TAP TAP TAP
"AGH! WHAT NOW?!"
Queen Mother heard the footsteps before she saw the guard, the urgency in their pace giving away the nature of the news before a single word was spoken. He appeared around the corner moving faster than a composed man should need to, caught just enough breath to begin, and then laid out in a rushed stream what had unfolded at the 4th Rock meeting. Queen Mother listened without interrupting, her expression shifting with each new detail, the lines around her eyes deepening as the full picture assembled itself in front of her. When he finished, she held the silence for a moment, then exhaled heavily and waved her hand.
"Thank you. Keep me updated," she said, releasing him.
She watched him leave, then pressed two fingers to her forehead and rubbed slowly.
What should I do? Things are looking grim. If this keeps going on, we'll barely succeed. But without enough support, how can we fight against Grankell, the representative man, that bitch from the 1st Rock, that mysterious assassin group that fought Little Princess, and those weird people who made my Jorri like that?
The questions turned over and over and found no floor beneath them. She closed her eyes.
AGH! What should I do? I thought at least our own group of people could stay together. Then only one enemy group would remain to deal with, and that would be better for us. Natalia can't seem to accurately convince everyone. Is running away the only option that remains?
As Queen Mother circled these impossible thoughts without any way through them, her eyes drifted across the room and landed on Zack. He was waving the four expert sisters over with a casual, unhurried gesture, inviting them to sit beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
.
"Umm, Master Zack, how can we?" The four sisters hesitated together, voices carrying the same uncertain note.
"Haha, you guys say that you'll serve me, then don't listen to me? Sit, Big Sisters," Zack said, his smile warm enough to dissolve the stiffness from the request entirely. "Don't treat me as some high person. You've seen me grow up. Don't be so tense."
The four expert sisters glanced at one another beneath their masks, then back at him, the resistance in their shoulders letting go all at once.
"Hehe, okay!" They smiled broadly and settled beside him, the formality they had arrived with fading the moment they allowed it to.
"Now tell me about you. You guys don't talk much, but since we've gotten closer, why not tell me something about yourselves? Like, what kinds of food do you guys like? Maybe I'll cook it for you," Zack said with a bright smile that reached his eyes.
"What, what?! Don't forget about me! I like anything as long as it's edible!" Gloomy suddenly surfaced from nowhere, carved himself a comfortable space in the middle of the group, and dropped into it without ceremony.
The four sisters answered one after another, each voice distinct despite the identical faces above them.
"I'm also like Gloomy. I can eat whatever." "For me, Sweet things, for sure!" The third didn't need a moment to think. "Spicy!" The fourth said it like a position she had held for years and intended to hold indefinitely. "Anything fresh and warm," the last added, a little quieter than the rest.
"Wow, you look the same but like different things! Not bad," Oliver said from in front of them, his characteristic smirk already in place.
"Of course! Being quadruple twins doesn't make everything the same," one of the expert sisters replied without missing a beat.
"Hey there, expert sisters!" Leader Mikaela appeared behind the group without warning, her smile already curving toward wicked well before she opened her mouth. "I see you're being a little lousy at your job. Maybe I should train you in my infantry." Her eyes gleamed with everything that smile was holding back. "Of course, I'll take this Gloomy guy with me too. He looks very weak!"
"GAH! DANGER!" Gloomy dove behind one of the expert sisters immediately, tucking himself behind her with all the urgency, he knew exactly what Leader Mikaela's training looked like. The sister placed a hand on top of his head without even looking down, then turned her full attention back to Mikaela. "Leader, you're getting old. You can't defeat us."
"KEKE! Calling me old?! I'll rip your mask off and see that smirk inside it!" Mikaela's laugh came out with a sharp edge, her competitive fire catching in an instant.
"Hey, Mikaela, don't be rude! You have a bad personality, you know that, right?" Miss Phoebe arrived with her full frame, Sio hanging off her arm with her teeth properly sunk in.
TWITCH! TWITCH!
"Your personality is rotten! Don't put me in your category!" Mikaela roared, her face going a satisfying shade of red.
"Sigh... your personalities are both bad," Miss Eva said tiredly from nearby. She set Lurvi and Tyra on the heads of the second and third expert sisters with careful hands, then reached over to coax Sio away from Miss Phoebe's arm before more damage was done.
"True warriors of this city are rough," Chieftess Anihoa remarked, studying the expert sisters with open curiosity as she joined the group.
