"You forget the famine of the dark winters! That would not have even happened if not for your so called god of peace!"

The senate grew rowdier as more and more stood to shout their own arguments. The hall quickly became too noisy to hear any reasonable discourse, so for a moment I just… ignored it all.

Father had been right. The greater the gift, the greater the betrayal.

Leaning back, I slumped in my seat as I continued to ignore the shouting. People in white robes were yelling at people in red ones. Some of the white-robed senators had blue markings on their backs, circles within circles.

When had those markings showed up…? Not long after the first betrayals… it hadn't taken long had it…?

Like a disease the followers of this god with no name, this God of Blue, The Blue One, had spread to such a point it was now malignantly uncontrollable. Half the senate bore the mark, and it felt lately like those who didn't still argued in their favor half the time.

"Our war is over! The gods who tormented us, are dead!"

I blinked and focused. My eyes found the source of the familiar voice. A white-robed man with tusks. Many others around him, not just in his fellow white robes but also the darker reds, sat down in respect as to hear the rest of what he had to say.

The great hall became quiet, even maybe apprehensive as the man with tusks took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Our enemies are dead. Their servants, routed. Their creations and poisons, if not eliminated at least handled and contained. We… no longer need war," he said.

For a moment the hall stayed silent, until a red-robed woman stood. She had a large belly, pregnant, and it made her look tired. "Even if one agreed that this Blue One is not our enemy… why must we care for their terms? Why must we capitulate? Have we not survived this whole time on our own? Have we not flourished? Who here is not healthier, in all manner and shape, today compared to yesterday? You claim we need not war, yet so readily claim we should kneel in fealty! One proceeds the other!" she shouted.

I'd have clapped if not for the fact none of it mattered anymore.

The man with tusks hadn't sat back down. He had heard her words, and was more than ready to respond to them. "You're allowing past grievances to cloud your judgment, dear friend. Think of your child, growing now in your belly. When they are born, would you not want them to emerge into a world of peace?" he asked her.

"Into a world where we still live under a god, after all the bloodshed and grief to avoid such a thing you mean? They will just question our wisdom, rather the lack of it," she responded.

Several people nodded, even a few in white robes, but the tusked man didn't budge. "What better peace, than one proven by honor and value? This god, this Blue One, can be the proof we truly have won. That our mountains of corpses have not been for naught! By agreeing to peace, by learning to live and let live, we can prove to not just ourselves but all to come that our actions and deeds were about more than simple genocide! Deicide! It would prove we are the better individuals! The right ones!"

Even more people nodded, which made the pregnant red-robed woman scoff. "To think one so wise as you would fall for so simple a trick. It is as Lord Vim says, even the strongest amongst us can break, given time!" she said, and then promptly sat down.

A few people glanced at me, but I ignored them. I stayed seated as well. Here on my throne of sand.

Of glass.

Of disgust.

"Our Lord of War has indeed taught us many things. The only reason we all stand here now, voted into power and representing this great nation, is thanks to his efforts and wisdom!" the man with tusks raised his voice as he pointed at me.

A piece of the stone throne I sat in chipped and broke off as I shifted a shoulder ever so slightly. No one seemed to have noticed as the man continued his speech.

"And it is in that wisdom, that I say what I do! He could rule us, like a god, yet he doesn't! He doesn't even hold the power of a single vote, opting to sit back and give us all our utter freedom! It is in this way we have proved his way is right. It is in this freedom, we have learned what is right! And I say this, as one of freedom, the Blue One must be heard! Their words, their methods, they themselves…" the man slowed in his speech, and I nearly gagged at the way he sniffed as if about to cry. "They may be a god, but they are as true as any of us! The Blue One does not ask for fealty, or even mercy! They only ask for the same thing we all share, and have sacrificed so much for! Freedom!" he ended his speech, to a great uproar of applause as he sat back down.

Another piece of my chair broke, and although this time it had been a good fist-sized chunk, none had noticed it as it fell. Even as it loudly banged against the granite floor around me, and broke into more pieces.

The hall was loud as people clapped, and as more conversations broke out amongst them. The sounds deafened all else, and made me think of home.

Mother had sometimes made little dioramas like this. Filled with tiny little people, noisily doing whatever she was at the time trying to teach me.

It was why I had built this place the way I had. Because of one of the buildings she had shown me. Where a large group of people had debated over laws and ethics, in a huge circular open-roofed auditorium. I had of course modified it to be more… suitable, making it easy to access and even easy to use for those who were deformed or handicapped. Not many were today, but when this nation had first been founded many of those who had been senators or associated with them had been maimed. From the wars with the gods and their monarchs. So building with them in mind had always been a standard for me, and thus this nation.

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Maybe that was why this was happening… even though so many were old, hundreds of years old, most if not all of them had not known the true terrors of war. Their parents had, or their grandparents, but not they themselves. A quick look around showed no one missing an arm, or legs. Pretty much all of them even had all their external traits, such as their wings or tails.

