The streets of Therondia were lively, almost as if a celebration had already been in the making before they even arrived. Musicians busied the streets, banging drums, playing flutes and lutes, all swarming the castle and royals that stood before the citizens. They didn't know what to think, it was all too much. Were they truly heroes?
Edaneus opened his arms out before the crowd in gratitude. "May we no longer live in fear and destruction! We, my people, have been saved!"
Another collection of cheers boomed into the air.
Edaneus turned to admire the shocked expressions of the eight royals, eyes wide and jaws hanging down in awe. "Let our kingdom belong to you. Honor us by letting us honor you as warriors."
"I could get used to this!" Bai grinned as he waved excitedly at the crowd.
Kai's hand fell on Bai's shoulder. "Maybe we'll find some fair maidens!" he said eagerly.
Bai smirked confidently. "I guess I could leave a few for you."
Kai gave him a punch. "Yeah right, Bee."
Andrea gave Kai a backhand to the arm and shushed the two of them.
"Somebody's in trouble," Bai muttered quietly. Kai shot him a glare.
"How glorious it is to finally meet you all!" A sweet voice exclaimed.
The eight royals turned around, curious as to who was now speaking to them. A fair skinned girl with light brown hair placed neatly into curls carefully trotted down the stairs. She wore a pale yellow dress with lace flowers covering the sleeves and torso.
Edaneus smiled proudly and raised a hand to present the young girl. "I present to you, princess Aramina Dechant of Therondia!" He bowed slightly, causing everyone else to bow as well.
Bai tapped Kai's arm with his elbow. "Dibs," he sang.
Aramina hurried down the stairs to greet her guests. "To whom do I thank for traveling across our world to save us all?"
Corrine stepped forward and was about to introduce herself if it weren't for Bai, who hip checked her out of the way.
"Bai Hua, prince of China," he said in a flirtatious manner, gracefully holding his hand out to accept Aramina's. He placed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. "Charmed."
Corrine stomped her heel down onto his foot. Bai let out a slight whine of pain and glared at her. She stepped forward with an apologetic smile. "Forgive him. My name is Corrine Charming," Corrine turned to introduce the rest of her traveling companions. "This is Eros Panhellios, Aurelia Fitzherbert, Nizhoni Matoaka, Axel Ababwa, Andrea Fergus, Kai Atlasean, and you met Bai, of course."
"What a pleasure it is! You and your kingdoms have fought ever so bravely against the mistress and her wicked monsters and spells." She smiled at the crowd. "Our kingdom will forever be gracious for what you have done for our world. Let us serve you before you return to your quest."
"This is more than we could ever ask for. Your kindness has saved us, thank you," Corrine spoke in disbelief.
Aramina turned to reenter the castle. "Please, we have much to discuss."
Aramina glided back through the doors and led them to a balcony that overlooked Therondia. They all sat down at a glass table surrounded by velvet chairs accented with gold. The sun beamed down to warm their skin, offering gentle lighting to shine upon the beautiful flowers that decorated railings and beams. They each took their seat.
"I do hope that your stay has been nothing short of lovely," Aramina insisted.
"You and your people have shown nothing but utter kindness, kindness that could never be forgotten," Eros thanked.
"That pleases me to hear," she grinned. "My parents are currently in a neighboring village, they will be devastated to learn that they were not able to meet you."
"That is a shame," Corrine sighed. "We don't plan on staying long, unfortunately, we are leaving tomorrow morning."
"Who are your parents?" Nizhoni asked. "Forgive me for not knowing, I've never heard of Therondia."
"Oh, don't worry at all!" Aramina answered. "You know my parents very well as Belle and Beast."
"Is that story really true?" Bai cut in. "Was your father actually a beast?"
"To the extent of my knowledge," Aramina chuckled.
"Is there anything that we could provide you for the remainder of your journey?" Edaneus inquired, changing the subject.
"Horses would be more than enough," Andrea answered. The others nodded in agreement.
"I know that the prophecy states that only us eight could defeat the mistress," Axel spoke up. "But if you could spare a few soldiers, like Darron, I think-"
"No," Aramina stated sternly, cutting off Axel. Her face went cold. "I'm sorry, but I cannot risk the lives of our people. Why do you think we never became involved with the battle of Asteria in the first place." Her innocent smile returned to her face. "Is there anything else?"
Corrine exchanged several uneasy looks with the other magic users before answering, "Um, no, I don't think so."
Aramina stood to her feet. "Well, in that case, please enjoy the rest of your time here. I'm sure the people would love to meet you all, so feel free to wander throughout the kingdom."
"Thank you, Aramina," Corrine nodded with a smile.
As soon as Aramina and Edaneus left the room, the remaining nine stood to exit the balcony. Each was bubbling with excitement, ready to explore the foreign kingdom with a sense of relief that they could spend a day without worrying about the evil works of Morana.
