Brilliant Man/Vir Clarissimus (Latin)

Chapter 9 "The Fault is in ourselves, that we are underlings." - Shakespeare

The gavel was raised, with no place else but down.

Their capturers had innocently hatched the egg of Ozwald's escape plan. Alicia felt a mixture of unease and excitement. Over two years of traveling had led up to this single moment, however, interesting as this was, she felt slighted that these people viewed them as invaders of their country. Come on...

Beyond cuffed space-gloves, one inconvenience was their dementors' intense gaze. This closeness meant that Ozwald could overhear a discussion between two skeletons without really trying.

"Oh, Luther, stop mistaking that Johnathan for some saint! Do you forget that this wretched man can shred up our past at will, manipulate stock, economy, and our labor-hours, and continue his autocracy? The vile creature told us he'd make change. He lobbied against our problems, vowing his seat in power would be righteous. Yet, once voted into power, Johnathan reneged on his word. 'Those words were a consideration. This is separate from a promise, whose greatest quality is the blindness of camaraderie; this choice gave me time to question myself whether my action would be effective to either both parties or mine. It supported neither.'"

"David, please.. I understand. My real problem, however, lies with the state chief. Whether its election day, the parade, or any notable palace hearing, he and Jonathan are always either drunk on booze or prostitutes."

"Eureka. That same concept of a disparity between citizen and his state is something we Junctioneers have rallied to fix for a long time. Johnathan's admission into office, his lying scheme, then changing policies to suit his emperorship suddenly changed this.. so in order for us to dig ourselves out of this hole, we'll need to look into the ways we put ourselves in it. 'Y know about them founding fathers, L?"

Luther nodded. "Sure do, D. Colonial America.. or the 1770s. This was in the middle of a time period where people began focusing on the right to liberty and individualism; this also marked a time when our planets of today were just being discovered. I wonder how these millennium-old English scientists would react to life existing on Pluto?

"Alright, so here is the British government. Think of her as an omnipotent monarch. Before America, her citizens – colonists; America was broken into thirteen colonies at the time – could not speak onto her the slightest utterance and were issued harsh taxations. This gave them a choice: either conforming in loyalty to the state or join the patriot movement. Notable men like Paine, Allen, and many others chose to rebel against Parliament, bringing up numbers who would die for their rights to liberty, speech, and humanity. The renegades who'd separated from this mountain had grown into a powerful, asteroid calamity. This represents the power used in building a nation for the free people."

David digested this all, nodding frequently. "Luther. Pluto has entered a period of danger and peril. After handing Johnathan the control to our nation, he drank of our oil, used of our time, destroyed all our lives, and forever abolished history. Our rebellion is like soul. Soul flavors our spices, instills value in our coin, and lightens the heart of Athena, Junction's religious principality. So if colonials from a millennium ago could solve this, I begin to wonder.. cannot we?"

Although they wouldn't see it, Ozwald nodded, facing his own comrades. They were lucky to be alive, even in a world that'd actively caught, strangled, and detained them. He turned to Alicia and Hirashita. He was blown a kiss and iron smile, both which he returned.

~

After an everlasting hall-sweep, the skeletons handed them off to their captivity. The midnight walls of this deadscape were peppered with tiny holes, likely marks from an insane person.