Flipside

Part 8, Part 2

They were moving on to the Human Kindgom.

Mina said nothing, clutching the watercolour to her chest.

Nevin took a deep breath as he approached the door of the palace. He reached for the door knocker, but refrained. He pushed the doors open and walked down the hall. The floors were reflectively clean, a smooth black-and-white checkered tile design. When you stepped, the sound could be heard all the way down the hall. It was an uneasy atmosphere. Marsha's hand was on the hilt of her sword. Aaron summoned a torvex and it shot out the sickle Nevin had used in the previous universe. Nevin grabbed it with a quiet 'thanks'. He opened the next doors. To see the gardens. You're thinking of the flower box in your backyard. But this is a room made of marble with a glass roof, letting sunshine in on small patches of plants in the middle of the floor. A man was looking down at some roses. He looked up.

"Oh! Hi Nevin." The King said. Nevin said nothing.

"I'm the one who came here, actually." Charles admitted. The King looked at his cloak and immediately started staring past at him. He then saw Marsha and Gregory, which also seemed to make him uneasy.

"Um, come in. Have a seat by the fountain." The King snapped back to reality. He sat as far away as he could from the group. His hand was tapping the bench nervously. Mallory's hand was on her bow, because the nervousness seemed contagious.

"Where's Cupid?" Jaden asked.

"She's at a friend's." The King answered.

"Don't get distracted." Charles snapped. "King Smith, would you be interested in joining the rebellion?"

"No." The King's face seemed to be drained of all blood. "You don't know what you're getting into. First, people come in looking like Andreas, my sister, Karan, and even Jada, and then they want to restart the rebellion?"

"Sir, your medication." A maid held out a pill and a glass of water to him. He took the medication and turned back to them.

"It'll kick in in a second. Sorry about that." He then faced the maid again. "Thank you, June."

"No problem." She left with the empty glass and tray.

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes. The rebellion. Don't do it." The King paused. "Who against, exactly?"

"The Aquian Empire." Charles answered.

"Okay, that makes matters worse. The Aquians... the Platt family in particular... aren't exactly negotiable. Along with that, they have the advantage of staying underwater, and their allegiance with the Eastern Flier Clan doesn't really help either." Gregory looked away. "I don't have anything against your friend or anything! Aquians can be cool!" The King said immediately.

"That's the heir." Mallory whispered.

"Oh," King Smith looked a bit uneasy. "Keep an eye on him, okay? And be careful around the birthday." Charles raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you don't wanna help us, we're out." Charles said, glaring at him.

"Bye." The King said in a sober tone.

"Farewell, King Smith." Nevin agreed.

***

"Your dad got KINGZONED!" Sasha laughed. Marsha placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think it might be a sensitive topic." She whispered.

"It's fine." Nevin said, though it didn't seem that he meant it. "My parents have been divorced my entire life. I've never met my dad. And know he just comes out of nowhere, trying to teach me how to rule a kingdom. And I have a sister? And I need to save the world? I'm the oldest of us, for crying out loud!"

"Ahem." Eric coughed. "We're kinda a hundred and sixteen years old here."

"You guys are, but I'm among the oldest. That's what I meant. I'm supposed to be the responsible one. It's always been that way. I have to babysit at the family gatherings. I have to walk Marsha home from school. I have to spend my entire summer at a gas station that my uncle Nathaniel owns! I haven't even met the dude, and I hate the smell of gasoline!" He shouted.

"We've all been there, dude. No need to get all worked up about it." Mallory snorted.

"Not really." Sasha shrugged.

"You get what I'm going at, though, don't you?" Nevin asked.

"Yeah, I know." Gemma nodded.

"Yes, that's important and all, but we need the humans' help. This isn't going to work." Charles said.

"Maybe we should just ditch the rebellion!" Gregory suggested. Charles gave him a look that said wow, seriously? And Gregory sighed. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt or die."

"I won't die." Charles promised. Gregory leaned down to kiss him, as he was taller. It was brief. Almost formal.

"Okay. Now what's our next stop?" Gregory looked at the others.

"One second." Michael pulled out his phone. He answered and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" A pause. "Oh, Kupunakāne! What's wrong?" Another pause. "Guys, apparently they cleared out all of the weapons and were looking around the old Revolution Base. And there's some people down there. They're not cooperating, and won't talk to anyone. I think they might need backup."

"Great, another long persuasion. Just what I needed." Dante grumbled.

"No, no. Half of them are previous revolutionaries who had nowhere to go." Michael told them. "Kupunakāne says that they're angry at Andreas for not telling them where to go after he got taken away by the humans. They won't reason with the rest." Everyone groaned and trudged to the airship.

"Airship away!" Exclaimed Mina dully.

"Airship away." Sighed Mallory.

***

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
For the new year, it's about time I do one of these. The book isn't over yet, obviously, but I felt like this was important.

First of all, I'd like to thank my brother for providing inspiration for Aaron and for being the first person to ever show an interest in this book.

Next, there's my friends, who have characters as well. Mallory is based off of al_grimes who is admittedly a terrible person but she'll be redeemed more. Sasha has not been un-followered enough for you to see her actual character, but she's credited to HimawariShippuden who is also the creator of Steve the Chicken. Cupcake7978 is Gemma's inspiration. I try to make it accurate.

And then, there's all of you. Y'aint nasty. I hope. Don't be nasty. Thanks for reading this garbage.