For Kurisa

Who could predict the future and tell the truths of it all? Would could say with conviction and be telling a true and accurate telling of the future? Who could confirm that in the last moment, the world wouldn't turn on its heels, to have some victor executed before them. To showcase this loss in favor of some collective evil they would fight instead? It may have been a child's own story to tell of some calamity of some beast that all people of all walks of live needed to instead come together to stop an even greater evil. But then what of it? Would the side dealing the final killing blow be the ones that could declare victory and set the stage for the truth within the books? would it be a way for them to spin a warped tale of how they were the ones alone who reigned supreme or would it be told as it should?

History books were written and told by the side that conquered the other. Losers were never able to tell their truth, being washed away as savages within the text for the generations to come. That was how it always was. With the occasional child growing up with hatred or resentment to right the wrong preformed onto them.

Deep resentment being sowed like a seed in some random unnamed field. It would be no different than all of these famers living all of their lives. One child told by their parents some unseen truth of the world, a tale told by their parent and by their parent's parent. A tale passed on about some truth of some world leader doing evils. An enemy of their great leader turned ally whose deeds and misconduct that wouldn't be soon forgotten. Evil history of some country that tried to clean up their past or bury it behind good deeds.

Natives pushed from their land to make room for their industrial future. Or people promised positive change, only to get the short end of the stick as they get subjected to false promises or lies under the guise of protection. It wasn't a thought that was completely impossible. It was more than likely to have already occurred. All of these native tribes reduced to the name of "savages" and made into targets by those who promised wealth and fortune, in the form of payment of some job or mission. Culture slowly turned into the target of accidental purging. It was a life she could never imaging living.

Perhaps that was the reason why now all of these relatives fought over this crown, this prized possession. All of their clashing ideals a representation of the people of their nation. People getting involved to support someone that reinforces their own thought of the world, limited to just a small section of the world. All of them trying to secure their future. Else, why get involved in this battle if they were only concerned for themselves? These kings, queens, lords and chieftains were only parts of lives of the world, with their influence, it wasn't as if they could dictate enough rules, laws, or policies to really hinder a single person's world. If they thought of a better future for their children, or the lives of others, then perhaps. but the thought of simply killing the others that opposed their chosen leader would be a simpler and far more shift action to partake in.

people who commanded these armies often rarely possessed the will, or the power to fight their own battles themselves. With an inheritance of the crown, it would be expected that few if any of them would have commanded power that would beckon the respect  of an army beyond their inherited respect.

For what reward did these people work for and support these figureheads? It may have been a thought that would have normally been far too in depth over the consumption of a free and provided sandwich, but what did outsiders have to gain by getting their hands dirty? Was it to create a position for them to take control later on, or was it for more simple reasons? were these lone wolves who fought alone picking people to represent their ideas. People who chose people not unlike them to represent the ideas they share, only for the sake of their ideas being the victorious winner? The brutal savages who fought for power and power alone killing masses to support a world that would allow them to continue to do so?

But was it wrong of them? did that make them into the villain for others to fight against? Or was everyone simply a villain to someone else's story? Simple fears of demons, vampires and other creatures were often only skin deep. The fear of the unknown was enough to frighten most people from acting as they normally do. If an angel presented themselves before her, explaining how she exterminated the dark evils within people, and wanted to rid the world of creatures like her, would she fight back or try to reason?

Was that not the nature of all things? Fight or flight? but were these wars being fought as a means to defend themselves from an outside force, or was it all in the promise that the choice wouldn't have to be presented to others? The promise of protection upon all of these common folk who would be lost in raids by dragons so quickly? Were these skirmishes going to stop men from seeking shelter in some abandoned home after a beast's attack, only to die and have their body desecrated by someone's accidental hand? Was there anything these people could really do to stop it? Could they stop bandits from attacking these innocent caravans?

They could at most, have people stationed to make these people safe, or at least feel so. But whose to say they wouldn't be the ones who would oppress others, starting the cycle anew again? When would it stop? How could it stop, if ever? Was this entire world subject to a vicious cycle of violence upon each other? Was there any point to trying to stop it? was the best they could do just prevent it from happening to them? Was that the end of it?

