Here we are at Chapter 142. It's time for a birthday party... that hopefully won't end with anyone needing medical attention. After lengthy consideration, I have decided to keep Edom in Vacuo for this volume. I know some of you wanted him in Ever After, but that's not feasible right now. Some spoke about a rabbit hole idea, but that won't work here. Khazhak and the others ended up in Ever After thanks to the power of a relic. Only something of a similar power may be the only way out. Also, in those skit ideas I put out in the past, with one involving a new OC character in a cave; let me be clear: he has nothing to do with Edom. But he will be important in regard to another character in my story. I'm sorry if this is not what some of you wanted, but this is how my story has to go. Plus, we have no idea what RWBY Volume 10 will be like. I need Edom in Vacuo. Anyway, I do not own RWBY. They belong to roosterteeth. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 142. Enjoy.

Chapter 142: Games and Thrones

Khazhak and the others make their way through the red forest, following the soldiers as they escort them to the royal palace, playing drums along the way.

"So, anyone else sure this Red King will help us get to the tree?" Lloyd asks as he eyes the approaching castle.

"In the book, the Red King helped Alex after she beat him in a game," Blake says.

"In case you forgot, we're not Alex," Weiss interjects.

A few minutes later, the group reach the royal palace, finding an assortment of guards in slightly different armor than the first group, waiting for them. As the drums play, the rest play trumpets and step back in sync. They look ahead and see a short figure walking within the column of guards. The figure is a living toy, like the guards, but with more details on his face, a more flamboyant red outfit, and a golden crown on top of his head. The figure stops and makes a pose before the group.

"Are you... the Red King?" Khazhak asks.

The figure snaps at them, "How DARE you?! I am not the Red King. Feast your eyes, for I am the Red Prince!" his royal highness corrects them... all while fixing the crown on his head. "I can't believe this disrespect! The nerve of someone to come to my castle without knowing who I am... and to make matters worse. It's on my birthday!" the prince stomps his foot.

"Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!" the guards cheers.

"Yes, yes, a most joyous occasion for all," The prince smiles.

"I know I'm not familiar with the story, but was the Red King always this much of jerk?" Lloyd whispers to Porphyrius.

"I'm pretty sure the king was taller... and acted more like royalty than a spoiled brat," Porphyrius replies, making one of the guards gasp.

"Well, if it weren't for one of your kind, the King would still be here!" the guard retorts, only for those around him to shush him to be quiet.

Khazhak glances back at him, "Our kind? Red King not here?" he mutters.

"Khazhak, what is it?" Bahamut asks.

"I don't know. Something's not right," Khazhak replies.

Ruby sighs and walks up to the prince, "Happy birthday, Your Majesty," she attempts a curtsy... sort of.

"Happy birthday," the others join in, with some less enthused than others.

The prince gasps, "Ah! How do you know such privileged information?! Wait, I know! You're infiltrators, here to mess up my royal birthday and run away with my precious crown!" he freaks out while protectively holding his crown.

Half the group facepalm, "One, you already told us it was your birthday, Your Majesty. Two, there were flyers and advertisements for your party scattered throughout the city. Everywhere," Khazhak says.

"Silence!" the prince shoots right up to Khazhak. "You are in the presence of royalty! I have the crown to prove it. I am the heir to the Crimson Castle!" he freaks out while standing on one of his soldiers acting like a chair.

"Was I this overly pompous when we first met?" Weiss asks.

"Not quite. You at least had more self-control... for the most part," Blake says.

Just then, they get pushed aside by the soldiers that brought them here, "Your Majesty. We have brought you a wonderous gift; befitting the Royal Birthday," they kneel before him.

"It is a weapon of a great warrior. The greatest warrior ever to live," the second guard adds.

"We searched far and wide for such a gift for you, Your Majesty. With no help at all whatsoever," the first says.

Weiss scoffs, "But, we're the ones who gave it to yo-OW!" she says, only to get knocked aside.