"And your maids are stupid!" Sio announced at full volume, finally releasing Miss Phoebe's arm and redirecting her energy entirely.
"Huh?! You little brat! Who are you calling stupid?!" Maid Nima's face crumpled with full offense, every feature scrunching toward the center.
"You, you, you!" Sio pointed back at her, matching her energy without any effort at all.
"NO OU YOU YOU!!" Maid Nima also pointed fingers
Both of them began hopping up and down in frustration at the exact same rhythm, their small bodies fueled by an indignation that had no intention of cooling down.
"Geez, can't we have a normal talk once in a while?" Mother Silja sighed, watching all of it unfold from where she sat.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!"
Several voices answered at the same time. The bickering curled into laughter and back into bickering, the room filling up with noise that had no sharp edges in it.
.
"Just do what you're thinking. Don't hesitate. You are already at your wit's end," Grandmother said softly. Her eyes hadn't left the noisy, laughing group across the room, watching them carry on without a single awareness of the weight sitting on Queen Mother's shoulders.
"Ah, but I'll be putting more pressure on him," Queen Mother said, the hesitation in her voice holding all the guilt she hadn't found words for yet.
"They're already in this mess," Grandmother replied, lifting her tea cup without changing her expression. "Either run or stay and fight with all you have."
Queen Mother's eyes moved to the room where Kyra was tending to Jorri and her son. She studied that closed door in her mind for a long breath, looking for whatever answer might be waiting behind it, then stood up….
"EVERYONE! I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING!"
The announcement cut clean through every conversation in the room. All of it stopped at once, every voice, every argument, every laugh. Every face in the room turned toward her.
"AHM, WELL......... I WANT ZACK TO LEAD A SECOND ROUND OF MEETINGS. BASICALLY, I WANT HIM TO STAND BESIDE NATALIA."
Queen Mother's voice rang through the room without wavering.
"HUH?!"
Stunned faces spread across the room in every direction. Eyes moved from Queen Mother to Zack, who sat in the center of all of them. He listened as her announcement settled over him, and his hands found the edges of his blanket and slowly drew it tighter.
"Suddenly, I feel colder," he murmured under his breath, a quiet, settled sense of doom making itself at home somewhere deep in his chest.
Queen Mother began to explain. She laid out what had been developing with Natalia and the full weight of what had been pressing against her. No one interrupted her. They listened in complete stillness as her words reached them one by one, and the expressions around the room grew quieter and more serious with each piece of the picture that fell into place.
.
When she finished, the room held its silence. No one moved to fill it.
Chieftess Anihoa was the first to speak. "Queen, as an outsider, can I speak?"
Queen Mother nodded. "Of course."
"Please don't mind my harsh words." Chieftess Anihoa kept her voice at an even, measured level. No frustration sharpened the edges of it, no accusation sat behind it. Just the clean, flat surface of someone laying out facts. "I think you're asking way too much of Zack. He's already heavily injured and barely sitting here out of respect for us. I heard what happened, and I think everyone has helped Natalia quite a lot these past days."
She paused, not to soften what was coming but to make sure it landed the way she intended.
"I do understand her position. Trust me, I'm in the same position as her. But she has taken her friends' help, especially Zack's help, way too much for granted. And now, by the looks of it, she's moving forward without him. Why should he do more for her when she didn't even ask how he's been after delivering that notebook by Miss Expert Sister?"
Her voice held its steadiness all the way through.
"I know they love each other, but there is always a limit to what someone can do for their partners. Zack can't be at fault if those women choose to love him and pursue him, and Natalia is not at fault for that man pursuing her either. But accepting his feelings in front of all those important people is clearly crossing the line."
Each word had dropped into the room not as an assault but as something simply true, placed on the table for everyone to look at squarely. Sasha had listened to all of it without a word, and by the end, her expression sat tight with an agreement she had no argument against.
"AGH! I'm sorry, Zack," Queen Mother said, and the small crack in her voice exposed exactly where she stood. She knew whose fault this was, and she had nothing to offer against it.
Zack shook his head slowly. He got to his feet and raised his arms and opening it for a huge, then he turned his head toward Chieftess Anihoa with a quiet gesture asking her not to say anything more. He opened his arms wide.
Queen Mother saw it, walked over, and stepped into the hug with great care around his injuries, her arms finding a hold that was gentler than she usually allowed herself.