She took a bite out of the sandwich, only to let out a rather loud and burdened sigh. It would catch a few glances, no doubt an obvious showcase of a heavy thought that weighed on her mind while she took in the small moments they had in the midst of their work. It would beckon curious eyebrows as they looked upon her. A woman who was almost completely silent for the trip and for the task. except for a few minimal words and interactions needed, and now a loud sigh that begged the others to ask her what was wrong.

She would look up, quickly realizing what she had done, only to give a shy and nervous smile. She dismissed it, only to pose the questions of what-ifs what what-could-bes. what if they had been in another country? Would they have ever crossed paths? What if Cassia wasn't the way she was, would they still support her, or someone that shared her ideas? As expected, the heavy question was met with interesting looks from the others, and a few others having their own moments of thought. A silence fell over them as most of them begun to consider the options themselves. It wasnt any conversation anyone would expect to have.

The reality was that they were minding their own business. They were just another group that could be marked as a statistic among all of the losses. They were lives that could be spent in the payment of peace. She quickly made use of her time to finish up eating the meal she was given so she could listen in to their thoughts on the matter, if they had any. Most of them simply seemed dumbfounded at the idea. But she would assure them, they would stand for what they believed in, and what they stood together was the decision that this land belonged to the people that lived on it. The people who built these homes and lived in them. All residents of this land had equal ground and equal power to appoint those to power.

It was a means to avoid any future violence with weapons. Fights would be fought with words and over debate surely. That was going to be their new world. And that was what they all believed in right? They wanted a world where they could directly influence a new world right? A world where they could really make a difference. That was what united them.

Getting up from her seat she dusted off her lap as she made her way to the unfinished home to begin to lift the structures alone while she left the others alone with their thoughts. A few ate within the others, separate from the group, keeping to themselves. They most likely would have never had the thoughts she had shared, much less think about anything similar to the concept. They would nod and she would reply with the same gesture of nodding in greeting.

With a smile and a half salute she got to work, hammering nails into the little marked and inked holes. Taking up a smaller claw hammer she would swing and drive the nails deeper into the wood. With each motion she couldn't help but think back to the recent events that transpired within the old home. The broken wood and splinters of what once was most likely assembled in the same way. she couldn't help but start to wonder if all homes everywhere were built the same way, with passion and care as a bunch of  people within a community coming together to work to a common goal that benefited the collective. Life would be easier if what she imagined was true.

The thought of hidden messages written in ink on a beam you would never see, from someone that enjoyed putting together the thing that kept you warm and safe at night was a bit comforting in the thought. But the messages that could be left in a home to leave chaos in its wake also sparked a few ideas in her head. Paining LEAVE NOW ON THE inside of a wall, waiting to be seen in years to come, decades most likely would create a hilarious event that she most likely would never see. There would also be the chance that it wouldn't be seen until the final moments of the house, only to be seen by some woman who had been given a sledge hammer to break down supports for a clean up crew to take away and discard.

The satisfaction of a well placed joke would be lost, but one she would never forget. Though, getting away with it on a half dozen homes on this side of the town would be one feat she might not be able to achieve with so many prying eyes. She looked around, seeing who would take note of her, as she took to working. A few others would begin to finish up and return to their tasks.

Could one call it vandalism? There was no destruction of property, and it was really no different than an artists signature hidden among the mass collective of a building. It would be a different world if you knew the names of everyone that made everything in your life. From the tailor that made your clothing down to the person who collected the fabric itself. To know every hand involved in making your shoes to knowing the names of everyone that had been involved with the meal that was being served on your plate. It wasn't information that would change your life dramatically. It was barely something that would change anyone's life at all. It would be no different than the masses of names that roll with credits and attributions after projects showcasing all of the positions and jobs involved. All of the stagehands that helped in the production of a play, from the actors to the costume designers to the person who painted the weird looking tree the stood in the background of the play. One could only imagine all of the people involved and how often such names would ever arise to repeat themselves. And if they did repeat would anyone noticed their re-occurrence?

