AN: Preamble. Blah Blah. Enjoy reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. I mean, I do, Java Version, but I don't own the company for it.
Chapter 208
King's Trials (Part 4)
[Endward Cult Eastern HQ]
"KillRo - I-I mean KillGore. You're back, finally. You've been gone for - Is that who I think it is?"
KillGore tugged Spring's clutched hands forward as the two of them stepped out of the Nether Portal and into the Eastern HQ. Under KillGore's suggestion, Spring had opted to play prisoner to KillGore in an effort to keep the other cultists from attacking straight away. Spring kept his gaze submissive even when the cultists guarding the hub of portals pointed their weapons at him. Lieutenant Mark pushed to the front of the crowd, his eyes glaring suspiciously at the two new arrivals.
"KillGore, what the hell is this?" Mark demanded. "You take off with a throw away excuse of making a grinder, don't check in for weeks, and suddenly show up with a deserter?"
It had been weeks. Completing the steps for the ritual and grinder took weeks of work away from the Endward Cult. Spring and KillGore expected certain repercussions considering KillGore was the lynchpin to the Eastern Divisions rapid EXP accrual. All his Mob Grinders were responsible for pumping EXP into the cultists. He was their ticket to greater physical strength and higher-tiered enchantments. Him up and leaving would cause a fuss.
KillGore dragged Spring before him by his bound arms. He wasn't really bound by the midget's vice grip, but the shrimp was the only one who had a right to talk. The cultists wouldn't hear anything Spring had to say.
"KillGore captured the traitor to the cause." KillGore announced almost impressively if not for his adorable alto tenor voice. "He is well within my power. KillGore's brutality has left him feeling inadequate and devoid of hope. He is now little more than a husk awaiting the judgement of the Executives."
Mark narrowed his eyes at the scene. He was clearly taking into account how Spring refused to break away despite the lack of visible bonds. KillGore didn't even douse him with Weakness or Slowness.
"Wasn't he colluding with some Magma Cube monstrosity? What happened to her?"
Spring bristled at the Lieutenants disgust-laden words, something Mark noticed as he reached for a splash potion.
In truth, Spring and KillGore had departed from Carmen already after one last set of goodbyes. Even KillGore stayed behind for a final private conversation with the Hybrid before rejoining Spring and leaving her in that fiery hellscape. From there, Spring and KillGore had returned to the Eastern HQ's portal.
But Spring had no intention of telling any of that to anyone. Carmen wasn't worth chasing after. She was out of harm's way and could hardly be called a threat to the Endward Cult. She could destroy a village something fierce, but Spring wasn't about to share her emotional episode with anybody.
"The Hybrid isn't important right now." KillGore dismissed before letting out a slight whimper and slapping the back of one shoulder. "F-Felt a tickle." He played off before continuing. "What matters is that KillGore has something of grave importance to share with Abyssmal. Something that involves Spring here and KillGore's prolonged absence."
"If you're looking to talk with Abyssmal, you'll have to wait. He's hosting a meeting with the other two Executives and 4Blite."
What anxiety Spring had bubbling in his gut over facing Abyssmal suddenly tripled with an extra dollop of douchebag 4Blite heaped on top.
"The other two-?" Spring spoke for the first time since arriving. "Ember's... here?"
Again, KillGore let out a yelp and slapped his shoulder harder. "Felt something." He dismissed more testily before shifting slightly.
"That's right, Spring." Mark nodded gravely. "Three Executives are gathered nearby. A lot's happened while you were AWOL helping a monster."
Spring wanted to throttle him for saying that. If it wasn't for the risk of Teal showing up to fold him like laundry, he'd have done it too. As it was, all he could do was remain obediently quiet while KillGore lugged him around like a prisoner.
"Abyssmal will want an explanation." Mark continued sternly. "Hand the deserter over to be locked away. You can talk with him once his meeting concludes." Spring tensed as Mark held up a pair of splash potions to paralyze him. KillGore moved to block.
"KillGore thinks not!"
"No, you're just not thinking." Mark added smoothly.
"Potions and cells are excess. Spring is a prisoner of KillGore the merciless! He is amply intimidated and will obediently do whatever KillGore orders of him just to forestall KillGore's ruthlessness! Observe." He turned to Spring. "Call yourself a weenie with a fetish for little girls."
Spring felt a nerve tick in his forehead as his face scrunched into a grimace.
I really fucking hate you, KillGore.
"Well?"
"...I'm a weenie with a little girl fetish." Spring uttered lowly.
"Louder! So everyone can hear-"
"I'M A WEENIE WITH A LITTLE GIRL FETISH!" He roared, his voice echoing off the walls.
The watching cultists showed a combination of nervous chuckling and awkward silence that had Spring wishing a hole would swallow him up, but he did notice that his words made more than half of them relax their weapons. Mark still looked suspicious, though.
"See? Completely obedient." KillGore nodded satisfied. Spring wanted to punt him so badly. "No need for potions. Furthermore, KillGore will not wait for Abyssmal. Nobody tells KillGore to wait - not when he has something this important to bring to attention. KillGore will meet with him now!"
Wait, what? No! Spring thought. You can't intrude on a meeting between three Executives! That's outlandishly disrespectful you idiot midget!
Mark got in front of him. "You can't! Abyssmal is in a private meeting with Executives." Mark stressed. "4Blite and his Plagues were invited, but you can't barge in and-"
"This matter is important enough to allow for barging in. In fact, it's worth bringing to the attention of all three Executives right this instant!" KillGore asserted impressively, his words making the cultists intrigued. "That they're all gathered in one place upon KillGore's return is the work of fate. KillGore is compelled to meet with them right away, with Spring as my witness!" He shook Spring's bound hands for emphasis. "Now take me to them, Lieutenant! Do not impede KillGore's brutality a moment longer!"
Spring didn't like this idea. He really, really didn't like this idea. The plan had been to plead his case to Abyssmal first, then have him speak on his behalf to the rest of the higher ups. He planned a bit of what he'd say to Abyssmal to not get immediately executed, and he was a little nervous over it, but he was absolutely terrified to speak before three Executives at the same time! He wasn't prepared! All his arguments started to run dry in his head over the idea of having to face Ember who could read him like a book with her Soul-Gaze. How was he supposed to keep Carmen a secret before her scrutinizing gaze? How was he supposed to explain why he collaborated with her and robbed the cult?
Then there was KillGore's audacity. There was a respectful way of doing this and KillGore wasn't adhering to it. A reliable source of Wither skulls was a game changer, but that didn't mean they could go around ignoring decorum. Spring needed to prove he could follow orders if he wanted to get back into the Endward Cult. How was KillGore's insistence for an audience meant to show that!?
Plus 4Blite would be there. He didn't want his former asshole Lieutenant to see him flounder before the Executives.
Mark had to reject them. He had to. He'd say that an audience wouldn't be permitted, demand they wait, and spare Spring the misfortune of having to defend himself before three Executives while-
"If this is as important as you say," Mark's words chopped off Spring's hope at the knees, "then I'll show you to them. Just know that if it isn't, this discourtesy may cost you dearly."
"Hmph. KillGore has confidence they'll not be disappointed. That ginger bimbo won't think I'm adorable after this. Lead on, Lieutenant MarkAble! For KillGore will not wait a moment longer."
"Perhaps you should hand over your 'prisoner'?" Mark suggested, his use of the word implying doubt on Spring's continued obedience.
"Nonsense. KillGore will bring Spring to the meeting. See how he trembles and whimpers in fear? He is clearly cowed by my presence."
Don't bring me with you, you fuck! There's three of them!
"Alright. Your funeral. I guess Ember will want to see him." Mark shrugged before waving them forward and for the cultists to stand down. He kept a grip on his splash potions just in case Spring made a break for it.
He wanted to. He really did.
[Mt. Mur]
Wynn couldn't help but feel like a returning champion descending the mountain with His Eminence and an unzombified Cobb IV - a leather worker by trade - in tow. Additionally, a resigned Chinami and a returning Judson accompanied them on their descent, Wynn keeping a close eye on them despite their defeated gait.
