The annual banquet was held at the eastern kingdom, it was the first time in almost a decade other kingdoms set foot in the lost kingdom of the east.
The crowd from all over the kingdoms came to celebrate the mystical lost kingdom. In awe of its majestic appearance and the presenting guest, who had never been seen in one room for a decade long time.
The royals and their 50 court guests stay seated on the circular field of the outdoor yard, eyes jumping from one to the next table.
The four guardian sisters slowly descend from the upper clouds, standing beside the fifth table, in the larger circle for the five world's guests.
The guardian of the creatures of the skies and land stands at the left end of her sisters, smiling at the crowd and looking around the big circle to meet eyes with every guest, her golden dress with a long train flowing around with her. The upper part of the dress consists of a bodice with straps. Her exposed back with the low cut. The lower part of the dress ends with a fluffy skirt with a train. The bodice, back, and upper part of the skirt drizzled softly with flowery patterns that shimmer with the soft lighting. The guardian smiles at every guest, greeting them with her eyes, before her gaze falls on the girl with shimmering blue eyes and a small smile, her smile fading into a shocked frown, she looks away quickly her eyes falling to the boy with flaming red hair and upside down smile, her face falling into a stoic look.
The guardian of the darkness stands beside the guardian in a golden gown, her dark long gown with fitted body con, hugging her defined curves, ending with a wider trail that ends below her feet in a dark mist, sweeping at the cloudy ground as she moves. The shoulder straps hold them upright, with golden details on the shoulders giving her a defined warrior armor, as long trails of black fabric leave her shoulders to meet the ends of her mist dress trails. The guardian quietly looks around the yard her eyes falling on each guest before landing on the prince in a midnight blue suit that seemed to give his blue eyes a different shimmer, finding his eyes dropping to her low cut exposed chest, before he looks up to see her dark orbs glaring at him to which he looks away flustered.
The guardian of the light stands beside her guardian of the darkness sister, with her Embroidered flocked tulle gown with draped bodice and bishop sleeves, double slit exposing the lengths of her legs and long cut chest stopping just above her bellybutton, with sparkling gold details decorating the length of the dress, giving her a shimmering glow, her frown deepening as her gaze drops on the king of the west with a solid face, bare of any emotion.
The new guardian of the skies and land stands at the other end of her sister guardians, standing beside the guardian of the light, dressed in a one-shoulder soft spring green flowy dress that hugs her at her top, a soft silver belt holding onto her waist, dropping to bellow her heels with billowing ends around her, with her slightest movement, exposing her long leg with the long slit on her left side, she stands idly looking around the room before her eyes fall on the lone twin standing between her two royal brothers, to which she curtly nods with her head, earning a small nod from the princess in response.
**********
The guests swarm around the wide dance floor as the soft strings of the harp slowly begin, bringing the guests from different kingdoms closer together, as the dance between the kingdoms merges between the guests.
"I remember you," The Guardian of the skies and land says standing behind the princess with the shimmering Raven dark hair.
"You do?" The princess of the west asks, turning to meet eyes with the soft spring green eyes of the guardian of the skies and land.
"Yes," the guardian of the skies and land says with a small smile, "you and your friend" she finishes turning to look at the little prince standing with the boy with flaming hair.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about last time, we didn't know we were on the wrong side quick enough, and when we finally figured it out, we really tried to help, but..." the princess of the west says, tugging at the ends of her hair.
"It's me that should apologize for bringing you to our fight," the guardian of the skies and land says, cutting in the princess's apology.
"No, you tried not to, we just didn't listen sooner enough, you fought alone in that unfair situation and then.." the western princess says, stopping herself as the guardian's smile widens with the girl's reddening face.
"Please, don't, as you can see I'm doing better than ever," the guardian of the skies and land says, her green eyes glimmering with her smile.
The princess of the west looks at the guardian with knitted eyebrows, eyes trailed on the guardian's new green eyes. "You look different though, I almost didn't recognize you," the princess of the west says, earning a soft giggle from the guardian.
"Yeah, I could go back to my original color now that...you know who...has been hiding for a year," the guardian of the skies and land says, seeing the confused expression of the princess the guardian continues, "Eirene cursed me, with every blood I spilled both mine and others, my eyes and wardrobe would go to red, reminding of the terrible I've done. plus it reminded me of her every time I saw my reflection"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Victoria says with a small smile, earning a small nod of acknowledgment from the guardian, "Why did she curse you?" The princess asks.
"Because I exposed her to the other guardian sisters, causing her banishment" the guardian replies with a small shrug as the two fall into a small silence before the guardian begins talking, "I never got to say I was sorry for your sister"
"No, you don't have to" the princess of the west replies, her eyes darting around them, suddenly feeling suffocated.
"I didn't realize what happened until I saw you sitting alone just now" the guardian hastily continues, "the last of my life on my past body left me when I threw that thunder on Eirene and she went down the hole," the guardian says.
"Excuse me, guardian of the skies and land" the raspy voice of the king of the west begins from behind them, earning both their attention, "I promised my sister a dance, I'm going to steal her from you now," the king says, taking the shivering princess hugging herself with her gloved hand, in his arms and leading her away from the guardian to the center dance floor, not waiting for the guardian's response.
"It's not her fault, she tried to help" the princess stammers out, as the king places his hands on her back holding out her right hand, moving to the steps of the slow song.
"I know" the king replies, kissing the tips of her forehead, as she rests her head on the napes of his neck, moving in small steps to the soft glazing music.
**********
Achilles drags his brother towards the two guardians standing by the drinks table, stopping before them with a small wave, only responded by the guardian of the light.
"Hi," the third son of the southern kingdom says, with a small wave smiling at the two girls.
"Hi" the guardian of the light responds, as the guardian of the darkness clears her throat crossing her arms over her chest.
"We thought..." Achilles begins.
"You" the second son of the southern kingdom cuts in, his eyes glaring at the guardian of the dark's side of her head.
"I," the younger prince says, clearing his throat, "I thought apologies were overdue, from our last encounter" He finishes stopping to look at both guardians.
"You're expecting an apology?" The guardian of the darkness asks, with a dry voice.
"No," Achilles says as his brother responds with a "Yes"
"No," Achilles says louder this time, looking over to his brother, the older prince's gaze still plastered on the guardian of the darkness, "we are here to apologize" he finishes looking back at the guardian of the light with bulging eyes as she looks over the two princes, "I'll start, I'm truly sorry about how it went last year, I acted without knowing the full story and caused many dangers to fall to all the guardians and ourselves, and I'm sorry about that, truly sorry" the prince finishes, earning a grateful smile from the guardian of the light.
"Thank you for your apology" the guardian of the light responds, with a curt nod, "apology accepted" she finishes as the prince's small smile grows to a wide grin.
The prince and the two guardian's eyes leave for the older prince, standing idly with his hands crossed over his chest, mirroring the guardian of the west, his eyes still borrowed on the guardian dressed in the dark.
"I expect an apology," Andreas says with a raised eyebrow.
"An apology?" The guardian of the dark replies looking the prince over with crooked eyes, "for what? Not letting you win?"
"You used your powers, and attacked unfairly, destroyed my face then left," the prince says through gritted teeth.
"After I healed you!" The guardian bits back, "you should thank me"
"Thank you?" The prince almost screams out, repulsed by the guardian's words, "for almost removing my face?"
"And healing it!" The guardian of the darkness says with an exasperated groan, "how is your face now?" The guardian asks, her hands idly gesturing around the prince's face.
"You tell me," the prince says, bending over so his face stops just mere inches away from the guardian of the dark.
