ARCHIVED: Personification of the Nation

Building: Briefing Room 3, Capitol Building
Location: Galt City, Galt Province, Almanianian Union
Date: January 1, 2013
Time: 10:59:00

"As for tax reforms, we need to consider actually lowering taxes for the year. We have a very large surplus and I doubt we need all that money."

I looked around the rotunda and noticed that many of the officials were listening absolutely entranced on the entirety of the presentation on possible budgetary concerns for the coming fiscal year. I lazily looked over and noticed a close friend Jordan Lennon (son of the previous President) and his friend Yuri Kerechev Roosevelt (son of the current President) boredly playing on their laptops. Nearby was the Prime Minister Julia Churchill and the President, Wilson Tyler Roosevelt, working as hard as they could to stay awake. I was lazily typing on my laptop and trying to not fall asleep as the Chairman of the Budget Committee in the Senate continued to drone on. I slowly stopped typing and thought on the previous year.

Yawn. That's all I had to say about this year opening meeting. We had it at the beginning of every year, where all members of Parliament, the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, and the President were required to participate and be at the meeting. Failure to do so meant one could be censured and be unable to achieve a salary for the rest of the year. By the way, I'm Alvino Castillon, and I'm the personification of Almaniania, and the main personification of the Almanianian Union. It's a nice nation with a lot of wonderful parts and people. The nation may be a variety of people, but we share a strong cultural and political bond that is hard to look past. As a personification, I didn't actually have to go to the meeting... until Parliament thought it would be a wonderful idea for my image if I did. They threatened to complain if I didn't, so here I was. However, I was getting pissed. This meeting was boring the two boys and one of them definitely had somewhere to be. Jordan was trying to get out so he could take a trip to a nearby nation and meet with his girlfriend to celebrate the vacation. Yuri wanted to leave so he could go back to practicing the violin and besides... this meeting was boring.

"Mr. Lennon and Mr. Roosevelt. You two should be paying attention." The two boys looked up at the Chairman. Chairman Joseph Carmichael had quite a damn ego on him. He once said "Without me, the country would be running the largest debt in the region." I gave him credit... he knew his stuff. He was brilliant with finances and has saved the country billions of dollars while streamlining a number of processes However, he needs to shut the hell up and stop being a prick... something he can't do. He liked to be called Chairman Carmichael... but he only heads the Committee on Finances.

"You two boys always seem to be causing trouble. Why can't you behave for a single moment, huh?" He continued as he completely forgot his current discussion on his tax deductions proposal and started to chastise the two boys directly. "It is because of you children that I fear for the future of this country." Jordan looked up in pure annoyance, while Yuri looked down in utter hatred of himself. I realized he was flashing back to memories of a time before he was adopted...

...And that's where I'll cut the Chairman's rant.

"That shall be enough Mr. Carmichael." I said as I rose up from my seat. In an instant, the silence that occupied the rotunda turned into gasps and murmurs of my outburst. I saw him get really annoyed. He hated being called anything else other than Chairman Carmichael after all.

"Stop critiquing these two. For Alma's sake, they're still CHILDREN. Trust me on this... your presentation? It's boring. It's an utter waste of my time." Gasps conquered again and the banging of a gavel silenced the room. I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Let me put it this way then... it is the first day of the New Year, and we should all be out having a good time and enjoying ourselves. Instead, I'm stuck here because you all think for some reason, holding a meeting the very first day of the year is a necessity. Have you guys ever thought... I dunno... HOLDING IT THE SECOND FUCKING DAY INSTEAD?" I snarled around the end as the Chairman clearly became infuriated.

"I motion to move to recess for twenty four hours... and I motion to give Mr. Lennon and Mr. Roosevelt here a leave of absence." Angry looks appeared as I made my motions. I looked over at the President and the Prime Minister. Mrs. Churchill gave me a slightly neutral expression but it was clear she was in agreement with me. President Roosevelt however, looked very amused and actually started to chuckle.

"Mr. Castillon... as usual, you fail to understand that you have no powe-"

"Don't make me use Personification Law." I said simply. The murmurs died down and stares of anger turned to horror. "I'm serious. I used it last time. I will use it again. Let these two leave... and let's just enjoy ourselves today... because if not, I will find a way to torture you all." I smirked in malicious humor as I finished my threat. They knew in an instant that anything they say will not work to stop this motion.

