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Chapter Text

King Orange

"Have you heard his latest noteblock album? His singing sounds so ethereal and golden!"

"I heard he took on seven zombies, fourteen skeletons, and twenty-seven spiders all at once! Defeating them all without breaking a single sweat!!"

"Now well, I heard that she once crafted an entire Lush Cave biome just for her sisters --right in the middle of the desert!! No one else is allowed to go in!!"

"I hear she bathes in tubs made of soul sand, claiming that the mineral not only makes the water bubble but also makes her skin glow."

"Gosh, how gorgeous!!"

King Orange stewed in his gold-and-quartz throne, taut with jealousy from listening to the villagers and crowds of stick figures swap their stories. He initially understood Green to be another newbie, another amateur in the Minecraft game. But all of a sudden, all he can hear for days on end, was Green, Green, Green.

"Squee!! I am going to pop by Green's latest castle!! It's so exquisite and elegant!! Genuine golden veining on blackstone walls in the bathroom, and she has crafted noteblocks from the finest cherry blossom wood!!"

"Cherry blossom wood?? That update only came out last week!! Gosh, Green must be a genius!!"

"I heard, that a famous sculptor came by to make Green a statue made out of the gold that you can only find in the ancient desert temples! But he turned it down because it was 'too tacky'."

"Have you seen Green's new armor recently? Pure prismarine, I just know it! That must cost 20,000 emeralds a piece!!"

"Oh my god, Green is so perfect! She is not just a Minecraft king, but a Minecraft goddess in her own right!! Swoon!!"

King Orange gets up and huffs off angrily to his room, slamming the door upon arrival. He's heard enough.

Collapsing on his bed, he studies the amethyst bedecked ceiling. Didn't he do enough for his subjects? Provided them a comfortable environment well-protected from monsters? Made sure there was enough food to go around, storing vast supplies of wheat and melons in the storehouses? Rewarded them with gold ingots whenever they contributed something to the whole community?

They used to be so worshipful, bowing and curtseying to him in his Throne Room, always remembering to say, "Your Majesty,". He used to walk into rooms with his staff and people would flock to him, filling his ears with praise and thanks for all the things he has done, and oh they don't want to be a bother, but would he help them with something? 

And he would oblige. As their King. And this happy arrangement went on for some time. 

Then suddenly this young spark shows up, and it is as if people forget that he is even there. Now, they are turning away towards Green. 

He could turn away, suddenly remove his acts of good, and leave them to fend for themselves in the dark and dangerous woods. But that would only lead them closer to Green. They would resent him, only remembering him not for what he has done in the past, but for his bitter retaliation. 

No, what he needed is to remove this new competition. Once Green vanishes, the people would remember him. The only one who has cared for them. 

It has to be done quietly. No one should suspect King in any way whatsoever. 

And there is only one person King can trust who can do the deed. 

Later that night, King sneaks out of his quarters and walks up to a room in a high tower of his palace. 

"Purple, I am in need of your assistance." 

Chapter Text

Purple

"You have three days to complete this assignment. This should provide you with ample time to get rid of the target. Should you succeed, I will reward you with endless gold... and a new castle."

King's request had caught him somewhat off-guard. It is the middle of the night and Purple had been preparing for bed. But Purple knew deep down that he had been expecting this request for a while. Watching King's expressions as Green's tales of glory passed from one mouth to another has led Purple to suspect that his skills would be required soon enough.

He began selecting and packing his belongings carefully. Palace livery? Check. Telescope? Check. Tray of delicious cinnamon buns? Check. Purse? Check. He lays out his supplies on his desk. Tomorrow morning, he will be heading out into the city disguised as a palace servant selling treats in order to better scope out the location. Green is a fairly popular stick, so spotting him wouldn't be difficult.

No, the difficult part would be trying to find a way to take out Green without anyone spotting anything. This is supposed to be done quietly, after all.

And quiet is Purple's specialty after all. There is a reason why many have requested his services in the past.

Luckily for Purple, he is extremely familiar with the city like the back of his hand. He has often gone out dressed as a palace servant to scope out the city in his off days, partly to memorize all escape and attack routes, partly for fun, partly to throw off anyone connecting his presence with the killings, and partly to do some spying for extra gold from King.

This should be fairly routine for Purple. It is definitely not the first time King's jealousy boiled over into him asking the Assassin Prince to take direct action. The plan goes as follows: scope out the area, collect information on the target, and then, finally--when everyone's head is snuggled deep into their pillows, when the night watch and palace guards are deep into their cups-- Purple will don the black mask and grey wings and silently put down his targets with his crossbow, enchanted so that his targets don't feel pain.

Green will be dead, Purple can collect his gold and his new castle, and everyone will be happy. Well, everyone who has anything to do with Purple, anyways.

Green

Performing on stage in the city square the next day

"...and life will always be, la vie en rose." 

The audience melts into applause as soon as the final note dissolves into the bright afternoon sun. Brightly colored confetti and streamers pour from the windows of surrounding houses as the people express their admirations. 

Green gracefully bows in her dress. It is a new one, all bamboo-green silk and emeralds, thoughtfully sewn together by her siblings Second and Blue. "Thank you! Thank you!", she gushes out in gratitude before slipping away behind the curtains. 

"Killed it as usual," Red remarks, giving Green a fist bump. She then holds up a plate of cinnamon buns. "Some of the Palace servants were just here selling these excellent desserts. You want some?" 

"No thanks," Green replies. "I promised Blue I would try his new recipe tonight, and I don't want to ruin my appetite."

"Ah well," Red shrugs. She turns her head up to Yellow, who was taking care of the lighting equipment above the stage. "YELLOW!! YOU CAN HAVE THE REST OF THEM!!"

"HELL YEAH!!" Yellow shouts back. They slid down the ropes down to the wooden floor, quickly grabbing two cinnamon buns and stuffing them in their mouth. "Mm! Those palace cooks really are something!" they say with their mouth full. 

"Which makes me kind of sad, though." Red remarks. "I mean, they are working in the Palace. Shouldn't they get paid enough to NOT have to sell Palace desserts?"

"I mean, if they didn't sell them, we wouldn't be able to eat them," Yellow points out. "And my, they are delicious." After licking the frosting from their fingers, they add. "And even if they were paid well, they probably didn't mind selling something that is in the Palace for a little extra, you know?" Grabbing the plate from Red, Yellow tugs onto one of the ropes, and is pulled back up to the lighting equipment area. "Thank yooouuu!!!"

Red sighs, shaking her head, then turns to Green. "Second and Blue are in the dressing room. Time to get out of that dress."

"Aw," Green flips her short curls over her shoulder. "Can't I just keep this on for a few more minutes?"

Red crosses her arms. "No. Besides, we are going to Blue's gardens after this."

"Okay then," Green relents. "But I don't think Blue would object to me picking apples in this getup, no?"

Purple

"Oh, my GOODNESS!! That was such a sweet song!"

"If only I could go back in time, just so I could watch that concert again!"

"Green's new dress!! Ugh, he just looks so beautiful in it!!" 

It is hard to hear much anything useful in the midst of all the shrieking. Purple had to admit that it was actually a good song, if not somewhat old-fashioned. Also, Green wearing emeralds? Nah, she looks better in diamonds, in Purple's opinion. 

Focus, Purple scolds themself. They aren't here to judge Green's fashion sense; they are here on a mission. So far, Purple managed to get some good data. They had turned to an excited fan standing right next to him right before the performance started.  "Does Green perform here often?"

"Oh yes!", the fan had gushed. "She says this is her favorite stage because everyone in the city can afford to come here! Isn't that so great!

"Yes, Green performs here often, whenever she isn't battling monsters or building new, expensive castles with her family. Ugh, would I just DIE to just hang out with them for just five minutes--"

"Do you know when her next performance is, then?" 

"Oh! Sorry, I am so rude. Her next performance is tonight. Are you coming?" The fan's eyes were wide with excitement.

"Sure, would like to," Purple responds with a practiced smile. They would have asked more, but then Green burst through the curtains, and the members of the audience transformed into a singular mass of cheers and applause. 

After the performance ended, Purple looked around for the person they were questioning before. But she had vanished. 

Darn it. Purple rolled their eyes and turned to the other members of the audience, who suddenly became aware of the tray of cinnamon buns in their hands and now want a bite. They made a few sales before the fan from before came back to them. 

"Some of the other Palace servants have made it backstage to meet Green's family!!" The fan squealed. "You wanna come meet them??"

"Uh, no, you can go, like--"

"COME ONNN!! You're my ticket inside!!", the fan pulls Purple's arm with surprising strength, dragging them towards the backstage. Purple felt uneasy. They never liked to meet their targets in person. Even if it gave them information, the interactions made completing the job a little harder. They didn't want their feelings to be mixed up in the mission, which required cold-blooded focus at all times. 

The fan banged her fist several times against the backstage door. "Hellooo!! More cinnamon buns this way for Greeeen!!!", she shouts a little too desperately. 

An orange hollow-headed stick opens the door. "Green is currently busy at the moment, and therefore will not be speaking with anyone," he informs them. 

"Oh my god, you know Green?!?!", the fan screams, clearly not detecting that her presence isn't at all wanted. "Please, please, please, please, PLEASE LET ME SEE HIM!!! I NEED TO TELL HIM--"

"She will not be speaking with anyone," the orange stick figure repeats, taking out an iron sword. "Unless you would like me to escort you out of here manually?" 

"Come on!! You have to understand!! Green is the love of my life--"

"Come to the next concert, then," the orange stick replies curtly before slamming the door shut. 

The fan collapses into a sobbing puddle of self-pity and rejection. Disgusted by this whole affair, Purple uses the opportunity to walk away. They never should have spoken to her in the first place. 

Once they have walked a good distance away from the city square, Purple picks up one of the cinnamon buns and takes a huge bite. Today was completely exhausting and frustrating. 

"I thought you would get in trouble for eating those," a familiar-sounding voice says right behind him. 

Purple jumps at the comment. Somebody actually noticed them? They turn and see-- Green? Crap. 

There is their target, in the flesh, standing right behind them. She is dressed in a more casual outfit: an unbuttoned white shirt over a dark green sports bra and a pair of black gym slacks. 

Dang, they think. She is actually kind of cute. Shaking these distracting thoughts from their head, they try to come up with a response. "Um-um, pardon?"

Green smirks. "Do you get in trouble for eating your wares?"

Purple looks down at the tray of cinnamon buns in their hands. Oh. Right. "The Pal-the Palace makes more each day. Won't miss a few," Purple stammers. 

"You got frosting on your face," Green points out bluntly. 

"Um, here?" Purple raises a couple fingers to the right side of their mouth. 

"No, the other side, silly," Green gently rubs her thumb on the left side of Purple's mouth. "Got it!" 

Purple could kill her right now. There she is, so close they could smell her sweet breath. But all Purple could do is stand frozen as she smiles and walks away. 

The mission just got a lot harder. 

Chapter Text

Green

The Flying Pigs Tavern

"Wow, Blue! This place seems pretty cool, if I may say so myself!" Red exclaims as soon as they all walk inside.

"Aw, thanks!" Blue replied. "I didn't feel like cooking tonight, so I just rang up this place and they just so happened to have a table empty!"

The restaurant that Blue chose to reserve for tonight's dinner is a cozy pub located a few blocks from the city square. The inner decor of the place included a giant spoon and fork hung on one of the walls, paintings of bowls of fruit and winged pigs, and a vintage chandelier from the ceiling. Large black circular tables took up the floor, where multiple diners are chowing down on thick soups, steaks, pasta with various sauces and meats, and alcoholic drinks of preference.

"Wanna order something from the bar?" Second asks the group. They don't expect the whole group to become drunk, but sometimes they liked going up to the bartender to hear any interesting stories to spice up the meal with.

"Ooh, yes! I do!" Green volunteers. Clasping Second's hand, she jumps up and down with excitement. "This could be excellent song material!"

Yellow clears their throat at Second and Green. "Okay, so me, Red, and Blue will just grab our table then, and... order? I guess?"

"Yeah! Sure! Just get anything, I am not that picky." Second replies.

"Just get me something savory!" Green tells Yellow, who responds with a simple thumbs-up.

Second and Green go up to the bar, pull out two wooden stools, and order their drinks. "So," Green starts, propping her elbows on the black marble countertop and catching the eye of the bartender. "What's it like running this fine establishment near the center of town? You must hear a lot of stories from the Palace."

The bartender rolls his eyes, having heard that assumption a million times. "I don't concern myself with the sob stories of others so long as they pay for what they order," he explains. He tilts his head towards a bent over hollow-headed gray stick with an eyepatch a few seats down from Second. "But Crazy Old Vic might fill you in on some spooky stuff. Hey Vic!"

The gray stick picks up his head from the countertop, still woozy from his drink. "Whaddya want?" 

"Tell them a few of those crazy, whack-a-doo stories of yours!" The bartender yells back, pouring ice into a cocktail shaker. "They've got open ears!" 

"They ain't crazy, they're true," Crazy Old Vic spits back, albeit with not much venom. But he turns towards Second and Green, his eye shining with excitement for a new audience. "Now, have you fellers ever heard of the Assassin Prince?"

"Whoa, slow your roll," the bartender comments. "Isn't it a little soon to talk about the Assassin Prince? It's still early in the night."

Crazy Old Vic throws back his head and cackles. "Now who's telling the stories? You or me? Leave it up to old Vic to do some tale-spinning tonight!" Slapping his knee, he turns back to Second and Green. "This story is some top-shelf, high-quality brew that I am pouring out for free, so listen close, younglings!"

"Many years ago, when I was a younger lad, I spent much of my time wandering the roads of the deep forest biomes, living off of whatever apples and mushrooms I could forage. Sometimes the occasional pig cooked over a campfire. Oftentimes, I escaped the jaws of hunger by swallowing down the tough flesh from the zombies I killed. It was a hard life.

"Eventually I stumbled upon this fair little city, where I set up shop as a hunter-for-hire for the villagers. 'Get me 32 hunks of zombie flesh! I'll pay you one emerald!', one would say. Or 'I need 24 rabbit skins, for which I will grant you 2 gold nuggets.' It was a nice living, I suppose. Hunting down my prey at night, sleeping all morning, and spending my afternoons walking around the city, memorizing every single route.

"Now, in those days, the city was led by this fine young queen, named Orchid. Now, she was a gentle lady if ever I met one. Used to trot her horse down the road right by this here old bar, back when it was just a sleepy inn, and she used to say, 'How do you do, Vic?' and I would go up to her and answer. 'Doing swell! Now, how d'ye do, yer Majesty--'"

The bartender yawned loudly, shaking his cocktail vigorously in the shaker. "You're taking too long, old Vic, get to the good part!" 

 "I AM, you impatient ingrate!" Vic snarls at the bartender. Turning back to Second and Green, he continues:

"Now, Queen Orchid herself soon got very ill. All of us became very concerned for her, but she assured us that she would soon recover and resume her duties. Nevertheless, the people of this city laid many cakes, flowers, and many nice things at the castle doorstep for her, hoping that our collective goodwill would banish whatever was plaguing her.

"But a few nights after she announced her illness, she was found-- stabbed to death on her sickbed! A note found at her bedside table warned, 'Beware the Assassin Prince!'

"A reign of terror ensued for many miserable weeks. The mysterious Assassin Prince began picking off random residents one by one. Neighbors soon turned on one another, suspecting each other of the murders of not just the Queen but of their own kin, employees, and friends. It soon became hard to determine whether or not the kills were done by the Assassin Prince or by vengeful residents who believed they have found the killer.

"During those terrible days, I began shuttering up windows, placing rags underneath doors. Anything to prevent an untimely death. But one night, as I was returning from an unsuccessful hunt, I saw the Assassin Prince! I saw him! With my own two eyes!

"He was dark blue as the night sky. A raven-black mask covered his face, tapering towards the middle into a beak. He had massive, dark grey wings like a falcon, and he carried a netherite sword as black as death. 

"He had just flown out of an attic window, where he no doubt just caused the death of another innocent. His sword dripped red on the pavement. I could see it now. Drip, drip, drip.

"The killer spotted me as I tried to cross the sidewalk and landed right in front of me. His breath reeked of drink and blood as he whispered in my ear: 'Do you fear Death?'

"'Yessir,' I replied, shaking all over in my worn leather boots. 'Very much. I'll be quiet. Please don't kill me!'

"The killer threw back his head and laughed. 'Wouldn't take much to kill you. You're real skinny, not much muscle at all.' He began circling me, like a vulture around his dying prey.

"'What would you trade to stay alive?' The cruel prince asked me, pointing his sword at my throat. 'I can only spare one person throughout my entire reign. Do you feel lucky?'

"'I collapsed to my knees, begging him for my life. I threw down all my hunting gear, the rabbit skins and chunks of zombie flesh that had taken me many days to acquire. I even pointed him towards my shuttered home, telling him that he can take all the gold and emeralds he could find. 'It is all I have!' I pleaded. 'Don't kill me!'

"'You're a hunter, aren't you?' He pointed his sword at my right eye." Vic pointed to his eyepatch. "'Let me have this, then.' He slashed my face, and I screamed. When I came to, he was gone, and I am blind where my right eye used to be. But I am alive."

"Three long weeks passed by. I steadily lost my customers as my hunting ability soured. But finally, one week, the killings stopped. Next thing the city heard was that the Assassin Prince is dead, and King Orange is on the throne, ruling over us all.

"But there are many of us who know the truth: the Assassin Prince still walks among us. If you listen close in the dark of night, you could still hear his gray wings flapping in the night. Be wary, be very wary!

"Welp, that's the story," Vic leaned back on the bartending counter. "Whaddya think, fellers?"

At the close of such a terrifying story, Second and Green were clutching each other and shaking. Second piped up, his voice much higher than usual. "That was super scary." 

"Allllright," the bartender interrupted, his voice casual and bright. He placed two drinks down in front of Second and Green. "Here are your orders, enjoy! Would you like to order anything else?"

"N-no." Second stammered, taking his drink and taking a huge gulp. "I think we'll just close the tab and go back to our table. Green?" Green nodded in agreement, speechless with fear. They both walked away from the bar, and rejoined Yellow, Blue and Red at their table, who are munching on appetizers.

"Sheesh," Blue commented, seeing them approach. "You look pale as death. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Green managed, sitting next to Blue. "That grey stick over there told us a real spooky story. About some Assassin Prince."

"Oooh, what's that?" Red leaned over with excitement. 

"He has this black raven mask, gray wings, and he kills people in the night with a netherite sword!" Green mimed the wings and the sword as he spoke. 

"An Assassin Prince?" Yellow rolled their eyes. "Pfft. That's gotta be a myth. Likely he spun you a scary story to push you into ordering more drinks."

"Thanks for being a party pooper, Yellow." Red deadpanned, annoyed. 

"What? I'm just saying!"

Blue pushed a small basket in the center of the table towards Second and Green. "Here! This is a basket of fortune cookies that they gave us, as part of the Special Meaty Surprise! Take one!"  

Shrugging, Second tentatively takes one from the basket. He cracks it open and reads the slip of paper inside: "The journey is hard and long, but you will find what you have lost in the end. Huh. Interesting."

Red reads out her fortune: "The allies you choose are essential to winning the battle. That is such a weird fortune, the heck?"

"Oh yeah?" Blue says. "Mine reads: Open your eyes right now! Your friend is standing over a trap! Weird, I didn't see any bear traps when I walked in--"

Green quickly grabs a fortune cookie from the basket. She needs to stop thinking about the Assassin Prince. It would be a waste for Blue to be so kind as to reserve a restaurant tonight, only for Green's appetite to be ruined. Her fingers tremble as she breaks the cookie open and pulls out the white slip. She inhales before reading out the fortune: "You will fall in love with a monster: prepare for the twists and turns."

"Well, that sounds ominous." Red replies. "Green, you look really pale. Are you okay?"

"For some reason, I can't relax!" Green buries her face in her hands. "I have this feeling that something is about to happen, something outside my control."

"Are you still thinking about that palace servant you were talking to earlier?" Second asked. They were irritated that Green showed up late to apple-picking with Blue just because she felt like following around a random person. 

"Well, not until right now!?" Green said. She slumped on the table. "I sort of regretted not taking the cinnamon buns when I had the chance." 

Blue pats Green's back. "Hey, it's all good. We're all right here. Whatever monsters come your way, we'll slay them all, right guys?"

"Right!" the whole group shouted in unison.

"Yellow, what fortune did you get?" Red asks Yellow.

"Meh, I don't believe in that stuff," Yellow said. They smirk and decide to read out their fortune anyway: "Open your mind. What bull." 

The table explodes in laughter, and the waiter finally arrives with plates of food for the table.

Purple

In the high tower of King Orange's Palace

It was a long day. Purple hangs up the palace livery uniform in his closet and switches to more comfortable loungewear. He looks out of the window at the setting sun and sighs. 

Tired of cinnamon buns, he decides to go down to the kitchen to ask if they had anything savory left. But just as he steps out of his room, he is shocked to see King Orange looming over his doorway. 

"Well," he asks. "Is he dead yet?"

"No," Purple responds. "She's not. It's only day 1."

