Chapter Text
As the crowd gathered around in the square, waiting for Queen Entrapta and the Crown princess to come out of Crypto Castle and begin the ceremony of the Quest of Queens, Maxime felt her own anxiety and frustration rise up, as she tried to shuffle around and away from the main body of people. Stars, she hated busy crowds, and a busy crowd of pompous nobles and royals was even worse.
As she and the twins made their way to a more recluse area of the courtyard, where they could still see and hear what was happening on the makeshift stage that had been erected near the castle entrance, Nullia, whose hand she had been holding the whole time, let out a slight yowl/growl from her closed lips, eyes furrowed and ears pinned to her head. She, too, hated crowds.
Their friend and brother, Void, at least didn’t seem to mind it as much as they did, though Maxime doubted he was a fan. Save for Primrose and Eva, the family was pretty introverted. Speaking of Eva, the goat woman looked out above the crowd and to the stage, furrowing her eyebrows.
“ How long do you think before they come out? “
“ Pretty sure everyone knows their orientation already, “ Void joked, earning a gentle elbowing from his fiancée.
“ You know what I meant, “ the woman groaned, a small grin on her lips.
Thankfully, their wait would turn out not to be too long, as the crowd hushed around them, clueing them to look to the stage. And sure enough, there was Entrapta and Hordak, both walking onto the stage and up to a small device created for the occasion, which according to Entrapta should help augment the volume of their voices without strain on their throat.
After speaking for a moment with one of the other people on-stage, who nodded, bowed and then rapidly walked off the stage, the Queen of Dryl looked curiously to the small rounded machine in front of her and, without warning to anyone, gently tapped it with her finger.
The sounds echoing from it were, for a lack of better words, loud and irritating. So much so in fact that most of the audience, who had augmented earring due to specifics of their races, winced in pain, which included the twins and Eva. Thankfully for Maxime, her kind of Etherians -or more accurately Eternians, as far she knew- were not as sensitive to loud or high-pitched sounds as the others. Nonetheless, she too winced, as did the couple on stage. Clearly, no one liked whatever she had just done, including Entrapta herself.
“ Sorry everyone! “ she exclaimed, which the devices picked up and repeated, just as loudly, several times after her, getting pained groans from the crowd.
Maxime saw the petite woman turn to her husband, Hordak, who had his hands folded behind his back, who leaned over for her to whisper something into his comically big ears. The former warlord then nodded and walked off-stage, and she could barely see him saying something to the people who had left stage a few minutes ago, who nodded as well and hurried backstage, as Hordak stepped back onto the stage and gently pushed the device away from him as he cleared his throat, then spoke as loudly as he could:
“ Apologies everyone, there is a slight problem with the microphone’s feedback. It should be fixed soon. “
“ Great, we’re stuck here even longer, “ Nullia muttered, her tail anxiously swishing behind her as she spoke.
“ What’s a feedback? “ Eva asked, holding her husband’s hand as he too grew more agitated by the minute.
“ I’m not Entrapta or Hordak levels of smart, “ began Maxime, looking to the stage once more, “ but I think it means their ‘microphone’ or whatever that thing is called is repeating stuff louder and louder. “
“ And that’s the screech we’re hearing? “ asked Void, his ears pinned to his skull. '' Entrapta didn’t screech! “
“ I think that’s the sound being looped so much it becomes distorted, “ she shrugged, giving Nullia’s hand a supportive squeeze.
Before Void could argue with her any more, his favorite form of relief apparently, a group of large figures approached them, two of them practically running up to them before stopping. Maxime did not refer to herself as a lovebird, but she couldn’t quite keep the smile off her face as she saw her husband coming up to her, leaning down and looking at her as if she was the prettiest thing on Earth. That expression of his was promptly rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from her, to which he let out a happy thrill, nuzzling his face against her’s.
