His question hung in the air between them.

  “Are you saying that the riots outside... the arrests and the unrest everywhere... is because of something YOU did? Because you let Lord Veyron coerce you? Into making a pact with him? Those tyrants?” Altair's face turned pale with the realization.

  “I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry, I didn't-”

  “DIDN'T WHAT?! DIDN'T 'KNOW'?” Altair was practically shouting, a rarity for him. “Asheera! They take over everything they are allied with! They took Zentria, they took the Ambrecian Movement! They are 15 years into the war against Soul-Core... They are fighting the Macabre Flugel now! What made you think allying them was a great idea?”

  “I'm sorry... I'm sorry...”

  The sobbing was as loud as a drill.

  Altair's anger flared for a moment longer before the sadness he tried so hard to suppress crept in.

  His sister...

  His sweet, kind, albeit strong-willed sister...

  Made a mistake that cost millions.

  “...How could you have been so stupid, Asheera... How could you...”

  The regret in Altair's voice made Asheera's tears worse.

  She was the only woman in a room full of men, both in the negotiation room and in the room right now, with her brother. The patriarchs and matriarchs would've spat at her. A naive, pampered little princess playing queen in a war she couldn't win.

  Oh, how much trust Sachiel had in her but she threw it all away with a signature.

  She didn't just sign a document. She signed millions of death wishes.

  And now the grim reaper was coming to town real soon.

  Altair facepalmed, sitting down.

  “...We've become weak. What happened to the stories of our Mobilizers? Of the Royal Forces? They're going to be replaced with the heroism of foreigners who care not for our politics.”

  Altair had a decently-extreme anti-foreigner mindset. Not that he was racist, but he was definitely apart of the group of people who wanted total neutrality. You could say that he thought Lantisul was right more than Azrael was.

  That was part of the reason why he left the Royal Family to live in Makaku Town in Dankasho.

  His anger deflated, leaving behind the chilling emptiness of dread.

  “... Altair, I'm sorry-”

  “I know you are... It's not your fault. Testharia doesn't know much of the outside world. It is my fault for not telling you enough.” Altair replied, shaking.

  .:. Sachiel would have your head for this, my sister... Unless he knows already. .:.

  “You've been living with this for how long now?”

  “... 2 months.” She whispered.

  Altair's face showed a mixture of emotions that quickly dissipated into the pale look of shock. The only audible noise was the sobbing of Asheera. Altair stood in silence for a solid minute before he decided to break the silence with words, cautioning restraint.

  “Asheera... Have you told him? Has Sachiel found out?” The question came out as if it hurt to say.

  “He knew instantly.”

  “Fuck...” Altair leaned back, looking at the ceiling. His hands trembling.

  “So all those Search and Rescue missions, him meeting Flynnigan Shotaro... all of it was him... giving up? Because he knows that we're doomed?” Altair whispered.

  Asheera's sobs quieted to sniffles. “... I don't think it's because of that... Greatfather Azrael didn't die for Sachiel to ditch all of us. We need to talk some sense into him, Alt.”

  “I think you're the one who needs some sense talked into you more than anyone right now. You should've told me, Asheera. You should've told me as soon as possible...”

  “What would you've done?”

  “I don't know? Speak to him like a brother? Not like you've done much to that end.” Altair sighed.

  Another silence filled the room, though this one felt heavier. There's only a limited amount of silence a room can take. This room, specifically, felt like it was about to crumble to dust under the weight of regret.

  “... Anyways, if you think that will work, go ahead. Personally, I think Sachiel should sacrifice half of his power to the people and the government. Outsiders speak of us like we're dictators while they know nothing about our humble culture. From my position... I'm not blinded by rose-tinted glasses and familial obligations... I can see what they mean.”

  He was being unbiased.

  “That's... That's an insane proposition.”

  “And your alliance with Veyron wasn't?”

  “...”

  “A single man with all the power in the world is someone with absolute power. And that power will corrupt absolutely. The government does nothing but whisper upon death ears. The glistening skyrises of Tristate City blinds people of the crime and destitute. We are not perfect, so why force a facade to everyone else? The last time a world tried to be perfect, that world was destroyed.”

  Altair gestured out the window, at the sprawling cityscape of Tristate City. Below, were riots. Police Mobilizers were holding the lines, but they were struggling.

  “Alt... I didn't know that you had such a view on Testharia.”

  Altair sighed, pulling the curtains shut.

  “I may have left the Royal Family, Asheera. But I will not leave Testharia to die. My product should not be so successful, especially here. We are near an impasse.”

  “Impasse?”

  “Soon, Sachiel will make a decision that will either save or destroy this planet. I hope that the foreigners that he only met a month doesn't have more of an influence than his own fucking planet. Do you realize how absurd that sounds? A possible war and the Great Kamisword is babysitting a kid and a traveler. That kid you talk about can't even fight and they're talking about how he has some 'innate' power. I don't buy it.”

  “... I will talk to him. I'll persuade him-”

  “Good luck. He can be as stubborn as the very mountains we built our cities out of.”

