Further Beyond: Ascension

Tirsday, 5th of Julius, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

The death of his father had caused Josias to feel like he was a revenant roaming upon the world aimlessly. He was at a loss as to what he could do with himself. Never before had he ever felt as useless as he did in the wake of such a tragedy.

In accordance with tradition, upon his father's death, Josias was to be the new head of the family responsible for supporting everyone else. Most especially the grieving widow that was his mother. Josias had always seen his mother as a strong figure of authority and a firm pillar of support. But that pillar was now broken and she was but a shell of herself.

Josias wanted deep within himself to be his mother's new support, but how? How could he be the strength to someone when he himself was dependent upon his wife to not fall in shambles. Not to mention his younger siblings.

Julia, such a small child but smart and mature enough to understand the tragedies that had unfurled within their family. Josias almost shattered when he saw Julia crying to herself in bed asking if God was punishing her for being a bad child. That it was because she annoyed their father about ompung's death so he got tired of her and died too.

Serena even had to stop Julia from hurting her younger cousins Tiur and Tigor. Julia had started pulling on her cousin's hair and hitting her, saying 'it's all your fault because uncle is evil!'. Josias felt guilty for being unable to stop his younger sister sooner despite the cries of his younger cousin. All this because he himself had wavered when seeing the two children.

It took seeing Serena mediating between the younger children for Josias to snap himself out of his vile thoughts. Immediately he handled Julia and scolded her, telling her that Tiur and Tigor were her younger siblings and that her job as the elder sister was to protect them, not hurt them.

It was a difficult thing for small children to understand pain and grief. That was why it was his job as the eldest child to make them understand. But Josias himself was still wrestling with the guilt of it all. He felt like a hypocrite. In one moment he was telling his sister to love and nurture her younger siblings, but in another instance, Josias had treated his sister Maria and brother Timotheus with such disdain. He himself had almost lashed out against Timotheus when he had begged to spare his uncle.

Josias was ashamed as he felt himself inadequate compared to his younger brother. Out of everyone in his immediate family, Jakobus was the one who was struggling the most to maintain calm. He was the one who was ceaselessly comforting and consoling their mother. He was the one that took on such a heavy role upon himself.

Josias was such a failure that the Gorian council had delayed in naming him as the next king. He couldn't blame them, though. His raging outburst had caused offense towards half the realm. Were he to actually be king, he had to learn to be more diplomatic. Anger borne of grief was no excuse for nearly causing a conflict.

He still had much to learn and it was because of that he had decided to set out for the venue to at least listen in on the discussions of the tonggoraja.

His father-in-law had insisted for Josias to take a break and forgo the tonggoraja due to a mourning period. Josias himself had acquiesced in the beginning to the request. But after mulling over it for a while, he decided that he still needed to at least know firsthand what the discussions of the tonggoraja would bring and how it would affect the realm.

When he arrived at the venue of the tonggoraja, it was complete pandemonium. The kings were shouting and insulting each other, some were even throwing chairs. Due to this commotion, no one really noticed Josias slipping in and hiding behind the pillar. He didn't want to attract too much attention on himself hence why he sat himself behind a pillar to listen in on the conversation.

It was only when direct mention of himself was made did Josias finally make a full on appearance in opposition to the new Hulubalang Nabolon. At King Pirma's shameless demand to have him grovel like a dog, Josias doubled down on his insult by refusing to apologise.

"Your arrogance knows no bounds, boy! Has it not occurred to you that your fate is in our hands? Whether or not you live on peacefully or die in shame is up to us. Hahahahah!" King Pirma seemed to be quite sure of himself but Josias didn't care. In fact, Josias gave a taunting smirk as he shook his head.

"Is that so? Alright then. Do it." Josias dropped the saber at his waist to the ground before spreading his arms wide towards King Pirma. "If you are half the man you say you are, do it now. Kill me. Right here, right now. I don't care."

