Post by angelofmusic1992 on Nov 29, 2019 17:28:35 GMT
This was it. The third and final test. Weiss tried not to let her nervousness show, although she wasn’t sure how good of a job she was doing. Her and the rest of the candidates were backstage at a theatre in the middle of the city, waiting for the crowd to settle in before the debates began. Even though this would be televised so people at home could watch, the place was packed. Every seat had been filled, and Weiss had heard people commenting about how this was the biggest turnout they’d seen in a long time. This race to become Voodoo King or Queen had captured a lot of people’s attention. And the candidates were starting to feel the pressure.
They knew that this was their last chance to try and rack up a good score before voting took place. Weiss could see that a lot of them were just as nervous as she was, maybe even more so. The only one who seemed calm was Sypha. Weiss knew that the woman was her main competition right now, but she couldn’t help but admire her a little. She seemed so confident and strong and sure of herself. And she’d never acted outright hostile towards her like some of the other candidates had. Heck, she was the only one who hadn’t underestimated her from the beginning. But the two were neck in neck, and Weiss knew Sypha would use the debate as an opportunity to try and finally tip the scales in her favor. She couldn’t let her guard down.
Ruber restlessly paced back and forth, his feet rhythmically tapping against the floor. “What’s taking them so long?” he asked. “These people need to hurry up and sit down so we can get this thing started.”
“They’re probably double checking the tech stuff too,” Howl replied. “God forbid something with the mics or the cameras go wrong and nobody outside the theater can watch.”
“You don’t need to remind me,” Ruber growled. “I’m perfectly aware that nearly everyone in the city is going to be watching everything we say and every move we make.”
“You know, being Voodoo King means having all eyes on you pretty often,” Jafar commented. “If it bothers you so much, maybe you shouldn’t have become a candidate.”
Ruber gave Jafar a nasty glare. “In case you’ve forgotten Jafar, my average score is higher than yours, do don’t you talk to me about dropping out.”
Jafar gritted his teeth, obviously stung by the comment. It looked like he and Ruber were about to come to blows before the debate even began. But a stern voice cut through their conversation.
“That’s enough, both of you,” Sypha said. “If you’re going to fight like immature children, do it somewhere else.”
Both men glared at her, but didn’t say anything more. Weiss just quietly watched, wondering if she could ever sound like that, so commanding and self-assured. But before anything else could be said or done, Facilier’s voice rang through the theater.
“Alright everyone, let’s get this debate under way!”
The candidates froze at those words, and they heard the cheering and clapping from the audience that sounded more like a roar than anything else. All thoughts of squabbling were put aside. Any fighting had to be done out there, with words.
Facilier introduced the candidates one by one, and they stepped out onto the stage to stand at the assigned podium, usually accompanied by applause and whooping. They were even louder once Sypha stepped on. And once Weiss did the same, she paused, momentarily stunned by what was before her.
The lights were nearly blinding, and she saw a good portion of the crowd yelling and clapping as hard as they could. Some people even had T-shirts and poster-board signs with her name on them. As she walked to her podium, she tried to spot Sunshine and Riku in the crowd. But there were so many faces, she couldn’t pick them out at all. Was anyone else she knew in the audience tonight? She let out a breath, trying not to feel so overwhelmed. She just had to focus on the questions Facilier, Hagi, and Rose would ask her.
Speaking of the judges, they sat at a small table between the stage and the crowd, looking pretty composed despite all the noise. Maybe they were better at tuning this stuff out better than Weiss was. Once the noise finally died down, Facilier spoke.
“Traditionally, the candidate with the highest score gets asked the first question. Since Sypha and Weiss are tied however, we’ll have to determine who goes first with an old-fashioned coin toss.” He pulled a penny out of his pocket, then looked back up at Weiss and Sypha. “If it lands on heads, Weiss will go first. If it’s tails, then it’s Sypha. Are you two agreed?”
Weiss and Sypha just nodded. Really, there was no point in arguing who got heads and who got tails. It was a 50/50 either way.
Facilier flipped the penny, then once it landed, he called out “Heads. Weiss, you’re up.”
Not even pausing for a second, Rose held up a stack of papers. No doubt they had tons of questions written on them for this debate. Weiss wondered if they would even be able to get through them all.
