Chapter 23 – Whacked

Three Limousines left the Palace, everyone taking whatever clothes and stuff they had on them since going back inside the Palace was way too dangerous. Willow and Lolly went with one half of the Selected who volunteered to go with her to Prince Nathan and Duchess Jenissa's house, east of LA, and the other half followed the Princes to prince Valerian and Duchess Odessa's home, south of LA.

Willow didn't say much in the car and just stared outside. The earthquake had made so much damage everywhere and people were in the streets, crying next to their crumbled homes. Polices officers, firefighters, and medical people were hard at work, helping the people around them, looking for missing people under the rubble.

The princess didn't even notice the silent tears running down her cheeks as they drove in silence. No one was talking. Next to her, Aidyn was a statue, also looking out the window. But he noticed the tears and gently grabbed her hand, squeezing lightly to show her that she was not alone.

Willow looked at the soft new Asian young man next to her, squeezed his hand in return, and then a sob escaped her throat. She rested her head on his shoulder and he put his cheek on the top of her head.

An hour later – when it should have taken them just twenty minutes – due to the traffic and rubble and chaos in the streets, they finally made it to Prince Nathan's Estate, which hadn't been too much touched by the quake. Sure, there were a few fallen trees here and there, but nothing too damaging to the house itself.

Willow got out of the car with the others and all she wanted to do was cry. She would have wanted to become a little girl again and cuddle up on her father's lap, but he and her mother had gone to Jesse and Nevaeh with Charlie and Annie, even though Charlie said he was going to come to see the two groups as soon as he could.

Uncle Nathan did not have his usual smile on his face. He was concerned, and it made Willow want to crumble even more.

"Come here, Baby Girl," he said softly only for her to hear as he held her tightly in his arms while his wife welcomed the rest of the group inside. Willow held on to him, letting her tears fall freely on his Designer shirt. He held her like this, in silence, for a long moment. It made her remember all those times when she was a toddler and a little girl when she had found refuge in her uncle's arms when both her parents were busy with state matters. A scraped knee, a broken toy, or just for a hug: Uncle Nate was always there for her. How many times had he told her that he spent his nights when she was just a baby and she would cry all the time, needing to be held just to fall asleep and stay asleep? Yeah. Uncle Nate had always been her rock and her refuge when her father couldn't – not that he didn't want to, of course, but being King took a lot of time.

When her sobs started to calm down Nathan drew large soothing circles on her back. "It's gonna be okay," he said softly into her hair. "It'll be alright."

She nodded and took a step back from him, just needing some air. She pressed the palms of her hands on her eyes and forced the tears to stop, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "Thanks," she said. "I needed that."

Nathan nodded and smiled. "Let's go inside? It's almost time for dinner anyway."

"I'm not sure I can eat anything, right now," she said, shrugging with one shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I understand," he replied. "But you still need to eat something at least." The prince paused. "And drink something, too. You've just cried all the liquid in your body."

Willow laughed and nudged him.

"I knew that would make you laugh." He smiled widely and they walked in. All of the eleven Selected that had come with her were sitting in silence in the large Star Wars-themed living room, all more or less in the same state as her: dirty and covered in dust, half-dressed in their bathing suits and quickly pulled-over t-shirts, taut and anxious faces, and some also had puffy red eyes. From crying or from the dust of the crumbling Palace, Willow couldn't tell. All she knew was that her eyes were puffy because she had cried.

"Welcome to our Home," Prince Nathan said as warmly as possible, letting go of his niece. "Dinner will be served soon; I hope you're all hungry."

Mumbles and some head-nodding answered him.

"Good. I also know the clothes you're wearing are the only things you have from the palace so I'm gonna go check in my expansive wardrobe what I can find for you guys." He paused. "My wife will take care of the lodgings and accommodations later. For now, I think we all need a hot meal in our bellies."

He then invited everyone to follow him to the dining room, but not before stopping at the foot of the stairs and calling his three daughters.

"Rey! Leia! Jyn! Dinner time!"

"Coming!" Jynelle's reply came fast. Willow let the Selected follow her uncle to the dining room while she waited for her cousins. "Willoooooow!" Jynelle said, running down the stairs and jumping in her arms like a little koala. "I missed you so much!" she buried her face in the princess's neck and they hugged tightly. This family were real huggers and she couldn't be more grateful for it.

Then she heard two sets of steps coming down the stairs, as well, as the twins came down.

