N's POV
"Welcome home, N."
"If this is the way you welcome someone home, then I'd hate to see how you tell them goodbye" I snarled at my father.
"My, my. N has gotten an attitude" Ghetsis said.
"Really? I hadn't noticed. I thought you would be proud. Now my attitude is just like yours. Merciless and inhuman" I growled.
"Shut your mouth, boy! If you are going to continue to stay here, then that attitude of yours is going to have to be the first thing to go" Ghetsis shouted, standing up from the throne he was sitting on. My old throne.
"So you're going to try to break me? Ha, just go ahead and try."
"It won't be that hard. I have an offer that I know you can't refuse. You can be a good boy, cooperate, and be our King again, or you can resist us and I'll kill your little girlfriend."
"You wouldn't dare!" I yelled.
"N, N, N, you have been gone a long time. You don't know what I'd do. You can either risk it by taking the chance or just give in. Do you really want to see if I will kill that worthless girl?" I looked my father in the eye. He looked serious.
"No" I sighed. "I want her to be safe. Fine…I'll be your King again, but you have to promise to not go anywhere near Touko" I said.
"Touko. What a pretty name. I promise to stay away from her, but only if you follow orders" Ghetsis said back.
"Deal. Now, why do you want me to be King? I thought you would put me in a lower position or lock me away as a prisoner first."
"What a very good question? The years that you have been gone have made you wise. But since you ask, I want you as King again because I see you have become wiser and your attitude is perfect to rule."
"No" I snapped. "I want the full truth."
"What did I tell you? You are smarter. Fine. I want you as King because Team Plasma is slowly falling apart. I have been having a hard time keeping the grunts in order. They miss you and want you as King again. Also, I need someone with your unique ability to convince people and Pokémon to liberate."
"Oh I see. You are having a hard time keeping your own team in line. Nobody is listening to you anymore. You need me to speak for you" I summarized.
"Keep talking like that and Touko won't live to see the next sunrise" Ghetsis threatened. I growled.
"I'm sorry for being so rude, Sage Ghetsis" I said through clenched teeth.
"Get down on your knees" Ghetsis ordered.
"Never. Besides, I am your King. You can't order me to do anything. I'm the one who gives you orders now" I shouted bravely. Ghetsis gave me a wicked smile.
"Good boy" Ghetsis complimented.
"I am not your boy." Ghetsis smiled again. He clapped his hands and two female servants came in. They were both dressed in maid outfits.
"Please take King N to his room and get him dressed and his wounds treated" Ghetsis said. The servants nodded. "Oh, and do anything he tells you. He is your King. Now go." The servants nodded again with a bow.
"Yes, Lord Ghetsis" the two young girls said in unison. I followed the two girls who looked about my age to my room with all my old toys in it. Nothing was out of place, but the room looked like it was kept clean. I did notice one difference, however. I saw a door on the right wall. The two girls led me to the door and opened it up. Inside was a large four-post bed with a canopy, a door to a closet, an attached bathroom, TV, and a few other things.
"This will be your sleeping quarters" the blonde servant girl said.
"Thank you…what is your name?" I questioned.
"I am Rosaline" the blonde said. "And this is Eve."
"Let us help you get dressed" the brunette servant, Eve, said. I would dress by myself but I knew that if I told the girls no then they would think they upset me or did something wrong.
"Very well" I sighed out. I sat down on the edge of the king sized bed as one girl unbuttoned my white dress shirt and another took off my hat and shoes. Soon I was down to nothing but my boxers.
"Please go take a shower, King N. We will have your wardrobe ready as soon as you are done" Rosaline said. "Unless you would like us to join you." I froze and turned a deep shade of red. I slowly shook my head.
"No, thank you. I'm afraid I will not be needing that kind of service from you" I said, declining the offer. Both girls looked sort of relieved once I said that. "Besides, I already have a girlfriend." I walked into the shower and removed my boxers. I tried to be as quick as possible with my broken ribs. I hopped out of the shower and quickly dried myself. I put my boxers back on and went into the bedroom. Eve was standing beside the bed with her hands folded delicately in front of her. Rosaline was coming back into the bedroom with a small white box.
"Please step over here and lift your arms up" Rosaline stated. I walked over to her. She dabbed a wet cotton ball on my face where it was scratched up from the stairs. It smelled like alcohol and burned like fire. Next, she gently felt for my broken ribs and tried to set them back into place. She did her best as I silently screamed through a towel that she put between my teeth. Lastly, she wrapped my chest up in bandages and gauze. Once Rosaline was finished, she packed all of the medical supplies back up in the white box and left. I looked at Eve, and she beckoned me over. I slowly walked up to her. Eve made me uncomfortable. She looked stunningly similar to Touko. They both had long brown hair, blues eyes, and the same shaped body. The differences were that Eve was shorter, sort of shy, and didn't have the same shaped face.