How often did people remember the faces to people they passed by? How often did a nameless citizen pass by before someone took note of them? How often did that person make an impact? Just the presence of someone changing where you choose to sit, where to exist. Avoiding taking over their personal space, and trying to prevent them from doing so to you. But was that wrong to do? was it wrong to plan around or even react to someone you knew nothing about? Or was that the proper thing to do? was it not humanity within people that caused you to consider the feelings and thoughts of others? To dismiss it entirely would be the reason why everyone was in this situation to begin with. These people reacted to the attacks differently, and these people held each other in strange regards.

It would be an easier world if leaders fought their own battles one on one, rather than commanding an army from a safe location miles and miles away. Lives would be spared, and things would simply be done far sooner. These armies at most gave a chance to the weak. It allowed the weak to rule. And they would continue to do so.

Armies allowed those who would fight with their words to convince mass amounts of people, to get crowds to listen to their ideas to fight their battles for them. For those who were plenty strong on their own, they could just as easily take on these masses themselves, but took their strength to gather more strong allies to fight on their behalf. It was nothing more than representatives. Every war, every battle, every death was just a representation of that person in charge. In the end it would always be a numbers game of who had the largest army, who could convince the most people that their ideals were right, and worth dying for. How many could she herself convince to follow her to their own death? How many would pick her side over the others? was it something even worth considering Or was this all just ideas that flowed through her head? Was it a passing thought? All of these farmers and storekeepers would be far too useless in an actual battle. But their numbers counted when it mattered. Voting gave power to those who wouldn't be able to fight for a title, it gave their people a chance. It gave those a chance to speak up, as they should be able to.

Everyone deserves a chance to speak their mind and a chance to prove their worth. Not everyone deserved to die. Just because someone was strong and powerful did not mean that their live was valuable. Not all thinking minds had valued thoughts, and not every heavy handed warrior was someone worth sending to war. Using a worthless mind's ideas was only harmful to those willing to listen and share those ideas. It would be poisonous to consider such pointless thought, only to have it shared and diminish your own worth, and value. A warrior who was strong but held no value was someone who would become a liability on the field of battle. have their own attacks put others at risk, or themselves. You could argue that they were simply fodder, but what good was front line fodder if they killed the same masses they were sent to die with? Their own purpose removed as they squander their own value and purpose. There was other tasks for them to handle that put none at risk. But in this battle of wits and war, would they reign surpreme? Would their leader take up the throne only to allow others to take upon it?

It was an idea she could agree with, but the thought of rigged elections, votes, and later bribery and corruption, was it not something that would be prevalent in all cases of government? Any warlord, queen or king, or president or chairperson. Was corruption not a factor to consider? Would this minimize that factor or feed into it? She could only hope that in the end it would be the suceesses of the idea that would remain victorious, but the chaotic outcomes was something she considered, and ones that lived in the back of her mind. Pocket change for her may have been the richest wealth among these poor farm hands, would they not be easily convinced by a small coin purse to dismiss their own morals and ideals to sway for another? Could they not be persuaded with money to obey someone else mindlessly simply because of money that could make their lives easier? Would a leader that promises a great distribution of wealth cure this? Or would that corruption feed into such an absurd idea? There was a million questions to be asked, but in truth there wasn't really any way to know. But whatever the outcome after she took to the crown, it would certainly be better than it was before.

In the end it would matter to them who represented the country. Even if their laws could not directly change their lives. Even if they changed everything about this town. If the people believed in the world's leader, then that would make up all of the difference for them. It would change the emotions and pride of an entire country side and cause them to support and believe in the ideas that gave them life, or gave them hope. And hope was the one thing to consider in a time like this. These people were hopeful for a life, and a world where even they had a chance to lead their people, to lead this country. They had a chance to make a difference. Cassia the Dauntless was their leader who would offer that dream to them. It would be a dream that the masses would share together, and hopefully work with each other to achieve. Together they would run their own land with their own powers. It gave people like Fala a chance to rule, even without belonging to a specific noble bloodline to inherit a crown. The circumstances of one's birth no longer mattered. What mattered was ones will to lead.

