Kai shifted in the chair uncomfortably, even though it was much nicer than the wooden one he had sat in before. It had gone from the really fancy bed that Kai had almost immediately fell asleep in, only just barely able to keep his eyes open as Kipo talked, though he didn't hear a word she said. Then it had gone to the wooden chair in that room, where he had wakened up. That chair had three uneven legs and about a thousand splinters, but Kai had been too preoccupied to really notice beyond a surface level.

And now he was here, clutching the nice leather and leaning forward nervously, eyes trained on the stage and awaiting the promised show. On every side of him sat the strange two-dimensional people, also watching the stage and leaning forward in anticipation. Kai would say they were coping him, but none of them rest of them were glancing around like he was.

Kai stared at them, wondering if they were actually alive, or just looked like they were alive, like puppets. Frowning, he reached out and poked one, and then flinched when it turned around to glare at him.

"Sorry, sorry!" he whispered, turning back in his seat. He sweating hands nearly slipped off of the leather they were resting on.

Soon, the curtain was raised, and Kai straighten, looking around for his friends, but none of them were on stage yet. Instead, it had a background of what looked like the buildings of a bustling city, but looking at it from above. When Kai looked closely, he found a border around the whole background, like a picture frame. He was a little confused, until he realized it was a window.

In front of the background, a couple set pieces were set up like a throne room. On one side, there was a fancy looking chair, a throne, Kai guessed. White pillars were set up in front of the window, and there was a red carpet resting on the wooden planks of the stage, leading up to the throne. Kai wondered if this was anything like what the throne room in this castle looked like. They hadn't been able to find it, but a throne room had to have a throne room, right?

"Once upon a time," a voice rang out, and Kai jumped, looking around. He couldn't tell where that was coming from. "There was an important city. The most important city in the world in fact, and, almost ironically, this city was called World. It was huge, a mega city, and had lived in peace for hundreds, if not thousands of years, passed from king to king. Each king imparted World's goal onto the next one: 'Keep our kingdom safe. Keep the peace. Keep the kingdom running."

At this, Luz walked out from the left side of the stage, starting out looking lost and confused before she snapped herself out of that, ending the rest of her walk to the throne in an exaggerated confident and dignified walk, glancing to the audience and giving them a royal wave.

When Luz got to the throne and situated herself on it, and paper crown was lowered onto her head by a string. Luz jumped as it was set on her head, nearly throwing it off, but she grabbed it and fixed it before it could.

"However, the king crowned on their on hundredth year of peace and love had a different plan," the voice continued. "He was crowned young, and he had a bunch of bad ideas in his head, and no one to stop him. His kingdom was filled with excitement: art, stories, creativity, but the king found all that boring. He was selfish, cruel and most of all, stupid."

As the voice talked, books, paintings and toys started being lowered down to Luz on the chair, who was doing her best to look board. As each one was lowered, Luz took the object in her hand and through it behind her, back to the backstage. Not all of them made it, but whenever one landed behind her, still visible from the audience, it was pulled back by an invisible force.

"The responsibility of ruling, and ruling so well, was a weighty one. Even with all his council, the peace of the kingdom was going to slip, and the king found himself not caring. Even his entire council of forty-two couldn't convince him to be better. Even the trusted advisor, the one who had stood beside a dozen different kings for decades, couldn't do a thing to change his mind."

A dozen cut-outs of various silhouetted people that looked suspiciously like the audience members, just without the glowing faces, filled the stage, and Fei Fei was in the middle of them, bright red and looking completely bewildered. One cut-out stood apart from the rest, and was standing right by Luz's throne, who distinctly didn't look at it. Somehow, the cut-out seemed to get agitated at that.

"This farce continued for so long, but there was nothing that the council could do that could change the selfish king's ways. Steadily, the kingdom grew smaller, and less vibrant under his care. It had not fallen into ruin yet, and though some feared about that future, it was not the way this would end. The kingdom would not fall in some grand event, that would be too kind for the selfish king. No, World was falling with a whimper, with more people striking out to live on their own, or to build smaller, but more successful empires."

The background behind the throne room changed; now instead of a vibrant city that sparkled and shimmered, there was just a grey, depressing city, not even half the size it was before. The throne room seemed to grow greyer, and slowly, the council got smaller, until there were only a tiny fraction of people left, Fei Fei among them. They all stared at Luz's throne, and even though they didn't have faces, Kai could feel a mix of both disappointment, anger, and hope radiate from them in equal waves. These were the small, still loyal few left.

But Luz didn't seem to care, leaning back on her throne and looking up. She ignored the window, the advisor beside her, and the council in front of her.

"Some grew restless, but still more stayed, hopeful that somehow, the king would see the error of his ways as he grew older and into adulthood. But that was not the case, and despite the gentle prodding from his council and advisor, the king only clung closer to his selfish and destructive ways, growing more and more evil as he realized the extent of his power. Mere ignorance wasn't enough anymore, the king wanted something exciting. The king planned war."

Finally, Luz stepped off her throne, looking down from the ceiling, but still, she ignored the gathered people around her, even as they stepped closer. She stared at the ground as she walked past them, stopping in the middle of the throne room. She paused, before raising her face to the sky again, raising her hand. As if one cue, a sword descended", and Luz grabbed at it. She smirked, and slashed the sword in the air, laughing. Kai suspected it was supposed to be an evil laugh, but it was more... childish, than anything. If anything, that made it worse.