_____
CORRINE & EROS
Eros draped his arm over Corrine's shoulders as they walked side by side. "So, what is your wish to do on our day off?"
Corrine's wrapped her arm around his waist. "I don't know, pretty boy, you got any ideas?"
"Not the slightest clue," he laughed. He hugged her a little closer. "So how does it feel to be a hero."
Corrine's smile turned downwards into a frown. "It's a lot," she sighed. "There's still this part of me that is constantly worrying if we can truly defeat her. But there's also this other part of that wants to turn around right now because I cannot let anyone get hurt."
Eros stopped walking and turned her so that they were facing each other. "Corrine, we all knew what we were signing up for and that's none of your responsibility. You've done everything in your power to get everyone here in one piece...that's more than enough."
"Easy for you to say," she shrugged with a gentle smile. "Eros, you're probably the bravest, most kick ass person I know."
A surprised expression crossed over Eros's face. "Me Eros?"
Corrine cocked a brow and folded her arms over her chest. "No, the other Eros, 'cause that's such a popular name amongst non-god-like people."
Eros pretended to be deep in thought. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
Corrine rolled her eyes and playfully pushed him away. "Oh, be quiet."
He let out a short laugh. "Then I must have you fooled because what I am hearing you describe sounds a lot like my father."
"Yeah, and?" Corrine asked, her brows coming together.
Eros's eyes saddened. "I am nothing like my father, Corrine. He's this powerful, noble, strong, heroic man that has saved the world over and over...and I'm just his...mortal son."
"Who, might I say, is also saving said world," Corrine cut in.
Eros shrugged. "Yeah, so what, that's one to like one thousand.
Corrine wrapped him into her arms. "You can't compare yourself to your father, Eros." Her words were muffled by his shirt. "Or else you will never see the truly amazing person that has saved my life numerous times, never fails to put a smile on my face, and will be a hero not just to the world but to your father." Corrine picked up her head so that she was gazing up at him. "He will be so proud of you, I guarantee that."
Eros smiled down and her and slowly leaned closer. Corrine propped herself onto the tips of her toes to meet him halfway, gently pressing her lips against his. They pulled away for a moment and let their smiles hover over each other.
"You're perfect," he muttered.
"You're not so bad yourself, pretty boy," Corrine chuckled quietly.
Eros picked up his eyes and glanced at something behind her. A smirk soon spread across his face. "I know what we should do."
"And what might that be?" She inquired as she turned around. She found what Eros had been looking at, a group of citizens dancing around in circles joyfully. "Oh no no no, no way."
"What?!" Eros asked in disbelief. "Aren't you supposed to be Cinderella's daughter?"
"Um, I wasn't exactly blessed with those genes."
Eros began to drag her closer to the crowd, she reluctantly followed. "C'mon, you'll love it. My mother taught me this dance when I was younger, just follow my lead."
When the timing was right, the two wedged themselves into the crowd, and Eros began to follow their motions. Corrine gradually started to memorize his movements while following his feet, soon enough she was in rhythm with the others.
"You're a quick learner," Eros remarked.
Corrine smiled in response. "Never knew I'd be Cinderella 2.0."
"You have the beauty, but the grace? Eh, not so much," he joked.
"That's okay, you can be the graceful one, sweetie," she teased back.
The two couldn't remember the last time they felt utter joy. Morana didn't matter. It was almost as if as long as they were within these kingdom walls, they were finally safe. What mattered was how safe they felt in each other's arms.
_____
KAI, BAI & ANDREA
"You just think you're so slick, don't you?" Kai scoffed at Bai.
The two decided that they were going to spend their day wandering about the kingdoms to impress some maidens with their newly discovered status. Andrea decided to tag along for she knew that entertainment was in store for her.
"Please," Bai smirked. "It's a gift."
Andrea had made herself comfortable up against a bale of straw. She looked up from the knife and piece of wood that she was fiddling with. "You two are idiots."
Bai stuck out his tongue. "You're just jealous."
Andrea set down her knife and stick, giving Bai her undivided attention. "Fine, show me what you got." Her eyes searched the crowd until she found a young girl with tan skin and short blonde hair selling spices. She pointed her knife at the girl. "That one."
Bai locked his eyes on the girl Andrea motioned to. "You got it," he winked.
Bai spun around of the balls of his feet, putting a little more bounce in his step, and approached the innocent girl. Before he got too close, he pulled out a small dagger and began to flip it up in the air, catching it by the handle with ease.
Andrea palmed her face. "Show off," she groaned.
He did several other tricks that seemed to catch the girl's eye.
He tossed it up in the air on more time, letting it flip and twirl before he caught it behind his back and sheathed it.
"I gotta keep these hands quick and ready. Y'know, being a hero and all." he shrugged with a flirtatious smirk. His face turned serious suddenly. "You never know what evil is lurking around every corner."
