text: Year 560
  
  "Emperor, the Xi have made their first incursions into Quala." David remarks.
  "(Sigh) It was only a matter of time I suppose. The damn bugs just can't seem to be wiped out. Even with this floating fortress and the new airships we created. Have we lost Arat completely?"
  "No, but the only city left is Regnik and its slowly in danger of becoming overrun. It probably won't last another week despite the carpet-bombing we've done around the area. Quala is having problems as well and last reports stated that Warlord Sprog fell in battle."
  
  You sometimes wonder if the Xi are some sort force of nature taking everything back from the others races that have caused so much turmoil and strife. Like the other races had their day in the sun at some point and now it is the time of the Xi to rise to power. Of course you've never been one for giving into fate or "destiny", so your main concern is how to deal with this seemingly unstoppable foe.
  
  Fortunately after you took Telis (Now called Apex) from the gnomes, you found some rather interesting notes on how it might be possible and your brightest and best have been attempting to decipher them.
  
  Technology wasn't the only thing the gnomes were working on; they were also working on a bunch of stuff to do with biology. Apparently they had plans to design and release some sort of germ that would kill all the Xi.
  
  Sounds like a blessing, but the problem is you have no idea how long that's going to take. You have your inventors and doctors and wise people, but honestly they're only going by a few found pieces of scraps and half thought out plans from a race of people now no longer around. Nobody has even had this sort of idea before; using unseen organism as weapons. But then nobody had the idea to create weapons that could destroy entire buildings or allow one unskilled peasant to murder an entire squad of swordsmen at one time either.
  
  In the meantime, you're still left with the same problem. You have to fend off the Xi from destroying the Empire. You're doing your best, but you have to admit, the outlook is grim. Just as you're about to give David your list of commands for the day and retire to your private abode, David tells you that you have an audience today.
  
  "Audience? With who? I'm the only ruler left in the land and I doubt very seriously the Xi are wanting to speak with me about peace negotiations." You say.
  "No, it's a regular citizen Emperor and know normally you don't hold such audiences, but I thought in her case you might. It's Jennifer." David replies.
  "Really? Well what does she want?"
  "She didn't say, other than wanting to see you. Should I tell her to reschedule?"
  "No, I suppose I can spare the time to see what she wants and I could use a diversion from this Xi situation anyway."
  
  David nods and fetches Jennifer from the next room. You haven't seen her in a while, but she still looks about the same, just a few extra gray hairs. You have to admit you're mildly glad to see her after dealing with the Xi day in day out. After a few pleasant greetings you both go back to your private chambers to speak.
  
  "So... it's been a long time." You say.
  "It's been about ten years since we were in the same room together." Jennifer answers.
  "Has it? Time really flies. As you probably know I've been a little busy. Apologies for not keeping in better contact."
  "No, it's fine. Seriously, you're the Emperor and keeping us all safe from hostile forces is a full time job. I always knew better than to expect that you'd be able to stay on constant contact."
  "Glad you understand. So where's your family?"
  "They are on the surface, my son really wanted to see the flying city, but his father... well let's just say he wasn't fond of the idea." Jennifer says with a bit of hesitancy. It's apparent that not everything is well with her marriage, but you don't want to pry.
  "I see... well tell your son that the Emperor has said he can see it any time its convenient. It isn't like the place is off limits, just difficult to get to I suppose."
  "Indeed. Tickets for an airship here are expensive and not many have that sort of money to throw around anymore. Anyway about why I'm here, I've been working on another book."
  "Another one? So what is this one about?"
  "About you actually. I need your input with it obviously considering you're the main subject."
  "A book about me huh? Any reason why you wanted to write such a book?"
  "Why wouldn't I? You're only one of the most important people in history. I mean there needs to be records of this for when... I mean so people don't forget your deeds. I mean sometimes I have to argue with idiots at the museum who don't know how good you've made things for them! At one time people used to view the Old Empire exhibit with wonder and questions. Now it seems all some of them want to do is criticize it and claim it's nothing more than a pile of falsehoods and lies! Some of these dissidents have even been claiming this flying city is just an example of how you believe you're so much better than they are!"
  "Hmm, haven't heard about too much dissident activity for quiet some time, but then the Eyes are stretched pretty thin these days."
  "Well some of these morons that enter the museum need to be rounded up! You're not better than them because of a flying city; you're better than them for a whole bunch of other reasons! Being a strong leader and making the tough decisions that in the long run are best for all of us! I intend for my book to reinforce the needed understanding of why the things you do are completely necessary. I've already managed to interview some people that have seen your greatness in action like Captain Renly and Admiral Len. Their testimony and others will make great additions, but the words from your own lips will be what's most important!"
  
