Chapter 19 – Then There Were Two

There were 3 things that made Lilly angry. The first being someone stealing her designs. The second was someone taking over the world and trying to kill her. And finally, someone hurting her sisters.

Now, Lilly wasn't normally an angry person. She would always let Riley be the angry one in the family. And why wouldn't she? She was always angry, and she usually said what Lilly was thinking anyway.

But on this particular morning, the second morning since Kim disappeared, Lilly was feeling that rare red hot rage bubbling inside of her. She felt it in the pit of her stomach and rising up, wanting to be released.

Lilly rolled out of bed with a determined look on her face. Sure, nobody had been able to track Kim down and bring her back, but that didn't mean they never would. Lilly knew how hard Violet and Riley were working to find their missing sister, so she had taken it upon herself to complete a different mission. Find out what made Kim leave in the first place, and fix it. Fast.

Lilly quickly changed into black leggings, a long magenta turtle-neck that reached her hips, and magenta converse, and stormed into the kitchen. On the table she saw Riley and Violet fast asleep with books, maps, and crystals lying around them. Behind them stood Lord Drake, and Joseph, Kim's bodyguard, who bowed upon her entrance.

"How long?" She asked them.

"They've been awake all night, your highness." Joseph replied and Lilly nodded.

Drake sighed. "We must inform the people."

"We can't." Lilly hissed, "If they find out Kim ran out on her own wedding everyone will side against her."

"I am aware of this." Drake replied sadly. "But the people have not heard word from their princess in two days. We do not want them to feel that their princess has abandoned them."

"Can't we make an appearance in the kingdom?" Lilly asked

Drake shook his head. "It will not qualm their worries."

Lilly scoffed.

"If I may, princess," Joseph started, "If the people do not accept Princess Kimberley, they will definitely not accept her sisters. After all, they too, are deemed half-bloods and have only just known of our realm's existence."

"Then what do you suppose we do?"

"All we can do is continue our search for the princess." Drake said, "In the meantime I will continue my rule over the kingdom and dissuade any rumours I hear."

With that said both Drake and Joseph bowed to Lilly before vanishing in bright lights.

"I'm going to get my answers one way or another." Lilly hissed before she orbed out of the apartment.

Mikey and Donnie were watching a movie when Lilly suddenly appeared in the room, startling both of them. Lilly glared at the two hard.

"I want answers." She said

They both raised an eye ridge at the comment, but said nothing. Lilly growled low.

"Tell me what Leo did."

Donnie's eyes widened in shock. He was too shocked to speak. Mikey, however, stood up and crossed his arms angrily.

"Lilly," He began, "Leo didn't do anything. He wasn't the one who left somebody at the alter."

"No, but I know my sister." Lilly argued, "And I know she wouldn't have acted on impulse."

Mikey scoffed. "Really?" He sneered, "Because I seem to remember her acting on impulse and running away before. Quite a few times actually."

"Don't you dare." Lilly hissed

Mikey continued, blatantly ignoring her. "Lets see, there was the time she confessed her feelings to Leo, the time he found out about her powers-"

"She stayed even when she was attacked!"

"The time she disappeared after stopping Shredder, the time she almost vanished to Rayon-"

"That was a well thought out plan we all made!"

"It seems to me, Lilly, that your sister's first instinct is to run. And she enacts on that instinct impulsively." Mikey finished, stressing the last word.

Donnie awkwardly stood up from the couch as the two lapped into silence.

"You know," He said with a nervous chuckle. "I really think I should go."

"Yes that would be wise." Lilly said, without looking at him.

"No Donnie. Stay!" Mikey yelled, holding out a hand towards him with without looking away from Lilly. "This won't take long."

"Mikey, all I'm asking for is some explanation so we can figure out what happened."

"Oh we know what happened. Your sister got scared and ran, like she always does. Now please go away and stop accusing my brother."

"I'm trying to get the other side to the story!" Lilly screamed, finally losing her patience.

"You came down here, unannounced, and started demanding to know what Leo did. Which, by the way, is nothing!"

"Leo made Kim cry 5 minutes before the wedding!"

"She over reacted!"

"You weren't there!" Tears rolled down Lilly's cheeks. "He made Kim doubt whether he wanted to get married. I'm sure that's why she ran."

"If he didn't want to get married, why is my brother upstairs hurt and upset that he lost his bride?"

"Because Kim's missing! Not because of this shotgun of a wedding!"

"He wanted to marry her!"

"Then why didn't he propose!"

"He did!"

"You call that a proposal?" Lilly laughed, "It sounded more like a business opportunity."

Mikey's eyes darkened. "My brother loved her and she broke his heart."

