Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2015: Learning From History

Though the order was a bit reversed, Vahn concluded Jaina's induction into his Family by explaining, in detail, the various perks related to being one of his 'children'. After that, they surprised her Guide, Alumik Edrok, by explaining to him that he no longer had a charge to look over.

While it would have been a crippling blow to some other Guides, the fact that Jaina rarely even left her room meant Alumik's only responsibility had been vetting her innumerable guests, ascertaining their true intentions, and sending them on their way. He had also received a warning from Evan, so, while he was curious about what lay beyond the 135th Floor, he didn't insist that he follow along as her caretaker and Butler. Instead, like a father seeing off his daughter, he had Vahn swear to protect her before seeing the entire group off with a forced yet equally sincere smile.

What Alumik hadn't realized was that, prior to the rather dramatic sendoff, Vahn had been seriously considering whether or not he should transport Jaina's palace to the 199th Floor. He would need to establish a seat of power there once he had deposed Jahad, so, in preparation for the future, he was intending to escort Jaina to each and every Floor so that her Opera could spread its influence to the rest of the Tower.

Though he could have moved forward with his original intentions, regardless of what anyone else had to say on the matter, Vahn knew that Alumik was intending to return to the Empire to join his kin in preparation for the changes that were about to sweep across the Tower. Jahad wasn't actually a fool, so, in acknowledgment of the fact he might be defeated, he had tasked Evan and the rest of the Edrok Family with developing countermeasures against the Empire's collapse. This was the main reason Vahn wasn't in any hurry to advance to the 134th Floor. His experience in the Nasuverse had shown him what could happen in the wake of societal collapse, but, unlike then, he didn't have any measures in place to counteract the effects.

In the end, Vahn would be relying on his reputation and the acquiescence of existing institutions to prevent various forces from running rampant in the wake of Jahad's defeat. This made him a lot like Jahad, but, unlike the aforementioned King, he didn't mistake himself as a God, he was one. He also had the support of Gluttony, and, as a result, the support of virtually every Guardian. They couldn't simply annul the contracts they had established with others, but, so long as he kept his word, they would support his endeavors without much fuss. This included implementing a modified version of the Common Law, and, more importantly, fundamentally changing the way in which people climbed the Tower.

While he now understood that Jahad's intent was to pit opportunistic individuals against each other in an effort to cull their numbers, what the King had failed to account for was the corrupt nature of society. So long as there was a power ladder to ascend, people at the top would suppress people at the bottom. Inversely, people at the bottom would both resent and envy those at the top, and, due to feeling suppressed, they would do everything in their power to depose them.

Simply put, by creating something like the Ten Great Families, Jahad had effectively jeopardized the entire system. He had also shot himself in the foot as the entire purpose of declaring himself King was to distance himself from others and act as a deterrent to prevent Rankers and other sufficiently powerful people from using said power to oppress the peoples of the Tower. In essence, his desire to respect his former companions' autonomy ended up creating the very kind of system he wanted to avoid. They were supposed to help him maintain control, but, due to their inordinately long lives and the traumas they had experienced during The Great War, chief the loss of their first-generation descendants, they had simply stopped caring.

In the beginning, even Eduan had been a great father, and, while he didn't agree with what Jahad was doing, he still supported the formation of the Empire along with his fellow companions. It was when the members of FUG had assassinated his first wife and all of their children that he ended up completely losing his mind. The pain he had experienced, combined with the fact he had not been allowed to seek revenge, caused him to develop the mentality that he couldn't be hurt if he simply didn't care. After that, he drowned his sorrows in every pleasure imaginable, married more than a hundred different women, and, in the end, established one of the largest and most dysfunctional families in the entire Tower.

While Eduan was ultimately to blame for every major issue plaguing the modern Khun Family, he, like virtually everyone else in the Tower, was a victim of circumstance. Had he been allowed to let out his anger and frustrations on the people who had slaughtered his family, his personality might not have deviated all that far from his data-self. The Khun Family would have still grown into a large and powerful 'clan', but, rather than being the father of nearly every mainline descendant, he would have watched over his sons and daughters as they created generational lines of their own.

With the other 'Great Warriors' having very similar circumstances, it was no surprise that they would allow their families to act as they pleased. After all, if they weren't even allowed to protect and seek vengeance for their own children, their only option was empowering their descendants and creating an environment where they were provided every feasible advantage. This entailed consolidating the Tower's wealth, and, more importantly, suppressing the development of organizations unrelated to their Families.