  You've seen Jennifer get excited and fired up about things in the past, but you sort of figured such excitement would never be reserved for anything related to you ever again. You had thought that Jennifer had long since outgrown her "worship" of you when she got married and had a family, but either it never left and had been dormant or something has changed to cause it to revive such feelings again.
  
  And if you had to guess you imagine it might have something to do with her marriage.
  
  "Jennifer, while I've always appreciated your support, I doubt if any book is going to change a lot of minds. You even said not many people have disposable income these days to buy luxury items. You can't let every loudmouth with an opinion get you so upset. I mean I'm glad you told me, and I'll even get Crowley to have some Eyes look into matter and see if it's a potential larger problem, but I think you're really upset about something else."
  "Of course I am! I'm upset because I made the wrong choice! I followed some silly notion of wanting a normal life! I'm married to a man who has successfully sickened me with his criticism of the government and you to the point where I cannot even stand his touch anymore! I should've tried harder to serve you! I should've stayed with you! By your side! That's where I belonged! I was a Mol and a Mol has always served their ruler loyally in whatever capacity they can!" Jennifer exclaims
  
  You have no words. Even if you the whole story you probably still wouldn't have the words. How can you condemn someone who obviously thinks so highly of you?
  
  If you had more of an ego you'd just take advantage of the situation and let Jennifer write her book and fill it with propaganda and have the book be distributed for free, but you can't help being a little grounded in reality even if it means shooting yourself in the foot.
  
  While you don't scold Jennifer for her slightly misguided loyalty, you do feel she has the right to know the whole truth so you start by telling the thing you never told anyone before.
  
  "You know, Jacob Mol was loyal to the Empire, but not to the Emperor. Well at least not towards the end." You say.
  "What?" Jennifer asks.
  "He personally killed the Emperor Casimir. Shot him in the back actually."
  
  Jennifer is speechless.
  
  "Oh don't judge your ancestor too harshly, he was only helping me at the time since I was doing a miserable job of attempting to kill the Emperor. Me and the true late svelk ruler of Lenay, Semra. It was a group effort I suppose and to be fair, Casimir was planning to have me killed despite my lifetime of loyalty."
  
  Jennifer continues to remain speechless.
  
  "When we killed the Emperor, he unleashed a magic curse when he died which fucked up the rest of the land in various ways, regular folks know that event best as the Cataclysm."
  
  Jennifer is finally about to speak, but you put up your hand to let her know one more thing.
  
  "The kicker of all this? A few years before Semra died she even told me the Xi were living undisturbed deep underground and it was only because of all the violent earthquakes that they turned their attention to the surface. ALL of what's going on right now is my fault. Hell, even the fact that the gnomes were also planning to bomb us into oblivion is my fault. I can tell you more about that gruesomeness though and you could even get Renly to confirm it since he was there when one of those red capped bastards confronted me about it. I'm an usurper. A tyrant. A killer. And worse. And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that."
  
  You move closer to Jennifer.
  
  "Now then... how do you THINK the citizens would REALLY feel about their strong leader if they knew the truth from my own lips?"
  
  Jennifer moves her own face closer to yours.
  
