I had lost the bet I had made. As the king of this forest, I would honor the bet I made with that half elf. All of them would be allowed to continue living within the forest. The backlash from the other foxes will definitely be strong. However this is my decision and they have no right to challenge it. I wonder what other schemes Diana has cooked up. It will at least be entertaining. They will definitely involve Ana, Astra, and that half elf. She's already invested in this. Even though I won't force them out, they will still have to prove they can survive her plans. While these thoughts are flowing through my mind I eventually make it to the border of the forbidden and beastmen zone. There the queen is awaiting my return.
"Did they leave?" She asks. It seems she has been very worried about this. Of course she is. They are her daughters after all. Which mother wouldn't want their daughters to live?
"No, they did not."
"So, they are no longer with us." She says while stumbling, barely supporting herself as she falls down.
"Did you at least kill them quickly and as painless as possible?" She asks that question after using some time to collect herself and stand back up.
"No, they are not dead." I say to clean up this misunderstanding as quickly as possible.
"I was challenged by their friend, a half elf. He showed me he had a way to make sure they never will lose control of their elements. To make sure of this, I prepared two challenges for him, and he passed splendidly. Because of this I have no need to kill them anymore."
"Huh." The queen stutters. She is obviously failing to understand. Me, the person who will do what he sets out to do without change, has conceded. The shock however soon turns to happiness as she realizes her children are still alive.
"So, they are still alive. That is great. I must thank this person. He has protected them, and helped them control their element. They will be able to live a longer life now. Please tell me their location so I can thank him personally. But what are you going to do about the backlash. The people won't stand for you going back on your word."
"I have not gone back on my word. I was only going to kill them since they were a potential threat in the future. Now that threat has been successfully removed, they no longer need to die. If they have a problem with it then they can go do something about it. I have never once said I would kill them to avenge the death of Wendy's son. I only said I would kill them to make up for my mistake. Now tell me, have any important matters happened while I was gone."
"Some of your children have been killed. The people behind their deaths are unknown, but the culprits are definitely other foxes. I'm sure this is just a battle of succession since most of those who have been killed are those who are most likely to succeed you."
"Ah yes the succession. I have almost forgotten that it is almost time for my century long term to end. How much longer again."
"You have five more years left."
"So they are already trying to decide who will replace me. Well that is fine. Young blood is always needed to lead the tribe. I will not hunt down the murders, but they should stop now that I am back. Is there any other important incidents to note of."
"No my king. Everything else is proceeding as it usually does."
"That is good then. I will begin to prepare the tournament that decides who will lead the tribe for the next century. Since there's nothing else, then announce my return. Also announce that your daughters continue to live, and tell them the reason why. Let me deal with the backlash."
"Okay my king. I will let you rest and think of the tournament."
Just like that I had returned to the fox tribe. I went to the clearing in the center of the forest. I am sure the announcement will spread throughout the village by tomorrow. The people should once again be rallied by Diana, and will try to force me to do their work again. This matter has already been used so their shouldn't be as much as a reaction as last time.
The next day, just like my predictions, my announcement had already spread throughout the village. Diana had also rallied the foxes once again. This time less people showed up though. I didn't think that they would rally the very next day and try to force me once again. The backlash is even less than I expected it to be though. I guess some people would be grieving the loss of their own child. They should also be trying to find the culprit so they would be less focused on this matter.
"What have you all gathered here for?" I ask.
"You should now very well why we have gathered. You have promised that you would kill your daughters, but didn't pull through with it. We are here to make sure you go do it and avenge poor Watson's death."
"Yes, you said that you would avenge my son. You must go and kill your daughters."
"I have never said I would avenge your son. I have never promised to kill my daughters. I had only promised to make up for my mistake. At the time killing them was the easiest way to make up for that mistake. However while they have been away for twelve years, they have made up for their mistake. They have learned to control their elements, and even have someone to help them do so. They now have no mistake, meaning they do not need to be killed. I have already tested the person and he is able to make sure they will be fine. If you wish to avenge your son, get the strength to do so."