"You only have two days left to complete the mission--"

"I know, Your Majesty." Purple replies angrily. 

"Fail me, and I will have to... call in reinforcements to do the job for you." Purple's blood runs cold as King Orange adds, "they won't be so gentle."

"You wouldn't," Purple whispers aloud in shock. "Those hitmen are supposed to be for traitors and spies."

"Consider it a trial run if you don't do your job. If you don't want to see Green's brains decorating the city square, I would recommend speeding up the process."

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Purple shouts.

But King Orange had already left. 

Chapter Text

A trio of stick figures gather in a bar, some doors down from the Flying Pigs Tavern where Green and her family are eating their dinner.

One of them, Teal, shoots a dirty look to the other, Bone, who is staring down the bottom of their empty shot glass. "Oy, come here, Bone."

"Whatever for?" Bone asks, the chair creaking under their weight as they lean back. "There's not much to do. I intend to drink the whole night until it becomes a blur in the back of my mind."

Teal gets up and snatches the tiny shot glass from Bone's fingers. "Come! We've got business to discuss."

"And what business does the King require? Some cat stuck up in a tree?" A random stick figure calls out to them. His buddies cackle behind him, giving the random commenter friendly pats on the back.

In a flash, Teal is over where the random commenter is sitting, choking him out. "Wish to repeat yourself?" Teal asks the random commenter.

"Er--Agh! Ulp!" The stick figure struggles and thrashes in Teal's tight grip.

"Hm. Thought not." Teal releases his hold, leaving the stick figure gasping as he returns to his table, where his associates Magenta and Bone have already gathered.

"Great. Now we're fully conspicuous." Magenta deadpans as Teal sits down. As a trained spy, having unnecessary attention on her and her coworkers is nothing if not downright irritating.

"Worry not, my grumpy little rat," Teal retorts. He clears his throat and begins. "Well, what news of our little prince today?"

"Purple has been spotted attending a gathering in the city center where Green has been frequenting. Though, I must say, his mind fully wasn't on task." Magenta found Purple dragging themself to go directly backstage quite baffling. Since when was Purple such a sopping softie as to attempt to meet their targets in person?

"And where's the little songbird now?" Teal asks Bone, his teeth bared.

"Dining at The Flying Pigs. With his whole family." Bone replies.

"Let's go," Teal announces, rising from his seat. Bone follows suit.

"Wait--WHAT?" Magenta grabs Teal's arm. "The order was that we wait two more days before striking. If Purple fails to get their ass in gear, the robin's nest is ours."

"Yeah, and sit pretty while the prince gets himself a shiny new castle." Teal smacks Magenta's hand off with disgust. "What is it, his third now? How many castles does that bastard even need?"

"I say we wait. Purple might finally slip up this time." Magenta crosses her arms in protest. "We might have our throats slit by the prince for stepping out of line."

"You say stepping out of line, I say taking initiative. How long have we been waiting for a chance to finally test our skills? To finally prove our mettle to the King?" Teal grabs Magenta's shoulders and whispers in her ear. "Let's finish this tonight. You can guarantee our getaway, and Bone and I will do the dirty work, and we will have the honor of bringing Green's little pinkie finger to his Majesty to collect our reward. How's that?"

" Our reward?" Magenta echoes, raising her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"A shiny castle for all of us, and as much gold as you desire, Mag. It's all yours."

Magenta nods. "I'm in."

"Let's hunt a few robins now, shall we?"

Green

Back at The Flying Pigs Tavern

Red leans back in her chair, barbecue sauce coating her lips and fingertips. "Those spicy vegan ribs were absolutely. Glorious."

Blue wipes his mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, they were. And the potato soup was excellent. How about the rest of you?"

"I'm ready for dessert!" Yellow pipes up. "I'm thinking maybe a fudge brownie cake?" 

"Sure!" Second piped up, already raising their hand to flag a waiter down. They notice Green, still picking at his food. "Green, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Green replies. His stomach has been in knots for a while now, and while he managed to get some stuff down, his appetite was surely low. "I'm sorry guys, I think we'll have to ask for a take-home bag. I'm not hungry right now."

"It's okay, Green." Second tells Green. Their face lights up as a waiter finally arrives at their table. "Hey! I would also love to order a fudge brownie cake for the group!"

"Oh nice!" The waiter's eyebrows jump in anticipation. "Is it a birthday?" 

"No, no, we just want cake." Blue replies. As the waiter cleared most of the dishes on the table, he adds, "oh can we also get a take-home bag for Green? Thank you."

The waiter pulls out a container to put away Green's largely untouched meal, then leaves with the dirty dishes. "Thank you," Green squeaks out. 

Red gushes, "Aw, it's the best we can do for y--" 

The doors to the tavern are loudly swung open, revealing a trio of stick figures. The whole restaurant falls silent as the trio walks in. The leader of the trio, a teal-colored stick figure, turns to Green's table. "Green, nice to make your acquaintance."

Green begins to hyperventilate. "Wh-who are you? Why do you know my name?"

"Poor kid," a bone-white colored stick figure comments from behind the teal-stick. "Look at him, Teal, he's trembling like a leaf."

"Shut up, Bone." Teal turns back to Green, and loudly proclaims. "King Orange has decreed Green guilty of conspiring of treason against the Throne. His punishment? Death."

Second and Red immediately leap out of their seats, unsheathing diamond swords. "That's ridiculous!" Red cries out. "Green never would do that! You will have to go through us!!" 

"You would defy His Majesty?" A magenta-colored stick figure chuckled at Red. "Teal, leave the red one to me. You all can handle the rest."

 Blue and Yellow leap out of their seats, crossbows and TNT in hand. "Don't you dare touch any one of us," Yellow snarls. 

"Hey!" The bartender calls out. "If there is going to be a fight, please take it outside! No funny business allowed here! This isn't the Waffle Manor!" 

"Sorry, sir," Teal drawls. "We are the King's Men. You have no authority here." He swings his sword at Green, only to be blocked by Second, who kicks Teal in the small of his back. Red charges at Magenta, who judo flips her onto an empty table, capsizing it. Blue and Yellow both take on Bone. Green runs and finds an abandoned cart full of dirty dishes and begins throwing the steak knives and forks at the trio.

The patrons and waitstaff scream and scatter out of the restaurant as the fight escalates. Second and Teal are sword-fighting across the room, using the overturned tables as shields. Red and Magenta are dealing punches and kicks at each other. Blue shoots his arrows at the trio from a distance, while Yellow tosses chairs to take down Bone. 

Green runs out of steak knives and forks to throw. "Shit!" He looks around for more things to throw to help his family out, but then feels a hand tightly grip his wrist. Panicked, he turns to see Crazy Old Vic. "What are you doing?"

"Those pigs are after you, yeah?" Vic drags Green to the door. "I know a way out of the city that they don't know about!"

"I can't leave my family behind!" Green cries. 

"Your killers are outnumbered!" Vic snarls with annoyance. "Your family is protecting you. The best thing you can do is flee! Now, come on! Before they notice you are gone!"

Green and Vic race out of the restaurant out into the cool night. They run in near total darkness through the winding, labyrinthine streets of the city. Green, highly focused on keeping track of Vic, barely registers as the buildings change from restaurants and hotels to office buildings to residential homes all the way to the surrounding forests. 

Just as they reach the edge of the woods, Green collapses, his side stitch aching terribly. "Wait, please let me catch my breath," he begs Vic.  

"We don't have much time!" Vic cries out. "We have to go, go, go!"

Green turns to look behind him and sees the city center erupt into a blaze. Royal soldiers pour into the area from the palace. "No! My family!" Green screams. He starts to run back, but Vic grabs onto Green's shoulder. 

"You wanna see your family again?! You gotta get somewhere safe! You being there will only put your family in more danger as suspected traitors!" 

"My family aren't traitors!!" Green yells angrily at Vic. "We're good people!"

"It doesn't matter!" Vic shouts back. "Once the King labels a person as a conspirator, there is nothing keeping the King's Men from tearing them apart. They will do the same to ANYONE who tries to stop them!" He shakes Green's shoulders. "You keep your family alive by staying away. Is that clear?!"

Green nods, tears forming in his eyes. 

"Good! Now follow me!"

Vic and Green stumble through the dark woods, with Green tripping and falling on his face several times over tree roots and stones. 

Finally, the two of them break through to a clearing, which tapers to a cliff. Vic stops, allowing for Green to catch his breath. 

Green collapses to the ground, sobbing and sniffling profusely. "Why did this happen? My family and I did nothing wrong!" 

Vic sits next to Green, handing him a handkerchief and patting his back. "Cheer up. The worst that will happen to your family now is that they will be detained by the King's Men and questioned for a few days. Since they don't know where you are, they will be released without much fuss. They're gonna be alright. This isn't the first time this sort of mess happened." 

"I just want this nightmare to be over." Green sobs. 

"Don't we all. Let's ponder on that." Vic replies. He takes a goat horn from his pocket and blows hard. A few loud notes play out.  

"What was that?" Green asks, now frightened. 

"Worry not, little feller." Vic says quietly, mussing up Green's hair. "I just signaled someone to come and carry you to safety. Purple'll take you far away from here until the storm blows over. Real professional, that one. 

"Now," Vic stands up. "Gotta head back to the forest. I have an order for 6 rabbit skins by tomorrow evening." He salutes Green. "May fate smile kindly on you tonight." Crazy Old Vic enters the woods and vanishes out of sight. 

Green stares out over the cliff, where he could see nothing but trees and mountains for miles around. The stars twinkle silently above him, appearing more numerously now that Green is outside of the city. He feels a sense of calm wash over him. 

He faintly hears the sounds of wings flapping just as he drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Purple

The goat horn blared in the distance, perking Purple's ears. It is time. They quickly don the gray wings and take off from the large window of their bedroom towards the agreed-upon location.

Crazy Old Vic had promised to use the goat horn in order to signal Purple when he has chosen someone to be taken to safety. "It can only be used once," he told Vic carefully. "Choose wisely."

The old stick figure jutted his chin out. "That's no problem with me. So long as you promise never to kill whoever I bring." They shook hands on the agreement.

When Purple saw who is curled up on that cliff, however, they silently cursed Crazy Old Vic's name. What were the literal odds that the person Crazy Old Vic wants to rescue is the person Purple is assigned to kill? Great, just fabulous. Purple huffs at their terrible luck.

They land next to the sleeping Green. Even asleep, the young stick figure looks so beautiful, his long curls spilling out on the hard stony ground and his face so serene, save for the still-wet tear tracks on his cheeks. Purple could watch them sleep all night.

But a job is still a job. And Purple has taken far too long to get the task done. He pulls out a strip of cloth from his pocket and ties it over Green's eyes. He then takes out his crossbow and nocks an arrow aiming at Green's back. "Sorry," they whisper to the sleeping form.

hours later... en route to Purple's hideaway

Purple carries Green's body, bridal style, as he flies through the quiet night, hoping that the constellations and muscle memory would allow them to reach the destination without requiring him to look at a map. The landscape beneath him offered no easy landmarks for him to rely on, just a consistent carpet of oak trees occasionally broken up by streams.

Purple hadn't struck Green with one of their fatal arrows, but rather one with a sedative enchantment. Even though Green is asleep, Purple wanted to lower the risk of Green waking up and remembering the directions from the cliff to the city as much as possible. He stirred slightly upon impact but thankfully didn't wake.

Soon enough, the endless forests of oak and birch trees gave way to spruce trees of the taiga biome at the base of a huge mountain. Purple flew upwards past the tree line, snowflakes stinging his skin as the air got colder and colder.

Finally, the two of them reached the mountaintop, where there loomed a gigantic, stony castle, sparsely decorated on the outside with a few magenta banners. A frail wooden drawbridge stretched across a treacherous cavern, leading up to double dark oak doors, frozen completely shut.

"Well, shit," Purple murmured aloud as he saw the door. He then became concerned as he felt Green's body begin shaking. Oh. He had forgotten how the cold could easily affect the sedative enchantment. Purple looked up and saw an open window. Ah. Yes. If he recalled correctly, then that window led straight into a guest bedroom. Perfect.

He flies Green up to that window with ease, laying Green's sleeping body onto the bed, and pulling the pale blue woolen coverlets over them to protect them from any further chill. Purple then locks the windows shut, relieved by the silence of the room once the howling winds have stopped blowing. Using some flint and steel, he sparks a fire in the fireplace of the bedroom. Good, now Green will get warm. He throws in some wood to feed the flames, and rubs his freezing hands together, holding them up against the growing fire.

After a while, Purple runs upstairs into his study, a very disorganized room at that, with books in messy piles propped against nearly empty bookshelves as well as desks overflowing with miscellaneous items he had collected from his targets in the past. He turns over sheafs of letters, papers, and sheet music on his desks, threw open several drawers, and finally got down on his hands and knees and groped the floor until he found it: a pair of scissors.

He walks back down to the room where Green is still sleeping and cuts off a small curl of hair, then a piece of the lining of Green's shirt collar. After returning to his study, he wraps up the two snippets in a handkerchief, tying it with a green silk ribbon. This is evidence that he will send to the King that Green will no longer be a problem for him. Former assassins have chosen more brutal ways of proving their kills: sliced off ears, eyeballs, scraps of the victim's clothing soaked in their blood, even sawed-off heads. But Purple preferred less intrusive--and less disgusting-- methods for his line of work.

Grabbing a piece of paper, he writes down, "But I forfeit my reward to the King's Men for their own enjoyment.". There, that should keep them off from trying to look for Green. Purple was disturbed by the destruction and flames he saw in the city center as he was flying out towards the cliff. The last thing he wanted to deal with were those brutish jackals, especially Teal. Hopefully, by throwing his reward (which he didn't need anyway) towards them, he would disincentivize them from trying to further verify Purple's kill by looking for Green's body. He packs the note in with the rest of the evidence in the handkerchief.

Feeling the tiredness finally creep in, Purple stretches his arms and yawns. It has been quite a night, and he definitely would need to leave early in the morning in order to deliver the small package to King. Going down to his room just three doors down from the room Green is snoozing in, he pulls out a set of palace livery from his closet for him to put on the next day. He takes off the elytra wings, and hangs them up on the coat rack, rubbing his sore shoulders as he did so. Finally, he faces the mirror and combs his wavy hair with his fingers. He smiles as he looks at them. The locks are finally chin-length after having been forcefully shorn off years ago.

Purple quickly shakes their head, pinching their arm to prevent the memories of the Time Before from surfacing. They won't be able to sleep on time if they are stuck in the past.

But he is there. Him with those cruel shears and his bloody netherite sword. "Ghost," he sneers. "You're nothing but a pathetic, little ghost--"

Purple thrusts open the windows and sucks in the freezing mountain air, dragging himself out of the past and willing himself to remember that he is alive. He is alive.

After several minutes, Purple shuts the windows, leaving a crack for the cool air to filter in. He snuggles deep in his bed, pulling the heavy velvet blankets over his aching body, and drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Green

When Green awoke, he was first aware of the high-vaulted stony ceiling and the crackling sounds of the fireplace. For a moment, he thought he was home again. "Red? Second? Blue? Yellow?" Green called out, half-hoping that the most recent events were nothing but a terrible nightmare.

But as he sat up, he finds that his bedroom is highly unfamiliar. The ceilings, walls, and floors are all constructed of smooth, bare stone; the floors in Green's own castles are covered in plush wool carpets. The room is sparsely furnished with a plain (but really comfy) bed, a large chest, and a nightstand with only a wilted potted blue orchid. Green's rooms tended to be flush with projects spilling out of his numerous noteblocks, looms, and other specialized worktables. 

A single fireplace is the only thing keeping this room warm. Stepping out of the bed, Green walks over to the nearby chest and only finds wood. For the fireplace presumably. He sighed. Well, at least he is alive. But where is he? Whose room is this? And why is it so spartan? 

Opening the drawer to the nightstand, he finds a single loose robe that he wraps around himself as he steps out of the room. He is hungry. And he needs to pee. 

He finds a bathroom easily near the end of the stony hallway, attending to his bodily needs and splashing (very cold) water on his face to freshen up a little. He exits and goes down the stairwell, hoping to find a dining room of sorts. 

The stairs did lead to a dining room, with a table already laid out with bread and bowls of mushroom stew. But it is the person standing in the dining room that catches Green's eye. A purple stick figure in palace livery? "H-hey, you look familiar. Do you know where I am?"

A miniscule flash of pain appears on the purple stick figure's face as he? They? She? Turns to face Green. "My name is Purple," the stick figure replied simply. "This is the Winged Castle. I hope you feel safe here." 

Purple. Green suddenly is sucked back into last night. There, that crazy night that drove him from the safety of his family to the cliff. Crazy Old Vic had mentioned to him on that cliff that someone named Purple would pick him up. And the reason he had to be picked up is because of ---

Stepping back from Purple as he took in the royal livery, Green asked querulously. "Do you work for the King?"

"Yes, I am one of many, many palace servants." Purple replied. "Is that bothering you?" 

"It does!" Green quickly scans the room for any exit he could find. There, the double dark oak doors. "The King sent his goonies to kill me, and I cannot have anyone saying where I am!" He patted his pockets for anything to bribe Purple with, but he found nothing. "Just forget you ever saw me!" He began running towards the double doors. 

Green tripped and fell just before he could reach the doors. He looks up to find Purple, who is confused by Green's reaction. "Don't you want to eat something?" Purple asked him. "It's nearly 2 pm."

"I don't want to eat anything!" Green cries out. "I just want to leave this sorry-looking place and try to find my family, who are surely locked up by the King for crimes they are totally not guilty of! You have to understand! They need me!"

Purple placed their arms on their hips. "Huh, interesting. From what I understand, Crazy Old Vic asked me to take you because you were being accused of crimes you did or did not commit. Is that right?"

"I. Did. Not. Do. Anything. Wrong!" Green tugged at his hair in frustration. "Please! Just let me go back!" 

Purple sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose. "Well, you're going to have to wait. I placed torches in the foyer to defrost the doors, which froze shut last night. You're not going to be able to leave from any other exit safely. This castle is on top of a treacherous mountain. Jumping from any of the windows would be immediate suicide." 

"Not if I have elytra wings!"

"Do you even have elytra wings?"

"No, but you--"

"What makes you think I would give them to you even if I do have them?"

"Okay, how long until the doors fully defrost?"

"Two hours."

"TWO HOURS?!?" 

"Look," Purple held up their hands, as if trying to calm Green down. "You've had a very sudden turn of events. You're stressed out, cold, and hungry." He gestures towards the table. "Please. Eat something. You're safe here. The King won't be able to harm you here."

Green shook his head, obstinate. "I still don't think I can trust you."

Irritation bloomed in Purple's face. "You know what? Shit!" Purple began undressing from his palace livery in front of Green's eyes. Away went the gold-yellow silk jacket, vest, calf-length culottes, and the fine white blouse. Then the orange ribbon keeping Purple's hair in a tidy ponytail. They gather up all this expensive clothing into a ball and threw it in the fireplace to burn, now only dressed in beige boxers and leather boots. Purple threw up their arms. "Happy now?" 

Green's mind currently is shorting out at the sight of Purple sans palace clothing. Um, ahem. My cloudment is judging-- I mean, ahhh.... 

Purple is fairly well-built. And their arms and legs aren't anything to sneeze at.

However, this specimen is also still mildly irritated. And shivering. "Now will you eat something?"

Green nods, pulling himself a chair at the table. 

"Oh, can you please give me back my bathrobe. It is chilly in here."

About 45 minutes later... 

"Alright, now that you have finally eaten some food, let me give you a simple tour of the place," Purple announced as soon as Green finished eating and got out of his seat. 

"Now, this," Purple gestured to the room they are in. "Is the West wing dining room. The doors you were lunging at lead to the kitchen. A few villagers work there to make us food, but you can go in there and make your own meals if the desire so strikes you. The kitchen is well-stocked with anything you need to cook: buckets of milk, wheat, eggs, meat, fruit, and vegetables. Mainly basic Minecraft fare, nothing too fancy.

"Alright, let's head downstairs." He follows Purple down a different flight of stairs, which led into a bifurcated main staircase in the foyer. Green took in the view from the main staircase. It has a high ceiling of blackstone with gold veining and lapis lazuli studded with amethysts. The floor itself is constructed of smooth quartz but is covered in small patches of snow. Lanterns lit the whole room, showing off intricate designs carved into the stony walls, some blocks containing gold and emerald ore. The double spruce doors are, as Purple said, frozen shut, but they are framed by intricate quartz columns, and many, many torches.

"Wow," Green whispered aloud, craning his neck. Purple cleared their throat to get Green's attention. He immediately bolted down the stairs to join Purple in the middle of the foyer.

They pointed to two hallways facing each other. "East wing," referring to the hallway on the right. "West wing," referring to the hallway on the left. "Keep that straight and you won't get lost here. First floor west wing -- kitchens. First floor east wing -- storage. Nothing too interesting or fancy. If you want anything, just write a note and pass it off to a villager. They will get it for you."

Just at that moment, a villager came running to Purple from the east wing. Purple hands the villager a note, and the villager nods and scurries away back into the east wing. 

