The Mountain Lemur Kingdom was divided, with some aligning themselves with Clover while others sided with Campion. And then there was Sage, who remained ever unwavering in his belief that both Zora and Uncle King Julien were innocent parents to be who were better off away from the 'toxic air of callousness and hatred suffocating our home!'. That if his wife or anyone else dared bring the couple to his kingdom, then he would send them back to King Julien's posthaste. And while some wished to fulfill their queen's orders, others were ready to enforce their king's out of concern for Zora and how she and her child would be treated if Clover got her way. All this only farther fueled Clover's rage, which she more often then not took out on Sage, berating him for hours on end, screaming that he should get off his peace and love high horse and help her save her friend before it was too late. But Sage wouldn't budge and neither would Clover and so the situation remained in a deadlock for over a week until one day, husband and wife found themselves arguing once more in the throne room housed within the royal temple.
"Dear gods, do you even care that King Julien has trapped himself with that psychopath!?" Clover was shrieking while Sage maintained his placid expression, giving a composed answer in response, though Clover heard the slightest edge lacing his words as he spoke.
"King Julien is not trapped! He is free because he has chosen to open his heart!"
"He hasn't chosen anything! Between you and Campion and all the whiny brats on your sides and being afraid for me and an imaginary baby, he feels like he has no choice! Least he 'break up a growing family or turn away a future mommy'!" Clover pointed out furiously, coupled with blatantly bitter mocking.
"Why must you mock your friend for showing compassion!?" Sage started off with a low snarl before suddenly snapping, the leap in volume and force briefly taking Clover aback. Then, her scowl soon returned and with teeth and bitterness bared, snapped back,
"I'm not mocking him! He's being tricked and the longer we go on wasting time gives his uncle and Zora all the more time to use his own heart against him! But you don't care, do you!? And why should you!? It's not like you give a damn about any of the lemurs we killed! Why should King Julien be any different!?"
After a stunned moment, Sage told her, "...Their deaths are a tragedy of which we did not script.", calm and composed once more.
One of Clover's eyes twitched as she clenched her trembling fists ever tighter at her sides. Her whole body shook as her breath came out ever heavier through gnashed teeth grinding against each other. She narrowed her jungle eyes on her husband's thick skull, the wild within one wrong breath away from tearing him limb by limb. "You son of a…!"
Clover's curse was cut short by what sounded like ceramic shattering against a hard surface, it's loud echos bouncing off the surrounding stone. Startled, she and Sage whipped their heads towards the noise to see that they weren't as alone as they had thought. For it turned out none other then Xixi was in the room as well, standing next to a toppled thin stone pillar, staring down in wide eyed horror at what looked to be fragmented pieces of the red ceramic bowl that used to rest on said pillar but was now scattered about the floor at her feet. Then, she looked up to see the royal couple staring back at her.
"Oh my Frank, I'm so sorry! I didn't see that there, I swear! Ma-maybe I can fix it!" Xixi frantically said and scanned the floor, found two of the larger pieces and gingerly pressed them together. Upon contact, the shards cracked and crumbled into tiny pieces that fell through her wings to rain back down onto the floor. She stared dumbly at the minuscule bits she still held, then at the crumbled heap at her feet, then back to Clover and Sage, then avoided their eyes and dropped her wings in defeat as she admitted meekly, "...I can't fix it."
"Never mind that! Why are you here!?" Was Clover's vexed question. Then, all too familiar fears made themselves known and with a start, she grabbed Xixi to hold the bird right up to her face as she demanded with ever increasing panic, "Has something happened!? Is King Julien alright!? Has he been hurt!? What about Maurice, Mort, the people, Dr. S!? Are they all okay!? Is everyone alright!?"
"No! Wait no, I mean yes! No, I mean King Julien is okay! Maurice is okay! Everyone's okay!" Xixi frantically tried to reassure the panicking primate, recoiling from her ear splitting voice, her manic feral eyes boring down upon her person.
"R-really!? Everyone's alright!?" Clover asked, cautiously hopeful, her savage gaze simmering some.
"Yes! They're all alright! Really!" Xixi insisted.
At this, Clover's bristling fur began to lay back down while her ragged breath slowed. Her rigid muscles and twitching tail began to relax while her face softened. And she closed her eyes as she let out a shaking breath that said, overcome with relief, "Thank the gods!"
But then, Clover's scowl returned and she demanded to know, "Hey, wait a second! If everything's alight, then why are you here!?"
Xixi winced from her harsh tone and tentatively told her, "Because...nobody's hurt but...something has happened. King Julien wrote you a letter explaining everything."
"You mean this?" Sage asked, picking up an envelope laying close to the broken bowl shards.
"Letter? Let me see that!" Clover demanded, dropping Xixi (who landed on the floor with a yelp and a thud) and walking over to Sage. "Give me that!" She barked as she snatched the envelope from his paws. She then carefully tore open the top, pulled out the piece of paper inside and began to read. Within the first sentence, she felt her heart stop.
"It can't be…!" Clover said to herself with breathless disbelief, her eyes widening to two open fields.