The guardian of the dark stands idly, her eyes stone-stuck on the blue orbs of the prince for a moment of silence before she begins, "Don't expect an apology" she curtly says.
"Don't expect a thank you" the prince quickly replies as they both scoff at the other's response before hastily walking away in the opposite direction, leaving the other younger prince and guardian of the light standing idly by the drinks table.
**********
"So it's not a cat?" The guardian of the creatures of the skies and land asks, her two encounters from a year before, her face scrunching as she tries to remember the little details.
"It is a cat," the princess of the south says, shrugging a little, before she extends her hands out, as the small furry creature appears in her strong grip, hanging by its neck, "it's just not real," the princess of the south says, swinging the cat up to the air before it comes back down, "now it's a ball" she replies smiling at the guardian, as the small creature lands in her outstretched hands, now in the form of a basketball, before it disappears into thin air.
"But..." The guardian stammers looking from one amused smile to the next, "I talked to them and they replied..." she stops again, seeing the raised eyebrow expression on the girl's face.
"The dog might have, since he's real" the tall boy replies, turning to the side as his gaze lingers on the lone twin, dancing with the king of the west.
"The dog was real?!" The guardian of the creatures of the skies and land screams out, gaining the attention of the guests that came to get refreshments from the drinks table.
"A friend of a friend" the tall boy replies, twisting his neck back to see the girl twirl in the king's arms and then land with the prince of the west. Allega smiles at his response turning to meet his eyes but instead sees his cracked neck following her friend as she dances with her royal brothers on the large ballroom dance floor.
"We never touched him" the princess of the south replies, her gaze returning to the guardian in a shimmering golden dress, eyes bulging from the new information.
"well I tried to talk to the cat and it didn't reply, I just assumed it was too scared to talk," the guardian of the skies and land says almost to herself, as she scrambles to put together what the two told her.
"We're truly sorry if we caused you to worry, we just thought..." The princess of the south starts before the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land puts her hand out to the girl, stopping her mid-sentence.
"You didn't know," the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land says, smiling at the two friends, earning an equally quiet smile from the girl and a distracted boy.
"Now will you excuse us, I think it's about time we danced" the princess of the south replies, pulling the tall boy by his arms as she leads him to the dance floor.
"What are you doing?!" The tall boy asks with a panic, looking around them as they join the royal dance on the dance floor.
"Dancing" the princess of the south replies placing her left hand on his right shoulder, then holding their arms out in front of them.
"I don't know how to dance" the tall boy whispers, strong red building on his face, Redding his flaming red hair.
"Are you serious?" The princess of the south asks, her face dropping, as the boy nods aggressively, "well, you better learn fast, because here they come" she says, as she twirls the boy around, as he stumbles to catch his balance, she redirects the king's hands in her's taking him away from the stumbling red-headed boy, and the princess of the west.
"Are you okay?" The princess of the west asks the boy, standing bent over in front of her before he swifts upright so quickly he loses his balance again, but as he falls the princess catches the boy holding him up, with bulging eyes.
"I can't dance" the tall boy blurts out, as his face grows ridiculously red, earning a soft smile from the girl.
"I can lead" the girl replies laughing at the boy's confused expression, as she sets her right hand on his shoulder before she places his left hand on the side of her waist, as she lifts their other arms out to the side, following in the steps of the classical music.
Princess Victoria was a good lead, she held the boy's arms in a soft grip but not subtle so that he could feel her small caress on the side of his palm trying to calm his nerves. They moved in a slow but aligned symphony clearly stating their intentions by swaying with the calming sound rhythm, smiling at the boy with her bright eyes, the glitter around her eyelids adding extra sparkle to her smile, inviting her redheaded partner to follow along. She is alert on their surroundings, eyes scanning the floor ahead of them, watching the traffic on the crystal dance floor that shows the cloudy skies and beautiful creatures below, swaying from one side to the next trying to avert from the crowd around them, but she never left her eyes from the red-headed boy in her arms, with his eyes glued on their feet as he follows along her lead.
The princess smiled at the tall boy's attempts to follow along, slowing the pace and the length of their steps, so the boy could follow along easily, trying not to force a movement from him, but the boy is following her through her every movement. Her right hand leaves his shoulders before she tries to go for a spin, instead, the tall boy twists out, reaching his arms out as he waits for her to spin into his arms. The princess of the west smiles at the tall boy's clumsiness, before following along his steps, smoothly spinning right in his arms. Craig idly waits as he watches the princess spin gently into his arms, her raven dark hair curls spinning around with her black gown twirling at her movements, as she clings in his arms, her back meeting with his chest, their arms meeting back around, amber green eyes clinging with his earthly brown eyes.
Craig builds a ridiculous red on his cheeks with the sudden waft of the princess's flowery perfume and her proximity, inhaling in a deep breath as his eyes waver from one eye to the next, unbeknownst of the small prickles of red building on the princesses cheeks as she twirls out the tall boy's arms before following back into step, her eyes unable to meet his striking brown, and his unable to leave her green shimmering eyes.
**********
"So it was you two?" The little prince asks, his red eyes jumping from one southern royal to the next, as the two brothers nod their heads to the boy.
"Yup," Achilles says, popping the 'p' as he rocks back and forth with a smile.
"How did you even find us then?" The little prince asks, his eyes scrunching with the question.
"We didn't" Achilles replies again, shrugging with his brother, "Allie ran away again, and we were just looking for her when we heard the commotion"
"So we changed our appearances to look like the western kingdom guards and approached you two" Andreas finishes as he downs the drink in his glass.
"And Allega?" The little prince asks, his eyes wavering around the room to look for the princess of the south, landing on the dance floor, finding her in the arms of the western king.
"I highly doubt she even remembers you two," Andreas says, following the little prince's trail of sight, mirroring the boy's scrunched eyebrows and tilted head.
"Don't expect an apology for the mud splat" Achilles says with a scoff nudging at his brother for shared humor, but finds his attention somewhere else. Achilles follows the two boys' gaze to the two pairs dancing on the flying dance floor, scrunching his eyebrows and tilting his head with them, mirroring their actions.
"What am I seeing?" Andreas asks, his gaze still borrowed on his sister and the western king, as she twirls in the king's arms.
**********
"So, what should I do then?" The king asks as the princess stops her spin to land in his arms, facing him.
"Best case scenario, she doesn't like arrogant guys, and you were being very arrogant," the princess of the south says following along with the king's lead.
"I didn't mean to start the banter with her, it just came out so suddenly," the king of the west says, releasing a deep sigh of frustration.
"Well if it had been me, I would have thought of you as an egotistical prick," the princess says as she spins around before stopping in the king's arms, "your majesty" she finishes with a sheepish smile with the king's deadpan look.
"Well, I just gave a response to what she said to me, nothing else," the king says to the princess of the south, avoiding her eyes.
"Try to remember," the princess says with a raised eyebrow, unbelieving the king's claims.
"Hmm can't remember," the king says suddenly losing his voice.
"You might have not jabbed at her, but maybe you said or did something about her surroundings or her close people," the princess says with a small shrug as the music comes to a stop, freezing them in their spots.
"In the last year, I have thought more about her than I did of changing my socks" the king mutters as they make a bow, finishing their dance, earning a scrunched face from the princess with her gaze dropping to his reflecting leather shoes. "I change my socks every day!" The king hisses at the girl, earning an eye roll.
"You know, it doesn't make you less of a king or a man to apologize," the princess says, standing to look at the glaring king with her hands over her chest.
"I know that!" The king says, mirroring the girl's position, "but, I can't apologize" the king says, earning another eye roll from the girl, "I physically can't!" the king replies almost screaming at the princess.