“Weiss, you’ve done a fair amount of charity work over the past year, mainly with benefit concerts to raise money for Bellerouge’s orphanages. Do you have any further plans for this once you become Voodoo Queen?”
Weiss froze, unable to answer for a second. Her nerves were crowing out her voice and all she could see was the never-ending sea of faces and the bright lights above her head. The other candidates glanced at each other, wondering if Weiss’s stage fright had gotten bad enough that she wouldn’t be able to answer anything. But the word “charity concert” rang in Weiss’s head for a moment, and she let out a breath to steady herself. This was a lot like her charity concerts, after all. A big crowd, bright lights in her face, she’d performed with these sort of things countless times before. Thinking about it that way made her nervousness die down and she finally answered.
“I do,” she replied. “Raising funds for orphanages is only the beginning. I’m hoping to expand my charity work and hold benefit concerts for other organizations in this city, like those who help the homeless or people who have served their prison sentences and need help starting over. Groups like these will have a hard time making a difference in this city without proper funding, and that’s the kind of support I want to give them so they can help those that need help.”
Rose gave a nod. “Thank you, Weiss. Now to you Lin, do you think that…”
Weiss let out a sigh of relief. She’d answered her first question well. And she could see a couple of faces in the crowd smiling. They’d liked her response.
The debate seemed to go on for hours, with the candidates being asked all sorts of questions. What should be done about the crime rate in Bellerouge? What kind of experience did they have in giving advice and counsel to others? Did they have any thoughts about the historical preservation of some of Bellerouge’s oldest buildings and monuments? It felt endless. And Weiss got a pretty good idea about how the other candidates would act if they became Voodoo King or Queen.
Ruber handled everything with an iron first, and didn’t have much sympathy for struggling citizens. Jafar felt that as Voodoo King, his main focus should be voodoo work, such as getting rid of demons and making potions, instead of concerning himself with the masses. Lin would be unforgiving towards those who did wrong in the past, believing that they didn’t deserve help for the choices they made. The changes Howl wanted seemed to only benefit the upper class and leave everyone else in the dust. And Sypha believed that the solution to reducing the crime rate in Bellerouge was to crack down so hard on wrong-doers that they would be afraid of committing crimes again.
“If we want to reduce the number of criminals in this city, then they need to be locked up so nobody else gets hurt,” she argued. “That’s why I believe we should expand the jail and prison that we already have, get more security guards to make sure no criminals can escape. And the police forces need to make sure they hire upstanding people who will get the job done quickly and apprehend dangerous people faster. If criminals fear our law enforcement, and they fear what awaits them in jail or prison, then I think they’ll be a lot less hesitant to commit crimes.”
“Thank you, Sypha,” Hagi replied. “Would anyone like to respond to that?”
There was a moment of silence. Then Weiss raised her hand. Despite her admiring Sypha, she knew there would be a point where they’d have to disagree on something. And it looked like this was it.
“There are some dangerous people in the word where prison is the only option we have, there’s no denying that,” Weiss said. “Believe me, I’ve encountered some of them myself. And some people cannot be redeemed or changed, no matter how hard you try. But I believe that if we’re to reduce the crime rate, we need to start earlier, before regular citizens become criminals in the first place. Some of them turn to things like drug dealing and stealing because it’s the only way they can survive. If we give them the resources they need early on, then they won’t need to commit crimes to get basic things like food or some place to live.” She looked back out at the crowd.
“That’s why I think Bellerouge needs to start implementing programs and offering assistance to those in need. Previous criminals who have done their time and served their sentence should get help in finding a job, so they can start putting their life back together again. We need to help orphans and foster kids find loving people to take care of them, so they can grow up in a healthy, nurturing environment that will steer them onto the right path. People who are hungry, or have no where to live, or can’t afford medicine, they need a helping hand, instead of being pushed to the side or accused that they’re lazy or not working hard enough.”
She paused for a moment, giving her words a moment to sink in. She could see that everyone: the other candidates, the judges, the crowd, they were all listening to her. She needed to make sure she said this right, so they could understand.
“I know this city has had its ups and downs. And I know that there are some people that may have everything in life, and still choose to hurt others, or murder, or steal. We do need secure prisons and good cops to make sure that people like that can’t do anymore damage. But I think quite a few people that have been labeled as ‘criminals’ may not have turned out that way if they just had a little help before they made that choice. And if we give them that help, then they in turn can help others. And that can make Bellerouge a much better place.”
