A/N: Do you remember how I said there wouldn't be a chapter as long as the last one? Yeah... about that. Well, this one is even longer. I don't know how I manage to do this, honestly.

Anyway, there are only three more chapters until the end. I hope you like my little twist here. ;)

A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu

Chapter 37: Royal Relations

There never was any sight quite like the pyramids at dusk. From the sandy flats of Lea Halalela, only a faint belt of light rested above the horizon, while millions of stars lit into view from above. Grouped into many various clusters and sprayed across a big, bluish-black thing, not one celestial body remained hidden above a cloud.

The sky couldn't have been any more pure and crisp, and even the dimmest of nebulae were visible just after sunset. It was nothing short of a mesmerizing sight, capable of striking awe into the heart of any lion who sought to look upward.

But for Mohatu, it was different.

The lion raised his eyes up at the starry twilight sky above his ears, but his thoughts remained elsewhere. The lioness Mohatu loved with all his heart had just confessed her love for another lion—it didn't matter what he thought of it, there was no way he could possibly have felt good about the situation. It was impossible for him to feel anything other than numbness in the pit of his stomach.

What was once confusion, fear, guilt, and anger no longer existed within Mohatu's own heart. It was all replaced by a dull sense of aching pain, continuously churning within. At best, it was nothing other than the simple pain of being unable to share a life with Mari. At worst, it was the pain of his own inadequacy. Regardless, it was the pain of his internal emptiness.

If Mari felt like she needed to find some other lion to bring her happiness, Mohatu was not going to dispute that. He was neither mad at her for thinking in such a way, nor was he incapable of understanding why she felt the way she did. He understood that, he accepted that, and he respected that.

In truth, what pain Mohatu felt wasn't actually in relation to Mari at all; it was in relation to himself. Leo was capable of fighting for her, he was capable of protecting her, and he was capable of loving her. It just would have made sense for her to love him back. Yet, Mari felt as though she needed to go searching across Africa to find another lion to love her, while he was right there in front of her.

There must have been some reason why Mari felt that way. There must have been some intrinsic personality trait that Leo had, which she simply found repelling. She couldn't see him as a mate, and there had to have been some reason why. Something about him just wasn't good enough. Leo interpreted Mari's decision in no other way.

There was simply no other possible explanation. If Mari knew how he felt, she probably would have told him it wasn't true—but Leo knew better. It obviously was true. If Mari actually believed he was good enough, she would have been able to love him.

Apparently, as Mohatu started to think, Mari never believed he was good enough. It was obvious that she believed he was a capable warrior, but she never saw him for who he truly was. She never saw him as an actual lion—a living, breathing, sentient being, capable of experiencing love.

Only now did Mohatu realize this.

Without a doubt, Mohatu was one of the strongest, most capable lions in all of Africa. He had outmatched every opponent that he had fought thus far, without ever suffering from a major injury. He was capable of rivaling the great kings of the past, and he could easily provide food for an entire pride. Day in and day out, he proved his capacity to succeed, no matter how intensely the world crumbled around him.

But those were his abilities and achievements, which were in no way related to his identity as a lion. Every lion seemed to like what he did, but as Mohatu began to realize, no lion seemed to like him for who he was. No one, not even Mari, seemed to notice that he was there, on a deeper, more intimate level.

Although the kings of the past wanted Leo to prove his superiority, that was not what he wanted in the slightest. He did not think of himself as being superior to any other lion, nor was that the way he wanted to view himself. He only wanted love. As twilight fell upon him, he realized how true it was.

Mohatu's goal was never to become the best of the best. Leo knew he already possessed all the power he needed; he did not have any such desire to become any stronger, unlike those who felt powerless. Instead, Leo's only goal was to become Mari's beloved lion—mainly because he felt unloved. Unlike most lions, it was that love which he did not have, and it was that which he sought the most.

In truth, Leo was an experienced warrior on the outside, but he was merely a cub, at heart. Behind the armor of his thick teeth and sharp claws, Leo was actually a very different lion from the brutal creature he appeared to be. Even though he was once a king, Mohatu was hardly a cold, ruthless, and heartless killer.

In fact, Mohatu's perception of reality always leaned toward the untamed and hypersensitive side, which proved to be both his strength and his weakness. His sensitivity to his inner core of emotions fueled his will and awareness in battle, but it was precisely that same overexposure to reality which devastated him on the inside, on occasion.

Long ago, it was that sensitivity that pushed him forward to kill the hyenas, and that very same sensitivity was what guided him to the keys. It was that sensitivity that allowed him to connect with his ancient ancestors, in ways that no lion had ever done before. It was his defining characteristic, though as the case was with Mari, it didn't always manifest on positive terms.

From what Mohatu had originally thought, Mari knew all of that. She seemed to understand who Mohatu truly was on the inside, and that much had been evident from her actions alone. Throughout the entire quest, Mari was the only lioness who seemed to treat Mohatu as another lion, and that was why he loved her. Mari was the only lioness to see him for who he was underneath his thick skin, and Mohatu had believed that she actually did like him.

But it wasn't actually like that at all. It wasn't as if Mari didn't like what he did, or that she despised him for what he couldn't do. She just didn't like him for who he was. Although she had said that it was nothing personal, it couldn't have been any more personal, in all reality.

Mari wanted some lion like him, just not him. From Mohatu's perspective, that was the epitome of personal insults. She didn't just reject the lion he was on the outside; she had completely rejected the lion she knew he was on the inside.

And so he was indeed unlovable. There was no questioning it. For a brief moment, Mohatu closed his eyes, holding back his tears of pain, frustration, and disappointment. His gaze refused to lock on to the horizon, and instead turned inward.

Mohatu quickly came to the realization that every morning, Mari woke up with a smile on her face—not because he was there to greet her, but because she had been dreaming of another lion. Although Mohatu had once thought that he was the reason why Mari's mood lifted, he now knew that wasn't true. It was a sudden revelation that hit him, and nearly knocked him down off his paws.

He wasn't the source of Mari's happiness. Everything he did just didn't matter to her, nor did it truly matter to any lion.

Mohatu closed his eyes in pain, and tried to drift off to sleep. Leaving the real world behind, even if only for a few hours, was the only way to escape from his loathsome thoughts. He tried to ignore the reality of the situation with all his strength, but it was impossible.

Even in his light state of rest, he couldn't break free. That was when he needed Mari's comfort the most.

