“ King Jodeus ”

Jodeus recognized the somewhat lousy handwriting. It was Natiya's. And he smiled, in a somewhat nostalgic way, before reading the rest of the letter that was addressed directly to Malue.

Every word dripped with suspicion and accusation. It was only in his head but he had imagined everyone in the letter was the Tanzanite people in unity pointing a finger at him. 'Calm down,' he had told himself.

At the end of the page was a discomforting sign.

"Sincerely… King Jodeus," he read his name out loud.

When Malue had said that they were using his name, he thought it was only a white lie to simply convince him. And maybe, there was some flicker of truth to that. With a bit of optimism, maybe that's why they had been using his name…But was he actually welcomed back?

Despite his doubts, he had already made his decision. He grabbed a clean piece of paper and started to write, for the first time after a long time.

"Yeesh. That is some ugly handwriting. Are you really a Prince?" asked Malue as he looked over his shoulder to check.

Jodeus gave him a snide eye before continuing to jot down everything that he thought would prove that the Uvite meant well, but it felt strained and forced. His pen shook and he had to start over, so he crumpled the paper and grabbed a new one.

The thought of coming home was a lot more overwhelming than he thought. He wanted to run away again. Forget this ever happened. But at the same time, he wanted to feel the ocean again.

"No stress. It's not like parchment and ink don't cost a fortune here," said Malue.

Jodeus rolled his eyes, and the tip of the nib hovered over the white parchment. What does he need to say? That he was sorry for leaving or that he was coming back? Surely they would ask why and that's not something he was ready to answer. He gripped the pen harder…

Was there a use for him coming back? He hadn't told Malue that he had lost his blessings, surely he would need him to play a role other than some who would barter a good word.

He took a deep breath and turned to him. "Before I do this, what kind of mission did you send Ektes to?"

"Rest assured, it is dangerous but not dangerous enough for him," he said, thinking it was actually reassuring. He then genuinely smiled, a bright look that didn't match his exhausted face.

"Well? What's the mission?" pressed Jodeus.

"A very important one… you'll know it soon," he said with a calm demeanor. "After all, a slight change in the cog could either perfect or destroy the whole machine,"

Jodeus didn't say anything, instead turned back to the desk and started writing.

To my dear good friend and sparring rival—

-

The response was quick to come.

The unfortunate thing was that 'King Jodeus' had wanted them to come to Tanzanite instead, not the other way around. Malue expected this, he thought about the bigger chance to defeat Carnelia in, and of course, the Tanzanite had the elemental advantage.

And if Zemus Alkyone were to return to his homeland, they might just overtake what they once had.

More so, he needed a better alliance, those who can fight, not some pansies. He wasn't in the room for negotiations, as much as he hated to admit it. But according to Jodeus, they were reasonable people.

He had to take precautions as well, so he had sent Ektes down there in the Uvites. He could only hope for the best for this mission.

"First thing tonight, we set sail!"

The counselor had read the letter from the Tanzanite with a hopeful grin. Not sparing a single moment, every warship they had set sail for Tanzanite.

The plan is simple:

Arrive at Tanzanite without getting caught. Negotiate a demand. Meet the Tanzanite demand. Meet the Uvite demand. And they'll be getting their countries back.

"Seems a simple enough plan…" said Jodeus, taking in what Malue had said. "Too general of a plan."

"We'll make the strategic plans once we negotiate the proper way," said Malue patiently, he pounded the walls of the ship, it was hard metal and there was hardly any sound. "I have full confidence in our mechanics, after all, it was our warships that drove their fleets back to their side of the ocean."

Jodeus agreed, he had forgotten about the engineers of the Uvite. They were hard-headed yet innovative people. And compared to the traditional ships the Tanzanites had (without the help of his father's blessings), this was much faster.

