Kingdom of Creatures [Discontinued]

Chapter 5: Solicitus Seamus

(Quick apology for this chapter being short and a bit of a filler, I wanna get to the exciting part! Next chapters will be long and exciting!)

James had been sitting in the same spot on the edge of his bed with his face burrowed into the palms of his hands for almost an hour. Ze peered around the corner, waiting for him to move, say something, or do anything, really. He was worried about what went on in his head. They both screwed up pretty badly, but they were just doing their job.

"James..?" Ze whispered, knocking his knuckles lightly against the wooden wall.

"What." James demanded a valid reason for his disturbance. Ze jumped a bit at his tone, stepping back.

"Are.. Just... Are you okay?" His words came out shaky and jumbled. He didn't want to mess up any more than he already had today.

"...We'd gotten so far, Ze." He breathed, picking his head up and shaking it lightly. "And now what do we have? Nothing. We might as well just give up."

"No. I might as well just slap you in the fucking face for even suggesting such a thing." Ze countered, his fists clenched harshly, his knuckles slowly fading into a burning white. "We can't give up just because this year won't be ours."

"It's over, Steven." James' silver armored boot was flung across the room as he kicked it off. Ze sidestepped quickly to dodge it, his face contorting with anger.

"Look, you can't just say it's over. It's not the end of the damn world."

"It doesn't fucking feel like it isn't."

"God, do you want your job back or not?" Ze advanced on James, standing in front of his body.

"Of course I do!" James stood up to meet Ze's face, glaring cholerically into his eyes.

"Well don't give them the impression that you'll crumble into a million pieces if you're shot down." Ze's voice lowered into a calm, encouraging tone. "You have to show them that you're strong enough to keep fighting even when you feel as if the world's ending."

"But how..?" James asked, turning his gaze to the other end of the room for ideas.

"I don't know yet, but give it time. We'll think of something." Ze smirked at James, clasping a hand at his shoulder. James looked down bleakly, but Ze shook him lightly. "James."

He looked up, a determined look coming into view.

"We're getting through this." James stated, shifting to grab his helmet and shove it onto his head.

"Hell yeah, we are."

-

Jordan sat on the edge of his seat, literally, frantically biting at his fingernail as he thought deeply about his decisions. The ceremony was tomorrow. He only had one day to finalize his thoughts until next year. Did Seamus convince him into making the right decision, or had he potentially screwed himself over?

"You look unsure of something." Seamus' voice slid in through the cracks of the ominous silence. Jordan sometimes hated how easy his expressions were to decipher, just like an open picture book, and Seamus had no problem with it. It was almost as if he could read his mind. And with his magic, the king didn't even feel like he knew the friend that was hidden under the purple cloak. He could be under his command at this moment and he'd never know.

"Seamus... You would never disobey me, would you?"

"Haven't I already shown that?"

"You've turned your back a few times when you disagreed."