  “You still know him as the stubborn guy he once was. That was years ago. He isn't like that anymore, Altair.”

  “I have my reasons.”

  “He just lost view of what he's fighting for!”

  “Oh yeah, he sure did.” Altair looked back at her. “Wanna guess how many people have died ever since the foreigners started brainwashing him? This all started to become worse as soon as they arrived. The Slaughter of the Innocent, Zephite City and now... this. 3.6 million people and a couple 4000 extra, Asheera! He is ignoring those actively!” Altair argued back, his calm demeanor nowhere to be found.

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  “How dare you insinuate that he has no sympathy!”

  Asheera stood up.

  “HE CRIED FOR THEM! You can't assume he doesn't care about them! He has been doing SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS, ALTAIR! Here and on Dankasho! If he didn't care about them, he would've sat still on the throne like you said! Don't you DARE say he has no sympathy for them!”

  The outburst surprised Altair. He had never seen Asheera so defensive about Sachiel's actions. For a moment, he saw a flicker of the leader she was meant to be.

  “... You know why Dankasho was doomed when that terrorist attacked?”

  Altair asked. His voice low. “Because Kaioshun wanted to kill the two foreigners that Sachiel babysat because of some fucking fairy tale. All that tragedy for a fairy tale! A make believe! Because that terrorist didn't get what he wanted, he went on and committed a genocide! A genocide that Sachiel FAILED TO STOP!”

  “Do you even hear yourself? You left us for years and suddenly you're the expert on Testharian politics? Well, guess what!? You're not the cream of the fucking crop, you coward! You hide in your pharmaceutical company while we fight! I fought CHAOS and saved the Mobilizers Base that YOU supply to! What have YOU been doing aside from supplying medical gear to the enemy lines!? You haven't even been there!”

  “...”

  Altair's silence wasn't one of defeat. It was cold and calculating. He let the silence build up as each accusation a physical blow in the oppressive space of the room.

  “... You're right, I wasn't there. Because I didn't want to be a part of a family that allows genocides to happen in the expense of foreigners. You guys make the same mistakes your 'Greatfather' Azrael did. He let foreigners walk all over Testharia as if it were their own.”

  “...”

  “The universe is knocking on our doors. Greatfather Azrael opened the box with open arms, now we can't close our arms anymore. Sachiel is doing the exact same thing but he's bringing the Earthlings to us now.” Altair stood up, looking down at Asheera, now her once cheerful but now sad look was replaced with anger. Rage.

  “We have to kick those foreigners out and focus on preparing for war. I don't care how angry he will get.”

  Asheera fell to her knees, slamming the floor. Her sobs returned, a raw and desperate sound. “It's all my fault, it's all my fault!” She yelled in despair as her Soul-Aura manifested unconsciously. If she continued, she might destroy the entire top floor.

  “Asheera...”

  She closed her eyes. She could see the streets below them. A riot is about to start. The anger of Testharians being pointed to the Royal Tower, pointed at the Erias.

  All my fault. It was all my fault.

  I was wrong.

  Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong! When have I done anything that was good for this world!? When have I done anything that helped this world that Greatfather Azrael built from the ground up? Every breath I take, every step I've taken put all my people in jeopardy! My feet and my hands are all soaked with the blood of my people! When have I acted accordingly as a Second-Leader without sacrificing everything because of my fucking naivety!? Every decree I've signed, every word I've spoken all sounds ignorant! Ignorant! Stupid! Each official document I stamped with the royal seal, it's all a lie! It's just a confession of my incompetence, showing just how much I've failed to protect them! I'm supposed to be the light in the darkness when the leader's light has dimmed. I'm supposed to be the leading voice when the leader's not here! They all look at me with hopeful eyes, but I return that gaze with a horrifying end! All I see reflected in their faces is the ruin I bring upon them! I'm supposed to be guiding my people to prosperity, not march them into a graveyard with every stupid decision! All my life I've been dismissed by everyone even when I tried do right. Even when I was wrong, I apologized because I was trying to do right. I'm not stupid all the time! I do have a brain! I do know this and that! I do know right from wrong! I do know when to stop, when to be serious, when to be relevant in a conversation! but I am always dismissed! Dismissed! Because I can't do things right! I thought I was right but I'm not! I'm always wrong! I hate myself for it, do you hear me!? Do you hear me saying this to everyone I know? I hate myself! I should never be trusted with anything in my life because I destroy everything I touch! Everyone is doomed because of me! Everyone is doomed because I made a decision! Why am I entrusted with such a decision as well!? I can't even think! I am constantly pitied, constantly the laughing stock of everywhere I used to call home. Even here! The Royal Family spits at me! I'm just some good-for-nothing brute who only knows how to fight well! I fight, I don't think! Why put me in such a high ranking position when this pathetic girl can't even think? Did you know I was going to fuck up, just so you could laugh at me more? To get more angry at me and throw me out of this family like Roselka was? Shut up! I was just trying to be right for once! I don't always want to be wrong! I want to add weight to what I say! I want my screams and yelling to not fall onto deaf ears! I want people to think about what I say! I want people to reflect on what I say! But no one listens to me! No one has ever listened to me! If I kill myself right here, right now, would you then listen to me!? Or would you play it off like you finally waited for this moment? You would, wouldn't you? You would laugh at my grave! No! You wouldn't take me to the grave at all! You would leave me here to rot while you continue laughing at all the things I've said! This weight... Why is Sachiel the favourite child of this family? Why is Altair loved even more than me even though he wasn’t here for years? Why is Myrcella getting more attention than me when she’s younger than me? She isn’t even a Testharian! I could scream right now but even that will be ignored! I protect Sachiel and yet I want to tear him apart for the things he has done. But I’m just tearing myself apart! I want to tear myself apart! Because this isn’t his fault! It’s my fault! How pathetic of a person do you have to be to accept an alliance proposal from the son of someone that put the entire galaxy in a chokehold? I can’t forgive myself for this! I WON’T forgive myself for this! I’ll torture myself if that is what it takes for my sins to be atoned! I’ll torture myself if that is what it takes for people to listen to me! No! I’m wrong! I’m always wrong! Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong! They don’t listen to me because I make bad choices! That’s how it is! This weight... I put this weight on myself for all the bad reasons. This weight on my shoulders is suffocating me, pressing against my throat, squeezing my breath from my lungs! I deserve this! All because of one fucking single, dumb, foolish choice I've made! I thought I was worthy of sitting at that negotiation table! How fucking wrong was I! I'm weak! I'm so pathetically weak! I want to fucking kill myself! It haunts me! It haunts me way too much! I could've said no! I should've said no! Would my defiance have changed anything when we were already doomed from the start? Is Kytan Veyron going to knock on our door even if I said no? No... NO! NO NO NO! I can't convince myself! I can't believe it! We are all just doomed from the start. The moment Greatfather Azrael opened his arms to the outside world, that's when we were doomed! My signature... wasn't the first nail in our coffin! It was just another addition to our long line of fatal errors that led us to this precipice! A precipice I can see clearly now from this tower that was meant to mean something for the people, not become the result of a dying process! Altair is right! We have become weak! We were strong because we didn't care about what happened in the outside world! We have enough resources to support our planet for tens and thousands of years more! We don't need ANYONE! For every minute we've opened our arms... another rope hangs around the neck of a Testharian. There are ropes hanging around the necks of all Testharians! Including me! Altair! Sachiel! Maduk! Marin! Everyone! I hammered the final nail home with my own desperate, pathetic attempt at diplomacy! I just wanted to feel known. I was always a second-rate to everyone. I just wanted to feel like a queen... but that was it. I was being stupid! I always am! I sat on that negotiation table playing dress-up as a queen when I'm denser than an infant! I want to kill myself! Just die! Die! Die you stupid idiot! Diediediediediediediediediediediediedie!

  “FUUUCK!”

  Asheera started punching herself in her face, prompting Altair to grab her hand and stop her. Her knuckles were red and her left cheek was bleeding. But her rage was far beyond being held by a simple grab.

  “ASHEERA! STOP! STOP! NOW! YOU'RE DESTROYING YOURSELF!”

  He pinned her down to the floor.

  “Let me go! Let me go! I deserve this! I killed them! I killed my people!” She screeched. The Soul-Aura was fluctuating wildly. Altair couldn't believe it anymore. Was he protecting an enemy or his sister?

  He squeezed her arms. He had to stop her. “Asheera, get a hold of yourself! Listen to me! Listen! It's okay! It's OKAY!!”

  “LET ME GO!”

  “NO!”

  Altair's grip tightened, his knuckles white. For the first time, he saw the raw, untamed power within his sister, a force she could barely control.

  “We can fix this! We can still fix this! Calm the fuck down, please!” Altair's desperate pleads fell onto deaf ears as she started screaming again.

  “I don't want to live anymore, Altair! Just let me die!”

  Ah.

  It just sounds like her old self.

  Has she really returned to that pathetic side of herself once again?

  Is death, a great escape, all that she wants?

  Has she never heed anything her best friend said to her?

  Asheera's screams died down into a whimper. The raw energy around her dissipated into nothing but a small and pitiful gust of wind.

  Altair let go of her and sat on the floor beside her. Asheera's arms hit the floor as she stared at the ceiling. A dead stare, as if she were dead inside. Her tears stopped flowing, and her breath calmed down.

  It's over.

  The meltdown has passed.

  “... I tried persuading Sachiel too... and it didn't work. There's something bugging him too and I know you've realized that. It's almost like he saw things in a bigger picture... Like we don't know what's going on... I'm sorry... I shouldn't've been so hard on you guys. There's always the possibility that I was in the wrong...” He whispered. Her words were slow and heavy.

  Asheera didn't react to that. She kept staring.

  She tried her best to be a strong leader. But a naive mistake caused her to crumble. To dust.

  Her entire world is now a cellar of ghosts.

  Maybe Altair was right.

  Maybe Sachiel should sacrifice half of his power.

  Maybe she should give up her leadership to him.

  And maybe she should resign as the Second-Leader.

  Maybe she should die.