The Throne of Flame: Chapter Nine
Once the submarine was finally constructed and plunged into the deep blue, Skipper commanded Kowalski and Private to man the wheel. It would be a long journey, so they would have to take shifts. He and Rico would be next. In commanding his men, Julien and Maurice had snuck off to a small, secluded section of the sub. There wasn't all that much room, but he supposed the lemurs managed to find privacy, even in the smallest of spaces. Rico went off to do… Rico things. Which left Skipper to his own devices. This turn of events, of course, wasn't favorable, being that it meant he wasn't at Julien's side. Normally, this would be okay, but things hadn't been normal as of late. Anything but, if he was truthful.
Skipper didn't like it. The last time he'd left Julien alone, he'd almost been killed with rattlesnake venom (which was still only slightly better than fire ants).
It wasn't as though Julien made an effort to ditch him, either. He had glanced back to the penguin with disdain that Skipper only briefly caught before disappearing out of the main control room. And that was only the tip of the proverbial iceburg. For the entirety of the trip there, he had been very close, to say the least (Skipper shuddered - how could he forget?). Whatever he and Maurice wanted to do that required Skipper's absence was apparently important. Still, not important enough for the avian commander to miss. Not while he had anything to say on the matter.
He quickly sought out the king and his advisor - an easy task when their sub was tiny - but before he entered the room, he realized that they were in the midst of a very heated conversation. One he wasn't too keen on interrupting, not with the way that Julien was pacing about with rage burning in his eyes, teeth bared and posture livid. Maurice was clearly intimidated by the display. Yeah - entering at that time wasn't the best of ideas. Instead, Skipper chose to conceal himself just beyond the doorway, peering in.
As long as he had his eyes on Julien, nothing bad could happen to him, right? Not that anything really could, being that there was definitely no way for the assassin to have followed them onto the ship, but better safe than sorry. There was always the slim chances, and man did Skipper hate those when they went against his plans.
"I just don't understand it, Maurice! I thought you were the one I could be trusting the mostest!" Julien ground out, voice full of anguish. He didn't even look at the brown lemur.
Maurice leaned forward, hands splayed out at his sides in an attempt to appeal to his king. "I'm tellin' you, Julien! I tried, but I just… I got scared and freaked out! What was I supposed to do, huh? They would'a just killed me next if the penguins hadn't come."
"Oh, the penguins?" Julien snapped, and the way he spat out the last word made Skipper physically jump. "I did not want to be getting them involved with all this! You think that this is being a game, Maurice? Now look, they might be getting hurt!"
That was not the reasoning Skipper had expected, not by the tone of spite Julien held. He found himself offended either way - Julien doubted their abilities? What, did he think that all their covert operations were only games? Skipper had the nerve to tell him off right then and there - especially when Julien had been so quick to depend on him prior - but Maurice seemed to handle the situation.
Maurice's voice retained it's pleading yet exasperated tone. "Listen, I know about that. But it's only temporary, okay? I promise, nothin' bad's gonna happen to them. They're just here to protect you until we can get back to Madagascar, and then you can be under the protection of-"
"I am not caring!" Julien near shouted, volume only down for the sake of not alerting the rest of the crew (unknowing to the fact that the captain himself was witnessing their entire conversation). "What the point is, is that you almost let me die! Die, Maurice! As in gone forever! And you couldn't protect me, so now… Now Skipper has to be doing it! And you know why I didn't want him to be in on this."
What was that supposed to mean? Skipper's brow furrowed. Julien had seemed very certain about Skipper's involvement with the mission when in his presence. What was this about suddenly not wanting him to be Julien's protection? He didn't have much time to think on the matter further, not with how their argument was continuing.
Maurice took a step closer, and his voice cracked as though he was on the verge of tears - he may have been, but Skipper couldn't see his face from that angle. It didn't matter; the amount of woe he was experiencing was made clear by his voice. "I… I know, Julien. And I'm sorry, I really am… I just, I got so scared, and… I'm sorry…"
Julien halted in his pacing, and he turned to face the aye-aye. His expression softened significantly, and he bent down so that he was on Maurice's level. He himself looked apologetic, even though he was on the receiving end of such. And for the first time, Skipper watched Julien express sincere concern. Interesting that it was over Maurice and not himself.
Tilting his head, Julien pulled the shorter lemur into an embrace, and sighed shakily. If Skipper didn't know any better, he'd say that the king too was ready to cry. Not a sight he really wanted to see. Skipper wasn't a fan of the waterworks, but mixed with Julien's normally happy face… That would put a damper on things, even more so than before.
"I know. I know you are, and I am forgiving you. I just… I am so scared, Maurice." Julien admit, tone somber and just as broken as his advisor's. "I'm scared. I know I've been preparing for death my whole life, but I still don't feel ready."
