Kingdoms

23

{Ivory}

I sit next to Perry and wrap my arm around her.
"In the Sun Kingdom there's something we say when someone we love dies." I say, "We'll miss your presence, but you're still with us as we dream and as we close our eyes. We'll continue our story together when I see you again. But for now, may the light of the sun be with you. We usually say it in Latin but I forgot that one."
"They say that at funerals." She says, "I always loved how the Sun Kingdom never say goodbye, they say until next time."
"The sun sets, but it'll always rise again." Grey sits on the other side of her.
"You should get a tattoo." He says
"What?"
"In the Moon Kingdom we'd get a star tattoo whenever we lost someone we cared about." He says, "It carried their souls so they'll never leave us."
"That's what Siri's stars were." She says, "One was Sirius at its brightest point, she got that when everything felt perfect so she was at her brightest point. She had five other stars but she wouldn't tell me what they meant."
"Guys..." Skye pokes her head out, "Ivy and Bolt are back." Grey and I look at each other.
"I'll be back." I follow Skye back inside.
"Are you-"
"I'm fine." Bolt says.
"Hey B, Ivy." I say, "Good to see you up."
"I'm not really up." Bolt mutters, "Anyways... Siri..."
"What's gonna happen to Lupin?" Parker asks
"Lupin will either choose to be free or choose a new partner." I say, "After she finishes mourning Siri." We sit in silence for a minute.
"It doesn't feel real." Stella says. I sigh and head towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Dragon asks
"Out." I say

"Ivory wait up!" Bolt pulls up next to me.
"What're you doing out here?"
"Making sure you make good decisions." She says, "Drunk Ivory isn't good for any of us."
"Fine." I say, "I could just start running and I could lose you."
"You could," She says, "But you won't." I walk next to her in silence.
"In my kingdom we practically celebrated a death." I say, "It never felt like this."
"Mhm."
"So what do you wanna do now that you're my babysitter?" I ask
"Get pizza?" She offers, "No, you can not get drinks."
"Fine." I sigh, "You're paying."

{Dragon}

"Are you sure you-"
"I don't need help." Bolt says. Luna walks out.
"Graser, Eden, and Ryan all almost died this morning." She says, "We need to get to the Source."
"I'm pretty sure we're all done here." Bolt says
"I told you, I'm fine." Bea and Auni walk out.
"See, I don't believe you."
"What happened?" Honey asks
"Bea-"
"Nothing." Bea cuts her off, "So are we leaving?"
"Well, we don't have anything else here." Daisy says
"Breakfast first, then we can go." Auni says, "And coffee, I need coffee."

"Our powers will come back once we get far enough from the city." Ari says
"Who wants a sandwich?" Daffodil offers, "Specially made for all of you."
"Daffy, this is why you're the mom." Lilly says
"What kind do I have?" I ask
"Grilled ham and cheese, chipotle mayo and  spicy peppers, you're favorite." She says, "I don't know how you're mouth isn't on fire after eating it."
"Probably because I can breathe actual fire." I say
"Can I have mine?" Ivy asks
"Tomato, basil, and mozzarella." Lilly says
"You're amazing." Ivy says
"And a Fanta raspberry."
"Here we go again on our own," Daisy sings quietly.
"Goin' down the only road we've ever known." Rose and I join
"Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday!" Everyone sings.

"Our powers are back." I spread my wings and flap them a couple times before making them disappear again.
"That means something bad is about to happen." River says. People appear all around us, "As I was saying..."
"Who are you people?" One of them demands, "Where are you from?" None of us say anything.
"Who are you?" River asks
"We are the League." Another says. Each one of them appears in front of one of us.
"Hello, Dragon." They put down their hood. A copy of myself stares back at me.
"Who-"
"I'm you but stronger." He says
"And why do you assume you're stronger than me?"
"I don't assume, I know." He says
"What do you want?" C asks
"We want you people dead." Bolt stands to face her double.
"Oh like you're any threat to me." Bolt Two says
"If you want us dead then kill us." Alex says. My double takes my arm and throws me to the ground.
"Seriously Alex?" I say. Both of us spread our wings and fly upwards.
"This is gonna be fun." He smiles, a flaming bow appears in his hand.
"A bow," I say "So we're not exactly the same."
"Swords are weak, you have to get close to use them." He says, "With bows all you need to do is be faster than your opponent and aim." Quickly he raises his bow and shoots. For a second I don't feel anything, then a deep pain bursts in my shoulder. I scream and flames shoot out of my mouth.
"You think that will hurt me?" He laughs, "You're even more stupid than I thought."
"Dan, I need your help on the ground." River says
"Great, I need help with him." I fly away from my double and land next to River.
"That's cute, you had to call for backup." They say. Our copies stand next to each other.
"What happened to your shoulder?" They ask
"I got shot." I say, "It's fine. Just ignore the arrow in it."
"Ok, you get Riv Two, I'll get Dan Two?" River says
"Sure." Another burst of pain shoots through my shoulder as I pull the arrow out. I run at River Two and swing my sword.
"You're gonna have to be quicker than that." They say. I scream and engulf them in flames.
They scream and fall backward, I stop. A knife flies past me and hits them. I look to see Reni fighting their double.
"You're welcome!" They call. River walks over to me.
"Your double is down." They say, "He was weak."
"Thanks." I say
"I wasn't saying you were weak." They say, "He was."
"Yeah, I know." I look around, "I'm gonna go help the others get rid of their doubles, you should too."