Clover, Sage, Campion and Minerva all made it back to The Mountain Lemur Kingdom without incident and right away, were bombarded with a frenzy of questions from concerned citizens who quickly surrounded them.
"Why is Captain Campion tied up?"
"You two look horrible! What happened?!"
"Where's Uncle King Julien and Zora?"
"Did you guys even make to King Julien's kingdom?"
"Or did something happen on the way back?"
That last question was voiced by Benson in a more subdued manner, stunned by uneasiness as the wounds on both queen and captain along with the absence of Zora was painting a terrible picture in his mind. Then, it suddenly struck like lighting and he was on the verge of panic as he implored his returning comrades to tell him if,
"Did something bad happen to Zora!?"
Somehow, this question was heard above the surrounding commotion and Clover, Campion and Minerva were all taken aback by it's emotion.
"What!? N-no! No! Zora's fine! She's safe, I swear! And...and still in King Julien's kingdom along with Uncle King Julien..." Campion frantically reassured Benson, then slowed down and trailed off, growling his last few words.
This brought another wave of questions from the crowd while at the same time, Minerva went from staring at Campion with surprise to following his gaze and seeing Benson close his eyes while breathing out a sigh of relief.
"Oy! All your questions will be answered in an all kingdom meeting to be held immediately!" Clover sternly proclaimed.
And so it was that most every citizen in the kingdom was soon gathered around the great stone temple that held the royal throne room, standing at the base of it's steps while Clover, Sage, Campion and Minerva stood high up at the top. Campion remained tied up tight and having gone back to being as unresponsive as the rock beneath his feet while his thoughts seethed within his mind like magma beneath a volcano's surface. Minerva stood next to him on high alert, her expression nervous as she kept looking all about, her anxiety transparent to all. The royal couple stood next to each other with Sage looking out among his people with a pensive expression while Clover wore a stern one, keeping her compose even as her thoughts thrashed about within her mind as if caught in a storm.
"Easy, Clover, easy. Once you've explained everything and have made an example of Campion, everyone else will know their place. Then, you can get the old bastard away from Julien once and for all." Clover reassured herself with these dark thoughts. Then King Julien's words came back to mind, begging her to give civil conversation with her subjects a chance. There had been a brief moment in which she had considered that maybe he was right, that maybe talking things out would be better for everyone. But then she had quickly remembered why she had dismissed that advice in the first place.
Her people had come to despise her all because she was willing to take responsibility for her mistakes. She told King Julien as much! What she hadn't told him (hadn't thought to at the time) was that she had tried to talk to her subjects about the contract in a civil manner at first. She really tried. But all had dismissed her reasons for agreeing with it, dismissed the safety of Clover's friends and all of her other former fellow citizens, dismissed all the suffering that they had endured because of her and Sage.
Including Sage. Who had continued to do so in stupid Sage fashion, no matter how much Clover kept imploring him to can it on the inspirational poster quotes for five fucking minutes and just listen to her for once, Frank dammit!
Well, there was at least one thing that husband and wife agreed on and that was that both Zora and Uncle King Julien must live in their kingdom. And their word was law and everyone else would have to get over it!
Clover put two fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle, which pierced through the clamor of the crowd, quieting it down to murmurs. Then she took her fingers out and barked, "Oy! Settle down so we can started!"
The last of the murmurs quickly died down and the crowd looked up to their king and queen with bated breath as a thousand questions buzzed about their minds.
"Alright, so I know you lot have a lot of questions. First off, we did make it to King Julien's kingdom without incident. We talked to King Julien and everything was going off without a hitch until...until Campion had to go and open his big fat mouth!" Clover started off in a composed manner before snapping and glaring over at Campion, who readily mirrored her expression back at her.
This got a few murmurs from the crowd, their interest farther piqued.
"Yes, he spewed forth callous words filled with hate and fear venom resulting in tears and violence!" Was Sage's scathing addition, his own words filled with venom as he too glared over at Campion.
"Those 'callous words' are the truth and you know it!" Campion raged at Sage, pulling hard against Minerva as she desperately held him back.
"They're a load of bull and you know it!" Clover snapped before Sage could.
"Your plan is a load of bull and you know it!" Campion snapped back. "I know it, Benson knows it, we all know it! We all know that taking in Zora and Uncle King Julien is just another way for you to appease King Julien and his sniveling subjects, the rest of us be damned!"
"Don't you dare start with that again!"
"Your duty is to your people! Not to a bunch of ungrateful brats using your own feelings against you!"
