Author's Note: As of June 27th, 2016, the entire fanfic has been rewritten. That means this chapter, all that came before it, and all that follow it now contain different content that they did previously. You are strongly encouraged to go back and reread the entire fanfic from the beginning, as the revised continuity may confuse you if you jump in part of the way through.
Fone was quite surprised at how little the outside of the city had recovered in the last five years. Almost the entire village outside of the walls was still destroyed, with only a few burnt out husks of some of the houses still standing. Fone parked his car inside one of the destroyed houses near the outskirts of the village, and walked the rest of the way to the city.
"Hey guard, you gonna let me in or what?" Fone Bone said as he approached the gate. The guard on the other side wore the robes of one of the Venu, but had his hood pulled back to show his face. He was a bit on the younger side, about eighteen or nineteen, and had short, light brown hair that reminded Fone of Johnathan Oaks.
"Scram!" The guard shouted through the bars of the gate. "You don't think that just anyone can waltz up here and…" As Fone neared the gate, the guard recognized his face. "Oh my. You're him aren't you? The one on the shrine?" The guard asked. He was very taken aback.
"Yup, that's me. Fone Bone. In the flesh." Fone said with a hint of pride. "You gonna let me in now, or do I have to explain why I'm here?"
"No sir. Sorry sir my mistake." The guard raised the gate, and Fone Bone started to walk off. "Wait." The guard spoke tentatively. Fone stopped "I'm sorry. It's just that… I didn't expect you to ever return. I mean… I was 13 when you helped Queen Thorn kill the Locust. You freed me from a ghost circle, but I never thought I'd ever get the chance to thank you."
"No thanks are necessary. I just need to see the Queen. I have a message for her. It's very urgent and I need to speak with her immediately."
"Of course sir. She's in the palace atop the hill overlooking the cliffs. You can't miss it." He pointed toward where the ruins of the old palace used to sit. Fone looked in the direction, and was surprised to see that, in the last five years, they had managed to completely rebuild the palace.
"Thank you..." Fone paused, realizing he didn't know the guard's name.
"Alex. My name's Alex, sir."
"Thank you Alex. You've been very helpful." As Fone started to walk off, he heard a new voice behind him.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Another Venu guard showed up, this one wearing his hood properly. "How many times do I have to tell you to always keep your hood on?" He turned and looked at the gate. "And close the gate before someone gets in!"
"It's alright officer." Fone admonished the guard as he placed himself in between Alex and the new arrival. "He just opened the gate to let me in. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with the Queen."
"What gives you the authority to…?" The guard turned around to face Fone. "Bloody Stars! Fone Bone!" The guard threw his own hood off of his face. Underneath was Taneal's older brother who helped Fone and company into the city years ago.
"Taneal's brother! How's it been? You're a guard now?"
"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his head. "It occurs to me that I never told you my name. It's William."
"Well nice to meet you formally William. I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got to be heading on up to the palace to talk to the Queen. Try to be less hard on Alex here."
"Sure, whatever you say Fone Bone. It's just good to have you back with us. After your talk with the Queen, we should meet up in the market or something. This city has changed a great deal in the last five years, and you might need some help adjusting."
"I'll see what I can do. I might be in the palace awhile. Some stuff's going down, and I don't know when I'll be able to meet up. I'll tell you when I do." Fone made a strange gesture with his hand that was half wave and half salute before heading up the hill toward the palace. As he passed, people on the streets began to recognize him, and whispers spread like wildfire.
After a long, winding climb he reached the palace gates. In front of the gates was a large square, with a sizeable fountain in the middle and several carvings lining the sides. One of them was the carving Taneal had made in honor of Fone, which he stopped to admire for a few moments. After he paused to steel himself, he walked apprehensively through the gates and toward the palace itself.
"Gran'ma I'm twenty five, and more importantly I'm the Queen!" Thorn shouted as she paced back and forth in front of her throne. "I can make decisions for myself, and I have decided that I'm not going to be thinking about marriage at all until we get the rest of the kingdom restored. We still have to rebuild the village outside the walls or the bridge to Pawa. And furthermore I won't consider any sort of relationship with either of the Pawan Princes of them until they can prove that the actions of their predecessors do not reflect the current Pawan establishment's attitude towards the kingdom. That's my final word." She stopped and turned to face her advisors, the occupants of the room.
"Please Thorn, you have to reconsider. A strategic marriage at this stage could push public favor over the top enough to re-establish trade with the Pawans. Think about what that could do for the kingdom." Responded Gran'ma Ben. For the last five years she had been serving as the head of the Council of Nobles, and in charge of much of the day to day administration of the city itself.
"I agree with Thorn. The benefits to the kingdom are fleeting compared to the belligerence of the Pawans Ever since the war they have harbored deeply rooted ill will toward us. Letting one of them into the palace is asking for her to be killed." Retorted High Priestess Taneal. After the war ended, Taneal founded the Church of the Dragon, and was put in charge of restoring dragon worship throughout the kingdom.
