Finally! It's about time I decided to start writing again. I took a short break just to analyze my fan fictions (or something), but I'm back now and I will continue to update regularly. Hopefully I won't take any breaks and time soon, again.
Note, the arrival of this chapter also means that a new Murder on the Cheep Cheep Blimp is coming soon.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter, but be cautious: You may need to reread the last chapter or two just to catch up on what's going on. This chapter is a bit longer, and therefore contains a lot of important things. You may be a little confused, but don't worry, you'll definitely understand soon enough.
Chapter 5-King Croacus
The castle of King Croacus the who-knows-what was typically anything but what Tippi expected. It was no longer a small, underground enclosure that held merely a few rooms, as she had once remembered it. Now, it was an above-ground, multi-story, too big to be true castle with about a million towers and balconies, "What is this place...?" The pixl asked herself as she approached the castle's immense doorstep.
Everything was oddly quiet, and she wasn't entirely sure whether she should be expecting some grand entrance or not, seeing as this was the perfect atmosphere for her surprise birthday party.
Tippi flew up to one of the large door-knockers, using just about all of her strength to lift it up...
But then the door unsuspectedly opened, and out walked a very royal looking Floro Sapien. Surprised to see a pixl a few feet above his head, he gasped and asked, "W-who are you...?"
Tippi let go of the door knocker and flew down to his general level, an almost unsure expression on her face. As far as she knew, there was practically a bounty put out over her and her friends' heads. But then again, that was also when everything made sense..."Umm...I'm Tippi, a pixl. You look...like a Floro Sapien..."
"Ah, yes. Indeed I am. Tippi, you say? Well, what brings you to the king's castle?"
The pixl's mouth just kind of dropped in slight amazement. She wasn't sure why, but she found it surprisingly strange to actually talk to a Floro Sapien without having to avoid its flying head in battle, "Uh-ummm...wait a second. I'm really confused. I thought...I thought you guys were trying to...you know, kill me...?"
The Floro Sapien gave her an odd look, "Kill you? Dear, we don't even know you!"
Tippi felt a little reassured. Based on this flower's very sincere sounding words, she was quite certain this was no hoax. But...if it really wasn't a hoax, then was she right in thinking that King Croacus no longer wanted her and her friends dead? "Well what about the Cragnons?! Aren't you imprisoning them? Holding them hostage?"
"Imprison the Cragnons? Of course not! I'm not really sure why, but I feel as though you think the Floro Sapiens are very cruel people... - err - flowers..." He shook his head, "And we're not. We've been great friends with the Cragnons for as long as I could remember..."
Tippi's eye twitched, "Wait what? But-,"
"Listen, Tippi. You must be confused...very confused. Why don't you come into the castle? I'm sure the king will try and sort out what your talking about. After all, he'd probably like to settle this before you spread any untruthful rumors. This is not your fault, of course. You're just probably...confused..."
Tippi sighed, "I-I guess..."
And with that, the Floro Sapien began leading her into the castle, practically having to coax her along in an attempt to break her out of her strange trance. But she was weary. As far as she remembered, King Croacus was not planning on helping her. No, not at all. Instead, he'd probably curse the Pure Heart once again and use it to end her game. Again.
But at that moment, an idea sparked in Tippi's mind, "Hey, you!" She called, "Do you know where the Pure Heart is...?"
The Floro Sapien turned around for a moment and squinted at her. It looked as if his gaze did not end with her pixely body, but almost as if he was staring beyond. Beyond into deep thought. The same thought that probably involved how he should dare answer her question, "Well..." He finally spoke up, "I-I know I've heard the king mention something about a 'magnificent sparkling beauty', but...he could be referring to just about anything..."
"How interesting..."
The Floro Sapien nodded, "Indeed. But I do sense that whatever this beauty is...well, it must be something particularly special. I mean, the king's gone pretty crazy over diamonds and priceless jewels and whatnot...but just the look in his eye when he brought up the sparkling beauty made me think this was something a bit more than a gem he had found..."
Tippi took all this in, quite willingly, and almost hoping the Floro Sapien would reveal more. When at first she doubted giving him her trust, she now realized that he may prove to be a very useful tool to get information out of, "I see. And...I'm guessing you've never seen a heart shaped glittering beauty?"
