Riverlye
Phesx Caolia hoped onto his bike, now wearing his full gear after changing in the school. Just as he grabbed his helmet, the short bald man appeared on his left, somehow evading his mirrors and reflection from the streetlights in the evening shining on his baby. Phesx Caolia looked at the man, who extended his right hand and gave him a small device with an even smaller screen. Grabbing it, he asked the short man, “What is this for?”
“GPS, go carefully. I’ll be waiting for you there… This is a nice gadget!” The short man said, hovering the same hand above Phesx’s bike. Lifting his head, the man noticed Phesx Caolia’s eyes and retracted his hand, “My bad. Go to the location, don’t take too long.”
Phesx Caolia moved his head, driving his eyes away, before putting his helmet on. He continued locking the man with his senses, trying to lock his presence and body with his eyes. But as he put his helmet on, the man disappeared. Phesx Caolia looked at the left before not bothering anymore and just rolled his eyes before starting his baby, riding away.
Vrrrrruuuummm~!
Putting the device atop the handlebar, Phesx Caolia frowned. Turning it on, it directed a road leading to the center of Sargonde, not of the city or municipality. Having a long road of around 2 hours not on the main road ahead, Phesx Caolia relaxed and just enjoyed the sensation of his baby.
It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to push his body and force it, or lose sleep. Besides, it was night, and he could ride on his brand-new bike, a Myertha nonetheless. What could be better?
As Phesx Caolia rapidly drove to the main road through the semi-bustling city, with more pedestrians than cars at night, Lýmoca continued breathing.
***
Proteros, just a quarter of an hour before 8 PM.
In the presidential precinct, the president’s office had dim lights. The sound of writing on paper sounded, it was light but present. At times, keyboard sounds also sounded, but these were less common.
The president, Luis Heartez, wrote a few more letters, having long finished the letters of the week from some citizens. These were destined for something else, for something more. He heard some noise from outside, but he ignored it and focused on his work. He had to give his intentions to the right people in the adequate ways.
Step… step… -pam!
Footsteps followed the sound of his entrance being slammed open. A slightly chubby man with tanned skin barged in, with Roam, Luis’s presidential secretary, just behind the man, failing to stop him. Luis Heartez looked up at the barging man, who stopped when looking at a tired-looking Luis working on some letters.
The man had balding black hair, was of a regular height, and had small black eyes. He rearranged his clothes and walked inside with a straight back and his chin high. Luis glanced at Roam and gently shooed with his hand, “Thank you, Roam, I’ll take it from here.”
“Yes, sir.” Roam cleaned his face’s sweat before nodding, feeling lamentable for his incompetence. With no other option, he closed the door and stepped away. His footsteps could be heard as the man walked to Luis’s desk without a care.
“Hmph. Working this late?” The man said, with his eyes drawn to look down at the contents of those letters. Luis didn’t cover them in time, if he wanted to hide it. He looked up at the man’s face before staring at the balding spots in his head. “Mister Muñoz Estandarte, I didn’t remember your hair was falling this quickly, hah hah.”
“…” Muñoz frowned and pouted, almost inadvertently, and ignored Luis’s friendly remark. He commented as he placed his hands on Luis’s desk, “It’s just Muñoz Estandarte. You are the president, I’m only a political party president. What’s the use of things like honorifics?”
“Muñoz, it is, then.” Luis reclined his back on his lavish chair and said, tapping his own desk. Muñoz opened his mouth, but his eyes dropped again, before his hand rapidly took one of the letters. Silence ensued, with Luis’s eyes looking up, not feeling hurried to act.
“?” Suddenly, Muñoz grabbed letter after letter, reading them and packing them in his hands, ruining them somewhat. When he read the sixth, last letter, he frowned hard and looked down at Luis, rising his volume. “Are you out of your mind? Ha! I feel we’ve already had this conversation. The ANS have offered Lýmoca the opportunity of something we haven’t been able to do for decades. And you just say no? Oh~. You think you can? You think that’s what you can do?!”
Luis didn’t respond, intertwining his fingers and resting his elbows on his desk. Muñoz shook his head and turned around. When he took a step away, with the letters in hand, Luis immediately stood up. He spoke in a light, slightly trembling voice. Still, he sounded urgent but firm.
“Muñoz! Lýmoca is a whole matter, but let me tell you about me and those before me.” Luis rapidly spoke. Muñoz stopped, but he only turned his head. “Hah? You mean, those way before you. Right?”
