I need to save the emperor...

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Kaiser Ayreon IV
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I need to save the emperor...

Post by Kaiser Ayreon IV »

Vidar was in his bedroom in the Palace of Vista de Nada. It was his favourite place in the palace, as it was simple and spartan. Luxuries had never pleased him, and a spartan room was all that he needed. He would always organize his room to minimize all kinds of clutter, and spent about an hour every day in his room, just organizing his stuff.

No different this evening. Vidar rearranged his underwear in the drawer. And suddenly, suddenly, emotion overcame him. He threw his socks in the air.

"I need to save Nathan!" he shouted out. "He needs me!" And there the kaiser was, reorganizing his socks and underwear, while his second cousin, his emperor, was all alone in some Bous-forsaken hole, crying, lonely, scared...

Vidar cried. He felt what he thought Nathan would feel. Then he realized that no hole is Bous-forsaken...

When his tears dried, Vidar prostrated himself onto the floor (in the Shirerithian court fashion) and prayed.

"Bous! I am not yet baptized as my mother refuses to let me, but I hope you can hear me any way. I don't know what the right way to pray to you is, because my mother threw out Aldin from my home when I was a kid. So please forgive me. I have just one prayer. Help me find Nathan. I need him. He needs me. Please help me find Nathan. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please... Acow..."

And then he got up, picked up his phone, and dialled his uncle Aldin. "Aldin, I need your help," he said. "I need to learn to pray."
Ayreon IV
Former Kaiser of Shireroth (now dead)
RIC

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Aldin
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Aldin »

Aldin picked up the phone, "Dearest Vidar, beloved nephew, calm down! I can barely understand you!"

Aldin let the boy rattle on for a few minutes until he calmed down enough.

"Nephew, Bous is a very forgiving deity. There is no right or wrong way to pray! Just speak--out loud or in your mind--and Bous will hear you. He will not judge you, unless you ask for judgement. He will not chastise you, unless you truly deserve it. For Bous is the Master of his Herd and we are but calves. True, you may invoke the voice of the Cow, or the Bull, or the Spirit, or Man. But for such a young person you should only concern yourself with Bous, who is benevolent to his followers; malevolent to those who oppose him; omnipresent and unknowable; mortal and relate-able. I have been praying for the Emperor's save return as well, praying so hard and deeply that I locked myself in a monastery. I have gone without the pleasures of life and have abandoned my duties to pray for the Emperor. I fear if he is not found soon, not only will the Emperor perish, but perhaps the Empire itself will crumble around the loss of our beloved Emperor.

"We will find him Vidar. He will be returned to us, but he will be a transformed person. We must embrace him, you must embrace him and remind him of the comforts and joys of childhood."
His Eminence, Aldin Ayreon-Kalirion
Metrobosarch of the Eparchy of Smjorkyr,
Marquess of Sentratera

Kaiser Ayreon IV
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Kaiser Ayreon IV »

After the comforting talk with his uncle, Vidar went down on his knees in his room, and prayed again.

"Lord Bous – Please... please... help me save him." Vidar cried loudly, prayed more and more, and cried his eyes out. His sobs were loud, and snot was all over his face. It was an ugly sight.

Out of the despair in Vidar’s heart, he heard a loud sigh.

“That’s enough. All that whining does my head in. 21.6 degrees East. 19.1 degrees South. I don’t need to be more specific, do I?”

“Who are you?”



“You called me, fool… You had a question. I answered it. Now leave me in peace, OK?”

“Thank you, Lord Bous!”

And Vidar quickly noted down what he had heard.
Ayreon IV
Former Kaiser of Shireroth (now dead)
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Isabella Kalirion
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Isabella Kalirion »

Isabella was hardly accustomed to receiving actionable intelligence from a snot-nosed nine year old, yet, since it was imprudent to dismiss the ostensible Regent out of hand and her own investigations amongst the Hazel community had failed to turn up any leads, she felt obliged to hear him out. Having listened as patiently as she could to the emotionally labile child's urgent babble about conversations with a cow shaped deity fashioned from dairy products, she had concluded that the kidnappers had found some way to remotely influence Vidar. The coordinates appeared to point to an abandoned Natopian colonial settlement in North-Western Eura and seemed too precise for the child to have come up with on his own.