"Josi, don't do anything rash, now!" Josias turned his head and saw his father-in-law cry out with worry. He could also see the other elders and warriors of Goria looking at him with fear for his life but also a hint of awe at his audacity.

"Well? I'm still standing here. Come. Kill me! DO IT! End the line of Goria right here and now!" Josias continued to taunt the heathen kings yet none of them really did anything.

"You've lost your mind, boy!" King Pirma shouted as he waived his hand away at Josias.

"And you've lost your balls!" Josias continued, inciting the Hulubalang's rage. Some of the Gorian elders were already standing up to try and calm him down. His uncle Hasudungan and Lord Mardomu approached him to try and get him to stand down but Josias rebuffed them.

"Stay where you are and let me speak my peace! You may have not chosen me as your king but by the right of my ancestors, I am my father's successor and therefore granted my right to speak!" Josias looked harshly at his Gorian compatriots "Yes, in the wake of my father's murder, I may not be in the best state of mind as you all would think. But even with this addled mind of mine I know fucking well that I won't be made to kneel and kiss the feet of some pagan king like a common dog. Have you all no shame? What would my father and grandfather think of such a base action?! I would not dare to face them were I to grovel."

"...Of course we weren't going to make you do that, young lord." Elder Rihar said in a reassuring tone.

"Oh? Then pray tell, ompung, what would you have had me do? Hmm? Those so-called followers of the old ways over there dare lord themselves over our lands and yet you all stood there without proper action?"

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"Young lord Josias, are you saying that you wish to incite another war over such actions?" The Raja Malim looked at him with an unreadable gaze. It didn't matter as Josias already knew his answer.

"Incite a war? Goria has never 'incited' any war with its own people. To my knowledge, the war that led to the treaty you all hate so much was started by you pagans. And you lost. Yet now the losers wish to re-dictate the terms of the treaty? In what delusion are you all living?"

"Whatever that may be, your current words are not helping in maintaining a sense of diplomacy."

"The sense of diplomacy had been lost the moment you so easily proclaimed the results of the match as valid without even giving the simplest thought. Why would my father die in the middle of a match he was winning? Why would he suddenly retract all his mana and kill himself in the match with my uncle's sword?"

"There could be many reasons. Sickness, stress, a bout of madness…" King Lombutua butted in the conversation.

"...poison." Josias gave the old King of Saorma a bitter gaze.

"What are you implying, young lord?"

"I may not be able to prove it, but I know something is wrong with that little 'gift' you gave my father. Tea was it? I don't claim to know whether or not it was intentional, but regardless, I feel it should've been investigated."

"You're making baseless accusations!"

"I might." Josias shrugged, not wanting to pursue the topic any further due to lack of evidence. Though he saw the slow sense of realisation in the Archbishop's eyes. "But what is that in the face of the dishonour you would all afford the realm of Goria with your nonsense? You all have no true power. I may be young but I am not stupid. You act as if you have all the power, but have you all not taken a look around you?"

Josias gave a menacing chuckle as he stretched out his arms around him. "You are in Goria, not your realms. Gathered here, while many of you are indeed five star warriors, each individual kingdom has little coordination with the others. You are all here on the goodwill of Goria. Were we truly intent on starting a war, while we might not be able to take on all of you, I'd reckon we could eliminate at least several kings right here and now."

"Do you not realise how much the drivel you are currently spouting could be counted as provocation, boy?!" King Pirma spat through gritted teeth.

"I do, which is why I purposefully said it like that." Josias laughed but neither his eyes nor his heart were truly honest.

"Do you really think your compatriots behind you would support you in such a folly?!"

"To be honest, I don't know." Josias spoke honestly as he cast another glance to the Gorian warriors who all had mixed expressions. "But if they were half as honourable as I know my kinsmen to be, I wouldn't doubt that they'd stand on the side that was right. And in no world would sitting out a righteous fight would be right. Not especially if their king were to lead them."

