Cassius floated in an almost debilitating silence, the rest of his senses were scrambled by darkness. The memory of Jachin and Boaz faded quickly, like the whole experience had been a dream. Maybe it was he thought to himself, when suddenly a vibrating pressure pulsed from the middle of his forehead followed by a burst of light that revealed multiple pathways in the dark. Cassius peered through the closest one and saw himself back in the office getting sliced in half by World King Xochi. He felt puzzled. How did he all of a sudden know who she was and why was she attacking him? The next few paths revealed very similar occurrences to the first, until he viewed one where he avoided her attack. He chose that one and floated through it. Cassius's eyes opened to Xochi lunging toward him. She drew her blade and sliced at him all in the same motion but he ducked the blade just in time and rolled clear. It happened just as the pathway showed him. "Wait wait wait!" He exclaimed with his hands out in front of him. The black flames of the candle died down. "Who are you? And what do you want?" Xochi demanded. Before he could answer the vibrating pressure started up again and like before multiple pathways opened up to him. Everyone and everything seemed frozen in time while these paths were visible to him. But the longer he stayed in this state several of the paths started to fade while others grew brighter. One path showed Xochi being attacked by Jaru and on instinct he chose that one. The paths faded and time resumed. "Look out!" Cassius called out to Xochi. Without turning around she ducked Jaru's swing and sliced off his arm. "Jaru! What are you doing?" Iwazaru called out, but Jaru didn't respond. A trail of smoke from the candle made its way into Jaru's nose. "The candle is controlling him!" Lukohé pointed out. "I've seen something like it before, we gotta destroy that thing." Without hesitation Xochi set her sights on the candle but Jaru cut her off. "Cowards. Where is my father?" Jaru spoke in a voice that wasn't his own. "Livia." Xochi snarled. Golden sand burst from the walls and restrained Jaru. Xochi pointed her blade at Cassius. "Where did you get this candle? If you give me anything but the truth I'll cut you down where you stand." Cassius suppressed the urge to give a smart ass answer and spoke. "I was told to deliver it to the Flain archipelago but I used it instead to sneak in here to meet you all." Cassius looked over at Iwazaru and smirked. "Oh, and he was the one who ordered the delivery." Xochi's eyes snapped to lwazaru. "I knew you were still in league with the Bahns, this whole meeting was a distraction wasn't it?" Iwazaru frantically backed away. "You would believe the words of this...street thug?" Cassius smiled. Xochi pointed her blade which started to glow a dull orange at lwazaru. "No, but I had my suspicions about you from the beginning and as my father always said better to be safe than sorry." A burst of burning air shot from the tip of Notus and pierced through Iwazaru's neck. The force of the blast shattered the windows in the office and set off the building's alarms. The Uraian president's body fell to the floor with a thud as Xochi sheathed her blade. Sahn, whose grin persisted through the whole incident finally stood from his seat. "Well that was entertaining." He joked as he made his way to the candle and picked it up. "That girl's ingenuity never ceases to amaze me." He said before the candle vanished in his hand. Jaru fell to the floor in a daze. "I guess we should go before Iwazaru's men show up." Lukohé suggested before golden sand emerged and dragged the four of them into the floor. They appeared a ways away from the Capitol building. "Well we might have just started a war." Lukohé complained. "No, they wont do anything." Cassius replied seemingly staring off into nothing. "And how can you be so sure?" Xochi asked skeptically. Cassius looked at her. "I can see it." Sahn's eyebrow went up. "And who are you again, you never answered me." Xochi asked. Cassius straightened up and cleared his throat. "The names Cassius Capone, and I'm the newest World King!" Sahn smiled, Lukohé paid him no mind and Xochi scoffed. "A World King needs a territory to be king of. Get that, and gain some influence and find us then. I hear Uraeus is looking for a new leader." After that the three of them vanished into the sand again. And Cassius stood there Grinning with his head bigger than it had ever been.

Stolen novel; please report.