Future Mysticons

Zarya

          "Hey Mom." Mystica pushed herself into a sitting position on Vivyan's bed. Zarya shoved her back against the pillows.

          "I heard you overexerted yourself again." She replied, perching on the end of the bed.

          "Oh, it's not that bad." Mystica was plainly lying; she was white as a sheet, breathing very deeply and looked exhausted.

          "Just take it easy, okay?" Zarya knew her daughter would never listen.

         "But Pyrite still needs to be found." Mystica objected.

         "And we've got an entire search party out looking for him." Zarya retorted. "Seriously, we've even got the Pink Skulls involved; they can find anything."

         "You know I don't like to just sit around. I am your daughter, after all." Zarya smirked at Mystica's response.

         "Hey, don't you go pinning this on me." She put her fists on her hips and gave a mock glare.

         "Well..." Mystica began.

         "Go ahead, finish that sentence; I dare you." Zarya narrowed her eyes, but kept her smirk in place to show that she only half meant it.

         "Pleasure doing business with you!" Mystica gave a salute and a smile.

         "That's more like it." Zarya smiled as she got up and Mystica lay back against the pillows.

         "Mom?"

         "What?"

         "What if Pyrite was just the beginning?" Zarya froze as she considered the implications of that suggestion.

         "You know, if Pyrite's been kidnapped and the kidnapper takes you or your sister... I just feel sorry for that person." She ended her sentence in a chilling tone, a glint of steel in her eyes. Mystica gave a shark-like smile.

         "You're right, Mom. That person's the only one who really has to worry." Zarya returned her daughter's smile, then left the room to find her sister. She caught up to Arkayna heading down the hallway just before they reached the doors to the throne room.

         "What do you say we just take the day off today?" Zarya suggested as they paused right before passing through the doors.

         "You say that every morning." Arkayna replied, throwing the doors open and walking in with her head held high in a positively regal manner. Zarya cursed under her breath before following her sister in, slouching the entire way.

         It had become tradition for them, walking down the hallway together, pausing at the doors etc., but today Zarya had halfheartedly hoped for a different answer. She knew the importance of both of their jobs; the city had become spoiled after Gawayne and now they couldn't last a single day without the queen.

          Meanwhile, Arkayna couldn't last a single day without an advisor. Even if Zarya had to call out, Arkayna would be glyphing either her or Kitty for advice. Though, to be fair, whenever Arkayna had to call out and Zarya stepped in as temporary queen, she also spent the entire day glyphing either her sister or Kitty for advice.

          As it turned out, the royal twins and Kitty all had the same ideas about good leadership, though slightly different styles. It also turned out that neither of the twins really had what it took to be queen. That is to say, neither of them apart.

         Arkayna had the royal upbringing that taught her how to actually do the job. She also had the leadership skills and charisma that just made her take charge and made everyone want to follow her. Plus she had a fair amount of good ideas. Of the two, she was definitely the best suited to be queen.

          Zarya also had a fair amount of good ideas, but she also had a few skills that Arkayna lacked. Such as the ability to understand 99% of the languages that came through and read people, quickly figuring out what their true intentions and feelings were. Plus she wasn't afraid to be rude or get her hands dirty; Arkayna had an image to keep up.

         Kitty, meanwhile had the experience. She'd been leading the Pink Skulls since she was 12 and doing a pretty good job of it. Zarya smiled as she remembered the first time Kitty and Arkayna had really gotten talking.

         They'd started a conversation about how important it is for a leader to have their followers loyalty at about 10:00 one night and had still been trading leadership notes when everyone else had gotten up the next morning. Later that day Kitty had remarked to Zarya that that was the longest and most meaningful conversation that she'd ever had with someone.

          She'd hastily amended it to one of the most when Zarya had pretended to take offence. She also admitted that they had taken a brief break right after everyone else headed off to bed to have a friendly argument about which one of them Zarya liked better.

          When Zarya said she couldn't choose between them, Kitty had grinned and stuck out her hand while Arkayna groaned and handed the sky pirate 5 gold. That was the day that Arkayna had learned to never make a bet with a sky pirate, especially if the sky pirate was Kitty Boon and especially if the subject of the bet was Zarya.

          "Zarya? You in there?" Arkayna's amused voice brought Zarya back to the present. "You're just staring off into the distance with a vacant smile on your face."

          "You know me, Sis." Zarya told her with a smile. "I deal with this part of my day best if I can just sit here and get lost in thought until you need my help."

          "Well, I need your help now." Arkayna replied with a smile.