Although it was either a delusion or a trap, she sanctioned the dispatch of a Virgo-class scout ship, a Zion-class survey ship, a Dingo-class shuttle and a six man team from the Aurochssturm Division to investigate nonetheless.

After that she sent the boy, along with her dishevelled and hurriedly dressed tutor, to the kitchens to give the boy a glass of warm milk spiked with a crushed Valium pill after which he would be returned back to his chambers. Meanwhile Isabella set about drawing up arrest lists targeting the members of the palace staff who had replaced those palace attendants arrested after she took control of palace security. There was no need for news of the Kaiser's emotional incontinence to seep out into the public domain.

Later she summoned the commander of the Kaiser's close protection detail of Sentinels in order to receive a full debriefing on his recent series of histrionic episodes. She wince visibly as the transcript of the telephone conversation with Aldin was read to her.
Patroness of Kalir
Elder of the Simrani branch of the House of Ayreon-Kalirion
| Countess of Amity, Mirioth and So-Sara

Kaiser Ayreon IV
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Kaiser Ayreon IV »

After conferring with Lady Isabella, Vidar was restless. How long would it take for her to save his emperor. Nathan needed to be back now. Bous had promised him where Nathan was. Vidar's duty was to act on this. But why was Isabella hesitant? Why hadn't Vidar heard anything?

Maybe it was because Vidar had not acted on Bous's command in a different way... Perhaps he needed to show Bous how devout he was, how much he trusted Bous.

Yes, that must be it... Vidar needed to be baptized.

He shouted out. "Secretary!!!!"

A woman – Vidar had forgotten her name, but he always imagined her name was Blubby, she looked like a Blubby – entered hurriedly.

"Sir?"

"Get Aldin here now! I need to get baptized!"

"The Pentheros, sir?"

"Yes! Now! It's a national security uh... thing! Do it now!"

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir."
Ayreon IV
Former Kaiser of Shireroth (now dead)
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Aldin
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Aldin »

The next day Aldin was in Lindstrom, he had dropped everything at the Kaiser's request for a baptism. He had called ahead to the bosarch of the Ruined Cathedral to fill the baptismal font with milk for a private ceremony.

"Your Holiness, we usually do baptisms only on the first Sunday of the month, this is highly irregular."

"Of course it's highly irregular, we have a special request from the Kaiser-Regent himself! Prepare the font, it better be ready by the time His Radiance and I arrive at the Cathedral at 10AM!

***

The Pentheros and Kaiser arrived at the Ruined Cathedral the next day, Aldin had spent the morning giving Vidar a run-down of the ceremony.

"Nephew, you remember your cousin's baptism? It will be similar, just shortened. There are only two necessary components: total submersion in milk and then the ingestion of butter. The butter is very special, it is the same butter your cousin Nathan ate during his baptism. It is made from a very special source, and once you complete your ceremony none will be left in this whole world. You and your cousin are very special people, although you both rely on advisers now, both of you will soon manage two of our world's greatest empires. This is why your communion butter is so very special, it will grant you special insight into the world, granting you the wisdom and knowledge of your great-grandfather Nathan."

Vidar thought for a brief second, "Nathan is the one who became part of Bous?"

Aldin nodded encouragingly, "Yes and he'll be able to speak to you too. And your other great-grandfather Elijah, and of course your father Nathaniel. All of them Bovic deities or saints. You are the only son begotten from the Holy Quadruplets," Aldin stopped himself, he had been advised by all of Vidar's retainers to tone down the 'golden child' rhetoric, they had been doing their best to undo the Kaiser's spoiled early years, but Aldin had to impress upon the boy how important he was to Bovics around the world so he pressed on, he was the Pentheros after all, "You deserve to be honored as they are, too."