"I will help you get dressed now" Eve said. She helped me into an outfit that was exactly the same as my old one but without my hat and instead of sneakers, she gave me white boots. The next thing I knew, Rosaline walked back in the room carrying my crown and robe. She laid them on the bed and stood beside Eve. Fear and anger crept into my mind. Where did she get those? Did Ghetsis break his promise and go into my house and hurt Touko?
"Where did you get those?" I said angrily. The girls looked shocked at my change of attitude.
"Ummm…a grunt. He said that he got them from inside your house as a mad woman was slashing at people with a knife outside" Rosaline said unsurely like she was afraid she was going to get in trouble by her answer. I sighed out in relief.
"Thank goodness. They took it while they captured me and not recently" I whispered to myself.
"What was that King N?" Eve asked.
"Nothing. I am sorry. You may both relieve yourselves now" I said. Both girls looked at each other questionably and stood where they were unmoving. They looked at me with curiosity shining in their eyes. "Yes?"
"May we have permission to ask you a question?" Rosaline squeaked out, bowing down.
"You may" I said. I was actually curious to know what they wanted to ask.
"You mentioned a girlfriend before, yes?" Eve asked.
"Yes" I confirmed.
"What is her name?" Rosaline asked.
"Oh, ummmm…Touko" I said embarrassed. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. I felt a little nervous talking about my love life with two people I just met.
"What a beautiful name!" Eve praised. "May I ask another question?"
"As many as you want" I said.
"What does she look like?" Eve asked.
"Oh well she looks almost exactly like you. Except the shape of your face is different than hers and she is a loud mouth. She does almost anything she wants to and can be very competitive."
"Do you love her?"
"With all my heart. I wouldn't be able to live without her. It hurts to be here right now but knowing that she is safe keeps me sane."
"Awww" the two girls cooed.
"Now may I ask you a question?" I asked the girls. They titled their heads in question.
"Of course! You do not need to ask for our permission. The King may ask us anything he wants to."
"Of course. Anyway, where are Anthea and Concordia?" I questioned. They cast glances at each other before speaking.
"We haven't worked here for very long, but we have heard of their highnesses. Seven years ago, one year after you left I believe, they just vanished and were never heard or seen of again. You see they became the queens of Team Plasma. That is, they were until they disappeared. Rumor has it that they ran away in the middle of the night and never returned. A few guards said that they witnessed the whole thing. However, that is all we know" Rosaline explained.
"Thank you for answering my question. You may go" I acknowledged. They smiled at each other before bowing and leaving the room. That conversation ended as quickly as it started. I looked around the room. There were no windows or anything, just the furniture, lights, and me. My eyes landed on the crown and robe. I grabbed the robe and draped it over my shoulders and clasped the clasp together at my throat. The robe hung down and covered my arms. I grabbed the crown and placed it atop my head. There was a mirror attached to the closet door, so I went up to it and inspected myself. It felt like I never left. I sighed and walked out of my bedroom and into my room filled with toys. I scanned the area then walked out the door and down the hall towards the throne room. Ghetsis will probably still be there but who cares. The two guards from earlier saw me and straightened their backs as they saluted.
"No need for formalities" I said to the female guard. "Except for you. I want you to be the most respectful person in this whole castle" I directed towards the male guard. He gulped and kept saluting. They each grabbed a door handle and swung the doors open while I walked into the room.
"How nice of you to join me, N. I wasn't expecting you to get back into the swing of things so quickly. I expected you to stay in your room for at least the rest of the day" Ghetsis said in shock.
"I will never be able to get back into the swing of things. I'm only doing this for Touko" I said calmly.
"Right, right. Why don't you take a seat?" Ghetsis said, patting the velvet cushion of my old throne. I walked up to the large chair and sat down. Ghetsis moved and sat to my right in a smaller throne. "Since you are here, why don't we get right down to business? I would like to call a meeting that all of the Team Plasma members will attend. We're starting off with something simple. We will inform them about your status as King and then ask questions or concerns about Team Plasma."
"Very well" I said. I clapped my hands three times and the three members of the Shadow Triad appeared out of nowhere. At least that didn't change. "I want all Team Plasma members in this room immediately. Inform them or bring them by force if necessary." The three members nodded and vanished.
