Axis

Once upon a time …or perhaps, upon every time…”

That is how they all expect it to begin, isn’t it? A tale of heroes, battles, triumphs, and tragedies. They cling to these stories like life itself, believing that each Axis I choose is here to save them. Oh, how they romanticize that word – Axis. They think it means balance, that it brings peace. In Nexara, peace is just the space between chaos, and the Axis is merely the spark to light it anew.

So, yes, I choose an Axis.

I mould it, twist it, pluck it from whatever pitiful life it clings to, and set it upon my stage. This Axis, this time, is …stubborn. Resilient, perhaps. But they all are, in the beginning. They have to believe they are special, you see…

Otherwise, where is the fun?

This one fancies himself as a saviour.

How quaint. He does not yet realize he is little more than a thread in the tapestry I weave. A puppet whose strings I can tangle or snap with a flick of my hand. He has a friend – yes, let’s call him …the friend.

Every Axis needs a friend to watch it crumble. It’s practically a rule by now.

Ah, the friend.

He thinks himself clever, driven by some hollow rage over his dead parents. A noble pursuit, vengeance. But vengeance requires a target. I’ll see to it that he never knows his enemy. Not really. Let him rage. Let him seek. It is all part of the story.

But here’s the thing about this friend – he’s restless. Some …seed of doubt has already taken root within him, a whisper against my carefully crafted design. Of course, I could snuff it out. It would be easy, after all. But a perfect story requires tension, yes? It demands uncertainty, the delicate dance of suspicion and betrayal. The friend does not yet realize he walks upon a knife’s edge. One push, one pull …and he could unravel everything.

And so, I allow him his doubts, his fleeting moments of clarity. Let him think he is unravelling the mystery. It amuses me, watching him pull at threads I place there myself. He thinks he’s hunting me.

Me.

The weaver of his world, the voice that guides every step he takes. They are all so precious in their ignorance, believing themselves to be the masters of their own fate.

In time, the friend will learn.

He will confront the Axis.

His only constant, the one anchor he trusts in this web of lies. He’ll make a choice – he always does. And he will make it thinking it is his own. But I am the only constant here. The one true force in this land. The friend, the Axis …they are just characters, moving to my will.

Soon, Nexara will tremble under the weight of its own freedom. And as for the Axis …well, he will fall, like everyone before him. All for my perfect story.

***