All Hail the Red King IV
"So, in addition to being an empress you were also a queen?"
"Yes."
"Is there a distinct difference?"
"A queen is the ruler of one kingdom which is one territory while an empress rules an empire which has multiple territories."
"Oh, that makes sense. Sorry, given that Mistral was one kingdom and in the middle of a big land of Anima I guess that makes sense. The rest of the kingdoms had kings and queens, but I never really understood the difference with Mistral. I guess you learned from being a ruler that time."
"Neither of those times were by my choice. In fact, not only were the positions forced on me but also…"
"Aqua…"
"When it came to being the Blue Queen, I was forced into the position to barter for two innocent lives. To make sure I fully accepted the terms of the deal, I…I had to give up being me."
Everyone couldn't still believe what they were witnessing.
Up there on the platform with the Red King was their friend Aqua who was the Blue Queen.
She even looked like a Queen from how she was dressed in a way that Terra or Ventus had never imagined her ever wearing. The dress consisted of a dark blue bodice with a golden symbol resembling the signature the Emblem of Keyblade Wielders on the chest and a smaller one appeared along the waistline that had golden outlines and golden frills. The sleeves of the dress were short and puffy and had gold cuffs that matched the symbols on her bodice. There was a high, white collar on the back of her dress with small blue frills.
White opera gloves covered her hands up to her forearms, leaving only a little skin exposed between the gloves and sleeves and bracelets rested on her wrists. A light blue skirt and white, lace-edged petticoat stopped at her ankles, covering her legs. To complete the outfit, she wore a long blue cape at the back with a red lining. Her hair remained the same but now a silver crown with a blue gem rested on her head and a golden string necklace with a blue pearl rested around her neck.
Golden earrings with blue jewels were attached to her ears glistening in the sunlight as she waved to the crowd with a beautiful smile. Her hair remained the same, but it was somehow shinier, glistening in the sunlight while mascara and blue eye shadow had been applied to her face along with pink lipstick and powder that made her cheeks blush red.
Oscar, trying to recall anything within the fairy tale book of the girl that fell through the world within Ever After, recalled nothing similar to this at all. There had been a Red King but never a Blue Queen. The formal Farmer boy realized something else, and Neo and Ven came to the conclusions. He looked back to see the two about the jump in the scene, except Terra, who placed a firm iron grip on them.
This surprised both Neo and Ven, allowing Terra to wrap his arms around their torsos, making sure they won't get away and pulled them back, out of the crowd that was too busy focusing on the parade in front of them.
"Terra! What are you doing? That's Aqua! I think the Red King did something to her." Ventus exclaimed, pointing at the Red King with an angered glare.
"He's right. Why are you restraining us and not helping us save our mutual friend?" Neo asked, frustrated by Terra's actions.
"I will tell you but not out in public while this festival is going. Come on, Oscar, we need to talk in private." He said to the boy while dragging Neo and Ventus away.
The boy followed him to a secluded alleyway, while Neo and Ventus looked ready to protest.
"I understand you want to get Aqua back from whatever the Red King has done to her but if you two did that, then we are the aggressors to the citizens within this acre. They'll see us as fiends attacking royalty." Terra places his reason.
"He's right. From what we know, one of the citizens, like that frog, informed us. The Red King must be greatly admired in this time period and has more than just his acre under his rule. Not to mention how different the other acres are or some being completely new. It's completely different from the story I knew about." Oscar explained. "So, we should be very careful about how we act around here and to react with caution."
Neo had a thoughtful look on her face now, contemplating how different things looked from the story she had read. "Okay, you're right. Everything we know right now is completely different. Aqua may be okay for now, although that red bastard must have done something to her. Probably similar to what he did to me."
They noticed Neo trembling from that experience. She obviously was not over being turned into a giant monster by the Red King who had used her own Semblance against her.
"Okay, say we're back about a couple decades in the Ever After. We need to find someone who can tell us just exactly has happened." Terra said, breaking uncomfortableness that Neo was going through.
"There's Jaune. He's the Rusted Knight. He can fill us in all the details of what is really going on with this place." Oscar offered. "If he fell here like before, he'll be around somewhere. Though that also worries me."
"Why?" Ventus asked.
"It means that maybe things didn't change so much. Atlas still falls, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune and Neo," Oscar glanced at Neo who stared back. "Still fall here…and Salem gets two of the Relics. I had hoped that Aqua's adventures in the past could have changed our future."
