03 | the call for help

"ANYONE CARE TO TELL ME WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING ON HERE?"

CEYDEA PALACE, CENTIUM CITY, CERADICIA-

In that moment of chaos, Alora didn't remember much.

Everything seemed to blur together, the muffled voices of people mixing in with the sights of horror that she saw as a body fell to the ground. Her mind wasn't focusing clearly, her eyes almost deceiving her as she tried to process the event that was occurring in front of her.

There were screams and shouts of confusion throughout the crowd and palace, Roki quickly taking action and ushering his youngest sister away from everything that had been currently unfolding in front of them. If he wasn't going to be able to track down that sniper himself, he was damn sure that he was going to be able to protect his youngest sister.

After all, they had a prank war to finish, and Roki wanted to win.

Trying to cram her head back around to see what was going on behind her, Alora tried to push back against her brother's strong embrace, Roki standing firm in his position as the guards started to flood the balcony that he was whisking her away from. "I'm not something to just be flung out in need of protection!" Alora shouted, upset at her brother as he stared down at her figure, the young woman almost coming eye to eye with him for once in her life.

"Lora, I know that." Roki sighed pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He took in a deep sigh as the commotion continued behind them. There was a moment as he took her wrist again, Roki getting a slap on the wrist as he ran with his sister down another hallway that was close to where the balcony had been. "I know that you can handle this."

"Then why did you try and pull me away like a damsel in distress?" Alora huffed, clearly frustrated with the turn of events that was happening in front of her. "You know that I can handle myself. Dad took care of that. You know that he did."

"Yes, Alora, I know that." Roki sighed, exhaling a breath of air through his tightly clenched teeth. "But right now? The last thing we need is for all of the Ceydea family to be out in the open. Imagine what that would mean if all of us got killed. I don't know what happened out there, or who got shot-"

"It was Advisor Cherton." Rienna interrupted their conversation, Ambassador Geno trailing right behind her. It was like the Empire ambassador followed her around like a dog waiting for a bone, the fact that the man did such a thing making Alora want to throw up. "He's being escorted away to the medical bays we have inside of the palace. I'm not sure where they hit him, but-"

"Was Aroyo hurt?" Alora interrupted whatever Rienna was about to say next, trying to process the fact that Advisor Cherton had been shot and that he was most likely collateral damage in the process of yet another Ceydea assassination. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to be bagged down with the statistics and politics. I just want to know if he's alive."

Alora could feel the burning stare of Ambassador Geno as she talked, the man curious as to why the woman was so uninterested in the politics of everything that had been going on. She instead was only focused on what mattered to her- in this moment that one singular thing being her brother. Maybe it was a weakness that he had spotted in her- a weakness that he could exploit for the Empire's gain.

"Aroryo is fine." Rienna lazily dismissed, her hand making a light gesture that seemed as if the woman didn't even care too much about the wellbeing of her brother. "He was escorted away by the guards to another location. I don't know where he was taken, but I do know that we're cleared to find out if we really need to see him that desperately."

"Well, some of us actually care about our brother." Alora bit back at her sister, trying to hold her retort back. She had failed to bite her tongue, and she got a worried look from Roki when they exchanged glances. She probably shouldn't have done that- considering that Rienna was the one sibling that you didn't want to double cross or mess with in the family.

"And I'm sure that you'd want your newly crowned king to be alive so that he can rule, and you can do... well, whatever it is that you do in your chambers all day." Alora let out her own sneer at Ambassador Geno and Rienna, trying to hide the smile of satisfaction that was growing on her face as she saw a look of annoyance briefly pass over Ambassador Geno's mostly impartial expression.

"That's enough out of the both of you." Roki sighed, seeing his twin sister starting to try and form some sort of argument in response to their younger sister. "We're not going to get anywhere with this useless quarrelling. What we need to do is find Aroyo. He's going to be the one to tell us what happened, and what he thinks that we should do in this situation."

"I agree." Ambassador Geno gave a small nod of recognition to Roki who seemed to try and dip his head politely in response. "The bickering between you two is not going to help the situation at hand. Once we find the King of Ceradicia, things will become much clearer and easier to understand."

"Great. Now that we're all in agreement here, I think it's in our best efforts to find our way to whatever room that the guards took our dear brother to." Roki gestured to the group that was standing in front of him, turning in the direction of where he saw some of the royal palace guards last.

"I don't think that's necessary." A royal guard came running up to Alora's side, seemingly coming from the direction of the balcony. "The king has refused to go to the safe room that we are required to bring him to. He requested to go immediately to the medical center to see Advisor Cherton."