"Of course you would side with the Queen. You don't want to see an heir produced because you feel it would violate her sanctity as a Dragon Saint." Jeered a small, portly man with a thin mustache. "The fact is that trade is drying up without access to the Pawan networks, and if we want to remain rulers of this valley, we have to make some compromises, not to mention we have to secure a viable heir as soon as possible."
"Know your place, Johansson!" Taneal spat back. "Your time as leader of the Merchant Houses under Tarsil's rule has warped your sense of perspective."
"Says the little girl, masquerading as someone important." Johansson scoffed.
"Enough!" A loud, deep voice boomed throughout the room. It belonged to Mermie, enhanced by her dreaming abilities. "I will not have this court turned into a circus over petty squabbling!" Everyone in the room looked at her, startled. After she calmed down and returned her voice to normal, she began speaking again.
"I also agree with Rose. We cannot afford any bad relations at this juncture." She turned to Thorn. "Your Majesty I implore you to consider at least an audience with the Princes. We need to re-cement our ties with Pawa. Any act of forgiveness will go a long way to restoring good faith in their people." Mermie was currently head of the Council of Dreams, and the last of the old dreaming masters still active. The rest had retired and lived quiet lives, keeping to themselves.
The last of Thorn's advisors, Sybron Brook, commander of the Venu forces, kept his opinion to himself. He had moved from his post at Old Man's Cave to the palace to ensure the Queen's safety, not to involve himself in court politics.
"Sir." One of his men quietly got his attention. "We have a… situation in the palace courtyard."
"Very well." He whispered back. "I'll handle it." He and the soldier left the room through the large set of wooden double doors that served as the entrance.
"That's enough, all of you." Thorn waved her hand and quieted the pleas of her advisors. "I will… consider Mermie's words. We do need to rebuild relations with the Pawans, but I will not go so far as marrying one of them. I-"
"Your Majesty." Sybron interjected as he poked his head back through the doors and into the throne room. "I hate to intrude on your conversation, but there is a creature here who claims to know you, and says that he needs to speak with you immediately."
"Claims my ass." Fone Bone shouted over the commander's shoulder. "Have you ever seen the carving in Queen's Square? Then you should know who I am. I'm Fone Bone, now let me in."
"I told you to back away from the-" Sybron turned back to hell at Fone some more.
"Commander, that's quite enough. Let him in." Said Queen Thorn as she stood up, a wild look of disbelief plastered on her face. "In fact, the meeting is adjourned. Gran'ma, clear my schedule for the rest for the day. Some business has just come up." The council of advisors left the room without another word. Reluctantly, Sybron swung the door open and made himself scares as well, revealing Fone Bone standing in the doorframe with a stupidly wild grin on his face. He stepped in and the door closed. Realizing he was smiling too much, he coughed and looked at the ground. Thorn stared at him for a moment trying to decide whether or not she was dreaming. He looked back up after composing himself, but before he could speak, Thorn jumped off of the throne and ran to meet him. When she arrived, she bent down on one knee and gave him the biggest hug of his life.
"I missed you a lot, you know." She said as she stood back up, "But why are you back? What happened?"
"Lots of stuff happened. Phoney got elected leader of the country," Thorn raised an eyebrow, "It happened, really. After we got back he had a change of heart, started helping out the poor, and before we knew it he was in the running for president. We moved to the big capital city, Argus City, and Smiley and Bartleby started helping out a local Bone Scout troop."
"A what?" Thorn asked.
"They're an organization that teaches young bones survival skills and stuff like that. Anyway I wrote a book series about our adventures in the valley, and it got really popular. I'm kind of like a local celebrity in Argus City now."
"So why did you come back?"
"Because I… felt I had to. Neither Phoney nor Smiley needed me to get them out of trouble anymore, and that had been the only thing I did since I can remember. I wrote, but eventually I didn't have anything more to write or occupy my time with. I felt like I didn't belong there anymore. I left part of me here when I went back to Boneville, and I guess I just felt called back by that piece of me I left behind."
"Truth be told I wished you came back every day since you left. It's just not the same without you around. Things have been really, really boring. I've just been doing all of this Queen stuff. Overseeing the rebuilding efforts. We only got the palace fully rebuilt last year, and most of the surrounding town is still in ruins."
The two of them walked over to one of the benches in the room. As Thorn sat down, she continued to talk, "We did have some trouble with a rouge dragon called the Nacht, but another group of Bones helped put things right in the end. From what I heard, a guy in a flying ship named Percival and two kids, Abbey and Barclay, along with a few other valley inhabitants managed to destroy him."
"Percival made it to the valley? He hadn't been back from his mission to find this place yet, so we all just assumed he died. I didn't really know him that well, but it's still good that he managed to make it here safe and sound. While we're on the subject, how was the Nacht causing you trouble, exactly?"
"Actually I was asleep for the entire thing. The Nacht put the whole valley to sleep. When their group defeated it, I woke up, but I never found them. I don't really give it much thought nowadays. If they wanted to be thanked, they would have shown themselves by now." She paused to stretch her arms. "It's been really stressful, and not having your calming presence here has been a real hassle. You always knew what was going on and how to fix things and what the best solution was and you always had that big, goofy, charming smile and… You had something that no one else had. I don't really know what it was, but it's really good to have you here again."
