Please Don't Cry; Third Book in the Sky Army's Defeat Series

Chapter Three

A soft smile was on The Squid Queen's lips as she walked through the mossy stone hallways of the Squid Kingdom. The muscular and well toned arm of the mighty Squid King wrapped possessively around her waist kept her close to his side. The Royal Couple was on their way to see their newest addition to their cause, the Dead General himself.

Turning a corner and walking into the alchemy lab, the couple smirked faintly at the boy who laid passed out on the cot.

"How is it going, brother?" The Queen asked as she gave Hunter a small hug. The sorcerer smiled.

"Great, Dawn. I just finished what King Evan needed to be done. He'll be up in a few hours or so," he reported as he gave Evan a nod of acknowledgement.

The squid king smiled. "Thank you, Hunter. Do you have anymore potions for turning recruits? I'm thinking I'll plant another bug in the other kingdom to make sure they're in check."

Hunter nodded as he gestured to a large chest. "It's all in there, my king. Feel free to take as many as you'd like."

With a nod the king walked off to look through the chest, leaving the siblings to talk.

They were silent for a while before the older one spoke up. "Do you think the Sky Army General will fall for this, Dawn? I mean, I know he'll want to come and save him, but what happens if this fails and we loose as bad as before?"

A sigh escaped the royal siren's lips. "I don't know, Hunter. Hopefully we won't have to go through the hardships we did all over again. We have a weapon now, one that'll tear Team Crafted apart from the inside. We just need to hope they catch the bait."

Hunter nodded as he kissed her forehead and pulled her closer. "Come visit me more often okay? It gets lonely down here with only the prisoners to talk to."

The queen smiled. "I promise, Hunter. I'll come down here more often. You, though, need to get out more. You're too pale."

The brother rolled his green eyes before releasing the queen, her husband on his way over to them with an armful of potions. "I promise, Dawn. I'll call you both when our new recruit wakes up."

With a nod and warm smile, the Royal couple, hand in hand, left the lab.

It was another two hours before a soft groan came from the Dead General and his green eyes fluttered open, his stiff muscles grunting to pull him up into a sitting position. Rubbing the sleep from his drowsy eyes, Ty looked around in confusion. Why was he in Hunter's lab? He should be back at base training his recruits.

Said sorcerer then turned a corner and appeared from behind a bookcase, a surprised look crossing his features. "Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Drowsy," the general answered simply. "What happened?"

"You were hit pretty hard while practicing with the other soldiers. They were so worried they brought you here," Hunter lied smoothly to the general before smiling softly and adding, "Best get you back out there, so they know you're alive and well."

With a nod the changed general left Hunter, who was already busying himself with another project, alone in the lab.

The sorcerer's long fingers flipped quickly through the book, emerald green eyes barely scanning one page before another landed on top of it. Faster and faster his fingers went until all of his movement ceased, a smirk appearing on his face. On the page before him were runes as old as time, each line glowing a soft red.

He traced his index finger over the page, reading each line and willing it to stick to his brain. At the bottom of the page sat seven symbols, each colored like a gem on the Sky Army Leader's crown which sat proudly on his curly hair. There was a gold, obsidian, and an emerald sword, a ruby bow, a diamond axe, a TNT, a pair of dark obsidian glasses, and lastly a purple covered book, each slightly glowing with the magic of the prophecy.

"One of once great power will soon know a great defeat," Hunter mumbled, smiling as his eyes lingered on the little image of the book. He knew what was to come, the question was, would he be able to go through with it?

~

In another part of the Squid's castle, The Queen sat on a chair, one leg thrown over the other with her back straight, shoulders back, and chin up. The ideal image of a queen in her eyes. Her blue eyes sparkled as she watched the process of an innocent Sorcerer recruit being turned into one of their own.

"What do you think, dear?" Evan asked as he sat next to her, casually grabbing her gloved hand and kissing the back of it.

"I think she'd be a good resource in starting a civil war between the generals. What do you think?" She answered softly.

With a hum, the king kissed her temple, pulling her close. "Sounds perfect," he smiled as the now hybrid recruit walked in and bowed respectfully before them.

"How may I serve you, your majesties," she asked.

"Stand, Hydra. We need you to spy on our enemies. Act as you normally would, but make the recruits question their generals as well as make the generals question their king. That should tear them apart from the inside and give us a time to strike," the king ordered as the hybrid rose to her feet.

"Yes sire," she muttered quickly before being escorted out of the room.

Dawn smiled at her husband. Finally, the squids would get their revenge.

~

The Kingdom was a mass of chaos. People trying to get work done, recruits trying to practice, general's trying to manage it all, and the king getting a ceiling high list of complaints and things-to-do. Everyone's stress level was on high as they prepared for what could be just a prank, but the army wouldn't take a risk of that.

Out of everyone the king had the most on his plate. He had to supervise the whole operation, answer questions from generals and recruits alike, get paperwork done, pack up for his journey to Yogcast Kingdom, and have a meeting with the few recruits that he asked for. All of that in the timespan of four hours didn't help the king's stress level.

"Sir! King Sky! We need you to watch the recruits-"

"I can't right now! Find someone else!" Sky retorted quickly as he hastily made his way through the hectic nonsense and to his office. The door slammed shut and he sighed heavily, leaning against it and embracing the quiet of his soundproof office. His ears rang with the sounds of the chaos just outside as he slid down the wall to the floor, setting the crown to the side to run a hand through his mess of sweaty curls.

"Being king was the worst mistake I could've ever made," he muttered, not really meaning it, just complaining to make himself feel better.

His head rested back against the door as his eyes closed, at first meant only for just a few moments, but then turned into a few hours as the king basically passed out in his position, gaining the much needed sleep he had lost the night before.