++ KYUUBEE ++ Kyuubee's eyes brightened up as Bellarino talked, his mind already trying to decide which prank was best for this situation. It was true that Belvedere and Bellarino played way more pranks than he ever did, mostly on the poor members of the Council, but Kyuubee had had his fair share of pranking too. Sometimes when he felt really daring, he would even pull pranks on Kyuberos, which pretty much meant staring death straight in the eye. Of course Kyuberos never did anything to hurt him in retaliation, but one time after getting a surprise haircut from a prank gone wrong, he casted a small curse on Kyuubee. For the nest two weeks, everytime he took ten or more steps, his feet would trip up and he would fall on his face. Hearing about it doesn't sound like much of a punishment, but Kyuubee knew first hand how annoying tripping repeatedly in one day could get. So after that, he tended to focus pulling pranks on others rather than his brother. And now that he was given permission --no, an order-- by a prince, how could he refuse? The law wouldn't allow him to hurt the eldest prince, but there were so many pranks he could do that wouldn't cause harm. " Okay, leave it to me!" He said proudly, stepping away from the door, cracking his knuckles as he got his spells ready. ++ BELISARIO ++ Belisario was pulled through the castle hallways by Belvedere, still in that merciless headlock, and he had a hard time trying not to fall. Though the twins were younger than him, they still towered over him in height and they always used that to their advantage. Belisario also knew that if he struggled, Belvedere would get more annoyed with him and get much meaner than he was now, so he silently accepted his fate and allowed Belvedere to drag him along. " Ahhh," He heard Belvedere sigh, " It's gross that we have to be escorted by Belladon's filthy little bitch, huh? Here I was, wanting to spend some time with you as brothers, and then thunderthighs here has to come along too. Disgusting." With Belvedere's arm wrapped so tightly around his neck it was hard to say anything, so he nodded instead, silently hoping that this would be the extent of the twin's torture. But he knew he was being hopeful and that there was probably something much worse waiting for him in Bellerophon's room. Why else would Belvedere be so eager to visit him? He twisted his head around to try to catch Cordelia's gaze, to try and show her that he was sorry for Belvedere's mean words towards her, but she remained staring straightforward. He felt bad for her, having to hear such bad things about her and being unable to do anything, but he looked on the bright side. Atleast she wasn't his full time protector. Belvedere's grip on his neck was beginning to hurt, but luckily enough, the twins' hate for him was so great that touching him for an extended period of time made them "sick" (as expressed in their own words) and not a minute later, Belvedere released him. But it was more like a shove and Belisario had to catch himself on the wall to avoid falling over. He could hear Belvedere's sniggering behind him and he felt like crying. But tears would only spur the torment further, so he resisted. He turned around to continue following Belvedere down the hall, only to find the blonde standing behind him, boxing him in between him and the wall, with no escape but the sides where he knew Belvedere would reach out and catch him if he tried. He gulped and curled into himself, fearful of Belvederes harsh gaze. " Okay, I'm not going to shit with you anymore. I want the flower." He said bluntly. Belisario felt fear pool in his stomach and he unconsciously held the flower that was in his hand closer to his chest. " N-No, Belladon wanted me to give it to him." He said determinedly. " Belladon this, Belladon that. He wants you dead. Are you gonna do that too?" He asked condescendingly and Belisario frowned, knowing that Belvedere wasn't lying to him. " This is Bellerophon's flower and I'm going to give it to him!" Before Belvedere could do anything, he darted to the right and began running down the hallway towards Bellerophon's room. ++ BELVEDERE ++ Okay so maybe his plan hadn't been the best, but he really wanted that flower dammit! Twisting around to look at Cordelia, Belvedere snarled, " What are you doing just standing you there you stupid bitch? Get him!" But then he remembered that this wasn't just anyone they were chasing, and even if he was his bastard half brother, he was still a prince and outranked Cordelia. " Ugh, you useless fucking bitch, why the fuck are you here if you don't do shit. I'll fucking throw my jacket on you and you can be a fucking coat hanger since standing around is all you're good for." He ranted as he angrily pulled out his phone to text Bellarino. 'hes coming ur way be ready.' He had hoped to give Bellarino a bit more time by trying to shake down the bastard, but his plan was cut short by the little bitch running for it. ++ BELISARIO ++ The fact that he had actually managed to get away from Belvedere was a miracle within itself, and because of that, Belisario let his gaurd drop. It was a clear shot to Bellerophon's room after the next corner, and he was hoping to just outrun Belvedere, that is, if he was even chasing after him. And he wasn't going to take the chance to look, not when he was so close to Bellerophon's room. He was so preoccupied with getting to Bellerophon's room fast enough that he failed to realize how slippery the floor had gotten under his shoes, not until he got to the corner and took a too sharp left, causing him to turn the corner a bit too quickly. Too quick to stop himself from running right into what was waiting for him on the other side. He smacked head first into the soild object and the collision was enough to make him stumble backwards and fall flat on his back. Whatever it was that he had ran into, it had been hard enough to make his head throb from where he hit it and when he opened his eyes, it was nothing but a blur. " Wha...what?" He questioned out loud, moving to rub his sore forehead...only to find that he couldn't. The floor below him was sticky and held his clothes on the ground, making him unable to move. " H-hey, w-who's there?" he stuttered. The sticky substance was all in his hair and made it impossible to move his head without ripping his hair out, so all he could see was the castle ceiling. And yet, he had a pretty good feeling who was behind this. " Bellarino, is that you? Look I know you think this is funny but I really need to g-aH" He was cut off halfway by what felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head. It must have been charmed because none of it got in his nose or mouth so he didn't choke on it, but the cold water was horrible none the less. He tried shaking his head to get the water out of his eyes, but the sticky floor held his head in a vice grip. He knew what Bellarino's goal wasn't any different than Belvedere's; they both wanted the flower for their own evil deeds. He tightened his grip on the flower, which had gracefully escaped the fate of getting stuck on the floor because of his hand, to make sure that Bellarino couldn't rip it out of his grasp. " This really isn't funny!! Please let me g-AH!" He was cut off again by another dunk of water but this one was colder than the first. The freezing water was like a punch to the face and he gasped, thankful that atleast he wasn't being forced to swallow it. ++ KYUUBEE ++ Slicking up the castle floors and walls wasn't his best trick, nor was it even on average, but the prank he had in mind would have taken too long, and when Bellarino had yelled at him that they were coming, Kyuubee did the firs