Her fingers gripping the podium tight, Weiss looked out at the crowd once again. Did her words make sense to them? She desperately hoped they did. She was speaking from the heart, and from things she’d gone through herself. People like her parents, or Thrax, or the shadow spirits, they couldn’t change. Prisons and law enforcement needed to exist so people like that couldn’t hurt others. But people like Yang, who had some wrong choices in the past, could still come back from them if they got some help. Officers in the Others Unit like Riku and Aqua, or even people outside of law enforcement, like Elsa and Ralph, needed to be able to give citizens the help they needed. And Weiss wanted to be like that too. Charity concerns were good enough to start with, but if the kind of changes she talked about were actually implemented, then she felt like Bellerouge could finally start turning itself around. And judging by the thunderous applause and cheers that followed her speech, it looked like a lot of people wanted what she wanted too.
The other candidates looked surprised at the response Weiss got, Sypha especially. It looked like Weiss had finally found the thing that gave her the upper edge. Sypha may know as many spells as her, and was strong mentally as well, but she lacked empathy for the city’s people. That was Weiss’s strength, and it was something citizens needed. The judges evidently seemed to notice the people’s response as well, for they gave Weiss a 10/10, finally putting her ahead of Sypha, who got a 9/10. Even if they didn’t agree with her ideas to better Bellerouge, she still answered eloquently and professionally and had gotten a lot of the people’s support. That support, however, would be put to the test once elections were officially held.
Turn-out to vote for the Voodoo King and Queen was the highest it had been in decades. It seemed like almost all of the voodoo community had come out to cast their ballot. At the end of the day, all of candidates gathered at Rose’s home once more, where the votes would be counted and the winner would be announced. They were allowed to bring a guest or two along for support, so Rose opened up her conference room to accommodate.
Weiss, of course, brought Riku and Sunshine along. She needed her family now more than ever. Jafar, Lin, and Ruber came alone, although Weiss wasn’t sure if they wanted to show that they didn’t need to lean on anyone, if they just didn’t have anyone to bring. Howl brought along his girlfriend, who had very pretty-looking silver hair. And Sypha had her grandfather in tow. Weiss never spoke to him directly, but he could see Sypha talking to him every now and then, and he would say something in return that would make her relax a little. It looked like she had a good support system.
“Seeing the other candidates in person…it’s definitely interesting. I’ll give it that much,” Sunshine said as she glanced around the room.
“Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with them,” Weiss muttered. “Most of them are rude. Although…I guess if one of them wins, then we’ll have to.”
“Come on Weiss, the odds are in your favor,” Riku said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You had the highest score out of everyone, and a lot of the public seems to like you.”
“None of that matters if they didn’t vote for me,” Weiss said. “I bet some of the candidates here tried all sorts of bribery and sweet talk to get some extra votes.” That was how choosing the next Voodoo King or Queen had gone for the past few decades. The candidate with the most influence and money won. Weiss just hoped that she’d changed that this time around.
All of a sudden, the door swung open. All chatter instantly stopped. Facilier, Hagi, and Rose walked into the room, each of them carrying two boxes with the candidates’ names on them and a thin slit on the top, and they instantly noticed the change in room’s atmosphere.
“Well sheesh, if that ain’t a mood killer, I don’t know what is,” Facilier muttered.
“It’s time to tally up the votes everyone,” Rose announced, deciding to just cut to the chase. “Sit down and get comfy.”
All the candidates found chairs to sit at next to the long wooden table, their family members standing beside them. Weiss looked up when she felt Riku put a hand on her shoulder, and her brother gave her a smile. She smiled in return, or at least tried to. This was the most nervous she had ever felt in her life. Smiling was a little hard to do right now.
“We have all the ballots right here,” Hagi said, nodding towards the boxes he, Facilier, and Rose carried.
“What, are you going to count all those by hand?” Jafar asked. “That’ll take all night!”
“Lucky for us, we have a little spell to speed things along,” Facilier easily replied. “Just watch.”
