I stepped into the musky hallway, the adrenaline still pounding my heart against my chest. Aiko watched me before taking steps in line behind me. President Parva's envoy had made their way quickly back to their silly master in that god-awful jungle office. My brow collected not only sweat but mists somehow manifested by their strange technology that would bring endless happiness to my land's people.

Aiko and I made our way silently back toward our near barren wing housing our country's delegation, through silver portholes I glimpsed crashing dark blue waves yet I did not feel their tremor...the level of ingenuity in this place still baffled me as to the reason why? Why if so many nations across the globe invested their energies into this display? I turned my dreadlocked head to speak to Aiko but she interrupted me unexpectedly. "Why have you been acting like a wounded puppy since our arrival?" A simple question.

I pondered the scrutiny from Aiko as the toxins of the previous conversation played at my mind. "I do not trust my countrymen...I do not trust my cabinet, and it has become clear to me as well that our sister nations may not take arms in our fight for true liberty." The nippy vented air caused me to feel so brittle as we passed by different halls filled with slobbering nobles from the Doigan high clans.

We finally made our route out of their permitted wing of the Eastern Bloc's division of rooms. The breeze of the sea surprised me as much as the amount of people representing their own fatherlands, I started to rest my arms on a small bronze railing that lined the balcony Aiko and I found ourselves looking over. "So plan to collude with foolish sheep and plump wolves?" My pulse rose as the anger in my body nearly took hold. "Get Yana...Now." I barked to her murmur, the clack of her tough boots breaking through the crowd's near-joyous reactions to whatever had caught their attention.

Barely pivoting my neck I was able to finally see what had caused such a stir; The fattened king of Svet had made his presence loudly known for all to engourge on. His large golden beard was perfectly groomed like the rest of the almost glaring armor he chose to wear to the United Coalitian's summit. No doubt the northern borderlands had been completely pilfered of its gold just for small displays like this, my father claimed that the trade of our resources for paper bills was for our prosperity...Bullshit.

I spent some time taking in how extraordinarily enamored the other dignitaries and masses were with this albino wildebeest, there must have been something my sand-riddled mentality did not see clearly on why they acted as if this man and his countrymen have not been an enemy of the whole eastern-bloc for the last thousand years! To my surprise, the Doigan president rushed quickly to greet the king with a low bow. "He'sa really gross old bastard..."

Nearly fracturing my spinal collum at the unprompted voicing of my own sentiment I found my gaze meeting the down-turned pale head of Tella. "You are brave to speak so freely of the mad frigid tyrant," I spoke while offering a click to punctate my dissatisfaction with definitive Buriti flare. "His dress would fit better on a steed rather than attempting to test the tangible strength of such a gorgeous element." Both I and Tella snorted at the remark. He had a funny laugh that squeaked as if unused.

The pale and skinny boy shuffled for a moment before staring off at the assemblage of finely clothed nobles and high-class idiots. "Can I ask you something, Mr. Vasca?" I felt a subtle ting of slight at how common the prefix made me sound..."I am King Vasca, and you may ask me another inquiry." The virtually pink irises flexed for a moment before darting down the hall of our near-abandoned wing of the summit delegation zone. "Sorry...I was told only Sir Dennis was to be addressed as the king--I was just wondering, where is he?"

The portraits of Dennis' plump body being torn to mucky sunder and then squashed like a simple desert yam soup shimmered in my mind. "I will answer you once you answer me something...as frankly as you care to be," I slanted my loftier skeleton to bring myself level with his regard. "What have you heard of me? Huckleberry Vasca?" For a moment he seemed to weigh how to answer the uncomplicated query.

"I don' wanna' say something wrong..." The breeze of the ocean picked up slightly with the interlude in his comments, letting the moment cement I began to ball my hand into a solid fist that sent slight tinges of pain to my injured shoulder. "The only immoral choice of words would be trying to lie to me--I do not take kindly to those who take me for an idiot." My voice went nearly to a growling point as I began to adjust the hyena hood over my impairment.

"I only know what that Popa guy Kyler has said--I was supposed to learn everything about King Dennis and make sure he had a good time at the summit and now..." Tella seemed like he was waiting for me to bash him but nothing came, I simply turned back to stare over the balcony at the bustle of patricians, orderlies, and pseudo-leaders of the world. "And now you do not know how to do your job of babysitting me to siphon information to whom?"