"Now, now Clover, take it easy…" Xixi said and held up her wings in anxious concern, getting off her sore behind to hop over to Clover.
Who paid her no heed as she read on. As the ground became ever more unsteady beneath her feet, gripping her toes against the stone in an attempt to keep her balance. As dread coiled itself ever tighter around her heart as it hammered ever faster. As a thousand thoughts were shrieking in her ears by the time she read the last letter. As she read the note again, her brain scrambling to wrap itself around the information it held. Then, she stopped reading and sprinted towards the temple entrance way, abandoning the note in her wake where it fluttered back to the floor.
"Clover!?" Sage called out to his wife but she paid him no heed, bolting out the door without a word, leaving Sage to stare after her with both worry and bewilderment.
"Oh boy! Give ya one guess where she's going!" Xixi told him, fluttering over to touch down next to the discarded paper.
"Huh?" Sage asked, confused. To which Xixi picked up the letter and held it out to him.
"Read for yourself."
Sage took the letter and he didn't have to read long before saying in stunned understanding, "Oh." He then started to follow Clover's path.
"Hey! Where are you going!?" Hey!" Xixi asked irritably but Sage just continued to walk without a word. Xixi let out an annoyed groan and followed him out of the throne room and onto the top of the tall stone steps leading down into the village. Some lemurs were gathered at the temple's base, talking in hushed murmurs of concern and contempt, many giving their king scolding glares upon spotting him while Xixi received curious stares and puzzled head tilts. Sage stopped at the edge of the top step and quickly read the rest of the letter before looking back out among his people, proclaiming triumphantly to all,
"My people, I have a most important announcement! A truth has been revealed! One that should have been obvious to all from the start but now, has no room for doubt! For King Julien has just sent word of undeniable proof that Zora truly is with child!"
To which there arose such a clamor from the crowd, an array of shocked and incredulous exclaims filling the air.
"It's true!" Xixi said uneasily.
Then, a masculine voice was able to rise above all the others to say with great skepticism, "And what is this 'proof'!?"
And just like that, lips shut and heads turned to see that the source of suspicion was Jake, a guy who was not only one of Clover's biggest supporters but also her hand picked replacement for Campion as captain of the mountain lemur army and currently eyeing Sage with a most scrutinizing gaze.
"Zora's musk has gone through a most wondrous change! For it is now giving off the same scent that which all expectant lemur mothers give!" Sage explained with pride, a small smug smile playing on his lips at Jake's stupefied expression in response.
For one can tell a lot about a lemur by their musk. Sex, fertility and yes, whether or not they're pregnant. King Julien himself didn't know this fact until some of his people told him that they recognized the scent coming from Zora either from their own past pregnancies or those of loved ones. And while lemurs may lie, musk doesn't. That was the explanation given in the lemur king's letter.
A hawk's shrill shriek suddenly split through the sky and when heads turned towards the source, all saw a dark gray hawk lifting up into the air from within the village, gliding off and over the jungle with an orange figure spotted on it's back.
"Aaaand Clover's going off to see King Julien about it! Great!" A lady lemur griped while rolling her eyes. Her name was Roxanne and she was one of Campion's biggest supporters.
"Yes, for surely now Clover has seen the error of her ways and has gone off to apologize for her grave misjudgment!" Sage proclaimed, once again with satisfied conviction.
"Error of her ways!?" Jake snapped with incredulous offense.
"Apologize!? Ha! More like she still doesn't believe there's a baby, that Zora's somehow magically found a way to spritz herself with pregnancy musk to farther fool everyone and has gone off to convince her 'precious King Julien' likewise!" Roxanne argued with bitter mocking.
"Or Clover knows that just because she's having a baby doesn't mean that Zora can't be a manipulative bitch and is off to warn her friend!" Was Jake's scathing retort.
"What!?" Roxanne snapped with offended disbelief.
"It all makes sense now! This is all part of their plan! Zora and that scheming old snake, they made a little demon spawn on purpose so they wouldn't get caught so easily! Giving them more time to carry everything out and an heir for when they take the throne!" Jake's conviction rose as the pieces fell perfectly into place within his mind's eye to paint a most vile picture.
"Are you fucking serious!? I can't believe you! Zora is trapped with that bastard, with a baby and you're still treating her like a monster!?" Roxanne snapped.
"And I can't believe you're still treating her like an innocent angel and not a lying bitch who knows exactly what she's doing!" Jake snapped back.
This was met with Roxanne's swift fist slamming into Jake's stomach, causing him to double over while clenching his now aching abdomen. After a moment knelt over while letting out pained groans, he glared back up at Roxanne and before she could even blink, he sprung forward to tackle her to the ground. Once there, the pair rolled and thrashed about in a furious frenzy as they belted out blood curling battle cries.
This was accompanied by lemurs cheering on from the sidelines which swiftly lead to someone on one side snapping at and shoving their neighbor from another and to be met with a barb and push in return. From there, shoves and insults were passed back and forth that were quickly coupled with punches and kicks. And the same thing happened across the clearing with bodies soon rolling in waves of black and white, their multitude of battle bellows blending together into one deafening roar.
