My Kingdom of Rubble

The pair sat there in silence, Ozzy soaking in the tale. "So, you feed off of the physical manifestation of love, attempted to lay siege to a very loving city, failed, and were cast out from your hive? That's the gist of it?" He finished, taking another bite of the meat which he had served himself. "That is my tale in its entirety. I may only look to the past and realize what other tactics I may have used, where I went wrong, etc." She looked toward the fire, a somber look adorning her face.

"That sounds like a tough situation. You have my sympathy for the state of which you find yourself in now," Ozzy said. Chrysalis looked to him. "Thank you. Of course, I have only myself to blame for not recognizing the threat that Ersatz posed. It was my misstep that cause the failure." She averted her gaze. "I should not have been blinded by my desperation to be a fair ruler. I should have cast that turncoat out as soon as I saw him enter my chambers." Her eyes glazed over, reflecting on her mistakes.

"You can't blame yourself for what you couldn't possibly see coming." She looked back at him. "I mean, sure, declaring war on someone was not something that I would have done, and the banditry was a little uncalled for, but you work with what you have from the inside. Why couldn't you feed off of each other?" Ozzy said, earning a glare from Chrysalis. "If we were to feed off of one another, it would have been a pointless endeavor. It would be an endless cycle of sucking the life force from one another, something that we could not afford to do."

Ozzy pondered this. "So you needed a giant source of love that continued to replenish its stock, something that, as far as I know, doesn't exist." Chrysalis nodded in agreement. "Precisely. The closest conduit of infinite love would be the very bride that I replaced, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." She finished, her voice taking on a mocking tone. Ozzy, constantly evaluating the options, pressed further. "Then why did you not attempt to strike a deal with the princess in secret? Did you attempt that before going to war?"

Chrysalis felt anger beginning to boil inside of her. "As a matter of fact, we did at one point attempt to establish a connection with the princess. Being scared out of her wits once our agents dropped their camouflage, she threatened to call the guard if we did not vacate her premises immediately." Her voice became more hostile as she spoke. "Again, our past reputation of bandits and cutthroats once again bit us in the backside. She had heard tales of caravans coming under attack in the middle of the desert by our squads, something that I could not control." She emphasized the last part of her sentence, hoping to drive the point home.

Ozzy, for his part, would not relent. "Well it sounds as though your government was nothing but a bunch of bandits, even more so when you went along with Ersatz's plan! 'Sure, let's just invade another country and steal all of their love! That'll go over well!'" He finished with a roll of his eyes, while Chrysalis' were beginning to blaze in anger. "I was young, I was fooled!" She stood up to her full height. "I had no idea what I was doing as queen, alright?! I'd like to see you attempt to rule a kingdom when the only thing on your pre-pubescent mind was how nice of an ass the bodyguard had!" She stood inches from Ozzy's face. "How dare you sit there and judge me! What gives you the right to trivialize my rule as queen? Who do you think you are?!"

Her voice echoed throughout the cave. For a few moments, the only sounds were the crackle of the fire, Chrysalis' panting, and the wind howling outside.

Ozzy stared at her. His eyes, once calm and neutral, now gave the sense of 'calm before the storm'. Staring into the man's eyes, Chrysalis began to feel a cold chill run down her spine, not caused by the chilly cave. After a minute of pure silence and glaring, Ozzy set his meal back towards the fire, and spoke. "Where I come from, there were no true leaders." Ozzy stood, walking toward a nearby wall of the cave. "They had the power of a nation at their fingertips, yet did not know how to wield it. None of them did, especially those who attempted to extend their rule by beating others into submission, so that men who held themselves in higher regard would stand against them."

He ran his hand along the smooth rock. "Their arrogance and hubris transformed a once great nation into a smoldering crater. Even after my world essentially killed itself, men rose from the ashes, claiming power where there was none. One thing I have learned from history and personal experience is that great kingdoms come from morale. If you do not believe in your rule, why should anyone else? Convincing your citizens that the enemy is born from the devil himself, and that you are the knight in shining armor, is what conquers."

He looked back at Chrysalis. " 'Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.' A man born hundreds of years before me said that, and he was right. These idiots had no idea, nor the right to be running a nation. I have spent years convincing the people of my nation that I was not the enemy, but their friend. Then, I spent even longer convincing them that MY enemy was THEIR enemy." Pacing back and forth, he continued. "Factions of men bearing different flags, morals and ideals have fought, died, and been reborn time and time again. The phrase 'History repeats itself' holds more merit than most realize."

Chrysalis was confused by his words. "Well, what qualified YOU to become a ruler?" Ozzy let out a chuckle at that. "What qualifies any man to be greater than the other? From all of the historical texts that I have recovered, my rule is similar to an ancient king. The man who informed me of this, however, did not divulge the ending to me." Ozzy sat back down by the fire. He turned towards the Changeling. "You think that I analyze your rule without merit? You question who I am?" His gaze turned icy as he leaned over, now close enough so that she felt his breath on her nose. "You want to know who I am?" His eyes frigid with unfeeling. "I am THE goddamn king. The one who greater men fear, the one who forces weaker men into submission." Chrysalis backed away from the man as he continued.

"I AM king. Never forget that."

The anger which Chrysalis felt moments ago dissipated into fear. This man, who was an enigma to speak to, gave her reason to pause. Surely, he was not the most mentally stable individual, but she sensed something greater, something more sinister. As he returned to his position near the fire, Chrysalis swallowed, her throat becoming dry during Ozzy's proclamation.

"Very well, Ozzy. I have told you my tale, now I believe it is your turn." Chrysalis shifted her body so that she was directly facing the Courier.

"Fair enough, I'll tell you. I'll warn you, though, it's a long one."

Make sure to include the part about your friends.

Fuck you.