Chapter 21: Poisoned
May is in her bedroom at Sinnoh's castle. She's staring at a picture of her and Riley. But next to it is a picture of her and Drew…
"Drew has always been the one for me…" May said. "But…what if…the same thing happens again?"
Meow…
Oreo meows sadly next to her.
"What if…we just don't have time for each other?"
Meow…
"And this tiara…" May stands up and walks to her full-length mirror. She slowly raises her hands and places the tiara on her head. "…will mean that…I made a commitment to Drew…B-but what if I can't keep that commitment? What if his people don't even like me on the Throne?"
Meow! Meow!
May looks at Oreo. "Eat the flower, Oreo."
Oreo walks to a flower that's laying by the two picture frames. She bites a piece of a petal and swallows.
"What I was saying was that Drew doesn't want you to worry about that." Oreo said. "Remember, it doesn't matter to him that you're not Royalty. And you'll have plenty of time with him since you'll have his current Royal Healer as an assistant, right?"
"I guess…" May faces forward.
"And look at your reflection. There's no doubt in my mind that you're meant to be a Princess. To be a Queen."
May smiles. "Thanks, Oreo. What would I ever do without you?"
"I got no clue."
May giggled. "Well, here I go. I'm going to go tell him."
May wanders the ballroom, looking for Drew. But instead, Riley comes up to her. "Hey. Are you okay? What happened with you and Drew?"
"Riley, umm…I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but…"
Riley exhales. "You're going to go back?"
"How did you know?"
"Just had a feeling."
May smiles slightly. "You're not…mad?"
"Why would I be? What's important to me is that you stay happy. With someone very special to you. And I know that's always been Drew."
May's cheeks tint pink.
"Tell him that I say he better take care of you, or else."
May giggled. "Okay, Riley."
"And you look really beautiful by the way. With that new tiara."
May smiled brightly before walking away. She found Drew by the beverage station. She taps on his shoulder.
Drew turns around and smiles, noticing the tiara. "You're wearing it."
May smiles. "I say yes, Drew. I would be honored to be your Queen." She curtsies.
Drew swiftly lifts May up, spinning her around. She laughs. He puts her down and kisses her lips. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too. Oh, and before I forget, Prince Riley gave me a message to give you. He said to make sure to take care of me, or else."
Drew chuckled. He notices Prince Riley in the distance, watching them. He nods. Riley smiles.
"You can count on that." Drew said to May. "No one will hurt you." He takes May's hand. "Now, come on. We've got to tell my parents the good news."
Drew leads May to where Drew's parents are speaking with other Kings and Queens.
"Mother, Father."
Drew's parents turn around to see Drew and May.
"Hello, Your Majesties." May said with a curtsy.
"Hello, May." The Queen said. "I see you're wearing the tiara Drew got you. It looks very nice on you."
"Thank you."
"And she has agreed to be my Queen." Drew said.
"That's wonderful." The Queen said.
"We're proud of you." The King said. "And May, we know that you'll be a great Queen."
May smiles brightly. "I'll try my best."
"You'll have my help all the way." Drew said.
"Don't disappoint, Drew."
Drew chuckles. "Want to dance?"
"I'd love to."
May rides in the Royal carriage with the Royal Family from the dock to the castle. She had to say goodbye to Riley, Dawn, Cynthia, and some of her patients back in Sinnoh. They were nice to her. But now it's time for her to come home.
May gazes up at the castle as they pass through the gates. "I'm home…"
"Where you belong." Drew said.
May nodded. "It's been so long…"
The carriage parks in front of the castle. The coachman opens the door for them. The King and Queen exit before Drew does. He holds out his hand to May. She smiles and takes it, carefully walking down the steps to the ground.
"Did I mention yet how beautiful you are in that ball gown?" Drew asked.
"Nope."
"Well…I'm pretty sure that all of the other Royals at that Ball were jealous."
May giggled. "Hey. Before we go inside, could we go to the infirmary first?"
"Of course. It's about time you met Gloria." Drew takes May's hand and leads her to the infirmary. "Hey, Gloria. I'd like for you to meet May."
Gloria turns around and smiles. "It's so nice to finally meet you. You've been a big inspiration to me, May."
"Aww…that's so sweet. It's very nice to meet you." May said. "I'll be joining you in the infirmary soon."
"Looking forward to it."
Drew and May then go to the castle to meet with his parents.
"May and Drew, let me just say how happy I am that you two will be running this kingdom together." The Queen said. "You two have been best friends for a long time. And we know how much you mean to him, May."
May smiles, blushing.
"Before you can claim the crown though, you'll have to prove yourself." The King said.
"P-prove myself?" May questioned.
"Mm hm. We need to make sure all of your personality traits are on point."
"And that you can lead a kingdom." Drew added. "But don't worry. I'll be there to guide you."
May smiles.
"With the last part." The King said. "But the first part, May must do on her own."
May gulped. "I…"
Drew could feel her hand shaking. "May? It's okay."
"I just…" May frowns. "What if I'm…not cut out for this?"
"May…remember what I told you? I'll always be there for you. You don't have to worry about that. Nobody is perfect at first. My Dad's first day of being Royal ended in a fire."
May's eyes widened.
"Don't ask."
The King chuckles. "Drew's right. You have him for guidance. And besides, the test won't be hard. All you have to do is go through your days like normal."
"Really?" May questioned.
The King nods. "Drew could be with you, of course, but he's not allowed to help you by telling you what we're checking for."
"I…I…" May looks both ways, looking a little freaked out by the whole situation. "I…"
May backs up a little before…
…she closes her eyes and starts to fall.
