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The great hall feels empty without the king’s presence. Ros sits on the throne, practicing for her new position. The regal curtains are open, letting the light shine through from the big windows. The totem, sitting at the top of the throne, shines especially brightly as the light hits its emerald eyes. Because of this, the room fills with a tint of green sunlight. Ros tears up at the sight. She feels a warmth around her, comforting her. When the reflection of the light leaves the eyes, the room feels empty again. Ros sighs, and she pushes herself off the throne.***The sun sets behind the castle, casting an orange light that deepens in color, fighting for its last gasp of life, until it finally dims into the cold and dark night. Clown looks ahead, and he heads towards the door, walking inside.“Ros! Ros, my friend, where are you?”Shuffling comes from deep inside the castle. “My G!” A cheery and warm voice calls to him, “I’ll be right there!”“No worries.” Clown smiles to himself. “Take your time.”Clown makes his way, slowly approaching the throne. His hand touches the arm rest, which is cold at the touch. Staring back at him, is his own face, reflected by the golden shimmer of the throne. Clown takes a deep breath, feeling a sense of calmness come over him.Ros’s footsteps brings Clown back to reality, and he turns towards the sound.“I fear I bring terrible news.”Clown walks down the steps carefully. His face softens. “How so?”Ros’s shoulders fall, and her eyes glance towards the throne. “There’s been a terrible tragedy that was bestowed upon us by surprise.”Clown follows her eyes.“The king was murdered.”Clown looks at the top of the throne, at the emerald eyes looking over the hall. “How is this possible?”“I’ve been told multiple stories. At first, I was told that it was at the hands of Baghera.”Clown turns his head to Ros. She doesn’t seem convinced.“It was a rumor perpetrated by the Hostile Faction.” Ros scoffs. “Although I found out that there were multiple witnesses that night. Callum is one of them, so I asked him.”“Right.”“He told me that Baghera took the blame for the King’s death. She covered for Pili.”“Pili killed him?”“Yes. The Hostile Faction threatened Callum to stay quiet, but he didn’t agree. He told me the truth.”“I’m not surprised.” Clown glances at the throne. “So our King has been murdered.” Clown looks back at Ros. “I’m assuming it’s related with their impending deadline.”“I think so too.” Ros turns to look at the throne. “There’s something else.”“What else is there?”Ros makes a fist with her hand, which she tries to hide by putting it in front of her. “I have been titled interim Queen.”“I see.” Clown keeps his eyes on Ros. “I can’t think of anyone else more deserving.”Ros’s shoulders tense. “I’m very honored by the trust the kingdom has placed on me. The King brought hope to all of us. I just wish I can do the same.”“I think that you’ll do good with the power.” Clown walks beside her, and places a hand on her shoulder. “You have the ability to build strong foundations. I think you’re more than qualified for this.”Ros smiles kindly at Clown. “Thank you.” Ros looks at the throne, focusing on the totem’s eyes. “I’ll give it my best.”***At the highest point of the wall, Ros looks to the ground below her, carefully counting the dimensions of the newest wall she created. The wind hits her face easily at this altitude. She can see Tubbo’s tavern from the distance, and a land filled with promise of a kingdom barely held together.Ros places another brick down, making it the last one in line to complete the wall. She peaks over again, making sure the wall looks up to her standards. “Great!”Ros takes out a water bucket, and she throws herself down, pouring the water before her feet touch the ground. She walks over to the left of the wall, to the open space in desperate need for enclosure so that wild mobs stay out of the castle’s inner walls. Ros reaches towards her back, and she takes out her netherite spear, that has a purple glimmer. She pounces on a zombie, and she pushes the spear into is head. The zombie turns to smoke, disintegrating before her eyes. Ros makes a final walkthrough, before she decides that the expansion is moving along to her standards, and she finally walks towards the front of the castle.In her room, Ros opens the chest in front of her. She peaks inside, looking over the stacks of stone bricks. She shuffles them around, but she doesn’t find what she’s looking for. She closes that chest, and she opens the one next to it.The front door opens with a loud echo that travels through the walls of the castle. Ros peaks out of the chest, and she grips on the spear that hangs on her back.