The Kingdom of Mezalea was quiet. Houses were dim and silent as people slept. There was a gentle breeze, a slight unrest in the world around them, caused by a disruption in normality.
One figure not asleep. Someone new, not from the town. Foreign dress and build compared to Mezalean people. They were a simple shadow, unnerving anyone out for an early morning walk under the fading stars and rising sun. It stopped occasionally, marvelling at the architecture and sky as the summer sun rose to take its place above them.
Yet they didn't walk to the many inn's on offer. No, they caused shock in passers-by as they strolled up to the palace like it was an ordinary building, and not a marvel of design and construction, built from the ground up by their King.
Yet the silence remained.
- - - -
The noise was soft at first. It still caused Joel to stir, sitting up slightly. At first he thought he may have been hearing things, or it was just the usual tapping of birds on the windows and the palace roof, possibly one that had landed funny on his balcony.
However, it came again, louder, clearer, more urgent. He still paused; looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read 4:35. A strange time to be knocking on someones door. The door of the King no less.
He wondered for a moment if it had woken Lizzie, who was in her room sleeping. He hoped it hadn't, she wasn't sleeping well currently for a multitude of reasons.
He walked through the dim hallways of the mega-palace. He didn't stop to marvel at his work or make sure the staff were where they were supposed to be doing as instructed, he didn't have the time. The knocking was getting louder and more frequent with every passing second.
The door finally came to view. It towered over him, being an 11ft door (he was only 5'4, he wouldn't admit that to anyone though). He could hear more clearly the sounds of mobs, or more accurately the sound of them being slayed by his visitor.
He opened the door slowly, only so he could be heard, not so he could see who was currently protecting his door from mobs; so whoever it was couldn't see him:
"Who's there?" It was silent for a moment, apart from the firing of an arrow and clatter of bones as the figure killed yet another hostile.
"Joel?" It was quiet, unsure even. Yet they had an accent even though their voice sounded rough and hoarse; dehydrated. It was identifiable however. It was elven, something he hadn't heard in years and yet was so familiar he could describe it after the passage of centuries if he had to.
Cautiously, he opened the door wider, unsure if he had made a mistake or it actually was who he hoped he had heard, to reveal a face he was sure he would never see again. "Scott?" Joel swore he was almost crying, studying the man in front of him. The person who used to be one of the most successful rulers to ever take a throne.
Scott, who usually wore an expression of nothing, stood looking at him with something akin to pleading. Scott, who would always flaunt his Rivendell clothing; showered in gold jewellery, stood in a simple black t-shirt and navy jeans with trainers that looked as if they had been battered with a sword hilt.
Scott, who had been missing for two years that very morning, stood in front of him, bringing thousands of questions and no answers.
"Joel. Can I come in please?" He sounded so cautious, so fragile. It was as if he thought Joel was going to make him leave and fend for himself. "Oh sorry yeah come in." Joel stepped aside to let the elven king in, who in turn stopped to look at the interior of the palace. "Wow. Joel how long did this take you to build?" , "About half a year, it was worth it though.", "It sure was, it's incredible. You've improved since I've been gone."
Scott said it with such calmness that Joel almost forgot the concern he had for the cyanette, if you could even call him that anymore. His once bright hair was matted and stained with what looked like blood and dirt, making it a grimy brown that he was unused to on Scott.
"Thank you." Joel was at a loss for what to do. Scott looked fidgety and nervous, even surrounded by walls and safety, stood next to a friend. "I can get the shower running for you, get you some comfier clothes." The elven king seemed to think for a minute, grappling with his head, fighting with someone.
"I'm sorry Joel, really. I want to stay, but I can't. I just thought I would come say hi whilst I was passing through to go further away than I was, make sure you are all safe and what not."
"Scott. You can do that after a shower and food. I may even try make you stay, but I need you to at least talk to me, to Lizzie, so we know what's going on." Scott paused again, considering it. The cyanette knew he hadn't had a proper meal or shower since the morning he left Rivendell 2 years ago. It seemed silly to let the façade of normality go to waste, even if it was for one day.
"Fine. But I'm not staying for long Joel."
