"Urgh." Seychelles grasped her abdomen. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrggghhhhh!"
"What's wrong?" Wy asked from her bed. It was early in the morning, earlier than when they usually wake up. Some got so into their new sleeping patterns that they didn't hear Seychelles' pain.
"I don't know. OOHH! It hurts so much!"
Wy climbs out of her bed and walked to her. "Where does it hurt?"
"In my groin area."
"Are you on your period?"
"Nations don't get periods!"
"What's going on?" Wy heard TRNC's voice from behind her. "Seychelles woke me."
"She's in pain,"
"What should we do?"
"Let's wake the others." Wy and TRNC ran down the line of beds, shaking their friends as hard as they could until they woke up
"What's going on?" Seborga asked.
"Something's wrong with Seychelles,"
"Is she on her period?" Molossia asked, half asleep.
"I'M NOT ON MY FUCKING PERIOD!" Seychelles yelled. Yelled! That's not like her at all. Thankfully, because of that, everyone was awake and attentive now.
"What should we do?" Sealand asked.
"If she's really hurt, we should tell Cassie," Latvia said before running to the doors, but then he remembered that their doors didn't have any knobs.
"Use the mirrors!" Kugelmugel called out.
Seborga, being the one closest to the bathroom, ran the mirrors. When he got to the boys' bathroom he tapped on the mirror as hard as he could. The main menu appeared, he went to contacts and scrolled to Cassie. It rang but she didn't answer. He tried again, still no answer. He tried again, still no answer. He tried again, and finally got an answer!
"Cassie! Oh-" Looking back at him wasn't Cassie but Mr. Doluk. He wore light green pajamas. His long dark green hair wasn't combed back so strands of hair fell over his face, partially covering his eyes.
"Ontn? Do you know what time it is?"
"No. But this is important! Seychelles is hurt!"
Mr. Doluk raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Oh um...AVA!"
"What's wrong with her?"
"We don't know. She just woke up screaming."
"Hm, I'll be right there." He hung up and almost half a minute later the door opened.
Seborga walked back into the room and saw kneeling next to Seychelles' bed.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Ah, Somewhere around here." She pointed at her abdomen.
He nodded. "Can you lift your night dress up for a moment?"
Usually, she would be embarrassed at such a question but at this moment she felt nothing but pain. So, the faster they can find what's wrong, the better.
"Hm, I don't see anything. So the pain must be internal...Wait a moment." He stood up and walked into the bathroom.
A moment later, The door opened again but this time, the person who walked in was someone they didn't see before. She was a tall woman, about 6 feet tall. She had pale white skin and red-orange hair that was in an angled bob haircut. She wore a button down white lab coat, a yellow-orange shirt, a plain dark green mini-skirt, and black thigh high boots which matched the black gloves she wore on her hands. They couldn't see her eyes because she wore black goggles that cover them. In her left hand, she carried a light purple doctor bag.
"The one on the bed?" She asked Mr. Doluk. Her voice was smooth and serious.
"Yes," Mr. Doluk answered.
She pressed the side of her goggles. She looked down at Seychelles. "I don't see anything wrong but I need to check thoroughly."
"Any ideas?"
"Not yet. Send her to my room, cancel classes until further notice, clear the bedroom and quarantine it, check the other children for problems, you can have the children stay in the indoor gym in the meantime." She told him nonchalantly. She then walked back to Seychelles' bed, bend down and lifted the bed skirt. "This may startle you." She pressed a button under her bed and a pink force field appeared around her. "Hang on tight."
"Wait, what do yo-" The floors under Seychelles' bed dissolved to make a circle over her bed. "Gagh!" Her bed fell through the floor, once they didn't see her anymore the floors closed up again.
"Children." The woman saluted the others by lifting her chin before she left the room.
"Who was that?" Sealand asked.
"That was Ms. Mumhana, She's your personal doctor." Mr. Doluk explained.
