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Pix would come to Tumble Town. Again. He tended to sneak into the mesa to try to find ancient artifacts. Jimmy didn’t like the fact Pix kept coming into his biome and digging up random holes that he wouldn’t ever fill in. Any time Jimmy caught Pix trying to excavate some quote “evidence of the past”, Jim would chase him out of his area.
A few weeks passed, and Pix was up to his usual antics of digging up random holes around Tumble Town. However this time, he got quite lucky. As he dug, he hit something. Something that felt like terracotta, buried under sand. Being in a mesa, it was practically a given that you’d find terracotta under patches of sand. However it was the fact that the terracotta was painted that piqued Pix’s curiosity. He continued to excavate the painted terracotta. Few minutes later, he had uncovered the upper part of the object.
It was a statue.
The statue had unfamiliar colors, specifically the bright purple on the torso, and the shades of green on the head. The paint was chipped away, making it much more difficult to distinguish what was what. Pix had an idea of what the statue was, though.
It wasn’t long before Jim spotted Pix. He came storming over and demanded to know why Pix was back in his empire, screwing up the landscape. Pix frantically tried to tell him he found something, for real this time. Jim didn’t believe him.
“If you’ve really found somethin’, how come I didn’t know about it? Huh?”
Jimmy interrogated. Pix couldn’t come up with an excuse. “Genuinely. Look at this.” Pix motioned at the hole he had dug out a moment prior. Jim stomped over and dismissively glanced at it. “This doesn't look like anythin’.”
Pix protested and tried to explain what the discovery was.
“It’s a statue of an ancient ruler, I’m sure of it! There’s a specific style of statues the ancient rulers used- I have proof!”
Jimmy sighed and got closer to the statue. He decided to give it another look. It was a good thing he did, as the colors and the silhouette of the statue seemed vaguely familiar.
The statue was lying down, almost as if it was modeled to be asleep. Jimmy, slightly in shock that Pix actually found something that wasn’t so insignificant someone would mistake it for a rock, he crouched down and attempted to poke the statue. It felt like terracotta, that was for sure. Pix began rambling on about how he’s found similar statues in different parts of the lands, and how they all have a similar plaque on the stand. Jim glared at him. “If it’s got more stuff under the sand, why haven’t ya uncovered more of it? Huh? Tryna bait me into doin’ all the work, huh?”
“Oh no not at all, I was just trying to show you–”
“—AND WHAT’S ALL THIS NOW??!?”
A familiar yet unpleasant voice bellows from the sky. Seconds later, Joel comes flying down from the clouds. Joel looks down at the other two emperors with a wide grin. Jimmy scoffed and turned away. Pix only sighed.
“What do you want, Joel?” Pix asked nonchalantly. Joel glared at him for a second before noticing the hole behind Pix. “What I want is to know what you’re doing digging up the mesa? Not very nice of you. I sure wouldn’t want someone digging holes in my empire.” Joel chuckled. Jimmy was annoyed at this. “Well, this ain’t your mesa now is it? This is my Tumble Town. You ain’t allowed here, big man.”
Joel didn't seem to like the statement that the mesa wasn’t his. Something felt off about the comment. Pix noticed the slight shift in Joel’s stance and facial expression. Before Pix could say something, Joel had moved on. Jimmy and Joel then began what looked like a staring contest. Pix had to interrupt them.
“Guys, guys. No need to get into a quarrel.” He waved his hands as he spoke. The other two turned around almost in sync, then backed off each other. With a huff, Joel walked back over to the hole behind Pix. “Seriously though. What is this?”
Joel crouched down and squinted. He couldn’t tell what the object in the hole was supposed to be.
“Ah- that’s the statue I found. It seems to be of an ancient ruler who-”
“That’s quite enough. I don’t want’ta have to listen to another history lesson.” Joel dropped his shoulders and stood up again. He turned to face Jimmy before taking off. “You better not cause trouble, toy man.”
Jimmy was infuriated at the comment. Joel had already left before Jimmy could say anything.
“What a jerk.” Was all Jimmy could say. Pix didn’t say anything, but he somewhat agreed. He knew Joel probably had something going on, which would turn out to be true. Pix wouldn’t figure that out until later, though.
