XXIII
Ascension
The Ambassadors hopped, one by one, out of the carriage as it made its stop just outside the Tower of Unity. Braxton paid the carriage driver, and Teer tossed an extra coin- and a kiss- to the driver, as a tip.
The group walked into the tower, and paused as they all looked up at the green staircase, and the circular hole of sunlight at the top. What was- at some point- an exciting final stretch to these adventurers, took on an especially imposing uncertainty today.
Teer gave an uneasy smile to the group, and wrapped her arms around Alexsei and Gresht's shoulders.
"C'mon guys, what's the worst that could happen? It's just a staircase. I promise not to push Alikath off again!"
"We're alright, Teer." Gresht shoved her arm off of her shoulder. "Your jokes won't make us any better."
"I should hope it was a joke." Alikath frowned.
"Teer's right… uh, sort of." Alexsei huffed. "We're letting whatever's up there scare us for no reason. Everything's going to be fine."
"Yeah," Penelope rolled her eyes, "It's just a total remixing of world power, to people we know basically nothing about, waiting for us up there. What could we possibly have to be afraid of?"
"The nice thing about total uncertainty…" Alikath mumbled. "Is that there's an equally good chance something good will happen."
"Gods, what I'd give to have Brittan with us right now." Gresht sighed.
"Brittan is with us." Alexsei assured. "She's not gonna miss a second of this. And she's gonna help us steer this thing in the right direction. In spirit."
"You can talk to her, Lex?" Teer teased. "Tell her she's late."
"Guys…" Penelope gritted her teeth. "If this all goes wrong, and one of them does declare war… what are we gonna do then?"
"That won't happen. But if it does, we're going to fight." Alexsei remained stern.
"Yeah, but fight for what?" Penelope snapped. "This is the closest we've ever come to war, and if we cross that line- poof- we're done! No more Land District!"
"Or, more accurately- no more neutrality." Alikath gripped his notebook. "If we're to ensure our people's survival, we might stand the best chance if we take a side."
"Certainly sounds safer than throwing ourselves between two swords." Gresht nodded.
Teer laughed. "What, we just up and turn tail on mediation? Isn't neutrality, like, the whole point of our jobs? Pretty sucky work ethic there, Alikath."
"Our job is to protect our nation." Penelope argued. "If that means picking the lesser of two evils, and riding that horse out…"
"Hm…" Gresht pondered. "If it really came to submitting ourselves to one side, I… I suppose I'd-"
"Stop!" Alexsei shouted. The other Ambassadors froze in place at his command.
"We are not entertaining that thought yet. War isn't here. Which means our job is still to prevent it from coming. The day we let one nation have their way with ours is the day we stop being Ambassadors. The day we become something else. But here? Now? We have a job to do. So let's get up those stairs, and fucking do it."
The Ambassadors snapped out of their grim thought experiment, and nodded intently. Then, one by one, they lined up, and ascended the staircase up to the roof.
The Ambassadors felt the wind blowing fiercely through their hair, as the two other world leaders- already waiting at their posts- turned to acknowledge their arrival. Some of the Ambassadors' eyes were caught by Men's, others by Genevieve’s, though all of them were giving everything they had to remain stoic. The Ambassadors shared a quick, uncertain look between each other, before the three groups promptly began walking together towards the center of the tower.
The Ambassadors standing between them, Men Za-Hel and Genevieve stood parallel to each other- the howling breeze blowing through them in full force- but neither moved an inch. Their expressions still, the two looked each other in the eyes. Neither able to read the other, nor daring to let the other read them.
