Trigger warnings- Swearing, blood mention and homophobia. 

Everyone stared at Finley and Cadence's dad in shock.

"Wait, what?" Adri questioned.

Finley turned to look at Kaiden. He didn't just look shocked, he looked scared. Finley had never seen him like this. It hurt him to see the usually fearless Kaiden as scared as a mouse being chased by a cat.

"The dictator made up his mind this morning," his dad replied, "it was on the news."

Immediately, the five of them, excluding Cadence, headed for Raven's room, as it was the nearest and turned on the TV.

Raven grabbed the remote and switched the channel to CBC, just as Cadence and their dad came in.

The newsreader, a young woman who looked about thirty, was talking, "in other news this morning, the dictator has reached a decision after the events during the finale of the 80th Ceremony. Three contestants remained in the final, Kaiden Lynch and Finley Castel, both from Kyrah, and Adrielle Madriga from the winning kingdom from the last Ceremony, Astra. Kaiden Lynch suggested to the others to hold their weapons against their throats and threaten to not give the country a winner, unless all three of them were allowed to win together. Throughout the Ceremony, Kaiden has proved to be one of the most hated contestants of all time, so some previous winners and some Cadets say, it's no surprise that the dictator has made the decision for Kaiden to be killed on account of treason."

The newsreader shuffled her papers before she continued, "it is also believed that the dictator also wishes to punish Finley Castel and Adrielle Madriga. He is expected to make a speech shortly to announce his plans for the trio."

Raven pressed the mute button.

"Kaiden, what the fuck have you done?" He asked.

Finley noticed that Kaiden seemed surprised. It was obvious that Raven didn't swear often.

"What will happen now?" Finley asked no one in particular.

"Well, Lynch will be executed and you and Astra could end up in prison for treason," Cadence replied.

Kaiden walked over to Finley and hugged him as he was close to tears.

"I don't want to hear anymore of this," his dad said. "Cadence, sweetheart, I'll see you at home. And you, I don't really care what happens to you, but we'll probably be better off without you anyway."

He left, and Finley began properly crying.

"Everything's gone wrong now. You really screwed up everything, didn't you, Lynch?" Cadence asked.

"I know," Kaiden replied, solemnly.

"This is unfair," Reina said suddenly, "Kaiden was afraid of losing Adri and Finley. He wasn't suggesting that idea as an act of treason. He was trying to help, Cadence. You or me or Raven wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Kaiden. We should fight the dictator's decision."

"We could get killed too, Astra," Cadence spat.

"I agree with Reina," Raven said, "if my brother is going to get killed, I'm not letting that happen without putting up a fight."

"Neither am I," Adri added. "Reina's right, only for Kaiden, four of us wouldn't even be here."

"I'm in too," Finley said, wiping away his tears.

"Guys you could end up getting killed too," Kaiden replied, "I'm not worth it."

"Correction, you're not worth it to anyone else," Reina said.

"But you are worth it to us," Adri finished.

"Yeah," Finley continued, "you promised to look after my dad if I died. No one's ever cared that much before.

"Wait, what?" Cadence asked.

"When we were in the Play Zone, Kaiden said that if I died, he'd take care of our dad."

"Your dad thinks that you have a job and Finley doesn't, doesn't he?" Raven questioned.

"Yes," Cadence replied, "he thinks I work for Donald Brooks."

"You've been working for him for six years," Raven said, looking at Finley, "and the whole time, he's believed that it was Cadence?"

Finley nodded, and the others glared at Cadence.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a human being Cadence Castel," Kaiden scowled.

"For years, he's been doing everything to provide for you and your dad," Adri added.

"He's never going to achieve anything better anyway. His school grades are atrocious. Why do you think he's in the bottom class with Kaiden?" Cadence spat.

"I never have time to study," Finley muttered.

"You don't have time to study anything, you work six days a week."

The others looked at Finley in shock.

"Six days a week?" Raven asked, "how many hours per week."

