Writing Prompt

Innocence is a weapon in its self.

In this ruined land, corruption runs free and it has made the adults into their puppets.

However, there is always an exception to the laws of evil.

Innocence was a beacon of hope that vanquished and burned the corruption way.

To avoid the risk of corruption, Nameless Kingdom decided to give the thrones to children.

And currently as the king’s advisors, I truly regret applying for this position.

King Louis was running wild again, he was enjoying and exploiting his untestraint childhood to the fullest.

As the king, no one could stop Louise, as he was the chosen one. He was the

‘Angel of Light’

He had the strongest power of all, Guiding Light, he could use his innocence to blind and control anyone and everything.

He knew this and bubbling laughter spilled out of him.

Louise was causing chaos again, he was using his powers and making everyone do his will.

For instance, he made sure, that only cake could be eaten.

‘Louise…’ I softly whispered

‘Y-Yes…’ he quietly replied, as he stopped laughing

However, I lied before, I could stop Louise. As corruption could not bend me to its will.

Why?

Well, what if I told you I was the Founder of this corruption?

I was the one who ruined this land, and I’m the same person, who could annihilate it.

Louis knew this well, his power allowed me to see what I really was. Even with the deepest mist of black, no guiding light could pierce into my heart.

‘Louis, dear…’ I whispered, a soft smile was whispered across my face, but booming rage melted within my eyes.

‘I-I’ll s-stop…’ he whimpered.

As I towered over him, I slowly petted his head. As a strange red light flowed from my fingers, and his yellow star-lit eyes turned red as well

That’s right, Louis was under my control.

Everyone thought they were free from corruption, yet they cannot see the corruption within.

Rather than using children, to ignore the consequences of your inner evil, why not focus on dealing with the corruption.

It was such an easy solution, that was my one weakness, yet the citizens of Nameless Kingdom were always afraid to fight the corruption within.

And that is exactly why I, the king’s Advisor, am here.

‘Ohh, Louise, your speech is coming up.’

‘Speech?’

‘The one where we will reveal the truth to everyone’

‘Yes!!! I’ll do an amazing job, Advisor’

‘I expect nothing less…’

Ciara buried her face in her pillow, willing the tears not to come. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t cry. She would be brave.

It was unbearable. The girl let out a gut-wrenching sob and allowed the tears to flow. Her life would never be the same and she knew it. Her days of running barefoot through the open valleys surrounding the city without a care in the world were long gone. For now she, a girl of only ten, was to rule a kingdom.

“I shan’t do it!” She exclaimed to herself tearfully. “No matter what they say to me!” But she knew it wasn’t true and before the hour was up she would be standing on a stage in front of all ten kingdoms, having a crown placed upon her head.

The girl ran her fingers along the smooth satin dress, crisp and sleeveless, far to mature for her. She inspected her appearance in the mirror, trying to wipe away the tear stains. Layer upon layer of makeup had been painted onto her face. She looked like she could of been thirty.

“Queen Ciara Rosalind!” A stern voice called from the elegantly carved door of her chambers. The door swung open and Ciara’s mother stepped in. “Oh what have you done, Ciara? I leave you alone for one second and you’ve smudged your pretty little face.” The woman began delicately dabbing away the tears, then presented a pile of dainty pink flowers.

“Hold still, girl, so I can weave these into your hair.” She clutched the child’s golden braids, each pinned into a loop around her ears, and began putting in the flowers. Ciara groaned, but her mother only pulled harder.

“Mother, why must I go out on the stage? Can’t someone else be Queen?” Her mother sighed, yanking her hair more vigorously. “You know, Ciara, that a child must rule. It is not up to us. But we have worked very hard to get you this position, and you must take it seriously.”

“But I can’t rule! I can’t lead a kingdom! I don’t want to!”

“Hush Ciara! Quit your whining, your about to be crowned Queen and they won’t handle your tantrums. You don’t have to worry about ruling, your father and I will make all the big decisions for you. You just have to look pretty and say what we tell you.”