All three judges placed the boxes on the table. Facilier pulled out a small bottle that had some kind of pink powder inside. He poured some into his hand, speaking softly, and while Weiss couldn’t catch the words specifically, it looked like he was saying some sort of spell to work its magic. He blew onto the dust, making it scatter over each of the six boxes. Instantly, the ballots started popping out of the slits on the boxes one by one, landing in a nice little pile all by themselves. And for every one that popped out, the power made a little glowing pink number hover over the box. The candidates watched their own box breathlessly, while keeping an anxious eye on the others.
At first, all the numbers hovering in the air seemed about even. Then slowly, some of the candidates started to lose momentum. Lin first, then Jafar, then Ruber, then Howl. Soon, slips started popping out of some of the candidates’ boxes all together. When none appeared from Jafar’s for a number of seconds, he sighed in defeat, realizing that those were all the ballots he’d gotten. He knew he lost.
Ruber started growling under his breath when the number over his box stayed the same for quite some time. “Come on, move already!” he snapped as he stood up, outraged.
“Mess with the boxes and you’re outta here,” Facilier threatened.
Ruber shot the judge a look, but sat back down. Weiss felt like she could barely breathe as she watched her and Sypha’s numbers keep climbing. She glanced only for a second at her rival, and she could see the woman was staring almost as hard as she was, holding onto her grandfather’s hand for support.
Soon, Weiss and Sypha’s numbers were the only ones increasing. The other candidates realized that they weren’t going to win this one. Ruber actually slammed his fist on the table, while Lin dropped her head in her hands. Howl looked pretty upset for a moment, but he seemed to cheer up a little when his girlfriend put his arms around him and kissed his forehead.
The ballots started coming out more slowly, and Weiss and Sypha’s were still neck in neck. There wasn’t a sound in the room except the little pieces of paper zipping out of the boxes and landing neatly on the floor. Then, Sypha’s number stopped increasing. For a moment, Weiss’s froze too, and there was the momentary thought that there might have been a tie. But then, a few more ballots popped out of Weiss’s box, joining the others in a nice little pile. Everyone looked at the final count of votes. Jafar had 95, Ruber had 103, Lin had 126, Howl had 145, Sypha had 220, and Weiss had 240.
“Weiss, it looks like you’re our winner,” Facilier said. “You are the next Voodoo Queen in Bellerouge.”
There was a moment of silence, then there was an explosion of noise as everyone reacted. Ruber and Lin were obviously displeased, voicing arguments that there was no way that could be right, Weiss couldn’t have won, etc. Sunshine gave an enthusiastic squeal and threw her arms around Weiss, shouting “You did it! You did it!” And Weiss was laughing, almost hard enough to get tears in her eyes. She had done it. She’d actually won. She was going to be the next Voodoo Queen. It took a moment for things to die down enough for the judges to speak.
“Well, that wraps everything up here,” Rose said, clapping her hands together. “Now we get to start planning your induction ceremony and the party afterwards. This will be fun!” Her eyes were practically shining at the idea of throwing a celebration.
“We’ll make the announcement publicly shortly,” Facilier said. “You all put forth a commendable effort. Take some satisfaction in that.”
Not all the candidates took that to heart, however. Ruber, Lin, and Jafar left the conference room without even saying a word to Weiss. Howl’s only remark was “You’re in for it now, Weiss. Hope you can handle it!” with a smile, and Weiss couldn’t be sure if he was joking or not.
For a moment, it looked like Sypha wouldn’t say anything either. But instead, she quietly walked over to Weiss, her grandfather behind her.
“You’ve some difficult promises to the people, Weiss,” she said. “Commendable ones, but difficult nevertheless. I hope you keep your word to fulfill them, for their sake.”
Weiss just gave a nod. “I will. I promise.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Sypha, and she actually smiled a little. “Well then, I look forward to seeing what you’ll do with your position.” And with that, she and her grandfather left the room.
“Well, it looks like she doesn’t hate you,” Sunshine commented. “That’s nice.”
“She’ll be keeping an eye on you though,” Riku pointed out. “She’ll want to see if the people’s faith in you will backfire or not.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got lots of ideas on how to turn things around,” Weiss said. “They’ll see that I’m a woman of my word.”