And as all this transpired, Sage remained where he stood, frozen in shock and horror as he helplessly watched his people turn on each other until finally, he snapped out of his stunned state to beseech to all,
"Stop! Stop, please! Can't you see what you're doing!? You're tangling yourselves ever tighter in the webs of your own egos, serving yourselves up like a buffet for hatred to lay her eggs inside you which will hatch and eat you alive if you don't stop this madness!"
He went on and on, begging and pleading with quote after quote, but none heeded his words. No lemur could even hear him over the hubbub. He might as well have been a ghost as lemurs didn't give him so much as a glance, carrying on with their quarrels as if he had no voice.
Xixi was the only one who heard his pleas and it was she who silently watched him flounder in his futile efforts before he finally gave up and resigned himself to watch the unrest with a most forlorn expression. But still, she would not approach him, would offer him no words of comfort nor so much as an acknowledgement of his plight. She just kept solemnly staring from the sidelines until she could no more and flew away, leaving Sage to wallow alone.
She flew over the brawl below, towards the rest of the village, and it was then that she noticed a lone lemur walking at a brisk pace away from the fray. Curious, she flew and touched down in front of said lemur, who let a panicked yelp along with a startled shudder, with arms held up in defense at her sudden appearance.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just noticed that you were walking away from the fighting, that's all." Xixi's anxious apology turned into a puzzled observation. At the same time, she got a better look at this panicky primate, who was heavy set, had reddish orange eyes and who she could have sworn looked somewhat familiar.
"Yeah, I didn't wanna get into...all that..." The lemur awkwardly said and rubbed the back of her neck and it was then that Xixi realized where she had seen her before, saying excitedly,
"Hey, it's you! The other mountain lemur from last week! With Clover and Sage! Ma...Me...uh, what was your name again?"
"Minerva and yeah, that's me."
"Oh, this is great! No, awesome! No, fantastic! My viewers are dying for an inside scoop from a mountain lemur on the mess going on here and you are just the lemur! You've seen it all from the beginning! You just have to let me interview you!" Xixi told Minerva with great enthusiasm.
"Hold it, hold it! Back up! Interview? Viewers? What are you, some kind of journalist?" Minerva asked Xixi, both overwhelmed and confused by this out of nowhere demand.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Xixi, top journalist and gossip girl for King Julien's kingdom and boy, would everyone there to love hear from you! So, what do ya say?"
"Uh, sure?" Minerva said, slowly and awkwardly. "Um, can we talk back at my tent?"
"Sure!"
And so, the pair made their way through the village with Xixi perched on Minerva's shoulder. They passed several lemurs along the way, who gave brief scolding glares in their direction before turning their noses up as they walked away. Minerva ignored them while Xixi glared at the back of skulls until the two of them reached the tent.
It was smaller then Xixi had expected and she was thinking that there was no way everyone in the kingdom could possibly fit inside when she noticed two larger tents close by, spread out apart from the smaller one and each other.
"Hey, what's up with the other tents?" Xixi asked and pointed to said structures with her wing. Upon following that and seeing them too, Minerva scowled and grumbled bitterly,
"That's where the other groups sleep."
"But I thought Clover said you guys all sleep together in one really big tent." Xixi said, confused.
"Not anymore, we don't." Minerva answered and opened the flap of her tent's entrance, to which Xixi flew through with Minerva following after.
There wasn't much on the inside, mostly just several beds lined up in either side, two of which were occupied by a leaner lady lemur fluttering her eyes open as she lay in one and a fat guy lemur slowly sitting up on the other, with bandages wrapped around varying parts of their sluggish bodies.
"Hi Jodie, Hi Benson." Minerva greeted both wearily.
"H-hi, Minnie." Jodie yawned as she stretched her body out along the bed. She then noticed Xixi, who had perched on one of the tent's few chairs, sat up on alert and asked her curiously, "Uh, who are you?"
To which Xixi answered uneasily, "I'm Xixi and I'm here to deliver a message from King Julien. Turns out that...Zora really is pregnant!"
"What!?" Both Benson and Jodie simultaneously exclaimed in shock. Then, Benson added triumphantly,
"I knew it!"
"No! Way! How the hell does King Julien know that this soon!?" Jodie asked Xixi critically.
"Zora started giving off pregnancy musk."
To which Jodie could only say, simple and stunned, "Oh."
"Yeah and musk doesn't lie so...yeah, Zora and Uncle King Julien really are having a baby after all."
"Yeah..." Benson said uneasily, his triumphant trampled by troubled thoughts concerning Zora's lover and knowing this, Minerva felt a twinge in her heart in spite of herself. Then, Benson scowled and snarled, "I'm guessing you already told Clover and Sage, huh?"
"Yeah and Clover's pretty upset about it and everyone else was when Sage told them and I'm pretty sure they're still beating the snot out of each other over it as we speak." Xixi told him and Jodie.