"How come we didn't see her until now?" Liechtenstein asked.
"She wasn't really needed until now." Mr. Doluk replied. "and she prefers to be in her office when she's not working. Anyways, Let's go to the bathroom in the home education room. We need to have all of you checked."
A few hours later,
Sealand woke up from his second nap to Wy and TRNC talking.
"No TRNC, I don't think you're going to hell," Wy said reassuringly. "God will understand."
"What are you guys talking about?" Sealand asked.
"TRNC was wondering if he was going to hell for not following his diet,"
"Okay?" Sealand raised an eyebrow. "So… What happened when I was asleep?"
"Nothing much," TRNC said. "They gave us little robots." He pointed across the room to three little globes like robots that were scooting around the floor. "We don't know what they supposed to do, though. So, we're just talking."
"Oh okay," Sealand said as he sat up. "So did they found out what's wrong with Seychelles?"
"If they did, they didn't tell us,"
"Which wouldn't be surprising." Wy sighed.
The other two sighed in agreement. The three of them stood in silence for a moment before TRNC turned to Sealand. "Hey, Sealand. I was meaning to ask you."
"Hm?"
"You know how they say that people who stay alone for a long time go crazy." TRNC started. "Are you crazy?"
Sealand was taken back by his question.
"Hey! He's not crazy! Take that back!" A small mermaid spite thing appeared next to Sealand
"Sadie! What are you doing here?" Sealand cried happily.
"I came to visit you! And I came just in time to protect your honor!" The mermaid spite has aqua green scaly skin. One can't tell where her tail begins or ends. She had long magenta hair which was the same color as her eyes.
"Oh, It's fine," Sealand said. "He did mean anything by it."
Unknown to Sealand, Wy and TRNC couldn't see Sadie, so to them, he's talking to air.
"So what happened while I was gone?"
The mermaid shrugged. "I don't really know"
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"It's hard to know what going on in our country, nowadays" Sadie explained. "Oh, but I want to tell you something important! You got more citizens!"
"Really?!"
Sadie nodded happily. "Yeah, But they're kind of weird."
"Weird how?"
"They have hair like those anime characters in your shows. Along with pointy ears. I think they're cosplayers. They came in cool uniforms."
"Cool like how?"
"Their uniforms are futuristic and stuff! And they speak this weird language, I heard them say something like 'sokia khak' "
Sealand's eyes widened. "That's Eurakan! Guys did you heard th-" Sealand turned around to see that Wy and TRNC weren't next to him anymore but behind Seborga and Molossia respectfully, looking at him like he had the plague.
"Only you can see me remember," Sadie told him
"Oh, yeah."
Sadie started to disappear. "Oops, I have to go."
"Ok, Come back as soon as you can!'
"I will! Bye Sealand!" She called out before disappearing.
"Are you done?" Seborga asked.
Sealand turned around. "Oh, guys, Guess what!" He tossed himself next to the others and Wy and TRNC moved a little bit away.
"What?" Molossia asked.
"Sadie said that there are Eurakans on my country. "
"I don't think your imaginary friend is a reliable source,"
"Wait, what did you say?" Latvia asked.
They turned to him. He and Liechtenstein had been in the corner talking among themselves.
"Sealand, repeat that," He demanded.
"There Eurakans on my country?"
Latvia and Liechtenstein shared a look.
"Can you get Ladonia and Kugelmugel over here?" Liechtenstein asked.
Molossia called them over and they all joined together to form a circle.
Liechtenstein looked at the others in the eyes. "We think we know what's wrong with Seychelles,"
"Really? Why didn't you say anything?" Sealand asked.
"It's about her country," Latvia replied.
The others fell silent.
"We believe shes' being invaded,"
"By who, The Eurakans?!" Molossia asked.
"Probably not. As nation personifications, we can feel threats to our countries. If the Eurakans were threats, Sealand would have feel pain too. If they are in his country as he said." Liechtenstein explained.
