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‘“Go to Corona, Hugo’, ‘It’ll be easy to get in and out no problem, Hugo’, ‘It’s not like they’ll be many obstacles in your way, HUGO!”’ The blond boy comes to a stop after ducking under the 20th black spike he’d seen in the last minute. “What was Donella talking about?” he mutters “no obstacles?” He looks up at the carnage these black rocks had caused to the quaint village just beyond the broken wall in front of him “yeah sure, no obstacles… none whatsoever!” Hugo buries his face in his hands to muffle his scream. He feels a strand of hair being pulled and looks to find Olivia sitting on his shoulder with a look of concern on her small metallic face. “I’m fine Livi. Just wasn’t expecting to practice my gymnastics today.” He takes a deep breath and carries on through the destroyed wall ahead.
‘What in the name of Demanitus happened here?!’ Rubble and debris were scattered across the ground, the black rocks that had cursed Hugo throughout his journey to the Sun Kingdom seemed to have sprouted out of every bit of available space, some even pierced through bits of metal. It was clear to Hugo that some type of fight must’ve taken place quite recently and no one had gotten around to cleaning the aftermath. Although with how deserted this village looks, Hugo is doubting if there even is anyone left to clean up the mess.
Doing one final sweep of the place, Hugo decides to keep going. He has a job to do. Demanitus only knows why Donella is so interested in Corona’s legends since Ingvarr is the furthest of the Seven Kingdoms from the Sun Kingdom, but he’s been tasked to talk with the blacksmith who lives on the main island so that is what he’ll do.
After what felt like an eternity Hugo finally makes it to the island of Corona. The castle loomed over everything, catching the afternoon sun at just the right angle to cast a warm reflection onto the city below. ‘Can definitely understand now why it’s known as the Sun Kingdom.’ Hugo turns in place and takes stock of the various shops and stalls in his immediate vicinity, hoping to any deity that will listen that one of them is the Smithy. No such luck. ‘Damn it. Right, if I was a blacksmith where would I set up shop?’ He decides his best bet would be continuing in the direction of the castle with the notion of the Smithy being close enough to the Royal Guards should they need it.
He comes to a stop at a fountain in what looks to the middle of the town square to take a short break. He’s been walking all day at this point and the temperature of the kingdom around him was not helping his exhaustion level. He figures Donella wouldn’t mind him taking a quick rest. ‘I mean it’s not like I have an immediate deadline to get her the information, plus I doubt she’d be happy if her best agent collapsed from heat stroke on the job.’
Whilst sitting on the edge of the fountain wall, enjoying the cool, misty spray the falling water was giving off as it hit the bottom, he decides to eavesdrop on the surrounding conversations. ‘Rule 2: gather intel whenever possible’ he remembers Cyrus teaching him, right behind rule number 1: Always have an escape plan in mind.
“Good Morning Mrs Harlow” ‘Not interesting’
“Jessica, your hair looks amazing today!” ‘Don’t care’
“Apples! Come get your apples here! Only 5 coins!” ‘5 Coins… no thanks, I’ll stay starving’
“Man that battle the other day was brutal! That giant robot thing almost crushed me” ‘Consider me intrigued’
“Yeah, I know what you mean. That guy is crazy!” The two men talking were dressed in red shirts and black slacks. Golden breast plates covered their bodies and golden helmets with red plumes sat atop their heads. Royal Guards. They stood to the left of where Hugo was sitting, thankfully with their backs turned to him. Hugo didn’t know if he had any wanted posters this far out from Ingvarr but he was happy to fly under the radar for now.
“I could tell that by the fact he kidnapped the Queen” the first one replied. ‘I’m sorry… what?! Some guy kidnapped the Queen of Corona?! Damn alright!’
The second guard shakes his head in disbelief “He’s looking at one hell of a prison sentence that’s for sure. I mean he attacked Princess Rapunzel, stole the Sundrop Flower from the Royal Vault, pretty much drugged the entire kingdom with a truth serum, genetically experimented on an animal and turned it into a monster, kidnapped Queen Arianna, blackmailed the King and the Princess and then tried to kill all 3 of them plus the Captain of the Guard’s daughter. Who knows what else he’s done before all that!” With every added crime Hugo’s eyebrows climbed higher and higher. ‘This guy is definitely not seeing freedom again anytime soon. That is an impressive list!’ Hugo is in awe at what he hears, granted it’s in a what-the-actual-hell-this-is-insane kind of way but still. Screw Flynn Rider, this guy deserves all the fame. If it wouldn’t jeopardise his mission (or possibly his life) Hugo kind of wants to meet this person who could bring an entire kingdom to its knees single-handedly.
Suddenly a weird chitter catches his attention. When the blond turns to look he comes face to face with a raccoon. There was nothing special about the animal, he looked like every other raccoon Hugo had seen - grey fur, built in bandits mask and gloves, striped tail - but the look in this particular raccoon’s eyes slightly unnerved him. He almost looked too intelligent.
The raccoon blinks twice before turning its attention to the apple cart nearby. It rubs its paws together before running towards its target, unaware of the confusion it had caused. ‘Since when did raccoons imitate mad scientists?’ Hugo completely forgets about the conversation the guards were having as his focus is solely on the animal. The raccoon strikes as soon as the owner turns her back, grabbing 2 apples in either paw. Unfortunately his reflexes weren’t quick enough to stop a few from toppling and alerting the seller. She spots the fur covered thief immediately.
“You again!” she shouts. “After what that criminal did to you, you’d think you’d leave him alone!” She takes the apples back and chases the raccoon away from her stall. “Steal my apples to give to that lowlife” she mumbles just loud enough for Hugo to hear.
‘So the raccoon is the Queen-nappers pet? Ok then.' Hugo takes Olivia off his shoulder, powers her down and slips her into an inside pocket of his jacket. He then silently walks towards the apple cart. He figures if he can’t meet the guy he might as well help his pet get him some food. Using a pebble he finds on the ground Hugo distracts the seller by throwing it in the opposite direction. Ever so carefully he grabs an apple and throws it to the raccoon. The animal looks him up and down before snatching the fruit and running off.
Hugo walks away from the cart, whistling without a care. His path is suddenly blocked by the neck of a white horse. He glances up at the horse’s face and realises it’s glaring at him. ‘What do they feed the animals in Corona? Are all of them capable of vaguely human expressions?’
With a polite nod of his head Hugo attempts to walk past. The horse, whose harness reads Maximus, grabs him by the back of his jacket and drags him over to where the 2 guards were talking. After unceremoniously dumping him at their feet the horse whinnies. The two guards seem to speak horse since they immediately gather the blond in their arms and frog march him towards the castle.
‘Great… arrested by a horse. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Donnie is not going to be pleased about this.’