Leo continued to lay in the sand with dulled senses, but his inner thoughts filled his imagination. Standing across from him was an orange lioness—a very specific orange lioness, actually. She frolicked in the breeze, almost weightless on her paws. Her head reigned high above her spine, and her typical, playful grin never fell from her face.

Mari. Yes, that was it. She was Mari.

Leo shook his head, in an attempt to make the vision disappear. It simply wouldn't. No matter how hard Mohatu clenched his eyes to darkness, Mari's vibrant image still managed to come through. She just wouldn't leave his head. Her face, her gait, and her scent—it was all embedded into his conscious, and remained unmovable without even the strength of a thousand rhinos.

Eventually, Mari's aura ceased all movement. She stood paralyzed by happiness, while a strange-looking red-maned lion placed his paw over hers. The male grinned deviously, before adding three heavy words to the silence of crickets. "Good job, love."

"Oh," Mari whispered in her most carefree voice possible. "It was nothing."

"Haha... not for a sexy lioness like you," the red-maned male replied. "I knew you would be able to turn him down." With that comment, he reached his muzzle inward, until it nearly met Mari's lips for a kiss. Their breaths grazed their fur, and their combined warmth emitted a shield of bright light.

"You should have seen the look on his face," Mari stated, almost triumphantly. She wrapped one of her forepaws around the red-maned lion's neck, and pulled his muzzle even closer to her own. Their cheeks met in a nuzzle, and Mari licked her love's ears. "He thought I loved him," Mari bragged. "He was easy to fool."

The red-maned lion's smile remained in place, but the perfect form of his teeth started to show underneath. "I'm so proud of you," he stated. "You're... amazing."

"I did it all for you," Mari fawned.

Mari's true mate started to chuckle. His eyes stared directly at Mohatu, and after a few seconds, he brought his paw up to comb his own mane. He was so bright, so shiny, and... worst of all, perfect. Such a showoff.

Mohatu felt what little gut he had remaining collapse with fear. He brought his paws up to cover his face, and he buried his entire muzzle in the sand. He couldn't look. He just couldn't.

"Look at him," Mari's red-maned love interest teased. "I can't believe you ever hung around such a loser. What were you even thinking?"

"Hah," Mari laughed. "Yeah..." She added, licked her lips, and rolled over onto her back. "I wasn't thinking." Afterward, she reached a paw upward, and tugged on the male's lower manefur. "You're sooooooo much better than he is."

The red male stepped over atop Mari, and then rested his chin on her belly. Holding a seductive grin, he looked into Mari's eyes, slowly savoring the moments he spent with the best female from the Pridelands. "That's right, my love," he answered slowly, his voice as sleek as silk.

Finally, Mohatu had seen enough. He leaped up to his paws, and drug his claws through the dirt. His eyes jolted open, his teeth met the outside air, and his brows lowered to conform to his squint. A deep rumble of a growl sounded from his throat, nearly causing an earthquake.

Yet, before Mohatu could berate the lioness and her mate for their atrocious acts, she disappeared. The red-maned lion was nowhere to be found, either. They were both just visions of worry. They didn't actually exist in reality.

Retracting his claws, Mohatu exhaled his breath. Okay, so he realized it wasn't real. Mari never actually found the red-maned lion. She never actually betrayed Leo. She wasn't teasing him. He was just getting a little ahead of himself. That was all.

After a few seconds of peace, a gust of wind blew the tuft of Mohatu's mane into his eyes. It was just a rough night. He was simply having a hard time coming to terms with being rejected. In truth, that was all it was.

Really. Seriously. It wasn't that bad. It was nowhere near as bad as Mohatu's inner lion thought it was. Sure, Mari had unintentionally said some hurtful things, but she was still his friend. She wouldn't do that to him. Even in Leo's state of internal chaos, he knew better than to assume the worst in her.

Again, he tried to close his eyes as he rested back down in the sand. This time, he remained a bit more relaxed. "She wouldn't do that to me," Leo mumbled to himself. "She's my friend. She wouldn't..."

But could he really be sure?

Mohatu exhaled yet another breath of exasperation. No, he couldn't. He wasn't sure of anything. He didn't know what to think, anymore. Nothing Mari said made any sense to him. Now, his thoughts were merely fragments of a whole, shattered about the scatters of his mind. It was all a crazy mumble of chaotic mayhem. Even in silence, it was all too much to bear.

But there wasn't actually silence. In addition to Mohatu's thoughts, several repeating whisks of pawsteps gradually increased in volume, as a creature doubtlessly approached his resting place. In consequence, Mohatu eventually lifted his head up and opened his eyes, at which point he found a bright white figure standing before him.

"And just what are you doing, sleeping out here... all alone?" Minerva asked.

Mohatu shook himself off, in a meager attempt to get the many grains of sand out of his mane. He then glanced upward, and struggled to hide his sorrow as best as he could. He wasn't sure how well he could succeed in that respect, but the least he wanted was for Minerva to take advantage of his situation. That would certainly have been a bad thing, and he was hardly oblivious to it.

Mohatu forced a smile. "I... just wanted to see the great kings of the past..." he lied.

"So you do." Queen Minerva paused for a moment, looking up to the sky herself. Her jaw opened in a state of admiration, and the light purplish colors of her mouth became apparent inside the bright whiteout of her luscious fur. "Magnificent, aren't they?" she asked. "You know, of all the times I've seen the night sky, the great kings never lose their elegance."

"Yep."

A gentle wind passed through the two felines, before Minerva quickly changed her attitude into a more serious state. "So..." she added, looking back at Mohatu. "Where did your slave go?" she asked. She only seemed slightly demeaning with her question, which was rather odd in contrast to her typical behavior.

"Oh," Mohatu immediately choked on his breath. "Uh... I don't really know," he answered. "She didn't say."

Minerva raised a brow. "Interesting."

"Mhm?"

"Oh, nothing," the queen tried to clarify herself, but cleverly added more ambiguity to her thoughts, in the process. Her tone of voice suggested that she actually wanted Mohatu to inquire further, although she did not give him time to do so.

"I just thought..." Minerva raised her tail suggestively, while she briefly considered brushing herself across Mohatu's body. She gave him the look, but she refused to step too close. "Your lioness slave doesn't treat you like you want... does she?"

Mohatu's eyes dilated to twice their normal size. He took a large step backward, while his ears expanded and inched forward. He could only wonder if the queen had been listening in on their entire conversation. Did she know...?

By the suggestiveness of her voice, that answer was probably yes.

