King Fred

Chapter 5

King Fred

 

            Fred felt sick. He had just been made king of a world he had just entered into. The huge crowd of Anerians cheered, ecstatic that they had a new leader. Nas wrapped his right arm around Fred’s shoulder and walked down the stairs of the stage and out into the audience. The crowd parted, watching and cheering as Fred passed them by. When Fred and Nas passed, the Anerians would crowd behind him and follow him. He was led back to the entrance of the large building, where the cheers of the Anerians could still be heard behind him. And waiting for him at the entrance was the largest car he had ever seen.

            It was a large sphere that had to be at least 20 feet high. It was covered it gold, studded with diamonds, and made of the thickest metal he had ever seen. He froze for a second, taking it in. He was snapped back when Nas gave him a friendly shove forward so he would not get mobbed. The door opened, and Fred was so astonished at what he saw. The inside of the car was white. Pure white. He climbed inside, but realized that the thing was empty. Nothing was in there: no seat, no television set, no nothing. The door shut behind him, and a voice came over the speaker: “Hello, Fred. Welcome aboard the Fweresedodok 2189, your official transport vehicle. How may I serve you on your journey today, sir?”

            Fred was speechless for a moment, and that made the speaker realize it had to say one more thing. “Oh, and Fred, the reason there is nothing in here is because whatever you want, I will give you. Ask, and you shall receive.”

            Fred looked around, wondering what he was going to order first. He said, “Give me a very comfortable couch.” And it appeared. He sat down in it, and he just kept ordering things to be put in.

            When the car pulled up to the destination, Fred hopped out of his newly refurbished personal vehicle. A red leather couch, a 60” plasma screen TV, a wine cabinet, a rack of elegant wine glasses, a partitioned area where there was a desk for his personal work, a large refrigerator in which anything he wanted appeared (same with the microwave and oven), and finally a see-through water bed. He stepped out of the car, still caught up in all the hoopla that surrounded him becoming king. He looked up at the building in front of him, wondering how something so large could sit on top of a cloud.

            Before him was the Anerian Temple, and it was larger than the last building.

            There was a different crowd of Anerians gathered at the entrance of the temple, waiting for him to enter and be crowned king. Nas gave him a friendly nudge from behind with the Taqar, prodding him forward. He walked past the faces of the Anerians, looking quizzically at him, taking him in. He reached the temple entrance, where there stood an ornate door made of silver with two Anerian guards waiting to open it for them. They opened them slowly, and through the doors was a scene Fred would never forget.

            The inside of the temple was filled with Anerians, cheering rambunctiously as Fred entered. He continued walking forward, where there stood the most ornate throne he had even seen in any movie back in his own time. It was outlined in gold with red leather padding. It sat atop a light blue rectangular area, which looked out-of-place from all the other colors in the temple. He walked up the stairs to the throne, and noticed something very strange. The blue stand had clouds on them, and on those clouds were buildings of all kinds. Flying through the air were cars and other larger transports. Then he realized it.

            It was Anera itself.

            He started to sit down on the throne, but was stopped when Nas said, “Fred, don’t sit down yet! You must be crowned first!”

            Fred was barely able to stop himself, standing up straight as if nothing had ever happened. Nas was standing in front of the throne area, facing the crowd. He raised his arms, and just like that the Anerians silenced immediately. Nas spoke, saying, “Now id the time to crown our new king!”

            And at that, the crowd went nuts.

            When Nas finished speaking and while the crowd was still cheering, an Anerian wearing a plain white robe tied around his body by a red tassel walked down the aisle with a gold box in his hands. He stared straight at Fred, not even glancing down at the box. He had a blank expression on his face, his face pale. He reached the throne platform where Nas stood in front, bowed his head, and Nas appeared as if he was blessing him in his native Anerian tongue.

            Once the blessing ended, the man straightened up, nodded to Nas, and walked up the stairs to the throne. Fred stood inert in front of the throne, waiting to be crowned. The man walked in front of Fred, stared him in the eye, and then the crowd silenced. The man got down on his knees and opened the box. He set it down on the ground and pulled out a red collar He pulled the collar up to his chest and bent over it. He said another blessing over the crown. When he finished, he looked up at Fred and said, “Fweresedodok, you are now officially king of the Anerians.”

            He stood up with the crown, held it up above his head, and placed it around Fred’s neck. It seemed like the collar was fitted for him specifically. When it was placed around Fred’s neck, he felt an energy flowing through his body that he had never felt before. His strength felt renewed, and he felt like an entirely different person. The man closed the box and stepped off stage. When he did this, every Anerian in the crowd bowed down to Fred. “Hail Fweresedodok, king of the Anerians, our new king!” After that, the Anerians all started jumping around, dancing, cheering, and being joyful. Nas turned to Fred and said, “Fred… you’re allowed to sit down now.”

            Fred took his rightful seat upon the throne.

            And then pandemonium broke out.

            Creatures with wings, long snouts, and short but very sharp teeth broke through the ceiling, walls, and doors. The Anerians scattered in every direction, screaming in terror as the creatures flew about, causing havoc. Fred rose to his feet at the first sound of the crashing; he was still standing at the head of the temple. The creatures had surprisingly not attacked him yet. But that immediately changed. One of the winged creatures turned to look for his next victim and caught glimpse of Fred. But Fred noticed the creature was not looking at him, but rather at something else.

            The collar.

            Fred turned and ran behind the throne as the winged creature took off and flew toward the throne. It followed Fred behind the throne. But the creature was surprised to find that Fred was not there. In a state of confusion, the creature threw the throne down, causing it to come crashing off the stand. The other creatures took notice of the throne crashing to the floor, and they took advantage. 3 of the creatures surrounded it, picked it up, and flew off with it and the other creatures through the hole in the ceiling of the temple. The temple was trashed: banners were ripped, walls had holes in them, and most significant of all, the Taqar was missing, stolen by the Sneila.