Sunshine and Riku could hear the confidence in Weiss’s voice as she said that, and it made them smile. She might have been unsure of herself before, but now that the people had decided to make her Voodoo Queen, she was resolved to not let them down. She had a long road of trying to improve things in this city, but she was sure she could do it if she just reminded herself of all she was capable of, and all the hardships she’d overcome so far. As long as she had faith in herself, she felt ready to tackle anything.
They knew that this was their last chance to try and rack up a good score before voting took place. Weiss could see that a lot of them were just as nervous as she was, maybe even more so. The only one who seemed calm was Sypha. Weiss knew that the woman was her main competition right now, but she couldn’t help but admire her a little. She seemed so confident and strong and sure of herself. And she’d never acted outright hostile towards her like some of the other candidates had. Heck, she was the only one who hadn’t underestimated her from the beginning. But the two were neck in neck, and Weiss knew Sypha would use the debate as an opportunity to try and finally tip the scales in her favor. She couldn’t let her guard down.
Ruber restlessly paced back and forth, his feet rhythmically tapping against the floor. “What’s taking them so long?” he asked. “These people need to hurry up and sit down so we can get this thing started.”
“They’re probably double checking the tech stuff too,” Howl replied. “God forbid something with the mics or the cameras go wrong and nobody outside the theater can watch.”
“You don’t need to remind me,” Ruber growled. “I’m perfectly aware that nearly everyone in the city is going to be watching everything we say and every move we make.”
“You know, being Voodoo King means having all eyes on you pretty often,” Jafar commented. “If it bothers you so much, maybe you shouldn’t have become a candidate.”
Ruber gave Jafar a nasty glare. “In case you’ve forgotten Jafar, my average score is higher than yours, do don’t you talk to me about dropping out.”
Jafar gritted his teeth, obviously stung by the comment. It looked like he and Ruber were about to come to blows before the debate even began. But a stern voice cut through their conversation.
“That’s enough, both of you,” Sypha said. “If you’re going to fight like immature children, do it somewhere else.”
Both men glared at her, but didn’t say anything more. Weiss just quietly watched, wondering if she could ever sound like that, so commanding and self-assured. But before anything else could be said or done, Facilier’s voice rang through the theater.
“Alright everyone, let’s get this debate under way!”
The candidates froze at those words, and they heard the cheering and clapping from the audience that sounded more like a roar than anything else. All thoughts of squabbling were put aside. Any fighting had to be done out there, with words.
Facilier introduced the candidates one by one, and they stepped out onto the stage to stand at the assigned podium, usually accompanied by applause and whooping. They were even louder once Sypha stepped on. And once Weiss did the same, she paused, momentarily stunned by what was before her.
The lights were nearly blinding, and she saw a good portion of the crowd yelling and clapping as hard as they could. Some people even had T-shirts and poster-board signs with her name on them. As she walked to her podium, she tried to spot Sunshine and Riku in the crowd. But there were so many faces, she couldn’t pick them out at all. Was anyone else she knew in the audience tonight? She let out a breath, trying not to feel so overwhelmed. She just had to focus on the questions Facilier, Hagi, and Rose would ask her.
Speaking of the judges, they sat at a small table between the stage and the crowd, looking pretty composed despite all the noise. Maybe they were better at tuning this stuff out better than Weiss was. Once the noise finally died down, Facilier spoke.
“Traditionally, the candidate with the highest score gets asked the first question. Since Sypha and Weiss are tied however, we’ll have to determine who goes first with an old-fashioned coin toss.” He pulled a penny out of his pocket, then looked back up at Weiss and Sypha. “If it lands on heads, Weiss will go first. If it’s tails, then it’s Sypha. Are you two agreed?”
Weiss and Sypha just nodded. Really, there was no point in arguing who got heads and who got tails. It was a 50/50 either way.
Facilier flipped the penny, then once it landed, he called out “Heads. Weiss, you’re up.”
Not even pausing for a second, Rose held up a stack of papers. No doubt they had tons of questions written on them for this debate. Weiss wondered if they would even be able to get through them all.
“Weiss, you’ve done a fair amount of charity work over the past year, mainly with benefit concerts to raise money for Bellerouge’s orphanages. Do you have any further plans for this once you become Voodoo Queen?”
