"Mason, if you wanted to be in your garden again, why didn't you just sneak in yourself?".
"Because i always spend hours in my garden, I couldn't just be here for a few minutes and leave, minutes turn to hours or labor and then i get in trouble with dirt all over me. But this time we just need to well..harvest some plants so it's a little different". Honestly to landon even if mason managed to save anyone's life from this he doubted he still wouldn't get in trouble regardless, but he couldn't deny it was a nice thought for people to see them achieve something.
He was eager to catch the culprit by himself for that reason, and if this went according to plan he would be the first to do so. No way they could ignore him then, he'd be the prince who saved mewni instead of however he was seen among the rest of his family. Mason knew at the very least they were after the masked individual, he could talk to judas later about maybe if it was a good idea to spill the...well the OTHER big thing they needed to keep hidden.
But right now they needed to focus, landon's main priority on getting hold of that truth potion more then anything.
He wasn't all that surprised when mason moved aside a portraits and led him through a small vent to a hidden trapdoor in his garden, of course mason had something like this, it was probably how he got snacks for when he worked in there in all honesty. Though the crawlspace was SMALL, maybe mason or even something as tiny as his great great grandpa could fit in there but it was somewhat of a squeeze for landon, so no wonder mason only seemed to use it.
"You think anyone is inside the garden right now?", landon brushed himself of the cobwebs as mason stretched his wings, trying not to accidentally tip over something as he recovered his trapdoor in the dirt. Mason shrugged, "I don't know...I'm not sure how many people were willing to work with my plants after i got grounded. C'mon, let's just be quiet and you can follow me, i know where we can get everything! That way we can finish and leave almost immediatly! Then we can start brewing!".
"Do you even know how to make it?".
"Nope!", he said cheerfully, "But I know someone who can!".
"I don't like the fact that I know,you know, someone who can brew up a truth potion behind our parent's back.", but mason smiled, "You'll see! C'mon...". He ushered the taller boy to follow him carefully through the thick garden, it was practically a jungle in here, a deadly jungle considering the plant life that lived here. Landon never had much of a reason before to think super hard about mason's plants, not about how useful they were or even if they would be important to him at all.
Magic, ever since it existed always had a strange effect on mewni, guess mason would know more then anyone they seeped into plant life and they evolved into all kinds of strange plants and vegetation. Perfect for potions and medicine, not that landon really cared much about it. Mason of course would have a number of them here, though considering the kinda plants landon saw in here, they didn't entirely reassure him that those encounters would be entirely safe.
The underworld had plants with eyeballs, teeth, poison, all kinds of things landon would prefer they didn't encounter at all in this journey if he and mason could help it in the slightest. Well, not that he doubted mason could handle his own plants but...a plant almost strangled celeste so...that was not reassuring at all. Mason seemed a steady guide though, keeping them from being spotted as he made his way around the leafy greens, dark blacks and deep reds.
"Ok, first stop!".
Landon stopped in his tracks behind his younger brother as he stopped in front of a particularly strange looking plant. It looked like a bush with tulips sticking out of it, however they tulips ranged in colors from blue to black and he swore the bush was whispering. Mason seemed more then happy to approach the creepy bush and give it a big hug, sighing as he looked over all the "Tulips" carefully, landon just staring and watching the small boy as he squeezed the flowers and prodded them.
"We need a perfect ripe tulip from the whispering bush, so we can drain it's milk for the potion...", mason said stuff like this so normally, his plants could disperse milk? Landon made a face as he watched mason carefully pluck a perfect plump purple tulip and placed it into his hat, ushering landon to continue with him. Though as landon passed by the bush, he could hear the whispers louder, were they whispering about him? He felt chills run down his spine as he eagerly got out of there with mason.
Still no sign of anyone yet, guess they came at a pretty good time to do this if any. That or, maybe there was a good reason he hadn't seen who might've been working here, these plants didn't always come across as the most friendly out there. He was anxious as he walked past a Snugglebush, probably the worst name for a plant that was know to wrap around creatures and practically strangle them to death. It didn't bother mason but boy landon almost panicked as one reached for his foot before moving on.
Something then blew past his feet, making the hairs on his neck stand on end, he wasn't used to the garden being THIS creepy before. But then again he rarely came in here unless the entire family was working on something inside of it, here he just had mason and himself and it was uncomfortable emptiness that he refused to stray too far from his younger brother. At least Celeste wasn't here to smirk at him for hiding behind his younger brother from evil plants.
Though he felt like they were being watched, every time he turned his head he felt like something was moving out of their line of vision. They were clearly being watched by something out there and who knows what it could be at this point. He tried to ease off, reminding himself to talk to bernard later that day to give himself something to ease his mind, or even work on his music. Though the nice thoughts didn't last long as a nearby Growlerberry Bush snarled at him as he walked past it, making him quicken his pace more if that were even possible.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
He didn't like that he could hear movement all around them in a place just full of plants, life forms that just stuck out of the ground and were supposed to do nothing but that. Mason however, moved forward to their next stop, carefully clipping a few leaves from a shadowflower, and it seemed to go smooth for the rest of the visit despite how anxious landon was. Seeds from a Golden Iris, pollen from inside the "mouth" of a CaveDweller, pollen from a moonflower, and then just getting a few glowseeds and an average apple because of course.
Honestly the fact nothing had happened yet almost made it worse for the boy, despite mason being entirely cool with the situation and not afraid of any of the plants around him. He wasn't entirely happy to have to clip them when it wasn't needed but it was for a good cause he supposed. However, even he could hear a lot of movement going on around them, shadows moving about rapidly and making his ears twitch as he quickly checked all the ingredients he gathered.
With a shadow woman running around, it was important to keep cautious, just in case.
"Well, we got everything, we should get going.", mason offered, some relief coming to his brother who was still looking around him as if expecting someone to pop out and catch them. Mason took his brother's arm and reassured him to move and head back though a particuarly loud noise came from one of the nearest bushes, making both boys jump back and mason to hold onto his brother tighter as he called out into the mess of leaves and vines.
"Alright, whosoever out there, come out now!".
He was practically demanding it, something startling coming from mason of all people, the sweetest and non-threating of all the brothers.