"Are you just going to keep going until my eyeballs get stuck to the back of my head?" The princess says, earning a frustrated grunt from the king, groaning while his head hunches between his hands.
"I can't apologize because she's not here, in Ladon. She left a year ago" the king replies as the girl nods with registration.
"Oh, I don't know how to help you with that," the princess says, as the next music plays followed by a swarm of guests joining them on the dance floor.
"I think the worst part is she left hating me, and I stayed here liking her" the king mutters almost to himself his gaze trailing away on the night starry sky of the sky kingdom, before walking away quietly, leaving the princess idly on the dance floor.
"ALLIE!" The princess of the south sees her friend running to her, pushing through the swarm of people, as she turns to find her voice.
"Hey, how was your dance?" The princess of the south asks, smiling at the red-faced girl.
"HE KISSED MY HAND!" The princess of the west whisper and screams at her friend, reaching over to touch the base of her left hand.
"Well, did you use protection?" Allega asks, with fake shock.
"STOP!" Victoria says, playfully slapping her friend's hands, "I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT!" the princess says, as she pulls the smiling girl away from the crowd of people on the dance floor.
"Would we have time to tell me all the details?" The princess of the south asks, scoffing at her friend dragging her away to the bathroom, not missing the three royals standing by the tables, staring at her with crooked heads.
**********
"ARTHUR!" The tall boy whispers and screams, calling for his friend standing just a few meters away with the two southern royal brothers, "ARTHUR!" he repeats, as the three royals turn to look at him.
"I think he's calling you," Achilles says, pointing at the red-headed boy with a red-streaked face.
"Excuse me," the little prince says to the two southern royals, before walking over to his friend, "what's up?" The little prince asks, a second before his friend talks.
"I kissed her hand" the tall boy replies, his face building red.
**********
"What happened first?" The princess of the south asks as they make their way into the women's bathroom, standing before the tall mirror.
"Well he just appeared out of nowhere," the princess of the west says.
**********
"I told her I can't dance so she lead" the tall boy replies, earning a snicker from his friend, "then we started talking about ourselves, our pasts, and our plans for the future" the tall boy continues, ignoring his amused friend.
**********
"Then he called me the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, then the music stopped and he kissed my hand" the princess of the west replies.
**********
"That sounds like it went well," the little prince says with a small shrug.
"No," the tall boy says releasing a deep sigh as his chin falls to his chest, shaking his head aggressively, "I said astalavista as I left" he finishes, looking up to see his friend.
**********
"He said what?" The princess of the south echoes, raising her eyebrows.
"It's a slang word for a bye," the princess of the west says.
**********
"Where did that come from?" The little prince asks with a huge grin, failing to hide his amusement.
"Earth" the tall boy replies with a sigh.
**********
"Where the heck is the earth?" The princess of the south exclaims, laughing to herself.
"It's in another dimension," a soft voice says from behind them causing both of them to turn to meet the gold-amber eyes of the princess of the north.
"You know earth?" The princess of the south says, cracking her head to the side as she faces the princess of the north.
"Yeah," Olivia says with a small distant smile, before turning to meet her reflection in the big mirror, seeing her gold amber eyes and her mostly white, with small droplets of gold, hair, "it was my home," she says, before turning away from her reflection with glassy eyes, "once" she finishes walking out the bathroom, leaving the two princesses in confusion.
**********
"I never pegged you for a blue girl, little bird" Olivia hears a voice says, as she softly dabs at the escaped tears from her eyes.
"Oh, yeah?" She says, turning to meet the eyes of the prince with amber green eyes, "what did you peg me as then?" She says with a forced smile that seemed to go over the prince's head.
"Green," the prince of the west says with a crooked smile, his green orbs shimmering with the light.
Olivia scoffs turning her attention back to the blue-eyed prince talking with his father the king of the south, both eyes scanning the crowd as they silently whisper to each other's ears.
"Or black," the prince of the west says, joining her on her side, "I can see you in black"
"Do you spend your time imagining outfits for me?" The princess of the north asks the prince, meeting her with silence, causing her to turn in time to catch the wandering eyes of the prince slowly roaming her body, following and feeling his lingering gaze, until it finally lands on her amber gold eyes, a distant smirk plastered on his face.
The two royals stand in the moment, both not backing away from the small stare down, not even looking away as the song comes to the end and the crowd gathered on the dance floor erupts into cheers before leaving the dance floor, until finally the prince of the west slowly brings his hand up to the princess to hold, his gaze not faltering from her eyes.
"There's no music," the princess of the north says with a whisper, suddenly aware of the silence following the end of the song.
"Yet" the prince finishes, his hand still out for the princess to hold.
Olivia's hands reach out to the prince's outstretched hand before she knew she was going for his hand, as the prince brings them to the center of the dance floor, eyes not leaving the other to see the empty dance floor and the multiple eyes borrowed on them.
Cameron slowly brings the princess's hands to his soft lips, gently kissing her hands before placing them on his right shoulder, as he brings her right hand up with his left hand, pulling her close by the small of her waist, his fingers softly brushing on her exposed back, sending small shivers down her back, his eyes not leaving her's the whole time.
The ballroom falls into a dead silence as the two royals stand on the dance floor, eyes borrowed on the other, before the gentle strings of the harp vibrate around the room, filling the room with resonant music, as the two royals start moving in small steps.
"I wanted to see you again" the prince begins, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Why?" The princess of the north asks, looking up at the dazzling prince.
"I missed my dance partner," the prince says with a small smile.
"Oh, this might be the right time to tell you we're just acquaintances, we didn't reach partner level yet," the princess says with fake sympathy, as she softly taps the prince's rock-solid shoulder.
"Yet?" The prince asks, gently stroking the princess's soft hands, buried in his big hands.
"Yet" the princess responds as she goes for a twirl before she stops as the prince picks her up by her side to turn them around, with her feathery dress brushing the space around them.
"I got to hand it to you, little bird," the prince of the dark kingdom says, as he sets the princess down, before going back to their slow dance, "you do know how to keep me on the edge of my seat"
"Well, I wouldn't want you to get too comfortable and then lose your mojo" the princess of the light kingdom responds, tucking back the escaped hair strand behind her ears.
"So your playing with my feelings?" The prince says with a soft smile, causing the princess to lose her tight grip on his eyes for the first time since he asked her to dance, turning her attention to the cloud ground below, "even if I did feel something for you..." The prince begins, using his hands to pull her by her chin to meet his eyes.
The princess of the west waits in silence for the prince's next words, which would never come, her eyes jumping from one eye to the next, as he stares down at her, gently stroking her soft hands, unbeknownst to the music that stopped moments ago, and the disappearing crowd from the dance floor.
"I don't know what to tell you, little bird," the prince says with a silent whisper, suddenly becoming aware of the silent ballroom, the guests quietly waiting for the two royals, standing on the dance floor, next move, "until next time," the prince says with a small smile, bringing her left hand up to his lips, kissing her gently, while softly stroking her right hand with his left, before quietly leaving her standing idly on the dance floor.
The princess of the north, takes in a silent breath, suddenly feeling out of breath with the prince's disappearing cologne, before turning to leave, her eyes going for the door of the restrooms, not missing the silently glaring blue-eyed prince by the food tables.
**********
"That was quite a scene," a voice says from behind the princess of the west, as she hastily turns to meet eyes with the guardian in red eyes, with a body con red off-shoulder dress, and a high slit with a long trail of red mist running along her.
"Eirene" the princess of the north quietly whispers, backing up to the sink as her eyes bulge out.
