The Kingdom

[crimson92]

Sparks looked confused for a moment, uncertain and lost, before she turned around to face Max who was having a small conversation with Eli herself about their whereabouts and what they should do.

"Max, can you see him?" she asked her friend, pointing to King Rajus.

"I'm not answering a single one of your questions until you answer mine! Where are we?! And why are you casting spells to get us here?!"

Sparks rolled her eyes and sighed before stomping over to her friend and grabbing her by the arm, yanking her towards King Rajus, "I'll explain it all in a minute, but first tell me if you can see him or not!"

Max glared at Sparks for a minute before turning her eyes to the king, nodding her head, "Yeah, I can see him. He seems to be glowing kind of funny though...Is he dead?"

"More or less, yes," Sparks answered, giggling a little when Max and Eli looked at each other then back at Sparks and then back at the king, "This is King Rajus, the reason why I'm here, I believe and the reason why I brought you here. King Rajus, this is my very good friend Max and her best friend, Eli."

"Hey, nice to meet you," Max greeted, grinning as her golden-green eyes glinted.

Eli, the black dragon wound round her shoulder, bowed his head regally and stared at the king with his ruby red eyes, "It's a pleasure, your Majesty, and quite a surprise too."

"Great, now that introductions are over, tell me why we're here!" Max demanded, refusing to be left in the dark for another second.

So Sparks told her, explaining to her the situation the kingdom was in, the pressure Vesper was under, and the things that were not foreseen yet, but could cause a lot of trouble. Max listened intently to her friend, eyes cast downward as she drank in the new information to the best of her ability.

"So, that's the story and the reason why I brought you here, to help me train Vesper to handle his powers," Sparks finished, though her expression was a little grim, "However, from what the King just told me, it seems it was a lost cause anyway. What's the point of learning control if he can't even use it unless he takes the throne?"

"A big point," Max replied, lifting her eyes to meet the emerald ones of Sparks', "Even if he can't become king yet, he can still help to bring things under control using his powers. Kind of like what an army does, yes?"

She glanced at King Rajus before continuing, "Or like the police or something. There may be a treaty with the King's Men, but if they are not honoring the treaty, then the Annaleian Kingdom will have to do everything in it's power to at least make sure its protected, right? He learns to control his power, uses it to stop the ransacking and the pillaging while simultaneously sending a message to the pirates that those that do wrong on the Annaleian soil will be punished. There's still a lot he can do, he just has to be able to think of actually doing it."

"So you'll help then, right?" Sparks inquired, her eyes bright with new hope as she turned to King Rajus, "That sounds like a plan, doesn't it? Something that we can work with!"

"First, I want to know something," Max intervened, looking thoughtful, "If Vesper has had these powers for so long and he was given that ring for its magical abilities, then why hasn't he been trained before on how to use them or it? Magic that goes without control is only trouble. Trust me, I know this."

She narrowed her eyes and looked at Sparks, the girl smiling sheepishly when they both thought of the time when Sparks herself couldn't control her own powers and was running rampant accidentally.

[❖Amani❖]

King Rajus slightly stepped forward and looked pointedly at Max.

"I never thought the ring had any abilities. I left it to Vesper to show that I chose him as my successor. The ring never worked for me so I figured it was just something to pass down to future kings."

Rajus pulled back again and walked a little closer to the water in an effort to think clearly.

"He could send a message like that, though it would take a lot to get them to listen. That's how I brought them under control after I took the throne from my father. Brute force. The only thing is, no matter how him threatens them, will they listen? They only came to respect me because I proved myself to them over and over and because I was their king."

He turned and fixed Max and Eli with a tortured look.

"The only way he's going to stop them is if he is their king... Vesper is going to have to make a choice."

He crossed his arms and put a hand up to his face.

"Whichever he chooses... that's what is going to survive. There will be sacrifices that must be made."

[crimson92]

Sparks watched the king, feeling like she was now being sucked dry of the hope she had, "What choices does he have, then? Kill his father and take the throne? Why doesn't his father do anything about the King's Men? I mean...he's still the king so...I'm confused now."

