Featured songs:
1. "Heigh Ho" from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
Meanwhile, in a mine elsewhere, were seven men at work. Four of them were humans, one was a Kel Dor, another was a Nautolan, and the last one was a Cerean.
These seven men worked with pickaxes, shovels, and occasionally dynamite.
Everyone:
We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig
In our mine the whole day through
To dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig
Is what we like to do
Anakin:
It ain't no trick to get rich quick
Mace:
If you dig, dig, dig with a shovel or a pick
Carmine:
In a mine (Echoing: in a mine)
Kit:
in a mine (Echoing: in a mine)
Everyone:
Where a million diamonds shine
Everyone was working hard to dig up a bunch of precious stones from the mine and singing while they worked. Not all of them did digging though. It was Ki-Adi's turn to be on cart duty. He rode on a cart that was filled another load of rocks to be moved, which was being pulled by a beautiful blue pegasus named Sapphire.
We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig
From early morn 'til night
Ki-Adi was minding his job, when a fly started buzzing around him, and when it landed on Sapphire's rear, he tried to smack the fly with a stick, but instead ended up getting the cart kicked by Sapphire, and he fell into the cart.
We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig
Up everything in sight
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan was in charge of making sure each gem was sorted out. They hit a motherload today, which was good for business. The gems were all so shiny and beautiful, and there were so many kinds too. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, even opals.
We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for
We dig dig dig a-dig dig
Of course, not every gem came out perfectly. Some were too cracked or chipped to be sold, but that didn't mean they went to waste.
Today, Plo was on cracked gem duty. He swept up the gems that were unsellable, then put them into little bags by color.
Eventually the work day was over.
Obi-Wan:
Heigh-ho,
Everyone:
heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
And so, the seven men got onto some horses and began heading home.
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's home from work work we go
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, it's home from work work we go
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
The path home was lovely. A path through the forest, safe and pretty, certainly something worth singing about.
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho hum
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's home from work we go
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, it's home from work we go
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
It's home from work we go
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho
Meanwhile, at the cottage, Omega got up a little earlier and started to make some soup. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of stuff in the fridge. There were mostly carrots in there. A lot of carrots!
"Either everyone here really likes carrots, or this is mainly for the horses." Omega thought out loud.
She decided she might as well make the best of it. She looked deeper in and found some celery and figured she could make some vegetable soup, she figured. Well, carrot and celery soup at least. It wasn't like she wasn't used to eating anything that was less than luxurious by now.
The water was taking a while to boil, so Omega chopped up the veggies and decided to go and get some more rest while she waited for it to cook.
But as Omega was getting into bed, something fell from underneath the top of her dress. A locket. Omega gasped as she caught sight of the golden locket. She hadn't looked at it for a long time; ever since her stepmother moved in and took nearly all of her and her brothers' belongings away, Omega hid her locket underneath her dress to keep it safe because it held something very dear to her she couldn't bear to lose.
Omega looked inside the locket and found a picture she hadn't seen in forever. In it, Omega and Boba were about three years old. They were with all their big brothers, and in the center of the picture, holding the twins was King Jango and Queen Zam.
Seeing her parents' faces made tears appear in Omega's eyes. After Miraj took over, she got rid of all the pictures of the children's birth parents before she made them slaves in their own home.
Omega sniffled and held the locket as she lay herself down on the pillow to try and go to sleep, but that was proving harder than she thought. She missed her family so much. By now, she couldn't help wondering if they were okay, and if they were, would they come soon to get her? But how long would that take? They didn't know where she was. What if they never found her?
Fearing the worst, that was when Omega started crying again. She threw herself onto a pillow to silence her sobs at least somewhat.
Back in the kingdom, however, Omega's brothers were all feeling so many things. They'd just fought D'Nar, and now their stepmother's stooge was killed by his own weapon. Miraj was down one minion now, but there was still the evil queen to deal with.
Hunter got his brothers to huddle up.
"Alright, boys." Hunter said. "Here's the plan. We gotta find Dad's will and expose Stepmother to the people."
"And then you'll be king and we can fix everything, right?" Wrecker said.
"That is the plan." Tech said. "But we also need to ensure Omega is safe. Therefore, we must find her before Miraj does. We must split up."
Hunter agreed with that. The plan was this: Hunter and Crosshair would go through the forest to look for Omega while Tech and Wrecker searched for their dad's last will, and Echo and Boba would ride into town and recruit the people to stand up to the queen.
"Shouldn't you look for the will since you're the future king?" Boba pointed out.
"I promised Omega I would find her." Hunter said. "I may be the crown prince, but I'm also a big brother, and that's my first priority."
"She's my twin. I wanna help find her."
"It's dangerous in that forest, Boba. We don't need two kids getting lost in there."
"I'm almost fifteen."