"...Motion seconded." Chariman Carmichael replied, clearly with disgust and defeat in his eyes. I chuckled as I sat down.

It's great to be the personification of the Union.

The brunette woman franticly leafed through the stack of papers on her desk while assistants, aides and staff of all sorts scurried about. The phones were ringing off their hooks and the entire floor seemed as if it were about to explode from the constant and incessant gibber-jabbering. She knew it was all for a good cause and she knew they were all there to help and support her, to get her elected. They wanted to see her sitting at the head of the Board of Directors as Chairwoman Arabelle Chateris; and yet, she wasn't sure if she wanted to have that seat.

For the past, consecutive six terms the office of Chairperson has been held by a member of the Corporatist Movement; the past thirty years were filled with conservative, pro-corporatist, pro-company anti-woman, anti-foreign, government propaganda and as if that weren't bad enough the past eleven of those thirty years have been doled to the devil herself, the Head of the Corporatist Movement, Nancy June Fellows. Arabelle shuddered at as she thought the name. 'That witch.' She mumbled as she found the most recent dossier report on the very woman that had just polluted her mind.

'Pardon me, ma'am?' Her secretary asked in befuddlement, clearly she had heard her employers aside.

'Hm? Oh nothing Barbra, just found the Chairwoman's latest dossier...'

Her secretary nodded and went back to her filing as Arabelle just took her seat at her desk and let out a covert sigh. 'Why am I running for office? We don't even know if my old supporters will stand by me anymore...' She thought as she rubbed her temples. 'What am I even talking about, we don't even know if we're going to meet the deadlines and the criteria for Corporate Sponsorship this election. There was a loud thud and Barbra jumped. Before Arabelle knew what she was doing she realized that the thud was from her, she had slammed her fists down on her desk spilling her coffee onto the floor, breaking the glass.

'Oh, ma'am!' Barbra said in shock as she rushed over to clean the now lukewarm liquid and broken ceramic off the carpet.

'Don't worry about it Barbra, just get me some more coffee, please.' She said rubbing her sore hands. 'I'll clean up that mess.'

And with that the secretary was up and out in the throng of aides and tele-bankers. Arabelle got down on her hands and knees and began to sop up the quickly chilling mess on their headquarters dingy carpet. Nearly two decades of continuous campaigning and fund raising and what did the People's Movement have to show for it? A rundown, abandoned office building, they could barely afford to rent, that was bought up by the Company before Arabelle was even born and on top of that fact the rent was going to the Company, which was essentially the bank of the Corporatist Movement.

'Shit.' Arabelle exhaled as she quickly withdrew her hand from the floor. She had lost herself in thought, resulting in a cut on her hand from the ceramic coffee mug shards. A drop of blood appeared on her skin. 'Well this is just fantastic...' She said as she sat back, leaning against her desk. 'John!' She yelled after a moment of silence.

A squat little, bald man entered the cramped office space with a nervous smile, 'Yes, ma'am?'

'Do you have the latest on our criteria score sheets or our updated list of supporters in the Company?

'Ma'am, you're uh, you're bleeding?'

'Oh yes, it was a little accident with the coffee mug. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. But I do need either or both of those files, please.' She said with a weak smile as the man by the name of John nodded and exited the office. Soon Barbra reentered the room with a tall paper cup of fresh coffee.

'I'm sorry it took so long, ma'am, I had to run down to the corner shop because we were all out of beans so I just figured it would be faster to buy it at the shop and then get more beans tomorrow instead of wastin-...' She was cut off.

'It's perfectly alright, Barbra, don't worry about it.' Arabelle said as she took the warm cup in her hands. The strong scent of fresh, hot coffee was enough to clear her mind. She sipped it carefully and saw John waddling back toward her office.

'Alright ma'am, the latest is that we've retained many of our old supporters; however, six of them have died and a good portion of the others have lost significant pull within the Company because of their pasts' with our Movement...' John said with a frown as he closed the door behind him with an annoying yet barely noticeable squeak over the buzz of the next rooms commotion.

'And our criteria scores?'

'We're doing slightly better with criteria scores at the moment. We're still far behind the Corporatist Movement but we've nearly closed the gap between us and the Isolationist Movement.' He perked up slightly.

'What of the Unionist Movement?'

'They're scoring in dead last, ma'am... Even behind the Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement...' He winced slightly at the name.

