TMNT: Realms of Zentai

No one said ruling was easy

Chapter 3

"Mikey, wakey wakey!" Raph said sweetly. Mikey slowly opened his eyes to see a smiling...Raph? "Raph?" He said shakily, but with confusion. "Hey baby bro! How'd you sleep?" Raph asked. "What...happened? I was in the woods with you, Leo and Usagi, and then this tentacled thing attacked me..." Mikey said as if it were a dream.

"Oh...um...'bout that...you did get attacked," Raph said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Okay...where's Leo?" Mikey asked. "Hey Leo! Get over here!" Raph yelled.

"I was just about to come in, being king isn't the easiest job," Leo said, frowning. "Hey, hey! Bro! Is that breakfast?" Mikey asked as Leo set down a tray by his bed. "Yeah...just like you on my coronation day!" Leo said awkwardly. Mikey thought about that. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! You were all stressed and worried because you thought you'd slept in!" He laughed.

"And...what about Donnie?" Mikey asked after a moment of silence. "He should be here soon," Raph said. He sounded kind of weird, too. "Guys...mind telling me what's going on?" Mikey asked. Raph sighed and slumped his shoulders. Leo gulped.

"Well, um, you see, Mikey," Donnie said as he walked in, "the other night there was an...incident." "What kind of incident?" Donnie glanced awkwardly at Leo, who nodded slightly. "Mahō was...killed. In the woods." Donnie said, the weird tone increasing. Mikey stared in shock. "Wait...do they know how?" Mikey asked.

"It could only have been an erementaru..." Donnie said guiltily. "But...Leo's the only..." he trailed off, "no! No! Leo would never kill anyone! Especially not Mahō!" Mikey yelled.

"I'm...sorry Mikey. I wasn't in my right mind...I don't know what came over me. I-I saw your limp body laying there and I..." Leo's voice shook, and he sat next to Mikey to avoid falling. "Leo...did...did Mahō," his voice cracked, "did Mahō hurt me?" Tears threatened to stream down Mikey's face. "No, Mahō would never." Leo replied firmly. "Then why...?"

"A night ago, when some of the nurses were dealing with your leg, Leo came in to check on you." Donnie started, "he said he felt weird...he said he didn't know how to describe it. When the nurses asked him what he was feeling, he confessed that he'd killed one of the mages, but at the time they didn't know who. They asked where he'd done it, and he led them to the forest. Even dug up the body. A few hours later, the nurses realized that Leo had been feverish at the time, like most nights. They considered him as 'unaware of his actions' and cleared him of all charges."

Mikey started, stunned. "There's no way that Leo knew what he was doing then, right?" "I don't know Mikey...when I killed him...I felt joy. Just like when I saw your body," Leo whispered. "You what?" Mikey shrieked. "Please don't hate me!" Leo yelled. "Leo, I would never hate you, no matter what terrible things you could do, I never have, never will." Mikey said, hugging his oldest brother. "Thanks..." Leo said in relief.

"But seriously though, what did you say you felt?" Mikey asked, tearing away from the hug. "I-" "your majesty!" "Please, just Leonardo." "Uh...Leonardo. The people are awaiting you...something about how taxes are too high." A mutant owl said, peaking through the door. She was a mage, her name was Yōkina. "I'm coming..." Leo said unhappily, like a kid when told to do chores, and followed the owl outside.

Raph, who had remained silent throughout most of their conversations, said; "let's play a board game or whatever. Need to loosen all this tension!" Mikey sat in silence, shocked. 'My brother is a murderer. Life sure is full of surprises.' But he'd never hate his brother, nothing in the entire universe could change that.

"...and lastly, the mail will now be checked, and from now on the bracelets will be needed to get in or out of any building, to avoid any more...accidents." The advisor, a frog, sneered. Leo slumped down when everyone had left. 'I'm so bored. Is this my life now? Just sitting on a chair and listening to mutants talk all. Day. Long?'

He closed his eyes, half hoping to be thought asleep. That wasn't a good idea, however, because only mere seconds later, he was pushed violently. "Ack...I'm awake..." he grumbled, opening his eyes. "Oh, sorry!" A little...girl? Said. "Who are you?" Leo asked. She was human, with beautiful orange hair, light skin and blue eyes. But her clothes were ragged. "My name is April!" She replied, she looked about 14 years old. The same age as Leo.

"April...what are you doing here?" Leo asked. He had enough to deal with being an erementaru and a murderer, and now he was going to be spotted with a kid? A human kid, at that. Was the whole world against him? "Listen April, you can't be here," Leo whispered. "Why not?" April demanded in a self esteemed voice. "Because, I have enough people after me. Don't give them more reasons to hate me!" "Why do they hate you? Is it because you're king?" April asked out of pure curiosity.

"It's much more complicated than that. You see, here we have those that practice magic, those that work, and those that lead. The highest respected people come from those that practice magic. But I...I killed one of those people," Leo said, painfully remembering burying the dead, burnt mage, stabbing him with the shovel as he did so, there was so much hate for no reason.

"Who?" April asked. "The lead mage. He was a good friend of mine...but I felt wrong at the time..." "it felt wrong to kill him?" "No. It felt good to kill him, at first." Leo said, guilt wrapping his body in thick strands. "It shouldn't feel like that." April stated. "No, no it should not. Aren't you afraid of me?" April laughed. "Afraid? I think it takes a lot of courage to do that."

"Maybe you're right..." Leo said. "Goodbye, Leonardo!" April said, running out of the room. 'How does she know my name?' Leo thought, panicking. 'Is she a skinwalker too?'

"Leonardo? Why are you still here?" Yōkina asked, entering the room. "I can leave?" He asked. "Well, of course you can!" She said, "now out, out! I need to clean!" Yōkina shooed him out the door. For the first time in his life, he found himself alone in the great halls outside of the throne room. 'Scrolls.' His mind thought immediately. A stress reliever.

He ran towards the library, each second threatening to make him go insane. Finally he reached the huge, wooden doors. Golden vines carved up it. He pushed it open, and found himself looking for answers to an unknown question. Mahō had said something about counterparts of his. He remembered his father's story. 'Those few happened to be the kings and queens, but each came from a different dimension. When the stars aligned, they each disappeared from their respective realms, and collided into one being, the Zentai.'

He shuddered. He went looking for the scrolls of Himitsu. He walked down a long ile, until he reached the very back. "Hello! What are you looking for?" The screen popped up. Leo breathed out as quietly as possible; "night of alignment." The screen glitched red for a mere second. It never did that. "Corridor B" it said, and the soft light went away.

Leo walked over to the mostly empty shelves. A few scrolls were placed here and there. He sighed, seeing only one that answered his request. "Hey there Leonardo!" A voice said, he had to stop himself from jumping into the air. "April?" He said, stunned. "Yeah. Are you trying to find scrolls about the Zentai?" She asked him. He nodded. "Follow me." She said, bounding off into the dark hall of corridor B. He followed, mind unable to drift away from what he'd done to Mahō.

"Over here!" She said, pulling the lamp on the wall. It split open, and a spiraled, stone staircase, illuminated by a few torches, loomed in front of him. "Go on!" April urged. Leo took a deep breath, and descended into the dark abyss below.

It's shorter than the last one at least.