"No," Mohatu immediately replied. "I mean... yes," he corrected himself, soon after. "She's fine... I'm not mad at her, or anything." Mohatu tried his best to keep himself relaxed, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the conversation unfolded. "It's not like you think."

"Oh... is that so?" Minerva inquired further. She took a giant, seductive step forward, and tried her best to entice Mohatu's more primitive senses. "Are you sure your lioness isn't giving you trouble? I could fix that..."

Mohatu's nose twitched. Oh, such a pretty girl, she was.

The queen's pure, white fur was already elegant enough to capture the eye of any lion, just in itself. Yet, it was the way she looked at Mohatu that exacerbated her attractiveness, in his eyes. Simply put, Minerva was now the very image of irresistivity, if not something even more irresistible than that. Just the sight itself had already induced a steady flow of saliva from Mohatu's tongue.

Oooooohhh...

If the way Mari smiled at Mohatu was as beautiful as the night sky, Minerva's playful grin suddenly lit up to be a thousand times more inviting. The queen wasn't just pretty; her beauty was unmatched by any lioness—even the Goddesses in a lion's imagination. She was like something out of the most pleasant of dreams, but even more perfect.

In fact, she was almost too perfect. She was so flawless that Mohatu began to wonder if it was a dream, after all. Given the circumstances, he was indeed unwell enough to start having more hallucinations. That was well inside the realm of possibility.

There he had been, thinking about how no lioness could ever love him, until the very symbol of beauty itself—embedded into the form of a regal lioness—walked right up beside him. Never before had there ever been a greater example of wishful thinking, and especially not in such an ironic form.

Minerva's presence beside Mohatu was just a little too convenient.

After a moment of pause, queen Minerva's smile expanded, while devious and dirty thoughts filled her mind. "When was the last time your slave ever tried to please you... mhm?" she asked. "She just ran off... does she even care about what you want?" The same lioness raised her paw up and started to clean between her toes with her tongue, silently begging Mohatu to approach with her subtle movements.

At this point, Leo could not question what the queen was referring to. The flirtatious intonation within her voice was already enough to tell him all that he needed to know.

Mohatu sighed, deep in thoughts of self-reflection. He did not know how to answer the queen's question accurately, but even more importantly, he didn't even know how he wanted to answer it.

Mohatu knew what he wanted, but it wasn't that. He wanted Mari, not Minerva. The hole in his heart wasn't something that could have been replaced by some random lioness he hardly even knew.

Or was it?

Well... she was pretty, after all.

Perhaps Minerva could help a little, to a small extent. After all, Mohatu was a lion. As such, his innermost thoughts were hardly all that unpredictable: sleep, eat, and... lionesses, of course. Who was he really kidding? A beautiful white lioness like Minerva was exactly what he wanted, especially after being turned down by Mari.

After all that Mari had said, what Mohatu needed was the comfort of any lioness, just to help him clear his mind. For Leo, simply having another lioness show romantic interest in him boosted his confidence in an oddest way—already bringing him far more relief than he could have imagined.

That said, Minerva wasn't his beloved Mari, so it wasn't quite the same. But it was still a nice gesture, of course.

The lioness tilted her head downward, and let a small sliver of a purr escape her windpipe as she exhaled. "I don't think she knows your true worth," Minerva added, still referring to Mari. "Oh... no," she continued. "She doesn't see you... not like I do."

"Minerva," Mohatu replied, with what was very clearly a stern expression in his voice. "It's not what you think," he insisted. He struggled not to allow his desires to overcome his thoughts, but it was quickly becoming a losing battle.

Why was he even fighting it? He knew he wanted it. He knew he wanted her. It seemed useless to resist. It was like trying to stop the vast flow of the Nial River in all its smooth, everlasting entirety—no exaggeration.

Surprised, Minerva took a shallow step back. "Well, anyway..." she added, regaining her momentum with her words. "I have a proposition for you... if you'd like to hear it."

"I'm not interested," Mohatu lied. He tried to turn his head aside, but that effort was quickly met with his own inability to stop staring at the hottest thing on four legs.

Minerva smiled. "Hah... well, that's too bad. After what you've done today, I think it's time—and I have something special in mind, for you."

Mohatu's ears perked up, but only by a bit. He twitched his tail with agitation, although his eyes gazed upon the queen with greater lust than he ever could have imagined. The longer she stood there in front of him, the more he wanted her. Oh, yes—it was true. There was no denying it. He wanted her. He totally wanted her. Although his words denied it, he was just waiting for Minerva to step closer.

"Based on my own observations," Minerva began, "as well as Knight Inari's recommendation... I have decided to promote you to knight." The royal lioness then dropped her head, and eyed Mohatu earnestly. "I'll make the preparations tomorrow..."

Leo shook his head, as he tried to break free from his desires. It was difficult for him to concentrate on the lioness's words, but he knew he had heard her correctly. "Really?" he asked, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to act surprised. Splendid, he truly thought. What a splendid development it was indeed.

"I know what you're capable of," Minerva explained. "I've seen what you can do, and I know your potential has no limits. Around here, we reward those who excel, and you... you are worthy of recognition."

The queen raised her head and stepped even closer to Mohatu, until she was nearly able to lick his muzzle. "And, perhaps something even more," she added flirtatiously. "Does being a king interest you?" she whispered into his ear, raising a brow.

Enticed and eternally enthralled by the lioness's seductive form, Mohatu was largely unable to answer that question. He stood still nervously, while his heart started to pound outside of his chest. His pulse was louder than even the heaviest drums of war. He could even feel the blood flowing through the tips of his paws and ears.

Was Minerva really serious about this?

"Why don't you come over to my den, for the night?" Minerva asked, finally rubbing her head beneath Mohatu's large chin in a nuzzle. "There is more I would like to discuss," she suggested.

Mohatu wanted to inch backward on instinct, but he simply couldn't resist the temptation of Minerva's smooth fur. Not only was the queen far more beautiful than Mari had ever looked, but she was even softer, too. Minerva leaned against the lion's manefur gently and with a loving affection, eventually forcing Mohatu to instinctively lick the top of her ear, in return.

Mohatu couldn't stop himself, nor did he truly want to. What Minerva did was exactly what he had imagined that Mari was going to do—only the queen actually did it. Minerva was giving him the affection that he wanted, which was something that Mari apparently never even thought to do. And for Mohatu, nothing had ever been more satisfying.

It was irresistible, the way the royal lioness inhaled heavily and sighed with happiness, at the scent of Mohatu's fur. Although he was only beginning to realize it, Minerva was the lioness that he always wanted. In essence, the queen was exactly what Mari told him she would never be. While the lioness moved up to playfully lick Mohatu's nose, that tingle of a thought developed greater strength in his mind.

