Crown

Jēda Naejot Jikagon-Vacation Time

A month had passed since everyone returned from Aruma An. For the entire month of December, everyone in the country was bustling with excitement and celebrations, all in honour of Illya's birthday which was at the beginning of the month. It was the last day of the month and celebrations were still going strong. Illya had called the gang into the throne room. The kids stood in front of the throne where Illya paced back and forth happily. Behind her, Sora sat on her throne with Hecate in his arms. He nuzzled and poked the baby, taking much delight in the fact that he had another daughter to dote on. Astrid stood next to Sin to avoid eye contact with Ea and Ri-is who had been trying to talk to her about the letters they found, but each time she'd manage to evade them.

Illya stopped pacing and put her hands out in front of her excitedly. "Okay. So Sora and I have been thinking, we need a vacation!"

Tekina and Kaito stared at each other for a moment. Before they arrived in Solaria, they had often heard stories of how Illya would vanish for weeks on end in impulsive whims for adventure. As if she could read their thoughts, she laughed.

"Don't worry about anything here. Solaria can function just fine without their Empress for a while. I mean, they never had a formal government or anything here for many years so they're used to being independent. Besides, they won't be completely defenseless. I'm leaving the head of the Empress' guard in charge. He's more than capable. Right Wild!"

The man silently nodded and Illya continued. "So because my birthday was the day after we came back, we didn't really have enough energy, much less time to celebrate like the rest of Solaria, given that Sora and I were so busy with Hecate. Still, I wanted to do something as a little thank you to everyone who's worked so hard these past several months."

"You really don't have to! Giving us all special passes to go see the festivals was more than enough!" Said Tobi.

"It's fine, isn't it? The doctor and I have cleared Hecate as stable enough to travel as long as they take precautions so why don't we take her up on her offer?"

Everyone jumped back at the sudden appearance of Bellany. Back when she had first seen Tobi again, she smothered him with such fierceness that the princes were reminded of their own childhood and warmed up to her almost instantly, seeing the similarities between her and their own mother. Ea shifted his attention from Bellany, back to his mother.

"I suppose if Hecate is alright to go then it's okay. So where is it that you were thinking of going?" He asked.

Illya snickered. "Well, I was thinking of heading to my residence in the Haan Empire. Every Haan general gets their own residence. Theres only five of us, me being the fifth, so we were allowed to splurge a bit when decorating and building and what not. I was a little more...uh...'extravagant' when it came to building my residence so there's lots to do. Us adults can enjoy a few drinks at the more 'adult' attractions and the kids can goof off in the springs and what not!"

Kaito was absolutely sold the minute he heard "adult attractions." He looked over at Tekina with pleading eyes and she could feel his stare basically melting the back of her head.

"Mom...you realize we're adults too right?" Sin pointed to Ri-is, Ea and the girls.

Illya's eyes darted between him and the girls. "...How old are you three again?"

Dez sighed. "Turned 22 in November."

Tah Min pointed at herself and Yukimi. "We're both 19."

Illya sighed. "Great. Doesn't matter. Anyways we're leaving today so get ready!"

Nikiro nudged Sin. "Sounds fun. Have you been there before? Maybe you could show us around?"

Sin's smile faltered when Kashino popped his head over Nikiro's shoulder."Yeah! That'd be cool!"

Sin shook his head. "Sorry. Can't help ya. Haven't been there before."

He shuffled away from the pair to leave. Nikiro frowned. Sin had been like that all month and they were spending considerably less time with each other. Nikiro was almost at his limit. He watched as Sin left with a growing fire in his chest.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

A couple hours later everyone was gathered at the docs. Sora was the first on the ship. Illya marched along right behind him with her guards carrying her bags and "travel essentials" as she put it. Everyone followed along behind her.

"Mom...why can't you just open a portal?" Huffed Avarice.

"Honey, when I say we're taking a vacation, I mean it in every sense of the word. Relax and enjoy the trip!!" She said before scuttering off with Sora.

"Well...at least she seems to have regained all her energy now." Noted Tekina as her and Kaito followed the giddy Empress.

"Not that she lost much to begin with," Kaito joked.

Dez leaned on the rails of the ship and sighed. Sin snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, earning him an elbow to the gut. She turned around to face him, leaning her back to the rails.

"What are you doing idiot."

"I thought you were lonely! What? Were you reminiscing about your time as a pirate?" He said, clutching his stomach.

"Of course I was. This is the first time I've set foot on a ship since then. It just brought back memories."

Her lips curled into a small smile when she thought of the shenanigans her crew would get into but her eyes said that she missed it dearly. Sin frowned. He thought for a moment. His eyes widened as an idea popped into his head and he grinned.

"I have an idea! Remember when I came back from Aruma An? You said that if I wanted to talk then we could? How bout we do that? I'll tell you all my troubles and you tell me yours! That way we can both get it off our chests!"

Dez raised an eyebrow. Unbeknownst to them, Nikiro was passing by with Tobi and Kashino and had spotted the pair talking.

"Really?" Dez asked meekly.

Sin laughed at her unusual timidness. "Of course! When we get there I'll show you around and we can talk! My mom took us there a few times when we were young so it's been a while but I'm sure I still remember where all the cool stuff is!"

Dez chuckled. "Alright then."

Nikiro furrowed his brows. "So he has been there? He told me he never went!"

Tobi looked over at Sin in confusion. "Sooo he lied?"

Nikiro, who was usually very calm and level headed, had an expression of growing irritation. "Yeah. He seems to be doing that a lot lately," He said before storming off.

Kashino and Tobi were left behind. Kashino glanced at Sin and sighed. Tobi saw the look in his eye and immediately zoomed off to find Astrid because the last thing he wanted at that moment was to be caught in the middle of some drama.