Bane of Gnosis: Chapter 2 – Facts Behind the Fiction

Chapter 2 – Facts Behind the Fiction

“King Bane from the kingdom of Omnis approaches!” an announcer says as Bane enters the kingdom of Astutia.

Everyone in this kingdom cheers for Bane unlike his own home and rain down flowers on him and play music to celebrate the occasion. Bane indulges in their praise as he waves to them and catches the gifts they give him. This parade of praise continues and doesn’t stop in the streets because of the celebration inside the primary castle where the king and queen of Astutia are waiting for Bane.

“Greetings, King Bane,” the king and queen say with a bow.

“It’s my pleasure to be here, King Alludit and Queen Fabula,” Bane responds with a bow in turn.

“Before we get to business, we have to celebrate,” King Alludit says.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Your father’s victory and our strengthened friendship, of course.”

“You haven’t celebrated that yet?”

“We were waiting for you,” Queen Fabula says.

“Yes, it’s thanks to your father and you that our land and people can finally prosper. Now, enough with the waiting! Let’s get this party started!”

The people of Astutia throw a party for Bane with their best musicians and performers showing off their skills. Musicians play songs of victory over tyranny, art’s role in the influence of the world, and some songs of testing people’s ability through play. When the performers take the stage, they act out fantasy and fairy tales of much of the same while emphasizing their themes and messages behind the stories they tell. The ending scene of the play catches Bane’s attention as it replays one of his father’s most heroic moments.

“Release my people! If it is my life that you want, then come and take it!” the hero of the play says.

The villain pretends to cut the throat of his victim.

“The lives of you and your people are mine to decide! Thrown down your life if you dare. My rule will still be absolute even if you kill me. Your rebellion means nothing,” the villain says while stepping on his victim as if they were a pedestal.

The two fight before the hero wins and gives a final speech about the ugliness of evil and his goals of bringing goodness and beauty to the world, which is met with applause and cheers by the audience. After the party, the two rulers of the kingdom and Bane go further into the castle to talk. They take Bane to a meeting room that has a view of the capital that Bane is captivated by.

“That sight never gets old,” Queen Fabula says.

“It’s a mystery then as to why you have me buy the best furniture, statues, and decorations for the castle if all you do is look outside,” King Alludit jokes.

“I love how you can have so many beautiful and distinct buildings look so different but so similar. It’s one of my inspirations for the policies that I have in place. I want my kingdom to have one unified vision while making each field of knowledge appear distinct.”

“I’m sure your father would approve and be proud of the man, no, the king that you are now,” King Alludit says.

“I’m sure he would be too. To be honest, I just took his standards and way of thinking and copied them. He’s the reason why I gave your kingdom the most out of all.”

“The world needs art and beauty after so much bloodshed. Thanks to the land and resources that you’ve given us, our dream of making the world a better place looks to be a realistic goal. Together, we’ll lead the world into a better tomorrow.”

“Father said much the same about art and beauty. Your works were instrumental in influencing the minds of people and I need your masterful works again. Perhaps our artists and story writers to collaborate to create something truly special?”

“That’s the plan, but what exactly do you plan on telling the people through your works? Do you want to show how good your policies are? How about something more basic like the goodness of family, friends, and country?”

“All of the above, preferably, but it has to be in an unobtrusive style. I want my citizens to be speaking of truth in the way that it’s meant to be in the same way they breathe air.”

“You want to be secretive about it?”

“What’s the reason for it?” Queen Fabula asks.

“I’m not being secretive, at least not to the incompetent. It’s a test of sorts for my people. A little game to see if they can see what I’m saying. Father used to play a game of hide and seek with my sibling and me, but we were supposed to find a ball. The first one who found it got more desserts after dinner than the rest. My siblings would look around the area while I would look in other places. I would find the ball on the roof or hidden somewhere in his clothes that he was wearing. I was always surprised how he managed to get it on the roof, but mother never liked that he did.”

“Haha, I should try that with our children,” King Alludit says.

“No, you will not,” Queen Fabula strictly says.

“My father always tried to train us to think outside the box. It’s probably why he chose me to be king, but to be honest, I thought it would be one of my older siblings since they were raised to be more proper rulers rather than the fantasy one that he tried to be and the one that he trained me to be.”