  "It doesn't matter, because I'm writing the damn thing how I want to." Jennifer remarks.
  "So true history doesn't matter to you despite being dedicated to it?"
  "History is written by those in power and the winners. Perhaps some of what you told me was a surprise, but do you think I didn't have my suspicions that you probably had something to do with the death of the old Emperor? Your continued vagueness of the topic even years later was a give away. I'm not stupid. I know what you think of me. You probably believe me to be a mindless fanatic at worst or a misguided loyalist at best, but you couldn't be more wrong. I am a true patriot. My family always has been. You even said it yourself my ancestor Jacob was loyal to the Empire, but he obviously saw its ruler as lacking to its greatness. He saw that greatness in YOU, otherwise he wouldn't have helped you overthrow the Republic or even warn Quintus that you were going to kill him."
  
  Jennifer grabs your hand.
  
  "I still see that greatness in you. I always have. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. Let me be by your side again. Like I should've been. Don't send me back down to the surface. Let me stay and help."
  
  Jennifer looks at you hopefully and preying upon that small part of you that actually does have feelings. It's just too bad; you don't feel the same strong feelings as she does for you.
  > turn her away
  While you might have some sympathy for Jennifer, honestly you don't see any benefit of her being by your side. Are you supposed to just kill her husband and marry her or something? If Jennifer is having marital problems or going through a mid life crisis of some sort she's going to have to work it out herself because you really haven't the time or the patience for any of this sort of drama, you've got so much more on your mind right now. You don't have a place for her in your cabinet and you don't feel the same way that she feels about you and you're not going to pretend otherwise.
  
  "Jennifer, I appreciate your loyalty and your honesty. You will always be someone I have a certain fondness for, but you're already serving the Empire and me well enough with your museum. I have no place for you here. Go home. Go back to your family and work it out with your husband or divorce him, whatever you wish."
  
  Jennifer is shocked by your response. She probably was so sure that you wouldn't turn her away due to your history together.
  
  "You... you're turning me away?" Jennifer asks.
  "I'm turning your proposal away. Look, we had our time together, but that time has passed and there is no point in going back to that. Nowadays, my mind is preoccupied with the Xi, my body is in constant pain, and to be honest I'm probably not going to live too much longer. You still have a long life ahead of you, enjoy it while you can. Don't squander it with some delusional concept of loyalty and duty. I know you're probably surprised to hear someone like me say that, but I'm speaking from personal experience. I spent a good chunk of my life serving a man and a system that ultimately cared nothing for me. Then I was locked in a fucking magical coffin for five centuries. Now towards the end of my life, I've got all the freedom and choice in the world as Emperor, yet I can't really enjoy any of it because I'm an ancient pile of broken bones. Can't even hold a sword for very long anymore, let alone practice with one."
  "I could... " Jennifer starts to say, but you interrupt.
  "No. You CAN'T help. Not with this. What I want isn't obtainable. I want my youth back. I want MY Empire back. I want my Alison back. You can't provide any of these. Everything I know is dead and has been for quite some time and the only thing keeping me going is my stubborn innate will to survive and to win. I can't let the Xi beat me, so I will see this through for as long as I can. But you can't help me with that either. So as I have said, go back Jennifer. Live your own life. You did it before I came into your life and you were doing it after we parted ways years ago. You can easily do it again. I know you're strong enough to do so."
  
  Jennifer's eyes are watered up with tears, she's trying very hard not to cry, but she's failing. You touch her shoulder.
  
  "Even Jacob knew when to stop serving his ruler." You say.
  
  Jennifer wipes away her tears and sniffles a bit. It takes her a moment to compose herself, but eventually she does and gives you a serious look. You expect her to either start cussing you out or telling you that she understands. She surprises you again.
  
  "I will go my Emperor. (sniffle) If you say I have no place here, then I shall redouble my efforts to prove myself." Jennifer says.
  "Jennifer, that's not what I meant... "
  "No, I understand. My place is at the museum and educating the ignorant masses and making them see the light of your greatness. I will continue to work on my book and I will distribute it throughout the Empire so that everyone will know of your hardships and the sacrifices you made and continue to make to keep us all safe."
  
  You don't really have a response. You can see she isn't going to be swayed despite your best efforts to get through to her.
  
  "Thank you, my Emperor. I see what must be done now." Jennifer says, grabs your hand one last time and kisses it before leaving.
  
