Epilogue
The thunderous lightning crashed the bottom sea. The earth began to shake tremendously. Bright light shone through the cracks on the ground. It was done. Earth was attacked.
"What is going on?"
"The Pacific ocean is being attacked by a great force! Some nuclear power from the sky!"
"What is going on here?" screamed the General.
"General, we are being hit by a strong lightning!" the man in uniform answered.
"Can lightning hit this hard?" asked the General.
"It cannot be done by natural lightning, sir! The ground must have been damaged by something bigger, and very near the surface of the earth!" another voice said.
"Look, General! There is something in the sky!"
"Earth is now in it Laputa's control. Those who object will suffer. Our power is much greater than yours. Surrender now!"
The General gazed at the message of smoke in the sky.
"So it is true...the legend is true...Laputa lives," he said.
* * * *
It stood freely in the sky, the castle and the ancient tree.
Laputa was an island that floated in the sky. Beneath the castle was a beautiful and enchanted forest, where the world's largest levistone laid. This levistone was the heart of Laputa. It was called the �levistone', for its main purpose was flight. It was able to hold a city in the sky for many years.
Beside the levistone was a black marble stone. This stone was the key to Laputa. On it was Laputan writings. With Laputa's advanced technology, this stone could send lightning and fire from the cannons at the base of Laputa, more powerful than any other weapon. It could also move Laputa to other planets and spaces. This black stone controlled Laputa, and possibly, the entire world.
Above the levistone and the black marble stone were the jewels of Laputa. These jewels were from Earth. They were taken by humans on their journey to Laputa.
Above the levistone and the jewels was Laputa itself: an enormous tree. Humans have built houses and bridges on this ancient tree. Everything was beautiful and perfect. Forests, waterfalls, flowers and grasslands filled the island. On the other side of the island were houses, farms, and roads, leading to the castle, where the royalty of Laputa lived.
"Where is my brother?" asked the King.
"I do not know, sir," answered the servant.
"He must be responsible for this...this threat to earth!" the King said.
The King rushed to the elevator, and went down through the roots to the large levistone.
"David! What in the world are you doing?" the King asked.
"Brother! I am so glad you are here. I have been waiting," the Prince said.
"Did you send the thunder bolt to destroy earth?" the King asked.
"Who do you think it was? I am the only one, other than yourself, who can control the black stone," the Prince answered. He smiled at the King.
"Is this why you helped me create Laputa, so you can rule the world?" the King said. He snatched the necklace of the small levistone off the Prince's hands.
"Are you mad, David? This is not why we created Laputa. We only wanted to escape from the wars and violence on Earth. This is not why we invented all those machines and gun power! We only invented them for protection!" the King exclaimed.
"You should rest, my brother. You are too old. Leave Laputa to me," the Prince said, looking at his brother's white hair and beard. King Edward knew nothing. He was too old, and too foolish. All he wanted was a peaceful world. Well, that is not happening now, the Prince thought, I will be king, the king of Laputa, and of the entire world.
"Come with me, David," the King said, pulling the middle-aged Prince toward him, "We are going down to earth. What you did was wrong! Wrong! We must explain everything to the people of earth!"
"No, brother. You can go alone, in your grave!" the Prince said. As quick as lightning, he took out his knife under his robe, and stroke it with all his strength into the King's heart.
"Now you see, brother," the Prince said breathlessly. He took the crown off the King's head, and placed it on his own head. "I am the real king," he said loudly.
The King let out a cry, and collapsed on the ground. Blood poured all over the ground. The Prince heard a gasp behind the him, and saw a figure running towards the elevator.
"Queen Selena! I should have known. She will take revenge for sure," the Prince thought, "but not when I am still alive." He took the necklace of the levistone from the dead King's hand, and hurried to catch the Queen.