"What do you mean?" Clover asked with a dangerously low snarl.
"What I mean is that while King Julien may be a soft hearted fool, his people on the other hand know exactly what they're doing. They knew that you would gladly take Zora and Uncle King Julien, they were counting on it. And agreeing to letting both of them stay in their kingdom instead? They're counting on that only being temporary, just until you can get your way and their unwanted guests out of their fur. That way, Julien's people get to look like the good guys while getting exactly what they want! They're using you, using your own guilt against you and they'll keep using you as long as you let them!" Campion argued with scathing conviction, his words stabbing through Clover's heart like a spear.
"Th-that's not true! That's not true!" Clover shrieked, her eyes going from being like two wide open fields before narrowing into a scorching scowl, lunging for Campion but held back by Sage.
"Yes it is! King Julien's people are using your own feelings against you just like Uncle King Julien is using Zora's!" Was Campion's sharp retort. This got confused and concerned murmurs from the crowd and Campion looked out among his fellow lemurs, proclaiming with scathing conviction, "Uncle King Julien has manipulated Zora into believing that he loves her, that her love has made him a changed lemur but it's all an act! To use her and their child to weasel his way into his nephew's kingdom so that he can get close enough to kill his nephew and take his throne for himself!"
An avalanche of shocked and appalled cries tumbled forth from the crowd, swiftly blending together into one deafening roar. While horror and dismay rooted Benson to the spot, stunning him into a daze to where he could only continue to stare at Campion and softly say, "Oh no...no..."
Both Clover and Sage had their own responses for Campion but someone else got the captain's attention first.
"Still sounding so damn sure of yourself without any proof." Minerva bitterly grumbled to herself but Campion still heard her, though he didn't quite catch her exact words due to the surrounding clamor of the crowd. He turned to her and curtly asked,
"What did you say? Speak up!"
This startled Minerva, who anxiously stared back at him. She didn't mean for him to hear that!
"Well?" He asked impatiently, his harsh demeanor making Minerva more and more anxious.
She could have denied that she had said anything in hopes that he would leave her alone. She could of done that, she thought about doing it but didn't.
"I said, how can you be so sure that Uncle King Julien is manipulating Zora when you have absolutely no proof to back any of what you're saying up!?" Minerva said with simmering fury at first which then erupted, her words spewing forth like scalding hot ash spraying across Campion's face, causing him to take a step back and stare at her with wide eyed shock.
This also stopped Clover and Sage in their tracks, both having been watching and ready to come to Minerva's aid, now giving her their own incredulous stares.
Then, slowly and surely, Campion snapped out of his stupefied state, narrowing his eye into a scowl and baring his teeth into a snarl. And as he did, the blaze was blown from Minerva's gaze, the scowl wiped from her brow as fury turned into fright as Campion's increasingly fierce glare bore down and gripped her heart with it's razor sharp claws.
"What?!" Campion furiously shrieked so loud that it cut through the clamor of the crowd enough to reach the ears of lemurs closest to the stairs. Lips shut and heads turned in their direction and upon seeing what had gotten their attentions, their neighbors did the same until it was only Campion speaking as he went on to say,
"What do you mean I don't have any proof!?"
"Wait, what's going on? What did she say!? What did you say!?" Benson asked with great confusion, first to Campion, then to Minerva.
"She's saying that I've got no proof of Uncle King Julien manipulating Zora is if all the times that he's manipulated someone else isn't all the proof in the world!" Campion furiously snapped.
This ignited a new spark of courage in Minerva but before she could speak, Clover gave Campion her own critical retort,
"And how do you know he's the only manipulative one?"
"What do you mean?" Campion asked with a dangerously low snarl while Minerva had a bad feeling about where this was going as well, praying to be wrong but unfortunately was proven right as Clover went to say with contempt,
"What I mean is that maybe Zora knows exactly what kind of lemur Uncle King Julien really is and likes what she sees because she isn't as innocent as you think! That maybe she's not pregnant at all but is lying right along with him so they can both kill King Julien and rule his kingdom together as king and queen!"
The crowd erupted and Benson was shocked into a stunned state once more, this time trembling as he said with boiling fury, only able to come out low and raspy like, "You...you..."
While Sage stared at Clover with great dismay, slowly shaking his head, hoping against hope that he had heard his wife wrong. To which Clover snapped at him in a desperate and manic manner,
"Sage, don't...don't look at me like that! Listen to me! Zora must have known what a monster Uncle King Julien is before they even met and yet…!"
