The Garden
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Suspiria Theme by Goblin
Rama Pestage has a half-day at the preschool, so he asked his father if he could spend the rest of the day with him. At first, his father insisted that there was nothing exciting happening at the palace and that he should just stay home with Mr. Jade. But then Rama, with a quirk of his thin lips and a practiced blush, changed his father's mind.
Now, he is walking by the throne room with Heartless's misshapen legs bouncing against his knees. He halts when he detects an irregularity in the Force.
It bristles with anger, far too hot for its usual chill here. It's not from Vader because he's on a mission with Tarkin. Then, it has to be Sire. Why is Sire so agitated?
He looks down at Heartless, expecting an answer from its yellow eyes. But receives only lifelessness.
So being a loving son, he decides to investigate.
The throne room is dark, and the throne is empty. It was like his sire vanished into thin air. But Rama knows better than that.
He's hiding himself in the Force. From me. Vader would do that when he didn't want me to feel his anger. Aww, he learned it from Sire!
Immediately, the Force shudders in revulsion as though it ate an entire box of Gracious Government Mix. His little thin lips twist into a wily smirk.
He follows the thread of disgust until his black boots clack onto white flagstones. The light is surrounded by shadowy trenches or large pots of flowers. He recognizes only a few: red millaflowers, blue and yellow ryoos, and shuura saplings.
The trees surrounding the garden have shimmering bark. I sense they are not wholly natural. Perhaps, Sire altered them with Sith alchemy.
He walks on the shadow and light until he reaches the end of the garden.
"Using your saccharine sentiments to find me, how deceptive of you." His Sire's pleasure slithers from his words and forms an indulgent smirk.
"The most successful deceptions rely on sincerity." His sire's smirk sours slightly, while Rama smiles boldly. His green eyes flick towards his sire's hands. His spidery fingers are usually as fine as silk, but they are covered in dark-brown dirt as though he's been digging.
"Rama." His sire's voice becomes euphonious. "What do you think I have been doing?"
"Gardening, Sire." He eyes the near-hidden soil stains near the bottom of his sire's brown robe. "Did one of your flowers die?"
His sire's frown creates more crags on his face.
"My Thorn monster." Rama's tongue twitches with questions, so his sire steps aside to show him the Thorn monster. The monster is about as long as Rama's arm and as big as Heartless's head. It is brown like a withered grape vine and covered in thorns like a rose bush. Its claws are hooked to the ground, while its serpentine lower half is anchored by roots.
"A Murmurer!" He exclaims and squeezes Heartless against his chest.
"…..What?"
"A Murmurer." There's blankness in those golden eyes. "Murmurers are the eyes and ears of Prince Phobos."
"Prince Phobos?" Bemusement dances in those eyes as though he's conversing with Prince Xizor, a Falleen who likes to think he's cleverer than the Emperor.
"He's a beautiful, tyrannical, empty-headed villain from the W.I.T.C.H holo-cartoon and holo-comics." Both of which he got as Life Day presents from Erstin Deez. "He ruled over Meridian, sometimes called Metamoor, with a thorny fist for many years."
"If he is so empty-headed, then how did he came into power?"
"In the comics, the former Queen of Meridian/Metamoor and her husband vanished after the birth of his little sister, Elyon. In the cartoon, which takes a darker tone, I believe he killed his parents, even though it's never explicitly stated or shown. Either way, he seizes the throne and fails to kill Elyon, the Light of Meridian."
His sire scoffs.
"Fool, those with true power plan for every contingency." Rama nods at his sire's words of wisdom.
"His Murmurers, or Whisperers as cartoon called them, served a very utilitarian function. They passed on secrets to Phobos, and that was all."
"How would you improve them?" His sire eyes him curiously.
"I would give them fangs, dripping with poison. I would give them claws, sharp enough to cut skin. But those are for self-defense."
"Then, what shall be their new purpose?"
"I would have them whisper lies in your enemies' ears. I would have them tell lies that would lull your enemies into false sense of security. And I would have you do as you wish from there, my Emperor." His sire pets his snowy head; he can feel electric pride coursing through those fingertips.
Heartless's yellow eyes glow molten gold.
Author's Comments- No links this time.
I know comparing Phobos to Palpatine is not fair. It's like comparing a rock to the universe. Recently, I've read the first arc of the W.I.T.C.H graphic novels, and there are a lot of differences between the cartoon and comics. Although, I still prefer the cartoon over the comics, at least in regards to the first season. I still haven't read the Nerissa arc, which season two is based on. However, I liked Phobos's appearance in the comics better; he had the illusion of kind, older brother, reminding me a bit of Chancellor Palpatine. I actually intended to write an AU where Phobos was born second and his father absconded him to Heatherfield. Maybe the Nerissa arc will convince me to finally write it out.
Anyways, I thought it would be great to incorporate another Disney property because I'd like to believe Disney exists in some form in every universe they own. And if any of you were wondering what Heartless is, go look up Kingdom Hearts. I'll actually get to Heartless's origins in a future chapter for The Emperor's Son.
Sidious is grooming his spawn as a future adviser. Although, he's probably going to bemoan his spawn's manipulative nature once he falls in love with a certain a ginger. And so will the Grand Inquisitor. And, of course, Darth Vader. And maybe Maul if I ever get to write his part!