Finley was reluctant to answer, "well, school finishes at three. I work from four to eight on weekdays and nine in the morning to nine at night on saturdays."

"That's thirty two hours per week," Reina stated, having quickly done the calculation.

"Fucking hell," Kaiden said in shock, "and you go to school for six hours on weekdays as well?"

Finley nodded. The others couldn't believe it.

"You don't deserve to have a brother like Finley," Adri spat.

"I know," Cadence replied, " I deserve so much better. He's never going to amount to anything in life. Our dad's right, he's just a disappointment."

Kaiden couldn't hold himself any longer. He charged towards Cadence and the two of them began fighting. Cadence was obviously much stronger than Kaiden was expecting.

The others simply backed up, making room for them.

"Someone stop them!" Finley shouted.

"Kaiden won't hurt her that much," Raven replied.

"He killed two people without a weapon in the Ceremony, I wouldn't put it past him to do it again."

Kaiden and Cadence had succeeded in injuring each other. Both were bleeding. Cadence from a cut on her cheek and Kaiden from somewhere on his neck. Their scuffle continued for several minutes until something finally made them stop.

"Kaiden Lynch, that is enough!" A voice shouted from the door.

Kaiden and Cadence, surprisingly, stepped away from each other. Both looked rather guilty.

They all turned to the door to see a man in his late forties. He had brown hair, green eyes and a pair of wire framed glasses. He was tall and well built, with a strong resemblance to Kaiden and Raven.

The man continued, "I am disgusted. I turned on the news this morning to discover that you are going to be executed for treason. I go to the head of the Cadets, explaining how you are simply misunderstood, and plead your case. Saying that you would never do such a thing, and then, when I come to see you and your brother, I find you fighting with a girl?"

Kaiden tried to explain, "dad, she was..."

"I don't want to hear it. I will see you outside in two minutes, or I will make your life a living hell when we get home."

His dad left and closed the door.

"You are in so much trouble," Adrielle teased.

"Shut up, he doesn't mean it," Kaiden replied.

They all looked at Raven, who simply smiled and winked.

"Look," Cadence said, pointing back to the TV. The dictator was on the screen, stepping up to a lectern. "Maybe your dad was successful."

Raven unmuted the TV and the dictator's voice blared from the screen.

"...in light of the events which occurred during the finale of the Ceremony, it was decided by the Cadets from all six kingdoms that Kaiden Lynch should be executed on grounds of treason. As dictator, I have the privilege to be able to override those decisions. In this case, I have chosen to do just that. Therefore, Kaiden Lynch will not be executed. Instead, as a punishment to him as well as Adrielle Madriga and Finley Castel, the reward of a large sum of cash as well as the privilege to travel freely between the kingdoms will be revoked."

The dictator walked off and Raven turned off the TV.

"So, we're not getting any kind of reward because of him," Cadence said, glaring at Kaiden.

Kaiden didn't reply. He didn't mind losing his reward. He and Raven didn't need the rewards, but the others did. Now, because of him, they'd lost out. He felt awfully guilty.

A guard entered, alongside Kaiden and Raven's dad. "It has been decided that the six of you will stay in Kyrah until the Champions' tour in two weeks. We should be arriving in Kyrah in just under two hours.

The guard left, and Kaiden followed his dad outside.

—-----

"Dad, I'm sorry," Kaiden apologised, "I didn't mean to ruin everything."

"Well you have. Why were you fighting that girl anyway?"

"Cadence was being horrible to her brother. Believe me, she deserved it."

His dad grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled Kaiden towards him. "You need to learn to have a little more respect, you selfish brat. A real man never picks fights with a girl. You've caused the others to lose their rewards for winning the Ceremony. How they can even stand to look at you, I will never know. You're a monster, Kaiden. You won't inherit the business, Raven will. You can do what you like."

Kaiden looked at his dad in shock, "dad, please?"

"No, Kaiden," his dad snapped, finally letting go of his shirt. "Why do you care so much about that girl's brother anyway, who is she?"