When he gazed out the window, they were miles far above the surface of the ocean, the warships carried by an Azurite enchantment. Above them were the renowned wind crafts of the Azurites, which were partially engineered by the Uvitians to use for their army. It operated as a two-person flying machine that is capable to hide within the clouds, it was one of the reasons why the Carnelians have not been able to infiltrate the Azurite ports. It outpaced every other warship.

Something had flown inside the window. A messenger bird. Jodeus approached it and grabbed the letter by hand, careful not to get pecked.

"No Carnelian patrols in sight," read Jodeus. "Reported by one of the Azurite flyers ahead."

Malue hummed in acknowledgment and busied himself with a map that actually included the charts of Tanzanite. It looked smaller than the rest of the nations and he knew it wasn't accurate.

But it was nice to look at.

"According to this 'King Jodeus', we are to meet near the border, not within the border," Malue said.

Even Jodeus thought it was odd. There was nothing outside the border. But then again, he also heard that the border was destroyed. It had been a long time since then so things must have changed.

He went outside for some fresh air or rather, fresh clouds. It was cold, wet, and eerie. He could barely see a thing with the clouds.

When he thought no one was looking he reached his hand out to try and stop the water from hitting his face.

Nothing happened.

"Two King's pardon? How lucky!" said a voice from behind him.

He turned and saw Beer and his brother, his old prison mates.

"You're alive!" exclaimed Jodeus, actually surprised to see them.

"And free," he said with a great deal of satisfaction. "When I heard you were wanted for something, I thought we were going to share the same floor again."

Jodeus laughed, remembering the harsh days in prison. It was somewhat bearable with them beside him.

"What exactly happened after… well how did you guys get driven out?"

They both looked at each other with serious looks. "It was horrid. When the Carnelian had destroyed everything. It got us by surprise, the Carnelians weren't… 'Carnelians'. They were corpses, animals, or even debris, that attacked everything."

He paused, "Not even King Malue could hold them off. They were immortal. And so he freed us, prisoners, got us to fight alongside the army. Even then, it wasn't enough…

"We stayed there until almost all of the citizens have escaped the Capital Mountain. Almost. The whole city was destroyed. We barely managed to escape ourselves, King Malue had almost died carrying all of us to the docks for Azurite, creating a giant platform that carried the whole army until we reached the sky. "

Jodeus pursed his lips. Remembering what the Azurite stone had told him. If Malue were to give up, what will happen to all of them?

"Heard you and that commander were a thing now, eh?" said Beer, trying to lighten up the mood. His brother nodded.

"Yeah, we're---" he cut himself when a thought crossed his mind. "I'm sorry, I need to deal with something. We'll catch up later!"

Beer and his brother nodded and watched him hurry off back to the cabin.

He opened the last door and faced Malue with heaving breaths.

"What's your plan?"

"Like I said---"

"You can't give up and have Ektes bear all that responsibility!" he yelled, slamming his hands down at the map.

His assumption was correct as Malue sat on his chair with a solemn and exhausted look.

"I am tired and he has already agreed to take my place once something unforeseen happens."

Jodeus scoffed. "What? Do you plan to die or something?"

"Yes. I do, in fact."

This made Jodeus's blood boil. "Your people need you and you're just going to abandon them like that?"

He knew it was hypocritical of him, and Malue knew this as well. But he didn't point it out.

"I will not abandon them," he stated, as though, it wasn't the first time he was explaining this. "They will simply have to live without me. Once Ektes receive a great blessing from the Uvite, then that proves himself worthy of being King. Aren't you happy? If we manage to succeed, both of you will unite as the power couple, " he jested.

"… I don't have my blessings. There is no power. "

There was a moment of silence between them. Malue looked at him to see if he was joking. "What the hell did you do?"

"I sacrificed everything and then I gave up, that's what I did." He confessed and was surprised to hear it out loud from his mouth.

But Malue only hummed. "What a shame. A disappointment at twenty-one. " he shook his head.

"That's not the point! What I'm saying is, you can't just do whatever you want in life and dump your responsibility with someone else, "

"I will not have a child lecture me on life in which he has yet to live so much of. I was born a king and stayed as the king even when my other half was not there. You were born to be king and you had run away." He said gruffly, although there wasn't an accusation in his voice.

