Scene IV
"YOU WILL LET US IN THIS VERY MOMENT."
"I am sorry, Emmy, but you and Billy are not allowed to be in here-"
"LET US IN. NOW."
"B-But Emmy!"
"Oh for the love of Ra, just let us in, lady!" Billy snapped.
"Alright, alright!" The healer gave in.
The two servants had been haggling with Bertha, the castle's head healer, for the past twelve hours, demanding to see Cordelia. Up until now, she had staunchly refused to let them into the infirmary.
It seems that miracles did happen, after all.
"Just, be quiet, will you?" Bertha hazarded. "Cordelia is still healing, as is Monsieur Brume from his snaggletooth. Do take care not to disturb him."
In other words, she was warning them not to talk about the secrets they all shared. Bad things happened that way.
"Thank you, Bertha." Emilia murmured, her eyes glittering with tears of gratitude.
"Aah, my child, it is truly nothing." Bertha said, a twinkle in her kind old eyes.
Grateful, the two opened the door and swept inside the infirmary.
Cordelia was bored.
There were no two ways about it.
The lady knight was so tired of sitting in a starch-white room with no windows. With a snoring Brume, it was dead near unbearable.
Well, at least he was asleep now. But then, it gave her no one to mock, and therefore nothing to do.
The doors clicked open and then shut so silently the girl did not even notice it.
"DELIA!" Even though it was a mere whisper, the girl still jumped. Turning, Cordelia saw Billy and Emmy tip toeing softly to her bed. They couldn't hug her, since she was still healing, but they grasped her hands for dear life.
"How was the weather on the boats?" Emmy asked cheerfully.
Cordelia blinked. What?!
"How was the weather on the boats?" Emmy repeated, a little forcefully.
It was at this point that realization came up and slapped the lady knight in the face. "Perfectly fine, Emmy darling, perfectly fine."
"So you'll be able to go on a picnic with us before you head out?" Billy chimed in.
"Yes of course!" Cordelia nodded.
"Cool! We have this all-new recipe we want to try out!" Emmy squealed, clapping with joy.
"Alright! I can walk around a little. Meet me in the park in five counts?" Cordelia questioned.
"See you there." Billy grinned. The two servants disappeared out the doorway as Cordelia grabbed her sword. The conversation replayed in her head.
Emmy: Did everything proceed as planned?
Delia: Yes, Emmy darling, but there is much to tell.
Billy: Meet us in the secret tower if you're able?
Delia: We can brief each other there.
Emmy: You have to hurry. This is a matter of utmost importance, Delia.
Delia: I can beg Bertha to let me out. Give me five ticks of a sundial and I'll meet you there.
Billy: Watch out for Monsieur Snaggletooth over there.
It was times like this that Cordelia really loved code.
'It was pure genius to build a castle connected to a mountain.' Billy thought. 'It makes it so much easier to sneak around.'
The castle was indeed built as high as a mountain, and connected to one, too. The creator of the palace had had a section of the mountain hollowed out and installed a series of secret passageways, rooms, and even a few towers, all hidden deep inside Mount Aconcagua.
The three friends had discovered the secret half of the castle the day Anna took over the castle. Emmy had just been brought to the land, and her father hid her there with Cordelia and Billy while he went to fight rebels that were trying to overthrow the king, Anna's father.
When the three had come out, Anna's father was dead, and the eight year old princess was running the kingdom.
Since then, Billy and his friends had utilized the hidden half as an escape and a handy help when faced with long chores. Every room and corridor had its use, but the top tower, the very peak of the mountain, was their base of operations, their meeting room in the face of a dire disaster.
This totally qualified as a dire disaster.
Billy held the trapdoor open as Emmy climbed up into the dusty, circular room. "I certainly hope Dels is able to bully Bertha into letting her go." The indigo haired girl mused.
"This is DELIA we're talking about, right Em?" Billy asked, flabbergasted. "She's a knight of the royal court! Just a glance at her sword and people are hurrying to obey her!"
"Or sometimes, a pleading glance will suffice." Came the annoyed voice of their willowy friend. Her head was just visible at the trapdoor. "A little help?"
Emmy stretched out a hand and hauled her up, kicking the trapdoor closed. "I call to attention the meeting of the Dire Disaster Dorm once again." Emmy boomed confidently, rapping a knuckle against the wall for emphasis.
"What kind of a word is 'dorm?'" Cordelia wondered.
"I think I heard King Yu use it once." Billy murmured, then shook his head. "Now, Delia, tell us what happened."
The lady knight proceeded to recount her harrowing adventures overseas. Though he was trying to be serious for the sake of his friend, Billy found himself biting his lip hard to keep from laughing at some points.
