I poked my head out of the ground, before swiftly returning to the Catacombs. “The sun is setting now. Let’s wait a few more hours for everyone to fall asleep”.
Phoebe nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. Hey Count Boogula, are we sure we’re doing the right thing?”. I blinked in surprise as she continued. “Queen Buzzbuzz’s motives aren’t evil. If she succeeds… would it truly mean that all species could live in peace together? Hex has a point, doesn’t he? We’re supposed to be the good guys, and yet we killed his mother. And people like Jingle Jack exist… I don’t want to fight just to preserve the status quo”.
I nodded, remembering the first quest we took. Phoebe had demanded we break into the Catacombs back then. Now, even though the bees were our enemies, she was trying to see it from their side.
“It’s good to have doubts. You’re right that this world is imperfect, and always will be. That is why Queen Buzzbuzz’s promise of perfection is so tempting. But I don’t trust her”. I motioned to the surface above us. “Even after injecting all the Mechadreamers by force, the other bees still refuse to integrate. Can you even blame them, with how many lives must’ve been lost taking that city? No, I don’t trust her promise of utopia. And I don’t trust her, either. During our meeting, she just said whatever to convince us. Her motive might be ruling the world, for all we know”.
Phoebe still hesitated. “And if we have to kill for this, and it turns out she had good intentions… what then?”.
“That’s not enough. Hex had good intentions, and he also tried to wipe out humanity. If you want to change the world, you better have a very convincing argument”.
“And what about Hex’s mother? She threatened a city, and we couldn’t trust her either, so we killed her. Was that right?”.
I floated a little lower. “We have to decide case-by-case. I think that was an overreach”.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
She sat down on the ground. “So basically we’re playing God, just doing whatever feels right, against people who are also doing what they think is right. I miss Jingle Jack”.
I snorted in laughter. “Well, you make a fair point. But if Queen Buzzbuzz insists on using force against people with different perspectives, then we can only respond in kind”.
As with any good moral debate, we came to the conclusion that we were right about everything all along. Only heroes had moments of doubt, so it was always a pointless exercise anyway. Really, as soon as we had the slightest inkling of a moral quandary, we should’ve blotted it out with complete and total confidence in ourselves to save time.
“I feel like I became an adventurer for the dumbest of reasons”, Phoebe smiled ruefully as she examined her sword. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for this stuff. Is adventuring itself even moral? We’re basically extrajudicial cops running around, killing anyone who isn’t human…”.
“Well, yes, that mindset is part of the problem. But we can still do good ourselves! We can protect people!”.
“I guess you’re right. That’s what Lucy would do”. I sighed in relief. The Pacifist Journey of Count Boogula didn’t have nearly the same ring to it.
I poked my head above ground again. The Moon was high in the sky, a reminder of our last battle against Hex. It was quiet. Eerily so, even. The silence was punctuated only by the chirping of a lonely cricket. Every bee was tucked away into their honeycomb towers, while the people outside rolled around uncomfortably in their sleeping bags and makeshift tents.
I headed back underground. “All green. Operation Sweet Tooth is a go. King of Scares, out”.
“We’re not on walkie-talkies, Count Boogula”, she replied. “Wait, even if we were, it still wouldn’t be cool”.
“Negative, Darkbane the Third the Third. You’re breaking up”.
Phoebe’s cheeks turned red. “I thought you forgot about that already! And why does my codename have part of my actual name in it?”.
“All codenames come from the top. This is an urgent mission. Stay focused, Darkbane the Third the Third”.
