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Post by twistedbrain on Apr 2, 2006 8:10:42 GMT -5
Yes! Death to Tragedy! Great update, PJ. This is getting better and better.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 2, 2006 19:48:21 GMT -5
The attack was brilliant. And Tragedy died? Wow, that complicates things greatly.
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Post by PJ on Apr 6, 2006 6:02:13 GMT -5
Chapter Nine – Denouement
“The king is dead!” PJ shouted, charging down to join the fray. Several heads turned to the throne, and saw the dead king lying beside the corpse of his apparent killer. PJ had to leap over quite a few bodies. He was saddened to discover that so many of his men had died.
The fight was soon over. Dante’s bodyguards had all been slain, and the three nobles just couldn’t withstand the remaining soldiers, as well as four magic-users. Dupin was the first to falter, and he was smashed in the head and pulled out of the fray, with a sword held at his throat. Antenora and Dante soon faltered, and PJ and Snicketface managed, wearily, to cast a magical net over the three traitors, that would nullify all of their magic.
They knelt on the floor, swords held at their throat. They were completely and utterly defenceless. PJ sighed loudly. He turned to his comrades, preparing a speech in his mind.
“This is how it is: the king is dead. And the Border Soldiers have almost certainly occupied most of the city by now. A soldier ran out of the room, to assess the situation.
“So we are in a bit of a fix.” PJ said, pacing around his three prisoners. “We have hostages,” He said, gesturing to the three nobles, who all glared at him, “And Pandora could be here any day now, if she uses magic to transport her troops.”
It looked grim. For all of them. “With Tragedy dead, there isn’t anyone to stop Pandora seizing power. Our only chance is Dante’s Border Army, but they’re hardly going to follow one of us.”
“I’m more interested in how you were able to circumvent the oaths you took.” Dante snarled, glaring at PJ as hard as he could. “Later. There are more pressing issues at hand. We have only a few options left.”
Snicketface grabbed a chair, and sat down. It did seem as though the situation was doomed. “Where is Derik, by the way?” PJ asked, still pacing around the prisoners. “Dead. He tried to flee, and sent a letter warning someone before I killed him.” Dante said, still glaring.
PJ’s face fell. “Oh. Then we can expect Pandora to arrive any day, now. I suppose Ennui is leading the battle?” Dante nodded. PJ sighed loudly. “Well, first of all, we need to decide upon a new king.” PJ suggested. “King PJ, is it?” Dupin asked, his face a mask of rage. “You sicken me.” He said, and spat. One of the soldiers made to hit him, but PJ intervened.
The doors burst open, and the soldier who had run out returned. All eyes turned towards him. “The Border Army has seized the city, milord.” He said, addressing PJ. “I see.” PJ said, and sighed loudly. He approached a window, and looked out. “What are all those people doing in the streets?” He asked, curious. “They are rioting, milord. It seems as though Akbar has organized a peaceful resistance against the army.” PJ nodded again.
“There are three possible candidates for the throne, now that Derik is dead.” PJ went on, still pacing. It was severely annoying. “Antenora.” Antenora looked surprised. “She would make a capable queen. Unfortunately, she is too close to Dante, and I fear he would affect her decisions. And we can’t have that.”
PJ continued. “Next candidate: Pandora. She is also unsuitable for the crown. She is lax, though not as lax as Tragedy. Unpredictable. No, she isn’t suited to rule an entire kingdom.” Libitina nodded; she agreed. Her comrades, however, said nothing.
“So I come to the final candidate, the one I think should get the crown: Dupin.” Everyone looked surprised. PJ grinned at the attention. “He’s intelligent, capable, and not too lax, nor too strict. I think of him as a mix of Dante and Tragedy. He is perfect for the crown.”
“But he’s a traitor! He tried to kill Tragedy! You can’t be serious!” Snicketface said, her face a mixture of amazement and anger. “So? Tragedy is dead. Who would you rather have on the throne?” “Well…”
“Dante would be a tyrant. You have to agree with me. He cannot be allowed to rule an entire kingdom. Neither can Antenora. You, Snicketface, are too inexperienced. You only recently assumed the role of Duchess, and although you are capable, you are not ready to be Queen. Setnick, Libitina and I are only Detriment Deleters. We have neither the training, nor the experience to assume the crown. Derik’s dead. Swans is retired; we need a young, new ruler. Gigi is also too old, and isn’t suited for an entire realm. She rules her duchy well, but an entire kingdom? I think not.”
