Chapter 1: Triplets Born...
1/1/2022 (Slight update on 1/2/2022)
(Author's note: 1/13/2022: I apologize for the lengthy and odd paragraphs here, I'm not sure what I was doing. As of chapter 5, both issues have been improved.)
"Administer the epidural!" barked a doctor to her small staff. "Don't worry, Ms. Soleil. This will make your birth go a little smoother." The woman the doctor addressed turned towards her, gritting her teeth. "It BETTER! And h-how many times have I told you, you can just call me Aleena!" Aleena groaned as the epidural was administered.
Aleena was no ordinary soon-to-be mother. She was a queen on top of that, and she was about to give birth to not one, not two, but three heirs. Aleena's room was regal but sterile, with medical equipment strewn about to either side of her bed. One window let the freshly risen moon shine its light upon Aleena, in addition to the quietly buzzing electric lights. She could've have been making this a tender moment with the father of her kids, but alas, he had gone missing only weeks prior. Thoughts about him raced through Aleena's head as she gripped her midwife's hand. Then, after what felt like an eternity but was really less than half an hour, her pain eased up significantly.
"Ooh, that feels a lot better," Aleena said shakily, disoriented from the pain. "I bet it does. Now, I'm going to need you to keep pushing, alright? You might still feel contractions, but it shouldn't hurt as much, if at all." Aleena sighed nervously. "Okay." And with that, she resumed her pushing. Time seemed to stretch on forever, but quickly snapped back to a normal speed when the moment of truth came. Aleena gripped her midwife's hand tight with one hand, and the railing of the bed with her other. There was a moment of disorientation and darkness, but when she came to, she saw in her arms three beautiful babies. "Oh my god… I'm really a mother," she said with a mix of disbelief and unmatched pride.
"Two boys and a girl, ma'am," said the cheerful midwife. They were all different colors; the girl was a purple-like color, like her. One of the boys was blue, like her father. And the other boy was green, like his own absent father. Sonia held them tightly. "My sweet babies," she cooed to them lightly. The midwife leaned over, as did some of the staff, as they looked at her lovely, healthy children. "You must be very proud," said one of the nurses. "Indeed I am. I just wish he was here to see this…" Aleena missed her beloved very much, but instead of focusing on what wasn't, she decided to focus on what was. She was escorted to her bedroom following a brief checkup on the four of them.
Aleena looked at the clock beside her bed and discovered it was nearing midnight. "Looks like it's getting to be time for bed," she said softly to her newborns. They had some energy in them, smiling and laughing. "Most babies come into this world crying so hard… but the moment you saw me, you stopped and became happy and calm, like you knew everything was okay." She kissed her babies foreheads and held them close. "I hope that isn't you growing up too fast." Aleena tucked herself and her children into their large bed, and with the press of a remote, the lights went out, leaving only the moon shining through the glass door to the balcony to provide any light. To Aleena's surprise (yet also relief), her babies fell asleep quickly, and within minutes, so did she.
Aleena's night wasn't yet over, however. A couple hours into her well-deserved slumber, she was woken up by a strange, yet comforting buzzing sound. A heavenly light grazed the corners of her slowly opening eyes, and when she finally pried them up all the way, she found herself staring at a tall, glowing figure with immeasurable beauty. They were a sort of humanoid creature that had long flowing white hair and a sort-of golden dress. A black nose and a tan muzzle not unlike Aleena's signified they were some sort of animal, but she was unsure what. "Oh my… are you who I think you are," Aleena asked the tall being. The being smiled warmly, and took a seat on her bed. "Indeed I am. I am the god Bendice." Aleena had heard the legend of Bendice; they were a gorgeous being who would bless newborns they deemed worthy of special powers and had been doing so since time began; Mobians believed that this is why many people of Mobius have superpowers.
"You know, you're the first person in a long time to see me," Bendice informed Aleena. Aleena gulped. "So this… this moment is real, and not some kind of dream?" The new mother's head was spinning. It wasn't every day that you met a literal god. "A-are you here to grant one of my children with powers?" Bendice laughed quietly. "No, dear. I'm here to grant all three of them powers." Aleena couldn't believe it, and immediately sat up. "All three of them? You're really going to do that?" The beautiful god stroked Aleena's face. "Indeed." They turned their gaze onto her children, who were sleeping peacefully.
"For you," they said as they placed their hand on the green boy, "I grant you the ability to perform acrobatic feats surpassing those of any performer. With it, the air and the world around you will be your oyster." They then placed their hand on the purple girl. "For you, I shall bestow upon you the strength of an army, making you strong and hard to knock down. With it, you shall move the world's mountains." They then put their hand upon the blue boy. "And finally, for you… I give you an unmatched speed. With it, you shall never be left behind." As they gave powers to each child, they glowed brightly for a moment in time.
