>>5889052You clear your throat, belting out an improv piece based on your exploits, your voice proud.
"The humble serpent, clad in gold
The belligerent squid adrift the haze
Terror to humanity, manner so bold
The snake sought to end those days
The serpent, fair and frail
Confronted the squid within his domain
Tentacles arrayed without fail
The snake fought through the pain
Cunning serpent, clad in gold
Against a foe undefeated and unrivaled
Entwined his foe, stopped him cold
Called the winds, destruction unbridled
The king of the skies, thrust to earth
By the humblest of creature
Jypta smiles upon his worth
Nature is a most cruel teacher."
The young boy, rapt in attention, soon tilts his head with skepticism.
"That was riveting and all," he says, "but could a snake ever even meet a squid? A floating squid?"
You are taken aback, enough to raise your brows, and you chuckle nervously, "it's essentially an abstract epoch I crafted, to pay homage to a goddess and reverence to a formidable monster."
"I see," he sweats a little, "I appreciate the talent, to be sure... fiction is just lost on me, you know?"
He really did just hit you with the 'it's not you, it's me', didn't he?
You're too focused on his pragmatism to correct him, but you never were one to let dead air hang too long, so you give him a proud smile.
"Very well, this one may be a bit more resonant with you!
Kingdom of Wyrld, amidst Solstice and Equinox
From them, the King took grain and flocks
A tyrant, the King of Green
Ignorant of a liberation, seasons between."
You saw he was looking in silent intrigue before, but after that verse, his face lights up in happy recognition!
"Child of Sun, a firebrand
Reaper of grain, tiller of land
Child of Moon, benevolent guide
In whom beasts and men confide
A beggar of the land betwixt
Known only for foolery and antics
Cast out, fearing for his life
For slander of his King's wife!"
Noticing him mouthing the words verbatim and at your pace, you motion for him to join you.
"To Moon and Star he tread
Who desired renewal, he said
'Would it not be better indeed
If the Crown no longer made you bleed'
"The earthbound trifecta formed
The Tungsten Travelers were borne
Saviors of man, slayers of beast
And very handsome, to say the least
The Three brought King of Wyrld low
Trading strokes blow for blow
From Wyrld, Sun and Moon's wings had spread
For the old tyrant was now dead
From Tungsten to Steel
The new Empire with great appeal
To enforce justice and fairness in all things
Glory to the new Empire, the Steel Wings!"
With the last line, he emphatically raises a fist, full of pride you had no idea the stuttering boy could even muster!
While a propoganda piece like that would normally be beneath you, you hope that it points out a disconnect between what the Empire was and what it has become.
Though, it doesn't have much time to sink in.
"glory... new... wings..." a quiet and dulcet girl's voice babbles nearby.
[[ Continues in next post... ]]
