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Review Responses:
Yuni: Thanks!
Sarah the Insane: I can do those. Later.
Mayaj: Ha ha. But technically, there are no bad guys, as you'll soon see. Oh, and Mia just likes the peace and quiet…
Cursed Lone Wolf: Of course it's not.
Quid: Yup.
PurpleMuffin: Yes, many directions. And only one gets picked, by you people!!!
Lil-Riter: Well, here's a little glimpse at the other areas.
Let's get one thing straight. Pick ONE. Okay? And I'm listening to "Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic. It's great. So I may come up with some strange things...
And I'm annoyed right now at some people... They have been pestering me NON-STOP about something I wrote... Don't join 'em, okay? Otherwise I might snap... And we don't want that... Really... Trust me.
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Chaptre 2-The Weapons
Inside the Nation of Ice...
"The other countries of this world have lived long enough." Queen Frethia said regally. "It is time that we show them that we are not some insignificant backwater nation that can be overlooked. We shall show those fools our power."
Much cheering ensued.
"Listen, my loyal soldiers. Fight, fight for your country and for your queen! Fight for your honor! We shall truly conquer the world, for it is rightfully ours." Queen Frethia said. A moment later, a figure walked up.
"Mother... Is this really the best idea?" a girl asked.
"Yes." Queen Frethia replied.
"But, the Realm..."
"They cannot defeat us." Queen Frethia replied. "We have weapons the likes of which they've never seen."
"...But..."
"Be quiet, Sarah. You have no idea what you're talking about. You are not a leader. You would never understand." Queen Frethia said. "Please go back to your room."
"...Yes, mother..." the girl said quietly. She then turned and left.
"Such a naive child..." Queen Frethia said quietly.
At the Kingdom of Earth...
"Is it ready?" the Kingdom's king asked.
"Yes, sir." an aide said.
"Good. We have been taken advantage of for far too long! We feed the world, and what do we get!? NOTHING!!!!!! Our special weapon will cover the entire planet in plants, our realm!! None shall be able to resist us!"
"Er, dad..." a boy said.
"Yes, Prince Kaido?" the King asked.
"Half of the world is covered by water. Our plants don't go underwater." the boy pointed out.
"That won't be much of a problem. We can't breathe water. We can let the Monarchy be." the King said dismissevely.
"...But what if they attack us? We'd be completely helpless." the boy said. "They have a lot more territory then we do, and we can't strike back effectively."
"S-shut up. They won't attack us, because we'll make a treaty with them!"
"...But treaties can be broken. And they might not even want to make one at all." Kaido replied.
"You know nothing, boy! We'll rule the land half, the Monarchy will rule the Sea half."
"We can't get rid of the Hierarchy or the Realm, either." the boy said.
"Ah, but we will control the food supply. They will not strike us, because we keep them fed!" the King countered.
"...What's to stop them from taking over farmlands and farming themselves? We don't have nearly enough troops to cover half the world." Kaido replied.
"Oh, be quiet." the King said irritably.
In the Monarchy of Water...
"So, uh, why are we going to war?" Mia asked curiously.
"Well... Everybody else is. We need to be at full combat readiness in case we're attacked." Mia's father replied.
"Oh." the blue-haired princess said.
"We'll be able to fend off anybody who attacks us." her father said. "Our scientists have spent decades designing a cannon that we can shoot to anywhere we wish. If anybody starts marching towards us, we can blast them to pieces before they get remotely close."
"Oh... Wouldn't that hurt, though?" Mia said. Her father gave her a look that clearly said 'That is a very, very stupid question.' "Um... Sorry..."
"Nevermind. We just have to make sure that we can protect ourselves." Mia's father said.
"I guess so." Mia said. "It would be a shame to lose all the art we have."
"Indeed."
"So, we're not attacking anybody?" Mia asked.
"Not unless they make hostile moves against us." her father replied. "With luck, we will be able to remain completely neutral in this conflict."
"Oh... Okay..." Mia said quietly.
Far, far above, in the place called the Hierarchy of Wind...
"Father, this blows." a boy said. "Do we really need to be attacking everybody else right now?"