Minerva then stepped back with a giggle. "Come with me," she nodded, gesturing toward the pyramid with her claws, where her den was. "We have a bright future ahead of us... in the Pridelands."

Leo looked down at his paws. Naturally, as the lioness in his vision backed away, Mohatu couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt. Was he really going to leave the lioness he truly loved, for a lioness who merely seemed interested in him? Was it really even happening? It seemed impossible. It had to be too good to be true, or there had to have been some sort of catch.

But perhaps not.

While it was true that Mari didn't like him, Leo still felt like he was betraying his loved one by following Minerva. It was odd, in the most unexplainable way. It seemed so wrong to him, even though it really wasn't. After all, Mari had told him to find another lioness. She said it would be okay.

Mohatu nodded silently. "She really would be okay with it..." he whispered to himself.

Perhaps, Mohatu's guilt actually existed because of Minerva's allegiance, as the queen of the Pridelands. Mohatu wasn't sure that he could trust the queen, but that didn't seem to matter, anymore. What mattered was that she wanted him, whereas Mari didn't. After all the time Mohatu had spent with Mari, it was all meaningless now. Minerva was the better option, and by a very significant margin.

And after all that Mari had said, there was no way that she would care, Mohatu assured himself. Mari had to go live her own life with her own lion, while Mohatu had to find his own lioness. Heck, it was what Mari said she wanted him to do. Between each breath, Mohatu struggled to remind himself of that.

"It'll be fine..." Mohatu whispered, as a second attempt to convince himself.

Mari would be okay with it, or so Mohatu forced himself to reason. That was her destiny, and this was his. Although they had spent so many days together, their paths had to split. It was still a sad moment for Mohatu, and perhaps eternally so—but it was what had to be.

At the very worst, Mohatu was only going to be putting Mari through the same pain that she had just put him through. And besides, if Mari did become jealous, by any chance, it would even work out in Leo's favor. By going with Minerva, he had everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

And, with that final thought, Mohatu took a step forward. As he started walking along with Minerva, all of his feelings of inadequacy fell behind him. Already, he was a new lion now.

Leo quickly decided that he would never leave Minerva—but only for as long as his true mate wanted to be with someone else. That seemed fair enough to him.

Much like her mother, Mari was hardly an average lioness. It was the way she thought, the way she acted, and the way she held her beliefs—it never quite coincided with a typical lioness of her age.

To put it simply, Mari was just different. She wasn't the type of lioness to be as lovey-dovey as Mohatu was. That wasn't in her nature. On the most fundamental level, she just wasn't into that sort of thing.

While other adolescent lionesses were running around with their future mates, Mari was always one to walk her own path. She had never fallen in love, nor had she ever honestly claimed to. Of course, there were a few lions she had a certain fondness for—Leo was obviously one of them—but it was never anything serious. For her, it was just a shallow feeling that would pass in time, not some inescapable force of nature.

Contrary to what she had just told Mohatu, not once did Mari ever feel as though she wanted to run off with another lion, and leave everything she knew behind her. Mari's loyalty was to her own pride, and her desire to find a mate was superfluous, not essential to her self worth, hopes, and dreams.

Mari was her own lioness. She expected a mate to broaden her view of life, not narrow or reduce it. Mari never felt a need to find her other half, because she had no such thing; she never considered herself half a lioness. Mari was perfectly happy living life on her own, with her friends and family. To her, that was what seemed natural.

Unlike Mohatu, Mari didn't feel any sort of need to be loved in that way. She just wasn't like that.

As a matter of fact, the thought of romance was almost a deterrent for Mari. As odd as it was for a grown lioness to think in such a way, the entire concept of romantic love only seemed awkward to her—hence the reason why she tried so hard to avoid it.

In the past, Mari had been willing to do anything to get out of a relationship; that much was blatantly obvious. She had even lied and told Mohatu she was gay to avoid the thought, although that was only a temporary fix. But, more importantly, it was an excuse. It was all an excuse. Everything Mari told Mohatu about the way she felt was only partially true. All those fallacious thoughts were only obscuring the truth underneath.

The truth was simple enough, or so it seemed from the external shell of her mind. Mari didn't really want to be romantic with any lion. The unpleasant discomfort she experienced from the mere thought of all the mushy-gushy stuff was too much for her to bear. For Mari, it was frivolous, unnecessary, and downright sickeningly sweet at times.

But on a deeper level of truth, that was an oversimplification of Mari's feelings by quite a landslide. Something about Mohatu made the lioness's perception of love a bit different, in the most internally conflicting way imaginable.

Mari never expected to think that. She never even wanted to feel that way about any lion. The entire idea of love, romance, and finding a soul mate was all pointless to her. In the past, it hadn't meant anything. But, as Mari looked back, she began to realize that it did actually mean something.

Even back in the earliest days with Leo, the thought of being close to him wasn't gross at all. It never seemed that way. At the time, she had no idea why she felt that way, but she always did. She respected him. She admired him. She looked up to him. And when he turned against her, she corrected him.

Yeah, she sorta liked him. Mari wasn't afraid to admit that. They were best friends—of course they had a strong emotional attachment to each other. That fact was indisputable. For that reason, it wasn't like Mari's feelings spontaneously appeared out of thin air. It wasn't like a switch had suddenly been turned on, and she started falling for him. Instead, it was a slow, gradual process. What she felt was always there, only sitting dormant in the center of her heart.

With all the chaos that had interrupted their friendship, Mari had tried to suppress her attraction. Perhaps it was only out of her fear of being betrayed by Leo a second time, but regardless, Mari simply had not allowed herself to fall into the trap of love. She never wanted to view herself as a victim to her feelings. Certainly not in a time like this.

But things were finally starting to look up. The end was near, and it wasn't nearly as ugly of a picture as she thought it would be. Granted, it wasn't pretty either, but she had expected worse. No matter which direction Mari looked, she arrived at one startling conclusion: she could trust Leo more than any other lion around her.

Mari hadn't always appreciated the thought of intimacy, but with Mohatu, there was something strange about it that she secretly liked—more so now than ever. What exactly that was, Mari was unsure of. But it didn't matter. It simply felt right to her, in a way otherwise indescribable by words.

For the longest time, she was just denying it.

