“Cirrus, Who is she?!“ King Cummulo questioned.

“She is my friend who shall be escorted out with no harassment father.“

Cirrus handed Drift over to Celeste and the pink-haired girl quickly headed out with the maid.  Celeste felt guilty about what was about to transpire within the castle as she left but, she felt it was necessary for her friend to be informed of what was going on.

Now with Celeste gone, everything began to unfold.

Cirrus stormed out of her room making her way down the halls to Raine’s room. The kings followed suit. She had made great headway and was able to beat the kings there. Once she made it there to her prince’s quarters, she hesitated to open the doors. As if time had stalled for a brief moment. She was aware that this was part of the answer. It could verify whether everything was a lie or the truth. Her heart raced and she wasn’t ready to know if her prince had indeed left. She hoped to see him laying in bed. His freckled face. Resting. Cutely snuggled underneath the covers to stay warm. Anything but an empty room.

She abruptly snapped out of her daydream after hearing impending footsteps and her dad call “Princess!“ 

They were closing in.

She pushed open the doors only to find...

A cold, empty room. 

It was clean and tidy and hadn’t been visited in almost two weeks. Not a thing left unkempt. Absolutely no sign of life inhabiting the room.

Dreaded emotions overwhelmed her. The kings watched the princess freeze in the middle of the room.

“Princess?“ they called. 

She collapsed to her knees distraught and in disbelief. She put her arms in front of her to steady herself.

“I-I can’t believe it...“

The two kings looked at each other and King Cummulo nudged Stratus to enter the room. 

How do i console her? Stratus thought. I wasn’t even aware of Raine’s plan myself.

“I’m truly sorry your highness, i wasn’t even aware of Raine’s--“

“Is he of sky or of ground?“ she immediately cut him off before he could finish.

“I’m unsure but, my prior knowledge of a similar event leads me to believe most likely of ground.“

“Is any of the royal transport missing?“

“No. We’ve checked and nothing is amiss.“

H-How? She thought to herself. H-He couldn’t have done this on his own. Someone else must know something.

The king couldn’t do much but just stand there awkwardly looking down upon the princess. He felt poorly seeing her in such a vulnerable state. Her flushed, tear stained face staring at the ground never turned to face him.

“Father, I wish to not hear anything more from him. His apologies on behalf of his son mean nothing to me.“

Her words cut through him. He’d never heard nor felt anything so cold coming from the Princess of Sky Atlia. She was always so warm, welcoming and happy-go-lucky.

“Your presence is no longer welcome here King Stratus. Guards!“ King Cummulo signaled for them to come in. “He is to return to his crumbling kingdom at once. Escort him off the premises.“

The guards swiftly removed King Stratus from the room. Which left only King Cummulo and Cirrus to talk.

“You disobeyed me by inviting that pink-haired girl over. I shall bar her from ever coming back to this castle.“

“You do no such thing! she is my friend!“ Cirrus stood facing her dad.

“Oh, is that so? Well, you have more important things to worry about than friends.“

“I can’t believe we are doing this after what i just found out about Raine!“ she shouted as the second round of tears began to fall.

The king backed down and consoled his daughter wrapping his arms around her while she wept.

“I want answers, but as of right now i wish to go to my quarters and be alone with my thoughts.“

--

King Stratus had made his way to his transport. But as he was chaffered back to his kingdom, all of the events that had transpired weighed heavily on him. His mind raced as well as his heart. The stress sent him into shock and he collapsed on the back seat in cardiac arrest.

“King!“ his assistant called out.