The dining hall was especially packed tonight as rumors stirred that the King had a big announcement to make. The anticipation of good news brought a majority of the population, something not even the three long dinner tables could support anymore. Under the bright flames of the grand chandeliers above, King Marin stood at the end, ready to address his citizens.

  Speeches like this weren't common, but whenever Marin had important information to share, this was the way he liked to do it. Why take the time to convene in the throne room when people already convened on their own to eat dinner? Kill two birds with one stone was how he liked to describe it.

  "Greetings, citizens of Nocturne. Your King speaks. I can see that it was no secret I had some important things to share," Marin started while gazing at the packed room. Some citizens even stood along the wall since all the chairs were filled.

  "Some of you might even know what it is. But let it no longer be a rumor.

  We are now officially a Kingdom."

  There was a roar of cheer. People at the tables stood up and clapped. The dining room hall exploded in noise, at the same volume as a tsunami crashing into a mountain. Marin knew that a positive reaction was to be expected, but this excitement was at a higher level than he had anticipated.

  All the citizens had a dazzle in their eyes that fixated on Marin. All of them were proud of their King, proud citizens, and this victory was just as much theirs as it was his. The overwhelming feeling caused Marin to look down as he simply nodded continuously.

  At this point Marin did not expect the applause to immediately stop, and it surely didn't. It dragged out for a while before slowly waning. After several long moments, it was becoming apparent that Marin was growing weary of standing patiently, and the celebration finally subsided.

  Marin nodded a few more times before continuing when the silence was in full once again.

  "I appreciate all of you, and all of your work in helping make this a reality. And honestly, I cannot take much credit for this undertaking. Helva and Loid were instrumental in getting our requirements met. So whenever you see them, give them some gratitude as well.

  Now, moving on, there will be some new events unfolding as a result of our elevation. I now hold power over the immediate land around our mountainous home. This gives me the ability to expand our Kingdom with no contention. RAM has bestowed the rights to zone and structure our area the way I see fit. I am aware that our castle is full. I'm aware that many more seek to immigrate into the Kingdom, but can't because we are out of rooms.

  I am announcing at this moment that plans to further expand the Kingdom will now begin."

  Another roaring applause.

  Loid raised an eyebrow. Helva and Harrel were taken by surprise as well. They glanced at each other for a moment, but it was clear that Marin had not communicated this to any of them beforehand.

  It was a bold statement, seeing as new housing and developments would pull another great amount of wealth out of the vault. Seeing how Marin had reacted earlier to the depletion, this was an unexpected move, even though it was one that was fairly necessary.

  Marin accepted the praise from his citizens before continuing on.

  "For those who dislike being packed so tightly, it will give you a chance to live outside the castle. The pay rates will be different, but it will grant you your own entire house instead of a room. I anticipate many of you will consider it.

  In the coming weeks, expect to see construction commencing. Many of you who have larger families will be given the first offers of buying a home, and having schedules independent of castle times. With all that said, though, I feel that I've kept us from dinner long enough. Let's now eat, and enjoy the festivities of the celebration."

  There was a final wave of applause before everyone sat down, and food began to leave the kitchen.

  The dining hall was louder than usual with the amount of people at dinner, filled with the excitement of what the Kingdom had in store for the future. As everyone conversed and celebrated, Loid brought up the earlier statement to Marin.

  "You didn't inform us that we were moving forward so quickly. And without solving our financial issue yet," Loid mentioned.

  Marin shrugged. "It can't be helped. Our applications into the Kingdom have been overwhelming, and I don't want to deny our growth any longer. But that just makes our monetary issue that much more important to figure out. I'm really hoping something will work itself into being."

  Those were optimistic words. Too optimistic, all things considered. Nocturne was currently being built on sand. Sand that was wet and solid at the moment, but drying at a quick rate. If nothing was done, the entirety of everything Marin built would fall apart. Permanent sustenance would be needed soon.

  Everyone ate, enjoyed the food, and shared in amusing stories, but there was worry in the back of the mind of Marin and his administration that ran the Kingdom.

  Later that evening, Marin and Loid convened in the King's quarters, a regular occurrence where the two leaders of the castle could discuss affairs and sort out personal issues.