"Maybe it did." Ventus shrugged. "You said you had no idea who the Red Huntress was. Was she in the original story?"
"No but that could be Ruby for all we know." Oscar shrugged. "That does sound like a title she'd be known for."
"Well, I might know a way to find out." Neo offered, lifting her hat to reveal…
The three fairies that were known as the Gullwings.
All three were seemingly napping in Neo's hair before she gave a shake of her head. "Naptime's over, ya tiny midgets! We got a job for you!...Oh my..." Neo paused and then smiled. "I finally get to make short jokes to people smaller than me!"
Yuna yelped and sat up. "Wh-What's going on?"
"Have they been hiding under your hat the whole time?" Oscar asked, pointing with a perturbed expression.
"Yup." Neo picked Yuna up who immediately protested.
"Hey! Watch the wings!"
"Okay, fairy princess, we got a job for you." Neo said, holding Yuna right in front of her.
"A job?" Yuna perked up.
"Yup. See this place?" Neo held her hand up, allowing Yuna to get a better look at their surroundings.
"Oh, wow!" Yuna exclaimed with a big smile. "There's got to be a lot of treasure around here!"
"Oh yeah." Neo grinned. "And who better to scope out the place for some treasure than a treasure hunter? But we also need a few things."
"Like what?" Rikku asked, her and Paine jumping off of Neo's head and hovering next to Yuna after Neo released her.
"Information. You three scope out the place, try to listen for anything involving the Red King, the Blue Queen or the Rusted Knight." Neo instructed, her grin growing as she pointed behind the fairies. "In fact, given how the Red King's castle looks over yonder, I'd say he's got a lot of treasure."
The three fairies followed Neo's finger, seeing the giant castle in the distance.
"Wow!" Yuna gushed. "It's got to be full of treasure!"
"More treasure than anything we've found in years!" Rikku agreed.
"So how do we get it all?" Paine asked skeptically.
"We'll think on that later." Neo answered. "Right now, me, Farm Boy, Bronzy and Goldilocks have to duck out and find a place to hide out since the Red King won't be happy if he sees us pocking around. You three are small enough to sneak around without being seen."
"I get ya." Yuna grinned. "You want us to scope out this place."
"You got it." Neo snapped her fingers. "You listen for anything about a Rusted Knight or a Red Huntress and we'll look into finding any treasure for you three to grab. We got a deal?"
"Deal!" Yuna grabbed Neo's finger with her considerably smaller hand and shook it, mimicking a handshake. "Where will you be at?"
"Probably an inn or a tavern, somewhere where we can get something to eat and rest." Neo shrugged. "We might do some digging of our own depending on whoever we find but we'll wait at least a day before we start searching."
"Got it." Yuna nodded before taking off into the air, followed by Rikku and Paine. "We'll be back!"
"Are you sure sending them off on their own is a good idea?" Oscar asked skeptically. "They could run into trouble."
"Yeah but they might be in more trouble if someone sees them with us." Neo replied. "The way I see it, the Red King's got most of the people here distrusting humans so little faries are less likely to be wind up in trouble then us."
"There's also the matter of this Coachman seemingly bringing humans into the Ever After." Terra pointed out. "We should look into that as well."
"So where do we go?" Ventus asked, looking around. "Do we go up and just ask someone about this Coachman?"
"More like we do what Neo suggested to the Gullwings. We scope out the place and see what the locals here are like." Terra replied before a growl could be heard from Ven's stomach. "And maybe find you a place to rest and eat."
"I'm fine." Ventus shook his head. "It's Aqua we should be worried about."
"We won't be able to if we're all on an empty stomach…except for me." Terra muttered since he was just a suit of armor.
"About there?" Oscar pointed to a nearby building.
The sign on it said 'Red Lobster Inn'.
"Oh, a tavern." Neo put her hat back on her head. "Roman always said that if you want to find the best place for information, visit the local bar."
"Suddenly I'm reminded how I met Qrow." Oscar muttered to himself.
As soon as the door opened, the Keybladers were greeted with the sound of jovial piano music and the sound of someone singing.
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee. An actor's life for me!"
The singing came from a fox, a tall and slender anthropomorphic red fox with a beige face and muzzle, dark gray circles, thick black eyebrows, black nose, buff tail tip, copper eyes, a pair of two whiskers, and sienna ear innards. He had light brown feet with light gray soles and gray prints. He donned an old and ruined greenish-gray top hat with a light gray band, green shirt with gold buttons and light gray patches on his elbows, both light gray high collar and cuffs with white cufflinks, cream gloves (with a hole on its right pinky), black cravat, teal stirrup pants with gold linings and both light gray patches on his knees, blue and red cape with gold brooch. He also had a black cane on his person.