"You bitch...You bitch!" Campion started off stunned and breathless before his fury then erupted. His arms were tied up but his legs weren't and they propelled him towards Clover while he belted out a rage filled battle cry. A cry that kept going as Minerva desperately grabbed and held Campion back with all her might while he pulled against her hold with all of his. Lips shut and heads turned to see their struggle, including Clover and Sage. Clover's eyes met Campion's and he furiously screamed in outrage,
"How dare you?!"
"Open your eyes, Campion! Zora must have known about Uncle King Julien before they met! Must have heard about all the pain and suffering he caused, from his own former subjects for Frank's sake! And yet when the time came to meet him, she didn't give a fucking fuck about any of that! Oh no, she was more than happy to run away with him and still wants to him now and you wanna know why!? Because she likes that he's a power hungry bastard cause she's a power hungry bitch who wants to be a queen and he can help her make that happen!" Clover continued her scathing accusation.
Before Campion could give his scathing retort, Benson beat him to it with his own, passionately arguing,
"Shut up! Shut up, that's not true! Zora's not power hungry and you have no right to call her that! You don't even know her!"
This took Campion, Clover and Minerva all aback for a moment. Then Clover got over her shock to furiously snap,
"I know that anyone who aligns themselves with monsters is nothing less then a monster themselves!" Clover then faced the crowd, furiously arguing with great conviction that, "That's why both Zora and Uncle King Julien have to live here! So we can watch them like hawks, so we can catch them red handed in their lies, so they can be swiftly and severely punished so that they don't kill King Julien!"
"But how do you know that they want to kill King Julien!? Do you have any proof or are you just making assumptions too!?" Minerva demanded to know. She said this before Campion, Benson or Sage could give their own critical comments, all taken aback by hers.
For a brief moment, Clover was stunned into silence as well and stared wide eyed at Minerva. Then, she furrowed her brow and said with a snarl, "How dare you…?!" Then she turned up the volume, screaming in outrage, "You know that Zora ran off with Uncle King Julien despite most certainly knowing...no wait! She did know! Even if she hadn't before, she certainly it after he revealed his last evil scheme! She was right there! She heard everything and she didn't care!" Clover remembered that day well. How Uncle King Julien had confessed to his latest plot to take over King Julien's kingdom while still lying up his ass, saying that he no long cared for power because he had found 'true love'! How her stomach had turned watching him and Zora being all lovey dovey and when he told King Julien that he was glad that he wasn't able to kill him in that sickening fake happy tone, as all the suffering that he had put King Julien was nothing more then a minor inconvenience! And how Zora had heard it all and didn't care about anything besides her precious Jules!
"Yes, she did and maybe you're right! Maybe Zora doesn't feel any compassion for anyone that Uncle King Julien's hurt! Suppose that is true! That still doesn't prove that she wants to kill King Julien!" Minerva looked back and forth between Clover and Campion, continuing her critical and passionate argument. "For all any of us know, both of them could be telling the truth! But both of you are just throwing around these accusations without any real evidence and I for one am not buying it!"
"Me neither!" Benson agreed, he too looking back and forth between Clover and Campion. "You have nothing on Zora being evil and if you have nothing on Uncle King Julien, then I'm not gonna listen to you either!"
"Will you shut it?!" A male lemur among the crowd snapped at Benson, critically commenting that, "Zora served Koto! She knows what bastards like him and Uncle King Julien are capable of and yet, she still chooses to be with him! Clover's right! We can't trust her!"
"Uncle King Julien's tricking her! She needs our help!" A female lemur among the crowd snapped at the male lemur.
"She doesn't need help! She knows exactly what's she's doing!" The male lemur snapped back.
"No she doesn't!"
"Yes she does!"
Soon, other lemurs began arguing among themselves, their scathing words soon stuffing the surrounding air until a sharp whistle sliced through and split them apart. Lips shut and heads turned towards the source, which was Sage and when he saw that he had everyone's attention is when he made his passionate plea. "People, please! Can't you see?! You have allowed yourselves to put on glasses which only allow you to see things through fear and hatred! I beseech you all to take them off so that you may see the true beauty that is the love Uncle King Julien and Zora share! That you may know that their only true desires are for a safe place to bring their child into this world and raise them together as a family in peace!"
One of Clover's eyes twitched before she snapped, "Do you hear yourself when you talk!? No, seriously, do you hear the shit coming out of your mouth?! There is no baby and Uncle King Julien doesn't love anyone besides himself!"