“Allow me,” Luis bent his upper body a little. His fingertips were on his desk, as if they were supporting him from the weight on his back. “It’s indeed a struggle for decades, but it isn’t something I fit in that ‘we’. I have found a way, or ways, and am working to it. It’ll take time, it’s slow, but-”
“Ah! So you want another term, is that it?” Muñoz’s face worsened with Luis’s words until he couldn’t contain himself anymore and returned to the desk. He slammed his palms on the table, lightly. “Isn’t that why you also formed your political party? Haha, you really thought well, bringing your hauled mules and donkeys into your rallies just to make the people think you’re worth something. You think no one sees it? Everyone knows it, you’re going to win nothing when the time comes. You can’t keep stealing from our country!”
“Isn’t that how you called it? ‘Defending Our Homeland’? Our?!” Muñoz widened his eyes, growing a wide smirk on his lips. “You will be voted out, and when it happens, you’ll be brought to justice along with every single traitor to our country! Liar!”
“I’m not playing any games, I’m tired of them.” Luis sharply interjected. Muñoz opened his mouth but froze, blinking as his breathing intensified. Luis licked his lips before breathing into his lungs, “This is what really works for us. Maybe inviting foreigners could help, but if we can do it, and we don’t have to lose anything, then why not go for it?”
“No, wait,” Luis stopped Muñoz from speaking again, almost touching the latter’s chest with his fingers. “I want to do this, and I plan to do it. I know I can succeed, but if you were to help me, of which I beg you, it’ll happen sooner and with less time wasted. Not only you and Lýmoca’s Vanguard, Galán and the National Scholars of Honor are invited, too. We would all win! Lýmoca will win!”
“…” Muñoz became silent and blinked, moving his tongue inside his mouth. To Luis, this meant he was interested. He waited, letting the silence help Muñoz think, before Muñoz finally questioned. “What… I mean, what are your plans? Tell me, and I can trust you.”
“…” Luis tilted his head forward and rightwards. He would, of course, not tell him when there hasn’t even been a compromise. Muñoz’s face slowly fell, returning to the same of just a few seconds ago.
Showing the letters in his hand to Luis, Muñoz smirked. Then, he swagged his head while walking away. “Then keep doing the fuck you wanna. Don’t come back at us crying on your knees like last time. Forget about our help with the Supreme Court Justice. Good luck even showing up to the next festivities. I heard you’re too damaging to Lýmoca’s image, so some people might decide to exclude you from ruining it more in our national holidays.”
“Muñoz…” Luis’s eyes changed. However, he let that matter float apart and looked at the letters brought away in Muñoz’s hand. His gray-black eyes hardened after forcefully gulping down.
“It is no doubt helplessness is what comes to me whenever I want to even speak in public. I’m hopeless, and I can’t make a move. I haven’t even seen my daughter in weeks. I do understand where I stand, and how fragile my legs have become…” Luis gulped again, sweating a little, but Muñoz still faced him with his back and couldn’t notice.
“But even then,” conviction sounded in the same trembling, urgent voice. “They’re still able to lift my feet and help me see where I can step next. It’s slow, slower than I ever thought it would have been. The hands- the… water, ropes, the whatever… Whatever is holding me down surprised me, and even if I do better, I’m helpless. But I’m still moving.”
“You’re right, you’re completely right. But I am not wrong.” Luis straightened his back, softly gulping. “I am the president of Lýmoca. I have duties, not only to deal with-… foreign matters, but within. I respect them, their work, status, and what they do. Believe it, I just do. But… I am the president. You can refuse me, disrespect me, plot behind my back, and scare me off…”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Luis Heartez’s last 3 words seemed… strengthened. Muñoz slowly turned around during Luis’s disquieting, silent pause. By then, Luis’s sweat had gone cold.
“But only when I am far away and better not be in the same room as you,” Luis’s words turned serious. That ‘you’ was also obviously not meant for Muñoz alone, and he knew it. Luis didn’t stop just there. “Because if you are, then you will look directly at my face unless you’re leaving! You will behave politely even if there are no cameras or hidden ears to flash a smile or speak for the people! You won’t dare to lie in my face, knowing I’m not ignorant! And you will never threaten me lest you’ll fall before me first!”
“Out of my building!!” Luis Heartez shouted, thundering inside his office. Muñoz Estandarte dropped the letters, staring directly at the gray-black eyes that have turned piercing, like an eagle’s defending its nest. Even if the hunter fled, he would fly after them.
A few seconds later, Luis maintained eye contact, sharply narrowed and staring at Muñoz, who breathed harder each new second. It was but the last time they would see each other in places without cameras or bright lights.