Molossia raised an eyebrow. "But he didn't say that; his imaginary friend did,"
"Don't throw that information out yet," Latvia said. "If Sealand is anything like England, then he can see magical creatures, and we can use those magical creatures as a connection to the outside."
"You can't be serious?" Wy but in. "Those aren't real. Nobody else can see them."
"We can't, but maybe one of Sealand's brothers can." Latvia pointed out. "Sealand can you…"
Just then, the door opened.
Outside in the hall, Mr. Doluk and Cassie were discussing what to do when Mr. Doluk's communicator rang. "Yes?"
"General! This is commander Olal, from occupied area OSVIII. We have detected a threat off the coast of our occupied area."
"What is it?"
"People. They are trying to invade us. What should we do?"
"Hm, I'll ask for an audience with the queen. Until I get the word, wait it out."
"Yes, sir!"
Mr. Douk hanged up and look back at Cassie. He didn't need to say anything, Cassie just nodded and walked down the hall to see the children.
"Hello children, how are you?" Cassie asked. Today, she was actually wearing the exact same outfit she wore when they first met her. A purple short sleeve blouse with a long yellow skirt, yellow stocking, and black loafers. On her left shoulder, was Je-po preached like a parrot.
"Fine," Latvia said.
"What are you talking about?"
"We were discussing what's wrong with Ava." Liechtenstein lied.
"Oh yes, it's terrible."
"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Sealand asked.
"No, I didn't hear anything from Dr. Mumhana but it's still a worrying thing."
Knowing that they weren't getting anywhere, Molossia decided to change the subject. "Where were you this morning anyway?"
"Oh," She turned to Je-po. "Someone didn't wake me up."
"It was an order!" Je-po said defensively. " Your father didn't want you to panic."
Cassie scoffed. "I wish he'll stop treating me like a child."
"In all fairness, you only became an adult this year,"
"What?" Sealand asked.
"Oh, Sorry. We didn't mean to ignore you." Cassie said.
"Oh, it's ok, but what does he mean your only became an adult this year?" Sealand elaborated. "You're pretty old."
"Hey, She's not that old." Seborga chimed in.
Cassie chuckled. "That's really sweet of you, Ontn. Anyways, out of curiosity, what was the legal adult age back on your planet?"
"It differs by country, but it's usually more or less 18," Molossia said.
"Really?" Cassie's eyes widen. "But that's so young. You, humans, are just like us, you fully develop at the age of 25. That's why here, you legally become an adult at that age. "
"Oh, okay," Seborga said.
"Anyways, Mr. Doluk had to run out for a moment. So I'm watching you today." She said proudly.
"Don't you already do that?" Latvia asked.
"Yeah, but this is the first time that I'm doing it without Mr. Doluk being in the building." Cassie started to walk toward the center of the room. "And hopefully, he'll see that I'm a fully functional adult." She whispered to Je-po. "Alright!" Cassie clapped her hands. "Now let's put all the negative thoughts away for now." Something caught her eye. "Huh? Oh, ! Perfect." She clapped twice and the three globe robots rolled over to her.
"So that's what those are," TRNC said.
"Yep, You didn't know that?"
They shook their heads collectively.
Cassie looked at them in confusion, but then she facepalmed in realization. "I forgot to teach you about them, didn't I?"
"Probably," Sealand stated.
Cassie sighed. "Anyways, now is a good time as any. Gather round, children." They scooted closer to her. "These are . They're transportable entertainment spherical have been programmed with pre-approved entertainment and educational children's programming for you. To use them, you first say, ' please,' " Each of the three globes leaned on one of their sides and then projected different shows from within, it was just like looking into a crystal ball. Cassie picked one up and show it to them. "Then you swipe your hand over it to change the program. Any questions?"
Wy raised her hand. "It's not really a question but we can't hear anything."
