Fear the Empire

by Jaron Lee Knuth

  Wesley only nodded, awaiting her repulsive reaction to him and his murderous deeds, but instead she smiled and motioned for him to enter the room.

  “Would you like to come in? I'm sure our students would love to meet you.”

  His footstep through the door was hesitant. Zola had said the people in the House of Psi were afraid of him, fearful of what he had done to Sergio, but this woman showed no fear, even though the room was full of children. Had Zola been wrong? Had she misread their reaction to him winning the fight in such a violent way?

  He stepped up next to the old woman, who placed her hand on the small of his back, and introduced him to the three boys and one girl who sat on the floor in front of him with their legs crossed underneath their bodies.

  “Children, say hello to Wesley...”

  “Wesley Lockhart,” he said, adjusting his glasses.

  “Hello, Wesley Lockhart,” the children repeated back to him in a measured, sing-song way.

  “These children are the oldest psionics born to our family. The oldest being five years old.”

  “That's me!” one of the boys shouted, raising his hand in the air and waving it around.

  “If they're all psionic, shouldn't Kgosi be the one to teach them? You aren't psionic, right?”

  “No, no. I have no powers. We were just practicing the alphabet,” the old woman said. “There's more to learn than the use of their powers, after all. Once they reach the proper age, I'm sure the God-King will begin their training.”

  Wesley studied the four children and noticed how nutritionally starved they all appeared. He was sure this was part of their training, but it seemed like an oddly cruel thing to ask of children their age. They all appeared happy. Perhaps they didn't know any better. If they didn't know they were being held back from sweets and full meals, then how would they know what they were missing?

  The old woman stepped away from Wesley as if she were giving him room to move around. “Sometimes Zola visits us and shows the children some of the things she can do with her powers. They really seem to enjoy it.”

  “Oh. Um... okay.” Wesley adjusted his glasses and sat down in front of the children, folding his legs under himself just like they were doing. “My own abilities are nowhere near as powerful as Zola's, but I can maybe show you something.”

  He closed his eyes and expanded his psionic awareness of the room. The bubble of thought stretched out from his mind, encompassing the four walls that surrounded them. He tickled the solidity of the room with his feelings, searching for something the size of a marble that he could move around, but something else kept distracting him. More so than anything in the realm of the physical, he kept sensing the warmth, the explosive light that emanated from the minds of the children. They were like conductors of energy, swarming inside tiny brains that were ready to explode with power. The light swirled inside them, churning and boiling like a pot hanging over an open flame with its lid sealed shut. If he could only open their minds, release that power, the psionic energy inside those children could be brighter than the sun.

  His thoughts reached out, connecting with their minds just like Kgosi, enwrapping their energy until all four of them were unrecognizable from each other. They had become one, a unified, braided string of thoughts that melted together like an amalgam of metals, forming into something even stronger. The glow of their minds grew, until it was nearly blinding. The heat from their power increased until Wesley was aware that his physical form was dripping in sweat. The thought pulled him away from the psionic, and the glow and connection he held was ripped from him. He gasped for breath, falling backward onto the floor, his eyes bulging from his head.

  The teacher rushed to his side. “Are you okay?”

  Panting with every word, Wesley said, “I... think.. so.”

  He rubbed his eyes, wiping away the sheet of sweat that had built up on his forehead, and looked at the children. They all sat, perfectly calm, with the exact same smile upon their faces.

  He reached his hand out toward them. “Are you okay? Did you feel that?”

  Without losing the gentle smile on their faces, they all replied in unison, “Veritas.”

  15

  ZANA

  Her younger brother sat on the edge of a raised garden, across the courtyard from her, looking more like a feral animal than a small boy. He was devouring the turkey leg that the servants had offered him, his teeth gnashing and pulling the meat from the bone as if it were a battle. He looked as though he hadn't bathed in months, his hair matted down and his golden face smeared with dirt, blood, and who knows what else. His beady eyes never looked away from her, staring into her like tiny specks of evil.

  “It's... good to see you, Yuri.” She forced a smile. “I've been worried about you. Everyone has been worried about you.”

  When he had cleaned the bone of all the meat, he flung it over his shoulder, sending it flying into the atmosphere. “Don't lie to me.”

  “I'm not lying.”

  “Yes, you are. No one is worried about me. I'm invincible. They're worried about what I might do next. Tell me I'm wrong.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but couldn't.

  He leaned back and crossed his legs leisurely in front of him. “That's what I thought.”

  “You can't blame them. What you've been doing is... it's dangerous.”

  “Dangerous? I'm invincible. What don't you understand about that word?”

  “Fine, Yuri. You might survive all this. But what about the Empire? The Empire isn't invincible. In fact, now that father has become the third Imperator within a year, people see the weakness in our family.”

  He leaned forward with a blazing excitement in his eyes. “Exactly, Zana. That's why you need me. I'm reminding them just how strong we are. I'm reminding them what happens when they start questioning us. I'm putting the fear back into the Empire.”

  “You know it's not that simple.”

  Yuri shrugged his shoulders. “If the worst case scenario is I end up burning down the world... then so be it. We can start over. New world. New rules.”

