Chapter 2: Revelation
King Lauhin and Queen Bliss were in the throne room discussing an upcoming meeting with a friend of theirs when Jocu and Vivo burst in with Rachel and Sasha clinging to them and looking like something had badly spooked them. "Oh, dear, what happened?" Queen Bliss asked, coming forward and taking Sasha from Vivo, holding the girl in a motherly hug.
"Mother. Father, the girls ran into some Nitians and something else," Jocu said.
Standing up, King Lauhin accepted Rachel from his older son, holding her in a fatherly hug and he felt her cling to him before she looked up at him. "King Lauhin, you wouldn't by chance have a knight whose armor is blacker than night with a starry, purple cape and a steel sword among the Tickle Knights, do you?" She asked.
He looked at her. "No," he said before sitting back down on his throne and letting her sit in his lap. Queen Bliss did the same with Sasha. "Please, start at the beginning and tell us everything."
They nodded. "We were just enjoying a walk in the forest when Rachel sensed that we were being watched and we knew it wasn't Jocu or his brothers," Sasha said. "But we didn't know who it was."
"Not until the Nitians showed themselves," Rachel said. "We tried using our powers and the Tickle Forest tried to help us, but those creeps pulled out gardening tools and threatened them."
Queen Bliss gasped. "That is unacceptable," she said. "The Nitians are supposed to leave the Tickle Forest alone."
"What happened then?" King Lauhin asked.
"That's when a sword came out of the trees," Sasha said. "It hit the Nitians and made them explode into black dust, something that really unnerved us."
"I mean, we've seen it happen before when you guys and the Tickle Knights fought the Nitians before when we had been captured, but not like this," Rachel said. "We at first couldn't see who had come to our rescue as the black dust filled the air, but then…he emerged."
"The strange knight?" Jocu asked.
Sasha nodded. "He was really tall like Sir Daniel, but his armor was a deep black, blacker than the Tickle Knights' armor, and he had steel strips crisscrossing his chest and running down the length of his legs. A sword of steel was in his hands and a cape that was a royal purple color and had a starry theme was hanging behind him off his shoulders," she said.
"When Sasha asked who he was, he just turned away and vanished," Rachel continued. "Not long after, Jocu and Vivo came out of the bushes, scaring us a bit until we realized it was them."
"You two were pretty shook up when we arrived," Vivo said.
"There was something unnerving about that knight," Sasha said. "Not unnerving as in scary, but more like mysterious, and maybe a little scary."
King Lauhin pulled out a book from a nearby bookcase and opened it to reveal it was a book about the history of the Tickle Realm. "Can you girls pick out this knight from this book?" He asked.
Wordlessly, the sisters carefully looked at the pages, studying the pictures carefully and shaking their heads at some of the pictures before coming upon one picture and gasping. "Him," Rachel said. "That's the knight we saw. The exact one. We're absolutely without a doubt sure."
The Tickle King looked at the picture. "The Knightmare Knight," he said.
"The Knightmare Knight?" Queen Bliss asked. "He exists?"
The sisters looked confused. "You mean, you guys have never seen him before?" Sasha asked.
"No, none of us have," Jocu said, sounding very puzzled.
Vivo grew curious. "I thought that was just a story," he said.
"So did we, my son," King Lauhin said. "According to our history, the Knightmare Knight is a mysterious figure who appears mysterious, but very rarely."
"But then…why did he appear and fight the Nitians?" Sasha asked.
"Just one touch from his sword finished them off," Rachel said.
The Tickle King nodded. "You girls must be careful," he said. "Though the Knightmare Knight helped you, he may not be an ally."
"You mean he could be working for either one or both sides, Father?" Jocu asked.
"Quite possibly."
"The King is right," Rachel said. "We don't know much about this strange knight and from what little this book tells us, it raises more questions than answers."
"We have to be careful if we run into him again," Sasha decided. "He didn't act friendly, but that might not mean anything."
"True," Vivo said. "But he did save yours and Rachel's lives."
"That's true too," Jocu said.
"That is very mysterious," Queen Bliss said.
"But not enough for us to see if he's really a friend or foe," Rachel pointed out before sighing. "But Sasha and I are grateful that he stopped the Nitians from grabbing us."
After a moment, King Lauhin smiled. "I think you girls need some cheering up," he said and turned to Jocu and Vivo. "My sons, call the Tickle Knights."
Immediately seeing what the king had in mind, both sisters jumped up and fled the throne room, making both the king and queen laugh in amusement as the girls ran, keeping an eye out for the Tickle Knights.
"We can't let them catch us!" Sasha said, but the smile on her face proved she was playing around.
"That may be easier said than done," Rachel admitted as they ran down another hall before nearly crashing into three Tickle Knights, who reached for them, but they took off with squeals of mock horror.
"Eeek! That was too close!" The younger sister said.
They passed more hallways that were full of Black Tickle Knights. "We're not out of the woods yet," the older girl said and they continued running, but were soon surrounded by the friendly Knights, who caught hold of them and took them to their quarters.
"Good work, men," the Captain said, smiling. "Now, let's cheer up two of our favorite humans."
The sisters squealed and laughed as the Tickle Knights pounced and began tickling them to pieces, making them forget about their terrifying encounter in the woods as they tried to escape the mischievous knights.
Hmm, mysteries upon mysteries. Why did the Knightmare Knight help the girls out? Stay tuned to find out! :)
And please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