"Once upon a time, that was the case but now it is not. For he has finally allowed love into his heart and now it shines through for Zora and the child of which they have created together." Sage argued in a tranquil manner. Which made Clover even madder.
"Will you listen to me?! There. Is. No. Baby! They're lying! That's what Uncle King Julien does, he lies! To get what he wants and this is exactly what he and Zora want! Lemurs like you and King Julien thinking with your bleeding hearts instead of your brains!" She furiously fired back.
"Wait, I'm confused. I get Sage being soft hearted but King Julien?" Benson raised his hand and asked, confused and several others voiced their confusion as well.
"King Julien believes that...that Zora is pregnant and he feels so bad for her that he's allowing her and his uncle to live in his kingdom...as official citizens." Clover tentatively told them, purposely leaving out the part where her friend also believed that his uncle was a changed lemur. The less animals that knew about that, the less chance that word would reach Uncle King Julien and Zora, who would no doubt use that weakness to their advantage.
Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd and a bewildered Benson said to Clover, "Wait, what? Okay, I know King Julien's people can't be happy about that!"
"You're right, they're not but they've still agreed to it because they pity Zora too! They and King Julien all do because Campion was that much of a jackass to her!" Clover said with grave seriousness at first but her anger bleed through the more that she went until she was furiously screaming by the last word, whipping around to glare at Campion once more.
"What?" Benson said incredulously, looking expectantly towards Campion as did everyone else.
"I...I wasn't..." Campion said anxiously, unnerved by all the scrutinizing gazes boring down on him, especially Benson's. Then, he looked over towards Minerva, Clover and Sage and saw their critical glares. At this, he scowled in return and looked back to the crowd to defensively say, "I told her what she needs to hear! That she needs to get away from that monster for her sake and her baby's but she wouldn't listen to me!"
"You're the one who wouldn't listen to her!" Clover fired back before Minerva or Sage could, to everyone's shock. And they continued to be as Clover went on with her passionate scathing argument. "When she was trying to make her case that Uncle King Julien has changed and really loves her, in a civil manner mind you, you mocked her! And no matter how much she begged that you just listen to her, you instead dismissed everything she had to say like she was a stupid child! And when you tried to make her choose between us and him and she choose him, you told her that she was choosing him over her own baby!"
"But-but you don't even believe that she's pregnant!" Campion stammered, flabbergasted.
"But you do and you basically told her that she was being a bad mother because she wouldn't give in to the demands of an asshole treating her like garbage!" Was Clover's scathing retort. To which Campion got over his shock to respond with his own.
"Says the woman whose been treating her as nothing more than a black hearted criminal! Don't you dare pretend that you care about her now!"
"I don't give a rat's ass about her!" Clover furiously screamed. Then, she composed herself enough to say with a snarl, "But you do! At least, you say so!"
After a moment's shock, a thought struck Campion and he glared daggers at Clover once more as he argued with furious conviction, "You bitch! I've figured you out! You're only defending Zora to make me look like the bad guy! When all I've done is fight for justice! For her! Her baby! All of us!"
"Justice!?" Minerva screamed beside Campion, who winced from the volume and proximity of her scorn. "You think making Zora cry is justice?! Or beating on Clover when she told you to stop?!"
The crowd was abuzz once more and someone said, "So that's why Campion and Clover are all beat up!"
"Yes. After making Zora cry, Clover told Campion that he had gone too far and to stand down. When he resisted, she punched him. Then, he tackled her and they fought until they were finally broken up!" Minerva said irritably, inwardly shuddering at the memory.
"You're making it sound like she punched me on Zora's behalf, when she didn't do it until after I had called her more for trying to earn brownie points with King Julien and his ungrateful brats!" Campion pointed out with simmering fury at first before it erupted.
"They shouldn't have to house the monster whose tortured them! And King Julien doesn't deserve to die because of your patronizing hero crap!" Clover furiously fired back.
"Someday, King Julien's body will return back to the earth and feed the seeds of tomorrow's grass, as we all will. But he will not be buried by his uncle or Zora's paws." Sage said, calm and composed.
"Oh, not this again!" Clover said and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Yes, again! For you are so blinded by your fear and anger that you cannot see the truth!" Sage argued with an edge to his words.
"You're the one whose blinded! By your bloody bleeding heart!" Clover snapped, critically arguing that, "It's time to grow up and face the facts, Sage! This whole 'love redeems' is a load of bull! That's not how real life works!"
To which Sage said bluntly, "...It did with Crimson."
