The rain was cold that day. Floralians and native creatures sheltered from the droplets nearly frozen in Popstar's atmosphere. The floating islands were quiet during the drizzle. Few figures were stirring, lulled by the drumming and soothed by that fresh scent in the air. One figure, however, watched with a heavy heart from the royal palace.

Queen Sectonia's last relative passed away the day before. The kingdom was hers and hers alone. This power may have delighted others, but the young spider queen felt it like a blow, not a boost. As far as she knew, she was the last of her kind. Her people once lived in harmony with the Floralians, but they slowly began to vanish. Disappearing or dying of poor health. With the passing of her great aunt, Sectonia was now the only one left. She had no partner or children. She would have no one to take over for her when this mysterious curse of fatality finally broke down her door.

She felt the rain begin to add weight to her clothes as she stood out on the balcony. The queen looked down at the clouds below that hid the grounds of Popstar. Their worlds were so close yet so different. Sectonia recalled visiting briefly once. It had been quite disorienting. The ground went on forever, sometimes hidden by vast oceans. She had wondered if some of her people had been there, lost or hiding, but no one like her was found.

When the cold was too great, Sectonia retreated to her private chambers to get dry clothes. After dressing in a new gown, she dove back into her bed and then her conflicted thoughts. Is this all there is? Why do I feel so alone in this lively kingdom? Her questions had no answer. Not at the moment. By some stroke of pure luck, however, an answer came a week later.

An elderly Floralian with wilting lily petals came to the castle with a young man in tow. She had hoped that the queen would be willing to hire him or find a place for him, as she was now too old to keep up with him. Sectonia felt a weight lift off her shoulders when her eyes rested upon the spider next to the old woman. However, her relief quickly developed into concern. There was something strange about him. He mostly kept his gaze on the floor while clenching and un-clenching his two upper pairs of hands. The last pair hung dead at his sides. Usually guests did everything in their power to appear are polite as possible. He did not even seem to notice that she existed.

"He's a good boy," the woman had reassured. "He's so helpful and so talkative at home. He could tell you anything about magic for hours if you let him."

The queen was not getting that impression. "Is he... shy?"

"No, your Highness. He picks and chooses when he wants to talk. My Taranza is special." The woman sighed and rubbed her watering eyes. "But he's an energetic thing. My old bones can't keep up much anymore. I heard you lost some family, your Majesty, and I know this isn't much of a compensation, but he might be some decent company if you'll have him. With patience, of course. Would you be willing to take him in?"

The queen understood her reasoning but had her doubts. Nevertheless, Taranza was moved into the castle's servants' quarters. Sectonia wanted to take the woman's advice. Perhaps a new face would help her forget the ones she would never see again. Taranza was sad to see the old woman go, but it did not seem to hold him back much. She was not the first to take care of him, anyway. His first week was spent wandering the castle. He took in every detail as Sectonia explained where everything was and what would be expected of him. He nodded occasionally to indicate that he was listening, yet he would also reenter rooms and look at things already introduced to him. He liked to pick up things, trace patterns on them, put them back, and do it again.

The queen was unsure what to think as he moved from room to room. "I suppose this is standard practice for you, is it not?"

"It's important," he said, the first words she heard him say.

After the first week, he had the entire castle mapped out and memorized from top to bottom. He could navigate blind if he had to. At this point, the problems started. Taranza picked up a terrible habit of ignoring everyone, even his queen. He spoke on rare occasions, and never as politely as one should to royalty. Sectonia felt her patience start to thin with this strange man. Apparently, the feeling was mutual. Complaints began to roll in that Taranza was partial to throwing "tantrums" when he grew frustrated. If he misplaced a book, a recipe fell flat, or he was prevented from performing his repetitive behaviors, the results was the occasional meltdown consisting mostly of yelling or throwing something. Whispers floated around the castle that he needed to be kicked out or sent off to be someone else's problem. Despite her frustration, Sectonia did not want to let him go. She did not want to be the last of her kind in this kingdom. She decided to sit him down and have a firm talk with him.

Taranza was sent to the queen's private tea room. It was a small space decorated in white with a large, open balcony. A delightful breeze was blowing through the fine silk curtains. Everything that was not completely covered in white was spotted with delicate pink flowers. Sectonia sat straight in her chair as Taranza quietly served the fresh brewed tea. He then sat opposite of her, immediately dropping the gazes of his eyes down to the cup and saucer in from of him.

"Taranza," she began gently, "I understand that this has been a great deal of change for you. It must be quite hard. I know what it feels like to lose someone you care about. But-"

He looked up ever so slightly. "You do?"

"Yes, yes. I understand how you feel." It was the closest thing to a real conversation they had ever had, and she grasped the opportunity before it slipped away. "Change can be hard, but not impossible. It has been brought to my attention by your fellow employees that you are having some trouble dealing with you feelings. Is that true?"

