This is for adding a Search Category to the thread.
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Fu looks from Spartan, who looks close to needing a good old headlock, to Rust and the crown. "It talks? What is it?" Yep the stone dog don't trust a talking crown, it reminds him of them. Yet it doesn't like them either. Now the dog's just confused. Fu looks at the other sovereigns, wondering why this had remained a secret.
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"You act as if I am the bad guy. I am here to serve the freehold, to help protect you all. It was in this situation I manifested this voice, to persuade from this course of action." The crown paused.
"Rust, your court no longer see you as king which means I can not. It seems Summer has spoken and this piece of costume jewellery will leave you with these words." With that the crown flys out of rusts hand and lands back onto the throne.
"A word of warning I do bring.
Summer has lost its King.
Now I give you all advice.
Seasons cannot pass twice.
Such as Autumn could not pass to spring.
The freehold must remain without a King.
Until it comes to Autumn day,
The throne is where the crown shall stay."
The winds swiftly die down, the glow from the crown completely disappears and it seems to return to normal once more.
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Rust shudders as the Crown leaves his hand. He finally smiles. A rare thing, a smile of relief is what appears once the Crown reveals it's power. "This is what banished HAL. A sane man. The best king ever to lead this Freehold. This beauty drove him insane. Alice." The grinning metal cat turned to his Spring counter part. "You knew too. Didn't you. I recall a question. A cautious question last Summer. Had I ever heard a voice from this Crown." Rust stands aside to let every have a good long look.
"You even put the damned thing on your head. Like I did. You knew.
Nightfall, Marcus. You didn't understand. But you acted with the Crown and against the King. This is your test Warden. I could not escape this item any more then you could steal it from my head. And now no one can now escape it at all. Look at it and see what you all made. What you created when you gave the Crown more power then the person under it. I hate this Crown for what it did to Horace. For what it seeded in Crunk. That Hate twisted me into a thing to destroy you. My Hate in seeing good men destroyed. I wore the Crown to be better then them. My Will is now it's power.
My voice is it's Voice.
You saw me twisted before I did. I was awake enough to hear it. Now it rides out your verdict farther then you wanted in a bid for power."
"A sticky situation. Who rules here? A King or a Crown? Rick, Alice. Whether I'm King or not. We need a new Seasonal Pact to replace the mandate controlling us and We need Katrin back here to release the old one and settle the new in place. Spartan? There is sledgehammer in my truck."
As Rust eyes settle on his Brother he visiblew sinks back as if a weight ed was lifted.
He had stopped the Crown in time to save his brother. By accident and sheer will he kept Spartan safe.
Rust doesnt move from the dias. He turns to face the Crown. To watch it by chance it sought to prevent the Wrath that was to come.
"Summer. We need a King to forge the New Pact. Spartan, does your Challenge stand? Marcus, Fu. Do you put forth your names?"
"My challanges stands... To both of you." Spartan says looking to both Fu and the former King of summer. He would not watch that crown sap any further sanity from his brother and he honestly felt the Dog of Summer was not worthy of the position of summer champion. Or at least, not able to do the duty of it.
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Fu blinks in shock at Spartan. "Really? Summer is with out a Sovereign and you still want to be Champion? We have bigger problems!" The last word coming out as an almost incoherent rumble. Fu wants to walk away, walk away and go hit something. But he can't.
"Deal with that first." Fu points towards the now silent crown. "Then we will see who is champion." The intensity of the heat from Fu grows as he speaks, his personal evocation of Summer showing itself through.
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"Have you gone completely insane Rust?" Alice asked shocked at his response. "I didn't want things to come to this when I spoke up. But the crown was rejected so now it is going to sulk on the throne for a season. Yes it has spoken to me in the past on at least one occasion, and gave me a helpful and personal word of warning which doesn't matter at the moment. The crown is the freehold pledge manifest...and you are going to try and break it? Every seasonal sovereign is bonded to it. Have you completely forgotten the pledge that was forged. If the founding pledge is broken the gentry WILL come. There also isn't anyone among us who would be able to form such a founding pledge. The Autumn Sovereign is good with pledges, but I think this is something even he might have to research. If the pledge is broken we will be overrun even if we reform it soon after, so this is not something to jump into rashly."
