Chapter 16

Xenia's Palace

29 Ananeosis, 20 Zenoheld (1 Xenia)

"What do you mean by this?" Demophilus demanded.

Mira replied, "As I said, we received some intelligence from Lync Volan two days ago—Alphemera the 27th. He'd already disappeared, probably via another Death Bomb, but the data disc he left for us had information about the Alternative Weapon System. That's how we knew Zenoheld had been planning on constructing it to begin with.

"So, since Volt was banished on the 26th, and Lync disappeared the day after—though not without leaving this valuable data behind—it's fair to assume that they were both banished for standing against King Zenoheld. I shudder to think what his plans for the Alternative were if even the Vexos couldn't support him."

"Wait a second," Arthur said. "Prince Hydron didn't banish Volt because he wanted to join up with you guys?"

Ace laughed. "Kid, Spectra Phantom is Mira's brother, and he only switched sides after he got beat by Drago, one of the legendary Six Fighting Bakugan. What do you think that says about Volt?"

"Spectra is Mira's brother?" Arthur echoed, face scrunched up in confusion. "Wow. Sounds like the weirdest family reunion ever."

"We've already dealt with it," Mira said.

"And what about King Zenoheld wanting to blow up the planet?" Arthur continued. "I heard that the Astos made that up to make the Royal Family look bad."

"And who told you that?" Xenia asked.

"My mom. She said that Duke Prove had proven that the Astos created those 'transmissions' where the King threatened to blow up Vestal in order get people on their side. People don't really trust the nobles now, so it must be working."

Ace scowled. "Of course he did. Scams like that are right in line with that slime of a duke. Er, no offense meant to Your Highness."

"None taken. The Goddess knows we can't choose our family, even if we want to," Xenia replied.

"I know that Duke Prove is Shadow's father, but whatcha got against him?" Baron asked.

"Are you serious?" Ace blurted out. "Are you really serious?"

"Hey, a lot of stuff's happened since we left Vestal!" Baron said. "How am I supposed to remember what some duke may have done months ago?"

Ace took a breath, but from his demeanor, his reply would not have been in a calm tone of voice.

So Demophilus cut in. "Let me see if I cannot jog your memory, Mr. Leltoy. The Resistance's actions have had serious ramifications on the balance of power here on Vestal. During the months after King Zenoheld left the planet, controversy and dissension threatened complete anarchy. With the king and crown prince exiled, the dukes did all they could to keep the peace in their duchies, and eventually restored a semblance of order under my mother as regent."

"Now I remember," Baron said. "Duke Prove was a big player in that, wasn't he?"

"Yes, sadly," Demophilus answered.

"But then he wanted to use his newfound popularity to start a witch-hunt for us, remember?!" Ace exclaimed. "He wanted to have us arrested for treason! It's thanks to the regent that we didn't have to deal with him as well as try to find Zenoheld!"

"Oh, yeah! That snake! Even though we had also asked the people to accept the idea of Xenia ruling as regent!" Baron replied.

"For which I am eternally grateful to all three of you," Xenia said.

Baron smiled proudly. "But, Your Majesty, who are these 'Astos'?"

"After I took power as regent, the populace eventually split into several factions," Xenia explained. "I'm guessing that this happened after you left Vestal, as there's no way you could have avoided hearing of it otherwise.

"The Astos Coalition is one of the major factions on Vestal. They want to abolish the monarchy altogether and replace us with some kind of elected ruling council. They are mostly peaceful, mainly flooding the mail room with petitions for me to step down and staging protests at my every appearance.

"However, there have reportedly been attempts on my life by some of their more radical members. Of course, their leader, Thomas Rutilius, disclaims any responsibility."

Demophilus added, "A month ago, there was an attempt on my mother's life during one of her routine visits to an orphanage in Duchy Imprimis, where my march is located.

"My father noticed the gunman's approach and pushed my mother away, putting himself in front of the shot. Caligo has no jurisdiction outside of his own duchy, but he's been trying to influence the investigation. In my opinion, he wants to find some way to pin the blame on the Astos. I have my own suspicions, though."