Then Delia got to her conversation with King Yu and Queen Victoria, and the laughable mood faded. Delia explained as best she could what the King had said, and Billy could feel his jaw dropping lower with every sentence.
"So then I snuck out the passageway and back to the army. Someone hit me over the head, and you know the rest." Cordelia finished with a flourish.
"Uh . . .' Billy was speechless.
"Okay, that all makes way too much sense." Emmy's eyes were dark, as they often were when she was distraught.
"What do you mean?" Both Billy and Delia looked confused.
Emmy then told Delia what the two had overheard in the tunnels with the Queen and the mysterious 'twin brother' she had been conversing with.
"EH?" Now it was Delia's turn to be speechless.
"Don't you see? It all fits!" Emmy crowed, punching her hand with her fist. "When the Queen went overseas all those times to look for suitors, she was secretly meeting with her brother! That must have been what she was doing when she was supposedly meeting with King Yu about a marriage contract!"
"And she lied about it to us so that we would have a reason to attack Yu's domain!" Delia joined in. "The other kingdoms will jump to either his defense or ours; it'll be total pandemonium! And when the enemy is at its weakest-"
Billy spoke the answer with horrible certainty. "Her brother's army will wipe them all out, and they'll rule the world."
The three friends stared at each other, terrified out of their minds and utterly mute.
"Emmy." Billy whimpered. "What are we going to do?"
The gray-eyed girl considered for a few seconds.
"We continue with our original plan." She said.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Two voices chorused.
"Emmy that will never work!" Delia gasped, looking paler than usual. "How on earth do we fight against the hypothetically strongest army in the world?"
Now, not a lot truly terrified Billy. As of a few minutes ago, the number one thing on the list of things that did was the notion of Queen Anna and her twin ruling the world.
The ferocious grin Emmy had on her face now outdistanced that fear by an ocean.
"We turn the rest of the world against it." She said.
Billy watched her in awe as she continued. "Our original plan was to organize a coupe by turning our allied kingdoms against Anna, right?" Delia nodded.
"Then that is what we'll do. But this time, we turn ALL the kingdoms against her, not just her allies."
'Emmy, you truly are brilliant.' Billy thought. Delia looked concerned, though. "How are we going to pull this off? In case you haven't noticed Emmy, the world is huge, and for all we know, that twin could be anywhere out there!"
"Okay then, let's think." Emilia commanded, sliding down to sit on the dusty floor. Billy and Delia followed suit. "Let's try to rule out a few places."
Delia sighed. "Might as well. So, Anna obviously has control over the United Diamond Lands, which stretch across the entire Southern Land Mass. And Yu rules the Northern Land Mass."
Billy joined in. "Queen Victoria still has dominance over the Middle Lands. The Duke of Sandwich rules the Island Nation. And the Olden Country belongs to-" The herald blushed beet red. "Rosie. I mean, Queen Rosalinda, of course!" He backtracked when the two ladies stared at him.
Emmy continued. "Another Knight King rules over the Cold Lands. And one of Anna's most trusted allies rules over the Deserts."
(Author's Note: To make things much simpler: Anna rules South America, Yu rules North America, Victoria rules Central America, The Duke of Sandwich rules Australia and Oceania, Rosie rules Europe, a Knight King rules Asia, and an unnamed person rules Africa.)
"Then where does that leave us?" Billy exploded. He was starting to get very exasperated.
Emmy suddenly gave a start just as Delia started to speak. "There is no place left-"
"Wait yes, there is." Emmy murmured. Billy stared at her as she continued. "My father and I came from a land very different. At the very bottom of this world, there is a lush land, very fertile and very warm. The last king there was a tyrant, though, so my father and I left. We came here in the hopes to escape such wretched rulers. Needless to say, we failed miserably."
(Author's Note: And the twin rules Antarctica. There will be an explanation at the bottom of the story.)
Emmy sounded so bitter. Billy winced on her behalf and wrapped the pale servant girl in a one armed hug. Delia patted her shoulder.
"But that's not the point! That must be where the twin is ruling!" Emmy trumpeted, triumphantly standing. "So if we get everyone else on our side, then we should be able to overpower him!"
"But what about Anna and our army?" Delia asked. Emmy rolled her eyes. "Um, hello? Aren't you their leader? Just explain the plan to them and tell them to fight when the time is right! As for Anna-" Emmy stalls, looking for the right words.
"We're overthrowing her too; we tell her, the whole plan is scrapped." Billy supplied.
"Thank you, Billy." Emmy said.
"So, let me see if I have this right." Delia said. "We're going to organize the entire world against Anna and her twin so that we can overthrow them."
"Yep." Said Emmy.
"Em, has anyone ever told you you're a GENIUS?" Delia asked.
The pale servant shrugged modestly.
