The palace though was the least of the villager's concerns as their world had just been shattered.
"What is going on?!"
"Elder are we going to die?!!"
"I can see clouds on the horizon..."
"How high up are we?"
"... The wall broke.." It was when Shaq mentioned the broken wall that most people there stopped talking. They fell into complete silence.
"It broke on the other end as well..."
"Yeah... Can't we just leave??" Added one of the teenagers in the bunch. A statement that rang true to a big percentage of the villagers. Out of the 70 something there at least 40 nodded unconsciously. Talisa at that point stopped supporting Jhin as he didn't need it anymore.
"What do you think?" She asked, eager to hear his answer.
"You know-" He went ahead to answer but Shaq cut him off.
"His opinion doesn't matter Talisa. Come back here and let that man on his own." He demanded as he walked through the crowd and stood in front of Talisa.
"Say, Shaq..." Jhin began as he walked past Talisa and stood face to face with Shaq. Shaq stood at 2 meters tall and was 10 cm taller than Jhin but that didn't matter to him in the least. "Do you have a problem with me?" Standing barely a few centimeters away from Shaq, Jhin asked. a grin was starting to form in his lips.
"Yeah, I have, a major one." Shaq said and started stretching his shoulders.
"Great! Because I have as well."
"You're a threat. Get. Away." Shaq ordered, speaking every single word clearly.
"I am? Well, to me... You are annoying." Jhin said and smiled.
Shaq didn't take kindly to the jab. His blood had already been boiling and that had been the last straw. He clenched his fist, his biceps bulged, his heels dug into the dirt and a punch came flying towards Jhin's face.
"Would you stop! You idiots!" Right at that moment, Talisa came flying in and smacked both Jhin and Shaq in the head.
None were prepared and so they both fell backward. They were slightly dumbfounded. This would have been a man to man fight and Jhin was planning on releasing the stress of the past month and especially of the last few minutes.
"Why did you hit me as well?!" Jhin yelled at Talisa for the injustice he had suffered.
Which only earned him another punch to the top of the head from an angry Talisa.
'What do you mean why?! Because you provoked him! You were both at fault... And Shaq! We have a lot of other things to worry about so don't go picking fights with my friend! Jhin is a good guy." She added at the end of her sentence, this time without yelling as she was slightly embarrassed by what she was saying.
To fight off the embarrassment she started pulling on Shaq's ear as she walked toward the other villagers, motioning for Jhin to follow her.
"This is Jhin! Treat him well for now." She paused and glared at Shaq. " We will probably need everything we can get if we want to run away from here.... or hold our ground."
"Hold our ground? What are you saying Talisa? The only option is to run away! The wall has fallen and there is a huge expanse of land waiting for us out there." A woman, around the age of 40, pretty old for the normal person in the Slums, rebuked Talisa, for what sounded to her as an immature statement.
"Huge? What is the possibility that it is bigger than the former Pristine kingdom! Not to mention the whole Gea Continent!"
"Adrian... I am gonna have to agree with Talisa on this one... There are people here that we aren't familiar with. We don't know what they are like and what they can do. It is not safe out there..." The elder was the one to take control of the situation. He was the guiding, wise voice of the village and hence most listened to him, albeit reluctantly.
"What do we do then? Fight with the army? Impossible!" The same woman, Adrian, spoke up again, though this time she was much more amiable.
"Everyone here seems to have forgotten so I will remind you. But only the royal guard and part of the garrison are still on this island with us. Most of the army, on the other hand, was stationed near the eastern factories. You remember the explosions and the mayhem we heard a while back right?" The elder said solemnly at everyone there. Even looking and nodding at Jhin at one point. As if to make his presence in the group accepted.
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Even with that spark of hope that the elder had brought to the rest, the situation still appeared to be pretty bleak. The royal guards had cavalry lancers with plate armor of steel from top to bottom, with no single opening. While at the same time the main force of the guard used muskets with extremely sharp blades at the top. They fired round iron pellets that could shatter and pierce through anything the Villagers could muster as a defense.
"Thick iron plates could work..." Jhin added thoughtfully...
"We don't have them though do we?!" Shaq yelled at Jhin. "Just because we are bl-!" He tried to go on but Talisa was there again to whack him in the head.
"I know that Shaq... That is why I am gonna go steal them for you! Aren't I great." Jhin pointed at himself, he grinned widely at Shaq, as if to challenge him.
"I am going too." At that moment Talisa walked next to Jhin yet again and stated her participation.
"No, you are not..." Shaq said.
"I will do whatever I want, Shaq!" Talisa yelled at Shaq and started pulling Jhin from the arm in the opposite direction.
"And where are you going to steal from in the first place!!" Shaq yelled as he walked towards Jhin and Talisa.