Arabelle sighed and took her seat; resuming her earlier task of rubbing her temples. 'We need focus on getting Corporate Sponsorship right now... Once we do that I think we'll have more opportunities to gain supporters from within the Company. They're all just too afraid to oppose their meal ticket right now.'

'Yes ma'am, I'll go make phone calls now!' John said excitedly waving for Barbra to aid him.

'When I win there's going to be some serious changes in this god damn Union.' She said, holding a tremendous amount of disdain for the false usage of the word Union in her society.

Flipping the television to off the woman sat down with a mixed expression and a funny feeling. Was she pissed off or happy? Of course she was glad that the corrupt old bat was finally stepping down but it was just like the Corporatist Movement to pull something like this; leave the date of the election secret and not even announce the Chairwoman stepping down until a few days before she would actually be doing it... 'I shouldn't even be surprised. She thought to herself; but she was, she was surprised she allowed herself to lull into a false sense of success and fall beneath the Company's radar and allow them to do the same for her.

'John, have we made any more progress with the Criteria Scores?' She asked as the old office building once again came to frantic life.

The odd looking man nodded as he quietly handed a sheet of paper to Arabelle who proceeded to skim over it.

'Oh thank god, we've caught up with Standard Movement.' She said sounding extremely relieved. That's put them ahead of the Unionist Movement, the Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement, the Agro Movement, the Expansionist Movement, the Isolationist Movement and now they were just a few hundred points below the Standard Movement. As long as they can keep their numbers up they're almost guaranteed Corporate Sponsorship this election. She handed the sheet of paper back to John.

'Alright, let's hit those phones.' Arabelle announced as she took her seat and picked up the phone sitting on her desk. 'Hello, this is Arabelle Chateris of the People's Movement, I was wondering if I could speak with President Liam Chambers? Oh, he's not accepting anymore calls from Movements? I'm sorry to hear that, may I ask why? Oh, good for the Corporatist Movement... Well, thank you anyway.' She hung up the phone and sighed. 'Why me?'

July 19th, 1982
Ustana, Khazahkistan
The Scarlet Revolution

Daniil sat quietly in the dark, smoky apartment. He held his Dragunov rifle, looking out of the ninth story window towards the street below. As he looked on to the war torn streets he spotted a Imperial Patrol, dressed in their menacing black body armor and battle uniforms. Breathing deeply he raised he rifle to his shoulder, looked down the scope and took aim at the point man. Raising the scope to adjust for bullet drop, he pulled the trigger, scoring a direct hit square in the man's chest. In an instant the rest of the men scattered, hiding behind the burnt out cars or piles of stone and brick.

Daniil stood, and grabbed his bag. He burst through the door of the apartment and ran for the stairs. He intended to get onto the roof, so he could get a shot at the men. Yet something felt wrong. As he reached the stairwell, he was met by the butt of a rifle, and before his blacked out an Imperial Sergeant was standing over him, laughing.

January 3, 2013
Ustana, Khazahkistan

Daniil woke with a start, breathing heavily. He shook his head a few times, and after standing up he pulled on a pair of dirty denim jeans and a clean white cotton T-Shirt. "Out of every dream I have about the Revolution.. it had to be that one." He said with a heavy sigh. While rubbing his head, he walked into his small kitchen, and then poured himself a glass of vodka and drank it quickly. He walked over to his couch and sat down to pull his combat boots on. He sat there, staring at the wall for a second and then he shook his head again, and then stood up.

He walked to the door, turning the knob rather sluggishly, and out into the hall. There he rushed for the stairwell, hesitating at the doorway, before entering and rushing down the stairs. Whats the date.. Whats the date... January 3rd? Shit.. I have that meeting with the Armaments Minister... His mind was racing has he reached the bottom floor, and walked outside.

Opening the car door, he threw the keys into the ignition and driving out of the parking garage. He sped down the streets, and as there wasn't much traffic he was making good time. As he reached the main street, he took a right and sped even faster down the road, dodging cars and pedestrians as he went. Five minutes.. four? I'm going to be late. After taking two more lefts, he arrived at the Ministry of Armaments, he parked his car out front, got out and walked up to the front gate.

The cramped, dank and moldy office building where the leaders of the People's Movement had, had to resort to for their main headquarters in Custodia was bursting with excitement; their Movement had been approved by the Corporate Sponsorship Committee and their candidate for Chair had been approved by the Election Board. Although they could only afford a few moments of celebration with the election so close, they couldn't contain their tears of joy and congratulatory pat on the backs' and victorious hugs and high-fives. However, despite Arabelle's outward appearance of excitement and joy, on the inside she was quite disappointed and infuriated by the Committee.