Before Tella could open his trechourous little mouth the sounds of Yana and Aiko's boots came clacking down the hallway. "We will continue this another time--Tell the ones who have entrusted you that I had Dennis butchered like the Dog he was for his crimes against our Fatherland by the common folk of Buriti-Vasca." T

Tella arose visibly startled by the report I nearly chuckled into his face, I watched his knees begin to quiver before he silently took his leave from my company. "The despicable machinations of this isle are monotonous, tell me, Yana...What is customary when dealing with dissidence amongst the soft bodies of the globe?" I did not turn my watch back to my cabinet members as I waited for their response, my fixation was the small stage being constructed near the far pier that gleamed in the summer daylight.

"Many choose to allow such ones to live their lives peacefully, do you not care for the ignoble among Buriti?" Yana's voice existed tinged with the normal annoyance she harbored for me as always. "The soft commoners are not my enemy...The fattened pockets of those still enriched by our suffering--Makes me irate." The noise she made was some stupid expletive in Svet, even the short yelp was slick with ice-laden disrespect.

"He and Kyler bumped heads and now he is acting as if he cannot trust anyone," Aiko clicked her tongue before continuing to berate my standpoint for no reason I could decern but treason. "Between his frolicking in the dunes and the probable massacre of the Sand Hounds happening as we speak, it is obvious the pressures of the Summit had cracked his fragile--"

My gloved hand shot forth between the two before I cut Aiko off with a searing glare. "You are mistaken, though I do not have time to play games with vipers-- Yana, I want you to set up a rendezvous with the monarch of Svetlan before whatever they are designing commences."

Yana gave me a long hard stare before looking down toward the fattened king still wandering around the many aspiring slaves who called themselves dignitaries. "I have to urge you against--" My sanity had had enough, I felt myself brush past both of them as my feet took hold of my path.

"You all try my authority...nothing is beyond my grasp and anything that stands in my way, will be crushed to particulate cinders." Without hearing the obvious negative counterpoints I made my way down the side stairs leading to the grouping masses that encamped the courtyard.

Each time a member of the other nations got too close I made sure to push my way past anyone not aware of my presence. A small stir began as many recognized the sigils and markings on my garb. I had nearly made my way fully through before I felt the hand from the crowd reach out and seize my forearm.

Without pause, I yanked my arm quickly away from the intruder upon my person. My sights fell on the Doigan president for a moment as she sent beseeching stillnesses with her brown eyes toward my way. "Unhand me...I will not stand among love-maidens and slobbering cowards!" Upon the expressions leaving my maw, her face became crestfallen at the perceived ignorance of her people's place in the world.

"Is that the mad Dictator of Vasca-minor?" An almost too loud voice of undiluted audacity cut past my own terse phrases, the crowd began to recede along with the slimy little president of Doiga. My nose wrinkled instinctively as I stood eye-to-eye with the pudgy man enveloped in golden armor. "I am KING Huckleberry Vasca of Buriti-Vasca...You may have bled my Father, decimated my people's wealth, and tortured our religion into a chokehold--"

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I spat directly into the smiling facade of the King of Svet, an audible uproar nearly detonated my ears as many in attendance recoiled from us forming a semi-circle closer toward the tyrant. "Y-You...You FILTHY little sand rat!" His voice was trembling with wrath and outright indignation that could rock bedrock.

The seams of his antiqued gilded armor squeaked as he began to wipe his face. "So your country is invited to the world stage and you show why your people are such a low caste..." The man sniggered for a moment while taking a side glance toward the crowd watching, I never took my sneering countenance away from his brow ridge.

"It pains me so to hear that not only your father has fallen to the terroristic elements of your simple-minded people...It gravely harms my harmonious prospects that I am not greeted by your cousin Dennis--" The words hit my ears but I began to chuckle slightly at the repeated usage of such a weak and cowardly pustule that happened to share my lineage. I spoke while taking the black gloves off my hands slowly."Weak men deserve death...Do you count yourself among the decisive?"

I heard the sounds of Aiko endeavoring to make her way through the stagnant throng before another mouthpiece came from the left of our little spat. "Please, gentlemen, this is not the place to air your grievances...the summit shall begin shortly!" A slim mustached man with a large black hat offered a clean rag toward the albino rhino before me. "I do not see any reason the Eastern Bloc can't be a unified front..."

"I do not speak to those who have no class--Why should I not cut your throat for the intrusion on this matter of regal affair?" I chortled without looking back as I unhooked the teeth from the hyena carcass shoulder dressing that partly fueled my anger. "You are not a King outside that dust pit kid...out here you and your little line of warlords are nothing but a pseudo-terrorist state with deep pockets--I forgot how you came to power again?"