"... There aren't many options are there? The palace."
"...." Shaq was left pretty dumbfounded at how calmly Jhin mentioned going into the palace and stealing iron plates. He clenched his teeth and walked towards the elder, he spoke with him for only a little bit before turning around and walking up to Jhin and Talisa.
"Nice guy Shaq!"
"Shut up!" Shaq said and stopped before Talisa could hit him again. " I can't have you sending my little sis to her death. I'll come with and protect her."
The three walked off, without taking anything with them, not that they had much to take in the first place. While the villagers set about doing what they agreed with Shaq and whatever else they could. Among the villagers, some of the other well-built young men spread out in many directions. A small group of them headed into other villages, their job to steal supplies.
The walls weren't far away from their little village and so they reached the broken gate soon enough. The wall had been built on an incline and so the moment they stepped through the rubble the world opened up and they could suddenly see the city. The beautiful, polished, and clean Capital had changed a lot the past half an hour.
With half of the harbor gone, most of the major ships had been left on the ground. The water of the harbor was solely flowing down the island, a wide waterfall making huge rainbows below the island. It was weird that the water hadn't already all but disappeared but with all that was happening water not flowing as it should flow was the least of the concerns.
Many houses had crumbled, people were screaming and yelling for help all over the city. Many houses had caught fire and the Patrols and guards of the city were running around trying to put them out. The red district and the market area were all a pandemonium of people running around. And even from the palace area, some black smoke could be seen. part of the wall separating it from the rest of the city had crumbled. Even though that was being guarded by most of the royal guard.
"This is... Not the first impression I wanted the outside world to make..." Talisa said, bewildered by the sight. This being the first time she ever looked upon the outside world was disappointing. Though to be completely rational, she saw the outside world, while looking down the cliff the was created on the, now, island that they stood on.
"Heh! Finally getting what they deserve." Shaq added with a chuckle.
"... They are still human you know..." Jhin said after hearing Shaq's comment but didn't go any further, knowing that it would be hard for him to forgive. He wasn't like Talisa, it was apparent to Jhin that Shaq hadn't been born and raised in the Slums...
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"Your highness! Please! The people need assistance! Immediate Help!" A man, around the age of 55 bowed down to the ground and begged the king, who was sitting on his throne.
"Enough! Sklavos... My decision is final! Do you dare disobey?! What is more important? Me?! Or the people?!" The king pointed at himself, as he looked down at the prostrating advisor. His beautiful and expensive clothing followed the motions of his heaving chest. His body was slim and lanky, while his golden locks flowed down his perfect head... Almost. A chiseled jaw, big eyes, full lashes, and bushy eyebrows. Everything was perfect on his face except the nose. A curved nose extended was past the usual length, reaching more than enough to make the King look like a sword fish.
Sklavos clenched his teeth. An answer couldn't and wouldn't come out of his mouth. His blood was rushing and his veins were bulging.
"Why aren't you answering Sklavos?! Our king asked you a question!" The right-hand man of the king, The advisor of the Right, Mavros, walked up, next to the king, and yelled at Sklavos for being slow in his answer. "We all know why you aren't answering Sklavos! This is an insult to the King! The worst possible behavior... This is betrayal, Sklavos!"
"YES! YES, Sklavos! Are you satisfied! The people are more important than the king!" Mavros broke his silence. He raised his head and looked at both Sklavos and the King while saying his piece. His voice was loud, it spread all over the palace, the staff working there heard it. Some were angered at the humiliation while others said tears, for they knew what was coming for Mavors now.
"This betrayal hurts more than anything! Except mocking my exquisite nose of course!! GUARDS! Take him! In the name of the Royal Family, I, Kleanuex la Philth, sentence you, Sklavos, to execution! For wanting to put your King in danger! Your schemes will not succeed. Take him to the public stand and execute him. IMmEdIAtelY!" Kleaneux finished giving his order and plopped down on his comfy throne, exasperated from all the yelling.
The Royal Guards that had been standing silently by the side marched forward and grabbed Sklavos from the arms, as they began dragging him through the palace.
"Remember this Kleaneux! One day! The people will become Free and United! Your racist regime will FALL!" Sklavos shouted, at the top of his lungs, as tears flowed uncontrollably down his eyes. Regret apparent on his face.
"... Such a fool... If it hadn't been for my father being such an imbecile I wouldn't have had to deal with Sklavos all this time... Good job Mavros... You played your role perfectly."
"I am eternally grateful for the kind words my King, although they are too much. I only did what you ordered me to. The Only genius here is you." Mavors bowed down to one knee and held his hands together, as if in prayer, next to the king's throne.
"Indeed... I am." The king spoke one last time before standing back up and fluttering his cape, his laugh echoing loudly in the throne room as he left it.