Scene 7.25 - Aristocratic Affirmation
EST: INT. Throne Room, The Vault Of Knowledge, Roxanopolis, Spring, 1813
MS: Throne Room
(The boy and the man enter, ancient oil lamp sputtering in MONTY'S upraised hand. The interior of the room is in the shape of a pyramid, triangular walls are sloped upward to a ceiling of thick, dark glass. Upon each golden wall are etchings, telling a long, epic story. On the North wall, Cuneiform is written, on the East wall, Sanskrit. To the South, we see our familiar Ancient Greek. On the West wall are Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Running along the bottom of the wall is a long line of Olmec pictographs describing the construction and purpose of the Vault. Most impressive, however, is the throne, made of human bones dipped in gold, silver and bronze. The silver and bronze coatings have long-tarnished and oxidized, yet the gold retains its luster as if recently-polished. Directly in front of the throne is a large, cracked, silver-backed mirror in an ornate, lead-and-gold frame. Ancient Greek is inscribed upon the mirror. On the throne is a gold-and-diamond scepter fashioned from gold-dipped, petrified wood. Also on the throne is a jeweled gold amulet and a small, golden crown of ancient design.)
MONTY
"Yes, of course!"
TERFER
"What is it, Casino? Do you know what these pictures mean? What this place is all about?"
MONTY
"It's everything I knew it would be. The mirror -- Egyptians once knew how to make glass; but this is extraordinary!"
TERFER
"It's like looking into the water! Is that us?"
MONTY
"Yes! It's glass; backed by flaking silver... wondrous!"
TERFER
"What is this? I see us and it's- Why is there a line like that?"
MONTY
"It's cracked, it's so old, it's slipping from its frame -- you see, all glass, in reality, is slowly melting, like-"
(Ice?)
MONTY (Cont'd)
"Like... well, the important thing, Terfer, is that inscription -- it verifies what I've already known all along. Well, at least since I've been a Shower-Lynn Master, anyway..."
TERFER
"What's that? What does it mean?"
MONTY
"The words read, 'The Answer Is You.' It means we're at the center of the world, Terfer. We, alone, control our destiny."
TERFER
"I don't understand."
MONTY
"I've got two-and-a-half months to make you understand. I must train you and Campy to be Shower-Lynn; the future depends on it."
TERFER
"Is this the treasure? This throne?"
MONTY
"Yes and no, Terfer. The treasure is knowledge; the throne is the price for that knowledge. The inscription running along the bottom of these walls speak of a native who will one day claim this throne and rule his kingdom. That day is today; we're here. That native boy is you, Terfer. You're their king by right."
TERFER
"Me? I'm just a kid!"
MONTY
"That don't mean nothing. There were lotsa kings in History that were younger than you. According to this, whoever of your three tribes claims the crown will become king of the entire land -- that's you, baby. It makes it vital to teach you the ways of the Shower-Lynn so you may bring enlightenment to your people. All of your people -- see this etching on the wall, here? That's a map of South America -- your kingdom. Get up on that throne, boy, and claim your right. (A quick flash of insight causes him to check the boy; reaching out to him:) Ah! But first-"
(Looks up, yes, a glint of... something in the darkness. MONTY, all smooth, boomerang-throws his sword upward, far above the throne. The serrated blade strikes a thin gold cable and there is a singing as the cable snaps and a smooth, obsidian sword plunges downward to the throne, glancing away and clattering on the stone floor near them, unbroken.)
TERFER
"What?"
MONTY
"Surely, Alexander had heard of the Sword Of Damocles. I just never thought-"
TERFER
"Fame of the People? I don't understand."
(Of course MONTY caught his sword when it boomeranged-back to him. He sheathes it in its special sheath.)
