Saving Prince Charming

the real knights in shining armor.

When they were ready- [but when were they ever ready for the whirlwind of emotion and rage and sickly bitterness that was the Prince, when were they ever-] they reconvened in the Commons, which is where the Prince had decided to wait for them all anyway. He thought that maybe he'd start heeding Logic's wisdom more, save himself a second trip back to his room. He really did need to preserve his strength, he'd only been able to walk again since a couple of days ago- what if he collapsed, got trapped outside his nice comfy bedroom? He shuddered at the thought- funny, how now was when Logic's words were beginning to be heard.

Prince laid on the couch, as lost in his thoughts as one might be in an enchanted forest, so far away that he nearly jumped in surprise as the other three plopped down onto the stuffed chairs nearby. Morality looked to Anx and Lo to take the lead.

An awkward silence took hold, rendered unbroken as seconds ticked on to minutes.

But then Anx cleared his throat, not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

"Well, um, like we said before. There's something in the Room. And when I went to go check on Thomas the other day, he... he wasn't doing so hot."

And we all know what's happened to me. Logic mouthed. And what's happening to the two of you.

"Yeah," Prince's voice was like a croak, and Anx's mind flashed to the story of the Princess and the Frog, morbidly thinking of how this was a sick and twisted kind of joke - in their story, when the prince turns into a frog, there was no prince around to save him.

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought.

"...is that all? What do you think, Logic?"

Lo jumped a tad in surprise, wide eyes locking with Prince's for but a moment. Morality looked to Logic and nodded, kindness in his eyes.

Logic took a deep breath, looking to Anx meaningfully. He nodded, he knew he was to play translator. When he opened his mouth again, Anxiety echoed his words almost as they came tumbling from Lo's mind.

"What we've found so far is this: Thomas's acting strangely, there's a thing that almost looks like a black hole in That Room, and it's affecting us each differently.

It's taking the life from Creativity, Hope, and Deep Emotion - that's you two. It's taken the Voice of Reason from me; I don't have any influence without it, as you know. These things should help us figure out what this is and how to deal with it."

"Sounds like... a rough character." Prince tried to crack the joke, but instead, his voice crackled painfully once again, and he winced.

"Seems so..." Anx's murmured, eyes to the floor. This thing... it was taking so much from the people he cared about, so crushingly much. Where was his retribution? What saved him from the fate of his best friend, of the light traits?

"Well... whatever it is, I'm sure we can do this! Things'll be okay again, I'm sure of it."

Morality's bright smile and words brought a little life back into the room, and they all tried to give him a soft sort of smile - and most of them succeeded, thankful as always for the dad's input.

"Yeah, definitely." Prince spoke quietly, obviously trying to preserve his vocal chords, but coming from him, it seemed... off.

"Yeah, I... agree." Prince locked eyes with Anx, the barest hint of a smile in them. They so rarely agreed.

Alright, there are a few options. Lo cut in, gently tapping Anx's arm.

But the one I'm leaning toward right now is...