To which Minerva let out a contemptuous snort and added with bitter mocking, "Sage isn't upset! Oh no, Mister Smug Ass is thrilled and is confident that Clover has run off to King Julien to apologize for her 'grave misjudgment'!", complete with fake dopey voice coupled with air quotes.
"Yeah, that too..." Xixi confirmed, unnerved by that and his attitude during the couple's argument right before.
"Of course."
"Why am I not shocked?"
Both Benson and Jodie responded in jaded fashion, with all three lemurs now wearing matching scowls. But then, a thought came to Minerva that wiped away hers and she asked Xixi in concern,
"How is King Julien handling the news?"
"Now's that a reaction I didn't see coming! He's not that shocked! Surprised but not totally caught off guard, I'm gonna faint surprised like he was last week!...Then again...he already seemed to believe there was a baby from the start and Zora's musk maybe has just confirmed things for him!" Was Xixi's astonished answer that switched to solemn musing, remembering the lemur king's passionate plea for sympathy from his people.
"Yeah, I think it did." Minerva said in kind, remembering the appeal for compassion as well.
There was a brief awkward pause then, with no one knowing what to say next, until Xixi broke it by asking Minerva,
"So uh, what do ya say we get started with that interview, huh?"
"Interview? What interview?" Benson asked, confused.
So, he and Jodie were told about Xixi's request and were asked if they wished to give their own statements, to which both agreed. And with that, the lemurs sat down on the beds while Xixi remained in the chair, where she pressed record on her lent tape recorder and started the interview off with an uneasy inquiry.
"So, your kingdom is still pretty divided on this issue, huh?"
"That's an understatement! These days, it seems like every time I turn around there's another fight breaking out and it just keeps getting worse!" Minerva bemoaned.
"We're still recovering from our last one!" Benson said in kind while pointing at Jodie, who nodded.
"And who were you two fighting? Whose side are you all on?" Xixi first asked the brawling pair, then all three lemurs. For while she had initially assumed that they were all on Clover's due to Minerva's compliance with her the previous week, Benson and Jodie's differing reactions to the musk and the fact that there were three sleeping tents and not just two had all left Xixi quite perplexed.
"Minerva's!" Jodie and Benson said simultaneously and without hesitation.
"Huh" Now Xixi was even more confused and she looked from the injured lemurs to Minerva, who rolled her eyes and said, annoyed and embarrassed,
"Seriously, you guys? This again?"
"Yes cause you were the first one to call Campion and Clover out on their crap!" Jodie told her, then turned to Xixi and continued to argue passionately, "When they all got back from your kingdom, Minerva called them both out! That neither of them know for sure that Zora or even Uncle King Julien are up to anything! That they're just throwing around accusations like-like confetti without any real evidence to back them up! And she's right, they don't know anything but they sure love to pretend they know everything! Unlike Min, who admits that she doesn't and wants to use her brain instead of being a bully and that's why I'm listening to her!" At her final few words, she looked back to Minerva and gave her friend an earnest gaze of which she didn't know how to respond, only able to give a stunned stare in return.
While Xixi at the same time gave her an increasingly incredulous one. "You really said that!? To their faces!?" She asked, for even just from her brief time knowing her, had figured Minerva to be one to avoid confrontation.
Minerva avoided everyone's eyes as she said humbly, "I just said what any sensible lemur would."
"You're one of the only sensible lemurs round here!" Jodie said with frustration, to which Minerva responded in kind,
"You're sensible too! And Benson and the others! Why am I so special!?"
"Cause you're the one who got the rest of us to start being sensible! To stop and think before we act instead of just getting angry and-and beating up anybody who doesn't agree with us! At least, that's how it was for me!" Benson argued and looked to Minerva earnestly and once again, Minerva was too taken aback for a response. But Xixi wasn't, quick to point out to Benson and Jodie critically,
"But you said you were in a fight recently. Care to explain that?"
This question caught them both off guard but Benson was quick to give a vexed answer. "Some assholes were talking shit about Zora and I just...I got mad, okay!?"
"And I wasn't about to let him fight those assholes by himself!" Jodie added in kind.
"And I know that I shouldn't have but...Jodie and Minerva don't trust Zora either but I don't beat them up cause they're not assholes about it!"
"Hold it! Hold it! Stop! Freeze and zip it!" Xixi ordered irritably, moving her wing across her beak like she was pulling a zipper shut. Then, she sighed and continued in a more composed manner, "Now, let me get this straight. You're in the camp of 'Uncle King Julien is lying but Zora is telling the truth', am I right?" This question was for Benson, who nodded. Then, Xixi turned to Jodie and Minerva to ask them, "While you two on the other hand, think they're both lying, correct?" To which both women nodded. Then, Xixi asked all, "So, you have different opinions on the matter but are united in that you all want solid evidence that points one way or another before convicting or acquitting anyone of any crime, putting you guys in a whole other group separate from Teams Campion and Clover. Did I figure it out or am I missing something or off track or-or what?"
"It's all true, you figured it out." Minerva said solemnly while the others nodded in kind.