  Marin sat in the right chair in front of the fireplace, while Loid sat in the left.

  Loid had a pipe in hand, taking occasional tokes. Marin was a fellow smoker, so it taunted him much to see Loid enjoy something he could not.

  "That was a huge call to make at dinner tonight without consulting us first," Loid spoke.

  "Can I not make decisions on my own?" Marin responded.

  "Of course you can, but it would've been advantageous to work out the details with us before the announcement."

  "Well, let's work them out now," Marin proposed.

  "Shoot first, ask questions later." Loid chuckled. "I guess I'm mainly shocked to see you so willing to expand the kingdom without balancing the book first. You realize how much these expansions will cost? More than restoring the castle, I would bet. You were in a meltdown earlier today about the gold loss." He toked on the pipe.

  Marin sighed. "I was. And I still am. But I've been doing some thinking from then to dinner. And I think that if we jump into expansion, new opportunities to make money will make themselves known."

  "Increasing our population isn't going to help us. There's nothing out here to make money on. We can't farm, we are reliant on imports entirely, and those cost us a lot because of how far out we are. All we can do is export crafted goods to make some money back, and that's it. Scaling it to a higher amount won't make us net positive, Sullivan."

  Marin shook his head. "Well, do you have any ideas?!"

  "I don't! And that's why this expansion is so concerning! We can't support the Kingdom in the long run. Why did you build this castle so far out in the Murok Mountains?"

  Marin thought back. While he didn't have his memory of the past, he knew himself. And the reasons he felt now were likely the same ones he felt before.

  "Because I liked the isolation, and natural defense the mountains provided. And mind you, when I built the castle at the time, it did not snow year round. We farmed during the warm months and kept cattle. It's just not possible now."

  He knew it to be true, especially with the confirmation of the ruined farmhouses outside the castle when he first woke back up.

  "Well then, that's the problem. It was possible then, but its not now. So because of that, we need a new angle to thrive. And that's what we all need to come up with," Loid proposed.

  "I'll be honest, if I think about it hard enough, even then it wasn't sustainable. I knew people who brought gold to the castle and the vault. I… I think I had help funding the Kingdom," Marin admitted.

  "Outside help. Outside help you don't have anymore." Loid was becoming stressed. Important details that should have been known before the relaunch of the Kingdom were becoming known just now.

  He couldn't even smoke any more of his pipe. The situation was too bleak for enjoyment. "...We're on our own now," he added while cleaning out his pipe with a cloth.

  "I guess I figured if I invested some of that stored gold into growing the kingdom again, I'd start to make it back. At the very least, break even. But it hasn't happened yet."

  "And it won't. Not without a bright idea."

  Loid and Marin sat in the chairs before the fireplace brainstorming ideas. They tried coming up with ways to make money off the unique location the castle was at. Even tourism was pitched, but was quickly laughed off.

  One idea was to attempt to turn Nocturne into a "hub" of a special trade skill, one that would bring apprentices and masters of a certain craft. If it could be done, the money from crafted exports could pull ahead just enough. Loid proposed offering tax free incentives to bring tradesmen here to learn.

  It was viable, but incredibly difficult to achieve, and would only be possible after the Kingdom grew bigger with more accommodations. By then though, the gold in the vault would likely be dried up.

  They floated other ideas, but it was becoming apparent how bleak the situation looked.

  The distant location of the castle, and complete reliance on purchasing food instead of growing it was the bane of their Kingdom. And it was looking as if it was going to be the downfall of Nocturne.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The saddest part was that all of Nocturne's citizens had no idea of the situation they were in. King Marin had them all believing that they were sustainable, and the amount of money they made was enough to support the Kingdom and their lifestyle. No one besides the four knew that the gold was draining.

  "There's something else I want to bring up, Loid. And its not great news, either," Marin solemnly spoke.

  Loid had just about heard all the bad news he wanted to, but this new tone Marin spoke in made it sound as if it was information he couldn't pass on hearing.

  Marin raised his left arm, and began curling and uncurling his fingers in a jagged movement as if he struggled to do so.

  It brought concern to Loid immediately. "What's going on, Sullivan?"