Obviously that state of denial hadn't changed, even in light of recent events. Whenever Mohatu was not around, Mari could not help but to feel lonely. The air was dense, dry, and empty. The grasses were quiet, and the sky was peaceful. Mari loved the tranquil environment, but there was one thing she loved even more. That was Mohatu's comfort.

Since Leo's rebirth, something had changed inside Mari's heart, which gave her such a sense of internal conflict. It was a small change, certainly, and she had not mentioned it aloud—but it doubtlessly had its effects visible in plain sight.

As odd as it seemed, something about being reunited with Leo was incredibly pleasing to the lioness. Never before had Mari felt it necessary to proclaim her love out loud, but for the first time, she wanted to. She knew how much Mohatu loved her, and she wanted him to know how important that was to her.

Contrary to what she initially would have thought, it was important.

But still, Mari was different—and that wasn't ever going to change. She could not bring herself to say how she felt out loud; doing so would have been far too awkward for her tastes. Mari, being the lioness she was, had other ideas. She had her own unique way of doing things, as Mohatu was about to learn.

Mari had been hiding her feelings for long enough. She had to tell him what she really thought, but she had to do it in her own way, on her own terms.

Naturally, she wanted Mohatu to know that she loved him. She wanted to hug him, lick his muzzle, and tell him the truth. As much as it made her uncomfortable to think about it, it was a pleasant sort of discomfort. It was the discomfort of opening up to him, oddly combined with the comfort of knowing that she could.

Mari knew that she liked Mohatu, and she also knew that Mohatu liked her. He had told her about his feelings on numerous occasions, and although he wasn't always comfortable with it either, Mari found solace in the fact that he could do so. It was like a special sort of secret that they shared, which, in truth, only added to her feelings of attachment.

In addition, Mohatu looked up to Mari to guide them on their journey. Although Mari had never admitted it, that meant something special to her, as well. He really trusted her, and he really did love her. Mari could not even begin to deny that.

Yet, it wasn't gross, and it wasn't weird. It was... something else. The only emotion it incited from Mari was a bond of attachment. Although she never would have admitted it at first, knowing how Mohatu felt about her only brought her happiness. It wasn't just some sort of meaningless infatuation like she had originally believed; what Mari felt toward Mohatu was far deeper.

Mohatu was the lion she truly wanted. It was still awkward and uncomfortable for Mari to think that, being the lioness she was, but it was also a very pleasant thought. Nothing made Mari feel safer than knowing that she was loved by the strongest lion in Africa. It was the way he looked after her—she didn't just like the attention he gave her; she never wanted to go without it.

Largely, if anything, it was what Mohatu had said before that made Mari change her mind about love. As she had time to slowly contemplate it on her own, the thought of living together, growing up together, and sharing life together just seemed right to her. It was the thought that he would always be with her—something about that changed everything.

And yet, Mohatu had no idea. Mari never told him the truth, because she simply couldn't.

Not surprisingly, that reason was because Mari was still somewhat nervous about explaining all that she wanted to. After all, it wasn't just embarrassing. She knew she had to eat her own words, which meant admitting that Mohatu was right, all along. She didn't have too many qualms about that, but it didn't actually help the situation, either.

Days ago, Mari had said that a romantic relationship with Mohatu was a possibility. At the time, she had absolutely no intention of deviating from her true mission—saving her pride. Even still, that was what she wanted to accomplish, above all else. However, what Mari began to realize was that her goal didn't necessarily conflict with keeping Mohatu happy. In fact, there was hardly any reason why she couldn't have been in a relationship with Leo, while simultaneously opposing Leo's kingdom.

What she had once feared—Leo's second betrayal—no longer existed as a possibility. Even in her wildest dreams, she couldn't see it happening a second time. Not after what Rafiki had said, not after what Mohatu had said, and certainly not after what Mohatu had done. It just couldn't happen. It was unthinkable. In that sense, Mari was actually more concerned about her own fate, rather than Leo's.

In the end, it all came down to a few simple ideas. Mari liked Mohatu. She wanted to be with him. She simply didn't want to admit that she was wrong, and she had no idea how she wanted to tell him all that.

And so the lie about the red-maned lion was born.

For the most part, what Mari had told Mohatu was true. She was falling in love with a red-maned lion from her dreams—that lion in her dreams was Mohatu. Unbeknownst to him, his mane appeared red, under the light of the sunset. That one detail was her subtle hint, although he never quite picked up on it.

Mari simply couldn't bring herself to admit her true feelings directly, and that was why she had fooled him in the way that she did. She had to do it that way; she was far too nervous to say how much she loved him in any other way. And besides, it just wouldn't have had the effect she wanted.

In essence, it was all a playful little game, for her. Mari knew she was toying with Mohatu's emotions by telling him that she was in love with another lion, but she did it anyway. She did it because she wanted to make him jealous. Mohatu's jealousy was going to make the situation easier for her to deal with. It would take the pressure off of her, and gave her the opportunity to tell Mohatu she loved him—in such a way that would later give him a night to remember.

Now, all Mari had to do was tell him she was just kidding. But even in regard to that aspect, Mari had a very specific plan in mind.

All the while, Mari had been wandering over to the patchy grasslands, which grew through the dry sands in scattered clusters. Gentle winds rolled across the horizon which whisked the grasses around, but none were any stronger than a slight breeze.

The lioness stared downward at her paws, examining one plant in particular. It was little more than a shrub in size, but that was not what caught the lioness's immediate interest. Under the falling temperatures of night, what captured Mari's eyes were the small, yellow bundles of wildflowers, which hung from each and every end.

The flora she spotted were precisely the same type of flower that Mohatu had picked for her, what seemed like eons ago. Although he had once set his gift down in the sand to let it wither and die in the desert, Mari now had her own ideas.

At that time, Mari pretended to ignore it. She wanted to act like she had never seen the flower, so that she could live her life in a state of peaceful ignorance, free from any worries of a relationship.

But that all changed. This was the time.

It was difficult for Mari to imagine any greater happiness than what she was about to give Mohatu, and that was just the way she wanted it to be. She planned to catch him by surprise, and her intention was to give him a romantic night to remember. Mari knew that it was going to be nothing short of the best night ever, and she couldn't wait to see the smile on Mohatu's face when he would eventually realize the truth.

That, she knew, was what would make it all worth the effort.

After all, Mari could not deny that an evening of peace was exactly what they both deserved. The two had overcome the majority of their struggles, and a little bit of celebration was growing necessary.

Mari picked the yellow wildflower up with her pawtoes, and tucked it behind her ear. She then rolled onto her back, and twisted her spine from side to side. The sweet scent of flowers seeped into the ruffles of her fur, just the way she had intended.