"No, Edward!," the Queen whispered. She had heard the King asking for the Prince to come to him. She had also sensed something strange about the Prince lately, so she followed him to the levistone in the forest. But she never guessed that the Prince would murder the King. His own brother, the Queen thought, how could he?
The elevator stopped, it had reached the castle.
I must tell everyone! They must know of David's evil deed! the Queen thought.
"Are you sure, your Majesty? The Prince is the King's own brother! How could he have murdered the King?" one of the royal counts asked.
The Queen raised her voice from the throne she was seated in, "I saw it with my very own eyes! He did kill the King!" She had gathered all the counts to tell them the news, so justice could be served.
"If the Prince did kill our King, and attacked earth, then he must be destroyed! The sooner, the safer Laputa would be!" the King's advisor Adrian said.
A voice called out. "That is not true! Who had spread these lies? The King is just...well...asleep," the Prince said. He walked toward the Queen, "My dear sister-in-law Selena, where did you hear such lies?"
"You are the liar, David! And a murderer! You killed the King!" the Queen cried, pointing her finger at the Prince.
"Of course, you can say whatever you want, since you are the Queen," the Prince laughed.
"I am a witness. I saw you kill the King. You even stole the levistone necklace. As you all know, the stone never left the King's hands. I can also tell you that Prince David is the one who attacked Earth! He wants to be King!" the Queen cried.
"She is lying!" the Prince cried. "The King is my brother, why would I hurt my own brother?"
"Trust me, he is the murderer!" the Queen said.
The Prince stared at the Queen, and smiled evilly. "I have an answer to this problem. Whoever believes that I am innocent shall stand behind me. Whoever believes the Queen's words shall stand on her side."
The counts looked at each other. They began to discuss the matter.
"Should we believe Queen Selena, or the Prince?" someone asked.
"The Queen has always been good to us," a count said.
"The Prince has, too."
"It's probably all just an act. One of them is lying."
"Who should we trust?"
"Listen, I have the solution," someone said, "half of us will be on the Queen's side, and the other half of us will be on the Prince's side. This way, none of us will get hurt. The Queen and the Prince cannot punish us if we are not on their side."
"That is the only solution I have heard so far," a count said.
"Let us do it. We do not know whom is more trustworthy," someone said.
The counts looked at each other. Half of the counts approached to the Queen's side, half of the other counts went behind the Prince.
The advisor said to the Queen, "My Queen, they have divided themselves equally among the two sides. What should we do?"
The Prince said to the people. "You people! You do not even know what is right and what is wrong! I will make the decision. I now hereby declare war on the Queen, and her people!"
"You cannot, David! There has never been a war in Laputa! Not now, not ever!" the Queen exclaimed.
"I have the power now! Whoever disobeys me shall suffer painfully! I have the levistone! Only I can control Laputa!" the Prince cried.
"He is right, my Queen. He has the power right now. Let us wait for awhile to take action," the advisor whispered to the Queen.
"What must I say now?" the Queen asked quietly.
"You must go along with him, for now," the advisor said.
The Queen thought for a moment. "All right, David. I agree. A battle will take place in ten days. But this battle will not be fought with swords or guns. It will cost too many lives. Our battle will be fought with the human mind," the Queen said.
"Just what do you mean by that?" the Prince asked.
"Each side will invent their own robots. These robots will fight in the air. The side that wins the battle gets to keep the levistone, and be crowned King. The side that loses shall be banished from Laputa," the Queen explained.
"Sounds fair enough. Let the war begin," the Prince said, and let out a loud laugh. I will win the war, he thought, the Queen will not destroy me!
"How are we going to build all those robots in time, my Queen?" the advisor asked.
"The King once told me that Laputa was created by all our people. These people had invented the world's largest levistone. I know they can invent robots," the Queen said. She looked at the counts before her.
"We will do our best, my Queen," the people said.
"Attack!" cried the Prince.
