2. The Blue King

The Blue King sat on his throne atop a blue tower. He watched over his kingdom from just below the clouds.

Felix Blackwood’s crown sat neatly on top of a mess of dark red hair, over a gentle-looking face with deep blue eyes which almost seemed to grow. He didn’t look like how most people expected, he wasn’t a traditionally bearded, manly king. He was short, quite young and still had a bright, optimistic outlook. This was the kind of king who had never led his people through a war or plague, never lost the people he was supposed to protect.

He’d agreed reluctantly to meet with two researchers. They’d said something about the Deadly Sins, and he’d assumed it was just another conspiracy theory until they’d mentioned the King’s Prophecy. This prophecy was originally written down by one of his ancestors, thousands of years ago, and was therefore of particular interest to him.

A woman suddenly appeared from the stairway leading to the top of the tower. His closest advisor, Aliza.

“My King, your guests have arrived.” She said, bowing.

“Send them up.” He sighed, his Iestran accent thick when he spoke. He still didn’t look forward to this, despite the connection to his ancestor. Aliza nodded again before hurrying back down the stairs. She returned a minute or so later, followed by two men.

“Aliza, you can go.” She bowed again then left. His attention moved to the two researchers. “This had better be important.”

“Of course,” The taller man spoke. “I’m Alex, this is Blake, my brother. We’ve been looking into the Seven Deadly Sins myths and we’ve found something which may be of interest to you.”

Blake stepped forward, quickly taking over. “Our research appears to indicate that the person who will reincarnate as Greed will be you.” The way he spoke, the way he seemed to lack all emotion captivated Felix.

“What would give you that idea?” Felix was a little offended by the prospect of having one of these things taking root in his head.

Almost on cue, Blake approached the throne and handed him a scrap of paper. He read it for a moment, then handed it back. “This is the King’s Prophecy?” Blake nodded, confirming his suspicion. He paused for a moment. Alex thought he was going to lash out at Blake, and poised himself to defend him. “Well, I can see what makes you say that, the whole tower and seeing the future thing does sound like me.” Alex breathed a sigh of relief at the king’s words, then walked forward towards his brother.

“All we ask is that you take extra care. If you die, Greed could come through. We can’t allow that.” Felix saw the determination in his eyes, mixed with something. Was it fear? Or something worse?

“I’ll take extra care. I’ll have my best mystics and diviners keeping an eye on things, they’ll warn me if any of them see anything.” Felix gave a reassuring smile. Since he took the throne, divination and occult practices became widespread, encouraged by the clairvoyant leader. Places of worship had become schools devoted to the paranormal, and many people who still clung to gods had fled to places like Gharvia, a distant theocracy.

Alex was surprised. He thought the king would be a lot harder to convince than that.

“Thank you.” Blake began.

Alex interrupted, “You won’t regret it.”

Felix looked at Blake, trying to search out some emotion. His expression remained blank. “You two can’t stop all this Deadly Sin stuff on your own. As thanks for warning me, I’ll find other people willing to help. I’ll gather up the best archaeologists, historians, scientists, anyone I can. I’ll also find more people than just myself willing to fund you.”

Alex was overcome with excitement. Blake felt nothing at all, simply maintained eye contact with Felix. “All this for us? Why?” He asked.

“If the prophecy comes true and Tragedy appears, my people would lose lives too. As a king I can’t allow this.”

“You must be a pretty good one, to care about your country that much.” Alex said

“I suppose so, that’s why I’m setting up…” Felix thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up like he had an idea.

“The Seven Sins Research Group.” Alex was surprised he had a name for it, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

“That’s generous.” Blake began to play with the end of his scarf, signalling to Alex that he didn’t want to be here much longer.

The king continued, “There will be a party the day it opens, a way for everyone involved to get to know each other before it starts. Oh, and don’t worry, you two will still lead the whole operation. I’ll drop in every so often to see how things are going, but aside from that I’ll have barely any role.”

“Thank you. Honestly.” Alex was thrilled.

“No need to thank me. It’s for the good of Iestra.” Felix smiled again. “Will that be all?”

“Yes. Alex.” Blake signalled to him, and Alex nodded. Aliza appeared from the stairway once more and led the two away.

“Thanks for your time, Your Highness.” Alex shouted back as they began to walk down the hundreds of steps to the bottom of the tower.