The prince waltzes up and removes the red cover to inspect the gift. He seems quite excited... until he notices that the blade is green.

"Green? Why. Is. It. GREEN?!" the prince yells before kicking the sword off to the side.

Ruby gasps and tries to retrieve it, only for a pair of guards to stop her, "How could you?"

"Oh, he is so dead now," Khazhak mutters, lightning twitching around his left arm.

The prince sighs, "I grow tired of this. Dispose of them,"

The royal guards drag the two soldiers away, all while they beg for forgiveness and make excuses. They drag them through the bushes to the side and then behead them. The girls gasp from the display while the boys cringe a bit.

"Is it too late to maybe leave and try a different plan?" Lloyd asks the group.

"No, we can't leave empty-handed," Khazhak says and then walks up to the prince. "Your Majesty, if I may-," Khazhak begins until two guards stop him before the prince. "If the gift is not to your liking, then perhaps something else will bring you joy on your royal birthday,"

"Hmmm, beheading people tends to bring me joy, but go on. What do you have in mind?" the prince asks.

"We heard that you like to play games," Khazhak says.

This causes the prince to face him and show a confident smirk.

…

Inside the Crimson Castle, the group are escorted to one large room with several spinning stairways set around it. In the center, the Red Prince sits upon on seat overlooking a large table. On the table are squares like those on a chess board, with several red and white pieces scattered upon it.

"So, I know that you're not just playing my game for laughs. What is it you desire in return? There is always something people want in exchange," the prince asks.

"Your Majesty, you are as wise as you are..." Ruby trails off until Little whispers in her ear. "Small!" she cheers, much to the others' dismay.

"Why thank you," and yet, the prince accepts it as a compliment.

"What we desire is this, Your Majesty: if we win, you will aid us in the reaching the Tree," Khazhak says.

"The Tree? It's so... far away," the prince wasn't expecting that.

"We are aware. Surely, someone of your magnificence can accomplish such a task," Khazhak says.

The prince hums in thought, "I see... Very well. If you win, I will help you with what you ask," he agrees to the terms.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ruby replies and sits down, with Khazhak standing beside her. "So, how do we play?"

The prince freezes from her question and then... he starts laughing, "HAHAHAHAHA!" The guards join him in his laughter, much to the group's annoyance. The prince stops and holds up three fingers. "Rule 1! Each player may move every pawn one space each turn," he explains while the pawns suddenly grow arms and legs. "Rule 2! Whoever gets the most pawns to the other side of the board wins. Rule 3! To take over a space, you must dispose of whoever occupies it,"

While his red pawns draw their blades and look ready for battle, Ruby's white pawns look damaged and defeated, sighing in resignation as they take their positions. Ruby looks and notices she doesn't have as many pieces as the Red Prince.

"Um, I think I'm missing some pieces," Ruby notes.

The Red Prince smirks, "How wonderful that you brought some friends to play then,"

This makes Ruby gasp. The Red Prince snaps his fingers and red dust flies by and encircles the others. One by one, they all disappear in the dust, only to reappear on the board... much, much smaller than they were before. The dust goes after Khazhak next, but his eyes glow blue and the dust scatters away due to his lightning.

"Hey, that's not right! Oh, whatever, we still have plenty more pieces to play with," the prince notes as he looks down at their tiny friends on the board.

"The Dragon Spirit must've protected you from his magic," Bahamut whispers.

"Good to know," Khazhak replies.

"No one's going to get hurt... right?" Ruby asks, worried.

The Red Prince smiles, "As I am a gracious ruler, the white team may make the first move. BEGIN!," he offers and the game starts.

Lights go out around them as Ruby and Khazhak check the board. Khazhak nods to Ruby to make the first move. Ruby thinks a moment before choosing one of the white pieces.

"Um, can you move up one space please?" Ruby asks.

The white piece looks at spots a red piece standing in the way, readying to kill someone. The white piece sighs before charging with a shout and his blade up. The red piece easily knocks him back, and he looks up to see the prince give a subtle nod. The white piece screams and then falls onto the floor in a dramatic defeat.

