Chapter Text
Alrest, about 1 year before the Intersection
Every citizen of Tantal was gathered in front of Theoscaldia Palace, many of them whispering amongst themselves. Their king was supposed to give a speech today about the incoming disaster, but he had yet to make his appearance. Many people remained patient, but others were starting to get restless.
Zeke had remained in the throne room, standing near the back and staring out into the sky. He had been deep in thought for a long time now, an unsure expression on his face.
“Are you almost ready for your speech, my liege?”
Zeke looked over as he heard Pandoria’s voice.
“Sorry for the formalities, but you know,” Pandoria apologized.
Zeke sighed, turning back to look at the sky again. “Yeah…”
Pandoria stared at her Driver for a moment. “You… do have a speech prepared, right?”
“I have the ideas down,” Zeke replied.
“My Prince, you were supposed to actually prepare a speech!” Pandoria scolded. “Not just wing it like you always do!”
“Winging it always works best for me,” Zeke insisted. “I just… need a little bit more time to gather my thoughts.”
“Well everyone is waiting for you,” Pandoria reminded, “so you’d better hurry it up.”
“I know, but I’m still struggling to wrap my head around the whole thing,” Zeke replied.
“You’ve given plenty of speeches before,” Pandoria said, “this’ll be nothing for you.”
“No, not that,” Zeke corrected. “I mean… This whole ‘Origin’ thing. Thinking about it all has my mind running wild. What do you think about all of this?”
“I don’t know,” Pandoria shrugged, “Tora told you all the information, not me. I have even less of an understanding than you do.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Zeke agreed. “But still. A giant machine with everyone’s souls or whatever? Kinda freaky stuff.”
“Well yeah, when you word it like that,” Pandoria teased. “You’re overthinking it. I mean, aren’t you always the one going on about needing to have faith in your friends? Just listen to your own advice, you oaf.”
“Hm,” Zeke replied quietly.
“Now come on, you really need to get out there,” Pandoria insisted. “You’ll do just fine. You can actually be surprisingly sophisticated when you need to be.”
“Shuddup,” Zeke responded, although he didn’t actually sound too angry.
Pandoria waited for Zeke to move a muscle, but he was still just standing still. She let out an annoyed groan. “My Prince,” she said, “how long do you plan on stalling this?”
“I’m not stalling,” Zeke denied. “I’m-”
“Papa!”
Zeke and Pandoria stopped and looked over as Linka walked up to the two of them.
“Something wrong, Linka?” Zeke asked.
“Everyone’s waiting for your big speech outside!” Linka informed. “What’s taking you so long?”
“Nothing,” Zeke insisted, “your old man’s just trying to formulate his thoughts.”
“And he’s stalling,” Pandoria added.
“I’m not-” Zeke argued.
“It’s ok, Papa,” Linka assured. “This is important, you wanna make sure everyone in Tantal gets the information they need.”
Zeke blinked, slightly taken aback by his daughter’s response. “Well, yeah,” he said, “you’re right.”
“Is this about the whole world ending thing?” Linka questioned.
“You know about that?” Pandoria asked. “We haven’t told you-”
“I listen a lot,” Linka insisted. “And everyone likes to talk about it around the castle anyway, so…”
Zeke let out a sigh. “Yes, this is about the whole world ending thing,” he confirmed.
“Papa, are we all going to die?” Linka asked, sounding a little bit more scared this time.
“What? No,” Zeke denied. He took a knee to meet his daughter at eye level and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tora and the others made sure that we’ll all survive this disaster that’s coming.”
“How?” Linka questioned. “What did they do?”
Zeke shook his head. “I’ve got no clue, really,” he admitted. “But Rex, Nia, Pyra and Mythra, everyone… They all have been working really hard on a solution. And even if I don’t understand what any of it means, what I do know is those guys have come through when the world needed them time and time again. We have to have full faith in them. Because wallowing in doubt and fear won’t get you anyway.”
Linka smiled. “I trust Rex and Nia and all of those guys,” she insisted. “You’re right, Papa. I’m sure they’ll come through for the world.”
Zeke gave Linka a pat on the head. “That’s my Linka Bug.”
“Well, I think you just solved your problem there,” Pandoria said.