She gave him an unamused look.
"But there's something you don't know about me, darling. I have a secret," he sighed. "I can become whatever I want."
The girl's brows furrowed as she began to walk away from Bai.
"I can turn into a puppy and cuddle with you!" He protested, but the girl was in fact not listening. He kicked the ground in frustration. "Damn!"
"How'd it go?" Andrea asked, knowing the obvious answer.
"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled in response.
"My turn," Kai sang, standing to his feet.
Kai approached her stand, scratching the back of his neck nervously. He leaned up against the cart, not realizing he was tipping it. "Y'know, thyme is actually one of my favorite spi-" Kai didn't even have the chance to finish his sentence when jars of spices began to roll off the top of the cart. Kai reacted quickly and caught all of the jars before they could hit the ground. He corralled them in his arms and shoved them back onto the table. Kai's eyes locked with the girls and he could tell she was not happy. "Sorry, I'll be leaving now." Kai hurried back to the other two who were laughing.
Andrea stood up. "Watch and learn boys."
Andrea slowly approached the girl and handed her the piece of wood she had been playing with, which was now carefully crafted into a wooden flower. The girl's eyes lit up and her hand clasped over her mouth in surprise.
"Thank you," she smiled.
Andrea bowed. "It only fits with beauty such as yours." She turned away from her, not knowing the girl's gaze lingered on Andrea's figure.
Bai and Kai's mouths fell to the floor.
She patted them both of the shoulders as she passed by them. "Don't worry, I can teach you, boys."
____
AURELIA & DARRON
Darron took both of Aurelia's hands in his. "Follow me, I want to show you my favorite part of the kingdom."
Aurelia followed him anxiously as he led her to a wide open field of rolling hills where millions of flowers of all different colors bloomed. The sun's rays shined down perfectly, emitting a bright light to make the colors ever so vibrant. A gentle breeze blew that carried the sweet scents of the flowers to her nose. She took in a deep breath, her grin widened.
"Darron," she spoke softly. "I don't even know what to say."
Darron tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I know exactly what I would say... the last one to the bottom of the hill is a rotten egg!"
Darron took off into a full sprint and stopped before the flowers. He then sprawled himself onto the bed of flowers and began to roll down the hill. Without hesitation, Aurelia chased him and she too rolled down the hill, feeling the grass and flowers brush against her skin as her body picked up speed. She could hear the sweet laughter that was shared between them. When reached the bottom of the hill, she felt her body collide with Darron's, leaving the two wrapped in each other's arms, continuing to laugh hysterically.
When the laughter died down, Aurelia finally brought herself to ask the question that had been bugging her all day.
"Hey, Darron?"
"Yes?"
"What did Edaneus mean by you 'used to be a subject of Therondia'?" Aurelia inquired.
Darron let out a heavy sigh and propped himself onto his elbow.
"You don't have to tell me!" Aurelia said, immediately regretting her question. "I was just curious- but really, you don't have to-"
"Aura," Darron interrupted her, his lips gracing into an even bigger smile.
Aurelia stopped talking. "I started rambling again, didn't I?"
Darron began to laugh. "Could you get any cuter? Like I'm being serious."
Aurelia's cheeks grew warm.
"You deserve to know why," he began. "When I found the bodies of my brothers, I wasn't only heartbroken, I was angry. I had this rage building up inside of me because of what she has done to this world. I wanted justice, so I went to Aramina's brother, Garrett, because he was my best friend and he promised to speak to his parents. His parents refused to endanger their people, but Garrett still sided with me." Aurelia could tell how painful his words were to speak, noticing how his words shook in his throat. "That very same week, Therondia was attacked but the same hunters that took Bai. Garrett and I followed them to their fortress...but there were too many of them." Darron's eyes fell to the ground as he tried to hide his teary eyes. "He saved my life. When I returned to the kingdom without Garrett, I was banished. I lost everything."
Though Aurelia didn't know Garrett, she could feel eyes burn slightly with tears. She quickly brought him into an embrace and let him sink into her arms. "Darron, you can't blame yourself for someone else's actions. You can't hang on to what happened and what could've happened."
"I can if I was the person he was saving."
"Not even then," Aurelia sighed, running her hands through his hair to bring him closer to her. "Wherever Garrett may be, he is smiling down at your bravery and compassion and dedication to saving this world. Sometimes we sacrifice ourselves for those we love. This is why we fight, to justify those we lost."
Darron picked up his head from her shoulders to meet her eyes. "Why do you fight?"
"Believe me, I was terrified when I learned of this prophecy. I never thought I could be trained to...kill." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "But I knew that if I didn't, I would be endangering my people. Endangering my family or my people is one thing I will never stand for."
Darron intertwined his fingers with hers. "I will fight with you, Aura." Darron nodded to a little girl that was approaching Aurelia. "You have a little friend."
