Queen's Island

11. Dungeon.

Ah. An extravagant bedroom. In it lay a bed covered in veils and pillows, and in the bed lay King Zoro, woken up by the annoying bickering of Boxy.

"Tsch. There's always something I have to do. Boxy, do this. Boxy, stop that. Boxy, stop gambling away the Palace's money. Darling, I'm not a slave!" His face was tight and filled with annoyance.

"Oh. My. God. SHUT UP!" snapped Zoro. He put on a crimson robe with heavy fur lining. "You're supposed to be working anyway!"

Boxy glared at Zoro. "...How?"
"I dunno... Lift some furniture or boxes or something. That's what all workers do... right?"

"Yea. And how will I lift them?"
Zoro looked over. "Are you kidding me? With your arms!"

"...What arms?"
King Zoro's face squished up in defeat. "Hmph! You know what? Now that I think about it, you're useless to me!
Get out! GET OUT!" he shrieked.

Boxy turned around and dropped his head. "Well... King's orders.." he sniffed.
"And all before I could tell you the whereabouts of Dreamer..."

Zoro perked up and raised his eyebrows high. "Wh-?"
"Yea... I know where he's going... Your brainless minions might have located his house, but I know more."
"Ya do?"
"Darling, I know everything!" Boxy scoffed.

"Didn't one of my Phantom Listeners bring a little pink demon here?" Zoro said. He power walked out the bedroom and hurried down the stairs. The click clack of Boxy's crystal feet following pursuit.
"Yes darling. The minion decided that it was hiding something."

"I see, I see - Avee would have never told me this! You're cool, Boxy, I like you." Zoro said.
"Thanks, darling."

They walked down halls and steps and rooms. Past a few bathrooms, more halls, A big hall called the Great Hall in the middle of the Palace, a music room, just a whole bunch of rooms.
"Ugh. Can you carry me? I'm the King, and I'm tired." Zoro asked.
"Again, no arms." Boxy said.
"...Dammit. "

In the lower left of the Palace was Ave and Boxy's room, and right beside it was a staircase to the dungeons. The dungeons were bitter and damp. The staircase was slippy, torches emitted strange shadows on the walls. It had an aura of dread.

Zoro shuffled down the long hall of cells, some filled, some not, some filled, but with corpses. Boxy hopped behind him. There were Phantom Listeners standing silently at the entrance.

They both slowed down a long way into the long row of cells, and stopped. There sat Pon, who had finally realised this was not a dream.

"Well well well well well!...Well!"
King Zoro held his scrawny hands behind his back, and began a pace up and down.
"Look who the adorable and sweet minion dragged in!"
Pon tilted their head up. "...You know me?"

Zoro frowned. "Ehh...No!"

"I do. Pon, demon, adolescent, Lives at low and behold, the house of Dreamer." Boxy said.
"How do you know?" Pon snapped.

"I guessed."
"Uh, no you didn't?"
Boxy grinned. "Yes darling, thanks for pointing out the obivous, It was so obivously very obivous.

-I also sent that Phantom to imprison you, where you belong."
Zoro looked surprised. He turned to Boxy. "Okay, first of all don't do that without permission. Second of all that's actually really cool so I would've let you anyway."

"Thank you darling."

Zoro gave Boxy a cute smile and then spun around and squatted down to Pon's height.
"Okay kiddo! Can you answer all my questions truthfully?"
"Nah."
"Don't speak to me that way..." Zoro said.
"You know what? I just won't speak to you at all." Pon said, folding their arms and stomping to the corner of the cell.

"Ugh. This is why I hate kids. Boxy, try talking to it, I have a headache.." Zoro rubbed his temples and shuffled back down the hall.
When he was about to walk up the steps, he heard a loud, high pitched scream and jogged back down to see what had happened.

There in the cell, lay Boxy, unconscious. He looked cut and bruised.
Outside the cell stood Pon, their eye closed at it always had been, but a little wrinkled and their eyelashes red.