"How dare you go back on your word like this?"
With Diana saying this the rest of the foxes with her picked up on it. They called me a coward who wouldn't kill. One who is ruled by their emotion. I never really cared for their insults, and still don't. I let them tire themselves out before continuing.
"This is my decision. They have shown full control over their powers. In five years there will be a new leader so you can do what you wish then. I still need to plan the succession ceremony, so this matter is dismissed."
Then the foxes begin to leave. It seemed like most of them didn't really care about avenging Watson's death. They probably wanted my daughters dead. If their elements went out of control then it would be disastrous. I am pretty sure they believe my words though, so they lost the motivation to keep challenging me. I am sure this is not over though. That half elf will definitely be targeted now.
"Thank you my king for sparing them, and dealing with the backlash."
"As I have said before they have someone by their side that can help control their elements. They are no longer a threat to us and don't need to be removed."
"I still need to thank this person for saving my daughters. When do you think I should go and express my thanks."
"I don't know. This is up to you to decide. I would probably wait a month though."
"Why is that?"
"The person has tried to forcefully use a spell beyond his limits. However, if he never did that then I probably would have chased them all out. Well, either way since he has done that he is currently experiencing a backlash. He should be fully recovered by the end of the month at the latest and by the end of the week at the earliest."
"Forcefully using a spell beyond his limits. I am surprised he is even able to recover from that. Don't most lose the ability to use spells if they did something like that."
"He is one of the lucky ones. Well that is my suggestion. Do with it what you will."
"Yes my king."
After the king and queen finished their conversation Diana and Diego made it back to their homes. Once their Diana began to trash the place in anger. She even began to abuse Diego as well. Lots of things were broken and Diego took a lot of hits before she finally calmed down.
"F*** it all. Why couldn't those f****ng bastards stall the king long enough. How were they even able to control their f****ng elements. No elemental fox has been able to do that in history. Now I'm supposed to believe that they both were able to coincidently do it with some help. This is all just f****d up."
"Mother language," Diego said in between pained breaths.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I let my temper get the better of me. We were just so close to killing all of his successors. We had almost paved the way for you to become the next king. Now all of that is ruined."
"Not necessarily mother. We have already killed a vast majority of the powerful successors. Even if some of them are left I should be able to beat them in the tournament. I don't believe anyone of them could be as strong as me."
"Still we shouldn't take any chances in this. Maybe one of them was hiding their strength. That way they would be underestimated during the tournament and be able to win in the end. We need to kill the remaining foxes to be completely sure."
"However mother to do so we would need to get the king away again. I doubt we would be able to do that again. Especially now that our original excuse is gone. Besides many of the other foxes that have supported us are gone. Some of them didn't really care about this in the first place. Also a vast majority of them were only supporting us so that Ana and Astra would die. Now that the king has confirmed them to be in control of their elements, we have lost a large portion of our supporters."
"I doubt they are able to fully control their elements. Otherwise the king would have definitely let them back into the forbidden zone. As such, they shouldn't be able to control their elements and instead should be having them forcefully suppressed. It must have been the same boy who saved them. If we can kill him, then we should be able to get the king to act once again. However we need to wait for a little bit of time. We should already be under suspicion for the murder of the successors. We should lay low for a little while, and then strike."
"Great idea mother, but how will we kill the boy. Also how will I go out to do so."
"You will have to figure out a way to kill the boy by yourself. As for getting out, that is an easy challenge. All we need to do is say that you are going out to train. That is a universal reason that almost every fox uses to get their kids out of the forbidden zone. You will have to find people to go with you though."
"I guess I could get Dawn, Dave, and Donald to go out with me again. I could then probably ditch them, while I go find the boy and kill him."
"Yes my son, that is a good plan. We will start in one months time. Prepare yourself to the best of your abilities. We don't know what the boy can do, so prepare to the best of your abilities."
