"Until I am told by anyone of true," I purposefully filtered my smug wildness into a pinpointed stare into Fawi's shakey grey-colored eyes. "Power or authority of any real kind, for me, this summit was over the moment my cousin was expected here and not I." The last terse expression of my true feelings and performatively inflated ego made the older man only gawk at me with a worriedly blank countenance.

The others, even if planning a coop to varying degrees, knew to not interrupt nor question me in the presence of an outsider. We had formed a similar semi-circle the crowd had tried to use to force me into a docile state when challenging the king of Svetlan. "Lord Garan gave strict order from the Old World to not disturb him...I pray you heed my warnings King of Buriti." Fawi put out a shaky hand, seemingly to perform some sort of peaceful gesture that included wiping our hands together somehow,

I immediately turned my face upward at the sight of his filthy low-class hand making its way too close for comfort. Aiko took the time to affirm my stance with a silent shifting of her position to one beside my right arm, the hyena hood on my shoulder was snarled similarly to her own gritted teeth. I felt Yana take up to my left before she brushed slightly past me in a bid to save what little face we had. "By all means, if Tella is a Buriti native...It would mean you violate the summit's laws of self-governance; King Vasca is within his right to--"

"With all respect ministers and generals...Your king has shown nothing but transgression to this entire meeting, I will make a call to my Lord but do not expect to leave this place with Tella." Fawi without much else to do or say took his leave, white robes sashaying in the now calm ocean breeze. Tella sprang from his low position once the man had left eyesight, making small excited darts of his eyes toward his newfound people.

"Why do you insist on swelling our ranks with your friends and lovers?" The gruff voice of Aygu cut through the tense silence that took over once Fawi left. I chuckled at the lack of understanding he had on keeping his traumatized generation away from any real power in my system of governance. "Tella is not like you three, he is my friend and will act as a bridge between me and the common man...His life has been hard enough."

Aiko roughly gripped him by the collar of his robe with as much speed as a swooping raptor, already checking him for anything that could pose a threat to my safety not that he would be near me much more often. "H-hey!" She met Tella's protests with a stern look that made him quieter than the story of my mother's murder had sealed his lips. I chose to put my attention on making our way back to the Eastern Bloc's wing of the summit, letting the others find their way behind me.

I could still hear the sounds of Tella's accosting when Yana cleared her throat loudly. "Just before the vote, your cousin disappeared much like you...Any idea where our esteemed Popa may be?" I did not care where my cousin had scampered off to nor did it bother me that Yana and the others had lost him in the first place.

I continued walking down the muted grey halls, still pushing with excellent pace to our sanctioned place of political foreplay. "Do you ever tire of assuming I am both too incompetent to comprehend what im doing and yet so masterfully all-knowing that I would be able to see what is hidden..."

Once back at the rounded Cactiwood table that Fawi or this Lord Garan must have assumed we would like due to its native origin...The fools used the decayed flesh of a once symbiotic plant to make silly decore that could have been grown to house a family of 12. Just more proof of how little my adversaries knew of me and my people. "Looks like our time to shine got rained out--Whatever will we do now your 'Majesty'." Aygu spat sarcastically while sitting on a half-thrown sitting cushion.

"I have already decided what is next for our fatherland...Regardless of whatever this Coalition votes on is no matter to me anymore. All I need are the leaders of Izmar in one room with me." Yana once again pushed her eyebrows into the same annoyed face that at this point started to aggravate me with how often she couldn't control her face. Her green eyes withered in nature with the anxiety of balancing the cultural significance of every minute detail she could grasp. "I can arrange such a meeting, perhaps we can align the bloc and have their vote."

"Yes...Quickly, I want to rest before we leave tonight." Yana stood without reacting to the sudden news that we would not see the end of this world summit, most likely just as pleased as she was unhappy with my choice. Aygu stood with her, acting as her guard and personal authority. They left only Tella, Aiko, and me in the strange oval-shaped room.

