“You will pay for this, make no mistake!”

Delicate arms grabbed the bars, shaking them violently. If rage and shame could become a physical force, they would have blown the cell apart with their vigor.

“Get me out of here this instant!”

However, all threats or pleas fell on deaf ears. The two hulking laborers standing in front of the cell said and did nothing. They simply kept watching their prisoner. With the way things were, perhaps there wasn’t an actual point in keeping them locked, but it served as a symbol and a lesson.

“I will murder you… I will beat you at your own game! Do not forget this!”

But no matter how much they shouted or raged, no one was coming to save them. Although once the Ruler, Acrus had now been dethroned and imprisoned.

How could something like that have happened? What sort of circumstances occurred right under their nose and led to this nightmare?!

The day of the third wave went and passed without major incident, and now it was night.

Under the cover of darkness two figures were walking on the ground. One of them was holding the other’s hand and led them through the forest. They were Roah and Niu.

I still can’t believe I agreed to this, thought Niu gloomily. She had called Roah crazy, but perhaps she was also just as crazy. However, the plan did seem to have some merit, as unbelievable as it was. They had already managed to complete the first step a few days before, after all.

Kalden was relatively well-lit even at night, but that was mostly true for the treetops, not the ground. Niu recalled how they saw the lights from afar during that stressful night when they first arrived there.

However, not only was the ground much darker, Roah was deliberately choosing the darkest paths to move through. Niu herself could barely see anything, so they were lucky to have Roah’s ability to guide them. He even looked further ahead to make sure no one would notice them.

A boy and a girl moving through the forest at night. Even if they were the so-called “faeries”, being caught here would surely not end well. Niu’s heart was beating so loudly she was almost worried that would get noticed by someone.

She also thought about TriX taking them there, but according to Roah it would be far too conspicuous; thinking about it, laborers did have all sorts of glowing parts and would thus stand out in the darkness. She wasn’t sure if it would be more or less suspicious being caught together with a laborer.

Niu also had to admit that the plan and execution seemed to be going far smoother than expected. Choosing the night immediately after the wave ensured that most people lowered their guard, resting and tending to the wounded after the battle. The fact that everything went swimmingly that day probably contributed to the lack of fairy presence outside as well. Also, they themselves were not regarded so dangerous as to be fully guarded at all times, though it did take a bit of an effort to get off of the tree without being noticed.

The trek was slow and cautious, but luckily the pair’s destination wasn’t too far away—apparently it had been kept relatively close to the palace out of strategic considerations. According to what Roah had told her, the tree they were heading to was called Armonia, and it served as a certain base.

Armonia, apparently, continually gathered energy from the sun, and that energy was then harnessed for many uses—including charging the laborers. Meaning, that was their so-called quarters, as well as the location for one of the main phases of Roah’s plan.

Are you absolutely sure about that? Niu asked.

“Yeah. I’ve memorized it. Unless Seele changed it, we’re fine. Even if we get it wrong, surely they wouldn’t do anything, right? We could then just forget about the whole deal. Is that fine?”

Niu thought for a while, arms crossed.

…Alright, I guess.

“Good. Then let’s make the first try, say, tomorrow at night.”

She was still anxious, but decided there was no harm in trying. Finally, at the promised night they gathered again in Roah’s room. Niu activated her ability. After a few simple tests conducted by Roah, her range did seem to be quite far-reaching—though, as far as they knew, TriX was still in their quarters right now anyway.

Code 001, Niu recited the words Roah had told her to memorize. He wasn’t sure if it was language-dependent, so it was done just in case. The next part would be easier, however. Starting now on, you will obey all of my orders over anything else. The first opportunity you get, and without arousing any suspicions, come to Niu’s room. Do not speak of this, or else convey this information in any way, to anyone.

Niu finished the transmission, taking a deep breath. That was the first step that would perhaps determine everything else about the plan. She was obviously extremely nervous.

“Now we wait,” Roah mumbled, remaining as calm as ever.

It took no more than a couple of minutes before the door to the room was opened without any warning, causing her heart to skip a beat. It really was TriX. She was surprised to see that this actually worked.

“Quickly,” Roah nudged her.

You… will not speak of anything done inside this room. Is that clear? Nod as an answer; don’t say anything yet.

