Being the President is the world’s most difficult waiting game. I sit in my office all day, preparing speeches, talking to advisors, taking phone calls, all to distract myself from the fact that there are only a small handful of issues that I actually care about on that particular day, and I can do nothing but wait for news on those issues. Right now, I’m waiting on a report from my spies. One named Cedric, specifically. Priscilla went dark a few days ago, and the thought that the Belfonse bitch may have caught onto Priscilla boils my blood. Will she interrogate Priscilla? What information will she learn? What demands will I be forced to meet? The Princess had my balls in a vice. Vile woman. Life would be so much easier if I could just wipe Selicia and all of its smugness off the map.

 

Finally, I get a knock at the door. Somewhat frantic knocking. That’s unusual, I wasn’t expecting anyone to come visit my office. Staring at the blank piece of paper on my desk, waiting for Cedric’s report to come in, I almost wanted to ignore the knocking entirely. The report should be here any second now, and I wanted to read it the second it arrived. However, it seemed that I would not be allowed the luxury of ignoring whoever was at my door. My military chief, Norja, opened the door and headed inside. He walked across the black marble tiling and onto the red, white, and black rug that depicted the Zeerian flag. Once he was standing on the dead centre of the rug, he saluted, the sunlight from the large open windows behind me framing his face in a dramatic light.

 

“Sir! Eye witnesses have reported movement in Grisia! The Monstra has opened its eyes, and its entire body has moved into the ocean!”

 

“All of it!?” I responded in disbelief, not entirely processing what he was saying.

 

“Footage taken is being processed now. But we can confirm that Grisia is entirely empty. Judging by its movements on the ocean floor, we think it is heading towards Zeer.”

 

“Why now…!”

 

My body begins to shake as I suddenly smell something salty. I look at the paper on my desk. It’s soaked in sea water. My blood ran cold.

 

“... How are our oil rigs?”

 

“Perfectly intact sir- No…” Norja went silent for a moment as he took out his radio and listened to whoever was on the other side.

 

“... One of our oil rigs was just destroyed. No, two… And our navy is being sunk at a rapid rate. Besides what we have stored at shore, it’s estimated that our sea assets will be completely annihilated in… 8… 7 minutes.”

 

Blood began to appear on the page, a splatter at the time. Then, finally, in ink, words appeared. In big, bold lettering, the word ‘EVACUATE’ appeared.

 

“... Prepare the Ars Nihil Sphaera ritual. Immediately. It is after us and we must-”

 

“But sir, if Selicia knows we’re casting it-”

“IT’S OUR ONLY CHANCE, DO IT!”

 

I slammed my fists on my desk, my hand going straight through the expensive wood as I screamed those words.

 

“Yes sir right away- Oh… Oh fuck oh fuck… President, behind you…”

 

“STOP STALLING! CAST THE RITUAL AND- Oh. Oh SHIT!”

 

As I continued screaming I had, indeed, turned around. I didn’t even think the shore was visible from the Black House until now, but I saw it clearly. The form of the Monstra, swallowing the sky entirely as it appeared on the shores of my precious country. Eyes and teeth replaced the clouds and the sun. Immediately, the world went pitch black. I was frozen in place for a few moments. This wasn’t real. It had to be a nightmare. Was it always this big? I had known it was roughly the same size as Grisia but… Right now it felt like it was planet sized. An annihilation sphere wasn’t going to do shit against this! But even so, I turned back to Norja, ready to bark more orders- But he was gone! I saw his feet for a split second as he ran out of my office and turned the corner.

 

“Coward! You call yourself a general!?” I shouted, and immediately followed suit, running out of the office, looking for someone, anyone.

 

It was difficult to do when the building was so dark. Lights were coming on, but very slowly. I ran through the corridors, knocking over ornaments as I stumbled through the dark, looking for literally anybody. Eventually I bumped into a young woman, someone who I assumed was a secretary. I placed my hands on her shoulders to keep her in place.

 

“Come with me! We need to perform the ritual!” I shouted in her face.