"Why don't we take them out, Chinami?" Judson hissed, thinking Wynn didn't hear. "We can still win this if-"
"If what? It'll take too long to go back down and escort a new Zombie Villager, and I don't want to go through that hassle again, thank you very much." She frowned in annoyance. "Kenji's been knocked out and I lost my fight with her and surrendered. It's over."
"But, say we kill their Testificate. It'll be a three-way tie-"
"You think we have them beat in virtue points? What's stopping her from killing all of us out of spite? She's already proved she's stronger and willing to kill us." Chinami rubbed a hand over her neck in memory of getting choked out. "Just drop it Judson. We lost. Plain and simple. Carys and Kal will lay into me, but I can hold my head high. The Captain wasn't nearly as broken as we were led to believe."
Wynn accepted their praise at face value, trusting they wouldn't try anything because there would absolutely be consequences if they did. Spit on her mercy and she'd spit on their graves.
It was too late on the second day to make the whole hike down before night. Cobb IV would have been in trouble, so Wynn and Mann camped out in a cave while Chinami and Judson went on ahead to scrape up Kenji and Broderick put of the hole Wynn had left them. She gave them specific instructions on where to find the two and allowed them to leave. If they arranged a blockade against her at the finish line, she would just pierce right through and win for His Eminence.
Wynn and Mann slept in turns as the moon rose and fell and the sun began to rise on the third and final day. They continued their descent, trading idle talk between themselves and Cobb IV, and dispatching the occasional Creeper or Spider along the way. The rocky slope became dotted with trees and grass, and they eventually came to the area full of tents and the stone marker that denoted the finish line.
"Look! They're back!" Wynn recognized the voice of Veronica as she excitedly called out to them. It was followed by cheers from the Ringwood and Daymonte guards watching. The Paragon's forces were notably sullen and quiet, Chinami, Kenji, Broderick, and Judson among them.
That was it, then. They folded. They were out. They returned without a cured Testificate. She and His Eminence were the only ones left in the running, and they had their cured Testificate for all to see.
The observers for the trials were already trickling in and speaking with the three judges. As if it mattered! They were the only ones to complete the trial, so the point system was irrelevant. They could have gotten the lowest score of 3 and still win.
However, Wynn let them talk, jubilant in her triumph. Despite the crushing first day setbacks, Mann was safe, Cobb IV was safe, and a suitable king would soon be crowned.
She let Mann walk past her to tap the stone marker as she smiled at the guards who came to support her. She hadn't failed them. Their faith in her was rewarded.
"Wynn." His Eminence called, snapping her to attention. He beckoned her over to the marker. "Come. This victory belongs to us both."
Wynn gave an indulgent shrug before walking up beside him. He laid his hand on top of hers and the two of them tapped the stone marker concluding their victory in the trials to great cheers and applause from two-thirds of the audience. The Paragons gave polite golf claps with great reluctance.
The rest of the trials was spent waiting for the third day to end. There was no chance for Kenji or Chinami to attempt anything, but the time limit was still in place. Observers still had to trickle in and tally the virtue points despite them not mattering anymore.
"The virtue points matter." Mann assured. "They let the people know what kind of ruler to expect. The people will want to know how compassionate, intelligent, or strong a monarch will be, and they'll be hearing it straight from an unbiased source. Kenji and Chinami will be judged the same despite being out of the running."
Wynn guessed that was fair. It would allow the people to know what sort of virtues their new Captains would uphold. She herself was curious if they were more or less virtuous than her on certain aspects.
Wynn, Mann, Veronica, and the guards passed the rest of the time with idle chitchat. Cobb IV was granted a clothing store where he could work leather to his heart's content. Veronica got a bit overly friendly with Wynn, prompting the ivory-haired Captain to ward her off with her rapier. Kenji and Chinami were invited over, much to their surprise, to compare notes on the trials, discuss the organization of their forces, and even jokingly place bets on which virtues they did better in.
"I'm not bothering with emotional virtue points, but there's no way Kenji lost on mental virtue points. We got one observer asking us a freaking math question! Kenji solved that shit real easy."
"I don't mean to brag, but I answered a tricky riddle." Wynn boasted.
"Brains and a great ass. You're the whole package, Wynn baby." Veronica cooed before getting an elbow to the face, her happy expression not breaking.
"I clearly need to spar more." Kenji complained. "I was rendered helpless in a physical exchange. Perhaps you can give me pointers, Captain?"
"We'll talk." Wynn nodded. "I heard the Paragons are versed in all forms of combat. I'm sure the guards could stand to learn a thing or two from you and your Paragons. Maybe we can arrange an exchange?"
"That should work. I'll have to run it by Jillian in my report. I fear I've disappointed her and Carys greatly." Kenji paused for a second as he looked between Wynn and Mann. "...I'd like to... apologize." He spoke shamefully. "The things I said before the trials... I was just trying to hurt you - make you quit - and I-"
"Nothing you said was untrue." Wynn stopped him. "I failed Miles back then. No matter what, I should have been stronger. But... I'm not ashamed to have survived to see this day." She spoke proudly. "Ember_Waves will rule the day she attacked our home."
"...Our home?"
"You're one of us now." Mann added good-naturedly. "You two are Captains of Ringwood now. It'll be a lot of work rebuilding this place from the ground up, but bear the title with pride. Today is the day it all begins anew."
Kenji and Chinami looked like they didn't know what to do with such a warm welcome. It had been yesterday that Chinami wanted nothing more than to kill Mann and here he was treating them like they were on the same team. It was unnerving and awkward, yet he said it like it was already a foregone conclusion. Didn't he hold grudges?
Wynn treated them more appropriately, keeping them at arm's length. She didn't kill them because Ringwood needed Captains, and any aggression would ruin relations with the Paragons' reinforcements. She had to be professional. She wouldn't show her animosity for them trying to kill Mann, but it would be a long road to fully gaining her trust. She didn't forget they were Paragons, and she'd work with them so long as it benefitted Ringwood and His Eminence. After all, as her king, his orders would be absolute. He'd have them all playing nice because that was just the kind of kind man he was.
It looked like the time for tallying points was over. All the observers had come in and the third day of the King's Trials drew to a close. The chief speaker and judges all exchanged a round of hushed discussions before finally turning to call the audience to attention.
"Settle down, everyone! Settle down." The chief speaker hushed them without delay. "Thank you. I am pleased to announce the virtue points have been fully tallied and the king and queen candidates appropriately and justly scored." He opened up his ender chest and withdrew from it the signed pieces of paper that had been deposited by the candidates before the trials had commenced. "We will now announce the scores."
The three judges stepped forward to speak next. "Know that we are not announcing these scores to appear unkind."
"Neither is it our purpose to shame the losing candidates or draw attention to any one poor performance." Kenji and Chinami wilted slightly. "You all performed admirably, and we judges are meant to recognize such achievements."
"Announcing the scores to the public is meant to show them what sort of monarch they can expect." The third judge finished. "And for those who lost, it's to show what sort of person you are. True character is easily to draw in the heat of competition." He nodded. "Now, without further adieu..."
The chief speaker nodded as he smoothed out the candidates' signed papers and began to read off.
"In third place, with 3 Emotional Virtue points, 12 Physical Virtue Points, and 18 Mental Virtue Points - a total of 33 out of 60 - King Candidate KenjiStrawWalker and his Second, Judson."
"I did a lot of physical side quests on the second day." Judson spoke as an aside. "Fat lot of good it did us."
"You did what I ordered." Kenji dismissed. "I should have had you escorting Zombie Villagers with Broderick and me, but there's no point discussing what-ifs. At least the public can see we have a mind between us."
"In second place-"
"Here's me now." Chinami rolled her eyes.
"-with 10 Emotional Virtue Points, 17 Physical Virtue Points, and 12 Mental Virtue Points - a total of 39 out of 60 - Queen Candidate Chinami9 and her Second, Broderick."
The applause served as background noise as Chinami showed surprise over her points. "How the hell did I get more Emotional Points than Kenji? I didn't bother with any touchy feely side quests."
"It's because of your surrender," Mann explained, "and more importantly your adherence to the surrender. You kept your word and didn't attack after Wynn spared you - even talked Judson out of making any attempt. The observers took note of that. You're as good as your word, Chinami."
