Sorry this came out later than I expected, I had to work out some major kinks with this one.
At any rate, please enjoy the new chapter!
Arkayna slowly opened her eyes, lightly groaning in the process. As she rose up, every muscle in her body felt like they were on fire, causing her to groan more loudly, sore from the tissue destroying venom. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her room. Not her normal room, but her room at the stronghold. Gazing at the mirror on her desk drawer, she was still in her mysticon form. She could see just how battle ravaged she was, particularly from her fight with Zarya.
Talking of which, Arkayna looked to her left side and saw Zarya in a chair, napping. If the princess had to guess, she had been there for the remainder of the night, not wanting to leave her twin's side. Poor thing must have passed out from exhaustion. After all, it had been a hell of a night.
In light of this, Arkayna got up from her bed and powered down into her civilian attire. Looking at her arms and hands, her cuts and bruises were gone. She smiled, it was nice to know the transformation heals as well. A quick look at her room clock revealed it was a little past noon. She took a quick look at Zarya with a small smile. She walked to her twin, and lightly touched her shoulder.
"Thank you, Zarya." Arkayna whispered. She was very touched by Zarya staying by her side. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel guilty for "making" her do so, given the circumstances. The kind princess then pressed her lips on her sister's forehead, just lightly enough so she wouldn't wake her. After all, she deserved some rest after last night. As she left to join the others, Zarya smiled subconsciously, knowing her twin was alright.
Back downstairs, everyone watched the news intently, waiting if the media had anything to say from last night. Sure enough...
"Serena Snakecharmer arriving on scene! This just in, a local address in one of the most dangerous parts of the Undercity had blown up. Very few locals were injured from the explosion, those that were are quickly being tended to by the astromancers."
Piper had a very tense expression, and with good reason. She knew that the worst part of this broadcast was yet to come.
"The current whereabouts of the king and queen of Drake City are still unknown as of this time." Serana then got a call on her Bluetooth, with an indiscriminate voice talking rather excitedly. "We know take you to our beloved philanthropist, Creed Slitherwick!" And there it was. "On to you, Max!"
"Thank you for lending me your ears, citizens of Drake City." Creed said, in a somber tone that was nothing more than a facade, standing at a podium in a theatre. "The news of our beloved King Darius and Queen Goodfey is indeed a terrible outcome. My sincere condolences to the royal Twins and King Gawayne. By all means, the search must continue, and we cannot rest until they are found! I certainly won't. May Gygax help us on this never ending quest."
A thunderous applause could be heard in the background, just before Serena coming back on.
"There you have it folks, despite all the despair, Mr. Slitherwick is the shining example that hope still exists in our city!"
Out of frustration, Malveron turned the TV off. "People actually believe that load of minotaur crap?" He asked irritably.
"He's good at getting people on his side, I'll at least give him that much." Doug added, earning him irritated looks from present company. "Well, he is." He responded meekly.
"A rare moment indeed, but Doug's right." Zorlon sighed. "Deception and trickery are powerful weapons that can easily fool those who are impressionable or simply want to believe a cause is favorable. Creed has clearly mastered this horrible art."
"And since he destroyed his hideout, there's no solid evidence that he was involved in the kidnaping." Em said.
"Ugh, I really hate that guy!" Piper exclaimed, uncharacteristically tightening her fist. Luckily, her mood changed at the sound of a familiar voice.
"He's not exactly my favorite person in the realm either." Arkayna's voice could be heard, causing everyone to turn quickly. There she was, almost good as new. "Hi guys." She said, waving her hand.
"Arkayna!" Em and Piper said in unison, rushing over to Arkayna, squeezing her so tightly the Princess was starting to turn blue.
"Glad to see you too girls, though oxygen is starting to become a pressing issue." Arkayna squeaked, to which the two girls release her.
"Don't you scare us like that again, we really thought you weren't gonna make it!" Malveron said, quick to embrace Arkayna. Though she seemed shocked at first, the young mages hug was so warm and caring that she welcomed it. "I'm glad you're okay." he whispered.
Arkayna smiled, lightly blushing. "Thank you." She whispered. Everyone seemed glad to see her. Well, maybe not everyone.
"Arkayna." Zorlon said, his tone sounding rather stern. "May I speak with you for a moment?"
Arkayna flinched at that a little. She had a feeling she knew what this was about. The she looked to the others, but were all kind of hiding behind Doug. Arkayna sighed. Time to take her lumps.
"Of course… Zorlon." She said sheepishly.
They made their way to Zorlon's study. Arkayna clutched her right arm, looking disheartened. As soon as he shut the door behind them, Zorlon let out a heavy sigh. A brief moment of silence filled the study until Zorlon finally spoke.
"I'm glad you're alright, Arkayna." Zorlon said. "I'm glad the anti venom potion worked." Zorlon's voice that began getting more stern. "But I'm still highly disappointed by your actions that led to it. You should have known better, Arkayna."
"I know." Arkayna said sheepishly.
"And what's worse, you put your own teammates in danger. You put your own sister in danger!"
"I know!" Arkayna said a little louder than she wanted. She allowed herself a deep breath before finishing. "I know. Believe me, I feel bad enough as it is about the whole thing."
"It's one thing to regret your actions, but it's another thing entirely to consider the consequences before they happen. What if we didn't make the potion in time? What if you didn't get out of the basilisk pen in time? What if Zarya wasn't cured of the rage magic?"
Arkayna let his words sink in. Apparently, the others told him everything. She couldn't exactly blame her solon's frustration. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if she had just told everyone about the note she received from Creed. Alas, they may never know.