TriX immediately and calmly nodded. This caused Roah to smile and Niu’s eyes to slightly widen. She herself wasn’t present back when Roah and Seele discussed how laborers could be controlled, but she never thought that it would be this easy.

“I told you I have a good memory,” said Roah, surprisingly without a hint of smugness in his voice.

But this went beyond just good memory; he had only one chance to hear it and didn’t even know the code’s purpose at the time. They were also still new to the world and barely knew the language back then. Despite all that, Roah still managed to both remember and properly deduct the nature of that information.

Well, he’d always gotten top grades in class, and that was when he was absent so often. This was, however, the first opportunity for Niu to see him utilize his abilities for something that seemed to actually matter.

“Well?” Roah asked her after a while she was gazing at him. “Keep going. Remember, you’re the one in control here.”

Right. Only now that the first step was a success they could begin to inquire into the rest. In the interest of not arousing any suspicions, she needed to act fast.

“There’s someone up there,” Roah whispered in a voice so silent that Niu could barely understand him. Once she did, however, she froze in place.

Armonia was right in front of their eyes. Due to its functions, it was one of the highest trees in all of Kalden, so it was quite huge. Niu could see small sources of light from overhead but she couldn’t see what Roah was exactly referring to.

“Just follow me, quietly and slowly,” he whispered again, pulling at her hand.

Together they began climbing the ladder installed at the base of the tree, reaching one of the branches and Armonia’s so-called first floor. For a few tense moments Roah glanced around the corner, silent and unmoving. Finally, he pulled at her again and they made their way to the stairs leading to the next floor.

Niu kept imagining someone getting the jump on them, yet no one seemed to stand in their way. She could see better than before, since the higher they got, the more light there was on the surrounding trees, but everything looked the same to her.

At some point Roah stopped, so Niu stopped as well. They were in front of a door.

“Call it out,” Roah whispered.

Niu took a deep breath. Now came the decisive moment. She did as she was told.

A few moments passed before the door was unlocked and opened. Greeting them inside was the hulking figure of a laborer—of TriX. It said nothing, but merely walked inside. Roah pulled her hand and they followed.

There was scarce light inside, but enough to see the dozens of figures stationed inside the large room, arranged in rows. Most of them were large, most of them were humanoid, but many had bizarre shapes and makeups, judging from the faint silhouettes. Each stood on its own podium, with what appeared to be wires attached to it.

From what Niu understood, this place served as the charging station of the laborers—since they were not strictly living beings, they produced energy not from food but from the sun. Armonia apparently possessed some way of accumulating and preserving sunlight to be used for such purposes. Back in the underground base TriX needed to bask in the sun inside the open cavern, but here there was an actual system installed for this purpose.

“And now we’ll begin,” whispered Roah.

Niu gazed at the rows of sleeping, charging laborers—laborers that she needed to take control of.

And how exactly are we going to take control of them? Niu had asked Roah at the time.

He wrote her an answer, perhaps not wishing to be overheard. There has to be some sort of record of codes or something of the sort. We’ll ask TriX when we make the attempt.

Later, as it turned out, Roah was both right and wrong.

“There is no record,” TriX told them after Niu asked the question.

“What? But what if someone forgets or… well, dies?” Roah asked.

“There is someone who, knows all codes. Also, there is a method to, restart the code if needed.”

“Is that restarting something easy to do?”

“No. Perhaps it cannot even, be done anymore. It hadn’t been done, in many years."

“…Then that’s a relief,” Roah mumbled.

However, Niu felt that their plan fell apart right there. What were they going to do? Kidnap the fairy that knows all the codes and get them to spill it out? Never mind it being too risky, she would never agree to that.

Roah didn’t seem to give up, however. “So there’s no written record or anything like that… anyway, where are you hanging out when you need to charge?”

“There is a facility, in the tree called Armonia.”

Next Roah asked for general directions. After he did, he snickered.

What’s so funny? Asked Niu.

“That’s where we went during the negotiations. You know, when they took us there blindfolded.”

How do you know this…?

“Oh, because I memorized the route, of course,” he replied nonchalantly. Looking at her surprised expression, he added, “also, being blindfolded doesn’t hinder me much anyway. Seeing through a piece of cloth is easy for me.”