"So…with that cleared up...what are your individual opinions on this…latest development on this whole...mess?" Xixi asked awkwardly.
This took the lemurs aback and they gave each other stunned stares before looking back to Xixi.
"I...gotta be honest here. My brain is still trying to just process this shit! Min, Benson, I know you guys got something to say about it, so go ahead and say it." Jodie said, holding one paw to her head while waving the other at Benson and Minerva, still too staggered by the revelation.
"It certainly...complicates things...even more then they already were! I admit I was wrong about there being no baby...but that doesn't mean I'm ready to trust their parents! Especially not their father!" Minerva said with slow caution at first but gained confidence as she went, snarling with words drenched in venom by the end, with extra contempt tipping it all off. But then, her smothering glare simmered and she looked nervously at Benson as she tentatively told him, "Benson, I...when Sage told everyone, Jake…now he thinks..."
"I know the kind of crap he thinks! Spit it out already!" Benson irritably ordered.
"He thinks Uncle King Julien and Zora got her pregnant on purpose so they wouldn't get caught as easily in their plot to kill King Julien and to give them more time to do it and an heir for after they do!" Minerva recounted frantically.
While Jodie's eyes stayed in wide eyed shock, quick as a flash, Benson's narrowed and he stood up as he furiously shrieked, "What!?", to which Minerva cowered and frantically said in defense,
"His words, not mine!"
"That you brought up! After you were asked how you feel...you think he's right, don't you!?" Was Benson's critical retort.
"What!? No! I mean...maybe!? I-I just think it's possible that ma-maybe Jake has a point?"
"Or he's a stubborn dick with his head so far up his own ass, he'd argue the sky's fucking plaid! Did you ever think that maybe that's possible!?"
As he spoke, Minerva recoiled even farther from his sharp words but upon hearing their mockery, scowled and stood up to stand nose to nose with him, her amber eyes blazing as she snarled, "Jake having the brains of a boulder doesn't change the fact that while the baby may not have been a lie, that doesn't mean their father or mother can't easily be lying about other matters!"
After a stunned moment, Benson's scowl returned and he snapped, "You don't know that! You don't know that Zora's lying!"
"And you don't know that she isn't!" Minerva snapped back.
As this transpired, Jodie and Xixi watched ever anxiously. As teeth gnashed and tight fists trembled at sides. As words stopped being flung but scolding glares continued to be exchanged in smothering silence. As Xixi's dread spilled over to where she couldn't take it anymore, her distressed demand being,
"Stop it!"
This of course caught the quarreling pair's attention, both stunned and confused as Xixi frantically hopped down onto the ground and flapped her wings about as she cut an imaginary line between them.
"Please stop, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I asked! Please, don't fight!" She beseeched both while frantically looking back and forth from lemur to lemur. This caught Benson and Minerva even more off caught and after a stunned moment or two of taking in Xixi's pleading eyes, a wave of shame slammed into both. And it was only amplified when Xixi suddenly stopped and, realizing what she had just said done, avoided their eyes as she said sheepishly,
"I...I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! I...mmm..."
"No, no please! Don't apologize! This isn't your fault! We've been arguing about this all week! All of us, the whole group!...and some of those arguments were also started by my big mouth..." Minerva started her apology off frantic before petering off into subdued shame. Then, she let out a tired sigh and said humbly, to Benson and Xixi in turn, "You're right, Benson! Zora could be telling the truth, about everything! I still think Jake's theory has merit but I know that he could also be spewing complete bull crap! And I should have said that right away instead of being a wishy washy wimp about it! I'm sorry and I'm sorry for scaring you, Xixi!"
To which Benson sighed and said in kind, to Minerva and Xixi in turn, "I'm sorry too! Honestly, I know I would have jumped down your throat no matter what you said and that's not right! You have the right to your opinion and I should respect that cause, like it or not, you're right! Zora could still be lying! And I'm sorry for scaring you too, little birdie!"
"It's okay, you guys, really! I don't know why I'm so emotional! I guess...maybe all this fighting here and at home...but it's been pretty quiet at home lately but then again, not a nice kind of quiet and then I come here and...I think it's all getting to me." Was Xixi's sober response.
"You're not the only one." Jodie said wearily.
This was followed by an uncomfortable silence in which the lemurs thought about the strife splitting apart their home while Xixi mulled over the continuing quarrel between king and subjects within hers. Then, she thought about the mountain lemur's royal couple and their latest argument of which she had been unfortunate witness to.
"Things are really bad between them, aren't they?" Xixi asked all with solemn sadness. Then, with everyone's puzzled attentions on her, she reiterated, "Sage and Clover. It's gotten worse, hasn't it?"
After a stunned moment, Benson answered with an uneasy, "...Yeah."
Xixi's downcast expression was then replaced with a hardened scowl and she said with a bitter snarl, "I overheard them arguing earlier. Clover brought up their wedding reception and how Sage doesn't care about any of the lemurs who died that night because of them! You wanna know Sage's response? 'Their deaths are a tragedy of which we did not script'!" She parroted in a blatantly fake dopey, bitterly mocking manner before then switching back to her sincere anger. "Just calmly said it like it was nothing! Like they didn't die because of his damn letter!"
