Chapter fourteen, fresh off the press!
Tom: Yay!(smiling like an idiot)
Eh?(looks over at him with a flat look) Aho? What are you so happy about?
Tom: Because Kazzu and I are friends again. And best of all, Reggie became our friend!
Ah-ha! That's right! He's in this chapter too, didja know?
Tom: Eh? Uso! Really?
Yup! He's a part of the(glances at audience) Ooh, can't give that away just yet! Better start reading!
"IVAN? What happened here, dude?" Peyton gaped as he took in the sight of the wrecked caravans, still-on-fire tents, and various wounded Mipedians strewn about. He, Tom, Kaz, and surprisingly enough, Frafdo, had just reacted to an emergency signal from Prince Iflar, the crown prince of the Mipedian Tribe.
Said royal was standing in front of them, holding a sheepish-looking Ivan by the back of his shirt and giving the group a flat, slightly annoyed look. Upon the outburst from his older sibling, the small brunette began to squirm.
"Uh, well, you see...you'd think it'd be a long story, but it's actually not." Peyton stared at his little brother. If he could be anymore vague...
"Well? Start explaining then." Tom said. Ivan fidgeted a bit more, then looked at them.
"Well, uh, you see, it started this morning, when Riley showed us something odd..."
(Flashback to a few hours ago)-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"What...the heck is that?" Ivan, Ruka, and Reggie, now in a wheelchair, were sitting at a table in the Port-Court. They were all staring at the item that Riley was holding, acting like it was a lost gold coin.
"Are you kidding? It's our group's very own member's badge!" The mocha-skinned teen chirped happily. The badge was just about the same size as a cell phone, and was a color scheme of bright purple and orange. It proudly declared-
"We're known as the 'Banzai Brigade'?" Ivan read off, wondering why on Earth, or Chaotic, Riley would make something like this. The aforementioned boy grinned.
"Exactly! Your bro's gang is called the 'Perim Four', so seeing as we're their understudies, we should get our own club too!" Riley said in an animated fashion, waving his hands about. Reggie sweat-dropped.
"You realize they're called that as a joke, right?" Riley gave the blond a very blank look.
"They only got that name because of the 'Trouble Two', aka Clay and Krystella." Ruka said pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the aforementioned players, who were hassling a nearby robot. The four glowered in the duo's direction, then turned back to each other.
"Well, I see your point. Everybody who's anybody has a codename or something similar. But, we're a bit small to be a brigade, aren't we?" Ivan shrugged at Reggie's question. Ruka suddenly stood up, walked over to a table that had a lone girl sitting at it, and proceeded to pick the teen up bodily and walk back with her.
"Alright then! This'll be our newest member!" Ruka declared. The girl was blond, a lot like Sarah, and had bright pinkish red eyes. She wore a bright green shirt and tight blue jeans, sandals, and a mixed expression on her face as she looked around at her impromptu kidnappers.
"Ruka! You can't go kidnapping other players when you feel like it!" Ivan shouted, anime tear streaks running down his face. The confusion and anger disappeared to be replaced by a blank look.
"Alright then, it's settled!" Ruka yelled, pumping her fist in the air. She brought her hand down dramatically to point at the girl. "Now, state your real name followed by your screen-name, favorite color, food, and animal!"
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" Ivan screamed, steam exploding from his ears. Riley placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't she's listening to you, bro." Ivan seemed ready to explode, when he slumped over, wilted.
"I give up. Whatever. Just do what you want." The girl blinked in surprise, looked around at the table, then shrugged. She stood up.
"My name is Conny Melhart, and my screen name is Senpheria. My favorite color is green, my favorite food is churros, and my favorite animal is a kappa." Riley blinked.
"But, those don't exist." Conny snatched up the front of his shirt and pulled him close enough to her face that he could see the ring around her eyes.
"CHURROS DO EXIST!" She screamed in his face. The entire Port-Court had gone silent, staring at the disturbed girl with dropped jaws. Riley sweat-dropped.
"I-I meant kappas..." He stuttered out. She released his shirt, letting him fall over.
"Oh, even I knew that. But if they DID exist I'd want one." She said matter-of-factly. Ivan stared, then began to laugh. Pretty soon, the whole Port-Court was laughing off the randomness. Ruka applauded her.
"Well, she makes the cut, I'd say! Conny, welcome to the Banzai Brigade." She saluted the blond. Conny saluted Ruka back, grinning. Both girls sat back down, and Conny looked around at them.
