Trial One~Time335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2tacwmvCZ
"Why would a Queen want two common scientists hanging around? We aren’t as established as your court scientists I can promise you that."
Illya chuckled. "You seem entertaining. I haven’t been knocked to my feet in ages. It was quite refreshing. I can provide you with rooms and food. I promise you’d be taken care of. Oh! What are your names by the way?"
Adam shook his head. "You’ve brought them into your palace without even knowing so much as their names? I can’t tell if you’re stupid or just overly confident."
"Overconfidence is my middle name!"
"Overconfidence has been the downfall of many men."
"Good thing I’m not a man then."
Adam scoffed. As Illya and Adam fought, the other pair exchanged glances with each other. They had come to conduct research in Solaria and it was no secret that Illya's erratic behaviour lead to her knowing things that she shouldn't, which could prove useful in their research. Knowing a chance like this wouldn’t arise again, they decided to follow her.
"Alright then. We’ll stay. One room would be fine. This is my husband Kaito and my name is Tekina."
Illya shifted her attention to them. She clapped excitedly upon hearing Tekina's words. "Fantastic! Ein!"
A tall, slender man with long silver hair appeared from the shadow cast by Illya’s sofa. If there was one thing that caught their eye about the man, it was his exposed shoulder which revealed veins like markings that pulsed in a glowing blue hue.
"Send a message to the hag at the ancient lab at Myahm Agana. Tell her I’ll be taking care of two of her scientists from now on."
"Right away your majesty."335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zZaEWjZ1x
When he left, Illya leaned back, gesturing to tall the food in front of them. "Let's finish up here so we can head over to see Kain"
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
After eating their meals, the group made their way up to the observatory. The sound of humming but no one could be seen.
"Kain! Eddie’s here to talk!" Illya announced.
The humming abruptly stopped and was replaced by rich, delirious laughter. Without warning a large, levitating, elaborately designed chair came crashing to the ground. On it was a man who adorned a fanciful black and gold suit. Everything about him was over the top. From his amethyst hair and golden eyes, one of which was replaced by a glass eye that was held in place by a golden prosthetic that covered part of his face. Tekina and Kaito honestly began to question the company Illya chose to keep.
"Welcome back Queenie!" He laughed.
"These are some scientists from Myahm Agana, Tekina and Kaito. They’ll be staying with us for a while." Illya pointed towards them.
The pair simply nodded. Kain grinned, flashing his sharp teeth.
"Greetings! I am what some would call the "mad scientist" of the royal court, the one and only Kain of Solaria!" He gestured to himself dramatically.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOP1lWksS43
Adam slammed several documents onto the desk at the far corner of the room. "Alright. Enough idle banter. It’s time we discussed some issues."
"Alright, then little time worm. What have you found?" Kain teased as he made his way over to the table.
Adam scowled but let it slide as there were more pressing matters at hand. "While I was in the country of Kin, I was told that the King of Sindaria is planning an attack on Solaria in approximately six months from now. It seems his allies won’t be making an appearance though. It’ll just be himself and...Li."
Illya went silent for a while. "So then our suspicions we’re correct. He is working with Li after all..."
"That would seem to be the case."
Tekina leaned in beside Illya and briefly scanned Adam’s list. "The King of Sindaria? You mean King Sana? Why would he be attacking you?"
"The obvious answer is that he’s pissed because I refused to marry him several years ago. The not so obvious answer, he wants to use my shi to break through to the sacred palace Enu created back when my mother escaped Aruma An and become a God himself because’s a disgustingly power hungry and arrogant man." Illya grimaced. rubbing the back of her neck.
"Since it’s just the two of them, we have a better chance at squashing the pesky insects," Kain noted as he stroked his chin.
"They’re probably going to try and get me to agree to come over to their side one last time. Did you get any more information on that from the King of Kin?"
Adam shook his head. "Unfortunately I haven’t. You know what their relationship is like with Sindaria. Despite being one of their allies, Sindaria hasn’t bothered to keep amicable relations with them. It’s only natural that any information regarding Solaria wouldn’t be disclosed to them."