Niu blinked a few times. Roah, as always, was full of surprises. Meanwhile, he kept inquiring some further details. Apparently, laborers went to Armonia to charge themselves. If needed, they could hold on for a few days consecutively, but mostly they went back to charge every night.

“And I assume some people would come to take you from there… or not, since you can just walk in and out yourselves. Still, surely there were times that you—eh, let me just ask you directly,” Roah said, “…have you ever heard the codes of any other laborers?”

There was no way, Niu thought; after all, they wouldn’t actually let—

“Yes,” TriX simply replied.

Niu was still shocked by their discovery that TriX knew a few codes. As Roah had explained to her later, after TriX had been sent away for them to keep planning, he’d already realized that laborers were treated pretty much as useful tools by their society. Just as Seele had been careless enough to use the code in front of them because they didn’t understand the language, surely many other fairies used their codes when there were only laborers around. Even those like Seele, who regarded their laborers as partners, knew they were still different living beings.

And laborers, after all, only thought of serving. They weren’t going to use one another’s codes to control each other; perhaps they were even incapable of it on a fundamental level.

Now she and Roah were inside the charging station, seeing if they could accomplish the next phase of their plan. TriX had given them five codes. If those five knew even a couple of other codes each, perhaps taking control of all fifty-odd laborers residing in Kalden wasn’t as much of a pipedream as she thought.

Code 102. You will obey all of my orders over anything else.

She transmitted the first attempt. TriX had both told her the correct words to use as well as pointed out the relevant laborer; at least as far as she and Roah investigated, she couldn’t use her ability without knowing the recipient first.

One of the laborers stirred into life. Its glowing eyes stared at Niu’s direction, ready for action. First, though, she wanted to make sure all of them were under her control.

Code 3—

Her next attempt was cut off. AudO—the laborer she’d just taken control of—suddenly spoke. She couldn’t understand it, however.

“Someone is coming,” TriX translated.

Niu was frozen, but luckily Roah was as fast-thinking as always, whispering to her, “We’ll hide, tell them to cover for us.”

Niu let herself be pulled away while she sent: Don’t let anyone find us. She and Roah ducked behind one of the rows. They were lucky the room was kept dark. They heard someone entering through the front door.

She really needed to learn the language already; moments like these, when she could hear some fairy speaking to the laborers was nerve-wrecking. She was also dubious if AudO understood her, after all, so it might be all up to TriX. She glanced at Roah, as he probably understood a lot more than her, but his gaze was intense and focused.

The fairy finally left and the room went silent again.

Is it safe? Niu asked TriX after a short while.

“Yes.”

What did you do…?

“I told them we just got back, after handling some business. They seemed to believe us,” TriX explained.

“That was close,” admitted Roah. “We’re lucky the laborers said nothing.” The ones around them were all still “sleeping”. According to TriX they were fully conscious, but most laborers did nothing out of their own accord unless they were prodded or if it was within their orders.

“Let’s move on,” suggested Roah. Niu nodded, took a deep breath and started the process again.

Code 304. You will obey all of my orders over anything else.

Code 123. You will obey all of my orders over anything else.

Code 932. You will obey all of my orders over anything else.

Do not speak of anything that happens here or convey them to others in any way. Do everything that you can to conceal our involvement.

Now, if any of you know any other codes, please tell me about them.

TriX wondered to itself: was doing this really fine?

Having lived for more than 200 years, it saw quite a lot. It saw Seele’s life and pains. It learned about a new language and culture in a secret project that unfortunately never quite came to fruition.

It saw the replacement of the Ruler. Subsequently the project had been abandoned, and it had been sent along with its partner to a nearby base to do unimportant work. This saddened it, if robots could feel something resembling sadness. It also saddened Seele, but Seele would not often wear their true feelings, instead trying to stay optimistic.

Now, it was being offered a chance.

Roah had done his job quite well—the orders he’d made Niu give to it were precise and covered nearly all bases. However, there were always loopholes. TriX had to follow the orders it had been given in its codes, but it was also smart enough to circumvent them. It was part of the first generation; although not sophisticated, it was experienced.

Seele might have not been completely careful, but they still hid a few codes for situations such as this. If it wanted to, TriX could have easily implied to its partner that something was currently wrong in its codes, and Niu had no way to stop the input of new codes.