"Cr-Crimson…?" Clover stammered, shocked by the mention of her sister. As she struggled to find the words, Sage went on to explain earnestly,
"I remember you speaking of the time that Uncle King Julien set up a death match to pit you against the wildebeest who killed your grandmother. That you fell into a deep coma at the sight of him but with the help of your friends, Grandma Rose's mixtape and a pep talk from Grandma Rose herself, you triumphed in the end. That it was Crimson who gave your friends the mixtape that helped your comatose body remember it's battle moves, defying Uncle King Julien's orders in order to protect you. And that was the final straw that got her to stop working for him once and for all. It was the love that you and her share for your grandmother and for each other that helped her see the error of her ways then, as it was right before our wedding. Surely, now you can see that it is the same for Uncle King Julien and Zora. That love has shown him the light as well." Sage finished speaking while he continued to implore Clover with his eyes, eyes like two bright blue skies gazing down upon two wide open fields.
Clover silently stared back for a moment or two more before snapping out of her stupefied state and at Sage, scolding hot words coming out low and stunned at first before shaking off the shock and boiling over. "You son of a...don't you dare try and put my sister on the same level as that demon! Or mine and hers relationship with his and Zora's! Crimson has been cruel but she has still shown that she loves me time and again, even at her worst! While Uncle King Julien loves that Zora can help him kill my friend! So don't you dare go on like they are the same as us or that my sister is the same as that lying bastard!" Once done, Clover huffed and puffed to try and catch her breath, feral jungle eyes glaring razor sharp claws at Sage's throat.
"...Yes, it is true that Crimson and Uncle King Julien are their own individuals, both on their own unique life paths. Paths now lined with lanterns of love, shining the way down a new road, a road of redemption and good." Sage said this with a straight face, cool, calm and seemingly unfazed by his wife's scathing criticism.
One of Clover's eyes and her body twitched before she furiously demanded, "Will you shut the fuck up and listen to me?! Uncle King Julien is not redeemed and he never will be! It is impossible!"
"I disagree! Love can shine through even the darkest of hearts if one is willing to light the way!" Sage earnestly argued.
"There is no love in his heart! You need to grow up and realize that some people are just pure evil and there's nothing that can change that!"
"I don't believe that! With an open heart, even the cruelest of creatures can be shown the error of their ways!"
Clover didn't respond right away but stood seething, her breath coming out rough, fists clenched tight at her sides while her body trembled. The conversation was going nowhere but she was not going to back down! There had to be a way to get through her husband's thick skull and make him see reason! She rapidly played back not only her previous arguments but those of others as well, seeing if anything crucial had been glossed over or missed. And in the process, came across a name. A name that had not only been mentioned that very day but in previous days as well, even before the reappearance of Uncle King Julien and Zora. A name that Clover, Sage and everyone else present knew all too well.
"An open heart, huh? Yeah, sure, cause that worked out great with Koto!" Clover pointed out with blatantly mock happy sarcasm. Gasps rang out, including a shaky one from Sage. His face fell, calm and confident expression sanded over, silently staring at his wife as a thousand emotions gripped his heart. Everyone else fell silent as well, holding their breaths as they anxiously waited for what their queen would say next.
"Oh yes, I remember it well. How you showed him that old lunchbox of yours, filled with childhood memories. How you begged him to remember who he used to be, that you were family and that he could be kind again, like he was when you were kids! And after you poured your heart out, what was his reaction again? Oh yeah, that's right, he pretended to have an epiphany only to call your memories meaningless junk and laughed in your face! Then he went right on being evil til the very end and you wanna know why? Cause there are some people who never change and that includes the likes of Koto and Uncle King Julien and every moment we're running around in circles arguing gives that monster all the more time to stab King Julien in the back, just like Koto tried to do to us! You remember that?! How he tried to kill us both when our backs were turned, after I stopped you from killing him?! We were stupid lucky that he died instead but I am not going to count on dumb luck to protect King Julien! We have to get his uncle and Zora away from him before it is too late!" Was Clover's bitter criticism, said with blatantly smug mocking at first, fury and desperation bleeding through more and more the longer she spoke until she stopped to catch her breath.
And as she did, she saw Sage's reaction and her own expression changed. Her face fell, anger, frustration and pride sanded over and replaced with worry. "Sage?" She tentatively asked in concern.
For he had a hand over his heart, looking at her as if she had plunged a knife deep within, the pain and betrayal on his face as clear as the sky over their heads.