"Oh! I forgot. The sound goes directly into your head, via your translators" She explained. "The sound adjusts to the one you're sitting in front of." She put the down. "Go ahead and try."
Seychelles slowly opened her eyes. The pain in her abdomen was gone but so was everything else. Well, not everything, She could still feel her face and move her neck. She looked around and saw that she was in an unfamiliar room. On her left was a large sliding window, on the right of it was a tall metal cabinet that didn't seem to have any visible opening. On her right, she heard beeping, she turned towards it to see that there was a robot next to her bed. The top half of it looks like the torso of a woman and the bottom half was shaped like a long skirt with a large wheel on the bottom. On the far wall, there was an empty brown shelf.
She tried to sit up but when she did, loud rapid beeping occurred.
She heard a door slide open and footsteps running towards her.
"Oh dear," An old woman said. She then felt a pair of arms help her sit up. "There, all better." Standing in front her was an elderly woman, she was a few inches shorter than Seychelles, she had a round body type and was fat but she was the type of woman that actually looks good on the heavy side. Her skin was soft and clear except for a beauty mark right under the left corner of her mouth. Her eyes were a cool turquoise. She had straight white hair in a medium length bob hairstyle. She was wearing a short sleeve white dress that stops at her knee. She spoke in a soft and calming tone. The woman took Seychelles's left hand into hers and caress it.
The beeping stopped. "Good, you're awake." Seychelles turned her head to see the woman from earlier standing in front of the robot, which was probably what was doing the beeping. "How are you feeling?"
"I can't feel anything but my head." She answered.
"Good," Seychelles stared at her shock. "That means the pain reliever is still working." She explained. "Anyway, Hello there..." She looked at the old woman.
"Ava,"
"Ava," She repeated. "I am doctor Mumhana and she is Irka."
"Hello darling," The old woman, Irka, said. "This is your first time meeting us but we already know you." Seychelles raised an eyebrow. "Doctor Mumhana is you children's personal doctor. She knows everything she needs to know about your health. Of course, she doesn't remember your names sometimes but show her your genetic code and she can put a face with it. Me on the other hand, I'm the head of the maintenance department. I make sure the place is sparkling clean and I'm also in charge of making sure your gifts are given to the right person. Like the night clothes you are wearing right now."
"Irka," Doctor Mumhana spoke up. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to tell her about her current state."
"Oh, yes, of course." Irka let go of Seychelles' hand and stood aside.
"Thank you, " The doctor pressed some buttons on the robot and a hologram appeared in front of Seychelles. It was a basic silhouette of a woman. "According to you, your pain is coming from here." The hologram zooms into the silhouette's abdomen. "From our tests, the inside of your stomach is contracting. Sadly, we can't locate the cause of it. So instead, we are going to stop you from feeling pain."
"How?" Seychelles asked.
"Surgery. I'll create an opening for this." The hologram showed a thin metal bar with a bright green light on the left corner. "This would stop the neurons in that area from firing. But only temporarily, We have to take it out and recharge it every 12 months."
"But what if I don't want surgery," Seychelles asked. Unknown to most of her loved ones, Seychelles is afraid of surgery. She never liked the idea of being cut open.
"We'll give you three days, To see if anything change. After that, you will have to have the surgery, whether you want to or not." Doctor Mumhana said it so informally that it gave Seychelles chills. "As your doctor, I have the right to override your consent if doing so will help your well-being."
Irka rubbed her back. "It's okay, you'll be asleep for it. No need to worry."
Doctor Mumhana's face softened. "You must be hungry. I'll call you some lunch."
"You broke mom's vase!" shouted a little five-year-old girl.
An older boy, about ten, tried to calm her down "Don't worry, We just have to clean it up before dad…"
A brawny man walked in wearing a black plastic apron and holding a butcher's knife. "You have three seconds." He said, raising up the butcher's knife. And with that, the two children scattered out of the room and ran upstairs. The man lowered his knife and then walked to the corner of the living room. A holographic panel appeared, he pressed a few buttons and then made a phone call. "Hello, honey,"
"What did he do now?" A woman on the other line asked, unsurprised.