Aleena gasped softly, then lowered her head. "Thank you so much. I'll forever be in your debt." Bendice smiled. "Think nothing of it." They looked that the babies again. "I believe these three will do amazing things someday." They then got up off of the bed, and walked to the balcony. "Take care of them, Aleena. Keep them safe." "I promise I will." Following the exchange, Bendice slowly began flying to the moon, and was eventually absorbed by the rays of light coming from the moon. Aleena spent a moment sitting up in bed absolutely bewildered, but suddenly fell back asleep. Her final thoughts were those of wonder and shock.
The next few weeks went by without incident. Aleena spent her day taking care of her children and getting lots of pictures. After a couple of weeks, she started to return to her duties as queen, simultaneously taking care of her children throughout. Many royal guests would lose any sense of professionalism upon seeing the babies, and would drop everything to baby talk to them about how adorable they are. Aleena wasn't sure, but she felt like her babies were doing cute things on purpose for attention from the masses. When she attended functions, her children seemed to be the center of attraction. Not even her war generals were immune from showering the babies with adoration. This tended to be the most interesting part of her life, as Mobius was experiencing a time of great peace. Aleena was looking forward to a peaceful life raising her kids to help rule alongside her, helping to keep the peace. As long as things stayed peaceful and she got to watch her kids grow up, she didn't mind a little monotony in her daily routine. Unbeknownst to her, though, her routine was about to be shaken forever.
It was the day her babies turned 5 weeks old. They were now slightly too big for their old clothes, and were now sleeping better. A lot of change was about to happen as they slowly transitioned from newborn to infant. Aleena left her babies in the care of a nanny as she attended a daily briefing. She crossed a long hallway and opened a door, leading to a sizable meeting room with several advisors sitting around a large table, with a screen at the end of the room. Aleena took her seat, and the meeting began. "If you recall our meeting from Saturday, you may remember that the prime minister of Faro is wanting to meet with you to discuss funding and deciding locations for new embassies in this country, and he's finally found a few dates where he's free to do so… he is wanting you to pick one," said one of the advisors. Aleena put her hand to her chin, and began thinking as her advisor listed the four dates given by Faro's PM. "Alright, tell him I'll be able to attend the one on—"
Before she could finish answering, the door was opened. A young woman stood in the doorway, catching her breath and wiping her sweat-laden brow. "Goodness! Are you alright," Aleena asked as she got up and made a beeline for the woman. "Th… there's... there's an oracle here to.. to see you." Aleena was surprised at this. "An oracle?" The queen turned her head to the rest of the room, who silently gestured to her their permission for her to leave. "Where is he?" "Th… the throne hall, your majesty." The lady was carried to a seat and given water by a couple of advisors, as Aleena began almost running to the throne hall. An oracle being here cannot be good news, Aleena said quietly to herself. Any time the kingdom's current oracle came bearing a sight, it tended to not be anything good. After several minutes of almost non-stop powerwalking, she made it to her ornately decorated throne hall. Surely enough, an oracle stood before her.
So, this is the new oracle, Aleena thought. This oracle was around her height, and appeared to be a reptilian anteater. He wore a dark purple cloak draped over most of his body, with the toes of his shoes and his tail being exposed. He extended his hand to her. "I must tell you this privately," he said grimly. She hesitantly took his hand, and in the blink of an eye, found herself in a well lit cave with a small, elevated pool of water in the middle. "Where the—" "We're in my cave. This is news I don't want others to hear; they may panic and act inappropriately." Aleena gulped upon hearing this. "So… what is it? It can't be worse than what the last oracle said; last time an oracle visited, I found out my 13th birthday gift was going to be my father dying while protecting me from terrorists." The oracle rubbed his head nervously. "It's… worse." Aleena got very nervous. "What did you see, Oracle?"
The oracle sighed and plunged his hands into the water. His eyes glowed as images began to form in the water. "There is a man named Ivo Robotnik. He was once a human, but has transmogrified himself into something of a cyborg… he thirsts for power and world domination, and very soon, he will take over your castle, and begin a conquest to dominate the world. He shall turn many of this world's people into robotic beings…" The oracle paused as he took an upset breath, "…including your children." Aleena gasped, and bit one of her knuckles. "Why would he ever do that?" "He believes nature and humanity to be ugly things, and he believes that as robots, they'll be unable to oppose him and his followers." Aleena looked at the disturbing image he was making in the pool, and slammed her hand in it. "When will he do this?!" she screeched. "At some point this week, I'm not sure when specifically. Could be the final day this week, could be tonight. All I know is that it shall happen this week, on an evening before midnight, and…" he looked at her with sorrow. "…there is no stopping him during the beginning of his conquest."
Aleena began to panic. Images of her people dying, her children being turned into machines… or even dying violently, despite being babies. She was about to have a breakdown, but then caught something in what the oracle said. "Wait, no stopping him during the beginning of his conquest? Does that mean he can be stopped later on?" The oracle nodded. "Indeed. But unfortunately, to ensure that there is a chance to stop him, it requires you making a sacrifice." Aleena got in his face. "I'll do anything! I'll throw away all that I have, I'll offer myself in marriage, I'll throw myself into battle, just tell me what to do!" The oracle looked down in discomfort. "You'll have to give up your throne before he can take it." Aleena nodded. "Okay, I can do that, and I'll take my kids with me." "That's the thing…" Aleena froze. "What do you mean?"