“Hey, Ros!” A taunt echoes in the hall. “Where are you?”Ros sighs, looking down. “Hey Rooooos. Come out, come out, wherever you are.”Ros looks up at the ceiling, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. She grits her teeth together. “Yes, I’ll be right there!”Ros hurries out of her room, and towards the great hall. The curtains are closed, blocking the daylight from the room. It leaves a dark aura on the hall that looks favorable with the sunlight. Tommy steps away from a window, sword in hand.Ros maintains her smile. “Hello! Did you guys need something?”Tommy looks to his left, towards the frog that’s standing by the door. His smile is wicked, taunting.Tommy looks back at Ros. “Just wanted to see how the Kingdom of Fools is holding up without their Fool.”Harry laughs on command, and Tommy snickers in return.Ros loses the glimmer in her eyes, but her smile withstands. “Good! Yeah, we’re obviously sad from the death of our King, but we’re maintaining our spirits.”Tommy’s eyebrows furrow. “Sounds like you don’t miss him much.”Ros walks over to the window, and she grabs the curtain.Tommy moves his sword right next to her hand, blocking her from lifting it. “Let’s talk.”Ros takes a deep breath. She moves away from the curtain slowly, keeping her eyes on Tommy.Harry walks closer to both of them, moving to Tommy’s side. “You know, Foolish did us a favor that day.” Harry reaches towards his back, and he pulls out a spear, similar to Ros, but the quality of the stone and the handle looks weaker. Not to mention that the material is different, far less lethal than netherite. “That doesn’t mean his corruption is obsolete now.”“Corruption?” Ros glares at Harry. “Our King was anything but corrupt. He cared for his people.” She moves closer to him. “In fact, he saved your Faction by sacrificing his life. So for you to even insinuate otherwise—”Tommy holds out his sword in front of Ros, blocking her from moving closer to Harry. “He self proclaimed himself as a monarch from the first day on this server. In fact, Pangi mentioned how he’d tax his citizens.”“Pangi betrayed the Kingdom!”“Maybe so.” Harry moves towards Ros.Tommy moves the sword forward, forcing Ros to step back.“That doesn’t mean he’s wrong.” Harry, now in front of Ros, stabs the wall beside her face with the spear on his hand. “After all, didn’t your Kingdom self appoint you to a higher position? From my understanding, it wasn’t done very democratically.”Ros doesn’t flinch. “The Kingdom entrusted me with that title. I am honored.”Harry pushes the spear deeper, making the wall crumble. “I’m sure that you are. Honestly, I think they’ve done it out of pity. I mean, it was a way to make you feel better as the weakest link of their faction.”The image of Harry’s skull having a dent just as profound as the one he made on the wall brings a smile to Ros’s face. It was a shame that Aimsey wouldn’t approve of it.Harry’s eyes widen. He breaks eye contact with Ros. He laughs nervously to hide his affliction, and he pulls the spear from the wall. “I’m just saying. Don’t flatter yourself too much.”Tommy lowers his sword, freeing Ros from the wall. “If you think the server will bow to your Kingdom’s orders, you better think again.”The two men walk towards the castle wall. Harry right out, but Tommy lingers at the last second. “See you later, your highness.”Ros watches as Tommy finally leaves, without bothering to close the door. She waits for a couple of minutes, before slowly approaching it, and closing it behind them.There’s a pain in Ros’s chest that lingers even after the two are long gone. She hates the fact that she let them get that close to her. More importantly, that Harry damaged the castle, and she just let him. The moment Tommy opened his mouth, tarnishing the King’s name, she wanted nothing more than to push her spear into his trachea. But a Queen has to keep her composure. She has to show that she’s unshakable, even more than a King. To give them the satisfaction of her anger, would have hurt her far worse. Besides, Aimsey believes that conflicts shouldn't be resolved with violence. On the other hand, Clown would have used it. This new tittle challenges Ros. Can she raise above the hurdles of other factions, protecting the very people that appointed her to the position, or would she embarrass them? Foolish always made them proud. Ros would rather die than to destroy the hope and union that the Old King nourished to his subjects.Ros wants to rise above, and show everyone that she can do this. More importantly, she wants to make Foolish proud.