The Queen, the Prince, the counts, and all the villagers had attended the battle. One by one, the robots flew in the air. They shot at the other robots with their laser gun power and fire that were located on the top of their head. Each side had produced twenty robots. Each robot was able to fly, shoot, and most importantly, obey the order of its master.
"Will we win, my Queen?" the advisor asked.
"We must, Adrian, for the sake of Laputa," the Queen answered.
The fighting went on for a long time. Each time a robot was shot, it exploded. Soon there were only nine robots left in the air.
"We are winning, Queen Selena. We have five robots left, you only have four robots left," the Prince said.
"I will not surrender until the battle is over," the Queen said.
"We will see," the Prince smiled.
Suddenly, one of the Prince's robot flew toward the Queen, and blasted fire at her.
"Look out, my Queen!" the advisor cried.
The Queen let out a cry, and jumped from her throne. One of the Queen's robot came to the rescue. It flew to the Queen's side and blocked the fire for her.
"No!" the Queen shouted.
The fire burned the robot's arm and leg. It rolled to the edge of the island, and fell down to the sky.
"David, how dare you? You ordered that robot to attack me, did you not?" the Queen said.
"No, of course not. The robots suddenly went out of control," the Prince said. He smiled to himself, you were lucky, he thought, your stupid robot was sane enough to protect you.
"You know you did it, Prince David! Do not lie before the Queen!" the advisor said, pointing his finger at the Prince.
"You must have done it! You are the only one whom the robots obeyed," one of the villager said.
Suddenly, the Queen's four robots joined their arms together. It attacked the Prince's robots together, using four times the power. There was a loud explosion. The Prince's last five robots exploded.
"No!" the Prince cried.
"You are beaten, David. You have lost the war. You are now officially banished from Laputa," the Queen said, "Never return again."
"How can this be? I have invented the most advanced robots! No one in the world could have beaten them!" the Prince cried.
"Your robots are strong enough. Your use of technology is very advanced. But you have missed one thing--a heart," the Queen explained, "Nothing can be created or programmed to be ordered by its master, it must have the will to protect and fight for its master. Your robots were also missing a mind of its own, and the purpose of sharing. It could not win because it could not fight with others as one. It only fought for itself."
"You must now return the levistone, and leave Laputa at once," the advisor said, "There is a plane waiting for you."
The Prince kneeled down before the Queen. He stared at her, his eyes filled with terror, and swore, "I swear upon this day, I, Prince David of Laputa, will take revenge on you, Queen Selena, and I will rule over Laputa once more!" The Prince stood up and started for the plane. He turned to the Queen and handed her the levistone necklace.
"I had promised you the levistone, and I have given it back to you. But I swear upon my grave, I will take this stone back. Remember me, all of you, my descendants will take my revenge. And they will be the King of Laputa!" The Prince looked around the island once more. He stepped into the plane and flew away.
"King Edward had blessed us, in his name, let us have peace!" the Queen said.
The people cheered, "Long live the Queen!"
The Queen sat down in her throne. She cleared her throat and said to the people, "Our pilots have informed me that earth is planning a war against Laputa."
Everyone gasped.
"My Queen, not another war! Not since the war with Prince David two years ago!" the people cried.
"I, too, do not wish to fight earth. There will be too many sacrifices, for us, and for earth. My advisor and I have reached a decision," the Queen said.
"We are not fighting earth, I hope!" a villager cried.
"No, I have decided that we will move back to earth," the Queen said.
"Move back to earth? But we are living so happy and peacefully here!" the people said.
"I know of this. But if we stay here, about hundreds of years from now, earth will have the intelligence and technology to find Laputa, and they will take war on us!" the Queen explained, "If we move now, we, and our children will be safer."
"She is right," the villagers said to one another.
"We will follow the Queen, we shall move back to earth, for the sake of our children," the people cried.
"I hope we are doing the right thing," the Queen said quietly. She looked at her young son, Prince Robert. She hoped that one day, her children will return to Laputa, and start a peaceful life here.