thing he could think of. And it seemed to pay off when Belisario, the King's infamous bastard child instead of his eldest, came sliding into the hallway, only to be greeted with the barrier he had put up. The barrier had been transparent, so even if he hadn't been sliding in, he still would have ran into without noticing a thing. He watched as the blue haired boy got stuck on the floor and fell victim to the vocal curse he had put on him. There was actually no water being poured over him, but everytime he would say something, the curse would activate and make it feel like cold water was being poured all over him. It was a simple curse that would only last a couple of minutes, so if they were to make a move, it would be now. The blue haired prince began to speak again and was hit with a third round, this one colder than the first two. This seemed to be enough to get him to loose his grip on the rose and he released it. Lucky enough for them it avoided the sticky mess on the floor and fell off to the side. Kyuubee giddily turned to Bellarino and pointed to the rose, his barrier deactivating, " I'll go get the rose!" He didn't trust Bellarino to get it incase he accidently got stuck on the floor himself and somehow blamed Kyuubee for it later. He carefully made his way through the slimly goop on the floor to the flower and picked it up triumphantly, turning back to Bellarino with a smile. " I got it!" Using the same caution he had getting over there, he made his way back to Bellarino's side and handed him the rose vicoriously. " Here you go, one rose! Ha! I didn't expect Belisario to be the one, but I guess we were lucky! Only an idiot would get stuck in that trap!" He laughed. But he spoke too soon because just then he heard footsteps behind him, followed by a loud yell and a crash. He dreaded what he woul find when he turned around, and he was right. Laying next to Belisario was Belvedere and what looked like Belladon's Protector. They must have been running after Belisario and had gotten caught up in Kyuubee's trap too. Before he could warn Belvedere not to speak, the blonde opened his mouth and a stream of foul curses left his mouth, " What in the fuck is this? Who's shitty spell is this? Kyuubee is this you, you little fu-CKER AH!" Kyuubee groaned, already anticipating the backlash he was going to get from Bellarino for letting his precious twin get caught up in the trap. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid! Couldn't life just go smoothly for him...? ++ VALALEE ++ Valalee blinked, looking down at her knees. The strange man in the white suit had patched them up for her, but the bandages alone were suspicious enough to tell something bad had happened. She wanted to tell Valexander the truth, but the evil man's words echoed through her mind. To protect her family she had to keep quiet. Even the man who had saved had told her the same thing so this must be serious. Gulping, she looked down at her shoes, " I...ran into some kids from school and they were picking on me." She said, finding herself copying the man in the white suit's words from only moments before. " B-But I didn't back down and gave them what they deserved!" She looked back up at her brother with determination in her eyes. She couldn't tell him that she had lost a fight, even if it was against her imaginary school mates. " But I'm okay now, and I just really really wanna go home," She frowned, touching her wounded cheek. " Or maybe to Grandma's for medicine." It had been a long day, but she didn't want to go home like this where her mom would no doubt ask her questions. The faster her wounds healed, the quicker she could forget about this whole ordeal. ++ FLAERY && DIOMIRA ++ " It's such a shame about Noem," Diomira sighed, looking out the window to watch some birds that had landed on the other side. " He was such a nice boy." There was a dark laugh behind her and she turned to Flarey, frowning, " He gets what he deserves," She said unforgivingly, glaring down at her sword, " Theres no point to being a Royal Protector if you can't do your job. The Queen could have died today, he deserves everything he's given." Flaery wasn't the easiest person to talk to sometimes, but even this was much more than Diomira expected, " How could you say that Flaery? This could have happened to any one of us." Her fellow Protector laughed again, though it was as flat and humorless as the lady herself, " Believe me, this wouldn't have happened during my watch." For emphisis, her sword glistened in the light as she cleaned it, showing off the sharp tip that could cut through almost anything " If anyone tried to get near the Queen on my watch, they wouldn't have lived to tell the tale." Diomira said nothing in return and returned to looking out the window, trying to put her mind on better things. It was true what Flaery had said, a Royal Protector needed to do their job, but couldn't he just get fired instead? Execution for failing a job was unnessicary. Afterall, Noem was young and had many years ahead of him. He was only a little older than her precious Dior afterall... She turned from then window and looked down at Bellona who was resting in bed. Due to the recent attack, all of the Protectors had been put on duty. Which meant all four of the King's and Queen's were now on call, or...well.., three in the case of Bellona. Absentmindedly, Diomira rubbed her neck as she spoke, " Who do you suppose will replace him now? Maybe Kyuberos until they find a sutiable candigate?" " Don't know, don't care," Flaery scoffed, causing Diomira to pout at her bad conversational skills, " As long as they carry their weight, I don't care if it's a chicken with a sword. Probably be better than Noem anyway." Wordlessly, Diomira gave up the conversation and turned towards the window again, sighing. A look at her watch told her that it was almost Noem's designated execution time. If she left now would there be enough time for her to go to his cell and say her final goodbyes? Would she even be allowed to leave the Queen's side long enough to go? It was days like this that made her deeply regret choosing this type of job. ++ MADRIEL ++ The white haired knight paced around the room nervously as he waited for Abiel to show up. It was risky meeting up together like this, in the castle no less, but due to their cover ups, to anyone looking from the outside they just looked like two Knights meeting up together. Nothing suspicious....But Madriel's paranoia was eating away at him, telling him that they were going to be found out somehow or Belzeneff already had his spies watching them. But given all the things he's seen under Belzeneff's rule, he wouldn't be surprised. His advisor Demetrios was a very intelligent and tricky man, and honestly Madriel was surprised that he, Abiel and Evelina had managed to slip by him for so long. The door creaked open and Madriel swiftly turned around, scared that the Assassins had come after him at last, only to find Abiel standing there and shutting the door behind him. He breathed a short sigh or relief and cut to the chase, eager to finish their conversation as quick as possible. " Did you get through to the pimp? Did he agree to our plan?" There plan was to escort Noem up to the higher levels of the Castle/Wizard Council, stage a fight, let him escape, and have Candiland's Cupcakes disguise him and bring them to Candiland. From there Seraphion had his own plans for the Ex-Protector, but Madirel had no idea what they were. His only job was to help Abiel make it look like Noem had put up a fight. It would put an even bigger bounty on his head for the Assassins, but the risk was better than letting the Executioners get him.