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The sun wakes up, gifting the server with a bright light, bringing the end to the dangers of the night, setting ablaze the monsters that touch its light. It’s one of Clown’s favorite pastimes to walk beside them as they make their last attempt to attack him, only to receive the sun’s final sentence.Clown makes his way towards the right of the castle’s entrance, towards the armory. He takes out a netherite ingot and his spear, and places both of them on top of the anvil. He reaches for the hammer that lays next to it, and he holds it over the tool.“You know, I never trusted that thing on your hands.”Clown brings the hammer down hard on the spear, smoothing out a small chip on its corner. “What are you doing here?” Clown lets the hand that holds the hammer fall beside him. He tightens his grip. “Didn’t I warn you against setting foot near the castle ever again?”The pangolin looks down at his feet. “I do, but I don’t think saying hello is a crime.”“I meant it, Pangi.”“You say a lot of things that don’t hold a lot of weight to them.” Pangi smiles to himself, reminiscing of an older time. “You have a history of contradicting yourself.”Clown puts down the hammer to its original place. He grabs his spear, and blows on the mended spot, blowing away the dust from the stone. “And I also have a history of following through with my threats.”“I hardly think a hello merits a death sentence.”“You should have thought about that before you put my faction’s life in jeopardy.”There’s a sense of urgency to Pangi’s voice. “It was meant to be harmless! I didn’t think that was your whole inventory of honey.” He takes a moment to reflect. “If I had known—”“It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you did.” Clown turns around, lowering his spear. “Now, I’ve been generous by not taking your life where you stand. So why don’t you show appreciation to that generosity by getting out of my sight?” Clown readjusts his grip on the spear.Pangi remembers that position well. He’s seen in it in another life, while he stood there and watched Clown get away with his crown.“Next time I won’t be so generous.”There’s hesitation in Pangi’s eyes, or could it be guilt? Still, without another word to say, Pangi turns around, moving far away from the castle.***The hole on the wall makes an ugly reminder of yesterday’s events. Ros looks at the hole, trying to get an idea for its dimensions. It’s small enough to be fixed with one brick. While it wasn’t the original plan, Ros doesn’t want to be reminded of those two, so she’s prioritizing the patching of the incident. There’s also something to be said about it being a sour distraction on the beauty of the great hall, and that is unacceptable.Clown opens the front door.Ros whirls towards the sound. She looks visibly relieved when she sees that it’s Clown. “Oh, hello! It’s good to see you.”“Good to see you as well.” Clown makes a face. “Although I don’t think I’m the one you expected to walk in through the door.”Ros smiles, and she turns back towards the wall. “No, but I’m happy it wasn’t who I thought it was.”“Did something happen?” Clown moves closer towards the architect, and he sees the hole on the wall. “What did that?”Ros rolls her eyes. “Two annoying bugs.”Clown makes a face. “That’s concerning strength for a bug.”“More like surprising for its capabilities.”Clown takes the hint. “I noticed you finished a wall on the back. It looks great so far.”Ros’s eyes sparkle. “Yes! I am going to try and close it off so that zombies stop getting in.”“That sounds wonderful.” Clown maintains his eyes on Ros. He notices how Ros lights up each time her building is appreciated. However, there’s a lack of pride with her new position. “Hey, Ros?”Ros gives Clown an inquisitive look. “Yes?”“It’s okay if you don’t want the responsibility. It doesn’t make you a bad person.” Clown smiles at Ros. “Foolish wouldn’t think less of you.”Ros’s smile fades for a second, but the glimmer in her eyes becomes brighter, and glossy. She chuckles to herself. “I still want to make my best effort. I feel like I owe it to him.”“You don’t think a castle is enough?”Ros laughs. “No, I think it is.” She glances at the throne. “But I think there’s a reason why I was trusted with this. I want to see it through.” She looks back at Clown and she shrugs. “Even if it’s not something I asked for, it doesn’t mean it’s not important to me.”Clown’s smile widens. “Very well, then.”“Thank you for looking out for me.”“No need to thank me.” Clown glances at the hole in the wall. “I know you’re more than capable doing it yourself.”Ros understands. “Right.”“I’ll be leaving for a couple of weeks.” Clown turns around, facing a room in the castle. “There’s a threat that will be assigned to me very soon. I want to find information on the creature before it finds me. You won’t see me until I return.”“I see. I wish you luck with your journey!”“Thank you, Ros.” Clown turns back to wave his hand. “I’ll see you soon.” With nothing else, he turns back the way he was going, and the Nether portal makes a loud noise as it transports Clown to another dimension far from this one.