 

“... Sir, reports suggest that it’s already in the sewage system. It’ll already be in the Black House basement. The ritual cannot be cast.”

 

“What!? How do you know? It only just arrived at the shore! We still have plenty of time to-”

 

“Look!”

 

She pointed out of the window. It was difficult to understand the full extent of what was happening in this darkness, but I could see them. Glowing eyes, all across the courtyard, and their purple irises all swivelled to look at me the moment they realised I was making eye contact with them. I looked out further. The Monstra had completely blanketed the landscape, replacing every texture with itself. She was right. It was already here, sinking itself into every nook and cranny of my glorious country.

 

“We need to-”

 

I turned to look back at the lady I was talking to. But she was already gone. I fell to the floor, holding my head in my hands. I had never felt this defeated before. This hopeless. Everything had been taken away from me in an instant.

“Hey. Get back in the office. I wanted you to be in your office when I arrived. It’s more dramatic that way.”

 

I heard a voice whisper in my ear, and a finger and a thumb cupping my chin. I looked up to see a girl, pale and naked, black ooze covering up her private parts, crouching down in front of me. I looked into her purple eyes for a moment. She looked familiar… I had seen her before… And then it clicked. The maid I had seen when leaving Ayano’s office that day. The meek, timid little maid.

 

“You… Were the bio weapon?”

 

“I’ve been the Monstra all along, yeah. I’ve finally reconnected with myself. Now come on, come on, I’m getting impatient. I have a Princess to court and a world to save.”

 

She stood up and dragged me to my feet, and in a daze, I followed her into the office. When I did, I discovered that my office was covered in black goop. It was chewing on everything. The rug, the marble, the framed pictures of Zeer’s former presidents. My culture and my pride was being devoured before my very eyes. The girl brushed aside all of the documents on my desk and sat on top of it, crossing her legs, placing her chin in her hands, looking at me.

 

“You’ve been a huge thorn in my side, y’know. I bet if you weren’t out here, threatening to destroy Selicia at any moment, Ayano would be a lot less stressed… And if she weren’t quite as stressed, if she only had to worry about domestic affairs, maybe she wouldn’t have rejected me.”

 

“... What?”

 

I was so confused. What the fuck was she talking about? My country was being destroyed why, exactly?

 

“I mean, sure. The Selician nobles cause her stress… Being royalty in and of itself causes her stress… Her former lovers, like Georgia and Julia, caused her stress… That spirit she broke a contract with causes her a *lot* of stress. But I can’t deal with those people. Well, maybe I can deal with the spirit sometime, but that’s besides the point. Other than the spirit, those people aren’t as… Openly malicious towards her as you are. Why do you hate her so much?”

 

“... Her country threatens the existence of Zeer…” I cautiously began, as I began to get the distinct impression that I was dealing with a highly unstable mind, “Not just militarily or economically, but ideologically. Ayano La Belfonse is a Princess. She will be the next Queen. She’s the Monarchy. Monarchy goes against all of my principles.”

 

“Hmm? Really? I don’t think that’s it. You really seemed to hate her on a more personal level than that. Is it because she’s better than you? Like, admit it. She is. Smarter, prettier, more talented, more composed, craftier. Really, Ayano is basically the best person in Terrestia. That’s why I love her so much. And she’s better than you even though she wasn’t democratically elected. You had to work hard to get the people to love you and become president, but, none of that social power really changes the fact that you’re kind of a boring, petulant, highly unintelligent and boorish man, does it?”

 

I folded my arms. I wasn’t going to give this monster the satisfaction of seeing me get angry.

 

“Oh. You’re giving me that look she does. Maybe you do have an ounce of self restraint after all? I’m impressed, actually. I like that. However, whilst I would never harm her, I don’t mind torturing you until I get the reactions and the answers I want.”

 

Tentacles burst forth from all directions, wrapping themselves around my body, restraining me and splaying out my limbs, pulling and pulling. It felt like I was going to get torn limb from limb. I groaned as my muscles tore, it felt like I was on fire. She walked up to me, creating a chair, constructed out of an amalgam of all the objects in my room, and sat down on it, fist on her cheek as she rested her elbow down on the arm rest.