"Furthermore, you think Hal and the other were driven mad by this crown? Hal made his own choices because he let his fear rule him. Instead of coming to the other seasonal sovereigns he took it upon himself to kidnap and hide the Winter Queen, then tried to replace her. Hal paid the price for the choices he made. If you think the crown is controlling everyone against you then you have lost your mind and you are just grasping as straws while blaming others."
Once she finished speaking Alice glared at Rust in anger her pleasant expression gone.
"And lastly, If you try to harm that crown, break the seasonal pack, or through your action, non-action, or cause others to attempt to do the aforementioned I swear that you WILL die. You have no legitimate claim over Summer, you have no right to issue orders to anyone present to do your bidding and try to destroy us all with rash thinking. No one is going to destroy that crown..."
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"Alice. When the Crown spoke to. What did it say?" Rust asked honestly. "HAL didn't 'just go insane' He was driven there by dreams and nightmares. I refuse to believe he simply lost his mind. And I resent to say it but at this moment both you and I are equally compromised for as long as this object remains. If you trust the Sentient Token, good for you. But Summer rules and until someone takes my place I rule Summer." Rust looks over his Court, gauging their reaction.
"I will not let Summer go by with a wimper simply because that band of metal says so. Do I make myself clear? We will not dissolve the Freehold. We will replace a rushed Pact with a sensible Pledge written by Alice, Rick, and Katrin and enforced by Summer. That is what I'm calling for. This will take time but not so long as to see the Seasons changed and Rick fall under this demon. If I'm not King then. So be it. But I won't stand by as one of Summer becomes a victim. Spartan will not spend time trying to sway anyone before he cracks this egg to free me." Rust nods to his brother. Spartan's sudden tension evident enough to know his thought.
"Besides My brother does anyone else wish to replace me? Further Does anyone else agree we should keep the dangerous Crown rather then draft a Pact for power shared between the chosen? Speak up now. This may be your last chance to have a voice in the matter."
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Oh for the love of...would it be too late to muzzle Rust? Whatever, he was done being diplomatic. He was done worrying about how the lingering stigma of what HAL had done might color how people viewed his actions now. And as he stepped forward, away from Terri and Terra, his mantle showed it. A sudden howling wind as hailstones clattered to the ground, lightning crackling through the air around him. The expression on the Dread Lord's face firm, resolute, and oh so very much not amused. He was fast reaching the point where he was fed up with this entire mess.
"Then listen to me, who's never so much as touched the crown and isn't compromised by it. First off, you don't rule Summer, not anymore. You stepped down, you recognized Spartan's right to succeed you which no one has contested, the Crown rejected you, the Freehold rejected you, and even your very Court seems to have rejected you. This isn't some game where you can pull a take-backsie. You don't get to dictate policy regarding the Crown or the Freehold anymore; and this sure as hell isn't the time to do something as stupid as destroying the Crown as a gut check response, or as part of a temper tantrum I don't really care which, without stopping to consider the consequences of that act."
"Now, despite what you might want to believe, Alice is right. She seems to be in a perfectly fine state of mind to me, unlike you. So I'm disinclined to believe that the Crown has driven her insane. And as much as you might want to believe it, since that would excuse your own actions, I'm similarly disinclined to believe that the Crown is driving every Sovereign insane when the only evidence supporting that conclusion happens to be a few whispers that you felt were insidious. HAL's fall from grace is his own fault, just as your fall is yours. So stop trying to seize upon the convenient excuse, listen to the two people remaining here who are recognized as the Sovereigns of their Court, put the Crown down, and step away. Because I'm not about to stand by and watch you try to destroy it either."
"You haven't crossed the point of no return, ventured into territory from which their is no coming back, yet."
"Don't."
Taking a step closer to the buffet table, the swimmerskin wrapped his paw around the handle of one of carving knives and slowly dragged it out of sight behind a green rubber jello bowl. While Otto did not know much of anything about Seasonal Court bonds, talking crowns and whatnot. But he didn know where his Sovereign stood on the situation, death before breaking the oath. He eyed Rook and Marcus, the two closest Summer Courtiers to him. He didn't know where they were going to fall in if push came to shove. He probably couldnt either or both of them but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to go down swinging.
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