The guardian of magic and gifts smirks at the girl's reaction, slowly walking over to the trembling princess stopping just small meters away from the girl before quietly whispering, "Boo" causing the princess of the north to run away from the guardian in red, heading for the door to the ballroom.
"Not so fast," the guardian says in a sing-along, checking her reflection in the mirror, as the princess of the north stops in her tracks, her body freezing in place but squirming to try to move.
"Let go of me, please" the princess of the north manages, as her feet lift from the ground taking her to the guardian in red.
"I'm afraid I can't, you see, you just made me a whole lot mad," the guardian says, looking up and down the floating girl entrapped in red fog, "and now I want to hurt you," she says as the princess squirms further, her eyes darting around with fear.
"Please, don't hurt me" the princess whines, pleading with the guardian.
"Don't worry too much, I'll only hurt you the only way I can hurt you without upsetting my team" the guardian of gifts and magic quietly thinks to herself, red eyes studying the trembling girl.
"What team?" The girl asks, silent tears streaming down the side of her face.
"You'll know soon enough," the guardian of magic and gifts says, slowly walking over to the girl as her body drops to her level, "little bird," she says with venom almost dripping from her tongue.
*********
Authors note; Chapter 18 will be posted here, because I accidentally deleted the chapter, and I can't update after I said complete. :(
*********
Chapter 18
The Lost Boy
*one year ago*
"Do you know?" The queen of the north asks the boy with shimmering blue eyes and soft brown locks, standing beside her, to which he replies with only a curt nod.
"About your secret society?" the youngest prince of the south replies, looking over to meet the queen's gold amber eyes, "I've known for a long time"
"Then you know what we must do," the queen says, turning her attention back to the vast blue sea passing by them on the large ship, carrying a big army from the northern kingdom.
"Yes, we must kill the king" the prince of the south replies as he turns his attention back to the blue sea mirroring his orbs.
"The eastern kingdom will arrive shortly" the queen curtly responds, earning a small nod from the boy leaving the rest of the way in deafening silence.
**********
"Where is Eirene? We have been standing here for almost an hour now" the king of the east grumbles, kicking at the bush leaves in frustration.
"We need to be patient King Edward," the queen of the north says, slicing at the sharpness of her swords with a flat rock.
"Try contacting her again," the king of the south says, exchanging a look of uncertainty with his son the prince.
"This is my 18th time trying" the king of the east replies as his eyes glow red in the dark forest of the dark kingdom.
"Maybe this wasn't the signal" the queen of the north responds looking around the silent forest, to the hundred armies of the two kingdom's soldiers.
"Leave now!" The guardian of magic and gifts says, suddenly appearing before the four royals.
"What do you mean leave? This was the plan" the king of the east stammers out, gesturing around the hundred soldiers waiting in the dark forest.
"This wasn't the plan, my sisters found me" the guardian of gifts and magic responds, "we can't go through with the plan now, leave before the king knows you trespassed his territory, and then we would have real problems," the guardian of magic and gifts says, disappearing into thin air, leaving the four royals in confusion.
**********
*now*
"Where did you go, brother?" The princess of the west asks, turning to the prince of the west, as he stops mid-drink, with scrunched eyebrows at her sudden question.
"What do you mean?" The prince of the west asks, taking a big sip of his drink.
"Theo went to help Achilles and you were supposed to help with Andreas, but you never arrived there," the princess of the west asks her brother, "so where did you go?"
"I had some other business to take care of," the prince says with a dry voice, sending shivers down the princess's stomach, "plus I knew the prince could take care of himself" he finishes with a small smile, pinching at the girl's cheeks before leaving her standing idly by the drinks table, carrying two drinks in his hand, staring back at his retreating back with scrunched eyebrows.
"His drink" a voice softly whispers looking back at the retreating prince's back.
"What?" The girl asks, turning to see her friend standing beside her with a stoic face.
"Get his drink, don't let him drink it" the princess of the south softly whispers pointing towards the prince of the west handing over the other drink to his brother the king, "Go!" The girl screams out as the princess of the west sprints towards her brothers.
"Theo!" The girl screams out, her voice muffled out in the chaos of the ballroom, as her brother, the king, lifts the glass to his lips, with the prince of the west watching along, "Theo! Don't!" The girl screams out, pushing herself further, as his lips meet the tips of the glass.
The girl stops in her tracks lifting her hand to the sky before tightly closing her eyes as she releases a deep breath, her fingers grabbing on the empty air as she clasps and unclasps her hands before she grabs the forearms of the king, whisking his hand with the drink away, the glass shattering to the ground.
"V, you teleported!" The king of the west exclaims to the girl, picking the princess up by the shoulders and lifting her to turn her around.
"Did you drink it?!" The princess of the west asks pulling his mouth open to see the remains of the red drink.
"You did it! You did it!" The king calls out, bringing the girl in for a hug.
"Theo! FOCUS!" The princess of the west screams out, earning her brother's attention, "did you drink the drink Cameron gave you?" She questions eyes darting around her brother for any signs of poisoning, not knowing what to look for.
"Yea, just halfway through before you threw it from my hands. Which was very rude by the way" the king replies crossing his arms over his chest as he stares down at the princess, blinking away the blur from his eyes.
"Oh, no" the princess silently whispers, the horror suddenly dropping in, as she looks around them to see the prince missing from his place beside them, then looks back at the drinks table, missing the princess of the south, "ALLIE!" The girl screams out across the ballroom, taking her brother by his hands, to lead him away from the crowd.
"V!" The princess of the south calls out, running over the distressed girl, and dragging the stumbling king away.
"ALLIE HELP ME!" The princess calls out, as her friend appears before her, taking the king by his other side to take him out of the ballroom.
"Where are we taking him?" The princess of the south asks, following along with her friend.
"Out of here, something is not right. Cameron just tried to poison him" the princess of the west says, looking around for the familiar green amber eyes, and feeling the relief wash down on her with not seeing her brother the prince.
**********
"What are you going to do?" The princess of the north stammers out, her silent tears dropping on the sides of her face.
"I'm going to make you watch, make you realize what kind of a weak girl you are," the guardian of gifts and magic says, "I'm going to go kill the king of the western kingdom, then I will kill each of the guardians, before finally ending with the southern kingdom royals, just because I want to, and you will silently watch because that's what you do, you watch, and you don't do anything, I will watch you silently suffer with their death and I will enjoy that," the guardian of gifts and magic says with so much spite before quietly walking away from the girl, and leaving the women restroom, the sobs of the girl filling the silence.
"Come on! Olivia!" The princess of the north grunts, squirming around the red fog, "use your light!" She says closing her eyes tight shut, as she sobs out in the empty women's bathroom.
She closes her eyes as her mind goes back to that woman in the hospital elevator, how her mouth opened just a fraction before the elevator doors closed at her. She thought of how her fingers hovered over the elevator button, how she froze before she thought of her action plan, how she let the woman leave without her fight, how she was afraid. She is afraid, and she is trembling, but she also cares, and right now that is what matters the most.
"COME ON OLIVIA!" She grunts with her fingers outstretched, as light builds on her hands, growing and growing, with her hair glowing white along with her eyes. She screams out as the light grows in size until it engulfs her, as her screams get louder before she stops in dead silence.
The light ball slowly drops to the ground, placing the princess's feet on the white marble ceramic, as the light shrinks to her hands and hair, her eye glowing white.