"Well, I guess that makes our job a little easier." Roki muttered, trying to find an advantage in the situation. "Well, let's head that way then." He pointed in the direction in which Rienna and Ambassador Geno were facing their backs to, the two latecomers to the conversation on the opposite side of Alora and himself.

"Prince Roki, are you sure you would like to go that way without an escort? We would be more than happy to request some backup in order to ensure your safety during this confusing and tumultuous time in the palace." The royal guard who had informed Alora of Aroyo's location asked Roki, assuming that he was probably the one in charge of the situation at hand.

"We'll be just fine without one, thank you. My siblings and I know our way around a fight if another assassin comes by and swings into the palace if need be." Rienna rejected the offer before Roki could even open his mouth. "Let's get moving if the two of you nitwits want to see our precious brother." She mocked Roki and Alora, the comment making Alora want to bite something back in response.

"No." Roki placed a hand on Alora's chest trying to restrain her from doing anything more than what she had already done. "You don't want to say something that you'll regret." He quietly muttered to her, trying to keep his tone down as he watched Rienna and Ambassador Geno lead the way. "Geno doesn't like you enough as is, you don't want to add more fuel to the fire by pissing off his favorite Ceydea."

"Why does he even like our stuck up prick of a sister anyways?" Alora muttered in response back, not very amused by the fact that she had to hold her tongue. "If anything, I'd say that she's the least engaged with the family. All she ever cares about is politics and trying to find the next boy to seduce into coming to the castle."

"Rienna is-" Roki paused, searching for the right word to describe his twin sister as they started to follow the footsteps that Rienna and Geno had left behind, not truly finding the correct word to fit what he was about to say. "She's a different type of person than all of us are used to, yes. But I do think that she finds her own way in the galaxy- even if it's through the seducing of young Ceradician males into our palace."

Alora tried to contain her disliking of what her sister did, only silenting gagging behind the young woman, Roki catching it and hitting his sister lightly on the arm. She moved to try and stomp on his foot, but luckily for Roki, he had learned within that day and moved out of the way before any more damage could be inflicted on his toes. "I still don't like it. And I don't like how close she is to the Empire's ambassador."

"I don't like it either." Roki agreed, trying to keep his sister on track with staying polite in the conversation. "But if it helps us from being taken over by the Galactic Empire and allows us to keep some semblance of sovereignty-"

"Please. Don't bore me with the politics." Alora groaned, dragging her feet at the mention of the Galactic Empire and all of the politics that one had to understand if one was to discuss the galaxy controlling regime. "I already told you how much I despise them. You know I'd much rather be-"

"Out traversing the galaxy. I know." Roki softly laughed, a true and genuine smile coming to his face. It wasn't one that was carefully painted on to please the Ambassador or a devilish smile that came before he was about to set a prank- it was something that was rarely seen out of the younger Ceydean brother. "You have too much of Dad in you."

"Who says that it's a bad thing?" Alora smiled back at Roki, the two of them exchanging a small moment before turning their heads to focus on what was the most pressing issue at hand- the hallways that they would have to walk through in order to get to the medical center.

"Do you want me to start listing off the names?" Roki arched an eyebrow at his younger sister, which earned a chuckle from her. He was satisfied with the response, his only goal at the moment to keep his sister from thinking about the dire situation that had just occurred- and what it meant for the future of Ceradicia and the Ceydean family.

"Noted." Alora nodded, biting her lip as the four continued to walk down the long and somewhat confusing hallways of the palace that the Ceydeans called home. It wasn't long before they found the set of stairs that would lead them down to the lower level where the medical center was found, Ambassador Geno and Rienna pausing in front of the stairs.

"Since you two are the only ones that have the desire to see our older brother, I figured that it would be best if Ambassador Geno and I stayed up here. We were about to discuss the severity of the situation and what it means for the future of Ceradicia." Rienna calmly spoke, her demeanor one that was cool and collected. She stepped to the side, Ambassador Geno being the only obstacle that remained in their path.

"I imagine that after one successful assassination and another attempt, we will have to be keeping a closer watch on the Ceydean family. Bringing in added security to watch over you will be a no brainer, of course." The ambassador slyly added, Roki and Alora exchanging a glance as he stepped out of the way.

The two of them knew what more security meant.

It meant more stormtroopers. More stormtroopers meant that there would be more of an Empire presence on Ceradicia, which made the Galactic Empire that much closer to taking hold of the planet of Ceradicia.

Which, evidently, was not a very good thing.

"Well, we will be gracious for anything that the Galactic Empire will be able to provide us." Roki spoke through gritted teeth, faking a smile that he reserved just for Ambassador Geno. "Come now, Alora, let us go and discuss some matters with our brother." He quickly took her hand, no sounds of protest coming from his younger sister as they bounded down the stairs.

