The Realm Hero Chronicles: Round 2

Chapter 19: Evanescent

If one asked the Realm Council (when they first started) what RRC stood for, they might've responded with an answer of "Realm Resting and Control". This was, of course, a sly reference to RAC's plans at the time: to gain control of the realms and have them rest in RAC control.

This, of course, was far from true (in terms of motive), but the name wasn't too far from being wrong. The name of the RRC was short for Realm Rebuilding Center and housed the power to rebuild any realm that was destroyed.

"This," Morro explained when the Realm Heroes had first arrived at the RRC, "Is the reason the Curseworld is back."

The RRC was much like the planet Scarif in terms of planetary composition. Miles of turquoise oceans dotted with tropical islands, all with white sandy beaches and exotic plant life. Tropical birds sang sweetly in the palm trees and the temperature was always pleasantly warm.

In short, a prime vacation spot, though many of the Tigions who lived and worked on the RRC discouraged tourism due to the rarity of such an environment.

Any buildings built on the RRC had to be built as to not destroy the natural paradise. Nothing was ever put to waste - in fact, they used the waste to power the Restorer (the very device used to restore a realm). No pollution anywhere, not by water or by ground or by sky.

Emily had put it best. "Environmentalists would love it here."

On this tiny realm, about 2,000 Tigions worked and resided. Of those 2,000, about 1,500 of them had tried to stay neutral when the Realm Heroes went to war with Tritoes and RAC the first time around. Of the 500 who were not neutral, a civil war had broken out between sides. No blood was shed, but the conflict had left a brutal mark on the realm.

At the end of the Realm War, the Realm Heroes had left it in RAC hands, since the RRC was technically a subset of RAC. The Realm Council figured that it'd be best for the realm to recuperate from the Realm War in familiar hands. After all, nothing could happen to it in President Tatum's hands.

Boy, were they wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Mainplex (the main building in the RRC and home to the Restorer) was quiet with the occasional keys clicking on the black-tiled keyboards. The wide window offered a wide view of the shoreline, waves quietly lapping against the beach. The 366 employees at the Mainplex enjoyed this - ever since Tatum had come to power, they hadn't had such a peaceful moment in, well, a while.

"EVERYBODY, FREEZE!"

The jarring voice came from the main doors. Employees jumped up, papers flying in the wind, scrambling to see what was going on.

Flanked by two Tigion guards apiece, Terrence and Azula strutted into the room as the doors slid open. The employees realized, with a sickening feeling that unless if they jumped out of the thirty story window, they were trapped.

Azula smiled when she saw the frightened employees. "I love a good hostage situation. Deliver a message to the Realm Council. I'm sure they'll want to see this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Realm Council, for their part, were rather preoccupied at that moment.

Granted, it wasn't a RAC riot (those hadn't happened in a few weeks - Laval guessed that RAC had finally settled down), but meetings with the Realm Elders always had a tendency to be rather unpredictable.