Weiss froze, unable to answer for a second. Her nerves were crowing out her voice and all she could see was the never-ending sea of faces and the bright lights above her head. The other candidates glanced at each other, wondering if Weiss’s stage fright had gotten bad enough that she wouldn’t be able to answer anything. But the word “charity concert” rang in Weiss’s head for a moment, and she let out a breath to steady herself. This was a lot like her charity concerts, after all. A big crowd, bright lights in her face, she’d performed with these sort of things countless times before. Thinking about it that way made her nervousness die down and she finally answered.
“I do,” she replied. “Raising funds for orphanages is only the beginning. I’m hoping to expand my charity work and hold benefit concerts for other organizations in this city, like those who help the homeless or people who have served their prison sentences and need help starting over. Groups like these will have a hard time making a difference in this city without proper funding, and that’s the kind of support I want to give them so they can help those that need help.”
Rose gave a nod. “Thank you, Weiss. Now to you Lin, do you think that…”
Weiss let out a sigh of relief. She’d answered her first question well. And she could see a couple of faces in the crowd smiling. They’d liked her response.
The debate seemed to go on for hours, with the candidates being asked all sorts of questions. What should be done about the crime rate in Bellerouge? What kind of experience did they have in giving advice and counsel to others? Did they have any thoughts about the historical preservation of some of Bellerouge’s oldest buildings and monuments? It felt endless. And Weiss got a pretty good idea about how the other candidates would act if they became Voodoo King or Queen.
Ruber handled everything with an iron first, and didn’t have much sympathy for struggling citizens. Jafar felt that as Voodoo King, his main focus should be voodoo work, such as getting rid of demons and making potions, instead of concerning himself with the masses. Lin would be unforgiving towards those who did wrong in the past, believing that they didn’t deserve help for the choices they made. The changes Howl wanted seemed to only benefit the upper class and leave everyone else in the dust. And Sypha believed that the solution to reducing the crime rate in Bellerouge was to crack down so hard on wrong-doers that they would be afraid of committing crimes again.
“If we want to reduce the number of criminals in this city, then they need to be locked up so nobody else gets hurt,” she argued. “That’s why I believe we should expand the jail and prison that we already have, get more security guards to make sure no criminals can escape. And the police forces need to make sure they hire upstanding people who will get the job done quickly and apprehend dangerous people faster. If criminals fear our law enforcement, and they fear what awaits them in jail or prison, then I think they’ll be a lot less hesitant to commit crimes.”
“Thank you, Sypha,” Hagi replied. “Would anyone like to respond to that?”
There was a moment of silence. Then Weiss raised her hand. Despite her admiring Sypha, she knew there would be a point where they’d have to disagree on something. And it looked like this was it.
“There are some dangerous people in the word where prison is the only option we have, there’s no denying that,” Weiss said. “Believe me, I’ve encountered some of them myself. And some people cannot be redeemed or changed, no matter how hard you try. But I believe that if we’re to reduce the crime rate, we need to start earlier, before regular citizens become criminals in the first place. Some of them turn to things like drug dealing and stealing because it’s the only way they can survive. If we give them the resources they need early on, then they won’t need to commit crimes to get basic things like food or some place to live.” She looked back out at the crowd.
“That’s why I think Bellerouge needs to start implementing programs and offering assistance to those in need. Previous criminals who have done their time and served their sentence should get help in finding a job, so they can start putting their life back together again. We need to help orphans and foster kids find loving people to take care of them, so they can grow up in a healthy, nurturing environment that will steer them onto the right path. People who are hungry, or have no where to live, or can’t afford medicine, they need a helping hand, instead of being pushed to the side or accused that they’re lazy or not working hard enough.”
She paused for a moment, giving her words a moment to sink in. She could see that everyone: the other candidates, the judges, the crowd, they were all listening to her. She needed to make sure she said this right, so they could understand.
“I know this city has had its ups and downs. And I know that there are some people that may have everything in life, and still choose to hurt others, or murder, or steal. We do need secure prisons and good cops to make sure that people like that can’t do anymore damage. But I think quite a few people that have been labeled as ‘criminals’ may not have turned out that way if they just had a little help before they made that choice. And if we give them that help, then they in turn can help others. And that can make Bellerouge a much better place.”
