62 The Feast

The Marvel universe is known for being chaotic. The infinite alternate timeline has always been a pain to deal with and now I have been thinking about the 'what if' versions of the timelines. 

There have been countless mentions in the comics and many of those comics followed such what-if stories. 

Punisher killing the entire Marvel-verse, Hulk killing the Marvel-verse, Deadpool killing the very fabric of it… including that ideas and inspirations that led to the creation of such characters. And this makes me think…

Where did my inspiration come from? Why do I 'exist?'

All of them were created by creators taking inspirations from real-life characters or characters from other fiction.

"So, where do I fit among them?"

"Fit where?" I turned around to find Zala walking towards me with a sabertooth walking beside her… who I believe is Lola.

"In this beautiful place." I said with a smile as I stared at the beautiful sky. 

"Why? Is your place not like this." 

I shook my head. "No. Ours is very different." Looking at her confused face I elaborated. "Where I live... has houses bigger than most of your ones and some of those houses even reach the clouds." Her eyes glittered. "But, this also has its problems."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to lose one thing in order to gain another. In order to create such a marvelous structure, we sacrificed natural beauty. Mountains, rivers, forests were destroyed to create something artificial." I got up and sat straight. "You can barely see such a beautiful sky from our place." 

Looking at her confused face, I chuckled. "We caused so much pollution that it hides the sky. The smoke from things that we created covers the star-filled sky… making it look sad and depressing."

"Then why did you all make such things?" Her question made me think of the reasons as well. 

"Honestly, I don't know." I truly don't. "Maybe we wanted too much comfort, maybe we wanted to prove ourselves to be better and evolved than the rest, maybe we wer- are greedy." I looked at her. "I don't know. Maybe it's one of those reasons or maybe it's all of those."

And I am doing the same right now. But unlike them who never needed such things, I need to grow stronger. To protect myself… and to ensure the survival of humans. 

Heh, I sound so stupid.

"Can't you all go back to where you started?" I instantly shook my head.

"We cannot. If we do, we will be doing more harm than good." Sometimes we can only move forward. "We can only try to improve and cure. We cannot go back after reaching such heights… It's impossible."

The moon was out and the stars were twinkling. "Isn't it time for the feast?" 

Her eyes widened as she started panicking. "That's exactly what I came here for! Because of your talk, I forgot that my father sent me to call you."

I let out a laugh. "It's alright, let's go. We shouldn't keep the Lord waiting any longer."

She nodded vigorously.

…

…

[At the party]

"Marcellus!" The lord shouts out my name, drawing the attention of everyone towards me. "It's great that you could join us." 

I nodded and walked towards the crowd. Zoro was staring daggers at me. 

"My lord, thank you for inviting me." I took the jug of beer that was offered. "Well, I didn't expect you to invite so many people." 

He laughed loudly. "You are our only trade partner… and remember, you are not allowed to reveal it to the others." I nodded as it was understandable. 

"I won't." 

"So, what are we waiting for." He looked at the rest. "Let us feast!"

The entire crowd cheered madly. 

.

.

.

I hate parties!

But unfortunately for me, there was no escape this time around and I had to stay in it for over four hours.

"Zoro sure doesn't like me." 

"No, he is quite stiff with everyone other than my father." Zala said as she gulped down the beer. 

Looking at the frowning Zala, I smirked. "I might have to do something."

"Huh? What do-"

"My dear friends!" Even before she could ask, I picked up two beer jugs. "Other than the Lord and the princess, there's another man… because of whom this trade was made possible. Without him 'forcing' me to prove my worth, I would have never been able to strike this deal." His frown deepened. "The man is none other than Zoro!" 

The crowd once again cheered madly, but this time it was for the Lord's bodyguard and advisor.

"So, Zoro." He looked at me. "As a thank you for giving me this opportunity, let's share a drink!"

The men of the savage lands had the tradition of sharing the drink instead of toasting. It was considered as an act of trust between friends. And rejecting it was considered the greatest insult… So, he was unable to reject the drink.

I gulped down half of the jug and passed it to him. "To our friendship, my friend."

He begrudgingly accepted. "To… our friendship." 

"Alright! Everyone! Let's dance!" One of the men shouted.

Aaaaand this is where I leave the room. I hate dancing more than I hate parties.

…

…

[Later]

"You are quite sneaky." Zala said from behind. I was back at the spot where we previously talked… I just can't get enough of this view. 

"Yea… I enjoy the open sky rather than a packed place." She nodded.

"It's the same for me." She sighed. "But as the princess, I have to meet with a lot of people and it can get annoying sometimes."

"I can understand." 

She looked at me. "I never asked earlier. But are you the king or prince of the outside world?" 

Huh?

"What made you ask?" 

She puts a finger on her chin. "It's the way you act… it's like royalty... like you have experience speaking in front of huge crowds."

Now, this made me burst out laughing. 

"Well, no. I am neither a king nor a prince. We don't have such individuals in our place… we are a democracy." This confused her.

"What… is a democracy?" She asked with a curious face. I don't think that the savage lands are going to be a democracy anytime soon.

"Well, it's a system where the ministers fool and manipulate the people into giving him power and when the time comes for him to work for them… he never does that. This process of election, promises, and not fulfilling those promises continues for all eternity."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you choose those people?" 

I wonder as well. 

"Honestly… they are good at this manipulation game and the people are quite gullible, so they trust those people easily and give them power. And the system is so messed up that it cannot be changed so easily." As she was about to say something, I stopped her. "Don't get me wrong. We are trying… trying to improve the system, but then again *Sigh* it cannot be fixed in a short amount of time. It will take time, but we will surely get there… eventually… hopefully." In all honesty, if there was someone like Vespasian with the humbleness of Nicholas II, then the people would have been happy even if they lived under a monarchy.

She nodded. "Yes, we are all trying. But we won't live that long to see the change actually taking place."

"Maybe."

You won't, but I will.

"Anyways, it's getting late. And I will have to leave once the sun is out. So goodnight. I will be taking a rest." 

She nodded. "Very well, I will inform father."

I got what I came for. All that is left, is to leave.