Though their initial intentions had simply been self-preservation, it didn't take long for such 'victim mentalities' to nourish the seeds of corruption that existed within the hearts of and minds of nearly every sapient creature. This mentality allowed them to justify all manner of atrocities, as, from their perspective, they were the 'real' victims. They believed that, if they didn't act, they would be killed off by people who coveted their wealth and power, so, before that could happen, they came to the conclusion they needed to kill any and all threats before they mature.

As 'unfortunate' as this development was, it was actually one of the most common developments in the history of every culture across the Records. Those who first ventured out considered themselves as explorers who simply wanted to know more about the world they inhabited. They were driven by a sincere desire to learn more, and, more importantly, survive. It was this desire that allowed them to brave the unknown, and, alongside like-minded individuals, these first explorers were the people responsible for the creation of nearly every civilization in existence.

Unfortunately, the moment people began to settle down and develop infrastructure to make their lives easier, they quickly became hostile to anyone outside their immediate friends and family. This was an important instinct, but, more often than not, most of the people migrating from location to location were, like their ancestors, merely looking for a place to settle down. Despite this, it was the common assumption of established societies that anyone attempting to join them from the outside was simply trying to take advantage of the systems and infrastructure they had established. Instead of embracing the unknown and joining hands with their fellow man, the very behavior that allowed them to thrive in an inhospitable world, they began fearing anything outside of their comfort zone.

Though it was this fear that allowed for the existence of multiple cultures, it was also what gave rise to war. The assumption that anyone born outside your community coveted what you owned caused tensions to gradually increase until it became something a self-fulfilling prophecy. After all, the best method to prevent others from coveting your wealth was to slaughter them, occupy their land, and take away theirs in turn. This sentiment allowed communities to develop into countries, and, due to establishing a tradition of conquest, the norm for budding civilizations wasn't to establish trade and work alongside their fellow man, it was to seize whatever they desired from people they gradually began to view as 'lesser' than themselves. It was only when the cost of war became too great that trade became the norm, but, in the grand scheme of things, this was little more than a method to accrue wealth in preparation for the next war...

Following these principles, the Great Warriors had originally ventured into the Tower, not to seize power and install themselves as rulers, but to protect the people they cared about. The world they had come from had been on its last legs due to the invasion of strange creatures from beneath the ocean floor, so, in the hope of obtaining enough power to turn the tides of war, they ventured into the Tower to become 'True Gods'. Instead, they found a chaotic world filled with monstrous beings and countless civilizations fighting over what few resources could be found.

While most people would have been dispirited, their desire to see an end to all conflict was what allowed Jahad and his companions to press forward. They fought to unify the peoples within the Tower, and, as a result, they were able to assemble like-minded individuals to accompany them in their conquest of the upper floors, places spoken of only in legend prior to the Age of Ascension.

Were it not for the machinations of the Workshop, there was a very real chance that Jahad and the Great Warriors would have conquered the entire Tower. Unfortunately, reaching the 134th Floor had already taken thousands of years, and, in the process, most of the people they had initially brought with them had died along the way. Thus, rather than risking their lives to save a world that had very likely been destroyed, Jahad decided to protect the home they had found for themselves within the Tower. As for why he chose to stop on the 134th Floor, it was primarily due to the fact that, prior to the Age of Genesis, no civilizations had existed beyond the 100th Floor.

In essence, Jahad had wanted to protect the people of the Tower, not conquer them. His only real fault in that regard was that he couldn't be the impartial God he believed the Tower needed him to be. He had also fallen for a woman who, prior to his sudden and spontaneous proposal, had already been in a relationship for thousands of years. Then, instead of marrying someone else or putting his foot down on the issue, he pressed forward to ensure the fulfillment of several prophecies. This was in spite of his belief that fate was something shaped by the people living in the present, so, in more ways than one, Jahad was simply a hypocrite.

Now, thousands of years later, everything Jahad initially stood for existed as little more than a shell of his former principles. The Empire had become the very force of corruption it intended to oppose, and, due to their circumstances, the Ten Great Families had become the root cause of innumerable tragedies. In essence, the system he had created was the very antithesis of his ideals, but, believing it was only a matter of time before Arlen's prophecy would be fulfilled, a prophecy he had a hand in creating, Jahad simply bided his time until that fateful day. He failed to consider the fact that others might be able to influence fate to a similar degree, so, now that Vahn had entered the Tower, it was only a matter of time before the King was forced to answer for his crimes.

Fortunately, at least for the time being, Vahn was too busy introducing new game consoles to Jaina to care about what his penultimate enemy within the Tower was up to...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Poor Alumik xD...','Everyone has their reasons...','Vahn 'bout to hit Jahad with that Uno Reverse Card...')

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