to get us this far. I take responsibility for it every day and I do my best to build a world they would be proud of. When I look at Boruto and Himawari, I think Neji would be proud, when I look at Fauna Blight I think he would be appalled."
Hinata wonders the same thing about her father. At the end he risked his life to save her. He could have run and hidden from Jonas and tried to fight back another way, but his choice was to believe in her. Is Naruto right about him, did he really hate the Fauna Blight solution that he chose himself? She doesn't know if Naruto is right, but lately her instincts have told her to trust him more often than not.
"… OK," Hinata says.
"OK?"
"We will try this your way," Hinata says. "We can offer a cure for Fauna Blight in exchange for an alliance. But if this goes wrong you cannot retreat to a pocket-world, you will stay here, and you will fight on the front lines to stop them. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Claude jumps with excitement. An end to Fauna Blight may finally be in sight.
Local Imperial Guard Headquarters, Ewoa
Elliot enters General Alaa's office, observing all the usual formalities before being offered to sit. This place is starting to become a second home for him. Recently he has been afforded more contact with the general than any other colonel.
"May I be frank with you Elliot?"
"As a general you may speak however you wish."
Alaa smiles. "When you informed me that you think Clyde is going to attack Genzee, I thought the suggestion was suspicious. I was worried that you were still working with him, and with the rebellion, but I see now that I was incorrect to doubt you."
"You have confirmed my prediction sir?"
"Yes. My spies in several towns have spotted known associates of Clyde. His path is clear, very shortly he will be heading to the city of Genzee. There is no particular significance to the city but taking it, even temporarily, would be an excellent strategic move. I have studied a few of Clyde's pocket-world campaigns and I agree with you, that will surely be his next move."
"I am glad that you agree with me general."
"When this is over I have made a decision regarding your future, Colonel Elliot. I think that your current duties are not as wide-reaching as they should be. A man with your dedication to duty, your skills and your determination, a man who would side with Homeworld over the rebellion, a man like that deserves respect and honour. That is why when Clyde is defeated I intend to make you my second-in-command, the most influential colonel Ewoa. What do you think of that?"
"Sir, you are aware that there are other colonels under your command with more power than I?"
"Yes I am Elliot. I don't need a powerful second-in-command; I need a loyal one who can get things done. Do you believe that you are up to the task?"
"I know that I am general."
"Good decision. How do you feel about it? Your duties will likely be similar to when you served as Lara's second-in-command."
"It is a great honour general," Elliot says. "This will inspire the other military rebels, hopefully some of them will return to the empire where their true allegiance should belong. After Lara died, serving as Clyde's subordinate was an unpleasant experience in comparison. The man is weak, he lacks the formalities required of a leader, and he is a traitor to the world he swore to serve."
"I couldn't agree more colonel. I am heading to Genzee now. I would like you to remain here and draft an acceptance speech for your promotion. You may use my office if you wish. When I return, we shall deliver the good news to Head General Safura together. At long last the disgraced General Clyde will be eliminated."
"Thank you general."
In Response to Guest
Who asks if divine abilities can be transferred.
Divine abilities can't be transferred between living people.
Furthermore, pocket-worlder physiology is incompatible with divine abilities as well, hence why Naruto doesn't have one.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to ultimusred
Who asks various questions.
1) Currently there is Naruto's group, Hashirama's group, Sarada's group, Clyde's group and Shikadai's group.
2) Hopefully this chapter clarifies that when animals understand divine energy they become beasts and gain a rational mind.
3) I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. If you are asking if the empire are still creating other pocket-worlds then the answer is yes, continuously. It is not particularly dangerous as there are already countless pocket-worlds and only one has ever posed any threat.
Thanks for reading.