"Of course he treats it like it was nothing! Why should he!? It's not like he gives a crap about anybody else he's gotten killed! Why start now!?" Minerva said with blatantly bitter sarcasm, to which Xixi said wholeheartedly,
"Um-hum, true that!" But then, she went over Minerva's words again and that's when realization hit her like a ton of boulders slamming into her side, demanding to know in shock and horror, "Wait, what!? Anybody else!? Who else is there!?"
"Every animal Koto killed, that's who! As all part of his 'conquests'! That he was only able to do so because Sage gave him the power he needed to! Sage knew that his brother was a blood thirsty brute! He knew that he would rule with an iron fist if he ever got the chance, that he would never be satisfied controlling only our people! And he knew that the only thing standing between Koto and the throne was him! But no, he didn't wanna be king! He wanted to be a fucking color! And he just up and left and laid out all the power Koto needed to destroy innocent lives with on a silver platter! All the pain, all the suffering, all the destruction, all the bloodshed that came with it is just as much on Sage's paws as Koto's! And now, Sage has surpassed his brother and through it all, he still can't be bothered to give a flying fuck!" Minerva told her with bitterly scathing conviction, her amber eyes continuing to blaze even when she stopped to catch her breath, her ragged huffs and puffs unable to extinguish the roaring inferno within, unable to stop her body from vibrating with barely contained rage.
And all the while, boiling blood coursed through veins all around and for Benson, was coupled with all too familiar shame clenching his heart while Xixi felt herself slipping ever farther into a terrible and impossible nightmare.
She had already known about Sage's initial refusal of the crown despite knowing Koto's cruel ambitions. Everyone did. But she had always assumed that Sage felt immense penitence for all the lives lost because of his mistake. That although she had never heard anything of the sort personally, that he had at least owned up to his grave error with his own people and that they were all trying to atone for what they had done together. Even when Sage first said that he wasn't going to feel guilty for all the pain and death he had recently caused because, to give him minimal credit, at least that had been an accident. A terrible, moronic, easily preventable accident but an accident nonetheless. He hadn't seen any of the ensuring suffering from his marriage coming. No one did…But he knew the consequences of allowing Koto to cease power and yet...
"You're telling me he's never expressed any remorse for their deaths either!?" She asked, hoarse with stunned incredulousness.
By this point, Minerva had sat back down and was hunched over while gripping the side of the bed, raking her claws against the mattress, focusing on the dirt beneath her feet and her breathing, which had slowed enough by then that at Xixi's inquiry, she looked up and snarled, "No! Oh, he admits to helping Koto become king! That he helped him take over this island! But then when it comes to everyone Koto killed? Then it's all about how their deaths are a tragedy and the parts that the rest of us played but never! His! Own!" She suddenly snapped, with eyes once again blazing like two small suns, with claws now tearing into the mattress, with teeth and bitterness bared as she rebuked, "Cause it's so easy for him to judge everyone besides himself! Just like he's doing now! He's all pissed off that everyone's angry and yet, part of why he banned Uncle King Julien and Zora in the first place was because he got angry with Clover!"
"What!?" Xixi exclaimed incredulously, to which Jodie said critically,
"Yep! After Min called out Campion and Clover, Sage had the fucking nerve to compare King Julien's uncle with Clover's sister! Going on about how the old bastard's 'love' for Zora redeemed him just like Crimson's love for Clover and their grandma redeemed her and of course, Clover called him out on his crap! I mean, tore into him! Saying that they weren't the same and how dare he try and compare them and when Bubble Brain refused to back off, that's when Clover…!" She trailed off suddenly and started humming an uncomfortable tune through now tight lips, avoiding Xixi's confused gaze as she did. She then tentatively looked back to Xixi and told her uneasily, "...That's when Clover brought up Koto and how Sage failed to redeem him!"
To which Xixi gasped, her wings flew to her beak and she said with breathless shock, "Oh my gods! The lunchbox! Clover told us about that!"
"Yeah..." Benson, even more uncomfortable as he remembered Koto's mocking recount of the failed attempt at reform, including proudly showing off the tooth he had yanked right out of his brother's mouth as a well earned trophy. "Up until then, Sage was trying to talk things out with everybody! Well, except Campion! But then Clover said...that and that was it! And no matter how much Clover has begged and pleaded with him to reconsider, he's refused to hear her out! He's...he's been nothing to cruel to her!" His anger and volume rose as he spoke until he was proclaiming with scathing conviction and continued to do so as he went on to say, "And it hasn't been just about King Julien and his uncle and Zora either, oh no! According to Sage, Clover can't do anything right! Did she tell you guys about bring back the more violet parts of our training and how much Sage disapproves of it?"
To which Xixi nodded, recalling how she had initially dismissed it as a simple love's quarrel that would soon be resolved. She was going to guess now that wasn't the case.