"S-Sage, I...I didn't mean...p-please, I..." Clover desperately scrambled to find the words as she realized with growing horror what she had just done. For shortly after Koto died, she had held Sage in her arms as he let pained wails of sorrow for his beloved brother, ruefully lamented his failure to save him, with her own heart breaking along side his. Sage didn't express that sorrow often but Clover knew that he still felt it, that Koto's death had left a gaping wound in her husband's heart. A wound that she had just so callously reopened.
Sage held up a paw to silence her. "I understand." He said barely above a whisper, strangely calm.
"W-what?" Clover asked, greatly confused.
Determination settled on Sage's face. "I understand now exactly what we would be dragging Uncle King Julien, Zora and their unborn child into. A place which has been poisoned by cruelty and hatred and I will not allow that to happen!" His volume started off low before he snapped, slicing through the air in a swift motion with his arm, drawing an invisible line in the sand.
"What!?" And just like, the concern Clover had felt for him was swept away and replaced with another wave of dread. He wasn't really saying...he couldn't be! He wouldn't dare!
"This is no place for them to bring their child into this world! They will not live here! I forbid it!" Sage proclaimed to their subjects, severe, firm and final. Exclamations of shock rippled through the crowd, blending together into one deafening roar.
"You-you can't do that!" Clover said, stunned at first before shaking off the shock to snap. Sage turned back to her to snarl,
"While yours and our people's hearts are closed up tight, King Julien and his people's are wide open! End of discussion!"
"No, it's not! You're not the only one with power around here, you know! There are lemurs on my side and we will bring Uncle King Julien and Zora here, whether you like it or not!" Clover furiously proclaimed.
"And once they have rested from their journey, I would then send them back to King Julien, away from the hostility that has rolled in and consumed our land like a toxic mist!" Sage sharply retorted while looking directly at Clover, giving her that same judgmental look of his that she knew all too well.
"What, am I supposed to be the toxic mist then, poisoning everyone's minds, is that it?!" She bitterly accused.
Sage didn't answer but just silently stared at her for a moment more before turning away and leaping off the side of the stairs. Clover rushed to the edge and furiously called after him,
"Oy! Don't you run away from me! We're not finished here!"
But Sage didn't heed her order and soon disappeared into the jungle.
Clover turned to the crowd, who had fallen silent and were all staring back at her, unnerved by the couple's quarrel. She looked over at Campion and Minerva and saw that they too were uncomfortable.
All these gazes bore down on Clover and she furiously proclaimed, "This isn't over! Not by a long shot!" She then rushed down the stairs, shoved aside subjects who didn't get out of her way in time and disappeared into the jungle after her husband.
"W-wait! Queen Clover! What about Cam...pion!?" Minerva anxiously called after Clover, then trailed off, her queen already gone. She then turned to Campion and saw that he was giving her the evil eye, which made her even more anxious and all she could think about in those moments was locking him up so that he couldn't beat her into a pulp. Problem was, she was certain that he would choke her with his wrist binds rather than willingly allowing himself be locked away in the kingdom's dungeon. And his allies would certainly cheer him on. But then again, Clover's allies surely wished to see Campion punished and would be more then happy to help Minerva especially if it included fighting Campion and his supporters. But then again, Minerva had no idea just how many supporters were on each side. For all she knew, she and Clover's could be way outnumbered and therefore wouldn't stand a chance against Campion and his.
In the end, after some rapid back and forth in her brain, Minerva swallowed a lump in her throat, then tentatively told Campion while trying to sound firm, trying to hide the tremor in her voice,
"C-Campion, I n-need to take you to the du-dungeon now!"
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Campion growled and Minerva saw an entire jungle full of danger in his eye, ready to lunge at her throat.
"Stand down, Campion!" The male lemur who had agreed with Clover demanded before Benson could speak. "Being locked up is the least you deserve!"
"He shouldn't be punished for speaking the truth!" The female lemur who had agreed with Campion snapped.
"He attacked our queen!" The male lemur snapped back.
"She hit him first!"
They continued to argue and others were quick to join them, to choose one side or the other until almost all present were divided into two camps, those who believed Clover and those who believed Campion. Things soon escalated to pushing, shoving, baring of teeth and declarations of scorn, which drowned out Minerva's repeated calls for assistance.
Soon realizing that no one was heeding her pleas, Minerva gave up and turned back to Campion, who was still glaring daggers at her.
"Campion, just come with me peacefully, please! There's no need for violence!" Minerva implored him while defensively holding up her paws.