"Mikey-" Donnie started

"Shut up, Donnie!" Lilly and Mikey yelled at him, shutting him up.

"Mikey, why can't you rationalise that there are two sides to this story?" Lilly asked

"There is no other side!" Mikey cried, throwing his arms in the air. "Kim abandoned Leo. She broke his heart, it's her fault. She is to blame and she alone. End of story."

"Don't you dare blame my sister." Lilly hissed, "She's just as innocent-"

"Oh innocent you say?" Mikey laughed, "From what I remember she and Leo have been fighting because Kim has seemed to have forgotten his existence."

"That's not fair, Mikey!"

"No! What wasn't fair is Kim spending all of her time at classes or in Rayon that she blew Leo off or was late."

"In the last year Kim has found out that she's a princess and must take her place on the throne or give it to someone else! She has to train extra hard in such a short amount of time. Give her some slack."

"No." Mikey growled, "She broke my brother's heart. I will not forgive her." He stared long and hard at Lilly. "And if you are taking her side over Leo, the real victim here, then I can't forgive you either."

Lilly's eyes widened. "What does that mean?" She whispered, suddenly feeling the anger drain out of her.

Mikey's glare hardened. "It means we're through." He said, "I will not let you or your family hurt me or my brothers again."

Lilly felt like she had been slapped. She reeled back and felt new tears stinging in her eyes. "I never hurt you, Mikey." She said breathlessly.

"You lied to me." Mikey said, like it was obvious. "You lied to me when we first met. And now you're defending Kim's actions, like she didn't do anything wrong!"

"She did do wrong." Lilly argued, "She left Leo at the worst time, but Mikey don't-" She stopped, "…you told me you didn't care about who I was when you found out."

"I lied." Mikey sneered, "It hurt me that you lied to me."

If Lilly felt like she'd been slapped before, now she felt like a knife stabbed her right in the heart. The two fell into a tense silence. So tense, that they forgot Donnie was still standing there. He walked cautiously to his brother and tried to place a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged him off.

"If Donnie and Raph still want you around, I can't stop them." He said, "But don't come near me again. We're done…Lila."

Mikey turned and started walking away. He stopped at the staircase and turned around.

"Excuse me…your highness." He added mockingly, even throwing in a deep bow.

Lilly watched him as he ascended the stairs and stormed into his room, slamming the door behind him. With that slam, the dam broke and Lilly fell to her knees sobbing. Her hands threw to her mouth and she clenched her eyes shut.

She jumped when she felt herself pulled into an embrace. She looked up and saw Donnie's sympathetic gaze looking down at her. He kissed the top of her head and Lilly relaxed into the comforting hug.

"I'm sorry." Donnie whispered, conveying as much emotion into those two words as possible.

Mikey slumped against his bedroom door, trying to block out Lilly's sobbing. His fists clenched at his sides, trying to calm down the rage inside him.

'I'm not sorry.' He thought stubbornly.

He pushed himself off the door and stalked over to his desk. In his anger he swiped his arms across it, causing everything to crash to the ground. Mikey growled low as his chest constricted and he slammed his fists onto the hard surface.

He stayed that way for a few minutes, feeling waves of emotion inside him and trying to block out Lilly outside.

'I can live without her.'

Mikey sighed at that and stood tall. He reached into his belt to a secret compartment at his side. He pulled something small and square out and placed it on the now empty desk. He opened it and stared at the beautiful rose gold ring with an orange diamond it held. It was Lilly's engagement ring. Well, it would have been in a few days time if things had gone Mikey's way.

Tears sprang in Mikey's eyes. He clenched his eyes shut in pain and tried to force them back. He slammed the box shut and threw it in his bottom draw. He slammed it shut forcefully and kicked it, hoping to qualm the storm inside him.

'I can live without her.' He thought, this time with less certainty than before.

Renaldo laughed evilly and clapped his hands as he watched the scene unfold. The door opened and Charlotte walked back in with a smug smile.

"What is it you're celebrating, my lord?" She asked, walking over to stand beside him.

"The plan is working perfectly." He sneered, "With the princess' abandoning of her wedding, the rest of them are falling like dominoes. Soon they'll all be a mess, a disgrace to the kingdom. The people will soon lose trust in the remaining princesses as well."

Renaldo smirked again before looking over to Charlotte. "How did Phase 3 go?"

Charlotte smirked. "Wonderful, my lord." She reported, "I have already planted seeds of doubt into the people's minds. I started with a few servants, those that love to gossip. Soon rumours will spread throughout the kingdom and even that pesky Lord Drake can't stop them. More will side with you, my lord, and soon time will have run out for Princess Kimberley."

Renaldo smiled proudly before the two broke into maniacal evil laughter.