“ Hey guys! “ said the other clone who had runned up to them. This one was a family friend, by the name of ‘Pickles’. He had been nicknamed that way for his personality, which some referred to as ‘hard to swallow’. He thought it was because he liked growing vegetables. No one told him pickles were fermented, not grown. “ Are we late? Is she gone already? “
“ Nah, I’d say you’re early, “ said Void, shrugging. “ They’re having some issues with their voice-amplifying device. It’s grating everyone’s ears. “
To that, the two clones present whimpered, almost in unison, as their ears lowered slightly, Astrel, Maxime’s husband, crouching to his wife’s level slightly for comfort, which she gave to him by using her free arm to wrap it around his neck, the palm of her hand gently pressed against his temple opposite to her as she planted a kiss on the side of his head.
“ Thankfully it’s turned off right now, “ Eva continued, “ I think they’re fixing it backstage. “
“ What’s all this about? “ another clone asked, walking up to them and stopping next to Pickles, whom almost immediately grabbed the grumpy Hordu’s hand with a smile, prompting his partner to look temporarily flustered, as if PDA was the most embarrassing thing.
“ Microphone’s got a feedback issue, “ Maxime explained, shrugging.
Before the snarky man, who’d been nicknamed ‘Yudi’, short for ‘Utter Disaster (UD)’, could say anything, the glaring of all present but Astrel quickly advised him against doing so. So, with a huff, he kept quiet.
“ Hi everyone ! “ said another clone as the last three clones finally arrived, accompanied by one faun-like woman, holding one of them by the hand. The clone who had spoken had curly, pink hair, and a bright smile on his face, contrasting with his partner’s, who was the opposite in his demeanor, ears slightly lowered and an anxious expression on his face as he held his partner’s arm like a buoy.
These two were known as Cinnamon and Utsah, respectively, though in the past their nicknames had been “Sweetheart” and “Worry”, for their personalities once more. Cinnamon had changed his name after tasting the pastries of the same name for the first time, and Utsah’s name was simply what the faun-like woman accompanying the last Hordu had been calling him in secret while she had lived on the Velvet Glove, which, if Max recalled right, meant ‘worry’ in her native tongue.
Speaking of, the woman, Marbles, and her fiancé, Emerald, arrived last, softly greeting everyone.
Marbles had been the widow of the deceased Horde Prime, an alien woman from a planet none of them had ever visited before. She and Max had been on tense terms for years after the latter had felled her husband, for obvious reasons. But in later years, their relationship had eased a bit, partially due to Maxime’s investment in the clones’ rehabilitation program, as she was one of the heads of the program, which Marbles, who was very attached to those who had formerly been her people, was thankful for. And Maxime, on her end, simply had wished in secret that they could be friends.
Emerald, like Astrel, was a clone the Etherians had come to refer to as “Prime model”, though if she could recall right, Maxime believed the clones had an actual, different name for the model of clones her husband and Emerald were. They had been decanted a while after the battle against Prime, when the Etherians and stranded clones could finally reach the Velvet Glove, who had by now been renamed “Space Brocoli”. Emerald’s crush on Marbles had never been lost on anyone, partially due to the fact that he would squeak uncontrollably in her presence.
And oh dear did Hordak’s horrible adoptive children pick up on it.
“ Have they already begun? “ Marbles asked, still holding her fiancé’s arm as they walked up to the group, her little tail swishing behind her.
“ Not yet, technical issues, “ Void answered.
“ If they had asked me for help- “
“ Yudi. “ Pickles sternly interrupted his partner.
“ I don’t think they’d- “ began Max, before being interrupted by the sound of the microphone being plugged back in, and Entrapta tapping it again. Thankfully, it now did not reverb as badly, and the only irritation coming from it was the loud tapping sound echoing around the square.
“ Testing, testing- Everyone hears me? “
“ YES!!! “ the crowd replied loudly, half of those present irritated, the other half amused slightly by the Queen’s antics.