  And you are alone again.
  
  For a while you ponder what Jennifer will do or what she has planned. You wonder if maybe you should've just indulged the girl and allowed her to stay. Would it really have been an inconvenience? Maybe, maybe not, in any case it's done and after a short rest you return to the business of combating the Xi.
  
  A few weeks later you receive word from one of your scientists that in order to work on the disease to kill the Xi, experiments are going to have to be done on captured Xi. Naturally you agree that a few forces can be set-aside for capture missions and think nothing more of it.
  
  Life continues much as it always has for you.
  
  Year 563
  
  You look over your balcony and stare at the grand view of the surface below. Complete and utter desolation of what remains of your Empire.
  
  You had the plague released to kill the Xi a year ago and its affects are still being felt. Small porcelain bombs of infection meant for the Xi dropped from airships ended up doing their job well enough, but unfortunately your scientists failed to take extra precautions.
  
  The plague mutated or evolved, or whatever it did, it spread and infected your people as well. It wasn't noticeable at first, but eventually hundreds followed by thousands of Empire citizens were sick and eventually dying. Rask, Quala, Nalin, nowhere was safe even a small case hit Apex. Your closest advisor David died of it just recently. Oddly you haven't got sick despite suffering from your increasing frailties of old age. Not even a symptom. Perhaps you have your Eternal roots to thank for such immunities.
  
  Elves were hit the hardest by the disease whenever they caught it. There almost aren't even many left now. Even as resilient as orcs normally are, they've been suffering from the plague as well. The only ones who seem to be doing okay are the kobolds of all beings. If the plague continues to be as effective as it has been, that's all your Empire will consist of.
  
  If the plague wasn't enough, a lot of those that haven't fallen ill have decided to blame you personally for all this. You've got mass riots all across the Empire, despite the Eyes valiantly attempting to maintain control of the situation. You're just glad Sightmaster Crowley didn't succumb to the plague (yet).
  
  And to top it all a small group of your citizens have taken it upon themselves to enact their own brand of vigilante justice on dissidents. This group is lead by Jennifer of all people. She finished her book called "Eternal Defender" and distributed it for free throughout the Empire, well as much as it could be under the circumstances. It doesn't really matter though since the group actively goes around like religious missionaries preaching about your "virtues" and even that the plague is evidence of how the unworthy are being culled from the true believers. From what you've heard, the museum she once ran is now practically a temple and her husband is dead. (You have no idea how)
  
  You do nothing to stop her delusions or her group. It wouldn't matter and on a practical level she's helping contain the chaos. That's all she ever wanted, to help. You can imagine that she's out there night and day preaching fanaticism in your name and hoping that it will somehow please you and invite her back to Apex and "ascend to the heavens."
  
  That won't happen though. Nowadays you just want to live out the rest of your years in solitude. You did everything you could to resurrect the Empire, and just as you did over five centuries ago, you've practically destroyed it again. Makes you wonder what the hell the point was.
  
  You look forward to the day when you're free of this damn broken down old body and this world. You're tired of being Emperor. It hasn't been any fun, but then maybe it wasn't supposed to be. Maybe your "quest" to be Emperor was a lot more desirable than the actual goal. Which makes your decision to help assassinate Casimir an example of complete foolishness on your part. Perhaps it would've been better for the Empire if you had just let Casimir kill you... if that is indeed what he had in store for you. You've allowed yourself believe that was the case and it probably was, but still... there's that one part of you that has always wondered if Semra wasn't just lying and you fell for it.
  
  If she was lying, then she got the last laugh on you.
  
  "Wait a minute... no she didn't. She's fucking dead and I'm still here. She got eaten by the damn Xi." You say to yourself then you think about that a little longer.
  
  You think about how they must've easily eviscerated her withered old helpless body. Probably dissolving her insides, sucking them up and then taking the bloody slop back to their Xi maggot babies to feed on via regurgitation. Leaving nothing more than a husk behind. Everything she was just gone, and in such an undignified manner and how she must've suffered the entire time.
  
  Then you start to laugh.
  
  You laugh for a long time... 