"Yes! One victory for me," the prince cheers.

"This game is completely rigged," Khazhak notes.

The defeated white piece is taken off the field, much to Ruby's friends' annoyance. Ruby tries another move.

"Um, how about you three? Can you move up a space?" Ruby asks three front white pieces.

The pieces charge forth... only to get taken down in two seconds.

"This is getting painful to watch," Khazhak facepalms. "Let's try something else. Weiss, move forward a space,"

"Since when do you give me orders?" Weiss retorts.

"Since you became six inches tall. Now move, Tiny," Khazhak replies.

Weiss scoffs, "I swear, when I get back to normal size..."

Weiss draws her rapier and charges forth. Unlike the last two fights, Weiss easily decimates her opponent and takes the space. She makes an elegant bow while the prince looks on in shock.

"Uh, um, that was just... beginner's luck," the prince waves it off, or tries to. "So, tell me, why do you all wish to get to the tree?"

"We want to go home. And we believe the tree can get us there. Yang, your turn!" Ruby chooses her sister.

Yang readies her gauntlets, "Let's have some fun,"

She charges in and jumps into the air, firing behind her to smash her gauntlets down on one foe. She pummels him to the ground before kicking him off the field. The white pieces cheer for her win as she basks in the glory.

"Are you not entertained?!" Yang yells to the cheering crowd.

The Red Prince twitches in annoyance, "S-So... what makes you think the tree will help you?"

"A few hunches, plus we heard of someone else who got home by to the tree. Lloyd, you're up," Khazhak replies.

"About time," Lloyd smirks as he readies his claws.

A red piece charges and swings its sword down on Lloyd, but he catches it in his right claws. Encasing his left hand in steel, he swings up, knocking the piece into the air, jumps up, makes a series of claw strikes, and then kicks the piece back down on the board. Lloyd makes a bow to the team at his win.

"Someone you heard of, huh..." the prince is starting to get mad.

"Hey, hey, what about us?" one white piece asks.

"Got for it," Khazhak says.

And yet, another red piece goes down for the count.

This angers the prince, "Enough! It's my turn. ATTACK! Full steam ahead!" he shouts.

His red pieces attack together, but the white pieces and Khazhak's friends push them back while taking out several more opponents. The red pounds his arm rest as he continues to lose.

"No, this is not how it's supposed to go!" the prince kicks his chair aside and walks back. "This isn't right. This isn't fair!" he cries.

"Someone's a sore loser," Lloyd chuckles.

A moment later, the prince gets a thought and turns back, "Wait a minute. What kind of creatures did you say you were again?"

"Bahamut is a dragon, albeit a little one. Lloyd is cyborg, Porphyrius is a half-Faunus, Blake is a Faunus, Little is a mouse... maybe. And the rest of us... are human," Khazhak says, not noticing a pair of eyes appear behind him.

The pieces either gasp in shock or ready their blades at this revelation.

The prince just stares at them until his head actually cracks open, "H-Human? A human? A HUMAN?!" he freaks out and jumps onto the table. "I see it now. You all must've cheated. That's it, get them. All of you. GET THEM!" he commands both red and white pieces.

The pieces surround the group and attack on all sides.

Porphyrius slumps, "Welp, so much for playing fair,"