It was at that moment that Ciara knew, that children really weren’t the ones ruling. It was their parents. That she was just to be a symbol, a distraction, a decoy, from who was really pulling the strings. A puppet, that’s what they wanted her to be, and being a stubborn little girl, she wasn’t putting up with that.

She turned and smiled sweetly at her mother. “Yes ma’am. That seems easy enough.” Her mother raised her eyebrows, surprised at this change in attitude. “Alright, Ciara. We’re going to go over what you will say…”

Only thirty minutes later, Ciara stepped up on stage, flowers in her hair, dress flowing behind her, defiant glare on her face. She caught her mother’s eye for a brief moment and saw her mouth, “smile!”, but ignored her. She walked along the shimmering golden carpet onto the stage where nine other children, ages ranging from eight to fifteen, sat looking at her, expressions blank.

They began the vows, which were easy enough, and Ciara simply nodded and said “I do.” Then came time for her part. Ciara through down her cards, tilted her chin up in defiance, and began the speech.

Disheartening chants echoed throughout the grand court room. David remained steady, awaiting his trial to commence.

“Order in the court PLEASE!” Tommy demanded, it was his turn to be the judge.

Voices continued to chatter noisily.

“I said please. If you don’t be quiet nobody will be having chocolate.”

The bickering silenced.

A voice timidly cried out: “sorry sir.” Others followed with the same sentiment. Within a brief moment the words “sorry sir” were being remarked from every pouting child within the court, like an apathetic swarm of bees to a sorrowful flower patch.

David scoured the room contemplating the ridiculous realisation that all of his superiors were much smaller, more unintelligent and frankly more childish than he was.

“Okay, before we start…” Tommy prepared his speech. “Anybody need the potty?”

“I need a poop” Lilly blerted bashfully.

Her claim was followed by a sea of laughter echoed through everybody present. Abruptly Lilly made her stand before scuttled towards the nappy changing room, where an assigned ‘changer’ awaited their next indecent drapery. Lilly was clearly embarrassed from this endeavour as she slithered away into her hole - followed by a blaring SLAM!

David was utterly bamboozled. Unsure whether a better time to pipe up would arise, he decided to ponder his place within this childish prospect immediately.

“What is going on here?” He enquired.

Silence.

“You, Mr David have been accused of stealing something which wasn’t yours - a very naughty crime indeed. How do you plead?”

Flocks of amused eyes glazed over to the accused, awaiting his surely shameless defence.

“Erm..” David began. Crisp packets crackled from every direction like eager rattles from starved snakes - awaiting the moment to strike.

“Can you elaborate?”

Tommy, the judge, spoke up:

“There was 3 cookies left in court today, they were supposed to be mine. I didn’t want to share.”

“OBJECTION!” A voice cheered, every head snapped back to face the source place of the voice.

A noble young princess by the name of Lucy made her place in the scene prominent, her striking multicoloured jumper was simply too silly for her to fit in with everyone else.

“If you weren’t willing to share - then you are the one at fault, your honour. This man simply wanted to play nicely but you didn’t want to. There seems only one fitting sentence…”

“SILENCE!” Tommy shouted with every ounce of oxygen in his tempered lungs.

Guards surged to his mighty step & proceeded to dethrone the weary boy. He attempted to resist - however this only increased the amount of time he would be sentenced to the naughty chair.

David squeaked, fearful of the children’s unpredictable actions. “Am I free to go then?”

Everybody waved right at David in unison.

“…okay…” David murmured, before making his eventual exit.

The End.

“If you die young, you never lived.” The chorus of the village chanted over-and-over. The monotone voices engulfing the acoustics of the room.

Eyes always shift around during this part. Luanne’s daughter for instance, never made it past 10. Gossip of her depressing fate is never forgotten.

Carl felt the pressure and expectations from the town. Vote this, vote that, sign this, sign that. Each year the Elders believe there is a “one.” One what? Why one?