“But…but…that would make us usurpers!” Libitina exclaimed. “No, it wouldn’t. As Derik and Tragedy and Snicketfires are dead, we almost have a full council within this room; we need majority to elect a new ruler, and we have two duchesses, two dukes, three Detriment Deleters, if that counts for anything, and, in the present conditions, I think it does, as well as General Ennui. That means only Songbird, Gigi and Pandora are missing. Even if Swans claimed to have a vote, which she doesn’t, we still have majority. Besides, the Border Soldiers will follow Dupin, so Pandora will be pinned between us here and the other Border Soldiers still out there. She won’t risk seizing the crown with an army behind her as well as in front of her.
“What makes you think you have our vote?” Dante said, suddenly. “Well, Dupin is on your side, is he not?” PJ said. “What happens to us if he becomes king?” “Ah. That’s the catch. Before anyone becomes king, I’m afraid we’ll have to set some ground rules: Antenora, Dante and Ennui are to be exiled.” “What? Why should we give you our vote, then?” Antenora exclaimed, dumbfounded.
“It is for the good of the nation. You three cannot be allowed to stay here. You might wish to take the throne for yourself. We can get away with one traitor, perhaps, but all four? No, you will have to be exiled, for this to work.” “Then I refuse to give Dupin my vote.” Dante said, staring PJ straight into the eye.
PJ turned to Snicketface, Libitina and Setnick. “Do I have your votes, at least?” PJ asked. The three didn’t seem to be sure. “It’s either Dupin, or Pandora. Your choice.” “You have my vote.” Setnick said, after a moment of silence. “Mine too.” Libitina said, proudly. Snicketface frowned. “I’m not sure…”
PJ sighed loudly, and turned back to the prisoners. “You have a choice: Either, you die, and we have civil war, or you live in exile, and Dupin rules. Choose wisely.”
Dante was about to refuse, when suddenly Snicketfires’ last words came back to haunt him: “You will die alone, and all the death and destruction you will have wrought will be for nothing.” He shuddered, and shook his head. “Fine. I vote Dupin for king.” He said. “As do I.” Said Dupin, smiling wrily. “I vote Dupin for king.” PJ said, followed by Setnick and Libitina. “Well, it hardly matters now, anyways. I vote for Dupin for king.” Snicketface said, sighing loudly.
All eyes turned to Antenora. “Oh, all right. I vote for Dupin for king.” She said, and PJ got rid of the magical net around Dupin. “You are now officially the new king of 667 Dark Avenue.” PJ said, with a laugh that sounded forced. Dupin grimly looked around at the destruction around him. “Let us hope that Pandora doesn’t decide to start a civil war.” He said, coldly.
End of Part Two
Allegiances
Pandora's Faction: -Pandora -Songbird -Gigi -Swans -BSam
Dupin's Faction: -PJ -Dupin -Ennui -Dante -Antenora -Snicketface -Setnick -Libitina
Pacifists: -Akbar
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Post by twistedbrain on Apr 6, 2006 6:09:44 GMT -5
Cool! Go Dupin.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Apr 6, 2006 8:17:36 GMT -5
Cool ending--I like the argument over who gets to be the new king. I've enjoyed this story a lot.
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Post by PJ on Apr 6, 2006 8:30:48 GMT -5
Cool ending--I like the argument over who gets to be the new king. I've enjoyed this story a lot. There's still the prologue left. It explains everything in a neat, wrap-everything-up kinda way.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 6, 2006 10:32:13 GMT -5
All hail King Dupin!
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Post by Dismay on Apr 6, 2006 13:43:59 GMT -5
AWWW, its ENDING? ?? It has been saving me from insanity from lonsomeness in my excile for the past few weeks, so I have to say, EXCELLENT WORK!
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Post by Charles Vane on Apr 7, 2006 22:58:04 GMT -5
Pandora doesn't even want the throne. She just wants a tiara and a few minions.
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Post by PJ on Apr 8, 2006 5:48:38 GMT -5
Epilogue
Well, that is almost all of the story. Pandora, crushed between the Capital, and the other half of Dante’s Border Army, soon acknowledged Dupin as her king. This was helped along by Akbar’s Peaceful Movement, which had the entire nation clamouring for peace, so that Gigi, still surrounded by Dupin’s warriors, grudgingly agreed, too. Dante, Ennui and Antenora were exiled from 667 Dark Avenue, and have the death sentence on themselves, should they ever return. All that is left to tell of is a small conversation between King Dupin and Lord PJ.