BELLARINO
Bellarino smirked at Kyuubee. Sure, pulling pranks never failed to amuse him…but why should he go to the work of setting them up when he had a perfectly capable servant right in front of him?! Besides, ordering people around was one of Bellarino’s favorite things to do.

He watched, eagerly anticipating the entertainment of watching Belladon fall prey to Kyuubee’s spell. When an obnoxious melody briefly sounded loudly throughout the hall he immediately checked his phone, a sinister smile on his face when he read the message. “Kyubunny, the loser is on his way, hurry up!” he warned, pocketing his phone.

To his surprise, the prince caught in the trap was not Belladon, but Belisario! Bellarino watched Belisario fall to the ground, like a complete moron, and begin to cry. He laughed at the scene before him, pleased with the turn of events. “Hahaha! You’re such a dumb bastard!” he jeered at Belisario.

When Kyuubee retrieved the rose, Bellarino felt smug once the flower rested in his hands. The plan was a success! He could not wait to show Belvedere and conjure up plans on how to best torment Bellerophon. But the prized rose would no remain in his hands for much longer. Bellarino heard body hit the floor with a thud and his eyes widened at the sight of his twin fallen amongst the trio.

“Belvedere?! You stupid Kyubunny, what the hell did you do, fix him now!” he cried out, the flower forgotten as it slipped from his hands in his rush to Belvedere’s side. Unfortunately for Bellarino, common sense seemed to flee at the sight of his twin’s distress, and when he reached out to pull him up…Bellarino tripped over Belisario and ended up in the trap with them.

“What the fuck?! Kyubunny you’ll pay for this!” he shouted, the gross feeling of cold water enveloping him.

EVELINA
Evelina could have held back Bellarino back if she wanted to, but she could not resist watching the brat princes getting a taste of their own medicine. “Don’t speak, it activates the curse.” She informed more for Cordelia’s sake, but she had a feeling most of them would not hear her. Once she saw the protector begin to calm, Evelina eyed the fallen rose on the floor. The ridiculous rose had caused this entire scenario and Evelina decided it would be best to pretend she did not see it.