He shook his head, "No. I can't even be sure the king has this...'pure heart' - err, whatever - you're looking for. But I can assure you the king will be of great help...oh! Here's the door to the throne room..."
Tippi glanced ahead and noticed a magnificent door planted up against the wall. Just the detailed framework probably costed about half of those rare gems the Floro Sapien mentioned the king liked to collect. And it was also at this moment that Tippi actually got a real good look at the spectacular castle she found herself in. Among the walls were portraits of this strangely gray colored king, and around the main halls stood beautiful statues, complemented by the royal splash of red on each of the sofas. She also happened to notice a ballroom while peering through a far-off door at the end of the hall. Gee, this castle sure improved from the once underground and puny enclosure she had remembered just about an hour ago...
"The king should be on his throne..." The Floro Sapien said, slowly opening the gigantic door. If Tippi didn't know any better, there should have been some angelic music playing specifically for the grand unveiling of the brilliant throne room.
The Floro Sapien motioned for Tippi to enter, closing the door behind her after she managed to fly her body into the vast expanse of a throne room. Flying ahead and taking the front position of the duo, Tippi grew more and more nervous as the king's body came closer into view.
What was going to happen, though? Would her life be ended only moments after talking to the king? Would he realize she was the butterfly pixl that was ruining his plans to turn the Cragnons into slaves? Well, if that even was happening...
And then he spoke...
And his voice boomed even louder than she had remembered...
"Whoooo approaches?"
Tippi just shuttered at the sound of his slightly recognizable voice, "Uhh-ummm...K-King Croacus?"
"Yes, that is I...and you are?"
"I-I'm Tippi. I'm a pixl...but you probably know that. Umm..."
King Croacus leaned his giant head forward, "Dear girl...you look worried. Is something the matter?" The compassionate look on his face and in his eyes gave Tippi a bit of reassurance...
"Well...I'm...I'm very confused. You see..." She paused and held her breath. What she was about to tell the king would either make her or break her..., "My friends and I were on an adventure. And...one part of the adventure required us to go to the Flora Kingdom to stop King Croacus from imprisoning the Cragnons and turning them into slaves..."
"Wait..." He said suddenly, "Let me cut you off there. You do understand that I am King Croacus. And I assure you that I have no intention to imprison the Cragnons, our friends..."
"Well yes. I get that. This Floro Sapien here told me the same thing," Tippi said, pointing to the very helpful flower who stood silently behind her, " But, well...let me start from the beginning. The very beginning..."
King Croacus nodded and said, "Yes, indeed...perhaps that would be for the better. After all, we'd better get down to the bottom of this, seeing as you are very...confused," Again, he nodded towards her, this time as a sign to start speaking.
"Okay, well...my friends and I are - or, at least, were - going on an adventure. An evil man named Count Bleck was our enemy, and he was using an object known as the Chaos Heart to end all words. My friends and I were required to stop this, and to do so, we needed to collect the eight pure hearts that were spread far and wide to various places on the Earth. To obtain our sixth pure heart, we were sent to the Flora Kingdom, which, at that time was located in an underground network of tunnels. Let me also tell you that the castle was a mere few rooms, and was nowhere near as grand as the one I stand in now. But...then we had to battle King Croacus, who looked similar to you, except he was of a reddish color. Whoever this red King Croacus was used the pure heart he had in his castle to abruptly and our games and send us to The Underwhere. It was then that we met the queen of The Underwhere, Queen Jaydes. She told us she was going to transport us to 'a place we wouldn't like', and then sent us here. But my friends appear to have been affected by the teleportation, and now they are unconscious...and now I'm alone...and I don't know what's going on!"
King Croacus tried to take all of this in at the pace of which she spoke, which was quite difficult for the now bewildered king, "You say this King Croacus was red, right? That couldn't have been me, then...and besides, I'd have remembered battling you,"
Tippi shrugged, "I guess that's true...but...then it doesn't explain who I was battling before. And it doesn't explain why the Flora Kingdom looked nothing like it does now. And it-,"
"Calm yourself, Tippi..." The king reassured her, attempting to keep her from having any kind of psychological breakdown. She sure did look a bit shaken up, and he had to admit, he felt bad for her..., "Can you tell me anything you remember? Perhaps it will make me think of something that could be useful..."