—
The statue lay on a pedestal in Pix’s empire. It was encased in a crystal clear glass, allowing people to see the statue. It looked like it was asleep. Dreaming of a time it used to be something more than just a statue.
Four days later.
The terracotta statue began to chip and crumble. The fingers of the statue had cracked beyond repair, while the torso began breaking holes. Underneath the terracotta however, was something very unnerving.
Human skin.
It took two days, but all the terracotta soon broke off of the human resting inside. The human was asleep, just as the statue had been. Another day later, the human woke up. Now sitting upright, the stranger stretched and surveyed where they had ended up. The stranger had gotten quite annoyed as he could barely move. Being in a cage of glass sure wasn’t very fun. They eventually broke open a hole in the glass, large enough to squeeze through. After stretching once more, this time more freely, they walked over to a mirror.
In the mirror stood Joel, King of Mezalea.
He sighed and noticed a bit of terracotta powder coating his uniform. He quickly brushed off the material and did a quick spin in the mirror. He seemed not to have aged at all in the past thousand years.
With a shrug of the shoulders, Joel began to make his way out of the museum style building, and walked out into the sunlight. It had been hundreds of years since he saw the beaming star shining down on the trees and grass. The world seemed to be lively and healthy, much different from the world he remembered after the rapture. It was calming. Refreshing.
It wouldn’t be long before Pix noticed the shattered glass, and the missing statue. His first thought was someone had stolen the statue. It was the most reasonable answer. No normal person would look at a scene like this and think, ‘maybe the statue woke up and walked away’.
Pix would interrogate the other empires, demanding to know who took the statue, and where it ended up. Every emperor had the same response, confusion. It wasn’t until Pix came to the God of Stratos did he begin to find an answer.
**
“Hey, Joel? Can I ask you a few questions?” Pix asked, climbing up the waterfall to the sky empire. The god waltzed over. “Now what questions could you possibly want to ask? Want to be blessed by my amazing powers?”
“Not at all. I’d like to ask you if you’ve seen the statue I excavated a little while back.”
Joel looked at Pix in a strange way.
“No? I haven’t seen that.. thing since when I flew over to Tumble Town.”
“Don’t speak of it like it’s a disgrace, Joel.”
“I have no reason to care about such a lowly thing. It doesn't even represent anything. Just another worthless statue that means absolutely nothing.”
“Now that’s not–”
The two were interrupted by a message in chat. It was from Scott.
[ jimmmyyyyy, joel wants to talk to you ]
[ come to chromia please ]
“..That doesn't make any sense.” Pix questioned. Joel was standing right next to him, and what would Joel even want from Chromia? Joel dislikes Scott, so he’d never be caught dead trying to go to Chromia. Plus, why Jimmy? Why would Joel want to talk to Jimmy?
Joel glared at Pix, then at the general direction of Chromia. “What are they on about? I’m going over there.”
Joel had made his way to Chromia, being met by Scott, who didn’t seem to care much that Joel had arrived. He sat comfortably on a bench, and it seemed he was preoccupied with his nose in a book. Joel knocked on Scott’s hat, gaining his attention.
“What’s with the chat you sent? I don’t want to be talking to Jimmy, what made you think that?” Joel demanded. Scott looked at him confused. “..Jimmy just left. With you. What’re you doing back here?” The two stared at each other for a moment before Joel ran off towards Tumble Town. Scott started privately messaging Jim to try and get some answers.
It was almost as if, somehow, there were two Joels.
—
Two days before Pix noticed the missing statue, Joel of Mezalea had left and gone exploring. He’d already found three empires, though didn’t want to talk to anyone in them. Instead, he would sneak around, see what people were doing, and then leave. Kind of creepy, but then again, Joel had a feeling that something was awry. As if he wasn’t really meant to be there. He eventually made his way over to Anamalia. Of course, he didn’t know that Lizzie was the mayor, though he would be pleasantly surprised to see the woman he used to be married to.