This was going to be good, and she knew it.

Smiling a grin of satisfaction, the lioness rose back onto her paws. She reached her paw back, to make sure the flower she picked was still tucked behind her ear. Yep, it was still there. Check. Got it.

Now, Mari took a final deep breath. She felt the tingles of nervousness in her stomach, but it was a good sort of nervousness. It was a happy nervousness. It was the anticipation of what was soon to be the most memorable night of her life—of their life, actually. It was the anticipation of all good things.

And with that final thought, Mari trotted off, back to go find Mohatu. She ran as fast as she could without shorting her breath. She simply couldn't wait another moment.

Minerva sat down in the center of her den. As the torches on the wall ignited, she turned her head around to meet Mohatu's poky movements. "Well, aren't you in a hurry," she stated with no small amount of sarcasm within.

Mohatu glanced downward at the white lioness's shadows, noting the intricate, checkered tile pattern on the floor's center. The queen's den was much nicer of a place than all the others, and by no small margin. The entire room radiated a sense of beauty and perfection, while also being about ten times the size of Mohatu's own den in the same pyramid. It was like a luxury suite, though perhaps even better.

"What's the rush?" Mohatu asked, trying to keep his cool in spite of the intense, rumbling purr of his inner kitty. As he looked back up to meet the lioness's eyes, he shot her a seductive grin of his own. "We have all night to enjoy ourselves..."

"True," stated Minerva. She stepped over to the side of the room and kicked a pile of strange, crafted metal bits into the center of the tile floor. "Let's start off with a game, shall we?"

Mohatu rested his hindquarters on the flat floor beneath him. "What game?" he asked, curiously enough.

"It's called chess," Minerva answered. "It's a favorite of the ancient kings." With the pieces in the middle of the floor between them, the queen rolled over onto her side, smiling both lackadaisically and somewhat maliciously. "You take the black pieces, I'll take the white pieces," she continued. "These checkered tiles here represent the board."

"Mmm... okay," Mohatu mumbled. He reached out his paw and collected the darker metal pieces, thus bringing them all into a pile. "I think I may have played this before... but I forgot."

"It is no matter," Minerva answered. "The rules are simple." She reached her paw out to lift up one of the smallest pieces, and placed it on the board. Then, she began her demonstrations. "These are pawns. They start here, and they can only move like this. They can only attack like this."

Mohatu nodded, allowing the white lioness to continue.

"These are rooks," she added. "They can move and attack only in a straight line, but are not limited by the number of spaces. The others are bishops, which work in the same way, though they can only move diagonally."

"Uh-huh..." Mohatu nodded.

"The two equine pieces are knights," Minerva continued. "They move in an odd pattern, like this. They are the only ones which possess the ability to jump over other pieces."

"Okay..."

Minerva smiled. "And the last two are the king and queen. The queen is the most useful piece, capable of moving like a rook or a bishop. The king is limited in its movement to only adjacent tiles, but killing him is the objective of the game."

"Oh," Mohatu opened his mouth, after watching carefully. "I get it... this is supposed to be some sort of metaphor for what's going to happen, isn't it?"

The white lioness unleashed a slight, sinister giggle from her throat. "Oh... possibly."

In consequence, Mohatu lowered his brow. He quickly placed all his pieces in their respective positions, and already began contemplating his strategy. In the depth of his concentration, the tip of his tongue started to slip outside of his mouth. "Let's do this. You go first."

Minerva reached her paw out to the board, and pushed a pawn two spaces forward. "There," she said. "Now your move?"

Mohatu thought briefly, before realizing that he wasn't quite sure what to do. He had a plethora of pieces to move, but which would yield the best outcome? He needed time to decide. Hesitantly, he brought his paw forward, but he did not touch a single piece.

Meanwhile, Minerva rose back up onto her paws. "I'm going to fetch a few drinks," she stated. "Do you like acacia cider?"

"Yeah... sure, your highness," Mohatu replied, trying to remember his manners.

Mari trotted down the hill to where she had left Mohatu, but as the thorn bush filled her vision under the stars, she immediately realized that something was wrong. The land was quiet and empty—unusually so, considering how she had left the scene. Based on that observation, what stood out in her mind was one simple fact of even greater importance.

Mohatu wasn't there.

Mari's smile faded away, and her teeth clenched together. "Aww, zebra spit," she swore aloud. Her eyes darted around, but she found no sign of the lion's presence. She couldn't even smell him.

"I told you to stay here," Mari complained. Despite the fact that no one was around, she made no effort to hide her voice. "I told you I'd be back... was it really that hard to stay still for a few minutes?"

After a second, she looked down at her paws. "Damn... I wonder if he..." The orange lioness raised her paw, and brushed the flower stuck behind her ear. Her happy sense of nervousness faded into something much more threatening and terrifying. "I hope I didn't go too far..." she whined.

Mari stepped forward slowly and cautiously, keeping her eyes glued to the ground the entire time. "Crap," she whispered to herself. "I went too far, didn't I?"

Step after step, Mari felt increasingly guilty. She knew what she did. She knew she had hurt Mohatu by saying the things that she had said; she was hardly as ignorant as she appeared to be. As such, it didn't totally surprise her that he got up and left. She had teased his most sensitive emotions and neglected his feelings—even as she was doing it, she knew she wasn't exactly doing the right thing.

"Mohatu..." she called quietly, as if it would somehow make everything better. "I'm sorry. It was just a joke... I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to surprise you, that's all."

While she continued to walk at a slow, agonizing pace, Mari's paw fell into a large depression in the sand. In consequence, her heart sank to the bottom of her pawpad, inches below the rest of the sand. As she looked downward, the revelation hit her: that was where Mohatu had been laying.

Suddenly, Mari's eyes perked up. Naturally, her ears and tail followed in suit. She scanned across the horizon, and quickly found what looked to be Mohatu's pawprints. They led directly to one of the pyramids.

Mari's brow twitched for a second. She didn't want to go in there, but she had no other choice. She had to make things right.

The lioness's pace quickened. Her focus narrowed on the tracks ahead of her, and her heart started to accelerate. "I promise, Mohatu," she stated. "I wasn't being serious. I... I didn't mean to. I didn't know it would hurt you this much."

It wasn't going to be easy to say, but she had already learned her lesson, for sure. Mari wasn't going to be able to sleep until she made everything right. She had to tell him the truth, and set her guilt free. And so that was what she was going to do.