“There’s more reality in fantasy than reality in fiction you think. Fiction is derived from the facts that we see in our lives and reality can appear to be fantastical,” Queen Fabula says.

“Each of us lives in our own way like how each writer writes in different genres and how each artist draws in different styles,” King Alludit adds.

“That is true.”

Screams and the clanging of swords interrupt their conversation as a guard quickly enters the room.

“Loyalists of the tyrant have snuck into the castle and are trying to claim your heads!” the guard says.

“Where are they now? What about my children and the guests?” King Alludit asks.

“The intruders are still in the main hall and they have hostages while your children and the rest of the guests are being protected by the castle’s guards. Right now it’s a standstill and we can’t make it to the hostages while they can’t leave or go anywhere else in the castle.”

“I figured remnants of the tyrant would try to do something like this. King Bane, what do you suggest we do?”

“If it’s our heads that they want, then we’ll provide it to them by going down there to talk with them, or rather, you will while I get behind them to free the hostages.”

“That’s a good plan, but how will you get behind the intruders?”

“I learned how to climb buildings when my dad played that hide and seek game with us. Mother didn’t just like him putting the ball on the roof because of it being there but also because I would climb to get it.”

“Ah, I see! Be careful, oh, and when this is over, you have to teach me to climb along buildings.”

“Stop being so childish, Alludit, and let’s hurry downstairs,” Queen Fabula says as the two are escorted by the guard to where the hostages are.

Bane takes off some of his royal robes so he can more easily climb along the castle and does so much to the surprise of everyone outside of the castle who sees it. He then reaches the bottom of the castle and quietly makes his way to get behind the hostages.

“Release my people! If it is my life that you want, then come and take it!” King Alludit says.

The intruders appear to cut one of the hostage’s throats.

“The lives of you and your people are mine to decide! Thrown down your life if you dare. The tyrant’s rule is still absolute after his death. Your rebellion has achieved nothing,” the intruder says while stepping on his victim as if they were a pedestal.

This scene reminds Bane of the ending scene of the play as a sudden realization comes to his mind.

“Sorry to intrude, but my head is also on offer if you wish to claim it,” Bane announces from behind.

The intruders are all about to fight Bane, but their leader holds them back then says, “No! He is mine.”

Bane and the intruder clash swords until Bane manages to knock the intruder down. This makes the other intruders put their blades to the hostages’ necks.

“Finish me if you dare. All of these people will die if you refuse to surrender your life for theirs,” the leader says.

“I’d take your threat more seriously if you’d actually caused harm to someone,” Bane says before kicking the supposedly dead person in the gut.

The person who appeared to be dead reacts to the pain as a package of red paint falls out from their collar and the whole scene falls apart.

“It’s not exactly subtle foreshadowing for you to use a famous scene from a play depicting one of my father’s victories to use for your tests, King Alludit and Queen Fabula,” Bane says.

“Ahaha, we can’t help but reference the classics,” King Alludit says before he holds up a glass of wine given to him by a maid, “Three cheers for our hero and closest ally and friend, King Bane!”

The castle cheers for Bane and has another small party until late afternoon. After the party, Bane and the king and queen finalize their deals and plans.

Before he leaves, King Alludit says to Bane, “If you keep using your mind in the same way that you did to see through our act, then you will be a great king. No one will be able to outsmart you. No one, but us if you do slip up.”

“A real friend tests another as iron sharpens iron. I look forward to your next test though you should make it more difficult for me.”

“Haha, of course. I must say, however, that even though it was all fake, the threat of those loyal to the dead tyrant is still out there and we suspect that most live in the kingdom of Virtus where the tyrant was born and raised in.”

“That’s why I’m going there next with a small force of my army.”

“Do be careful,” Queen Fabula says.

“Oh, what do we have to worry about, my queen? This king is the spitting image of his father.”

The king and queen say their goodbyes to Bane as he is escorted out by his guards. Though he is merely leaving, the capital cheers and rains down flowers for him in a similar manner to the way that they did when he arrived. This time fireworks light by the sky and musicians play songs of good nights, their eventual end, and the wish to spend more nights like this together.

“I really do have to come here again. Maybe I’ll come here again with my future queen,” Bane says as he looks back at the kingdom of Astutia while wishing that he could stay there forever.