"Mother, don't be sorry for asking for help," Zack said softly. One hand moved to her back despite the pull of pain that travelled up through his arms the moment he lifted them. "If not for Queen Mother, we'd all be living pathetic lives. I'll do whatever my mother asks of me."
He took a breath before continuing.
"And you kind of already warned me many times that this could happen with Nat, so we'll deal with this together. I'm sure she's also feeling pressured. Let's trust her. I know she loves me a lot, so everything is okay."
Queen Mother pulled back slowly, her eyes holding tears that hadn't fallen yet. Her hands moved to his blanket on instinct, drawing it up around his middle and smoothing it into place. "Thank you, my son. You do whatever you want, and don't worry about anything. You have my full support. Just go and do whatever you feel is good for the people and this city."
She rested her hand on his head for a moment, giving away her warmth and her blessing to him.
"Huh? You're not coming with me?" Zack asked with a small frown.
"Haha, why would I? It's your stage! I'm the Queen. How can I put my nose into the younger generation's business? I'll stay here and wait for you," Queen Mother said, smiling.
Zack's frown deepened. "Why? Are you planning to retire after the ceremony or what? Queen Mother, you're not that old, you know that, right? Are you planning to not work anymore after Natalia's ceremony?"
"No, that's not what I meant! I just said, you know, you go... SHU, SHU…."
"Queen Mother, I can't do this all alone. I want everyone's help!" Zack cut in, his voice carrying full conviction. "How can one person make this place better? I don't care about any position or whatnot. I want everyone's help to make this city a better place. We've come this far with the help of others, so it's only natural to include them."
He looked around at every face watching him.
"This isn't just your dream, Queen Mother. It's also our dream. To make this city a better, more prosperous place to live. And I think we owe it to our little sister Alice and her friend."
He brought his hand forward and held it open between them.
Queen Mother's eyes got filled with tears. She nodded, her voice arriving unevenly. In truth she also doesn't want to live a life of a beautiful ornament for show but that's how the system works, she became the queen quite early in her life and also had Natalia quite early, but she still has long way to go to reach old age, her body is still healthy and strong to work for many years to come!!!….. I am not done yet!!! I still want to make this city better!!! Queen Mother happily thought and spoke "Yes.... Let me help you."
She placed her hand on top of his.
"For Alice and her friend!" Sasha stepped forward without a moment's pause and placed her hand on top, her voice clear.
Then Oliver.
Then Sio.
Then Gloomy.
Then Mother Ariana.
Then Mother Silja.
Then all four expert sisters, one by one, each hand finding its place on top of the last without hurry.
Miss Phoebe.
Leader Mikaela.
Maid Nima.
"I... I..." Chieftess Anihoa's hand hovered above the tower, her breath held, her resolve at the very edge of itself.
Queen Mother reached out, took her hand, and guided it down onto the pile with a gentle hold. She looked at Chieftess Anihoa with a smile that asked nothing except that she stay.
Chieftess Anihoa steadied herself, then held on.
All eyes moved to Grandmother.
"GUA! You want me in this silly game too?!" Grandmother grumbled at the circle of eager, expectant faces staring back at her.
Every head nodded.
"Geez, making this old woman move," she muttered, already pushing herself to her feet. She crossed the room at her own unhurried pace and placed her warm, wrinkled hand on top of the pile with the simple finality.
"LURRR!! TYRR!!"
Lurvi and Tyra scrambled up the tower of arms and planted themselves at the very top with their small bodies perfectly balanced, delighted with the altitude.
"ONE, TWO... FOR THE PEOPLE! FOR THE FAMILY! FOR ALICE AND HER FRIEND!!"
"YEEEAHHHHH!!!"
TTTYYYYYRRRRRRR LLUUURRRRRR!!!!
Every hand shot upward at once. Lurvi and Tyra launched into the air with happy, piercing squeaks, their small bodies riding the momentum with complete joy. Laughter tore through the room without asking permission, filling it from wall to wall, and for a stretch of time that mattered, everyone standing in that noise felt the same thing moving through them. The weight of the past few days had not disappeared, but it had shifted. They were carrying it together now, and that made all the difference.
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END OF CHAPTER
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Author Blabbering
I could not sleep well last night. YAAWWWNNNNNN!!!.....
So today, I am taking things slow and easy. I might even end up taking a nap in the afternoon, wherever I happen to be. Yes, even if that means falling asleep on the ROAADDD!!!
True lovers of sleep can sleep anywhere.
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