Expanded Horizons: Beyond the Blue

Greed and Blood: Chapter Two

Johnny took his seat at the Governor's table for the first time. After just a year, he took the office. By exposing numerous scandals, finding witnesses and accusers, he and his mother destroyed the once-prominent governor's career and sent him to jail. And, as the hero who made it happen and offered to fix everything, the people of Rainier elected him to be the youngest governor in history.

The mass of the people's will swung with its fullest possible momentum, and the son of the murdered monster hunter and his widow who destroyed the Order of One Way took the reigns. His mother, still by his side as his primary advisor, stood proudly with her son as journalists and reporters praised their new political hero.

In his office, Johnny and his mother sat across the table from one another, diligently planning everything they could use to find the Pact-maker. They had money, people, every resource they could imagine. Nothing could stand in their way.

"But how do we actually FIND him?" Johnny asked out loud. "What do we have to do to make him appear? Why does he choose people? Is he in one place at a time, even?"

"These questions matter," Clare said. "But the only one that's going to help us is finding out why he appears. He came to me in my hour of need and offered a deal. From everything I've read, that's his whole schtick."

"So what, we create need?" Johnny asked. "If we do that, we will surely lose the people."

"Johnny, it's simple," Clare said with a nearly condescending look. "We create the need somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Sumpsbergh would be a good start. Trashy enough city as it is."

"And how would we even do that?" Johnny asked. "We can't just invade, destroy it, and leave. Half the Freelands would turn on us."

"There's other people looking for the Pact-maker in this world," Clare said. "They understand what brings him out even more than us. We just need them."

"And who might they be?"

"A cult group called the Covenant," Clare said. The room seemed to go cold at the very mention of a name the young governor didn't even know.

"And how do we find them?" Johnny asked. Clare smiled.

"I'm glad you asked just now," she said. She pressed a button. "I have someone that I think you should meet. You'll be working with him a great deal."

Before Johnny could ask who she meant, the doors to his office swung open and an old man wearing a strange uniform strode in like he owned the place. He looked all around at the office with a distasteful sneer, unimpressed with the previous governor's choice of décor. By the time he reached the table he had practically stiffened his entire body by cringing at the room.

"My boy, I do hope you change up the look of this room," he said.

"I suppose I will," Johnny said. He didn't mind the previous governor's taste. "Who are you, again?"

"This is General Egon, from the formerly known United Greater Republic of Abwärtspfeil. He's very familiar with Covenant forces and history around the Pact-maker."

"I was in the Freelands minding my own business, dealing with my fellow followers of ancient ways, when I stumbled across the story of your recovery," General Egon began. "I found it rather remarkable that you recovered from those injuries so readily. A little too remarkable. Then, when I learned of your mother's defeat of the Order of One Way; a group I have some understanding of; I knew it had to be the Ancient One."

"The Pact-maker," Johnny whispered. General Egon nodded. "So, why are you here?"

"I approached your mother not too long ago about the possibility of gaining information on the Ancient One's whereabouts, and she told me she seeks the same thing. I believe we can help each other."

"What can you offer us?" JJohnny asked, trying to sound tough and failing.

"I have experience. I led the single mightiest military force in history, only defeated by the combined efforts of all the western world and many resources from the east. My forces paled in comparison of size, and yet, we crushed our foes relentlessly. I offer you my leadership and skills as a mage to locate the Ancient One."

"I see," Johnny said, looking to his mother. She nodded approvingly. "Your help will be greatly appreciated." General Egon flashed a toothy grin and clapped his hands together.

"This is the beginning of a beneficial partnership!" he said. He grabbed Johnny's hand and shook vigorously. "I look forward to this. And-" He shot a glance toward Clare- "To seeing more of you. I'll need an office by tomorrow."

"Uh- understood," Johnny said. General Egon spun around and left with a wave of his hand.

Johnny sat back in his chair, wondering what the man who just left even was. At twenty-three years old, Johnny took the seat of governance, and now, he had foreign military leaders and cultists helping him to locate the closest thing to a god he knew to exist. Life is strange.

"Mother, you're sure we can trust him?" Johnny asked. "He wants to find the Pact-maker, too. What if he betrays us when it is in his grasp?"

"He can't betray us if he is dead," Clare replied coldly. Johnny blinked. "I don't intend to keep the company of thugs and disgraced military foreigners. However much he may wish it so, I do not foresee any benefit there."

"Then we let him do all the heavy-lifting, and simply take the chance at a deal with the Pact-maker for ourselves?" Johnny asked. Clare nodded. "It seems risky."

"Everything in this life carries risk, my son," Clare said. "You walk outside, you may be stabbed. Leave the city, you may be hunted by monsters or animals. You love someone, they may go away forever. You have to take these risks if you want to be happy."

"And happiness is all that matters," Johnny said solemnly.

"Our happiness is all that matters."