The pixl just frowned and went into a state of deep thought. What on Earth could jog the king's memory? Obviously nothing she had said meant nothing to him...at least when it came to him remembering anything...
...
But wait...
There was something...
Something that Tippi was remembering...
"Wait! I remember we were in a giant room filled with paintings, and...you were on one of the portraits! Yes, I remember you...you must be King Croacus I!"
The king smiled and nodded, "That's me...but, if I may ask, who was on the other pictures?"
Tippi thought for a second and provided the king with a disappointing look. It seemed as though remembering more was making her less and less pleased to actually recall something, "Well...it was pictures of other kings. A white one, a blue one, and a red one. The same red one which we battled. And...isn't the white one...your daughter?" If she remembered correctly from reading those portraits, then the white queen was King Croacus I's daughter. But...wasn't there something written about the first king imprisoning his daughter because she didn't agree with his leadership? Did that mean...she was talking to that very person? The one who not only imprisoned his daughter, but also led the Flora Kingdom into a state of fear, called 'The Darkening'? And the same king whose dying words were 'The Iron Rose shan't wither!'? Wait...dying? "King Croacus! Please! Tell me what year it is!"
The king looked a bit startled by her sudden outburst, "Well, if you're referring to Flora years...then it's year 106...but, why do you ask...?"
Tippi's eyes bulged, "106?! Why is it 106?! It was like, 1500 the last time I checked!" She panted like a dog as King Croacus's eyes became wide with amazement.
"1500? That would certainly explain why you saw the three other kings on those pictures. But...how on Earth are you back in the one hundreds?"
"I don't know!" Tippi shrieked, shutting her eyes and letting the rest of her anger out internally. What was happening to her?! Is this what Queen Jaydes thought would somehow be useful to the heroes? Turning the clock back over a thousand years? "And yes...the pictures were of the kings that came after you. Wasn't the white queen your daughter...?" She repeated the question she had asked a few minutes ago.
"Umm...ye-yes, that is her. How did you know?"
"Oh..." Tippi said, thinking for a moment, "I read it off of the portraits. They had short biographies of each king..."
The king's eyebrows raised and he suddenly cleared his throat. A bit nervous about asking his question, he took a moment to contemplate what he was going to inquire. But...he needed to know, "Seeing as I'm apparently not king for 1500 years, may I ask...what ever became of me?"
Tippi bit her lip and stared the king in the eye for a second, "N-no...King Croacus...I can't...and I shouldn't..." She sighed and looked at the floor. How could she possibly tell him that he imprisoned his daughter and would eventually be overthrown?
The king grimaced, "I suppose I shouldn't know, for now,"
Silence. The room seemed to naturally grow more and more quiet as the conversation continued to increase with seriousness. And now...Tippi was unsure of what to say. But...she did have one question..., "King Croacus? Do you know of the pure heart?"
"Well, you did tell me about it, yes..."
"No..." Tippi shook her head, "I mean...do you have it?"
The king just laughed as if mocking the amount of logic put into that question, "Of course I don't! I don't even know what it looks like...but, don't worry, Tippi...if the heart decides to show up anytime soon, you'll be the first to know it,"
"Oh..." She smiled, "Thank you...and, may I please ask you one more thing?"
"Anything,"
"Well..." She cleared her throat, "My friends are unconscious on the outskirts of the kingdom. I was wondering if you could somehow help them..."
The king smiled a jovial and welcoming kind of smile, "Tippi, I will send some of my Floro Sapeins there this instant. And, if you'll be kind enough, would you guys be willing to accept staying in one of the many bedrooms within the castle? It's the least we could do for a confused person such as yourself..."
Tippi's eyes lit up, "Oh, thank you, King Croacus! I will gladly accept!"
The king just laughed, "Now, I will organize a few Floro Sapiens to go retrieve your friends...they'll just need you to lead the way. That's fine with you, yes?"
The pixl nodded, "Yeah, I remember where they were..."
"Good..." The king grinned, "Good..."
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"Florette! Keep an eye on this pixl! She knows not what she says. And...she is a liar. She must be crazy. Insane. Anything. The Dark Prognosticus promised me eternal leadership over the kingdom. I shan't wither. Ever,"