PRINCESS RECORDS, CHAPTER 12
“BETRAYAL”

“Poseidon, you’re late.”
“Yeah, I know. Excuse me.”
“I will. But I don’t think Lady Skeleton will.”
“Well, that’s just something I’ll have to discover for myself, isn’t it?”
Adam glared at the snake as it made its way into the Palace of Death. He noticed that it hadn’t changed much even though he had not been there in quite a while. The walls were covered in a thin black fabric that did not hide the bones that well. Random bones from random body parts, some human and some not, jutted out from the decaying concrete walls, as if the owners of said bones were trying to escape from a prison.
Poseidon also noticed that the corners where the walls met the ceilings were covered in more cobwebs than previously. Spiders dangled down from them and captured their unlucky prey silently. A few cockroaches scurried among them.
Down the several halls leading away from the main lobby of the palace came screams of agony from the dead souls tortured in the Underworld. They were louder and more frequent than usual, leading Poseidon to believe that more beings were dying across the Universe every day. Regardless, his facial expression did not change, and he followed Adam quietly down the main hall, which led to a large locked gate located in the center of the castle.
“Lord Adam,” a guard greeted. He stepped aside and allowed the zombie boy to enter with the snake following closely behind.
After a few minutes of walking, the two came upon a large set of twin doors. “Lord Adam reporting, Your Majesty,” the zombie announced. “Poseidon has come back from his mission. Would you like to see him?”
“Yes,” came the harsh, scratchy voice inside. “Send that adorable little snake in. I’d like you to come in, too, Adam.”
The zombie nodded and pushed his way into the throne room. Poseidon slithered ahead of him and bowed his head before the Skeleton Princess, who was sitting on her throne. Poseidon noticed that it, like the rest of the palace, was covered in cobwebs, and spiders crawled all over the princess. He watched as her skull suddenly twisted to the side, eyeing a large, hairy spider that was busy making its web. Without so much as a second thought, the princess grabbed the creature and shoved it past her jaw, chewing on it until Poseidon could see its blood trickle out of the princess’s mouth. When she was finished, she grinned widely and turned her attention back to the snake.
“It’s not like you to mess up on a mission,” she spoke. “What kept you? You were supposed to report back here after getting information on Amz and its situation regarding Princess Ebony and the next Princess of Darkness. Why is it you went to the Earth’s moon and retrieved the Princess of Adolescence?”
“A thousand apologies, Princess,” Poseidon begged. “I meant no harm in what I did. I had no control. There was a slight...error...in our calculations regarding Princess Ebony.”
“Oh?”
“Princess Ebony is indeed dead. I watched you kill her.”
“You didn’t just watch me, Poseidon,” the princess corrected. “You helped me, remember?”
“Indirectly, I might add. I just got the status of her powers in comparison to yours. Killing her was entirely up to you, Princess.”
The Skeleton Princess grinned again. “Yes, I suppose that’s true. So what is the matter regarding Princess Ebony? Was a new Princess of Darkness chosen?”
“No,” Poseidon replied shortly. “Princess, after you killed Ebony, the High Priests of Amz sacrificed themselves and gave her body life. She is a dead girl who walks among the living. What’s more is...all her powers came back with this undead form of hers. She is able to use her telekinesis again, and her psychic powers are stronger than ever. She has been able to...sense me. I think...she knows that I’m a double agent.”
“No, that’s impossible,” the Skeleton Princess replied. “If she knew that, she would have told Marane and the others. After all, she’s part of the team trying to defeat me.”
The snake’s beady eyes popped open wide. “That’s right,” he realized. He jerked up towards the princess, completely forgetting his manners. “At this rate, Marane will be able to gather all the remaining princesses together and defeat you! Princess, we need to come up with a new plan of attack!”
“Already done.”
“Huh...?”
“I was prepared in case something like this happened. You don’t have to worry, Poseidon. Those little princesses won’t be able to lay a single finger on me.”
