The Ancients World

Chapter 65: The journey to Zenith city III

{Now that a new kingdom is coming into existence it needs a name! The top liked name in the PARAGRAPH COMMENTS will be selected, feel free to give any suggestions! I also want to thank everyone for showing support to the story!}

I wish I had more of these moments growing up with them, it serves as a good reminder of what I’m fighting for. I look over at mom and dad and they are doing their parts at making this late night snack. Dad has graded plenty of cheese and now they are just standing side by side watching the hot dogs boil in the water. They are silent as they stand together, I can see their lives are much better now. Mom looks younger and dad no longer has a strained face, I’m glad that baldness doesn’t run in the family. Despite the stress and hard work dad has put in he still has a full head of hair. I look down at my pot of chili and can smell its enticing aroma of slight spice.

It looks done and ready to be eaten, I look back over at mom and dad and she is pulling out 6 hotdogs. My math skills tell me that’s 2 for each of us, I turn off the oven top and place the pot on a cooler burner. “The chili is all done, I’ll grab the hotdog buns and we can start to dig into the grub. The longer I wait the hungrier I get.” I can feel my stomach rumbling at the sight and scent of food. Chili and hotdogs is one of our favorite foods since its so cheap, thinking about it mom went and bought all our usual stuff and only got some expensive foods. I guess she cant bring herself to spend good money on unnecessary food.

I grab the hotdog buns and some plates, but before I can do anything more mom scoots me out of the way. “You two can go back to the couch, I’ll take it from here. I don’t want you making a mess of my beautiful kitchen by spilling chili all over it.” No point in arguing with her, in the end she is right. I would have made a mess since I’m so hungry and dad is just like me. I look over to my dad and he shrugs his shoulders and heads back to the couch. I look back to mom and she is holding a metal spoon to spread the chili with, but right now she is looking at me to make sure I don’t try anything funny.

As the Adamo’s sit down to have a delicious late night snack, the kingdoms in Ancients World are in chaos. The reason why is because a new kingdom is being formed and developed, and this new kingdom has a direct connection to the son. Many of Ancients World officials are speculating who knows the identity of the son, the church has already begun to open communications with this new kingdom. There is a meeting between the church and the remaining aligned kingdoms. The first to speak at this meeting is The Pope.

I walk up to the center stage and look at the empty chairs that surround me, I have failed in my duty as The Pope. My legacy will be one of mockery and shame, all I can hope to do now is undo the damage I have done. “We all know why we have gathered here today. There is a new kingdom being developed between the borders of Vedersfall and Zenith. While having them join us as all other kingdoms have, I have come to another conclusion.” The decision that I have come to will upset many, but the church is no longer what it once was, and that blame falls on me. “From this day forward the church will no longer crown kings and queens, that will be left to all of you and your citizens.” The silence immediately breaks and I hear whispers of why this is happening, I have found that the church has to much power. This is one of the reasons the coalition happened, they were tired of the church telling them what to do.

I have not discussed this with anyone and this is the first I’m announcing it. I look over to the youngest of my friends and I can see the betrayal in her eye’s. Lucy may never understand my decisions, but they are for the better of everyone. “The church will no longer have any political power in kingdoms, and for the last point. The search for The Son of Arch-Angel Michael will be the churches sole responsibility. You are free to do what you wish from now on, and please spread this news to the coalition. They deserve to know that they have been heard.” I wanted to address that point of interest first. Now on to the second subject for the day.

Now that the kingdoms are free of our demands and laws we are also free of some responsibilities. We no longer need to have soldiers stationed across the continent and the people who follow the church will see this as a new opportunity. “The church will no longer provide financial aid to countries, and we are pulling our soldiers from their positions. You are now responsible for your own protection and finding better ways to stimulate your economy.” Many did not like that financial aid is being taken away. If you want the bad taken away, you need to sacrifice some of the good. I have a terrible feeling that this meeting is going to be lasting for a long time.

As the meeting continues in the holy city, others are also trying to improve lives. One of these people being Wilted Rose, the tournament is just in its beginning stages and everyone knows they have a long way till this whole ordeal is over. Wilted Rose is currently speaking to her investors about the recent slash in gaming pod prices. I’m not surprised they would come to me when all of their money disappears, investing in bleeding edge tech is only profitable for so long. I’ll admit that this behavior is strange, J&X Inc. aren’t by any means stupid. So it does beg the question on why this is happening.

I listen to the investors bicker amongst themselves, I didn’t know that finding out who lost the most money can be turned into a competition. I raise my hands to quiet them down some, after a few seconds the arguing stops and I’m left to speak. “You aren’t the only guild investors going through this. All investors in the top guilds have lost huge amounts of money, so there is no reason to be mad at each other. This is something no one could have foreseen, whatever J&X is doing is not something good. Something happened at J&X for sure, we don’t even know if this is the end of the changes.” Many have pained faces at my words, for all their money. The only thing they can do is wait, its kind of sad if you look at it from the perspective I am. My guild and I remain unaffected by this, as do the players in my guild. The only things we lose out on is extra money we weren’t going to spend.

I don’t know what the future holds for the billionaires that invested in this endeavor, but I’m sure they will demand blood from J&X. Everyone is going to want their pound of flesh from the ones that caused their pain and suffering. “The best advice I can give is buy a gaming pod and start playing Ancients World, J&X Inc. did this for a reason and its obvious. For some reason they are making sure as many people are playing as possible. I wouldn’t want to find out why after the truth is revealed.” Its the conundrum of rather be prepared and it not happen than not be prepared and it happen. In this case we don’t even know what ‘it’ is so the only move to make is prepare.

I take a slight sigh and look upon these men in pity, they will need to learn how to play. The economy on a global scale is falling apart, I wouldn’t be surprised if J&X have to report to the UN. While this is happening to every guild that has investors I can see the problem that J&X is going to face, the only ones that can save J&X is the world government. As Wilted Rose further explains the situation Cera and his parents are watching breaking news as they devour chili dogs.

I’m eating chili cheese dogs with my parents at almost 4 am. Talk about a great night, as I enjoy watching the mess of food on my mom and dads face my attention is drawn away from them by the news alerting with breaking news. “In a shocking development the stock market has taken the biggest hit since the reformation of currency. This has lead to any people in debt or having loans to lose everything, many of the middle and lower class is now poverty stricken. Billions are calling for the responsible party, J&X, to be held responsible. This is a grim day for our world, I wish you all the best.” I can feel the tenseness coming from mom and dad, they have nothing to worry about anymore. All their debts and loans are paid for, and we are no longer lower class. I’m sure if this was a few weeks ago we would be homeless too.