"What did you request?" Green asked Purple. 

"To clean up the rooms in the west wing. I am going to take you to the east wing. My favorite part of the whole castle. I think you will like it too. Follow me," Purple and Green went back up the main staircase, this time, taking the staircase on the right. 

The first room in the east wing it leads to is a library. The spruce floor is covered in plush red wool carpeting, and bookshelves covered nearly all the walls from floor to ceiling. Lecterns and candelabras dot the whole room, placed next to the tall, orange-tinted windows which bathe the room in a warm light. Candles and books crowd the main oak table in the center of the room. 

By the time Green finished taking in the details of the library, Purple was waiting for him in the spiral staircase.

In the next floor up, Purple and Green walk into an aquarium, filled with tanks of salmon, turtles, and cod, but also a separate tank full of glow squids. They went through the room rather quickly, since there really wasn't much to interest either of them there.

But in the next floor up, Green gasped. The room is gorgeous, brightly lit by candles and tall windows, with quartz walls and warm brown acacia floors partly covered by a large rectangular dark blue wool rug. Strewn about the room are--

"Noteblocks!" Green exclaimed, running from one to the other. "And musical instruments!" This room has, among other instruments, a cello, violins, several woodwinds, and a grand piano. Green sat down in the piano bench, playfully doing a couple scales. He was giddy with joy. 

He turned to see Purple smiling, holding up a violin and a bow. "May I?" Purple asks. Green gives them his assent, and Purple begins to play. It is a familiar, simple tune, but nonetheless a moving piece, a song about a lover wooing to his partner with love notes under her window. The performance is entrancing, awakening multiple senses at once. Green began to smell the petrichor in the streets, feel the worn folds of the notes in the lover's hands, and hear the sound of doves cooing outside, and sense the radiant warmth of a smile. 

Finally, the piece was done. Purple sheepishly bows and puts down the instrument. Green clapped, fascinated. "I have never known anyone who could play like that!" He gushed. "You're absolutely divine!"

They blushed. "Oh, it isn't me; the instruments here are all enchanted to convey feelings and sensations that cannot necessarily be communicated through music alone. I-I am just a dabbler, really."

"Still," Green replied. "That was really impressive. I loved it!" 

"Thank you," Purple replies. Glancing at the clock in the room, they said, "The doors are probably defrosted now. Do you still want to go?"

"I--" Green felt guilt twist his insides. It felt wrong for him to enjoy and relish this place when his family is likely being tortured for answers they couldn't provide. But at the same time, he is loath to leave this place, especially such a beautiful room with magical instruments. "I don't know..." 

"It's okay," Purple replied. "This place is meant to be a refuge for you. Maybe stay in the castle one more night to think through it all?"

"Yeah, sure," Green replied, hoping deep down inside that his family would forgive him in his slowness to rescue them. 

"You can stay here for a bit. I, for one, am going to go to my room in the west wing and change into something that isn't a bathrobe, comfy as this is." Purple turned on his heel and left the music room, robe swishing behind him. "Enjoy!"

Green turned to the piano. He didn't feel like playing it right now. He picked up a flute, beginning with a few notes. A tune began to form in his fingers, slow as a pavane, a remorseful set of notes in a minor key. The song seemed to beg, as though the player had committed a sin that he knew earned him his torment. 

When the song ended, Green put down the flute. There was a strange aftertaste in his mouth. It tasted salty, like tears. 

Chapter Text

Second

Luminous Hotel, room no. 235, late at night, hours after the Surprise Attack

Second, Blue, Red, and Yellow all burst into their hotel suite, with only Second pausing to lock the door behind them. They slid down the door after putting up the door chain. "Is everybody alright?" Second asks the rest of the group.

Red has collapsed on the couch in the suite living room, wincing from the collection of bruises she got from fighting Magenta. "Not great, thank you. Ow."

"Yep, feeling pretty poorly, if I say so myself," Yellow adds, seated in a kitchen chair. Blue exits the bathroom with a first aid kit and begins applying alcohol wipes and band-aids on the cuts Yellow got from taking Bone head-on. Yellow hisses from the administration of care but otherwise says nothing else.

It had been a long, difficult night. Second and the rest of them had been fighting the King's Men at the Flying Pigs Tavern for several minutes, before someone--Second forgot exactly who-- noticed that Green had vanished.

"WHAT?!" Second and Teal had yelled out in shock. Noticing that Second was distracted, Teal used the opportunity to pummel the hilt on his sword onto Second's abdomen, causing them to fall to their knees. "Where did he go?!"

"I don't see him anywhere," Bone admits, searching the restaurant for any sign of their target.

"He must have run off, the coward." Magenta spits with disgust.

Red gasps at the accusation. "No, he would never do that!"

Magenta violently pins Red to the wall. "Then where did Green go?!? ANSWER ME!!"

Red struggled in Magenta's grip, terror for Green's well-being and her own clouding her judgement. "I-I don't know!! It's not like him to just suddenly up and leave--Please! Ow!! Let me go!!"

"Enough!" Blue cries out, his bow drawn with his last arrow nocked at Magenta's back. "Let us go," he demands Teal. "Or else she gets it."

"Hmph. Do your worst. We won't be letting you go until you tell us where your little friend went." Teal barks at Blue.

"TEAL!" Magenta shouts, her eyes wide with irritation at his apathy. "What the hell?!?"

"How about this, then?" Teal grabs Second by their shoulders and throws them onto a table, holding them down by the throat and holding a bottle of poison to Second's lips. "You hurt Magenta, and I will kill off your orange friend. Now tell us where Green is, or he drinks in 3... 2..."

A sudden explosion just outside of the front window catches their attention, spraying glass inside the tavern. Flames begin to roar inside the restaurant as the overturned tables and chairs, some drenched with spilled alcoholic drinks, begin to catch on fire.

Yellow waves at the rest of the group inside the tavern. "Go! We have to go!" They begin to run off into the night. The Color Gang and the King's Men begin to quarrel their way to the exit, all forced to make their way across the maze of furniture, flames, and broken glass.

Somehow, through the smoky haze, all of them manage to escape the burning tavern, and join Yellow outside.

Somehow, when they ran together to their hotel suite, the King's Men decided not to chase them.

Somehow, they managed to reach their hotel suite not only alive, but without too many injuries.

Blue is wrapping bandages around Second's arms. Teal managed to land several cuts on Second's arms, being the bigger and more skilled swordsman. Second hisses as Blue rubs antiseptic on one of their wounds, but relaxes once Blue finishes patching them up. "Thank you," he says. 

"I can't believe Green ran off like that," Blue said very quietly. He sighed deeply, which was felt by everyone around him. Second sensed that Blue felt partially guilty for what happened, considering that he had chosen a restaurant in the center of town instead of ordering food service at the hotel, or pestering the cooks to let him cook his own concoctions.

"Well, at least if we don't know where Green is, neither do the King's Men." Yellow pointed out through gritted teeth. "He is safe."

"SAFE!?" Red got up very quickly from the couch, causing her to hiss from pain. "If Green is not hiding out somewhere in the city, he is probably in the woods. It is past nightfall! There will be spiders! Witches! Skeletons! And Green doesn't even have a sword."

"You know what I mean, Red." Yellow replied. "Green is crafty. He will no doubt punch down a tree or create a small dirt hut in order to keep himself safe from monsters until morning. The monsters are the least of our worries."

"Yellow's right," Second replies, getting up and walking towards Yellow. "The real monsters we have to worry about are here. And as far as we know, they can't get to Green yet. This gives us time. Tomorrow morning, we are heading straight to the Palace and pleading Green's case with the King. If we manage to be successful, then Green will feel safe to come back.

"After all, we all know that Green didn't commit treason of any kind. If anything, maybe this has all been an honest mistake."

"An honest mistake that led to a restaurant burning down." Blue deadpanned.

"If we explain to the King everything, then this should all smooth over," Second insisted. "Does everyone understand?" There is a pause as the group nods back to him. "Great! Alright, let's get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow!!"

In King Orange's Palace - the throne room

"What do you mean, 'he got away'?!" King's voice rasped uncomfortably in the ears of the trio. Teal's lips were pursed, eyes trained to the floor. This is excruciating.

"We were fighting his family members," Bone repeated to him. "And... none of us were really watching Green, so he must have slipped away."

King responded to Bone's admittance by slamming his staff onto the quartz floor of his throne room, forming cracks, causing Magenta to flinch. "THIS IS HIGHLY UNACCEPTABLE! NOT ONLY DID YOU GO BEHIND MY BACK TO ACCEPT A MISSION THAT WASN'T YOURS, BUT YOU STILL HAD THE AUDACITY TO CRAWL BACK TO ME WHEN YOU FAILED.

"And WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?!?" King bellowed, mere inches away from Bone's face. "A little pat on the back and a 'BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME' CARD?!?!"

Bone swallowed, trying his level best not to cry. He had never been good at verbal confrontations. Being the bigger muscle of the group naturally never made that any easier. He felt a little less stressed when Magenta wordlessly patted him on the back. He squeezed her hand in return.

Teal cleared his throat to speak. "We are here to request that you sanction us to search for Green to carry out said mission."

"Now, why should I?" King asked Teal. "We already had him in the palms of our hands and YOU. LOST. HIM!!"

King turned to Magenta and Bone. "Both of you. Toilet scrubbing duty for the next two weeks."

"And you," King said, turning to Teal. "I will have you cleaning out the--"

King's words were cut off when the doors were slammed open. A villager ran up to King holding a small package wrapped in a green handkercheif and tied with a dark green silk ribbon. King fished out a few gold ingots from his pockets to pay the villager, who then dropped off the package, made a small bow, and exited the room.

A dark grin spread across King's face as he studied the package. "Well, this better be interesting."

the next day,

Red, Second, Blue, and Yellow stood uncomfortably in front of the Palace, waiting to be let in. The hot sun beat down on them as they sweated in their formal suits.

The guard at the palace gate was checking his tablet, a bored expression on his face. "Are you sure you all put in a reservation?"

"Yes! We are sure! We booked it last night in the Palace website!" Blue replied. "We paid the extra Premium fee for immediate entry."

"Uh-huh, sure," the guard deadpanned. A slight pause ensued before the guard went, "So, 'The Second Coming, plus three, Throne Room, the 5:20 pm - 5:40 pm time slot?' That's y'all?"

"Yes!" Second replied, face creased with relief. "That is us! Can we please be let in now?"

The guard sighed. "Parents with their weird-ass names these days," he muttered even though he could not be any older than Red is. "Alright, then." The guard pulled a lever right beside him, causing the tall iron gates to swing open.

Thee Color Gang gratefully entered through. "Thank you so much!" Red cheerfully said to the guard.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the guard responded as he closed the gates shut.

"Wow," Blue exhaled as they took in the Throne Room. "This place looks really cool! So much gold and amethyst detailing on the walls and ceilings!"

"Heh. I guess it's alright." Yellow responded. "But you know what I am interested in? In the palace encyclopedia, they mentioned that there are hidden pressure plates in the Palace that open up to secret rooms that hardly anyone knows about." Their eyes glittered with interest. "I wonder if--"

"Focus, guys. Remember why we are here." Second told them. A sober mood passed through the four of them as they recalled.

"I miss Green so much," Red said aloud.

As if on cue, King enters the room and seats himself on his throne. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he says to them cordially. "I was having a discussion with one of my associates on a touchy issue. What brings you here?"

Second walked up to the King and gave a respectful bow. "Your Majesty, my name is The Second Coming, and these are my siblings Red, Blue, and Yellow. We are here to plead the innocence of our other sibling, Green. We are here to testify that she is not guilty of any treason whatsoever. We only came here starting a couple weeks prior so that she could perform in your city venues. No more, no less." At the end of his speech, Second got up and stepped back, rejoining the group.

King's face was unreadable as he pondered over Second's words awhile. "I am afraid that case would be rather difficult to prove," King replied carefully. "First and foremost because your presence in this city has proven to be... chaotic. I already heard from the bartender of the Flying Pigs Tavern a couple hours prior about the destruction you have caused his restaurant. He demands that you pay 18 diamond blocks to pay for the damages."

"Oh," Yellow replied, remorseful. "Well, we are willing to pay for any damages to the Flying Pigs Tavern. But we were only forced to such straits because we have been attacked by the King's Men, who claimed that you have given them the order to kill Green. We, as his family, did what we could to protect him. As we are now."

"As you are now," King repeats softly. "Would any of you know where Green is? It would be hard for this case to properly sort itself out if he isn't here."

"No," Red replied, her head hung with shame. "We were so caught up holding off the King's Men -- your men, I presume-- that we lost sight of Green when he-he ran away."

King sighs deeply. "That is highly... inconvenient. I am sorry to hear. Well, I will assure you all, I never gave my men the order to do Green harm. They had been operating illegally and will be punished accordingly.

"See, I have worked hard for many years to uphold an image of justice and transparency for the kingdom. Yes, seeing that Green is... a highly experienced and talented Minecraft player would have caused some suspicion and concern from certain denizens over the full motive of his activities. My kingdom has a difficult history of powerful outsiders wreaking havoc upon the citizenry."

"Are you talking about the Assassin Prince?" Second asks.

"Ah, I see that you have been conversing with a few of the locals," King replies. "Yes, precisely."

"But... isn't the Assassin Prince dead?" Second replied. "What does he have to do with this?"

"I wish I could say the same," King said, his face suddenly turning grave. "Just today, the remains of a stick figure came through to me for identification. I was hoping you four could help me in this endeavor."

Blue's face paled. "R-Remains?"

King reached within his pockets and took out a green handkercheif and unfolded it. Inside is a lock of hair and a tiny piece of cloth. "Would any of this be familiar to you?"

Horrified gasps came out of Red's mouth. That hair--she knew the texture and color by heart. "Green?! No, no, no, IT CAN'T BE!"

Blue gingerly picked up the cloth piece. "White satin lining, 1000-thread count. I stitched this lining into her collar myself!" He slumped to his knees, shoulders shaking with horror.

Yellow rushed over to Blue, gripping him close. "Tell me what you're implying isn't true! Please! Tell us!"

"I am deeply sorry," King says to them. "It appears that your sibling has been brutally murdered some time last night by the Assassin Prince."

The shouts were out of Second's mouth before he could stop them. "NOO!!"

They had been too late.

"So, turns out the prince managed to hunt the robin after all," Bone muttered aloud.

"Yeah," Magenta folded her arms across her chest.

"Well, that's sad. He seemed like a nice kid."

The trio were in one of the underground passageways beneath the Throne Room, discussing the package that came in. The evidence within is sparse, as is Purple's usual style, but they confirmed the deed. If the screams and sobs they could hear from Green's devastated family upstairs indicated anything.

Teal is seated on the floor next to Magenta, gaze focused on the wall in front of him. Magenta decides to tap his leg with the tip of her boot. "What's eating you, garter snake?"

"The prince never liked any of us." Teal spat. "Why would he give us a castle? And gold?"

"You said so yourself," Magenta replied. "'How many castles does he need?' Maybe he was feeling generous."

"Eh, I consider it a blessing." Bone replied. "We never had to kill Green, and we still got the reward. Wahoo."

Teal looked up at the both of them with a sense of disgust. "Generous? A blessing? Since when have either of those words applied to the Assassin Prince?!"

"What are you saying?" Magenta asks Teal.

"Something's up. Purple is hiding something. Not sure what, but it's something he clearly doesn't want King to know." Teal licked his lips. "This is going to be good."

Chapter Text

At the Winged Castle - three days after rescue

Purple

Much to Purple's chagrin, Green won't stop requesting to leave the castle. And at that point Purple had run out of things to say to make Green stay. So she decides to make a bet with her. "I won't stop you from leaving," Purple said to Green, who is staring longingly at the now-defrosted doors of the Winged Castle. "But you will have to descend the mountain yourself and make the trip. If I need to come and rescue you at any point in the journey, you will have to remain here until the storm blows over and it will be safe for you to return to your family." 

"Deal," she agrees, getting up to pack her inventory with food, a diamond pickaxe, a sword, and other supplies that she listed out in various notes to her attendant villagers in the castle. She was initially uncomfortable with having multiple villagers as her servants, but her determination to make it back home soon led her to overcome the feeling. 

Soon enough, Green was dressed in nice diamond armor; with an inventory filled with 15 pieces of beef, a compass, a map, some flint and steel, and charcoal and wood for a fireplace; and armed with a diamond sword and a pickaxe to make the journey back. Purple waved goodbye to her as soon as she went through the double doors. 

Then, she went upstairs to collect her elytra wings to go follow her. 

Green

She made progress getting down the mountain on the first day, making cautious jumps from stony ledge to stony ledge. The path lined out in the map that Purple gave her is frustratingly narrow and uneven, but certainly feasible. She was cautious not to step on any snowbanks as much as possible, to avoid drowning in deep pit full of snow. 

She was about a good third down the mountain by the time that night fell. Using the pickaxe, she carved out a small cave for her to stay overnight, protected from monsters and the brutal snows. She made a small campfire to keep her warm and cooked and ate some of the beef that she had in her inventory. So far, so good. Green went to sleep confident that she would win the deal against Purple. She is no slouch. 

But when morning arose, she was aghast that the path that she had been following in the map is nearly completely obscured by snow. Making matters worse, a couple creepers were gaining on her, marking their arrival with hisses. Taking out her diamond sword, she fought off the creepers very handily. But in doing so, she soon lost track of the path and fell into a snowbank. Thankfully, it was not deep and Green managed crawl her way out before the frost could do her any harm. 

She continued on with the rest of the trip down the mountain, but as she neared the tree line, spiders and zombies popped out of the shadows to attack, even in high noon. Fighting off the monsters wasn't too terrible, but it became very difficult to stay on the narrow path without falling into the snow--

A creeper exploded behind Green, causing her to fall down several blocks into a snowbank. Desperately digging her way out, Green soon found herself falling nearly a hundred blocks into a deep cavern within the mountain. 

The fall damage that she took was terrible: Green looked up and found much to her relief that she still has four shaky hearts remaining. Her armor had taken much of the damage, but it hung very precariously on her body, not doing much to protect her. Her sword is gone, leaving her with just a pickaxe to defend herself with. 

Within the cavern, Green could hear the spiders salivating at the thought of their next meals, the groans of oncoming zombies, and the clunky footsteps of skeleton archers. She quickly made and placed down a campfire near where she stood, hoping that the firelight would scare away the monsters until she was in better shape.

An arrow struck her armor, taking out half a heart. Green frantically looked around the darkness to see what skeleton had shot at her, when she was suddenly set upon by a cave spider. Acting quickly, she managed to take out the spider with the pickaxe when another arrow was lodged into her. Then another. Then another. 

I am going to die here! Green thought frantically, retreating close to the campfire in desperation. I am going to die--

The sound of wings soon grabbed her attention. Purple rapidly flew down into the cavern, tossing burning blocks of wood to illuminate the cavern and scare away the monsters. She then swooped Green up in her arms and took her right back to the castle. 

Back at the Winged Castle 

"Drink," Purple begged her, giving her a bottle of healing potion. They were in one of the West Wing bedrooms, with villagers milling in and out of the room, carrying wood to feed the fire, extra blankets, extra bowls of mushroom soup, and other supplies for the injured Green. 

Green painfully sat up in the warm bed she is placed in, and weakly accepted Purple's bottle and took a sip. She got very little down, seeing that the harsh taste had not been diluted with sugar and honey the way that Blue would in giving her potions to drink. "I could have made it--"

"But you didn't." Purple replied, now spooning some thick mushroom soup to Green's mouth. "I wouldn't feel bad about it; this mountain is exceedingly difficult to climb up and down, and near impossible to traverse on one's own without elytra wings."

Green's eyes widened. "Then why did you let me go down by myself!?"

"I didn't; I followed close behind, careful not to intervene unless things were dire. And from what it seems, you were an arrow or two away from death by the time I arrived." 

Green sighed. "So, I suppose I am stuck here then, until you decide it's safe for me to come back?"

"Pretty much." Purple spooned the last of the mushroom soup to Green's mouth. "Now that you've decided to stay, I am going to lay down some house rules for you to follow. That alright with you?" 

"Uh... sure I guess?" Green straightened her posture in the bed to listen closely to what Purple has to say. 

"One -- no music or any loud noises after 12 am. I like being able to sleep undisturbed at night. You don't have to be sleeping, just don't be loud. Is that ok?"

"Alright," Green smirked. She remembered how Second would be grumpy whenever she had jam sessions late into the night into the early hours of the morning. 

"Two -- no harassing or harming the villagers--"

Green reacted with shock. "Of course, I am not going to harr--"

"Just promise me, okay?"

"Alright, I won't hurt the villagers." 

"Good. Three -- pretty much the whole of the castle is free for you to explore and make your own. I encourage you to do that, actually. Claim the music room as yours, even.

"However, you are NOT allowed to explore the upper floors in the West wing of the castle. That area is undergoing renovations. It is not safe for you to go up there, and I am not there every day, so if you go, I may not be there to save you." 

"Alright then. Are there any more rules?"

"Nope, I think that's it." Purple got up from the chair next to Green's bed and gave Green the bottle of healing potion. "Finish that, and you should be in the clear by morning." 