“You truly believe that?”
The Skeleton Princess smirked. “I have a plan that will make it sure that the seven of them cannot come together. You have no need to fear, Poseidon. However, thank you for your concern. You’re a wonderful Underworld soldier.”
“...It’s an honor, Princess,” the snake replied, bowing his head again. “I swore my loyalty to you all those years ago. I believe every word you say.”
“That was quite a display of loyalty, too,” Adam suddenly added, smirking. He twisted some of his extremely curly, black hair around his finger and continued, “Don’t you think destroying the Night and Day Alchemist’s planet was a little much though? You didn’t have to be so flashy. Because of that, Earth will never have the gift of alchemy.”
“Adam,” the skeleton commanded, “that’s none of your business. Poseidon didn’t destroy that planet. Like with Princess Ebony’s situation, he just helped me out. In fact, Adam, if you wouldn’t mind, I think you’ve overstayed your welcome here in my throne room. Please escort yourself out. You have already heard far too much.”
The zombie boy turned his disbelieving stare up to the princess and stood there for a moment, completely still. After the skeleton gave him a stern look, he finally bowed and left, a bitter glare sent in Poseidon’s direction. The snake gulped and turned back to the princess, who now wore an amused grin.
“Do you have anything else of relative importance to report?” she asked.
Just when Poseidon was about to shake his head, he remembered something. “Yes,” he murmured, “something happened...on Nibonitch.”
“Nibonitch?” the Skeleton Princess repeated. “The planet belonging to Princess Eleanor Marie?”
“Yes, there was someone else there.”
“Explain this person to me, Poseidon. I’m curious.”
The rattlesnake nodded and continued, “It was a boy, a human boy. Nibonitch is a planet inhabited by Aliens. Princess Eleanor Marie herself is an Alien, so it was weird when we saw the boy.”
The Skeleton Princess nodded. “Yes, I can see how that would be odd.” She grabbed a tarantula climbing on her shoulder and stuffed it in her mouth. “Please continue,” she said through bites.
“And...the boy said something about searching for his princess.”
The Skeleton Princess swallowed. “Yes?”
“And then, he said that no one can escape a shinobi’s watchful eye. He disappeared after that, and the girls and I haven’t seen him since.” The snake looked up. “Princess, I don’t mean to stick my tongue where it doesn’t belong, but do you know anything of this princess? I thought all the princesses of the Universe but these last seven were under your control.”
The Princess of Death nodded. “Well, that’s partially true,” she explained. “You see, there’s actually an eighth princess left in the Universe, and it’s not the Night and Day Alchemist.”
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I let her go. I have no need for her.”
Poseidon jerked upwards and stared at the skeleton sitting across from him. “If I may...why is that, Princess?”
The skeleton smirked again. “She’s the Princess of Ninjas. Ninjas no longer exist on Earth except at these strange popular culture conventions. Therefore, she is weak. I have no need for a weak princess. She can fight all she wants, and her subjects can look for her all they want, but they will never be that much of a threat to me. I can wipe them out if it comes to that. I really hope I won’t have to though. It would be nice to make a deal with that planet since it’s so weak.”
Poseidon lowered himself back to the ground. “A deal...with a weak planet? Why?”
“I just have to promise the princess power. She’ll fall for it easily and do whatever I say, I know it. She’ll have no choice.”
“And why is that?”
“Her planet is weak for two reasons. Her gift is no longer useful to Earth, and her planet is still stuck in the ravages of war. I need not remind you about what happened five years ago, do I?”
Poseidon shook his head. “No, you don’t, Princess. I remember it quite clearly.” He suddenly grinned. “It’s an excellent plan. The princess’s gift may not be powerful, but ninjas themselves are quite strong. It’ll be nice to have an ally like that.” Suddenly, another thought struck Poseidon. “Wait a second!” he cried. “What if the Princess of Ninjas teams up with the other seven princesses? Then that plan would be ruined!”