"When the last oracle was training me, he told me of something he predicted before you were born. Are you familiar with the god Bendice?" The queen gasped when she heard this. "Yes! They visited me and my babies when they were born, and gave them powers!" "Well, the previous oracle told me he predicted that you would be visited as a baby, and give you a very special power, a power that would be passed on to your children; The Essence of the Sun." Aleena listened in wonder. "He knew you'd have triplets, who would all inherit this power. When they're grown and the four of you are together, you would have the ability to accomplish world-changing things… the power to bring about new life and a brilliant, beautiful light, or to throw the world into a miserable darkness and bring about death and destruction." Aleena was filled with joy. "So we can use this power to stop this madman!" The oracle got a bit snappy. "Weren't you listening? That same power can be used to give Robotnik the ability to become unstoppable! He could turn you into robots and make you use the power for whatever HE wants!" The queen stopped smiling, and got serious. "So what are you saying? What do I need to do?!" She got closer and closer to him. "Tell me!" "YOU MUST GIVE UP YOUR CHILDREN!" he shouted.
Aleena's heart sank from both regret and shock. "What… what?" The oracle frowned apologetically. "In order to make sure there's a chance to stop Robotnik, you must run away, and give up your children. It's too dangerous for all of you to be together." Aleena fell to her knees. "But… I just… I just had them." The oracle got down to her level. "I know. But in my vision, I saw a large resistance overthrowing Robotnik, and it was lead by your children. If you stay with them, Robotnik will have the ability to capture all of you in one fell swoop and force you to destroy everything. They'll never have the chance to save the day. I'm sorry." Aleena got up, clenching her fists. "When will I get to see them?" "I'm not certain, I could not ascertain when they'd save the day," he said solemnly, "but I'd prepare to miss out on their entire childhood." Aleena immediately began punching and kicking the wall while screaming obscenities, and then fell to her knees, crying loudly.
Once she was finished, she got up and turned back to the oracle. "Alright. I'll send them off tonight to be safe." The oracle teleported her back to the throne hall, with him opting to stay behind. She made her way back to the nanny, passing by many people, who felt uncomfortable seeing her broken expression. "Oh, Aleena! You're back early," said the nanny. Aleena silently scooped her children back up. "Get you and your family out." The nanny's face fell. "What?" Aleena walked to the door, turning her head as she reached the doorway. "The oracle visited. It was not good. Be quiet and tell your friends to evacuate and hide too. Tell them to tell their friends. Make sure they don't cause a panic." The nanny's face fell, and she immediately began making calls. She took her children to her room, telling anyone she saw on the way what to do. She sat them on the bed. They were smiling, not understanding the reality of what was going on. She held back the urge to sob. She decided to spend the rest of the day with them, playing with them, reading to them, singing to them, everything she could do as a mother.
A few hours later, a chill went down her spine. It is time, she thought to herself. Her babies were asleep. The sun was starting to set. The castle was being guarded by an army, who's only instructions were to protect the castle until Aleena was out, and then go into hiding themselves. She broke out three baskets to put her babies in, and wrote notes describing their powers. She scrambled to find things to put with them, eventually settling for their favorite blankets, a toy they liked (she'd keep their absolute most favorite toys safe even though they'd probably forget about them by the time she'd see them again), and a small thing of hers for each of them to remember her by. She then began searching her drawers for something important. "They must be here somewhere… Ah, here!" She pulled out three medallions, vaguely resembling a guitar, a drumkit and a keyboard respectively. She put them on her children's necks. "These will help you someday. They're special artifacts," she told her slumbering children. She looked at them lovingly for a moment. But then, another chill went down her spine. She looked at the window, and saw that it was dark outside. Her heart began racing, and she scooped her children up and ran.
She was halfway across a long hall when she heard an explosion. Oh god no, not now, Aleena thought to herself. She quickly continued running, taking a back exit. She was about to leave castle grounds, when three tall robots fell down from above. "No!" Aleena screamed as they pulled out laser guns. Before they could shoot, someone from the army blasted their heads into pieces. "GET GOING," he screamed. She nodded, and made a break for the city of Mobotropolis. Mobotropolis was the capital city of the country of Soleigus, and was something of a capital city for Mobius as a whole; It was absolutely massive. She hid herself with a cloak she picked up, and quickly began looking for places to leave her children. She dropped off one of her boys at a house by a lake. The other boy was dropped off at a middle-class artisan's house, and lastly, she left off the girl at a wealthy noble's house. She kissed each one on the forehead, and tearfully said goodbye. "Make me proud," she said to each one. As she set each basket down, she knocked on each door and left.
She made her way to a hill on the outskirts of the city. She heard panic across the city, as she saw her castle being attacked. "Damn you, Robotnik…" she muttered, as she ran down partially. She stopped and took one last look at the city. "I will see you three again. I promise this…" tears formed in her eyes. "Make me proud."
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