I could feel the heat of Aiko tapping her foot to alert me of her unhappiness with how I chose to lie to her about my abilities and my use of them to disrupt the height of the assembly. "Do you wish to speak Aiko? I don't believe you need to fear Tella running off to tell our business anymore." The boiling rage and my prodding had finally bubbled to the surface, tell-tale flushed red cheeks masked Aiko's light brown freckled face. "Huck...You are playing with fire. Do you remember what I told you when you first came to power?"

"That you would be by my side and waiting to break my bones until I bend to your will," I leaned over the small distance between our two chairs, my red dreadlocks blocking our eyesight from truly meeting. "But what is your solution to your own treachery, may I be so bold as to have you frolicked across the dunes as you are pelted with stones? Or perhaps you would like to choose like you have pushed me thus far to do your bidding from the sideline?"

Aiko shot her hand out and yanked my thickest dreadlock into a nose-touching cascade of her simmering rage through the proximity of her trembling form. "Big words from a little boy who plays with the sky..."

I suddenly noticed something I never had seen before when she had pulled me into an embrace that had been lost between us for so long, it was the charged feeling that I had always mistaken as my puppy love or lust since my rebirth--

Only when compared to the King of Svet's effect on Du'esh's branding did my mind see through what I should have never, and now with the veil gone she still threatened me. "And not enough articulations from the woman trying to treat me as if im ignorant to what she is hiding..."

Aiko's brown eyes tightened to razor slits, her brow furrowed into a deep scowl. "I-" Just as she was about to either lie to me again or attempt to unsheath the secrets that still escaped me, Yana returned with both the Queen of Tykar and the president of Doiga.

The two juxtaposed each other in almost every way; The queen walked with a limped gate that only signaled her many hard-fought battles to keep her country's power from her once loving husband, strong squared features that agonized with healed over wounds...Compared to the pristine and model-like features of President Parva and her barely clothed yet regal attire that pushed the eyes toward her high cheekbones.

"My esteemed friends of Izmar," I flourished my hand while swatting away Aiko's fleeting grip. "Welcome to the moment that comes for nations like us once in a millennia!" Aiko stood while taking Tella with her, his only guidance was her nod to his already quiet standing near the back of the room...I had forgotten he was even there with such a heated exchange with the she-devil.

"I bless you and your lands. The scuffle before was quite harrowing but I found it resonated deeply." Parva took a seat where Aiko once was, I took the time to pull her seat out as the Old Queen of Tykar only stood watching how her neighboring leader would be treated. Once all had exited except for us three, the queen offered a surprising show of culture; displaying the Vascan salute of a solid fist, "You are brave, do not disappoint me,"

Without any help the older woman made her way to the farthest chair to the door with such celerity I could swear she was much younger than she looked to be. "I saw the bloated golden monarch making his way here, much to discuss before he arrives with his new pet."

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"May I have the pleasure of making your formal acquaintance Your Majesty?" My offering of supplication harmed my throat, the voice that carried the expressions differed in how coy it was to my normal speech. "Shika Tykar...It troubles me that the King of Buriti does not even know his closest neighbor's name--That flood sure was..."

"An unnatural and major blow to my people's new cloud control technologies, none of our data pooled suggested such a freak weather event." I did not know if Parva and this Queen Shika were trying to goad me into spilling my guts or not, either way, it did not seem to matter at the moment as another being of my nature would come strolling through those doors soon enough; fully aware now of what I was able to do and frothing that hi southern neighbor was so blatantly challenging him.

"Technology is just man's attempt to ease what Dhira meant to be difficult." The utterance of my people's god came out flat, I could not summon the strength of faith when met with my own ascension past any normal human. Did I truly even believe in Dhira?

As a child, I simply ignored most teachings my grandfather tried to push into my ear canals...But the reality was that some form of divinity did put me on this path, one of all-engulfing water that snuffs the shining light to miasmic darkness. "You are not very smart," My ears reeled at the insult that the Queen flung my way, her pause only due to her adjusting her heavy silver crown.

"My people share backward views like you, lacking common sense but ready to jump on reflections of that same thing means." What the fuck did that even mean? I felt my eye twitch, the old woman had ignited a raw fury that was not meant for such company...If they were members of my country or court I would have them flayed.