"Well? You guys know me, but I don't know you yet." Reggie leaned forward.
"I'm Reginald Tevington, and my screen-name is Reggie1. Please call me Reggie, a lot easier on the tongue." Conny giggled.
"I'm Riley Hayfield. Screen-name is JupiterZap. Pleased to meet ya." He shot her a Fonzie style 'Aye' and she giggled again.
"I'm Ruka Nomikawa, and my screen-name is ChaoticCailey." Ruke waved as she slumped in her seat.
"I'm Ivan Ronelli. My screen name is MipedianPrince. My older brother is PeytonicMaster, and his name is Peyton. He started playing Chaotic, so I got into it too." Ivan said while giving off a polite air.
"Alright! Everybody knows everybody now, right?" Riley said jumping up and balancing on his chair. The group nodded. "YES! Now, let's get down to business! Everybody, let's go on a super fun mission today!" Ivan let his forehead drop onto the table.
"Head-desk! I didn't know they were real!" Conny said excitedly. Ruka and Riley cracked up, while Reggie fussed over the physical state of his friend.
"Riley, think about a few things. First off, We need to remember that Reggie has a bit of a setback-" He motioned to the wheelchair, to which Reggie shrugged, "-and second, what kind of a mission are we even talking about?"
Riley stared at him for a few moments, before shrugging. THUD. Reggie gave his friend a worried look as Ivan let his head drop onto the table again. A sudden cry caught the groups attention.
"NO! Not my limited edition Prince Iflar Scan!" They looked to see a young girl trying in vain to take her Scanner back, Clay standing over her.
"Well, too bad. You really ought to hold on to your things better, girly." Ivan twitched. Ruka got up, and stormed towards the blond, who looked over at the sound of her foosteps and paled. Before she could reach him, however, an alarm sounded, and a figure in white armor appeared in a flash of blue code.
"C-CodeMaster Hotekk." Riley stuttered out. The figure inclined their head at Ruka, who shrank back in fear, then turned to Klay and the younger Player.
"Chaotic Player Klayotic, you have been found guilty of pilfering Scans from other Players. Your account shall be suspended for a month, and all your Scans shall be deleted." Hotekk raised his hand and a scary ringing noise erupted from Klays Scanner. The girl tugged on Hotekk's sleeve.
"Bu-But what about my Prince Iflar Scan? It won't get deleted, right?" She had a wibble in her voice, and her eyes were teared up. Hotekk patted her head soothingly.
"I'm sorry. But I cannot remove the Scans he took." The girl began to cry. Riley slammed his hands down on a nearby table, catching everyone's attention.
"Don't worry, little girly!" Riley pointed his thumb at himself. "The Banzai Brigade will get you a new Scan of Iflar. And it'll be up to date, so it'll be even better!" The girl stopped crying and looked at him in amazement.
"Really?" Riley nodded, smiling at her. "Absolutely! I guarantee it!" He looked over at the CodeMaster.
"That's no problem, right? I can get it for her, and I won't ask for anything in return." Hotekk bowed his head slightly.
"Yes, that would be acceptable. But Iflar is the Prince of the Mipedian Tribe. It won't be easy." Ruka stepped up.
"Not a problem! After all, the whole point of Chaotic is to challenge yourself." Reggie nodded.
"I can stay here and monitor your progress alongside her." Hotekk inclined his head again, and somehow Ivan got the impression he was studying them. After a few moments, he nodded.
"You are PeytonicMaster's little brother, correct?" Ivan nodded, hardening his gaze.
"I can tell, you have the same good Samaritan complex he has. A very good thing, indeed." He bowed a farewell to them, and the group huddled around a Scan Table.
(Chibi Riley poofs into view: Alright guys, it's time for another Quick Lesson! A Scan Table is a machine in the Port-Court that can be used to look at one's deck like you were looking at the cards instead. You can even re-arrange your decks and scans so it can benefit you in battle, and Scan Tables can be used to trade scans as well!)
"Alright, here's the area that Iflar is spotted around the most. Here." Ruka pointed to a small village looking area near a lake. "We can port near Lake Mera, but after that we have to wing it." The girl sniffled.
"Thank you so much." Riley gently patted her back.
"No problem. we'll get you that Scan, and next time you see Clay, kick him hard in the shins, got it?" She giggled and nodded. Riley pumped his fist in the air.