CORDELIA
Cordelia was surprised when she fell to the ground alongside the two princes. The spell was simple, yet difficult to see through. She knew her magic was no match for Kyuberos; apparently it was the same for his brother.

She panicked when she heard the distressed cries of both her charges and tried to bury her shame in allowing them to get caught in a prank. Thankfully her fellow protector brought her to her senses and Cordelia took a deep breath as she readied herself to prepare a counter spell, gripping her wand. She began to mutter a spell, steeling herself against the sensation of freezing water pouring over her, trying her best to ignore the effects as she continued her casting. She was unsure if the curse had deactivated on its own from the time limit, or if her spell was actually helpful, but she felt relieved when she no longer felt the water.

The curse’s removal did not seem to soothe the twin’s wrath, however. Cordelia grimaced as she heard Prince Bellarino, who was clinging to Prince Belvedere’s arms protectively, yelling at Kyuubee for letting them get caught in his prank. She sighed and turned to Prince Belisario, helping him up and apologizing profusely for allowing all of this to happen.

“I’m so sorry, Prince Belisario! Even if it was a simple prank, I should not have allowed things to escalate this far…”

VALEXANDER
“Hah? You mean…bullies?!” he asked alarmed. But before Valexander could demand their names so he could tell their mother to beat them up, Valalee’s next words halted his questions. He immediately felt relieved and gave her a reassuring smile. “Oh, you beat them up? That’s great! You’re so strong now, just like mom!” he exclaimed, proud of her winning a fight.

But his eyes once again caught sight of the mark on her cheek, and his worries resurfaced, along with new suspicions. Now that he saw it up close Valexander could recognize a burn; Belshazzar, after all, constantly hurt himself with his weird science experiments and his burns were some of the injuries Valexander saw frequently. “Okay, let’s go visit grandma! She should have some herbs to help that burn on your cheek.” He agreed.

Plus, he also wanted to avoid going home right away…with him getting arrested by that lame protector and running out of the house without warning…Oz help him he would be in so much trouble with their parents. “You might have to plan my funeral soon though…” he mumbled, and prepared to step forward, before pausing. Valexander turned his head in all directions before smiling awkwardly at his sister. “Haha hey sis how do we get to the shop from here?”

LAVELLE
Lavelle quietly stepped through the infirmary door, unable to hide the concern in her features over the entire situation. She had been standing outside the room monitoring the entrance until another guard finally arrived just now. “How is she?” She asked softly, gazing at Bellona. The queen seemed to have fallen asleep and Lavelle figured she must have been exhausted from recovering plus the endless amounts of concerned visitors. Lavelle had to personally escort Prince Arius away three times before he finally decided to leave after seeing Valiant arrive, believing she needed privacy with her brother.

ABIEL
As soon as he stepped through the door, Madriel immediately addressed him and he could sense underlying paranoia in his words. Abiel nodded and tried his best to push down his own fear over their upcoming mission. With a flick of his wand he did a quick spell to assure they would not be overheard before he spoke, “Yes, the arrangements have been made and he’s already prepping the Cupcakes for their mission. Phase one has already begun. We just have to wait for phase two to begin.”

Phase two, and their only remaining involvement with the plan, was escorting Noem and staging the attack. Phase three was Noem escaping the castle through the planned escape route, and it would be up to him alone to successfully reach phase four. The final phase is to find the Cupcakes at the meeting point and have them brought to Candiland in disguise. Abiel hoped the plan would go smoothly, but he knew things rarely ever do and dreaded having to deal with any complications.

“If there is nothing of concern to address, we can head to the cell now…”

JUDICAEL
From the Wizard Council building, Judicael stared wordlessly at the file in front of him. His signature was the death warrant for all those charged with execution. With slight hesitation in his fingers, Judicael scrawled his name across a dotted line and finalized the paperwork of the execution. His eyes looked back to the name of the damned written at the top of the paper: Noem Siran.

He left Noem at the castle dungeons during his arrest; determining that it was too dangerous to immediately transfer him to the council building. A powerful wizard like him, not to mention his understanding of how the prison and restraints worked, would no doubt manage to escape his cell without extreme precautions. Judicael had to personally restrain him with magic draining cuffs to weaken him in order to prevent his escape. Once he was sufficiently weakened, Noem could be transferred to the execution site without high risk. Judicael believed that wizards strong enough to become the royal protectors of the king or queen would easily find a way to overpower any guards he assigned to them when imprisoned. Noem was no exception.

At the prince’s request, Judicael had assigned Bellerophon to be the executioner but he had not arrived to report in yet. Judicael frowned as he thought of the prince’s tardiness and sent him a short text, demanding an explanation. Before he could investigate further why Bellerophon was not present, his attention was shifted when he heard a knock on his office door. “Enter.” He called, and stared at the executioner who stepped into his room.