**********
Achilles looks around the dessert table with gouging eyes and wet lips, as he strode fast to the chocolate aisle, saying sorry as he bumps into the crowd. He was going for the chocolate fountain, imagining how he would get a strawberry and then let the sweet chocolate run over it before he pops the whole chocolate-drizzled fruit in his mouth, when his left foot trips over his right foot, causing him to lose his balance, and sending him flat on the transparent floor.
Achilles was watching the clouds, as he drops to the ground, anticipating a fall that never came. The prince holds his breath as he stays frozen in mid-fall before he sees two feet in golden speck heels come inside his line of vision before the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land sits crouched as her dazzling smile fills the prince's vision.
"That was a close one," the guardian says, looking over at the prince's full floating body as golden sparkly mist encircles his torso, holding him up from the was to be fall.
"Very close," the middle child of the southern kingdom says, his gaze locked on the guardian's soft features, and golden shimmering eyes. The prince goes beet red with the guardian's eyes falling on his bright blue ones.
"Let's get you up," the guardian says as she slowly sits up, followed by the golden mist carrying the prince up straight, smiling brightly as she looks up at the prince with ruffled hair.
"Thank you," the prince says, smoothing out the hems of his shirt.
"Your hair," the guardian of creatures of the skies and land says, giggling as she points towards the prince's messy hair.
"What? did it get messed up?" The prince asks, pulling his hands through his hair, messing it up further, sending the guardian into further fits of giggles.
"Let me," the guardian says with a huge grin slowly approaching the prince, as Achilles takes a small unconscious step back with the approaching girl before she stands on her tippy toes to reach his hair, brushing her long fingers through the prince's silky brown locks, sending them flying everywhere, as she giggles to herself.
"What's wrong?" The prince manages out, his eyes solely focused on the guardian with her hands in his hair, his face out reddening the strawberries he had his full focus on before.
"Nothing, you look cute," the guardian says as he pulls back with a scrunched nose looking over the prince's ruffled hair, falling over his head with soft locks.
"Your gorgeous" the prince hears himself say before he quickly swats his hand over his mouth, his eyes bulging wide.
The guardian's smile slowly fades as her gaze changes from the prince's hair to the red-faced prince's blue eyes, before rising to a small smile, "ask me to dance" the guardian quietly whispers to the prince.
Achilles slowly nods his head, raising his arm out for the guardian, with his arm still on his lips he mumbles, "wbhdi yei lsnwj tn ddabsj?" Earning a soft giggle from the guardian.
"Yes," the guardian says as she takes the prince's hands, followed by the other hand clasped over his lips, as they smile brightly to the other, before the guardian's face drops to a scorn look, looking around them.
"What's wrong?" The prince asks, looking around with the guardian, unknowing of what she is looking for.
"Eirene" she whispers gently, her gaze locking on the big crowd before them, as the dense crowd splits into two, with the woman in a bright red dress and misty trail walks between them, her eyes locked on her sister guardian of the creatures of the skies and land, smirking all the way.
"She's here" the prince softly whispers as the guardian's hands leave his, as the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land slowly walks towards her lost sister guardian, quickly joined by her three other guardian sisters, joining on the center of the floor.
"Long time no see, sisters" the guardian of gifts and magic purrs, looking over her four sister guardians one by one.
"Not long enough," the guardian of darkness says with a hiss.
"What are you doing here, Eirene?" The guardian of light asks.
"What, you didn't miss me?" The guardian of gifts and magic coys, her eyes jumping from one distasteful guardian sister to another concerned guardian sister, "I did" she continues, her gaze dropping on the sister guardian draped in gold and the other in green.
"Eirene, let's go outside and we can settle this among ourselves, let's just leave the people out of this," the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land says as her gaze quickly jumps around the crowd in the ballroom quietly watching the guardians.
"Oh, Belli, But I didn't come for you," the guardian of gifts and magic says with a small pout.
"Then who are you here for?" The guardian of the skies and land asks, with scrunched eyebrows, as the lone sister's guardian's gaze drops on her.
"Him," the guardian of gifts and magic says, pointing towards the crowd as the people split into two, exposing the king hunched over a seat as the two princesses try to drag him over with no chance, her eyes not faltering from the guardian's spring green eyes.
"King Theodore?" The guardian of light asks, "why do you want him?"
"To kill him," the guardian of gifts and magic says as her eyes gleam red before disappearing in thin air.
**********
"Can't you teleport him, V?" The princess of the south grunts as she tries to pull the dazed king to his feet.
"V teleported!" The king exclaims with a groggy voice as he turns to his sister with two thumbs up.
"I'm trying, but I can't fully control my powers yet" the princess of the west grunts, pulling at her brother's arms.
"Why don't I help you girls?" The guardian of gifts and magic says suddenly appearing before the three royals, with a red light blade in her arms.
"Eirene" the two girls gasp, as the guardian smirks before pulling her sword up to the king with a grunt, before a black whip encloses her wrists, trapping her.
"Run!" The guardian of darkness exclaims out to the two girls, pulling at the guardian of gifts and magic arms.
The princess of the west quickly grabs a hold of the two royals before closing her eyes as they disappear from the table and appear on the other side of the ballroom.
"Girls this way!" The little prince exclaims as he pulls the king up by his left shoulder followed by his friend on the king's right side, going for the exit.
"LET GO! ALTHEA!" The guardian of gifts and magic bellows out, as she throws a small ball of light toward the guardian of darkness hitting her across the chest, as the black whip leaves her wrists.
"Belli, get the people to safety! We will handle Eirene" the guardian of light says as she blasts a big ball of light enclosing the guardian of gifts and magic, guardian of the skies and land, and herself.
"Stop this Cordelia!" The guardian of gifts and magic says venom almost spitting toward the guardian of light.
"We can't let you go, Eirene," the guardian of the skies and land says as she throws her hands out towards the guardian in red, entrancing her with bulging vines.
"Who said I was asking?" The guardian of gifts and magic says as she smiles before grabbing onto the vines, strongly pulling at the guardian of the skies and land, hitting her on her chest with both her bare feet, as the vines leave her wrists.
The guardian of light throws a small ball of light followed by another, as the guardian of gifts and magic flips and turns around the big ball of white light avoiding her sister's guardian's attacks.
"Everybody, quickly this way!" The guardian of the creatures of the skies and land bellows out, as she flies across the ballroom ceiling directing the crowd to the outside, with the guardian of darkness following behind her unconscious, held in her glittering gold mist as she heals her wounds.
"Leave the premises, go somewhere safe," the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land says, as she flies past the exit the kids took the king. The guardian soars across the castle halls, with her sister guardian following behind, sleeping in the glittering gold mist, before her eyes fall on the five-figure disappearing and then appearing along the halls, with a few meters of distance.
"V that's enough, you'll tire yourself," the princess of the south says as she grabs the girl's hands with her right and the prince's with her left.
"I can't. They'll kill him" the princess of the west says along with gasps, as the group disappears then appear again between a few meters.
"Kids!" The guardian of the creatures of the skies and land calls out to them as she flies over to the four kids.
"Bellona!" The tall boy exclaims as a small ball of light hits the guardian, knocking her to the ground, landing just below their feet as the two princesses go to the grunting guardian on the ground.
"Give me the king, and no one has to get hurt," the queen of the north says as she slowly approaches them with her hair glowing white along her eyes, a small ball of light in her fingertips.
"Leave us alone, and you don't have to get hurt" the little prince scoffs, pulling out his sword alongside his friend, the king still in between their arms.
"Son" the king of the east softly whispers from behind them, as the king and queen of the east quietly stand on the other side of the long hall, "give us the king"
"Just let us go," the prince of the east says with a pleading, "things are going good now, we don't need to do this. Just let us go and we'll tell the king he just had too much to drink and we helped him out the party"
"It's too late now, son. You'll only understand when you are older, but this has to be done" the queen of the east says as she takes a small step forward, followed by both boys slinging their crystal blades out towards the red queen, stopping her in her tracks.