***Five days have passed since the death of the king. The castle had a few visitors since. Tommy and Harry have took it upon themselves to laugh in Ros’s face about the loss of her King. Each time, they make a dent she has to fix, or break the decor of the great hall. Each interaction is calculated enough to not count as an act of violence against her, therefore making it forbidden for Ros to counter attack. Something is clear, the week is coming to an end. The Hostile Faction is antsy for blood. With these regular visits, Ros has reason to believe that the Hostile Faction has it out for her head. Although, if their plan is to send Tommy and Harry to do the job, Ros knows they’d be unsuccessful.But she also knows that they aren’t the only members of the Hostile Faction who would be happy to put her head on a spike.This day though, it has been fairly quiet. Too quiet.Ros puts the final brick on the last wall in the back of the castle. Because neither Tommy nor Harry have come to bother her, Ros has finally had time to finish the last wall on the expansion. Spiders would continue to be a problem, since she hasn’t build a roof just yet, but all good things take time. She knows better than to rush perfection.This time, instead of dropping down, Ros opts for staying within the castle grounds, using the top of the walls and the roof to make her way towards the castle entrance. After Tommy and Harry jump scared her by waiting for her outside the outskirts of the castle, she knows better than to make that mistake again. Ros climbs the castle’s roof, making her way towards the balcony for a secure way inside. When she steps forward, she notices there’s someone lingering on the castle’s entrance. A person she recognizes, and hoped wouldn’t bother her this week.The cat standing below her looks up. His eyes have bags under them, and even his armor looks rusted in different places. The one thing that stands out is the hatred that hide behind his eyes when he looks at Ros. “Queen of the Fools. May I have a word?”
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Ros maintains the high ground. If she goes down to his level, he’s more likely to strike. His words seem inviting, but his eyes are threatening. “I’m listening.”Pili smiles, tilting his head. “You must be cold up there. We should take this inside.”“I think right here is just fine.”There’s a hint of annoyance mixed with the anger in his eyes. He takes a deep breath. “You don’t keep your mage nuzzled, do you?”Ros’s eyebrows furrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”Pili chuckles. “He likes to bark out threats to anything that’s living.” There’s a glimmer in his eyes. “A dog that doesn’t listen to orders is dangerous. You wouldn’t want him to take charge over his leash, wouldn’t you?”“We don’t treat each other that way. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if your faction did.”“No, we don’t,” Pili takes out the axe he keeps on his waist, hanging by a belt. “We also don’t have monarchs. We’re a family.”“What makes you think we aren’t?”“We stay close to each other and you’re all scattered.”Ros looks down. Ever since the death of the King, even before it, the Kingdom of Fools has always been individualistic. Everyone takes off on their own. Ros would hardly see people from her own faction visit while she carried on construction. In fact, the Teal Titans would visit more than her own Kingdom subjects. The only thing that forced them together was the King. They are a thread waiting to snap under the pressure, and Pili is aware of it.“Stop dancing around the subject.” Ros grips on the handle of her spear. “Why are you here, Pili?”Pili’s smile fades as quickly as Ros finishes speaking. “As you know, each faction has its tasks, and deadlines. It just so happens that ours is more taxing.”“We all lose a life, Pili. Not all of us kill for it.”“Exactly.” Pili trails the trim of the axe with his finger. “The death of your dear King saved us last week. But I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s almost been a week since that day.”Ros takes a deep breath.“And honestly, while you have always been high on my list, I wasn’t going to kill you.” Pili lets the axe drop just enough for the handle to fall on his hand. “However, your Archmage has some threatening words you have to pay for.”“Why should I pay for them?”“He went after my friend, so I’ll go after his. Unfortunately for the Clown, he has developed a strong attachment to someone I don’t mind killing.”“Are you really willing to risk that? You’re severely underestimating me.”Pili laughs. “I think I like my odds.”A spark turns on Ros’s brain. Suddenly, she doesn’t mind grabbing Pili by the throat, with her pickaxe to his teeth, and opening his jaw, with a single swing. That might teach him better than to underestimate an architect. At the very least it would leave a nice visual reminder if he forgets.“So you came to kill me then?” Ros takes out her spear, eyeing down her prey. “Is that it?”Pili smiles kindly at Ros. “I’m not a monster. When I said I came to talk, I meant it.”“You sure have a weird way to define a threat.”“Think of it more like a warning.” Pili raises his hands, the axe becoming an extension of one of them. “When you see my face again, it’ll be the last day you live.”