"You're confused cuz old King Rajus here seems to be holding some things back, things that I need to know before I can start doing anything," Max replied, making her way over to where the apparition was standing, "What is it that you're not telling us, King? What else do we need to know or is that all? And again, why hasn't Vesper learned to control his powers before?"

"Because magic isn't allowed," Sparks answered for him, causing Max to turn around and look at her, "It's considered...freakish...if anyone were to have magic, I guess. The thought of anyone finding out about his abilities scares Vesper to death."

"...Ah...well...no wonder. No one is here to help him strengthen his powers...great."

"No, Max, that's why you're here," Sparks corrected, looking at King Rajus, "And she's right, your majesty. If there is anything that you haven't told us yet, then we need to know now. At least then, we can be ready for anything since you can see what's up ahead."

[❖Amani❖]

Rajus growled in frustration and shook his head.

"I've told you what I know! And anything else I see I will tell you. But this stays between us three. All of it. All Vesper needs to know is that we're all here to help him, and you three are here to show him how to control the magic he has. He does not need to know about the choice he's going to have to make. The last thing we need is for his decision to be influenced in any way..."

Rajus reached out to Max and showed her his right hand and ring finger. Though pale, a slightly dark band around his finger could be seen where a ring had once been worn.

"Vesper hasn't learned to control his powers yet, partly because of what Sparks said, but partly because it's the ring. As I said, it never worked for me so I had no clue it was magical. Apparently for Vesper that wasn't the case."

Rajus closed his eyes withdrawing his hand and shaking his head.

"And Sparks he doesn't have to do anything about his father. Vesper would never think of such an thing and I would never suggest it to him. As much as Anthony and I clashed, I grew to like him, and as his son Vesper completely adores him. When I said Vesper must make a choice, I meant he'll have to choose which throne he'll wish to take. Either wait and take the Annaleian throne years from now and lose the King's Men, or go ahead and take my previous place and give up on any chance of having Annalei."

Rajus cringed as if in pain.

"I never meant for any of this to happen. I caused so much trouble!"

[crimson92]

"Yeah you did. Did you not think of any of this before you made the poor boy your successor and then up and died?" Max deadpanned, causing Sparks to squeak in surprise at her bluntness and Eli to shake his head in disappointment.

"Max, please, show some compassion," Eli reprimanded her, his own eyes narrowing, "This is a very serious predicament."

"I swear, nothing I say ever makes anyone happy. Why do I even try?!" Max all but yelled as she walked off towards the water a little more, arguing with Eli while leaving King Rajus and Sparks by themselves.

Sparks looked up at the King with uncertainty in her eyes before reaching out and touching his arm gently. He looked so tired and worn out, even for an apparition, and it pained her own heart to see it. She could only imagine what Vesper was going through at the moment, what nightmares he was having.

"Don't worry, King Rajus...we'll find a way to fix this," she told him, smiling up at him in reassurance, "I mean, now Vesper doesn't have to do this alone. I'm here and so is Max and Eli...everything will be okay. Don't beat yourself up over it, what's done is done. All we can do now is move on and try to do what's best for the kingdom. You trust us, right?"

[❖Amani❖]

"I trust you Sparks. And if you trust her than fine."

Rajus hissed at Max and narrowed his eyes in sharp anger.

"And I had no choice in the matter! I had only him and if I did not choose a successor before I died, Agasia would have overtaken us! I wouldn't have even picked him in the first place, if I hadn't thought he was strong enough!"

Rajus' eyes flashed with an unearthly anger and the wind slightly picked up around them.

"Now I suppose I should apologize to Vesper for dying to save his father, shouldn't I?"

Acid dripped thickly off of his words and despite his being dead he began to materialize more and more until he looked as if he was actually one of them.

[crimson92]

Max turned around at the sudden spike of energy, looking boredly at the king before shrugging her shoulders and turning to look back at the water of the lake, "I don't care if you apologize or not, it's not my problem. That's between you and the boy."