"You sled-slapping...Forgive me, where I am from it is indecent to spit in my face so openly--Elaborate to my ignorant mind why I should care about technology?" I took the time to unclasp the skinned hyena's head from the blood-stained station my wounded shoulder had created for it. If this old crow wanted to test my patience I would do well with testing her's...

Shika eyed the fleeced predatory beast's spotted visage, I doubt there were many creatures like Buriti's gallery of exotic animals of slaughter. "President Parva is correct...No natural events could have caused the storms--We worked on a joint administration effort to see through the clear skies meant for today's assembly..."

My throat tightened, the grip of my hand loosened to the point of dropping the once-laughing hyena head to the center of the table. Instead of responding to what would only stand to expose one of my many secrets to these possible enemy national heads, I chose to stare off to the coming footsteps near the entrance of the oval-shaped complex we found ourselves in. "I'm sure I have no idea what you two are chatting about, the ocean seems chock full of swelled storms and crashing tide."

The shadows of the hallway quickly melted into the silhouettes of the King of Svetlan and, to my surprise, what I assumed was the actual president of Atlantia. The sturdy man took a short look inside before clearing the way for the king to proceed...Even if he was not the man with the hat, this ginger-haired menace would surely side with the king nonetheless.

President Parva stood quickly, her ruby earrings clanging with her customary bow that followed. Queen Shika made no motion similar to my own seated silence in par for greeting. "King Saxun...President Wallace, I am happy to greet you so suddenly. I hope the matter of today's rainstorm did not make you rethink our cloud-seeding efforts over New Heaven." She shot a small peek toward the entrance, clear rays of sunlight filtered into the darkness almost just beyond my field of vision.

"It had better be a simple mixup...Our crops need the sunlight, and a freak incident of hail could--" The Svet King made little effort to conceal his disdain as he graced my cheesing countenance with a look of pure abhorrence. "Do you find it funny? This little boy should not be here...Let alone calling us to some sort of regional meeting, it is unbecoming of us as leaders--" He began to slap his hands together loudly, the golden metals of his suit attempting to blind my sight.

"Saxon, cousin, you act like there is much we could do...King Vasca here has made waves even as far as N.S.--All the senate talks and election race bullshit centered on him," The mustached man groomed his upper lip with his white-gloved hand. "So...What do you want?" The fellow plumped himself down opposite of Shika, from what I plucked from their body language it was not an energy of peace that shook between the two titans of Izmar.

"I want what all who walk this wretched continent want...A lasting and forever scar on the damned history your two countries push on us..."

President Wallace leaned back in his chair, a wry smirk playing on his lips. "Wasn't me--Unlike my big cousin over here, I only have been in term for 8 years...And I won't be here by next year the way the polls are going."

Parva turned towards Wallace, her brow furrowed in concern. "Do not say such things! You are a good man, and you will win!"

Shika scoffed, her withered features contorting into a sneer. "I hope you lose more than the election, you dog..."

Wallace met Shika's watch unflinchingly. "I told you many times, my dearest Queen of the black coast--It was a matter of misunderstanding placement that your son was hit by that drone strike, we thought he was his father."

Saxun slammed his fist on the table, his golden regalia clinking with the force of the impact. "SILENCE! I do not have time to talk of such trim nothings! This boy is attempting to extort me into war, and you three are talking like this won't have cascading--"

My eyes scrunched as I interjected, "Ramifications such as ancient land and seat of government; New Vascaria--And oil-rich BaskLands falling back into my sandy little hands? I have heard it already" I began to tap my fist on the table. Many of my family's old vacations to the sandy points of contention rushed through my mind, fueling my edged tone.

Saxun's pale face flushed with crimson, his glinting white teeth gnashing together. "You will eat those words, child, your country will be further reduced to ashes by the next frost...I have no need to discuss anything further with swine." I felt the hollowness within his remarks, I had nothing to dread in this sorry excuse of an overlord.

