The group made it back to Amy’s secret base. It seemed everything was in order again, but upon closer inspection, things appeared to differ from before.
“All right, we finally — wait, what!?” Amy shouted.
The place became shambled, pots and bottles fell out with their contents spilled over. Nobody else was still here, not even the dinosaurs or the Miletis. The device with the gems broke. A good chunk of the buttons were missing.
As Maggie called out for Riku’s name, Papeht and Amy looked over at the now broken control panel. Ruth wondered if the dinosaurs ran off somewhere after what had happened beforehand.
“How could this have happened?” Amy fell on her knees in defeat. The group had lost some gems, including those that should’ve been stuck in place.
“It doesn’t look like they’re all gone, however...” Paphet pointed out.
“I still need to reboot the system and see if it will work again. And if it succeeds, we can probably find the next gem and the other team’s whereabouts!”
“But what if we can’t do it?”
“If not, we’ll have to go on foot, but I got to try.”
“Hey, if you don’t mind,” Maggie piped up. “While you’re working, can I ask you a question?”
“I do mind,” Amy replied. “I should use this opportunity to concentrate on this...”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about that, Amy,” Maggie squinted her eyes. “Or should I say... Queen Aehaby?”
“What—” Amy quickly turned to face Maggie, taken aback by the remark. “What did you say!? How did you—?” Amy looked over at Paphet, who turned away and pretended to whistle to avoid suspicion, but by doing so, ended up making him more suspicious. “Looks like somebody finally got their memory back.”
“Well, of course, it was partly thanks to you, though…” Paphet chuckled lightly.
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“Don’t waltz your way out of this one by making a classified statement,” Maggie continued, taking a step closer. “Tell us what’s going on and what your relationship with Kira is!”
“Y-Yeah, I want to know too!” Tommy added. “We won’t help you out unless you bring it up to us!”
Amy bit her lip and turned to the side of her head, mumbling. She tried to think up an excuse to not tell, but couldn’t think of anything. Eventually, she sighed in defeat.
“If you want to know, then fine. I’ll tell you all. I must warn you; it’s long.” Everybody nodded their heads in agreement and got comfortable before she started the entire story. Amy looked over at her control panel and frowned. “It happened so long ago, back when Kira wasn’t always like what she is now...”
.-.-.-.
“Years ago, I worked on a super-secret project with blueprints, a desk lamp, and other stuff surrounding my room. Kira stood by my side, helping me with support as we went over our plans, our plans for world conquest.
“A couple of days after that, at night time, I snuck out of my room to try and meet up with Kira again. We planned to head toward the airport to catch a plane to set out and explore many worlds outside our hometown.
“I felt a hand placed on my shoulder. I panicked a bit and jumped back, only to find one of my suitors standing there with concern. I had a bad feeling I got busted and would get in trouble, but he looked sadder than mad; it was strange.
“He didn’t say much and walked off, insisting that I follow. I wasn’t sure what went wrong, but I still followed him.
.-.-.-.
“Once we got to our destination, the place my suitor wanted to show me, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My heart dropped, and my face went pale upon seeing the bodies wrapped in a tarp. I could still recognize my parents’ faces inside there. I had never told my parents about the expedition. Whatever had happened, could they have died while worrying about me? Other people around me wore black clothing and looked at me in sorrow.
“Tears welled down from my eyes as I landed on my knees and placed my hands on the grass. ‘How did this happen? Why—?’
‘We’re sorry, but we’re not sure...’ The suitor replied.
“Then, a voice called out my name. It sounded familiar.
‘Aehaby, are you over here?’
‘Duchess, is that you?’ I looked back up and saw the Duchess walk over to me and lift my chin.
‘Oh, I’m glad you’re all right.’ She said as she wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. ‘We thought something terrible happened to you after—’
‘Um, no, I’m fine. But...’
‘Please, won’t you follow in your parent’s footsteps? I know you don’t want to be queen, but—.’
‘I’ll do it.’ I stated.
‘Wait, you will?’ The Duchess asked.
‘Yes.” I wiped my eyes, got up, and nodded. “What should I do to prepare?’
‘Wonderful, I’ll take you to my place so we can train...’
‘Sounds good.’
As I followed the grown-ups to our destination, I had forgotten Kira and never told her about my change of plans. Would things have been different if I had? I’m not sure.