"Hey, girls," Willow said, smiling at them. Raelyn waved and quickly came down to hug her cousin.

"We heard what happened," she said. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah," Leiana said. "It must have been so awful!"

"And scary!" Jynelle continued.

All four girls hugged. "Yeah, it was," Willow said. "But we're safe, now." Not everyone, but she didn't want to talk about that just yet. She wasn't ready. Would she ever be ready? Probably not.

They walked together to the dining room, Rey and Leia's arms looped in her elbows and Jynelle still in her arms like the 9-year-old koala she was. When they walked into the room, everyone looked up.

"Oh, uhm, everyone," Nathan said. "These are my daughters: Raelyn, Leiana, and Jynelle."

They waved and everyone nodded and mumbled a 'hi' or a 'hello'. There were four free seats next to one another and Willow and her cousins took those places. She also noticed Liliana's curious face and stars in her eyes as she saw the other girls. So Willow put Jynelle on a mission.

"Jyn, do you think you could show Liliana to your room, after dinner?" she whispered. "I'm sure she'd be happy to have a new friend."

"Of course!" Jyn said. She turned to the younger girl on the other side of the table. "You're Liliana?"

Lili nodded, and the two girls started chatting as if they were the only two people in the room. Easton looked at Willow and mouthed the words 'thank you' to her, and Willow smiled at him. After that, two servants brought in two huge pots and placed them on the table.

Jenissa stood. "This might be a little less fancy than what you're used to at the Palace," she said, "but we like it simpler. So, who wants Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce?"

Everyone around the table chuckled, welcoming the more familiar dish they offered them. Willow wasn't sure anyone could stomach caviar, poached salmon, or anything fancy at the moment. Dishes were passed from one to another until everyone had his plate full and they started eating. Willow still wasn't hungry, but she tried pushing down some of her food, washing it down with water. If she drank wine now, she would just cry after a glass or two.

Food seemed to put everyone in a better mood and make them forget – if only for a moment – why there were here in the first place. She wasn't saying much, pushing around her plate the meatballs in the sauce. When she looked up, Mikey was looking at her, a look of concern on his face. He frowned, questions in his eyes.

She nodded, telling him silently that she was fine. And just to prove that, she popped the meatball into her mouth and chewed. It seemed to make Mikey a little happier, but she had to force it down with water. Again.

Jenissa then offered a second round of service to everyone who wanted one and once everyone was served again, she spoke up. "Okay, so we don't have as many rooms as the Palace, but we have enough if you're all willing to bunk up together for a few nights– we don't know if it's going to be one, two, or five nights, or even more," she said, "but we want you to feel as comfortable as possible."

"Thank you," Mikey said. As much as he had always called Nathan Uncle Nate, too, he had never gotten to call Jenissa Auntie Jen.

"I think we'll have to put up a few mattresses in the game room, as well," she said, "but we'll manage."

"I'll be happy to help with that," Julian said. "Carrying around stuff, I mean."

"Yes," Domenico replied. "We're already squatting the place, let us help set things up."

Jenissa nodded. "Thanks. You may want to make groups yourselves for rooms. We can put–" she counted on her fingers, "–four rooms of two, and one of three." She paused. "Unless we put Jaylen in a room on her own, then we'll have to use the game room."

"I can share a room with Jaylen and Lorelei," Willow offered.

Jenissa nodded. "That's a good idea. You two can take the twin's room, and we'll put all the girls in with Jynelle." She turned to Liliana. "What would you think about a sleepover with some new friends, honey?" she asked. "Unless–" she quickly looked at the girl's father, Easton. "Unless you'd rather keep her with you."

"Whatever is simpler," Easton said. "Lil, it's your choice."

Liliana looked from her dad to the other three girls, and then back at her dad. "The girls," she said.

"I knew you would say that," he said, chuckling softly and placing a kiss on her head.

"Alright, great," Jenissa said. "That leaves five groups of two to fill in the five guest rooms we have. I'll let you organize yourselves while we clear out the table and get dessert ready."

/ / /

Later that evening, everyone had found a place to rest their head for the next few days, and Willow decided to go check up on everyone. She started her rounds with the first room, which was Leonardo and Tristan, the taxi driver and the Ob-gyn.

She knocked on the door left ajar. "Can I come in?" she asked softly.

