Stares… Just stares… That’s all there is nowadays, they never greet us anymore, they just stare at us for a moment, until returning to what they were doing. Many emotions swirling through them, that create an ever growing chasm between my people and I.

Screams ring out from one of the upper districts, and we quickly turn our heads to spot bright blue flames bursting from its open balcony- “What now?!” My husband shouts, as we run over to the railing, to get a better look- We see two small figures stuck together burst from the flames, and spin in the air for a moment, until one of them is sent to the lowest layer…

The figure just floats there, until it flies over to us- It’s Demistar- “What happened?” My Husband says as she simply floats in front of him. She’s still as tiny as she was six years ago… “It was a robbery, your highness…” I watch as the fires begin to die down due to the water- “I decided to deal with it because there were no police in sight. I already threw the man into the jail level of the kingdom.” I looked down to see a large opening where the man was flung through. Demistar finally notices me, and lands on the railing, as I stand up to look at her again. “Welcome back Queen Regel.” She says, as she holds out her hand. We shake hands, and I finally speak up. “You’re just as small as the day we first met, Demistar. How has Utopia been coming along?” I say, surprising her- “Ah, oh... Believe it or not, I AM actually taller, I just had to move some of myself elsewhere-” She says, as she splits into two smaller halves, and then back into the original form. “As for Utopia… We’re calling it Neotopia now… Everything has been progressing well. Reconstruction of the Citadel has been going particularly well, thanks to the trade alliance.” She says, before my husband speaks up again. “That’s good to hear. At least there are a few kingdoms doing well…” He says, as he rests his hand on the railing. “Yeah… I’m sure your kingdom will find a way through this. Even I am not quite sure what sparked this.” She says, as she jumps down from the railing.

My husband and I step back, and I lean forward. “Would you like to join us? We were looking to try and take care of the kingdom by hand ourselves.” I say, peaking her curiosity. “Well, I guess I could. If you would have me. I was originally just touring. Despite the crisis, your kingdom is still quite beautiful.” She says with a cute smile, as I lift myself up again.

-√Z2-

“There’s one over here!” I hear from the left, causing me and the rest of the knights to rush over. We activate our senses, and spot the Puddle Kid… It’s massive, just like the last one. And everything near it seems to have been killed off… How will the ocean ever recover from what these things did? “Anything new on the Telewaves?” I ask, as the soldier in the back simply shakes his head. “It’s the same damn message, over and over. I wish I knew what these stupid fucking things were talking about…” He says, as his head lands on his equipment in defeat. That’s my buddy Inzor. He was really hoping to uncover something. “Founder this, founder that! What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?!” He shouts further, and he slams his fist into the fragile equipment, shattering it. “Does that mean we have the go-ahead to kill it?” Our leader says, causing Inzor to simply give us a resigned thumbs up. “Alright kids, ya’ saw the sorry sight! That’s the best confirmation we’re gonna’ get! Blast it!” He shouts, causing everyone to aim their palms at the giant puddle kid. We begin disturbing its greater structure with seismic waves. Because of how these things work, they can be easily neutralized by doing this, it’s amazing just how easily it finishes them off…

“Telewaves have stopped, you’re in the safe zone now. You can relax soldiers.” Inzor says, as he simply stands there with crossed arms. We continue to tear it apart with our seismic waves, until it finally drifts apart, as though we had pacified an evil spirit possessing the water...

“It’s so weird how well that works… They just go so peacefully…” I say, as we all lower our hands… I walk over to Inzor- “Yeah, it’s almost beautiful. I just wish we could contain them in something. Usually they slip out, or just break out. And the small ones are too hard to locate.” He says, as we stare at the dead space that was the Puddle Kid. We sit down, and I take a quick drink from my canister. It’s a concoction of my own making, I’m hoping it’ll help me grow stronger in the long run. It makes you feel pretty pathetic when you’re not even a tenth as strong as the person you’re supposed to be guarding.

“Hey.” Inzor says, grabbing my attention again- “Yeah?” I ask, as I give him a quick glance- “What’s it like working for the Royal Family anyways? It must be pretty cool getting to hang out with her highness.” He says, bumping me on the shoulder- “Ah, not really man. I mean, it is nice that she cares enough to remember my name. But well, I think my time serving her is coming to an end soon… I’m only there to supply her with Mana really, because she’s been growing children inside of her. I think I’m just happy to be home again, to be honest. I mean, it was incredible traveling under the radar with her, while it lasted, but my family and friends, like you, are where home is.” He simply laughs for a moment, then speaks up- “I was just curious, man. I didn’t need your life story. Anyways, we better get going, the captain’s gonna’ throw a fit if we fall behind on Puddle Kid kills again. Besides, I don’t wanna’ get stuck on cleaning duty.”

Later today, after a few more exterminations, it’s finally time to head home- “Nothing! Fucking nothing! Can you believe that?!” Inzor says in disbelief, as we make our way home. “I mean, you haven’t found anything for a long time anyways. What do you even expect to find after this?” I ask, as he punches me in the shoulder. “Fuck off man, I know. I just wish I could make some sort of breakthrough… We’ve all lost family to them, you know this… I just wish I knew why they do what they do…” He says, making me realize how much of a dick I was being- “Sorry… Yeah, they took your older sister, right? You never really told me how...” I say, as I place my hand on his shoulder. “She was a soldier like us, she was ambushed while she was sleeping.” I simply nod, and we finally make it to the entrance. “Damn… Hey, uh, you wanna’ go hang out later?” He simply shakes his head, and declines. “No, I’m busy, sorry man. Let’s hang out tomorrow.” He says, and I simply nod. “Alright. I’ll be at the gym tomorrow. Gonna’ get some weight training in, you know how I am.” He nods, and walks over to one of the four teleporters on this floor. Each floor has four teleporters, you just give it a bit of your mana, and it’ll take you wherever. It helps people get to the further away floors in a more reasonable amount of time. Otherwise, you can just use one of the many elevators situated around the kingdom.