Taranza started picking at the table cloth. "Yeah..."

"Is there any particular reason why?"

"Yeah..."

"... Would you... like to tell me?"

He lapsed into silence for a moment, appearing to be putting physical effort into formulating words. "I... I don't always understand things. Then people get mad at me, and then I get mad, too. This place... feels foreign to me. It's not home yet."

"I did not realize that you felt so out of place," Sectonia confessed. "Would you prefer to be... elsewhere?"

He frowned, looking more in the general direction of her face. "I don't know. I want a job like everyone else, but I didn't know it would be this hard..."

She took a moment to study him. Sectonia had never met anyone quite like him before. He had different needs and difficulty with communication, but he was clearly trying. She was relieved that he was not ignoring everyone on purpose, but the queen felt a twinge of guilt that her newest servant just spent almost two weeks suffering in silence.

Queen Sectonia began meeting with him regularly. She slowly learned what Taranza's problem areas were and devised a plan to work with them. He had an abundance of factual knowledge and skills in magic, but he was baffled in social matters. He could not correctly identify emotions tied to facial expressions or hand gestures. He also had trouble grasping what "personal space" was. This made conversations and interaction with others a troublesome task. So, she started teaching him in her free time. She encouraged him to ask questions about expressions he noticed on other people, and she readily answered them. Naturally, he started studying everyone in the castle and reporting back to the queen with a million questions. She even quizzed him a few times, making a face and helping him identify it. She adored his delight when he made progress. He found joy in making her smile, and strove to make sure she would continue to do so. Taranza quickly became attached to Sectonia. She may not always understand him, but she was one of few who took an interest in trying. It was a game that eventually evolved into friendship and something more.

They started spending all of their time together. Taranza was always a few steps away from the queen, asking questions or catering to her. New whispers began floating throughout all the islands. "Is it what I think it is?" Servants would ask each other when they thought no one would hear. "It's obvious," someone else would reply. "Don't you see how they look at each other?" In fact, everyone saw it. Genuine smiles, adoring glances, giggles of delight. She even knitted him a scarf with her favorite flower stitched onto it, which he began to wear at all times. What a pair: a graceful, gentle queen and her jolly, imperfect gentleman. Months passed, and their bond only grew stronger. Assumptions were made and rumors spread like wildfire. They thought there might be a wedding, there would probably be many adorable children, and the two were absolutely in love.

Then the mirror broke. The antique mirror in the queen's chambers had fallen and shattered when a maid was cleaning it. After the mess was cleaned, Taranza decided to seek a replacement, a beautiful mirror for his beautiful queen. He left, looking determined and as eager as ever.

But he never came home that evening.

Or the next day.

Or even the next week.

All the islands were searched, but he had vanished.

Months later, the search continued.

One figure, however, watched with a heavy heart from the royal palace.

-

"Where did Magolor go?" Taranza asked Marx as he looked around for their companion.

Marx halted their session of bickering and finally noticed that Magolor was not there anymore. The jester sighed, rolling back his eyes. Great. Of course. He's gonna try to play hero by himself. He blinked slowly, already feeling an air of exhaustion before the job even started.

"Alright, let's go get him before he's eaten by something." Marx started towards Vegetable Valley with Taranza close behind.

The spider wore a hurt expression. "It was something I said, wasn't it? Were we being too mean to Magolor?"

"Don't get worked up over it, T. He'll get over it."

"But what if we really hurt his feelings? I couldn't tell when we were talking to him..."

Marx rolled his eyes again. "If the truth hurt his feelings that bad, he needs to grow up."

Taranza did not seem satisfied, but he accepted the answer anyway. He was still worried about his friend. Marx and Magolor were important to him. He enjoyed their company, as few people had the patience to tolerate him. These two were different. Well, they were all different in their own way, and it strengthened their bonds even more. He liked the little team that they had formed. Marx was the brains, he had magic, and Magolor brought them together.

They entered the forest, a vast lake glittering in the background. Small enemies tried to hinder their progress, but Marx and Taranza had plenty of strength to push past them. The spider saw no evidence of Magolor anywhere, but Marx continued along the path, either uncaring or fully aware.

"He must be way ahead of us. He wouldn't leave the path, would he?"

Marx sighed through his teeth. "He better not have. You can't take shortcuts unless you really know what your doing."

Taranza looked up at the sky. "How big is this place?"

"Huge," the jester responded. "About a day to cross it depending on where you go in. There are tons of exits, too. We have to find him quick before he ends up in the desert or the tundras."

Taranza continued to follow and glance up. For a moment, he felt like he had something important to say or perhaps do, but the moment quickly passed. Other things could be dealt with later. Right then, they needed to be a team again.

They were being watched.