In the sky, a Sun shone that Oliver didn't know existed. It was was a blissful scene, and even though the Sun burned his skin, he still thought of it as gorgeous.
"Remember, Oliver, you're a child created by the Gods to save the world. You cannot forget that." Oliver heard his mother's voice echo in his ears. He gulped and nodded his head, sowing the seeds in his field.
"Yes, mother. I will never forget that." He promised, nodding his head.
---
Hand in hand, the new Empress and Emperor walked up to the priest. They both kneeled down, holding their hands in a prayer position. The priest lightly dipped his fingers into the bowl of holy water and with his ring finger, painted a flower on both of their faces.
"I solemnly swear to dedicate my existence to the Gods." Both the Empress and the Emperor chanted. The places where the holy water was applied turned into wounds and blood flowed from their faces.
"Let both the Emperor and the Empress live long lives." The priest prayed. They both stood up, with the blood still flowing from their wounds.
Silence engulfed the room as the Emperor and Empress still stood, clasping their hands together, praying.
The blood that was coming out of their cuts vanished and the wounds closed up, leaving their original faces behind.
The crowd cheered, chanting the names of the Emperor and the Empress.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!" The people clapped, looking at each other worriedly.
The sound of a gunshot was heard throughout the room. Blood streamed across the floor and the guts of the woman who had died were scattered.
"Long live the Royal Family!"
>>>
"Don't you think that what you did was too cruel?" A man inquired. Jupiter merely looked away and said, "It was necessary for establishing dominance among the neighboring empires, and the people of the empire themself."
Jupiter had pale skin that most would consider sickly. This snow-white color contrasted with his black hair and clothes. The eyebags that he had were more prominent as well, due to his skin.
"That sounds like what a tyrant would say." The man commented. "Then perhaps I am a tyrant. Call me whatever you want, but you won't change the way I rule my empire."
Jupiter's thin lips were incapable of smiling. It was such a difference from his brother, who seemed happy all the time. "You should be enjoying yourself. Now that you're the Emperor, you could have anything in the world." The man flicked his eyes to a painting of a nude woman, erotically inviting the observer to approach.
"Isn't there something that you desire?" The man asked. The man's name was Ayden Arcer, the chieftain of the deadliest assassin clan.
"I thought there would be after I became Emperor, but it seems as though this quest was all for nothing." Jupiter tapped his fingers onto the wooden desk.
Jupiter and Ayden were sitting on opposite sides of the desks on wooden chairs. In the room there were various paintings, including the erotic woman. There was also a window which was open, letting in a breeze in to cool both of the men down. A bookcase stood near the door, filled to the brim with books about leadership and economy. This room was in a secluded corner of the palace which no one usually came to. The only visitors of this area were the two of them, and Chazia.
"Anyways, you shouldn't be so severe with your people. Killing them because they stopped clapping before the allotted time is simply cruel." Ayden continued, taking a bite out of the cookies that the maidservants had prepared for them.
"Can't I be cruel from time to time? My father was cruel and yet everyone seemed to adore him." Jupiter closed his eyes, giving them a break.
"Your father hid his cruelty. You are seemingly flaunting it to others." Ayden replied.
"Whose flaunting what?" Chazia asked, shutting the door. "Oh, we were just talking about what Jupiter did at his coronation." Ayden said, pulling out another share that was near the bookcase.
Chazia sat on the chair that was placed next to Ayden. "The death?" Chazia asked. "Uh-huh." Ayden flipped though the papers that Jupiter kept on the table. Jupiter slapped Ayden's hand away from the papers and Ayden swiftly pulled it away.
"Wasn't that going too far? Surely there was another way to achieve the same result." Chazia took a cookie from the plate, causing Ayden to look at him in disdain.
"I'm sick of people telling me the same thing." Jupiter waved his hand, as if telling them to be quiet.
Ayden chuckled, "Jupiter dislikes being reprimanded." Chazia laughed along with him. An aloof man such as Jupiter did not seem like the type to become angry for something like that, yet surprisingly he was.
"Of course I dislike being reprimanded." Jupiter lightly said.
>>>
"Your Highness! He's the Emperor now, you can't talk to him like you usually do anymore!" A butler hurried up to the Prince, who was furious.
"Before he is the Emperor, he is my brother." The Prince said. "Yes, but that doesn't mean that you can-"
The door burst open and the three men turned their heads to look at the Prince. "What are you doing here?" Jupiter asked, frowning.
The Prince's blood boiled and he grit his teeth in anger. "How dare you? First, you kill both the Emperor and Empress, and then you kill an innocent woman for such a worthless cause?" Saturn, the Prince, yelled.
"Such an angry face is not befitting for the Star of the Empire, right?" Ayden sneered, looking at Saturn with sharp eyes. "And you're associating yourself with this man!" Saturn pointed his finger at Ayden, who raised his eyebrows.
