《The Timebender》δ. Pax
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The bumps of the dirt road hurt Daniel bum, a ten-day journey across the world in a wagon wasn’t a delightful experience, to say the least. He had been elected as the diplomatic in charge of the Hispania-European negotiations at New Brussels. He was honored to be here, but even after so many years, he couldn’t stand those wooden carts.
As a diplomat of the greatest country in Terra Nova, Hispania Invicta, he had been sent by the Consejo de Sabios to ease the exchange of supplies with the European Union. He could never imagine himself two years ago as a spokesperson of a great powerhouse. The arrival of the Arcane Record and the end of Earth had really changed history forever.
New Brussels was an outstanding city, planned by the greatest minds of old Europa and built with state-of-the-art magic. Even if Hispania Invicta was the greatest commonwealth of countries, the European Union had held the stakes after directing all its efforts into magic development. New Brussels wasn’t composed of houses, but magic-born trees that could accommodate humans. These plants rose up to even twenty meters high, making this city the cradle of proto-eco-skyscrapers.
“You must be Daniel Negro.” A man that wore a white tunic that flashed with purple light and held a mighty bear talked to him.
“That’s me,” He said. Daniel that the man had the [Translator] skill, or maybe the title if he was fancy. Daniel loved this ability as it let him talk without speaking English. He wasn’t bad at it, but between the man’s accent – who looked German – and his, they probably couldn’t understand very well.
“I am Paul Weber and I will be your escort for the duration of your stay.” Paul said with a bow.
Daniel recognized the EU insignia on Weber’s chest, marking that he was also a diplomat. Daniel felt bad as he wasn’t as polite as Paul. Negro followed Weber as they walked across the dirt road.
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“I am most impressed with the organization of your city.” Daniel told his true feelings.
“I am glad you like it.” Weber continued. “We are proud of being the center of human development here at New Brussels.”
“Sure, you do,” Negro replied. “This place is wonderful. A city made of trees.”
“We have a saying,” the EU diplomat said. “New Brussels is not a city in the woods, the woods are the city.”
“I can see that.” Daniel was still amazed by New Brussels. Not only because the trees were housing, but the branches worked as elevated walkways, and separation and organization of streets between the houses reminded him of the Roman city-building organized style.
“We are nothing but maintaining an old alliance,” Paul said as he turned over a corner. “What you did with the foundation of Hispania Invicta is certainly more incredible.”
“Your own words could be applied to our case.” The diplomat of the Consejo de Sabios told. “We unified all Spanish-speaking countries under one banner. We only rekindled the old ties we shared.”
“But the fact you did so only with words and peace is worthy of praise.” Weber said.
“The times after the Record were uncertain and chaotic, the union was the better way.” Negro told with certain proudness in his tone.
“You speak the truth,” Paul turned and looked at Daniel. “If only every country could have gone a peaceful transition as you did.” Daniel let out a mild laugh. “What happened?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Daniel replied. “I remembered something when you talked about the peaceful transition.”
“What did you remember?” Paul asked with interest.
“After the recent dictatorship period of Spain known as Franquismo ended, there was a peaceful transition between the monarchy and the government to establish democracy, this was called La Transición.” Daniel looked at the foliage of the trees with melancholy. “It reminded me of when I was teaching History.”
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“You were a History teacher?” The bearded man asked.
“Oh, yes,” Daniel responded. “It was because of the job that I ended up here. Nothing better than a historian to keep history from repeating itself. The fact that I am negotiating a food sharing agreement between our countries is a demonstration of how history can guide us to a better place.”
“I fear I do not follow you,” Weber told him. They already arrived at EU Terra Nova Peace Building, but Paul and Daniel sat as he enjoyed the talk with the Spanish diplomat. “How both facts are correlated?”
“There are moments that should never be repeated again, like the World Wars, but they are still are movements that need to be encouraged. Globalization, democracy, union, peace, and ecology are ones that need to be kept close to us. I just remind them that we need to follow that path.”
“Even so, that you rose from a teacher to such an important figure in foreign politics, show how much did you work for humanity, Mr. Negro.” Weber had known the doings of Daniel over a year ago. It is said he was a keystone in the unification of the Spanish world.
“I am not worthy of such words,” Daniel told sincerely. “I preserved peace when the times were at its darkest. Now humanity prospers in a new world, untouched by the damage made by our predecessors.”
“And we must keep it that way,” Paul stated, his voice exuding confidence. He stood up from the bench made from tree roots they had been sitting and then continued. “Would you like to visit the Flemish Gardens after we are done with the meeting?”
“That would be fantastic,” Daniel told, also standing up. “Maybe when we are there, we could stop talking like we are doing.”
Paul laughed a bit. “Yeah, we could.”
That day, the seven-hundred and eighteenth day after the Record abducted the inhabitants of Earth, the New European Union and the commonwealth of Spanish nations that was Hispania Invicta signed an agreement of agriculture ceding in exchange for workforce and a peace enforcement treaty.
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