Step, step, step, step, step, step…
Moments later, Muñoz turned around and left the office, walking through the entrance without saying a word. Luis could hear clicks of cameras and people questioning, but Muñoz only walked away, driving the sound further and further from his office.
Thud. Luis fell on his chair. Roam softly returned 5 seconds later, with a hot cup of something in his hands. Luis Heartez was too impacted to notice, looking at the ceiling like he could see something else, or someone. He breathed in and out, sweating and waving his hand for some air. Roam walked to his side, offering him the cup. “Here, sir. Drink something. You need rest.”
Luis took the cup and drank, he felt the hotness yet flavor it had to the smallest detail. Luis continued drinking with his eyes closed, sometimes opening just as he breathed out, “Aaah… so good. Thank you, Roam.”
“Nothing to thank me for, sir.” Roam closed his eyes and shook his head, ready to take the cup and go outside to fill it again. When Luis was close to finishing it, he voiced, “Mn. Before I forget, or change my mind. Never let any reporters or journalists 100 meters near my office without my or Lesly’s invitation.”
“Of course,” Roam nodded, gabbing the cup after Luis downed the rest, throwing his head back and gulping. Roam walked away as Luis continued sitting lazily, thinking, ‘Ah, the damn cold is already threatening to return. Maybe it’ll go away after a few months.’
Step, step, step. More footsteps echoed, making Luis look up. This time, those steps were different, echoing much like another person’s. His eyes widened when he stared at the lady walking towards him from the outside with the entrance left open.
A beauty with creamy white skin, long black hair, and breathtaking black eyes. She was short, but a delicate beauty nonetheless. Slender, but with a perky, notorious top, and visibly well-taken care of thighs. She wore a skirt that could pass as shorts for distracted eyes.
“Lesly!” The president exclaimed, looking at the vice president, “I thought you would return later at night.”
“What would I be doing at my boss’s office at that time?” The lady responded without much emotion in her face, leaving Luis baffled. Why did Roam have to leave at such a time?
“You look like truck shit,” Lesly said, tilting her head after entering his office. Luis blinked twice before saying in an honest voice, sitting up properly. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks,” Lesly smiled before placing a folder on his desk. Her face changed to a ‘work time on’ and her voice went straight to the point, “These are the candidates. Is it good enough?”
Luis put on a face only a disgusted father could have before looking at the endless faces and their profile data. Skimming through some of them, he murmured before glancing at a smaller folder with other people’s information framed with green gold borders. “It will never be good enough. Picking one like this, sigh…”
“Are you forming a little army? This will be bad for your image, mister president.” Lesly commented. Luis looked up with narrowed eyes, feeling bothered. As if she didn’t know his daughter wanted her father’s grandchildren to be big monsters in the future.
“Why are these with different frames?” Luis gestured to those surrounded by green gold. Lesly replied without looking down, looking around the dimly lit office, “Those have talents for something. Some are good physically, IQ, EQ, social skills, military, craftsmanship, and so on.”
“…So many p- Preutians with such diverse talents,” Luis read a bit before becoming engrossed with the smaller folder. After reading through it, he asked Lesly while skimming through it again. “Why are there so many Phesx? 7 in total. Hm.”
“That’s a common name in Preut,” Lesly shrugged, lifting her left eyebrow as she looked at him. Luis jumped his eyebrows, “Who would’ve thought they like that name so much. I would’ve believed it if it was sanks and not felnx. Well then, I don’t think any are worthy. But… how many of these have good behavior?”
Lesly smirked from corner to corner. She took a few documents from under her jacket, already knowing what Luis would’ve thought after seeing so much information from people. Skilled people. Luis looked up at her and commented before bringing a chair for her to help him pick individuals by his side, “My hero.”
***
Sargonde, 10:15 pm. Center, where millions of people walked through the street, even until 2 or 3 AM.
Phesx Caolia got off the bike and looked around. Many young people his age and a few years older walked around, still sober and with their pocket money filled. He only had 5,000 credits in his bag, which he had to use 4,000 to pay for rent in a building he just selected in the HD.
After staring around, he looked back. A tall building with just 5 floors up, seemingly avoiding any light, even from the passing vehicles, was his destination. Phesx Caolia looked up before lowering his gaze as he heard footsteps.
The short man walked up the stairs leading to the building’s entrance, which was strangely ‘sunken’ below the ground level. When Phesx Caolia lowered his eyes, the man was already 3 meters before him.
‘He let me hear him.’ Phesx Caolia thought. The short man seemed to know what he thought but ignored it. Instead, he gestured backwards with a thin, wide smile. “Follow me. If you haven’t gotten cold feet.”
