The Great Divide

Part 1: The Start of the End

Ajax walks the hall of the vast palace, looking at all of the portraits of his forefathers, and then he stops at the picture of his father, King Jackson. The king was painted elegantly, clad in a royal cloak, and carrying the two royal treasures: the Scepter of Persuasion and the Orb of Destiny. The Orb of Destiny allows the viewer who gazes into it to see their future, while the Scepter of Persuasion can influence people's minds at will. It is a powerful item that could easily fall into the wrong hands. That is going to be me one day, a king, he thought to himself. Then, he continued walking, trying to avoid all those stares from the courtiers in the palace. He hated when they stared at him, especially the maids. They always gossip about the royal family, and he wants no part. He saw someone skipping down the hall, humming a tune. Ash... he thought. Prince Ash, Ajax's brother, was the youngest of the two princes and much more carefree than their older brother. After all, Ash wasn't destined for the throne and the pressure that came with it. They are the more talkative of the two and always had this happy, bubbly personality. Their father, however, did not like their carefree attitude and looked at them with disdain every time he saw them. Not even Ajax knew why his father disliked Ash so much. His father made everything a competition for the both of them and even when Ash won, Ajax would get praised instead for doing his best. Today, however, they are their usual cheerful self, making everyone smile as they pass by.

Ajax stopped as he saw his brother come up to him. "Hi, Ajax! Can we go to the city today, please?"

Ajax spoke as he shook his head. "You know I need to study; cosmology and astrology are kicking my butt."

  Ash frowned. "You know that Father would not allow me to go by myself, right?" Ash begins to slowly walk away, knowing their brother would feel guilty and inevitably agree.

Ajax hesitated but sighed after a moment. "Fine," he responded, "let's go."

  
The two brothers board the train to the streets of Zeaon the kingdom founded a thousand years ago by Ajax and Ash's ancestors. Historians today call its founding "the Great Birth of Zeaon" and is celebrated by the people of Zeaon every year on the first of June.  The holiday is accompanied by many festivals dedicated to the founding of the glorious kingdom. 

Ajax rolls his eyes, "There has to be someone who-" he got cut off as the train started to move, his body lurching forward as held onto the pole, "there has to be someone that knows how these trains work because the contraption needs to be maintained, right?"

Ash just shrugged.

The tall buildings surrounded the brothers like skyscrapers that reached for the two moons,  Lunaris and Alnar. Lunaris is a moon that shines in the night with its gray color. The sister moon Alnar dwarfs its counterpart, and for three months blocks the sun, which is, ironically, the winter months. The king usually makes decrees on some of those tall buildings, usually by holographic billboards. Shameless advertisements are put on view across the billboards as well.

Ajax looked down at the world below. He saw many artificial fountains as well as natural lakes. Sidewalks surrounded the brothers. Since there is an abundance of water underneath the landmass of Xyn, all infrastructure must be built above. Therefore, that is why the engineers of Xyn designed the trains to be built in the sky.

  Ash saw someone watching the news on their futuristic phone, "The Paratien Empire is getting closer and closer to us every day! What do you mean you're going to defend us?! You are not! The barriers are not even on in case the army's intel is wrong! They could surprise us at any time and you're not taking ANY precautions!" it blared.