Chapter Text
Amphitrite picked up her soon to be brother. His shell was already cracked, no doubt from the explosions around the palace. The salmon-folk were attacking at every angle.
An merling servant swam up to Amphitrite, her tail tattered.
Amphitrite gasped, "Your tail!"
The servant cringed, checking her tail. She shrugged, "Better than you. We have to get you two out of here!"
"What about you?" Amphitrite cried, tears bubbling in her eyes. This couldn't be happening.
"Your father orders it," the servant took Amphitrite's hand, her claws digging slightly in her hand.
"I am the future queen!" Amphitrite snarled, pulling away, "This is my kingdom! I must protect it!"
The servant smiled sadly, "Your highness. Believe me when I say… you are the kingdom."
Amphitrite looked at her, startled, "W-what does that mean?"
The servant shook her head, "That doesn't matter. Just… please leave…"
Amphitrite looked around. The kingdom was dying and she knew it. Looking at the servant one more time, she swam away.
And she kept swimming. And swimming. She didn't stop until the ringing of merling's screams left her head. She didn't stop until she didn't see the damage of her beloved sea-floor.
She stopped when her brother's egg shook.
Her brother's name was Taltic. A fitting name for a prince of the ocean, a cod-folk at that based on the egg. He was never supposed to be alive, especially after this incident.
Yet, here he was, thriving.
And about to be alive.
Taltic's egg broke, a hand poking through. Amphitrite helped break the shell, prying it open for the younger sibling. Seabling.
Taltic's head popped out, making a startled gasp. Immediately, he started crying.
Amphitrite picked him up, comforting the seabling.
"Hey, little guy," Amphitrite cooed, "I'm your sister. Amphitrite."
"E… elizi…bet…" He spoke, barely speaking.
Amphitrite smiled. How he got Elizabeth from Amphitrite, she couldn't tell. However, she just smiled and nodded.
"Yep. Your big sister, Elizabeth. And I promise. I will never let you go."
——
Pearl was sparring on the grounds when she saw it. The carriage that would take her brother away from her.
She flew over to it, her owl wings scaring the smaller brother. Grian flinched, before sighing.
“Honestly, Pearl, you need to be better about wing control. You could knock someone over!”
Pearl grinned, “Ah, come on, Gri! Live a little.”
Grian looked at the horse pulling the grand carriage, a smile coming over him, “Hopefully, this stead will take me there.”
Pearl sighed, “Do you have to go?”
Grian turned back to Pearl, “I have no place here. I have no chance at the thrown.”
“But you could stay here with me!” Pearl grasped at any desperate attempt she had at keeping her brother, “You could help me rule! I don’t know anything about anything.”
“And you’ll learn,” Grian smiled sadly, “But… I can’t fight as well as you. Nor lead. All I have is my brains, and we know how bad that is.”
Pearl giggled at the joke, however she was still sad, “Please stay.”
Grian looked at Pearl, then sighed, “Here.”
Grian passed a small box, with a tiny slit there. Buttons of the alphabet were scattered around.
Pearl looked up, confused, “What’s this?”
Grian smirked, “It’s a communicator. Mambo gave it to me. It’s a huge success in the Grimlands where he lives.”
Pearl nodded. She remembered from her studies of empires that the Grimlands hosted many technological successes. This must be one of them.
“Whenever you’re lonely or need a friend, call me or text me.”
Pearl turned the Comm around. It had a giant Moon on it. When she looked up, Grian was holding up his, a Sun on the back.
“Scar painted it for us,” Grian laughed, “Aren’t they great?”
"Amazing," Pearl started fidgeting with the Comm.
It buzzed, making Pearl jump and drop it. Grian laughed, giving it back to her.
She looked at the Comm, and something was written there.
"Grian: I love you lots."
Pearl looked up at Grian, tears filling her eyes. Grian was already crying when Pearl wrote back.
"Pearlescentmoon: I love you more."
—
Pearl put on her gear, her helmet basically engraved in her head. Sword in hand, she walked into the arena.
Nearly no one was cheering for her. Especially not her father. His scorn spoke louder than any cheering would.
"Coming on to the field, Princess Pearlescent Moon! Will she be able to keep the crown?"
Quiet boos came from the audience as she got into a warrior stance.
"And now, our reigning champ, the supposed Aeor-killer, THE DEMON!"