The Elders consist of those who were once “The One.” But it had to of started somewhere, right?

“Always with the questions.” Bryan, an Elder, nodded. “This is why you where chosen. Why you must lead now.”

“I never wanted this!” Carl cried.

“Ah, but again another reason,” Bryan stated.

Every year the Elders choose a leader, they make a grand thing of it. A ceremony and honor of some new 12-year-old. All the parents pray it will be their child. Their child to rule the land and make the decisions for the harvest, and more importantly the selection.

The selection consist of a continual court proceeding. All the heavy crimes committed throughout the year are processed on the same day. Murder, adultery, rape and large thefts. One right after the other. Guilty or not guilty? This continues until all the cases have come to a verdict.

The Elders start every town meeting with a history lesson. They discuss how before, crime was overflowing the village. They report how since the dawn of the selection, crime continues to decrease.

It was of the belief that a child’s innocence and initial response to situations was more pure than that of a grown adult. “Adults can rationalize their way out of anything. A child’s innocence leads the way towards a righteous path.” Some sort of excuse like that. Carl couldn’t remember all the words. He just knew that once he reached the age of 13, he would no longer be viewed as a child and his opinions would no longer matter.

Carl’s selection date had finally arrived. He felt sick to his stomach as he approached his stand. Little do the citizens understand how influenced his decisions are by the Elders. He continuously told himself that when he turns 60 and joins the Elders, he will make sure to never be as pushy.

The first hearing went by fast. A man and a woman were caught shortly after the start of the new year in an affair. Both spouses had proof and eye witnesses.

Carl didn’t really understand the uproar from the crowd. As he looked to his Elders for council though and saw the multiple heads nodding, Carl just went along with it. “Guilty.” He managed to force out.

The woman screamed as she was escorted away but the man remained silent. Where do they go now? Carl didn’t know, but before he could ask, another man was brought in.

Evidently, the town went 3 more months without any crime. 3 months of harmony, with only the couple in jail, until this man standing before him. Murder. Carl grew nervous as the man stepped forward. Murder is serious. Someone had to of died then right? Carl had never known anyone that died before.

He heard the story of what happened. The victim died after hitting the bottom of a well. The man claimed it was an accident while at work. Some how another man died in the end though.

Death, okay that’s bad. “Guilty.” He stated and the bystanders cheered in response.

Next came a small woman. The crowd screamed, “Thief!”

This time was different though. They talked and talked about how she stole food multiple times. The women insisted it was for her children though and cried the entire time she stood there.

Carl sat back to think this one through. Hungry children? And she admits to it.

The council and the crowd grew impatient. Screaming for his decision and still calling her names. Bryan huffed out, “kill her already boy!”

Kill? Carl didn’t understand. She was to die?

And the crowd cheered for it. But that didn’t seem right either.

None of it made sense anymore: The joy they all seemed to have to kill the starving woman. The hate in the councils eyes as they grew tired of his delay.

And as he looked to the left and he looked to the right, he could no longer tell who was wrong and who was right.

This is not the actual story. I will copy and paste what I have written when I figure out exactly what went wrong. I will edit this when I have a chance but for now I am off to bed. The story is basically about children taking over by force and the adults being forcedd to obey them and do things the children’s way.

The thunderous drums and regal siren of trumpets produced an intimidating Introduction, but the representatives, although young, remained firm and focused.

“We’re all gathered here today to keep tradition. The founding fathers built this nation, and guided us just as Moses guided His people. The four families represent the pillars of that guidance and only from these families do we Choose a representative for our nation”

“But this year isn’t like the others, a family thought to be gone but never forgotten Returns to us, the heir of the first family!”

A hostel like focus befell the crowd as ambivalent whispers circulated.

“Now now! let us remain focused,this a time for celebration. Lets try not to scare our guest away.” He said with a smirk “I hope you all do your part in teaching the young prince our customs. Let’s begin the celebration!” The roar of the croute shakes the foundation He turns back and walks toward Elias “Your quite famous aren’t you” he said smirking Walking away.

