Spirits: The Tragedy of Mars

The Coronation

Two hours finally elapsed. It was 2 hours in maddening silence, just like the hospital. It was sunset already. The entire kingdom of Alto was gathered in front of the very same balcony I proposed to Gaia. She joined me and held my hand as I squeezed hers with all my might.

"Greetings, citizens of Alto. It is my regretful duty to inform the kingdom that our great leader, my father, King Earth Pangea Kawkab of Alto has been killed by a poison in his beverage at my wedding reception." I paused and let more tears come out, I bowed my head. I heard the crowd gasp at the shocking news. "My father has asked in his will to have three days of mourning to honor him. He was an amazing man, and raised my brother Jupiter, who isn't here at the moment, and I with more strength and integrity than any other parents I've ever known. And he did it mostly by himself, as my mother passed away shortly after my brother and I were born. In his will, he also detailed that, since my brother and I are twins, the first brother to marry shall be the one who succeeds him. As unfortunate as the timing for his death had to be on my wedding day, this means that I will undergo the burden of succeeding him. I never imagined that I would have to do this so soon, however, my father has been aging and growing sickly over the years. He is now with my mother in a better place. And on his behalf, I'd like to thank you, citizens of Alto, for being loyal to the Great King Earth of Alto. All of you meant the world to him, and I now take on that burden. Thank you. Goodnight." I walked back inside with Gaia following shortly. She patted my back.

"I'm so sorry, baby, this shouldn't have happened today." She whispered in my ear.

"I know how you felt when your father passed now. I'm so sorry I just didn't understand."

"Baby, don't apologize! I'm glad you couldn't relate. And I'm sorry you do now. Mercury and I are always here to talk to you, since it doesn't seem like Jupiter will be willing to any time soon." I was so moved that I faced her and hugged her with all my might. I couldn't lose her too.

"I love you, Gaia, more than you know." I whispered.

"I love you too, Mars." She hugged back.

That day, I lost my father and my brother to become king, and the position seemed less exciting at the thought of what I had to sacrifice. I never thought I would have had to do this so soon.

*section break*

The next 3 days were the most tense in my entire life. I didn't eat anything, and I told Gaia and Mercury not to eat anything either, as we feared enduring the same fate as my father, and I had no authority to hire a food tester. Uranus would offer to make food himself and give it to us, but we refused. We stayed locked up in our room most of the time, trying to avoid Jupiter at all costs. Our only access to the outside world was the window in our room. I had permanently moved into Gaia's room since we had gotten engaged. I was excited for our wedding night, for obvious reasons, but that night was ruined. And since we had Mercury in the room also, we weren't able to sleep much either, let alone do as all newlyweds do. Since we were locked up for three days, we rotated through a few activities: coordinating our tri-coronation, thinking of new policies to enact (including the exile of my brother), keeping as quiet as possible when we heard Jupiter's footsteps outside the door, and absolutely losing our hunger-crazed minds over absolutely anything.

"I think that this outfit," I pointed to a regal violet robe, "would look best on me, it shows a lot of contrast!" I protested, as we were disagreeing on which outfits we would wear for our coronation.

"Honey, you're absolutely horrible at anything fashion-related!" My wife bursted out laughing, and Mercury and I eventually joined in. I was slightly offended, though I knew she was right.

"Ow, fuck! My stomach hurts so much!" I yelped as I continued to laugh my ass off through my hunger pangs and holding my stomach.

"Babe, babe, babe," she caught her breath, "go for the black one. Everyone looks good in black."

"Well what about the rest of us? Don't we have to be matching?" Mercury chimed in. Gaia rolled her eyes and scanned the closet before finalizing the decision.

"Everything goes with black, Merc. But we only have one of each color anyway. I think you, Merc, should get in the green one, and I'll get in the gold one, that one was like my wedding dress and I fuckin loved it." Mercury and I looked at the robes, then at Gaia, then at each other, nodded our heads and simultaneously said,

"Deal!"

"Glad I can get you boys agreeing on something!" She started laughing again, and we couldn't help but join in. We spent the next hour or so trying on the robes as flamboyantly as possible.

"Look at how fluffy this is!" I remarked as I twirled in a circle with the robe providing a whirlwind effect on my body. It was so effective that I eventually got dizzy and tumbled down. Mercury and Gaia continued laughing at me as they also began dizzily twirling. We heard a knock on the door.

"Excuse me, your Majesties," Uranus whispered.

"Uranus!" We shouted in unison.

"It has officially been three days. What are you three to do about your coronation ceremony? And for goodness sake, please you three eat something! I have snuck fresh fruits and vegetables from a local merchant. Please, your majesties." I opened the door to see Uranus with his hands full of various fruits and vegetables. I pulled him inside the room and he dropped some of them. "Oh dear! I'm so sor--!" As he began to apologize, he held his breath as the three of us began savagely stealing the fruit he dropped and aggressively ripping the rest of the food out of his arms and ravenously shoved it all down our gullets within a few minutes.

"Give us an hour and we're yours!" I nudged to him as I gestured to my whole body, implying that we needed to tidy up before we were to present ourselves.

"Is there anything you want me to do in the meantime, your Majesty?"

"Yeah, get as many fucking balloons and fireworks as you can."

*section break*

Mercury, Gaia, and I were adorned in our velvet robes, make up, and gold jewelry when Uranus went before the Altoan and Tenoran public.

"Attention, lovely citizens of the Alto and Tenor kingdoms. The past three days have been a turbulent time for the Alto kingdom with the sudden and untimely passing of our dear leader, King Earth. As this is the end of our days of mourning, I present the three leaders of our two united kingdoms, as today, they embrace the throne all together. May I present to you, your new royalty, King Mercury," Mercury stepped outside to the right side of Uranus. "And our newlyweds, Queen Gaia," Gaia tiptoed to the left side of Uranus. "And King Mars!" I confidently strode into Uranus' place.

The three of us were encapsulated by the cheers of the crowd below the balcony. I then felt a heavy weight on my head, and my neck struggled to remain straight for a split second. I wasn't sure what was happening until I glanced over to either side of me to see that my wife and my brother-in-law had gorgeous, gleaming, gloating crowns upon their head, and a rush of adrenaline surged through my body as I realized I was among the crown-wearers. I let out a smile, and then remembered the circumstances, and my smile quickly disappeared. I knew what I had to do after this.

I looked down at my feet with a sting in my chest. I was barefoot, but the public didn't know that. My skin was slightly pale from my fasting, and I could see it in my jagged and crooked feet. They reminded me that no matter what I wore, I would always bear the burden of how I earned what I wore. I looked up at the sky, that I, for some reason, could no longer hear the fireworks being shot in our honor. A singular red balloon flew higher than the rest, and I knew that had to be a reincarnation of my father somehow. I looked to my right, to Mercury, and he glanced at my face, then down at my hand, and grabbed it. I held his hand fondly. I looked to my wife and held her hand, she grasped in return, as she looked me in the eyes and silently nodded. We all looked back up in the sky in simultaneous anticipation and apprehension at what the future would bring us.