"Frustration"

by Blackjack Gabbiani

I had to have it. I knew that from the moment I first saw it.

But now it was gone, and with it, my chance.

I couldn't believe it was over so quickly. My only chance to capture Lugia, and it was gone.

Gone...

I beat a fist against the wall, ducking when that action dislodged a great deal of dust and plaster from somewhere above. I couldn't believe it. My dream, my life...all for nothing.

And 'nothing' was exactly what I had left.

No, no, that couldn't be true! There had to be something still here...

I tore through the one room I still had access to, my display hall.

An ancient book detailing the rituals of the Known World--merely a small fraction of a Kantan mountain region...the book fell apart in my hands.

The Eye of Dawn, the opal once set upon a priestess' scepter...shattered in the blast.

I trembled. This couldn't be happening...No, no, I would awaken in my quarters and discover it was all a hideous dream...

The ceramic urn from the predynastic era, the tapestry woven by an ancient queen...all gone.

I fell to my knees, then jumped up when I realized that I had fallen in the tatters of a painting once belonging to the king of Goldenrod.

My empire was gone, and I was alone.

It took me a moment to realize that the faint wimpering sound was coming from me. I suppose logically I knew that, as there was no one else to make it.

Despondant, I wandered out of the broken shell of the ship. The ocean looked so inviting, as though it would wash away all doubts and seal up all failures.

But then I saw the golden glint out of the corner of my eye.