Chapter Text
Once upon a time, far, far away from modern day, there were seven kingdoms. Each one worshipped a different deity:
In the Queendom of Roses people admired the powerful Queen of Hearts, who was said to have ruled the queendom many centuries afore and that her strictness was so great that she decapitated anyone that dared to disobey her rules.
In the Sunset Savannah there was King of the Beasts, a lion who managed to take the power of the kingdom from his brother all thanks to his persistence. He also proved to be the better king. It is firmly believed that the royal family descends from him.
In the Coral City the Sea Witch was admired for her benevolence. She was always ready to help other merfolks with her contacts, if they were willing to pay the proper price that is.
In the Scalding Sands people revered the Sorcerer of the Sands for his mindfulness and careful planning. He managed to expose a thief who was pretending to be a prince and saved the princess from his lies, afterwards he obtained a magic lamp and became the sultan.
In the Shaftlands the Fairest Queen was praised, not only for her striking beauty, but also for her tenacity. In fact, whenever her position as the fairest of them was threatened she’d stop at nothing to keep it.
In the Isle of Woe people worshipped the King of the Underworld, the God of the Dead, who worked hard to manage a kingdom full of unbridled souls all thanks to his diligence.
In Briar Valley, instead, people admired the Thorn Fairy, who is said to have been the strongest of the great seven. She was able to use her magic on a large scale and could even turn into a majestic dragon. She was very elegant and refined with a strong spirit of nobility.
But this story isn’t about them, instead it narrates another tale. Let’s set the scene:
Inside the gates of Briar Valley, the kingdom of nobility, a young king only twenty of age sat on his throne. He was very tall and had a rather pale complex, he had medium length black hair with long bangs and bright green eyes.
On his right stood a short man with black hair that reached his shoulders, with some sort of angled bangs and magenta ‘peekaboo like’ highlights, his eyes a deep red. On his left, instead, was another young man. This one had short, unusual silver hair with long bangs and, if one looked a little closer, they could see a small maroon streak. His unique eyes were a mix of sky-blue and lavender that people often described as ‘auroral’.
In front of the trio was a long table, at which sat many different men. It looked like they were discussing a very important topic:
“We have to do something, my lord!” exclaimed one.
“You can’t just let those lowly beasts mock us like this, sire!” interjected another.
“Yeah-” “No way.” “Absolutely unacceptable”. All the voices started mixing together until it was nearly impossible to distinguish who was saying what. Having grown tired of all the chaos, the young man on the throne raised his voice and ordered: “SILENCE”.
Immediately all arguing ceased at once and everyone present stared at their ruler.
“What the people of the Sunset Savannah claim doesn’t matter, we will not lower ourselves to their level. By the Thorn Fairy, we mustn’t answer some children throwing a tantrum.” he said, his tone absolute. Slowly the men at the table stood up and left, being done with the meeting. Only the trio remained.
“Who knew some kitties baring their tiny teeth would irritate the senate this much, Malleus!” exclaimed the short man with pink streaks, a playful smirk on his lips.
“You and I both know just how prideful the senate is, Lilia.” replied Malleus, expressionless “No matter what they think we shouldn’t justify school yard taunts with a response, we have more important matters to attend”.
“Of course, my lord”. With that, they left the council room and headed for the gardens, walking along the imponent halls adorned with paintings and dimly lit by candles.
The small group met up with a tall green haired boy. He had striking yellow-greenish eyes and thick eyebrows, jagged at the ends. He screamed as he saw the group, making anyone in the proximity flinch at the sound:
“Waka-sama! You’re back from the meeting, I’m certain your ultimate decision was the best one for all of Briar Valley!” he exclaimed, bowing and reaching a 90 degrees angle.
“Sebek, thank you for your kind words.” answered Malleus, a smile gracing his usually emotionless face “How was your patrol round, any trouble?”.
“None at all sir!”.
“That’s good to hear”.
Meanwhile the silver haired man dozed off on Lilia’s shoulder, not listening to the conversation. “SILVER!! You shouldn’t sleep during your work hours! How will you protect Waka-sama then!?!” Sebek basically screamed when he noticed, waking up poor Silver “I’m sorry Sebek…” he said a bit confused and still drowsy.
Malleus laughed softly at the scene.
In the Sunset Savannah, a figure walked along the halls of the royal palace. He had an air of importance but looked utterly bored, with his posture slouched and gaze set downwards at the floor. His appearance, with the exception of his long brown hair (mane), he didn’t look very well-kept, since he had dark eyebags, his clothes were a bit wrinkled despite being managed by his servants and he had a slight stubble. Despite that, he was still quite regal and beautiful.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a pair of hurried footsteps behind the man. Once the new arrival stopped running, he bowed and exclaimed “Prince Leona, king Falena is holding a meeting in the council room and demands your presence!”
“Tch tell him I’m not coming” said the prince not even turning to look at the other man ‘It’d be pointless anyway.’ he thought bitterly.
“I apologize sir, but it truly is an urgent matter, the king is discussing the next course of action regarding Briar Valley. He requested all his advisors and commanders to be present, you included.”
Having no other choice, unless he wanted Falena to bother him for weeks for missing the meeting, he slowly made his way to the council room. Once he reached it, he opened the door and was greeted by the sight of the whole council staring at him.