Of the people around her now, how many of them would become world leaders? How many of them would represent Bosco? The chances of any of them being some political figure may have been small, but there was still a chance of it happening. Any one of them could be hired to speak on behalf of whoever may end up being a new leader long after their new Queen would take a step back allowing her people to rule. She of course would dismiss the wrong and unrighteous ideals ideals of those that would conflict with her nation's people, but how far would it go? How far would her people be allowed to progress their great nation, and how far will she keep her control after allowing others to start writing laws? Was it an act of her choosing to have work done for her, or was it her trying to act as a final voice of reason to stop the country from progressing in the opposite direction? All of it was in the air and thus hard to really say for sure. Anything could swing in any direction at this point. One could only assume what they had been told was the reality they would receive. And they would have to hope that it would be the world they would obtain.

It was more than likely that with people running this new form of government with their Queen acting as final word would lead to strange political parties fighting for control. Fala couldn't help but wonder if guilds would have a heavy hand in the matter, wither greatly influencing this world either indirectly as being the warriors sent on their behalf, hired and paid for like they had been before, or acting as a political party themselves. To think of guilds attempting to run a country or several couldn't help but make her raise a brow at the idea. As she continued to hammer nails and bond the wooden beams to each other, she wondered how well mages and the common folk could work together as a country, as a single community. Like these homes, they would be building a new life with each other. A life where they would coexist beside each other. But could they stand to see the darker shades of life and magic? Would they learn to see demons and liches and other strange beings no different than elves or neko? What would this new world bring about? Would it harbor more peace or war? Only time would tell.

But wasn't that always the case? Some major event happening every few months where mages from all kinds of guilds, or unaligned as a guildless coming together to influence a major power? A battle at the capital fighting over... what? What was the point of the battles? Most of them seemed to only be for bragging rights. Battles fought for the sake of fighting. No reward of peace or fortune, only a reward of proving your strength against your opponent. There was no super rare creature to be tamed as a pet with some ancient skill that allowed you to project yourself miles and miles away. There was no sense in it all. People fought to prove their world and do battle just for the sake of doing so. What stopped the world from turning into a complete mageocracy where the strongest magics reigned supreme, and those with supportive tendencies were dismissed as pointless and weak compared to the others? There was no real way to know for sure than to question those that had a blood lust for battle themselves. One could only guess and speculate on the matter until then. that was all she could do for most of what flooded her mind.

These siblings were willing to go to war over their different ideals. There was no peaceful way to resolve the matter any more. even after one of them took up the crown, would it end? Or would they continue to overthrow the government that would be stated? Would they have to constantly defend their throne from the others as they took their seat, or would they accept defeat? If their queen died the next week, what happened then? Did someone else take her place? Would it be the siblings they fought against or their new political figurehead? While a new form of government seemed promising, the fear of the unknown seemed to wash over her with uncertainties. Everything was a guess or an estimate. it was exciting to have a hand in making ones dream come true in directly helping in rebuilding a country, but how far would it go? How far would this go before it would end? How would one be marked victorious over the other? was it the support behind their ideals? was it the amount of lives that were spared, or the amount of lives taken? Was it the strength of numbers or the value of their most priceless individuals?

She stood there, admiring her work while holding the metal nails in her mouth. She had the strength of almost everyone else there combined. She alone could have built these homes, but their expertise and knowledge would be the thing that ultimately she could not replace. It might not have been the knowledge she sought from them, but it was welcomed all the same. Everyone, from the most powerful war mage to the most humble of farmers had something to teach others. While with them she might have only learned sanding techniques and how to balance wood properly to assemble a home, or how to make a good sandwich on a budget or even how to lay concrete, it was something she wasn't going to be easily pressed to replace. They had more information than she had originally suspected. It was welcomed all the same. While she lay the foundations and cross beams to support the first floor of this small home, she smiled back at it. It may have been mostly her hand that had put it together, it was the minds of these seeming nobodies that had lent her enough information to assist. But it wasn't all about her.