"I'm sorry your majesties, but you can't have him. He is not just someone to dispose of, he is someone's brother, friend, and family" the princess of the south says, standing facing the queen of the north, as she pulls out the two daggers from her thigh belt.
"Then let's see what you got little warrior," the queen of the north says with a smirk as she pulls out her own two daggers with her light fading from the glow, before she runs up to the princess of the south, followed by the princess running to her.
The princess jumps up, her feet kicking from the white marble floor as she lunged at the queen. Steel met steel. The queen barely recovered from her surprise, blocking her sword at the very last second. The queen returned the princess's attack with a thrust so quick she had to jump out of the way to avoid a deadly cut. The princess slowly rose, holding the blade in her mouth as she ties her hair up in a knot before holding her fighting stance, with the queen silently watching.
The queen lunges first this time, their blades meeting again and again. As the two royals dance in the deadly dance of swords.
"Let go of me!" The princess of the west bellows out as Andreas dragged the girl by her shoulders from the two boys standing between the king of the west, as the kings and queen of the two kingdoms circle them, earning her friend's attention, causing the princess to throw her right blade towards her brother's right thigh.
"Dammit, Allie!" The prince bellows in pain as he drops to the ground, releasing the princess of the west.
The queen slashed at the princess's uncovered arm. The sting of blood rushed against her smooth caramel skin. The princess didn't look at the wound; her distraction had already cost her once. Instead, she took another approach, she quietly circled with the queen until she was facing the royal crowd circling her friends.
"Allie!" The princess of the west calls out, with her hands outstretched towards the princess of the south.
Allega bellows out a scream of a warrior as she charges up to the queen, she jumps, and her form changes into a bluebird, soaring high up, she rolls past the queen of the north, before diving to the ground as she changes back to her human form, sliding under the king of the south, slashing at his feet.
"Allega!" The king of the south screams out in pain, limping to the side of the hall.
Allega grasps at her friend's outstretched hand, standing beside her friend's, huddled In a circle around the king and the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land, and the figure of the guardian of darkness silently floating above them in the gold mist, as the king and queens of the two kingdoms circle around them, slowly approaching the four kids, standing hunched with a dagger blade in their arms.
**********
Olivia quietly walks out of the women's bathroom, her feet soaring above the transparent glass floors of the ballroom, with her hair and eyes glowing white, as she holds small balls of light in both her hands. She looks around the empty ballroom, with the big ball of light stationery in the middle, showing distant three figures inside. She soars higher to the big ball of light, as the guardian of light shoots out from the big sphere, landing on the ground of the glass floor.
"Are you okay?" The princess of the north asks the guardian, grunting as she rises from the floor.
"I'm fine," the guardian says, as she looks over the girl glowing white, "go help the kids," the guardian of light says as she blasts back inside the white sphere.
Olivia shuts her eyes, quietly taking deep breaths as her mind races around the castle floors before she finds the little prince's familiar mind.
"Where are you?" The princess of the north asks to the empty ballroom, before she blasts towards the exit, heading for the castle halls.
**********
"Hang on guys, help is coming" the little prince whispers to his friends, standing in a circle as his eye stay burrowed into the red eyes of the king of the east.
"Three to four, that doesn't seem fair" the tall boy coys, as he stands with his eyes on the red eyes of the queen of the east.
"Four to four," the prince of the west says as he appears beside the queen of the north, his eyes fixed on his sister's green amber eyes.
"He's your FUCKING brother! What is wrong with you?!" The princess of the south calls out with the prince's new presence, her eyes fixed on the queen's gold amber eyes.
"This is nothing personal. He is still my brother" the prince of the west says with a wince from the princess's words, "and you are still my sister" He continues, almost questioning, looking back at his sister with pleading eyes.
"You are not my brother," the princess of the west says with a flat tone, glaring at the prince of the west.
Olivia shoots through the sky draped in white light, stopping just hovering above the four kids, as she releases a big ball of light, knocking down the royals around the kids against the walls and floors.
"Follow me" the princess of the north commands lowering to pick up the lying guardian of the creatures of the skies and land, before flying across the halls with the others on her feet.
The little prince and the tall boy, quickly pick up the king of the west heading after the flying princess, "Son" the king of the east grunts, holding onto the ankles of his son as he passes by.
"I'm ashamed to be your son" the little prince spits out, before he kicks his feet from his father's weak grasp, then quickly walks away after the glowing princess.
"Where are we going?" The princess of the south calls out after the princess of the north.
"To the other side of the castle, Zuba is there," the princess of the north says, giving extra speed for the two boys upon hearing their friend's name.
The small crowd rounds up a corner, stopping at a solid rock wall, a new sight for the little prince and the tall boy.
"This wall wasn't here before," the little prince says with scrunched eyebrows, his eyes sweeping the solid rock.
"Achilles" the princess of the south softly calls out to her brother, looking around the dead end, as the second youngest prince appears before them, "please" the princess pleads to the prince, with welling eyes, hand gripping the slash on her arm.
"You need to leave from here, not just the kingdom but the world. Travel to another world when the king wakes up, he only drank half of the drink so he should be fine in a couple of hours, don't stop running until then, then leave this world and go to a safe place, it's not safe for you guys here anymore" the prince says quickly, as he takes his coat off, before tearing a long strip of his shirt around his hip, exposing his stacked abs, as he goes over to his sister bandaging the wound.
"Come with us" the princess of the south, sobs out looking up at her ruffle-haired brother, as he silently wraps the cloth around her injured arm, stopping the bleeding.
"I can't," the prince says with glassy eyes, before smiling down at his sister, "but I'm so proud of you, baby sister," He says with his hand on each side of her face, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you," the princess sobs out, burying her face in her brother's chest and then wrapping her hands around his waist.
"I love you too," the prince says to the princess's hair, as he kisses her temple, hugging her back, "now go," He says as the solid rock wall disappears, revealing a floor-to-ceiling glass window, overlooking the east kingdom.
The princess of the north shoots a small ball of light toward the glass wall, shattering the window into pieces, she flies out to the ground below after gently placing the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land on the ground next to the princess of the west.
"What would you do?" The princess asks her brother, looking up at his face with a tear-streaked face.
"Don't worry about me" the prince says, gently stroking his sister's soft hair, with a small smile.
"You could say we fought you and left, we are a lot they are bound to believe you," the princess says, backing away from her brother to look him up and down.
"No! Allie no!" The prince says backing away in a panic.
"Just a small slash," the princess says, pulling her dagger up in front of her.
"I'll just tell them I missed you before you left," the prince says slowly grabbing his sister by the shoulders with panicking eyes.
"Okay," the princess of the south says with a small nod, looking down from her brother's eyes, "but we both know that won't work," the princess says throwing the blade down on the prince's feet.
"Allie!" The prince bellows out in pain, dropping to his feet, clenching around the injury.
"I love you, Achill," the princess says crouching to give the prince a small peck on his forehead before walking over to the gaping hole in the glass window.
"Should we take them?" The princess of the west quietly asks, gesturing towards the sleeping guardian in her arms and the floating guardian above them.
"No, leave them here, Eirene might use them to track you guys" the prince grunts out, squirming in pain.
"Okay," the princess says, setting the guardian of the creatures of the skies and land beside the prince.
"And, V" the prince calls out, earning the girl's attention, "I'm sorry, I wished things went differently," the prince says with guilt washed in his voice.