"Yes! Of course!" Tristan said, leaping from the bed and welcoming the princess. Each Selected had gotten a fresh t-shirt, a pair of pants or shorts, and underwear and socks from the Prince's personal closet. Leonardo was scrolling on his phone on his bed, his ankles crossed, and headphones on his ears. Tristan nudged his foot, and Leo quickly turned off his music and sat up.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked, standing between the twin beds that had been separated for the occasion.

Leo nodded.

"You?" Tristan asked softly. "I noticed you had to take a moment when we arrived here."

"I'm good, now," she said, offering him a smile. She wasn't doing great, but the food, her family, and the familiarity of the place soothed her a little. "Were you also in the East Wing?" she asked.

"I wasn't," Tristan said. "But Leo was…"

"At least I had my phone and my headphones with me," Leo said. "I don't even know if there's anything salvageable…"

Willow sighed. "Yeah. I don't know either." She paused. "Hey, if you need anything, just ask, okay?"

Tristan smiled. "Thanks, we already got some nice clothes."

"Okay." She nodded. "I'm stopping by everyone, so I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, okay," Tristan replied. "Hey, uhm… if– if you need anything, or if you need to talk or whatever, we're– I'm always available."

"Thank you, Tristan." Willow squeezed his arm, showing him her appreciation of such an offer. She wasn't necessarily going to take it, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She bid them good night and went to the next room, knocking on the door.

It opened a few seconds later. "Princess!" Mike said with a huge grin on his face. The happiness and sparks in his eyes had died down a little, but for her sake, he was putting on a smile. "Come in, come in!"

Willow stepped in. "I'm just checking up on everyone. Are you guys alright?"

Mike nodded, silent. She then looked at Easton, who also nodded. "It was nice of you to ask your cousin– what's her name again?"

"Jynelle?"

"Yeah. It was nice of you to suggest she play with Liliana," he said. "She's been around adults for a month, and I think it's going to do her some good to be around other kids."

Willow smiled. "I think so, too. And Jyn is the softest kid out there. So Liliana is in good hands, I promise."

Easton nodded. "Thanks."

"Do you guys have everything you need?"

Mike and Easton looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah, I think we're settled for the night," Mike said. "Your uncle and aunt are really nice," he said. "It's not an easy task to have 13 people at once with no preparation overnight."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, Nate and Jen are the most welcoming people. And they love entertaining." She chuckled softly. "I'm sure you noticed the Star Wars them in every single room of the house?" she said. Nathan had given them the grand tour after dinner, enumerating all his Star Wars movie props, signed items, and one-of-a-kind costumes and art he had around the place.

Mike laughed. "Yeah! I knew he was a Star Wars fan, but this is a little…" he trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Excessive?" Willow suggested, which made Mike laugh and agree. "Yeah, I know. But that's why I love him and Jen. And the girls. They're just so real and authentic in everything they do." She smiled fondly at the thought of her family, and then bid them goodnight. She still had three other groups to check up on. She went down the hall to the next room, but stopped in front of the door: Domenico and Hayes were having a heated conversation in hushed, hissed tones.

"I will prove it!" she heard Hayes saw.

"You can't prove anything!" Dom replied, hissing. "It was two years ago! And all the charges were dropped!"

"That's because no one could find evidence!" Hayes said. Willow had never heard him using such a voice. He was always so sweet and supportive! What was wrong?

"Because there was NO evidence!" Domenico hissed. "I. Didn't. Kill. My. Wife."

"I'll prove the opposite," Hayes said. "I was called on your case as an external eye. I know everything about you. Things you don't even know we know."

Okay, that was it: Willow had heard enough and she knocked on the door, making them both stop at once. Hayes opened the door. "Your Highness!" he said. "What a pleasant surprise!"

From Dom's scowl, he wasn't quite of the same opinion, though she thought she had saved him from Hayes' prying. "Everything alright?" she asked. "After what happened this afternoon, of course," she thought wise to precise, after what she had just heard.

"No," Dom said. "I lost everything in my room. But who cares, right?"

"Yeah, same," Hayes said. "I was also in the East Wing."

Willow snorted without any humor. "Welcome to the club, then." She paused. "You'll get refunded for what you lost. If you signed up for the Selection Insurance."

Both nodded.

"Good. Then good night. Sorry for interrupting your little shouting match," she said, walking away and slamming the door behind her. They may have lost what little things they had brought to the Palace, but she had lost her entire bedroom, the one where she had all those memories from her childhood. Everything. They still had homes to go to while she only had half a home left.

