It had been nearly a week since Asharia Ophedein Draconis, the Dragon Queen of the Arcadian Commonwealth, had delivered her address to the world. Recruitment for practically every part of the military and industrial sectors were at an all time high, and the economy was booming. To make up for the jobs that had been lost by other sectors due to people leaving on mass for more militarily minded professions, Asharia had asked that some of the many Mobile Suit Golems act as a stopgap measure to prevent a collapse of other industries and professions.

She was acting as the Head of State until Arkhan recovered, but in the mere two months since she gained control, she had already proved herself to be an above average ruler. She did not act as an absolute monarch, and instead acted as though she were the president of a democratic nation. Sure, she could exercise her power as the Queen and force legislation to pass or even go full on totalitarian dictator, but she was not inclined towards such baseness and primitive idiocy. She was no power-mad despot, she was a cultured, civilized being that had standards; standards that kept her above the weakness and foolishness of petty tyrants.

She was the acting Head of State in Arkhan’s absence, which was what let her have the power to try her husband’s would-be murderers for their actions. She was prepared to let this be the first, last and only time she used her regal authority to affect the result of a court decision, as there was no way that the defendants would get a fair trial or even an unbiased jury at this stage. Everyone knew that they had done what they did, and there were currently only two sides to the world; those who worshipped Arkhan as a God and those that feared him and his power.

So, rather than give them a regular trial, Asharia decided to go about things a different way.

…

The ambassadors, royal families and dignitaries that had tried to kill Arkhan sat together in a room that was separated into two halves by a sheet of impact-resistant glass. Asharia sat on the other side of the pane, looking at the people who expected to be given either a show trial or a public execution. Asharia had done her best to answer questions and explain the situation, but she was not certain that they truly believed what she had said. Even she was unsure of where along the path Arkhan had taken he had begun to slip, only that he had tried out the AHU’s weapons on his Creations, but not in a fatal way. Was the loss of non-essential parts enough to tip him over, or was he always like this? Could it be that the power had really gotten to his head, thus proving that he had, in fact, been influence d by the cycle?

“And there you have it. That is all I know about these events. With those facts out of the way, do you understand that he was not entirely at fault?”

“We cannot accept that. To say he was not at fault for those deeds is to say that he and we have no control over our lives.”

Asharia sighed.

“I did not say he was entirely blameless, only that he was being influenced by external forces. He is not without blame, but he was being guided along a path that I do not believe he would willingly have taken had he known that he was being guided.”

“Then our fears are true. He truly is lost. He could have been a force for good, but now he is only on the road to evil.”

“…. Did you not even listen to the words that I have spoken?”

“We have heard them.” The Dwarven King spoke for the group.

“Then you must understand that he has a decent chance of changing back to what he should have been if he recovers, correct?”

“Wrong. He has already gone down to the point of no return. No matter if he recovers, his flock of mindless sheep will overtake the world and all things that came before will be swept away. He is a human, and just like all the others, he too has given in to evil’s temptations. He is mad with power, and only his death can solve this problem.”

“You really are not listening, you stubborn young man.”

The two stared at each other for a while before Asharia extended an olive branch.

“If you don’t get back to your nations, it really will only be a matter of time before the cult takes over in your absence. I want to get you out of here and have your nations as allies again, but unless you try and work with me there is no chance of leaving this facility alive. I too want the Church of Arkhan to lose power, not only because of how obnoxious they are, but also because they represent the continuation of the cycle. We all want what is best for the people of this world, and we all want the Church to be weakened. If there are no other reasons than that, then use that as a reason to work with me.”

“We are all in agreement. We will never trust the Commonwealth again. We will never give up, and we will never submit to your regime. That monster is still alive and likely sent you to try and tempt us. We will not listen to your poisoned words, wyrm. Go back to your ‘glorious god’ and tell him that the legitimate government of his former allies will never yield to his tyrannical and despotic hegemony.”

“Fine.”

Asharia rose from her seat and turned to leave.

“You really want to waste away in here while the Church takes over your nations and takes control of your people? Then rot here and say goodbye to the vaunted culture and traditions that you cherish so much. We are done here.”

She did not have to put up with their obstinance. She had better things to do that try and talk a brick wall into moving.

“You are really giving up?!”

Asharia said nothing as she pushed the button to open the sliding, magnetically sealed door.

“Wait! You mean you really will just leave us here? You are not going to try and convince us again?!”

Asharia did not turn her head and merely answered in one word.

“No.”

She walked out the door as the Dwarven King got to his stubby feet and tried to yell her down. Little did he know he was just playing into her hands. She would wait another few months, letting them go from their current minimum-security accommodations to a supermax accommodation. She was very, very old, and she knew fully how to twist people like them. Prideful monarchs who spent their lives in splendor were unaccustomed to frugality. A few months of the harshest lodgings and the false threat of a silent and secluded execution and being erased from history would be enough to break them. She just hoped that the Church wouldn’t take over before she could set things in motion.

…

“Damn it all to HELL!”

Three months in to the plan and it all went to hell in a handbasket.

“WHY?! WHYWHYWHYWHY?! Why the fucking hell did they convert?!”

Her plan had backfired horrifically. She had hoped that months of punishment and the threat of death would break their resolve and make them more accepting of her deal, but instead someone had installed speakers and wall-to-wall screens in their cells which played near non-stop propaganda and Church services.

“To be fair, it was my fault for assuming our prisons were like those in other nations, but for the love of fuck, WHY WERE THEY MADE THIS WAY?!”

Sure, now the diplomats, royalty and dignitaries were on her side, but they were no longer the way they were. The prison that they had been sent to was an Orwellian institution, and Asharia had never known it. After three months of brainwashing, the former resistance was now just more die-hard believers. She could now focus on the main objective, but this was a blow she was neither prepared for or ready for.

As they had finally accepted her deal, she was now contractually bound to release them and have them retake their positions in their governments, but boy did this sting. Now the population had no other authority figures (aside from Asharia herself) that did not support the Church of Arkhan, and with that final bit of damage to the resistance against the Church, the number of people against the ‘God of Arcadia’ began to fall even faster. By the end of the year, which saw the arrival of another invasion force, the believers who saw Arkhan as a God now made up 98.4% of the populace, and that number only continued to grow, capping out at roughly 99.99999% (Asharia herself is the only one left) when news of the victory against the second invasion reached the planet.