My laughter echoed through the chamber, a mocking, gratingly high inflection that I had never made before. "Ashes? You utter nonsense of ashes as if you have not already burned my homeland to cinders time and again. But this time, Saxun, the flames will melt you and your precious Svetlan."

my eyes swept over the assembled leaders, daring any of them to challenge me outright. "You have all trampled over my people for too long, exploiting our resources, interfering in our affairs. But no more. The tide has turned, and you will all bear witness to the rise of a new power on this wretched continent."

Shika's gaze bore into me, a mixture of disdain and curiosity etched onto her weathered features from my periphery. "Bold words from one so young. But you forget, child, that we have seen the rise and fall of many would-be vanquishers. You are not the first to make such grandiose claims, and you will not be the last to fail...You make empty threats like the gold baboon himself..."

"Fail?" I felt my lips curl into a sinister smile. "Failure is not an option for me, Your Majesty. I have already set events in motion that none of you can comprehend. Powers beyond your interpretation are at toil, and you will all be swept away by the tide of transformation if you do not wade the crimson waters of my revenge."

Wallace shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his bravado from earlier nowhere to be found. "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Surely there is room for negotiation, some compromise that can be reached--" He took a small breath while sneaking a look toward his fat cousin. The two reminded me of Dennis and I when he was alive...Waiting for the other to slip up.

"Compromise?" I spat the word as if it left a bitter taste in my mouth. "There can be no compromise with those who have oppressed my people for centuries. This is not a matter of politics or diplomacy; this is a reckoning long overdue." The temperature in the room appeared to drop as my watch swept over them once more, eyes seething with a fervor that bordered on madness even for myself. "Mark my words, esteemed leaders, for this is the dawn of a new era. An era where the subjugated rise and the oppressors plunge. And you will all bear witness to the glory of Buriti's and her allies' ascension."

The words hung heavy in the air, the weight of my proclamation sending ripples of unease through the gathered leaders visibly. Saxun's pale face contorted in a mask of rage, his golden regalia looked dull in the face of the filthy audacity I slung his way. "You insolent whelp!" Saxun bellowed, his body trembling with barely contained fury. "How dare you threaten us with such petulant bravado? You are nothing but a child playing at war, and I will not suffer your insults any longer."

With a flourish of his azure cloak, Saxun turned on his heel and stormed towards the exit, the echo of his footsteps reverberating through the chamber. The others watched in stunned silence, unsure of how to proceed in the wake of such a confrontation...I only smiled to myself, happy with his conceding of our first of many battles to come.

As Saxun reached the doorway, his hand gripped the frame, knuckles whitening with the force of his grasp. For a moment, he paused, his broad shoulders rising and falling with labored breaths. Then, without warning, he let out a strangled holler and clutched at his ribcage, his body crumpling to the ground within moments.

The others rushed towards him, concern etched on their faces, but I remained seated, a slow, mirthless smile spreading across my lips further. My eyes locked onto the stricken king, watching with only a twitched lower lip as a response. The old fool had worked himself into a frenzy! The irony that I would be the last thing this awful pustule would see made me begin to laugh once again.

"Cousin! Help him, someone!" Wallace cried, dropping to his knees beside the fallen Svet monarch. "He's having a heart attack!" Shika and Parva hovered nearby, their expressions a mix of horror and disbelief, but I still remained motionless, my regard unwavering.

I could see it...The life force ebbing from Saxun's body, the once-mighty king was reduced to a fragile shell gasping for his final breaths--Just as his slave's son declared him a rogue state and mad king...Delicious, DIE, I wanted nothing more than to see him DIE.

As the servants of the assembly and others frantically tried to revive Saxun, I only steepled my ashy fingers as I leaned deeper into my glare, smile only growing wider, a sense of triumph washing over me with each engaged second. Saxun's movements grew weaker, his eyes glazing over as the essence gradually faded from their blue irises.

With one final, rattling gasp, his body fell still, the once-formidable king now a lifeless husk on the cold, unforgiving floor of Solitido; thousands of miles from his home. The others stared in stunned silence, their cries and pleas for help dying on their lips as the realization of Saxun's fate sank in...

And possibly their quite frankly pathetic destinies now that the only person with the gall to stop me lay dead on the floor like a trout as more chortles escaped my lips.