Preparing for death? That was an awfully dark perspective. Skipper couldn't help but feel skeptical. He knew Julien for his carefree party attitude - there was no way that he had been preparing for death by shaking his booty to the beat of the top ten. Did the lemur even know what death was?
Maurice's tail sagged at this confession and he hugged the king back tightly, voice loose and sorrowful. "Julien… Don't speak like that, your majesty. I- I know I failed you before, but I promise - I won't let anyone else hurt you."
Julien's opened his eyes, and his expression turned bitter. His arms tightened, but it was not out of intimacy - it was frustration. "It doesn't matter, Maurice. There is nothing we can be doing to prevent it. You are remembering the prophecy, am I correct?"
Skipper watched as Maurice visibly stiffened at the mention of this prophecy. The penguin couldn't help but wonder what it was, tilting his head to the side. The way Julien used the word was with such disgust, and given the context, it was obviously not a positive fortune. Though Skipper wasn't superstitious, it would be useful to know exactly what the specifics were. The lemurs took their beliefs of the higher powers very seriously, and he was sure that the amount of significance they felt translated at least partially into reality.
"Prophecies can be wrong, your majesty." Maurice pulled back to look Julien in the eyes. "I mean, we've already proven it wrong! Don't you remember? It said-"
"No Maurice, we've only stalled it." Julien sighed drearily and pulled back, before he picked up on pacing once more, crossing his arms as he did so, tail twitching in evident agitation. Skipper immediately sensed that this was a conversation they'd had before. "Do you remember when my uncle first crowned me king?"
The aye-aye was wordless for a moment, before he spoke up, tone hurt. "Julien-"
"Masikura said that the king of the lemurs would be eaten by the fossa the next day. He didn't want that, of course, so he made me king, and figured he could take the crown back when I was dead." Julien muttered, tone peeved. "I was a sacrifice to him."
"But that prophecy was wrong, remember?" Maurice urged.
"No!" Julien barked out, spinning to face his companion with such spark that it even surprised Skipper. "It wasn't! They ate part of me, remember? A very small part, yes, and it healed. But it was true! Just when we thought it wasn't going to be true, it was! That one wasn't as specific, but this prophecy - the one that has been with me since the birth - this one isn't so very nice."
His expression grew melancholy and blatantly peeved as he slumped down, very clearly wanting for Maurice to understand what he was getting at. Frustration didn't even begin to cover what the lemur was clearly experiencing at that moment. And Skipper felt himself mirroring it, though for very different reasons. He wanted to know exactly what they were talking about, but it seemed the more they spoke the more unanswered questions they gave him.
The brown lemur sighed. "That's not gonna happen, you hear? Not this time, and not ever again. Prophecies can be wrong, and this one will be. Plus… I told you, I won't let anything happen to you."
Julien looked incomprehensibly tired at this statement, as though he had heard it dozens of times in the past - which, in retrospect, he most likely had. "Maurice, forget it. The lemur royalties are destined to die an early death, it is our fate. You remember my parents, don't you?"
Maurice shrank away at this, and Skipper could tell that it was more than a little sensitive of a topic. "I… Well… Yes, but… I-"
"Exactly." Julien sneered. "They died just when they thought that they were going to be being safe."
There was clearly more to it than that, but being that Skipper was the only one left out of the loop, there was no elaboration from either of the lemurs.
Maurice stepped forward. "But it doesn't have to be like that, Julien. You have an extra card up your sleeve - you have the penguins, and you'll have your old bodyguard back again. She's saved you from assassination tons of times! You know how paranoid she can be. It'll be perfect. Once she's back in the game, nothing can happen to you!"
Julien didn't look anymore convinced than he had moments ago, instead opting to sit on the floor as he raked his fingers through the fur of his tail. In that moment, he looked more sressed than he ever had in the time that Skipper had known him.
The king eventually held his head in his hands, his crown overshadowing his fatigued visage."I am just thinking in my brain, Maurice. The prophecy… I can feel that it will be coming true, very soonish."
Skipper had enough eavesdropping. He wanted answers - specifically, he wanted to know what this alluded prophecy was. What did it entail that Julien felt so strongly about it? Clearly it was a strong prophecy, not that Skipper expected anything else. The lemurs didn't mess around with their belief system.
He was just about to step in and find out what the prophecy was - to hell with their privacy - when the artificial lights flickered. When they turned back on, they were tinted red, and the alarm system began to blare. The lemurs physically jumped, and instantly, Julien was in Maurice's arms.
The lights continued to shut off and turn on, as though the noise wasn't warning enough, and Skipper was on the move to the control room. Whatever this prophecy was, it would have to wait, because alarms were never a good thing.
