I watched as my son was interviewed by Mariam. The events that just transpired had alerted the entirety of the court in fear of the heirs and the curiosity of my son. Most were busy with governing their own territories previously before they were pulled into their various personal conference rooms to observe what happened.
I myself, was reviewing our various teleportation pads across the empire before I was pulled in here by Lesedi. My wife was the only one that was monitoring the lessons being taught by her sister in real time.
Obviously worried about her two sons and she was right to be. Who would have thought our second son had an awakening never seen in the history of the empire. An awakening so strong that it threatened to bring down a temple onto most of the empire's legacy.
When it came to my sons, I never had any unrealistic expectations of them. I never expected them to be me, but I always expected them to act or try to act like they are a part of the family that held the continent on their shoulders.
Be smart and be respectful. That expectation has never been betrayed.
Baako acted as an heir, an heir that was destined to succeed me, he has exceeded my expectations and made me immensely proud.
Talib as the youngest has had his brattish moments but his intellect and technical aptitude have exceeded my expectations. He has made me immensely proud.
Rahjah, is different from the other two.
While Baako leans into his physical might and emotional intelligence, Rahjah is a notch below. While Talib is a technological genius and an innovator thirsty for knowledge, Rahjah is below him but not far off which is admirable.
This is all due to Rahjah's mentality. As the middle child he is too young to bear the responsibility as my heir and too old to have the freedom to branch off and dive into his own passions.
He has never even allowed himself to develop a real interest in something. In my eyes he has been competing to just keep up with both of his brothers which has made him more well-rounded than both.
This has given him a unique personality that is pensive and always considering what is around him. He always thinking how he fits into everything and how he affects anything.
Nothing would get me to forego my first born to succeed this family but in truth, Rahjah has the best potential to be a great ruler. I had hoped he would support his older brother as an advisor to keep him in check of his more primal impulses when the time comes.
Observing my son so far from his arrival to the fellowship until now; I think it's safe to say that he has confirmed my thoughts. I've seen him absorb information and hidden meanings more accurately than the rest.
His interactions with others have showed a maturity he never shows in front of his siblings. His peers also show signs that they sense something in him and are gravitated to him. This phenomenon of harnessing so much raw power adds implications that my son has no idea about.
I look to the hologram of Chike to my left. He was listening intently to the interview. I can see his mind spinning how to suppress this talent, so he's not seen as an asset to the masses for my house. I turn my attention back to our projections.
"She said her name was Kifo"
Kifo? Like death? Is that a nickname? That doesn't ring a bell. I gazed at Mariam's reaction as well as my wife, her sister, Lesendi. They both had a confused face as well. That pretty much ruled out if that was someone from their line. Mariam pushed my son further.
"Kifo? Is that all she said, is that some sort of nickname?"
My son considered her for a minute and further explained.
"No, she said her name was Kifo. I asked her name when I was brought to what seemed like her ancestral home. Based on my surroundings it was pretty outdated, I saw things that had to be more than 500 years old. I asked her if she was from the void decade, but she didn't know what that was. That pretty much confirmed that she was in my book, let me see what else did she say…"
The room froze and all eyes inched towards me. It took every ounce of control in me to keep from giving any sort of reaction. I gave myself a moment and then immediately sunk into my Focus realm.
As always, it resembled a dated library that resembled a building that can still be found in my territory in Robertsport. I walked through the maze of bookshelves to find my mentor. He usually was here reading some book that he's already read for the millionth time.
Time flowed differently in my realm so there shouldn't be any problem taking my time. By the time I get the information I need, only seconds will have passed in the real world.
After a while of checking every row, I eventually found my mentor sitting on his throne in the middle of a random row.
Like his personality, he was unconventionally laying down across his throne reading a fantasy book. His head was propped up on one arm rest while his legs dangled from the other like a school child. He had quiet smile while his cold grey eyes scanned the pages. Without looking up from the pages the founder of the empire addressed me.
"This is rare, you haven't come to find me in years. Amare Askiya, 12th Emperor of the Songhai Empire. Focus power: Possession(mental). A power never before seen in the Empire but likely will be more common in the years to come. A power that can call upon any previous ancestor focus ability and use it as their own. A threatening and versatile power wasted in these peaceful times. Well, I guess things are getting dicey for you with the middle east getting bold. Is that what you came to get advice with? Not likely, you've handled things for the majority of your reign with your own discernment. Interesting, what has brought the prideful emperor here? Maybe its….."
His ramblings have grown quieter to a whisper as he expressed his thoughts out loud, never lifting his eyes from his book. I let him continue until he was ready to engage with me again.
He often did this when I visited him. The records of the founder that only the Royal court had access to, described him as a 'super genius with the charisma of a beloved king'.