'It's just like them to do something like this...' She grumbled in her mind, smiling through her gloom mood. 'Split the center-left vote two ways, the bastards.

Rowan woke up and checked his phone for the time. 8:47. Damn, he thought. He hated waking up between 8:30 and 9:30- that one hour of the day when he could never be sure if he'd overslept.

He dragged himself out of bed and looked in the mirror. Not quite as jaundicey today- he'd been a bit ill since the Vesica-backed Secular Uprising had begun but, according to his stomach and ZNN, the revolts in the eastern provinces seemed to be quelling. Not that it mattered- unlike nations in the North Pacific, nations in Equilism rarely paid any attention to their personifications. He got a room in the Palace of Lehen and a full ride at the University but aside from that he was essentially left alone. Just the way he liked it.

After a shower and shave, he donned his normal outfit (blue jeans, black leather shoes, black button-up shirt) and got on his bike to head to the University. He locked up on the rack outside the music building, where he went straight to the organ room. He pulled out his latest composition in progress: Procession of the Gadiantons, Op. 2 No.3. He started setting registrations: Untersatz 32', Sub-Bass 16', Gedeckt 8', Principal 4'......

After an hour or so of work, he packed up his things and headed for the library. Out of his backpack came the Bhagavad Gita and a notepad. It was important for him to get this book finished but he always had trouble keeping all the Sanskrit names straight. After he had read enough Hindu scripture, Rowan walked back toward the bike rack, stopping at a cafe for a bottle of water on the way. It took a minute for the cashier to notice him. Since national personifications are only as real as the attention they receive, Rowan was marginally real at best. The cashier promptly forgot him as he unlocked his bike and headed back to the Palace. As he walked back to his room, he sent a text to Alman: "Hey, what are your plans tonight?"

Building: Briefing Room 3, Capitol Building
Location: Galt City, Galt Province, Almanianian Union
Date: January 1, 2013
Time: 11:10:00

"Well played as usual Al." I looked up from my notes and noticed Mr. Roosevelt towering over me with his signature smile, cane, and top hat. I grinned in reply and shut my book. Once I forced the motion to the floor, most of the people there were either as exhausted as me with this pointless meeting or were more than terrified of my threats to make Hell for everyone. A few people objected (Mr. Carmichael), but in a hilarious twist of fate, Jordan Lennon shut them up and blasted them by making note of how pointless this meeting is on a day when half the people there were fairly hung over. After that, opposition crumbled and the damn meeting was ended.

"I figured it was a fairly good time to deploy political power." I responded, as I gathered my papers. "It was clear that Jordan was getting ticked and Yuri was going to break down into tears." I looked over at Yuri who was chatting with Jordan and smiling brightly... and to think, this was a child who about four years ago, was barely saved by what many would call a miracle and was then adopted by a man who would become the most powerful man in the Union. At that time, he survived what was possibly considered a disaster of epic proportions... one that I could claim fault for. Now, he had flourished mentally and physically, connected with others, and has become a close confidant of myself... something I've been slow with others about.

"I agree." Wilson helped me put some papers together and handed them to me. I smiled and placed them into my book. "This meeting really is pointless. Half the people here are hung over, and the other half are bored out of their damned minds!" We both began to laugh and toned it down to a snicker as Mr. Carmichael walked by with an irritated look on his face. He truly did hate Personification Law... especially when I used it against him. However, from the look he gave me, he knew I was right. There was no point in holding this meeting at this time and it would work better tomorrow. I stood up and stretched a bit as I grabbed the last of my papers. Mr. Roosevelt yawned and watched the two boys curiously.

"So... what do you think you're going to do for the rest of the day?" He asked me, without giving me a second glance. I shrugged and put my stuff into my bag.

"Since the meeting is over, I have nothing left to do for the day... I think I'll go home and have some hot cocoa." I said to Wilson, as I put my stuff away. I noticed him nod out of the corner of his eye and nodded in exchange. I wasn't really planning on anything else to happen today. However, I had a lot of work to catch up on and preparations to make for tomorrow when this session of Parliament comes to a conclusion. It was a good thing I had a little more time to complete this work or I could have wound up in trouble.

"Yeah you could do that... or you could actually decide to do that."

