Chapter Text
"Uggh..." Groaned Luci as he sat on the windowsill in the stone hallways of Dreamland castle. Luci was a rather bored cat-I mean demon, on this uneventful Wednesday evening. Elfo was off tending to Sagatha's garden, and Bean was off planning the party that was happening next weekend. Luci was the only one who wasn't keeping himself busy. He usually tries to start chaos by motivating Bean to do something crazy, or he'd pick on Elfo. Now, it was just him at the castle all by himself with nothing to do or anyone to bo-
"Oh my god, look at that cute cat!" said the Tanned skin housemaid.
"Oh gosh, it's so cute! And he has so much swagger!" said The blond housemaid.
And just like that, Luci wasn't bored anymore.
Luci sits up and greets the housemaids. "Well, hello, ladies!" he said smoothly. The blond housemaid scratched under Luci's chin while the tanned skin burnet house-made softly petted the top of his head. "Ahhh yeaaah..." If there was one thing that Luci loved receiving, it was head pats, chin rubs, AND ESPECIALLY belly rubs. But before Luci could receive that belly rub, the girls were interrupted by a squealing noise that made the housemaids gasp.
"Oh, my heavens, I did not mean to startle you lovely ladies!" said Merkimer, smirking up at the housemaids. "I never would've thought I'd run into such lovely maids as you!"
"Ewwww!" said The housemaids.
"Oh my god, who let this stupid pig in here?" said The blond housemaid.
"Ugh, I don't know, but it's totally killing the vibe! Let's go! Ugh!" said the Tanned skin housemaid as the two left.
Luci glares down at Merkimer. "Good job Bacon. You just made me lose out on some well-deserved belly rubs!"
"I'm sorry, friend," said Merkimer, frowning. Luci would quickly reply, "I'm not your friend," but Merkimer ignores this. "It's been so hard to talk with anyone while I look like this! People shun me away; women look at me with disgust. What's worse is that my best friend Tavish doesn't even want to hang out with me!"
"Dude, I don't think Tavish ever wanted to hang out with you at all," said Luci.
"SIGH!" said Merkimer as he turned over on his back. "Oh Luci, how do you attract so many lovely maidens?"
"Sorry, man, you can't get the Luci charms. I was just born with it," said Luci.
"There has to be some advice you can give me!" said Merkimer desperately.
"I could give you some advice," said Luci, lighting a cigarette with his tail. "BUT IT'll COME AT A GREAT COST!" He suddenly shouts as he glares down at Merkimer. His voice was deeper and more menacing. But he would revert to his normal tone and says, "Occasionally, I get to ride you around like a horse." He said as he exhaled some smoke.
"Deal," said Merkimer.
Merkimer and Luci would hear footsteps coming down the hall and a familiar voice. Tavish was walking down the stone halls, and Ceclila followed closely. "You don't have to come with me, Cecilia," said Tavish, reading through notes he took. "I'll be just fine on my own."
Cecilia shook her head and said, "You're meeting up with Prince Finly from the Bed Rock Kingdom, my Prince—one of the Prince's you hate the most."
Tavish scoffs, "I hate them all equally, Cecilia."
"TAVISH, MY BUDDY, OL PAL!" Merkimer gleamed.
Tavish stops and looks down at Merkimer. He would then continue walking and continuing his conversation with Cecilia. "He's a perverted man, Cecilia. I'd rather you not come," He said. Cecilia looked over at Merkimer, who was following close behind. "I, umm...there's no need to worry about me. I'm sure he wouldn't make an advance with all the knights around." She said as Luci began following them. "He's a pampered prince who his parents never said no to. Combine that with all his power in Bedrock, and look what it creates."
"And you're one of the people who say yes, aren't you?" said Luci.
Tavish stops walking once again. He turns to Luci. "Is there a reason you two are following us?" He asked irritably.
"What? I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?" Luci asked with a smirk.
"Actually, yes, you are," said Tavish. "I know you to be a little fiend. Stay far away from my meetings. The both of you." He bats his eyes down at Merkimer. His voice was stern and strict.
"But Tavish, you must have me there as well. Even if I am a pig, I'm still the Prince of Bentwood. And still a very dashing one!" said Merkimer confidently.