"You want me to come with ya so bad? Then make me!" Campion snapped, then bit and tore apart his wrist bindings and held up his fists. "Come on, you and me, right now!"
"B-but you're hurt!" Minerva anxiously pointed out.
"Then this should be easy peasy for you." Campion snarled in a mocking manner as he slowly made his way towards Minerva, who slowly, anxiously, backed away from him. For while it was true that she didn't want him to hurt her, she also truly didn't want to hurt him and compound his already existing injuries either.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Benson demanded, rushing up the stairs to stand between them and glare at Campion.
Both he and Minerva were shocked by this interruption but Campion quickly got over his to glare back at Benson and snarl, "So, you really are taking her side!"
His words pierced through Benson's heart like knifes but Benson remained stern and also sad as he asked of Campion, "Campion, please! Is she right?", nodding towards Minerva while keeping his eyes on his friend, "Is Clover? Were you really that mean to Zora? Did you really make her cry?"
"I...I wasn't..." Campion stammered, taken aback by his friend's piercing gaze. Then, he turned his face away and said meekly, "I didn't mean to hurt her."
"So did you apologize or did you go on being an ass!?" Benson pressed on, both angry and afraid that he already knew the answer, wanting to be wrong, needing to hear Campion's perspective.
After a moment's hesitation, Campion turned back to Benson, glaring daggers once more. "No, I didn't apologize for telling her the truth!" He snarled at first before snapping.
"But what if you're wrong!? Or-or even if you're right, that still doesn't give you the right to be so horrible!" Benson nodded towards Minerva and continued to passionately argue, "She's right! You and Clover are just jumping to conclusions…!"
"Don't you dare compare me to that bitch!" Campion furiously demanded.
"Then stopping a jackass to everybody who disagrees with you!" Benson demanded in kind. Then, his expression and tone softened and he pleaded, "Please, Campion! Don't attack this lady! Don't attack anybody else! Just go to jail, think things over…!"
"I don't need to think anything over! I know that I'm right! And if you wanna lock me up that bad, then you should have no problem making me!" Campion snapped, then bellowed out a battle cry as he lunged at Benson.
Who met him head on while Minerva swiftly got out of the way and watched from the sidelines. When they met in the middle, both Benson and Campion were quick to grab each other's fists, then struggled for some moments, each pushing back against the other with all their might while digging their nails into the stone beneath their feet, both determined to not let go.
"Campion, please! I don't wanna hurt you!" Benson begged.
"It's a little late for that!" Campion snarled bitterly.
And so they continued to push and struggle until suddenly...
Crack!
Benson and Campion froze, for they and Minerva had heard a loud crack. Campion's eye went wide and he let out a strangled gasp, for his already sprained arm was now broken. He then stumbled backwards and grabbed unto his injured appendage, gritting his teeth to hold back agonized howls.
"Oh my gods! Campion, I'm so sorry!" Benson cried out in guilt and concern, petrified in place.
But before Campion would respond with a scathing remark or lunge back into battle, quick as a flash, Minerva suddenly sprang forward and grabbed him around the torso, pinning both arms to his sides, then brought him down to his knees and pinned down his legs with her own.
"Let go of me!" Campion furiously demanded, thrashing in Minerva's grip, which only made her tighten it even more.
"Benson, help me!" Minerva demanded, harsh but also freighted, squeezing even tighter, causing Campion to clench his teeth ever harder.
"O-Okay, okay! Don't hurt him!" Benson snapped out of his shock to beg, then rushed to her assistance.
After some dodging of Campion's legs kicking at his face, Benson was able to grab hold of them and Campion's waist. Then, with Minerva still holding unto Campion's upper body, she and Benson lifted him up and looked out over the clearing.
By this point, the shoving, pushing and teeth baring had escalated into punches, kicks and bites; the clearing now swarming with thrashing bodies, with blood being sprayed across the grass and calls of battle stuffing the air. This mass quarrel was taking place all over, including at the base of the temple steps from which the trio had come. They wouldn't be leaving that way anytime soon.
Fortunately, there was another doorway and set of steps leading down to the jungle floor on the other side of the temple. And so, the trio swiftly made their way through the interior, out the back door and down the stairs without interruption. For although Campion continued to struggle and repeatedly shouted for help along the way, unfortunately for him, his allies were too preoccupied to notice his absence. And they kept not noticing as Benson and Minerva carried him through the village to the temple which held the kingdom's dungeon and successfully locked him inside one of it's cells.