  "I'm having a hard time controlling the fingers on my left hand. They only respond to my thoughts in an intermittent manner."

  Loid squinted as he watched closely. "And how long has this been going on?"

  "It started about a week ago. I think my body wants to shut down. Its finally starting to refuse the unnatural state its currently in."

  "Have you seen Doctor Eisen about this?"

  "No, I haven't talked to him since I told him the Hallicent Blossoms were likely not arriving. He did not take it well."

  "You need to see him immediately. This is no matter that can be put off."

  Loid was frustrated with Marin as of late, and this latest reveal only added to the matter. He tried to gather why Marin would wait until now to address the situation of his body parts paralyzing. It should have been a concern the very day he discovered it.

  After more thought though, it was apparent how depressed Marin had become. No promising leads yet on his memory restoration was one thing, but the betrayal of Rocko, the fact that something bad had happened to Monzane, and the deficit the Kingdom ran all weighed heavily.

  If Marin's body was starting to give up on itself, perhaps he'd actually let it happen.

  "Why bother?" Marin finally responded. "Let me go down with my Kingdom. It was never meant to be sustainable… I was never meant to be sustainable… in this state."

  "I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again," Loid scolded. "Fate gave you another chance. Don't be a coward. Don't admit defeat this easily. There are a lot of people here that rely on you. Friends that love you. We're going to solve this, Sullivan. We can't give up that easily, you have much to prove."

  Loid's words were harsh, but Marin understood the truth in them.

  "There are a lot of people, myself included, that have put great effort into fixing you and making this Kingdom a reality. You're not going to let them down now. Tomorrow morning, go see the Doctor. That's an order," Loid commanded in a tone he used when he was a captain at Neo.

  Marin nodded. "Alright Loid, I will. At the very least, we can exhaust all our options before calling it quits. I owe everybody that much, don't I?"

  "You do."

  Loid didn't appreciate the defeatist attitude Marin had as of late, but he understood it. As his closest friend and ally, Loid knew it was his duty to get Marin through these tough points in his life.

  Loid stood from his chair, said a few more encouraging words to Marin, and then left him for the night.

  Marin had a lot of issues to overcome. A lot to ponder, and he would spend the entire night doing so. He reflected for a while on his balcony. He played the organ for an hour or two, not caring that the noise might be heard by others in the hall. He laid in his bed and stared up at the top of the frame in thought. He paced the rooms, hoping to come up with a grand idea that would save his Kingdom.

  When morning arrived, Marin made it priority one to see Eisen. Loid was right. He couldn't afford to be a quitter now, not when he had so much riding on his success.

  Marin found himself at the basement stairs. He descended them, and took a left in the hallway that entered Eisen's front room with the buzzer.

  Without hesitation, he pressed the button, and the loud intrusive noise rang in his ears.

  "A LITTLE EARLY ISN'T IT? I'M EATING BREAKFAST!" Marin heard an echo from down the hall.

  "It's Marin, Doctor."

  "Well please! Come on in!"

  Marin couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not. He walked down the thin passage, and into the spacious chambers of the doctor. Surely enough, Eisen was eating chow from a plate on his desk. He turned in his rolling chair to see the King as he entered.

  The Doctor's ward was quickly becoming similar to his old house in Tarenfall. The clutter had continued to build up, and it was not looking so much like a professional facility anymore.

  "It's gotta be big news if you're here this early. Are the Hallicent Blossoms here?" Eisen asked.

  "No. I've come with regards to my own physical health."

  "Well, you're going to have to tolerate me eating while examining you, since you chose this time in particular. Come have a seat by me and elaborate on your condition."

  The doctor looked as unappealing as always. His wrinkled skin was battered from chemical burns, his receded hairline had crossed over the top of his head. Yet he still grew his brittle gray hair out long, and had it ponytailed.

  His wire frame glasses were crooked on his face, the frame bent and re-bent from constant adjustments. His slouch almost had the top of his back at the same height as his head.

  "What seems to be the issue?" Eisen asked while his gnarled fingers grasped a forkful of food.

  "I'm losing the ability to use my body, I think. And it has started in my fingers," Marin described.