  Zana rolled her eyes. “That's not how it works, Yuri. You can't just murder the world if they disagree with you.”

  “Can't I?”

  “You're oversimplifying things. You need to stop acting like a spoiled brat and grow up. Fast.”

  Yuri's face darkened, his eyes peering out from under his furrowed brow. “And you need to stop talking to me like I'm a child.”

  “You are a child.”

  Yuri rose up, hovering a few feet off the ground with his fists clenched. “I'm a child that can throw the moon at the sun if you anger me.”

  “Settle down, Yuri. I'm on your side. I'm trying to help you. I just want you to realize that what you're doing is causing more problems than you think you're solving. I'm sure what you're doing feels good. We all want to lash out, punch something until we don't hurt anymore. You don't think Father wanted to kill people after he lost Mother? But she would want him to remain calm and be a smarter leader than Padamir. Smarter even than Konstantin. And you should know she wouldn't want you running around like you are either. She would want you to keep your head calm and help Father in this desperate time.”

  Yuri spit on the ground. “How should I know what Mother wanted? She barely raised me. That's why I came to you, Zana. I figured if anyone would understand, it would be you. My older sister. The warrior princess. The girl who taught me how to throw a punch.”

  Zana mumbled, “Apparently I should have spent more time teaching you who to punch.”

  “I might have listened to you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You were the one who raised me, Zana. You taught me everything. If I was to bow down to anyone, follow anyone into battle, it would be you.”

  “You know I've never had any interest in wearing a crown.”

  “So I'm expected to bow down to Father, the man who barely paid me any attention? I was nothing to him. Niko was
his heir and you were a chess piece to marry off. I was...” Yuri's voice drifted off as he searched for the right word, but ultimately he let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and said, “I was nothing.”

  “That's not true, Yuri. You were the youngest, the baby of the family. You should have seen how happy he was when you were born.”

  “If that's true, then what happened? Was I a disappointment to him? What kept him away from me? What made him so absent in my life?”

  “I... I don't know. His duties, I suppose. He was Guardian of the South. He had a border to patrol.”

  Yuri let out a yell and punched one of the apple trees growing in the courtyard, splintering the gigantic trunk in half. “He loved them more than me!”

  Zana reached out for him, but pulled her hand back. “Don't say that. He just showed love differently to his different children.”

  Yuri covered his face like he was ashamed of the tears rolling down his cheeks. “I'm not talking about you and Niko. I'm talking about the mortals. His subjects. Those pathetic, weak, bags of blood and brittle bones. He loved those disgusting things more than his own family.”

  “It was his duty to the Empire to protect them. He had no choice. We needed them. To plow our fields, bake our bread, serve in our Citadel. They are the Empire, Yuri. Without them... what are we ruling over?”

  Even as she said it, it sounded ridiculous. The words falling from her mouth sounded more like something her grandmother would say.

  “Maybe our great-grandfather and grandfather needed them. Maybe Father needs them. But I don't. I would rule over an empty world if it meant I never had to see their weak flesh or the look of disdain they have for us in their eyes. Do you know the anger that builds inside of me when I see one of them even consider defying me? Who do they think they are? I am a Zharkov!”

  “We all are.”

  The voice came from the sky above, booming with both power and warmth. It was a voice both Yuri and Zana knew well, yet it shocked them both when they saw Azakor and Maksim floating down from the cloudless sky.

  “Father?” Yuri was unable to hide the shock nor fear as the word escaped his mouth.

  Azakor landed softly on the courtyard, his cape swirling around him like the sail of a great ship. Their uncle Maksim landed behind him, his armored boots clanking against the cobblestone. Yuri backed away from them, but his hands were tightly clenched into fists.

  “What are you doing here?” Yuri asked, his voice trembling.

  “Thankfully, your sister let us know we could find you here. We've been searching the globe for you. Yuri.”

  Yuri's head spun to the side, his eyes burning with hate. “You told them I was here?”

  “I... I told you the whole family was worried about you.”

  “I trusted you, Zana. I came to you because I thought you would understand me.”

  Azakor stepped closer to Yuri, holding out his hands. “Talk to me, Yuri. That's all that I'm asking. Make me understand why you're acting out like this.”

  “Acting out? What do you think this is, a temper tantrum? You think I'm just kicking the sand because we're losing?”

  Azakor looked troubled, like he was forcing his patience. “I don't know, Yuri. Explain it to me.”

  “Why should I? So you can tell me why I'm wrong? Don't worry... Zana has been doing that for you.”

  Azakor approached his son, holding out one hand toward him, but Yuri flinched, backing away. When Azakor saw his son react that way to him, the look on his face showed only sadness.

  “Yuri... son... I'm not here to tell you that you're wrong, and I'm not here punish you.”

  “Then why are you here? I'm sure it's not to thank me for doing such a good job...”

  Azakor smiled. “Actually, that's exactly why I'm here..”

  Maksim's face mirrored Zana's, with a look of confused horror at Azakor's response. Azakor didn't seem to notice anyone's reaction. He just kept staring at Yuri with a fatherly smile.