...Fuck. I groaned as I recognized that voice in a mere instant. I looked up at the ceiling and noticed him hanging from it, one of the tiles on the top removed. I glared silently at him while he smirked in return. Wilson looked over at him with amusement and chuckled.

"So Eita... how much work does he owe?" I started to rub my forehead as Mr. Roosevelt grinned. Eita snickered and dropped down from the ceiling. In one swift motion, he somersaulted, landed on the table in a crouching position, pushed off the table, and landed in a chair. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the table. Same old Eita showing off as usual it seems.

"Not too much." He replied. "Most of it got handled... it's just some stupid bureaucratic stuff... Weiss said he'll handle it." I breathed a sigh of relief as once again, Weiss saved my ass from a bureaucratic nightmare. "Besides, my brother seems to have some other things to worry about." He looked over at me and tossed me my second phone, which I use for anything other than personal matters. My personal phone had about seven contacts total which consisted of my siblings, my boss (Mr. Roosevelt) and his son, Jordan, and my colleague (Mrs. Churchill). Any person that I don't have a close connection with is only able to reach this second number, which I only give to government officials to contact me... however, they usually get Eita to rush messages to me instead since he can always catch my eye.

I looked at the number and quietly read the text. I didn't really recognize the number, but it did tell me that it was from another nation entirely. The text seemed fairly innocent enough. Still... access to this second phone by a foreigner is a fairly dangerous thing. There was no way this was an accidental text since the only number that was available to the public to reach me at was the one for my office. I sat back and eyed Eita warily.

"...Well?" I asked, waiting for him to start talking away. He looked up and blinked for a moment, clearly confused at what I was waiting for. Suddenly recognition dawned on his face and he grinned in return. He quickly pulled out a few papers and slid them over to me.

"It appears the Parliament played you again." I groaned and facepalmed as hard as possible. "They quote 'accidentally' spilled your second number to one of the embassies and quote 'accidentally' told someone to contact you at that number." My head slumped into the table and I groaned. I hate meeting new people... it always seems to end up being an awkward experience for me. I looked up at Eita and nodded for him to continue. "It appears that it was sent to the embassy of the nation of Zeorus. We seemed to have classified it as a pseudo-theocratic democracy. After some further digging in a number of public files... and a few of our own not so public ones... I've discovered that the number came from Rowan Murrock, the personification of Zeorus." I blinked for a moment and let this information soak in a bit. It appears that Parliament is merely trying to get me out of their hair for a bit... of course, that's a problem since by the time either of us could even have a chat, I would have to be at work in the Parliament...

...However, it's been a while since I've had a chance with any other personifications outside of my family. At the moment, I was somewhat irritated with Unicario, given she made a sudden move into the North Pacific, and I have been unable to reach Kingborough in the last few days as well. I knew Rowan somewhat, but I didn't know him very personally... perhaps this could be a blessing in disguise? I smiled and gave Eita a sly look. The moment he noticed it, he shuddered in recoil, fully aware I was up to no good.

"...I think it's time we expanded our circle of friends... and ensure cover for the last day of this session of Parliament" I replied with a sly grin. He sighed and watched as I sent back a text in reply:

Hello Mr. Rowan, didn't recognize your number for a moment. I'm busy in regards to tonight and tomorrow, due to Parliament, but I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a session of Parliament? It sounds boring, but trust me... tomorrow's a day where it's actually a shit load of fun for me.

Click to expand...

I sent the text and thanked Alma that we passed a law forcing all communications service providers to allow for unlimited characters in a text. I sat back, and prepared for a reply.

ooc: PSEUDO-theocratic?

ic:

Rowan received Al's text as he got out of a Romantic Period lecture. His response:

Better than lying around in the Palace. Chancellor Pratt never lets me do anything in the government. I'll catch a plane tonight.
And don't "Mr." me, I'm just a student.

Click to expand...

Rowan got on his bike and rode back to the Palace. He packed a bag with clothes and other necessities for a few days. He poked his head into the Chancellor's office and left a note with the secretary: "Gone to Almaniania for a few days. Will return and report on their parliamentary procedure." Again, not that it mattered- the Chancellor was loath to let Rowan do anything more than sit in on sessions of the Senate and the Head Judges weren't keen on letting him sit in on Assembly meetings either.

One of the luxuries lent to Rowan was a small private jet for occasional use. He chartered a departure of 11 PM and retired to his room for study. Departure was a bit delayed by ZAF training nearby but he managed to get to Almaniania by morning.