"Cadence Castel, her brother's Finley Castel. He works thirty two hours a week to provide for her and their dad, and she does nothing to help."

"Well, why does that matter to us? He's only some boy you didn't have the guts to kill."

"He is an incredibly brave and selfless person, who deserves a much better sister than the one he has."

"What's so special about him anyway?" His dad asked.

Kaiden froze. He knew that what he was about to say would anger his dad even more.

Finally, he plucked up courage, "he's hopefully going to be my boyfriend."

"Your what!" His dad screamed. He pushed Kaiden against the wall and glared at him. "You are not interested in boys! No son of mine will be a freak. You will stay away from him. If I see you two alone together, you will be kicked out. Do I make myself clear?"

Kaiden didn't answer.

"Do I make myself clear?!" His dad screamed.

"Yes, " Kaiden replied, quietly.

His dad walked off back to his own room. Kaiden collapsed on the floor. He hated to admit that he'd been scared. Finley meant everything to him. He didn't know what to do. If he went out for the date with Finley and his dad caught them, he'd be kicked out. If he didn't, he would have to break Finley's heart.

He realised that he had tears in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away as the door to Raven's room opened.

"K? Was that dad we heard shouting?" He asked.

Kaiden didn't know what to do. Raven was his brother, but he still didn't want to tell him the truth. He couldn't think of what to say.

"Uh...yeah," he stammered, "I just told him about Finley and Cadence."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we've told Cadence to get a job to help Finley out."

Kaiden smiled, "that will sort her out."

Raven walked over to him and offered a hand to help him up.

When he did, he whispered in Kaiden's ear, "I know you're lying. I'm not going to make you tell me, but I'm your brother. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Kaiden nodded, but he didn't say another word.

Kaiden moved towards Raven's door, but Raven closed it.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Raven questioned.

"Perfectly fine," Kaiden lied.

Raven looked at him sadly, before opening the door and leading the way back inside.

—-----

Finley came over to them, "are you ok?" He asked.

"Never been better," Kaiden replied.

Cadence scowled, "you got our rewards for winning taken away and you don't even care!"

"Cadence, it doesn't matter," Finley stated.

"Shut up, idiot."

"Leave him alone," Kaiden snapped. "I will try and find a way to make it up to you, I promise."

"You'd better," was Cadence's only response.

—-----

Around an hour later, eight hours after they'd got on the train, they pulled into Kyrah.

"We can give you girls a tour," Raven said as he gave Adrielle a hand off the train.

Adrielle smiled, "that sounds great."

"Yes, it would be nice to see how different Kyrah is compared to Astra," Reina added.

"I'm not sticking around for some boring tour," Cadence snapped.

"We didn't ask you anyway," Raven snapped back.

Cadence huffed. She turned to Finley, "make sure you're back before seven."

"Sorry," Finley said.

"It's fine. It's not your job to apologise for your sister." Raven replied.

"Let's show you girls around then," Kaiden said with a rare smile.

Raven opened the door and held it open for Adri, Reina and Finley. Then, he closed it in Kaiden's face. All of them laughed as Kaiden forced the door open and punched his brother in the arm. It was obvious that the two were very close and did this a lot.

Finley wished he could have a relationship like that with Cadence. He wouldn't dare do that to her. If he did, his dad would probably shout at him and punish him for weeks.

Finley appreciated his new friends. He'd never found anyone who treated him like they did, as an equal. Kaiden always held open doors for him and he'd even helped him off the train. Raven had stood up for him to Cadence, and even Adrielle and Reina had joined in when the three of them had scolded Cadence and told her to get a job. He felt like he'd finally found his real friends.

Just as they walked down the steps from the station, a string of insults came from everywhere. Things were thrown towards them, and Kyrah descended into chaos.

As you've probably guessed by now, we're going to explore our characters a bit now. First off is Finley and Cadence.  Aren't Cadence and her dad horrible? Do you guys like Finley? Do you feel as bad for him as I do right now? What will happen while we're in Kyrah and are there any other secrets waiting to be revealed?

Find out in Chapter 14!