“Huh?” Zeke questioned, standing back up. “What are you talking about?”
“You figured out the speech,” Pandoria explained. “Just go out there and tell everyone what you just told Linka. Just, you know, maybe reword it a bit.”
“Heh, alrighty then,” Zeke agreed, putting his hands on his hips. “You’ve got a point, Pandy. I just gotta reassure everyone that we’ll be fine. That is what Tora asked me to do.”
“So you can stop stalling now, right?” Pandoria asked.
“How many times do I need to say I’m not stalling?!” Zeke questioned.
“Quit stalling, Papa,” Linka chimed in as well.
“Ok, ok, I’m going now,” Zeke assured, heading towards the front of the throne room.
Pandoria and Linka watched him for a moment before Pandoria put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.
“We better go with him,” Pandoria insisted. “He might need the moral support.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Linka agreed.
They both followed behind Zeke as he prepared to address the people of Tantal.
Zeke stopped to take one last moment to collect his thoughts. “You’ve got this,” he mumbled to himself. “You’re Zeke von Genbu, a speech like this will be nothing.”
He then took in a deep breath before stepping outside where his people had been waiting.
______________________________________________
Zeke had stayed in the City for a few days now, mostly because the doctors didn’t want him leaving with his injuries. Although they admittedly were quite surprised to see how quickly Zeke had bounced back, especially considering how severe the wounds initially seemed. But this was nothing new for Zeke. He knew his limits and he knew his resilience. It was the main thing that kept him alive all this time.
Zeke had a sack of food and other supplies with him as he left the infirmary.
“Please reconsider,” the doctor pleaded. “You have no idea how dangerous Aionios is. You’d be much safer if you stayed here in the City.”
Zeke let out a snicker. “No idea?” he questioned. “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of how dangerous Aionios is. But that’s never been something to frighten me off before.”
“Well yes, but…” the doctor replied, “what about your injuries?”
“You mean the ones you told me were all healed up?” Zeke retorted, somewhat playfully.
The doctor sighed. “I suppose I cannot force you to stay,” he admitted, “but you’d be all alone out there. You’ve already lost so much, haven’t you?”
“So has everyone else,” Zeke reminded. “It’s not like I’m unique when it comes to losing loved ones.” Zeke turned away and looked up into the sky. “And I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m all alone.” He placed and hand over his heart and clutched onto his shirt. “She’ll always be with me…”
“Even so,” the doctor said, “you could easily be killed out there. You were lucky to survive against Moebius. You may not be too lucky the next time you encounter one of them.”
“Ha! Kill me? I’d like to see them try,” Zeke mocked.
The doctor narrowed his eyes. “Do you just have a death wish?”
“What? Of course not,” Zeke denied. “The truth is, this world is messed up beyond belief. And even if I can’t fix the world, I can still improve it piece by piece.”
“You’re just one person,” the doctor reminded. “What makes you think you have the power to do any of that?”
“Just one person?” Zeke questioned. “Do you even know who you’re talking to? The mighty Zeke von Genbu doesn’t simply back down when the world needs him. And right now there’s probably tons of people who need the Zekenator’s help.”
The doctor didn’t have a response at first, and Zeke took his silence as an excuse to continue walking away.
“W-wait!” the doctor called after him.
Zeke gestured a wave as he kept walking, but he didn’t look back. “I’ll make sure to come back and visit, alright?” he assured.
As Zeke continued his way through the City, some of the other people noticed him. They all waved goodbye as he walked past, Zeke waving back as well.
“Hey, cheers for all the help,” Zeke thanked.
“You’ll always be welcomed here,” one City person assured.
Zeke smiled and nodded. He made his way to the main entrance of the City. He took in a deep breath, not looking back as he stepped outside of the City. He was back in the wilderness of Aionios, somewhere he had grown quite used to exploring.
Zeke made his way up a big hill, climbing up to the top and getting a beautiful view of the Cadensia region. He felt the sea breeze blowing towards him and he just took it all in.
“No matter what happens,” Zeke said, “no matter what Aionios throws at me, I won’t let it weigh me down. I am Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos! And this world could really use some chaos to upset their little cycle of things.”