"A high silk hat, and a silver cane,
A watch of gold, with a diamond chain
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Day. An actor's life is gay!
It's great to be a celebrity
An actor's life for me!"
"He's seemingly cheerful." Oscar said as the group found a table. "But he doesn't resemble anyone I read about."
"Kind of reminds of Roman when he went out drinking." Neo admitted. "Don't recognize the cat next to him either."
Sitting at the table, next to the fox was an anthropomorphic cat with brown fur and green eyes. He wore long, baggy clothing in comparison to the fox's more proper and civilized clothing.
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee, an actor's life for me!
A waxed moustache and a beaver coat
A pony cart and a billy goat
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dum, an actor's life is fun!
You wear your hair in a pompadour!
You ride around in a coach with four!
You stop and buy out a candy store!
An actor's life for me!
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee. An actor's life for me!
With clothes that come from the finest shop
And lots of peanuts and soda pop…"
"Sure has some interesting things to sing about." Ventus noted. "So, who would be the racoon with them?"
With them was a racoon wearing a beige robe and holding a wooden cane, less fancy than the one that belonged to the fox.
"I think…that's Jinxy Peddler." Oscar answered. "A racoon that stole Alyx's dagger in the fairy tale who likes to steal and batter items he finds. She only got it back by having Alyx trade her happiest and saddest memories."
"That's awful." Ventus exclaimed. "How can he ask for someone to give up their memories like that?"
"Because he's a con man, kid." Neo said dryly. "It's what he does. The real question is who those two he is with are."
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee. An actor's life for me!
A high silk hat, and a silver cane
A watch of gold, with a diamond chain
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Day. An actor's life is gay!
It's great to be a celebrity, an actor's life for me!"
The fox let out a jolly laugh as he finished his song, sitting down. "And the dumb brat fell for it, hook, line and sinker."
As the fox spoke and laughed, the cat took a puff of his cigar, blew out a ring of smoke that he then actually grabbed and dipped into his drink before taking a 'bite' out of it, though the smokey 'donut' remained untouched and vanished as the cat let out a hiccup.
"And he still thought we were his friends." The fox continued. "And did Stromboli pay…plenty."
The fox put a bag of coins on the table.
"Too bad the Heartless got to our world but here in the Ever After, things are better for us now than ever. No law to come after us." The fox sighed but then smiled. "But that is how low Honest John will stop. Hey, Giddy?"
The cat nodded as he took another sip of his drink, a hiccup causing said drink to splatter all over him.
"So, what happened to the kid?" Jinxy Peddler asked.
"Who knows?" The fox shrugged. "Probably got lost with the rest of the world. Still, the Ever After is a much better place for people like us."
"And what does this Coachman want from me?" Jinxy asked.
"Well, I normally wouldn't recommend business with him but he's not one to cross when he comes calling." The fox admitted with a nervous look. "However, thanks to him working with the Red King, we managed to take down that woman who chased us here after the kids we brought with us."
Woman?
The group perked up, believing the fox named Honest John was talking about Aqua.
"Turns out she was one of them Keyblade Wielders, the kind of people who can be very dangerous to people like us when we're far from home. She managed to rescue two of the kids before we got away. Luckily the Coachman had a deal with the Red King to recapture those brats before they find their way home and tell anyone who might believe them." Honest John continued. "Those kids ended up useful collateral in capturing that Keyblade woman and she surrendered in exchange for letting those kids go."
"And did the king led them go?" Jinxy asked.
"Of course. As I understand, you Afterans aren't big on being liars and double-crossers…Present company excluded of course." Honest John stated. "No offense."
"None taken." Jinxy shrugged with a smile, grasping his wooden cane with both hands. "So why does those Coachman collect humans anyway?"
"Oh, he doesn't collect just any humans." Honest John snickered. "He collects stupid little boys."
"Stupid little boy?" Jinxy repeated with a confused look.
"You know, the disobedient ones who like to play hooky from school." Honest John clarified.
"Oh…What's school?" Jinxy nodded and then asked.
Honest John simply laughed. "Another reason to like this place. All I can say is that these are the type of kids who like to cause trouble."