The cheers for her competitor made Pearl flinch as the large man came onto the field.
Well, more like a tank came onto the field.
"The rules are simple. As everyone knows, the next in line must battle for the death to rule. Now that Pearlescent Moon has reached her 18th birthday, she now has the opportunity to fight for her crown. If she kills the competition, she becomes our beloved queen. If she fails, well… getting impaled by burning spears would be nicer than what she's in store for! Ready? Fight!"
The Demon ran towards her, head first. Pearl flew into the air, avoiding his attack and managing to slice his ear.
He growled in rage, raising his giant hand to swipe Pearl. Pearl dodged, sending her sword right through his hand. It promptly fell off as the Demon howled in pain. Pearl landed, looking at her father. He was smiling, or the closest thing to an actual smile.
Pearl suddenly was hit in the gut by a large fist, sending her flying across the stadium.
She fell down, assessing the damage. One of her wings was definitely broken, based on the twist of it. She couldn't fly. Her legs were bruised pretty badly, maybe even broken. She couldn't run.
It took all her effort, but she looked over to her father. He was shaking his head, no doubt calling Pearl a failure.
Pearl was picked up. A nub from a cut-up fist was getting ready to end her. As Pearl braced for an unreasonable amount of pain, she holds out her sword and lunges.
The Demon Groans, releasing Pearl. Pearl falls, barely able to move. She sees that he fell over, her sword still in his bleeding abdomen. She crawls over, then walks over (despite her body telling her not to).
She pulls out her sword. The Demon was still breathing, much to her relief. Pearl didn't want to kill anyone, no matter what.
Pearl looked at the audience, suddenly mad. How dare they make her fight to the death? He was dying. He should get help.
She looked over to her father. Her father looked at her. Then, slowly, gave her the kill signal.
She scowled and shook her head. Her father growled, then snapped his fingers. Guards started going around her, they're heated syths ready for the kill.
Pearl sighed. She had two options. Kill this "innocent" person and become queen or die.
Picking up her sword, she walked over to the Demon. He was breathing. He could've been okay.
Then, in a warrior stance, she threw her dagger at her father. He promptly collapsed as the guards ran towards her.
She smiled, "Bring it on then."
——
"Get Shrub out of here!" The King ordered, "Now!"
The wolf nodded, running towards what the humans called a "Nether Portal." He ran at top speed and what waited for him was a surprise.
Trees, but green. Mycelium, but green. Lava, but in the sky.
The wolf took baby Shrub, holding her tightly, trying to navigate the vastness of the place. There wasn't a roof. It was just… sky.
The wolf walked over to a cover forest. When he got there, he dropped the baby and howled.
He had heard legends of wolves that roam the Overworld, but they are known as myths. The fact that they could be real was crazy, but not unrealistic.
How could they live if they had no lava to drink? No nether wart to consume? No piglins to get love from?
No gnomes…
Suddenly, the wolf heard a noise. He growled, baring his teeth.
A wolf, though grayish as opposed to his red pelt, came out. Her eyes first laid eyes on Shrub, looking at the tiny child with bewilderment.
The wolf had a plan. He knew he couldn't survive in the Overworld, especially with a baby. So he would ask others for help. Eventually, Shrub would come back to her home and save everyone. But she couldn't do that yet.
And the wolf needed parents.
The newcomer went over to Shrub and sniffed. The baby giggled as the newcomer looked up at the wolf with confusion. The wolf nodded, and shifted Shrub closer to the newcomers.
The newcomers now understood and took Shrub. Looking back at the wolf, she nodded and ran away.
That's when the wolf collapsed.
——
Katherine woke up with a shudder. She sat up, breathing heavily. Where… was she?
The first thing she saw was flowers (how did she know what those are?). She decided that flowers were good. The bees seemed to like them (why are those bees?) and bees must be good because they can fly.
And their wings are pretty.
That's when Katherine realized there was something on her back. She reached out to find delicate wings attached to her. They were also pretty.
Katherine got up and came face to face with another person.
"Ahhhh!" She screamed.
"Sorry," the person said, "Um… I didn't know you would wake up."
"Well. I'm awake."
The person nodded, "Yep."
"Sorry if this is rude," Katherine said, "But who are you?"
"Oh, shoot!" The person pinched the bridge of their nose, "I'm an idiot! I'm Shelby."