"Alright! Let's do this! Mission, start!"
(End FlashBack)-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Ivan, you're such a nice person, going along like that." Tom cooed. The brunette turned red and twiddled his thumbs together. Peyton was still glancing about the wreckage.
"Okay, we know how it started but how did all of this-" He swept his arms around, "-happen? I mean, Scans usually don't end up in stuff on fire, unless you're in the UnderWorld."
Ivan twiddled his thumbs faster.
"Um, well, we went about getting all of our stuff ready, and we ported where we planned to, but...well..." Kaz cocked an eyebrow.
"Well?" Ivan rubbed the back of his head.
"You see, that's where things got a bit out of hand." Frafdo gave the human a wary look.
"How 'out-of-hand' do you mean?" Ivan pressed his pointer fingers together.
"Um, well, actually..."
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"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Ruka screeched as what looked like a giant worm with spike-like teeth growing out of the top of its head attempted to plunge down on top of them.
"HELL IF I KNOW, JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Riley roared back, darting over the sand. Ivan and Conny were far ahead of them, thoroughly wishing they had stayed back with Reggie.
"I don't think that thing HAS a Tribe assignment!" Conny stated as they sprinted harder. The four were just about done for, when-
"You vile beast! Away from the sand that our royals walked on, you dare to challenge the strength of we?" A loud voice boomed, and several purple shots slammed into the worm-beast. It emitted a horrible screeching noise, to which the four covered their ears.
They watched as several Mipedian guards, all bearing the crest and uniform of the Royal Guard, swarmed the monster, attacking it ruthlessly until it drew back under the sand. Ruka signaled for the others to follow her as they crawled away, not wanting to be the next targets.
"Oh, man, that was insane!" Riley muttered as they leaned against each other for rest. Ivan stood up shakily.
"Guys, this is way too dangerous. I say we head back, apologize to that girl, and just forget this whole thing." Ruka and Riley stood up.
"We can't, Ivan! She's counting on us!"
"Yeah, and we're the understudies of the Perim Four! We can't just run away!" Ivan shook his head in exasperation.
"I'm not going another step unless I know I won't get co-DED!" Ivan ended his sentence in a shriek as the rock he had been leaning on gave way to a tunnel. The other three peered inside as Ivan groaned in pain and got up shakily.
"Omg, Ivan! You found the hidden tunnel into the Mipedian Royal Palace!" Conny gasped. Riley grinned, looking like Christmas had come early.
"Well, looks like the mission's still on. Follow me guys! Ivan, I'm counting on you to find our way back." The brunette sighed, and fumbled with his pack. Withdrawing a piece of chalk, he set it against the stone and as they walked, he dragged it over the surface of the passage, leaving a bright pink line from the entrance.
The four had been walking for what seemed like hours, when they found themselves at a fork in the path. They glanced down one tunnel, then the other, then at each other.
"I say we don't do the cliche thing where the group splits up, only to be killed individually later on(4)." Riley said with his hand raised. The other three chorused their agreement, and after Ruka had examined the floor, she pointed at the right path.
"There's lots of kicked up dirt down that way, so they must use that tunnel to get in and out." Ivan glanced at her in confusion.
"How can you tell?" Ruka grinned, a small hum of joy emitting from her as she bent down and pointed at the floor.
"See this? Bears and wildcats make markings like this in the forest so they can memorize routes to spots for food." She pointed to a dent in the ground that looked like a claw had been pressed down repeatedly. They would never have noticed if she hadn't pointed it out. "It works the same way. Mipedians who come in the way we did look for the mark, so they know to go down this tunnel and not the other one."
Ivan blinked, then began to clap quietly. "That's amazing, Ruka. Were you a Girl-Scout or something?" The girl blew up her cheeks with a frown.
"No way. My dad would take me hunting with him, and taught me everything I know." She got up and began to walk down the tunnel. The others followed her, and soon the stone changed from dirt and rocks to elaborate stone designs, and small pictures were carved into some.
"This is the right, for sure. Check these out, you guys." Conny pointed to one next to her. It depicted what looked like a Mipedian, but with large claws and teeth, holding what appeared to be a floating rock. There were some inscriptions next to it.
"I think I know what that says. Peyton was teaching me how Mipedians write the other day, and I think I saw these ones." He pointed out one after another slowly.