"You mean like…Alyx?" Jinxy asked and shuddered. "I still remember the trouble she caused me. I ended up being chased out of the Green Chapel Acre because of the riot she started. Why would the Coachman want more like her?"
"Well, and here's the thing…" Honest John leaned and whispered in Jinxy's ear, too quiet to be heard.
Nearby, the Keyblade Wielders all exchanged looks.
"That's new." Neo commented.
"What is?" Ventus asked.
"The original tale didn't mention Alyx ending up here because of this Coachman. Then again, it's vague how she ended up here in the first place." Neo admitted.
"But sounds like Aqua came after her." Terra quietly mused. "She must have been trying to rescue these kids that the Coachman likes to collect."
"And then," They heard Honest John speak up. "The Coachman takes them all out to sea through the Swan Lake Acre and drops them off on Pleasure Island."
"Pleasure Island." Jinxy raised both eyebrows. "No one ever goes out that far."
"Well, we do." Honest John replied, now sporting an easy face as he gulped. "And once the boys are there, they never come back as…boys."
…
…
…
…
…
"Well, that wasn't ominous." Neo whispered.
"What does he do to them?" Ventus whispered, his hands curling into fists.
"Now, if you'll agree to the Coachman's terms, meet him at the Swan Lake Acre." Honest John instructed. "And be careful once you follow him. There's no talking raccoons, cats or foxes where he picks those kids up. The last thing we need is someone else catching on to this little scheme like that woman did."
"And what did the Red King do to her?" Jinxy asked. "Is it true she is now…"
"Well, I'm not sure on the exact details but I know that Alyx is actually the one responsible." Honest John answered.
"Oh?"
"You see, that woman was asked by the parents to bring that girl and her brother home and she was going to do it. Only Alyx caused a bit of trouble here and there and got the woman all caught up in her messes. So, when Alyx was challenged to a game by the Red King, she made a deal." Honest John explained.
"A deal?"
"Yes, she pointed out that though the Red King ruled the Red Acre and was all wise, he had no queen to call his own. Now, I guess it can be argued if that so-called Great Tree wanted him to have a queen, it would have given him one but in this case, Alyx was playing it smart." Honest John snickered. "She spun a whole story of that woman being a lost princess from a faraway land and convinced him that if he won the game, she would become his queen."
"But didn't Alyx win the game?" Jinxy asked.
"She did…By playing the fun way, that is." Honest John chuckled. "Through lying and cheating."
"Ohhhhhh." Jinxy looked interested now.
"And of course, you know the saying 'cheaters never win'. Well, that's what the Red King decided and the woman put up a fight but Alyx was two steps ahead of her. The thing about hero is that you never expect the people you are trying to save are the most dangerous until it is too late, and Alyx had prepared a special surprise that left the poor woman easily captured." Honest John continued. "With the woman subdued and distracting the Red King, Alyx and her brother took off and made it out of the acre. Of course, it wasn't long before we were there to hunt them down and stop them from escaping since the Coachman already had made a deal with the king. So as long no other human would run freely around the Ever After as Alyx did, he would turn a blind eye to us bringing more stupid little boys in and take them right to Pleasure Island. So, we caught them, brought them to the Red King who declared himself the winner and would make an example out of them for how they made a mess out of everything here in the Ever After."
"And did he…" Jinxy ran a finger across his neck, making a chopping sound.
"He would have but the woman reminded him of the terms of the deal Alyx had made, even though she never agreed to them." Honest John answered. "In exchange for sparring the two children and letting them go, she would agree to become the Red King's queen. It was the only move she could make, given how she had been forced to relinquish her weapon, and Alyx gave the king a very thorough description on how to subdue Keyblade Wielders."
"And thus, she became the Blue Queen." Jinxy offered.
"Well, first there was a little issue to ensure she would actually carry out her end of the deal. Since the Red King apparently only trusts humans as he can throw them. She had to go through…What is it you guys call it?" Honest John scratched his chin. "Ascension?"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Jinxy replied in understanding. "So, he had her ascend and become the Blue Queen."
Back at their table, Neo seemingly paled.
"Exactly. Once you ascend, you're not you anymore." Honest John chuckled. "The Keyblade Wielder who tried to stop us was gone and the Blue Queen was born in her place. In fact, it was her ascension that caused the Ever After to grow and become what is now. The Coachman believed that giant tree absorbed everything from the woman as it remade her into the Blue Queen, allowing it to create many more acres and beings from the memories of the worlds she visited outside the worlds connected here. Thus, the entire world was remade alongside her."