The Skeleton Princess shook her head. “You need not worry about that either, Poseidon. There is no way she and her minions will join the seven other princesses. I can guarantee you that.” After a moment of silence, she stood, her feet bones making haunting echoes as she rose. “Is that all, Poseidon?”
The snake lowered its head. “Yes, that is all I have to report, Princess. I shall keep an eye out for any other shinobi when I go back to Marane and the girls. I will look for a chance to convince them to join us.”
“I appreciate it.”
Poseidon bowed one last time and turned to leave the room when the princess’s voice stopped him. When she did speak, the Princess of Death had an arrogant, sly tone. “I’d like to ask one last favor of you though, Poseidon.”
The snake turned. “Yes, Princess? What else can I do for you?”
The skeleton’s eye sockets glowed from the inside. “Poseidon...if that’s your real name, I’d like you to show me what you really look like. Show me your true form.”
The snake nearly jumped two feet in the air. “Your Majesty, this is my true form!” he blurted out. “I am but a snake, nothing more!”
“Yes. Now try explaining that to someone who hasn’t seen you transform into that Staff of Life. You’re not a normal snake, Poseidon. I want to see your true form.”
Poseidon shook down to the rattles in his tail. What do I do? Should I show myself to her? If I do, this could be bad. I wanted to get through all this without making too much of a scene. I wonder though if I could maybe transform into a fake person and use that as my identity. No! The Skeleton Princess has the same powers as Princess Ebony! She’s able to sense who I am. That means that she’s known all along that I’m not a normal snake. Shoot...this could be bad.
“Poseidon?” the princess asked. “I’m waiting.”
Without a word, Poseidon’s body began to change. He grew taller and took on new body parts. Slowly, the Skeleton Princess could see the magic swirling about him until the snake stood before her as a new person.
The Princess of Death observed the new form for a moment and then grinned. “I never would have know that that’s what you really look like.” And before she could say anything else, Poseidon transformed back into his snake self. “Aw, that’s all I get? One tiny little look? Oh well, I guess that’s enough. You’re free to go, Poseidon. Thank you for reporting to me.”
The snake bowed one last time and slithered out of the throne room before the princess could say anything else. Once he was outside, he met with Adam. “Were you listening at the door?” he asked.
The zombie boy shrugged. “I’ve got better things to do. I’ve been working on sustaining Joseph and Zita. The princesses really did a number on the two of them.”
“Are they okay?”
“They’ll be fine. And even if they weren’t, it’s easy enough for us to get new soldiers. Plus, we still have Nellie and Suzie. I’m sure they’d do anything we asked.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”
“Or...”
“Or...what?”
“Or we could always ask Jake.”
Poseidon shook his head violently. “No, we don’t have to use Jake,” he insisted. “There’s no need for us to go to that extreme. Let him sleep for a little while longer. He’s still so young...”
Adam nodded. “That was what Lady Skeleton said, too.” He sighed. “Anyway, why don’t you rest here for a while? Those girls don’t need you back right away. They can handle themselves for a while.”
Poseidon smirked. “Yeah, I want to see if they can survive without me.”

“So...Poseidon isn’t here on this planet with us?”
“Guys?”
“He left the moon with us. I’m sure of that.”
“Guys?”
“Well, no one was watching him! We were all paying attention to the Night and Day Alchemist and the other teenagers!”
“Guys?”
“So that means he abandoned us here?”
“Guys?”
“No way! Poseidon’s one of us! He’s our ally! He wouldn’t do this on purpose!”
“Guys?”
“WHAT IS IT, EBONY?!”
“I think I know what happened to Poseidon!”
The other girls blinked. “You do?”
“Yeah! He either took a wrong turn, stopped for some fast food, or decided to betray us.”
Silence.
“Personally, I’m going with the food. I want a cheeseburger, too.”

TO BE CONTINUED