The Flying Fool

The End

"THE END IS UPON US! EVERYTHING WILL BECOME ONE AND THEN NONE! THE CYCLE IS ENDING!"

Ravings of a madman on capital isle. Dubbed by the locals as 'evening news.

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Francesca could feel everyone around her. Holding their breath, the silence was terrifying, but not because of the silence. No it was because Francesca herself didn't believe the artifact would save all of them. She trusted Asmodea, but whenever she asked about the powers of this artifact Asmodea always chose to deflect the question. Even with all the doubts in her mind Francesca was set in her course and she was determined to follow it.

"Everyone, thank you for gathering." Her voice projected across, no stutters or breaks in her voice, she was trained in oratorship since a young age. "I shall be leaving you, I will take a few guards and leave you in the care of Harshnel and Maguez." Two leaders most favored by Gob, now in charge of patrols and guard duties. Convincing them of her departure wasn't hard, they've even assigned some guards to her. At first Francesca had a feeling of mistrust of the two, but she dispelled it quickly. She had to trust people, especially someone as important to the rebellion as those two.

"I will strive to come back to you as soon as possible. Sadly I cannot explain the purpose of this trip nor answer any questions. Trust me when I say that I am doing this for all of us, all of you." How could she explain that one of the gods, a voice in her head for that matter, told her that there was a magic artifact that can save them all. " Believe that what we started will not die, Believe that we are fighting for a better future. Believe that we shall succeed no matter our obstacles" No shouting, just confidence. Let her voice do the convincing. She always heard about people being nervous while looking at people and speaking, but Francesca found it much more terrifying not being able to see the expressions on each individual face.

"I believe in that better future as well! I will fight for it! Until the day I die! Until every bone in my body is reduced to dust, until I breathe the last air out of my lungs I will fight for that future which we all envision!"

"So believe in me! Believe that I will be back, for once I am we will not hide! We will attack and we will take our steps into that future!" Silence, she didn't know what was happening and she began to worry then clapping and cheering. Francesca relaxed and allowed Nook to help her get down from a makeshift podium.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. With the speech done they needed to gather supplies, which mostly consisted of food, water and sleeping rolls. Francesca also spoke to the people accompanying her, making sure to thank them. It was decided that Nook, Denis, Rock, Twitch and Stevie, who everyone called Toothless Stevie, would accompany her.

Not the most prestigious of bodyguard but Francesca was happy for that. She was on friendly terms with them and trusted them. Although she surprised all three of the farm boys would come instead of having one wait for Angela. When she asked Denis about it, he just seemed to shrug and said those were their orders, Francesca could hear he was displeased with them. She spoke to Miguez about leaving atleast one of the boys, but he shut her down. She needed the guards and apparently no one could replace any of the boys. Francesca was less than happy with the refusal but she refused to argue with the man as she could hear in his tone that he wouldn't be changing his mind.

Having gathered the supplies, she and the rest of the group decided on the fastest path to their objective. Even if Francesca couldn't say the reason for their departure she could give them their destination. Of course most of the planning was done by the others, but they've managed to agree on a course quickly without Francesca's mediation.