"Immediately, the advisor saw what the king intended. Using the power his wisdom and decades of care had embowed on him, the advisor renounced the king's power, stripping his statis and title away. But without a king, there was no kingdom. The advisor thought that best and announced that he was leaving to an empire that would listen to him. He warned that the others should flee as well, because with a king like this, World was no more."

The cut-out by the throne turned and left with a huff. Slowly, the others began to trickle out, too, Fei Fei following, though she seemed uncertain.

And then... And then Luz was left on stage completely alone. She looked surprised, looking back and forth in the direction that her council had left her. Then, her confusion changed to anger, and Luz threw her sword to the floor, crossing her arms and leaning against a pillar. The stage darkened, almost too much to see Luz, but that didn't last long.

"At the moment, the king, the ex-king, was out of options. He had no titled and no kingdom behind him, and for the moment, his plans turned to naught.

"The young king had no idea what to do. For all his life, he had been told what to do, even if he hadn't listened to it. Now, he was lost in the dark, completely alone. If he had stayed like that, perhaps he would have wasted away and died, an empty shell of a man... but World was not done with this young man yet."

Suddenly, the stage was lit up with a brilliant blue light as something descended from the ceiling: a bright blue star, half the size of Luz herself. Luz jumped back, clearly not expecting that. But as the star paused, hovering on a string in the middle of the stage, Luz crept closer, gazing up at it.

"The ex-king found new guidance and solace in the stars, who had come down to grant him the power he felt he deserved. Now, the king was stupid, but he was still smart enough to see an opportunity when he saw one, and the stars gave him a special secret: there was power in everyone, deep inside, and all you needed to do was find a way to get it out."

Suddenly, the star was raised again, disappearing off to the top of the stage. The stage darkened without its glow, but not as much as before, and Kai could still clearly see Luz's face as she followed the star up.

"The ex-king thought pondered that, and decided that this was exactly what he needed. Deciding to test the stars secret, he called his trusted advisor back, profusely apologizing, and saying that though he would not be king, he still would like to grow up into a better person, and that he was willing to listen now, and get past his faults. This, of course, was a lie, but the old advisor came back anyway, still wanting to believe the best of the king, and the future of World. But as soon as the advisor called out, he was slain where he stood."

The familiar cut-out walked out again, and Luz's eyes widened. She ran towards him, scooping up the sword as she did, and slashed it in a wide arc, slicing off the things head.

When she did, and spray of red appeared on the background behind her, seeming to come out of nowhere. Luz gasped, backing up and holding her sword close, but the narration continued as if she had stayed silent.

"It worked. The advisor had lived a long life, and had seen many places, and the special thing inside him was powerful. The king started feeling like himself again, and as quick as he could, called the rest of his council back, with promising words to each of them that he knew would bring them here. And they did, each and everyone one of them, and the slaughter started."

Slowly, the stage filled with the cut-outs that had been there before, with Fei Fei. Luz hesitated, not looking as confident as she had before, but she still held her sword high, slicing it down on one of the cut-outs, then another, and another, until she had downed ten, the blood of each of them appearing on the screen behind her. But as she tried for another one, the cut-out dodged her.

"Soon, the council members caught on to the king's intentions, and scattered. But the king did not need all of them dead, because even the power of ten of them was powerful enough to make one man an army of thousands. Using his newfound force, the king gave his council an option: stay with him and see World become the World, or get killed right now, in this room. Unsurprisingly, the council members picked the later, and the king started his war, growing more and more powerful with each enemy soldier downed. The might of World grew, looking a bit different than it had before."

Luz climbed up, and sat back down on her throne, sitting taller and looking a lot more regal than she had before, as well as smug and... well, Kai assumed she was going for evil, but it wasn't really working out for her too well. She just looked mischievous.

"In a couple months, World would be the leading power of the world, a completely worldwide empire, if, perhaps, the king did not kill most of the people he met, innocents, soldiers, it didn't matter. At this rate, the king would, once again, be a ruler of nobody, just a world of land and water... however, one of the council members, one who had not become completely onboard with this plan, turned to the sky for guidance, looking to stop the king and enact his one plans. How the king gained his power was a closely guarded secret that the king told no one, not even the people he said he trusted. The council member was certain that was how the king was getting his powers...

"And he was right. The stars decided to indulge in him, for reasons unknown, and the council member understood at once, realizing what he needed to do.

"In the middle of a meeting, in front of all thirty-one witnesses, that council member snuck out of the room, and back into a it in a secret way, sneaking up behind the king. With the king's throne, the council member was impossible to see, from either the king himself, or anyone else."

Suddenly, Kai saw her again: Fei Fei, doing exactly what the narration said. He was startled, he hadn't even realized she was gone, despite how obvious that was in hindsight.

Fei Fei clutch a knife in her hand as she walked up to the throne Luz was sitting on, and Luz kept on pretending to talk, completely oblivious. The background behind them was completely red now.

"The council member stabbed the king, but only enough to threaten, not to kill. At knifepoint, the council member took the kings power, and instead of becoming king himself, decided he wanted something different. He remade the world into something else, something from a story book. He destroyed it, and rebuilt it, and put the rest of the world, now just over half the size it had been before the genocide, in as he wanted, and put the rest of the thirty-two people in as he saw fit.

"The world... changed that day. Into something darker, molded almost to fictional perfect, but not quite. Not yet, at least. Not yet."