Another woosh through the bushes before something began to rise out of it and landon stepped back a little more, mason still standing as he was as the thing flew upwards and out of the bush before landing in front of them and they made it out fast. It looked like mason, but also not mason, it's eyes red, it's mouth and teeth red, but the res of it mostly made of leaves, grass and vines, even somewhat of a lily pad making up for his regular beanie hat, and of course, accompanied by petal wings.
Though considering there was a vine sticking out from the back of it's neck and led into the deep garden, it was probably being lifted more then actual flying
The sighting of this plant clone made landon freak out, but mason just smiled and laughed at the scary being, immedialty going up to hug it instead. "Aw guys, you missed me so much you made your own replacement?". Mason's wings practically fluttered, looking around the garden with his hands on his hips as if he was being punked by his own children, a smile on his face. The plants around them seemed to react and landon suddenly felt really awkward as vines proceeded to hug the smaller boy affectionately, pat him, or tickle him before retreating.
No harm done.
"Awww, i missed you all too! But no scaring me and landon next time ok? Also, please don't hurt or eat any of the other people working in here, i know you're mad but I promise i'll make it back ok?", the plants seemed to react, in fact landon swore he heard some thumps from the background, the implication some workers had been tied up with vines and were just let go crossing through his mind as mason moved him along and said goodbye to his leafy friends.
Landon staying even closer to mason then he did before.
"You can talk to your plants? Since when can you talk to your plants?!", landon said in a squeaky panicked whisper, "That sure would've been useful for all the times we almost got killed by all your plants in the past!". Mason chuckled though, smiling to landon, "C'mon landon, plants don't have ears! If you were being attacked with clippers and chopping you up you'd be scared too and start panicking! Besides, they don't always know better, they're plants.".
"You're weird mase...".
Landon was more then thankful to be out of that garden as mason led him along the dark halls of the underworld, not entirely sure about who mason was intending to brew this potion for them. It certainly wasn't their parents, that was for sure, though even less likely it was a royal brewer either. However, landon was surprised to find mason had not led him to anywhere cryptic to meet his ally but instead...his bedroom? Landon was practically pushed in as mason locked the door behind him.
"Alright, we're here! C'mon out!".
Landon couldn't see anywhere the perp could hide and was half expecting them to pop out of mason's closet, though much to his surprise the contact instead floated out from under the boy's bed instead, carrying a tiny little cauldron with their mouth as landon completely stood in awe. He really hadn't been sure of what he had been expecting, mason had seemed to surprised him more and more as the day went forward and he couldn't help but give mason an odd look at the sight of a tiny blue and pink figure before them.
"Twiler Ponyhead?! But she's like...practically a baby!"
Mason smiled, "and she's AWESOME!", he practically wrapped his arm around the tiny unicorn/seahorse child, "Twiler here has helped me make fertilizer and helpful formula's for my plants for some time, she's good with potions!". Landon still didn't seem so sure, looking between the both of them with complete discomfort, could this day get any wilder for him? No, he honestly would be better off not jinxing it if he could avoid it, he didn't need it to get weirder as he watched the unicorn fill the cauldron full of water with her magic horn, mason heating the bottom of it with his hands to boil it.
And the small princess got to work fast, pouring what she needed at random times, sometimes by drips, others at their full amount, cutting things with her magic at times, it almost felt like she'd done this many times before in her life as the water in the small cauldron quickly changes shades of purple, red, and blue before settling on a beautiful light blue, giggling as it fizzed up and mason removed his hands to conjure a jar and pour some inside of it.
Landon still seemed in utter awe as he looked between the two young kids as mason handed him a jar of truth potion before handing the cauldron back to Twiler, who instantly cleaned it before mason reached into his pockets for a payment for her. Pulling out a tube of bubble soap and dropping it into the cauldron, making the small pony squeal, delighted. "Alright, i'll call you back later, i'll probably need some new formulas soon so be prepared for a whole bottle of bubble bath next time.".
Her small eyes lit up as she twirled around and vanished back to the cloud kingdom. Leaving landon to process this entire fever dream he just witnessed, was mason's normal day like this? His plants creating beings to hug him? Doing deals with tiny ponies? Did mason have some secret double life no one else knew about? At this point he couldn't exactly be surprised, mason seemed like the last person he should ever underestimate at this point, who knows what he did anymore.
Mason looked at landon before raising an eyebrow, "You ok? Now that we're set, we can get started! So...where can i talk to nora?". Was he normally this overeager? Then again he was hoping to do something really noble to help out and prove to their parents he was willing to do better so- he did have a real motivation to really want to do whatever he could. Landon shook his head and held the jar close, "Well, angel is kinda at butterfly castle, and so is nora for that matter...".
"Good, then let's go!", mason immediately grabbed landon's arm before he could protest, the two leaving in a rush. "Hold on Mason, you have to be careful with the jar, and can I at least call judas and let him know that you kinda...know?" Though Mason didn't really give him time to talk before they bust into a bunch of fire, traveling to the Butterfly kingdom in an instinct as landon sighed, this was going to be a bad idea but he could only hope for the best.
Judas and nora were pacing down the hall before running into luna, who butted their way past them in an angry hurry. The two royals looking back at her, geez, what got her so riled up again. The two talking amoung themselves on how best to confront the boy as Sky soon appeared through a doorway, the best timing honestly since they needed her help on talking about this matter, though judas's current worry seemed to reflect on him well as sky's first instinct when seeing her best friend was to put her hand up on his forehead.
"Jude...you ok? Have you been getting any rest recently? You don't look so good...", judas sighed and removed her hand, "I'm sorry, your texts have me...a little anxious I guess...I couldn't sleep sky, I know you wanted me to relax...but...". The girl sighed, "Yeah sorry, don't worry I'm kinda in a similar mood actually...I feel like i'm finally kinda sorta thinking angel is ok and now i'm packing that he's dooping me or something and this was all some elaborate plan of his...".
"We want to confront him...", nora mumbled, "We can't wait on this, we need to talk to him if we want any answers...".
"I agree...we have a good lead, we should follow up on it, the sooner the better...".
"You mean...right now?", nora said, drawing sharp breaths, "Do we even know what we're going to say for sure yet? What if we scare him off? Or make everything worse...?". She instinctively held her hair and placed it in front of her face, leaving judas and sky to think before they heard more footsteps down the hall. Followed by flapping noises, and Judas could tell before they came into view it was landon and mason, his younger brothers. Though much to his surprise, mason stopped in front of the group, and forced landon next to him with his wing, carrying...