"Majestic...Beast...Castle...Guard...Treasure...and uh, I think that one means Royal." He finished, pointing to what looked like a half circle with a triangle pinting towards it. Suddenly, the floor beneath them gave way, and they fell into what almost could be described as a slide. It seemed to go on for a few minutes, when it opened up into a room. Ivan landed first, then Ruka, Conny, and Riley, in that order.
"Oh my...What are you? How did your four get into my chamber?" A quiet, polite, but suspicion filled voice asked from the other end of the room. Ivan pushed off the other three, and gaped at who he saw.
Standing in front of them was a pure white Mipedian. His eyes, which glowed an almost ethereal emerald, were studying them curiously, and his tail, which split into five thin tips, waggled back and forth like a puppy's tail. He was wearing a royal blue outfit, which had a symbol that Ivan recognized immediately; the Royal family's crest.
"Uh, we just...dropped by for a visit?" Ruka tried, grinning nervously. Ivan would've face-palmed, if he weren't so close to wetting himself in fear; Iflar was brother to Mudeenu, and after the encounter Tom and Kaz had with the bulky lizard creature, Ivan was down right terrified right now.
Conny, however, took no notice of their fear and skipped up to the now cautious prince and did the last thing anyone expected; she hugged him.
"Hi! I'm Conny! Are you Prince Iflar? What's your favorite food? Do you like being a prince? Is it nice living in the desert? Your brother Mudeenu isn't very nice. Do you fight with him? Do you win? By the way, how do we get out of here?" Everyone in the room sweat-dropped at the girl's ability to say all of that in one breath. Ivan had his heart stop as Iflar's clawed hand shot up.
No need to worry, though, as the prince proceeded to scratch his finned ear in confusion, then push the human away gently.
"Um, hello Miss Conny. Yes, I am the Crown Prince Iflar, of the Royalty of the Mipedian Tribe... My favorite thing to eat is, um, fruits I guess... I have a lot of responsibility as the prince, but I do like it. It's nice living here if you can survive long enough. Yes, Mudeenu is a bit of a brute. We do fight, and usually I win. And, um, I'm sorry, what was your last question?" He answered confusedly.
Conny opened her mouth to repeat her questionnaire, but Ruka quickly slapped her hand over the blonde's mouth. "HAHA! Pay no mind to her!" Riley finally pushed both girls off, having been their seat for the previous two minutes.
"Prince Iflar? If I may ask...but, why are you shut in here? Shouldn't you be like, writing laws or something?" Iflar's ear twitched and his eyes drooped.
"You have no idea how our tribe works, do you?" Riley, Conny, Ruka, and Ivan sat Indian style in a circle.
"Not a clue."
"Blissfully ignorant."
"I break laws, not study them."
"Um, I kinda understand how it works." Four pairs of eyes turned to Ivan in surprise. The brunette blushed and poked his fingers together.
"W-Well, my brother really loves your tribe, and he's always studying it and telling me about it. The way it works...um, it's, the Royal family is the highest class in the Mipedian tribe. It is considered a taboo to approach, communicate verbally, or attempt to physically interact with them, right?" Ivan tilted his head to look at Iflar. He was sitting cross-legged, and when the human looked for confirmation, the sleek reptilian prince nodded.
"That's why you're stuck in here? Man, that's bogus!" Riley exclaimed. Iflar titled his head in confusion.
"I...don't quite understand." Ruka pushed her glasses up on her nose, making them flicker with light momentarily.
"Well, as the prince you should have the right to go anywhere you want. That's how it is in our world, at least." Iflar looked interested.
"Really?" Ruka nodded.
"Yup! Rich and important people can go wherever they want to, and makes lots and lots of friends. They can do what they want too, and just pay away the expenses." Iflar's ears drooped down.
"Isn't that a bit irresponsible?" Ruka put her finger on her chin.
"Well, only in certain ways. Like, say a rich guy wants to demolish a wax-making factory to put up a new hospital, because a sick friend can't go to the next town over. Or, if they want to renovate a building to give some orphans a home. Those aren't irresponsible, right?" The white fins perked up.
"There are really such humble and kind humans?" Riley nodded.
"We're like them, too! We're good guys!" Iflar let one ear tilt all the way up, then the other went down. He looked a bit like a dog in that fashion.
"You are?" Riley, Conny, and Ruka fell anime-style. Ivan sweat-dropped at their dramatics, then turned to Iflar.
"Prince, we came here to Scan you, because a bully named Clay erased a girl's Scan of you. It was very precious to her, so we said we would get her a new one. Speaking of which..." Ivan dug into his pockets and pulled out his Scanner. He held it out to the Prince.