Minerva returned to the cozy enclave of her den with the lips of two bowls of juice clenched between her teeth. Carefully, she placed them both on the floor, beside the large, checkered tiles of the game board. Before she lapped up the drink from one of the bowls, she slid the other over to Mohatu's side.

Minerva raised her bowl up into the air with her paw, and waited for Mohatu to do the same. At that moment, she clashed her bowl against his, while a clack sounded from the cups. "To the great kings," she announced, somewhat awestruck by the sacred regalia of her own voice.

Mohatu repeated the lioness's toast. "To the great kings..."

In secret, Leo then set his cup down and turned his head aside for a split second. His eyes darted to the den's ceiling. "This doesn't mean a thing, Algenubi," he whispered in his deepest, most intimidating voice with closed teeth. Certainly, he wasn't going to switch his views around just because of something that Mari had said.

"Ahh..." Minerva verbalized her feeling of refreshment. "You'll never find acacia cider quite as good as this."

Mohatu smelled his bowl of juice, before taking a sip on his own accord. "Mhm... it is pretty good," agreed the lion. "It's sweeter than I thought it would be."

A moment's pause proceeded in the time that followed. Using the break advantageously, the queen moved a piece on the board, and then rolled back over onto her side. She intentionally exposed her underbelly to Leo, very distractingly. She also brought her tail around to twitch Mohatu's, casually signaling flirtatious behavior in the leonine form. Needless to say, it was an enticing sight for any male lion, no doubt about it.

While Mohatu's focused shifted to Minerva's body, the queen finally decided to continue the conversation. "It is sweet," she agreed, twiddling her paw impatiently. "We're royalty... we're superior. We get only the best."

"I can taste it," Mohatu replied, while moving a chess piece of his own.

"That's the taste of excellence," Minerva started to explain. She then moved yet another piece forward, in the break of her words. "You see... I'm the queen," she stated, dragging out her words for emphasis. "I hold great power within these borders..."

"I've noticed," Mohatu nodded, though his thoughts remained elsewhere.

"But that's not important, now," she continued. "What's important is that I have the power to make you the next king." Glaring at Mohatu seductively, she blinked and flared her eye. "You have potential to surpass even Leo."

Mohatu slid his paw across the board, pushing one of his own pieces across. "What do I need to do to taste more of this... power?" he questioned slowly, both interested and slightly afraid to hear the answer. He made every attempt to hide such fear, nonetheless.

"Oh," Minerva continued with a casual smile, staring deep into Mohatu's wanting eyes. Almost lackadaisically, she also moved a piece forward. "Nothing much... nothing you don't already want to do..."

Mohatu grinned. "I like what you're thinking," he added, moving a piece to kill one of Minerva's pawns.

Minerva shared the lion's grin, seeming not to pay attention to the game board in front of her paws. "Oh, I know. I like it too. It shall be our little secret."

Mohatu's heart started to beat a little faster. The extent to which he was enjoying Minerva's attention was simply off the charts. Already, she had made him feel more wanted, needed, and appreciated than Mari had ever done. The thought of sharing a secret with her—especially that kind of secret—was almost a little too exciting for him to keep his head straight. That stupid, dorky grin of infatuation just never left his face.

The sweet and delicious cider was starting to show its effects of inhibition, as well—but that was much less important to Mohatu. He was simply eying Minerva and the game board, waiting anxiously but with great desire. Several turns between the two felines passed in silence, with each moment growing more tense than the last.

"Well, it is not that simple a thing. There is a little more..." Minerva added with a whisper.

Mohatu, however, paid the lioness no mind. His thoughts were deep in concentration, focused intensely on two different but seemingly unrelated things. "What's that...?" he asked, with little acknowledgement of his own words. His brain was merely on autopilot, responding like a drone.

"Oh..." continued Minerva, "just someone I want... that's all."

After briefly scratching his chin, Leo decided which piece he wanted to move. He saw a flaw in Minerva's formation and claimed one of her bishops as his own. His focus on the game was actually quite surprising, considering how distracting Minerva was trying to be.

"Very well then," Minerva stated nonchalantly. She then moved a knight into place, to take out one of Mohatu's most critical pieces.

Leo's eyes widened. He jolted back, as soon as he saw his mistake. "Hey, you... you killed my queen!"

"Surprised?" Minerva asked. "I can't let you keep her. Oh, no... the queen of the battlefield is always the first target."

Frantically, Mohatu moved another of his pieces into place, to cover up his mistake. In due time, Minerva swiped that one away, too. Now, it was a game of predator versus prey, and Mohatu was on the defensive. Every move he made was to keep his king alive—and the queen's seductive presence wasn't helping any.

Mohatu's eyes had never been any more stressed and confused. To compromise, one of his pupils dialed in on the game board, while the other stared at the queen's alluring bellyfur—causing him to go cross-eyed. His mind struggled to keep up, alternating between states of intense attraction and decisive strategy several thousand times every second.

"You're skilled for a beginner," Minerva complimented her opponent, as she moved one last piece into place. "Few survive with their king intact for this long."

"It's not over yet," Mohatu taunted. He moved his king aside, and out of the way of danger. There, he waited—just one more move and he'd be able to put Minerva's king in check. The odds weren't good, but he still had a plan. There was a chance...

Yet, with one simple move of her queen, Minerva put Mohatu's king back in check, again. However, this time, it was a little different. Mohatu was out of options.

Mohatu placed his paw on top of his king to cover his most important piece, but the feeling of defeat started to swell in his stomach. He could move there... but no. But he could move there... no. There was nowhere he could move. He had no choice but to surrender.

"Checkmate," Minerva grinned.

"But..."

Minerva leaned forward, placing her paw on the checkered game board. "It's over. You lost."

Mohatu stood up onto his paws, and simultaneously shook his head. Okay, so it was true. He did lose. Quite literally, he had just been pwn'ed by Minerva's superior tactics. He took his paw and swiped away the entire board, thus ending the game and forfeiting his turn. "It would have helped if you weren't so pretty..." he teased, licking his lips with the same lust that he felt before.

Minerva leaned forward, until the pad of her nose touched Mohatu's own, at long last. She could feel his nervousness, his heartbeat, and his rush of adrenaline. "What are you waiting for, now?" she asked, breathing right onto him and wrapping her tail around his own. "Just kiss me, you uncultured swine."

And with those words of consent, Mohatu did. He never thought twice. Time slowed to a standstill, and needless to say, he enjoyed every millisecond of it. His eyes locked in place with Minerva's, and the simple quiver-inducing feel of her lips on his own was enough to get his mind going with even better thoughts. Perhaps the night wouldn't be so bad, after all.

