Omnidirectional Chapter 2 - Waging War since Birth

Chapter 2 – Waging War since Birth

While Sarai, Joanna, and Joanna’s army travel to one of Sarai’s galaxies to plan their attack on The Anarchy, Joanna asks Sarai, “How many other galaxies are there?”

“Infinite as far as I know. There are even clusters of galaxies that are separated from us. We’ve tried to get to them and they’ve tried to get to us, but we can’t break the invisible barrier that keeps us separated. We can’t even talk to them through it.”

“Whys that?”

“Maybe it’s one of the rules of this dimension were the more technologically advanced societies can’t be with the others. One cluster of galaxies has huge black and white ships shoot light at each other that cause huge explosions.”

“So they’re from the future?”

“I guess so. I’ve also seen other cluster galaxies that have more primitive means of transportation than us.”

“That must mean we’re somewhere in the middle.”

“There are tons of cluster galaxies out there, so I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“How did you get to this dimension?”

“I did witchcraft behind my parent’s back. A sorcerer gave me a certain spell and mixture of chemicals to use that he said would give me the freedom I wanted and here I am.”

“I’m guessing other people have done the same thing for similar reasons. Were you one of the rulers that gave Adah her unique ability?”

“I was. I was even one of the first powerful rulers in our cluster of this dimension.”

“Is her kingdom of Camelot allied with yours?”

“It’s always neutral no matter what’s going on. She’s just a girl who loves living and nothing else. I wish I could be that simple-minded. No offense to her.”

“What’s keeping you from being like her? Kingdoms like The Anarchy?”

“Exactly. People like them deserve to be kept in Hell for all eternity. Don’t you agree?”

“There’s no other way to convince them to be peaceful?”

“Not at all. The best idea that we have is to put them all into my version of Hell where they will wage an endless war. When they keep winning they will start losing and when they keep losing they’ll start winning, but sometimes they will win and lose at random so that they think they have a chance of winning their war and escaping. There will be no hope for them.”

Joanna sits in silence and thinks about what to say next, but nothing comes to mind.

“It’s okay to feel bad for them. That means you still have your conscience, but as for my allies and I, we have long since lost pity for other people who refuse to cooperate with us to keep the peace here.”

“I get it. I hope I can do something to help you, but I wonder, has anyone tried to escape from this dimension?”

“I’ve certainly heard of some people trying it, but I’ve never seen it happen. I would assume that if a person disappeared their kingdom would disappear as well or at least become vacant or without a human leader. I haven’t seen one kingdom like that. You weren’t thinking of leaving, were you? You just got here.”

“No no no! I was just wondering. I was told that I could just become a citizen of a kingdom if I didn’t want to become a ruler.”

“I’ve heard of that too, but what really happens is that you order your forces to follow the command of another ruler. You also do what the other ruler tells you to do with your kingdom. They can’t take control away from you nor can you give it to them.”

The news of no escape upsets Joanna as there’s no way to get back home. She’s worried about what her family and friends will think and the sadness they’ll feel. Nevertheless, she still keeps the hope of leaving this place in the back of her head.

“So you’re always a ruler no matter what?”

“Yes. Every leader is a great worker after all. Leaders aren’t just people who have more power than everyone. They share a responsibility with people who don’t have as much power and responsibility as them. Human citizens are much more valued than artificial ones since they offer more and can think for themselves.”

“Do you have a few in your kingdom?”

“I do. My kingdom probably has the most human citizens than the others in this universe. Speaking about it.”

Sarai and Joanna enter Sarai’s galaxy, which appears to be entirely made for royalty. The planets shine as if each of them was a sun. Once Joanna lands on the capital planet, she sees that the architecture, transportation, and the people both artificial and real all have the look of royalty and prestige.

“This place is amazing Sarai! You really know how to decorate your kingdom,” Joanna says.

“It took me days to do this. Since you should know that a day is longer than a normal one here when I say it took me days, I mean it took me a really long time,” Sarai says.

Joanna’s military force combines themselves with Sarai’s to become friends with them as they wait for their queen’s command unaffected by the beauty of Sarai’s kingdom. Sarai brings Joanna to a war room where she has six other rulers waiting for her.

“Joanna, this our alliance of kingdoms known as The Sovereigns. These are the wisest rulers from our part of the dimension who deserve the most respect.”

Each of the rulers introduces themselves to Joanna and their main functions within the alliance. Many of them share the same appearance of Sarai though they are a bit less showy. They all have the same goal and they’re putting their differences aside in making their dream a reality in order to deal with Anarchy.