She took a deep breath before going to the next room, calming down. She didn't want to break down again. Not now. She could do it later. But not now. Not in front of whoever was next. She knocked on the door, waiting.

"Come in?" came a familiar voice. It made her heart jump a little. She pushed the door open to find Julian Monroe laying down on his bed, one hand behind his head, the other holding his iPad – probably reading a book – and his ankles crossed. "Hey," he said with a smile and putting his tablet down. "Uh, you okay?"

Willow nodded and looked around the room. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah," he sighed, sitting up and swinging his feet over the side of the bed. "Aidyn didn't feel well so he went outside for some air."

"Oh. I'll go check up on him later, then," she said, sitting at the foot of his bed, next to him. "I'm checking up on everyone. How are you feeling? After that… thing… this afternoon."

Julian smiled, and it was so warm and welcoming. "I'm fine," he said. "But who checks up on you, Willow?"

She shrugged, feeling the tears prick the back of her eyes and tightening her throat. If she said a word, she would burst into tears. So she swallowed them down. "I'm fine."

Julian shook his head, frowning. "I know that 'fine'," he said. "You're not fine." her ex-boyfriend took her hand in his and stroked the back of it with his thumb. But before he could say something, she cut him to the chase.

"I don't know if you'll ever see your high school sweater," she blurted out. "I don't even know if it was in my room or still in the laundry room."

"It's just a sweater," Julian said. "It's not important."

"It seemed pretty important to you, the other day." She paused and looked at his pretty face. Only it didn't warm her up like it used to. Sure, she still cared about him and she still had lingering feelings– or maybe it was just that this day was way too much and she was about to burst. She was going to explode. Like a time bomb. "Wasn't it one of your three reasons to sign up?" she snapped. She didn't want to snap. "I'm sorry," she said shakily, rubbing her face with her hands.

"Hey," he said softly, taking both her hands in his. "You're under a lot of stress and pressure right now, you're allowed to snap at me." He offered her a small smile.

"And I don't even know if we'll able to go to that Angeles High reunion– and I don't know if we'll ever go back to the Palace, and I don't know–"

Julian pulled her into a hug, a tight one, one that was going to hold her together. One that she knew would hold the pieces together even if she cried. So cry, she did. On his shoulder, as usual, and she left old mascara trails, too– she should really start using waterproof makeup.

After a while, she took a deep breath to calm down and she backed away a little. He still had his hand on her shoulder and he was searching her eyes. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked softly. "Because if you need anything, I'm always here."

"Thank you," she said, nodding. He had made the same offer as Tristan, but she might just take him up on that offer at some point. Just maybe. "I have one more room to go to," she continued. "Do my eyes look red and puffy?" She knew he wouldn't lie to her so she wasn't afraid to ask the hard questions.

"Yeah, a little," he said. "The bathroom's over there if you want to put some water on your face."

Willow smiled. He hadn't changed one bit: always that kind and caring guy, the guy who had helped her climb up the mountain after her recovery. She quickly went to put some water on her face, but then again, she didn't care: the next people she was going to see were Mikey and Cal. Mikey had seen her in states much worse, and Cal, well… he wouldn't see her puffy eyes. She came back into the room. "Thanks," she said. "For always being so nice."

Julian smiled. "Always."

She then bid him good night and headed to the next room. The door was slightly ajar and she knocked at the same time she was pushing it open. "Good evening, Gentlemen."

"Mina!" Mikey said, jumping from his bed and wrapping her in a hug, not caring in the slightest that Cal was there. He couldn't see them, but he could hear them… "Are you okay?" he took her by the arms and looked her over, turned her around.

"Mikey, I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile. "I'm here to check up on you guys." Willow gently pushed him away and sat on Cal's bed. "How are you doing Callan?" she asked.

"A little better," he confessed. "The whole thing was terrifying."

"Yeah, I agree one hundred percent with you." She took his hand in hers, surprising him a little, and squeezed. "But you're safe, now. We all are."

Cal nodded. "It's nice of you to come checking on us," he said. "You wouldn't have to."

"Why not?" she asked.

"What Cal means is that you're more important than us," Mikey said. "We should be the ones checking up on you." He paused. "Right Cal?"

Callan nodded. "How are you, Your Highness?"

Thank God he couldn't see her puffy eyes. She could hide the strain in her voice, but she couldn't hide the redness of her eyes and face, even though she had put some water on them. Mikey could see them, but she didn't mind. "I'm okay; better, too," she replied. "Thanks for asking." She looked at Mikey who had an anxious look on his face as he looked at her.

