LEGEND OF THE GODDESSES
Westeroceros City, 232 years ago
A crowd was gathered outside an enormous thatched hut on the outskirts of the nation's capital. Minister Giorgi slowly limped out of the building, up to a rickety and temporary stage and podium that had been set up outside.
He stood shakily at the podium, his left front leg wrapped in bandages, its bones having been shattered.
"Greetings, my people," he said weakly to the hushed crowd. "I thank you for your patience in waiting for me to recover. I am prepared now to officially inform you that the war with the griffons has ended. Their warlord has surrendered all his ambitions of conquest, while the wicked blue wyrm who controlled them has been killed. I would like to thank every Westerocerosi citizen who aided in the war efforts, to keep our country safe from those who would steal our way of life for their own selfish ends. For the families of those who have died in the war, aid is already on its way.
"Here, as I stand before you now, I would like to honor those without whom this campaign would never have been the success that it was. Many of us owe our lives, and doubtless our future way of life, to a stranger from a far-off world—Song Li! And her elite squadron, the Tines."
The five of them joined the minister up onstage, to the sound of stomping applause from the gathered crowd.
"On this day," Giorgi continued, "I, Minister Giorgi, would like to name Song Li my vice-minister."
The crowd rang out with gasps, followed by a heavy silence, much to Giorgi's satisfaction.
"That will be all," he said smugly. He hobbled back into the medical hut. Confused, Song Li gazed out at the stunned crowd. She awkwardly walked across the stage, slinking as if trying not to be seen, and followed him into the building.
"Sir?" she said as she caught up to him. "Your vice-minister, what does that mean?"
He took a moment to respond, seeming to reflect inward. "…I've put off designating a vice-minister for a long, long time. But now… I'm getting old, Song Li. There will need to be a new minister when I am gone. Being a vice-minister entails very little as far as personal responsibilities, until such a time as the current minister dies, retires, or is otherwise unable to perform his executive duties. The vice-minister position is, in effect, a lifetime appointment as my successor."
"And if I were to become the minister…" Song Li said with dawning unease.
"When, not if," he corrected. "And it's also a lifetime appointment, yes."
"S-sir!" Song Li gaped, her eyes bulging. "I… I beg you to reconsider! You see… I'm immortal."
"Are you now?" he said slyly.
"Yes sir. As it is, my kind are exceptionally long-lived, but once we pass the threshold into your reality, we become truly immortal."
"So… you're immortal and you'll be running a country," Giorgi mused. "I guess that makes you… a goddess." He turned to look at her for the first time, grinning broadly.
"I… I… are you sure about this?" she squeaked.
"Isn't that what you always wanted?" he whispered to her. "To be a goddess? Isn't that why you came here?"
"Initially, yes, but… I gave up that foolish dream so long ago," she sighed. "All I want now is to do my part to be a valuable citizen of Westeroceros."
"And you've done that," he assured her. "And you'll continue doing it from the top… Empress Song Li."
"Empress?" she said blankly, looking around. "This is an empire?"
"No."
"Then how would I be—?"
"You're just that cool, that's how."
Song Li's entire body was quaking at this point. "Are you quite sure about this?" she said anxiously, almost whining. "If you put the country in my hooves, you leave it there forevermore. You don't even know if you agree with my politics."
"You're a smart girl," he chuckled, playfully nudging her with his shoulder. "I think you're flexible enough to adjust your stance to what the country needs most. Do you disagree with any of my policies?"
"None that I can think of off the top of my head, sir," she said nervously. "You've run the country quite well for several decades."
"Well then," he said smugly. "What a way to assure my immortality."
Song Li whimpered. "Politics is such a tricky thing…"
"It is. And when the last megaloceros falls…" Giorgi suddenly turned away, his throat tightening. "The crown, such as it is, will pass to you. Bear it well. I have faith that under you, this country will live forever." With great effort, he turned back to her, tears in his eyes. "Trust my judgment. I love this country so much. I wouldn't be doing this otherwise."
She nodded, her own eyes beginning to moisten. "Sir."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Back in the artfully ivy-grown stone courtyard of Fawn Temps University, Song Li and her four friends sat around a picnic table. She was unusually animated and excited, taking the lead in the conversation.
"So, my friends, I've been thinking," she chattered. "We work so well as a single unit. I had an idea that, as vice-minister… and my eventual role of minister… or 'empress', if that particular sobriquet remains with me, as Minister Giorgi seems determined to see that it does… erm, what was I saying?"
"Something about how we all work together?" Tron offered.
"Oh, that's right, yes!" she said gleefully. "You see, the army, I noticed, the battalions were arranged to suit various unique roles—one battalion of deer, another of moose, and so on. As efficient as it was, something about it didn't sit right with me. Each having a niche that no other can fill, leaving individuals unable to break out of their assigned roles… I don't want to mess with warfare the way it works, but on a smaller scale, what I want to do is set up a personal guard for myself. The idea is that I will be protected at all times by one deer, one moose, one elk, and one caribou." She leaned back and spread her arms invitingly. "What say you? Will you all stay at my side as the first members of my personal guard?"