  “Yuri, ruling with a fist has become necessary for our family. This time in our Empire requires us to be harsher than the previous imperators. We must remind the people of the Empire why the Zharkovs are to be feared.”

  Yuri's face brightened, his fists unclenched, and his shoulders dropped, like he was relaxing a muscle that had been constricted ever since his mother's death.

  “Exactly!” he yelled out.

  Azakor crossed his arms over his chest, smiling even bigger. “But first... we have a war to win.”

  Zana stepped forward. “The Therian forces have already struck at the Neo-Nipponese army that attacked the western border. I'm forming a strategy to attack their forces in three different key locations so that we can-”

  Azakor held up his hand to stop her without even making eye contact. “I'm sure you'll do fine, Zana. But Yuri needs to be involved. I'm sorry, son, but you can't just run off by yourself. What you're doing isn't wrong, it's just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Yuri crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “So you are here to tell me what I'm doing wrong.”

  Azakor looked bemused. “I'm here to point you in the right direction, that's all. We need to put an end to this war, and to Neo-Nippon.”

  Maksim stepped closer to Azakor, speaking softly. “Brother... I'm not sure this is the right-”

  Azakor stepped away from him, ignoring him completely. “You're powerful, Yuri. You're possibly the most powerful Zharkov there is.”

  Yuri puffed his chest up and glanced at Zana with a grin. “Thank you, Father.”

  “You just need to let me direct that power toward our true enemy.”

  Yuri considered what Azakor was saying for a moment before he mumbled, “Who are you talking about?”

  Azakor placed his hand on Yuri's shoulder, “We are at war with Neo-Nippon.”

  Zana shook her head, still trying to deny Azakor's words. “The force field that covers their domain... it's unbreakable. We can't-”

  “She's right,” Maksim said, his nervous glances jumping between each Zharkov that stood in the courtyard. “Even Yuri isn't strong enough to break through.”

  With his hand still on Yuri's shoulder and a smile stretched from ear to ear, Azakor said, “He won't need to.”

  Yuri glanced up at his father. “I won't?”

  Azakor hugged him closer and said, “With your strength on our side? We can take a different route.”

  16

  LUCY

  “This is too weird.”

  “Just eat your breakfast.”

  Lucy stabbed her pancakes with a fork, but her eyes were darting around the restaurant from behind her sunglasses. It was full, with nearly every table having someone sitting at it, but the room was nearly silent. The clanking of silverware against dishes was the only sound. No one spoke. They all just stared down at their food with pleasant smiles, methodically eating, then getting up and leaving so that the next group could take their spot. No one paid for their meal. It was all just part of the system. Everyone worked together for a common goal.

  “They're like robots.”

  Connor looked around nervously. “Keep your voice down. That has to be offensive to them. Right?”

  Lucy shrugged. “I don't know. Can they even get offended? Do they like... feel things anymore?”

  “As long as they leave us alone, I don't care what they do. We just need to get to the shore and find a boat to take us to Gaia.”

  “You're sure we can't fly?”

  “No way. Too much security. We'd never get through.”

  Lucy stuck out her bottom lip and stabbed the last mouthful of pancakes dripping in maple syrup. “Probably for the best. The last time I was flying, it didn't exactly go as planned...”

  Connor reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a loving squeeze. He smiled at her, his blue eyes hidden behind mirrored aviators.

  “We're leaving all of that behind. It can't touch us once we're in Gaia.”

  “You reall
y think we'll be safe there?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I just can't believe there's anywhere in this world the Zharkovs wouldn't swoop into and like... murder whoever they wanted.”

  Connor wiped his mouth and set his napkin on his empty plate. “Do you know how Dominus Terracore got his own domain? Did you ever study Gaia in the Academy?”

  Lucy absentmindedly twisted her newly dyed-black hair around her fingertip. “Not really, but I assume he killed a bunch of people. Isn't that how all these Domini came to power?”

  Connor chuckled softly and shook his head. “No, no. Not all of them. Dominus Terracore isn't a fighter. He doesn't have a cruel bone in his body. He's just this old, fat dude that's in touch with the earth. All he wants is to talk to plants and stuff. He isn't interested in money or power. He feeds the world from his domain and asks for nothing in return.”

  “So why do the Zharkovs leave him alone? They aren't really known for their charity.”

  Connor's eyes grew wide with excitement. “Because Dominus Terracore literally controls the planet. The trees and the grass and the crops. He controls them all. He has the epitome of a Super Power of Mass Destruction. He could kill us all with a thought, just by wiping out our crops. That's way too powerful to mess with.”

  “That's like... cool or whatever, but what does that have to do with us? Why would he protect us?”

  Connor smiled. “Think about it. He might be able to control the plants, but his power is still at the mercy of the weather. His crops need sun and water, and I can give him that. I actually think the two of us could really make a difference.”

  Lucy smiled across the table at him, watching him get lost in his thoughts. “That sounds beautiful. That's like... your dream come true. Isn't it?”

  Connor caught himself staring down at his hand and shoved it under the table with a shrug of his shoulders. “I guess. I mean, if I can help people without punching supervillains... I'd prefer that.”

  “Me too.”

  The waitress stepped up to the table, set the bill down, and walked away without a word.