Porphyrius jumps up as Lloyd catches his feet in one hand and then throws him at a few white pieces. Porphyrius spins with his blades out, blasting through all of them. Meanwhile, Blake throws her chain-scythe at Yang, who catches it, and swings her around to knock aside several red pieces. Porphyrius's eyepatch emits purple flames as he activates his semblance. He makes several red and white pieces that had him surrounded float up, and then sends them crashing into the ground. He finishes it up by spinning around as his rifles fire away. Off to the side, Weiss skates across the board, slicing through piece after piece with her rapier. Lloyd grabs two red pieces by their legs and starts swinging them around into a few white pieces that get too close, ending it with throwing them off the board when he's done. After beating down one white piece, Yang dodges the sword strikes of a second. She then counters by hitting it with several explosive shells before kicking it into a few red pieces before exploding. Porphyrius slices two red pieces in half and looks to his left to see Blake getting surrounded by four white pieces. He zips forth with his gravity thrusters, and switching his gauntlets into their brawler mode, he punches one aside. Blake takes the opening to swing her chain-scythe around, sending two more flying, while Porphyrius kicks away the fourth. Meanwhile, Weiss skates around several red pieces as she goes to help Lloyd, only to get blindsided by another white piece and sent into the wall.

"Hey, you're going to hurt them!" Ruby yells.

"It's MY royal birthday, and I can do whatever I want!" the Red Prince argues as a few pieces on flying stretchers come out of a side drawer to attack.

Porphyrius sees them flying in and fires his rifles to shoot them down. However, he nearly gets blindsided by a sneak attack from two red piecess from behind. He rolls under the attack and jumps back. Looking around, he sees the other slowly getting surrounded and pushed back by the two armies of pieces. Lloyd throws one white piece into two more before joining him side-by-side. Weiss and Blake are forced to two corner of the table, while Yang is getting dogpiled by a group of white pieces.

"It's over! Give up already. I've won!" the prince demands.

"Get real... Everyone, break 'em!" Khazhak commands, making them smirk.

Porphyrius hops on top of Lloyd before shooting up into the air. He fires off some gravity shots that hit the flying pieces, causing them to crash into some pieces that were around Blake. Weiss jumps into the air while summoning a pair of Nevermore wings to shoot feathers at pieces heading towards Yang. Meanwhile, Lloyd engages his semblance and smashes his fists into the floor, sending steel spikes all around him, taking out several pieces.

"Dark Void Xenodriver!" Porphyrius drills through several pieces that were on top of Yang, freeing her from the onslaught as she activates her semblance.

Weiss creates a pair of black glyphs for her and Blake, who throws her chain-scythe back at her. Yang and Porphyrius throw Lloyd into the ribbon, encased in steel. The girls slingshot Lloyd to the ground, slamming the floor in a massive shockwave that knocks away all the pieces. With the game over, Khazhak and Ruby's friends stand all as the victors.

"AARRRGH!" The prince yells as he flips the table aside, sending the group flying. Luckily, Ruby catches them all just before they go over the edge of the floor. "If you won't submit, then I will have you all beheaded!"

Khazhak joins up with the others, "You want to be a spoiled brat, and a sore loser, fine. But the fact remains that we won your little game. Now, fulfill your end of the deal and take us to the tree. Now!" he draws his sword.

"We don't have any deal! Guards, bring. Me. Their. HEADS!" The prince shouts.

"Your Majesty," a sudden voice calls out, stopping everyone. The prince looks back as a light purple and emerald green cat materializes before them. "You must be so distraught. Unable to do the one thing you were put on this acre to do. I understand," the cat says before walking up to him. "Surely, you don't want to actually behead them. They are such fragile creature you know. If they lose their heads, they may never play again," the cat's head disappears for emphasis, but comes back just as easily.

"B-B-But, it's my birthday, and they wouldn't let me-," The prince says.

"I know, Your Majesty. It is such a difficult situation, isn't it. You must play and win your game at any cost. Your heart must be in such pain. Here, let me help you," the cat brushes against the prince's legs, a trail of similarly colored symbols flying around and landing on the prince's heart.

Just like that, the prince's mood changes, "F-Fine, I won't behead them," he cries tears that freeze into little gems as he falls on his backside. "But, I never want to see them again! Wah!" and now he's throwing another temper tantrum.

This causes the guards to forget the group and tend to their prince.

"But, what about my friends? They're still so small, and he said that if we won, he would-," Ruby points at the prince.