None of them comprehended the terror of a god, because they had not experienced it. They knew not a god's whims. A god's repulsive habits and tendencies.

They didn't fear it because they couldn't comprehend it. Having lived so long in peace they now couldn't see the glistening knife slowly inching towards their hearts right in front of them.

It was a cruel thought, but it made sense. Most of the gods were dead now. Gone. Merely a handful remained, and those that did were like this Blue One. They hid from me, from the world in total. Any and all battles with them have been not on a field, not with arms and bloodshed, but instead with the mind. The spoken word. They had originally used guerilla tactics, such as stealing from and destroying our train transit system, but eventually even that had stopped.

Hell, I've not even had to fight a monarch in years. They just… weren't a problem anymore.

It was such a weird problem for me to have. I should be ecstatic. Thrilled beyond belief. In a way I had succeeded. I had rid the world of the sickness that was gods. It had only taken a thousand odd years, but I had did it. Or at least, I was on the precipice of it.

At least, so I had thought.

Somewhere along the line the gods, the ones left at least, had realized they couldn't defeat me. Not on an open battlefield, at least… so they had switched tactics.

They couldn't defeat me, so they were trying to defeat those I led. My armies. My nations. My people. Those that supported me.

And they weren't doing it through violence. In fact, they weren't even doing it maliciously.

"You're basically claiming the wars are over!" someone shouted, rather angrily.

I focused on them, finding a white-robed woman. One of the younger ones. The senate hall grew quiet as others looked at her, the tone of genuine anger in her voice unmistakable.

Such anger did not belong in this hall. I usually didn't allow it. Or at least, didn't support it. And everyone knew it.

This was a place for discourse. To debate. To find a common ground. Not to rage.

Yet…

"The wars are over, child. How many years has it been since a single sword has been unsheathed? A single arrow loosed? A spear thrown?" A red-robbed man asked.

The white-robed woman pointed at me. "Then are you saying we no longer need Lord Vim?" she asked him back.

The hall suddenly got very quiet.

I blinked at the sudden suggestion, and even though it was a shock to hear it… I still felt my shoulders relax a little, as if suddenly a great burden was finally off my shoulders.

Had… had I been waiting for this?

"You… You can't say that!" another red-robed woman stood, her voice cracking as she shouted.

"Yeah! How could you say that!" Another red-robed senator stood.

"Is she wrong!?" A white-robe shouted back, and soon dozens of people were standing and shouting over one another, each trying to be heard.

Quickly the hall erupted, becoming far louder and chaotic than any time before. For a tiny moment I tried to follow the shouting, to see who and what were debating and being debated… but… there was no point.

Even if this vote went my way, and they voted to not ally themselves with this Blue One, it didn't matter. The seeds have been planted. A large enough portion of the nation, of this society, were hearing that god's words and finding them worth listening to. If not today, it'd be tomorrow. If not tomorrow, a year hence. A decade. A century. It didn't matter, the end result would be the same.

They'd choose the god over me. Over themselves, even.

Maybe it was just… something ingrained in one with a conscious…? Maybe deep down, any and all people, really longed for the feeling of servience? What if it was instinctual? To worship, to serve something one considered a higher power? Maybe my attempts all this time had been for naught, and going against the natural order myself.

Mother would have liked such a conundrum.

"Trade one god for another is foolish! Especially one who doesn't demand worship!"

A piece of the chair I sat in cracked, as I realized what had just been shouted. My jaw clenched as something I'd not heard in years had been spoken aloud.

Right… that was how so many of them saw me, wasn't it? Even if none said it to my face, or even whispered it at a distance.

To them I was as much a god as those we hunted. Just one who was merciful. Kind. Humble, maybe.

Which might be part of the reason they were willing to hear the Blue One's words…

My focus dulled as I realized this little experiment was over.

Slowly standing from the Throne of War, I found myself smiling softly at the fact no one noticed. Not a single senator, or any of their servants or guards, gave me even a single glance as I simply stepped away.

Heading for the exit, I decided it was time. This had been a long time coming, but it had been expected.

Ah well.

Father had been right.

As he had said, even in front of mother; no matter how many times you save them… they'll just run straight back into the fire. Like headless sheep. And even if you doused the fire, they'd just relight it.

So be it.

They don't need me anymore. Their nations are stable. Their understanding of science firm. Their grasp of ethics and laws not just ingrained into them, but backed up by hundreds of years of societal proof. They have been running their own nation for centuries. They fed themselves. They defended themselves. They wrote their own laws, dealt with their own political neighbors, fought their own wars of normalcy…

They would be fine without me. After all, this had been temporary. A measure I had only done to hasten the fall of the gods. To fulfill my task, I had gathered them. Taught them. Raised them to what they are, so they could do more than just be fodder on a battlefield. And now…?

Now they weren't helping that task.

Never needed them anyway.

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