Who was this insolent man attempting to burst my blood vessels into fiery spigots?! "Brittle observations from the tactless rabble, I alone have aligned the Junta, tribal insurgents, and the native people. Your infinitesimal understanding of culture means little to me." Finally, I fully addressed them with a straightforward Baskland-styled combat stance.

"If you have such interest in defending this murderous warmonger then feel free to attempt to interfere." The King laughed nervously as the idea that he may not just stand behind the miles and defense of others took hold. The air was thick with sea breeze and the smell of thousands of mixed perfumes.

"If you refuse sacred combat here and now," I felt my teeth flash out as a sweeping smile carried over my entire face. "Then prepare your people for the hellfire of Dhira...I will have my resentments satisfied now or through the righteous carnage of everything you hold dearest and any who choose to stand on the wrong side of history!" The Doigan president came forth with Aiko at her side though neither of them dared to cross the circle now formed into the tiles of the beachfront common area.

"Preposterous--you are candidly extorting me with brutality and warfare?!" The blonde eyebrows of the man before me betrayed all I needed to know about him...He was a coward. "You can label it what you want, I will have my retribution now or later...the choice is yours, old man." Even I was able to discern the near-audible crackle of the clear blue sky suddenly wreathing with a small veil of sparse cyan lightning.

The suited man with the black hat was completely unfazed by the slight weather change and the position I took, he only stared on toward his watch as the moment began to stretch in silence. For everything it was worth, I was truly prepared to throttle the bulbous man's neck until collapsing failure but then something caught my attention out of the crevice of the king's left gauntlet.

A slight gold-tinged iridescent glow that did not come from the sun's glorious rays, this was unmistakably a similar glow of the accursed sigil that stained my own hand...IMPOSSIBLE! Horror blasted through my skin layers as the glow subsided quickly.

"Take your glove off, NOW!" I felt my face contort into an unadulterated rage at the idea that this mad tyrant may possibly share the goddess'. "I will do nothing of the sort--Nor will I embarrass you with a response to either of your threats, all I will say is, If you dare to stand against me...Your people will suffer far worse than anything you may think you will do to me." He smiled in an unshaken facade of bravado, the general assembly began to stare at me now.

Each little boundary I prodded divulged so much to me, there was no mistaking even in the most concise flash of that unholy brilliance. This was the true reason the people of our wretched continent feared him...The rationale was that the scalding deserts of Buriti-Vasca, the lush jungles of Doiga, Tykar with all its hostile mountains, and even his own people of icy Svetland were being manipulated by a being that wielded the power of a god!

The man with the black hat took a firm look at my red eyes before squeezing his mouth into a horrid smile that made my skin crawl. "What's the matter, kid? I'm excited to see who's gonna dictate the oil prices this month..." The profane little toad was speaking of all these matters of my family's coup and matters of civilian casualty and subjugation as if they were mere playthings. My straightened fingers came forward but stopped short in an inflammatory gesture only meant for those usually about to serve as bullet fodder for their sandy sins.

"You will count your days, know that I am nothing like my impotent father...Your senate, delegations, your armies, and anyone who is not some ice-suckling peasant worthy to wander our sacred dunes will be seen as hostile entities and will be treated as such when setting paw over our border...And not the boundary that was peddled to you, the Basklands are MINE from here on out."

For two millennia, the people of Svetlan have treated my lands as their personal little fiefdom, trouncing our spirit and stripping us of our rightful resources. The king of Svetland scoffed, his large frame quivering with indignation. "Your people's and the Buritian woes are of their own making, Vasca. If your kind had simply accepted your place in the natural order, none of this would have been necessary."

I felt my fingers curl into tight fists as I now paced back and forth, the urge to strike the snooty overlord nearly overwhelming...But I compelled myself to remain calm, my furious gaze sweeping across the crowd of onlookers before slamming my injured shoulder with a closed fist. "This is no longer a matter for just Svetlan and Vascan elite to decipher. This concerns all of you, the nations gathered here today."

I turned to the Doigan president, she seemed to not want to meet my open stare due to the presence of the king--or possibly our previous confrontation had made her hesitant to stand so brashly for her people. The ruffled see-through garments still unnerved me, her jungle-loving people were extremely open with themselves yet did not take any action regionally...This would end now.

"Madam President, your people have also sorrowed under the sloppy heel of Svetland's industries. Is it not time we stand united against this oppression? Or, do you feel that having my nation as a sandy cushion is beneficial enough to you?"