Tavish rubs between his eyes. "I don't have time for this," He said, walking off with Cecilia.
"But I do..." said Luci, chuckling to himself.
...
Afterward, Tavish and Cecilia stood in the courtyard as the carriage from the Bedrock kingdom arrived. It was a standard brown wooden carriage with the Bedrock's symbol of a ferret on their banner. The carriage door opened. The Prince of Bedrock had slim legs, but his upper body was round, and it looked like his head was melting into the top of his body, and his hair was black and very short. He wore a bright brown top with red pants. "I need some assistance, please..." He whined. Bedrock knights quickly head over to help Finly out of the carriage. It was a pitiful sight to Tavish, but he wore the same mask: a fake smile and cheerful look.
Finly wobbles over a bit, almost losing balance. He can walk over to Tavish and greet him. "Greeting's Prince Tavish," He said weakly.
"Umm...it's good to have you in Dreamland," said Tavish.
Finly grins at Cecilia. "Every time I see you, Tavish, you're always surrounded by incredible women," Cecilia shivered a bit as his eyes focused hard on her body.
"Right..." said Tavish, smiling awkwardly at him. "Anyways, come in. I'll have Cecilia here pour us some tea."
Tavish gestured his arm to the entrance of the castle. Finly stared at the stairs. He snaps his fingers to his guards. "I need help with the stairs..."
The guards looked at each other. One whispered, "Hey, it's your turn!" and the other replied. "But I had to carry him into the carriage..."
The reluctant guard carries Finly up the stairs and lets him go. Finly wobbles again, and he enters the castle. Once in the dining room, Cecilia poured the prince's cups of tea. Finly was staring hard at Cecilia as she did this. Tavish clears his throat, trying to get his attention. "So Finly, how is everything at Bedrock? Are your parents ok?" He asked politely. Finly sniffs, "It's so boring," He replies, snapping his fingers and gesturing one of the guards to pick his ear. The guard sighs and does so. "And my parents are ok. My father's dying." Tavish let out a fake gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," Finly waves him down. "Oh, no need to feel bad, Tavish. I hope he dies soon so I can become King. If he dies, I'll be the youngest King in the kingdom!" He snaps his fingers again. The guard places his hands around Finly's wrist and claps his hands excitedly for him.
"Well, moving on from that," said Tavish. "I would like to talk trade business with you Finly. As you can see, Dreamland is in dire need of new weapons. Bedrock is known for its excellent blacksmith-"
"Hey Tavish, where is your sister?" Finly asked, cutting him off.
Tavish's left eye twitches. "I-I beg your pardon?"
"I've always liked Tiabeanie. You know we could arrange for marriage, and our kingdoms would become closer than ever,"
Tavish clenches his fist. "Finly...I would like it if you would not-"
"Just think of the wonderful kids we would have!"
Tavish sits up from his seat and stares down at Finly. Cecilia looked over at Tavish worriedly. And then...a voice spoke. "Kill him..." said a deep voice. Tavish's eyes widened, and he turned around. "W-What?" He said, confused as he looked around the room. "Pick up the fork and stab him in the eye!"
"Who are you talking to, Tavish?" asked Finly.
"Do It Do It Do it Do it!"
"I-I'll be right back!" said Tavish as he stepped out of the dining room and headed into the hall. Tavish reached into his shirt and pulled Luci out by his tail. "YOU!"
"Hey dude, easy with the tail. It's sensitive," said Luci.
"When in the bloody hell did you sneak into my tunic?" asked Tavish.
"When you watched that perverted-looking prince get carried up the stairs. You didn't feel me, did you? I know you didn't," Luci smirked.
Tavish lets go of Luci, causing him to yell, "OUCH!" as he hits the ground. "Go away this instant. I'm not going to have you ruin this meeting!"
"Oh, give me a break. The way you were looking at that prince, it seemed like you were going to kill him anyway. All you needed was a little motivation. Allow me to introduce myself!"
"Silence!" said Tavish, "I have better composure than that!"
"You can't lie to me," said Luci, hoping on Tavish's shoulders. "You're the smartest person in this whole kingdom. I'm sure you know I'm not a cat, right?"
"Of course, I know you're a demon..." said Tavish. "Although your appearance is...rather shocking. I thought demons were bigger than that."