As the two ran down the stairs, Roki trying to be mindful of what Alora was wearing in the sweeping purple dress that was still on her, there was a glance of worry between the two of them. "Even I know what would happen if there was more Empire presence on Ceradicia. And it's nothing good." Alora muttered, watching as doors were open in the hallways of the medical center, indicating that no one was in them.

"We should probably tell Aroyo about this." Roki agreed, keeping his voice down as he saw soldiers and regular servants and workers inside of the palace walk past them in the small hallway. "I assume that he'd like to know about this as soon as possible."

Suddenly, the two of them stopped in front of a door that was shut. Alora and Roki both knew what it meant- it meant that their brother was most likely inside. Reaching out his hand, Roki gave the door a light and tender knock, hearing a muffled sound that seemed like Aroyo's voice letting the two of them in.

Alora, her hand grasped on the knob ( they still used the old fashioned doors down in the medical bays to allow for some privacy, as people could choose who came in and came out), opened the door quietly. Her eldest brother came into view quite quickly, his put together look and uniform now disheveled in the moment.

"Roki. Lora." Aroyo croaked out, the dried trails of tears on his face an indicator of the condition of the man laying in the bed beside him. "I'm so sorry. I should've been more put together and prepared for a situation like this." He muttered, running a hand through his messed up hair. His crown was placed on a small wooden table nearby, the sash thrown carelessly there as well.

"Royo, there's nothing more that you could've done." Alora rushed to her brother's side, squatting down uncomfortably in her dress to give her brother a hug, the man shaking his head as he felt his sister's embrace around him. "You couldn't have known that something like this would happen. There was no way that you could've prevented it."

"But there was." Aroyo silently croaked out, his eyes now turning to Roki, the two men in full understanding of what was going on. "If they had been here, like you said they should've been, maybe they could have helped." He whispered, the King of Ceradicia rather upset with himself.

"We can't dwell on the could of beens." Roki disagreed, trying to find a way to console his brother, his eyes flitting to the bed.His eyes filled up with pity when he saw the lifeless figure of one of the few close friends that had a link to their parents in front of him. "I'm- I'm assuming Advisor Cherton didn't make it out."

"What made you think of that?" Aroyo coldly scoffed, trying to quickly wipe away his tears so as to not show that the death was taking a toll on him. Clearing his throat, Aroyo turned to look at his two siblings. "Although I do assume that the two of you didn't come down here looking for me just to tell me nothing. What is it?"

"The Galactic Empire. They're planning to increase security on the planet." Alora answered Aroyo's question, seeing the concern light up in his eyes as they broke away from the embrace. "I have a feeling that an invasion wouldn't be too far fetched in the near future for our planet." She grimly spoke, seeing a new look come into Aroyo's eyes.

"I know what I have to do then." His jaw hardened as he spoke, Aroyo's eyes turning to Roki once again. "You have to call them. Contact them however you need to, and however you can without being caught. You need to tell them that we're in dire need of help, because if the Galactic Empire takes over Ceradicia, I know that it will extinguish a huge flame under the fuel that is their cause."

"Of course." Roki nodded, reaching for something within his jacket pocket grasping it like it was the most important thing in the world. "I'm going to go make contact." He pointed to the device, the young man quickly stepping out back into the hallway.

"I'm not sure I understand." Alora looked at her oldest brother, the now King of Ceradicia, hoping that he had some semblance of answers for her. "What's going on here? What is this cause that you and Roki are so elusively talking about?"

"Our brother has been in contact with some very important people that might just be able to protect Ceradicia from the Galactic Empire's rule. They might be able to help us kick out the Empire's influence for good." Aroyo slowly explained, seeing the somewhat realization light up in Alora's eyes as he continued to speak.

"So you mean-"

"Yes. The Rebellion is coming to help us."

<~•~>

hello everyone!!

sorry it's taken a while for me to get this third chapter out of this book, I've kind of been neglecting it but I forgot how fun and easy it was to write :)

and yes, I did finish my AP test and yes maybe this entire week has put a huge ton of strain on my mental health and yes maybe I did cry for two hours because emotional trauma tonight but it got you this chapter, so it's worth something, right?

anyways, we're just setting up some plot for the next chapter, which will be SO much more fun than this one!

I just realized that my "chapter four" of most of my books is a very spicy chapter that always includes a reunion of some sorts, and I'm super excited for this book's one

look at these stunning banners angeIeyes and ownthelight did for me for this book!! like ,, wow!! I will be using the both of these and adding them to my graphic gallery, i promise. also, my inspo to write this book tonight definitely wouldn't have been without you two gals 🤧

angel:

lily:

alright, that's about everything, I hope you guys enjoyed this update, and I'll see you all soon!!