Shelby shook out a hand. Katherine, hesitantly, took her hand. She didn't remember what to do with it, but thank gods Shelby did. She shook vigorously, taking the girl by surprise.
Taking a look at Shelby, she got to take in the girl. She was short, probably a gnome, with green eyes, green shirt, red pants, pointed ears, and ladybug-like wings. She was very pretty.
A lot of things were pretty in this life.
"And you are?" Shelby asked Kathetine.
"Katherine," she said immediately. How did she know that? How does she know her name and not anything else? Except flowers. And bees.
"Well, Katherine, is this your kingdom?"
Katherine looked behind her and gasped at a palace that DEFINITELY was not hers.
"Um, there has to be a mistake…" Katherine started when suddenly a woman wearing a flower crown came forwards and bowed in front of the two.
"Your highness!" She said, "There you are!"
"What?" Katherine stumbled, "I'm not… well, I'm not…"
Shelby perked up, "So you are! My kingdom is the Undergrove! I'm pleased to meet my new neighbor."
"W-wait!" Katherine was confused as the gnome walked away. Katherine was staring at the women, who was now looking concerned.
"Are you doing okay, your majesty?" The woman said.
Katherine looked at the women and put on a fake smile, "Amazingly!"
——
Joel was eating his lunch. He was reading a book, a really good one! About a wizard and his adventures.
"If only they were real…" He muttered to himself.
"What was that, young master?" Callum, one of Joel's servants asked.
"I wish magic was real…" Joel sighed, "Then my parents might be here." He hesitated, "How much longer?"
"3,652 and a half more days," Callum said.
Joel sighed, "I'm going to go take a walk by the beach."
"Of course. Do you need me, Joel?" Callum said, seriously.
"I'm fine, Callum," Joel said, "Worst case scenario, I come home."
Callum didn't look convinced, but nodded nonetheless.
Joel walked outside, greeting his subjects as they passed him. Since his parents left, he was now in charge and highly respected.
Jogging to the sand, he jumped into the water. He's always like the ocean. There was magic there, and not the kind in stories. This was real.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Joel jumped back as a new voice spoke to him.
"AEOR FU-" Joel blurted out before stopping himself. He angrily turned towards…
The most beautiful women he has ever seen.
Her hair, a bubble gum pink, surrounded her fair skin, making her blue eyes pop. Her smile was sweeter than any baked goods that the bakery could whip out. She was gorgeous.
"Are you okay?" She said, concern creeping into her melodic voice.
"A….a….a… hi…" Joel stumbled.
The girl giggled, "Hi? You okay there…?"
He realized she was asking for his name, "Joel." He then cleared his throat, "King Joel of Mezalea."
The girl looked confused, "Where?"
Joel blinked, "Here. Literally right here. Where you stand. I rule this place."
"I have literally never heard of you or your country."
"How??"
She shrugged, "I have amnesia. I don't know a lot of stuff."
Joel felt bad now, "Oh. Sorry 'bout that. Do you remember your name?"
"Lizzie."
Joel then knew what the prettiest word in the world was.
"Lizzie. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."
Lizzie giggled, "Quite the flirt, aren’t you?"
"Heh, not really," Joel smiled, "Just trying to be nice to someone in pain."
"I'm in pain?"
"You have amnesia," Joel said, "It can't be comfortable."
Lizzie scrunched her face, "It's like… something is missing that should be there. It sucks."
"I'm… I'm sorry," Joel hesitated, "You don't have a place to stay, yeah?"
"Yep. Life's good."
"What if you live in my palace?"
Lizzie looked at him, confused, "Palace?"
"Yeah. That big building with a lot of towers. Live there with me since you have nowhere else to go."
Lizzie looked at him, "I guess I don't have a choice."
Joel smiled, sticking out his hand, "M'lady."
Lizzie giggled, taking his hand, "M'lord."
——
Pixl was an immortal being. One that is literally incapable of dying.
Being 35 forever comes with flaws.
He has seen the death of Gods. Of ecosystems. Of friends.
So when a small child ran up to him, Pixl was quite surprised.
"Daddy, daddy!" The child grinned at him, "Upsies, upsies!"
Pixl looked down at the child as a grown-up ran besides him.
"Young master!" The grown-up said, "Joel!"
Joel, the child, smiled at Pixl, then looked back at the grown-up, "Lookie, Callum! Daddy!"