"You know I will, Song Li," Tron said instantaneously.
Song Li beamed at him through her mask and turned to the others.
"I'm sorry," Boomchukka said awkwardly. "I'd love to, but… my whole 'drums of war' thing, it was just a name. I've got a dream to follow."
"Follow that dream, my friend," Song Li said solemnly. "I wish you the very best. Airball?"
The caribou shrugged. "Fighting isn't my thing. Not even just standing around looking tough."
"Are you quite sure?" Song Li pouted. "You get to wear theeeeese…" She held aloft a set of her golden rocket shoes.
He laughed at her uncharacteristic playfulness. "Thanks, but I'm gonna keep on looking into flying the old-fashioned way. There's a secret to unlock there, and I just know that someday I'm gonna be the one to find it."
Song Li nodded respectfully. "And you, Dustin?"
He leaned down on the table, cupping his chin in his hooves, thinking hard about the question. "Uh… I think… no," he decided. "Somehow, I think there's more to my future than guarding. For once, I'm starting to see all the possibilities that the future has, and I don't think being a bodyguard is the right choice."
Song Li nodded again, content with this answer. "What's your dream?"
"I don't know yet," Dustin admitted. "I'll find out. It all starts with getting an education, I guess. And to get that… I'm gonna have to apply here. You know I don't even go to this school?"
"I knew it!" Tron exclaimed, raising a hoof triumphantly.
"So… just you, then?" Song Li said thoughtfully, nodding to Tron. "We'll have to seek out other candidates, in that case." She stood up. "I will see you all another time. I have an appearance to make alongside the minister."
They all bade her goodbye in an uneven chorus of voices.
"I… I love and adore you all," she said. "Never forget that."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Song Li and Tron walked alone down the hallways of the palatial mansion that served as official government headquarters.
"I am glad that I at least have you by my side," she told him. As was typical, she did not look at him while she spoke.
"Always," he said tenderly.
She giggled. "It's so good to hear you say that, Tron."
"Tron?" he said blankly. "Heh… you know, I kind of liked it when you called me Terence."
"Whatever you prefer. I have many applications from hopeful candidates for the guard. It won't only be four individuals, of course, just four who are with me at any given moment…"
"Right," he said distractedly.
"You will help me interview the candidates, right?" she said hopefully. "I am not sure what procedure to take with these applicants."
He nodded. "I'll help you figure it out. Um… Song Li? I wanted to give you something… before I lose my nerve…"
"Oh?" She turned to face him, not looking at his face but rather the objects he was holding out: a bouquet of flowers, a small heart-shaped box, a golden chain with an emerald pendant.
"Flowers and chocolates…" she muttered. "And a necklace? These… oh my… these are tokens of romance."
"Ahhh… yes, yes, I suppose they are," he said with a sly grin.
"Oh," she muttered. "Oh dear. My dear, dear Terence, I cannot accept these."
His face fell.
"You see, I have a sweetheart. Yao Xing is his name. I left him in the Sea of Stars."
"The Sea of Stars?" he said blankly. "But that was over a hundred years ago."
"Yes, it was," she said, pained. "And even then, he was terrible to me… I am revolted to find myself still feeling this way, I should be damned for even saying this, but… even with how happy he was to see me go, I cannot get him out of my head!" She clamped her eyes shut tight, trying to hold back her tears. "I am not ready to love another. You deserve better, Tron. I care about you too much to allow you to bear my burden. I am sorry, I must decline your offerings."
She opened her eyes and reached out lovingly to cup his face. "But never forget, as I shall not, that you are still a very special friend of mine. You shall always be the one who has seen my face."
He was silent for a moment. "You always used to say that was just a fluke, that you only did that because you were ready to give up."
"Yes, but I know now that that does not make it less special," she said firmly. "Always, you will be my most special friend."
She put an arm around him, still looking past him, and he leaned on her, gently pressing as much of his weight into her legs as he could. Gratified, she hugged him tighter.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
As she once had before, Song Li drew all the curtains and locked the door of her personal chamber, willing her armor to disappear.
Back in her natural state, she hurled herself into the massive, fluffy bed that dominated the huge round room. "Ahhhh…" she sighed, sinking deeply into the bed with a sense of comfort she had never known before.
She blinked three times, one pair of eyes after the other, and three joyous tears dripped down a single side of her face. After a moment of contemplation and snuggling her pillows, she rolled out of bed and walked over to her desk, looking at herself in the large, grand mirror.
"You've done it, Song Li," she said. "You've finally done it. You should be pleased with yourself. You have accomplished much. It's been… well… not a bad life, as lives go. There was a time when I couldn't bear to be content, but now… I know what I am. I know what I have."
Overwhelmed with gushing tears, she collapsed into the bed once again. "Everything is going to be all right."