She swiveled back around to walk towards him slowly, making eye contact with him and keeping it steady, "But don't get angry with me just because you feel bad about everything that's going on. I'm just making observations on what I've heard from both Sparks and you. You're obviously beating yourself up about the things happening to Vesper. Great, do that, beat yourself up over it, blame yourself if you want because in the end, that's not going to change anything."

She stopped right in front of him, calm as ever, and tilted her head to the side, "Like Sparks said, what's done is done. The decision's been made, you're dead, and Vesper is the new heir to the throne and no amount of self-loathing is going to turn back the little hands of time and make you take anything back. So, you have one of two options here: continue blaming yourself while your nephew has an early heart attack from all the stress or move on and do what we can to help him in the future."

All was quiet and still after that, Sparks looking nervously between Max and King Rajus, wondering if her friend had only succeeded in making the king angrier. Eli watched closely as well, prepared to jump in and protect his best friend if he needed to. Max just continued to stare at him, her expression steady and unyielding.

"The call is yours, King Rajus. You know what he needs better than we do."

[❖Amani❖]

Rajus stood completely still before Max, still furious and barely understandable. He never once turned his head when speaking to Sparks.

"Sparks you do what you must. If you need her then fine. But I won't bother to play friends and I don't think she much cares to either. Witches like that have no place around me."

He hissed at her and stepped back, shimmering and beginning to fade.

"You should begin heading back now. Sun will be coming up soon Sparks. If I'm right Vesper hasn't been able to sleep."

He completely disappeared and left a cold but burning air surrounding where he'd been standing. And true to his word, a pink rose began spreading in the east and a slight breeze began to pick up.

[crimson92]

Both girls watched the king disappear, staring at the place where he had been for a long moment, neither of them moving for that moment. Then, of course, Max was the first one to move when she suddenly shrugged her shoulders, made a small noise, and then turned around towards the lake.

"You just had to piss him off, didn't you?" Sparks suddenly asked her, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Max turned to look at her sideways and then shrugged again, "I didn't do anything."

"He's a king!"

"A cocky one, if you ask me. Witches like me have no place around him? Please, who ever said he had a place around me? Just because he's a king, a dead one, I might add, doesn't mean I want him in my presence. All that negativity was upsetting my shadows. And who exactly said I was a witch?"

Sparks shook her head, "Max, with you being like you are, King Rajus thinks that you just don't care and are blaming him for everything that has happened thus far."

"Okay, one," Max held up a finger, "I never said I blamed him, I told him that if he was going to blame himself, then fine, just don't get mad at me. Two, just like you said, this is how I am, this is my personality and those who can handle it, remain my friends because in the end, they will see that even though I'm critical sometimes and blunt and maybe even a little mean, I'm actually still a nice person, somewhere deep inside, who will do anything for her friends."

By this time, Max had slowly made her way to Sparks' side, grinning innocently at her as both the girl with the pink and blue hair and the dragon shook their heads.

"How on Earth do you even HAVE friends still?"

"Ah, the mysteries of life."

"Seriously, Max, you really didn't impress the king at all!"

"Ah, but here's the thing. I'm not here to impress him," golden green eyes locked with emerald green, "You brought me here to help you with this Vesper guy, Sparks, and that's my only purpose at the moment. Not to make a lifelong friend with the king, who doesn't want to be my friend anyway, not to be the hero, not to do much of anything else. I'm here for you and that's pretty much it."

Sparks looked at Max and couldn't help the grin that spread to her lips, knowing that this, this right here, was just the way the other girl was and Sparks understood that. Max was a traveler, just like she was, but unlike Sparks, Max gained friends and lost them at a rather fast rate due to the way she is, but that's what Sparks loved about her. Max will always just be Max and no one was going to make her change.

"Just promise me you'll be nicer to the king next time. I'm not saying to be his best friend, but, like Eli said, be a little more compassionate."

Max quirked her eyebrow and crossed her arms, tapping her finger on her elbow before she sighed and grinned as well, "Fine, I'll be nicer. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Awesome, let's get going then. I don't want Vesper and the others to start worrying over where I am. I'm pretty sure this is a time period where the women are pretty helpless and the men very chivalrous."