"To continue on the topic at hand," Xenia said, "Duke Prove himself is at the head of another faction, the Choron Alliance. This faction is composed of Vestals who are still loyal to Zenoheld, and they have continually been calling for me to find and arrest the 'traitors' that led to his flight. In general, they want me to 'do my duty' and continue Zenoheld's policies: The more extreme members have been pestering me to declare war on New Vestroia, and the more moderate members—if we can call them that—'only' ask me to seek coexistence with the Bakugan. Which to them would mean continuing to colonize the planet and subjugate the Bakugan 'as is clearly our right as the superior species.'" Xenia rolled her eyes.

"As far as we know, they do not have a large following, but they're fairly influential and impossible to ignore. Duke Prove is my late brother's cousin and next in line after myself and Demophilus, which means some of the other nobles are allied with him.

"Their ultimate goal, however, is to have Zenoheld return to his 'rightful' place as king. I'm not sure what they'll do now that Zenoheld is dead, but none of the possibilities are appealing."

After a slight pause, Xenia continued, "And rounding out the major factions—though this last group isn't really an organized 'faction'—are the Loyalists. Most of the rest of Vestal belong to this group. What sets them apart is that they only distrust King Zenoheld, not the Royal Family as a whole. You could say it's mainly because of them that he didn't come back.

"I've heard talk among some Loyalist subgroups that I should have proclaimed myself Queen already; they believe keeping the title 'Regent' continues to legitimize a reign that they think ended as soon as my brother and nephew left Vestal. But if Zenoheld and Hydron are truly dead, then I am now Queen by right."

Looking at Arthur, she continued, "And Arthur, all of that means that I can find out where Volt was banished to and send someone there to bring him back. Once again, you have my word: You will get to see Volt again."

"I will? Thank you, Your Majesty!" Arthur exclaimed. He started to run towards Xenia, but caught himself two steps into his path.

Xenia, sensing Arthur's restraint, spread her arms wide and nodded her head. Arthur then ran towards Xenia and gave her a big hug, tears of joy now falling down his face.

Once Arthur finished crying, he got down from Xenia's throne.

"But … I need you to do something very important," said Xenia.

"What is it, Your Majesty?" Arthur asked.

"Keep it a secret for now that Zenoheld and Hydron are dead and that I am now to be Queen. I want it to be a surprise for when the official announcement is made."

"So I can't tell anyone?"

"No one."

"Not even my mother?"

"No, not even your mother."

Arthur was silent for a moment.

"I gave you my word that I would rescue Volt. Can't you make me a promise in return?" Xenia prompted.

"Er…sure, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, if I may—" Mira began.

"Of course," Xenia interrupted. "Arthur, please don't say anything about Spectra being Mira's brother, either. You wouldn't want to add to an already awkward situation, would you?" She turned to Mira. "That was your concern, yes, Ms. Clay?"

"Yes, it was; thank you, Your Majesty," Mira answered.

"Well, Arthur?" Xenia asked.

"I'll keep that secret, too, Your Majesty," the boy answered.

"Good," said Xenia. "Officer, please escort Mr. Leocade back home. I will take care of things from here."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Officer Pytho replied.

"And of course, the same orders apply to you, too: keep quiet about my succession," Xenia said.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the officer said. And with that, the two left the audience chamber.

"And I believe that leads us back to that original train of thought," Xenia said once the doors closed after Arthur and Officer Pytho.

"Your Majesty?" Mira questioned.

"Remember that I said that my new status as Queen was mostly good news?" Xenia asked.

"Oh, right," said Ace. "Then there was a 'however' before the porter and those other guys came in and we got off-topic."

"At this point, that 'however' should be quite clear," said Xenia. "News of King Zenoheld and Prince Hydon's deaths will definitely cause an uproar. More importantly, I will need physical proof of their deaths, since I cannot just take your word for it. Even if I could, neither Speaker Rutilius nor Duke Prove would take my word for it—Duke Prove especially."

"Finding proof won't be a problem, Your Majesty," Mira said.

"I hope not," Xenia replied. "Porter!"

The porter, who was standing by the door after Arthur and Pytho left, replied, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Have quarters prepared for the Resistance. They are to remain in the palace until further notice."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A/N: And with this chapter, this rewrite has, as promised, gone over the same material as the original and added two extra chapters (the Prologue and Chapter 11). If things turn out as I hope, I should now be coming out with a new chapter once per month—maybe even twice per month, depending on how Real Life treats me and my betas. Two new chapters have already been written, and a third is in the works, so new material should not be far in coming.

Reviews are highly appreciated, so: what do you think of the rewrite? And what do you think is coming up for Volt and for the Resistance?