I stared at my map—the tiny hidden room from which Zephyra and the Admin had disappeared. Her leaving should have been a relief. I mean, I was going to have to doom her civilisation to extinction if we wanted to survive… but still, I stared at the empty room, hoping she would come back.
“Magnifique!” said Ariel, shaking one of Adam the Shii’s many hands. “So, the atomiser modules will be delivered by the end of tomorrow, oui?”
“Yes, yes,” replied the little Shii. “A good deal is struck!” It turned to me, reaching out with a dainty hand on a long, multi-elbowed arm. “Thank you… Your Highness,” it said in its simpering little voice. The Shii’s mottled coat changed colour slightly, and I had the uncomfortable feeling that it was blushing. I sighed and shook its damp little hand.
“No worries, mate.”
With that out of the way, I was pretty sure we could get out of here. I checked the contract, scanning quickly as Ariel wrapped up the pleasantries, and almost choked when I saw how much I had paid for the atomiser modules.
Shii Atomiser: Unique*
Grade: Category 2 Racial-Specific Production
Use: Vaporise liquid into gas
Cost Per Unit:
Basic BP: 200
Low-Grade BP: 50
Standard-Grade BP: 5
I’d bought thirty of the bloody things, decimating what had felt like an inexhaustible stash of BP.
Paddy sauntered up with another of the blue, glowing drinks in his hand. He seemed in fine spirits.
“Christ, lad,” he said, looking at the golden crown that now floated an inch or two above my head. “Have I been holding you back all this time? Five minutes on your own and you’re king. Want me to bugger off again? You might take Priorita’s job.”
I chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Nah, mate. Stick around. Every good king needs a court jester, and you look just like the man for the job.”
Ariel put her head in her hands, speaking in a muffled voice. “Merde, Patrick. Don’t encourage him.”
Paddy winked at me and withdrew three knives from his inventory, juggling them with surprising ease.
Adam the Shii burbled excitedly and clapped several sets of hands.
We began to wind our way through the booths, aiming for the bead curtain through which we had entered. The beady eyes of the many bankers followed us. I had the feeling they were taking note of my crown and were none too pleased.
“Right then,” said Ariel. “We are all here. We should leave immediately. If we are quick, we can make it behind the castle walls before the monster waves begin.”
“Eh? Hang on, where’s Zephyra?” asked Paddy as we passed a pack of bankers who were high-fiving and laughing nastily.
I checked the map pinned to the corner of my HUD. The secret room was still empty, so I took my time choosing my words.
“Not sure, mate. She nicked off with the mob wearing golden armour. They were Lutantha too—maybe they were friends of hers.”
Paddy’s eyes flicked to the side, and I was sure he was looking at her icon in his HUD. Zephyra’s portrait had greyed out the moment she disappeared.
“I dunno,” he said slowly. “It says status unavailable in the party menu. What if she’s in trouble? I mean, I know she’s an alien and all… but she seems alright. Shouldn’t we look for her?”
“I think you prefer to look at her, Patrick.”Ariel scoffed. “Don’t get attached. She has rejoined her civilisation. It is time we returned to ours.”
Paddy reddened, his acne scars standing out white against his blush. “Look, lass—I won’t deny she’s easy on the eyes. But she helped save our lives. I don’t think we should just abandon her because she wandered off for a few minutes. Allan said half an hour. There’s still time. I say we use it to look for her.”
He turned to me, as did Ariel. She had the bead curtain parted with one hand and was ready to step through.
I eyed the little clock pinned to my HUD.
How could I explain that I knew she had disappeared? Anything I said would reveal advantages that I shouldn’t have.
“Ten minutes,” I said.
Ariel muttered something unflattering in French.
“Ya know, lad. My ancestors didn’t look too kindly on the monarchy. But you’re alright.”
We split up. Ariel remained on the floor we had come in on, searching the booths and talking with the bankers. Paddy went down the spiral staircase, while I walked upwards to the floor Zephyra had vanished from. The stairs were sticky with spilled drinks, my boots making a sticking and ripping noise with each step. I knew that sound; it was as familiar as the squeak of the fly screen on my front door—the sound of the pub I’d gone to after work for years. I half imagined I’d bump into Chris, my old sparky mate, and felt a pang of nostalgia.
I ordered another pint from a passing Priorita, sinking it as I wandered the floor. This level was all barstools and floating video screens showing sports from a million different worlds.
