Above All

-Sixty-

Fog shrouds with rigor

Nothing now dwells in the past

Days pass from the sky

Layton:

      St. John the Divine Episcopal Cathedral was always a stunning church when the occasion arose. It was exceptionally large and could hold 8,500 patrons if needed for events as big as a coronation. I had always loved being in St. John's even if at times I would barely pay attention to the sermons of the variety of presbyters who held masses on Sundays; whenever I did come in here, I was reminded that soon enough, this would be the place where I would become Emperor.

          Or at least, that's what I had thought.

         I sat somewhere near the back seats of the pews and took a moment to myself to admire the architecture of the Victorian-style building. In the bright spring afternoon, the sun poured into the room allowing the visually-stimulating stained glass windows to reflect off the peach-colored stone, painting it with bright crystal lights of various colors.

            Like some sort of holy rainbow.

            Like past coronations, this church will be dressed and decorated on the official day with more flowers, candles, and ribbons than anyone can imagine; it was a special day, a day signifying the beginning of a new ruler in Idizia. The closest thing to something as extravagant as this would be a royal wedding; Idizians were a sucker for an all-out wedding ceremony concerning nobility. In normal Idizian tradition, it was customary for citizens to spend 3-5 days of wedding preparations and celebration before the special day; they took these things very seriously and if there was one thing Idizians loved to do... it was party.

            So, no surprise that most of these days were filled with happiness and celebration.

            I would say though, it might seem odd for someone like me to be here watching my girlfriend as she rehearsed with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopalian Church Desta Neo Tapia, but I would disagree. I wasn't bitter that she was the true royal that would be taking the throne, if anything I was extremely proud of her.

She had come from trying to entirely shape my brother and I's image and she had been nothing short of spectacular in doing so; I always noted there was something quite "regal" about Amani's demeanor, but I choose to ignore it simply assuming she was a woman from an extremely wealthy family paving her own way in life—which was true, but there was definitely more to her character the more I got to know her.

            Now, I couldn't imagine anyone else for the role as Empress.

            It would be wrong of me to sit here, pout and make a fuss about how it should be me swearing an oath to the country I had been born to. After having spent the majority of my life teetering with the idea if I wanted to be an Emperor or not; now the choice had been taken out of my hand and I had to say, I was quite grateful for it.

          After the breaking news of my family being dethroned, once the press grew tired of our whereabouts, I was simply free to roam about the streets of Idizia as a normal citizen; of course, I did still have security detail, but people weren't so keen on ogling at me, taking photographs and overall trying to find something worthy of putting on the tabloids. It was quite refreshing and I was loving every single minute of it. I had never in my life just been able to enjoy being outside without having some sort of disguise to prevent people from noticing me, it was as if an entire world had opened up for me.