"Thank you. Let's go upstairs and you can use the shower in my on-suite."
"That's a bit fancy don't you think Joel." Scott tried to smile, it didn't quite work, but it was an improvement. It was nice to see him back to his old self slightly, poking fun and teasing him.
- - - -
The shower was on and there seemed to be soft humming coming from it as Lizzie woke up. It was now 5:30 and light was starting to filter through the curtains in the palace.
Just then, a shadow moved past her room, carrying a pile of what seemed to be spare clothes from the room Jimmy had been using occasionally for visits. He stayed in the Cod empire or over in Rivendell in present times, the absence of Scott hitting him the hardest out of everyone.
A knock on her door revealed a sheepish Joel, emptyhanded and blocking her view of the hallway obnoxiously. "Joel? Is there someone here you don't want me to know about?"
"Not yet. They aren't ready. I was wondering if we could cook something for them though, they look extremely pale and thin." He gave her the largest grin he could, hoping she wouldn't ask more questions.
Luckily for him, "Fine, we have some leftovers I can re-heat. Stay with them, don't want our guest getting lost." And with that she went passed him, down the stairs into the kitchen.
Their dinner last night had been nothing special, stew with some meat and bread, and could easily be made into an impromptu breakfast, untraditional, but nutritious for an allegedly underweight person.
- - - -
Scott felt more relieved after the shower, finally clean and not covered in mud and blood that should have stained from the amount of time it was plastered on his skin. He couldn't be more grateful to Joel, distracting Lizzie, getting him food, a shower and clean clothes.
The clothes were Jimmy's, he could tell instantly, they smelt slightly of salt and the outdoors; they were too big on him but were the same soft material he remembered the blonde's clothes having.
It made him tear up slightly, he hadn't seen Jimmy in 2 years and he really missed him. He regretted leaving him, but he didn't have much of a choice.
He just wished he had the time to make the time up to him.
- - - -
An evil lurked. A shadow, dark and menacing, eyes a deep purple, horns sharp and deadly. It was unescapable. It was a machine designed for death and destruction. Possessed; manipulated to be merciless.
It was always there.
No one could run forever. Not from that.
- - - -
Joel sat on his bed as Scott got changed away from him. The same man who had disappeared without a trace, without an apparent reason, without a single goodbye to anyone. He looked at the clothes the cyanette wore as he looked in the mirror to fix his hair, then thought about the owner of them.
Jimmy's face had been distraught. The blonde had never said why he was so upset that he cried for days at a time until he hardly had water in his body to keep doing so. All Joel could remember was the haunted, pale face that had crashed onto his balcony that morning, cheeks stained with fallen tears, seeking out Lizzie with deathly urgency. He had been lucky the Ocean Queen had been there the night before, otherwise he would have had to make the journey to the other empire partially blind with tears in his eyes.
The pink-haired woman had been strong with him, gentle, protective, even with the fact they had only found out about being siblings a few weeks prior. It was heart-breaking for Joel to watch, his closest friend being held in the arms of the person he admired most in the world, broken and at a loss without Scott.
Joel had never viewed the two as close, in fact, he was fairly sure their alliance had been formed for strictly trade and other advantaged reasons. Something had changed that Jimmy refused to tell him in the 5 years Rivendell and The Cod Empire had been an alliance.
"I'm ready. I think." Joel looked up to Scott's entire body being engulfed by clothes that were far too big for him. He had forgotten Jimmy was a couple of feet taller than the elven king. Scott seemed happy enough, if not a bit subdued, so he took that as a win.
"Let's go down to the kitchen then?" Joel got a quick nod from Scott before he lead the other outside of his room and through the maze of hallways towards the Kitchen, where the light was on and the soft tune of 'love story covered by Sarah Cothran" was splitting the overwhelming silence.
- - - -
Footsteps approached the kitchen door.
~ ~ ~ ~
THAT'S RIGHT. IT'S BACK!
There are a few plot changes just so I can make the story a bit longer, the main one in this chapter is that Lizzie and Joel aren't married yet. This will be important later
The second is that Jimmy and Scott aren't married either. This does have relevance in the plot as well.
There are other minor tweaks ahead like height and what not to make the story flow properly.