Time to myself, in which I wasn’t fighting for my life or on some life-or-death time limit, had been rare since arriving on this world. I wasn’t going to waste my time searching for Zephyra; she’d appear on my map or she was gone forever. Bugger all I could do about it.
So, I parked myself on a stool in front of a TV showing a re-run of something called the Olympic Games and brought up my notifications.
An slew of skill level-ups polluted my feed. I filtered out the junk and opened the one that mattered. Priorita launched into her explanation as though she had been waiting for it.
QUADRANT KING!
Goodness gracious, congratulations… Your Majesty!
You have either been democratically elected as the leader of your people… or you seized control through fear, violence, and overwhelming dominance.
You know which one I prefer to see!
Either way, you are now the reigning monarch of your quadrant for the remainder of this stage… or until you are deposed and replaced.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
No pressure! Tee-hee
Royal Benefits
As Quadrant King, you receive:
- +10% to ALL stats
- DOUBLE HP
- DOUBLE MP
- Access to the Edict System
- The Predator’s Crown Perk
- The Burden of the Crown Debuff
Oh my! Might I say, power looks good on you?
Priorita yammered on, explaining every benefit in nauseating detail. I did my best take take it all in but struggled to keep up. Eventually I pinned the list so I could send it to Ariel. She would give me an in-depth analysis later.
Staring at the list, one thing was for certain: this was some serious, game making—or breaking stuff. It made me uneasy.
Priorita paused at the end of her explanation, I thought she was done until her tone changed into something predatory.
A Word of Warning!
The Monarch title can NOT be transferred on this stage, unless the current Monarch dies.
The death of a monarch will have… consequences for their people.
The WARGAMES! theme blared as the description ended, resplendent with shredding electric guitar and pounding drums. I didn’t get up right away. Instead, I stared into my half-drunk pint, thinking.
I had wanted to get strong. Strong enough that Victor, Linh Phan, and people like them no longer controlled my life. Strong enough that I could stop them from doing to anyone else what they had done to me.
Everything that had happened to me since stepping foot in on this planet had propelled me towards becoming a powerhouse. But if I played it right, this crown could be more than that. It gave power to the people. Everyone would become stronger if they fought by my side.
The headache was back, pounding in time to the drumbeat. So much responsibility. I had never wanted to be a leader, never set out with anything except selfish goals, reactive rage and a thirst for vengeance. I mean, I’d been cracking jokes about being a sparky from a small country town… but that was because beneath all the blood I’d spilled, it was the truth.
What if I stuffed it all up and got people killed?
I usually glossed over decisions when they got too complex, damn the consequences. But I didn’t think I could do that this time.
Ariel’s dot on my map was on the move. She’d left her floor and was heading up the stairs to mine.
“Hey, kid,” I said without turning. I wasn’t surprised she had found me; the folks back on Earth could watch my every move.
She said nothing, but pulled out a barstool and sat next to me, settling in to watch the TV.
We watched in silence for a time.
“What do you think I should do when I get back to the castle?” I asked.
She ordered an orange juice from a passing Priorita, sipping it through a long curly straw. I could tell she was buying time to think.
“I mean, I was nobody. Nobody important, I mean… but the level-ups, the items, the crown. I dunno if Priorita will let me slip under the radar.”
“You were never nobody, Allan,” replied Ariel. “From the moment you landed on this world, you’ve done one impossible thing after another.” She glanced up as though looking at something only she could see. “It just took a while for everyone to realise it.” She smirked. “Took you longest of all.”
“So you think I should embrace it? The strength, the crown, and try to lead us through this nightmare?”
“I’m saying someone has to. Do you want it to be Victor?”
“Fuck no.” I laughed.
“Then you know what you’ve got to do.”
Despite what she said, I didn’t think it was so simple. If there was one thing I knew about people like Victor, it was that they did not share power. But with everything I was bringing back, did he have a choice?
So many bloody questions.
I checked the time.
Two minutes till we were due to leave.
Paddy was ascending the stairs, making his way back to the portal; I could see his dot on my map. I drained the last of my pint, watched the Olympic diver on the TV land in a spectacular bellyflop, nodded to Ariel, and stood, gesturing to the stairs.
“Time to go, kid. Thanks for the chat.”
I froze, barely one step from the table, then swore and marched to the doorway hidden behind a bookcase, Ariel hot on my heels.
Zephyra’s icon had reappeared in the hidden room.
We reached it just as the door swung open.
She froze, the deep hood she had used to hide half raised, a look of astonishment on her face.
I cocked an eyebrow. “G’day, mate. Thought we’d lost you. Meet anyone interesting?”
