Guardians - A King's War

4

We were stuck in an endless black with nothing but an elaborate and beautiful door at least 10 feet tall and a large, circular table.
The pirate lady gently tapped the endless black floor with the sword and stars lit up under our feet, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen or felt before. Glowing white fish darted around under me and I watched in wonder until the door opened.
The pirate lady kept us behind her and waited as 8 other men and women entered, all in beautiful and elaborate clothes.
The guardian set the sword on the table.

"How dare you." A woman in an icy blue ornamental kimono and a black haori seethed, glaring at the pirate lady with sharp red eyes, her arms folded neatly in front of her and her hair pinned back with black chopsticks.
"To defile this very presence with humans, and touch the King's weapon-" Pirate lady cut her off.
"Oh shove it down your pipe!"
"You used an authority that wasn't yours." The woman in the kimono's eyes glowed brightly and a dark aura settled over me, making my skin crawl.
"Ladies, please." A man in a business suit and tie ordered formally.
"There's a good reason for all of this."
Both women calmed themselves.

"Hero was taken."
A ripple of shocked and uncertain murmuring hit the gathered people. I frowned at the pirate lady, tempted to ask why he was so important to them.
"How convenient that you get to call a King's Trial the same time he mysteriously vanishes, Captain." The ornamental woman mused, aloud, silencing the others. Her voice was cold and what she implied was obvious.
"If you're so concerned, you can read this aloud in the presence of the rest of the Elders, Divine." 'Captain' tossed the woman in the kimono a neatly folded paper. 'Divine' unfolded it and read aloud.

'Dear CJ,'

She paused, frowning at it.
"What's got yer tongue now?" 'Captain' asked, irritated.
"There's a heart next to it."
A short chuckle escaped the pirate.
"Inside joke, keep reading."

'I know we've discussed my liege and her passions in previous letters, but this last week has taken a rather dangerous turn for the both of us.
I revealed myself to her, mostly on accident, and though I'm sure the story would amuse you, I don't have the paper or energy to write it all down. What's important is that shortly after our little reunion, if you would, two of her minions attacked. Attacked her, specifically. You're familiar with her tactics as well as I am but I've never seen this before and it bothers me deeply. I can't shake the feeling that something very big and very bad is going to happen.'
'As such I'd request that you and Ms. Lawrence come back immediately. I need back up if I'm looking at a siege here. If I were writing to Divine, we both know she'd say the Dark One has never pulled a siege, ever, but she's never attacked a liege instead of a guardian either so we don't know what we're looking at.'
'All this to say that I might need you to take my place as Destiny's guardian, temporarily of course. I should draw this letter to a close so I'll end here. I hope to see you soon, and thanks once again for always having my back.'

'Sincerely, Hero.'

There was a gentle silence for a moment.
"So what do we do now?" Divine asked softly, an almost sad expression on her face.
"I'm gonna look fer him a'course." Captain announced.
The man in the business suit cleared his throat.
"I think you both should look for him together."
Captain and Divine glanced at each other, then looked at him incredulously.
"Her!? Are you kidding me?!" Divine demanded angrily.
"I'd rather walk a plank and drown then work with her!" Captain hissed.
"If you both truly want Hero alive, you'd even work with each other to find him." The man insisted calmly.
Divine and Captain glared daggers at him.
"Dismissed everyone?"
Everyone ignored the protests of the two ladies and left.

Captain groaned before waving her hand over apparently nothing, transporting us back to my house. Stacy blinked around.
"... well that was intense."
Divine gave her an unimpressed look.
"Who's 'Hero'?"
"My guardian." I answered before frowning.
"Who's 'the Dark One'? What's going to happen to him?"
Divine watched me solemnly.
"Nothin. Not as-long as I has som-n to say 'bout it." Captain answered confidently.
I wasn't any more encouraged, but I decided to keep myself calm for the time being.

The next morning when I came downstairs from my room, Divine was sitting on the couch looking comfy and reading a book. Her hair was pinned in a bun still with the sticks, but her clothes had changed drastically. She wore a black hoodie and ice blue leggings with white magical looking foxes on them.
Before I could comment, Captain entered from the kitchen. Her eyeliner was thinner and her captain's hat had been replaced by a golden bandana with a crimson flower on it. She wore an oversized hoodie the same color as the flower and ripped jeans.
"Wow, you both look..." I trailed off, looking for a word that would work appropriately.
"Exquisite? Thank you dear." Divine seemed to purr, smiling a little as she flipped the page of her book.
"How vain can ya' get?" Captain frowned at her, her thick accent reminding me that she was still a pirate at heart. Divine tossed some loose strands of hair behind her shoulder in a shrug.
"In any case, if you want to convince everyone you're human you'll need to lose the ancient Cretan accent."
Divine glared and grumbled something but thought for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"This better?" She asked in perfect modern English.
"Wow, that's impossibly good." I smiled, ogling over the quick switch. Captain grinned proudly.
"Thank you, now let's get looking hm?"