"Mina, I–"

"I have one more stop to make tonight," she said. "I'll talk to both of you tomorrow, okay?"

Mikey's Adam Apple bobbed in his throat but he nodded. "Okay." He walked towards her and then walked her to the door after she bid Cal good night. Mikey placed a quick kiss on her lips before she was out the door– Cal was shuffling on his bed, making some noise, so he wouldn't have heard that tiny noise. "Good night, Mina," he whispered as she walked out with one last squeeze of his hand.

Now, she needed to find Aidyn.

Per Julian's indications, he had gone outside. But considering her uncle's estate was huge on the outside as well, he could be anywhere. She headed to the veranda in the back, where she would access the gardens through one of the French doors. Nathan and Jen were there, sipping on wine, huddled together on the swing.

"Oh, hi," Willow said. "I didn't know you'd be here," she said.

"Honey, are you okay?" Jenissa asked. "Do you want some wine?"

Willow appreciated the offer, she really did. But first, she had to find Aidyn. "Thanks," she said. "Maybe later. Have you guys seen Aidyn?"

"New Asian guy?" Nathan asked and Willow nodded. "He went outside. Pretty sure he's near the swimming pool."

Willow took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and thanked them. She headed out of the door and down the steps, following the fancy paved path to the swimming pool area. She noticed him, his back to her, just sitting on a small wall surrounding the area. Willow didn't want to startle him, so she made some noise on the pavement and cleared her throat. Aidyn quickly ran a sleeve over his face before turning around.

"Oh, Highness, it's you," he said, his voice softening a little.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked before sitting down. Aidyn nodded, so she sat. "Are you alright?"

Aidyn's smile faltered and he shrugged, not saying a word. Willow didn't press him: she knew what it was like to try to be strong for someone. She had been holding everything in since they arrived at the Schreave Estate, even though she had broken down with Julian– but that had only been because he was alone and she could be herself with him.

Without a word, Willow took his hand in hers, but it was all it took for him to break down. He smothered a sob with his free hand but then controlled his emotions. "I'm sorry," he said, clearing his throat. "You probably lost more than I did."

"Aidyn– What was in your room? Oh–" she gasped softly, realizing. "Your violin?"

Aidyn nodded, silent. After a moment, he looked at her and tried to explain. "I know it's 'only' an instrument, but to me, it was worth everything." He swallowed back some tears before continuing. "My fathe– my father," he said again, trying not to cry, "is always giving me stuff or money to make up for his absence." He paused again, taking back his hand. "I usually don't care for the things he gives me– I don't need them." Aidyn then took a hitched breath and a silent tear streamed down his cheek. "But the violin? He gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday and it was the best thing he could have ever given me."

Willow didn't know what to say. Of course, his instrument held much more emotional value and worth than all her tiaras, shoes, and gowns put together. Maybe except the dress he had made for her. How could she think otherwise? She could buy everything again– maybe not most of the tiaras that had been passed down from queen to princess over the centuries, but… She sighed.

"I'm so sorry," she said, barely above a whisper. "Aidyn, I'm–"

"It's not your fault," he quickly said, taking one of her hands in both of his, searching her eyes. "No one could have seen this coming. It could have been the west wing, or the east wing, or both, or none," he continued, but then took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly, equally as shaky. "I may be able to find a new Stradivarius– a new violin. And the most important part is that we're safe. And alive."

"Not everyone–" she blurted out. How come no one had mentioned the nine bodies that had been dug out from the rubble of the East Wing? No one had talked about Comoe and Feighree. No one.

"…that's true," Aidyn said, looking away. "Wilhelmina, I'm sorry, I–"

"Not your fault, either," she said.

Then, they fell silent, listening to the water pump in the pool making tiny ripples on the surface; they listened to the crickets hidden in the grass and the trees around them; they listened to each other's breathing. At some point, Willow yawned, suddenly exhausted after this terrible, horrible day. She checked the time on her phone: already almost midnight.

"We should probably go to bed," Willow said. "Today was exhausting."

Aidyn nodded. "I'll go back inside in a little while if you don't mind," he said. "I just want to be alone for a moment longer."

"Of course," Willow said. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his soft cheek. "Good night, Aidyn."

The young man looked at her with eyes wide, and even in the relative darkness of the garden, she could see his cheeks blooming a crimson color. He mumbled a small 'good night' as well and she was on her way. In the Veranda, her aunt and uncle were still there, sipping on the last drops of wine in their glasses.

