King Pluto soon left the kingdom with his servant/messenger on his tail. They remained silent on the walk to the carriage; Pluto didn't want to talk at the moment. He was thinking over his time with Black Mist, knowing full well that his son had no idea why he was so pushy for him to be the best.

He didn't want Black Mist fighting in the war with only his fists; what if he got stabbed again and suffered the same way as before? So, he took it upon himself to teach Black Mist how to use swords, but that backfired. Minerva invited Kai over to teach him some etiquette to try and return him to how he used to be, but that just resulted in an even moodier Black Mist.

The king entered the carriage with Minerva waiting inside. "How did it go?" she asked.

King Pluto rested his elbow on the opening of the door as the servant whipped the horses into moving. "As you can see, I do not have him with me."

"Yes, I see that." She studied her nails, common practice for her. "When do you think we should tell him?"

"About what?"

"About the accident. I highly doubt he remembers much of it at all, and he should have known a long time ago."

"That is both of our faults, Minerva, and you know this."

"I do. When are we to tell him?"

"When he comes home. I do not want to go to the Cosmic Kingdom again to tell him."

"Then I will go."

"No. They may seem nice, but I do not trust them one bit." Pluto's mouth tightened to a straight line. There was no way he was letting his wife go in there, with or without someone to guard her! "Besides, I have a feeling he already knows. He looked at me differently."

"How differently?"

Pluto was silent for a while. "I can't explain it. I don't know how."

Minerva nodded quietly as her tongue silently flicked in and out. They remained in silence for the entire ride back to their own kingdom.

When they arrived back at their castle, Kai greeted them in his usual, polite manner. "Welcome back, Aunt, Uncle," he said with his smooth voice and deep bow. "I hope your journey to retrieve Cousin dear was not rough on you."

King Pluto stepped down and held his hand out for his wife to take. "It was just fine, Kai; although, Black Mist refused to come with us." He helped Minerva step down from the carriage.

"My, what a shame! I remember when he would play around the castle! Dear uncle, whatever happened to that sweet child?" Kai didn't know a thing about the accident. According to him, Black Mist just became like that when he next visited. That was all he cared to know at the time, but now, he wanted the truth.

"Kai," Minerva said with a flick of her tongue. "Tell the servants to make us some tea. Three cups, if you will. Pluto and I need to speak in peace. Later, we might tell you what happened, but not until we wish to."

"Very well, dear aunt." Kai entered called a servant and requested that three cups of tea be brought to his chambers. Then, he retreated into his room until the tray arrived.

Queen Minerva and King Pluto entered the meeting room for their private talk. They preferred the plush chairs and sturdy table to just their bed. They each took a seat beside each other, their hands intertwined with worry.

"How will we catch the one who sent his own servant off to kill him?" Pluto sighed, leaning forward with his fingers rubbing his forehead. "He does not believe that I didn't do it, that much I know."

"A full scale search would be fruitless," Minerva added. "We know that anyone we wish to interrogate would deny it." Then, she perked up as if a lightbulb lit itself above her head. "Pluto, would it help to 'forcefully interrogate' suspects?"

Pluto caught the meaning of what she was saying with a grim smile. "If we catch the right suspects, it would, but we would have to be careful in going too far. If they feel like it's too much, they would confess to something they did not do. That would take us nowhere."

"Yes, I know that."

"Then we could try that. First, though, we need to find who would most likely have have a grudge against him. As far as we know, the only ones he ever harmed were ourselves in his fits of rage as a child and anyone who dared harm Vector. I highly doubt anyone would hold that much of a grudge against a child, though."

"Very true. Then, we have to look at those who have had their pride ruined because of him."

Pluto snorted. "He may talk tough, but Black Mist has never left anyone to suffer a damaged pride before. He strongly prefers killing them off if he went too far; I taught him that much."

Their conversation was cut off by a polite knock on the door. "Uncle? Aunt? I have the tea."

Both husband and wife sighed silently. "Come in," Pluto called. "The door is unlocked."

Kai opened the door with one hand while his other balanced the tray with cups of tea on saucers, a bowl of sugar, some cream, and pastries to go with it. He set it down in front of them and took a seat beside Minerva. "Now, dearest uncle and aunt, will you tell me why Black Mist transformed between the gaps of my visits? I know it did not happen overnight."

The king and queen shared a glance and then proceeded to tell their nephew about the time when Black Mist wandered out with his friend Durbe, who was now dead. They didn't know what happened while they were there, but by the time Pluto found them after hearing from a citizen that his son was being picked on by a couple of rough kids, the damage had already been done. Durbe had stopped breathing, and Black Mist was stabbed and violated. They had rushed him to the infirmary, and he pulled through, but he hardly remembered his parents, the events of the accident were blurry and fuzzy, and Durbe was completely wiped from his memory. He was very grumpy when he was released, and it only got worse over time.

Kai nodded, his face hidden by a shadow. What was he thinking? Then, he looked up, stirring his tea with cream and sugar the entire time. He had yet to take a sip of it because he was listening to the story. "I see," was what he said. "That explains it, I suppose."

"What do you mean by that?" Pluto asked, dipping a pastry into his tea and eating it. His gaze held a subtle, accusing glare.

"I just mean that I find it hard to believe that such an accident would alter his personality so severely."

"Well, Kai," Minerva said, calm as ever, "you will have to accept the fact that it is true."

"I know, dear Aunt." He had a faraway look in his eyes and a distant smile. "I wonder, though. Who could have sent those rascals after the prince? Raey and Keelie, you say? I hear they have not been acting alone at all in all their lives."

Pluto waved it off. "That does not matter anymore. They have stopped their assaults. The real question is who could have possibly sent Black Mist's own servant to kill him?"

"Well, Uncle, before you ask that question, I must confess something." At last, Kai took a long drink of his tea with a smug look in his eyes.

"What would that be?"

He set his cup down on its saucer and set the saucer on the table. "This may seem trivial, but he will never marry to a woman of his own free will."

Minerva narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that? Why would he not?"

"Because he is not attracted to them."

The king and queen both froze at his implications. Of course, they both suspected something when he would be presented with wealthy women for him to choose to marry, but of course, anyone would be grumpy from being pulled out of hanging out with their best friend to do something boring.

"There's more. He brought a certain 'prisoner' with him, who turned out to be the Cosmic prince. Instead of turning him in, he rescued him from me and flew off. What do you think that could mean?"

Pluto slammed his hand down on the table, causing the cups and plates to shudder. "Enough, Kai! What he does and for what reasons are his own business. The only way it becomes our business is when they harm the kingdom or himself!"

"Very well, Uncle."

So, I'm updating right now with these chapters because I got internet from my aunt. :3 I've been updating this story more than the others offline, but I'm pretty sure that by the time I get back home, I'll update my others as well! Hope you enjoyed chapters 7-11!

-Chibi Astral