The Paragon flushed at the unexpectedly sincere words before Kenji clapped a hand on her shoulder.
"You also proved yourself good at outmaneuvering. Ambushing Mann and Wynn on the way up, killing their Zombie Villager without risking your own, waiting for Mann knowing she'd go to the top. You're a brilliant tactician."
"I didn't go all the way, though." Chinami pointed out. "The trials could've been ours if I didn't let Mann go as a half-measure-"
"And Mann could have kept his mouth shut and not told us how to keep our Zombie Villagers from burning." Broderick added, quick to defend his queen candidate. "He did it for points. To win. Just as you did."
"I didn't mean to get points that way."
"The public don't need to know that. All they need to know is that you're a kinder Captain than Kenji." Chinami groaned at the words obviously meant to irritate her.
"I'm not kind, I'm ruthless!"
Wynn tuned them out as the most anticipated announcement was spoken.
"Finally, in first place," the chief speaker boomed, "the only candidate to complete the trials, with 18 Emotional Virtue Points, 19 Physical Virtue Points, and 14 Mental Virtue Points - a whopping total of 51 out of 60-"
Wynn beamed with pride, her eyes looking to Mann for recognition and approval for a job well done. The newly reinstated king smiled back slyly.
"-your new monarch, Queen Candidate Wynn_Whispers and her Second, WorkingMann."
Wynn and half the audience applauded with gusto as they registered the beginning and end of the announcement as to be expected, but the other half of the audience - including Kenji, Chinami, and Veronica - were caught reeling from the middle part of it. And with each passing second, more and more of the audience caught on to the mistake, Wynn being the last as her applause slowed and her proud smile morphed into a thin, neutral line of comprehension, then a confused countenance of incomprehension. She looked very much like someone who had discovered their diamond ore was just lapis. By the time she found the sense to utter a word, the only one still clapping vigorously was Mann.
"...What?"
Wrong. Everything was wrong. There was a deep wrongness with the events Wynn had mentally envisioned in her head leading up to this moment - the wrong moment - that had her blurting out the first words that came to mind.
"THAT'S WRONG!"
Her words opened up the flood gates as several Paragons and guards voiced their protests on the matter, demanding what was going on. Mann was the King Candidate and Wynn his Second, not the other way around. That's what everyone had led them to believe - what Wynn herself led them to believe bringing him back from retirement. The chief speak must have made a mistake, but then why wasn't he properly correcting himself. These trials were supposed to be sacred, not a joke.
Kenji and Chinami were equally upset... at first. Chinami loudly declared that the three candidates and Seconds had been clearly defined prior to the trials, but Kenji's initial outrage slowly turned into quiet reflection as he thought back to the exact wording predating the trials. Had the candidates and Seconds been clearly defined? He murmured to himself while stroking his chin, no further protest being raised over the din.
"THAT'S WRONG!" Wynn cried out over all of them, desperate to rectify the wrongness that had otherwise spoiled this perfect moment like a poisoned potato. "I'm not the candidate! HE IS! His Eminence - WorkingMann is the one who succeeded! He cleared the trials! He has the right to the throne! I'm only his Second!" This screaming side of Wynn's was one the stern, disciplined Captain hardly ever showed in public, but it was warranted given the farce she was currently entertaining.
The judges were just as confused if their shared looks were anything to go by. They didn't have an answer to the growing unrest among the crowd, but the chief speaker merely scratched his nose placidly, his response ready.
"Really?" He asked of Wynn, making sure his voice was heard over the crowd. "Most of the points were scored by you. Were you not the one who performed most of the side quests?"
"I did that because Mann ordered me to - he's frail and can't physically exert himself!"
"Never agreed with me when I argued that." Mann grumbled.
"Were you not the one to complete the trial? Did you not ascend the mountain, cure the Testificate, come back down, and touch the stone marker?"
"I only touched it because His Eminence wanted to share the victory! His victory! Not mine!"
"At no time did he ever admit to being the candidate for these trials."
"YES HE DID!" She all but screamed. "At the beginning, before the trials, the submission of the names, he wrote his name on the paper-"
"And he wrote your name before it." The chief speaker's words tore Wynn's protests right out from under her. He held out the damning evidence - the signed paper. "These papers were put straight into my ender chest after being signed. And, as I clearly instructed, the first name written is the monarch candidate, the second name is the Second. See?" The judges gathered around the paper to see that it was true. Wynn's name was first, then Mann's second. She was the candidate and he was her Second.
The mounting objections from the audience soon quieted as that one, indisputable fact was brought to light. He put her name down first. Nowhere in the rules did it say only the candidate could submit the names. It was a technicality that only someone well-versed and familiar with the King's Trials could exploit. Someone like Mann.
"Oh boy! Isn't that something else?" Mann's voice cut through the silence. "Sure didn't see that one coming! I must be going senile to have botched the rules like that. What a pickle! To be robbed of the monarchy over a simple mistake. Guess you're queen now, huh?"
"What did you do?" Wynn's voice was low and dangerous, making Veronica, Kenji, and Chinami wisely back away. The new queen stiffly turned towards Mann with a posture like that of a tiger ready to pounce. "Your Eminence, what did you do!?"
"I'm not 'Your Eminence' any more." He corrected reasonably. "You're 'Your Eminence,' now. Or 'Her Eminence,' 'Most Exalted One,' 'Your August Majesty,' 'Your Queenly Queenliness'. Have fun with it, whatever you decide-"
Wynn would never dare raise a hand against WorkingMann. Under normal circumstances. These were abnormal, so she felt right in seizing him by his collar, lifting him up, and shaking him until her arms gave out.
"YOU PLANNED THIS!"
"I planned this."
"YOU SET ME UP!"
"I set you up, Your Highness."
"STOP THAT! YOU PRETENDED TO MAKE ME YOUR SECOND AFTER I SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOU I DIDN'T DESERVE THE POSITION! HOW COULD YOU!?"
"You were the right person for the job. Nothing I said could convince you. Now don't you feel silly going through all this just to prove you were the most virtuous choice all along? Total fustercluck."
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"That's true, I'll grant you, but-"
"Wynn, stop shaking the old guy!" Veronica tried to break the two apart but for Wynn wildly whipping his body like a ragdoll. "Help me!" Chinami and Judson moved to subdue the Captain and allow Mann to stand on two feet.
"I don't accept the position!" Wynn suddenly shouted while being held back by Veronica. The crowd listened to her protests. "I don't deserve it! I failed to stop Ember! Miles and Deo and Showers and Iron_Lung!" Each departed name was a stain on her honor. "I failed them all! I failed to protect the people of Ringwood from those that threaten us! If you won't accept my refusal, then accept my royal decree of presenting the monarchy to a more worthy candidate! His Eminence, WorkingMann, is-!"
"Mann wasn't there!"
The voice, from the crowd, from Bitters the guard, silenced Wynn's rant before it could continue. The green-haired guard looked as surprised as his colleagues to be speaking out like this, but it was too late to back down now.
"Captain - or, er, Your Highness - he corrected awkwardly. "There's not a guard alive that doesn't know your feelings towards Mann. He's your hero. He rescued you from a ruined village, took you in, helped you bounce back, ignited your determination, and made you the disciplined and caring Captain that we all have come to respect. But... he's not that to us."
"He has his pedestal as a beloved and kind king," Bitters went on, "but when there's a fight, you're the one we all count on. For all your talk of failure, I don't feel that you failed us."
"None of us do!" Another guard, Spencer, joined in with passion. "You were here in the thick of it, laying your life on the line against an Endward Cult Executive and three Withers. Where was Mann? Chilling in his retirement home. No offense."
"None taken." Mann allowed with a smirk. "I've been trying to get that through her thick skull from day one."
"You're still here." Solara took over. "You're still with us after everything else we lost - everything else you lost. And you won the trials! If that's all you need to prove you're monarch material, how come you're still resisting? Does anyone here have any complaints!" She shouted to the crowd.
Wynn was left speechless as not just the Ringwood forces, but the Daymonte and Paragon forces started supporting her with words of their own. Ringwood and Daymonte had more to say, but the Paragons offered zero opposition.