"I won't try to make excuses. But, I was just so fed up with feeling so helpless, not being able to revert my parents from being bone. I just lost it inside, I began closing people off. Then, when I found out my parents were gone… all I wanted was to have them back." Her voice wavered a little bit. "And I was willing to do anything to save them."
Zorlon then placed a hand on Arkayna's shoulder, more understanding of the situation.
"Arkayna…" He said, his tone soft . "Believe me, I get it. Not a day goes by when all I wanted was to help my loved ones." He then took out a locket from his coat, revealing his picture with his late wife and baby daughter. "Nothing else mattered as soon as I knew they were in danger. But you need to understand that your new family is just as important. That your life is just as important. Everyone wants to help you, Arkayna. You just have to let everyone in."
Arkayna rubbed her arm rather harshly knowing the full gravity of her mistake. Her guilt worsened even further at the thought of the snake bite. Not only did it freak her out that she almost died, but knowing her friends were worried about her, especially Zarya, filled her with even more guilt.
Those thoughts in mind, she moved closer to Zorlon, leaning on his shoulder, whimpering. "I'm sorry, Zorlon. I really am." She said weakly. "How am I ever going to make it up to everyone?"
"Admitting your mistake is your first step." Zorlon warmly placed both his hands on her shoulders, trying to ease her guilt. "How you handle your mistakes is what matters from here. You are a great leader, Arkayna. Yet, even leaders can make mistakes. That's all part of experience and wisdom."
Arkayna held on to Zorlon for what seemed like hours, but was a mere ten minutes in reality. She knew she had to face her teammates about this, but at the moment, she needed to mentally prepare herself.
After the full ten minutes of mental preparation, Arkayna finally emerged from the study, Zorlon leading her to the others. Everyone was looking at her with anticipation, not knowing what was going on. After a deep breath, Arkayna had this to say.
"Listen everyone. I know that, the past few days I've been… to be blunt, a little bitchy, and reckless too. If everyone still feels a little sore about all this, I'll be happy to give up my position as leader of the Mysticons."
The room fell into silence for a good while. For a moment, it seemed like they were thinking about that. Their response, was not at all what Arkayna expected.
"Are you kidding?" Piper said. "You're the best leader ever! I mean sure, you made a huge mistake but don't we all?"
"You're not alone Arkayna." Em said. "You're never alone. We'll always be there for you."
Arkayna couldn't help but smile. Never had she been so blessed to be surrounded by people who cared about her. Which reminded her… "Where are my parents?"
"Hey, don't worry." Doug said. "They're good as new." He then pointed her to the newly restored bone statues of the king and queen.
Arkayna didn't hesitate to embrace her mother in her arms, smiling. "Thank you… so much." She said.
After about a minute, Arkayna then had a new resolve in her eyes.
"Listen everyone. This evening, I'll announce that my parents are back, safe and sound. After that, we need to double security in the Palace, Creed, nor anyone else will ever touch my parents ever again."
As everyone cheered in agreement, Zorlon left them to it. Things seemed to have wrapped up nicely, the King and Queen were restored, safe and sound at the palace, and the Mysticons all returned alive. Surely this would be a happy ending. Yet, as Zorlon knew all too well, life was never that simple.
"Gold piece for your thoughts, old master?" A smug tone could be heard. Zorlon turned to see Tazma in her snow globe, amused by the unfortunate ordeal. "That insignificant worm won't be the last to know who the Mysticons are, you know? Eventually, everyone will know who the Mysticons are. When that happens, they, nor their loved ones, will be safe."
Without saying a word, Zorlon placed a sheet over Tazmas' globe, not wanting look at her after that remark, then walked away. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder, if she was right. "Great Gygax" was all he could say.
Slitherwick tower, perhaps the second tallest building in Drake City, being dwarfed only by the Royal Palace. Atop the tower sat a golden snake statue, sitting up in a proud manner, with a smile. One might think this was to symbolize hope or prosperity, showing a softer side to snakes. Poor fools. No one realizes that the towers' proprietor gave snakes a bad name. This was where Creed did his work as a philanthropist.
There Creed was, tapping on his desk with a pen, looking rather irritated. On his phone, which he projected a screen into the air with, he watched a video with Arkayna announcing the safe return of her parents. Gawayne, of course, tried to take credit for the ordeal, much to the Arkayna and Zarya's strong disapproval.
"How such an impudent brat like him is ever deemed fit to rule the city is a mystery I find rather vexing." Creed said to himself. Just then, Seragus slithered in, bringing him forms to sign.
"It was a good plan on your part sir." Seragus said. "Though I would be lying if I said Zarya's involvement in the matter was unforeseen."
"Yes." Creed sighed. "I suppose that was a major factor, in retrospect. However..." his cynical frown then turned into a malicious smile. "This is only a minor bump in the road. So long as I know their identities, none of them will be safe."
"True, though it occurs to me that the only one we don't recognize is the dwarf." Seragus pointed out. "All we know is that she's the Mysticon Knight, yet more than that we don't know. In that respect, her identity is safe."
"She's associated with them and that's what matters." Creed said. "Besides, that neophyte, Mathis, had met all four of them on several occasions, I'm sure he might have caught her name at least once." He them got up from his desk, and walked toward a large window, which provided a great view of the city. "What a beautiful city. One way, or another, it will be mine. This, I swear." He finished, menacingly.
Creed looked on at Drake City, more passionate on his ambitions than ever before.
I realize Creed's words have some irony, as the Mysticons' identities ultimately went public.
Be that as it may, that's the end of this fic. Writing-wise, I'll likely go on a small hiatus for a while, at least for long stories. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out of ideas by any means, I just want to take a break and try some other things outside of fanfic for a while.
As always, feel free to review and share your thoughts. Thank you so much for taking time to read this fic!