Benson then begged Minerva to help him tend to Campion's injury and after some hesitation, she yielded. So, after securing medical supplies, binds around his ankles and a muzzle on his mouth, Campion was tended to by Minerva with his arms sticking through the bars, she holding unto one while Benson held unto the other. Fortunately, the captain had stopped struggling by that point and begrudgingly allowed himself to be treated without incident.
When that was done, Benson and Minerva left Campion and went out into a hall. There, the two of them sat down on the cool stone floor, leaned back against the wall and let out relived, exhausted sighs. They sat in silence for some moments until Benson broke it, saying soft and sincere,
"Thanks for treating him."
"Thanks for helping me bring him here." Minerva responded, awkwardly but still sincere as well, taken aback by his gentle gratitude. "Seriously though, thanks. Thanks for standing up for me and hearing me out and...just, thanks."
"Well, like I said before, what you said makes sense. And also, you stood up for Zora. Without making her cry or accusing her of...you know." Benson said, mostly with humble admiration that was laced with bitterness by the end. Then, he switched back to his softer tone to tell Minerva, "And I wanna thank you for that too."
Again, Minerva was surprised by how sweet he was being and felt a bit honored in spite of herself...But she also felt a bit guilty as well. "Benson, there's something I need to tell you." She then took a deep breath before cautiously, tentatively telling him, "I...have my own suspicions about Zora. In fact, Clover's… 'theory' about her and Uncle King Julien is the one I'm most partial to."
Well, Benson certainly had not seen that coming, saying in shock and disbelief, "But-but you stood up for her!"
"Cause I don't know anything for sure! And no matter what I think or how I feel about Zora or even Uncle King Julien doesn't give me the right to condemn either of them on assumptions alone and the same goes for Campion and Clover! It's wrong! They could be wrong! I could be wrong! That's why I spoke out against them!" Minerva explained passionately.
Benson didn't respond right away, lost for one as he processed Minerva's words. He also thought about Clover speaking out against Campion's treatment of Zora as well, after Clover herself had accused her of being a power hungry monster. Both her and Minerva's feelings paired with their actions left Benson himself lost on how he should feel. Finally, he angrily asked,
"So you really believe that Zora wants to kill King Julien?"
"...Yes and honestly? A big part of that is because I haven't trusted her ever since she ran off with Uncle King Julien. Just, running off with a bastard like him, without a second thought..." Minerva solemnly admitted, contempt creeping into her tone by the end while slowly shaking her head. Then, she saw that Benson was glaring at her. So, she glared back and snapped, "Fine, okay!? I have my biases too, alright!? At least I can admit it!"
"You're still judging Zora when you don't even know her!" Benson furiously pointed out.
"Oh, and you do!?"
"Yes! She's my friend!" Benson snapped back. Then, his scowl was replaced by a more pensive expression and he went on to say solemnly, "At least, we used to be. Then she got married and moved away to King Julien's kingdom. Didn't hear much from each other after that..." He trailed off and looked away at a distance as he remembered a time long gone.
"Benson?" Minerva asked in concern, his melancholy cooling down her anger. Truth be told, she had figured that Benson knew Zora ever since he first expressed concern for her.
"...Campion knows Zora through me. I asked him to check on her." Benson said, then asked sadly, "Did he really say that she was choosing Uncle King Julien over her own baby when she refused to leave him?"
"Yes." Minerva said with a snarl, her blood boiling at the memory. Then, in spite of herself, she went on to say with awe and amusement, "But she refused to give into his demands, telling that asshole straight up that she was choosing her baby and her man! Oh and speaking of, when she started to cry, Uncle King Julien cussed the jackass out, saying that Zora cared for the baby a whole lot and how dare he say otherwise! And you already heard what happened with Clover but you don't know what happened next, after their fight was broken up! Zora called Campion out on his bullshit some more and man, you should have seen his face! Bastard couldn't even come up with a lame excuse, she shut him up that good!"
"That's-that's good." Benson said without much enthusiasm. "Thanks for telling me, uh...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"It's Minerva." Minerva told him, now solemn, her brief amusement gone.
"Thanks for telling me all this, Minerva." Benson said sincerely, giving her a soft and sad gaze.
Then, not knowing what else to say, the two of them leaned back against the wall once more, silently staring up at the ceiling for some moments, each in pensive thought.
Then, Benson broke the silence by asking sadly, "Things are gonna keep getting worse around here, aren't they?" In his heart, he already knew the answer and so did Minerva, who responded in kind,
"Yeah."