“Priest Symphony reported his completion of his duty, with no issues with the prisoner.” Explained his subordinate, and Judicael nodded as he listened to the remainder of the report but stopped them from leaving.

“Any news of Executioner Black’s whereabouts?” he asked, and frowned when he received a negative response. There was no answer on his phone, either. Once his subordinate left his office Judicael decided to send the message ‘Where is Prince Bellerophon?’ to Kyuberos instead. The execution would be delayed if Bellerophon was not present, but Judicael was hesitant to anger the prince by switching executioners.

++ KYUUBEE ++
Kyuubee was too afraid to undo the spell incase the twins tried to attack him once he let them free, and was more than happy to let them be someone else's problem. But to his dismay, Cordelia began to recite a spell that would undo his and he felt his heart drop. Between the tough choice of staying there and letting the twins rip into him, and fleeing, the latter seemed much more desirable. The curse lifted and he could see that Belvedere was already gearing up to lunge at him, even with Bellarino hanging off his arms, and that was enough for him. " Wow, look at the time, I must get going." He quickly made a spell that would transport him into Bellerophon's locked room and executed it before he had to deal with the terrible twosome. The twins were still outside the door, that much he could hear, but they lacked the power to enter the locked room, so he was safe....for now.

" Let this be a lesson to me, " He sighed, sitting down next to the unconscious prince, " I should've known the worst possible situation would happen to me." He could only hope that the twins would forget all about this incident by the time he saw them next.

++ BELVEDERE ++
Unfortunately for Kyuubee, Belvedere forgave as rarely as he forgot. He was still cursing his name long after Kyuubee left, seething in anger. " I can't believe that fucking stupid animal messed this up. How dare he trap US in the same trap as him," He spat out, looking over at Belisario. " And you, " He sneered at Cordelia, " You couldn't even protect us from this stupid trap, you fat bitch? What use are you if a fucking animal could out smart you?"

" Hey! It's not her fault! If you hadn't been chasing me none of us would have gotten caught in this trap in the first place!" He heard Belisario pipe up. The mere fact that Belisario thought that he could speak back to him like that made Belvedere's anger flare up even more and he was seconds away from lunging at him and slapping all that confidence out of him. But at that very moment Madiana came rounding the corner, carrying a dish in each hand that were stacked with sandwiches. " Prince Belvedere! I made the sandwiches just like you asked! I even made enough for Prince Bellarino as well!"

++ BELISARIO ++
For a second Belisario actually thought Belvedere was going to kill him, and if it hadn't been for Madiana's sudden appearance, he would have. But the need to speak up and defend Cordelia had been too strong that he couldn't just sit by and watch him degrade her. He watched apprehensively as Belvedere's murderous expression changed into passive indifference as Madiana got closer and Belisario had never been so happy that Belvedere's little emotional games with his Protectors existed until now. He over heard Belvedere persuade Bellarino to eat with him, and with a bated breath, he watched as the twins left with their Protectors. Their obsession with the flower had been replaced with anger towards Kyuubee and the flower laid forgotten on the floor. He picked it up triumphantly, " They forgot it!" He beamed at Cordelia showing her the flower. " Sorry about Belvedere," He frowned, thinking back to all the horrible things he said about her before, " He says a lot of mean things to others without thinking about their feelings. You aren't useless, anyone could have fallen in that trap!"

From a distance, Belisario saw Belladon approaching, his signature scowl in place. " I saw Madiana earlier. I take it that she reunited with Belvedere?" He asked Cordelia, but Belisario nodded anyway. Belladon's cold gaze shifted to him and a moment of awkward silence passed before Belladon decided to speak up, " Valis is in the infirmary. The castle is no longer under lock down, so you can be on your way." He said matter-o-factly and began to walk away, " Come Cordelia, I have a lot to do."

Watching as they left, Belisario as finally left alone. He wasn't sure how getting some ice cream with Valis had ended up with him being pseudo-tortured by Belvedere and Bellarino and had left him as the sole protector of Bellerophon's precious flower, but he doubted anyone on Wiz was having a worse of a day as him.

++ DIOMIRA ++
Diomira turned at the sound opening and was relieved to see Lavelle enter. Making conversation was Flaery was awkward enough, but being stuck in a room alone with her was the worst. She was eager to talk with Lavelle, hoping she would relieve some tension, or atleast feel the same guilt about Noem as her. " She's been doing since Valiant came. She's been asleep for a while, but the rest will do her good. " She said, glancing at her watch. Flicking her gaze to Flaery and then back to Lavelle, she lowered her voice a little, " Lavelle, do you know when we'll start shifts again? Not that I want to leave the Queen!" She clarified quickly, " It's just...." She trailed off, looking back at Flaery again, " I want to visit Noem again before.....to see if theres anything I can do." She whispered. She highly doubted there was anything she could do or say to postpone his execution, but at the very least she wanted to speak with him one more time before it was too late.