"I'll try -- May I ask the villagers for some honey, please?"

Purple nodded to a villager nearby, who soon produced a bottle of honey from his pockets, bowed, and slipped away from the room as quietly as possible. She stepped out of the room, lingering for a moment at the doorway. "Good night, Green."

"Good night, Purple." Green dumps the honey into her healing potion and drinks the mixture vigorously. Ah. That's more like it. 

The villagers milled out of the room as soon as Purple left, leaving Green alone at last. 

She stared up at the plain stone ceiling and sighed. "I'm sorry," she whispers, trying to quiet the guilt for abandoning her family still roiling within her. "You're going to have to be patient."

She stepped out of the bed, and turned to look at her nightstand, where one of the villagers left her the flute from the music room. She smiled. Maybe staying here won't be so bad. At least I won't have to worry about dying here.

Purple

She was right there, an angry voice within Purple demanded as she tiptoed upstairs to her study. Why don't you kill her?

Quiet, Purple responded to the angry thought. I don't know why, actually. I am thinking about it.

The past three days had been strange for Purple. She hadn't had that much experience having a houseguest over, let alone one whose death is wanted by the King. But the more and more she interacted with Green, the urgency to kill her seemed to fade into the background. 

It's not just that she is beautiful, though that much is true. Green is caring and can be really sweet at times. Purple remembered how she gracefully thanked the villagers for serving them their dinners the night before, even offering to share bread with them. Something about that gesture made Purple feel soft inside, much like--

Her, Purple realized, her heart aching with years-old grief rising to the surface. Memories arose back to the surface. Her warm smile, her gentle hands on my face, her soothing whispers when I got sick-- 

Purple threw open the door to the disorganized study, pulling off the white cloth covering a portrait on the walls. Queen Orchid's painted face smiled down to her from above, causing Purple's heart to squeeze. 

Her. Green reminds me so much of her. 

Chapter Text

At the Winged Castle

Green

With the escape fiasco now well behind them, Green decided to enjoy as much of the Palace as possible.

She would wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast with Purple, which usually consisted of loaves of freshly-baked bread and honey. Purple would ask kindly about her well-being every morning, to which Green would respond that she was doing pretty well. Then, she would head off to the library and consume the books there. After a couple of hours of reading, she would go to the music room. There, she would play to her heart's delight.

The magic instruments always enthralled her. All of the instruments, even the violins, would be in tune and completely ready for her when she arrived at the music room: guitars with their picks laid out, violin bows always with the right amount of rosin, spit valves from the horns never needed cleaning out, the woodwinds cleaned to a mirror shine, and the cellos and basses are properly humidified.

Green herself is a talented musician, but playing with these instruments is completely on a different level. It almost felt as if she only had to think of a story, and she would start playing, familiar melodies taking on a silvery, divine element in these magical instruments. Her playing experience would be extremely sensory: sometimes she would smell flowers, taste metal, and feel the bark of oak trees while she was playing.

Coming up with new melodies came almost effortlessly, beautiful strains of sound that would leave Green almost breathless with amazement. Her hands itched to write the new melodies down.

"Purple!" Green would cry out, giddy. "Did you hear that?! Oh my god, I don't think I could ever get used to this!! Or even play ordinary instruments again!!"

Purple chuckled. "Glad you enjoy it." Purple tends to hover by the doorway, soaking in Green's music-making at a safe distance. "Let me know if there is anything you need. I will get it for you."

And help they did. Whatever Green asked for, Purple and the villagers freely provided for her. Paper, ink, books filled with sheet music bound with the softest leather. She would almost be embarrassed by the fineness of the items they would bring her, but Purple would gently insist Green that she accept the things she asked for. "Please, don't feel embarrassed for getting the things you want. All I want is for you to be comfortable."

"Is that really all you want?" Green would ask Purple.

The merest hint of pink would appear on Purple's face. "Y-yes, I mean, yes. Um, I should get going--"

"No, please, stay." She tugged on Purple's sleeve. "I love having company listen while I play, and it gets lonely at times. Besides, I have written something new and I want to hear your thoughts about this piece."

Purple would give a look of curiosity and gratitude whenever she asked them to stay and listen. "Of course. My pleasure."

And Purple provides excellent company and is an enthusiastic composition partner. Unlike her siblings, who were usually satisfied by saying that her work is "good", Purple would excitedly discuss and break down the musical phrases that Green came up with, asking her endless questions. "So why do you have a fermata here in this D note? I really like the key change here, but do you think we can transition to the fourth and sixth positions before committing to the key change in that measure?"

And Green would listen, thrilled by Purple's questions, but also taken in by the excited gleam in their eyes. 

Something was starting. But Green didn't notice it yet.

About five weeks later...

One day, as Green walked into the music room, he found Purple already there, seated at the piano, writing some notes on some composition pages. 

Intrigued, Green asked her, "Hey, what are you writing?" 

Appearing suddenly flushed, Purple replied. "Just a little something, really. It's not yet finished."

"Can I hear what you have so far?" 

"Yeah, sure." Purple took a deep breath and began to play. 

The piece began, the breathless arpeggios rolling up and down like stormclouds. The left hand notes grumbled like thunder, and the right hand notes were as bright as lightning. 

There was something passionate, feral even, to this piece that Purple is performing. Her long fingers deftly worked over the keys with a forcefulness near bordering on barely restrained violence. The piece crescendoed as arpeggios and chords traveled up the keyboard, the frequency kept at a relentless pace. The initial themes branched out and intensified as the piece went on, almost reaching a melodic climax before suddenly stopping. 

"--And this is where I ended up, before you arrived." Purple is slightly panting as she met Green's eyes. "What do you think?" 

Green also found himself breathless, even thouugh he was only listening to the piece that was performed. "I-I think it's really amazing." Why does his face feel warm all of a sudden? "How long have you been working on that piece?" 

"Months, perhaps even a year." Purple replied. "After my Mom died, I... wasn't able to do much music-wise." 

"Oh," Green replied. "That sounds awful. Do you mind telling me more about that?" 

Purple smiled, inviting Green to sit next to her on the piano bench. "My mother," she started. "Loved playing instruments when she was alive. And she taught me everything I know.

"Remember that first piece I played you, the first time we were here? That was one of her favorites." 

Green smiled. "It's certainly now one of mine." He had come to love that piece after asking Purple to play it for him over and over again. 

"Yeah. I think she'd be happy that the instruments have been kept in use. She would have liked to meet you." 

"How kind." A beat passed before Green asked tentatively. "If you don't mind telling me, what happened to her?" 

Purple's expression suddenly became guarded, his lips pursed as he closed down the lid over the piano keys. "She was killed by the Assassin Prince." 

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. It was six, nearly seven, years ago." 

Green continued. "But still, you couldn't have been any more than--" 

"Fourteen. I was fourteen years old at the time." Purple rubbed her arms as she said it.

Nearly overcome with emotion, Green walks up to her and embraces her from behind. He whispers into her ear, "You're so strong. So talented. So absolutely amazing." 

It had started small, almost a whisper inside his mind. A voice that could easily be drowned out by the strum of a lute or a clever piano riff in the evenings.

At first, when Green became aware that her feelings towards Purple had begun to take a certain shape, she was in denial. Sure, Purple is handsome, considerate, and really, really sweet, but she couldn't possibly be feeling that way about them. Could she? 

But the feelings grew, and became harder to ignore. Green found himself taking extra care with his appearance before sitting with Purple to eat breakfast. He found himself looking forward to Purple's visits in the music room. He found himself thinking about them even as nothing prompted him to do so. 

By the time Purple gave him an impromptu performance at the piano, the feelings had become very difficult to dismiss. The performance certainly did nothing to help those matters. 

Worrying about how awkward it would be to confess to a near-total stranger about her sudden change of heart for them, Green shyly asks Purple if they would like to compose with her. To which Purple gladly agreed. 

And so the two would spend several days together, side by side, their hands brushing together as they reached for a pen, some paper, a violin bow, etc.. They would talk long into the night, sharing happy memories about their families, swapping music sheets, and otherwise telling stories. 

They did other things outside the music room as well. When passing by the aquarium, Purple and Green would play a game in which they came up with funny names for the glow squids and come up with interesting stories for what the squids could be saying to each other. 

"I say, Monsieur Squidopolus, your arrogance is astounding!" Green would shriek in a high-pitched voice. 

"And you, Madame Squonk, are a fish-headed tramp!" Purple would dramatically intone. 

And the two of them would collapse with laughter. 

In the kitchen, Green would often try to recreate Blue's recipes, with Purple helping out. An activity that often has led to her rambling about her siblings. 

"And then Red came and poured milk ALL OVER MY NEW DRESS!" 

"She didn't!" 

"She did!" 

And Purple would share stories about his mother. Tender memories from childhood. 

"There is a place in the city where we used to buy candy all the time." Purple would say. "My mother and I would sometimes stop by and buy one of each candy in the store. Partly because I was greedy. Partly because she didn't want any candy to feel left out." 

"How sweet." 

"It certainly was. Our dentist definitely didn't approve much of it, though," Purple chuckled. "Fun times." 

All of these moments danced in Green's mind as she composed, infusing her music with a sense of longing and vulnerability. Sometimes too much. Given how emotionally charged the instruments were, Green would often ask Purple to play the pieces that they have written so far, fearing outing herself. She loved watching Purple perform-- they always looked so transformed by the music. 

But eventually, Purple put down the violin, and asked Green, "why don't you play? I've been sawing away nearly all day." 

"Oh, I-I can't. I--" 

"Please," Purple asked. "For me?" 

The look in their eyes nearly broke Green down. Deciding not to hide his feelings anymore, Green took the violin and began to play some of the newer work he composed-- newer work that was inspired by his growing affection for Purple. "This is for you." 

The piece that played out was soft and shy at first, but it began to grow in volume and complexity as it went on, with pleading trills and warm vibratos and achingly long fermatas. The notes were clear and golden, singing out what Green could not bring himself to express in words. 

When he finished, Purple's eyes have become misty. "Oh," Purple managed, overcome with feeling. 

Putting down the violin, Green cupped their face, staring deep into their eyes. "I can't help it, Purple. I've fallen in love with you." 

Chapter Text

At the city square, two months after Green's disappearance

The day is drowned in grief.

Initially, Red and Yellow had held out hope that Green might still be alive somewhere out there. The remains given to them were scant, after all. Green could live without a shirt collar and a lock of hair. They put up posters and asked many people if they have seen him since that dreadful night. 

Nothing came up.

Yellow and Blue retrieved the diamond blocks needed to pay for the damages to the restaurant. Second and Red had to cancel performances as Green remained missing. And deal with the vicious rumors that swept through the city. 

Maybe Green decided to split off to form his own group.

Maybe he fell in love with someone her siblings did not approve. Therefore, he ran away. 

How horrible. 

You know, I heard that she is being tried for treason. Maybe she killed someone. 

No, she must have been a spy. 

After months of fruitless searching, Red, Second, Yellow, and Blue were forced to confront the likely truth that Green was killed that terrible night. 

What makes it even more awful is that there isn't even a body to bury. But they decided to hold funerary services anyway, for his sake. And to put the rumors at rest. 

In the city square, a diamond-and-emerald statue of Green was placed up. The statue glinted beautifully in the sunlight, which contrasted with the somber black-clad mourners huddled around the statue.

Many flowers were placed at the foot of the statue: mostly lilies of the valley, but also roses, peonies, alliums, poppies, and tulips of every color. 

Themselves shaken with grief, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Second each went up to say their brief eulogies before seating themselves back down with the crowd, many of whom took pity on them and tried to say comforting things. 

Some days after the funeral, Second found themself wandering the streets in the city square. If they kept moving, then they would never have to stop and sit with their guilt and rage for Green's death. At least for a while. 

It is late, with the lanterns dimly glowing, barely illuminating the streets around Second. So much so that Second barely registered it when they heard a sudden whoosh behind them. 

Turning their head, Second noticed an alleyway to the right of them. Curious, and not really caring for their safety, they walked down the dark and shadowy alley. 

It is smelly, with several composters outside filled with rank and rotting waste meant to turn into fertilizer. Ugh, that's disgusting. Second thought. I should probably turn back-- 

A hand suddenly covered Second's mouth before they could say a word. "Enjoying a nightly stroll?" A familiar voice asked. 

Teal. Second pulled the hand from their mouth before replying, "I was, actually. Until you came around." Their hand drifted to the hilt of their diamond sword. 

"Oh, I am not here to attack you," Teal said, holding his empty hands up in surrender. "As you can see, I carry nothing. You're safe as far as your physical well-being is concerned." 

"What do the King's Men want?" Second demanded. "And why should I trust you?!" 

Teal chuckled. "I'm not here because I want something. I am here to offer you something that you know you crave deep down. Revenge." 

Second unsheathed their diamond sword, "I should stab you right here and right now!" They yelled. "If you hadn't come after Green, he wouldn't have run and ended up killed by the Assassin Prince!" 

"That is true," Teal conceded calmly. "But ultimately, I am not your brother's killer, as you said. The Assassin Prince is. And that's whom you should direct your anger towards." 

"You haven't given me a real reason why I shouldn't kill you as well," growled Second. 

"If you put your sword down, I will tell you how you can avenge your brother by killing off the Assassin Prince," Teal replied calmly. "There's much more that I can offer you alive, rather than dead. Especially since I reckon that you blame yourself partly for his death.

"Please," Teal pleads in a soft, gentle tone. "I mean you no harm. Trust me." 

Second lowered their sword, stunned by Teal's words. They sheathe the sword. 

"Good, come sit with me." Teal led Second out of the alley, and they sat together on a bench nearby one of the lanterns. He offered Second some netherwart, but Second refused. Teal shrugged and ate some himself.

"You know, you and I are a whole lot alike." Teal started. "We both hold ourselves responsible for the lives of our whole team. When one of our team falls, we blame ourselves, often unfairly so." 

"If I had protected Green better, maybe he would still be alive," Second whispers aloud. "What use am I if I cannot protect the ones I love?" They begin to cry. 

Teal places a hand on Second's shoulder. "Green's death is not your fault. You did everything that you knew how. Don't blame yourself." He hands Second a clean white handkercheif.

Second blows their nose and wipes their tears. "Why are you being kind to me?" 

"Because I also lost someone I cared for to the Assassin Prince." 

Second is surprised to see wetness in Teal's eyes. "Who? If you do not mind me asking." 

"My father. He was killed right in front of me. I was a teenager when it happened." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," Second replied, overcome with sympathy. 

"I was so... shocked, and I couldn't do a thing." Teal turned his head up to the stars, his expression shifting from a look of helpless grief to determined rage. "So for years, I plotted and plotted ways to take the Assassin Prince down. I trained. I joined the King's Men. I slowly acculumated resources." 

"So, do you have a plan?" Second asked him. "You said you knew how to take the Assassin Prince down." 

"I do," Teal replied. He takes out a map and lays it out on his lap. "Now, the Assassin Prince tends to cycle through a bunch of locations, never really staying in one spot more than a few weeks. In the past month, I managed to determine which location he is in. Here," Teal points to a large mountain near the top edge of the map. "This place is called The Winged Castle. It is a behemoth of a fortress that was carved from within the mountain itself, making the castle highly inaccessible and undetectable to those unfamiliar with the terrain. 

"Now, I am very familiar with the area, so you don't need to worry about that. And I have the tools and potions and supplies to make the trip. However, I still need some additional manpower in order to take the Assassin Prince head-on. It has not been easy finding recruits considering that most are completely terrified of him." 

"I'll join you!" Second quickly volunteers. "And my siblings will join you as well." 

"Perfect!" Teal cried out. "Together we can take our vengeance, and make sure no one has to suffer like we did ever again!" 

The two sticks shook hands, and parted ways into the dark night. 

Chapter Text

Second

For the next couple of weeks after the initial encounter, Second and Teal would meet up in discreet locations in the city to discuss and hammer out the specifics of their plans. Teal would take care of the navigation, Second and their siblings would take care of the supplies, and the rest of the King's Men would be able to act as guards for the whole group, making sure everyone made the trip up to the Winged Castle safely.

"I am really thankful for your help, you know," Second told Teal. "Genuinely so."

Teal cracked a smile. "Glad to be of service to someone who is on the same side."

Getting Red, Yellow, and Blue to join in on the plan took some talking and convincing. While all of them are deeply aggrieved by Green's passing, not all of them were keen on the idea of revenge.

Yellow pointed out, "we are not entirely sure that we can trust the King's Men to guarantee our safety. How do we know that they won't try to save themselves and flee while the Assassin Prince is at our throats? If Green could not beat them--"

"We will have to." Red cut in. She was the easiest to convince out of the three of them. "With the King's Men and us, that is seven against one. We should be able to beat the Assassin Prince through numbers alone."

Second turns to Blue, "Blue, what do you think?"

Blue is curled up next to his bed in the hotel room. He is the one most disturbed by the revenge plan and wishes he could make it stop somehow. Deep inside, he sensed that something is off, and that his family would be further endangered. "I wish we didn't have to do this," Blue managed after some time.

Despite their misgivings, the preparations for the journey to the Winged Castle were done, and there was only one final night of rest before the four of them could set off on their journey.

Crazy Old Vic

"These darn old legs, why are there so many steps in this darn hotel building!"

Crazy Old Vic muttered to himself this and other things as he made his way up to the hotel room where Green's family is. In his hand, there is an envelope made of some thick, fancy paper. From the Assassin Prince himself. 

The night before, Purple roused the old stick figure from his bed. "Vic, wake up. I need you to do something for me." 

Vic sat up, bleary-eyed and frustrated. "Whaddya want, Prince?" 

Purple hands the envelope to Vic. "Green has asked me to send a letter to her family members. I cannot do this without risking exposing myself, so I need you to do this for me." 

"Oh, sure, let Crazy Old Vic do your darn dirty work," he drawled. 

"Please!" Purple's face scrunched into something like Queen Orchid's as they pleaded. "I need to know that you will see this done." 

"Alright, alright. Don't get your feathers in a twist. I'll do it tomorrow morning, when I am better rested." 

"Thank you, Old Vic. Don't know what I'll do without you." 

"'Don't know what I'll do without you,'" Vic mimicked playfully, as he took the envelope from Purple and admired the make of it. "You know your mother used to say that phrase a lot when she was alive, such pretty paper--"

Vic turned to face Purple as he heard the window curtains swish, but they were already gone. Huh. Sneaky. 

Now, he is standing in front of the door of the hotel room where Green's family is staying. He bent down and slipped the envelope underneath the door. He left as soon as the deed was done. He didn't see the purpose of knocking. 

As he left though, a clamor of voices could be heard as the envelope was ripped open and its contents read out loud. 

Green's letter

My dearest siblings,

I first want to say that I am excessively sorry for abandoning you that night in the restaurant. I know it was absolutely awful of me to leave you in the hands of the King's Men as I fled for my life. I am hoping you all could forgive me. 

I was saved by one Crazy Old Vic, the one who told me and Second that story of the Assassin Prince. He knew all the ways in and out of the city and managed to help me slip away before anyone knew I was gone. Then, I was picked up by Purple, a former servant of the Palace, and they carried me to a faraway castle in the mountains to stay until the King has stopped looking for me. 

And, oh, I swear he has been nothing but gentle and kind towards me! He makes sure that I am safe, comfortable, and well-fed always! There is this music room in the castle and we have been writing music together. And we would talk for hours and hours about our lives, and I have definitely talked about you guys to her, and she has shared details of her life to me! We both became really attached to one another, and I so, so wish that you could meet her because I think you would love her too. 

I am sorry I have been silent this whole time. Apparently, the whole point is for me to lay low so that the king would stop looking for me, and then arrange for my homecoming as safely as possible. I know you must be angry with me, but it was for your own safety that you didn't know all these things. 

I am excited to say that I will be returning home soon! We are currently waiting for the snows to lessen before we could start making the trek back, in which case, we will hike back down from the mountains and back to you! I have missed you all so much. 

Purple asks me to add on that this letter must not make its way to the King's Men, which I agree with. I don't think they would be pleased to find out I am still alive and breathing. But I am enthusiastic to assure you that that is the truth! 

I haven't told Purple this, but I have added a lock of hair as proof that I am still living. They and Crazy Old Vic will make sure this envelope is delivered to you. 

With all my love,

Green

Second, Yellow, Red, and Blue

Blue had trouble picking up his jaw as the final words of the letter hung in the air, the implications of what he had just read out loud blowing his mind.

Yellow has not blinked for over a minute, scanning and re-scanning each word over and over again. 

Red's face was a torrent of emotions from disbelief, to joy, to anger, to sadness and confusion. "I-I can't believe this," she says tentatively. "Green is... alive?"

The three of them turned to Second, who is pacing nervously back and forth muttering, "no, no, no, no, no, no...." Eventually, he sat down on the sofa, burying his face in his hands. An odd laughter slips out of his mouth as the Red's words sank in. "Ha, hahahaha, haha. So Green is probably alive. Ha ha."

