Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 56

Day: 3500

Days Left: 1980

Lives Saved: 19

"I have something important to tell you... or rather show you," were his wife's words. King Consort Elis replied with a joke due to the ominous tone but regretted it as he could tell how serious Cori was being. He followed her through the palace, not asking questions out of patience and trust for her, as she led him down one of the secret passage ways, one that even Elis being so adventurous and nosy had yet discovered. It descended down a flight of stairs, and he was unsure how far away from the surface they were now. In those depths was a heavily locked door, which required Cori to use her magic to unlock. Elis kept his head held high, wondering what all the mystery and the security was all about, a secret that his wife of five and a half years had not revealed to him yet.

With a wave of her hand, the large and heavy door creaked open, revealing a large, open chamber of dark, unkempt stone. There in the certain was an enormous shining gemstone, bigger than Elis himself. He gawked at it, seeing his reflection in the jagged cut and numerous images of himself looking back.

"What is this?" He breathed. "Has this been underneath the castle all this time?"

"Yes," said Cori. "At least for a few decades or so. My father used the majority of the country's finances to get this; he almost brought complete ruin just for this."

"So what's the plan? Sell it?"

"I do not know how much of it would be left after the curse is lifted."

"It's cursed? Are we safe around it?"

"Yes, do not worry, but it is cursed nonetheless." Cori paused, hesitating. "My father was not a good man, Elis."

"What are you talking about? Your father was paragon of virtue, celebrated to be one of the greatest monarchs there ever lived."

Cori shook her head. "The real king and queen were warmongers and did not care about their people."

"Previous royalty of your country, yes, but King Casimir-"

"The King Casimir you know about and remember is not the real one," Cori said firmly. "He was a fake that wiped out the whole world's memory, making everyone believe him to be that paragon of virtue."

"That's not... that's not possible, to change everyone's memories..." Elis wanted to laugh at how impossible it was, and how scary it would be if it was true.

"It is true," said Cori. She gazed at the crystal. "And he did it with this; the crystal is the conduit. If I can remove the curse, then everyone will regain their memories again."

"What was he attempting to do? The fake king? To just remain in power? He could have easily replaced the king without most people knowing."

"He wanted to create a utopia, to make everyone happy. A good motive but the way he was trying to achieve this..." Cori turned to Elis. "He was going to manipulate people's emotions, to make them happy permanently, to never be sad again. He had yet to do this globally, but I witnessed the affects myself; parts of the capital were under the spell and it was...disturbing. All those who had no money just to afford this crystal were living on the streets and yet were blissfully ignorant- he said it was just a temporary measure until he managed to adjust the spell, widen the influence for everyone. Putting complicated commands like automatically share food and water and shelter for free were yet to be inputted."

"I..." Elis did not what else to say as he stared at the crystal.

"I killed him." Cori said bluntly.