"She beat me fair and square." Chinami grumbled. "Only the strongest get to rule."
"I was more concerned with a relic taking the throne." Kenji added. "Like I said, Mann is more suited as an advisor. Things would be more acceptable with a strong presence like Wynn's at the helm. No complaints here."
"Harumph." Veronica huffed grouchily. "I liked Wynn before she was cool. I wouldn't mind being a queen consort. Or concubine. Royals have concubines. That's a thing, right?"
Wynn was crying. She couldn't believe it. She was undeserving of the role, and yet here were all these people shouting that she was worthy and imploring her to lead them. Her!
And gradually, as more and more Crafters spoke to defend her as Queen, a certain fisherman's words came hurtling back to her.
'I understand the position you've been forced into, Wynn. I know what it's like to have others look to you to lead them when you don't want the burden. I was picked to lead the Beginners because I was the most trusted. The responsibility to keep my guild alive has been daunting.'
'But I haven't lost faith in you. If you choose to lead, you'll find that others haven't lost faith in you either. They'll step up - just like my guild - and reach out to support you.'
'You can opt to leave it to someone else, but I don't think there's a person alive that would make a better leader than you. You're dutiful. You're smart. You can skewer a man's balls. And… if it's alright to say it… I think the fallen Kings and Captains would want you too.'
He knew then. He knew right from the start, and it took her until now to realize everyone else felt the same way too. The only one doubting her was herself.
No more.
Wynn closed her eyes with a smile, a hand coming up to wipe her face.
"...Alright." She decided before nodding to Mann. "Do the thing."
Mann's eyes twinkled with pride as he met with the chief speaker and judges, the four of them handing him a golden helmet and a blaze rod scepter. Purely ornamental, yet the new monarch had to be presented with them, usually by a councilman, advisor, current monarch, or Captain. Wynn had intended to present them to His Eminence when this whole thing went down. Funny how things could turn out so differently.
Mann handed Wynn the blaze rod, then got behind her with the golden helmet held aloft.
"As a former monarch of Ringwood, and with the past Kings and Queens bearing witness, I now crown thee, Queen Wynn." He set the helmet atop her ivory hair and let it rest, Wynn feeling the serious weight of what it meant. "May your reign be fair and just."
"QUEEN WYNN! QUEEN WYNN!" The Ringwood guards cheered as was tradition, the Daymonte guards and Paragons following along. "QUEEN WYNN! QUEEN WYNN!"
Thus, as WorkingMann prophesied, the King's Trials ended and revealed the true monarch needed in such dire times.
[Endward Cult Eastern HQ]
"No, that's not a name I'm familiar with."
"Are you sure?" Mox pressed. "Erma and Cyan attested to his proficiency with a bow." Erma nodded earnestly beside her. "I assumed he was a former Bird of Prey, and that you might know something about him."
"We never had a Gray Eagle." He began to tick off his fingers. "Scarlet Tanager, Golden Hawk, Mocha Snipe, Azure Jay, Lilac Fairywren, Snowy Sabrewing, Verdant Warbler, Rose Grosbeak. Every color under the sun except gray." Abyssmal folded his arms. "He wore a dragon head and called himself Veronica's apprentice? Maybe she's continuing the tradition."
"The point Mox and Erma are trying to make," 4Blite interjected, "is that their foe was significantly skilled. Outnumbered by Paragons, Erma did well to escape. She's worth making into a Lieutenant beside Mox and Sam here."
4Blite gestured to the three Plagues he brought with him to the meeting. Of all the Plagues in his corner, he wanted Sam, Mox, and Erma as his most trusted Lieutenants should he be elevated to the position of Southern Executive. That was what the whole meeting was about, with him sat before the three Executives - Ember, Abyssmal, and Sdraw - as they nominated candidates for the open seat.
To become an Executive, you needed noteworthy achievements, an existing Executive's nomination, and capable Lieutenants to make up the chain of command. 4Blite only needed two Lieutenants, but he felt Erma's chaotic fighting style was worth keeping close. The girl could be devastating when she needed to be. And, of course, Mox's intelligence network and Sam's combat prowess could not be ignored. Those three, out of all the other Plagues, would make fine Lieutenants for him.
"Very well." Sdraw nodded. "I have no objection to your choice of subordonates. They are all suitably qualified to serve as your Lieutenants should we agree to add you to our ranks."
The expressions on the Executives for such a notion were varied. Sdraw appeared calm yet hesitant to elect 4Blite, Abyssmal looked disinterested in the dark-skinned man, and Ember was scowling in clear disapproval, her Soul-Gaze scanning 4Blite thoroughly for any sign of deception.
"Then, as a closing remark, allow me to reiterate my achievements." 4Blite bowed lightly. "I named the Angel of Death, cooperated with Abyssmal and Sdraw in striking against the Paragons' lookouts, arranged the Creeper Herd attack-"
"The failed Creeper Herd attack." Ember made a point to bring up.
"-And provided the cult with an extensive intelligence network through the Ten Eyes."
Mox smiled and curtsied respectfully. "My spies in the Paragons are feeding us what intel they can and await orders under Carys and Jillian's nose. Our enemies are none the wiser. My spy network is at your disposal should you see fit to elevate 4Blite to Southern Executive."
"We still require some time for deliberation." Sdraw tried to stall. "This is, after all, a major decision."
"Seems pretty open and shut if you ask me." Sam spoke lazily. "You need an Executive and he's got the experience and the chain of command."
"There's more to it than that." Abyssmal cut off. "If anyone should be an Executive, it should be Teal. She's been with us for a while and her level of combat is in our league - beyond being a simple Lieutenant. The only thing stopping me from picking her is the vacuum her absence would create. I'd be down two Lieutenants - because you know she and Mark are a package deal - and I wouldn't be able to fill the spots since the two candidates I hand-picked to become my new Lieutenants have up and vanished." Abyssmal made sure to look at 4Blite as he emphasized that. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Ember focused her Soul-Gaze on 4Blite as he answered.
"I was not aware such a thing happened." He spoke carefully. "Vanished you say? That's quite strange."
Ember scrutinized him closely, but her Soul-Gaze found no lie to his words. She thought she heard Mox chuckle softly, but a second later her expression was neutral.
"...The cultists I picked for the Executive position are missing as well." Ember announced. She watched 4Blite like a hawk. "I never made an announcement of it, yet everybody at Northern HQ seemed to know they were in the running. Then they just vanished without a trace, just as Abyssmal's have. 4Blite? Your thoughts?"
"I have no idea what happened to them. Perhaps they got cold feet? Responsibility can be a thankless burden."
"And you three?" Ember turned to Mox, Sam, and a sweating Erma. "Can your extensive information network explain their disappearance?"
"I have no knowledge on what happened to the people in question." Mox spoke carefully under Ember's Soul-Gaze. "I can ask my spies to keep an ear out for them, if you like?"
"I haven't heard anything." Sam said.
"N-Nothing." Erma stuttered, though her words had no fault.
"And you wouldn't, by any chance, have given your Plagues orders to kill any promising candidate for the Executive spot, would you 4Blite?" Sdraw added at the last.
"I gave no such order." He answered carefully.
Ember bit back a growl as she cut off the Soul-Gaze herself. Nothing incriminating from any of them.
Ember may have been able to read people and discern lies with her Soul-Gaze, but 4Blite and Mox working together had discovered a trick to it. If he had no knowledge of the act, he could honestly say that he had no knowledge.
It was true he never ordered his Plagues to kill the candidates considered for the Executive spot. However, the Plagues themselves predicted what he wanted and acted without his say-so. It was the stuff of dreams, his minions able to act without even being ordered. 4Blite had no idea which of them did it but would keep Ember away from each of them just in case. Her Soul-Gaze would work on them. Part of the reason he chose Mox, Erma, and Sam was that all three of them were innocent. Ember's Soul-Gaze was worthless... so long as she didn't ask if he took anything from Herobrine's bunker, like the 'Deadly Strain'. If she asked that, she wouldn't like the answer she'd get.