"Oh so that's what this all is. You are currently maddened because you were not immediately chosen as your father's successor? Pathetic. I had honestly expected more from you, but you turned out to just be another over-ambitious young fool."

"No… I think you're getting it wrong. I came to expose all this useless folly and propose a solution." Josias finally said.

"Wait, what are you talking about, hela?" The Archbishop looked at him with worried eyes. So also did the other Gorian elders have an unsure look on their faces. It was then did Josias let out a sigh before giving everyone in the venue a sorrowful yet resolute look.

"I came to put my fate in the hands of God myself. Whatever choice or agreement that we reach hereafter will be on my own terms. I refuse to be pulled to and fro by anyone like a broken toy in the hands of two squabbling children."

"And what makes you think you have the right to do this? To propose something on your own terms?" The Raja Malim asked.

"As I have said before, you all have little choice on the matter as well. Either we reach a solution on my own terms or you can all go back to the deadlock you were in. And even if my clan and kinsmen abandon me, then I can truly say that I have died a martyr for my faith."

"Well then spit it out! What is this proposal of yours, insolent child?!" King Pirma seemed to have lost the last strand of his patience.

"...In my heart of hearts, I do not want conflict or war within the Halaklands… And I know my current position is not the strongest. It is because of these reasons that in front of the great tonggoraja I propose to put myself into exile outside of the Halaklands. As for the matters regarding the succession of Goria, it will be left to the internal deliberations of the council of elders."

As Josias gave his proposal, many people began to murmur amongst themselves. There was an air of confusion among the Gorians. That would make sense as Josias had only really spoken with Serena about all this. He hadn't even talked about it with his father-in-law.

"...What are you saying, Josi?" His father-in-law asked with an expression that clearly showed he was taken aback. "What rashness are you speaking of in this-...!"

Josias put a hand on his father-in-law's shoulders before giving him a solemn look. "We'll speak of this later on. I must first deal with the Hulubalang and his lot."

"You wish to exile yourself from your own realm?" The Raja Malim asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. It seems to be the most logical conclusion. You are all adamant on being rid of me anyways, I might as well oblige on my own terms. If the sin you all wish to accuse me of is blasphemy, then exile seems like a fair fate to me. Or what? You were all trying to squeeze something absurd like monetary compensation? Over our dead bodies."

For the first time, King Pirma and his supporters fell quiet in whispered murmurs as they seemed to be considering Josias' proposal. Even the Raja Malim had once again fallen into deep thought. Finally, the blood king spoke up once more.

"What's the guarantee that you would truly exile yourself and not just return when everything quiets down?" King Pirma asked with an elevated chin.

"There is no guarantee." Josias spoke frankly "Just like there is no guarantee that you all wouldn't act in opposition towards Gorian and her allies even after my self exile. Besides, what wrong is there in returning after the situation has calmed?"

"Where do you plan on going?" The Raja Malim asked.

"It is to my own discretion, but I plan on leaving far across the seas…"

"Hmph. And what about your claim to the Gorian throne, are you going to relinquish that as well?" King Pirma asked.

"...You would fault my father and grandfather for revoking that murderer's right to my clan yet you would force me to do the same to myself? I may not be king but on my father's death, as the most senior living and married heir of the Pargoria line, I had become clan head. Or would you dare defy our ancestors' ways any further?"

With Josias' answer, King Pirma spat on the ground but spoke no further of it. Josias gave a hollow laugh before he turned to the rest of the tonggoraja.

"If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave of this council. Please notify me when the elders will hold the internal council. I have preparations to make in regards to my exile which I will speak about with my amang simatua (father-in-law)."

Josias gave a slight bow before he finally turned and left the tonggoraja venue. Though he showed a brave front, his heart had been pounding the entire time. But behind even his fear and nervousness, there was a small sense of closure he experienced. However tiny it was, it was the least bit of comfort he could afford himself.

Now, there was much for him to prepare for.