"Well the other day, Sage lectured Clover about it again, in front of a bunch of us may I add! About how 'violence only leads to more violence' and how she's been leading us all down 'violence road' and when she asked him if he was blaming her for everybody fighting, he didn't deny it! Just changed the subject with more stupid Sage quotes in his stupid Sage voice in stupid Sage fashion!"
"And it's just going to keep getting worse, mark my words!" Minerva snarled. She then got up and started to pace about, her following rebuke coming out ever more furiously as she spoke. "Just wait, when Clover gets back, Sage is going to be all smug about how he was right! That Zora really is carrying a 'miracle of the universe' and how surely now Clover has seen the 'error of her ways'! Then, he'll throw a fit when Clover tells him that no, she hasn't apologized cause she doesn't need to apologize cause she has every fucking right to be freaked the fuck out that one of her best friends could fucking die! But Sage won't care, oh no! He'll be even more determined to treat Clover like a dumb savage bitch that needs to be put in her place! Never mind that every moment he wastes at her throat could get King Julien fucking killed!", finishing off with a feral scream as she pulled her fist back before then slamming it into the nearest post holding up the middle of the tent.
This dug a decent dent with several long cracks spreading from it, making an impression of a spider's web carved into the wood with Minerva keeping her fist right in it's middle as she huffed and puffed and slowly realized what she had just done.
"Damn, Min!" Jodie exclaimed.
"Looks like we're gonna have to replace that one." Benson added matter of fact like.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean...I-I'll fix it! I swear!" Minerva told her fellow lemurs, frantic and embarrassed.
"Whoa, easy girl!" Jodie held up her paws in stopping motions. "It's alright, really! It's an easy fix! Besides, it's not like this would be the first time we've had to replace a post or chair or bed!" She tried to reassure her with a hint of humor.
"Yeah, I've had to replace a lot of stuff lately, member?" Benson added sheepishly.
"That doesn't make it...it's just...Sage, he makes me so…!" Minerva struggled for words as her rage began to rise once more, pulling back her leg in order to kick the same post but then, thought better of it and put her leg back down. She then took a quivering breath, walked back to sit on the same bed, bowed her head and slowly shook it while growling, "He just makes me so angry!"
This was followed by an uncomfortable silence, made all the more suffocating by the thick humid air that filled the closed quarters, that clung to lungs, feathers and fur. It soon became too much for Xixi, who furrowed her brow and said to Minerva in fed up fashion,
"Alright, that done's it! No more talking about Sage! Let's talk about you!"
"But haven't we already talked about me?" Minerva asked irritably.
"Yeah but I wanna know more! Like, what prompted you to call out Campion and Clover in the first place?"
"Campion heard me talking smack about him under my breath and when he demanded to know what I said, I told him the truth! And it just slipped out with Clover!" Minerva said and shrugged humbly.
"Okay but then, why not just deny saying anything or make something up? Why, well, poke the bear? Twice? No offense but you seem more like the type to cower and avoid confrontation at all costs. So why didn't you?" Xixi pressed on, genuinely curious.
This inquiry genuinely took Minerva off guard and it was all she could do initially but stare at Xixi. Then, the shock began to fade with a thousand thoughts and emotions both old and new taking it's place, giving way to pensive silence. During which Minerva swept her gaze over the others, lingering just a little longer on Benson (which didn't go unnoticed by Xixi). She then looked towards some faraway place that no one else could see as they all waited for her patiently, with Minerva giving nothing but an expression of stone all the while.
"You're right, I am the cowering type. I hate confrontation and as for why I didn't try to avoid it that day, honestly, I've been asking myself that same question all week. And I think I've figured it out. Back when..." She suddenly stopped her solemn response, clenched her fists ever tighter on her lap while her body began to quiver. She squeezed her eyes shut, swallowed a lump in her throat and took a quivering breath that shook her whole body.
Inhale
Exhale
Before opening her eyes and resuming.
"I hated Koto! I hated everything that bastard stood for! I hated his 'conquests'! I hated that he twisted our culture into something so...so vile! But I never dared to call him out on any of it because I knew what happened to those who did! Disobedient subjects executed with their heads put on spikes for everyone to see! Whole families killed because one member spoke out of line and I knew the same could happen to me and my family unless I kept my mouth shut and did as I was told! So I did! The only 'rebellion' I ever dared to commit was working as a nurse so I wouldn't have to hurt anyone or get hurt myself! I stood by as others went off to slaughter innocent animals or get killed themselves and I did nothing! Then, Koto dies and come to find out Sage, who I had always believed never knew just how much of a bastard his brother was back then, had known all along that he was leaving us with a monster! I trusted him! I really did!"
Minerva ended her bitter, rueful lament with another quivering breath that scratched her burning throat but kept her misty grief-stricken gaze on Xixi, pleading with her to understand her misery. Xixi understood, for she saw the betrayal and sorrow, helplessness and regret in Minerva's eyes, returning her mournful gaze with her own compassionate one. She desperately racked her brain for some words of comfort but before she or anyone else could find them, Minerva sneered and let out a bitter chuckle before begrudgingly saying,
"I'll give the bastard one thing! He's given me the freedom to be myself, to say things that I held in for so long and I'll tell ya, I taken quite the advantage of that! Guess that's emboldened me more then I thought!" Then, she scowled and said with a scathing snarl, "He freed me after trapping me in the first place!" Her lips then trembled before she uttered a wretched, "Fuck!", hunching her back even farther while her paws flew to her face, tears trickling onto his palms.