Normally that's not what I experienced; I just got a sarcastic genius that had the social skills of a walnut. Well, that's when he was relaxed. I shuddered thinking back to the only time his anger and his seriousness was at its peak.
That's when I understood that the records and videos of him were painting a much sweeter picture than reality.
"So, tell me, what bring you here."
I took a breath to prepare myself for the conversation to come. The all-knowing founder will no doubt interrupt me and finish the situation for me and come up with the infuriating perfect resolution. That's why I rarely came to him for advice.
It was better to come to a long form solution on my own if he could reach a similar solution in seconds. Had to make my own mark my way when it came to the empire. A time will come that not every problem could be solved by this fossil. Then again it has been over 500 years, and he hasn't been wrong once.
"So, my son has just awakened and-"
"Congratulations?" There's the sarcasm.
"His power output was abnormally high and-"
"Which one of my grandbabies is with your middle or youngest son. It can't be my son since he's already mentoring your eldest. I still don't see your problem."
I took another breath. Its because you won't let me get it OUT!
"Were any of your grandchildren nicknamed Kifo?"
The founder finally sat up straight and closed his book. The soft smile he had on previously disappeared and I could feel his seriousness. The presence of the man who united the African Continent was on full display and I felt suffocated.
"Start from the beginning, and don't leave anything out."
I slowly recalled everything that happened from the start of the lesson to the interview of my son. During my report I noticed a slight twitch when I mentioned his eyes turn a violet color but other than that, his face never wavered during my explanation.
Once I finished, he put his hand to his chin and started mumbling to himself under his breath. I could only catch a few words here and there.
"He said a she, that doesn't fit….",
"Why that color, that color is…",
"I looked everywhere, why…",
I couldn't hear anything other than that. He knew something but he didn't sound sure. This was bizarre, he was sure and right about everything, the fact that he was blind to this was… unsettling.
"Is everything okay with my son?" He looked up from his thoughts and stared into me with those cold grey eyes.
"I'm not sure."
My heart wavered, as a parent that wasn't something you ever wanted to hear.
"On one hand, the name 'Kifo' is unsettling and has special meaning to me. A name I have come across before during my time on earth. On the other hand, what you described sounds like the power of my big sister."
Huh? He had a sister? Why hasn't she been mentioned or appeared before? Why isn't she in any of the records? He said he knew Kifo, how can a person meet death? Is it just a name or does it mean death?
"I know you must have a thousand questions and in time if necessary, I'll tell you my real story rather than what you can find in your archive. We had good reason to leave a lot of details out. The reason for there being a void decade is a lot sinister and selfish than you think."
Sinister and selfish? What am I hearing? This empire was formed for the well-being of an isolated and independent Africa. What do I not know? This is too much. My anger and frustration started to come out in my voice.
"You will tell me the whole story! Now that my son is involved, I need all the information available to me to keep him and my empire safe!"
My body shook and I fell to my knees immediately. I threw up blood and my body ached with pain. This was a spiritual realm, I controlled this space for my spiritual body to be affected made no sense.
"You may be Emperor, but you would do well to remember who laid the groundwork. You do not order me around. I could kill you where you stand, no matter how old and powerful you become you all will still be children playing in your sandbox of paradise to me. You have no idea what we went through to get here."
I've never felt this amount of pain, never felt this amount of fear.
I was ready to end my own life just for this to stop and then it did.
I gasped for air that I never knew I needed so much.
"Please your grace, for now just give me the reason information was omitted, and I'll react based on that."
I managed to cough up a humble and remorseful response.
The founder spoke again beginning with a sigh and empathy filled his voice.
"As a father myself I understand your outburst, so I'll give you the reason the information was omitted. My son originally omitted it, since he's the one that wrote everything. I agreed with his decision and there has been no problems since. The reason being that the real story would have been either looked at negatively or influenced future rulers negatively. Even though we limit this information already to strictly royal courts. If the real story was leaked to the masses the stories recorded could lead to a new religion developing where we're looked at as deities. After all, we still have a pseudo-democratic system. The whole story will be shared once we verified what is going on with your son."
I listened to his reasoning and said nothing. I was still reeling from the pain he put my body through. If he could do this in a space that he wasn't even the master of who knows what havoc he caused in real life.
I just accepted his explanation, bowed to him and turned to leave. Using all of my will power to try and walk normally. The founder said one last thing before I disappeared back to reality.
"Keep in mind, no matter which way things go, your son's life is forever changed. He will become either the most valuable asset of the empire or the catalyst to this worlds tragedy."
That shook me but as a father and leader of this empire that I loved, there was only one way to answer.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure that my son continues to be the asset I hoped he would be."
The founder smiled and I took that as my queue to leave. As I did I heard the faint whisper of his final words.
"Funny little child, like that's up to you."