"Enough! The more time we spend arguing, the more time we give our stepmother to do God-knows-what!"
So, the six brothers got onto their horses to do their jobs. Since Hunter lost his horse after Mirah moved in, and Omega was currently missing, he rode Estrella.
So, Hunter and Crosshair rode into the forest to look for Omega, Wrecker and Tech went back into the palace to start looking for their father's will, and Boba and Echo rode off to town to seek out supporters.
Wrecker and Tech figured a good place to start looking was in their father's old study. It was one of few rooms Miraj hadn't ruined in their house.
"What makes you think we're gonna find it in such an obvious place?" Wrecker said, looking in a drawer.
Tech, on the other hand, was feeling the bricks against the wall for any signs of a secret compartment or something.
"If I recall correctly," said Tech. "Father used to tell us about secret passages within the palace walls. To my knowledge, we were the only ones he ever told prior to his death."
Wrecker looked into more drawers of his father's old desk. Not much except for dust, some old paper, pens, and bottles of ink. And on the desk table, even more dust, and an old framed photo King Jango had told his sons to keep safe when he married Miraj, especially after his death, but he never said why.
"Aww, look how cute we were." Wrecker said, picking up the picture.
"Focus, Wrecker. We have to find Father's will if we want any chance of reclaiming the kingdom."
But when Wrecker placed the frame back on the desk, it dropped to the floor and broke.
"Oops!"
"Wrecker! Look what you've done." But then, Tech noticed something. "Wait… the frame."
"I know, I broke another precious piece of our memories."
"Not that."
Tech carefully picked up the broken picture frame and found something hidden in the back behind the actual photo. It was a folded piece of paper with King Jango's official royal seal on it.
Carefully, Tech opened the paper and found a message inside.
Dear Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, Echo, Boba, and Omega,
If you're reading this it means I am no longer here and my wife has taken over upon my death. At the time I am writing this, I am on the verge of divorcing her after I have realized her true colors. But should she have taken over and destroyed my will in any way, this will provide you clues to where I have hidden copies of my last will and testament.
Here is your first clue: March 14 squared, down by the bay, code word: swordfish.
Follow the clues well, and the kingdom will be saved.
Sincerely, Father.
"What does that mean?" Wrecker asked.
Even Tech had to admit, that sounded a little confusing.
"Hold on. March 14, squared…? That must refer to pie squared, the numbers of which are most commonly known, 3.14159265. However, it refers not to pie as in math pie, but pie as in pie the dessert."
"So we gotta look for pie?"
"Precisely. But the clue also said, 'Down by the bay' and that Swordfish is a code word."
But then Wrecker had an idea.
"I know where to go!"
Wrecker grabbed Tech's hand and rushed them out of the palace.
Wrecker dragged Tech all the way down to where the giant wall blocked the ocean view, but there were still the local shops by the old pier, where there was a place called Down By the Bake, Wrecker's favorite sweet shop.
"Mom used to take me here for being a good boy." Wrecker said. He licked his mouth when he saw the display cakes and pies in the window. "Yum!"
"We don't have time for dessert now, Wrecker." Tech said, walking into the shop.
The two princes were both greeted by a couple of bakers who were astonished to see them there.
"Ah, Prince Wrecker. It's been years since we've seen you here," said a baker, whose name was Dex. "I believe we just baked your favorite."
"Yes!"
"That's very nice, Mr. Dex. But we are not here for pastries. Would you happen to know of a code word: Swordfish, by any chance?"
Dex had someone check for any eavesdroppers and close the door.
Dex opened a safe in the back room and took out an envelope with King Jango's royal seal on it.
"Your father said you might come for this one day." Dex said. "If you can get Queen Miraj dethroned, you can have as much pie as you want."
Wrecker liked the sound of that. So, Tech and Wrecker opened up the second clue.
Angry grapes, mice and men, under the sea, and lords of apes. One roof, stacked in many, all for one and one for all, 302.
Now Tech and Wrecker were both perplexed. What was that supposed to mean?
But then, Tech thought of the separate pieces of the clue. Angry grapes, mice and men, under the sea, and lords of apes. Then he thought, "Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice & Men, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Tarzan: Lord of Apes… those were all books! And 'all for one and one for all' was a quote from The Three Musketeers, another book. And where do you find all those books under one roof? The library!"
So, Tech and Wrecker made their way to the library and asked the librarian if she could direct them to The Three Musketeers.
"You're in luck, boys." Ms. Jocasta, the librarian, said. "Your father had this copy on hold just for you."
Jocasta gave them the copy, which Tech turned to page 302, and between the pages, he found another envelope with another clue. If they deciphered the clues as well as they had the last two, they would have Miraj dethroned by tomorrow. Except, the next clue proved a little harder than they thought.
Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, when I have flown. If you want to know which has your clue, ask Roy G. Biv, though he has no voice, he holds answers for you.