"Promises are like birds," the cat appears on her arm. "They taste great, but always escape," he leans in to her ear. "You all should leave before he changes his mind. Fast," and takes his leave, heading off in one direction out of there. "This way, hurry!"

"Ruby, let's go!" Khazhak says.

"You are all banished!" the prince declares.

Ruby wraps Khazhak and the others in her semblance and flies after the cat. They get into one hall and start running away from the guards, all while moving through strange pathways that seem to go sideways, backwards, and upside down.

"Sorry boys, but the party's over," Khazhak swings his blade, sending out several lightning bolts that blast away the guards.

"Ooh, nice. Come, this way," the cat shows them a hidden door.

The gang enter and the door closes before the guards can find them. Inside the dark passageway, Ruby breathes a sigh of relief.

"That was a mess. We could've fought our way out easily enough, but that would've just slowed us down and caused us more problems. Thanks for the assist," Khazhak thanks the cat.

"Of all the creatures to come and save us, it was a mysterious cat. There's something wrong with that idea," Bahamut mutters.

"Well, sounds like I showed up at just the right time. I usually don't attend parties. Not my thing," the cat says as they move through the passageway. "How did you end up in the prince's game anyway?"

"We wanted to speak with the Red King, but he wasn't there. And now we're right back where we started," Blake sighs.

"The king?!" the cat gets in Ruy's face before coming in close to the others in her hood. "How do you know him?" a moment later, he's back in front of them. "Ah, well, time's change, you know. And so do we when it's our time to change... Don't you?" he asks as a bright light appears and blinds them all.

When they come to, they find themselves on a dirt road in the forest, outside the Crimson Castle.

"Well, at least we're outside the castle now," Lloyd says.

"Wait, remember what those guards said. There WAS a Red King," Yang realizes.

"Yeah, that guard said something about 'our kind' doing something and the red king no longer being around because of it," Porphyrius says.

"Though we are in one of your fairytales, it would seem that things are not exactly as they were in the book," Bahamut says.

"Great, so we're not in a stupid book. We're in its stupid sequel," Weiss complains as Little sleeps on her shoulder.

"Now then, what are you people? What did you want to speak to the king about? And what... is your favorite dessert?" the cat asks, laying in front of Ruby and Khazhak.

Khazhak facepalms, "This is getting tiresome. We're human, and-,"

"Ugh, you're not nearly as interesting as some of the others I met. What if I asked you-Oh, hold that thought," the cat stops when it spots a butterfly and jumps after it.

"What is with this crazy cat? Can't anyone be normal around here?" Weiss moans.

"Weiss, we're in a children's book. There is NOTHING normal here!" Porphyrius retorts.

"Wait, I know that cat. That's the Curious Cat. Alex met him in the book, and he always loved to ask questions," Blake recollects.

"And the Curious Cat helped Alex reach the tree," Yang adds.

"So, we get another furball as a tour guide?" Lloyd asks.

"Ruby, don't lose that cat!" Yang says.

"Let's go," Khazhak says, and the group take off after the Curious Cat, following it down the dirt path in the acre.

…

Meanwile, back at the Crimson Castle, guards are seen lying everywhere in the game room, either in one piece... or in pieces. The Red Prince squirms as he crawls away as a figure looms over him.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted, but I'm afraid we got a little side-tracked there," Kamir'ahk says.

"I-I-Iam the Red Prince! D-D-Do you have any idea w-w-what will happen if y-y-you do anything to me?" the prince stutters as his body shakes with fear.

Kamir'ahk grabs him by his face and pulls him in close, "Don't know, don't care. Two questions. One: have you seen anyone that looks similar to me? And two: do you want to play a game?" he smirks a devilish smirk.

And that's the chapter. Ruby, Khazhak, and their friends beat the Red Prince at his game, but things don't exactly go according to plan. However, now they have a new lead with the Curious Cat. However, it seems Kamir'ahk is not far behind and is on the hunt. Will Khazhak and his friends find the path to the tree before Kamir'ahk find them? Until then, please Read and Review.