The Dokibird War - An Epic Retelling of Selen's Termination, Part 2

    A restless crowd gathered in the central square of Yought, Nijisanji’s capital. Soldiers lined the plaza. Behind them stood almost all of the land’s prominent lords. Only King Tazumi himself was absent, preferring as usual to let others convey his will. Above, the rainbow-colored royal banner fluttered in the wind. None of the citizens knew for sure what was going on, only that a massive announcement was due.
    Murmurs and hushed whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire. What could this be? Was yet another one of the king’s lords going into exile? Did they have news on the moon-dragon’s whereabouts? Her acolytes among the crowd still carried signs demanding something, anything, about her condition. Then their answer came when a new group of soldiers arrived. Behind them, in chains, was Selen. The crowd fell into stunned silence as the entourage pushed its way through to the central platform. Even those who knew something was amiss over the past few months found themselves at a loss of words.
    As the guards forced Selen onto the central platform and blindfolded her, the town crier cleared his throat and began to speak into a broadcast mirror, spreading his message to all of the kingdom. “Attention, loyal and happy subjects of the Kingdom of Nijisanji! On orders from King Tazumi I, Selen Tatsuki is to be executed for her crimes against our great land.” Unrolling a scroll, the crier began to read out a list of the moon dragon’s alleged offenses. How she dared reference exiled lords no longer with the kingdom; how she responded to a private reprimand with public sedition; How she caused problems for the treasury; How she refused to repent and tried to blackmail the kingdom; how she wrote letters falsely accusing members of the royal court of holding her for torture. As the shock wore off, the crowd began to jeer, gasp, and shout with betrayed anger at the list of crimes, growing louder and louder with each one.
    But anger at who? Watching from the comfort of an awning along with the rest of the upper echelon of duchesses, Lady Parfait exchanged a satisfied nod with Elira, the solar sky dragon. The people were clearly jeering at Selen. And even in the off chance they weren’t, who cared? However, closer to the main crowd, the young guard captain Victoria Brightshield took away a very different impression. Frantically looking for one of her seniors who might be able to intercede, she spotted Rosemi Lovelock, the plant lady, and pulled her aside. “Rosemi, we need to halt the execution!”
    “Not so loud! Someone might report you!” quietly scolded the sentient rose. “What’s going on!?”
    “The crowd isn’t jeering at Selen, they are jeering at the CRIER. This could end badly for all of us!”
    “There is nothing we can do now. It’s Tazumi’s order’s,” Rosemi began to nervously glance around, as afraid if anyone might be listening in.
    Vivi, as some knew her, persisted. “Weren’t you the one who told me that the lords derive their power from the support of others around them, and if there was enough, it could theoretically even –“
    Rosemi clamped Vivi’s mouth as she saw the ever-loyalist wraith Reimu Endou turning towards them with a quizzical expression. Exchanging a helpless glance, the two of them did their best to act normal and avoid any further unwanted attention from the king’s figurative eyes and ears.
    The crier finished his list of charges to one final round of jeers. “For these reasons, Selen Tatsuki is hereby sentenced to –“ He was caught off guard by a sudden burst of laughter. Recoiling slightly in startled disgust, he realized that it was the dragon herself laughing. Was she mentally cracking? Did she know something the others didn’t? A quick glare from Elira and her entourage reminded him that it didn’t matter, at least not if he cared for his own wellbeing. As two burly guards forced Selen’s head down, the executioner stepped forward, raised his axe, and swung it down on her ungainly long neck.
    Just as the blade made contact, a sun-like flash of light enveloped the plaza, momentarily blinding everyone present. The executioner dropped his axe as he tried to shield his eyes. When the light dissipated, Selen had vanished.
    “It’s a sign! Don’t let them get away with this!” Before any of the guards could react, part of the crowd surged forth with the fury of an enraged dragon, shoving aside the soldiers and hurling the crier and executioner from the platform. As the rest of the attendees held off the other guards with their sheer numbers, a group of Selen’s loyalists seized the broadcast mirror and addressed both the rest of the crowd and anyone watching from afar.
    “The only criminal act performed here was the kingdom’s murder of its most dedicated supporter!”
    “As one of her artisans, it was the treasury itself that refused to pay me! She had to reimburse me directly!”
    “And they want us to believe that HER accusations were false?”
    Watching with growing disbelief as their show of force crumbled into a riot, Elira turned in fury towards the witch Parfait. “What the hell just happened!? Where the hell did Selen go!? Tell me before I throw you into that mob!”
    Quaking, the Witch of Calamity analyzed the magic signatures in the air and answered “I – I think she gained enough energy from the crowd to reincarnate into a past life!”
    “You idiot! Last time I trust your advice on anything unrelated to sorcery!” Elira turned towards Enna, the heavenly hellbird. “Get me Shu! I need him to use his powers to shut down those mirrors before the guards crush this mob!”
    “He couldn’t attend!”
    “Well GET HIM.”
    Lady Parfait suddenly spoke up. “It’s too late! The broadcasts are now coming from all over the kingdom!”
    The young guard captain Victoria Brightshield ran up to the three senior duchesses, panting. “My – My Lady!” she blurted to Enna, “I just received word that the city of Subtidder is rebelling!”
“Stop yapping and have your men crush this mob!”
    “But they are our own –”
    Just then, Selen’s now disembodied voice echoed out of every broadcast mirror in the kingdom: “I will not be silenced.”