However, TriX didn’t do so—because it felt that perhaps this was doing the right thing. Roah and Niu hadn’t shared most of the details with it, but based on their questions and orders, it more or less realized their plan.

And it knew that this plan, while being dangerous, could lead this country to a new direction, to a new age after the stagnation inflicted to it by Acrus.

TriX didn’t know much; it only knew what it had been taught. It wasn’t cunning and couldn’t understand complicated plans and machinations, but it still knew enough to say that it wanted to help Seele, and by extension those that Seele cared about.

Therefore, it decided to simply go along with the plan.

“How the fuck did… how could you even…” Gen sputtered, but then shook his head. Apparently, everything that just happened was too much for him to understand.

“It’s a long story,” said Roah.

They were still inside the throne room, which turned into a scene of absolute chaos a short while ago. About ten laborers were surrounding them from all sides, although there was no longer anything to protect them against… for now, at least. Many wounded fairies were being evacuated from the area, with the Ruler being among them. It felt like Acrus could still be heard yelling from afar.

Niu sat down in a daze; she was still quite shocked herself. During each and every step she thought that something like this would never work, and yet it all lined up together. Even some elements that were unexpected for her had apparently been foreseen by Roah.

“Try and make it short, then,” Gen demanded, directing a fierce gaze at the other boy.

“Sure. We took control of almost every laborer in Kalden.”

“That part I get—somehow,” said Gen, glancing around them, “but how did you… crap, we’re going in circles. You’ll just have to give me the rundown of it later… are we safe right now?”

I… think so, said Niu.

Other than the surrounding laborers there were also many fairies who seemed to have accepted or even supported the new situation. Some of them looked a bit scared, but many even directed hopeful gazes at the four of them.

Gen turned to Shaya. “I can’t believe you were part of it too, though.”

“I-I wasn’t!” she hurriedly said, her eyes darting around. “I just thought it was, umm, a good opportunity and… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize for anything… I was just surprised out of my mind, that’s all.”

“I did consider letting you in on this,” said Roah, “but I was certain you’d have tried to stop us. And if not, maybe you’d blurt out something or it might show up on your face. Nothing personal, of course.”

“You little…” Gen mumbled with a clenched fist, but did nothing else.

Are you fine? Niu directed a question at the fairy standing wordlessly nearby—Seele.

“Me? Oh, yes. It’s just… overwhelming a bit, that’s all. I’m also surprised,” they replied. Since Seele received the message directly into their mind, to all the others the response seemed to come out of anywhere. “You have done something very unexpected.”

Niu couldn’t tell if Seele was pleased or sad about this outcome, but then again, she herself wasn’t quite sure about this as well. Although the plan seemed to have been a huge success, this was only the beginning. Only a step toward their true goals, and with many unknowns still remaining.

“The Ruler has been safely secured,” informed a voice from the far end of the room. “Sorry, the previous Ruler. Because apparently you are our new Ruler.”

“Try calling her ‘Queen’,” said Roah. “We need to emphasize her special position here, after all.”

Roah’s remark received no response. Instead, the incomer simply stepped nonchalantly back toward the throne.

“Finally, a new age begins,” said Aisbroom with a smile, looking at the petite girl sitting exhausted on the large throne.

“We will no longer be bound to you, Ruler of Kalden,” Roah announced. “Starting now… we will be taking the throne for ourselves!”

Aisbroom saw the whole room freeze. Since Roah had spoken in their language, everyone present could understand it. Aisbroom was shocked, but Acrus even more so. Even the other faeries seemed shocked! What was he even doing?

“What is the meaning of—“ Acrus started.

“I present to you your new Queen—Niu!” Roah called.

As if on signal, two individuals took action, and both of them were laborers. Yes, Acrus had had guards standing near the throne, but even they weren’t ready for an attack from such an unexpected angle. The laborer Aisbroom knew was called TriX and one another he didn’t know leapt toward the throne.

It all happened too fast; the guards were blown away, and the Ruler was covered by the two large, grayish bodies.

“Kill them! Help me!!!” Acrus screamed.

“If you make any move at all, we’ll have your Ruler killed!” Roah shouted back.

Aisbroom glanced at one of the flowers on their hand but froze, along with all of the other guards. That seemed like a realistic threat, but would Roah actually follow through?

