Let The Chaos Continue

Don't.

Later that day, Glory, Deathbringer, Kelp, Rainkeeper, and Pear gathered in Glory's office to talk strategy.

"We have to be smart about this." Glory proclaimed. "Macaw thinks we'll be willing to give him anything to get Joy back safely-"

"And he's completely right." Kelp offered. Glory shot him a quelling look.

"I will not give in to someone as pathetic as Macaw." She growled. "And I presume most of his demands are things we'll NEVER go through with."

"So, what then?" Kelp asked. "He'll kill Joy. KILL her, if we don't go through with whatever he asks. And you don't want to go along with whatever he wants to keep her alive?"

"Of course I do!" Glory insisted. "She's my daughter! But Macaw is weak. The only reason he's doing this is because he knows having Joy is leverage he can use against us. He doesn't have the guts to really hurt her, so I'm trying to buy us time to find her before giving into his demands is our only option." Kelp paused, fuming.

"You underestimate him."

"You keep saying that." Deathbringer commented. "Insisting that Macaw is stronger then we think, more capable of harming Joy then we believe- why is that?" Kelp froze.

"....He's just not as weak as you think he is." He replied vaguely. Deathbringer narrowed his eyes, his brain working around possibilities for Kelp's strange behavior.

"Macaw...." Pear muttered to herself. "Where do I know him from?"

"He's the dragon that tormented Joy throughout school." Rainkeeper explained. "Until Kelp and I beat the crap out of him, of course." Pear shook her head, thinking.

"No, somewhere else."

"Anyways," Glory went on. "No matter how dangerous or not dangerous Macaw is, this meeting is the most important thing." She stressed. "You cannot mess this up, Kelp."

"I won't mess it up." He declared. 

"Don't agree to his demands." Glory ordered. "No matter what they are, do NOT agree right away. Tell him you need time- if a demand doesn't involve you, say you can't give him an answer because you don't have the authority to make that decision- do whatever you have to do to stall, Kelp. Stall, and get us as much time as you possibly can."

"I will." 

"That's it!" Pear exclaimed, finally remembering. "Wasn't Macaw that dragon who tried to ruin Joy's reputation or something?" Kelp went still.

"Oh yeah," Rainkeeper agreed. "I forgot about that. He tried to spread all sorts of rumors."

"I stopped listening to rumors within my first year of being Queen." Glory offered. "I didn't hear about this."

"It was just Macaw being Macaw," Rainkeeper insisted. "He spread a bunch of rumors about him and her. He's just a sick dragon with a twisted imagination."

Deathbringer slowly turned to look at Kelp, studying the Seawing's expression.

"Kelp." He began, his voice cold. "Did something happen between Joy and Macaw that we don't know about?" 

"Macaw is a filthy liar, and his rumors are fake." Kelp insisted. 

"That's not an answer." Kelp looked hesitant, and Rainkeeper, Glory, and Pear turned to stare at him as well.

"I'm not the dragon to say what happened." He proclaimed. 

"But something did." Glory gathered. Kelp's gaze dropped to the floor.

"Kelp," Rainkeeper said firmly, anger starting to flare up in him. "If Macaw hurt my sister, and you knew about it-"

"I didn't know until it was all over." Kelp declared. 

"But you KNEW, and you let that sack of shit keep breathing-"

"If he had turned up dead, all talons would have been pointed at me, and you would've thrown me in jail." 

"But if you had justification for your actions," Glory started.

"Joy wouldn't have said a word, and neither would I. You would have had no idea what had happened."

"Kelp." Deathbringer growled. "What did he do to her?"

"I can't say."

"Too bad! Tell me!" He roared. Kelp stared at him.

"I. Cannot. Tell. You." The former assassin let out a cry of rage and whipped a chakram at the wall, embedding the blade in the wall.

"When this is all over," He announced. "We're ripping that dragon apart, limb for limb."