Both girls laughed as they made their way back through the woods with Sparks leading, the dawn beginning to light the sky with colors of orange and pink and yellow as the sun rose. Sparks just hoped that having Max and Eli with her wasn't going to scare anyone. After all, Max does have a talking dragon on her shoulder.

[❖Amani❖]

Vesper had woken up slightly disoriented and foggy thanks to the odd surroundings. But when he'd sat up in the bed he saw some extra clothes at the foot of the bed, slightly messed up from his feet kicking them. He'd then proceeded to put them on and head out of the room. He'd waved at Gunther on the way out of the door and thanked him for letting both Sparks and him stay the night. But on the porch he froze and turned back around to go back in and talk with Gunther. Sheepishly he'd asked if it would be possible to stay one or two more days, and the man had graciously agreed to it with a smile on his face.

After a few more minutes Vesper questioned where Sparks had gone to and Gunther nodded to the door with a helpless look on his face. He told him he hadn't seen her since she went out last night and Vesper quickly thanked him and shot out the door. He was halfway to the barn when he noticed Sparks in the distance with another girl and something on her shoulder. He stopped himself and took a single step towards the distant figures, confused with pale gray eyes and caramel streaks in them.

He sighed and ignored his new appearance of a soft white shirt, loose at the sleeves, and gray vest that matched his boots with brown pants. He shook his head and started running in their direction coasting over the uneven terrain. He stopped a little ways off of Sparks and her friend, seeing what was on her friend's shoulder. He frowned and his eyes faded to light brown with dots of purple in them. He took a shaky breath and yelled to Sparks who was still a little ways off.

"What in the devil is going on here! What does she have on her shoulder Sparks!"

[crimson92]

Both girls jumped at the sudden shout, Sparks jumping in front of Max when the girl's eyes suddenly turned black and the shadows around her began to move closer towards them, as if protecting them.

"Calm down, Max, that's just Vesper," the pink and blue haired girl hissed at her.

With those words, Max did indeed calm down as her eyes turned back to their original color and the shadows remained still. Max had a frown on her face and her eyes were wide with shock.

"He scared me!" she whispered back, like a little girl whining.

Sparks merely rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning to the prince; "Well, first off, good morning to you too, Vesper. And second...um...this is my friend, Max."

"Hey! Nice to meet you!"

"And what she has on her shoulder...is a dragon...named Eli," Sparks finished a little nervously, wondering how Vesper was going to react.

Eli raised his head and bowed to the young prince as he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Vesper. I hope that we will be able to be of some assistance to you."

"I think I'll just let you talk from now on. People seem to like you," Max whispered to the dragon, earning a chuckle from him.

Sparks smiled again at Vesper and walked closer to him, "They're here to help, Vesper. I figured, after what your uncle said, we could use all the help we can get and Max...well, it's definitely a good thing to have her on our side."

"Awwww! That was sweet!" the other girl with the long, curly black hair, dark skin, and golden green eyes cooed, looking very innocent.

"I know about your abilities, Vesper," Sparks told him carefully, "And I thought that Max and I would be able to help you control them better so they don't get too far out of hand."

[❖Amani❖]

"Abilities? Help me- Oh my head..."

Vesper hissed and put a hand to his head shaking it slowly. After a moment he looked up with gray eyes.

"I'm not trying to be rude. But for now I'm going to ignore this whole situation for the sake of my sanity. At least until I'm sitting somewhere..."

Vesper narrowed his eyes at Sparks and sighed.

"I know you mean well but what if I don't want to do anything about this? I mean I was thinking, my father's from Agasia, our old mother nation I told you about, and what if I moved back there? I can't make my family come too but I just don't think I'm ready for the throne so if I go away I won't have to take it. And then the King's Men- Well they'll have attacked and thrown away the treaty by then and I won't have to worry about taking their throne either! And you and I-" Vesper glanced at Max and Eli nervously. "And Max too if she'd like; Well we could get away from it and never have to worry again! And if somehow Annalei survived, my father could start training my brother for the throne instead. By the time he would be too old my brother would have what he needs to rule!"

