Seeking An S.O.S.: Behind The Scenes

6. Aim, Focus & Claim

As Xabiere and Murdock followed Pluto's reigning leader into the palace grounds, the guards were left astounded after what they saw, that their jaws stayed ajar.

It was a rare sight to see visitors enter the palace with Fritz, let alone the child of a well-known jester who fell ill on royal grounds. The guards felt that this was wrong for it might bring misfortune to them. But they couldn't say anything as they believed they could be penalized.

It was an unforgettable experience, as Xabiere and Murdock had smirks upon their faces with their tongues sticking out as they passed the guards.  Even though the two Plutonians were nervous, they made googly faces toward the sentries. Xabiere immediately changed his face back to normal once Fritz looked at him, but Murdock forgot to switch back to normal mode, which made the ruler think the ridicule was for him. Fritz's angry face said it all: furrowed brows, tense jaws and lips, the showing of teeth, and flared nostrils. Yet, he held back in doing anything further to punish his visitor.

"Well, Saber and Blitz are you two just gonna gawk and stand there or will you open the royal doors for us?" Asked Fritz as he touched his chin with his fingers with flair.

Saber forced himself to grin and nodded.

"Right away, my Lord."

He motioned Blitz to do the same thing to the other side of the entryway. Quietly, he mumbled curse words in his foreign tongue "Fledge", hoping no one would know what they meant. He was discouraged that the mischievous visitors won Fritz's approval, when he tried to stop the two weasels from entering.

Just then everyone heard a loud clamor among the premises.

BANG!

It was as if Xabiere's late appa was clapping for his pluton from above. 

As if the invisible scoreboard would say ->Weasels =1, Guards =0

Saber sighed, but as head security guard, he apologized for his rude behavior.

"We are sorry, my Lord. We will now open it for you and your guests." Saying these words left a nasty taste in his mouth as Saber felt guilty about what he did.

Once they entered the palace, Murdock jiggled with excitement as his eyes widened. He expected the place to look like an extravagant gallery he saw in pictures he discovered in Xabiere's collection, but was rather shocked when it wasn't.

Since Murdock stalked his friend's little compound once Xabiere was out on his rendezvous, Murdock found a small album that contained pictures of Earth's palaces. Most were private mansions for kings and queens or aristocrats. Colorful chandeliers, decorative walls with numerous paintings of those who ruled before, and gold floorings were what he awaited for. It was enough to make Murdock gawk in awe. He wanted to live a life like that as he imagined that it would be exceptional to feel pampered.

But to his dismay, Pluto's palace was not what he imagined. The walls were all colored purple. The flooring had chipped tiles that matched the wall, as if Fritz couldn't afford a repairman to get them fixed.

Murdock sadly nodded, but he didn't want to say anything out loud as he knew that it might offend everyone around him.

As he further went inside, Murdock looked around him. There was a certain room he wanted to enter, but Xabiere pulled his shirt, causing him to fall back.

Xabiere whispered in his ear.

"What are you doing Dock? We are only visitors here. You can't just go wherever you want."

As Xabiere stared at his friend, a small dustball formed in his eye, which was a message that he wasn't playing around. "Are you trying to get us in trouble?"

"Look, I'm just curious, Xab. Relax. There's nothing you should worry about. You are too uptight."

Putting his lips together, Murdock continued with his witty remarks.

"Everything here is so purple. It's so mesmerizing!," Murdock smirked as he turned around.

"Well, do me a favor, Dock. Stay put and face me! I don't want you to mess this chance of a lifetime!", Xabiere chortled as he tried to keep his smile for Fritz,

"Yes Sir," Murdock sadly replied. He placed his hand in front of his forehead as a sign to make fun of his friend and mumbled to himself how Xabiere never knew how to party.

If Murdock only knew what his friend did for amusement during his voyages to other planets, he'd be in for a surprise.

Xabiere faced him and pouted. He couldn't do anything to Murdock now as they were being watched, but he wanted to slap his annoying friend. "Be quiet Murdock and let me do the talking!"

Fritz looked at his visitors and smirked.

"I see you have seen our palace walls and how purple it is. It's my favorite color. Hope you don't have a problem with that." He chuckled, making Murdock agitated.

"And I noticed how your friend, Xabiere, is so curious about that room in the corner."

He pointed to an area that was situated next to the two knights who had swords with them. Their swords were positioned like the letter "X" as if they were guarding the mysterious entrance.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you, little pluton. Unless you want to experience vertigo." Fritz walked next to Murdock and patted his small head.

Ashamed that their conversation might have been heard, Xabiere covered his face with his hands.

"I'm sorry my Lord for my friend. And he will behave from now on!" Xabiere turned to Murdock whose cheeks became red with embarrassment. His body shook after hearing Fritz's mention of vertigo. Yet, the comment caused him to even wonder why the palace needed a room to make aliens dizzy. Was there something in there that Fritz didn't want anyone to know about? But he didn't want to know the answer to that, since it wasn't any of his business.

Murdock shook his head and crossed his hands behind his back. He decided that he would go inside that room when no one was looking. What harm could that do?

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Fritz stared at both Plutons and snickered.

"Now that we're all here, tell me more about this attack on our planet."

Xabiere reiterated what he heard during his travels on Earth and how their planet would be in trouble.

"Yes, yes it does seem that we will be in deep jeopardy. Tell me, plutonian Xabiere, what do you think we should do?" Fritz didn't want to believe that Pluto would be destroyed, but appreciated to know that they were now known as a Dwarf Planet. 

The term dwarf was already offensive as Fritz felt he let his Plutonians down by letting Earthlings dominate them.

He placed two fingers upon his chin and moved them up and down. Thinking what to do next, he smirked.

Remembering who Xabiere's appa was, made him secretly think twice before he made his final decision.

Dark intentions were on his mind, but Fritz was not as evil as his father, for he had a heart within him. In fact,it was a heart of glass that was shattered apart as his appa was the reason why his amma died.