Where is he… He should've been back by now, the Flame Lord thinks to himself while waiting for Luke outside of the dimensional port. Suddenly, the portal frame hums to life and shoots open, revealing a bluish-purple portal.
"Luke?" the Flame Lord asks aloud.
Luke and some of his men step outside of the portal.
"Report." the Flame Lord says, sternly.
"Well…" Luke starts."
"Report."
"Okay… umm-"
"Report."
"It's just tha-"
"Report!"
Luke sighs.
"We lost quite a few men. We got beaten, bruised, battered…"
"Did you take any prisoners? Any new strong members to add to our ranks?"
"Well-"
"Answer me, son."
"No."
The Flame Lord gives a small smile, with Luke expecting the worst. Suddenly, the Flame Lord does something that leaves Luke looking shocked.
"Well done, well done," the Flame Lord says, clapping.
"You're not gonna-" Luke starts before getting cut off.
"Of course not. Why would I do such things?"
"Follow me, to the castle."
Luke and the Flame Lord begin to trek from the dimensional port gateway back over to the grand castle, at least 7 stories high. He approaches the gate, and requests for it to open. Then the two walk up to the main door into the throne room, and then the Flame Lord pushes it open.
"Follow me, to the throne," The Flame Lord says, walking toward a glistening, golden fiery throne.
Luke follows behind. The Flame Lord takes seat on the throne before gazing down on Luke. Luke's posture stiffens as he prepares for what the Flame Lord, his father, will say.
"I have a gift for you, son." the Flame Lord says finally.
Luke starts to sweat, not knowing what will happen next. Soon that question is answered when the Flame Lord pulls out a small medallion. It glows with a dark aura, with a dark red gem in the center. The Flame Lord tosses it to Luke where he catches it.
"Don't be shy, Luke," the Flame Lord starts, "Put it on."
Luke slowly raises the chain holding the gem above his head, and gets ready to slide it over his neck before he hears "No!"
"What is it, Alice?" the Flame Lord .
"You… You cannot!" Alice objects.
"And why can't I, Alice. I am the King."
"And I am the Queen!"
"And what does that have to do with anything? You hold no power."
"But that doesn't mean I don't hold power when it comes to our children!"
The Flame Lord turns back to Luke and says, "You wouldn't want to disrespect the lord, let alone your father."
"Luke, trust me, your mother," Alice rebuts.
"Put it on, Luke, That's an order from your king."
"Please Luke, don't do it…"
Luke stares at the Flame Lord for a second, his stern, unwavering gaze meeting him. He glances back over at Alice, her caring, maternal eyes pleading to him. Luke keeps looking back and forth between the two, unsure of who to trust anymore. Of course I trust my own mother, he thinks to himself, but Father holds a stronger position over me, and the whole kingdom. Luke thinks to himself one last time before finally making his decision.
"I can't believe you would do this!" Alice yells.
"Honey, I didn't do anything wrong," the Flame Lord retorts, "He was weak, and I made him stronger. He's already conquered 3 planet systems as we speak."
"He's lost his sense of humanity, Cameron!"
"So what if he has, Alice. He's the perfect military machine now."
"He was your son."
"He's still my blood, and now he should be even more so! And there he is, over there…"
The door closes with a thud as Alice and the Flame Lord look over to see Luke, with the medallion resting on his chest. Luke slowly walks up to the throne, looking stoic as he gets ever closer to the Flame Lord.
"Report," the Flame Lord says.
"We've conquered another system, and overthrew their government by force when they would not comply," Luke starts
"Good. Have you taken any prisoners?"
"Anyone who didn't surrender, we executed."
"Perfect.. Luke, I'd say you've earned yourself a short rest. Go lay down for a minute and relax. We'll send you back out tomorrow."
"Of course, and thank you, my Lord."
"Please, I am your father. You may call me that."
"Yes, Father."
Soon a few minutes pass, and Alice finds herself alone in the throne room again. Her anxious and worried look begins to fade as she sees Nashi walk in through the main door. Nashi breaks into a smile as she sees Alice, too. The two begin walking toward each other, before running to each other, and they both hug. They hug for what feels like hours, before Alice speaks.
"I can't believe he did this," Alice starts.
"It's okay, mom. It's going to be okay." Nashi responds, letting Alice cry on her shoulder.
Alice stops crying for a moment, and says, "I can't believe he would allow this to happen to… no, force this to happen to our son- your brother."
Alice continues to cry on Nashi's shoulder, murmuring to herself and wondering what she could have done differently. While crying, Nashi dispersed the flame aura that surrounded her body, and allowed herself to feel the tears from Alice land on her shoulder. Soon, Nashi found herself crying for Luke as well, and they stayed there, sitting somber on the floor of the throne room.
The two women cried for what felt like hours as they sat there, thinking of the horrible atrocities that have come to pass. Eventually, the two of them looked up to the windows of the throne room, and noticed that night was beginning to fall. Alice and Nashi looked at each other for a short moment before the silence was broken.
"It- It's getting late," Alice says, wiping her tears, "I should-"
Before Alice could finish, Nashi interrupted.
"No," Nashi said, "You should stay here. You need to be with someone."
"I don't want to burden my daughter with my troubles," Alice continues.
"They're my troubles, too, Mom," Nashi rebuts, "Luke isn't just your son, he's also my brother. Let's just go to my room and talk there. It's getting to be night."
When they arrived at Nashi's room, the door was shut, as Nashi had left it. When the two women walked into the bedroom, there was a spike in tension felt between the both of them. Alice and Nashi both looked at each other, feeling unnerved by the sudden pressure spike. Alice felt even more so, recognising this energy spike coming from behind Nashi's bedroom door. Nashi is the first to approach, slowly resting her hand on the cold door handle. Gently, she twists the doorknob until the opening mechanism clicks, and the door pushes inward.
Nashi steps inside her room to turn on the lights. She locates the lightswitch and flips it on. The lights flicker to life, revealing a small, twin-size bed, the frame black and the sheets orange. Next to the bed, there's a small bookshelf, filled to the brim with reading material and small knick-knacks. Across from the bookshelf, there's a study desk, with an open book, and someone sitting in a chair, reading it. Nashi slowly approaches the figure, and Alice follows close behind.
"Hello, sister," the figure says with a stern tone.
"Luke?" Nashi asks, a hint of nervousness escaping her voice.
"Clever as ever, I see," Luke responds.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be- committing mass genocide on behalf of Father?" Nashi retorts, trying not to stumble.
"Father has allowed me a break from my duties, sister," Luke continues.
"I have a name, Luke. You can at least try and use it," Nashi interjects, trying to sound confident.
"You really are trying, Nashi," Luke says with a sneer in his voice, "You know Father will always prefer me. I'm his favorite."
"You're his puppet," Nashi says, feeling more confident.
"What I am is not a concern to you anyway," Luke states, attempting to stifle Nashi's talking.
Luke proceeds to get up, and bumps into Nashi on his way out, nearly pushing her to the floor, and gives Alice a glare as he exits. Nashi, recomposing herself, sits down on her bed, while Alice walks fully inside, preparing to sit next to her.
"I just can't believe what he's become," Nashi says, on the verge of breaking down once again.
"He'll be alright… I know he will, "Alice reassures, "As for Cameron… I'm not so sure."