Tentative, Blue approaches Second. "If this letter is true, then perhaps--"

"I don't know," Red buts in, placing the letter down on the table as she walks towards the sofa with Second. "I don't buy it. All of this sounds really implausible really. Crazy Old Vic squirreling Green out of the city? Without telling any of us for weeks? Even though he knew we were all looking for him? Like, forget all of those details about a castle in the mountains, the fact that Vic neglected to even let us all know ANYTHING feels absurd!"

"But Green tells us--" Blue cut in.

"The letter says that Green had to lie low so that the King would stop looking for him. Did he have so little faith in US that we would vouch for his innocence in front of the King?! The Green that we all know and love would have been sending letters to us from day 1, not weeks, not months AFTER THE FACT!" Red's voice has risen to a shout at the end of her sentence.

"But this is her handwriting," Yellow speaks up, gesturing at the letter. "I have looked at each letter in each of the words. This sounds like Green, and looks like something that Green would write. Even the smudges at certain parts of the paper look like Green's, especially when she writes quickly, look!"

Blue and Red lean over for another look at the letter, and Blue nods. "This is really hard to disprove," he says to Red.

Red pursed her lips. "Second," she asks, turning to him. "What do you think?"

"I-I don't know!" Second cries out loud. "I want the contents of the letter to be true, but... I don't know!! I fear this may be a trap somehow."

Blue spoke up, "Green mentioned a lock of hair."

"Yeah, she did." Second held up the aforementioned item with a haunted look in his eyes. "This is exactly what the Assassin Prince sent us after he supposedly killed Green," he said hoarsely. "The Assassin Prince, if what Vic and the king told us about him is correct, is a merciless being who left no one alive, and left very few remains. A bloody murderer who ravaged the city before King Orange came to the throne."

"But you told us that Vic has been spared by the Assassin Prince," Blue remembered aloud.

"Yes, but the Assassin Prince is only allowed to spare one life throughout his reign," Red replied. "He already used it on Vic. So Green very likely would have been killed by the Assassin Prince. It is the simplest explanation."

"It doesn't explain the handwriting, however," Yellow said. "Forgery is incredibly difficult to pull off and this is undeniably Green's."

"Maybe the Assassin Prince forced him to write the whole spiel before killing him off," Second murmured aloud. "That probably explains the smudges in the paper that came from writing so quickly." Second got up from the couch, and reached for the letter on the table. "This letter is a wild goose chase, or worse, a trap. Some kind of twisted cat-and-mouse game. I'm going to burn this letter in the fireplace."

Yellow swipes the letter before Second could grab it. "All we need is someone to corroborate the narrative. If we can go find Vic, we can ask him if at least some of these details are true. Green does not lie. If Vic can confirm his role in the story, then we know that the rest of the parts in here must be true."

"Just forget it, Yellow!" Red growled, lunging at them. "We have already planned to set sail for the Winged Castle by noon tomorrow! It will be impossible for you to go find Crazy Old Vic and ask if he really did do a thing SEVERAL WEEKS AGO!! It's absolutely crazy, Yellow!! Why can't you see that?!?"

Yellow shrank from Red's words. Blue placed a hand on Yellow's shoulder. "I'll help Yellow find Vic," he declared simply.

"You won't have enough time," Second said. "Even if you two searched the entire city from top to bottom, you won't be able to find Vic and get his side of the story by noon to set off with us to the Winged Castle."

"But if Vic agrees with the story, then Green is alive," Blue points out. "We won't have to go on this pointless revenge quest! Come on Second! Teal is using you for his own personal gain!! He played your grief--our grief-- like a fiddle in order for you to do his bidding!! If this letter is true, then we can call off the entire thing and we can stay home--"

"NO!!" Second roared at Blue. "WE ARE GOING TO THE MOUNTAINS AND THAT IS FINAL!! TEAL HAS ALSO LOST SOMEONE HE LOVED TO THE ASSASSIN PRINCE!! HE KNOWS THE PAIN WE ARE IN!! HE IS TRYING TO HELP!! WHAT ABOUT THAT CAN YOU NOT SEE, BLUE!!"

Blue set his lips into a thin line. Sharing a glance with Yellow, he then responded, "Then we're not going with you, Second."

"What?" Second's voice was suddenly quiet from shock. "Blue, Yellow, we need you as part of the plan!"

"You're going to have to go on without us," Yellow replied, holding the letter to their chest and avoiding Second's eyes. "We wish you the best of luck on your journey. Stay safe. Come on, Blue." The two stick figures filed their way outside of the hotel room, slamming the door with a bang.

Red looked to Second, her eyes brimmed with tears. "We just lost Yellow and Blue," she whispered.

Second put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "Once the threat is taken care of, no one will ever have to fear for their families' lives ever again, do you understand?"

Red nods, too upset to speak. She runs off to her own bed, and Second walks away to his. 

Second slept fitfully, trying to ignore the sounds of Red crying herself to sleep.

Yellow and Blue

Yellow and Blue walked in silence down the hallway, neither of them really able to speak after what just happened.

Just as the both of them started going down the staircase, Blue gently taps Yellow's shoulder. "Do... you want to talk?"

Yellow turned to him, tears in their eyes, still clutching the letter to their chest. They shake their head no, but they sit down on the steps, beckoning Blue to sit next to them. Which he does.

Blue begins stroking Yellow's head as it leans against his shoulder. Soon, Yellow buries his face in Blue's shirt and begins to cry. "I'm so scared," they say, voice muffled. "Second and Red are going on a wild goose chase and they don't even know it."

"I know," Blue manages to whisper, his own throat tight with tears.

"Do you think we could be making a mistake by cutting ourselves out of the mission?" Yellow asked, sniffling.

"No, I don't think so," Blue whispered back. "I never wanted to be a part of it. I don't trust the King's Men. I do feel somewhat frightened though; someone needs to make sure that Second and Red aren't going to be hurt by them."

"Second and Red are the strongest fighters out of the two of us. Red and Magenta can take each other on with hand-to-hand combat. Teal and Second are evenly matched when it comes to their sword-fighting abilities. Teal even admitted so himself."

"What about Bone?" Blue asked, concerned.

"I doubt Bone could do all that much without the other two. Not a lot of chairs to throw high up in the mountain." Both of them softly laughed at the thought.

Blue gives Yellow a handkerchief, and they wipe their eyes and nose clean. "We have to find Vic. He has the answers we need," Yellow says hoarsely. Their eyes betrayed them though, by slowly closing despite Yellow's efforts to keep them wide open.

"Not now." Blue gently picks up the sleepy Yellow and starts walking back the way they came. "Tonight, we are going to go sleep. Maybe here in the hallway. I highly doubt the hotel staff would come up here this late at night. We will wake up early to go to the Flying Pigs Tavern, and ask where we can find--" He was interrupted by the sight of Yellow falling asleep in Blue's arms.

Blue walks up to their hotel room door, and rouses Yellow just enough so they can use their key to reenter their hotel room. The living room is vacant, implying that Red and Second have already gone to their rooms to sleep.

Blue places Yellow on the sofa. Tucking a lock of hair behind Yellow's ear, Blue yawns and says, "good night, Yellow." He collapses onto a nearby armchair and is asleep nearly instantly.

Chapter Text

Yellow and Blue

They wondered why they didn't try this first. 

They walk into the Flying Pigs Tavern, where Second and Green have seen Vic for the first time. This was done after asking multiple city residents if they knew where to find Vic, and the answers have been inconclusive. 

Since it was daylight, the sleepy-eyed bartender was not busy serving drinks, but has mainly been wiping down the bar where he works as he yawns. Upon seeing Yellow and Blue approach him, he says, "the bar is currently closed. Come at a later time." 

"We're not here for a drink," Blue starts. "We are here because we wonder whether you could help us figure out where Old Vic might be."

The bartender pauses in his work. He looks up at the both of them, suspicious. He clears his throat and replies, "I don't know anything about Old Vic and his ways. No one does." 

"Please," Blue pleaded. "We need his help. In finding our sister." 

The bartender scoffed. "She's dead, isn't she? You gave her a nice funeral." 

Yellow took out the letter. "There was never a body that was recovered. And, we just received a message from her that says she is alive." 

The bartender reacted in shock, mid-yawn. "Sounds like a pretty terrible prank to play on you. Are you sure--"

"Positively sure." Yellow asserted. "I would know Green's handwriting even if I was half-blind. Also, forgery is an incredibly difficult craft. A stranger wouldn't know to get the left-hand smudges right." 

"Okay," The bartender leaned his elbows on the bar, hands interlinked. "What could Crazy Old Vic have to do with all of it?" 

Yellow hands him the letter. "It says that Vic helped Green escape the city after the King's Men attacked her in this establishment."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember." The bartender grumpily picks up the letter and reads through it. He chuckles from disbelief. "What in the--"

"I know it sounds crazy!" Blue interrupted. "But Green does not lie to any of us. We are hoping to find Vic to see if--"

"--he actually did what this letter says he does," the bartender finishes. "I... I don't know how to feel."

"Please," Blue pleaded again. "We don't have anyone else to turn to."

The bartender sighed. "Alright," he whispered intensely. "Just come by here early this evening and Vic should be here. I will let you guys get inside the staff bathroom for some privacy and because the bar can get pretty loud. Promise me you won't ask him to do anything that would directly put him in danger.

"Because, and I cannot stress this enough, if anything happens to Old Vic, I will kill you. He's already been through a lot, and no amount of diamond blocks can replace my old friend. Understood?"

"Of course," Yellow and Blue responded at once.

The bar was loud and crowded when they came back to the Flying Pigs Tavern. Yellow and Blue had to carefully weave through groups of people who came in to order continuous rounds of drinks. They came wearing hoods hiding their faces -- they didn't want to be recognized and openly pitied by the entire restaurant.

Just as the bartender promised, Crazy Old Vic was there, slumped over a glass. He jolted awake when Blue placed a hand on his shoulder. "Eh! Oh, it's you. Goodness. Scared the living daylights out of me." He turned to the bartender, who nodded, and then Vic turned to Blue and Yellow and said, "follow me around back."

Yellow and Blue, as quietly as they could followed Vic to the back of the establishment where the smelly, cramped staff bathroom is. Vic locked the door behind them as soon as everyone was inside.

"So," Vic started. "My good bartender tells me that you have something important to discuss."

"Yes, we do." Yellow replied. "We are here because we want to confirm whether or not the events here are true."

Defensively, Vic folded his arms. "Events? What do you mean by that?"

"Did you or did you not lead Green out of the city the night that King's Men attacked in this establishment?" Blue demanded, his voice edged with impatience.

Vic spat in the sink. "I am not at liberty to say."

"What?!" Blue asked in shock. "Why?!"

"I don't HAVE TO explain a single diddly thing to any of you! Not to regular citizenry! Not to cowards! And NOT to cowards who align themselves openly with the so-called King's Men," declared Vic resentfully and dramatically.

"But we are not part of the King's Men!" Blue protested.

"Oh REALLY? As if I didn't see you piling all of your supplies into that-there fancy ship that with the King's Men written all over it?!" Vic pointed out, which filled the two of them with guilt. "Yeah, you didn't THINK I would see that?! Brainless, silly cowards, the both of you!"

Blue's face crumpled. Now what do we do? Vic clearly doesn't want anything to do with them.

Yellow, however, is less cowed by Vic's words. "The King's Men ship left this morning. If we were with them, we would have been on board by now. What proof do you need that we aren't with them?"

Vic shrugged. "I mean, unless there is some kind of letter that you have--oh!" His words were interrupted by Yellow taking out Green's letter, tucked securely in its envelope, and showing it to Vic. "Well, I guess we are getting somewhere, eh? You sure the King's Men don't know about this?"

"I wouldn't be handing this to you if they did, would I?" Yellow replied.

"Hmph! Alright, then you barnacle. Let me have it." But Yellow yanked the letter from Vic's hand as he reached up to grab it. "What the--"

"In Green's letter," Blue starts calmly, "she states that not only is she alive, but that you were the one who saved her life that night that the King's Men attacked. The reason we have come to you is because our other siblings believe that this letter is a ruse. So--"

"If I reveal what I was doing that night," Vic completed. "You'll be able to confirm whether or not the letter is real." He chuckles. "Well, it seems that you already know the answer."

"What? But we're here because we d--"

Vic waved away the rest of Blue's statement. "If you believed that the letter is a ruse, you would have been sailing with the King's Men. Is that right?" Both Yellow and Blue nodded in reply. "But you're here instead."

Feeling like a broken record, Blue replied, "We're here--"

Vic again cut Blue off, "I know what you're here for. Don't need to keep repeating yourself. What I wish to know is what you plan to do with the information you have. That your sister might be alive. Your siblings and the King's Men are off sailing towards the mountains, no doubt on some revenge quest. You're not doing any sort of good sitting in this bar like, well, sitting ducks."

Yellow's shoulders drooped. They actually didn't have a plan in mind. They never let themselves go that far. So they were surprised when Blue stepped up and replied, "We wish to stop our siblings and the King's Men from making a terrible mistake. They plan on doing some extreme damage to the Winged Castle in order to crush the Assassin Prince inside. But if Green is alive, then perhaps we can stop them from killing her by accident!"

Vic smiled. "Well, that's some conviction alright! I like it!"

"But!" Yellow cried out. They turned to Blue and hissed. "What are you saying? Our siblings are already leagues ahead of us to the Winged Castle! We have no way to stop them in time--"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Vic interrupted. "I don't like side conversations! If we are going to trust each other, we're going to have to speak loudly and clearly to each other, is that so?"

Yellow squirmed, their face turning red. "Yes, sir."

"So do we all trust each other?"

"Yes," Blue and Yellow replied without hesitation.

Vic nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Since we're now trustworthy company, I will answer your question. Yes, I was the one who weaseled Green out of the city. She didn't want to go, mind you. But, she eventually agreed on account of staying alive. As for her still being alive right now? Well, Purple is not the sort to be giving me false letters to send. I think you can probably assure yourselves that that letter is a genuine, bona-fide, thing. 

"Now, luckily for the both of you, I have amazing hearing. It's how I managed to keep hunting despite losing an eye. I, in fact, know a way to get to the Winged Castle that requires no ship, that the King's Men know nothing about. It's fast, dirty, and underground. Might be crawling with creepers, zombies, skeletons and other such things. I can get you both through to the Winged Castle in about 5 days, 3 if you don't sleep.

"But you are all going to have to trust me, got it?"

Blue and Yellow nodded. "Alright," Blue spoke. "Where's the entrance to this underground path?"

"In the middle of the wood, a chosen birch. Meet me outside the club at midnight, and I'll lead you there--"

The door to the staff bathroom banged loudly. "Hey, could you finish up?!" The bartender shouted. "I need to pee!"

"I'm washing my hands, you filthy degenerate!!" Old Vic shouted back. He turns back to them, "what do you say?"

"Of course," Yellow and Blue replied at once. The three of them shook hands and exited the bathroom, excited for what is coming next.

Chapter Text

The ship is beautiful, with lots of painted details from the hull up to the gilded bowsprit. She is large enough to fit multiple cabins as well as a storage full of weeks' worth of food, weapons, healing potions, and tools to maintain her. The proud sails are white against the bright blue of the sky and taut against the wind. Rope ladders stretch from the deck up to the masts.

Bone is trimming the sails to adjust to the downwind. Magenta is placed at the crow's nest atop the main mast, keeping watch for any ships and landmarks in the distance. And Teal is at the wheel, navigating the ship toward the Winged Castle.

The day is also very fair. The sky is clear, the wind is strong, and the sea is smooth, dark blue tinged with green and crested with white.

Second

Day 2 of the voyage

Second breathed in the salty air of the ocean, trying to distract himself from the roiling anxiety he feels deep within with the details of everything around him.

Second and Red had come early to the ship, and begged the King's Men for more time for Yellow and Blue to catch up. Despite everything that they had said the night before, they still maintained the hope that they would still come and follow them.

All of the siblings woke up at around the same time, but they didn't really speak to one another. Second avoided looking Blue in the eye, and pretended not to notice Red's eyes are still puffy from sobbing the night before. He manages to lightly tap Yellow on the shoulder and whisper, "you still have a chance." But Yellow turned away without a single word.

Second slipped a piece of paper with information about where the ship is located into Blue's pocket, not really believing that they will change their mind, but not really wanting to let them go, either.

And so Second and Red came aboard and waited, and waited, and waited for Yellow and Blue to come aboard. They didn't. And the King's Men set sail, leaving Yellow and Blue behind.

Now, a day later, Red is still holed up in the cabins below, fighting off seasickness and unwilling to speak to anyone. And Second is forced to put on a brittle smile, and pretend that he is alright. This is for the good of everyone, he reminded himself. The Assassin Prince needs to be taken care of.

"Hey, Second! You look pretty glum! It's a lovely day out here!" Teal grinned widely as he momentarily stepped from the wheel, beckoning Bone to take over. Teal walks over to where Second is seated in the deck with his hands folded. "Feeling seasick already?" Teal teased.

"No," Second chuckles. "I have a pretty strong stomach, thankfully, for sea travel. I was just thinking--"

"Look," Teal says gently, gripping Second's shoulder. "There's nothing you could have done with them. It was their choice whether to stay or go, and they have chosen to stay behind. At least they are safe in the city. The Assassin Prince is ahead, and has no idea we are coming up to them."

Second smiled. Everything just felt more sure when Teal is around. "You're right," he replied.

"How about this?" Teal tells Second. "I will bring you some ale to wash down that sad face with, and maybe later on you can come up to the wheel. Navigate sometime."

Second smiled, shaking his head. "I know nothing about navigation--"

"Don't you worry about that, because I do. I will be your guide."

"I want to check up on Red--"

"I already sent Magenta to talk to her."

"Oh? Really, I--"

"Trust me," Teal pats Second's back and smiles. "She's got a gentle touch. On the outside, all of us King's Men have a sharp edge, like a sword. But deep down, you know we're all just sweethearts who just want to do some good for the world."

"If you say so,"

"I know so! Now, how about some of that good ale!"

Red

below deck, cabins

She rocked herself in her bed, the smell of vomit from a nearby bucket threatening to make her throw up again. Ughhh....

At least her face is dry now. The past two nights have been a whole crying fest, first when Green's letter--no, the possible trap--arrived, and secondly, when Yellow and Blue failed to make it to the ship on time. Gosh, I have been horribly weepy.

She has to be strong. She just has to be. Once the threat has been taken care of, she can--

I actually don't really know what I'll do after this.

What exactly would she do? Once she and Second came back and saw Yellow and Blue again? Could she go up to them and say that they have killed the Assassin Prince? And that Green is certainly dead? And that lovely letter was nothing but a trap? Yellow would never believe her, and the rift between them will never be healed.

She had spent the first day of the journey down in the cabin, flipping back to the last memories she has of Green, the lovely green dress with emeralds that she wore. She avoided thinking about the Assassin Prince when she did so; she doesn't want to mar the beautiful memories with thoughts of that monster.

She has to be strong. She just has to be. She has no other choice--

Someone is knocking on her cabin door. Red managed to croak, "Second, I don't really feel like going up--"

"It's not Second," a feminine voice replied. "It's me, Magenta. You don't have to come up if you don't want to, we just want to see how you are."

Magenta? What on earth is she doing down here? Shaking off her surprise, Red said, "Come in, I guess. Watch out for the bucket of puke."

"Okay!" Magenta opened the door and walked into the cabin, her face scrunching up at the smell. "Yep, that's unpleasant." She picked up the bucket gingerly, and set it outside the cabin.

She turns to Red, "so... want to engage in some one-on-one, special edition, girl-on-girl chat? The boys get so tiring sometimes."

Red couldn't help but smile at Magenta's strange choice of words. "I suppose, yeah."

Magenta plops herself next to Red on the bed. "Life's been really tough, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it really has been," Red whispered back. "I don't really feel like talking about it."

Magenta shrugged. "We don't have to." She tucked a hair behind Red's ear. "It's just that you have been, you know, holing yourself in here, not really interacting with anybody."

"I know," Red replied. "But after everything that has transpired between me, Second, and our two siblings, I really don't see how Second finds it within himself to just keep going as if nothing's wrong. Our family has broken apart. And I'm not sure this revenge mission will do anything to fix it."

Magenta sighs, leaning close to Red. "No. It likely won't," she admits. "And you probably don't want me to repeat Teal's song and dance about how when the Assassin Prince is removed, the kingdom would be safe." 

"No, I don't. Besides," Red adds with a bitter tone, "if the King's Men had known that the Assassin Prince was a threat for so long, why didn't you do anything until Green was murdered!?" 

"Because the Assassin Prince is under royal protection," Magenta spat. 

"W-what?" Red stood up, absolutely gobsmacked by what she heard. 

Magenta continued. "King Orange has been the one protecting the Assassin Prince from justice for all these years. In exchange for not attacking any of the denizens of the kingdom, King Orange keeps the Assassin Prince safe within his palace walls, where no one would expect a queenslaying murderer to be.

"In addition to that, the king feeds him, provides her an array of disguises to use, and spoils them lavishly to be kept sated at all times." Magenta takes out a small knife and begins twirling it and fiddling with it in between her fingers. "The King's Men, on the other hand, are largely ignored, given standard issue uniform that may or may not even fit, and provided substandard weapons, despite being peopled by the king's own subjects."