++ MADRIEL ++
The Knight nodded hastily to Abiel's words, glad that everything had gone to plan so far. If everything on the itinerary had gone without any interference, the Priest Symphony should be doing his part at that very moment. Without the magic restraints holding him back, he should have enough of his magical power back to stage an escape. " Good, good." He said, thinking everything over once more while he had the chance. Having Noem escape would make him and Abiel look bad in the eyes of the King, but not enough for them to be fired, or beheaded. Noem was the Queen's Protector and it would only be natural that he was stronger than the both of them. But still, the possibility of them loosing their jobs, as well as their covers still hung in the air. But this was why he was apart of the rebellion, to save others from Belzeneff's cruel rule. He knew that when he joined there would come a time where he would have to risk everything to save another. And now the time was here.

" No, there is nothing else." He finalized, hoping that Abiel was as ready as he was. " Let us head to the cell now. Priest Symphony should be finishing up."

++ KYUBEROS ++
His meeting with Belzeneff had been consisted of a lot of shouting, throwing, and overall complaining. Mostly done by Belzeneff himself of course. Actually ALL of it had been Belzeneff. Kyuberos just had the luxury of sitting there and listening to the King rant about why Bellerophon was getting visions and not him. The fact that Belzeneff cared more about who had received the prophecy rather than what the prophecy was about wasn't surprising. The King prided himself in being Oz's chosen prophet and whenever one of his children received one rather than him made him less special. Which is why incidents like this one were kept on the down low with only Belzeneff, himself, and Demostenes knowing. But this particular prophecy was different than the others in both intensity and meaning. When Kyuberos had told Belzneff about the possibility of a rebellion, the King had merely laughed. Rebellions meant close to nothing to Belzeneff, since there was no one stronger than the army he had built around himself and he was confident that nothing was going to happen.

" But Bellerophon received a vision about being stabbed." Kyuberos had pleaded to Belzeneff to understand. Even if he hadn't taken Bellerophon's warnings about the rebellion when he first heard him, he wasn't foolish enough to do nothing about it. But Belzeneff was so confident that nothing was going to happen that he dismissed Kyuberos after only a few minutes after calming down from his anger tantrum. " I'll talk to Oz about next time I see 'em," Belzeneff grumbled, which was the only reason Kyuberos agreed to leave when he was ordered out. Some clarification from Oz would help clear his thoughts, but the looming warning about corpses and destruction clouded his thoughts. Six months was a long time away, and it seemed near impossible that the castle could be overtaken at the state it was now...

The chime of his phone was enough to bring Kyuberos back to the present as he checked it, hoping that it was Kyuubee giving him an update about Bellerophon's condition. Instead, it was Judicial, the Head Executioner, asking him about Bellerophon's presence. Kyuberos remembered that with Noem's incarceration came an immediate death sentence, and with Bellerophon being an executioner, he would be the most qualified to do the job. But he was in no state to get out of bed, much less put an end to another's life, and he sent a message back to Judical, explaining Bellerophon's condition with relieving that he received a prophecy and suggested that the execution be postponed.

LAVELLE
At Diomira's words, she smiled with relief that Bellona was on her way to recovery. "I had feared the worst when I heard the terrible news and I could not stopped worrying, so I prayed over and over for her health to improve. Oh, Lord Oz has surely blessed us all if Her Majesty is already doing so well...!" she whispered back, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing the slumbering queen. Then she gave a discreet glance to Flaery before her eyes flickered back to Diomira.

"My shift to guard her begins in a few minutes, but you've been here for some time, yes? I'm sure you can take a lunch break at the moment, especially since two protectors will still be present. However," Lavelle answered diplomatically, a slight frown tugging at her lips, "Unless it is the will of Lord Oz himself, Noem cannot escape his punishment for failing our queen." she stated firmly, but then she leaned in closer to Diomira, "But there is no shame in wanting to say goodbye. And we're of higher rank, so I'm sure the guards will let you through if you request it."

Lavelle knew that if it was her brother in Noem's situation, she would go insane trying to find a way to see him one last time. And it was a huge fear that haunted her constantly. Lavana acted so lazy and uncaring over his position that Lavelle felt constant dread that he would end up failing to protect the princess in an act of carelessness and be executed as punishment. "I don't feel the need to see him," she admitted, Noem bonded closer with Diomira than either Flaery or herself, "But you could, if you visit soon enough."

**approximately twenty minutes later**

NOEM
The prisoner stared at the knights with trepidation. He only felt slight relief that both were in on the plan to help him escape; anything could go wrong. He truly felt grateful that they were risking their lives for him but he could not shake off his wariness and anxiety.

