How much more would she have to do this? Spying on her friend as he ran a kingdom as a brainwashed tyrant was not on her list of things that were going to happen during a war.
Then again, she also was not expecting to be a part of a war to begin with. Let alone, even if she did expect a war, she did not expect to be leading it.
So far as she knew, most of their plans had gone correctly. Night Shade had been shot, King and the others had gotten in without problems, the only thing that had gone wrong was the ambush.
Perhaps, in some alternate reality, the ambush would have gone without a hitch, but something had gone wrong, and the others had gotten themselves captured before they even got to go through with the plan. But suddenly, everything went to shit.
As of their current situation, Sunny had gotten stuck inside the castle, King and the others were either stuck fighting in the war, or separated across the dimension, Navy, Orchid, and Amber had gone off the radar, Night Shade was dead(she hoped their shot had hit him fatally), and Purple was now king of the Great Above, as much as he probably hated to be.
But as she thought more about what had happened in the throne room during that battle, the more plausible brainwash was involved.
But how? Night Shade, Orchid, and Amber were unable to do anything brainwash-related at all during that entire thing, and Navy seemed way too distracted to brainwash him. Nor would he have possibly even tried, since everyone was either eyeing Purple as if he was some damned traitor, or making sure Navy either didn't escape or do something he'd regret within a second.
Meaning, Purple had to have brainwashed before they broke in, meaning Purple's role in their original plan had not gone the way he'd planned.
Green was right. Navy was a sick, twisted bastard. He must've done something to Purple that led to him turning against them.
God, she wanted to strangle the shit out of their enemies as she remembered what had turned into what almost was their doom.
If not for Purple, even if brainwashed he was their saving grace in that fleeting moment, they all would've been left for dead.
"And the right." King started, stepping into the room, Dark and Chosen hot on his heels.
Second turned back to Navy.
"This war cannot be stopped until you're defeated, Navy!" Second shouted. "So just give up now!"
"Oh, but why would I? It's a sacrifice I'm willing to take if it means losing my kingdom?"
"It's not a kingdom when you force them into submission and serve you on a goddamned silver platter!" Blue snapped.
"Oh, please. You say this like you didn't do the same thing."
The voice snaps them all back into the reality that they are in the midst of a crumbling kingdom that's doomed to collapse any second.
"Prince…"
"Purple!"
Both Green's and Navy's shouts fall on deaf ears. Purple remains still.
"You know, you two are both vaguely similar," Purple said, his voice menacingly soft. "Willing to sacrifice the people that you manipulated into serving you, even if it means you lose your own life. Willing to sacrifice your most trusted ally at the expense of the loss of all you've worked for."
"Purple, what are you talking about?" Second asked.
King and Navy stared at each other, as if they expected what was to come next.
"Me and your "father" are entirely different people!" King snapped. "Sure, we've both done vaguely similar actions, but if you would just listen-"
"NO!"
King backed down.
Purple stepped into view, a crown atop his head and a dark expression on his face. "Your going to listen to me. I'm done being walked all over like I was when I was treated as your slave, King Orange."
"But…"
Purple grasped the crown, smashing it into pieces. "I'm king of this kingdom now, Navy Rose."
Navy snarled. "You don't get to decide that, son."
Purple smirked. "Oh, but I do."
Spikes shot out of the ground, shooting towards Navy's throne.
"GET DOWN!" Second shouted.
Navy snarled. "STAY OUT OF THIS BATTLE, PURPLE!"
"Why would I? Your death is a sacrifice I'm willing to take, even if it means losing the kingdom. Sorry King Rose, but I'm king of this kingdom now. "
Navy snarled. "I swear, I will kill you if it means you quit this idiotic scheme you have, child."
"You should tell that to Agent Fernando." Purple said robotically.
"Purple, what's gotten into you?!" Green shouted.
"Fernando brainwashed him." Navy growled.
Green wasn't expecting an answer from Navy, but decided against a retort.
They had larger and more impactful problem on their hands.
Navy tackled the small boy, sending a glance towards the others. "I will leave you be just this once, but don't expect it to happen again. NOW GO!"
King, although hesitant, ran after the others, realizing cannon booms had filled the air.
If they didn't get out soon, the building would collapse with them all inside.
"Navy, you better get my fucking kid out." King said to himself.
The words all sank in as they all realized how bad off they were all going to be for a while.
"I'm king of this kingdom now."
This was not going to end well. Sunny knew that for sure.
She snuck through the halls of the castle, scaling the rafters and attempting to keep well out of sight.
She was surprised the parts of the castle that had collapsed during the war had been rebuilt so quickly, but most of the Rose family, to Sunny's knowledge, had powers. It shouldn't have been difficult.
Then again, most of their survivors were captured following the gunfire that took out Night Shade, meaning there were an abundance of slaves for Purple to capture.
Poor guy. She knew firsthand experience of being brainwashed. She knew Purple had experienced that pain, and it fucking sucked.
Being brainwashed, in her honest opinion, was the worst thing she had ever had to endure.
She had been separated from the only person who cared enough to rescue her.
"Whatcha gonna do now, Goldie?" The boy cooed towards the golden yellow kid in front. "Gonna save your sister?"
"She's not my sister, now get her down!" Gold snapped.
"Why?"
Sunny whimpered, wincing in pain.
She freaking hated it up there.
Everything was blending together. She just wanted a teacher or someone to come and rescue her already.
A small, dark green stick figure was below her, already preparing to do something stupid.
She began climbing the support arches, and all attention was suddenly turned to her.
"Keep cool, Willow. Okay, sure, everyone's watching you, but still! Your both going to be fine!"
Once she reached the top of the swings, she realized how many children were watching. Gold and his small group of friends were front and center. Sunny must've been a member. Mocha and his buddies were just below them, sarcastically calling out to Sunny.
"Hey, Sunny? I'm gonna get you outta here, okay?" Her voice was gentle, a natural for her. The woman in her family genetically had soft spoken voices unless provoked.
Sunny didn't look up, so Willow let vines curl around the arch supports and they wrapped around the chains.
The chains gradually loosened around Sunny, so Willow grabbed her hand in case she fell.
"Gold! Get ready to catch!" She shouted.
Gold pushed Mocha out of the way and held his arms up, ready to catch the lightweight girl.
Willow gave Sunny a reassuring smile before dropping her into Gold's arms.
She slid down another support and glared at Mocha's friends. "I get why your name is Mocha. Your brain is the size of a coffee bean! A Mokka coffee bean too!"
"And why is that?"
"Because your Mokka pellet bird brain thought it would be so hilarious to let a child be chained up and dangling over woodchips!"
"Your calling me a bird brain?!"
Vines shot put just underneath Willow's palms. "I will make you into bird food if you don't shut your mouth, because nobody asked for your words of disrespect and disregard for a child's life and safety."
Teachers returned moments later. "Willow, Mocha, Sunny. Principals office. Now."
Gold stepped up. "Sunny and Willow are not going with. They are not culprits in this."
"Mocha and his friends chained Sunny up on top of the swings, and Willow rescued her." Another kid said.
The other kids began agreeing. "Willow and Sunny are innocent!"
The teacher stared at them, dumbfounded. "Fine. Mocha, principals office. Sunny, nurses office."
Mocha snarled.
As Sunny began walking with the teacher, she gave Willow a sad smile. "Thank you."
Willow smiled back, happy to help a friend.
Willow was now currently missing, and if the entire castle going down wasn't something to go by, she and the others were probably dead.
"Don't worry, Purple. I'm gonna get you outta here."