"Daddy's gone," Callum said, spite in his eyes, "Gone for a while…"
Joel looked back at Pixl, "Oh… who are you then?"
“Pixl Riffs,” Pix smiled. He held out a hand for the small child, but Joel looked at it confused.
Callum gasped, “Of Pixandria?”
“The one and only.”
Callum bowed down, lowering his head, “Your majesty.”
Pixl waved his hand dismissily, “No need. A pleasure, I assure you. Now,” he looked down at Joel, “Why does he think I’m his father?”
Callum walked over to Joel, putting his hand on his shoulder, “King Julius left us, along with his queen. They are going on a 15 year trip that started a couple days ago. Joel here, at ten years old, is now the king of Mezalea.”
“Huh. I should be bowing to you. Mezalea is one of the most powerful nations. And… he’s the king?”
Callum nodded, anger speckling his eyes, “It’s horrible to pin all this responsibility on him. And you probably remind him of his father.”
“Oh,” Pixl lifted up Joel in his arms. Joel gave a playful giggle as Pix rocked him back and forth, “I may not be your father, but… I can always be someone who you can talk to if needed. I can be your pretend father.”
“Pretend… father?” Joel giggled, “You’re silly, daddy.”
Now to say Pixl wasn’t uplifted by that comment was ridiculous. He was overjoyed that finally, after all these years of being alone, he could have a “son” and see him grow-up.
Maybe life wasn’t that bad after all.
——
Gem, Fwhip, and Sausage were birds of a feathers. Together forever. That would always be true.
However, when Fwhip and Gem were thirteen and Sausage 14, things got different.
It all started when Gem and Fwhip were playing hide and seek with Sausage.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6…” he counted, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Ready or not, here I come!”
Fwhip was watching Gem. Gem was always bad at hide and seek, so watching her was always fun. However, this time, Fwhip saw her and then didn’t. It’s like she disappeared out of thin air.
It took four hours to find Gem. Turned out, she became invisible. Fwhip dismissed it as something from the Kingdom making that happen, but Gem was quiet the rest of the day.
The next day, she dismissed herself early from the dinner table, going to her room. Fwhip and Sausage walked over and gasped when they saw Gem levitating toys. She looked confused, but determined.
Since that day, Fwhip and Gem’s parents kept her powers a secret. They wouldn’t invite Sausage anymore.
They treated Gem like a weapon. A secret one at that. She only got an hour to go outside and she would spend it alone, scared that she would hurt someone.
Meanwhile, his parents treated Fwhip like a golden child. Smart, leadership material, kind, ambitious, always inventing. They would claim how good of a king Fwhip would be. Fwhip didn’t want to be king. He wanted to be Gem’s brother.
Gem eventually wouldn’t go outside. She would stay in her tower and beat herself if she did something wrong. Their parents would chastise her if she didn’t do something perfect. Whatever they did, Gem did it tenfold.
When Gem and Fwhip were 18 and Sasuage was 19, Fwhip and Gem’s parents died in a shipwreck. Fwhip took over and his first order was to stop Gem from practicing.
“No!” She yelled, “I have to do this! I can save them!”
Fwhip glanced at the book she was reading. The title said, “How to Revive People.” Fwhip sighed.
“Gem, please listen,” Fwhip sighed, sitting next to his sister. Bruises lined her arms, so he put his hand on her back, “They were horrible to you. First, they don’t deserve to be revived. Second, you beat yourself up too much. You are the greatest person I know, yet you beat yourself up because of stupid ideas our parents taught you.”
Gem sniffed, tears lining her eyes, “I’m… I’m… I’m going to leave.”
Fwhip looked at her surprised, “What?! Why?”
Gem looked at her arms, “Too many bad memories. I have a friend. She’s lending me a piece of land. Where I can teach wizards magic with no consequences. I need this.”
Fwhip looked at Gem, concern in his voice, “How long have you planned this?”
“Two years ago. Why I’ve been slacking off.”
“Slacking off my butt. Even occupied, you’re still the greatest wizard I know.”
Gem looked at him, a sad smile forming on her face, “Really?”
“Of course,” Fwhip grinned, “I mean, you’ll obviously never be as smart or handsome as me, but-”
A pillow collided with Fwhip’s face. Gem gigged at the attack that she landed.
Fwhip shook the feathers off and took a pillow, “Oh! It’s on!”
——
“Joey!” Mat ran over to Joey, where he was looking at himself in a mirror, “What the heck? We need you!”