He waltzed through the birch trees, after a while coming across Anamalia. He thought the empire to be quite lovely. Joel quickly took a self-guided tour around the empire, making sure to appreciate the buildings while remaining unseen by any of its residents. As he was about to leave, he noticed a woman with long pink hair. With two space buns on the top of her head, and the blue school-style uniform, Joel immediately knew who she was.
Lizzie!
He contemplated trying to talk to her, though what would he say? Would he tell her he missed her? She wouldn’t know what he was talking about. Or would she? He had no way of knowing ahead of time. In the end, Joel decided against it. He would try to figure out where he was and when he was before attempting to reconnect with anybody. Especially his old, presumably dead lover.
Joel was aware that these were the same lands as he once knew. He could tell by the way the flowers gleamed and the strange ravines dotting the landscapes. He knew that the empires he’d seen recently were here to replace the ones him and his friends had created a thousand years ago. However, what he didn’t know, was that this world already had a Joel. And he was Joel, God of Stratos.
—
King Joel had made his way to Chromia, trying to avoid anyone he could. It was strange to see the new architecture style, and the new machines created for the new times. A lot of things will happen in a thousand years, he reckoned. Overall, he enjoyed looking around at the city. Or town. Or empire. It was hard to tell what Chromia was meant to be. Joel decided to pay no mind, instead deciding to walk towards a small pond. It was beautifully decorated with the widest arranged colors of flowers Joel had ever seen. As he was admiring the sights, someone came up behind him.
“Ah.. Hello?”
The voice sounded incredibly familiar. There was only one person Joel knew that had an accent like that.
Scott.
Joel half-jumped, and stood up immediately. He couldn’t help himself from subconsciously beginning to insult him.
“What?!?! Scott you maniac! You can’t scare me like that! I’ll kill you if you do that again!”
They were insults, sure, but the tone of his voice indicated he was relieved that Scott had noticed him. Scott looked at him confused.
He wasn’t confused as to why Joel began slandering him a bit, that part was pretty normal. Instead, he was confused as to why Joel was short. And why he was wearing clothes unnatural to Stratos. Scott glanced around before he asked the question.
“Why do you look like that?”
Joel froze, looked down at his outfit, then back up at Scott. He wasn’t going to try to hide it. He had to tell the truth.
He cleared his throat, widened his stance, and held a hand up to his chest in a boastingly manner. “I am Joel! King of Mezalea! Also known as the King of Moss! It’s your pleasure to have had the chance to meet me,,” Joel dramatically bowed as he said the last part. Picking himself back up, he makes eye contact with a very confused Scott.
“Oh. I’m, uhm. Scott, of Chromia. Nice to meet you..?”
“Huh.” Was all that Joel said in response. Scott swallowed hard.
The two stood in silence for a bit. Scott awkwardly looked around, while Joel stared directly at the Colorful man in front of him. About a minute passed before either of them said anything.
“Scott. I have a really important question.” Joel asked. Scott tilted his head. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Where’s Jimmy?”
Scott squinted at Joel in confusion, though shrugged and replied haphazardly. “He’s over at his Tumble Town the last time I saw him. Not sure if he’s still there, though. I could get him if you’d like?”
“That would be great.”
—
”You’re saying. You know me?” Jimmy asked suspiciously as he and Joel walked back to the mesa.
“Yeah. At least I think so. You’re Jim. Jimmy. Unless I'm mistaken.”
“No, No. You’re not.. Just wondering why you think I’m so familiar. Like I know you. You’re Joel. But shorter?”
Joel sighed at that remark.
“Everyone keeps saying that when they see me. I’m confused. This whole place is making me dizzy. I keep seeing the faces of people I recognize, but they don’t seem to remember me? Not only that.. They all look different. Act different. Even live in different places. It's all so confusing.”
Jim looks over at Joel. It's clear on Joel’s face he's lost and worried. Jim can’t think of anything else to say to him. He’s not sure how to make him feel better.
The two walk in silence until they make it to the mesa. The unfamiliar sights and blaring blue sky wallpaper of Tumble Town make Joel even more discombobulated. Jimmy notices this and shows him into the original area of his empire. Down in the bowl of the mesa, Joel seems to calm down.