"Is that truth potion?", nora immediately asked, pointing to the jar.
So much for Landon's plan to start interrogating on his own to catch the culprit.
Mason however, looked more then happy to be apart of the team and Judas looked over to Landon, Landon sweating in place as Judas shrugged, not like he was any better at keeping any secrets anyway. Guess this was bound to happen at some point or another, instead he took the jar from mason and tapped on the lid, "Well...I guess we know what to do now...c'mon...we better go and find him, let's wrap this part of the investigation up and finish this...".
"We're just going to go up to him and make him drink it?".
"What? No! But we need to find him fast and see if we can slip him some and find out what's really going on here, carefully of course, we don't want to hurt him...but we should find him fast before someone beats us to it or well...arrests someone innocent...".
Confronting Angel was something that had seemed easy enough to do as long as they could find the rowdy prince.
If they could actually find him.
For once, angel wasn't tagging along with sky, judas, or even sitting next to his mother, he was nowhere in sight, but there wasn't a lot of options to where he could be hiding so they still had the opportunity to find him. The teens were running around the castle, careful to hide their potion as they desperately searched for the prince and asked the guards for his whereabouts. Only getting non-answers in return about the prince's current activities. Judas and Sky felt themselves worry more and more as they scratched out every location they checked, angel was not like this, he wasn't sneaky enough to be hiding from them and he had no reason to be hiding from them in the first place.
And their group didn't seem to like the fact Sky and Judas were not having much luck either, their anxiety rising.
The only two real places left were Eclipsa's tower and angel's actual castle, assuming he went home despite the fact he seemed intent to stay here with his mother.
Judas quickly took the lead, motioning the others to follow him to eclipsa's tower to see if he was there, and sky quickly caught up with him, "Jude? You think he's ok? Gotta be honest it's weird not to see him once all day...also like, maybe we shouldn't have such a crowd with us...if you wanna trick him into drinking potion, probably don't want both your brothers and Nora following us around until like, after he drinks the stuff, he's probably going to be mad enough about him taking it without us ganging up on him...".
"Good point...", He stopped, looking over the other companions and crossing his arms, "You three...you three should go to the kingdom, go find Luna, she can get you in there to investigate his room...trust me, she'll do it if you tell her you have a lead...contact me if you find anything...after we find him we can figure out how to give him the potion and confront him, ok? He has a journal in there, it might give us some clues.". Landon piped up, "Dude, you want us to break into the prince's room? We get caught in there and we're dead...with or without Luna...".
This made judas quickly rethink before turning to sky, "Sky? You and Nora should go to eclipsa's tower then, i'll escort my brothers to the castle myself, considering my parents wouldn't approve of me going alone i'll ask lu-". Then judas was quickly interrupted by another voice, "Actually, I'll escort you your highness...", Judas looking over to spot Katrina from around the corner, smiling. "You've been sneaking out enough, I heard your little plan, if you kiddos plan on going to another kingdom to investigate...you're gonna need someone better then Luna to cover for you...".
Judas gulped.
She smirked at judas, "Well well, you're even bigger then the last time I saw you! A true king indeed...", she came forward, "Spying is my deal, you boys want to go snooping around, then I will be guide. You can come, be there to keep King Arachford busy while I look at crawly boy's room for evidence. If we find anything, I will cover for you and tell your parents you were under me and my partner's care, if we don't find anything, then same story applies, you boys wanted to visit and comfort the king about his wife and came with supervision.".
Sky huffed, "Katrina...are you sure you wanna-".
"This is my job blue bell...no more going off on your own, If you are going out there this time I am joining you. I need to figure this out just as much as you do, and I'm not risking you all being put in danger without my help out there anymore...", she huffed before smiling a toothy grin, "If you were not royalty, you would all make great spies, though maybe be careful about your sneaking skills, your lucky no one caught you yet at this point.".
Landon's throat went stiff, "Wait...you-?".
"I am spy, I've been watching you for some time now, it is job...if you are sneaking out, it is my job to protect you, no more sneaking off on your own...if you are onto something, I want to know as well". Judas and sky exchanged looks and nodded, "Fair enough...we don't seem to have a choice anyway". Katrina smiled and motioned for the boys to follow her, and the boys quickly started heading off, only after handing Sky the jar, knowing it best not to walk into the castle while carrying something like that with them. Sky felt her gut sink as the boys left with the frog woman, "We'll be back Sky...promise...".
Were they for sure going to be safe going over there? Katrina could definitely cover for them so they weren't punished by their parents, but she meant in terms of their safety.
Judas could take care of himself though if anything went wrong...right?
Yeah, of course he could, he definitely could.
They needed to focus, check eclipsa's tower for any signs of the boy, if judas found him there he'd text them and they didn't have to worry about a thing or about anyone sneaking anywhere. Then everything would be fine, they were just trying to locate him for now, if they just found home at home, then there was no need to get in any trouble, they could just plan out the next step from there. She tried to reassure herself but she didn't like this feeling.
Nora followed close behind, not wanting to leave sky's side and probably just as anxious. She'd never been in this position of watching everyone go off to do possible dangerous things in a panic like this, and sky felt her stay so close she was practically clinging onto her. Sky sighed and kept her close, "Don't worry, we'll find him, we're just searching to make sure he didn't well...go anywhere or get kidnapped and...yeah...if we find him, no issue, we can just wait till judas gets back...".
"You think he got kidnapped?".
"Well, we can't leave it out as a possibility...I mean, the whole 'mom thing' is still just an idea...", this didn't seem to reassure nora, probably due to the fact it meant she could just as likely get kidnapped if that was true. And she certainly didn't want that after seeing what happened to her parents. "It's fine, it's cool, we just need to make sure we know where he is because if we don't...especially him, we could be in a lot of serious trouble...like VERY serious...".
"Is it really a good idea to split into groups? And go off out there while...she's still running around?".
"I don't know Nora...we just know we have a lead, we need to follow it, and if angel is not here we're in a huge amount of trouble...".