Ayden stood up. "Are you sure that you want to point your finger at me?" Ayden scorned Saturn. "Stand down." Jupiter ordered. Ayden silently acquiesced.
Jupiter furrowed his brows and stood up. "I don't understand why you're angry at the way that I'm running my empire."
"Because the way that you're running your empire is immoral!" Saturn cried out. Jupiter sneered. "And why do you care? It's not like you're actually a Savior, or did you really think you were?"
"What?" Saturn's face fell.
"Why do you keep acting like a Savior? You never were and never will be one." Jupiter got closer to Saturn and lifted Saturn's chin up.
"You must be an idiot if you ever thought you were one." Jupiter mockingly said. "So mind your own business and be a pretty pawn for me."
Saturn bit his lip. In a fit of rage, he tried to slap Jupiter. But right when he began to raise his arm, he suddenly put it down in confusion. "Chazia, I would've stopped him anyways, so you didn't have to step in." Jupiter put his hand on his forehead, sighing.
As Saturn walked out of the room and closed the door, Chazia asked, "But this is easier for you, isn't it?"
"It causes more built-up anger from Saturn towards me." Jupiter said, walking back towards his chair. "But can that worthless bug even do anything?" Ayden asked, eating another cookie. "I'd prefer it if you didn't call my dear brother a bug."
Sitting down, the gleam of the Sun lit up Jupiter's face. His paleness seemed more prominent now, and so did his misery. If Saturn was like the Sun, then Jupiter was like the Moon. Covered in darkness and isolated, he wandered about in loneliness. The only things he did were for the cause of finding out what he was.
But it all turned out to be worthless, for he never found out who he truly was.
Even becoming the Emperor was utterly useless, as he still felt no desire for anything or anyone. He wanted nothing materialistic or erotic. Jupiter himself didn't know what he wanted. To be alone? To simply live a free life? Happiness?
Whatever it was, Jupiter was sure he would never get it.
He was simply too weak.
"You still look so sickly. Why don't we go for a stroll?" Chazia inquired. "Looking sickly is what makes Jupiter, Jupiter. Are you implying that you want to change that about him?" Ayden smugly said. "Well, I'd rather him look more healthier." Chazia would always take Ayden's jests seriously, much to the amusement of Ayden.
"Both of you leave."
"A headache comes upon Jupiter. Well, there's nothing we can do." Ayden shrugged and pulled Chazia out of the room. "I left some tea leaves that help with headaches. Don't give them to your little brother like usual, please drink them-" The door slammed shut.
"Shit. Why the hell does this hurt so bad?" The sound of the door slamming ricochet in his brain and his headache got worse. The world spinned and he forgot who he was, why was there, and what he was doing.
---
"No, it's alright. I don't need help. Miss Marie, you have more than enough pressure on you." Oliver politely refused help.
"Oh, alright. Don't come crying for help when you need it though." Miss Marie turned the other way, holding her baskets filled with freshly picked grapes.
Oliver and his family lived as farmers in the District of Yerba. They went through many hardships, but eventually got accustomed to their lives. Oliver adored the comfort of the countryside, and even when his life got tough and his hands grew calloused, he never stopped loving his life.
It was something he had noticed. There was nothing harder for people to say than those three words. "I love life."
Oliver was a man determined to change that. As he carried the hay for the horses, he watched the other farmers enjoying themselves.
"Hey! Oliver! Are you taking care of the horses now?" One of them cried out, waving at him. "Who else is there to do it?" Oliver flashed a smile, radiating warmth. "Ha, not me!" They smiled as well, sitting back down.
Oliver turned back to his task, walking into the stables. "How are you doing, Max?" He asked the horse as it moved out of the way for him. Oliver placed the hay onto the ground and petted Max. "If only everyone knew how colorful the world could be. Wouldn't that be nice, Max?"
Max simply eyed Oliver. "It's impossible, right? There will always be someone is incapable of seeing the world in different colors. I wonder if I could meet them someday."
The word turned into spirals, screeching violins began to play their degenerate tunes, and screams filled the room. The only thing left of the world was the long gone image of a child confined in a locked room.
Alone, isolated. Strange the world was to that child. To think that there was something other than the black and white pigments of the world! The child surely must've been shocked. Or could they not even see those colors? Were they too far gone? A lost cause?
How weak that child must've been.
---
Jupiter opened his eyes to see nothing but a void. There was nothing but the color black. He couldn't feel anything, he was floating in space. It made him want to vomit, but there was nothing he could vomit out. Even if he tried to, it wouldn't work.
This was a world void of anything, no color, no life, there was nothing.
It was lonely, scary.
Dark, alone, weird.
"Why? Why'd you do this?" Jupiter softly asked. "Anyone else. There was anyone else."
"But the universe chose you."
A man with brown hair and yellow eyes appeared, floating above him.
"Me? Why me?"
"Perhaps that's a question you should be asking yourself."
Perhaps.