"Thanks. I'm glad to be back too, but, the thing is, there is one other reason I came back." Fone Bone's tone took a sharp turn toward the serious. "I have been having these dreams. The valley on fire, people dying left and right, the Crown of Horns breaking and the whole Valley being extinguished. Before I came here the first time, I didn't think anything of my dreams. But now, with all that we experienced, I think the dreaming might be trying to tell me something. So I came back to make sure everything was alright. But it looks like nothing's wrong, other than some internal discord, so it may have just been some stupid dreams. I don't know. Just be careful. I told the Great Red Dragon to alert the council of dragons as well, so hopefully if something bad does happen we can count on them."
"I can have Taneal talk to them. I named her High Priestess, in charge of all things dragon related. Interestingly enough, she also made us Dragon Saints, though I really have no idea what that actually means. If anything does happen, I'm sure we can deal with it. And if not, at least you came back. That's something good that came out of this whole situation at least. Come on, enough of this depressing talk, I'll take you for a tour of the palace, we can catch up more as we go."
"Ok." They got up and walked through the door on the right. As they began walking, Fone Bone felt and impressive sense of calm roll over him. He was back. No matter what happened, he was back in the Valley. With Thorn. And she called his smile charming. Instantly a warm feeling flooded his cheeks, and he pretended to be very interested in something which put his face out of her line of sight. Things were finally starting to feel normal again. He had finally gained back that fart of him he left in this valley all those years ago.
From the opposite end of the throne room, tiny, metallic eyes watched his every move.
"Yup. Consider this my resignation." Archibald lined up his sights on Phoney's forehead, and pulled the trigger before the president could react. A single shot rang out throughout the mansion. Blood dripped to the floor. Phoney shuddered. His eyes flickered open, and he thought he was dead. Strange, he had felt no pain. And then he realized the blood on the ground wasn't his. He looked up and saw the painful grimace Smiley's face as he leaned over Phoney, directly in front of the path of the bullet. He had shielded Phoney from the shot.
"Hey cuz, did you forget everythin I taught ya? First rule of fighting: you gotta get yourself a shield." Smiley coughed up blood and collapsed on the floor. Rage ran across Archibald's face as he lined up another shot. Before he could react, Bartleby bounded in from the hallway and bit off the hand holding the gun.
"Shit!" He swore clutching his stump of a wrist. He pulled another gun and fired a few poorly aimed shots at the rat creature. They all missed, but it gave him enough time to escape down the hallway. Bartleby didn't follow him, but instead ran up to where Phoney was holding Smiley.
"Don't leave! Come on you have to make it! Stay with me! Someone get help! Help!" Phoney was screaming.
"It's ok cuz." Said Smiley faintly, "Don't waste your breath. I'm done for. There's no helpin me. We were in the other room when we heard the shots. Came as quick as we could. Made it just in time too. Any later and you might be dead. Can't have my cousin dyin on me." Smiley coughed up more blood. Bartleby started to whine and nudged his head under Smiley's hand. "Hey bud. You take care of Phoney now, ok? Make sure he doesn't get himself into any more trouble."
"Of course Smiley." Bartleby started to cry. Smiley weakly pulled his head into his chest and stroked it softly. He turned back to Phoney.
"You make them pay. For what they did to me, to our friends, to the city, and to the nation. You make them pay, you hear?"
"No, Smiley man don't go. You gotta stay. You're the only family I got left. I need you man. We need you, don't walk out on us like this. Come on! Don't die on me now, not after everything we lived through!" Smiley started heaving. He didn't have tears left to cry, those had dried up years ago when he saw his parents killed in an explosion, when he learned of the harshness of the world. But here, alone and vulnerable, he grieved for his cousin all the same.
"Its ok cuz. You don't need me anymore. I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful to everybody. I got in the way most of the time. I was a klutz. I didn't understand anything. I messed stuff up. But at least I can die having done something worth dying for."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry. For everything I ever did to you. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry!" He started crying then. No more act. No more tough front. All of that washed away in the river of tears streaming from his face. Eventually the secret service found him there, clutching his dead cousin.
"Sir, we need to get you out of here." No response.
"Sir." Nothing
"Sir. We need to leave. They are storming the city. We only have minutes to get you to a helicopter to safety." Eventually the words of the officer got through to him. He laid Smiley's body across Bartleby's back, and together the two of them followed the officers onto the roof, where a helicopter was waiting. They boarded it, and took off into the sky towards the south. He looked out upon the burning city one last time. His Vice President was on a video screen in front of him.
"It's bad Mr. President. We lost the whole city, and most of the north and east as well. We might just lose this war too." The president considered these words for a moment, and then responded.
"We lost a lot more than a war today Zachary. I lost a lot more." Phoney thought he had nothing left to lose as they flew away from that carnage.
He was wrong.