Nora nodded as they made their way through the garden's to eclipsa's tower, knocking on the door, hoping eclipsa was actually here and not in her secret home, eclipsa liked angel, she was a good shot to knowing where he was. Luckily, Eclipsa was here, opening the door to the nervous looking girls and her smile quickly fading. "Sky dear? And princess spiderbite? Is something the matter? You both don't look so well today...and is that...truth potion?". Sky glanced to nora before quickly shifting focus back to eclipsa, "You seen angel?".
Eclipsa smiled quickly, "Dear, if you're planning to ask him out I suggest fixing up your hair, it looks like you've been pulling it in all directions.". And sky quickly waved her hands out in front of her while nora gave her a curious glance, "God, enough with that already! This is no time to be talking about that, we need to find him! We haven't seen him all day and he's not where he usually is and we're kinda panicking cause this REALLY isn't the time for people to be up and vanishing on us...".
Eclipsa immediately went back to being nervous, her hands twiddling, "Oh...".
"You haven't seen him either...have you?".
"Oh...".
"Eclipsa...".
"Well, the boy stopped by early today, poor thing looked more sickly then he did before in fact, but he didn't stick around. He just wanted to say he might not make it to the next lesson, and for me to let you know he's sorry he couldn't show up.". Sky didn't like the sound of that, and judging from their reactions, eclipsa didn't either. Almost on instinct she ushered the girls inside her tower and shut the door behind her as they made it to her room, "Girls...what's going on? Why are you looking for him?".
"Eclipsa, look, judas and his brothers are going to angel's castle to look for him and maybe sorta find some evidence of what's going on? Look, cutting to the chase we think he's involved in this mess and we need to find him and find out what's going on, globgor did tell you right?". Eclipsa blinked, "Well of course he told me Her was lurking around his kingdom and there's something fishy going on with his kingdom recently but...oh that really isn't a good sign...".
She was quick to start going through her books as sky crossed her arms, Sky putting the potion down on her table, "He wasn't possessed right? You saw his eyes? No one switched bodies with him either? He told you he was skipping?". Eclipsa huffed as she went through more of her junk, "Of course not! I thought when he said something it was because the poor boy was getting sicker or everything with his mother was too emotional for him to show up! I didn't assume that meant something else was happening...".
She finally found what she was looking for and quickly got it out before shoving it into sky's arms, Sky looking down to see Eclipsa handed her one of her personal spellbooks. "Sky, use the all seeing eye, see if you can find him with it, quickly...i'll help and it might increase our chances. I know you're no expert on that spell so flip to it in my book...". Sky quickly obeyed, getting her wand as the ready and following the former Queen's lead, though her attempt did not seem to work at all, the portal barely opening before eclipsa stood in and opened in further.
Nora simply watched, anxious as the two swapped through multiple dimensions, searching for the prince.
"That's weird, shouldn't the spell have went right to him?".
"The spell doesn't always work, other magic can evade it and prevent the spell from finding what you want...it's very possible angel is either somewhere protected from this kind of magic, or someone is preventing us from finding him...but if we can't see him, then that's not very reassuring. Angel himself sure isn't strong enough to block it out himself, sky...perhaps we should get more help, or warn your mother, this doesn't look good.". Sky shook her head though, "What? NO no no, you know she'd freak and we'd be in serious trouble!".
"Sky dear, if that boy is with...Star could be the least of your worries...your safety still matters in this situation, first and foremost...", eclipsa sighed, "I know i support you and what you're doing but if what you're implying is correct, getting involved might only make things worse. As much as i hate the high commission and as much as your mother hasn't always been her best towards you, if you go out there and don't come back that's on me and there's no telling you'll be strong enough to handle this...".
"So you just don't support me anymore!?", sky snapped back, "After everything, THIS is where you cross the line?!".
"Sky, I know you're capable of great things and you have improved so much but this has just gotten more serious then we ever might've thought, who knows what else that Her knows with someone like that boy with her. You no longer have the upper hand if they know everything about you...I'm not trying to fight against you sky. But I almost hurt you once and If you get hurt because I didn't stop you I'll never let it go, You can't go out there...not without a plan of backup...".
"So you are just giving up on me..."
"Sky! I'm only saying that maybe you need to put aside your differences with your mother and maybe it's time we all took this threat down together, I can trust you with a lot of things, but I don't know what or who Her is and if you don't come back...I'm sorry sweetie but this matter is too dangerous for you kids to go alone...your safety is important, even if it does mean telling your mother what you've been up in secret and the truth behind it.".
"And if something happens it's not gonna be any use if i'm locked up! I'm going to find him...with or without you...".
She eyed nora, who looked anxiously between the two.
"WE are going to find him...and we're going to take her out...".
King Arachford looked more then happy to see the princes show up to greet him, most likely lonely with his family not even living under his roof for days now. He didn't even mind the sight of Katrina with them either, though his entire focus was on the boys. Katrina stayed close by simply for their safety, though she was looking around the room for any signs of trouble she needed to be aware of, though the old and small castle seemed mostly harmless.
The king was quick to get snacks and tea and katrina was quick to test them for any sign of poison, though judas was confident the king had no intention to bring him any harm. Amir quickly got a seat in front of them, smiling as the prince's laps were full of treats and snacks, mostly insect related of course. The king looked like he hadn't slept in days, in fact he was slouching, and his old eyes were struggling to stay awake as he looked between the brothers.
"I really am glad you came to see me, frankly i haven't seen anyone outside of this village besides your parents in meetings, and it's not quite the same...". He looked sad and it made Judas feel a lump in his throat, especially since they were targeting him and his family as liars and his wife as a faker. He'd seen the man suffering over her multiple times at this point, seen angel cry over her, weep and suffer over her. He really hoped that wasn't all an act, though if it wasn't, it sure made him feel worse.
"How is she?".
The boys looked between themselves, landon sipping the tea he held before looking away.
"She could be better...", Judas said, "Angel is pretty messed up over it, he doesn't like leaving her side, I imagine it's harder for you since you have to be here...". The king nodded softly, "I'm just...I'm just glad you and Princess Butterfly...are looking out for him, It means the world to me...and I know it means the world to her as well...he's never truly had friends before or anyone to look out for him, and...i'm glad he has that now...no matter what happens..".
"Have you seen him since?", Katrina spoke up, crossing her arms, "Has he ever come back to visit?".