Phesx Caolia expressionlessly locked his bike and left his helmet behind, following the man. Would he be allowed to turn his back on them? Did he really have a choice now? However, Phesx Caolia wasn’t worried about it. He came to see how large this ‘group’ could be, a lagj organization, as the short man called it.
Whether he stayed or not might depend on how large this ‘group’ is. And if it’s worthy.
The short man’s figure was shadowed by the darkness, before and after turning around. As he walked further away, Phesx couldn’t track him so easily, but that didn’t scare him off. He continued until he heard the entrance doors open before him, entering them.
The man was waiting for him 17 meters away from the entrance, with very dim lights showing a much better view. This place looked like a rich apartment, with 6 doors to the left and another 6 to the right. Trying not to look around too much, Phesx Caolia walked to the short man, who pushed a button on the wall as he did, and an elevator’s doors opened.
The short man gestured to let him step inside first. Phesx doubtlessly went in, with the man following him. But then, as he looked at the same room from another angle, he saw 12 ‘guards’ who he couldn’t notice before, well-hidden from him from the other side of the room, now flamboyantly showing themselves. “!?”
The doors slowly closed on his face. Phesx Caolia made no questions, though. He gulped as he felt the elevator go down several floors, then many, then a lot more than he thought…
At last, he looked at the short man, who wore a casual, serious resting expression and ignored him.
When the elevator stopped, it was smooth and he almost missed it. Just as Phesx Caolia frowned, the short man walked forth. The elevator doors rapidly opened, letting the man pass. He stopped once outside and looked back, “Come then.”
With that, the short man walked away, but Phesx Caolia’s eyes were wide and incredulous when looking at the bright, gray, metallic broad hallways before him. Not wanting to be sent back up, also not wanting to mess it up in a silly way, Phesx Caolia stepped out of the elevator.
The elevator slowly closed its doors before it went silent. All Phesx Caolia could imagine was that it went back up. He accommodated his jacket and straightened his back before walking after the short man. Nobody seemed to be here, except for them two.
Step, step. Step. Step, step, step. Step. Step, step. However, this notion was broken when Phesx Caolia barely heard footsteps around the corner of an immediate, brief curve through the hallways. A man and a young woman smiled, talking to each other, before slightly frowning at the sight of him.
They eased their expressions almost immediately, not caring about him. Phesx Caolia ignored them, until he passed by them and turned around, walking backwards, to stare at their backs with a deeper frown. Those weren’t the only people he saw walking around.
‘I couldn’t hear their footsteps either, but they weren’t hiding them from me.’ Phesx Caolia solidified his frown, no longer appearing too scared. Phesx found the short man waiting for him, with the man’s back facing him while staring at a large, curved entrance of black metal.
On his way here, nearly after 15 minutes, Phesx Caolia met maybe a hundred people. Most of them were young men or women, with just a few middle-aged or old folk. When their eyes landed on him, Phesx Caolia felt his scalp was already in their grasp.
However, no one wanted to harm him. They also looked pretty normal, as if this was but a college’s group of students who wanted to make their own cult. Yet, Phesx had the strange idea that any of these people could kill him as fast as he could kill with a small pistol, only they would just use their hands and feet. Perhaps just with their clothes, too.
It was just a strange notion, but he couldn’t see the future or have a superpower of the mind.
“Was the route nice?” The short man asked as Phesx Caolia stood beside his left. Phesx Caolia’s frown eased halfway before directly asking, “What are we waiting?”
“You,” the short man immediately responded. Phesx Caolia tilted his head to the right. Clearly not understanding. Just then, a muffled, soft beeping noise emerged from the center of the black metallic gate. It was a bit enormous, but it seemed to be made for security, not fashion.
The short man only stepped forth once these opened upwards and to the sides completely, leading Phesx Caolia inside to see an old man sitting behind a wide desk made of thin, black metal, with red lights flowing from within.
He was a white old fellow, with crazed white hair combed backwards, looking tall, and muscular but somewhat slender. As Phesx Caolia stepped in, he didn’t notice how, but the short man stood behind him as he introduced the old man to him.
“Phesx Caolia,” he slowly uttered, “This is Riverlye’s Head, Gerardo Tellez. Accept your call, fate if you must, and he’ll be your supreme leader, the highest superior. Refuse, and-”
“He knows what if he refuses,” the old man interrupted, only staring at Phesx Caolia, who stood a meter in front of his desk.
…
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This is the beginning of Volume 2 — Game's On.