Heavy is the Head that Wears the Solemn Crown

Fourteen - Answers Not Yet Known

Techno

Techno sharpened his blade using a whetstone. He had been training for most of the morning. He sparred once with Niki, but she had left him once the sun was a few feet above the horizon. Ranboo went with a few guardsmen who were planning to patrol the area in search of his friend. Techno could have gone with either of them, but he felt stuck in the small area he was given to perform his personal training. It wasn't uncommon for him to train early in the morning. It was rare for him to train this long. He had duties to carry out at the Blade. Before he arrived in Pogtopia, he had been planning to review the training regime of the guards. He had been planning to set up some places to stay for the generals of the Antarctic Empire. He wanted to write a letter to the crown prince. He had done none of that. He simply couldn't.

Techno was not impressed by a person's title. Whether it was a god or a peasant, he believed in true friendship and talent. He would not respect anyone unless they gave him a reason to. In Techno's eyes, being part of the government or part of the pantheon of gods did not guarantee that he would like them or want to treat them with the respect their titles earned them with other crowds. Techno knew that King Wilbur of L'Manberg was a decent fellow. He was fighting hard for his kingdom, and he always tried to make the best decisions for his people. Still, Techno did not like the king just because he was the ruler of a fractured kingdom.

When Techno first saw Wilbur, however, everything inside him snapped like a floodgate cracking beneath the pressure of a huge body of water. Moments flashed into his mind that weren't memories of his. He could see a musician strumming a lyre with a soft smile. He had the vague recollection of standing beside a brunette as they watched a bunch of humans running around like mice trapped in a cage. He saw a young man standing in the heart of a temple with a torch illuminating his wonderstruck face. Despite seeing these moments, Techno had never been to any of those places, done any of those things, or interacted with the brown-haired man in his visions that looked remarkably like the king.

The real issue was the gut-wrenching emotions that flooded his senses. He was content to listen to the songs of that musician for days on end, and he was fiercely protective to the point that he would fight anyone who dared say a horrible thing about the musician. He felt empowered watching those mortals scurry around, and he would have done anything to make sure that his companion was happy. He was eager to explore that temple with the person who understood him more than anyone else in the world.

And those were just the emotions he understood the origin from. He also felt unconditional brotherly love like the permafrost that refused to melt even underneath the harsh sun. He felt the bitter grief, colder the winter solstice in the mountains of the Antarctic Empire. He felt the kind of pain that cuts into the soul, dragging out pieces with it when it finally leaves like a glacier cutting through solid rock. It was an influx of such powerful emotions that Techno almost let his guard down in front of Wilbur and his companions.

The weirdest part was that Techno wasn't the only one affected. The king broke down into tears right in front of Techno with recognition in his eyes. The king didn't make a noise as he cried, but each tear hit the ground like thunder in between the clouds. His breath hitched at the same moment his hands began shaking. He looked like a man who didn't know himself, lost in a neverending fog. Techno knew for certain that the two of them had never met before, but it seemed the king was experiencing the same kind of emotional turmoil that was eating Techno alive. The king was able to compose himself, but that crack in the armor was shown for long enough that Techno knew it wasn't a coincidence. They had both experienced something beyond their comprehension in the split second when their eyes first locked.

Techno didn't like not being in control of himself. Life was chaotic enough. Fate was a mistress that bowed to no one. Techno knew that he couldn't control destiny. Some people would always die, some events would always happen, and some places would fall like sandcastles in a storm. Techno could control himself, though. He was a ship in the vast ocean of time. He could not control the waves or wind, but he could control himself. At least, that was how Techno saw it until he found a couple of stowaways inside of himself. These memories and emotions that involved him but didn't belong to him were throwing him off his rhythm. He wasn't sure what he could trust. Were these moments truly his, or was this some divine or arcane trick? Was this a trap that had been set by Manberg, or perhaps the god who protected the imperial family had gotten sick of the Twin Gods the church believed in?