"If you're the only candidate for Executive, I'll be left with the power vacuum." Ember pointed out. "We just relocated to the north and you're going to take all those 'Plagues' with you."
"Just uplift some new Lieutenants, then."
"I can't now! The Executive candidates would've become Lieutenants as a backup! Now they're gone! I don't have backups for my backups!"
"Wouldn't be the first time the Northern Division's been abandoned." Mox jeered lightly. "First Spring, then Jade-"
"Jade didn't abandon the Northern Division. She's too loyal."
"Actually, Ember," Sdraw spoke up, "while I find your attachment to your Lieutenant endearing, even I must admit she's a lost cause after this long. If she still hasn't returned, there are only three outcomes - the three D's: Detained, Defected, or Dead."
Ember slammed a hand on the table. "Jade would never defect."
"Not even for her recent boytoy?" 4Blite asked mockingly, making Ember pause. "You saw her reluctance the night of the Wither attack the second it threatened her little beau. Maybe you should be turning your Soul-Gaze on him for answers. He was there the night she vanished, and we can hardly account for his movements."
Ember frowned, but not at 4Blite. No, she was pondering the thought, finding the idea more than plausible that Jade approached Cobb that night despite her warnings not to. And there had been no sign of the leader of the Beginners during or after the Wither attacks. Perhaps she did need to look into King_Cobb a little more closely. She had a feeling they had a lot to talk about.
4Blite didn't rightly care what Ember uncovered about the missing Lieutenant so long as it got her Soul-Gaze off of him. He needed time to put Herobrine's 'Deadly Strain' into effect, and what better way than as the Southern Executive with all the freedom the position entailed.
"Speaking of Jade's boytoy," Abyssmal switched topics, "have we had any reports about him? He's been rather quiet."
"Mona and Drowned encountered his buddies in the desert. They attacked an outpost." Sam reported.
"Yes, XoX encountered two of the ones involved in Galitsino Village three weeks ago. Cobb wasn't with them, though that might simply be because his wanted poster is well circulated in Exter. The Beginners are likely already stationed in the capital city." Sdraw hummed. "I wonder what for?"
"The Beginners are west and the Paragons are moving east." 4Blite summarized.
"That's not the only thing heading east." Mox smiled knowingly. "Those Hackers are probably laying waste to Nitebane as we speak. Hope my spies have enough sense to get out before it's too late."
"Speaking of Hackers, I've secured our alliance with them." Sdraw announced. "It wasn't easy, but I fulfilled my end of our agreement. All that's left is for-" He paused as there was a knock at the door. It drew the attention of everyone present, the Executives not used to a meeting being interrupted before they could conclude it. "Who the devil is that?"
"Go see." 4Blite ordered Erma. The woman nodded vigorously - eager for a moment away from such a crushing atmosphere - before rushing forward and opening the door to reveal Mark.
"Sorry to intrude," he apologized, "but KillGore's back. Says he has something important for you."
"Tell the shrimp he can wait until after I'm done like a polite, unentitled person." Abyssmal remarked waspishly. "This is an important meeting-"
"I told him as much, and that your time is valuable, but he doubled down. He knows who's here and says he has something that should interest you. All of you." He added.
"A tall order for someone so short." Sdraw muttered, equal parts amusement and intrigue.
"It's your call, Sdraw." Abyssmal leaned forward to rest his head on folded arms on the table. "You're the one with the secret double life."
"Is it a secret if I know about it?" Mox snuck in.
"Send him in. I've yet to meet the young man and I hear his work in Mob Grinders has provided many cultists with a steady supply of EXP. I'll hear the news he can't wait to share."
"One last thing." Mark added. "He didn't come alone. He's got someone with him."
"Who is it...?" Ember trailed off, her Soul-Gaze answering the question before it could fully cross her lips.
"Someone you can handle." Mark answered simply. No other words were needed as he watched Ember's face harden.
"Send them in." She spoke harshly, her body sitting up straighter and her piercing, light-blue eyes fixing themselves to the door.
Mark didn't want those eyes directed at him, so he wisely left before returning with KillGore and Spring. He all but shoved them into the room before slamming the door after them and bolting down the hall.
"Hail, for the conquering villains have returned!" KillGore opened. "I, KillGore, have come bearing good fortune for my allies, and ill misfortune for my enemies! The beginning of the end is nigh, and KillGore the merciless will-" KillGore cut off as he saw who was sitting in the chairs. "K-King Sdrawkcab!? What are you - unless..." He gasped in awe. "The roots of evil spread far and wide indeed! To think that the Executive seat could be held by a king! KillGore is truly inspired!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too." Sdraw nodded with his trademark closed eyes and sympathetic smile. "Though, I do hope for your discretion on the matter."
While KillGore was petrified in awe, Spring's brain was making static noises. Never in his wildest dreams would he guess King Sdrawkcab - one of the nicest, most beloved kings in Minecraftia - was a cultist. He was always talking about humanity and rights, peace and disarmament. Yet here he was leading an organization of murderers, sitting at a table beside Abyssmal and Ember!
And that was another thing. Abyssmal and Ember were there. Stood before them, they seemed to grow like giants - or he shrunk upon himself - until they towered over him with their presence. He knew speaking to three at once would be terrifying, and they were all looking at him. Why had KillGore insisted on this!?
"You caught Spring." 4Blite was the first to reference him. A bad sign. The worse one was him already armed with his diamond battleaxe. His Plagues drew their weapons just the same. "Why take him alive at all? He's a traitor, and should be liberated on sight. Ember, may I do the honors?"
Ember held up a hand to silence him, her piercing eyes on Spring alone. He tried to remember the words he planned to say, but his tongue wouldn't cooperate with him while under her disapproving gaze. She was clearly judging him and content to let him sweat in his anxiety until she was ready to pounce. KillGore subtly shifted away from Spring so that he alone was the focus of her Soul-Gaze.
Her first question was a killer.
"What'd you do with the Hybrid?"
Immediately, hundreds of thoughts crossed Spring's mind. Thoughts he didn't want Ember to know about Carmen. Their interactions, what she did, what she wanted, what Spring helped her to steal, the results, where Spring had left her, that Spring had left her without consequence. It was all laid bare before Ember's Soul-Gaze and had her shooting up to slam her palms on the table before Spring could utter a word of defense.
"Is this a joke?" She shouted, her glare hardening. "You stole from us to help cure the one that kidnapped you? You let her go free without liberating her? You helped her track down her husband? You felt sympathy for such a monster!" From the side, KillGore winced as if burned, but Spring paid it little mind as his widened, terrified eyes were locked onto Ember. "Is this a joke!?"
Spring's mouth opened and closed like a fish, no words coming out. He was blowing everything he had been working up to. He was supposed to talk about the Heads he never wasted and intended to return with interest, he was supposed to bring up the Wither Skull Grinder they had to bargain with. Why could he only stand there like an idiot!? Mox looked delighted from where she was sitting and even 4Blite had a rare smirk. He wanted to shatter that smirk, but he was too afraid to defend himself.
"Don't answer that." Ember's simple command had his mouth slamming shut. Ember sighed in annoyance as her hands swept off the table. She started to round it slowly, one hand dipping to her belt. It was followed by the rasp of a diamond blade as she drew her thin rapier. Spring felt his heart hammer in his chest. "As a matter of fact, don't answer anything in this realm ever again."
Spring took a half-step back for as futile as it would be as Ember slowly rounded the table to approach him with the weapon drawn. He was dead. His mind knew it and his body would soon catch up. He didn't need to see 4Blite's Christmas-had-come-early face to recognize death stalking forward to claim him.
"I-I..." Spring tried to stutter out desperately. "W-We... W-Wither..."
His words went ignored, Ember's mind made up. There was some commotion to his left, but Spring was helpless to do anything as the diamond blade was poised to strike and aimed at his heart.
KillGore stepped forward between them and dropped twenty-seven Wither Skulls onto the table.