“Wow.” Ros rolls her eyes. “How generous of you.”Pili laughs again. “It would be too easy to do it now. I want to enjoy this.” Pili walks closer to the castle, closer to match Ros’s gaze, even from her high ground. “I want you to feel as helpless as you made Harry feel when you told him to attack you.”Ros’s breath hitches.“And I’ll enjoy the fear you’ll feel, each day, paranoid for the chance that you might see me again. Just when you least expect it, I’ll be there.” Pili puts his axe back to his belt, laughing to himself. He turns around, and walks into the distance.Ros doesn’t allow herself to relax even as Pili gets further and further from view. She wouldn’t put it above Pili to plan something like an ambush. Fortunately, it never came.***Climbing down the set of stairs, Pili makes an entrance into the base. The noise of water brewing overwhelms him. Pangi must’ve stayed up late working on perfecting his recipes.Pili puts down his axe on a crafting table, and he takes off his helmet, throwing it in a random direction. He puts a hand down his hair, finally allowing for his ears to rest. Sometimes wearing a helmet for a long time starts to make his ears feel sore. He kept his helmet on all day in case that Clown decided to make an appearance. He had to make sure the Archmage was truly away. If not, dropping in at the Kingdom would have been harder than it was.“Pili? Is that you?”Pili’s ears perk up at the sound. “Yeah, just got back.”The pangolin rushes over from the brewing stands. “You have to try this one. I think I’m getting much better at it!”Pili stares at the bottle Pangi holds out for him. The red color unsettles Pili. “What’s this one supposed to do?”“It’s a regeneration potion. It should heal you.”“My health is fine.”“Say that to your eye bags.”Pili glares at Pangi.“Just try it.”Pili takes the potion from Pangi. He shakes it a bit, contemplating whether it’s truly safe to digest the thing. It was a horrible thing the trust he had on the pangolin, because he wouldn’t do this for anyone else. Pili opens the bottle, and brings it to his lips. The red liquid enters his mouth, and Pili cringes immediately. “Why is it… salty?”Pangi considers it. His eyes widen. “Oh, it was too many ghast tears! I knew it.”Pili gags, and Pangi takes the bottle from his hands.“It’s not that bad. You’re exaggerating a bit.”“You didn’t drink it.”Pangi takes the potion over to the cauldron, and he dumps it. “I’ll get better at it.” He grabs a water bottle from a barrel nearby, and he walks it over to Pili.Pili takes the bottle and he gargles the water to get rid of the taste.“So,” Pangi looks at Pili. “Where did you go all day?”Pili ends up chugging the whole bottle. He sighs once he allows himself to breathe. “I went to pay the Queen a visit.”Pangi’s eyes widen. “You told me you wouldn’t. Pili, what did you do?”Pili’s eyebrows furrow. “You got threatened for saying hello. How am I supposed to ignore that?”“He had a reason to.”“No, he’s just being aggressive because he wants to be.” Pili gets angrier by the second. “You went to say sorry.”“I can recognize that I messed up, why can’t you drop it?”“Because that’s not the way to treat a human being!”Both of them look at each other. Pili feels justified, and Pangi looks worried. Neither of them say a word.Pangi looks down. “How does you going there to antagonize her make things better? Ros didn’t do anything.”“She’s done lots.”“In this specific conflict, or are you just itching for a reason?”Pili stays quiet.“Don’t you remember what he said he’d do? Why would you risk your life?”“That doesn’t matter.” Pili makes fists with his hands. “My life isn’t the only one in jeopardy.”Pangi places a hand on Pili’s shoulder. “Why do you always assume it only falls in your shoulders? You put so much responsibility on your faction’s lives that you forget to take care of yours.”Pili looks down. “Because they’re all counting on me not to die. They’re all looking at me with hope.” Tears fall from his eyes. “I can’t let them down. I can’t let them die.”Pangi sighs. “You can’t afford to die either. There’s people that would crumble if you’re gone.”Pili looks at Pangi.Pangi smiles at him. “Pick another target.”Pili looks down. He pinches at his fingers with his thumbs. “No.”***At a wooden tavern, a tavern keeper polishes his glass bottles. The seats are empty, but he maintains his stock ready. After all, travelers can walk in at any time.The door opens, and Tubbo looks up. “Welcome, welcome! How may I help you today?”Ros smiles brightly at Tubbo. “Hello! I am here for some potions.”Tubbo brightens up. “Of course, which kind?”Ros looks down at her small purse, which contains a few of her diamonds and emeralds. “Give me six potions of strength and regeneration, please.”“Right away!” Tubbo turns around and he climbs up the stairs. He keeps talking from the upper level. “Planning a raid, are we?”Ros laughs. “More like defending against one.” She looks to a window that has the view of the castle. The stone brick walls, and the indestructible gold. “I plan on winning.”