Aurelia turned herself around just in time for the little girl to run over and gently place a pale blue flower in her palm. "Thank you," Aurelia smiled sweetly. She ran her fingers through a cluster of flowers and plucked a royal purple one from the ground, then placing the stem of it behind the girl's ear. "It's almost as beautiful as you."
The young girl giggled. "Thank you," she smiled shyly. "Thank you for saving our world, Miss."
"It's my pleasure," Aurelia spoke, bowing her head slightly.
As the girl ran off to join her friends in the meadow, Aurelia raised the flower to her nose to smell it. "It's gorgeous."
"Did you know that the colors of flowers are symbolic in Therondia?"
"No, I didn't," Aurelia answered. "What does blue stand for?"
"Bravery."
_____
AXEL & NIZHONI
"Have you ever tried jumping on the rooftops?" Axel asked Nizhoni.
Nizhoni raised her brows, giving him a 'you're crazy' look. "You say that like it's normal. What? Is this your little hobby?"
"My hobby? I guess so," Axel shrugged. "Hey, it's better than stealing. I'm not like my father." He took her hands and began to drag her to the nearest building. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"
"You're just full of trouble, aren't you," Nizhoni groaned as she followed him.
"Duh."
Axel eyed a shovel that rested up against a neighboring fence. He grabbed it, broke off the metal part of it, and jogged back over to Nizhoni. Nizhoni's eyes stared at the top of the building.
"I suppose I'm supposed to get us up there?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"That would be rather helpful, yes," he answered with a grin.
Nizhoni rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, letting her mind sink into complete concentration so she could lift the two of them off the ground. As soon as they were parallel to the roof, they took a step out of mid air to land onto the rooftop.
"You're better than a magic carpet," Axel chuckled as he gripped the stick tightly in his hands. "Observe," he stated confidently before he began to run towards the other edge of the roof, holding the stick high. Just before he reached the edge, he planted the stick into the stone ground to lift himself into the air. The stick bent in the middle so that he could propel himself forward to land onto the next rooftop. He spun around proudly and tossed the stick to Nizhoni. "Your move!" He called out.
Nizhoni grasped the stick, not worrying one bit because she could rely on her powers if she may fall. She followed Axel's actions and took off to the edge, shoved the stick into the ground, and lifted herself through the air to the next roof.
Axel's mouth fell open. "You definitely cheated with your powers!"
She tossed the stick back. "Nah, I'm just too good, love."
"That couldn't be more true," he smiled.
Axel felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, finding the dirty face of a teenage boy that was smiling eagerly. "Can you teach me how to do that?" He asked. Two other boys and a girl stood behind the boy, wanting to learn from Axel as well.
Axel was surprised but honored. "Of course," he answered.
He slowly went through the motions, showing him how to plant the stick and how to keep your weight back to push yourself forward. The boy did a few practice jumps and once he got it down, he handed it to the girl and began to show her. The kids found a few more sticks so they each had one to practice with. Nizhoni and Axel watched happily, correcting them everyone once in a while, but mostly enjoying their time of peace. All of a sudden, the door that led up to the rooftop burst open and three guards came charging out. In response, all the kids began to race to the ledge and flung themselves over to the next building. The soldiers stopped running once the reached the ledge, groaning in defeat.
One guard turned to face Axel and Nizhoni. "What the hell do you think you were doing?"
Axel looked at him as if the answer were obvious. "Having fun?"
"Aren't you supposed to be a prince? Why would you be teaching delinquents how to hop rooftops so they can keep running from our guards?"
"Why should I look down on others, it doesn't matter I'm a prince, they're just like me," Axel shot back.
"And maybe they would stop running if you stopped chasing them," Nizhoni added.
"They are stealing from the markets," the guardsmen protested.
Axel shook his head in disgust. "Then maybe you should make sure they are fed."
"They are only peasants."
A stern look settled onto Axel's face. "No, we don't do that in my kingdom, everyone's equal there, maybe you should give that a try." Axel's amulet began to glow. "Plus, I don't know why you're worrying so much about 'delinquents' when you should be worrying about your wife finding out about all of your affairs," he sang. "You're not much better you're yourself, sir."
The guard reached for his sword. "What did you say?"
Nizhoni rolled her eyes. "This has been charming but I think it's time for you guys to go." Nizhoni raised her hand to the three guardsmen, and with a simple wave of her hand, she carried the men back to the door, shoved them inside, and slammed it shut.
Axel slung his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "We are quite the duo. Look out Morana...you got a couple of badasses on your hands."
•••
a/n: here's another super duper cute chapter filled with all our happy babies. sorry it's kinda long, i was making up for the fact that it took me so damn long to publish.
lmk your thoughts on this whole kingdom cause i wasn't quite sure what to do! thank you for reading!! <3