Red felt stunned and absolutely betrayed. "...I had no idea that the king is so corrupt. I am so sorry." 

Magenta places her arm around her. "We are just ordinary people, Red. Ordinary people who only wish for the king to be relieved of his expensive burden, and to actually turn his clever head towards benefiting the people that he rules over.

"I cannot tell you about Teal's backstory, but I can for myself and Bone. We were just a couple of street kids, growing up listening for the wingbeats of the Assassin Prince and trying to find places to hide during the night after begging for food all day. Neither of us knew our parents, and no one really looked after us. It was a hungry, miserable time. 

"At some point, about five years ago, Teal found us, took us in, and recruited us into the newly-formed King's Men. He was the one who trained us, and helped us make use of our talents. He spoke to us promises of making the world a safer place. And we aspired to be the best recruits anyone has ever seen. 

"But over the years, we have basically been like sitting ducks, our precious talents and weapons going to waste as the King pretty much forgot about us. While the Assassin Prince was waltzing in and out of the Palace, unknown, untouchable, and undetectable amidst the hundreds of servants in King Orange's Palace. 

"I don't know how Teal managed to figure out who the Assassin Prince actually is, but he did. And he has made tracking and planning on how to eliminate the Assassin Prince our main mission moving forward.

"The reason it all took so long? Aside from the pains of acquiring a ship and materials?We were basically waiting for the Assassin Prince to show himself, to screw up, so that we could finally have a reason to track him down. But she was too careful, so we had to resort to more drastic measures." 

Red understood immediately, "my brother's assassination. The king said that he never authorized you to go after him."

Magenta nodded. "The idea wasn't necessarily to kill your brother, but to bait the Assassin Prince. Someone like Green--popular, well-liked, and fairly wealthy-- would be very difficult to assassinate. Which means an enticingly high reward that they could never turn down. 

"We meant to draw out the Assassin Prince-- force them into the light so that justice will be enacted. That's why we came fully armed to the teeth. We never really expected to be fighting the lot of you." 

Red scoffed, "you could have communicated that better."

She shot her a hard glare. "It had to be believable. But in any case, that plan failed. Tragically. This whole thing? With this ship to the Winged Castle? This is Plan B. And we cannot afford to fail this time." 

Magenta got up and headed straight for the door, staring down at Red with a serious expression. "I don't know about you, Red. But this mission is worth more than anything to me. And I would do anything to make sure it succeeds. For the duration of this voyage, I will only ask that you think about what I have just revealed to you.

"But by the time that we begin climbing up that treacherous mountain, we need you to have your feelings settled. Is that clear?" 

Red nodded, unable to say a single word.

"Good." Magenta left, and the door closed behind her with a loud thud. 

Bone

Above-decks, some time later

The wind and the seas are beginning to pick up as the sky darkened into night. Bone, Teal, and Second are therefore inside in the captain's cabin. Bone is quietly preparing drinks and Teal and Second have been imbibing for a few hours now. 

"I, I think I drank too much," Second commented, laying his head on the table. 

"Well, looks like you're a bit of a pathetic lightweight," Teal sneered. Bone winced in sympathy towards Second. Teal has quite a mean streak when drunk. 

Then again, when Teal didn't feel the need to be charming, he is very often mean in general. 

"Mmmmhmmfff..." Second managed, clearly suffering from the effects of alcohol.  

Bone quickly passes Second some glasses of water. "Here's some water. To help." 

"I don't feel like drinking anything. But thank you." Second carefully sips a glass of water, clearly trying to avoid puking as much as possible. Which could get more difficult if the rocking of the ship gets more intense as the night went on. 

Someone is knocking on the door to the captain's cabin. Bone goes up to open it. 

There is Magenta, cranky as a wet cat as usual, followed by Red. Red seems a little wan after being seasick for a couple says but overall seems fine. "Oh, there you guys are," Magenta drawled resentfully. "You left us ladies to have to trim the sails after the winds picked up." 

"Sorry," Bone replied quickly to her. 

"Stop jabbering and come over here, little rat," Teal called out in response, but his drink blunted the meanness in his voice. 

"Hmph." Magenta walked over to the table and poured herself a glass of ale from the flagon. "Mm. This is good stuff. Thanks, Bone." 

Bone smiled. At least someone appreciates what he could do well. "My pleasure." 

Magenta turns to Red. "Want some?" 

"No, thank you." Red grimaces at the sight of Second laying his head on the table. 

"Well, since everyone is here and accounted for, why don't we go over the details of the plan once we disembark from the ship?" Teal started. 

"Shouldn't we do this later? Or tomorrow?" Bone asked tentatively. "You and Second are very drunk, and Magenta is very... waspish."  

Teal shrugged. "No time like the present. What do you think, Second?"

Everyone turned to Second for a response. He groggily picked up his head and replied, "A-Alright, I guess." 

"Good." Teal took out the map and laid it out on the table, holding the corners down with empty glasses. "This ship voyage was expected to take three and a half days, but with the winds as they are, we might arrive on shore by early light. Which is great, as we'll be able to reach the foot of the mountain by midafternoon tomorrow." He traced his finger across the map as he spoke. "When we disembark, we will take our swords, pickaxes, our beds for the night, flint and steel, three days' worth of food, our explosives, and nothing more. This mountain can be very unpredictable, so it is absolutely imperative that everybody brings nothing but the bare essentials. We can cut down trees for wood and mine for coal as we climb up the mountain so we can make torchs but otherwise-- do not add unnecessary weight, got it?" 

Everyone round the table nods at Teal's words. 

"Now, the mountain climb will take us two and a half days. It is important that everyone take caution. There are snowbanks, caverns, and caverns that are hidden by snowbanks. There will also be monsters, especially on the early part of the climb where there are more trees where the spiders can hide. Creepers will approach on all levels of the mountain, but we need everyone to be on guard and alert.

"I know where there are caves where we can stay the night, so that wouldn't be a problem. Since hardly anybody is up on this mountain, we won't need to have to have anyone staying up to do first watch--"

"But the Assassin Prince could find us," Bone pointed out. "And snipe us in our sleep." 

Teal was quiet for a bit, and then added, "This is why stealth on this trip is essential. If the Assassin Prince were to suspect us coming, we will have already failed. Therefore, we must be as quiet as possible. To avoid both alerting the Assassin Prince and causing avalanches." 

"Wait--" Second cut in. "Avalanches?"

"Yes," Teal deadpanned. "A regular occurence on the mountain. Best to be avoided if possible."

"What do we do once we have arrived?" Magenta asked, wishing to get to the meat of the plan. 

Teal grinned with anticipatory glee. "We will set the explosives in different parts of the mountain. We blow up the Winged Castle from within, crushing Purple inside like an ant." 

"Wait--Purple??" Second cries out. She and Red shared a glance and a silent conversation played out between the two of them. 

"Oh, we must have forgotten to provide that one tiny detail," Teal drawled. "The Assassin Prince goes by the alias Purple, one of many invisible servants within the Palace. I know her well. We grew up together, you know." 

"And it seems," Magenta adds on, studying Red. "That that name seems to be familiar to you."

Red and Second shared what seems to be a desperate glance, with Red giving them a barely perceptible shake of her head. Second finally spoke up, "During Green's last concert, palace servants came selling treats. Purple was one of them." 

"Ah. I see." Neither Teal nor Magenta seem entirely convinced by this statement, but they decided not to push it. 

"In any case, we know exactly who to chase after. So! Come morning, we disembark with our necessities, we march onto the mountain, we climb, and we blow up the monster. Is the plan clear?" 

"Yes!" Bone and Magenta cried out, raising their fists. Red and Second had also raised their hands in the unison, but had noticeably not made a sound. 

Whether Teal noticed was not shown. Bone picks up the glasses holding down the map, and Teal rolls it up in a sweeping, graceful motion. "Alright then, team. To your cabins!" 

Second

Purple. 

He could hardly believe what he has heard. Still couldn't believe it as the cheers of the King's Men was blurred out in his half-drunken haze. 

He remembers Purple. He remembers the stoic palace servant who seemed really embarrassed to accompany a frankly deranged fan at the end of Green's last performance. He remembers how Green blushed upon mentioning them. That couldn't possibly be the murderer... 

He remembers the letter. Even though a good part of him still believes the letter a ruse, Green still seemed so open, so effusive in praise of Purple. I wish you could meet her, so you could love her too... 

And wasn't the Assassin Prince midnight blue? That must have been years ago maybe. Wasn't he-- 

He needed out of the captain's cabin. He needs the fresh air. He needs the storm. He needs the loud claps of thunder to clear out his intoxicated mind. 

Second rushes out of the captain's cabin out onto the deck. It is nighttime, and though not stormy, it has already begun to rain. Hard. 

The rain drenches Second almost instantly. He falls to his knees as he processes the revelation.

Purple was the murderer. 

Purple was the murderer. 

Purple killed Green. They tricked her into believing that they were friendly, and then they killed her. 

An explanation of Green's death began to form in his mind. Purple must have come during the chaos, promising escape to Green. Green follows them, trusting them completely. Then, they-- 

Raw, aching sobs wrenched themselves from Second's chest, as he heaved with grief, betrayal, and rage. 

He feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see Red right behind him. Her eyes are set with the same determination as his are. 

"I'm going to kill them," Second swore aloud, his throat still filled with tears. "I'm going to kill them."

"We are." She replied. 

Chapter Text

Yellow, Blue, Vic

Deep underground

Vic is right about the first part of the journey. It was fast and reckless and dark.

When they met Vic there at the decided birch in the forest, he directed the two of them to dig downwards into the dirt near the roots until they have reached a tunnel. Yellow and Blue did so, and once they found that the ends of their shovels were dangling in a hollow space, Vic pushed them both, and the two of them fell down into an old mine-cart deep inside the tunnel. Vic jumped in after them shortly afterwards, as the two of them got their bearings of their surroundings.

Aside from the meager light from the torch in Blue's hand, the tunnel is dark and stretched long in both directions. Aside from the hole that they fell through which Vic quickly patched up with blocks of dirt, there is no wind, no indication that the tunnel that they are in has an exit somewhere.

"This is an old mine-shaft." Vic explained. "The original entrance of which collapsed a long time ago. Bad mining accident. Since nobody comes here anymore, I and someone I used to know expanded this tunnel to stretch to the Winged Castle." 

"What happened to them?" Blue asked. 

Vic grunted. "No more sad questions, you nail-biting pigeon. Hiyah!" 

And so they set off, the minecart loudly hurtling into the darkness, with Vic going by sound and memory alone to make turns in certain parts of the track. Yellow could barely keep up with the directional changes in the relentless sameness of the track that was illuminated by Blue's torch and the otherwise oppressive darkness. Were they going left or right? Were they going north or south? Only the sensations of their body rattling against the minecart told them if they were going up or down. 

"Are you sure we are going in the right direction?" Yellow yelled above the clattering of the minecart wheels against track. 

"Sure as the rain that hits the earth, you faithless worm!" Vic yelled back. "Open! Your! Damn! Mind!" 

Yellow's stomach dropped as the minecart lurched upwards into a sharp incline. They and Blue clutched each other, preparing for the drop. 

However, the minecart slowed to a stop, causing Yellow and Blue to relax. Phew. Are they here already? 

Vic grunted, slapped the back of the minecart, and it veered down a sheer drop, with both Yellow and Blue screaming. 

The trip continued this way, at high speed with sudden turns, inclines, and drops. Blue accidentally bit his tongue several times during the trip. He passed the torch for Yellow to hold as he tried to reach for the healing potions in his hotbar. 

"What are you doing?" Vic reproached as he saw Blue's arms moving through his inventory. "You're going to get us hurt!" 

"Vic! I am bleed--" 

"Doesn't matter!! We are racing at high speeds, you are going to do something RECKLESS!!" 

Blue's inventory is racing faster than his hand could keep track. He eventually got hold of an object that is small, cool, with a glass surface. "Wait, I think I got it--" 

Thud! The minecart has just hit something, the force of which knocked the potion out of Blue's hand. It splashes into the cart, the scent overpowering all the passengers within, forcing everyone to shut their eyes. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Blue kept saying. "I am so sorry!" Once the scent has lost its power and Blue is able to open his eyes, Blue gasped with wonder. "Wow!" 

Yellow and Vic tentatively opened their eyes as well and also expressed surprise. "Whoa!"

Blue had mistakenly splashed down a Potion of Night Vision. The track is illuminated in front of them, leading to a fork where the tunnel diverged.

Unfortunately, they could also see what the minecart had hit. An obsidian block.

"Well, this is unfortunate," Vic muttered. "Let's see..." He hopped off the minecart, stepping over the obsidian block, peering down the tunnels. 

Blue reached down from the cart to break the block, but just as he did so, Yellow spotted a lever on the tunnel wall. Blue followed their line of vision and reached up to try and stop them. "No--"

It is too late. As if in a trance, Yellow pulled the lever. 

Pistons came flying at them all at once, trapping the two of them with thick, sticky cobwebs. Yellow and Blue struggled, but found themselves not able to move very much. 

Hisses in the left tunnel of the cave alerted them to a very immediate danger. An enormous cave spider crawled out of the tunnel, salivating at the meal in front of him. 

Panicked, Yellow and Blue struggled harder, but found themselves being wrapped tighter and tighter in the cobwebs. Their voices became muffled as the cobwebs became more restrictive. 

"Hey!" Vic's voice cut through the twines. Yellow and Blue could hear the sound of a crossbow being loaded. "Back off!! Those are my friends you got trapped in here." 

The cave spider hissed angrily in response. "They disssturb the quiet. They mussst be eaten." 

"Don't eat us," Vic pleaded, and for the first time, Blue could hear the fear in his voice. "Please." 

"It won't take long," the cave spider hissed. "They will continue to struggle; the web will tighten. It will cut off their air and they will ssslowly and ssslowly perisssshh. And die..." 

Still seeing the bodies twitch, Vic swallowed hard and yelled. "Relax! If you scrawny grubs keep struggling, you will choke and d--" 

The cave spider chuckled. "You cannot sssave them, Vic. Why bother? You have alwaysss been the lone hunter. You can continue to your dessstination alone. You don't need them." 

The cocoon of cobwebs that used to be Yellow suddenly became very still. It collapsed in front of Vic. 

"N-no," Vic stuttered as his blood ran cold. 

The cocoon of cobwebs that was Blue, already still, collapsed soon after. 

"No!" Vic cried.

The sound of the cave spider salivating forced Vic to turn away from the bodies. Too late-- the cave spider knocked the crossbow from his hands and pushed him aside. "You will be eaten lasssst. Goodbye, lone hunter and friendssss." 

The cave spider then sliced one of the cocoons open. A still-alive Blue burst out, surprising the cave spider with an uppercut to the mandibles. 

"Ach!" The cave spider cried out, giving Blue the time to retrieve his diamond sword and tear Yellow out of their cocoon, who already has a flint and steel ready. They lept out of the sliced twines, ready for action. 

The three stick figures encircled the cave spider, who seemed greatly annoyed that his meal came back to life. "Fine. Have it your way, then." The cave spider retreated back down the left tunnel, leaving everyone alone. 

Vic rushed towards the two of them. "That was a real spooky fright! Are you two ok?!"

"Yeah, we're fine." Yellow responded. "I'm sorry about the lever. I don't know what came over me then."

"This tunnel is booby trapped everywhere." Vic replied. "This is why I didn't ask for Night Vision potions and simply tolerated you guys holding the one torch. Everything you see is meant to deceive you. You have to go by sound alone."

Blue, who was clearing the cobwebs from the minecart with his sword, approached Vic, "the cave spider called you the lone hunter. Did the two of you meet before?"

"Well, yes," Vic replied. "His bark's worse than his bite given that he is so old, but he is still really wily. Wily enough to have you smart fellas wrapped up in his web."

Blue cringed from Vic's words. "So then why didn't you leave us? You know the tunnel well enough to traverse without us. And we've just caused trouble."

"Well, for one, you can't save your sister if you're dead. But two-- do you know how many stick figures in that city would kill to be the two of you right now?"

"Picking cobwebs out of our skin?" Yellow asked.

"No. To know that your sibling is alive. And well. And to have the chance to rescue her from harm." Vic replied. "The Assassin Prince is known to be very bloodthirsty and brutal. Almost no one survives meeting him. And too many people died because of him.

"I have been to many funerals throughout my life. I have seen heartbroken people beg for the chance of seeing their family members again. They don't even get a body to bury sometimes, just a few scraps like you.

"To have the chance that you two have, to bring your loved one back to life, is absolutely precious. And I want to be a part of that. And I want you all to be alive enough to see it."

Yellow's eyes have become misty at that point. "Th-thank you."

"Alright," Vic said as Blue cleared the last cobweb away from the minecart. "Enough talk. We still have a lot of track to cover." Everyone clambered into the minecart.

Once everyone is seated, Vic turned his face towards the right tunnel as the effects of the Potion of Night Vision finally flickered out. Then, they hurtled themselves into the comforting darkness.

Chapter Text

Green

It is loud in the Winged Castle. The sounds of scraping and heavy objects being dragged up and down stairs as well as other construction noises filled the stone walls. Holed up in the library, Green plugged his ears and tried with limited success to read the books in front of him.

After weeks of dancing around the topic, Purple finally launched their renovation of the upper floors of the west wing of the castle.

Green was the one who brought it up. He had been looking longingly at the stairs leading up to the upper floors above the one containing his rooms, dying to see all that was up there, to see what could possibly be there that Purple was hiding. He had asked her several times, of course, and Purple would reply very tersely, supplying him with one-word answers like "mold", "termites," "silverfish," and the usual "structural problems". All that would successfully deter Green from investigating any further into the upper floors and their mysterious contents.

After much questioning and prodding, Purple finally gave in and told Green that they were going to start renovating that part of the castle. The words filled Green with joy, that is until he was told that he was NOT allowed to help out. "But why?" Green asked Purple.

"There are a lot of old items, and they would require all of my attention to keep in good shape. I won't be able to look out for you if you're there," Purple explained simply.

Green huffed. "I am NOT helpless!! I understand that you feel obligated to keep me safe, but I am willing to help!! My siblings have always said that I am a fantastic decorator!"

Purple chuckled. "I bet you are. But this is something I would rather do alone."

"With the villagers, I bet?"

"With the villagers' help, of course. Why don't you go to the library for a little bit? Wait for me, won't you, Green?" Purple gave him a soft peck on his left temple then rushed upstairs to start with the renovations that Green reminded them to do.

Very soon, the castle was filled with noise. About three hours in, Green is pacing around in the library; his anxiety, boredom, and overall frustration mixing into an obnoxious brew. He tossed the old books around, unable to concentrate on reading deeply what with all the noise. He sat with his back against one of the bookshelves, letting out a deep, unsatisfied sigh. He wished he slipped one of the flutes from the music room to keep himself occupied. Green and Purple had hit a snag in their music writing lately, and the ideas were running dry. If he is going to be forbidden from helping, then he might as well try to solve the problem that he could solve.

A loud crash caused Green to leap to his feet. "Purple!" He raced towards the library door, terrified by the prospect that Purple could be hurt. His shaking and sweaty hands took a bit too long fiddling with the locks on the door, which he finally managed to pry open, upon which he was shocked by the scene.

Purple had fallen on the landing of the stairs. They are wincing in pain, their foot trapped under a fallen heavy chest. Upon seeing Green, their eyes widened and they sucked in air through their teeth. "It's not that bad, Green. Just a sprained ankle."

"But you're in pain! Here, let me help." Green squatted down to pick up the heavy chest, freeing Purple's foot. "There we go," Green murmured, rubbing his lower back as soon as he set the chest down beside him. He turned to Purple, whose grimacing face had gone pale with pain. "Are you sure it is just a sprain?" His voice is barely above a whisper.

Purple let out a cry of pain. "I don't know," they admitted. "Call one of the villagers, please. I feel nauseous." Green did just that, and a villager immediately came running up to them with a potion of healing, which he brought to Purple's lips. "Drink," he told them. Purple obliged, their throat undulating as the potion made its way into their body. Their shoulders relaxed, and Green knew that the pain had lessened somewhat but that Purple would still need a place to lie down for the healing to take effect. He turned to the villager. "Could you and some other villagers help Purple up the stairs into my room? We will also need some bandages, a splint, and some ice packs for the injury." The villager gave a stiff bow, then headed off to get some other villagers as well as supplies for the injured Purple.

"You don't need to be doing this--" Purple started.

"You're hurt," Green interrupted. "This situation absolutely necessitates me being here for you."

"Alright then," Purple gave Green a tight smile. Seeing a group of four villagers rushing back. "I want the villagers to carry the chest to the room with me if you please."

"I don't think the villagers are strong enough to carry both you and the chest." Green pointed out.

"Please," Purple's eyes were getting wet, and Green knew he could never say no to them like that. Sighing, Green picks up Purple, bridal style. When the villagers picked up the chest, they all made their way to Purple's room, picking their way through the discarded items littered on the way. Green bit his lip as he navigated through the mess, cautious to avoid stepping on anything that would cause him to trip and drop Purple.