"I see that you don't go soft on people anymore."
"How would you know? I haven't been given a reason to go soft on someone yet."
"Yes, but I haven't been given a reason to believe you will. You have been everything but happy, forgiving, and sympathetic."
"Well, we'll just have to see what happens during the meeting." Ghetsis and I were silent after that. The only noise that was heard was the sound of the doors opening and feet shuffling into the room every once in a while. After half an hour, the Shadow Triad appeared in front of me and bowed. I knew that was the signal that they finished their mission. They disappeared a second later. The whole crowd of people kept glancing at me and whispering to each other. Ghetsis raised a hand above his head to signal for silence.
"Members of Team Plasma, I hereby announce that our long lost N has returned. He will again serve as our King, and we will honor and respect him" Ghetsis shouted. Everyone was silent for a second before erupting into applause.
"Long live King N" groups of people shouted. I raised my hand to signal for silence.
"Thank you. It is a pleasure to see a few familiar faces and new ones too. I hope to live up to some of your expectations or rule the way I did before to please familiar and new members. Sage Ghetsis and I will now be answering questions or looking into any concerns you have about the Team" I announced. A few brave souls raised their hands. Most of them were people that have been in Team Plasma since I was here. There were a few newbies though. I scanned the room and my eyes landed on the guy that beat me up in the helicopter and led me to Ghetsis. I smirked. He tensed up under my gaze. "You" I said, pointing to the guy. He lowered his hand and moved up to the front of the room. "What do you need?"
"I-I-I would l-like to say that m-m-my team and I don't think that w-we get enough t-time to eat. We wanted to request a longer l-lunch break." I leered at him. I glanced at my father. He looked at me and shrugged indicating that I could do as I pleased with the guy. "Denied. You and your Team are fired. Get out of this room and castle and don't ever come back." The guy fell to his knees.
"Please, don't fire me. I can't get a job anywhere else. I'm a wanted criminal."
"I told you to get out" I roared. He jumped to his feet and ran out the door. My father stared at me in shock. He probably wasn't expecting me to do and say that. I looked back to the crowd. I noticed a few hands fall back to their sides. I must have scared a few people into not speaking. Maybe I should get revenge after talking to some people I don't know. The next person I called on was a kid that looked like a teenager. When did we start recruiting people so young? "You." The kid walked up to me and put on a brave face.
"I was wondering if I could be granted lodging in the castle in the Workers Wing. You see, I don't really have a home, and I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to stay" the teenager asked.
"Granted" I said without a second thought. This kid was pretty young and when I got kicked out, I didn't have anywhere to go either until Touko helped me out. The least I could do was do the same for someone else.
"Really? Thank you King N" the boy bowed down.
"Rise. Stay here after the meeting and I will have someone show you to a free room." The boy bowed again and walked back into the crowd. I kept answering questions and getting concerns until there were only two people left that had their hands raised…the two guards of the throne room. I looked at the man and woman and gestured for them to come up in front of everyone.
"You," I said pointing to the male, "are fired."
"But-" the guard started. "Why?"
"I don't like you. Out!" I ordered. "And you," I said to the girl, who flinched at the thought of facing the same fate as her partner, "are being promoted." The girl looked up at me in surprise. "You have been here since I was a teenager. You deserve to get a raise and more benefits. From now on, you are a field agent."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the guard squealed. I was happy for her. She was probably only four years older than me. She needs to get out on the field before her age starts to affect her. "Thank you!" she squealed one last time before rushing up to me and giving me a hug. I was surprised as her arms wrapped around me in a tight squeeze. Everyone gasped at her action of touching royalty. I froze under her touch until I lightly hugged her back. She pulled back and smiled at me with tears in her eyes.
"You deserved it." She let me go and merged back into the crowd like nothing happened. Eyes followed her everywhere. "The meeting is dismissed." People dispersed and the room was soon empty after all the people that stayed behind were attended to.
"I never thought that you would fire anyone. You really have changed. But for the better."
"No, they deserved what they got. Besides, maybe now you won't think I'm a heartless freak with no friends. Getting a hug just proves that I am likeable, and that they all prefer me over you" I said before getting up. I turned towards the door, and with a swish of my robe, I was gone and headed back to my room.
A/N: Being in the castle and with Team Plasma immediately affects N. Did you notice how he instantly gets guts and starts being a little harsh? Yeah, well that's what happens when you are taken back to the place that ruined your life. Oh, and the next chapter will possibly be N's POV instead of Touko's.