“I’ve asked you here, PJ, because I wanted to talk to you about something that has been puzzling me.” Dupin said, sitting behind his kingly desk. “Yes?” PJ asked, sipping some water from a glass. “Well, the oaths you took. You promised not to kill any of us, or to tell anyone about our plans, or to stop us from taking the throne. Now, I’ve talked to Snicketface, and she says you couldn’t tell her about the plot. And you had Dante, Antenora and Ennui exiled, instead of killed. So kept the first two oaths. So how did you get past the third?”
PJ remained silent, a troubled look on his face. “I’ve been told that you were in command of the city’s army. It’s strange, though, that you assigned Antenora’s Intelecteers to the Front Gate, even though you knew they were traitors.” PJ said nothing.
“What I think is that you didn’t get past the third oath. You obeyed it. As I recall, you said you wouldn’t prevent one of us from taking the throne. But I think you meant you wouldn’t prevent just ONE of us from taking the throne. You wouldn’t prevent me from taking it, but you could prevent the others. Am I right?”
PJ shook his head. “Partly. I said something to the effect that I wouldn’t stop ALL of you from taking the throne, that is to say, at the end of the day, one of you would be king. I could prevent some of you from taking the throne, so long as, eventually, one of you was king.”
Dupin sighed loudly. “I thought it was something like that. But you know what that means, don’t you?” PJ remained silent. “You prepared the defenses of the city, but you put the Intelecteers at the gate. You knew they would open them up, and let Dante’s soldiers in. So, when it looked as though you were preparing the defences, in the end, you only helped us into the city. You betrayed all those soldiers, PJ. So you let us into the city, so you kept your oath.” PJ shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Why did you bother to make the defences so rigorous? If you were just going to let us walk in, I mean?” PJ sighed loudly, again. “Once you got the city, I wanted to make it as hard as possible for Pandora to take it, so that she would think twice about attacking. That would have meant civil war.” “I see.” Dupin said, looking into the distance.
“And then, when you jumped us in the throne room. You couldn’t have known that a soldier would happen to kill Tragedy, could you? As long as Tragedy lived, you were preventing us from taking the throne, thus violating the third oath. So what I think is that you killed Tragedy, and framed one of Dante’s soldiers.” PJ didn’t react.
“That means that you have betrayed your king, but, even worse, you have betrayed your friends. Had they know it was you who killed the king, I doubt they would have listened to your arguments, no matter how convincing.”
“I did what I had to do. Tragedy was unfit for the throne, as was Dante. I used the loopholes in the oath to first kill Tragedy, and then take out Dante, as well, putting you on the throne, thus still keeping my oath to put one of you on the throne.”
Dupin smiled coldly. “Yes. You did what you had to do. Just like Dante. You know, PJ, I didn’t think you had it in you, this murder and betrayal and manipulation. You forwent all morals and ideals to do what you thought was best for the kingdom. For one who did everything in his power to stop Dante, you and he are quite alike.” PJ stood. “And that, Dupin, is why I’m not king.” Lord PJ said, and left the room.
-THE END-
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Post by twistedbrain on Apr 8, 2006 5:52:51 GMT -5
Noo! It's over! Wahh!
Very, very well done, PJ.
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Post by champ103 on Apr 8, 2006 6:18:58 GMT -5
Well, there's nothing quite like being crowned. I've actually forgotten to read this since like after the first few chapters, but I've caught up now, I like it (especially my big king like role in it)
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Post by Dante on Apr 8, 2006 8:37:13 GMT -5
Ah, the chapters I've missed have been excellent, and the epilogue is certainly interesting. Pity that I'm exiled, but on the other hand, I was right in my prediction of who would become king.
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Post by SF on Apr 8, 2006 10:18:06 GMT -5
*applause*
This is an amazing story, PJ. I love how you wrapped it all up in the Epilogue. I kind of had a suspiscion that you had killed Dante, but I'm glad that my suspiscions were confirmed. Thanks for including me in this, PJ. Another great 667 fanfic.
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Post by Ennui on Apr 19, 2006 16:28:03 GMT -5
A realistically depressing ending-excellent!
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