"No no...sadly no, I get the feeling he's not in the best of moods with me these days...I wish he would though, we should talk more...especially now. His room is also a complete mess all over, but mainly because we really need to talk...". Katrina glanced to Judas, before back to the king, "Your highness, the lucitor princes promise you you'll get a chance to work things out with him later on down the line, Judas especially seems to have grown close to him.".
Amir quickly focused all his attention to Judas.
"Oh? How close?".
Judas suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed as even his brothers drew their full attention towards him as the grown frog woman took the opportunity to slip away.
She totally did this to mess with him didn't she?
"Uhhh...Well, i mean, we're not THAT close, but we do talk more often.".
She better come back quickly, if only for the boy to give her a look of annoyance for her putting him in such a position. His brothers staring at him was not helping as he tried to break his silence and continue the distraction for the frog spy, "Listen Angel is a troubled but nice boy, he's usually rather respectful to me and my condition and shows actual concern for it and well, he does care enough about my opinion to do what it takes to stay on my good side...".
"Angel has always been fond of you", Amir said to himself, "Ah, he used get into fights with others over your condition, arana said it was because he didn't like seeing others hurt you for something out of your control...and angel was so shy when he was little so seeing him get into fights was surprising for us. He'd go on and on about the butterfly family being able to do more to help then what they were providing because of their involvement but your situation was not nearly as simple or easy to fix for him...".
Judas felt a sudden feeling of fondness for angel, tapping at his teacup as both his brothers looked at him intently.
"We've not always been on the best foot, he and sky were on bad terms and i'm kinda her best friend and i look out for her, not to mention i don't entirely think all his actions were acceptable. But I still think he's a good person with good intentions in the end...". His voice softened at the end, thinking exactly about what they were doing. It was actually hard to talk about angel properly under these circumstances without feeling a little strange.
He had no idea angel got into fights over him, that was very much news to him, but was also something angel had no reason to ever bring up. Angel rarely talked to him in the past, but then again, no one talked to him much besides sky back then. He pushed it to the back of his mind, he had to ask Angel about it later, under better circumstances. Angel? Getting into fights with other kids or...adults? He knew angel cared about his condition but not that much.
"I...haven't been the best dad...I know it, I know your family thinks it as well...", the king set back, putting down his cup as judas put his down as well, knowing well enough he had said that to sky many times. " I'm sorry for his behavior, and for well...perhaps not trying hard enough to keep him in check...you boys are such gentlemen and I should've done better to keep angel from getting into so much trouble...". He palmed his face, "He's going to need me if the worst happens and I know i can't just put all that responsibility on you or princess butterfly...".
"King Arachford?"
"Hmm?".
"We're not perfect gentlemen, and our parents aren't perfect either...", Judas glanced to his brothers, "You don't have to hold us all to such a high pedestal, angel's not us...he's never going to be like us, you need to cater to his needs and support him the best you can. Even I've screwed up...with my family before...". Landon turned his head away from judas as he kept speaking, "Angel's not a bad kid he just needs help, he needs guidance...he needs his family...".
"I want him to be a good king someday...I hope he does...".
"I think he will...".
The king smiled, "I'm glad to have you as his friend Prince Lucitor, thank you for coming over to see me and speak to me about this, i've been wanting to properly have this talk with someone...for a long time it feels like.". He took a deep breath, "I hope once this masked person matter is solved you'll drop by more often, and your parents for that matter as well, i'd like to speak to them more often outside of meetings instead of only talking about the worst happening.".
"We'll see..".
Judas wasn't sure what to do next to keep this conversation going but lucky for him mason was always eager to talk about something, "Oh! You and the spiderbites should get together at some point! With Nora trying to help cure the queen and everything going on, you guys should totally hang out and work things between you!". The king's four eyes almost seemed like they would pop from his head, "Wait...princess spiderbite, is trying to cure Arana?".
Judas stiffened, and Landon quickly put a hand over mason's mouth, he really should've briefed mason better on some things and what not to say around certain people.
But now that it was out, there wasn't much they could do but role with it Judas, quickly jumping in to save the situation, "Well yes, she and angel talked while they were there and she...wants to actually help the situation, I mean she's still learning and she's not an expert but yes...she wants to help.". This seemed to actually delight the king, a smile across his face,"A spiderbite? Wanting to help us?! That's...I never thought i'd live to see the day that would happen!".
And then mason removed Landon's hand with ease to throw in another tidbit.
"I wanna help too, maybe some of my plants might be able to help contribute to a cure! Maybe...".
The king stood up, pacing with delight on his normal legs as his spider ones reacted with delight, "Angel, he actually managed to connect with a spiderbite! He used to never be able to stay in a room with Princess Spiderbite and now she and him are working together...that's...amazing, thank you for telling me boys. I must...Yes i must contact the spiderbites immediately! This is more then fantastic, they could turn the chances for the better with this in mind!".
"King Arachford?".
"Boys, I'm sorry but our meeting has to be cut short, though I appreciate the visit entirely,, I'll make sure you're sent home with the best of my guards and take as much snacks as you like. I must talk to the spiderbites, the sooner the better...oh...um...where's your guard?". He suddenly noticed Katrina's absence, before the frog woman appeared again, quickly behind the boys, "Deeply sorry King Arachford, I had to relieve myself, I'll take them home immediately.".
"Ah, good good, I better go, I promise to see you soon, you boys take care!", he almost instantly ran out, katrina nodding to the demons to leave, but not before mason stored a bunch of snacks in his hat and stuffed a bunch into his mouth, the group waiting till they were far outside of the village before updating each other. However, more specifically Katrina quickly updating the others, "Prince Angel's room is like dumpster, he and blue bell don't know how to organize at all...".
"What did you find?".
And that's when Katrina pulled out a book that caught Judas's attention.
"Is that his-?".
"Journal? Yes...but more specifically you might want a look at this..".
And upon the pages was a drawing of a clear Ruby Demon Amulet, the one their father had presented during the Starlight Ball, the day this all started it felt like. And suddenly things started to click and Katrina huffed, "This was what was stolen from your kingdom wasn't it? Is it powerful and dangerous?". Judas was about to speak up when landon butted in, "Wait wait wait, he has it? Then that means, he was responsible for stealing it, or at least...for playing in part on why it was stolen in the first place...".