"Willow, honey," Jenissa said. "I found these for you, at the back of my closet." She paused and handed her a bag. "Your mother must have left these a few years ago." She offered the princess a smile.

Willow sat on the armchair next to them and looked into the bag: clothes. Of course. Because she wouldn't be able to put on her aunt's since she was always so skinny. How many times had she envied her for that? But right now, she didn't have any energy to focus on that. She simply thanked her and laid back on the backrest, closing her eyes. "I think I should go to bed," she mumbled. "But I'm too tired to move, now."

Nathan laughed softly. "You can do it, Willow. Besides, you'll be much more comfortable in your bed than in that chair."

"Hmm," she said. "Maybe." Willow yawned one more time before pulling herself out of that chair. "Hey, thanks for everything," she said to the couple on the swing. "For having us all here."

"We're family, sweetie," Jen said. "Of course, we were going to open our home for you and your guys– half of them anyway…"

Willow chuckled and planted a kiss on both their cheeks before making her way upstairs to the room she shared with Jaylen and Lorelei. The door was ajar, but the lights were out. From the regular breathings – one coming from a twin bed, the other one from the floor – they were both already sleeping. She turned on her phone to the lowest light possible, closed the door as silently, too, and tip-toed to the bathroom to change. She found an old Star Wars t-shirt with a pair of sports shorts that belonged to her uncle among her mom's clothes and figured that was supposed to be her pajamas.

She slipped into the shower to clean off all of the dust and sweat from the day then pulled on the t-shirt and shorts before heading back into the room, trying not to walk on Jay who was on a mattress on the floor somewhere.

She lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Fluorescent green stars covered the ceiling above her– a gift she had made to the twins years ago, but even if they were eleven years old, now, they still hadn't taken them down. They were comforting, in a sense, and Willow smiled as she closed her eyes to sleep.

/ / /

At the other Schreave Estate, where Prince Valerian lived with his wife Odessa and their two grown-up kids Oliver and Camelia, the other half of the boys had been welcomed by the Prince's head of staff since they were all still in Hawaii, but soon to be on their way back home.

Charlie and Annie had made their way there first thing in the morning to make sure that everything was running smoothly. Without him or the Princess to look over this half of the Selected, he thought it was his duty to come to oversee the guys. The butler of the house let the siblings in and invited them to the dining room.

"Just in time for breakfast, sir, madam," he said.

"Thank you," Charlie replied. In the dining room, the guys were coming in one after the other, either by pairs or alone. He saw Henry on the other side of the room and they looked at each other, nodding once.

Charlie waited for everyone to arrive and when the table was full, he demanded everyone's attention. "Good morning, gentlemen," he said. "I hope you've spent a good enough night here."

"When are we going back to the Palace?" Archer asked.

"I don't know," Charlie said. "There's a team working as we speak to secure the place for us to come back to." He paused. "I know some of you had rooms in the East Wing, but I cannot tell you if anything will be salvageable. In the meantime, I've brought clean t-shirts, shirts, pants, and shorts for you– they may be a bit small since they're mine, but at least you'll be able to get out of your swimsuits and dusty t-shirts from yesterday."

"Underwear?" Haakon asked.

"It's in there, too," Charlie said. "Boxers and socks. Now, Prince Valerian and his family will be arriving tomorrow, so please do not turn the place upside down. You are guests of the prince, act like it."

"What are we supposed to do here, anyway?" Lysander asked.

"Rest," Charlie replied. "Chill out, read, I don't know. There's a movie room downstairs and the gardens are open, and so is the swimming pool. As long as you don't make a mess of the place, you can do whatever you want."

"Do you know how strong on the Richter Scale that quake was?" Pierce piped in. "I was pretty strong."

"I don't know," Charlie said. "I'm going to meet with the King, the Princess, and some other people this morning, I'll have more information for you later." He looked at all the food on the table: for having the resident family on vacation, they could certainly conjure up lots of food for fourteen people. "Let's eat, then," he said, sitting down.

Around the table, the boys started chatting, discussing what they wanted to do that day and how strong the quake was. No one talked about the nine bodies found in the rubble. Charlie didn't want to talk about them, either, even if he knew they'd have to talk about them at some point. Especially about the two Selected who had lost their lives in the accident.

"Do you mind staying here and keeping an eye on the guys while I meet with Willow and the others?" Charlie asked his little sister.