Kain nodded in agreement. "Well, then I guess it’s a good thing we have the Kin Kingdom on our side."
Illya was silent for a moment. She sunk her teeth into the side of her finger as she thought. Illya was known to be a very skilled strategist and warrior but today, she was a little worried that her emotions in regards to Li would hinder her ability to carry out her plan effectively, after all, she knew best what her temper was like.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDzmwamu8o
"let's lure them to islands east of here. it's least likely to draw the attention of the High Council. You know how they are about their whole "no war" policy. Sana is most likely waiting so long to make a move so they can amass enough power to subdue me and take me by force if need be. Killing them there will only cause unrest throughout the countries in the south. At best, we’ll be able to push them back and do some considerable damage so they won’t be able to launch an attack right after." Illya brushed some hair out of her face.
The soft tapping of shoes could be heard approaching them. All except Illya turned towards the sound. Seibel entered the observatory and directed his attention to Illya.
"My lady, we have received word that the Princes have returned from visiting their father in Seidon."335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtJwIPfz7Y
A smile graced Illya’s lips and she turned to exit the room. "Wonderful! Eddie, send word to the Kin empire about our plan. Kain you can go back to doing...whatever it was you were doing. Tekina, Kaito, follow me. You should get used to the palace. Let’s go greet my sons."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
The trio descended the stairs that lead to the port. The scent of the sea enveloped them and the wood groaned beneath their feet, water shimmering under the rays of light that peeked through the cracks in the wood. The sound of idle chatter and bustling workers filled the air. As they approached the ship they could see several people shuffling around on the deck. A young man with jet black hair and eyes as fiery as Illya’s spotted them and immediately straightened up before stepping off the ship to meet them.
"MOM! HEY!" The raven haired boy smiled. he was bright and cherry, like a warm ray of sunshine.
Illya gave him a hug. "Missed you too. Listen, these guys are guests here.They’ll be staying with us for a while. I came to introduce them."
The boy extended his hand and smiled again. "Hello! My name is Zur-Sin! It’s nice to meet ya!"335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7eW7rZs1N
Behind Zur-Sin, two other boys followed. The tall, violet haired boy spoke first.
"Mother! It’s been a while!"
The boy with the black eye patch simply scurried to Illya’s side and stood silently as he peeked around her to observe Tekina and Kaito. Zur-Sin pointed to them excitedly.
"Mom says these guys are gonna be staying with us for a while."335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAp2cf9SFCP
"It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Ea and that is my brother Ri-is. You’ll have to forgive him, he doesn’t take well to strangers."
Zur-Sin smacked Ri-is’ back. "He’ll warm up to you eventually."
Ea sighed. "You’ll have to forgive that one too. He’s not very tactful."
Tekina giggled at their antics. They were very different from each other. Like Illya had ripped out three distinct versions of herself and put them into these boys, but they seemed very close. She couldn’t help but think of her own son, miles away from where they were and before she knew it, her smiled and faded into a frown. Illya noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Is something wrong?" She asked gently.
"It’s nothing...It’s just that seeing your boys has made me miss my own son is all."
Zur-Sin, ever the inquisitive one, leaned forward slightly to get her attention."Your son isn’t here with you?"
"No. He’s back at the ancient lab in Myahm Agana."
Sin turned back to his mother with pleading eyes."Mom...Can we send someone to get him?"
"Of course! I wouldn’t want to keep a family apart." Illya waved her hand. "Send a ship to fetch him. Tell the hag at the lab that I’m taking him too."
"Right away my lady!"
Startled, Kaito flailed back and turned to see who was behind him. He half expected to see the "too perfect" butler from earlier but was instead greeted with new face.
"Don’t forget to be gentle Hayate. He’s the son of our guests. We don’t want to relive the incident from...that time."
"Of course!" The man identified as Hayate, smoothly made his way down to the ships.
Kaito was still a little breathless as he spoke. "Are all your guards that freaky?"
"Yup. Though I guess that’s true for everyone who serves me." Illya laughed as she ushered the group back toward the palace."Come. I’ll have Seibel show you to your rooms for now."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