Mari approached the entrance to the pyramid, until she met with the stare of two royal leonine guards under the starlight. Lacking caution, she approached the males—despite the fact that she wasn't quite sure of how to explain herself.

"Stop," one of the guards demanded as he lifted his paw. "Who are you and what is your business here?"

"No time to explain," Mari replied, allowing her shortness of breath to speak for itself. "You need to let me in. This is an emergency..."

One of the royal guardians of the pyramid stepped forward to block the entrance, while the other approached Mari from the side. "That's odd," he announced, "I haven't been notified. What's the emergency?"

"Oh..." Mari blushed. "Um..." She stepped back with great anxiety, until she found that she had no escape. She had to think of something, and she had to think fast. "Umm... FIRE!"

Suddenly, the two guards stopped, with what was perhaps vaguely reminiscent of a gasp. Their ears twitched, but neither of them knew what was actually going on. They merely stood awkwardly, showing no expression other than confusion.

"FIRE!" Mari yelled again. "THERE'S A FIRE! Tell everyone to evacuate. I... I have to go get my cubs!"

The two guards looked at one another, signs of worry starting to grow on both their muzzles. Neither of them saw a fire, but what if there actually was one? The lioness seemed distressed enough—and a fire wasn't something to joke about.

Using her golden opportunity, the lioness pushed her way between the two guards and straight into the corridor of the pyramid. She ran faster than ever, quickly leaving the two slower males behind in the maze of catacombs. Mari was an agile lioness; she could easily outrun the two behemoth warriors with their vibrant, bulky manes.

"Hey you! Get back here!" one of the guards yelled, while the other stayed behind to cover the entrance. The two split up, and the one went after Mari. Even if there was a fire, he had a job to do. That said, they both had reasonable doubt about any impending inferno, considering Mari's behavior.

Mari, however, stopped to wait. She was out of breath, and she needed a pause to replenish her energy. As the leonine guardian approached her, she decided to hide her tail around a corner like the stealthy fighter she was. Already, she had yet another plan.

As the distance between the two adversaries reached zero, Mari unleashed a swath of her claws on her pursuer's muzzle. The other paw of hers ran up to cover his mouth, which prevented him from making a single sound. Her attack was harsh, brash, and utterly relentless—and her advantage of stealth secured her position on top.

Now, the tables were turned. Mari held the upper paw, and considering the circumstances, she wasn't afraid to use her advantage, in the dim and dark light of the pyramid's narrow corridor.

"Where did Mohatu go?" She demanded, choking and pinning the lion below her.

However, as the blood rushed to her head, she realized what she was doing. Needless to say, Mari wasn't quite comfortable with the thought of becoming an interrogator. She knew she had her reasons, but she decided to lessen her grip on her adversary.

As soon as Mari let go, the male guardian gasped desperately for air. Mari stood atop her paws, and circled around while she waited for her answer. That said, it was taking a little longer than she thought. All the guard did was cough and wheeze; he could barely speak a mumbled word. Mari looked down impatiently, staring at the humiliated guard for a few seconds. "Forget it," she said with a whisper. "It's a boring conversation, anyway."

With those final words, Mari trotted off, completely uninterested in whatever it was that the male was going to say. She had more important things to do, and finding Mohatu was at the very top of the list. Of all the things that were about to happen, this really wasn't the best time to be picking fights. She would deal with the guards later.

For now, Mari decided that stealth would be her ally. It was nighttime after all, and most lions were sleeping in their dens. She could easily sneak through each corridor until she found Mohatu, wherever he was...

Mohatu gazed downward from his position atop Minerva, smiling as she reclined back into the den's wall. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the lights around him seemed to dim to only a barely perceptible glow. "I can't believe we're doing this..." he chuckled nervously.

"It's part of the... ritual," Minerva replied. "You're one of us now."

For a split second, Mohatu looked away. "Heh..." he exhaled lightly. "Somehow, I always knew I was..."

Minerva wrapped her forepaws around Mohatu's neck, and brought the lion closer to her than he had ever been before. She held him tight, and then licked the underside of his chin. "You're really good..." she added.

Mohatu leaned his head back down and closer the Minerva's, feeling not a tad happier than he had ever been before. "Yeah, I think so too... I guess I am pretty good, aren't I? And so are you," he smirked.

Minerva then nuzzled the top of her head across Mohatu's cheeks. "And now, I want you to smell like me," she stated. "Yes... that's right... smell like me..."

Yet, that wasn't the only thing going on. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two, another creature was approaching from the distance.

In the back, two glowing eyes appeared from around the corner, and started to watch from afar. Not surprisingly, those eyes just happened to belong to a very specific love interest of Mohatu's. Neither Minerva nor Mohatu knew of Mari's presence in their states of bliss, but for Mari, watching it was something else entirely.

Mari's jaw dropped on instinct. Based on her initial reaction, she wasn't even sure whether to laugh or cry. "You've got to be kidding me..." she whispered to herself. "There's no way this is happening..."

The observing lioness ceased to watch. She couldn't. She had only seen the two together for a mere second, but that was enough. She didn't need to see any more to understand what they were doing... or had already done. But more importantly, she had to wonder—why?

Mari winced at her own painful thoughts. She didn't like where her mind was taking her, and that much was certain. All she did was leave Mohatu alone for a few minutes, and then there he was—laying atop of the queen, as if nothing else mattered in the entire world.

And at that moment, all of Mohatu's self-loathing thoughts suddenly fell on Mari's shoulders. The energy drained from her core, and nearly an infinite number of anxieties started to cloud her internal voice.

"Well, damn..." Mari muttered to herself. "I really messed this up..."

With no other thoughts or concerns, the lioness turned around and proceeded to leave the den. Her entire plan had backfired on her, but this wasn't the time to try fix it. Not with Minerva around. Mari kept quiet on her paws, and made every effort to hide in the sorrows of solace. She decided she would spend the night in one of the pyramid's empty dens, if she could even manage to get any sleep at all.

Meanwhile, back at the other corner of Minerva's den, Mohatu's eyes folded over. His head collapsed above Minerva, and he rolled over beside her. He maintained his purr all the while, rumbling with satisfaction after each breath.

"So how many cubs do you think we're going to have?" Mohatu asked teasingly.

Mari flattened her ears and forcefully flushed her breath as she exited the den. "Oh... dear... God," she grunted.