Building: Galt International Airport
Location: Galt City, Galt Province, Almanianian Union
Date: January 1, 2013
Time: 9:10:40

I silently watched as the plane from Zeorus landed. It appears it was a jet... for a student in an Academy, a jet was a bit more than I expected.

I didn't know much about the person I was meeting, so I had Eita do a bit of research last night. Apparently, the personification there has little in terms of political power. Mr. Rowan... or Rowan I suppose... was apparently given a few special advantages, but had little power in general. This was very different from the Union, where the personification can shut off political gridlock with a waves of their hand... and more. Hell, we had a lot of power in general, especially in the Armed Forces.

"So... you sure this guy is okay?" Weiss asked me as he leaned against a wall. I nodded in response and waited for the jet to come to a standstill. Weiss was my brother... hell, he's the only one I'm related to by bloodline of the Castillon Four. He was the bureaucratic and naval brainiac of the Union. When he wasn't enjoying the day with his wife or hating it by doing paperwork alongside me, he was cooking up new ideas and battle formations for the naval branches of the armed forces. He loved the open seas and absolutely loved to sail more than anything... however, he hated flight and avoided it as much as possible. When I was doing an official visit or anything that required a second hand, Weiss was absolutely my man. Neither Addy (Adelethian Islands), nor Eita (Eitago Trust) were as good at organization of government matters like Weiss and I.

"Of course it is... his intel is one of, if not the, best in the world." I replied in turn and smiled politely. He may not have Weiss' canny ability to speed through paperwork... but his intelligence network is really damn good. Any piece of info that isn't entirely top secret can be found by him in a cinch... he's actually found a couple of scandals in the process and has testified in a number of cases at this point. I looked out the window and noticed the jet came to a standstill. Any moment now, Rowan will be off the plane and approaching us... then we'll head over to Parliament and we'll eat as the session begins.

One of the perks of being marginally real is getting away with things since, from a certain point of view, one does not truly exist. Rowan had tapped into ZIC's dossier on Al and had a vague idea of who he was from it. He stepped off the plane and saw Al waiting. He slung his bag over his shoulder and approached his Almanianian counterpart.

"A Parliament session, eh? You have an interesting version of 'hanging out' here in the AU."

I smirked in response as he walked off the plane. He had a bag slung over his shoulders and seemed to be ready to enjoy the day. I was amused at his joke about the session and I chuckled in reply.

"Yes well, I do like politics sometimes." I said with a smirk. "The Union... well, I just like how I can participate." I nodded to Weiss and he sent a quick message to the driver outside. "Now then, I believe we should depart... today will be a somewhat interesting day with the bill on reforming the Embassy program and all. I'm sure I'll have to do something to get it shoved through after all." I began to walk through the airport and I looked around. Many who were natives of this land were waving at me and I waved in return. I noticed people (tourists most likely) whom looked at these people with confusion and curiosity. I didn't know everyone in this Union by heart, but they knew me well enough to know I had their best interests at heart.

Rowan followed Al through the airport. He was surprised to see some signage in Zeira, the indigenous language of Zeorus. It had official status with the government but was rarely spoken or written outside the Federation or Five Nations. He turns to Al and addresses him.

Rowan: duzu egita na Zeira?

Frederick sighed as he listened to a member of the House of Believers drone on, the long-winded Priestess from Trinity lecturing the houses other members on the evils of Almanianian's and their heathen religion. The Priestess from Trinity never had quite got her city being sanctioned for religious extremism, Frederick mussed.

Frederick chuckled as he glanced at the Chancellor, who was slowly nodding off to sleep as Priestess Katrina continued her tirade, entering the forty fifth minute.

When an elderly Priest in the back row fell asleep on the shoulder of his neighbour Frederick sighed and stood, intending to end this rot. "Frankly I am sick of hearing this rot; Almaniania is a good friend of our nation and your vile sewage is not welcomed in this assembly of good men. Get out and never return. Trinity shall select itself a new Priestess to represent them to the House of Believers."

The Priestess gasped. "How dare you! Do you have no idea who I am? No stinking personification shall throw me, Katrina Pita1 the Third out."

Frederick grinned and gestured a hand at the Priestess, whose robes began soon smoking violently; the Priestess fled screaming from the chamber moments later as flames began to lick at her posterior and someone near the door cheered as she ran past, leading to the assembly soon breaking out in wild cheering.

