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“Knockity-knock, King Andrias!” Greeted a gleeful voice. Marcy poked her head through the doors and drummed a playful, impromptu beat into the massive doorway. It’s-a-me! Can I come in?”
“Not now, Marcy. I’m a little busy.”
“Oh! Sorry about that! I’ll… check back in later, then.” She said, repressing the disappointment in her voice. “See ya.”
And with that, she withdrew from the corner and left King Andrias to his mysterious bidding. Until his warm hug of a voice suddenly stopped her.
“ You know, Marcy? I suppose I can take a break. To what do I owe my most prized chief ranger?”
She smiled widely. “Oh, uh! Hey there! I, uhh…” She stares up at him, losing any idea on what she has been planning to say. Her face goes red for an array of reasons.
“I …wanted to know if you’d wanna play Flipwart with me! Just the two of us, big guy. Some one on one Marcy and King Andrias. The big newt and the small human girl. Royalty and his high up advisor!”
“ Yes, yes, I understand.” His jolly smile flattens a bit. “ And… sure , sure! Why not?”
~
Marcy and Andrias were cracking away at a dramatically lit game of Flipwart. Marcy artfully moved her pieces, but Andrias nonchalantly called his third queen.
“Woah. You’re s—so good at this.” She remarked with a nervous smile, wiping away some sweat from her forehead. “You may be winning now, but I’m almost certain I can turn this around in the space of four bars!”
The King only blinked, leaning his face into a hand as he slouched on his throne. “Mhm. Go ahead and try it, kid.”
“You know what, King A? I think I just might—“ And just then, when she was suited and booted to make a game-changing move, a dozen or so hooded, suspicious looking newts entered the room, holding in their team-effort hands a large steel tray with an even larger cup on top.
Looking over her shoulder at the newts who advanced toward her and her precious king with their strange beverage-like relic, Marcy sees this as a threat, and of course, her fight or flight responses had kicked in.
“So, you want King Andrias, huh? Well, as his sworn protector, best friend and loyal subject, I humbly state that you're gonna have to go through me!“ She declares theatrically, standing up energetically and nearly knocking over the board game.
Locking her wrist bow and arrow into place with a dramatic ‘click’ sound, she says, “Come at me, you newts!”
Following Marcy’s threatening battle-ready stance, the servant newts abandoned the tray holding the glass and anxiously dispersed back through where they came from.
“Marcy! Woah, woah! The guys aren’t here to attack me. They’re just here to bring me my afternoon refreshment!” Andrias stepped up, gawking at her.
“They’re… not?” She owlishly blinked up at him.
“ No! You think the guards would allow criminals right into my throne room without a fight?”
“Yes! I mean? No?…” She said, not an ounce of irony in her distressed tone of voice. She had a slight startle when Andrias suddenly started to laugh, his amusement going from light to boisterous within seconds.
“You’re adorable, honestly,” He hooted when he was finally apt enough, voice booming as he wiped away a humorous tear.
Marcy slowly smiles sheepishly, feeling herself grow warm. Shooting him a finger gun, she insists, “Well. You’re not too bad yourself, King A!”
“Uhh…” His laughter comes to a very sudden still. “Right.”
She slowly frowned, recognizing how that might not have been the best thing to say. She batted herself on the forehead and reprimanded herself. “I—I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have… ah, dangit!”
Andrias stares for a moment, truly taken aback by her ambivalence.
“Ahem. Yes… So, as I was saying. You need not worry about an ambush inside the castle walls. My security and generals are all trained by only the most professional newts in Newtopia.”
And yes. Marcy does receive this information. She does.
But she just doesn’t find rest in it like he hoped she would. Instead, she lets her troubled expression reach its full potential again and stammers out, “But… I— I could’ve brought you your afternoon refreshments…!”
“Honestly, Mar-Mar. You already have your own duties. There’s no need to have every responsibility on your shoulders.” He said with a sigh, quite peeved by the girl’s insistence. “In fact, why don’t you go on and take your break? We’ve been at this game of Flipwart for hours. Surely you’ve got a crick in your neck by now,”
Marcy ponders, only slightly disappointed that he wanted to throw the game after all the time they’d spent on it. “No thanks, my guy. But with all due respect, I don’t need a break! I’ll just stay in here all day with you, if you don’t mind,”
“I mean…” he looks away uncomfortably. “Eh. If you wanna stick around, who am I to judge? Suit yourself, kid. But I’m not exactly going to be doing anything fun all day. Just boring old King’s duties,”
Marcy lit up. “Not to worry! I love King’s duties!”
Hours have passed, which was plenty enough time for Marcy to discover that she in fact, did not love King’s duties.
She was incredibly bored, almost nodding off into a dreamless snooze as she slouched over Andrias’ massive shoe while he sat in his throne.
She furtively glanced up at him, examining his focused and stoic expression. He bravely awaited anyone who might come through the doors with a dilemma for him to give his Royal input on.
Marcy admired him for that; his ability to solve any problem under spontaneous circumstances. She aspires to be like him, but for now, she’d just sit here and watch the professionals do their thing.
Finding herself smiling then, she drums her hands where they rested on his shoe. “Heya, big guy! Doing okay up there? …Are ya hungry?”
“Can’t say that I am, Mar-Mar.” He responded boredly, not even sparing her a glance.
“ Interesting! With such a big tum-tum like yours, I thought you would’ve been starving by now!” She noted, slightly taken aback with juvenile wonder.
Andrias looked at her, his expression telling that he had taken some level of offense to that. He found her amazement off putting.
“I mean! Not that you have a big tum-tum, but your tum-tum is kinda… big ! It’s not like— Well? You have…” She explained frantically, going dry in her attempts. “I… uh.”
She stiffens, his disapproving stare giving her the chills. “Y—You know what? All of this Kinging has really worn me out! Say, is that break still up for grabs?” She laughed nervously.
Annoyedly averting his gaze, he says, “Absolutely.”
Gratefully, Marcy makes her escape. She presses herself back against the doors, blushing furiously. Burying her face in her hands, she groans hopelessly.
His giant feet scale the stairwells which descend into a chillingly dark basement. Odd, otherworldly creatures waft around in the air, their bioluminescent forms shimmering in the warm glow of Andrias’ torch.
Upon his arrival to the close presence of his master, he lowers himself to his knees, bowing reverently.
“My Lord. Your host is growing a bit too… tenacious for my comfort. My apologies if it feels as though I’m pushing, but is there perhaps any way to speed up this process?”
Several amber, arachnid-like eyes pop open at delay, its piercing stare being a sight that Andrias preferred not to see.
And while the lukewarm darkness surrounded him in such a vulnerable position, the telepathic response from The Core that he would receive was what intimidated him the most.
Dangling on the edge of anticipation, then came the useless answer that he initially feared.
“ Unviable. Time is required for my plans to properly unfold.” The Core responded curtly, crushing Andrias’ hopes to escape his tightening, begrudging bond with Marcy Wu.