Then Mason butted in, "Dad presented it at the ball, he made it out like it was scary and powerful!" Katrina seemed incredibly dissettled as she ushered them to move, "Come, we must keep moving, I will contact my teammate, maybe they've spotted him.". Judas coughed, "Um, guys...you're missing kinda a little sorta detail here about that Amulet...", however, he was once again cut off as Katrina pulled out a rock that seemed to secretly be a communication device and his own compact, signalling he got a text.
Maybe sky spotted something?
However, he noticed quickly sky was not the one who had messaged him, instead it was a text from Sunny.
Judas quickly opened it up to see what the girl wanted from him.
Sunny: Where are you guys? I tried looking for you all but everyone seems to have vanished
Judas quickly took it, realizing so much had happened so quickly they hadn't informed the rest of their group.
Judas: Sunny, it's an emergency, we need to find angel, now, have you seen him? We've checked everywhere we know...
Sunny: I haven't seen him but...hold on a second.
Judas paused and seconds later he was sent some pictures, recognizing them quickly as some of galexia's sketches. He left Sunny in charge of just keep an eye on galexia's drawings, just in case any were particularly...unnerving, especially considering the situation. Seems sunny had picked out a whole bunch that seemed to be of angel and before Judas could ask why she had those she had already got back to him quickly after.
Sunny: When we started looking into him again i grabbed a bunch of galexia's angel doodles to see if maybe any came true? Maybe some of these can help you find his location i'm with galexia now.
Judas owed her after this, scrolling through the images he had received, some were harder to tell what was happening and it even looked like some may of already happened, there were drawings of him, sky, and nora with the boy and many others. Though there wasn't much to go off of until he stumbled upon something at least a little more interesting, Angel appeared to be sitting outside of the woods in a meadow somewhere, and there was something around his neck.
This seemed to catch Landon's eyes as he stepped in and pointed at that picture before Judas could check the next, "Hey, wait, that's where fae took us...where we found the secret entrance and all that? What the heck is that all about?". Judas quickly put his compact away, "Well then let's head there, we can't guarantee anything and we could totally be wrong but Landon, show us where it was. We should get there as soon as we possibly can if it might hold any merit...i'll contact sky in the meantime."
"Wait...what?".
"You heard me, let's get to that field...".
Katrina finished her call to see the boys vanishing in a puff of fire, too occupied with making it there to remember Katrina was with them as she quickly got back on the compact, "Change of plans, I need to find the lucitor princes, you keep me updated.".
Sky's next tactic would've been to find a way to sneak out, perhaps using that time spell again? She was already trying to figure out a plan to go right past the guards as she snagged her usual pair of scissors from her room, having hid them from her mother's view so they weren't confiscated. She had already texted judas the news, but assumed maybe at this point he was too occupied to answer. Maybe if she was quick enough she could catch up with the boys and-
Her compact finally buzzed, and she took it out quickly.
Judas texted back.
Judas: Sky, We found Angel, we need you to come find us soon, we're in the woods sky...the forest of uncertain death, in a field, he's here...we think he's waiting for someone...we need you or any help you can find, we can end this.
Sky stared at the text and looked to the door, if they could confront this it did mean she was probably better off having her mother with her to handle the situation, but that also meant her mom would once again...save the day and mean sky wouldn't have a chance to catch the crook herself. She didn't have time to think about it either, judas was waiting for her and no wonder why because the more the merrier, not to mention she should be there to confront angel in general.
Though that thought certainly left her feeling empty as she pushed it aside to the back of her mind.
"Sky?", the princess turned around to see Nora standing there, a worried expression on her face as she approached, "Sky...maybe we should get your moms to...do something, this might be...too dangerous...even for us...what if...you or Judas...get hurt out there? We don't fully know what we're up against...is catching her worth...getting hurt?". Sky was silent, fixing her hat and sighing, "Nora, you know how your parents treated you...you love them and they love you but they also prevented you from having any real friends for years or even allowing you to do anything because they were afraid...we're not weak nora, we...we can't be babied forever...we need to stand up for ourselves and take action. There's no time to go and spill everything to our parents and we might not get another chance like this...".
"Sky...".
"Nora...I understand ok? This is like REALLY scary and you don't have to come with me, judas would be pissed with me if I made you come...but this is a big deal for us and we gotta do it, your not gonna be able to talk me and judas out of it, we're already too deep and we're too close to miss this chance. We're never going to get a chance like this and ugh...I can't skip out on it, you can keep track of the truth potion if you want but I'm going to catch up with the boys...".
"Sky...I...I want to be brave like you and judas...I want to but...I'm not sure I'm ready for this...I'm just...I'm not good at magic and magic sometimes scares me...and...I'm not as good as you two in fights...and maybe i should stay back but I...I really do want to...if you're going...I want to go...", she stayed in place and tried her best to make eye contact with the other princess, "I'm sorry Sky, I want to help and make sure you two don't get hurt but i'm not...i'm not...badass...like you".
Now that was a word that wasn't normal to hear coming from nora of all people, and sky felt her shoulders sink as she approached the girl more softly, taking deep breaths and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Nora, you're badass, more badass then your parents think you are...you helped us fend off that magical rampage, you put everything at risk to help Judas, you lied in order to stay here with us...maybe it is a little stupid to go up against someone with magical powers without knowing everything...but if our parents find out about this, they'll make us sit at home and we'll probably never see each other again, don't you at least want to show your parents you're not a baby anymore?".
"Well...yes...".
"Then come with me, you don't have to stay behind if you really don't want to, this person hurt your parents, help us bring them to an end...", she held out her hand for Nora to take it and Nora stood there for a moment, thinking, before gripping sky's hand and shaking it. "Ok, I'll do my best, Where are you trying to go?". And Sky quickly shoved the phone to her, "He's at a field in the middle of the Forest of Certain Death, lots of clovers, also big ole stones...that's pretty much all I know at this point...".
"I might know where that is...", Nora mumbled, "I mean, I don't know exactly where...but...my parents have taken me gathering before to find new materials, and I think they've collected clovers and dust from something like that before, maybe if i'm close by i might remember where we were...", it was worth a shot if any. Nora wasn't much for going out but her family was well known to poke around the forest for shrooms and whatever else they could get their hands on.
They'd have to risk it if they wanted to get there fast.
Sky handed nora her scissors, "I trust you...".