He still felt shock that Abiel and Madriel were apparently rebel spies. Noem never suspected them; how many other traitors had infested the castle? A dark thought crossed his mind: If I turned them in, would my life be spared? He banished it quickly. Of course he would not be spared. Noem's sentence would not change; people had been killed for lesser reasons. Belzeneff would never pardon him for letting an assassin poison Bellona. And before they escorted him from the cell, Abiel had handed him a cup of liquid he claimed was an "antidote for loyalty potions". Noem had to admit his head felt a lot clearer and his undying loyalty certainly felt dead. Now he just felt so angry at Bellona and himself. The queen for being the reason for his death sentence and himself for making such a huge mistake in the first place. He was no longer forced to be loyal to her; he had no reason to betray the knights for nothing.

As if the weight of his sins pressed down on his shoulders, each step made his body feel heavy. His throat felt choked, like a noose tightened itself around his neck, anticipating the moment of his death. Noem hated this.

Honestly, nothing was stopping him from leaving right now. Noem used the hidden key from Symphony to loosen his shackles long before Abiel and Madriel arrived to take him away. Abiel had a plan...but Noem's earlier thoughts replayed over and over and over: anything could go wrong, anything could go wrong, anything could go wrong! If Abiel's plan did not work, Noem was dead. Noem felt he could place his faith and trust in Symphony...but could he do so with Abiel? Madriel?

A few more steps. A few more breaths. A few more thoughts. A decision.

No, Noem could not.

He should depend on himself to get out alive.

Please forgive me for this.

ABIEL
He startled when Noem suddenly moved, swiftly unsheathing he sword at Madriel's side and using the side of the blade to whack his unsuspecting comrade on the head. "What are you doing?!"he hissed, trying to keep his voice low to avoid attracting attention. "You weren't supposed to do this yet, Noem!"

Noem did not answer him right away. He ignored Abiel in favor of grabbing the dazed Madriel by the hair and tossing him against the wall, knocking him unconscious with that second blow to the head. "...He'll survive." Noem muttered with a wince, and finally gave his attention to the dumbfounded Abiel.

"I'm following the plan, just early." Noem spoke, unable to hide from Abiel how anxious he sounded, Madriel's blade raised, "And, ah, sorry for this."

Abiel gritted his teeth, aggravated that his plan was not going the way he hoped it would, but tersely nodded at the former protector. "...As long as you get out of here, safely, that's what important. Alright? Peppa's Cupcakes will help you out when you escape outside." Noem looked surprised by Abiel's concern at first, then a look of warmth crossed his face at the mention of Peppa and the girls.

NOEM
Perhaps he should have had faith in him; now that he thought about it, both Symphony and Peppa would not work with Abiel if he was unreliable. They trusted Abiel and Madriel to rescue him...Noem hoped he did not completely ruin the plan because he panicked and initiated it early. What if he got himself killed by his own stupidity?! Oh, Oz, he should have just been patient.

"I owe you both for your help." he briefly glanced back to Madriel, (he would be fine. maybe. probably.), ignoring his internal screaming, "Thank you."

This was a truly amazing thank you for Abiel to experience for all this trouble, Noem thought blandly, abruptly shoving him against the wall opposite to the other knight. Abiel faltered and reflexively attempted to catch his fall; that moment of distraction allowed Noem to get him off guard once again. Madriel's sword grasped in his hand, Noem glanced at the weak point of Abiel's armor, and stabbed the knight in the shoulder. The blade went through Abiel's body and slammed into the wall that Noem previously tossed him toward, effectively pinning Abiel to it. The knight attempted to move forward and immediately cried out in pain as the sword sliced even more of his flesh, forcing him to stay in place.

Pitying him, Noem reached for Abiel's own sword and knocked him unconscious the same way he did Madriel. He watched Abiel go limp, his body held up only by the sword pinning him to the wall. With the same weapon Noem stabbed the knight through the left hand; he needed them to look hurt enough, he did not want them to be accused of letting Noem escape without a fight. He eyed the blood oozing out of Abiel's wounds and grimaced.

"He'll live."he told himself. Someone would definitely find him and prevent him from bleeding to death, right?

Sighing, hoping he wasn't abandoning both Madriel and Abiel to die, he snuck off to find the secret escape route.

**approximately ten minutes later**

Of course this would happen, lamented Noem, he could literally see where the hidden exit should be and it would only take a few moments to access. Sneaking around was surprisingly easy since nobody was aware he was an escaped prisoner, so he just pretended to be on a patrol of the castle and acted like nothing was wrong. He thought his biggest obstacle had been the annoying servant who kept trying to speak with him and called him rude after being ignored by Noem. No, Oz was obviously punishing him for his actions against the knights by giving him an ordeal of some sorts to overcome. Noem could practically feel his sins crawling on his back.

Right in front of him was a shocked Diomira, staring wide eyed at him.

"Diomira...Hello." he greeted nervously.

++DIOMIRA++
Twenty minutes after Lavelle's arrival and her reassuring words, Diomira was released from her shift. The threat in the castle was long over and all the additional royal Protectors were let off until their next shift. Queen Bellona had yet to wake up and didn't seem in a rush to do so, so Diomira felt comfortable leaving her in Lavelle's care. She bid farewell to the sleeping Queen and Lavelle as she and Flaery left, but as soon as she got out the door, she quickly made her way to the holding cells. She could feel Flaery's disapproving gaze burn into her back, no doubt guessing where she was going, but Diomira didn't care. If she wasn't too late, there still might be time for her to say her goodbyes to Noem before his sentence.