“Would you look at that, barely been here and your being celebrated like some god, what’s so special about the first family anyway we’ve been protecting this country just fine without them.”

“I know it’s hard for you but try not to be ugly Weiss”

“Don’t mind him Elias jealousy sometimes gets the best of his manners”

“Pretend all you want solaria, this just means more competition for us!”

Elias slowly slipped away as the two bickered back and forth, unsure how to feel he roamed the party thinking, maybe hoping something could give him a feeling of comfort.

“Hey!”

“Ugh hey..”

“My names Aluca, I’m from the 4th family”

“..Nice to meet you I’m”

“I know who you are this is a party thrown for you obviously.” She said smiling

“O-ok..”

A brief silence

“I’m from the outside world too ya know I sort of get where your coming, it’s all new but I promise you’ll get used to it.” She said hoping it’ll cheer him up in some small way.

“Really, How did you get used it ?” He said excitedly

“Well I’m from the outside world but I was raised here as well, my family thought it would be a good idea if I got the best of both worlds”

The two talked back and forth for awhile, Elias felt like he finally found someone he could relate too.

“So what can you do?”

“What can I do?”

“You know.. your power, what did you inherit?”

Confused Elias looks at her for the answer

“You don’t even know?” “Meet me at my families estate tomorrow, take this sigil show it at the gate when you arrive.”

This is the land where there is no conflict. It is a time where everyone gets along. We are all United in being one peaceful world.

This is the time of naps. The younger you are the more say you have over when the naps are. The older you get the more frustrating it can be to do everything to their schedule, but somehow it works. A nap for all means peace in the world.

The world has never been more calm. No war can happen during nap time. No politics can happen. Everyone finds their person to nap near and they find their peace. Sometimes their person is a pet.

The youngest rule the world with shrieking cries as nap time approaches. Everyone listens to these cries to appease the rulers. Peace time relies on the naps of the youngest and everyone agrees the naps make the world better overall.

“We’re going to defeat diabetes! Contrary to popular belief some kids DO enjoy broccoli! But we’re not going force it on everyone! Some people prefer carrots!”

——

“We’re going to build a wall… for climbing. People love climbing walls. I went to one for my eighth birthday.”

——

“I’ve been in the senate for a hundred and eighty years!”

“Hun, that’s impossible.”

“But mom! I’m an ancient wizard!”

——

“I don’t know why people say such mean things all the time. I mean, we all have to share the same planet, might as well get along!”

——

“President Rose, give me back my Lego Factory!”

“Not until you give me back my Chips Ahoy bakery, King Aage!”

“That’s it! I declare war!”

-Two Days Later.-

“I see through the lies of Denmark!”

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes!”

Starts dueling with cheap plastic lightsabers, making the noise with their mouths, while playing “The Floor Is Lava”.

“Vwoom! Vwoom!”

“VWOOM!”

“It’s over, President Rose! I have the high ground!”

“You underestimate my power!

“Don’t try it!”

-Ten Minutes Later-

laying on the floor, exhausted.

“Want some orange juice?”

“Sounds great. Maybe some Oreos?”

“Sure.”

2075. All adults are overtaken. All children are fed up. The world is close to being destroyed. Mother Nature is angry. The winds have turned to ash. The sky has turned dark. The seas no longer flow. The animals no longer exist. Humans have ruined everything. Only the new generation has heard mother nature’s cries.

In an effort to bring back life to the disappearing beauty, Mother Nature has birthed Hiraeths. Looking for a home they can’t return to. Maybe one that never was. At least one that did exist until humans arrived.

Hiraeths born from the elements. Fire, water, air, earth. Each born to rule. Each born to bring back the peace and beauty the world has lost. To bring back the world devoid of color.