Nora took them and sighed, "Are you sure we'll all be enough for them?". Sky rapidly texted on her compact, sending a message to the group chat, "All of us? It's worth a shot, for now we just gotta find them and figure out the plan from there...". Nora clutched the scissors tightly before cutting a new portal and poking her head through just to make sure she opened it to the right location before motioning sky to come with her, "Promise we'll all make it out ok...?".
"Yeah...I'll make sure we do."
Judas and his brothers just crouched behind the bush they were behind, watching the prince wait there. Angel looked more sickly then he had been, clutching the Ruby Amulet to his chest and waiting, the breeze making his light pink hair flow with it and loosen his usual ponytail. Angel had a keen sense of smell, which was probably why they were hiding behind a rose bush in particular, something to at least try and disguise their scent from catching the monster's drift.
Though it's also possible he was so worried about whatever was happening he wasn't paying too much attention to the scents around him either. Judas wasn't sure what to make of this, was angel working for them, did he take the amulet to fight her off and her had been totally involved in that crime? What was really going on that angel couldn't just tell anyone about it? If one of them had known maybe they could've done something sooner and prevented this.
But now, Judas was just waiting for the worst.
They didn't know really what to do for the time being, would it be smarter to jump her if she showed up? Would they be fighting angel as well? He was almost worried if he did attack that his arm would do...whatever it did last time that spooked him so much, he didn't even know how he...or...it did that. But the thought of teeth sinking into angel in this matter was really not a reassuring image at all, maybe it's possible sky could bubble her like she did with the girls?
The silence of judas being lost in his thoughts and formulating a plan didn't seem to be doing much for his younger brothers though, Mason was trying to be as tiny as possible despite his large wings and landon looked like he might puke being in this situation. Others times they had been entirely off guard with this masked person, but here they were approaching them head on, it was like walking into a den of warnicorns knowing full well they fed on the blood of their enemies.
"Judas...something's really not right here...what if this is a trap?", Judas looked over to Landon as he looked back to angel, "If it is, why hasn't angel sold us out or anything? They're not that stupid, if they were expecting us they'd have found us by now...". Then they heard a rustling behind them, almost instinctively making Judas summon a fireball before realizing who the noisemakers really were, Judas sighing with relief at seeing his best friend and Nora show up instead, silent as ever.
The quickly found their place next to them as Judas whispered under his breath.
"I'm glad you found your way...".
"Nora's awesome...".
Nora quickly turned her head to hide her red face, sky and Judas focusing on the boy in front of them, Judas reaching out to pick a leaf out of sky's hair as sky took a closer look at the monster boy in the field, "Hold oh...is he...? Is that your family's amulet?". Judas noted her tone was getting more angry by the minute as she glared at angel, "I can't believe it, after everything, he stole something from your family and probably ours as well and- UGH...he didn't tell us anything.".
"Sky...".
"No Judas, He went out and told me he regretted his actions, he promised we'd do better then we did before. And you're telling me he still had that? Was he just playing me as a fool with his new expert lying skills? I started to actually kinda trust him and now it seems all he cared about was getting back at us like he did before, I knew it was too good to be true that he was just...mind controlled or had no idea what was going on...ugh...when i get my hands on him...".
"Sky wait, look, I know i told you I couldn't say it before...but...there's something I kinda gotta tell you about that amulet-", however, sky seemed too mad to want to hear it, placing her hand over his mouth, "You can tell me after I give that prince a piece of my mind for messing with my emotions and using me like that. Judas didn't even have time to try again as everyone's head was directed to the prince as he stood up. The cloaked being with a doll mask from that night coming out of the tunnel Landon had found, right in front of him.
They dusted off their dress and glared down at the prince in front of them, this was their chance, if she/he/they spoke, they'd for certain know who was under there. However, much to everyone's disappointment, the voice that came out of that figure was not normal at all. It sounded warped, almost inhumane, which either meant whoever was behind the mask was far from normal or had taken into account that their voice was a giveaway and promptly changed how it sounded to disguise it.
And both were plausible solutions.
"Why did you summon me here...?", Their voice sent chills down everyone's spines, even mason was dead silent and almost wanted to hide in his wings. This was time time to jump out and beat them with numbers alone, but no one moved, no one budged, almost transfixed on the situation. Angel seemed just as terrified up there in fact, having a hard time even looking the being straight in the face, his ears were pointing downwards, and he huffed before speaking.
"I'm done..."., he finally managed.
"You're done?".
"I want out...of the deal...", he mumbled again, clutching the amulet, "I-I...I can't do this anymore..." . He seemed more timid then he normally was, before mustering all his energy and shouting, "Listen just...wipe my mind of this if you have to...but I don't...I don't want any part of this anymore...it's...I'm not going to be your scrapegoat. I'll...I'll deal with my people and mom myself...", there was a pause and for a second he seemed almost relieved before the being grabbed his collar and pulled him up by it, his legs gangling in the air.
"You're sacrificing the life of your mother and for your people flourishing for what? You can't just drop out of this, from the moment you called me and agreed to this you committed to following my orders and plans when you were needed...you cannot just drop out of our deal before we're even done. You delayed and delayed and delayed your side for so long, excuses and excuses about how you were "Taking care of it" and "It was harder then you thought" I supposed those were all lies now weren't they?".
"Well, you did teach me how to do it better..so...".
"This is not a joke...making a deal with me is not funny, you're lucky I approached you with this offer in the first place. I could've approached a multitude of people for help, and you were the one I went for...I didn't have you do all this and get involved in my plans only for you to walk out on me! ", he clutched the fabric a little tighter, "Do you realize what I could do to you for doing this? What I could do to the rest of them for you doing this?".
They dropped him to the ground before grabbing onto the amulet around his neck, pulling them close, "You're too attached...you said you were willing to do everything to help your people and now you just plan to walk away from that? You'll let your people suffer again just to please a bunch of teenagers? Some prince you are...you're pathetic, just as pathetic as I found you.". Angel seemed utterly terrified, and sky clutched her wand tighter next to judas, they had to do something quick, there was no way angel was going to be allowed to just walk away after this.
"Sorry, but I can't just wipe your mind and wave you off, everyone will instantly notice something is wrong with you and the sooner they do the worse off I am, If you're not going to help me of your own accord anymore, I'll just have to make you...". Her hand suddenly glowed bright green, a flame lit in it, "You should've known better then to think you could walk out of something like this, why would you ever think i'd just let you go?". Sky was about to run in there when much to her surprise, angel hissed, his eyes suddenly turning full red.