A couple of villagers soon joined the group, sweeping away the mess so that Green could traverse more safely. "Thank you," Green told them.

Finally, they made their way to Green's room, where Green gently laid Purple down on his bed as the villagers set down the chest next to the bed. It is at this point that Green allowed himself to take a direct look at the injury, and flinched. Purple's ankle is twisted, heavily bruised, and inflamed.

"Looks bad, doesn't it?" Purple murmured. Their pale face is wet with sweat. "Don't worry, I've faced with worse."

"Sorry, I have never been good at looking at terrible injuries without reacting. I just don't know how Blue does it."

"Don't apologize; I find that part of you really refreshing." The villagers come up to Purple with the bandages, splint, and ice packs and begin treating Purple's broken ankle. Purple cries out in pain, squeezing Green's hand. "Sorry. I'm crushing your hand."

"Don't think about it." With his free hand, Green opens another potion of healing and brings it to Purple to drink, which they do greedily. Once the bottle has been drained, Green picks up a napkin and wipes the stray drops from their lips and chin, ignoring the indentations left by Purple's nails on his skin.

After some time, Purple's foot is properly cast, elevated by a rope stretching from the ceiling, and Purple no longer looks to be in agony. The villagers file out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"How do you feel?" Green whispers to Purple.

"I feel somewhat better." Purple replied. "Hey, I never asked you-- were you able to read much anything while I was renovating?"

"Eh, because of all the noise, I wasn't able to read much. But I did become somewhat curious-- did you have a favorite story growing up?"

"Oh, there's a bunch," Purple's voice trailed off as they tried to come up with a good answer. "Tell me if you have heard this story before: The Chosen One and The Dark Lord?"

"Oh, the two demigods?" Purple's face lit up as Green responded. "Second used to tell me that story all the time! Their love story would bring me to tears! The two of them are so... awesome!!"

"They are," Purple's face has a wistful, faraway look as they recalled the tale. "Oh, I used to just sit here, listening to Crazy Old Vic as he told me about how they rose up and defeated their cruel creator god, bringing him to his knees! That story got me through a lot of pain back in the day."

"At least you had your mom," Green offered.

Purple winced. "She was dead by the time I heard the story."

"Oh--I'm so sorry. I--"

"It's okay. You didn't know. My entire life was taken away from me when she died. I was dragged here into this castle, so wrapped up in my grief and fear that I couldn't think straight. I cried for weeks on end. If it weren't for Vic, I probably wouldn't be alive."

Green is speechless. This is the first time Purple has spoken about their life after their mom's death. "You don't have to talk about this--"

"But I want to. You're special, Green, I want you to know more about me.

"I think mainly I keep all that to myself because the life I had before was very, very different before she was killed. People perhaps wouldn't believe me if I told them what I used to be, compared to who I am now-- a faceless servant of the King. And no one wants to talk about the dark days before the King took the throne."

"What do you mean, who you used to be?" Green is taken aback by Purple's words. "You were someone else before?! Who was your mother!?"

Purple's eyes gleamed with eagerness. "Open the chest." They point to the one that they begged Green to bring with him. "Please." They hand a small gold key to him.

Taking the small key with his shaking hands, Green gingerly knelt down in front of the chest, unlocked it, and gently raised the lid. A gasp left his lips as soon as he saw the contents. Within the chest are beautiful gems and gowns in various shades of pink and made of rich and expensive fabrics. He picked up the gown at the top of the pile and read the tag aloud, his voice shaking with disbelief: "Belonging to her Majesty the Fair Queen Orchid, long may she live. Purple, does that mean--"

"Queen Orchid was my mother. Before she died, I was the prince of the kingdom."

The gown slipped from Green's hands as the shock settled in. "Vic never mentioned anything about a prince."

"What?"

"Before I was attacked by the King's Men, Vic told us a story about the Assassin Prince. That he killed the Queen, and subjected the kingdom into chaos and violence. H-he--" Green struggled to find what to say next, his mind still spinning from the revelation.

"As far as the kingdom knows, I died the same day as my mother. I grew up sequestered in the Palace, so not many people knew about me anyways," Purple replied.

"This is a lot to take in," admitted Green. Questions overfilled his mind. What happened to him? What was his life like as a prince? Who took care of him? How did a prince end up as a faceless servant of the King?

"I know. I'll probably not say much more about my past, but I will tell you this," Purple squeezed Green's hand. "We all did horrible things in order to stay alive. I did horrible things to stay alive--"

Green waved the rest of their words away. "Whatever happened is in the past. Anything you did, I would never hold against you. If anything, I am blown away and overall honored that you trusted me to tell me all of this." He tucks a curl of hair behind Purple's ear. "You are a prince among people, you know that? Crown or not, I would follow you to the rest of my days." He takes Purple's hands to his lips and kisses them.

Purple's face is flushed, chest heaving with shock at Green's words. Tears begin to fall from their eyes. "Thank you," they manage.

"Of course." Green replies. "Anything for you, your Highness."

Chapter Text

Purple

Due to Green's and the villager's good care as well as the strength of the healing potions, the sprain in his leg was mostly healed when Purple awoke the next morning. The angle of the sunlight in his room tells him that it is just past dawn, meaning that Green is probably still asleep. That's good. I need some time alone to think about it.

The confession from last night is still fresh on his mind. Purple stares up at the ceiling, feeling excited, nervous, and relieved all at once. It felt absolutely surreal when Green found out who he was. A part of him feels quite sure that he has dreamed it. But he knows that the events of last night were real, so real. He continues to lie on the bed for several minutes, basking in that precious feeling.

Turning his head, he sees a couple of bamboo stick crutches by his bedside table. A note from Green reads, "Carved them last night. For you." The bright green color of the crutches are what entices him to get out of bed. Purple gets up, and clumsily removes his cast foot from the rope levitating it from the ceiling, and pushes himself off the bed with the help of the crutches. The grip is smooth, and fits his hand perfectly.

Purple makes his way down to the bathroom, which thankfully is in the same floor as the bedrooms (he isn't sure how to navigate stairs with the crutches yet). As he went through the motions of his morning toilette, Purple noticed that his arms still ache. For a minute, Purple couldn't recall what happened yesterday, but then the answer came to him, clear as sunrise. Oh yeah, the renovation. Trying not to strain his arms too much, Purple begins to brush his teeth.

A slight hope begins to rise within Purple. Maybe he could tell more about his past to Green, really tell him the truth, not just the happy memories from childhood when his mother was alive.

Maybe he could tell him--

No. never. Purple thought firmly as he finished brushing his teeth and splashed cold water on his face. I can never tell him that I am the Assassin prince. Ever. I can't. He thinks of Green's face, how it always lights up whenever he sees him. Her affectionate hugs and kisses. Her lovely words and voice.

He isn't the Assassin Prince when he is with Green. His past seemed to melt away in her presence. Being with her made him feel like something new, something clean rather than endlessly spattered in blood whether or not he could see it.

Would Green still love him if he found out that he is a despised murderer? The question grips his heart like a vise. Purple dries his face on a towel, trying to stem his growing anxiety.

Suddenly, the walls of the bathroom felt too small, the ghosts of the past slipping in. Purple picked up the crutches to rush out of the bathroom, and gulped down some deep breaths in the hallway. But the cool mountain air did little to calm him down. I need something else. A hot bath maybe? He reenters the bathroom, determined to keep his mind quiet.

Purple's bathtub is rather simple, a wooden basin made from trapdoors. He fills it up with hot water, just hot enough to soothe his aching muscles. Pouring a mixture of ground up flowers and some potions, he works the bath to a nice, opaque lather. He steps in, careful to keep his cast foot outside of the tub, and immediately his muscles begin to relax underwater. Ah. This is it. Purple closes his eyes, and tries to relax.

But the what-ifs keep haunting him. Green floats into his mind, trusting and loving. He tries to imagine forming the words, saying it. I am the assassin prince. Months ago, I was assigned to kill you in cold blood. I have killed many, many people.

Green's loving expression turns rapidly into shock. Her eyes dart to his hands and her face pales, as though she too could see the blood of his many victims. Her arms, once outstretched to Purple so openly, now protectively wrap around her body. Her expression becomes hardened, and the warmth in her eyes snuffed out. Bitter tears roll down her face.

"How could you?!" she screams at him, her face a mask of fury. "You monster!"

Purple tries to speak to defend himself, but his tongue could barely move. "Please..." is all he manages to say.

"No...you are not the person I fell in love with at all. You deceived me and sucked me dry. How could you?! Especially when you know how your mother died."

"Please! Green, stop, please--"

"No... you don't deserve anything," she continues. "You are worse than a heartless liar. You murdered all these people, and yet you still somehow hold onto this delusion that you are worthy of redemption.

"You're an assassin prince. You sit on a lonely throne. By sword you have won it, and by sword you shall lose it." Green's voice isn't speaking anymore. It is someone older, a figure in the past he wanted to shut out forever. "Useless little ghost."

Purple dunks his head underwater, which has become considerably cooler since Purple stepped in it. It is enough to shock the old Assassin prince's voice out of his head, but not enough to remove the pain from what he just imagined. Purple begins to sob, his salty tears mixing with the bathwater. 

He's right. I don't deserve anything. I'm lucky just to even know Green, let alone love him.

Even if it kills me, I am never telling Green a thing. Never. Last night will be the last time I confess anything.

I can't lose her, Purple thinks as he scrubs the tears from his face. I just can't. I want to spend nearly every moment I have with her, however short it may be.

I never wanted to be the Assassin Prince. But that doesn't change the fact that I am. If Green ever finds out--

No, I just have to be careful. Make sure he never does, because I don't know what I'll do to myself if she does.

Purple closes his eyes, feeling somewhat in control with this resolution. Squeezing his wet curls, he begins to wash his hair.

Purple and Green

close to an hour later...

After some time, Purple gets up from the bath, dries himself off, and goes back to his room with his crutches. Seated on his bed and putting on a fresh set of clothes, he is interrupted by somebody barging into his bedroom door.

"Oh! There you are!" cried out a chipper voice. Green. Purple knows he probably should be upset at Green barging in, but after weeks of living together, he doesn't mind. "Good morning, Green."

"Did you like the crutches?" Green's face is aglow with excited anticipation. Those bamboo crutches took a long time to get right.

"Yes, thank you. They really helped," Purple replied, gesturing to the crutches propped up against the dresser.

"Wonderful. Do you need help with anything?"

"Pfft, nah, I am good. I just had a soak, that's all." Purple blushed at the memory of Green bridal-carrying him to his room. If only his body wasn't in so much pain that he hadn't been able to savor it. But he supposed that the existence of the crutches meant that he probably can't ask him to do that again anytime soon.

Green lingered in the doorway, his concern and love making him look so awkward and sweet. Purple thought for a minute and said, "you know, it's just, my hair. My arms are kind of tired from the renovation yesterday. Would you mind--"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Green jumped up, grateful to be of some help. He quickly picked up a comb and quickly assessed the task. "Still damp, and beautiful and healthy." He picks up a heft and begins to brush it as gently as he could.

"Oh...." Purple could hardly hold back a gasp of sensory pleasure as Green's fingers ran themselves through his curls. So gentle and present and loving -- all of those words Purple could say about the musician himself.

After a handful of strokes, Green suddenly hit a snag. Noticing a slight grimace on Purple's face, he whispers into his ear: "Is it too much? Let me know if you are in pain or want to stop."

"No, keep going, please." Purple replied. "I haven't had anyone do this for me in years." Memories of his mother brushing his hair threaten to resurface, causing Purple to swallow hard to get rid of the lump forming in his throat. Purple focuses on the sound of Green putting down the comb, and the feel of his fingers easing the snag into nothingness.

"That should do it," Green murmurs. "How are you feeling now?"

Gosh, what did I do to deserve such sweetness and softness? Purple swallowed hard again and replied, "better, thank you." His hair feels so soft and looks rather pretty in the mirror.

"Alright then," Green replies. After some more brushstrokes, Green put down the comb, and began weaving Purple's hair into braids. "If only we had some flowers," he mused aloud to Purple. "We could have woven your hair into a flower crown."

"That would be lovely, I suppose," he replied softly. Green's tones are loving as usual, but it is clear that he spent the night fantasizing about a prince, and some discomfort rose up inside of Purple. "Green, I--"

"I just feel so excited, like we could go any which way you'd like. As you've said, you haven't had anyone do your hair in ages so I'm thinking--"

"Green, please I just--"

"I mean, we could play around with this, make something really lovely out of this. I know! Why don't we open the trunk of your mother's stuff and have you put something on--"

This is too much. "GREEN, JUST STOP IT!!" Purple got up out of his chair and turned to Green, his face burning with anger and shame. "Just stop it!!"

Green's eyes widened in shock. This is the first time he'd seen him this distressed. "Purple, I'm sorry, I--"

"I don't want you treating me like I am some prince, okay?!" Purple tossed the comb into his bed, and grabbed the crutches to lean on. "I haven't been one in years, Green. I work for the palace now, and just look at me!"

"I see nothing but a beautiful--"

"Don't you dare call me a prince!" Purple yelled, his body shaking. "I don't deserve it. Not anymore." Besides, if you knew what actual prince that I am, the bloody kingdom that was thrust upon me, you would use the word as a curse, too. Like everyone else does.

"I'm sorry, Purple. I got ahead of myself and ended up hurting you. We'll stop right here." Green held up his hands in surrender, and Purple couldn't help but think of so many who did the same, hoping the Assassin Prince would be merciful.

Please! We have done nothing wrong. Take all the valuables in our house if you must!

I have young children, don't do this to me--

My spouse, what will happen to them now?!

There's so much blood! Too much. I really am going to die, am I?!

Timid pleas turned into horrified screams all too quickly. And there was so much carnage.

So much carnage.

"Purple?" Green's voice cut through the melee of the past. "It's me, Green. You're safe in your room in the Winged Castle. You're having a traumatic flashback."

Purple grasped onto the sound of Green's voice like an anchor through the storm. This storm, this terrible, terrible--

"... now breathe in deeply. In, out. In, out. That's good."

The memories are beginning to fade in intensity, Purple begins to become more grounded to the present.

"... if you can, Purple, do you mind describing your surroundings to me?" Purple stammers the answer as best he can.

Green continues to speak as calmly as he can, repeating his words over and over, threading Purple through the maze of memories, and after several minutes, it passes. It passes. It passed.

Purple came to with his body shaking and clutching onto his bed sheets, breathing deeply and heavily. Green is standing across to him, his own face furrowed with worry and pain. "Purple, are you--"

Purple shook his head. "I-I got sucked back into the past. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Green scrambled for any words of comfort he could find. "Purple, it's okay. I'm here. So long as we're together, nothing is going to happen--"

"You don't know that, Green. I can't afford to lose you, and, and the things I would do if I did-- the things I have done. Green, you would have every right to hate me--"

"I swear on my whole life, Purple! I could never hate you! You are the kind person who took me in, a wanted criminal in the king's court, and took care of me all these months. You have my loyalty and heart forever!!" Green's voice has also becoming pleading.

Purple breathed hard. "There's a lot you don't know. You barely know anything, Green."

Green's shoulders sink. "Perhaps not. But I am willing to stand with you, no matter what happens. You have my word." Green slipped his hand into his shirt, and pulled out a small flute. On it, he plays a small excerpt of one of the songs he wrote.

"He and I, they and I, she and I. We're as like as two grapes in the vine." Purple recited perfectly along with the music. "You really believe so?"

Green cups Purple's face and says, "absolutely." They jump into each other's arms on the bed, and as the room filled with golden morning light, the two of them indulged deeply in reveling in each other's presence. Hungry kisses and buttons unbuttoned. Shirts pulled over each other's heads. Tangled limbs and breathy love declarations.

It was an eventful morning, all things considered.

Unbeknownst to them, a small cadre of stick figures are making their way up the mountain. The leader, a teal-colored stick figure, grinned has he took in the view of the peak.

Deep underground, another small group of stick figures are trudging their way up from within the mountain. The mine cart has long since been abandoned, forcing the crew to climb up with their hands and feet. A gray hollowhead stick figure waits at the top of a ledge within the mountain, grasping the hand of the yellow stick and pulling them up. The blue stick manages to get up shortly thereafter.

Both groups look upwards, hoping against hope that they find who they are searching for.

And they are almost there.

Chapter Text

Red

above decks

The mountain loomed high in the distance as the ship docked to the narrow shoreline at high noon. She breathes a sigh of relief. It had been a hard 4 days at sea, and she will finally be on solid land.

Magenta and Bone are below decks, gathering the last of their supplies. While the seasickness has not entirely gone away during this whole trip, Red thought it would be better if she were above decks, taking in the view of the destination for the first time.

She adjusts the strap of her pack piled high with supplies. It is an adapted shulker box with an inventory full of torches, sleeping gear, potatoes, carrots, and milk buckets for the trip. She also has a sword and shield on the ready for any monsters ahead.

Second grins at her, his pack similarly filled with necessary supplies for the trip. She doesn't recall what his pack contained, but she knows that everyone has their share of supplies to help last the whole trek up to the Winged Castle. "How are you feeling?" he asks her.

"Slightly queasy, but I am feeling okay. How about you?"

"I feel so ready." His gaze is fixed onto the mountain, as though imagining that the Assassin Prince could come flying out at any second. "I just wish--"

A sharp whistle from Teal caught their attention. Magenta and Bone clamber above decks, struggling to keep steady with their packs on. Red cringed upon seeing Bone shoulder the largest pack out of all of them.

Teal straightens up from leaning casually from the main mast as he addresses the whole group. He has the lightest pack of the crew, shouldering his burden easily as he juggles a spyglass expertly in his hands. "Alright, crew! We have just embarked on the more difficult part of the journey--the trek up the mountain. Just ahead of the narrow strip of sand on the shore, there is a thick forest ahead. The forest here is filled with monsters and has very little light, and the path to the mountain and up the slope is circuitous and very well-hidden from outsiders.

"Fortunately, you have me as your guide to help weave our way through to the Castle. But everyone needs to do their part to help the journey be a success and to reach the base of the mountain by nightfall. Magenta -- you will be walking alongside me and keeping an eye out for threats as we march our way through the forest. Bone and Red -- you will take up the rear, taking out any monsters that might sneak up on us."

"What about me?" Second asks.

"I was just getting to you," Teal responds. "You will be communicating with the front and back half of the crew to keep things going as smoothly as possible. Also," Teal opens his pack and shoves a bunch of torches into Second's arms. "You will be laying down the torches to keep our path lit and safe from harm."

Magenta narrows her eyes at him. "Wait, why can't you do that?" she asks. "You're the one who's going to be in front."

"I will be reading the map and guiding us up the mountain, you little rat." Teal shot back, a sudden strain of irritation in his voice. Magenta quieted, but her lips thinned to a narrow line, her eyes filled with rage.

She turns to Second, hissing, "you better watch. Teal hates the dark and is claustrophobic. This nice guy act he put up the last few months? He's about to drop it."

Second

What's going on? Second wondered as the group began moving through the forest, with Red and Bone at the rear with their swords and bows ready for any threats that might approach them from all sides.

He places down the torches, spacing them so that the pile of torches would last longer, constantly looking back as he walks to ensure that Red and Bone have caught up to them. Zombies and skeletons gathered around them, and Bone and Red would sometimes lose track of the rest of the group when the fighting got more intense.

Second chose to stay behind, and let Teal and Magenta move on forwards while he waited for Red and Bone to get back to them.

"Don't worry about us, Second." Red said eventually when he stood waiting for the two of them to catch up after another pack of zombies caught up to them for the third time. "We are both strong fighters, and your torches help us find the path again."

"I don't want to lose anyone," Second replied.

"Second, could you tell the rest of them to please hurry up?!" The unvarnished harshness in Teal's voice is out in the open now, deep within the thicket of oak trees and thorny bushes. "We have a mission; you can't keep chasing every zombie that decides to dawdle in."

Second bit down the words that he wanted to say to Teal, but he turned to Red and Bone and said, "We have to keep going," as calmly as he could.

Red's eyes flashed with anger. "We're trying. Maybe Teal could help kill a zombie or two?"

Bone shrugged, and then said, "Teal could if he wanted to; he has an enchanted netherite sword. Never told anyone where he got it from."

A netherite sword?! Wait didn't the--

Red's words interrupted Second's thoughts. "Just tell Teal that we're doing our best, and we are following the torches you leave behind. Here," Red picks up a torch that Second placed earlier and hands it back to him. "I'll even pick up the torches so that you still have more. Your pile is looking low."

"I have more torches in my shulker pack, Red," Second replied. "I'll tell him what you said, but we have to keep going." The two nod grimly and they continue down the path.

Second runs up to Teal. "Teal, they--"

"I heard what they said." Teal replied, with a sharp edge to his voice still. "Tell them to use their bows more, and to aim better."

"Their arrows are going to run low."

"We have the supplies, Second. Just tell them to fight better." He flapped the map in irritation, shooting Second a look of coldness that he had never seen before.

The group continued going deep into the forest, as the day got closer and closer to night and the tree cover blocked out more and more sunlight.

At one point, Magenta approaches Second and takes a torch for herself, grumbling that Teal is going to have them walking around in circles if he insists on reading the map in near-total darkness.

