Grounded On Juniper Island

Tyranny

All eyes were glued on the Mayor. They were ready to learn what trouble had befallen Juniper Island. His pupils were quite dilated almost smothering any figment of colour in his eyes.

"Let me ask you a question. What strange occurrences have we all seen?" His words were delivered with aggression. His head shook as if a tremor had passed through it.

No one answered him. Bounders shot glances at one of another wondering if anyone knew what had been seen. It was out of character for the Mayor to behave this way too.

He started pacing in a circle linking his hands together in his lap. Suddenly he stopped in front of one of the Tropical Knights.

It was a woman with weary hazel eyes. Strands of silver hair curled down to her shoulders. The wrinkles on her forehead created the formation of crescents. She towered above the Mayor. Her face was stoic, unnerved by his presence.

"Olina, please tell them what you saw."

"A weird anomaly Mayor. The sight of elephant seals flying in the sky then crashing into a herd of cows." Her response contained no emotion. It had been removed out of her like she was under his spell. She didn't flick her eyes about once.

A muffle laugh sneaked it's way out of one of the Tropical Knights. Unimpressed by their irreverence the Mayor marched over to them. His stomps threw dust around his heels causing rocks to bounce away to different travels.

Justice, thought Oleg realising who the perpetrator was.

"Kai Le Pure! Let me remind you may be new to this legion but it does not mean you can stumble in line."

"Yes Mayor!", he shouted with a high pitch pop.

The Mayor carried on with his pacing as if nothing had occurred.

"Catching the sight of some of you now, I can understand why you would feel the same ways as Master Le Pure.  However, that doesn't excuse you to have misbelief. There's this tension inside me creaking in my bones that tells me we are in grave danger."

He looked up and his face was absent of joy. His head swivelled around like a clown at a fair. The only thing that was missing was the make-up, the open mouth and ping pong balls.

For the Mayor to behave in this manner was certainly out of the ordinary. He often presented himself in a joyful manner, perhaps even naive, and was approachable to anyone. His visions of progress were never seen as a threat or a concern. The presentation of his arguments were fair, nor demeaning to those who opposed him. But for an unexplained reason a darker side had been awoken. The case of Tina and Lorne had triggered fear within him that had managed to taken over.

"I'm not panicking. I'm being reasonable with my claims. Two missing Bounders and flying elephants seals are all the work of spirits; spirits who are trying to unsettle us. Call me what you will. Call it what you will. Measures need to be put into place."

"What measures do you propose. I could give you ideas", said Matilda stepping forward. Her face lit up from the sight of having all eyes on her.

"Now, now I appreciate you suggestions though I have a perfect solution.

"Well then", said Matilda turning around to the crowd. "Tell us what you have in store." A hint of sarcasm inflected in her voice.

"Power hungry, isn't she mate?", whispered Lior into Oleg's ear.

Oleg nodded once keeping his attention on what the Mayor was about to say. Despite  Lior's attempt at humour Oleg couldn't help but feel his stomach churn. If it was any indication from what  Lemmy had said so far, it was only going to get grimmer.

"Junipo and it's nearby resident will be subjected to a curfew. As soon as the sunsets all the residents will need to remain in their household until the first speck of sunlight touches the island. We need to be vigilant in times like these as I believe someone knows more than we do."

Here's that sickness again, thought Oleg. He could feel the taste of acid rush to his throat. With one gulp it ventured back down.

"Be warned by this and I won't say it lightly, if you don't oblige to this curfew I have no choice to believe you're guilty. The full wrath of the Law and the strength of Pyra will come down on you!"

The Mayor spoke louder. Froth began to spurt from the corner of his mouth. Some of the Bounders shielded their children's eyes. To them it was a monster at work.

"The strength of a thousand waves will crush you. Heat from the depths from the core of the Earth will scorch not only your body but your soul as well. Your death by drowning will be a feat I will force everyone to see. Every single living Bounder will be your witness!"

Matilda had been thrown onto her butt by his sheer power of words. She was shivering and began shuffling back into the crowd.

Not a peep or a whisper travelled amongst them. He had their full attention. Each gaze he gave to any unlucky onlooker made their skin crawl. It was as if they had all seen the Mayor turn into a demonic entity.

Peace, tranquility and community had all been turned upside down by one person. 

Lemmy Thistlewaite was no longer the leader for their community. He was a tyrant; one that could be Oleg and his friends' doom.