The kingdom of Hiraethia ruled by Anahita, the protecter of the seas, rivers, and lakes. Phoenix, the protector of fire. Abel, the protector of the winds and skies. And finally Dhara the protector of the earth as a whole. From the soil to the treetops. All only 14. All with one mission.

The adults who have destroyed the earth are kept in the dungeons below Hiraethia grounds. Only fed the slop they have left behind.

Coronations for the rulers of Hiraethia begin in January. With the cold winter setting in and the earth finally getting to heal Anahita, Phoenix, Abel, and Dhara begin their power of ruling. For just being 14 and having the power of kings and queens was hard to comprehend.

After all, they are just children.

Queen Alexia popped her bubble gum and peered down from her throne at the two men standing before the dais. One of them was skinny and wrinkled, and his face was all pinched up and annoyed, like he smelled something bad. The other was short and round, like a fat brown teddy bear. He kept twitching and turning to look at the exit.

The queen swung her feet in the air, enjoying how her long robes felt swishing about her bare toes. “I wasn’t listening,” she said. “Tell me again?”

The skinny man sighed and rolled his eyes. “Your majesty,” he said, “as I said before, this is a matter of my cow -“

“It’s my cow!” the fat man interjected, his voice high and frantic. “My cow had a calf, and now he’s saying the calf is his!”

“Your cow had the baby in my field!” said the skinny man. “It’s always getting into my field, anyway. I deserve the calf as compensation, at least!”

“She wouldn’t get into your field if you’d fix that hole in the fence, like I told you to, weeks ago! Months ago!”

“It’s gotta be my bull who fathered the calf! You don’t have a bull! The calf should be mine!”

“You can’t separate a calf that young from its mother! What kind of monster are you?”

“Then maybe I should take both the calf and its mother! That would be fair, right?” The skinny man looked to the queen. “You don’t want the baby to miss its mama, right, kid?”

Alexia stuck her tongue out at him. “My name is Queen Alexia. Not ‘kid.’”

The fat man snickered. “How rude! See, your majesty? You can’t give in to him. The cow is mine, and so is her calf.”

Alexia chewed on her gum for a moment. She didn’t like the way either of them were talking to her, or to each other.

“There’s still one person we haven’t heard from yet,” she said. “Bring in the cow.”

Both men blinked at her dumbly. “The… cow…?” said the skinny man.

“Yes. I wanna hear what the cow wants to do. Guards!” Alexia’s high-pitched eight-year-old voice rang out across the throne room. “Bring in the cow!”

The great golden doors open, and in came a large white cow with black spots. A small calf trotted along at her heels.

Queen Alexia scooted down from the throne and approached the cow. She reached up and put her little hand on the cow’s nose.

“So?” she said.

“Moo,” said the cow.

Alexia nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. What about you?” She turned to the calf, who was sniffing at its mother’s udders.

“Meeeeew,” said the calf.

The queen nodded sagely. “It is decided. The cow and her calf will stay at the palace, as is their wish.”

“What?!” both men exclaimed simultaneously.

Alexia had already turned to climb back onto the throne. “You guys can go now.”

“You can’t do this!” the skinny man shouted.

“I can.”

“It’s my cow!” said the fat man. He grabbed at the cow’s horn, but the palace guards ushered him towards the door.

“Not anymore. The cow thinks you’re both stupid and she should live with me.”

“You’re just a kid!” the skinny man called, halfway out the door. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Then the big golden doors slammed shut, and Alexia was alone with the cows.

“Sorry about them,” she said. “Grown-ups are so full of themselves.”

“Moo,” said the cow, which Alexia understood to mean, “That’s alright. We’re used to humans forgetting the magical languages as you get older. The wisest thing you people ever did was set it into law that only a child could rule.”

Alexia took the crown off her head and twirled it around her wrist. “Yeah, well, I won’t forget! I’ll stay a child forever.”

“Me too!” mooed the calf.

The cow chuckled knowingly. “I’m grateful all the same, your majesty.”