"Yes, you idiot." his father snapped. "Those fools in the Kingdom of Earth will be wanting to control our food supply. Since I doubt you want to starve, we just take them out with our new weapons. Understand, Prince Seth?"
"Yes, sir..." the boy muttered. He spread his wings and flew out towards a large, simple-looking island that was part of what would one day he his kingdom. "All father cares about is more land so he can govern it, justly as he would say. But what if everybody down there doesn't want to be ruled by him? He always forgets about these things..."
"Something bothering you, sir?" an aide asked, flying up.
"My father's being stupid again." Prince Seth replied. The aide nodded. Seth's disagreements with his father were very well known inside his country.
"Well, sir, I doubt there's much you can do to directly oppose him." the aide said. "But you can make a public display of great disapproval of his actions."
"Yeah..." Prince Seth muttered. "This totally blows..."
And in the biggest area of the lot, the Empire of Fire...
"Those blasted demons!!" the king yelled. "It's their fault everybody is preparing for war!! If they weren't so selfish, we wouldn't be in this mess!! We will destroy them all, and rule the world as we are meant to!!"
"Father, that's madness!! We can't possibly destroy everybody else!!" Prince Darl protested. "What about the Realm? They could tear us to pieces!!"
"You're exaggerating, boy. They hardly even have what could be called a military!!" the King replied, laughing. "They are no threat to us!"
"Father, you haven't seen what I have. I visited their once, and when nobody was looking, I explored. They may not send many ships out, but they have a huge fleet ready to defend their cities at a moment's notice!! We would be completely wiped out!!"
"Exaggerations, boy. Or maybe they just put up an illusion for you to get you to think that way. If they really had such power, we would have known about it long ago." the king said dismissively. "Besides, our prototype Omega Cannons are sure to win this war for us!!"
"Father... You're a fool." Prince Darl said, turning around and walking off. "You will bring ruin to us all."
And now we go to the place known as the Civilization of Darkness...
"Listen, infidels!! The time has come for us to destroy those idiots on the surface world and claim that land for our own!! If you have any disagreements, I will kill you!! Get moving!!" the leader yelled. Hundreds of demonic beings started moving, with many more behind.
"Father..." a young female being asked. "Is this necessary?"
"Yes." the leader of the Darkness beings said. "That blasted Empire has kept us cooped underground for far too long. It is time we had our revenge."
"Yes... You're right." the girl said, looking up. "But the others have done nothing."
"They will seek to contain us." the leader replied. "Force us back underground. It shall not happen. Our time of glory has arrived."
And in a different place, the Hive was rearing for war.
"The others of this world are preparing for war. This is a hostile action, indicating a threat to the Hive. All threats must be eliminated. All other nations must now perish, so there will be no threat from them to the Hive. We will win. Clickit!" the Voice of the Hive called. A member of the Hive ran forward. He was one of the few that had an actual name, as he was only partly connected to the Voice of the Hive. It knew that having independant thinkers was important for its surivival.
"Yes, Voice of the Hive?" Clickit asked.
"You will go to the surface world and find who is the greatest threat. They will be eliminated first." the Voice of the Hive said.
"Voice of the Hive, there are two nations that are powerful but might become allies. The Monarchy of Water and the Realm of Light are both on very good terms with us. Coexistence may be better for the Hive." Clickit said. The Voice of the Hive agreed with his reasoning. And so, Clickit nodded, clicked his pincers, and flew out of the Hive, intending to find out which of the nations he had not named as friends was the greatest threat. Exactly as he had been instructed to do.
And last, but far from least, the Realm of Light was gearing up for war as well.
"Listen up, everybody." Rai told his Commanders. "My father has given me very specific instructions. The only nations that we are against are the Empire and the Civilization. The others are no threat to us." He indicated the lands of the Empire. "I want your troops ready to attack this area at a moment's notice. If the Civilization wins, then we are going to contain them inside the Empire's lands, eventually annihilating them. If the Empire wins, we take it out, since it's a prime opportunity. We will not attack the other nations unless we are attacked first. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" the Commanders replied.
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