"Me too," the princess of the west says walking over the gaping glass window as the winged creature ascends to the window, soaring beside the hole in the glass.
"He can't come in, I'll take each of you one by one," the princess of the north says flying over to the kids in the castle, before taking the sleeping king in her arms and then flying over to the winged creature.
"I think I can jump this," the little prince says as he backs away before running over the window, jumping out the floor with his raven black hair washed away with the wind, landing on the back of the winged creature with a small thump.
"And now I have to jump" the tall boy grunts walking back the halls before running over the gaping hole, as he jumps through with his red hair flaming behind him.
"I'm a lady," the princess of the south says putting on her brother's coat, before reaching her hands out to the princess of the north as Olivia carries her in bridal style.
"What about Noah?" The princess of the north asks, her back turned to the prince.
"You can't trust anyone here," the prince says, causing a bigger glow from the princess of the north, before she silently flies to the winged creature, gently placing the girl down on his back.
"Allie!" The princess of the south calls out to her friend standing idly, with the prince of the west suddenly behind her.
The princess of the west swiftly turns to meet the mirroring amber-green eyes, before hastily running towards the window, jumping through the hole, as the princess of the north catches her mid-air before the small crowd flies away with the wind behind them.
The prince of the west stands idly, watching them as they leave his sight, frozen in place. He didn't stop when he saw the injured prince sitting on the marble on his left, or when he saw the two boys with daggers in their hands, he didn't stop when he saw the limp body of his brother lying on the back of the winged creature, he didn't stop then. He stopped seeing the pure horror and fear in his little sister's eyes, he stopped seeing the reflected monster in his sister's eyes, he stopped because he was ashamed.
"I'm sorry" He silently whispers as he disappears into thin air, leaving the prince and the two unconscious guardians on the ground.
**********
"Where would we go?" The tall boy questions looking down at the vast kingdom of the east, and the hundred guards of each kingdom swarmed around the monumental castle.
"We need to go to another world," the little prince says, echoing Achilles' words.
"But where?" The tall boy asks again.
"Earth, that's the safest place I know," the princess of the north says, with the glow from her hair and eyes out, but her hair now a pure shade of platinum white.
"How then?" The tall boy asks, looking back to the princess with amber-gold eyes.
"The guardian gave me this" the princess of the west says pulling out a small bracelet with a vein body encasing around a circular golden amulet in the center.
"Is that?" The princess of the north begins, pointing towards the small jewelry.
"Yes, she told me to leave to another world, and we could use this," the princess of the west says handing the bracelet over to the princess with white hair.
"Okay, let's drop off Zuba back at the northern kingdom, then let's get out of here," the northern princess says, gaining a collective nod of agreement from the four kids and the winged creature.
"V, how did you know something was wrong?" The princess of the south asks looking over her friend sitting beside her sleeping king brother, while gently stroking his raven black hair. Following a moment of silence as they pass the territories of the eastern kingdom.
"You told me," the princess of the west says looking up at her friend with scrunched eyebrows.
"No, I didn't," Allega says.
"Yes, you did," Victoria says.
"No. No, I didn't" Allega says again, sitting beside her friend with stern eyes.
"Well, someone who looked like you told me, to get his drink, that it was poisoned then I saw Cameron giving him a drink" Victoria explains, skipping through her memory.
"Someone from the south royal?" The tall boy says, looking around the small circle on the winged creature's back.
"The prince from before?" The princess of the north says, thinking of the prince they left squirming in pain on the floor.
"Maybe, I don't know," the princess of the west says as the winged creature slowly descends to the forest grounds of the northern kingdom.
"Zuba, will you be alright here?" The princess of the north asks the winged creature, softly tapping on his head, earning an enthusiastic nod, "I'm sorry we have to leave you" the princess says, giving the winged creature a small peck before turning back to the others.
"Earth it is," the tall boy says as he takes his friend's hand in one and the princess's hand in the other, causing red to build on his face in seconds.
"Earth" Allega shrugs as she takes the king's hands in one, and the princess of the north in the other.
"Earth," the princess of the north says putting on the bracelet as she takes the little prince's hands on the other, before closing her eyes as the gold amulet glows brighter and brighter, before it entraps them whole, taking them inside its bright light.
**********
"I hope you're here to apologize," the brunette says with a dry voice, standing with her arms crossed over her chest, as she eyes her friend standing on the other side of their apartment door, alongside the four kids and the sleeping western king.
"I'm not the only one who needs to apologize," the princess of the north says, mirroring her friend's stance as they stand there glaring at each other.
"Can we come in? He is getting heavier by the second" the tall boy says with a grunt, holding up the king alongside his friend.
Mikayla slowly backs away from the door frame, her eyes buried solid on her friend, giving them room to enter, as the two boys stagger inside, throwing the king on the small purple couch.
"When is he going to wake up?" The princess of the west says, stroking the escaped strands of the king's hair from his head.
"Do we have hot sauce?" The princess of the north asks slowly walking in the red door, before kicking it shut with her feet, her stance and glare not flinching alongside her friend.
"Yes, it's in the upper cupboard on the far left," the brunette says not flinching away from her stance.
"I guess, I'll get it" the princess of the south grumbles, going to the small open kitchen on the left side of the apartment, "which one is hot sauce?" The princess calls back.
"The green one!" The two girls call back, still stuck on the stare-down.
"Thanks," the princess says with a confused look, grabbing the small bottle before going back to the king on the couch, as she pours small droplets of the hot sauce on his cherry red lips.
"Isn't that enough?" The princess of the west asks as the king's lips drown in the red hot sauce.
"FUCK!" The king screams out, jumping up from the couch as he runs around the small apartment before going to the blue sink in the kitchen, almost sucking the water from the small faucet, splashing water all over his face and shirt.
"Is he okay?" The tall boy asks, as the small crowd silently watches the flustered king, even gaining the attention of the two girls.
"What the heck was that?!" The king bellows out, splashing the faucet hose over his red-stroked face.
"Hot sauce" the princess of the west quietly whispers, as Allega quickly throws the small bottle to the tall boy.
"HOT SAUCE?!" The king screeches out, turning, crouched down, to meet eyes with his small audience, roughly rubbing at the water from his eyes followed by the mucus running down his nose as his right hand idly stands with the running water of the hose.
"It was a mild hot sauce" Mikayla states with a raised eyebrow, looking over the mess of the king, with dripping hair, red blotched face, red eyes, runny nose, flaming red bulged-out lips, and wet suit clung to his big chest.
"MILD?!" The king screeches out again, freezing in his place as his eyes land on the brunette, causing him to swing back up, slinging his wet hair back his head with his hand, as he hastily wipes away the mucus running down his nose.
"What's wrong pretty boy? Can't handle a little spice?" Mikayla asks with a smirk, as the king snorts in the excess mucus in his nose, suddenly unable to meet her in the eyes.
"That was nothing," the king says with a swift shake of his head, stealing small glances towards the amused brunette.
"Yeah, right" Mikayla chuckles as the others snicker, holding in their laughter, "close the faucet please, your wasting my water," the brunette says walking over to the king with the faucet hose in his arms.
"Oh, right, the water" the king stammers out, unconsciously backing away from the approaching girl, as he looks to the far side of the small apartment, avoiding her line of sight, the water splashing along the kitchen floors.
"Fine, I'll close it," Mikayla says, running over the blue sink.
"NO!" The king screams out, unknowingly tugging at the hose, as the faucet unplugs from the sink, as the others give a collective gasp of surprise, with the water splashing around the small kitchen.
"No, you didn't" Mikayla whispers with bulging eyes as she sees the water splashing around her kitchen.