With another chuckle, Frederick vanished with a pop. Moments later he reappeared next to his brother and Rowan in Almaniania, grinning.

"Hey bro!"

---

1. Pain In The Ass [Pita]

ooc: I had no idea we were allowed to have powers...makes sense since we're only marginally real though

I looked around and watched people bustle around me. Nice and bustling... business is indeed good today. Suddenly, a small child ran right in front of me and pointed right at me with a big grin on his face.

"Hey!" He said with glee. "You're that guy from the TV! You're Alvino!" I smiled and chuckled. Cute kid... I loved it when children ran up to me and greeted me. I kneeled to his level and tossled his hair a little with a smile. He grinned and quickly pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Can I have your autograph Mister? I'd love to give it to my Daddy for his birthday." He asked me with a look of hope on his face. All of a sudden, I saw a pair of high heels right behind the child. I looked up and I saw a young woman, out of breath.

"I... I'm so sorry." She coughed out as she caught her breath. "Honey, let the next Mr. Castillon alone... he's probably very busy." The boy frowned, but I smiled and stood up. I always loved it when people came to bother me on the streets... it's nice to just chat with them.

"No no... it's not a problem." I responded as I took the paper and pen and signed my name. "It's quite alright Miss. I don't mind at all." I finished signing the paper and handed it to the little boy. He jumped up and down excitedly and gave me a hug. I smiled and hugged the boy in return.

"Thanks Mister..." The boy said. "My daddy always wanted your autograph. He talked about the Unification Wars all the time and how he watched with amazement as you took down twenty bad guys all by yourself!" The boy beamed and I grinned in response. The official history stretched the truth a bit... it was actually twelve. The other eight were handled by the rest of the squad. I chuckled a bit and shrugged.

"It wasn't anything special." I responded. "Just doing my job." I looked over at Weiss and Rowan, and realized I had to run. I tossled the boy's hair once more and smiled. "I gotta run. I have a few friends waiting. Tell your father I said hi!" I ran off and ran back to Rowan and Weiss.

"Sorry about that. He wanted an autograph, so..." I said with a sheepish grin. As Rowan talked, I blinked suddenly. What... what was he saying? Suddenly, Weiss piped up with a smirk.

"Sorry Rowan, but my brother isn't good with other languages... not like myself." He replied, still smirking. I growled in jest and rolled my eyes.

"Hey... English, Spanish, and Latin are pretty good compared to some of the others we've me-"

"Hey bro!" I jumped back in surprise and looked over to my le- holy crap is that Frederick? It is! I grinned and strolled over to him, Weiss in tow.

"Well well... if it isn't good ol' Freddy." I replied with a grin. I stopped right in front of him and continued. "Welcome back to the Union bro. I assume your day is going well?"

"Must be when someone dies!" I looked up and noticed Eita dangling from the ceiling. "Intel told me Katrina 'Ass Pain' Pita got some pretty nasty burns." I smirked and looked over at Freddy.

"What'd they say this time? I'm quite curious to know."

OOC: We're allowed to have the power of teleportation, cause you know... nice and easy.
I'd advise little else though, simply because it'll be a mostly even playing field.

ooc: Rowan really doesn't have much (other than people not noticing him due to his marginal reality). I'll post more soon.

Zyv sat in the corner of the darkened, smok(e?)y room in a fine leather armchair, a cup of tea beside him and a his pipe clamped in his mouth, watching the proceedings of the confederate parliament with earnest on the screen before him.

In the room to his right Stan and Dak arm wrestled across the dining table and Liffy gazed at the two with a bored expression fixed on her face.

As the session came to a close Zyv walked into the room and looked around it, seeing Stan and Dak were still doing nothing of use while Liffy was lying n the floor playing with her iPad "Come now you lot, we're going to go for a walk, being cooped up inside isn't good for you."
Liffy laughed, "And sitting in the dark, breathing that foul smoke, staring at a TV is?"
"Now, now Liffy, no need to mock, I just thought we could all use a stroll." Walking over to the table Zyv pushed Stan and Dak's hands down, causing Stan to exclaim "Why'd you do that, I was gonna win."
"You two have been at that for a good few hours now and neither of you were winning, we may as well get out and do something together."
"Fine."
"Wonderful, well go on, get your jackets on."

And so the four of them set out for a stroll through the countryside and across countries.