"I have a question, mother. How will we alert the king to the fact that the boy is dead? We definitely can't just go tell him. That would just be too suspicious."
"We won't have to do so. When he is dead, Ana and Astra won't be able to suppress their element. When that happens there will be an obvious sign. All we need to do is kill the boy and then wait for our chance. It should definitely come before the succession ceremony."
"Okay mother. I will continue my magic practice to prepare for the fight."
"Good. I now need to comfort Wendy. She should be devastated that her son didn't get avenged. This will be the perfect chance to get closer to her. I still don't see how I will use her, but it is always better to have more pawns."
"Okay mother. I will do my best."
Diana and Diego then go to tidy up their appearances. Diego goes to hide his new bruises, while Diana goes to fix her disheveled appearance. Diego takes less time to fix his appearance, and then begins to start practicing. He is mostly training his stamina and strength. Before long Diana also fixes her appearance, and heads to Wendy's house. She soon finds Wendy on the floor crying.
"I'm sorry Watson. Please forgive me. If the king won't do it, then I'll get stronger. I'll avenge your death soon. Just wait for me."
She is so distraught by her grief that she didn't even notice Diana had entered her house. Diana doesn't go to her, but let's her cry out her grief. After a little while Wendy stops crying and finally notices Diana.
"I'm sorry you had to see that."
"It's fine Wendy. If I was in your place, I would probably do the same. In fact I did a similar thing when my husband died. I cried much longer, though. I don't think I would have stopped if it wasn't for my son."
"Hahaha. Thanks for trying to cheer me up."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but are you serious? Are you really going to try to get stronger to avenge Watson?"
"I have no other choice. The king won't help me and I doubt any other fox would. If I want to get this done I need to do it. No I should be the one to do it. I'm thankful for all you've done for me so far. If I ever get the chance, I'll definitely pay you back."
"I'm not going to try to stop you. However do you really think you will be able to win?"
"Honestly no, but I don't care. This is something that I need to do."
"Okay then. I see that you are so dead set on doing this. However, give me a chance to try something out first. It will only take a couple of months. If my plan works, then the king will have to take action once again."
"No I can't trouble you any more. I'll do the rest on my own."
"Just wait for two years please. I don't want to see a friend die. Besides you will need to train. You can't possibly get enough strength to win against them in a little bit of time. Just let me try my plan, and if I fail, then we can go with your plan."
"I guess you're right Diana. I'm sorry if I got a little hot headed. I'll start training then and wait for the good news of your plan."
"Don't worry, my plan will work. Your son will get avenged."
"Thank you so much Diana. I will definitely repay you even if your plan fails. Just tell me if you need anything. I'll be there to help you."
"Okay then. I gotta put some finishing touches on my plan, so I'll let you train now. Goodbye for now."
"Yes goodbye."
With that Wendy starts to train her control over her element. Even though Diana is saying she will help, she is still preparing for the worst. Meanwhile Diana goes back to her house to see Diego has just finished his stamina and strength training.
"So mother how is it going?"
"Wendy shall be training in case the plan fails. I'll get permission for you to leave the forbidden zone in one months time. For the meantime, just continue training. We'll definitely finish off the rest of his successors this time."
"Yes mother."
With that out of the way Diego continues to train. For the next couple of days he continues stamina and strength training. He also works on his control over his elements. He keeps training daily to make sure that he will be able to deal with any unexpected scenario. In between his training he goes over to Dave, Dawn, and Donald's houses. He tries to convince them to go out with him. They are reluctant since they know Diego had killed Watson, but soon agree to go with him.
Meanwhile Diana heads to get permission for Diego to leave the forbidden area, in one months' time, on the basis of combat training. Once she gets permission for Diego she also gets permission for Dawn, Dave, and Donald. After she has finished with she then goes and hangs out with Wendy. She helps her train, especially with elemental control. Both of these are all done within a week, leaving three more weeks before the day of departure.