“So. This is the original part of Tumble Town.. Where it all started.”
Joel turns to Jimmy.
“This reminds me of my own empire.” Joel said in monotone. It wasn’t quite flat though. There was a tugging weight of guilt with the sentence.
“You’ve built in a mesa before?” Jim asks, trying to lighten the situation.
“I have.”
“That’s cool, me too– haha.”
Joel chuckles a bit. “Really? I would’ve never guessed.” He adds sarcastically.
The two stand and talk for a moment before another figure comes flying in.
It’s Joel.
Joel of Stratos.
Joel of Stratos hits the ground. His eyes immediately catch Joel of Mezalea. God Joel freezes. He’s not sure if he’s seeing things or not. Jim watches as the two Joels look at each other blankly.
“What the hell is this.” Joel of Stratos demands. Joel of Mezalea stays perfectly still. Jimmy, at this point, isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating, or if there’s actually two of them, but either way he takes a couple steps back and watches in hesitation.
“I think I know why everyone was acting so strange now.” The Mezalean king says bluntly. The God of Stratos clears his throat. “What are you– no, what am I doing here?”
The Mezalean king shrugs.
The God of Stratos seems to know what’s happening.
Jimmy is…. Confused. To say the least.
By this point, Scott had messaged Jim about the whole situation- as much as he could figure out at least. Jimmy would respond to every question Scott threw at him as quickly as possible, as to make sure he wouldn’t miss anything the identical copies of Joel were saying or doing. They weren’t quite identical copies though. As they’re from different empires, and different times all together. There were some definite similarities though. Especially how the God seemed to have small bits and bobs that reminded Jimmy of the King’s attire. Jim hadn’t noticed it before, but the small pink flower hidden in the god’s hair was strikingly similar to the one the king wore on his chest. Almost as if it were the same flower, Jim could spot the way the two looked at the flower on the other.
The three stand in silence for a while. No one really moves, let alone speaks. Occasionally, it would seem someone would try to start a sentence, though close their mouth and forget about whatever they were going to say. It was an awkward few minutes as no one dared to cut through the tense atmosphere. That was until the King of Mezalea decided to speak up.
“Uhm. Probably a good question to ask. What year is it currently?” He tilts his head slightly to the left as he asks. Joel of Stratos is quick to answer.
“I’d say around.. Late 1022? 1023?”
The year seems almost fake to the king. A thousand years? Is that really possible? It was true that the ancient people who used to be in Rivendell were alive before the clock began ticking, but it still seems too soon. Like something wasn’t quite lining up right. The fault of the matter was that the king wasn’t taking into account that it wasn’t exactly a thousand years that passed. Instead it was closer to around 950 years or so.
Something else that didn’t make sense however, was the fact that the king, although being perfectly preserved in the mask of terracotta, was still alive. No normal human would be able to survive as a statue like that.
That’s when it clicked.
This is the punishment for not believing in Xornoth.
This is the extension of the hell that Joel of Mezalea was destined to face.
It didn’t matter that the server would restart up again, nor would it matter that the players once participating would be reincarnated and given new lives. New memories.
The entire reason Joel was here, in the now, was because of his incompetence regarding Xornoth, and the lore the first season of Empires sought so restlessly to follow.
It seemed almost silly, how not believing in a stupid storyline would cause Joel to wake in a time he was never meant to be in.
The reason there were two Joels, was all because of the stupidity of the king.
God Joel, of Stratos, was also cursed. Cursed to remember all the things from season one. All the memories everyone else had forgotten, all locked away in the back of his mind. He remembered everything, except for how his empire fell. And now, he’s found the reason he can’t recall that memory. Joel of Mezalea never really died. He lived on as a statue forgotten in the barren mesa. Call it silly, though the entirety of season two of Empires was really just a big old factory reset to try and make something greater. Something Joel didn’t have to face alone. Instead of living on in solitude as a cracked and decaying piece of rock, he’d become something new. Something more. Someone that could change the track of Empires for the better.
Instead of getting rid of the old Joel, he’d stay. He’d become part of the larger storyline he used to hate so much. He’d end up contributing,
to the lore.