*Laugh track*
Kugelmugel laid on his stomach as he and Ladonia, who sat on his knees next to him, watched a Eurakan sitcom. "Hey, Cassie."
Cassie turned her head. She was sitting nearby with TRNC and Sealand watching a movie. She happily stood up, brush her skirt, and walked over to them. "What's up?"
"I was wondering, why is it that whenever there's a family shown, the woman is working, and the man stays at home." He asked. Cassie gave Kugelmugel a confused look. "I'm not being sexist or anything, I'm just wondering."
"Sexist?" Cassie raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar word but brushed it off. "That's because, at a certain age, it's preferable for the father to be with the children. If you noticed all the main children characters are near the pubescent stage. That's the stage when children need more discipline and direction, and a father is better for that than a mother. Mothers tend to spoil their children."
"Hey, if men are preferred for raising teenagers?" Ladonia started. "Then why are you in charge of us?"
"Well, two reasons. One reason is that currently, Euraka is dealing with a conflict outside the planet. So, we're sending the military over to deal with it. And since most Eurakan men are in the military, there are much more women available. Another reason is that I'm Mr. Doluk's daughter, and I get some advantages some times." Cassie smirked jokingly.
"What's the conflict?" Kugelmugel asked. This could be it. This could be their chance to find out what's going on Earth.
"I don't know. That's classified information. Only Mr. Doluk knows the details."
Kugelmugel sighed and turned back to the.
"Speaking of him, where is he?" Ladonia asked.
"Ah, General, How great it is to see you!" Queen Unireka greeted as she hugged the taller man. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."
"No, not at all." He replied. Which was a lie, he has been sitting in the waiting room for at most two hours, but he didn't have the right to complain. The queen was taking time out of her busy schedule to talk to him.
"Here, take a seat." They were in the Queen's private office. It was in a small room. In it were a desk, a big comfy revolving chair behind it, and two chairs in front of it. The walls were plain white but since the room has large windows decorating them would be useless. The large windows lighted up the room beautifully, so most of the time there was no need for electric lighting. The Queen sat down in the chair behind the desk and Mr. Doluk sat in one of the chairs in the front. "So what did you want to talk about?" She asked resting her chin on her hands.
"Well...There seems to be a problem with one of the occupied territories on Earth, OSVIII." He said. "There is an invasion."
The queen stopped smiling but didn't seem all too shock. "What are you doing right now?"
"We have put up invisible forcefields around the areas they haven't invaded yet. But I haven't deployed any troops yet."
"Do you know where are these invaders from?"
"We don't know, but we believe they are called the UN army." He said. "Does that help?"
The queen's smile came back. "Yes that would do, thank you."
"What should we do?"
"All you have to do is 'quell' them."
"Of course, your highness." Mr. Doluk stood up from his chair. "I'll take my leave."
"Wait, Edon." She said. "How are the children?"
"One is ill right now, but the others are perfectly fine."
"Just what I thought." She whispered to herself. "Oh, poor thing! Before you leave, stop by the front desk. I'm going to order a gift basket for them. Better yet. I'll give all of the children gift baskets. Make sure you give them to them."
"Thank you, your highness. I sure that the children would be grateful." He bowed to her and walked out of the room.
The queen chuckled. It was a rarity that people bowed to her anymore, usually, they just saluted, but Edon and his daughter do it to show how much they appreciate her. It was so sweet. And she loved it.
Seychelles' eyes widen as she felt a strange feeling passed over her.
"What's wrong?" Irka asked as she stopped feeding her lunch.
"Ah, nothing."
Meanwhile, the rest of they got bored of the and started doing other things.
"Concentration...no repeats...Or hesitation. ."