She could have asked to have shown them any thing to pay her own respects but she didn't come here to learn skills and trades from them. She came here to help, and this new sense of community would be what would, like the home she built, lay the foundation for something greater. Even if the rest wasn't going to be completed by them, or even herself, it was their work that would make the rest that much easier. A necessary work and effort to get the task at hand completed. Was that any different than what Cassia the Dauntless was doing for them? Laying the foundation for a new kind of country, a new kind of era, a new kind of life for everyone in the country? was she not laying concrete to ensure a  strong and study foundation could not and would not be shaken so easily? Was she not monitoring in her own way, supervising and watching over to ensure that no issues, no mistakes would be made? was that not the future they were fighting for? Its what she believed in, and with the thoughts floating about in her brain, she could imagine that others would be doing the same, if not in the same great detail of depth.

Everyone had their ideas and plans for the future, but some people were born into lifestyles that allowed them to think for people beyond themselves, for better or worse. These nobles were already born into a place of power, and keeping it would not be all that difficult for them to maintain. To lash out, to pay for people's support. But their Queen would allow others to share her power, to spread the wealth of free thought and to support their people. It was a righteous ideal that she could only hope they would achieve together as a collective. with the last few beams being lifted to be put into place she wondered what her purpose in it all would be. Would her place in this new government machine be no different than the farmers that helped build this home would she be fit for something far greater? Would she be the one to take a seat beside the new queen's throne giving laws and orders to others to secure their new and great nation? Or would she mearly be a pawn in the grand scheme of it all? Time would tell, and she couldn't wait to find out what the answer was.

In these homes would be lives not unlike those that were building them. Farmers, a sandwich maker and maybe a mage to be. There was also the chance that they could rise to be a world leader one day, or the chance they could grow into some sort of cultist serial killer who places secret sects all over the country. really it was up to chance. With the other buildings leaf abandoned, it was more than likely that these homes would attempt to replace what would be the slums, and did not have an exact family ready to fill it but would be empty and waiting for somone to inhabit within them. She wondered the cost and if anyone who was there today would be willing to try and move in, or if anyone had done so in the past. It would be something to ask, but with the last few interactions not exactly going to plan, it wasn't really something she wanted to try and attempt again. It was something better left alone. She would dismiss thr thought, perhaps saving her knowledge to build a home of her own one day in the perfect location. It would be easy now given her knowledge on the matter, with only a few to aid her it should only really take a day or so.

But as they seemed to be wrapping up the set up, another group would begin to arrive, all of them with very different equipment and tools. It was curious, but it wasn't something she was really paying all that much mind to. They were greeted with hellos from the other volunteers. With how things were, it wouldn't be surprising for all of them to know each other, either in passing trade or simply by travels to nearby towns and cities. With how this place was built it was like all of these back road places were connected, and having the people recognize each from helping each other out after some event seemed to be the new normal, or always was the normal for them. Fala took a moment to wonder how normal her normal was in the eyes of outsiders, or in whatever sense of the word average was. She could do her best to think about it, but without any real outside perspective to think of directly or even indirectly, her mind would come up blank to the idea. Any attempt would be wasted energy and time at an inconclusive thought. She would have to ask others another time when pressing matters were not so apparent before her.

but wasn't the different perspectives on life the exact reason that caused this ordeal to happen? All of these children who had grown so vastly different having completely different outlooks on the world despite coming from the same place. It gave quite a commentary of nature versus nurture. What differences existed in their lives that caused them to have such different ideas on how to govern their people? Was it simply their interactions with each other or just the company they kept? Would she be any different from them? In the end it would result in a better country to live in at least, or at minimum that was the idea, right? She shook the idea, only to ask someone beside her what was going on.

With rather quick explanation it seemed like people were rotating jobs and tasks, and people were doing other tasks, mainly to keep those qualified to keep working within their field. It made little sense for an electrician to erect a fence, and have the carpenter do the wiring. Which to be fair, was a rather sound argument. She could have stuck along and saw it through to the end, but it was smarter to refine what she was taught rather than try and learn a dozen new skills today.