Of course he would; what that Aisbroom thinking? If any one of the faeries could do such a thing it would definitely be Roah. Only he was both crazy and resourceful enough to achieve this result.

Just like Aisbroom wanted him to.

“This isn’t over!” Acrus called and then there was suddenly smoke. Roah seemed surprised by this, but Aisbroom wasn’t; Acrus had indeed been interested in the tricks employed by the Stroba as of late.

Acrus appeared from within the smoke along with some guards who followed suit, ready to fight back. At that moment, however, several more laborers burst into the room, turning everything into a chaotic struggle.

“I don’t understand what’s going on anymore…!” Gen spat. He was just standing there, unsure how to act in this situation.

“I’ll kill you!” Acrus wasn’t a fighter, but still nimble with a knife; they attempted to attack the so-called new Ruler. “Help me, you idiots!” they shouted at the guards as well.

“No!” Shaya shouted as well, and Acrus flew through air to the other way, landing painfully on the floor.

“You can’t resist us—our powers as faeries are greater!” Roah called, apparently taking advantage of this opportunity.

Other guards also advanced forward, yet some of them were still too confused—and one even decided to stand against their friends and protect the fairies.

“I-I stand by the faeries!” one guard announced. “They saved our precious forest from the flames! We can’t let Acrus keep controlling us!”

Seeing and hearing all that, Aisbroom was still hesitant to act, and much too slow. A few laborers already surrounded them. Aisbroom thought he could handle them, but… what after that?

“…I surrender,” Aisbroom ended up saying, raising their arms.

“What… are you… doing?!” screamed the already-restrained Acrus from the side, wrestling against the powerful laborers. “You insolent traitor!”

“I am honestly shocked you didn’t even try to fight,” said Roah. Aisbroom knew the boy was trying to sound calm and collected, but could clearly see the confusion and doubt on his face.

“Did you think I wasn’t aware of you planning something?” Aisbroom replied coldly. “Of course I knew it… but I let you go wild on purpose. All in order to take advantage of such an opportunity.”

Roah’s eyes widened in understanding, probably thinking of their many past interactions. Well, it was half a lie and half the truth. While Aisbroom did realize that Roah was cooking something, he had pretty much no clue about how it was going to happen and when.

“How sly of you,” Roah mumbled approvingly.

“No, you’re the sly one,” said Aisbroom, turning around. They paced slowly toward Acrus, hands still raised. Whether they had received some commands or were simply waiting and watching, the laborers didn’t do anything.

“I’ll kill you… how dare you, after all this time,” Acrus hissed, still struggling.

“You were so, so afraid of me,” said Aisbroom, voice and expression cold as ice, “that you never expected someone else to do anything, right? You treated the faeries as dangerous pawns, but only pawns. You were naïve. I was just as surprised as you to these events.” They gestured toward the four faeries watching this scene. “However, are you really surprised that, given the opportunity, I will side with them? How pathetic.”

“I’ll rip your body to shreds and use it to fertilize your idiotic garden!”

Aisbroom smiled and let out a small chuckle at this childish insult. Acrus really hated things not going their way. They were a massive sore loser. Aisbroom then turned their head to Roah. “What are you planning to do to the Ruler, exactly?”

“Lock them up,” Roah replied. “Killing them wouldn’t accomplish anything… sure, this is a takeover, but we’re acting for the good of this country, you know?”

That’s what Acrus also said at the same, Aisbroom thought but said nothing.

Meanwhile, they also noticed that the girl—the apparent new Ruler—averted her gaze from them. Aisbroom still had no idea how most of this was accomplished, but she seemed to be one of the central figures in this plan. They had thought her weak and frail, but Roah might have used that for his advantage. Perhaps Aisbroom’s original guess that Niu had more than met the eye had been correct.

“The good of this country… right.” Aisbroom turned back to Acrus. Their face was now distorted in extreme hatred as they looked down the fallen Ruler. “How does this feel, Acrus? You know what I mean—having everything important taken away from you,” they asked. “Just as you did all those years ago when you have killed my progenitor and took the throne.”

“I will… murder you,” Acrus spoke, their body rocked by deep, heavy breaths, “just as I did to your filthy—“

The rest of the sentence was stopped by a loud whack. Aisbroom’s leg hit the Ruler’s face like a blur, causing droplets of bloody spittle to spray on the floor.