Vesper turned to the side and started pacing as he continued.

"I just don't think I can bring the King's Men under control! I mean they use rogue magics they learned from the islands and they're all bloodthirsty! How do I handle that? I can't! And I don't want to die! Which is likely to happen if I don't do something about them. Stupidly enough I'm the only one who can do something because I'm technically their Prince! How in the world Rajus handled this I don't know. He had to have been extremely crafty and strong..."

Vesper shook his head, eyes dark yellow, and fat raindrops began dropping from the now cloudy sky.

[crimson92]

During the prince's monologue, Max had been watching him closely and was surprised when his eyes turned from the gray color to a dark yellow and suddenly, raindrops were falling from the sky.

"Oh! That's what you meant!" she exclaimed, as if discovering some amazing secret.

However, her statement went unnoticed by Sparks as she watched Vesper pace back and forth, talking himself down. He was pretty much just...giving up.

"You want to run...and hide?" she whispered, shaking her head, "Vesper...no. No, you can't do that!"

King Rajus' words from last night came back to her like a flood and she couldn't let him down and she couldn't let Vesper down either. The king chose Vesper because he thought he could handle it and be a worthy successor, but Vesper couldn't handle ALL of this by himself. Sure, she could see the power in him, but he needed help building the confidence to use it and be proud of it.

"Vesper, listen to me," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and making him look her in the eye, "Just listen, please."

She put her hand to his cheek and made him pay attention, "You can't run from this, you can't leave your country behind. You are the one that King Rajus chose, not your brother, and he chose you because he knew you would be an amazing king, you just have to have confidence in yourself. And, yes, the King's Men may all be bloodthirsty and the fact of their magic is news to me, but that's alright because, Vesper, you have magic as well and so do I and so does Max and Eli."

She looked back at her friends to find them both standing there, smiling encouragingly at Sparks and Vesper.

"You don't have to do this alone, Vesper," Sparks said gently, "We'll be with you ever step of the way. You were chosen because you CAN bring the King's Men under control using what you were born with."

The rain was pouring a little harder now and Sparks looked up before looking back at Vesper, "Look, see what you're doing? Your emotions control the weather...you're making it rain."

"And if my guess is right, the reason why his emotions control the weather is because HE can't control it himself just yet, which is something we can fix," Max put in, moving towards the two, crossing her arms and grinning, "But it'll take hard work and concentration. I can help with that and I can make you a lot stronger, if you'll trust me. I mean, I trained Sparks and she's doing a whole lot better."

"This isn't going to go away, Vesper," Sparks told him, looking sorry, "No matter how much you may wish that it will, it won't...so let us help you. Please..."

[❖Amani❖]

Vesper looked uncertainly between the two and frowned.

"I trust you and I know I have something but I just don't know if I can do this... I'll try but I can't promise you anything."

He smiled at Sparks and shot forward to hug her. When he let go he turned to Max and Eli and stood there awkwardly.

"I would hug you but I'm not sure how you would react and I don't want to offend you."

He took her hand instead and shook it slowly before backing up and crossing his arms. Suddenly confused his eyes melted into a pale cream color.

"Have either of you seen Rajus? He seemed so intent on driving me insane last night..."

He chuckled and looked at Sparks.

"Do you know where he is?"

[crimson92]

Sparks then turned to Max with narrowed eyes, the other girl putting her hands up in defense.

"Dont't even think about blaming me. He was just being overly sensitive," she stated, turning around to walk into the barn they were both standing in front of.

Sparks merely rolled her eyes before turning back around to face Vesper once again, "Well...I don't know where he is, really. He and Max didn't seem to get along very well last night when she arrived, so he kind of left in a fit of anger."

She stopped to look at Vesper closely before grinning with a blush across her cheeks, "You look really nice, Vesper. So comfortable..."

She reached up to run her fingers through his brown hair for a second, liking the feel of it when Max's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Hey, think we can get some food around here? I'm kind of..." Max cut herself off when she aught Sparks, smirking a moment later and chuckling, "Um...nevermind, I guess, hehe."