Her fingers gripping the podium tight, Weiss looked out at the crowd once again. Did her words make sense to them? She desperately hoped they did. She was speaking from the heart, and from things she’d gone through herself. People like her parents, or Thrax, or the shadow spirits, they couldn’t change. Prisons and law enforcement needed to exist so people like that couldn’t hurt others. But people like Yang, who had some wrong choices in the past, could still come back from them if they got some help. Officers in the Others Unit like Riku and Aqua, or even people outside of law enforcement, like Elsa and Ralph, needed to be able to give citizens the help they needed. And Weiss wanted to be like that too. Charity concerns were good enough to start with, but if the kind of changes she talked about were actually implemented, then she felt like Bellerouge could finally start turning itself around. And judging by the thunderous applause and cheers that followed her speech, it looked like a lot of people wanted what she wanted too.
The other candidates looked surprised at the response Weiss got, Sypha especially. It looked like Weiss had finally found the thing that gave her the upper edge. Sypha may know as many spells as her, and was strong mentally as well, but she lacked empathy for the city’s people. That was Weiss’s strength, and it was something citizens needed. The judges evidently seemed to notice the people’s response as well, for they gave Weiss a 10/10, finally putting her ahead of Sypha, who got a 9/10. Even if they didn’t agree with her ideas to better Bellerouge, she still answered eloquently and professionally and had gotten a lot of the people’s support. That support, however, would be put to the test once elections were officially held.
Turn-out to vote for the Voodoo King and Queen was the highest it had been in decades. It seemed like almost all of the voodoo community had come out to cast their ballot. At the end of the day, all of candidates gathered at Rose’s home once more, where the votes would be counted and the winner would be announced. They were allowed to bring a guest or two along for support, so Rose opened up her conference room to accommodate.
Weiss, of course, brought Riku and Sunshine along. She needed her family now more than ever. Jafar, Lin, and Ruber came alone, although Weiss wasn’t sure if they wanted to show that they didn’t need to lean on anyone, if they just didn’t have anyone to bring. Howl brought along his girlfriend, who had very pretty-looking silver hair. And Sypha had her grandfather in tow. Weiss never spoke to him directly, but he could see Sypha talking to him every now and then, and he would say something in return that would make her relax a little. It looked like she had a good support system.
“Seeing the other candidates in person…it’s definitely interesting. I’ll give it that much,” Sunshine said as she glanced around the room.
“Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with them,” Weiss muttered. “Most of them are rude. Although…I guess if one of them wins, then we’ll have to.”
“Come on Weiss, the odds are in your favor,” Riku said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You had the highest score out of everyone, and a lot of the public seems to like you.”
“None of that matters if they didn’t vote for me,” Weiss said. “I bet some of the candidates here tried all sorts of bribery and sweet talk to get some extra votes.” That was how choosing the next Voodoo King or Queen had gone for the past few decades. The candidate with the most influence and money won. Weiss just hoped that she’d changed that this time around.
All of a sudden, the door swung open. All chatter instantly stopped. Facilier, Hagi, and Rose walked into the room, each of them carrying two boxes with the candidates’ names on them and a thin slit on the top, and they instantly noticed the change in room’s atmosphere.
“Well sheesh, if that ain’t a mood killer, I don’t know what is,” Facilier muttered.
“It’s time to tally up the votes everyone,” Rose announced, deciding to just cut to the chase. “Sit down and get comfy.”
All the candidates found chairs to sit at next to the long wooden table, their family members standing beside them. Weiss looked up when she felt Riku put a hand on her shoulder, and her brother gave her a smile. She smiled in return, or at least tried to. This was the most nervous she had ever felt in her life. Smiling was a little hard to do right now.
“We have all the ballots right here,” Hagi said, nodding towards the boxes he, Facilier, and Rose carried.
“What, are you going to count all those by hand?” Jafar asked. “That’ll take all night!”
“Lucky for us, we have a little spell to speed things along,” Facilier easily replied. “Just watch.”
All three judges placed the boxes on the table. Facilier pulled out a small bottle that had some kind of pink powder inside. He poured some into his hand, speaking softly, and while Weiss couldn’t catch the words specifically, it looked like he was saying some sort of spell to work its magic. He blew onto the dust, making it scatter over each of the six boxes. Instantly, the ballots started popping out of the slits on the boxes one by one, landing in a nice little pile all by themselves. And for every one that popped out, the power made a little glowing pink number hover over the box. The candidates watched their own box breathlessly, while keeping an anxious eye on the others.