Time seemed to have frozen as everyone watching held their breath from such a reveal. Abyssmal's one good eye widened, Sdraw sat up and his permanently closed-eyes appeared to crack open for a fraction of a second, 4Blite and Mox had the smiles wiped from their faces and replaced with bewilderment, and Ember stopped completely - her rapier still held suspended and prepared to strike - with her piercing Soul-Gaze directed at the amount of black skulls on the table which surpassed any the cult had gathered in four-hundred years.
"As KillGore said," KillGore broke the silence, "KillGore has something important to share with you. Something that both KillGore AND Spring had a hand in. So can you be so kind as to sit back down and hear us out, or does KillGore have to drop more of his balls on the table?"
Oddly enough, it was that collection of words that made Spring recover his voice. "D-Don't you mean skulls?"
"KillGore knows what he said."
Spring couldn't stifle a nervous chuckle. Not until Ember's piercing gaze flew back to him, the oppressive pressure returning and the temperature of the room dropping several degrees.
Spring was amazed, however, when Ember sheathed her rapier and rounded the table to return back to her seat. It seemed she was acquiescing to the midget's request. She folded her hands neatly upon the table acting like she didn't just try to kill Spring.
"I presume you two were together on this?" She asked, her Soul-Gaze fixed on KillGore. "You sided with a traitor over your fellow cultists?"
"KillGore's fellow cultists weren't letting his creative ideas blossom. KillGore found a more nurturing ally in Spring, fittingly named after the season of rebirth."
"Where did you get these?" Ember asked next. She got her answer quick enough, a derisive scoff leaking out. "A Wither Skull Grinder in the Nether. Abyssmal said he couldn't spare you the work force for such a project. How did you get the Wither Roses?"
This time, KillGore answered for the sake of those without Soul-Gaze. "It was Spring here. He came up with the brilliant idea."
"You're lying. Spring doesn't know a thing about Mob Grinders." 4Blite spoke harshly. "You're just covering-"
"He's not lying." Ember shut the Lieutenant down.
"So what was his brilliant idea?" Abyssmal asked.
The answer had Ember leaning back in her seat. "You... you what?" She blinked as her Soul-Gaze returned with the same answer. "Unbelievable..."
"Quit leaving us in suspense, Em!" Abyssmal urged. "What'd they do?"
"They ferried Charged Creepers from Blitz Peak to a Nether Fortress to get the first three skulls. Then they summoned a Wither to kill livestock for roses."
A silence hung in the air as the listeners processed how time-consuming and dangerous such an idea was. Yet it was so outside-the-box that the Executives and Plagues couldn't help but respect it.
Everybody except 4Blite, that is.
"How'd they ferry Charged Creepers? With what?"
"It was Carmen." Spring found the courage to speak. "The Magma Cube Hybrid. We cut a deal to cure her in exchange for her help. She carried the Charged Creepers for us."
"Yes. The Hybrid was instrumental in expediting the Wither Skull Grinder. Though her giant form made KillGore feel like a man dying of thirst watching another woman drown," he winced again as if burned before continuing, "KillGore admits that we could not have gotten so far without her treasured help. Spring helping her was no jest. It was the smart choice."
That hadn't been on Spring's mind at the time. He was solely focused on curing her before any Wither Skull Grinder idea. He didn't like KillGore making it sound like he only helped her so she'd carry Creepers for them.
"So you summoned a Wither?" Mox asked. "The genuine article?"
"That's right!" KillGore put his hands on his hips and stood proudly. "Impressed?"
"Does the name KillRoy's Furry mean anything to you?"
"...A great deal of regret, yes."
"Did the cure work?" Sdraw asked with interest.
"...No, sir. The ritual is permanent." Spring stated regretfully.
"Ah. Figures." Sdraw accepted with a sigh. "No chance of being undone, but I had hoped it'd be more akin to changing one's clothes."
How could he simplify it like that? It was changing clothes at the cost of a thousand lives. Spring didn't think that so trivial.
"So you made a Wither Skull Grinder that works." Abyssmal summarized. "You must if you've got this many skulls. Hey, Sdraw. How many has XoX scraped up?"
"One."
"One to their twenty-seven. The results speak for themselves." He nodded. "Awfully generous of you to help KillGore make such a thing. All it took you was getting kidnapped and branded a traitor. What?" He spread his hands under KillGore's glare. "That's what this is all about, right? Getting back in our good graces. The slime gal kidnapped you and backed you into a corner, making you steal Heads from the Depository."
"I have the Heads." Spring blurted out, his hands flew to his backpack and spread a few upon the table beside the skulls. "And then some! We didn't waste any of them. Even if we did, I would have gathered more to replace what I took! I swear!"
"That doesn't excuse you." 4Blite spoke seriously. "You're a mere grunt acting like you can get away with anything. That's not how the Endward Cult works."
"Stow it, 4Blite." Ember dismissed him like an unruly child before turning back to Spring. "Abyssmal's correct. You didn't do this because you wanted to. You did this because you had to. The Wither Skull Grinder was the only thing that could redeem your treachery. You and the Hybrid robbed us. You told her how to rob us and helped her to rob us. Your loyalty was to your kidnapper first and us second. Did you know I spent days trying to track you down after you were taken?" An uncomfortable guilt writhed in Spring's gut. "I only stopped after I found out what you did at the Depository. And you and KillGore worked in secret. Why? Because you wanted it to be your achievement. Because it had to be your redemption. You only apply yourself when your life is in danger."
"Enough!" KillGore stopped her. "We are offering a Wither Skull Grinder as recompense and you still complain? We have enough skulls for nine Withers and you argue it's not enough? Results should be what drives you, and you've gained everything and lost precious little thanks to us, so what's there left to complain about!?"
"So you expect our forgiveness now? A full pardon for everything that happened?" She asked next. "You expect this one achievement to overwrite the treachery you got up to with that walking booger?" KillGore yiped in outrage that sounded more like pain.
"Carmen's - the Hybrid - is innocent in all this." Spring said, not knowing where the courage to defend her was coming from when his own position was so precarious. "She helped us so I let her go. She no longer has any influence on the matter."
"She's a loose end." Ember corrected coldly. "She's seen Abyssmal. She's evidence that Hybrids are possible, and she can warn the Kingdoms what we plan to do. She cannot be permitted to live."
"That's not fair!" Spring shouted back, surprising Ember with his courage. "Carmen's lost everything! She's shunned by society now that her only hope back to normal has failed. She's consigned herself to live alone in the Nether, in misery, without any friends or loved ones, and you want to take that too!? Haven't we taken enough from her!?"
"Look at you on a first name basis with your kidnapper." Ember countered. "Clearly working close to her built some kind of trust, but Stockholm Syndrome makes poor foundation. Whatever you had wasn't healthy, and if you had any sense you would have spared her a miserable existence and liberated her from this realm."
"Carmen isn't part of this." Spring repeated determinedly. "You can't make her part of this again!"
"Oh no? I have all I need of where she might be with my Soul-Gaze. You think I can't find her?"
"You won't be going after her," Spring steeled himself, "because that's the pardon I'm after. You'll pardon her, not me. The Wither Skull Grinder and skulls for her safety."
Ember balked, caught completely on the back foot after such a demand. She wasn't the only one. Abyssmal pushed on the table and leaned back, nearly falling out of his chair. Sdraw watched on quietly while 4Blite and Mox listened with hopeful interest. KillGore? He was clutching at his throat as if being strangled, but nobody paid him much mind.
"You... want us to pardon her?" Abyssmal repeated skeptically.
Spring didn't know what he was saying, but he let it go with a kind of detached resignation. He let go of his hopes for how the meeting would go in favor of doubling down on his unusually soft-hearted demand. When did he become such a sap?
"That's right. She's suffered enough. If pardoning me is so unpleasant, pardon her. She doesn't deserve to be hunted down. Forgive and forget about her. That's all I ask for the limitless Withers we're handing to you."
Spring didn't want to die. He was scared. He was so scared to die that his life was flashing before his eyes as he dug himself deeper and deeper into a grave. But then how could he look three Executives in the eyes without flinching? How could he stare down Ember's Soul-Gaze with absolute certainty? Had the fear gone full circle to become courage?
This wasn't him. He would never throw his life away for another. But the person in question, he admitted, had so much torn away from her that he knew he couldn't let her lose one more thing. Not the last thing, as miserable and unfulfilling as it would be.