Her square chin lifted defiantly. "The people of Doiga have long yearned for true independence make no misunderstanding...If King Vasca is willing to lead the charge, then you will find us ready to stand by your side in any accords that lead to prosperity and harmony." The woman before me was much stronger than the person I had met in the chambers only minutes earlier.

From the corner of my vision, I caught the subtle nod of an older woman dressed hardily in a set of grizzled military attire, her weathered features etched with a surly determination. My lone reference to who that may have been was that of an old newsprint that had made its way to the palace; 'Bloodthirsty killer takes hold of crown.'

Her intricately whittled cane tapped rhythmically for a few moments, the Queen of Tykar had usurped power in a much different way than I come to influence...Her mountainous nation was wracked with more tribal warfare than even the sands of my own sandy homeland. Her Highness was locked in a bitter civil war with her ex-husband and the many rebels that made camp in the impenetrable range of cliffs that steepled the entire country's length.

The tide was turning, and the black-hatted diplomat could not hide the subtle shifting of his weight, a telltale sign of his unease. "This is not a matter to be decided by the whims of a few upstart nations," the king of Svetland bellowed, his face flushed with anger. "The Coalition of Sovereign Nations has recognized my land's right to judge for generations, and I will not relinquish it to the likes of you."

I leveled my gaze at the portly monarch, my voice calm and measured. "Then it is not to you that I make this demand, but to the assembled nations of this summit. My lands are no longer a 'territory' to be carved up and divided – they are the sovereign nation of Vasca-Buriti, and we will no longer accept your iron-fisted rule."

The black-hatted diplomat cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the increasingly volatile crowd. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, let us not forget the purpose of this summit. Surely we can find a diplomatic solution that satisfies all parties involved." He flicked his wrist abrasively to check the time again.

I narrowed my eyes, my suspicion palpable. "And what solution would that be, sir? One that continues to line the pockets of the powerful while subjugating the masses?" The diplomat's lips curled into a humorless smile. "My dear boy, the world has always been a cruel place. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be to navigate these treacherous waters...And I would watch the way you talked to me--Might be the future president of Atlantia someday" He finished the sentence with a sickening wink.

My jaw tightened, resolve fortifying further. "Then I, Huckleberry Vasca, King of Vasca-Buriti, declare that my nation will no longer be bound by the shackles of the Eastern Bloc. We will forge our own path, with or without your blessing." The crowd erupted into a cacophony of murmurs and whispers, the air thick with tension.

I stood tall, my gaze sweeping over the assembled dignitaries, daring them to challenge my declaration. The future of my nation hung in the balance, and I would not back down – not this time. The mutterings and whispers swirling through the crowd fell silent as a frail, trembling figure pushed his way through the multitude of men and women gathered.

It was a man of the Imbigues ethnicity, his features a mosaic of fear and trepidation. "Please, please, everyone to your assigned places!" he cried, his voice quavering. "We must proceed with the summit as scheduled. All matters will be addressed and voted upon accordingly."

I watched with narrowed eyes as the man scurried about, ushering the various leaders and representatives to their designated areas. There was a jittery energy about him, a distinct sense of unease that piqued my curiosity. "Forgive me, Your Majesty," the wrinkled man said, approaching me with a deep and apologetic bow. "I was not aware of the... circumstances surrounding your cousin, Regent Dennis. Please, accept my sincerest condolences."

I felt a subtle shift in the man's demeanor, a hidden layer of meaning beneath the surface of his words. The implication was unmistakable--this white-robed representative knew more about the events that had led to Dennis' demise than he was willing to openly acknowledge. "Your concern is appreciated," I replied, my tone measured. "But I find myself more interested in the nature of your... 'involvement' in the affairs of Vasca-Buriti."

The man's eyes widened, a bead of sweat trickling down his brow. "I-I assure you, Your Majesty, I have no direct involvement. I am merely here to facilitate the proceedings of the summit, nothing more." My lips curled into a sardonic smile. "Is that so?"

The Imbigues man's peach face paled, his hands trembling as he struggled to formulate a response. "I-I... I'm afraid I do not have any knowledge of the specifics regarding your court. My duties here are strictly diplomatic in spirit." His tone was unmatched with the coolness that it brought to the whole assembly, within moments the crowd had already left leaving only Aiko, this man, and I left standing as a far-off band began to play.

I knew this was not over....I would not allow it to be.

END