At first, all the numbers hovering in the air seemed about even. Then slowly, some of the candidates started to lose momentum. Lin first, then Jafar, then Ruber, then Howl. Soon, slips started popping out of some of the candidates’ boxes all together. When none appeared from Jafar’s for a number of seconds, he sighed in defeat, realizing that those were all the ballots he’d gotten. He knew he lost.
Ruber started growling under his breath when the number over his box stayed the same for quite some time. “Come on, move already!” he snapped as he stood up, outraged.
“Mess with the boxes and you’re outta here,” Facilier threatened.
Ruber shot the judge a look, but sat back down. Weiss felt like she could barely breathe as she watched her and Sypha’s numbers keep climbing. She glanced only for a second at her rival, and she could see the woman was staring almost as hard as she was, holding onto her grandfather’s hand for support.
Soon, Weiss and Sypha’s numbers were the only ones increasing. The other candidates realized that they weren’t going to win this one. Ruber actually slammed his fist on the table, while Lin dropped her head in her hands. Howl looked pretty upset for a moment, but he seemed to cheer up a little when his girlfriend put his arms around him and kissed his forehead.
The ballots started coming out more slowly, and Weiss and Sypha’s were still neck in neck. There wasn’t a sound in the room except the little pieces of paper zipping out of the boxes and landing neatly on the floor. Then, Sypha’s number stopped increasing. For a moment, Weiss’s froze too, and there was the momentary thought that there might have been a tie. But then, a few more ballots popped out of Weiss’s box, joining the others in a nice little pile. Everyone looked at the final count of votes. Jafar had 95, Ruber had 103, Lin had 126, Howl had 145, Sypha had 220, and Weiss had 240.
“Weiss, it looks like you’re our winner,” Facilier said. “You are the next Voodoo Queen in Bellerouge.”
There was a moment of silence, then there was an explosion of noise as everyone reacted. Ruber and Lin were obviously displeased, voicing arguments that there was no way that could be right, Weiss couldn’t have won, etc. Sunshine gave an enthusiastic squeal and threw her arms around Weiss, shouting “You did it! You did it!” And Weiss was laughing, almost hard enough to get tears in her eyes. She had done it. She’d actually won. She was going to be the next Voodoo Queen. It took a moment for things to die down enough for the judges to speak.
“Well, that wraps everything up here,” Rose said, clapping her hands together. “Now we get to start planning your induction ceremony and the party afterwards. This will be fun!” Her eyes were practically shining at the idea of throwing a celebration.
“We’ll make the announcement publicly shortly,” Facilier said. “You all put forth a commendable effort. Take some satisfaction in that.”
Not all the candidates took that to heart, however. Ruber, Lin, and Jafar left the conference room without even saying a word to Weiss. Howl’s only remark was “You’re in for it now, Weiss. Hope you can handle it!” with a smile, and Weiss couldn’t be sure if he was joking or not.
For a moment, it looked like Sypha wouldn’t say anything either. But instead, she quietly walked over to Weiss, her grandfather behind her.
“You’ve some difficult promises to the people, Weiss,” she said. “Commendable ones, but difficult nevertheless. I hope you keep your word to fulfill them, for their sake.”
Weiss just gave a nod. “I will. I promise.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Sypha, and she actually smiled a little. “Well then, I look forward to seeing what you’ll do with your position.” And with that, she and her grandfather left the room.
“Well, it looks like she doesn’t hate you,” Sunshine commented. “That’s nice.”
“She’ll be keeping an eye on you though,” Riku pointed out. “She’ll want to see if the people’s faith in you will backfire or not.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got lots of ideas on how to turn things around,” Weiss said. “They’ll see that I’m a woman of my word.”
Sunshine and Riku could hear the confidence in Weiss’s voice as she said that, and it made them smile. She might have been unsure of herself before, but now that the people had decided to make her Voodoo Queen, she was resolved to not let them down. She had a long road of trying to improve things in this city, but she was sure she could do it if she just reminded herself of all she was capable of, and all the hardships she’d overcome so far. As long as she had faith in herself, she felt ready to tackle anything.