Eventually, it became clear that they weren't going to start climbing the mountain by nightfall. Even though they managed to get closer to the mountain, there was still a lot of distance left to cover, and the group was already exhausted. 

"Let's stop." Second pleaded. "We should camp for the night. If we keep going, we will be swamped by all the mobs of the forest and we may lose our lives here."

Teal turned to Second with disgust. "We are running out of time," he growled. "We keep going!"

Second had it. He just about had it. "Look, I don't know what it is with you today, but throughout the entire march towards the mountain, you've been acting like a total stinkbug. You've treated Bone, Magenta, and Red like mindless minions and--"

"I SAID WE KEEP GOING!" Teal roared at Second. "THE MORE TIME THAT WE WASTE IN THESE DEEP WOODS, THE MORE TIME THE ASSASSIN PRINCE GETS TO ESCAPE!! DON'T YOU SEE!!" His voice is raised to a high, terrified pitch, and Second could see that the woods were beginning to get to him. Teal breathes hard, seating himself down on a nearby boulder on their path, tossing the map to the ground.

Magenta picks up the map and holds the torch close to the map so she can read it. After a while, she says, "There's a clearing near here where we can set up camp."

"We are not setting up camp!" Teal barked. "We will march over to the Winged Castle by morning, so help me!"

Magenta straightens her spine and holds the torch right up close to a corner of the map. "One more word from you, and this map burns."

Teal's face becomes pale. "Magenta, you wouldn't."

She calmly sets a corner of the map on fire. "Oh, would you look at that, it's burning."

Teal lunges at Magenta who tosses the burning map to the ground at Second's feet. As the two of them attempted to strangle each other, Second fumbled through his inventory and his shulker pack, looking for any water buckets that could extinguish the fire. He tried blowing on the map in the meantime to put out the tiny flames, but they only grew and got hotter.

Red stomps her foot down repeatedly on the map in an attempt to smother the flames, but then stops and curses under her breath as the fires got out of control. Second could only watch as the map burns right in front of him.

Bone gets a water bucket and splashes it onto the map, but it is too late. The torn remains of the map are charred and unreadable.

Teal begins to hyperventilate, screaming "NOOOO!!" He throws himself at the map's wet remains, which continue to disintegrate in Teal's fingers. "No, no, no, NOO!!"

Teal takes out his diamond sword from his inventory and swipes at Magenta. "I should have killed you on the spot, you useless rat! I swear I will--"

"WAIT!!" Second screams, putting himself between the two King's Men. "Not all hope is lost! I memorized the map! I know where we could go next!"

Teal lowers his sword, the fire in his eyes tamed slightly. "You what?"

"He's telling the truth!" Red pipes up. "Second has a photographic memory, and he spent the night before looking at the map and memorizing it in case anything happens!"

Teal grabs Second roughly by his shoulders. "Very well, then. We will continue on our way up the mountain. It appears that some of you aren't so useless after all."

"No," Second replies. "I refuse. We set up camp tonight. We climb in the morning."

Teal points his sword at Second's throat. "Don't you dare disobey me now."

Second squares his shoulders and barks back. "I am not one of your King's Men, and I don't work for you. We are equals. We are setting up camp. Besides, if you kill me, you lose the map for good."

Teal lowers his sword and sheathes it, knowing that he has been beaten. "Fair enough." He turns to Magenta and Bone. "We are going to follow him to the clearing. You two set up the tents, and I will get the fire going."

The clearing is wide enough for a couple of tents to be set up, one for Second and Red and the other for the King's Men.

Bone and Red mark the boundary of the clearing with torches and keep watch for anything that may come and get them. Teal sets up a campfire at the center of the clearing. Both Second and Magenta work on getting the tents up.

"I suppose I should thank you for saving my life," Magenta mutters as they complete putting up the first tent.

"Um, you're welcome." Second replies, already unloading supplies for the next tent to be put up.

"I mean it; you're too kind for Teal."

Second decided to ask her something that had been bothering him earlier when he had last spoken to Bone. "Does Teal actually have an enchanted netherite sword?"

"He does," Magenta replies, hammering down some stakes. "I know it would have been helpful earlier, but he's saving the use of it for someone special."

"The Assassin Prince."

"Precisely."

"It's just that, aside from the Assassin Prince, I have not heard of anyone who wields a netherite sword, let alone an enchanted one." Second explains.

Magenta nods her head in Teal's direction, who is trying to get the flames on the wood pile to grow. "Ask him about that then. He knows more about netherite swords and assassins than anybody." When Second refuses to move, she rolls her eyes and adds. "I can set up these tents in my sleep. Just go."

Second approaches Teal, who is deeply focused on his task. He clears his throat to get Teal's attention. "Ahem."

Teal turns to Second. "Hello. Any more messages from the rest of the group?" The rage in his voice isn't completely gone, but it is much calmer than before.

"No," Second replies. "Just a message of my own. Why do you have a netherite sword?"

"Hm. So you've heard about my sword. I'll show it to you." Teal smiles and takes out a netherite sword from his inventory. It is as black as the night sky and shimmers with an unnatural purple light. The flames of the campfire are reflected on the glass-like surface of the netherite blade almost perfectly.

Second sucks in his breath. "Wow."

"You want to know how I got it?" Teal asks softly, his pride banishing any remnants of the enraged Teal from before. "I looted it from the dead body of the former Assassin Prince. The one who murdered the Queen."

Second began to blink rapidly, taking in the information all at once. "Wait, what? The old Assassin Prince? You mean that--"

"Oh, I see I must have overestimated what you knew about the Assassin Prince that we are currently hunting down." Teal smirks at Second as he says, "You must have thought that the Assassin Prince who slaughtered your sister and the Assassin Prince who slaughtered Queen Orchid are the same person."

Second nodded in response. In his defense, there was no reason for him to believe otherwise.

"Interesting, interesting. Well, I can tell you right now that that is not the case. The old blue-as-the-night sky Assassin Prince has been dead for years before you and your family arrived."

Second's mind is crowded with questions. "But then, how is there a new Assassin Prince? Don't they know what happened to the last one? What did happen to the last one? What--"

"You ask nearly too many questions," Teal interrupted, but he continued. "The Assassin Prince is a very old title. Older than the kingdom that King Orange rules over, which Queen Orchid once ruled over and her parents once ruled over. It isn't like a monarchy in which the eldest children are immediately assumed as heirs to it. Oh no. The method of ascension is much bloodier than that.

"The only way for someone to become the Assassin Prince is to slaughter the last one and to survive the two weeks of the bloodbath afterward as other assassins attempt to take them out as well. Their main weapon is the one that they used to kill the Assassin Prince. For the old one, it was this very sword. For the current one, it is poisoned arrows shot straight from a crossbow. A poison so quick and undetectable that you won't know you've been poisoned until it is too late."

Second finds himself shivering, despite the warmth of the campfire. "D-did you kill the old Assassin Prince, then?"

Teal laughed mirthlessly. "No--clearly, no. That would make me the Assassin Prince, wouldn't it? No, I tried to, but I know the one who did. And he was the one who gave me this sword. I suppose they thought that they could paper over their crimes with gifts. But she killed my father. There is no forgiveness for that.

"One day, I will kill Purple with this sword, and see the last of the Assassin Prince line bleed out at my feet. I will have my revenge. And you will have yours." Teal leans close to Second as he whispers, "I know I was rough with you earlier, my friend. But when your destiny is so close that you could taste it, it will drive you crazy, Second. I am driven mad, absolutely mad by how close we have her at our fingertips.

"I have slaved at the feet of our king for years as he hesitated to take a single step to slaughter him. Because to kill him is to acknowledge that the Assassin Prince still exists. That the monster isn't gone. Green's death won't be for nothing, Second -- it forced him to realize that decisive action has to take place. I only have you to thank for all of this.

"Remember that, Second. I am not a kind person by any means. But I am grateful to have you working with me. With your sword and mine, we could bring justice to our families, to our world."

Second could feel the heat from the campfire become uncomfortably hot on his skin, as the flames had grown bigger and hotter as he and Teal spoke. "You're welcome," is all Second manages.

"Teal," Second turns to see Bone standing behind him. "We have a problem. A villager has approached the clearing."

Teal sheathes his netherite sword and takes out his diamond one, handing it to Bone. "You know what to do."

Bone nods and takes the weapon. Second turns to Teal, horror settling in. "Wait, wh-what are you--"

"Just watch." Teal says. Bone approaches the villager, who seems to be a trembling fletcher who is a little worse for wear, and brutally and efficiently cuts him down on the spot.

"No--" Second began to cry out, but Teal covered his mouth with his hands.

"Shhh... don't cry. Bone just ensured our safety by killing that villager. This entire island is swarming with villager spies that could report us at any moment to the Winged Castle." Teal whispers. "This is a brutal world we live in, my friend. Either kill or be killed."

Chapter Text

Yellow and Blue

The tunnel has hit a dead end. 

Yellow and Blue heard Victim ease himself out of the minecart. "This is the hard part, friends." Victim says. "That is, getting up the mountain. The minecart took us a good part of the way up, but the rest is up to us now."

Gulping, Yellow takes ahold of Blue's hand as they step out of the minecart, stretching their legs and arms for the next leg of the journey. 

As soon as Victim knows the two of them are right next to him, he tells them. "Look up."

They do, and they see a tiny hole of light far above them. Is their destination truly that close? 

Victim taps Blue's shoulder. "If you got any more of those Night Vision potions, that would be greatly appreciated." Blue nods, and splashes down a Potion of Night Vision, illuminating a huge rock wall with all the hand- and foot-holds that will help them throughout the climb.

Blue also tosses Victim and Yellow some muted orange potions. "These are Potions of Slow Falling. That way, we don't risk breaking our necks if we happen to fall down."

"That's mighty nice of you, pigeon." Victim tells Blue. "But this climb requires both of our hands and feet to make it up. Meaning, we likely won't have the ability to reach into our inventories for a potion should anything happen in time."

"Oh," Blue replies softly in realization. 

"I'll hold onto mine," Yellow says, keeping the potion in an easily accessible place in the hotbar.

"As will I," Victim adds. "But never you fear-- we won't have to climb the whole way up. Going the whole way up leads to the front gate of the castle. There's a trapdoor a little over halfway up that leads into one of the lower floors of the Castle.

"Now, let's get climbing, shall we?"

Yellow

About a third of the way up

"Who do you expect we'll see when we get to the Castle?" Blue asks Yellow. 

"Green, of course." Yellow replies. "That's why we are going, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Blue replies, fitting his foot into a crevice in the rock wall they are climbing. "But the thing is Second and Red are also heading to the Winged Castle because they expect to see the Assassin Prince there." 

"Well, they are chasing a made-up killer and Green is still alive. So there." Yellow grabs a hold of a hand-hold that was almost out of reach and grunts as they pull themself upwards to the next hand- and foot-holds. 

"So you think finding Green alive disproves the existence of the Assassin Prince." 

"Well, isn't it obvious?" A strain of irritation has entered Yellow's voice as they paused to explain. "The only proof we have that the Assassin Prince returned is that he supposedly killed Green. But Green wrote to us directly, proving that he is alive. Therefore, the Assassin Prince hadn't killed him. Therefore, the Assassin Prince must not be real. Because the only piece of evidence we have for his existence is irrefutably false."

"I don't think the Assassin Prince is something any person could make up." Blue replies softly. "Victim looked like he truly meant it when he described those funerals." 

"Well--maybe the Assassin Prince existed back then, but that doesn't mean that he exists now." A nauseous feeling arose in Yellow's stomach. "And I would rather not talk about it."

Victim

The faithless worm really thinks they know it all, don't they. 

Victim sighs as he pulls himself up to the next footholds. And pauses. He is some yards ahead of the two young spry sticks, who don't seem to be all that experienced in climbing up rock walls. 

He wishes he didn't know anything about the Assassin Prince. Either one. Especially the one that took his eye from him all those years ago. He resists the urge to touch the patch over his eye. 

Enough, he tells himself. At least the young one isn't so brutal.

Purple enters Victim's thoughts. A figure forever tense and wary. Eyes that occasionally flash with hardness but whose voice is very soft. 

Victim didn't get to know Purple before Queen Orchid's death. He really only has one memory of Purple then: the sight of the young prince skipping alongside the queen, laughing as his arms spilled over with candies and flowers. 

He only really got to know Purple during the horrible afterwards. 

He remembers those years spent in that hellhole of a Castle, the shivering cold dungeons and the relentless sobs of a child who had just lost their mother. 

He was dragged to this Castle--not through the tunnel, but genuinely up the cruel mountain--not long after Purple was. Apparently, she had not eaten or spoken much since the moment she arrived. He was instructed to force the teenager to move somehow.

It was not an order given out of tenderness. The teenager had been handed over to the Assassin Prince to work as a servant, and a weeping princess still in shock did not make for a useful one at that. 

Victim assumed that the task would not last very long. He had not known at that moment that the Queen had died, since the news had not yet broken out to the kingdom. The Queen's cousin, a tall orange-colored stick, had taken over responsibilities when the Queen fell ill and would have said something if something dire happened. Surely, if the depressed kid with the shorn head in the cell next to his is the heir to the throne, the Queen would send an army to storm the castle and Purple would be rescued and Victim wouldn't have to look after her anymore.

So, in the next several weeks, he would gently urge Purple to simply take one bite and swallow of the thin gruel served to the both of them (honestly, the gruel was very unappetizing; he doesn't really blame Purple for choosing not to eat). Every time, Purple would be reluctant, but every bite was a victory, and Purple's hunger often took care of the job for him. 

"Keep your head up, kid," Victim would tell Purple. "One day, your family is gonna get you out of here. You'll see."

Every day was a new version of the job. Teach Purple how to scrub floors (more like they taught each other and themselves; Victim wasn't too great at it either) clean of the dust, snow, mud, blood, and vomit that the old Assassin Prince tracked in with his dreadful gray wings and iron boots. How to mend broken weapons and torn clothing. How to not jump and shriek at every spider (that one took a while, poor thing).

Months passed by and summer hardened to winter. No rescue mission for Purple came. The weeping had dwindled in volume within the first couple of weeks, but Purple's face had also become pale and drawn, and there were permanent dark circles carved beneath their eyes. For the most part, Purple seemed numb, just putting up with following the orders to avoid having any attention being drawn to him from the Assassin Prince and anyone else.  

One night, when the winds blowing past the Winged Castle were especially brutal and cold, he heard a knocking on the wall that separated his and Purple's cells. "Victim," a small voice spoke. "It's me, Purple. I need to talk to you."

Victim nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Purple's voice. Though Purple ate reliably now, Victim had at that point never really heard the kid speak outside of desperate murmurs while they slept, let alone to him. He walked up to the barred window between their cells. "Wh-what about?"

"I told the Prince what you kept telling me. That there would be a rescue mission. I was angry at him because he kept throwing chicken bones and peels at me and calling me--"

"--I don't need to hear it." Victim was shocked by the vitriol that the Assassin Prince leveled at the teenager. He has no idea how Purple put up with it for this long. He had jumped in between them multiple times when the abuse got particularly heavy, but the Assassin Prince made it clear that if he intervened more insistently, he would make him blind in both eyes instead of just one.

"The Prince said that there's no rescue mission coming for me." Purple continued, their voice flat and subdued. "I had been declared dead for months now. My uncle himself was the one who declared it."

"But your mother, she never would have--"

"She's dead." The bluntness of the words took Victim aback and he wanted to say something, but Purple wasn't done speaking. "I watched her die right in front of me before I was taken here. No one is coming for me, and no one ever will. I'm nothing but a ghost. Even if I somehow came back, no one would recognize me. I might as well be dead."

Victim struggled to come up with anything to say next. What on earth could he even say to that?

The wind burst in, throwing open the heavy wooden shutters of the barred window of his cell. Shivering terribly, Victim attempted to close the shutters but the wind was too strong.

"P-please." Purple's voice pleaded through the wall. They could feel the cold ripping through the thin cell wall and through the barred window wnd was also shivering. "It's s-so c-cold."

"I'm trying!" Victim cried out. "The wind's too strong! Yer gonna have to hunker down for now!"

The both of them huddled as far as they could from the wind's icy blast, blowing on their hands and rubbing them to keep warm. 

After what felt like too long, the wind died down, and Victim was able to shutter the windows. He breathed a sigh of relief as he did so. 

Turning to Purple, Victim said, "That was mighty cold, wasn't it, Purple?"

"Y-yes."

"Now, you wouldn't feel that if you were dead, see?" Victim said in an awkward attempt of a joke. "Dead people don't feel anything. Living people feel everything." Victim heard a sharp exhale from Purple, and he knew the joke must have landed somehow. 

"All that cold wind," Purple muttered. "It just proves that we're still alive..." 

"Victim? Is everything ok?" 

Blue's voice knocked Victim out of his memories. 

Victim shook his head and looked around. Blue and Yellow have caught up to him and are already a few handholds ahead. 

"It's all fine. I was waiting here for the two of you to quit yammering and catch up. Doesn't seem like the two of you have experience with mountain climbing." He cleared his throat. "Let's keep going."

Blue shook his head. "Not yet." He reaches into his inventory and splashes down a Potion of Night Vision on Victim. "Now we can continue." 

The trio climbed up more of the mountain in silence, with all three of them progressing at a steady pace. 

Eventually, just as the second dose of the Potion of Night Vision was flickering out, Victim spotted a narrow ledge jutting out from the stone wall leading to dark oak wooden trapdoor. "Aha, here it is!" Victim yells out.

The three of them eagerly clamber onto the ledge, so relieved to be done climbing. Victim opens the trapdoor with ease, revealing a narrow tunnel, and he slides through. 

On the other end of the narrow tunnel is a small birch trapdoor. Through the birch trapdoor, he could hear villagers muttering and chatting amongst themselves, and could smell some food being cooked, and the scraping of utensils. Huh. The dungeons are mighty different from what he remembers. 

Cautiously opening the birch trapdoor and stepping out, Victim realizes that he had entered what seems to be a large kitchen. Villagers are bustling around, carrying vegetables, meats, and fruits. There are cauldrons filled with soup, smokers filled with meat, and wooden tables where the villagers are chopping up food ingredients.

"Well, this sure is weird." Victim muttered to himself quietly. 

Behind him, Blue and Yellow exit the tunnel and step into the kitchen, rubbing their eyes as they adjust to the sudden bright lights. "Victim?" Yellow asks aloud. "Are we in the Castle already?" 

At the sound of Yellow's voice, all of the villagers perk up and notice the three of them suddenly standing there. Deeply suspicious, many of the villagers angrily point their sharp cooking utensils at the intruders, while a few run off to raise alarm. 

Blue, Yellow, and Victim raise their empty hands up as a sign of peace. "Hey now," Victim starts. "We mean no harm, we just--" 

One of the villagers start attacking Blue, who was pilfering a few ingredients from the tables to nibble on. Surprised, Blue took out his sword from his inventory and acted quick to fend off the attacker. Yellow jumped in at Blue's defense, the villagers piled on in response, and the kitchen descended into an all-out brawl. 

Victim balled up his fists and attempted to fight off the villagers barehanded (he doesn't actually want to hurt them, really). But very soon, he found himself being held down by multiple villagers at once and being tied up. "Well, this is awfully ungracious of you lot," he snarled. "Just take me to the Castle's owner for goodness' sake!"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!?" A clarion voice shouted. 

Blue, Yellow, and the villagers paused in their fighting as they heard the voice. Could it be? 

A figure walked into the kitchen. A purple-colored stick figure wearing fancy clothes from a bygone age and moving with regal bearing. The villagers quickly cleared way as the stick approached the trio. 

Purple's eyes widened as he approached Victim. "Well, I didn't expect to see you come here, Victim. You hated this place."

"Well," Victim replied, struggling in the bonds the villagers placed him in. "Would you please let me go?"

Purple unsheathed a diamond sword that he carried with him, and expertly cut the bonds with a single swipe.

Victim rubbed his wrists as he stepped up from the torn ropes. "Thanks," he replied.

"Where's Green?" Yellow demands. "Is he still here?" 

Purple jumps back in shock as soon as he notices Blue and Yellow. "You must be here to see Green! Don't worry, he's fine!"  He turned his head to the doorway and called out, "Green, it's fine! You can come down now!" 

Blue and Yellow didn't wait. As soon as they heard footsteps, they ran out of the kitchen, hearts racing from the certainty. 

They crash into their long-lost sibling's arms, laughing and crying with relief. 

Green pulls away from the embrace first. "Where's Red?" Green asks. "Where's Second?"

"Um," Blue struggled to come up with anything to say. But a loud thud on the other end of the narrow tunnel catches their attention. 

"What's that?!" Green asks. Blue retrieves a diamond axe and breaks the birch trapdoor, and then takes out a pickaxe to carve through the tunnel. The rest of the stick figures follow suit.

There, on the narrow ledge, still reeling from the fall from the hole of light above, is a red-colored stick figure. She groans from pain and sits up unsteadily just as the stick figures begin to pour out of the ledge. 

"Red?" Yellow asks quietly, not believing their eyes. "Is that you?"