“ Great! So, I’d like to begin this event by thanking everyone for coming here! I know this is a bit unorthodox, to uh… to have a Crown princess do the Quest of Queens and not be crowned, well, Queen afterwards, but everyone’s presence means a lot to our family, “ Entrapta began, barely subtly looking to the side as her husband held a tablet for her to read the script on. Though, if one were to ask anyone present, none of them would have expected Queen Entrapta to be a great public speaker.
“ Now for the formal bit! “
Nullia’s groan beside Maxime was barely contained, and so was Void’s snicker in response.
“ We are gathered here today to witness the not-quite-crowning of Princess Primrose of Dryl, as she completes the Quest of Queens! “
As the woman spoke, a little figure, though taller than the woman on stage, walked up from the stairs to the side of the stage and up beside the Queen and Consort, turning to face the crowd as Hordak put a comforting hand on the teenager’s shoulder.
If Void noticed the few stares he got as he loudly cheered for his daughter, he did not care. He was too busy tearing up at the sight of his child, up there before the crowd in the ceremonial garments of the Queens that came before her. His baby had grown so much...
“ Though she is too young yet to take her place as Ruler of Dryl, and I am not planning on dying just yet, Primrose has been born eighteen years ago, and so is obligated to completes this Quest, as her delayed aging has not been found sufficient reason by the Bright Moon council to report the Quest’s date to a later one. “
Maxime was pretty sure that last part was a barely subtle jab at Queen Glimmer, who was standing at the front of the Crowd, along with her husband, Bow, their twin daughters, Stella and Angelica, who were now Primrose’s age, and two guards.
“ The Quest of Queens of the kingdom of Dryl is as follow:
As the symbolic marriage of the Dryl kingdom's two most important characteristics, technology and mining, for we are known for our scientific advancements and our mines, whom reach down and deep into our mountains, Princess Primrose has been tasked in advance to create of her own hands a device that will help her in her journey down into the mines, where she is to retrieve the Dryl kingdom’s ancestral heirloom: our first Queen’s prized drill! “
The barely choked snickering from Nullia, Maxime and Void was not as subtle as they wished it was, but honestly, they were ready to bet half of the crowd were as amused as they were. A drill?? A prized drill??
“ Due to the difficulty that comes with successfully completing this quest, Primrose will go down into the mines by herself, as opposed to some Quests of Queens that require the presence of witnesses. “
Ah yes, the witnesses. Void had almost pulled the furr out of his ears when he’d been told Primrose would go down into the creature-infested mines by herself. That was a day to remember.
“ Princess Primrose, please present to the crowd the device you have created for this mission. “
As Primrose took a step forward and held her right arm before the crowd, the people gathered in the square let out an audible gasp. Most of them still held the memory fresh of the conquest of Salineas, and the weapon former Lord Hordak had used to breach the Sea Gate. In that moment, Hordak was relieved that Mermista was not present, or else there’d be an even bigger scandal.
“ This is the device I have decided to build for the Quest of Queens! “ Primrose announced, ignoring the murmurs of indignation in the crowd, looking fiercely forward and speaking clearly into the microphone. “ I am no stranger to the rumors of myriapods and other dangerous creatures lurking into the unused mines I am to venture into. So, for my safety and for defense purposes, I have recreated my grandfather’s arm cannon, smaller and less powerful, to honor him and prove to you, people of Etheria, that technology does not have to be used for nefarious purposes! “
The murmurs did not die down, but their tone gradually changed, the indignation remaining, but subtly being overtaken by intrigue and curiosity.
“ We will escort you to the entrance of the mines, where you will enter alone. From that point forth, the task of recovering the Dryl ancestral heirloom will be your task, and yours alone, “ finished Entrapta, as Hordak put the tablet back behind him and put his free hand on his wife’s shoulder, whom looked up at him for silent approval on her big fancy speech. And he gave her that approval, in the form of a small nod and a smile. They then all three walked down from the stage to the side, as Maxime and the others made their way through the crowd to rejoin with them.
Maxime couldn’t help but wonder if maybe they should have assigned at least one person to accompany the twelve year old into the dangerous, unstable caves she was about to venture in.