"Of course!" she replied, tucking some brown hair behind her ear. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." With that, he headed out to his car. It had been bumped against Mikey's black Cadillac during the earthquake and had some black paint marks on the side, but it still worked. He would need more than Henry's mechanical skills to put her back to her former glory, but that could wait: there were other more important things to do.

He drove back to his parents' house where the King and Queen were staying, and arrived in the parking lot at the same time as Willow and her uncle– he hadn't had his driver's license for very long, but he did it when they had kids.

"Hey," he said to her. Charlie was not a very touchy person – and Willow knew that – but she still hugged him tightly.

"Hey," she said, too. "Are you alright?"

"Are you?" he asked, holding her by the arms after she finally let go of him. He searched her tired brown eyes, but she didn't seem hurt or anything.

"I'm fine," she said. And even though Charlie recognized that 'fine' as being 'not fine', he didn't press her. They could talk later. For now, they had a meeting with the King and his advisors to go to. He let her walk in first, with Nathan on their heels, and they headed to the dining room, the only room big enough to host the King and his advisors. And the Army General was there, which meant bad news…

Charlie sat next to his cousin and they waited. When everyone was finally here, Nevaeh Finley closed the dining room doors so they could have some privacy.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," King Silas said. He looked tired with bags under his eyes, and Charlie wondered if he had slept at all. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice: we have lots of things to discuss this morning." He paused and looked at his papers in front of him. "We are dealing with things on two fronts: nationally, and internationally. We will start with home." He nodded to his chief of staff, Felix Trevino. He, too, seemed to have spent a white night, but that wasn't a surprise.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said, taking his turn to speak. "I imagine most of you noticed the tremor yesterday–"

"Tremor?" Willow snorted.

"The quake," Felix corrected. "The last biggest magnitude recorded in an earthquake in this area was in 1857, with a 7.9 quake on the Richter Scale. The Illéa Palace was not standing yet, at the time, but it had been built later on to withstand such a magnitude. And ever since, there had only been earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.8 maximum." He paused. "The Palace had always stood standing with very little damage. Specialists always came to make sure there was no damage."

"Just spill the beans," Ezra Watanabe said. "How high was yesterday's quake?"

Felix shot him a glare, but he continued. "Yesterday, the magnitude went off the charts, so to speak." He paused for dramatical effect, and everyone was hanging at his every word, waiting. He took a deep breath. "8.7." He looked around the table as everyone let that sink in. "There has never been one as strong and deadly as this one, and will not be in decades, if not centuries."

"But could no one have detected something?" the queen asked. "Seismic movements around here? Something that would have led to this huge… catastrophe?"

Felix nodded. "There is always a team monitoring the seismic movements and tremors here, but from what I understand, this was very sudden. And even if they had seen it coming, they couldn't have predicted such strength."

"Thank goodness it wasn't a tsunami," Leigh Altman said. "Where was it exactly?"

"Not very far from here, in the San Andreas Fault," Felix replied. "And from the police record I read, there were many, many casualties in Los Angeles…" he trailed off. "Not only in the Palace."

The King sighed and only silence filled the room after Trevino was done talking. Charlie didn't know if it was normal to have so much silence in a meeting such as this one, but considering the news that the Chief of Staff had just delivered, everyone needed to understand and let it sink in properly.

"What do we do now?" Willow asked softly, breaking the silence.

Her father looked at her and smiled fondly at her. Zeke was there too, but to Charlie's surprise, he wasn't adding a single word to the table. Yet. "A team of specialists is at the Palace right now to secure the area and make sure the rest of the Palace won't crumble down on us. As soon as possible, we'll go back and relocate everyone to the West wing. And as soon as it's safe for a team to go, they'll see if there is anything salvageable from the rubble, but I can't guarantee that."

Willow nodded.

"It might take a few days, so for now, we're staying put just as we are." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "We might need to do a Report to talk to the people before Friday."

Everyone nodded, and Felix Trevino wrote something down in his papers.

"Willow, you will be going from one Estate to the other to continue spending time with your Selected," her father said. "You may stay at Nathan's for the nights, but do one day here, and one day there." Silas looked at his brother. "Nathan? Thank you for doing this."

"No problem!" Nate said. "We're glad to help out, and the girls are happy to have people around."