"May I Scan you, so I can give it to that girl?" Iflar looked into the humans eyes, making Ivan feel as though he was going to be attacked if he so much as twitched. Iflar studied the human for any signs of lying, then sat back on his haunches.
"Very well. But only if you agree to help free me from here." Ivan let his jaw drop. The others, who had been in a sulking-circle, turned around as well with surprise on their faces.
"I haven't been outside these walls for a very long time. I want to see how much has changed since I last saw the sun glowing in the sky. I also want to see more of your kind of humans - kind and humble people." The prince's eyes were misted over, and his expression was so forlorn that Riley jumped up and smack his hands.
"ALRIGHT! Banzai Brigade, new mission: we bust Princey here outta this jailhouse, then get the Scan and port back. You guys with me?" The other three chorused their agreement.
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"Okay, that explains how Prince Iflar got out here-" Peyton motioned to the white Mipedian, who bowed politely, "-but again, how did all of the village get wrecked up? And the fires?" Suddenly, the brunette known as Ruka ran up to them.
"Prince Iflar, I managed to save that cloak you liked." She handed over a deep, royal green cloak border by a smooth silver lining. The prince it gratefully and wrapped it around his shoulders, pulling up the hood so his white skin and scales would not be harmed by the sun. The girl then turned, then anime-jerked as she took in the sight of the Perim Four.
"Er, hi guys. I swear I didn't have my lighter with me so please don't kill me, alright?" She said. Tom sighed, then turned to Ivan.
"Well?" Ivan sweat-dropped.
"Uh, see, that's where the story gets a bit weirder." Kaz pointed his thumb at Iflar.
"You became friends with a royal Mipedian prince who's been locked in his room for the last decade of his life. Weird was back a few miles - now we're officially in 'no-frikken'-way-land'. How much weirder could it get?" Ivan pressed his fingers together.
"Er, well, it's actually kinda funny. You see..."
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Ivan peered out of the room with a Spectral Viewer in his hands. A quick scope revealed that there were no guards hiding in the shadows. He turned to face the others, turning white and falling over when his nose nearly caught on Iflar's snout horn.
"Oh, my apologies. I wanted to make sure there was no one there as well." Ivan nodded, recovering his normal heart rate. Iflar wasn't at all like what Mudeenu had been described as; he was very nice, polite and quiet. Ivan decided Iflar wasn't so bad and on a whim, stuck his hand out. Iflar eyed the gesture curiously, tilting his head.
"Well, from what it sounds like so far, you don't have a lot of human friends. Where I come from, we shake hands and that symbolizes becoming friends." Ivan explained with a blush across his cheeks. Iflar perked up happily and maneuvered his claws around the considerably smaller and more fragile human's hand.
"Up-" Ivan pulled their hands upward, "-then down. Like that, see? Some people also hug, like what Conny did. Only, I'm pretty sure that tackling while hugging is called 'glomping' in our world." Ivan brought their hands down and then let go. Iflar studied his paw a moment, then looked up at Ivan.
"We...are friends now?" Ivan nodded with a smile.
"Yup, it's that easy." Iflar nodded back, then in a flash of movement he was standing by the others, eagerly shaking Conny's hand. She squealed, shook his hand, then hugged him again, to which he nervously returned; She was so much smaller than him, after all.
"Alright gang. We need to be quiet and stealthy. Ifar, you need to walk in the middle and give us directions; Ivan and Ruck, keep a Spectral Viewer in both directions at all times." Riley ordered. Conny raised her hand.
"What about you and me boss?" Riley threw a metal pole to her. She pressed a button and the top opened like a flower, a small electric charge sitting in the middle.
"We're on kicking-ass duties. See any Mipedian guards, just stab 'em with these." Iflar's ears shot straight up. "No, it's just an EMP generator, it's called a Short-Circuit Stick. It'll knock 'em out like sleep gases, they'll just have a bigger headache when they wake up." He soothed. Iflar settled back down, though he still looked nervous.
"Everybody ready?" A collective nod. "Then let's do this!" They snuck out from the room, and managed four hallway intersections.
"HALT! Where are you four going with our prince?" A Mipedian guard, bearing blue armor, had appeared from the shadows. Riley rammed his SCS into the guards middle, and Ivan's jaw dropped when the guard was suddenly outlined in blue light, then fell to the floor un-moving. Upon closer examination, his chest could be seen moving up and down. Iflar gave a worried glance to the soldier.