“Ugh,” Joey sighed, “I’m too pretty to fight.”
Mat grimaced at the comment, “Yeah, well, in case you didn’t notice, we are at war here! Undead zombies ring a bell?”
“Why isn’t daddy taking care of this?” Joey said, annoyed at Mat, “He’s strong enough.”
“He’s dead.”
“Excuses.”
Mat pinched the bridge of his nose, “Listen. All the people need is for you to stab a zombie. That gives them hope, they fight back. We have to keep this empire going.”
Joey finally looked at Mat. His tiger tail was swishing angrily. Finally Joey got off his butt and sat up, “I hate you.”
Mat smiled, “I know, sir.”
Joey flew down, his parrot wings intimadating. Taking a sword from one of his soldiers, he slash three zombies in a row, decapitating them.
Hours have passed. Blood has been spelt. Joey’s patience has run through.
Eventually, all the zombies retreated, and Joey flew up to the palace. He walked over to his dresser, picking a nice, clean shirt to wear. After washing up, he flew down to the Morgue to check the casualties.
The first person he saw was Rosanna, the resident doctor. Her jaguar ears drifted over to Joey when he came in.
Joey moved past Rosanna to see the casualties. Manily soliders, his father, blah blah blah. The he saw him.
Mat was dead.
——
“Tag!” Lauren smiled, running away, “Your it, Scott!”
Scott scoffed at Lauren, “I’m too old for games.”
“Aww, c’mon, Scotty,” Xornoth smiled, “Live a little.”
“I refuse,” Scott said, a little less serious this time, “Whatcha playing?”
“Tag! Want to play?” Lauren smiled.
Scott sighed. They were all 16 years old, but they acted like toddlers.
Not that Scott complained. Sometimes toddlers were good.
“Okay, how about hide and seek tag?” Scott suggested.
“Oooooo, what’s that?” Lauren asked.
“Think of it as you hide, but if they find you, they have to tag you and not just find you.”
“Sounds perfect,” Lauren grinned, “Xornoth, you find.”
“‘Kay,” Xornoth said, “You better go easy on me though.”
“No promises,” Scott chuckled.
“Okay, 1, 2, 3…” Xornoth started. Scott and Lauren ran off. Scott hid near the water pool while Lauren sat near the cliff. Her giggles could be heard from all over the mountain. Subtlety was not her strong suit.
“Ready or not, here I come!” Xornoth shouted.
He started his path near Scott. He looked all around and he tried to be as quiet as possible. After a while, Xornoth left and Scott let out a sigh of relief. Then a hand touched him from behind, making Scott jump.
“Ahhh!” Scott yelped.
“Gotcha!”
“Shut up,” Scott mumbled, no actual meanness in his gaze.
“Now, where’s Lauren?” Xornoth asked Scott.
“I am a good brother,” Scott said with pride, “I would never give away her.”
“Fair enough. Lauren, I’m a comin’!”
Xornoth ran off, Scott following him. Scott smiled. This was fun. They should do this more often.
“Found you, Lauren!” Xornoth yelled, running after Lauren. Lauren laughed, running out of the way, then tripping.
Her laughs turned into screams as she fell down into the cliff’s abyss. Xornoth stood still while Scott tried saving Lauren. But it was no use.
Suddenly, large wings were above, then below them, as they catch Lauren. Lauren was tramatized, pertfied in his arms.
Their father saved Lauren. ANd was quite mad at Xornoth and Scott.
“Xornoth and Scott Major!” He yelled, setting Lauren on the ground. She was bleeding slightly, “How dare you do this to your sister! She’s family and you let her almost die! I’m especially disappointed in you, Xornoth. Standing still, like a coward. The coward you are!”
Xornoth looked at his father, serious, “I’m sorry father. Let me go ponder my cowardice.”
And with that, Xornoth left his old self behind and walked to his room.
ther saved Lauren. ANd was quite mad at Xornoth and Scott.
“Xornoth and Scott Major!” He yelled, setting Lauren on the ground. She was bleeding slightly, “How dare you do this to your sister! She’s family and you let her almost die! I’m especially disappointed in you, Xornoth. Standing still, like a coward. The coward you are!”
Xornoth looked at his father, serious, “I’m sorry father. Let me go ponder my cowardice.”
And with that, Xornoth left his old self behind and walked to his room.