Kingdoms

13

{Ivory}

"Remember, stay with your dancing partner." Chase says, "Phantoms might be giant asses but dancing with someone else will get you in a big mess."
"Got it." Rain says, "No dancing with anyone else."
"Reni can you see everyone?" Bolt asks
"Yup, I got a nice view." They say
"Good, see anything?" Ursa asks
"I just said I can see everything." They say
"I meant suspicious you idiot." She says harshly.
"Can you guys argue when you aren't surrounded be Phantoms?" Andy asks
"Fine."
"To blend in you need to actually act like Phantoms." Chase says, "If someone bumps into you do two things, glare at them or call them out."
"Don't call them out, it'll only draw attention to yourselves." Rose says
"And don't say baby swears like shoot." Ursa says, "Shit, asshole, you get the point."
"Ok." Callum says
"Just be cold but not too cold." Chase says
"Yeah, sounds about right." Reni says
"Shut up."
"You shut-"
"Ok, I'm so close to disconnecting your coms from each other." Bolt says
"Ok fine." Ursa says
"Wait, this song." Chase says, "You guys have to dance to this one."
"I hate slow dancing." Alex says
"We are classy beings." Chase says jokingly. Sapphire and I walk out and start dancing.
"There's a Phantom in a dark blue suit with a matching mask." Bolt says, "He's sent a ton of mental messages."
"Can I take him out?" Reni asks
"Not yet." Rose says, "We need to figure out what the messages are first. One wrong shot can expose you all."
"Fine." They sigh.
"Ow." Sapphire whispers, "You stepped on my foot."
"Sorry." We dance until the song is over before going back to our position.
"Is you foot ok? I stepped on it, like, ten times." I say
"It's fine." She says, "I'm just glad you're not wearing heels."
"Reni, do you see the guy in the blue suit?" Chase asks
"Yup." They say
"Ok, everyone get ready to teleport, that's him." Rose says
"Wait Reni, there's someone behind you." Scott says. Sapphire and I look at each other and up to where Reni was perched. There's a sound dome around them and they're fighting a Phantom.
"Ok, we need a new sniper. Reni's busy." I say
"On it." Bea says. She appears next to the dome and scans the crowd.
"Everyone ready to teleport?" She asks
"Yup." She throws a dagger into the crowd. I got to teleport but nothing happens.
"We're trapped!" Jay says. A group of Phantoms crowd around Sapphire and me.
"Oh shit." I mumble
"Guys, we're surrounded." Lauren says
"So are we." Lizzie says
"Ow, shit." Reni says
"Reni, are you ok?" Rose asks
"Yeah." They say
"Everyone surrounded by Phantoms is fine also." Ash says
"Congrats." Ursa says flatly. Reni shouts and jumps off the balcony. They swing their sword knocking out the Phantoms that surround us.
"You guys did a great just just standing there." They say
"Guys-"
"What? Rose?"
"Their coms went offline." I say.
"Uh, guys? A little help?" Callum calls from across the room. Shelby, Lauren, Lizzie and him are fighting off a group of Phantoms.
"Our powers aren't working!" Shelby says
"The coms went offline because of Eli." Sapphire says, "He probably created a power surge." I swing my sword, Rain backs up and fires arrows rapidly.
"Ivory-" Everything goes black.

{Ursa}

"Hey." Ivy walks in. We all look up at her.
"Hey Ivy. Did you cut your hair?" Bolt asks
"Oh yeah, I cut off all my hair to spite my mother." She says
"It all?"
"Apparently my growth powers extends to my hair." She says, "Plus I can always just..." She waves her hand and her hair grows past her waist again.
"But apparently your growth powers don't extend to your height." Ash says jokingly.
"Oh come on, I'm not that much shorter than you." She says
"How tall are you? What? Four feet?" Ash leans on her shoulder.
"Ow." Ivy winces and pushes her off, "I'm five-foot." Ash laughs.
"What happened to your shoulder?" Bolt asks
"Nothing, I'm just sore." She says
"From what?" Alex asks
"Never mind that, what's up?"
"Everyone expect for us have been taken by Phantoms." I say
"What's with the lights?" She points to the flickering lights.
"Eli." Greta says
"Why?" She asks
"Long story or short answer?" I ask
"Short." She sighs.
"Eli was hit with a beam designed to make someone live their biggest fear. We had to forcibly wake him up so now he's terrified." I says
"Oh fun." She says
"So how do we find the others?" She asks
"Mm, that Sun Kingdom." I say
"Why?"
"For one thing, it's the last place we'd look. The Suns and the Phantoms hate each other." I say, "And Phantoms are terrified of the dark."
"They are?" Bolt asks, "But you guys control-"
"We control the absence of light, not darkness."
"Those are the same exact thing." Siri says
"You control a sword but you're still scared of them." Greta says
"Fair." The lights go out and Eli screams.
"Someone go check on him." I say. Greta gets up and walks out.
"So what happened to your shoulder?" Bolt asks.
"Nothing." Bolt flies over to her.
"You're overusing your wings." She says, "They're all worn." She lands and her familiar appears next to her.
"I'm fine Beth."
"And calling me Beth will make me believe you?"
"Are you sure you should be up?" Ivy asks. The alarm starts blaring.
"What the-"
"Someone's here." I say.
"Reduce Phantom power to one percent!" Ivy says
"Turn all lights off!" I say. All the lights shut off.
"That's not gonna stop us this time... Princess." Someone whispers in my ear.