Acrus started screaming in pain and rage, but Aisbroom took a deep breath and retrieved their former calmness.

“I’ll take the Ruler away to the dungeons,” they said with a smile.

Night came. By now, news of the Queen probably spread through the entirety of Kalden. Roah had suggested arranging a speech (of some kind, though Niu wasn’t sure how) in front of a large crowd, but that would have to wait for tomorrow.

At the very least, things in the palace were now quiet. The transition had been surprisingly smooth, and despite the chaotic battle in the throne room there were no dead and very few injured. This, of course, was also part of Roah’s strategy; a relatively bloodless revolution.

“…I honestly can’t believe you,” said Gen.

He’d just heard the story of the plan as recounted by Roah. Everything about how they took control of nearly the entire laborer force overnight and used them for a surprise attack to drag the Ruler off their throne. They made them prepare for the attack and come at the moment they needed them, a result that no one could have expected.

All of it had been made possible, of course, through Niu’s ability. Only like that they could have silently organized everything behind the scenes.

And since Niu was the one who needed to command the laborers, Roah had decided that she should become the Queen, as laughable as it was. Even so, he assured her that she was perfect for the job.

Niu wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Hey, you have to admit I did a good job—we didn’t even have to kill anyone,” Roah pointed out.

That was true, though Niu felt that at least part of it was motivated by the need to get her to agree to the plan. With how Roah acted sometimes, she wasn’t quite sure if he really had qualms about killing people.

Regardless, when they were scheming and preparing for action, Roah also noted that accomplishing such a hostile takeover right in front of the Ruler’s face while minimizing the casualties was much harder than a simple coup d'état, but that it would also make the potential victory much sweeter—having Niu ascend to the throne that way, coupled with Fairland’s perception of “faeries”, would make it the stuff of legends.

Judging by how everything went, he was probably right.

“At least now we’ll have a chance to get back home,” said Shaya. “It did sound dangerous, but since the result’s good, everything’s good, right?”

“It is an improvement, I suppose,” Gen agreed reluctantly. He was obviously still bitter about the fact that Roah managed to pull off something like that right under his nose. “I’m also surprised about Aisbroom being on our side… but I guess they were decent all along.”

Roah snorted. “I wouldn’t trust them that much. Who’s to say this isn’t another act? Maybe Aisbroom is also planning on how to get rid of us.”

“They looked really happy taking Acrus away, though,” pointed Shaya. Roah just shrugged.

“It’s getting late so we should probably go to sleep. Especially you, Niu.” Roah’s eyes turned to the throne. “Tomorrow’s going to be a long, long day.”

Yeah, I’m tired, said Niu. I can finally dismiss all of them.

Right, left, behind and ahead of her stood laborers. She called them at Roah’s insistence that she had to stay safe as the new Queen, but surely at least for the night…

“No,” Roah said. “We’re still not fully organized—this night could be dangerous. The perfect time for assassins… pretty much just like what we did a mere 20 hours ago.”

“It hurts me to admit it but Roah’s right… I still don’t like what you’ve done here, but we have to keep you safe,” said Gen, slightly nodding.

It was at that moment that Niu realized something. No, she always knew about it and always feared it; it was always there, lurking in her mind, but it suddenly seemed clearer than ever. There was an invisible, thin line separating herself from her friends.

She couldn’t speak like any of them. She couldn’t fight like any of them. She couldn’t plan like any of them. She was always, always different. They were all near her, supporting her each in their own way, and yet they were also far away at the same time.

However, this didn’t mean that everything was bad about it. As she watched them get up and walk away there was also a new feeling born inside her heart.

“Niu? Are you coming?” Shaya asked, turning back.

Yes.

She rose from the throne—the throne that symbolized her apparent new role in the world. She wasn’t fond of the idea ever since Roah had first suggested it, but in the end she agreed and carried it out. It was a remarkable success.

She originally had nothing, but now she had everything. It was only this thought that made Niu smile despite the anxiety and the unknown hazards of the future. She’d grabbed the reins to her own life, as roundabout as the path leading there had been. And this was surely only the beginning.

Who knows? Perhaps being a Queen wasn’t so bad after all.

We came along to grant the myth

Fulfilled, it brings us sweet release