The little girl was fast asleep, curled up on a velvety couch. Princess Ceci brought her a blanket and tucked her in. She was quite cute with the dirty and grime cleaned away from her soft brown hair and round, soft cheeks. Ceci found out her name was Soixante. It was a cute name that made Ceci smile. And Ceci desperately needed things that made her smile right now because she was about to die from embarrassment.
March was on a merciless rampage and December was there in the room to hear all about her shameless actions. "She decimated a whole block!" March raged, "You should have seen it, Dece. The entire area is now unstable and completely locked out. Just imagine the amount of magic needed to turn it back to normal! I'm getting a headache just from thinking about it."
Princess Ceci pouted and wanted to retreat into a ball. She was knelt by the couch and had no intention of rising to her feet. Instead, she only grumbled miserably, "It's not like it's your magic anyways…"
December gave them both a gentle smile, "That sounds terrible. What kind of villain could have incited such destruction? I'm sure what the criminal had done was deserving of such a punishment."
Princess Ceci wanted to cry! June even got away! She groaned and sunk even farther down onto the floor.
March's countenance turned more serious, "It was June." The name was enough to erase the smile off of December's face as well. All of them were too familiar with the man known as June…Kaleidoscope's Right Hand Man.
"I should have known," December's voice was low and grave. "I was a fool to believe that he had died. Kaleidoscope had been so quiet for the past year after all..."
The Knight nodded, "Yeah, he was probably waiting for this chance. There's nothing we can do about it though. We just have to make sure he doesn't elect another leader for Kaleidoscope."
"I'm so mad he got away!" The Princess finally jumped up to her feet. Her face was flush with frustration, "Why won't he just die already?"
December gave her a calming smile. He rose from his armchair and walked over to her, taking her quaking hands into his own, "Don't worry, my Princess. We will rid this world of him soon. I swear upon it, with my own life."
Golden eyes beamed down upon her full of sincerity and promise. And soon the flush on her face changed from an angry one to an embarrassed one. "O-oh. Please don't swear upon things with your life!" Her voice stuttered and made her sound a little stupid so she cleared her throat and tried again, "Thank you December…You're the best."
His right cheek dimpled and the Princess felt a little faint. March interrupted them with a loud cough and glared at December accusingly. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well, either way, we can assume that Kaleidoscope is active again. We need to be wearier of their criminal activities. And any spread of Colors."
December nodded, "Yes. We shall remain vigil, for the good of our Princess here."
Princess Ceci shuffled her feet and smiled, "Yes, it's my duty to protect this city and my precious citizens."
"Hm, that is true." December patted her on the head. The golden sparkles in her hair flickered in excitement as she looked up at him with a shy smile. "But first thing is first. We ought to get some rest."
The princess perked up, "Yes! Nothing can be accomplished without rest first." She glared pointedly at March.
"Huh? Why are you staring at me?" He frowned and tilted his head in question.
She strode up to him and put her hands on his shoulders… But March was thoroughly confused! He had no idea what she meant when she rambled on, "Rest up! Get lots and lots of rest!"
"...Sure?"
She grinned and even March had to admit that the princess was absolutely stunning. "Good!" She chirped before making her made her way out of the room, "I'm going to get my rest right now! Good night December. Good night March. Please take good care of little Soixante for me."
"Good night, my Princess," December bowed like the elegant gentleman that he was. And March just stared and almost let her off until he suddenly remembered something extremely important!
"Hey!" He called, stopping the princess in her tracks, "Princess! What about your homework?"
"Ah?" The Princess blinked at him. And he could tell right away that she was about to bolt!
"Princess!" He called, but she already went and dashed off! He was about to run after her but a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.
December smiled and shook his head lightly, "Let her rest for tonight. A lot has happened lately."
March rolled his eyes and pretended like he wasn't sulking, "You're too light on her, Dece."
The Gardener raised a brow, "Well one of us has to be."
He grumbled a little but then relented. March let out a deep sigh, "Ah, truly! I can never beat you, December."
December made his way back to the armchair he was sitting in early and plopped back down, "That's not true. We're 1302 to 1301 in our chess matches."
"The fact that you're keeping track kind of scares me," March hummed.
"And I can't help but find that the way you pretend that you aren't scarier."
March grinned, "What are you trying to say?"
Their banter was playful. December propped his head up with an arm that he rested against the armrest. He was trying very hard to suppress a yawn, "I wonder about that as well."
March took a moment to get a good look at his friend. December always had this way about him; an unspoken princely elegance. There were honor and pride in the way that he carried himself. And even though March was supposed to be the Knight and December was the Gardener, March couldn't help but feel that December surpassed him by leaps and bounds when it came to 'knightliness'.
But even when December was the perfect personification of a knight who was eternally elegant, kind, and strong, lately there was something off about him. Probably the way he slouched in his seat from time to time. The way his lashes sometimes fluttered closed and a yawn or two escaped from his lips throughout the day.
"You feeling okay, Brother?" March asked.
December smiled at him, but this time March couldn't help but notice the darkness under the Gardener's eyes. Did he not notice that before? "I'm fine." December bit out.
"You look pretty tired."
The laugh he received was rather hollow, "Perhaps I might be a little tired. Sleep hasn't come easily to me of late."
March frowned, "Have you consulted August?"
"...Yes and no. I told him that I've had trouble sleeping and he recommended some herbs to help. Unfortunately, I don't believe that's the root of the problem…" There was unspoken sorrow in his eyes. December chewed his bottom lip, whatever was on his mind was plaguing him, and March had a feeling that the Gardener was reluctant on sharing it.
"You may trust me, Brother." March said, "I won't utter a word to anyone."
December looked up at him. A sharp intensity swirled in those golden eyes, "Not even to our beloved?"
March nodded, "Not even to Princess Ceci. You have my word."
"Alright, then I'll tell you. The truth is…"