The king looked at his notes again. "We'll also need to address the casualties at the Palace," he said. "The two Selected who were caught under the rubble need to be sent back to their families. As much as we'd like to do a grand funeral for them here, I'm sure their families would want that more than us." He paused. "And for the seven other staff members, too. We'll address a few words in their honor during the Special Report."

Silas nodded his thanks and they continued on with the meeting. "Ezra? How's Europe?" the King prompted.

Ezra Watanabe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Bad," he replied. "After the Germans gathered their forces to march on The Southern Alliance, they decided to retaliate and will be fighting on two fronts: from France and Switzerland. Portugal and Spain have sent troupes to help, but since Spain's main force is their Navy, and that the battleground is in the middle of the continent, they're not sure they'll be of much help." He paused. "Swendway is also trying to keep Russian forces out of their country. The Fifth Reich and Russia have made their alliance public, now, and both their forces together are no match for Swendway and the Southern Alliance."

Charlie's heart sank. He knew what that meant: if Swendway and France, both allies with Illéa, asked for help, King Silas wouldn't have much choice but to help, or else the alliance would be broken.

"We've also received formal letters from France and Swendway," Ezra continued. "The King François of France and King Magnus of Swendway are both explicitly asking for our help. Military help," he added, clarifying.

Silas didn't seem very happy about that. Charlie didn't know exactly what had been signed in those treaties, but this was probably one of the points. "General?" Silas said, turning to the medal-covered white-haired man with the fancy beard and mustache at the other end of the table. "Do we have troupes we can spare?"

The general took a moment before answering, thinking over his words. "We do, Your Majesty," he said. "Enough to cover two fronts in Europe and to keep Illéa safe."

Silas nodded once. "Then you have my blessing, General. Do what you must."

The general nodded and saluted the King from his seat. Charlie knew this was bad. Very bad. His sister had now a fifty-fifty chance of being sent overseas with her troupe, and he absolutely didn't want to see her go. But there was nothing he could do about it– unless maybe he had a word with the King about it. He balled his fists in his lap, and Willow gently grabbed one and held tight: she knew, too…

As soon as the meeting was over, everyone gathered their papers and folders and filed out of the room to go to their assigned tasks. Charlie wanted to talk to the King about his sister, but he knew Annie wouldn't want him to do anything about it. She had prepared for years for something like this, and she was not one to back down from a challenge, and even less an order.

By the time they came out of the room, it was already time for lunch, but Charlie's stomach was in knots. And Annabeth was reading something on her phone, frowning.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"New orders," she said.

"What? Already?" Charlie knew they were kind of in a hurry, but the decision had been made not two hours ago! Had the General already sent a message to all the bases over Illéa?

Annie looked up at him. "What do you mean already?"

"What's the order?" he asked.

"To report back to my base in Hansport…" she trailed off. "I'm going to Europe."

"What?" Archer said, arriving behind her, overhearing their conversation.

"Eavesdropping is not very polite," Charlie hissed.

But Archer ignored him, turning to Annie. "Why? Why do you need to go to Europe?"

"War," Annie said. "I have to lead my trou–"

"Like hell, you're going," he said. "It's way too dangerous! You can't just–"

"Archer Niu!" Annabeth said, using her most authoritarian voice. Archer froze in his words and his movement. "I am Sergeant Finley, and I lead a troupe of 15 men, if not more. Orders are orders."

"Annie, please," he said, softening. Charlie had never seen him so distressed, so caring, so– wait a minute.

"What's going on between you two?" Charlie asked, frowning.

"Nothing," they both said at the same time, suddenly realizing that there were people around them. But then Archer did the most unthinkable thing: he grabbed Annie's face with his hands – gently – and kissed her. In front of everyone. The princess, the King and Queen, her parents, her brother, the other Selected… Charlie thought Annie was going to punch him away or armlock him as she had done on their first meeting? Instead, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back.

Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose. What was happening?

"I'll come back," Annie said when she broke the kiss, her forehead on his. "I promise."

"You can't promise me that," he said through clenched teeth.

"I can try," she amended. "Archie, I have to go. I'm sorry." She placed one last tiny kiss on his lips and then walked away without a second glance over her shoulder. She needed to change, then she'd report to Hansport. No discussion. Orders were orders.

Everyone watched her leave, shocked at what had just happened.

"What?" Archer said, challenging anyone to say something.

Pfiou sorry, that was super long, but totally worth it. What did you think? the two groups, the boys' reactions, the war, the kiss at the end, and everything else? please review!^^

thanks for reading and still being here! see you next week!