The Royals

Tantalizing Tensions Act III

    The sun rises, King William Dark has invited Queen Lyra Leonard to Castle Dark. The snow falls down on the Victorian castle. "I figured it out." William says, sitting at his desk. "What?" She asks. "Those mutations." William blurts out. "What is it then?" Lyra sits in a chair. "Tatunga." William looks her in the eye. "Tatunga?" Lyra raises an eyebrow. "Yes. He's been building bases in the oceans and I've been seeing flashes of light by those islands... We've found traces of radioactivity." William adds, letting out a sigh.

    Lyra looks at William. "So that's causing all the creatures to mutate and even die..." Lyra says. "Yes." William responds. "He has been asking a lot about my creatures... Do you think he wants to mutate them? It's already a crisis." Lyra gets concerned. "Who knows what he wants. My assumption, he wants them to weaponize them and destroy your nation and perhaps every other Nation." William says. "I wouldn't be surprised. Everything to this guy is a weapon." Lyra responds. "So what do we do?" William leans back. "King William." A young woman opens the door. "Mira! Come in! Lyra, this is Mira, my Royal Mage." William introduces. "I'm-" "Queen Lyra Leonard! S-sorry... I'm just a big fan." Mira says excitedly. "No problem at all! I'm shocked I have fans." Lyra laughs. "Anyways... King William, I have news... Important news." Mira says, changing her tone. "What is it?" William gets concerned, looking at Mira's expression.

    The brutal wind blows on the cloth roofs of the homes of The Sun People. A group of Sun Seekers (Hunters of The Sun Region) come in on their Drixnoxen. "Sokra!" The Sun Seeker in the front shouts. "Yes, Arkro?" A woman shouts over the howling wind. "Take me to him! We have news!" Arko shouts. "Yes, sir!" Sokra lights up a lamp through the dark sand clouds. The Sun Seekers follow. They soon break free from the sand cloud to see a massive sandstone structure, Temple Brightstorm.

    At the Rose Kingdom, Kadance walks through the garden as the sun shines behind a cherry blossom tree, he walks over a small bridge that leads to the Cherry Blossom, he stands on the little island in the pond. "King Kadance." A woman approaches. "Yes, Lily?" Kadance turns his head. "We've finished the Hemlock Water toxins, they're ready for trade. We've also prepared the Sun Goods for exporting." Lily says. "Great. I'll have my trading team take care of it." Kadance says. "If you tell me where they should go, I can handle it." Lily smiles. Kadance laughs. "I'll do it. This is a private buyer we have here. I'd hate to compromise their identity." Kadance chuckles, Lily approaches. "If I may, I'm very discreet, sir. I didn't mention what happened to Queen Briar." Lily whispers to him as Kadance looks at his reflection in the pond.

    Flower petals float in the water, he gets on his knee and Lily follows and looks at his reflection. "Promise you're discreet?" Kadance looks at her. "Yes, my king." She says as he puts his arm on her far shoulder. "What happened to her then? And how do you know?" He questions, she leans in and whispers it to him, his eyes widened. "I won't tell." She says as Kadance smiles and gently puts his hand on the back of her head, he looks her in the eyes, she smiles back, relieved that he isn't upset. "I know you won't." His smile goes away and he shoves her head into the water. The water bubbles, she squirms, splashing around. She tries to scream, but the water masks it, she starts to lose all oxygen and instinctively inhales the water. After a minute, she stops moving. He takes the body and tosses her into the den of the meat eater where the vines wrap around her body, a plant with teeth emerges and consumes the corpse.

    Kailani Moon sits on her jet, flying over the ocean. She looks out the window while also on her phone, reading Tatunga's Tweets. "Lady Moon... is that it?" Ollo, her servant points at the dark orb in the middle of the ocean. "Yes. That's the barrier he spoke of. He said it must be referred to as the Cosmic Dome. They begin to drop altitude, ready to land inside the Dome. "That looks solid..." Ollo says, concerned. The Jet shakes, everything is dark, it comes to a stop. The door opens, it takes her through a tunnel. "Lady Moon." A shriveled old creature with gray skin, a long nose like a vulture, black eyes, a blue cape with blue armor, and white hair approaches her holding a staff.

    Kailani looks at him. "Come. Welcome to The CKA." The creature smiles. "I am Tav Laro, Tatunga's Royal Advisor." Tav chuckles as he walks slowly. "The turtle guy gives me the creeps." Ollo whispers to Kailani, Kailani giggles at the comment. Starlight shines through the windows. Kailani takes a peek out the window. It looks like she traveled thousands of years into the future, flying cars and Galaxies displayed as the sky. She quickly resumes to Tav and Ollo.

    Tav gives her a tour of the Azul Citadel. It has its own private ports. There's a museum of Tatunga History, an observatory, a VDR (virtual display room), and a Diplomats Room. Tons of different "exhibits" that represent all the kingdoms and regions. "The King's Floor is at the top of the tower, shall I take you there?" Tav asks. "I believe King Tatunga is finishing up a meeting with a few Generals." Tav says.

    Kailani waits on the King's floor, she looks around. She sees his Armor displays. There's different kinds for certain situations. She then looks inside the King's room. It's well kept, there's a wall that's just a big window, it leads to a balcony. She walks out and stands on her tiptoes, looking out at the City of Azul. Suddenly, the sky display begins moving, it shows the most beautiful images of the Cosmos. The people cheer, it's only special occasions where they get a display at all that the CKA has found.

    Kailani's eyes light up, reflecting the stars. "It could all be yours." Tatunga says, leaning on the rail. "It's so... beautiful." Kailani says. "Nothing in the Cosmos can compare to the beauty before my eyes." Azul smiles as he pulls Kailani close to him. She looks up at him. "You mean it?" She asks. "Should I not?" He chuckles. They then push their lips together. Stars shoot across the sky. So many colors, so many stars. "You better mean it." She giggles and pulls him in for another kiss. They kiss a little more passionately, before they break. "I love you..." Kailani says, looking him in the eyes. "Everyone does." He responds. Kailani pulls back. "Kai, I love you too." He pulls her in and kisses her, she hesitates but kisses him back.

    Soon, the starlight shines through the window onto the bed, and the two begin removing their clothing. Azul's eyes light up with every color in the universe, they both moan loudly, making love all throughout the night.

    William, Lyra, and Mira run through Castle Dark, and guards stop him. "Engage all defenses! Evacuate the cities!" William shouts as he's shoved into a hidden passage that leads to somewhere safe, William fights against it, he looks out the window and sees a bright flash, it happened in the city of Khiross, the center of the Dark Kingdom, but oddly enough, not the capitol. A mushroom cloud rises, the shockwave destroys the windows in every town outside Khiross, including Castle Dark.