The Fifth Realm

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 2: 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖗𝖘🌤

Xena stood at the door of the castle with her mother. Her mom was wearing a beautiful dress made of the finest silk in Everstan, and you could sense that she was distraught from the look on her face. Her eyes kept scanning the horizon and peering at the cars as they went by. Xena reached over and squeezed her arm, "It's going to be fine mom, we're going to figure this out."

They had gotten a dozen rooms ready because they didn't know how many guests the other leaders would bring. Xena stepped on her tippy-toes and fixed her black blouse. Her hair was in a tight bun and she had her tiny gold tiara on. She bent down and made sure that Sabule was tucked into the back of her shoe.

A green car came into view and Madam Edith Walter came out, followed by her son Jake; the leaders of Khethinia. Xena peered at the car to see if anyone else would come out. Mason, Madam Edith's advisor did, but Jake's little sister Suzan was nowhere in sight.

Queen Vera and Xena welcomed them in and a handmaiden showed them to their room. As they went into the castle, a long blue car and a short brown one pulled up.

The leaders of Lagor came out first; Osly Rahul, who didn't prefer an official title and his adopted son Alfie. They were wearing Lagor's traditional clothing and Osly was signaling for someone to help them with their bags.

And out of the blue car, the leaders of Shlow appeared. Sultan Manuel and Sultanah Isidora. Out of the four other realms, Shlow was the only one that had a male and female ruler. In Everstan, Xena's father passed away. Madam Edith ruled Khethinia herself after her husband cheated on her, but there were rumors she was having an affair with her advisor, Mason Smith. And Osly was apparently waiting for true love before he settled down, so he adopted.

Xena smiled at Sultana Maria Izan, the heir to the Shlow thrown. She was wearing a blue headscarf that matched her mother's, and her father was wearing a long blue shirt that looked like a dress. She welcomed their family while Queen Vera welcomed Alfie's.

"Where are your little brothers?" Xena asked.

"Oh, they're at home," Maria said, "but I brought Ato." She showed Xena her cat. Its fur was a beautiful shade of white and its eyes were an emerald green.

Xena took Ato out of her hand, "It's so cute," she patted its fur. She had seen it on her socials, but the cat was much cuter in real life.

She handed Ato back and greeted her parents. They made small talk for a little and the handmaiden took them into the castle. Xena smiled over at her mom. She thought this was going pretty well. It had been a while since they had all come together.

Once they all settled in, Xena went over to the guest chambers in the castle. She knocked on Maria's door.

"Come in," she called.

Xena walked into the room and plopped down on the bed. She glanced over at Maria, she seemed different somehow. She brushed it off and said hi to Alfie and Jake, who were already in there. "How weird is this?" she asked.

"Right," said Jake. He was twirling a little gadget around in his hand. "My mom was freaking out. If this leaked, the Khethinians would flip."

Maria nodded, petting her cat. "It's weird how much power the Ikha has isn't it."

Alfie shrugged, "I think it's stupid. Why does anyone care? It's worthless."

Xena laughed, he hadn't changed a bit in the last couple of years. They were all roughly the same age as her, around 16, but Alfie was still acting like a sassy child.

"Look at my orb," said Jake. He put his little gadget on the palm of his hand and it morphed into a little replica of the Ikha.

"Wow," said Maria, "Is that supposed to be the Ikha?"