Even though he was her coworker, because of their huge age difference and his closer age to her children, she had seen him and treated him like a son. Though not in the condescending way of course. Noem was a Protector and on the same level as her. She admired and praised his skills at such a young age and saw a lot of her younger self in him. But she couldn't stop herself from bringing him homemade food when he looked like he was overworking himself, or buying him presents for the holidays. She even invited him over to her house for some celebrations over the years and her family had treated him like one of their own. There was still a professionalism aspect to their relationship, but she still couldn't stop thinking of his as another son. And now she was on her way to say goodbye to him for the last time, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she made her way through the hallways of the castle. A part of her hoped that she was too late so she could remember Noem the last time she had seen him, happy and free. But the other part knew that if she didn't pay her respects and be there for him, probably when no one else would, it would haunt her forever. Noem hadn't spoken much about his past, but she was aware that he had had a troubled past and no family. He must be so alone and cold in that cell...she thought, causing her to move a little faster, despite the tears. I should have atleast brought him some food...She told herself, turning the corner, and stopping dead in her tracks.

Before her stood Noem, alive and well, and outside his cell without cuffs or chains. Instantly she brightened up, assuming that King Belzeneff had shown him mercy and lifted his sentence, and stepped forward, " Noem! I'm so glad to see you well! I was so worried that I would be late. But here you are, free!" She was too overjoyed to see him alive at first to question why he was free, but as she took a better look at him, she could tell something was...off. He was the same man, wearing the same clothes she had seen him in last, but something still felt different. As if he had a different kind of aura. His expression seemed uneasy and his voice nervous, something a free man wouldn't have. Suddenly, her gut twisted as her mind raced through the possibilities. " You...you are free, right?" She asked hopefully, though unsurely. " His majesty must have lifted your sentence and you're on your way back to see the Queen. Come, I'll walk with you." She held out her hand, smiling a little less genuinely as before.

NOEM
"Of course I am free." he blurted out immediately, a nervous smile on his lips. "Why else would I be out of prison?" He was not out legally, but Noem did not see it as a complete lie to say that he was free now.

He hoped his voice sounded more confident than he felt but Noem had a sinking feeling that she saw right through him. If there was one thing he learned while working alongside Bellona and her protectors, who were all mothers (except for Lavelle, who basically acted like a mom to her brother anyways), was that mothers had a frightening ability to detect when their children were full of shit. They could sniff out any lie and Diomira treated him better than his birth mother ever did. Therefore, he had a feeling she would definitely know something was wrong.

But perhaps he could use that to his advantage? Even if she knew he was lying...sweet Diomira surely would not let someone she saw as her own child die if there was a chance for him to live, right?

Well, his birth mother had done exactly that, but she was garbage compared to Diomira. Diomira is kind and probably the only one who tried to visit him in prison. She cared for him and treated him like he was a welcomed member of her family. So maybe, just maybe, he could convince her to help him instead. Noem felt guilty for even thinking of attempting to manipulate her in any way but...he had come so far. He had to keep moving forward.

He made himself look more unsure as he stared at her outstretched hand. "You...um, you are very kind to offer, Diomira." he spoke softly, the tension in his shoulders feeling lighter. Diomira alone seemed to have the ability to put him at ease; he would truly miss her after he left. "But I feel ashamed...I cannot show my face to the queen. I failed her and am a disgrace...I'm going to sneak out and never come back. I truly want to go with you, I do! I hate that everything I've worked for is gone now. But I have to leave; I cannot risk being seen by his majesty. You understand, right? He is very angry with me and it is truly only the mercy of Oz that I am alive. What if he changes his mind and I am sentenced an execution again? I don't want to die..!"

He started off calmly, but the more he spoke the more frantic he began to feel. There was enough truth mixed within his lies to express his genuine fear over being executed. Speaking the words out loud returned the anxiety to Noem once again, and with Diomira here in front of him, it felt harder to control his tears.

He ignored her hand completely, going straight for a hug.

"Diomira...I'm afraid, please don't make me go." he pleaded, embracing her in the first hug he ever initiated between them. A part of him knew that this would be the easiest way to convince her to leave him be...but Noem also wanted this last chance to say goodbye to Diomira. He had wanted to seem childish and appeal to her motherly side, but he hardly needed to act the part since he felt so horrible and she naturally seemed to bring out his vulnerability. He felt embarrassed over how truly easy it was for him to fall apart in front of her.

"I'm very happy I got to see you one last time...you're like a mother to me." he admitted, and silently in complete denial that he was crying into Diomira's shoulder, "So please, let me go. If you bring me back I'll die. D-don't kill me..!"