She was usually a smooth talker, but words seemed to fail her. It was satisfying somehow.
“I…” she trailed off. “Yes—I mean no. Just running errands.”
“Roger that, mate. Getting some… admin done in your free time, eh?”
Looked like I’d used the magic word—admin. Her pale face lost what little colour it had held as her eyes darted between Ariel and me.
I gave her a broad, toothy smile, glad to be on the front foot for once. It wasn’t just her. Everyone was so smug, thinking they were clever with their secrets and cheats. I wasn’t even trying, yet I had figured them all out.
A notification chimed, and I brought it up, expecting a message from Priorita telling me to drop it and let Zephyra off the hook—she’d done that before—but it was just my timer.
I wanted answers. It was time to force this issue.
“Look, mate. It’s past time we went back to our castle. We don’t have time to stuff around with whatever dodgy shit you’re working on.”
“Except,” said Ariel, sliding into her role easily, “it isn’t her castle, is it Allan?” She cast a sidelong look at the flustered elf who stood frozen in the doorway. “She might be on our team, for now, but she’s a Lutantha and we’re planning on killing them to win this stage. Will you still be on our team when we start killing your people, Zephyra?”
She opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out.
“Kid’s got a point, Zephyra. We just met that bloke from your quadrant. This is your opportunity to team back up with them. What’s the hold up?”
Her emerald eyes flickered back and forth from me to Ariel. They had seemed so alien when I first met her—unreadable, inscrutable. But now her expressions seemed so human. I felt I could read her as easily as Ariel or Paddy, maybe more so.
She looked… afraid. Like she didn’t want to go back to her people.
Zephyra let out a very deep sigh. “I’m not… They aren’t…” Her smooth brow creased into a tiny frown as she sought my eyes. “My world is very different from yours. There is a reason why your civilisation failed Priorita’s test, where mine passed with top grades. Dominance, hierarchy… idiocy.” She trailed off. “We are the favourite this year… for good reason.”
I shared a glance with Ariel. Had she known the Lutantha were the favourites to win? I hadn’t.
“You can’t understand what it is like to have every moment of your life dictated by another. I want to live the life I choose, not the one they tell me to.” Her emerald eyes glittered—but not with unspilled tears. With deep, hot anger.
And in that moment I understood her. I knew that anger. Knew that story. It was the same one I lived.
“You’re willing to see your planet die because you don’t like how it is run?” said Ariel hotly. “Do you think us stupid?”
“Stupid? No. But you don’t understand. Can’t understand.” She looked down. “I am only one of millions. My freedom won’t make any difference. Let me live and die as I please.”
“Everyone makes a difference,” said Ariel, “Every small decision matters. I am only here because of decisions I made.” She snorted out a short, bitter laugh. “Had I followed orders I would be safe at Papa’s chateau in Leon. Instead I walk my own path. Make my own destiny.”
That was interesting. As far as I knew the contestant selection for WARGAMES! had been random. She made it sound like she had chosen to be here.
Had someone sent me here to die?
Ariel was building up some serious steam. Her intensity almost electric. I stepped in, standing between her and Zephyra. “You don’t get it, kid. You’ve lived your whole life at the top. You don’t know what it’s like for little people like us.”
I paused, feeling as though I stood at the precipice of a decision that would affect more than myself. I was king now. If I let a member of an enemy faction join my team I would be making a statement that could fracture the quadrant. There was already discord aplenty between Victor, Linh Phan, and myself, not to mention the rest of the folks I’d met so far. I shot a glance at Ariel’s angry little face. This could drive in a wedge that would shatter us.
I crossed the small patch of sticky floorboards that separated Zephyra and I, resting a hand on her shoulder and looking into her emerald eyes. “I understand, mate. I know what it’s like to be a nobody, a puppet. You’re on the team, Zephyra. For as long as you want to. You’re one of us.”
“Mais t’es sérieux?” Ariel burst out. "If you keep her, Victor will use it against you.”
“Then I’ll face the consequences when he does! I’ve made my decision,” I said.
I felt a burst of heat from the watch as subtitles flickered into my HUD.
I ignored it.
Leading meant walking my own path, no matter the consequences.
I silenced Ariel’s rebuttal with a raised hand. She stomped a boot and tossed her hair, plainly furious.
I didn’t know if I was fit to wear the crown. Didn’t know if I’d just made the first of a thousand mistakes that would doom us all.
But if ruling meant choosing who deserved a chance to fight beside us… then I’d made my choice.
And I’d live—or watch others die—by it.