She wasn't a monster. She deserved to have a happy ending. And if it took time, then he would buy her all the time she'd need.
"So do we have a deal?" Spring asked of the Executives. "It's in your favor. You don't have to waste resources hunting her down, and I'm right here."
"...I don't get you." Mox suddenly spoke up. "You worked so hard to be pardoned, yet you're giving it away to the monster that dragged you down?"
"She's not a monster." Spring stressed.
"Touchy." Mox rolled her eyes. "The whole thing seems pretty roundabout to me. Like a snake eating it's own tail. Why even embark on the project at all?"
"I don't understand it all that well myself to be honest."
"Sounds like an admission of guilt if ever I heard one." 4Blite spoke up before regarding his Executive. "Ma'am, we've entertained him enough, don't you think? What more needs to be said than he's a traitor?"
"KillGore will not stand for this!" KillGore slammed a fist on the table. "Spring only ever kept his promises! KillGore does not wish to be part of an organization that punishes those that honor their words."
"It's not up to you, KillGore." Abyssmal chastised. "Guy threw out resources that weren't his to someone outside the cult."
"Then castiguemos the true culprit!"
Spring jerked his head at the unmistakably familiar vibrato.
Abyssmal shot up with his bow drawn and aimed at KillGore's shoulder where a miniature, dark red and black figure peeked out. Three more miniatures peeked out from under his vest, glaring across the table at the Executives.
"C-Carmen!" Spring sputtered in shock. Had she been under KillGore's clothes the whole time? Suddenly his random, pained yelps like being scalded made sense, and the way he shied away from Ember's Soul-Gaze when questions about Carmen came up. He had been the last to say goodbye to her in the Nether, but instead he took a few of her miniature clones with him? Why!? Why would he bring her to the line of fire like this!?
"So this is the Hybrid?" Sdraw asked with interest, still calm and in his seat unlike his fellow Executives. He didn't look surprised in the least by her appearance. "She's a lot smaller than what I thought capable of ferrying Creepers." The miniatures merged together to form a regular sized clone. "Ah. I see."
"Spring is inocente in all this - he was just doing what I forced him to do." Carmen pleaded, falling to her knees before the Executives. "Yo soy el culpable for stealing him. Put me out of my misery if you must, or otherwise allow me to swear mi lealtad - my loyalty - to you. Just spare him your punishment. Perdón him, not me."
"Carmen! What the hell!" Spring hissed, kneeling forward and grabbing her shoulders. "Why did you - I'm trying to perform a selfless act, here!"
Carmen smiled back, her eyes leaking lava streams down her face. "KillGore asked me to come. I was worried about you. I couldn't let you face your superiores solo. And then I find you saying all those things and being estúpido." She laughed. "How can you say such dulce things for a monstruo like me?"
"You're not a monster. You're a victim. And you, ah, heard all that?" She nodded. "Ah... well, I mean, it's the truth. Plus, with all the trouble you put me through, it didn't feel right to-"
"You'd swear your loyalty to us?" Ember cut off with a question, her rapier sliding under Carmen's chin and tilting her face up to look at her. "Work with us, the ones who serve the man who made you this way? I find that hard to believe."
"No me va a gustar. I won't like it, but I'd do it." Carmen shot back defiantly. "Spring and KillGore are the only ones who can accept something like me. And if you cultistas truly intend to create more Híbridos, I've a feeling I won't be singled out for long. A Híbridos like me would fit right in."
"Carmen's size and skills have proven their usefulness in KillGore's work." KillGore spoke up like it was something he planned to say since before sneaking Carmen in under his vest. "Demolition and Mob transportation are jobs she's uniquely qualified for. Not to mention her hivemind senses and linked ender chest access for ease of transporting goods."
"We've seen her demolition skills for ourselves, thanks." Mox spoke up. "Like that time she brought the ceiling down to nearly kill me at the Depository. Not holding a grudge."
"I don't trust her." 4Blite glowered. "She has no loyalty to the cult. Only Spring."
"Are your Plagues any different?" Sdraw commented before his head lifted in an idea. "Heheh. Aheheheh."
"Sdraw?" Ember swiveled her head, her rapier still tickling Carmen's chin.
"Ahehehehe!" Sdraw began to laugh, one hand braced against the table for support. Spring and the others didn't seem to understand what he found so funny, and all they could do was wait for his amused laughter to fade. The King of Exter wiped a tear from his eye before pushing up from his seat and raising a hand. "I'd like to make a formal announcement."
There was a beat of silence that the Western Executive deliberately allowed for while he adjusted his blue tie. He stood there in his crisp blue suit before delivering his bombshell.
"I nominate Spring_Fever for the Southern Executive position."
...
"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"
"Sdraw why...!?" Ember started to say before her Soul-Gaze delivered her an answer. Her eyes seemed to flick to a visibly distraught 4Blite slamming one fist on the table before her lips quirked.
"Seconded." She said, sheathing her rapier with a swift motion. "Spring has the support of the Northern Division."
"I have what now?" Spring uttered stupidly. "Wait, hold on-"
"Fuck it. Thirded." Abyssmal raised a hand. "I don't have any better ideas. He has the Eastern Division's endorsement."
"This is ABSURD!" 4Blite echoed Spring's thoughts as he slammed a fist onto the table. Behind him, his three Plagues shared uncertain glances. "Spring is a nugget-a-dozen grunt! He's base and common! You can't pick him as a candidate for the Executive spot!"
"Why not?" Sdraw asked. "He has unanimous recommendations, noteworthy achievements, and look, two Lieutenants willing to work for him."
Carmen stood up with wide-eyed disbelief? "Me?"
"KillGore is a trailblazer, not a follower!" KillGore argued petulantly. "If it were anyone other than Spring, I'd have said no, but I suppose his leadership could be... tolerable."
"You're making her a Lieutenant after she smashed up the Depository?" Mox argued. "And let's not forget the cultists she suffocated at the bunker. She and the shrimp are Lieutenant material to you?"
"I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
"Temperament and physiology aside, they're both willing to defend Spring, and if their stories are to be believed, they follow his orders. That's enough to make them his Lieutenants."
KillGore and Carmen? His Lieutenants? No. No this was... this was spiraling out of hand!
"I-I never agreed to this!" Spring argued. "This is-!"
"Young man." Sdraw spoke lowly. Dangerously. It was the first time Spring felt fear from a man perpetually smiling apologetically. "You will agree to this because the alternative for your disloyalty is rending you and the Hybrid from this realm. So sit down, shut up, and listen to the opportunity we are granting you."
Spring had his butt in the chair before he could blink. Gods, that was terrifying. Carmen rested a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down despite being just as lost and confused as Spring - probably more so. Sdraw seemed to stare at him for a few more moments for any further interruptions before resuming his talk.
"Since Spring has all the prerequisites for the position, he stands as a suitable candidate."
"This is a farce." Sam spoke with disapproval. "You're obviously just backing him because you got no other options. I mean really. A traitor is more appealing than 4Blite? Come on."
"His resolve might be shaky, but he's achieved more in a few weeks than anything the cult's been able to in four-hundred years." Ember let the Wither Skulls tumble through her fingers to further motivate her. "I'm willing to let this play out."
"I can't even-" 4Blite stopped himself, sucking in a breath to at least try to preserve some semblance of calm. "I've never been more insulted, Ember. I've served you dutifully for years and this is how you repay me? If you think I'll never be good enough, why even dangle the Executive position I crave? Why nominate Spring!? He's not in my league." 4Blite stated.
"If that's true, you should have no trouble proving it." Sdraw said simply. "Since we have two candidates - 4Blite and Spring - I propose a duel. After all, dead men have no arguments. The victor will become the new Southern Executive and the loser will step off to the Next Life."
Hold on, what? I have to fight 4Blite!?
"Sounds fair. Though, might I propose an added caveat?" Ember raised her hand.
"By all means, Ember."