"Right. Hold this." Riley handed his SCS to Ivan, then pulled the guard to the wall and tugged his arms into a sleeping position. "There. Looks like someone needed to catch some Z's."
They continued down the way, Iflar pointing the directions he remembered, and Conny and Riley stunning the guards. There were about thirteen or so, but something seemed...off.
"I think this may be a trap." Riley muttered. Iflar looked at him confusedly.
"What do you mean?" Riley motioned to the empty hall they were crouching in.
"This, all of it. Think; all of those guards could've used their invisibility to catch us off guard. But everyone we've come across either doesn't use it and just attacks, or just don't do anything at all." Ivan felt a cold sweat start up on his back.
"You...You think this was planned?" The group froze as the loudest, most obnoxious sounding alarm began to go off.
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"So, it was a trap...Go figure." Kaz said, watching as Tom returned Iflar's hug of doom, as Ruka happily called it. The red-head had already been declared a new friend, and Peyton had been over-joyed when he managed to teach Iflar to fist-bump.
"Well, kinda, and kinda not." Peyton turned to his brother with a flat glare.
"Bro, if you were any vaguer, you'd probably have air in yer head instead of a brain. So, what happened after that?" Tom jumped as a scream rang out, watching as Riley ran up to them, his face pale.
"I think I just stepped on some kind of fruit - it's so gross!" He moaned, pointing to his feet. His shoes were covered in a thick, purple gel that had tiny orange specks. Iflar pointed as well.
"That looks like a gola-gola fruit; it stains horribly but it's very delicious. It's one of my favorites." Tom sweat-dropped as the mocha-skinned teen kept moaning about the stain, and how his sister was gonna kill him, and all sorts of dramatics.
"So, then what happened? Don't leave us hangin' bro." Ivan scratched the back of his head.
"Uh, well. See, that's where things get really weird...Even weirder than weird..."
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"RUN!" As if hearing the group's suspicions, a huge wave of guards came swarming from down the tunnel. The group sprinted away, Ruka and Conny half-dragging Iflar.
"Why do you always have to be right?" The girls shouted at Riley, who gave a wordless screech that obviously meant 'just keep running!'
"In here!" Ivan pulled a door open, and the five squished into the doorway and closed the door just as the swarm came around the corner. They ran past the room, snarling angrily. The group held their breath until the murmurs couldn't be heard, then fell apart with a relieved sigh. Iflar began to walk away from them.
"I...I dont believe it." His astonished tone made the others look over, and they gasped as they took in what appeared to be a child's playroom. Ivan got up and walked up to what looked like a pile of badly sewn dolls.
"Iflar...are these yours?" He asked holding up what looked like a miniature version of the prince himself. Iflar stumbled over and took of it.
"Yes...these were made by my parents. They..." The green eyes flicked downwards. Ivan put his hand on the prince's shoulder.
"Prince?" Iflar shook his head and walked away. He sat down near a pile of wooden wagons, some broken and all covered in dust.
"About seven Solon's ago, my parents went to the UnderWorld to discuss a treaty of peace with UnderLord Chaor. They were never heard from again. When I assumed the throne in their absence, I attempted to go and find them. I was packed one night, but when I woke up the next morning I was in that room. The guards beyond told me an emergency had come up, and that it wasn't safe for me to go outside. I've been in there ever since." He squeezed the plush toy gently, and it gave a small squeak.
"Oh, prince..." Conny cooed sadly. She gave Iflar a hug, which he returned in full this time, needing it badly. Ivan wore a look of confusion.
"I don't think that's all there is." Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"My brother's friend, Kaz, is really tight with Chaor, and he said that the Mipedian royals did come for a treaty, but Chaor disregarded it. They left the UnderWorld city that same day, Chaor escorted them himself." If it was even possible, Iflar went even paler.
"B-But that's..." Ivan suddenly felt a twitch at the back of his mind.
"Iflar, who told you about your parents?"
"Why, the Court Supevisor of course. Zhade." Four stomachs dropped out of their owners. Ruka was the first to recover.
"Zhade works for your brother, prince! He's a spy!" A smooth voice from the doorway made everyone's blood run cold.
"My, my. Such intelligent creatures you humans are. Intelligent, but also annoying."
It was Zhade.
Heeeee...I forgot how much fun these guys were, heehee.