 

“Y’know, I wasn’t chosen for this either. Or maybe I was, but, who the fuck knows, right? What I can say for sure is that I don’t think I was chosen to have this power via a democratic process. So, with me and Ayano in mind, what use is it to have people like you? You’re worthless. If you have power, then no amount of collective action from the rest of humanity can really do shit against you, can they? Yet you think you’re oh-so awesome just because you have ‘the people’ behind you. Well, while that may be true, I do still care about humans. I’ve spent more time as a human than I have as, you know, this!” She giggled.

 

“I feel a lot of guilt, though. That’s why I don’t kill or take advantage of every living creature. Because I know I would feel bad. That’s why your country is going to be safe. It’ll be gooped up for a while, sure. Lots of toxins everywhere for centuries. The land itself is going to suffer. But I haven’t killed any civilians. Just your mages, scholars, and your entire… Wait a moment… Damn, you have some well trained soldiers buuuuutttt… Yeah, the last one just died. Poor guy. *Now* your entire military is dead. All your spies, too. Just gotta work on destroying all your equipment now.”

 

“You’re… In…Sane…” I managed to gasp out.

 

“I mean. Who wouldn’t be if they were me? I think I’m pretty benevolent and well adjusted, all things considered. I definitely wouldn’t trust you to be in my shoes. But yeah, sure. I’m pretty fucked up. Here I am, destroying a nation because I’m upset about a break up. The relationship only lasted a handful of months and it feels like the end of my world. All this power and I can’t do shit to make her love me. Y’know, not unless she *stops being her*. I don’t want an Ayano flesh puppet. But… Heh, you know, a part of my *actually thinks* that Ayano is going to love me for this. But you know what? Even if she doesn’t, even though she will probably just hate me even more, I can still say that this has been a lot of fun. I like letting loose. And I like crushing your stupid smug face and your stupid democracy. It’s pathetic when you think you’re oh so awesome and noble just because you have all this social power and no, like, *actual* power. Did you ever learn magic? Did you ever learn how to pick up a sword? Do you have any hobbies at all? No, fucking golf does not count as a hobby. Do you even have a wife? Does she just pump out babies for you or whatever? Do you actually have a real emotional bond with anyone? Like, dude, you suck. I bet you just sit here and take phone calls all day. Your only skills are lying to people with speeches and making promises you can’t keep because there’s too much bureaucracy and too many checks and balances in your stupid system of government. Really, I’m saving you from yourself. You should be thanking me!”

 

My mind was going blank as the squeezing of her tentacles cut the blood flow across my body. But I wasn’t going to let her get away with this without standing up for my dignity.

 

“There… Is… Power… In… The… People… Unified they can… Overcome anything…!”

 

Tears were falling down my face. Yeah. These were my true colours. She could believe it or not, but I really did care about the people. Beneath the day to day stresses of running a nation, I really did want to do my best for them. I wanted to unify them, smooth out disagreements. Work *for* the citizens, not above them. Other presidents might divide to acquire wealth and power, but I truly did want to work against the many corrupt institutions in this country, in this world, and advance this nation forward. I don’t know if I was going to succeed or not, but now, it doesn’t matter. It’s gone. Wiped out by this crazy fucking bitch. This Selician lapdog with the power of a demon.

 

“Wow. So noble. Doesn’t make me feel any differently about you, though. Alrighty then, let’s go. I’m keeping you alive for a little bit longer to perform a little show. I’m going to create a new world! A system better than Monarchy or Democracy. I call it ‘Everybody gets exactly what they want in a world that exists without suffering or entropy’. It’s gonna be neat! Not gonna let you live in it though. Because I hate you.”

 

With that, I was flung out through the window and into the waiting jaws of the writhing mass surrounding the Black House. As I looked up at the sky, I realised that the Monstra had parted slightly. As it began to rain, I saw words written in the clouds.

 

‘I’m sorry Priscilla. I love you Ayano!’