"No, no, I'm the biggest demon there is!" Luci said quickly. "Anyway, moving on from that. We demons feed off negativity and chaos. It's really good protein. We can sense when someone is overcome with heavy anger and other drastic emotions like sadness. And when you were in that room. You wanted to kill him. Am I wrong?"
Tavish looked away from Luci, and his eyes met the floor.
"It does make me wonder why I was sent to Bean instead of you. You seem like you're way more fun to corrupt than her!"
"What?" said Tavish, placing his eyes back on Luci.
Luci laughed. "Never mind what I said. Go on and kill him. Curb your anger, Tavish. Do the world a favor and end his stupid life,"
"You expect me to kill someone in front of the guards?"
"Screw the guards! Just kill them, too! We can come up with a good excuse. Let's say they slipped and fell! It always works!"
"That sounds extremely stupid,"
"Tavish, are you still out there? I'm rather hungry! Can you get your chefs to fix something for me?" said Finly.
"Ugh..." said Tavish, rubbing his hands through his white hair.
"You don't even like the guy," said Luci. "Now that I mention it, why do you put yourself through this if you don't like him? I mean, he was asking for Bean. And not in a nice way either."
"That's none of your business, you worthless demon..." Tavish said bitterly as he flicked Luci off of his shoulders. He takes a deep breath and smiles as he peaks his head into the room. "I'm terribly sorry about that, prince finly. I'll have something cooked up for you right away. We have lots to talk about!"
"I want bacon!" said Finly
"R-Right away..." Tavish replied. He peaks out from the room and rubs his head.
"You know, you should be a stage actor," said Luci.
"Tavish!" said Merkimer. "I heard that prince finly arrived! Oh, how I enjoyed going to his parties! Where is the chap?" He walks into the dining room. "Ah, finly! It's good to see you again!"
"BACON!" Finly shouted. He snaps his finger at his guards. "Get the pig and cook it for dinner!"
Merkimer begins squealing as the guards rush at him. The guards chased Merkimer throughout the room while Cecilia screamed to stop. "That's not just a pig! That's Merkimer! Please stop!"
"I don't remember a Merkimer," said Finly. "But I do remember-"
One of the guards tripped over his feet and bumped into a dresser, and a miniature statue of King Zog fell onto Finly's into his head. Finly's face hits the table, and his body goes stiff. Cecilia, along with the guards, gasped. One of the guards went to check on him and felt for a pulse.
"H-He's dead..." said the guard.
"NOICE!" said Luci excitedly.
...
Tavish stood with Cecilia, Merkimer, and Luci as the guards loaded Prince Finly's body into the carriage. Merkimer shakes his head. "What a terrible tragedy," he says sorrowfully.
Cecilia turned to him. "Prince Merkimer, he tried to eat you..."
"It was just a misunderstanding," said Merkimer. "It's because I'm this pig form! Hardly anyone recognizes me!"
"This is not going to be a good look for Dreamland at all," said Tavish, watching as the carriage rode away.
"Tell me about it," said Luci. "That's the second prince that died here. You and Bean sure do share everything, huh? It's a twin thing, isn't it?"
"Silence," Tavish said, glaring down at Luci. "It doesn't matter if he died. I have other connections I can use."
"Spoken like a future tyrant..." said Luci.
At this moment, Bean had returned and joined Tavish, Merkimer, Luci and Cecilia. "Who died? She asked.
"Nobody important," Tavish replied as he walked back into the castle.
"Umm...hello, Bean. I hope your day is going well," said Cecilia as she bowed and headed back into the castle with Tavish.
"So what was that about?" Bean asked as she looked down at Luci.
"Some prince from the bedrock kingdom died when one of your dad's miniature statues fell on him," said Luci.
"Wait, that finly guy is dead?"
"Yuuup!"
"Oh, thank god. I freaking hated that guy," said Bean. "He would always try to flirt with me whenever he saw me. Good riddance."
"Man, you and your brother are super cold. I like It!" said Luci with a grin.
"Anyways, let's go get Elfo and head to the bar. I'm craving a drink right now," said Bean.
"May I tag along?" Merkimer asked.
"No!" said Bean and Luci as they walked off.
"Saaaaad..." Merkimer cried.