  Eisen began chewing the food off his fork as he grabbed Marin's left hand.

  "Can you demonstrate?" He asked between bites.

  Marin attempted to curl and uncurl his fingers like he did with Loid earlier. Sure enough, he struggled again to do so. The movements were intermittent, and jagged. He struggled most with his pinky, a finger that now refused to curl entirely.

  Eisen found it most intriguing. Without asking, he slid Marin's glove off his left hand, and studied the bare fingers in detail. In it's decayed, zombified state, it was a miracle that it even worked in the first place.

  "Are you having this issue just in your fingers here?" The doctor began with the fleet of questions.

  "Just here on my left hand. Nowhere else."

  "And how long has this been going on?"

  "Almost a week now."

  Eisen began studying each finger individually as he looked for tears in the muscle fibers, or some other sign that would indicate damage. He flipped the hand over, and ran his fingers over the bone joints, looking for a fault.

  "Have you damaged your hand at all lately? Crushed it? Fell on it?"

  "Not particularly."

  After a while, Eisen decided that no recent damage had come over the hand. It seemed that the issue was entirely neurological.

  "Well, from an immediate, educated guess, I'd propose that you're experiencing degradation in your nerves. It can happen with age." Eisen chuckled. "Or if you're a walking zombie. That would be a reasonable explanation."

  "I had no idea," Marin joked back.

  Eisen smiled back at the reciprocated humor. This development with Marin had him so interested, he forgot about the rest of his food.

  "So what do we do? Is there a cure? Will it get worse?" Marin asked.

  Eisen had grabbed a magnifying glass for his eye as he took a more detailed look.

  "I can run full diagnostics if you want, but its likely you'll continue degrading, if that's what we're dealing with. There's no cure for it, not a traditional one, that is."

  It was somber news for Marin. "How much time do I have?"

  "No idea. Remember though that you're a special case, so predictions are kind of out the window. We will just keep an eye on it." Eisen removed his magnifying glass and put his crooked glasses back on.

  "But let me give you some news that might give you hope. I believe that if I can solve your immortality potion, I can reverse it and isolate the factor in the organic cell gateway that regenerates cells. And if I can do that, I can specifically use that part to make you human again. Theoretically."

  That piqued Marin's interest. "Could it be true?"

  "Most definitely could be. However I'm not going to get far without the required ingredients. If Monzane is not returning, we need to send someone else to get the Hallicent Blossoms. And if they're not there anymore, we're going to have a problem."

  Marin understood. "Perhaps he is running late for a good reason. Let's give it a bit more time before we announce a campaign of our own to retrieve them."

  Eisen shook his head. He knew that Marin was not taking his nerve degradation seriously enough.

  "From what we've discovered you now have, time is not going to be our ally anymore. I'd consider a sooner date than a later one," the Doctor advised.

  Marin stood up and was sliding his glove back on. He had events on his agenda for the day that needed to be addressed, and much more time couldn't be spent in the doctor's office.

  "I'm going to want tests later," Eisen informed the King.

  "I'll be sure to comply." Marin was about to head about, but figured there was a bit of information that Eisen should know about.

  "By the way, RAM announced us as a Kingdom. I'm not sure if you heard about it."

  "I could care less."

  Alright, that was definitely rude. Eisen sighed.

  "I mean, I'm happy for you," he added. "That's good! It's just not going to affect me. My entire Kingdom is this basement room, and what goes on above me is not much concern to me. I congratulate you though. I hope everything works out for you."

  Should Marin have expected any different answer? Eisen truly was an isolationist. Marin began to wonder if he should have ever given the announcement in the first place.

  "Ah, right. Well, have a good day, Doctor. I'll inform you of any news that pertains specifically to you," Marin ended with.

  "I will do the same. You have a good day as well."

  Once Marin left, Eisen eyed the remaining breakfast on his plate. The food had gone cold. He sighed, realizing that it wouldn't be so enjoyable anymore.

  He rolled his chair out, took the plate, and lowered it under the desk.

  "You hungry?" He asked into the dark corner beneath the table.

  There was a slurping sound. A tentacle quickly nabbed the plate of food and retracted it back to the shadows.

  More slurping noises.

  "I thought so."