"But this is brilliant!" Billy burst out joyfully. "Now we have a plan! We must start right away!"
"Right." Emmy was suddenly very businesslike. "Now, Delia, you will talk to your troops and get them to spread the word amongst their ranks. Billy-"
She was interrupted by the harsh clanging of a gong. The instrument was imported from the Cold Lands and meant that the Queen required Billy, Emmy, and Delia to come downstairs as soon as possible. So the servants, all sharing a worried look, swung through the trap door and went to appease their frantic leader.
"Ah, good, you're all here!" Queen Anna giggled when Cordelia, Emilia and Billy all lined up in her bathroom. "I was starting to worry!"
Cordelia was blinking. "Sorry, your most Humble Majesty. I am still injured, and slow."
Queen Anna looked at her. "Really?"
'No.' Cordelia mentally raged. 'But if it wasn't for Billy's strange sense of direction, Em's quick thinking, and my strength, we would still be lost in your deathtrap of a room!'
"I have an announcement." The snobby queen trilled. "There will be a royal ball in the Deserts for my allies! We are all to attend, and since my regular attendants and servants are going to stay to defend the castle, you three, along with Brume, shall attend me!"
Cordelia gasped. "But my Queen! What of our attack on the Sparrow's-"
"You have officers, don't you? Are you so daft that you couldn't find those who suited your needs?"
The snarky voice cut through the girl like a knife. With some effort, her head was held high. "Yes, my Queen."
"Good. Now, go start to pack! We leave in a turn of the sundial!"
And with that, the three were dismissed.
"Father."
Standing at the prow of the boat, Emilia closed her eyes. The noises of the crew hoisting the sail and Queen Anna and Brume chatting over lunch faded into background flutter as she whispered to herself.
"Father, I know I am not nearly as good at heart as you once were, and that I may never replace you in all ways. But I must beg of you for the strength and wisdom to lead my people to freedom. Please Father."
Emilia finished, looking up to the sky. It had been nine years since her father died, when she had been just a strange little girl addicted to her books.
Now she was eighteen, and she still knew as little as she did then.
"Here we go!"
The captain of the boat gave the call. The crew tied up all the loose ends and cast off. They were officially at sea.
The clouds rumbled threateningly, and the Queen squealed as she ran down below deck, closely followed by Brume. But Emilia stayed above, letting the rain that eventually came soak her thoroughly to the bone.
'I am afraid.' She thought. 'I am afraid of what the future holds.'
The rain was still pouring down. And Emilia could do nothing but cry.
"Oh, poor Emmy." Kotori said, staring at the stage. "I almost want to cry!"
"Why did you want to cry?" A curious voice asked.
The spectators turned. "A-akari?" Yuma spluttered. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I got a call from Chris, and he mentioned something about a play, which someone completely forgot to tell me." The last part was aimed at the tufts of magenta hair that stuck out from Yuma's chair. "So he's meeting me here in about an hour."
"Oh! Um . . . great?" Kotori tried as Akari took a seat next to her.
"So, can someone get me up to speed on the plot?" The reporter said.
"Sure." Durbe replied. "It's a South American myth that Vector found. Saichi's playing the servant Emilia, Sei is playing the mad Queen Anna, Rio is playing the Lady Knight Cordelia, Takashi is playing the Herald Billy, Fuya is playing the strange King Yu, Anna is playing the sweet Queen Victoria, Tokunosuke is playing the snake Brume Noir, and Cathy is playing the innocent Queen Rosie. So far we've seen them only."
"Okay." Akari said. "So what's going on in the story? How do these things fit together?"
Everyone looked at each other. This was going to take a while.
Disclaimer: YuGiOh! and YuGiOh! Zexal are the properties of Kazuki Takahashi and Shin Yoshida respectively. This is a crazy fan's work!
Thanks to Guest for the review!
Tali: Okay, so, I understand that the whole who-rules-what thing is kind of confusing-
Drexal: You think, lady? I got a headache from trying to figure it out!
Zexal: Oh, shut up! You get a headache trying to follow the plot to Percy Jackson!
Tali: -so I figured I would clear things up. Basically, the people we've met thus far, plus two we'll meet later, each rule a continent. Mount Aconcagua is a part of the Andes Mountain Range, which is in South America, the home of the myth. Victoria rules Central America, because she's marrying King Yu, so the two kingdoms will merge into one big continent.
Drexal: North America.
Tali: Bingo! That's how North America started! ;)
Zexal: Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, Anna's twin rules Antarctica. A really, really long time ago, Antarctica was warmer, and basically like North America, weather and climate-wise. Then it kind of froze over. That was long before B.C.E., and where the story is set.
Tali: Yeah, sorry! This chapter is part geography and history lesson, so you've learned something too! There you go. Hope you enjoy!