The morning sun rose over the ruins of The Village. La Maison was still intact, but looked as if would collapse any second. Most of the guests had fled to escape the blaze and succeeded. However, one guest decided to stay. He was Jester, a close friend of Tristessa's. His racial makeup consisted of 50% angel and 50% demon, which added up to 100% badass.
Jester woke up and walked outside, hoping that at least someone was still alive. And it better not be Nodick, he thought to himself. Jester detested Normic from the start. He hated the way he governed The Village and the way he treated Tristessa. He had suspected the affair going on between Normic and CoCo, but decided not to interfere.
Jester caught glimpse of Tristessa's body hanging from the tree. He gasped in horror and ran over to the tree. "Oh my God, Tristessa..." he said quetly. He pulled out his trusty pocket knife and cutthe whip. Tristessa's body fell to the ground. "Tristessa..." he said in a choked voice. A tear fell from his eye and landed on Tristessa's face.
Tristessa opened her eyes and blinked. "Wha--?"
Jester's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Tristessa! You're alive?"
"I'm alive?" Thistessa said, reaching up to fell her neck. "But I--" she sat up and saw the destroyed town surrounding her. "What happened?!"
"Well, it just caught flames, Trist," Jester said. "Everyone's dead, I think."
"Jester, what are we going to do?" Tristessa said, standing up. She saw the condition of La Maison. "We can't stay here. La Maison's about to become null and void."
Jester began to think. "Trist, don't you have a safe in La Maison?"
"Yes, I do. Why?"
"Let's take the money and run. We can live somewhere else. We can even build a new Maison."
"Well Jest, it seems that we have no other choice." And with that, they went inside La Maison, emptied the safe, packed a few belongings, and left as La Maison crumbled behind them.
Tristessa and Jester trekked for hours through every sort of terrain imaginable. Their food supply was short (keep in mind that convenience stores and fast food restaurants do not exist) and the journey never seemed to end. They spent a night under the stars and continued the journey the next morning.
By afternoon, Tristessa and Jester began to hear the sounds of civilization. "I believe we're approaching a town," Tristessa said. They continued walking until they reached a sign that said "FALGERUS" and an industrial-looking town behind it.
"C'mon, Trist," Jester said. "Let's play house."
"I dunno, Jest," Tristtessa said. "This place looks Communist to me."
"Well, let's find out." And with that, Jester took Tristessa by the hand and they entered Falgerus.
They looked around at the activities and citizens of the town. Most were in military uniform. "Jest, I'm not so sure about this..."
"Trist, stop acting so worried," Jester said.
They found the most decorated citizen and walked up to him. "Hello," Jester began. "Uh, we're from out of town and--"
"Say no more," the gentleman said. "welcome to Falgerus. I am Packard Addr, the premier of Falgerus."
"I'm Jester."
Tristessa looked at Packard. "Addr? Are you related to Arcon?"
"Why yes, he's my brother."
"Uh, well...I hate to inform you, but Arcon's dead," Tristessa said sadly yet matter-of-factly.
Packard buried his face in his hands. "My brother..."
"I'm sorry, I really am," Tristessa said. "I saw it happen."
"How did it happen?" Packerd demanded to know.
"He died trying to save me," Tristessa began. "He was so heroic. He was like a brother to me. My husband Normic was plotting to kill me."
"Normic! He's your husband?"
"He was. Now he's dead."
"No he's not."
"He's not?"
"I received news this mornig that he fled to Glation with that mistress of his," Packerd said. "He managed to escape the fire that destroyed The Village."
"Hey Trist, you're not a widow after all!" Jester joked.
"So you must be Tristessa," Packerd said.
"Yes I am. Look sir, Jester and I have traveled a long way to find a place to stay, and--"
"You two are very much welcome here," Packard said. "I have a place for you two to stay."
Time passed. Tristessa was happy with her new life as a citizen of Falgerus, even though the entire town was Republican and Tristessa was an avowed Libertarian. Jester was also happy. Tristessa got an annulment of her marriage arranged and changed her name from Milvokic back to Lanier, her maiden name (pronounced 'la-nee-ay' not 'la-neer'). Tristessa took all her money and used it to have La Maison rebuilt.
One morning, Tristessa and Jester were taking a stroll and came across Packard and a massive arsenal of weapons.
"What's going on?" Jester asked.
"We're getting ready," Packard said.
"Ready for what?" Tristessa asked.
"For our war with Glation."
To Be Continued...