"Whichever side wins, there'll be a power vacuum in the Northern Division. And since Spring only seems to apply himself whenever his life or this Hybrid's life are in peril, I propose that Carmen be liberated alongside him should he lose, with KillGore joining the North as my new Lieutenant. And should 4Blite lose, Mox and Erma will become my newest Lieutenants and the other Plagues will be broken down and redistributed to the FOUR divisions. Can't believe I can say that again. Do these terms meet with your approval?"
No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
"An excellent idea to preserve the power balance."
4Blite bit back an angry curse. "Fine. Arrange your obstacles. The hurdles and hoops I need to jump over and through to prove myself over and over. I just need to kill Spring to claim the seat? I welcome it. It'll be the happiest day of my life."
Nooooooooo! Why am I not speaking out against this!? Oh, right, because I was told to shut up and listen or die. Spring realized miserably.
4Blite had hated Spring and vice-versa ever since the Gathering, and the animosity only grew between them over the months. Spring may have been a deft hand at Head hunting, but 4Blite was stronger and more experienced. He'd been a Lieutenant for a long time and his skills had only been sharpened upon acquiring a Tinker's battleaxe. There was a reason only a handful of higher-ups were granted such an expensive weapon.
Spring would have to fight the dark-skinned man who'd be holding nothing back. It would be to the death, not just for him but for Carmen too. He'd get massacred!
He wanted nothing more than to speak out against the duel, except that Sdraw's warning was keeping him rooted in place and as silent as the grave he was already dug in. Maybe that was the point. Maybe Sdraw just wanted him gone for discovering he was the King of Exter. What else could the Executive be thinking making him do this?
"The duel won't be now." Abyssmal decided. "We'll arrange one for a later date, but expect it'll be soon and prepare yourself. KillGore. Meet with me tomorrow. We'll be setting up a more direct portal to your Wither Skull Grinder. Best to have an armed presence there as soon as possible."
Ember claimed the twenty-seven Wither Skulls left on the table. "Spring and... Carmen." She spoke the name distastefully. "I expect those stolen Heads on my desk by tomorrow evening at the latest. Not one out of place. And you're to keep her out of sight and under control until further notice. Am I clear?"
Spring could only nod dumbly, his brain still processing everything.
"I think that covers everything." Sdraw pushed to his feet. "I must return to Exter before I'm missed. If you'll all excuse me..."
He left first, signifying the end of the meeting. The other participants began to filter out in turn. Carmen and KillGore left as a group with Spring lagging slightly behind. Though, on his way out, Spring was painfully bumped into by 4Blite and his gang of Plagues, with only Erma looking apologetic about it.
Standing outside the meeting room without the intimidating aura on all sides allowed Spring time to reflect and tell himself, yes, all that stuff just happened. The Executives were willing to forget he stole from them and act like he never left. The fact that Carmen could stand before Ember and not get immediately impaled was something he never figured on seeing. But being nominated a candidate for Southern Executive went beyond that in terms of the improbable. His last talk with Ember painted him as a disappointment reduced to square one. Now she was supporting him against her own Lieutenant? He knew 4Blite was disliked, not despised.
"Spring. Wait up." Ember called out. She approached him with one hand on her hip. "I suggest you keep your head down until we get a chance to address the rest of the cult. Spend the time training. Though you went above and beyond my expectations, 4Blite will be-"
Spring didn't pay attention to her. In fact, he was ignorant to all else as he moved towards where Carmen and KillGore were waiting for him. Ember trailed off in her words, not offended but surprised to have been blown off by Spring. She chalked it up to him still processing his sudden nomination and left it at that, walking off to salvage her dignity over being ignored.
Carmen watched Spring cautiously as he approached. He stopped right before her with an expression of disbelief.
"...You shouldn't have come here." He said. "Why did you come here? You shouldn't have come here!"
"Casi no lo hice. I almost didn't. KillGore asked me." She threw the midget under the bus.
"Oh, I'll get to him in a minute." Spring ranted. "But you! Why did you come here? Why did you defend - they could have killed you! Why did you offer to die?"
"I guess I was thinking they'd only kill one clone." She shrugged helplessly. "I'd still have tres others. I don't think I'd be able to grande size again, but-"
"They know about your clones! Ember would have found all of you." He said firmly. "And you! What the hell were you thinking smuggling her in!?"
"Your farewell was incomplete." KillGore spoke maddeningly. "Too much was left unsaid for you to separate. KillGore took it upon himself to reunite you, and it's a good thing I did! Now we will become the backbone of the revived Southern Division! Mwahahaha!"
"Is that all you can think about!?" Spring shouted. "Nevermind our lives on the line! I can't beat 4Blite! He's Lieutenant level! I'm just a grunt!"
"A gruñido couldn't have done what you did!" Carmen shouted back. "I kidnapped the best man for the job, and it's no wonder Ember tried so hard to salvar you. You brought us together, and the Executives you answer to picked you to head the South. That's a good thing, right?"
"To say they 'chose' him is a bit of an oversimplification." KillGore explained. "There's clearly some politicking behind the scenes." The midget spared a glance in the direction 4Blite and his Plagues departed.
Spring ran a hand over his face. "You shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry to say it, but you shouldn't have come here."
"Lo sé. But going back to Alton wasn't an option." She nodded sadly. "You didn't want me here."
"No, that's not it. This is Herobrine's legacy. I didn't want you to be part of all this." Then in a small voice he added, "I didn't think you wanted to either."
"You got that right. I don't. Which is why I won't think of it as working for the culto." She rested a warming hand on his shoulder. "I'll think of it as working para un amigo."
"I can't believe this." Spring chuckled humorlessly. "This isn't how I imagined today going."
"And how did you imagine it?" Carmen smirked.
"With one third of the Executives present, minus the scheduled duel of death, and being by able to sleep in the cult's walls again." He admitted resignedly. "Guess I could still do with that sleep. If I'm really gonna fight 4Blite, I'll need to rest. And train. Come up with a plan. Something to give me an edge like a-"
Spring was rocked by a sudden fist to the shoulder. He turned to KillGore demanding to know what the big idea was punching him, but the midget's eyes indicated he was looking at someone else. Spring followed his gaze and saw who he meant.
Mox was hanging back at the end of the corridor, one eye and ear pointed in their direction. Once she saw she'd been spotted, she gave a sly little lidded-eyed smile before slinking around the corner and out of sight.
"Save any strategy talk for when we're alone. Preferably away from that accursed spymaster of 4Blite's." KillGore advised. "To my room. We have much to discuss."
4Blite didn't know who's room he chose to vent in. All he knew was that he picked the first empty room he came across and that he had to vent. His battleaxe whipped around violently, reducing furniture to splintered and discarded bits on the ground. He kicked chairs and punched stone without a word of anger or pain. Just short grunts belying his frayed temper under a mask of icy calm. Sam, Mox, and Erma watched in silence, the latter wincing under every blow the Lieutenant delivered to the room's furniture. Only when he got it all out of his system did he address them without eye contact.
"I am upset."
Sam nodded.
"You know why I'm upset."
Erma nodded shakily.
"I won't tell you what I want. I won't order you to do what I want... because you know what I want."
Mox smiled darkly, nodding once.
And if Ember ever asked him, he could honestly tell her he hadn't ordered his Plagues to kill Spring and every ally in his corner.
AN: Plausible deniability. If he never gave the order, he won't be lying telling Ember he didn't give the order. Different story if Ember asks the Plagues if they killed anyone.
This whole 4-part King's Trials thing was a bit of a mini-arc within the Stigmata Arc to show what Wynn and Spring were up to. I wanted to parallel the obstacles they overcame and how leadership was thrust upon them. I think I liked Wynn and Mann's interaction the most. Mann is over there playing 3D Chess.
Similarly Sdraw is forcing Spring into countering 4Blite. They're aware 4Blite is power-hungry and raising his own loyal followers. They can't prove he had their candidates killed, so they have to elevate Spring with a pair of misfit Lieutenants. Since he helped secure a Wither Skull Grinder, he has achievements under his belt worth noting. All the prerequisites are filled, but he's more of a last resort to combat 4Blite.
As for Wynn, I think Mann can sum it up best. I wasted four Chapters to give her the job everybody said she should have. But Wynn needed a win.
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. FORUM. DISCORD. LICORICE.