Quest for Cydonia

Orchid sighed and stared out the window. She was somewhat surprised that she had been placed in a normal room as opposed to a dungeon, and while it seemed strange to her, she wasn’t complaining. As unhappy as she was about being held hostage, she knew her kingdom’s brave knights had to be on their way already. Surely they would come rescue her. Her eyes traveled across the vast expanse of cloud, which had become a gorgeous shade of purple in the fading light.

The door to her room opened, creaking on its worn hinges. She refused to turn at the sound. She had a feeling she knew who it was, anyway.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” said a quiet voice just inches away from her. She remained still and continued to look out the window, acting as if she hadn’t heard the words at all. “Come on, princess,” he spat, as if insulting her. “With all your manners, you can’t even manage a hello to your host? That seems fairly rude to me.”

She spun around angrily. “It’s also rude to hold someone against their will, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering you at all,” she said in a low tone. He just smirked and stepped even closer to her. She backed away instinctively, bringing dark laughter from him.

“I could have thrown you in the dungeon, you know,” he said in a musing tone. “You should be grateful.”

“Grateful?!” she shouted in disbelief. “I should be grateful that you kidnapped me and are currently treating me like a prisoner?” A dark glare replaced the smirk on his face. When he said nothing, she continued. “Could you at least tell me why I’m here?”

“My brother wishes to have that pleasure,” he murmured, closing the distance between them and drawing her close to him. He gingerly brushed a few curls away from her face. “But I am allowed the pleasure of your presence.”

That was all Orchid could stand. She wrenched herself away from him and slapped him across the face. He just stared at her in complete shock, all color drained from his face except for the large red mark already beginning to form. He suddenly turned and left the room, slamming and locking the heavy door behind him.

Orchid was a little surprised at her own actions, but didn’t regret it at all. She returned to her previous activity of looking out the window, watching as the light dipped below the cloud’s horizon and the sky gradually began to darken. She sighed to herself in frustration. As much as she hated these people and what they had done to her, she had to admit that the view was beautiful.
-
Mikey slowly walked away from the room with one hand pressed against his face. His pride had been more than a little hurt, something he didn’t plan to put up with for very long.

As he continued to think of Orchid, he realized that he really had no idea why she was there. ‘I need to find out what Gerard’s plan is,’ he thought, turning a corner and walking down a dark hallway. He heard muttering voices from nearby and realized one of them belonged to his brother. The other was too low and quiet to identify. Mikey smirked softly to himself and waved one hand in a complex swirl. He created the faintest breeze possible and whispered a word of control into it. The air gently blew the sounds of the conversation toward him.

“What did the prophecy say exactly?” asked the other voice. Mikey finally realized who it was.

“I believe I’ve told you already,” Gerard responded with a sigh. “If an heir to the current Cydonian throne marries one from a kingdom we’ve had conflict with, Cydonia’s heir will become immortal.”

“And you’re certain this refers to you,” said the other man. He didn’t sound sure.

“I am the current ruler of this country, Ray,” Gerard said in a dark tone. “Do not question my authority.”

“I wasn’t,” Ray said quickly. “I was just thinking. It may be possible that it refers to-”

“-My brother?” Gerard cut in. Mikey’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think that’s something we need to worry about. Luna is the only kingdom we’ve had a war with in recent years…and their princess belongs to me.”

‘Or so you think,’ Mikey thought to himself. He waved his hand again, and the soft whispers vanished. He stepped around the corner, causing both Gerard and Ray to look towards him. He suppressed a smirk. They had no idea he had already been listening.

“What is it, Mikey?” asked Gerard.

“The princess is alive and well,” he said disdainfully as the all-too-recent memory of his injury came back to haunt him. Gerard seemed to take no notice of the red mark now occupying one side of his younger brother’s face. “However, she wishes to know why she is here.”

“I believe we have already covered this,” Gerard said in a foreboding tone. Rather than frighten Mikey, it only served to frustrate him further. “I will be the one to tell her, and I will do it when I so choose. You didn’t try to invent any stories, I trust,” he added, raising one eyebrow. Mikey shook his head.

“Not trying to question you or anything,” he said, taking a furtive glance at Ray and hoping it went unnoticed, “but I would like to know as well.”

“You will know when the time comes,” Gerard said simply. Mikey nodded once and took that as his cue to leave. He walked outside towards the stables.

“Hey, Mikey,” called a familiar voice. He turned toward it and smiled.

“Hi Bob,” he said warmly. “How is your father doing?”

“Not much better, I’m afraid,” Bob said sadly. “He’s refusing to let anyone treat him. I have to wonder how much time he has left.” He sighed. “It’s not like we were very close, though.”

“I’m still sorry to hear that,” Mikey said with a sad smile. “But it means you’ll inherit his title, correct?” Bob nodded. “Guess that means I should get used to being friends with a duke, then.”

Bob laughed. “I’m afraid all it means is that you’ll be seeing less of me than usual.” Mikey laughed and continued on his way to the stables. Frank automatically walked towards Modus’s stall with a look of fear that he had forgotten something, but Mikey stopped him.

“That won’t be necessary,” he said quickly. Frank just blinked a few times in confusion and slowly backed away as Mikey unlocked the stall door. Modus obediently followed him as he walked outside, much to Frank’s mild amusement.

Mikey and the horse walked side by side for a few minutes. He sat on the cloud with his legs hanging over the edge, something he often used to do as a child whenever he wanted to get away from Gerard. The view of the ground was slightly obscured by a few low-floating clouds, but it was beautiful all the same. He sighed.

He suddenly felt several puffs of warm air on the back of his neck. He smiled and turned around, seeing Modus staring him in the face with wide, dark eyes. Mikey just laughed and turned back to face the open expanse of sky before him.

Something hit him squarely in the back and shoved him forward. He felt himself falling immediately, and burst into laughter as the cold air rushed into his lungs. He twisted in the air so that he was almost in a standing position and created a powerful gust of wind to sweep him upwards. He reached the cloud in a matter of seconds and floated in place, crossing his arms and smirking at the culprit.

“That wasn’t very nice, Momo,” he said to the horse. The animal completely ignored him, carefully searching for any short blades of grass that might be hidden among the silvery vapors. Mikey just laughed and hovered over to the cloud, allowing the winds around him to dissipate and vanish. He began to walk away, and the horse quickly trotted after him, never wanting to be left behind.