"Amazing Salor, I didn't know that you were such good at hands games" Mr. Doluk teased Salor, who was currently teaching Audray and Maril how to play this 'concentration' game. "That's also a beautiful bow you're wearing."
Salor removed his hands from the circle they created and blushed a deep red.
"Now Salor, There is no shame. I have twelve older sisters. I had experienced the same thing. "
"You're joking." Audray said dumbfounded.
"He's not!" Cassie called from across the room.
"Your mother is an amazing woman," Liechtenstein said.
"What's amazing is that Salor is voluntarily interacting with other students other than Avet." Mr. Doluk joked. "Where is he, anyway?"
Salor gently rolled over what seems to be a rolled up blanket next to him to reveal that it was Avet asleep in a blanket cocoon. It was adorable!
"I hope you don't mind waking him up. It is time for lunch." Mr. Doluk said.
Salor shook Avet a bit and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Children! It's time for Lunch." He shouted to the whole room. "Please go downstairs. "
Without being told, the children lined up in a single file line and made their way downstairs.
"What happened?" Cassie asked as she walked at next to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You don't act this lax unless something good happens," Cassie said with a smug smile. "So what is it?"
"The conflict was solved. "
'And?"
"I was approved for a vacation."
Cassie's face brightens up. "Really? That's great! You needed a break."
"I'm glad too. Hopefully, now the children would get to know Mr. Doluk more than General Doluk."
Cassie chuckled. "I was hoping they would too. By the way...Why did you tell Je-po not to wake me up?"
Mr. Doluk looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, I was a little worried about how you would have reacted. Besides, I was hoping to spend some time with the children."
Cassie was about to say something. She was about to asserts her capability of a teacher. She was going to tell her father that she wasn't a little girl anymore and that she didn't need him handholding her while she does her job. But she didn't "Well, now you'll have plenty of time to spend with them."
"That I will," He said. "Anyways, come with me. The Queen sent gifts for the children and I need help passing them during lunch."
"Will do," Cassie said as they left, mentally yelling at herself for not speaking her mind.
Seychelles stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Something was not right. She was sure of it. This morning she felt pain, unspeakable pain, it was something that she didn't experience before. But she guessed what it was. Her country was invaded.
She heard stories from others about what it was like to be invaded. It starts with a sudden chill that felt like someone just threw a bucket of ice water at her from behind. Then came the feeling of constantly being stabbed.
She had never been invaded before. Until now.
She had so many questions. The biggest one being. What's happening on Earth?
The medicine that Dr. Mumhana gave her had worth off but she felt no pain. Which means that the invasion was over. It's was over and done with, within a few hours.
She heard the door opened.
"Darling, Look what I got for you," Irka called.
Seychelles sat up in her bed and looked at her.
"Oh! You can sit up on your own!" She cheered. In Irka's arms, there was a giant gift basket. It was light blue with various items in it and a big dark blue bow on top. "Look! The queen had sent you a gift. Let's go through it." Irka went to her and handed her the basket. "Oh, But I must tell Dr. Mumhana about your condition."
While Irka went to the intercom, Seychelles looked over her gift. In it, there was a little note on an index card. The note was written in light yellow. Only at a certain angle could it be legible. It said:
Dear Ava,
I hope the pain went away.
Rest assure that your people are safe.
"What, What does that mean?" She asked herself. "Does she know about...?"
"Good to see you up." Dr. Mumhana said as she walks in. She had her goggles over her eyes and was scanning Seychelles up and down. "Incredible." She lifted up her goggles. "Completely healed."
"It's a miracle!" Irka added.
"So I can go back with the others now?" Seychelles asked.
"Yes, But...Do to this little scare, It was decided that you and the other children should be vaccinated. Since you're already here, we'll start with you."Dr. Mumhana walked to the counter and took out a surgery kit. "I'll give you a warning, we give vaccines differently than they do on Earth."