"I never did", his pincers grew free and his fangs aimed for the figure's arm, full on attempting to paralyze Her but missing only slightly. However, it seemed to catch Her off guard as the being let go to get out of the fangs way, angel's hair feel free and blowed around as he seemed more beast-like, like what sky remembered from their combat lesson. Had Angel been practicing that behind the scenes, or was he that terrified it just...happened? He jumped onto her and attempted another bite only for her to blast him with another spell to the eyes, blinding him.
He fell down, only being able to use his scent to sense where the being was but being too late to react as another spell hit him in the back.
"You're pathetic...", her arm was raised, green light glowing from the palm to make another strike, when out of nowhere a green blast hit the being in the back of the head, sending them to the ground. They quickly made sure their disguise was put together and turned around to see Sky there, looking more angry then anyone had ever seen her, whether she had intended to actually attack the being or the magic had been emotionally charged was hard to tell, but as the others revealed themselves from the forest, the being knew they were outnumbered.
They raised their hand, almost about to attack, only to find someone behind them as well, seems Luna, Celeste, galexia and sunny had finally made it, all armed and ready with their wands. The being stood up, glaring at them as Luna hissed, "You're surrounded, you're better off surrendering right now then risking taking all of us...we know you have something to do with why we're even here and you're going to tell us everything. The being said nothing, looking for an escape route before someone else could be heard coming.
And sure enough, it was Eclipsa, however she wasn't alone, the queens, globgor, and Katrina were right behind her.
Which meant the queens could see the other girls, with their wands.
Eclipsa sold them out by sending her mothers here to help the fight.
"Eclipsa, you...", sky turned her head to face her, "You promised to not tell them!". Eclipsa gave a weak smile as star and Janna looked perplexed at the scene they were witnessing, looks like the cat was officially out of the bag now. Did it matter now that they had their culprit? However, the victory didn't seem to last long as the being whispered among themselves, everyone turning to look at them and wonder what they were doing. Before suddenly star grabbed onto her daughter and pulled her back, everyone jumping out of the way of a sudden bright light coming from the being.
A loud noise could be heard and then there was a long silence.
"Sky?", sky could barely open her eyes, but she knew that voice anywhere, she felt weak and sore, but eventually she was able to open her eyes enough to spot Judas's kind face above her, smiling sadly but more then happy to see his best friend finally awake. Sky was finally able to make out where they were, the hospital wing, and she wasn't the only one there either, on the bed next to her she could spot Angel, bruised and bandaged up, and could even spot the rest of the girls as well.
Though all of them seemed relatively unharmed, more of less just resting with Landon and mason.
This wasn't a good sign, they passed out, she barely remembered what happened overall, she just knew she heard Her whisper and there was a flash and her mom pulled he away and-
Her Mom? Where was she?
Though as she looked around, panicking, Judas was already on top on the matter to reassure her.
"Your moms went after her, she used the whispering spell sky...she went into the magic dimension...", he sighed softly, "I...I don't know what's going to happen now that she knows, Eclipsa said she had no choice, she wanted to keep you safe...". Sky seemed almost on the brink of crying as Judas carefully took her hand, "Everyone's ok, just bumped up, angel's in the worst but you know why...he'll be ok though, I got him out of the blast radius just in time...".
Shy nodded, "Thank you Judas...I'm glad you weren't well...I'm just glad you both made it out ok...", he ran a hand through his dark locks, "Well, there was no way I was gonna let Her take him to the magic dimension, especially not after what we saw...after that mess, we need to keep him closer to the chest then we did before. ", he turned to look at King Arachford, talking to the Spiderbites, most likely about their children being out and about and put in mortal danger.
"Judas...wait...your amul-".
"The amulet's a fake sky...".
She sat up in her seat, "What?".
"My dad's kinda been bringing fake magical objects to all our social gatherings, the amulet? It's a fake, just like every other artifact we've brought for years, my dad brings them to mess with and trick intruders into stealing treasures that do nothing, it keeps the thief's mind away from looking for real treasures. I couldn't tell you about it because my dad swore me to secrecy that i didn't say unless it was a serious emergency, and when i found out it was stolen I just laughed it off because It didn't matter...but it worried you...and you got hurt...I'm sorry I didn't say anything before...I should've told you about it", he almost looked like crying but sky let out a sigh of relief, "It's ok...honestly the fact angel didn't have a super weapon on him makes me feel WAY better...despite everything...".
"Heh...sorry...my dad found bringing in this stuff almost amusing in a way, though I think regardless if it were fake...them breaking in...it's still terrifying...not that this will fix any of their fears in the slightest", he batted at his eyes, "They haven't arrived yet but I know they will soon, and we'll have to explain everything to them most likely...I just don't know how they'll take it, I was hoping it'd never come to this but...we don't have much of a choice in the matter...".
"What's going to happen to us now...will...will our parents separate all of us...?"., she almost seemed on the brink of crying, judas quickly reaching out to give the gentlest hug someone as strong as him could muster, "Not if I can help it...we're sticking together...got it? I'm not going to let anyone tear us all apart, not when we need each other the most right now...", sky clung to him, crying into his shoulder. "It's my fault...I-I never should've...".
"If we hadn't done something, angel'd be in worse shape...", he sighed, " When he eventually comes to and feels a whole lot better we can talk to him...ok?". She nodded before lying back down on the bed, wiping at her face, "Judas...I'm tired...so tired...".
He looked over at the room, all worn out, sad and worried for their future as he leaned down an placed a kiss on his friend's forehead.
"Get some rest ok? I'll be right here...let's take a break...".
Sky nodded as she took the boy's hand and grasped it, before falling in a deep rest. Judas clutched it gently and sighed sadly, looking around the room they were in that looked worse then the last time they'd all been here together, they should've known better then to ever think this ruse would work forever, their parents weren't stupid, he just wished it had been under better conditions. Because there was no telling at this point what could happen to everyone involved in this group, though in the moment, this was nice and peaceful before the storm.
Tomorrow was bound to be a complete mess from head to toe, but for now, she needed this nap more then anything.
Tomorrow would be a new adventure.
