The "Perfect" World (Preview)

Jonathan did his best to keep from being noticed by everyone else in town, which he had been used to in the past, but it was more complex than just royalty exploring the town this time. Apart from the river of blonde hair streaming down the middle of his coal-black hair and the guitar case strapped on his back (which nobody would notice as much as his outfit and his possibly verbally expressed way of thinking), he was able to blend in with the crowd. It has been a long time since he or his brothers had gotten out of the hideout since their most feared enemy, Victor Bartholomew, had cast a spell on the whole world, one broadcast at a time, forcing everyone into believing in the idea of acting the same to supposedly get rid of the differences that have always been judged. Jonathan and his brothers had been under the radar trying to track down Bartholomew and bring back that the world that once was, but with no success. Before Jonathan went walking, he and the oldest brother, Frederick, were arguing about the expectations in Jonathan’s studies of sorcery and the belief that Jonathan was never going to really progress in it if he can’t even complete potion experiments without threatening existence let alone find his fellow sorcerer. As Jonathan was out of the room, he overheard Frederick mentioning to himself that it might be a beneficial idea to exile the younger of the two and find a replacement for him that was less like the nerd. Jonathan was uncertain of what to do, so he took out from his wardrobe an outfit that resembled what the mind controlled men were wearing and went out.

As he was walking, Jonathan couldn’t help but look back at what happened between him and Frederick earlier and wasn’t sure if he should consider himself part of the brotherhood anymore or just an outcast waiting for the time to come where he leaves. He kept putting his head down, but did his best to look up so he doesn’t bump into anybody.

Just as he was about to head back to the hideout reluctantly, he heard a noise that he thought would never be created by anyone.

“Bring diversity back into the world! Victor B is just afraid of what he can’t understand!”

It was protesting. Not only that, but it was protesting against Bartholomew. Jonathan felt a bit torn. On one hand, there could be a good chance that Bartholomew created someone to distract him, but on the other hand, Jonathan would never know whether or not it is a genuine protestor unless he explored for himself. So, he turned around and hid behind the corner of a small shop across from the meat market where, to his surprise, there was a young woman with long brown hair, dark green pants, a dirt brown shirt, and a booming voice. She had an expression of determination to get everyone to listen and Jonathan was all too familiar with that.

“Victor B’s idea of a perfect world is only based on bias views! If we work together, we can bring color back to the world around us!” she kept shouting.

Just then, a butcher came out of the meat shop and walked toward the protester, which made Jonathan continue to hide.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?!” the butcher shouted to the girl.

“I’m doing what’s right!” she responded.

“You’re defying the laws of Victor B!”

“Not like you or that bastard seem to care, but diversity needs to be restored!”

“How dare you speak about Victor B in such manner?!” the butcher shouted as his face and eyes turned redder than the meat he weighs.

Just as he was about to grab the protester, she ducked and swung her leg into the butcher’s legs so he fell on his back. She quickly got up and ran away in rage. As she passed the corner, Jonathan managed to stay out of the way, but still in awe.

“You can’t kill off diversity, no matter how hard you try!” she shouted as she ran.

Jonathan looked over at the protester’s path and just stared while debating. Though he felt that he’d half regret doing so, he ran after the girl as fast as he could, since it meant that he would eventually get answers.

“Hey!” he shouted as he ran after the girl.

She looked back, but ended up running faster as a result, and focused on running away from Jonathan. In a state of blur, she turned to an alleyway and tripped on a branch. As quickly as she fell, she got up and turned around. She backed up against the wall and took notice of a loose sword on the ground to her right. She picked it up and prepared to defend herself as Jonathan ran to the alley way as well.

“Stand back!” she shouted with the sword in both hands.

He pulled out a box that and pointed it toward her, which resulted in it turning a blood red color.

“Your anger is off the charts,” he said half to her and half to himself.

“Of course I’m pissed off! You’d be blind not to see that!” she responded.

“I mean you have a huge amount of anger, but your eyes aren’t red.”

“Obviously not! Unlike other people I come across around here!”

As he moved closer, she moved the sword to her right hand and pointed it at him.

“I said stand back! Unless you want to choose between losing your head and getting neutered like an animal, I suggest getting it through your head that I refuse to follow the rules of that bias ‘leader’!”

Jonathan couldn’t believe his ears. His unasked question was actually answered.

“Wait, you really aren’t under his control?”

“Do I look like I’m under his control? I’d rather die than willingly convert to his views! The world was better off when it didn’t rely on everybody behaving the same!”

Just as she said that, bright red lights from the eyes of some of the controlled townsfolk pointed toward the two and it was Jonathan’s turn to up.

“Crap, he’s found me!” they both whispered at the same time, and then looked at each other in confusion.

“What do you mean found you?” they said again.

He pointed the box toward the townsfolk and it was glowing blood red again.

“They have the same amount of anger as you do. Clearly, Bartholomew can see through their eyes for sure,” he told the girl.

“What? These fools are ignorant enough to follow Victor B.!”

“What do you think the ‘B’ stands for, toots?” he responded.

Jonathan pulled the guitar, which revealed a bright yellow glow surrounding it, out of the case on his back. He intensely played the song “Eye of the Tiger” toward the group, which caused half of the group to be knocked to the ground with little to no chance of getting up so easily. As he was about to play the guitar a second time, he was pushed out of the way by the girl.

“Do you have any idea what kind of monster you’re dealing with?!” he shouted.

“I’ve been fighting for survival with everyone following this guy trying to convert me for years. I think I know what I’m doing!” she responded.

She walked over and punched the remaining members of the group in the throat, and then she scratched through the backs of them with the sword like a swordsman until blood was drawn. She also took off her shoe and smashed it on the backs of their heads. She finally put her shoe back on and held the sword to the ground.

“Live to die another day,” she whispered aggressively as she was breathing heavily.

Jonathan slowly walked over to the girl and his hand was approaching her shoulder.

“Miss, I am both amazed and terrified of you,” he said before she swung her foot to knock him off his feet and pinned him down with the point of the sword.

“State your alias and business!” she commanded as she pointed to his neck with the sword.

“I-I’m Jonathan Daniels, one of the four princes of Onasola!” Jonathan shouted.

“Sure, and I’m Melody Powers, leader of the one-man resistance!” she responded.

“You’re not from around here, are you? I’m telling the truth!”

“I’m from the town of Ciujardin. Now, either you give me a reason to consider trusting you or you lose your head!”

As she moved the sword to swing it through Jonathan’s neck, he quickly shouted, “They were about to attack me, too,” so the sword stopped at a position that barely touched his neck. She pulled the sword away and slid it in her waist pouch, thus giving him the space to get back up.

“You got lucky!” she said.

They both looked over to the unconscious group and realized that they would eventually get back up again.

“Follow me,” Jonathan told her.

“Why should I?” Melody asked him.

“My brothers, the other princes, share the same enemy as you and I, so we could use your help.”