"I can fix it" the king replies, tightly clutching at the broken faucet hose, as he stares at the horror before him.
"No, don't," the brunette says, going over to the kitchen sink, trying to avoid the splashing water.
"I can fix it" the king replies, going over to hold the broken facet with his hands, sending the water streaming to his left, hitting the brunette square on her face, as she screams out with the others ending in fits of laughter.
"Stop that!" The brunette says, smacking at the broad shoulders of the king, barely moving from the broken faucet, as the water streams towards her and around them, soaking them whole.
"I'm fixing it!" The king screams out, tightly gripping the faucet, sending the water string around the small kitchen, adding to the laughter of their small audience.
"You're making it worse!" The brunette screams out, struggling to push the king away.
"No, I can fix it!" The king says, tightly gripping the broken faucet, as he sends it directly on the brunette pushing him on his side with her back, soaking her full head of Afro hair, before he slightly stumbles away, giving the girl enough room to go under the sink to close the faucet, ending the streams of water.
"It stopped!" The king screams out, beaming at the empty broken faucet, as the brunette slowly rises with her hair slung over her face.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock" she replies, standing beside the king with her arms out on her side as the water dripped from her big brown sweater.
"I'm sorry" the king replies with a small smile, as his hands go to the girl's face, tucking her hair on one side of her ears, exposing her amber eyes, freezing him in place, "hi," He says with a snicker, as he looks over the laughing audience to his left.
"Hi," the brunette says laughing alongside the others.
"We put on a good show," the king says with a wide grin, as he takes the girl's hand in his own, before bowing down to the small group erupting in cheers.
"Thank you!" The brunette says, bowing alongside the king as she sends flying kisses to the group.
**********
"So what are you guys doing here?" Mikayla asks, sitting down on the purple couch with her friend, after her shower. The two boys changing clothes in her room, into Noah's old clothes, and the two girls changing into Olivia's old clothes in Olivia's room, as the king takes a shower in the small bathroom, now smaller with his huge presence.
"We were ambushed, and it was not safe to stay in Ladon," the princess of the north says, smiling over at her friend as they sit face to face on the small couch.
"Ambushed?" The brunette asks with scrunched eyebrows.
"All the kingdom's royals conspired to kill the king, so we had to escape with him" Olivia responds, sitting in her old sweater and sweatpants.
"Until when?" Mikayla asks as she unwraps the towel on her head, with her soft brown locks dropping past her shoulders.
"It might be a while," Olivia says with a whisper, suddenly sad about the thought of leaving her friend again, "until we figure out how to approach the situation" she finishes as the bathroom door flares open with the king walking out the small door, with a pink towel wrapped low around his waist, revealing his defined 8 pack abs and v line, a small hair towel covering the entirety of his head as he ruffles the water out his raven dark hair. Humming to himself as he walks out barefoot on the carpet floors.
"Um, your majesty?" The tall boy asks with a crooked head and scrunched eyebrows as he looks over the two girls sitting on the purple couch with gaping mouths.
"Yeah?" The king replies, slinging the hair towel around his neck as he looks over the tall boy, fixing the strands of his hair.
"You have an audience," Craig says pointing toward the two girls, as the king turns to see them sitting quietly on the couch, "again" the tall boy finishes, as the two girls give the flustered king a small wave.
"Oh" the king manages before slowly turning towards the door the tall boy walked out of, finding the little prince standing by the door frame with scrunched eyebrows, "I'll just go," the king says, slowly walking into the brunette's room, then quietly closing the red door, with a click, proceeding to lock the door.
"Did he think the whole apartment was for him?" The little prince asks, smiling at the clumsy king.
"YES!" The king bellows out from the door, earning a snicker from the four in the living room.
"What's going on?" Allega asks as she walks out of Olivia's room, wearing Olivia's sweat pants and a green sweater, with her hair braided to the back.
"The king thought the apartment was all for him, and he walked out in just a towel" the tall boy snickers, gesturing towards the closed red door of the brunette's room.
"Hm," Allega responds as she goes to the single brown bean couch in the living room, her eyes lingering on the closed red door.
"Watch your eyes, young lady," Mikayla says with a smile, earning a snicker from the princess of the south, as she plops on the large bean couch.
"Hey, where's...?" The tall boy asks, pointing towards the closed bedroom of the platinum blonde.
"Who? The most beautiful girl in the world?" Allega asks the tall boy, earning a snicker from the little prince, and a confused look from the two girls, "he told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world then left with....what was it again?" Allega asks the princess of the west, joining them in the living space.
"Astalavista" Victoria replies joining her friend on the bean couch as the rest drown in laughter, with the tall boy's reddening face.
Olivia quietly looks around as the four kids banter with each other, before her eyes fall on Mikayla, silently watching her. The two girls quietly watch each other, comforting one another in silence before they snuggle towards each other, as the brunette rests her head on the platinum blonde's shoulder, the princess of the north releases a quiet sigh of relief, as she thinks of the fight that is to come.
"What are you planning?" Mikayla asks, sending her friend's working mind gear.
"We're going to take back our kingdom" she quietly whispers back to her friend, in a midst of the chaos, "all the four kingdoms"
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"I'm going to trow it very far now, ruf" the little boy say as he pulls his hands back further than he did before, the small yellow ball in his arms.
The brown dog barks in response, as his tail wags faster, it's eyes fixed on the boy's arms as Frankie swings it forward, throwing his arm out with a grunt. The brown dog runs after the throw, going to the dense forest, barking as he does.
"Stupid Ruf" the little boy giggles, looking down at the small yellow ball in his arms, "RUFUS! COME BACK!" The little boy starts running towards his friend, feeling bad for the barking dog.
"Frankie" He hears a soft voice say, almost in tune with the forest breeze, making him turn to see a woman standing just meters from behind him.
"You know my name?" The little boy asks, suddenly aware of the quiet in the forest and his silent dog.
"Ofcourse, my love" the woman says with a soft tone, sitting down crouched, to be at the boy's level, "I'm your mother" the woman says, with a big smile, her amber gold eyes shimmering with the setting sun.
"Mom?" The little boy calls out with scrunched eyebrows, slowly walking towards the woman with outstretched hands, "your my mom?" Frankie asks, studying the woman with black raven hair and gold amber eyes.
"Yes, honey, you just don't remember" the woman says as the boy goes in her hands, hugging him tight, "but I can help with that" she whispers to his ears, setting her hands above his temple, with her eyes glowing red.
The little boy's eyes glow white as the woman's glow gold, squirming as his memories go flooding back to him.
"Olivetti!" The little boy screams out as he squirms out from the woman's grasp, turning around himself to look for his lost sister, amber gold specs slowly growing in his blue eyes.
"Frankie" the woman softly calls out again, gaining the little boy's attention, he turns swiftly to the woman, his eyes now a bright amber gold.
"MOM!" The lost prince of the north screams out, running to his mother's arms, sobbing in her neck, "I missed you so much! you and dad! we both did! where is Olivetti? she would be so happy to see you again! are we back home now? is it safe now?" The little boy sobs out in his mother's neck nape, as the woman softly comforts him.
"shh. It's okay, Franklin. I'm here now" the woman says with a small smile, as she strokes the boy's blonde gold hair, "now. Let's get your sister" the woman says with a smirk, blinking as her eyes go from red then with a blink going back to amber gold.
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authors note; This is the last chapter for the book one of the Darkest Part Of The Light series!! Thank you for reading until now. Hope you had a good read!
The second book on the darkest part series will be coming soon, until then please vote and leave your comments!!
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