"And now I will be, after I get dunked like an Oreo?"

Aldin chuckled, "We're at the Cathedral now, nephew. Let's go!"

"Why hasn't someone put out those fires?"

"Butter Bull set them on fire, so they burn continuously fueled by his righteous fury."

"So he's mad at us?"

"It's fine, he's mad at everything all the time."

***

Once in the Cathedral, where a small audience had assembled in short notice, Aldin beckoned for Vidar to join him in the font of milk, both were wearing pure white clothing. Aldin spoke to Vidar, asking him if he accepted Bous as lord into his heart, Vidar nodded, "Yes, I accept Bous into my heart."

Aldin said "Then Bous now accepts you, fully and completely," and leaned the boy back into the milk until he was fully submerged, then tipped him back up. The baptism was complete. Vidar and Nathan left the font to go change for the first communion ceremony.

A simple stool had been placed in front of the font. Aldin stood next to it and Vidar sat down. Aldin held up the half-stick of special butter, cut it into four slices and placed them in Vidar's hand one by one.

"The first taste, do this in remembrance of the Cow, let the light of love come through," Vidar ate the first slice of butter.

"The second taste, do this in remembrance of the Bull, let the light of dedication come through," Vidar ate it.

"The third taste, do this in remembrance of the Spirit, let the light of knowledge come through," and Vidar ate it too.

"The fourth taste, do this in remembrance of the Once-Living God, let the light of memories and understanding come through," and Vidar ate it, his eyes opened wide.

Aldin then spoke to the small herd, "May Bous bless you all for you have witnessed the miracle of baptism here. Acow."
His Eminence, Aldin Ayreon-Kalirion
Metrobosarch of the Eparchy of Smjorkyr,
Marquess of Sentratera

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King Noah
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by King Noah »

"Acow!", the King of Uppland, who was among the audience witnessing his grandson's baptism, exclaimed.

King Noah then walked up to the Lord Ayreon, knelt before the young Prince-Regent of Natopia, and kissed his grandson's hand.

"Many congratulations on your joining in communion with Bous, Sweet Grandson of Mine!", the King of Uppland said. The monarch of the Palatine Kingdom was so proud of his grandson that His Viking Majesty beaming enough to heat and light the entire Bovic Empire during the cold and darkness of a winter night.

"Let Bous direct and sustain you, o Golden Child, so that you will always walk the perilous path of life with courage, righteousness and mercifulness, until you are called to Dairyland!"
Thorstein Noah Hallbjörns- og Esthersson of the Houses of Waffel-Paine‎‎, of Ayreon-Kalirion, and of the Descendants of Freyja
King of Elwynn
Prince of Natopia
Jarl and Grand Elector of Jorvik

Kaiser Ayreon IV
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Re: I need to save the emperor...

Post by Kaiser Ayreon IV »

Vidar felt elated after the baptism. He was finally in total communion with his god – the only true and most powerful one. It was good.

After the ceremonies, to which he had only invited the closest to him, he had hugged his uncle Aldin tightly. It was the only one he would hug, as members of the Vista da Nada Palace household had instructed the Regent-Kaiser to uphold some decorum.

He did enjoy Noah bowing before him (it made him feel powerful and majestic), but less so the kiss. He was worried about bacteria and stuff – as most kids of his age – and was happy that there was a hand sanitizer close by.

"Thank you Noah!" he said. "It is so kind of you to congratulate me. It means the world to me. Maybe one day I can show you why this is the right religion for everyone..."

A minder poked the regent kaiser, as to show that he had said something un-PC.

"Oh sorry Noah. That was a joke. Of course, your religion is just as good. All roads lead to salvation, don't they?" and Vidar smiled gently, before attending to the next guests.
Ayreon IV
Former Kaiser of Shireroth (now dead)
RIC

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