"…And now you have a chance to take it all back. Even without your blessing, I'm sure the people will still follow you. I, on the other hand, should pass down what I have to the next one who will rise to be the next king as I, unfortunately, can feel my hip withering. And you, another unfortunate thing, can't conjure up any ice cubes for it!"

"Jest aside, to die for your people is the greatest honor I shall receive, and I shall accept nothing else."

Jodeus had nothing to say to all of that. He only sighed and flopped down right next to him. "If you say so… " he muttered.

Malue smiled triumphantly. "Take my words as a blessing since you don't have anything else. Choose wisely no matter what, not because you had to choose it at the moment."

-

The entire ship shook, making it difficult for him to hold his footing. He then peered before a rock of some sort blasted through it, shattering it into pieces. He stood up, eyes squinted slightly because of the pain. But no glass made its way to his eyes. He made his way outside, unable to get himself together. He leaned against the doors of quarters, trying to hold on. There was an uproar outside, muffled by the metallic walls.

When he eventually kicked the door open, the ruckus got louder and louder. He managed to make his way outside where everyone was in a state of panic. He spotted Malue near the front, hurling commands at his soldiers.

They were besieged by a hale storm.

Large spiked ice rained down on them, he searched beyond the deck and saw no other warships besides them. The windcrafts were nowhere to be seen, he couldn't even tell if they were in the sky anymore.

"We have to land on the sea!" shouted Malue, which was barely by everyone. "Everyone! Hold on to something!"

His feet were instantly off the deck, and he was floating without anything to grab on. The entire battleship began to descend, he screamed but someone grabbed him his arm firmly and pulled him down. It was Beer, clinging to the railings. Jodeus did his best to grab on as tight as he could but his hands were too watery and cold.

"Hang on!" yelled Beer, but his grip was slipping.

And before he knew it, a large chunk of ice struck him in the face, and the last thing he saw was Beer shouting at him as he faded into the distance.

He looked down at the angry sea before someone grabbed him once again. It was Malue.

They both hit the sea.

"I can't believe it's actually him," said a voice, a deeper, yet somewhat familiar one, and then a laugh. "He looks taller and… a lot more muscular,"

Jodeus painstakingly opened his eyes to find pointy rocks instead of the pure blue sky he had expected. He sat up instantly, startled, but immediately realized that those were stalactites and would not knife him to death. His body ached and he was groggy, the same dizziness he had felt the first time he awoke after nearly drowning. He had forgotten about this feeling, he didn't miss it, at all.

He turned to where the voice was and then there 'they' were, Natiya, staring down at him. He sprung to his feet, tripping over a stalagmite, and embraced them as he fell. The armor was hard and cold but he didn't care.

"I'm sorry," choked Jodeus. "Forgive me."

Natiya was quick to hug him back. "You're making it really difficult for me to hate you, you know," they said with a bitter smile.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated.

"I know. I'm sorry too… I should've been there as a friend,"

Jodeus took another look at Natiya, who did the same. It had been so long. Too long. He embraced them once again.

-

King Jodeus's army was hiding and sheltering in anchialine caves, along with civilians that had nowhere to go. To his relief, Natiya did not put him in the spotlight in front of the people. He wasn't ready to face them yet, that would have to wait.

"Ah, look whose alive and well," said Malue.

Jodeus came up to him. "Thank you, for saving me,"

Malue hummed and ushered him to stay beside him. He noticed that they were in a dry section of the cave, large enough to fit a large table and a few other items. He could feel the glances and hear the whispers from the knights, some of whom he recognized (who also recognized him back) and a few who he didn't (who were only getting an idea of who he was). He averted his gaze and stood near Malue, trying to make himself invisible.

Natiya carried a scroll, a long one at that, and unrolled it on the table. Surprising both Jodeus and Malue.

"Let's start negotiations."