"Minnie..." Jodie said with saddened concern, walked over to sit down next to her friend, pulled her close and squeezed her tight. After a startled second, Minerva saw who was giving the tender embrace and readily repositioned herself to weep into her friend's shoulder while clinging onto her like a lifeline. For all the lives lost. For all those that would never be the same. For all the pain and injustice inflicted onto so many, including herself and all of whom she loved, Minerva wept.
And her tears pierced through everyone's hearts like arrows drenched in melancholy, though the resulting pangs differed from person to person. For Jodie, her heart ached not just for their shared pain of Koto's reign but other sorrows held solely by her friend for all those seasons. While Benson felt that all too familiar shame of having happily helped to inflict that pain clench his heart ever tighter, caging it within it's razor sharp fangs. Shame that, while it wasn't as severe, still had a firm grip on Xixi's own heart. For while she hadn't assisted Koto in nearly the same capacity as Benson, that didn't change the fact that she had still helped the dictator. That she had sold Mort and by extension, most everyone on the island out to save her own skin. That she had sided with a monster while never even considering that he might have been hurting his own people along side hers and still hadn't until now. On the other hand, the aches concerning Sage were a lot more alike all around, with similar depictions of him now having all turned into more monstrous portraits.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean...I'm sorry!" Xixi said ruefully, to which Jodie and Minerva loosened their grips on each other to face her. With all eyes now on her, Xixi repeated more meekly but still sincerely, "I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked!"
To which Minerva reassured her gently, "No, don't apologize. It was a good question and you didn't know my answer was going to be like that." Then, she scowled and said with teeth and bitterness bared, "Besides, you, King Julien, all your friends, you all deserve to know that you're not the only ones who've been screwed over by that psychopath!" Then, her tight muscles shagged, the blaze in her gaze dropped to flames on their last embers and she told Xixi wearily, "I'm tired. Can we please end the interview?"
"Of course we can! You've given me more then enough material, believe me! Thank you so much for talking to me!" Xixi reassured her, soft and sincere. She then turned to Benson and Jodie. "All of you! I know this stuff isn't easy to talk about!"
"You're right, it's isn't but it needs to be said! Minerva's right, you guys deserve to know the whole story!" Jodie said solemnly, which earned her a solemn nod from Benson and a small warm smile from Minerva. Then, the pacifist primate saw Xixi reaching for the tap recorder and shouted,
"Wait!"
To which Xixi stopped and stared at Minerva, who went on to say earnestly, "One more thing before you go! Tell King Julien and everyone I'm sorry that my people have blown all this crap with his uncle out of control! Yes, Uncle King Julien does reminds me so much of Koto but that doesn't change the fact that we're not the ones he's hurt, you are! You're the ones who've dealt with his shit! You're the ones who've been dealing with a whole slew of shit lately! And yet, you're the ones stuck with the bastard cause assholes here are throwing tantrums like over grown children! While you're the ones acting like adults and for that, you all have my deepest respect and support! If there is any way I can be of assistance, tell King Julien he's more then welcome to call on me!"
Xixi was greatly caught off guard by this declaration of admiration, especially considering hers and her fellow citizens true reasons for permitting their ex tyrant and his girlfriend stay in their home (which would be altered due to recent revelations but most certainly not abandoned).
"I...t-thank you! That...really means a lot to hear! King Julien...King Julien especially can really use all the praise he can get right now!" Xixi told her, awkwardly at first but ending solemnly as she thought about other revelations recently revealed to her friend, how that had hung over him like a dark cloud ever since.
And with that said and done, the interview was over. Goodbyes were exchanged and Xixi set off to have audience with the kingdom's other divisions.
After seeing her off, Jodie and Minerva turned around, bracing themselves to face Benson, but saw no trace of him. A quick search about the tent found that he had made his own exit and after the initial surprise, both women realized why. Young, tentative feelings suggested they go look for him to talk things out but older, more hardened ones regrading the former lackey piped in as well. They recalled memories of him letting out wicked cackles as he slashed throats, vibrating with excitement as he anxiously awaited to execute anyone who dared to defy his king, all while sticking by Koto's side like a homicidal puppy for all those seasons. All these and more played out in their minds like a horror movie memorized by heart, from which the aged and still so raw emotions it invoked overpowered the new. Though those more mild sentiments stilled whispered of Bensons's actions since Koto's demise, especially of what had transpired during that previous week, his aid to Minerva and the timid gratitude that had begun to sprout from it. These quelled their anger enough for both women to feel twinges of sympathy for their ally but not enough to go after him. Unsure what to do, the two friends sat back down and held each other close, staying for some time in pensive silence.