MONTY
"Once upon a time, during a long and boring parade, some old, poor beggar-dude named Damocles was watching his King and the entourage go by and said something to the effect of, 'Must shore be nice to be King: No work, lotsa girls, awesome food, plush cushions, silk drapes and all -- shore must be nice.' Well, the King just happened to overhear the words of ol' Damocles and said, 'Oh yeah? You wanna be King, old man? Okay, hop-on, let's trade. I'll be a lonely disgruntled beggar while you get everything I got being king and you can have it as long as you want it, okay? ...But if'n you change your mind, I'll be right here.' He whispers something to one of his generals and the general rides ahead on his fastest horse to go make preparations to receive the new king. The king hops-down from the thing they were carrying him on and helps ol' Damocles up on it and bids him farewell. You with me so far?"
TERFER
"Yeah, yeah! What happens?"
MONTY
(Lights a blunt, passes.) "Well turns-out that the old king just had enough time to sit down in the mud and cross his legs and fire-up a little blunt-roach he had stashed away when he hears the general's fastest horse coming back at full gallop. Turns-out that the new king's first official command was to have the general summon the old king back to the palace to answer some questions. The former king slowly gets up, dusts himself off and instructs his general to give his fastest horse a rest and to just trot back to the castle. Eventually, they arrive and the old king strolls in all-lazily and says something like, 'I like what you've done with the place.'"
TERFER
(Hits. Doesn't pass.) "What did the new king do to the place?"
MONTY
"Nothing, that was just sarcasm from the real king. You see, about one-minute-into sitting on the throne and wearing the crown and cupping a virgin breast in hand and eating a grape fed by said virgin an' all, ol' Damocles looks up. About twelve feet or so up, he sees a heavy-and-sharp sword pointing right back down at him, hung in place and suspended by a single horse's hair."
TERFER
"What? No foolin'?"
MONTY
"No H-S, just a single strand of a horse's hair. Upon seeing this, the new king was a little disturbed, to say the least."
TERFER
"No doubt!"
MONTY
"So Damocles said, 'Yo, former king -- so whazzup wit' the sword all hanging over my head and all?' The king, asking a rhetorical question, says, 'Has it fallen?' Damocles says, 'No.' Then the king says, 'Whatchoo complainin' 'bout then?' The new king says, 'There's a sword hanging over my head!' The king, relishing his third blunt of street-schwag, the kind you can't get innywhere but in the heart of the ghetto, he like milks and tokes that blunt before he finally decides to explain."
TERFER
(Passes.) "Sorry, I get it. Here."
MONTY
"We should call YOU Campy. Anyway the king explains to Damocles that the sword is his kingdom, and it is what keeps him vigilant, what allows him to survive. If the sword shall fall, so shall he -- he explains that a sword continually-overhead is what it is to have responsibility of a kingdom and that the horse's hair is what it is to know his mortality. The weight of the kingdom is the weight of the sword, and that to rule is to serve the kingdom as you would preserve the sword's position above you, unmolested."
TERFER
"Ah! Very cool. So what did ol' Damocles do?"
MONTY
"He hopped-off that chair and gave back that crown and became the happiest beggar in the world. Damocles had a choice. You, my dear boy, do not. Pick up your sword and get up on that throne for your official coronation, King Terfer."
(TERFER sits on the large, fragile throne, it easily supports his weight. He dons the crown, it's a touch too big and sits tilted on his head. He handles the bulky, heavy scepter uneasily, swinging his legs nonchalantly, unable to touch the floor. The weight upon the throne sets an ancient interior mechanism into play. Large stone shutters slide and light pours in from above, through the dark, thick porthole above. The light reflects from the gold and illuminates the room. It is glorious.)
MONTY (Cont'd)
(Bows deeply:) "All hail, Lord Terfer, King of The Amazon, Ruler of Roxanopolis."
(TERFER laughs. MONTY places the lamp upon the cracked, polished, glossy-yet-dusty, white marble floor.)
MONTY
(Hand on hilt and bowing:) "And, my liege, what shall be your first command to me, your most trusted general and personal advisor?"
TERFER
(Giggling, lifts feet horizontally-out to MONTY and points:) "Kiss my feet!"
MONTY
(Turns, points:) "Kiss my ass..."
(They laugh.)
FTB