“Let’s get to work,” Sarai says, “You already know your roles in this war, but Joanna has an ability here that will drastically change things up. Her unique ability is that she can instantly combust things, which include entire buildings just through her will alone. Joanna, show them, but don’t light this place on fire.”

Joanna uses her ability and combusts a piece of paper on fire. The fire burns fierce and almost burns down the table it’s on if it weren’t for a ruler who uses her ability to put out the fire.

“You can see its destructive ability. With Joanna, we can light entire planets on fire and instill a sense of fear within Anarchy. Her armies will start will a few of the lesser territories before moving on to tougher targets. What do you think?”

All of the rulers agree that Joanna should test her abilities on the lesser territories and compliment her for her ability.

“I’d like to see the faces of everyone when everything they have catches on fire,” one of them says.

“We can all have a front row seat to judge her ability. I almost wish we had a need to eat and drink, so we could further enjoy ourselves,” another adds.

“It’ll be like watching a light show. These people will get what they deserve.”

Joanna can’t help but feel bad because of how the other rulers make her seem like their personal pyromaniac.

Sarai sees this and says to her, “Don’t worry about what you’re doing. It might seem extreme, but you’re doing the right thing.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Hey, certain people can’t be reasoned with. You don’t let an active child molester or a serial killer live.”

“You’re right.”

“Remember that people don’t actually die here. Sure, they may feel pain, but they’ll never die.”

“Isn’t that worse to feel eternal pain?”

“Isn’t it justified that they do because of what they do?”

“Ok, ok. I’ll do it.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

All of the rulers and their best soldiers follow behind Joanna as she is led by Sarai and her best soldiers to a galaxy controlled by Anarchy that isn’t well defended and is a new territory for them. Since the two sides are at war that both sides agreed to wage, the entrance to the galaxy opens for them. Anarchy readies its forces while Joanna stands alone to face them. She holds her hands out at the planets. Entire planets start catching on fire until they become like the sun. All of Anarchy’s forces and their artificial soldiers and civilians are caught up in the inferno until the entire galaxy catches fire.

Sarai, Joanna, and their forces back off from the galaxy’s entrance so that it can enclose the raging fire. Everyone except Joanna cheers and clap as the destruction unfolds. What stops their victory cheer is when the barrier surrounding the galaxy starts to crack. The barrier cracks no further, but a barrier such as the ones that contain each galaxy is known to be indestructible. The alliance of kingdoms, nevertheless, continue their cheering though they might’ve just scared themselves with Joanna’s power just as much as they’ve scared the Anarchy.

They continue to burn three other galaxies allied with Anarchy until they decide to take a break in a galaxy that surrenders themselves to the Sovereign. Joanna reflects on her rampage of destruction.

She talks to herself on a rooftop garden, “What am I going to do? This can’t be the best way to go about things.”

Joanna thinks about what she can do for the people who she basically put in a furnace. Maybe the best thing she can do now is to quickly end the war so that the fires can be put out sooner rather than later. Sarai joins Joanna on the roof and sits down with her.

“You’re doing a greater job than any of the other kingdoms have done, you know?” Sarai says, “We can rule this entire universe with just you and me at the head.”

“I don’t think I want that life, Sarai. I just want a simple life where I can enjoy what I have.”

“And you can do that as long as you’re at the ready when trouble arrives.”

“I’m not sure I want to live as a living weapon.”

“You probably won’t have to. The fear you inspired in people is potent and won’t go away any time soon. Sure, there might be one or two crazy people that come after us, but their struggles won’t last long.”

Sarai seems so set in her ways that Joanna can’t think of any way to convince her to change her ways. She almost wishes that she didn’t have any kind of unique power at all.

“You should come in. Everyone inside is wondering about you. You might even find a king for yourself.”

“Give me a few more minutes. I need the fresh air.”

“You’ve had nothing but fresh air all day. Well, it’s space air, but it’s not that different. Whatever just come in soon. You’re keeping your fans anxiously waiting.”

Joanna smiles and nods while Sarai heads back inside. She looks up at the sky and can see the three galaxies she’s burned in the sky. Their light radiates like the sun and it’s almost as if she can feel the heat coming from them just by looking at them. Six shadowy people find their way unto the roof. One of the impales their arm blade through Joanna’s head. This isn’t enough to put her down as Joanna tries to fight back but is then impaled through the head twice and through the chest three times. This knocks her out, which allows the six kidnappers to take her away to the capital of The Anarchy. Sarai and the rest of her allies don’t notice what happened since they were distracted by the conversations they were having. Just as planned.