"That's amazing." Jinxy marveled.
"Yup. And that is how we all triumphed over one meddling Keyblader and got ourselves the best gig in our lives." Honest John threw his head back and laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
That turned out to be a big mistake.
SMASH!
Before anyone could even blink, Ventus slammed his hands down on the table in front of him, spinning around and summoning his Keyblade. "YOU MONSTERS!"
Honest John spun around and paled when he saw Ventus charge right at him. "WHA-OOF!"
Ventus ran right into him and slammed him right onto the table he had been sitting at. "You did that her?!"
"You-you-!" Honest John sputtered. "Gideon! Jinxy!"
However, the cat and the racoon were already running for the exit, leaving the fox to be the center of Ven's wrath.
"You forced her to become that monster's queen!" Ventus raged, unable to hold himself back after hearing everything.
"I-I-I didn't! It was the Red King! Alyx! The Coachman!" Honest John sputtered. "They all forced her to accept the deal!"
"But you still helped!" Ventus held his Keyblade to Honest John's neck. "How do we turn her back?!"
"Turn her back? You can't! I've seen it. The tree remakes anyone who ascends and changes them into something entirely new!" Honest John frantically answered. "I can't change her back!"
"Liar!" Ventus shouted.
"No, it's the truth! Please, none of this was my idea! I never wanted to work for the Coachman, but he forced me and Giddy!" Honest John cried, his persona as a confident conman now broken as he pathetically begged the boy holding a Keyblade at his neck.
"But you still did!" Ventus snarled.
Terra grabbed Ven's shoulder. "Ven, calm down."
"You heard him! You heard what he and his friends did to her!" Ventus shouted.
"I did." Terra's voice was calm but practically everyone could feel the anger in his voice as he 'looked' at Honest John. "I heard every word."
Honest John gulped.
"You know, I can just hear Roman saying it wasn't personal, just business." Neo remarked as she slowly approached, summoning her Keyblade and pointed it right at Honest John's forehead, landing between eyes. "But I actually prefer to take things personal."
"Please, wait!" Honest John begged. "Maybe there is a way to get her back. Get the tree to turn her back into who she was before."
"You make it sound so easy, but I wonder if it really is." Oscar commented, his own face scowling at Honest John for his actions. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing to the children you bring here. What happens to them?"
"Please, don't make me tell…He'll kill me." Honest John frantically shook his head.
"Kill you? Dumbass, I'll kill you!" Neo retorted, poking her Keyblade right at Honest John's forehead. "The difference I'll enjoy it more and get a free fur coat out of it!"
"Okay! Okay! He turns them in donkeys!" Honest John cried out.
This made the Keyblade Wielders pause before Oscar spoke up. "Donkeys?"
"Yes, literally. Pleasure Island is cursed, or maybe the Coachman has some dark magic that he uses since he somehow managed to recreate the whole island right here in the Ever After. The point is, the longer a kid is on Pleasure Island and takes part in anything like say…drinking a beer, smoking a cigar or petty vandalism, the curse immediately takes effect and turns them into donkeys. The Coachman would then take all those donkeys and sell them off to salt mines to be use as labor or to a circus for entertainment or something even worse." Honest John hastily explained.
Something worse?
And this was happening to little kids?
"Wow…And people say I'm the sociopath." Neo could only say.
Sure, she and Roman were willing to bomb Vale but that had been under duress, forced to play that role by Cinder and despite her crimes in Atlas, she was only focused on avenging Roman, not mass murdering.
"Where is the Coachman getting these kids?" Terra asked. "From Remnant?"
"Well, yes but not just there. The Coachman has learned how to harness the power of Darkness so he can come and go as he pleases. That's how he brings the kids here. He's been traveling to other Worlds and making deals, sending stupid kids our way and we send them back to any please they might be useful." Honest John answered. "He's even got a few partners in this operation that are just as bad as him."
"Take us to him, now." Terra ordered.
"I can't. I don't know where he is." Honest John shrugged. "And you should know, that if the Red King finds out there's more humans with Keyblades here now, he'll be sending an entire army your way."
"Let him. I have a score to settle with him anyway." Neo replied.
"Wait, we have to be smart about this." Oscar replied. "We can't handle fighting both the Red King and this Coachman at the same time if they are equally dangerous. We're going to need help and a plan."
"There they are!" A voice shouted outside.
"And we'll need one fast." Oscar could only say, as Red Knights busted into the tavern.