Drew gasped and rushed forward. "May!" He catches her.
The King and Queen stand up and start to hurry down the steps. "Quick! We have to get her to the infirmary!" The Queen said.
Gloria checks May's temperature. "Hmm…normal…" She looks inside her ears. "Clean." Her nose. "Could have a few boogers." She looks at Drew. "You said that she just fainted? Out of the blue?"
"Yes." Drew said. "We were just in the Throne Room, talking, and then…she faints."
"Maybe…it was something she drank at the Ball?"
"Are you suggesting it's poison?" The King asked.
"Because all of the food and drinks are triple checked for things like that." The Queen added.
"Hmm…" Gloria taps her chin.
"Gloria, I'm begging you. Please save her." Drew said.
"Of course, Your Highness. I'll do what I can. You all should probably go back to the castle while I work."
"I'm not leaving her."
"Drew, we should let Gloria do her job in peace." The Queen said.
"I'm not leaving her." Drew said firmly. "What kind of King would I be if I left my Queen alone in this condition?"
"Just…make sure you get enough sleep."
The King and Queen leave the room. Drew takes a seat on one of the chairs in the room.
"Okay." Gloria said. "I think I'll do an x-ray of her. See if it was something she ate." She hooks up a machine over the hospital bed. She walks over to a high-tech computer and starts the machine up. She sees an x-ray of May form on the screen. She gasps.
"What is it, Gloria?" Drew asked. "Is something wrong?"
"She was poisoned."
Drew gasped and stood up. "By who?"
"The machine can't tell me that. What it could tell me is that she had eaten a toxic herb that was in a cake. A very well-known herb to Healers."
"Is there a way to get the poison out of her?" Drew asked worriedly.
Gloria looks at Drew. "Your Highness, I know you're worried about her. But you need to calm down."
"There's…there's got to be something I can do to help. Anything."
"If you want to help…you should let me do the work."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, Prince Drew. But you don't know that much about herbs to help May. I'm your Royal Healer. It's my job to heal all that needs healing."
Drew looks over at May.
"I'll try my best to make sure she recovers."
"Please." Drew's eyes water. "Please save her."
Gloria nods. "Just take a seat. I'll figure out how to get rid of the poison inside of her." She starts typing away on her computer. "Just curious…do you have any idea when she could've been poisoned?"
Drew thinks back.
*Flashback*
"You can count on that." Drew said to May. "No one will hurt you." He takes May's hand. "Now, come on. We've got to tell my parents the good news."
They start walking. And then May smells a delightful aroma. "Mm…Drew, do you mind if I get a bite of this cake first?"
"Go right ahead." Drew said, releasing May's hand. She walks to the desert bar. "I'm going to go find Ash."
"Okay." May gets a slice of cake.
*Flashback Ends*
"I…left her alone." Drew said. "Right after I said that I'd protect her and no one would hurt her. Ahhhh!" He scrambles up his hair frantically. "I'm such a terrible future King!"
"You didn't see who could've poisoned her slice of cake?" Gloria questioned.
"No. I didn't. Who would be that cruel? Who would want to kill her?"
"I don't know. But I better work fast." Gloria starts typing faster and reading her screen frantically.
"Why so fast? I know this is urgent, but…"
"The herb that she ate is a really bad one. Like really bad. If I can't get the poison out in 24 hours…she'll be gone."
Drew gasped. "No…"
"But let's not think about that right now. I found out what to do."
"Great! What is it?"
"She has to eat a glowing mushroom from the same place…the herb…grows." Gloria's expression faded.
"A glowing mushroom?"
"In Galar."
"Galar?! Th-that's too far away! It doesn't grow anywhere else?"
Gloria shakes her head. "I'm sorry. It must be Galar. I know exactly where this website is talking about. Galar is my homekingdom. I know all the tourist attractions."
"Then you should take me there. Fast."
"Someone has to keep an eye on May. But I could call someone over. And he'll come in a flash."
"Are you sure?"
Gloria nods. She goes to the infirmary phone and dials a number. "Hey. I have a favor to ask."
Drew waits for Gloria, watching May sleep.
"Yes. Right away. Can you come? Great. Thanks. Love ya. Bye." Gloria heads back to Drew. "He should be here in an hour."
"An hour? Who on earth could come that fast from Galar to here? A ship would take five hours."
"My brother. The Prince of Galar would come that fast."
"The Prince? Then…you're a…"
Gloria smiles. "I know I don't look like one."
"Why didn't you tell me anything when we first met?"
"Uh, duh. Because I didn't want you to hire me because I'm a Princess. I wanted to earn my way in. I really don't like being seen as Royalty. I prefer to live on my own. No Royal duties at all."
"Wow. Well…I'm glad I finally know, Gloria."
Drew and Gloria are outside, waiting for her brother.
"He's here." Gloria said, looking up at the sky.
"Huh?" Drew looks up.
Drew's eyes widened when they saw a flying horse zoom over their heads. It flies back towards them and makes a landing.
"Whoa…" Drew stares at the pegasus in awe.
A Prince jumps off the horse. "Prince Drew, nice to see you again."
"You too, Prince Victor." Drew said. "How come you never mentioned you have a sister?"
"Um, guys?" Gloria interrupted. "We're in a little bit of a hurry here."
"Oh. Right." Victor climbs onto his horse. "His name's Spark. Climb on and hold on tight. He likes to go fast."
"So do I." Drew climbed up behind Victor.
"You have to bring back a glowing mushroom." Gloria reminded. "You have 23 hours. Victor will make sure you make it on time."
"Great."
"Let's go, Spark!" Victor calls. Spark takes off into the sky.