-√Z3-

I have a little brother... Mother told me that I was going to have a new sibling soon, but I never thought about it… I also never thought he would be so cute! I could watch him for hours… I just sit here, watching him while he crawls around on the ground- He slams his fist into the floor, and it fractures- “Yep, that’s a kraken for you…” I say, as the wave from the blast throws rubble at me. Pollux breaks off a piece of the unearthed ground, and starts chewing on it- “Pollux, stop!” I shout, as I run over to him- “Bad boy!” I continue, as I pick him up, surprising him. I create a few tiny tentacles and extract the rubble from his mouth, and I walk away with him. “That is NOT okay, Pollux. No eating rocks!” I shout, causing him to burst into tears. Pollux’s Personal Maid runs into the room, and stops in front of me. I hold him up to her, and she takes him, thanking me. I watch as she shushes him to sleep almost instantly- “Wow, you’re very good at that.” I say, surprising her. “Ah, thank you Princess Rigel, you’re too kind. I’ve just raised so many of my own children…” She says, as she cradles my small brother in her arms…

“Thank you, Mrs. Snowveil!” I happily shout, before running off to go find something else to do. I run through the halls, passing by Father’s employees, most of them waving at me as I pass by. They’re so kind!

I continue to run through the castle, jumping across railing, running atop the thrones, down the hallways, dashing between pillars, and from brace to brace, until I fall down from tiring myself out- “Are you alright, your highness? You’ve been running around for hours-” I quickly stand up, finally having caught my breath! “Just needed a breather!” I shout, before I run away again.

After a few more hours, I finally stopped to eat the lunch that was prepared for me. “Thank you!” I shout, before I dig in!

Later today I find myself outside swimming around in my Kraken Form, while being watched by many of the guards. Every now and then I’ll notice vibrations in the water coming from them, but I was told to stay away. Anyways, I tear apart small mountains, and unearth the ocean floor around me, as the guards slowly float away to avoid getting caught up in my whirlwind. I play for a few hours longer until I finally tire myself out.

-√Z1-

Finally… Home. My husband and I walk through the front door, followed by Demi. It’s late, and we asked if she would like to see the castle. It surprised me at first, but because Demi’s a machine, she never sleeps… I admit it may be more obvious than I realized… “So where’s Rigel? I was hoping to hang out today.” She says, as she rests her head against her arms. “Ah, maybe you could go find her personal butler. Provided he’s still working for us, I’m still getting reacquainted with the happenings of the castle itself.” I say, giving a quick glance over to my husband- He gives me a simple nod, and I look back at Demi. “Thank you, your highness. I’ll be going then.” She says, before suddenly disappearing- “Where’d she go?” My husband says, equally confused by what just happened. “I don’t know.” I say, simply shrugging. We walk over to our thrones, and sit down again. It’s so nice to be able to sit with my husband like this…

After a while, we’re finally visited by Sirius. He walks up to us, and bows. “I’m just here to report in, your majesties. The Puddle Kid hunting has been yielding less results every day, we suspect we may be reaching the finality of the species.” He says, as he lifts his head to look at me. I rest my chin on my hand, and simply nod. “Thank you for the report, Sirius. It’s good to see you today.” I say, making him smile. My husband gives me an unhappy look, but I don’t give it any mind. “Thank you, your highness, your words are too good for me. Shall I take my leave?” He says, after bowing to me again. “Of course. Have a good night.” I say, as he simply nods, and runs out the door.

I sigh with relief, and slide down my chair a little. “I hate being so official… How do you do it?” I ask my husband. His father was the king before him, and we were crowned after his father’s death. Originally, our marriage was arranged, but we actually decided to talk to each other, and found that it was fate that brought us together this day.

Demi comes walking by the throne, with a sad look on her face- “Are you alright?” I ask, spotting her. “Turns out she’s asleep.” She says, and I can’t help but laugh a little. “Sorry Demistar, maybe tomorrow.” I say, and she cheers up a little.

And just a little while later, we finally get to go to bed…

-√Z3-

My eyes snap open, and I spot a glow coming from my window- I step out of bed and walk over to the window, to see what it may be. It’s Demistar, she’s visited me again! “Hi Demi!” I whisper, as I open the window to the grand garden. She floats in with a flip, and lands on her feet. “Would you like to go on another adventure with me, Princess Rigel?” She says, and I quickly nod my head in excitement! Demi’s adventures are always fun! “I would love to!” I whisper, trying to contain my excitement!

“Alright, you know the drill. I’ll be waiting here when you’re ready.” She says, and I quickly scour my brain for all the things I could possibly need- She gives a cute giggle, and I giggle back. “I remember! I don’t need anything but my strength and my heart! Just like you said!” I fail to whisper here, but Demi gives me a cool thumbs up, and holds out her hand for me to take it.

We dash through the opening in the window, and fly through a secret opening in the great walls we found a long time ago…

End of Chapter: 3√Z3 “A day of life, adventures beginning!”

Thank you for reading.

“Thanks, now go away, I’m busy.”

“Thank’ya kids! Happy huntin’!”