#candystory

Once there was a kingdom of sweets and love, candies and chocolates ruled the lands and all was beautiful and unique. There was no poor or hungry, everyone helped everyone, even the nobles, and royals. The land was prosperous with its sugar fields and fructose farms until one day the humans visited and brought their toxic ideology and slavery. The commodity that is one's own people became a widely denied idea amongst the kingdoms but there were some who thought it had merit. The younger generation was filled with greed when they saw all the material and money these strange travelers had just by making some of their own work harder. Of course, the humans were memory wiped by the Supreme Sorcerer, but not before they were able to kidnap some children and traffic them back to their lands. Once a candy leaves the enchanted area they become the normal candy you see and eat today.

    As time passed and the next generation slowly took over the thrones the society began crumbling. They would kidnap the commoners from the streets and sell them to the humans in exchange for large amounts of gold and sugar. Some would even be sold as slaves to work the fields for very little food and water. They slowly but surely adopted the corrupted and despicable human practice of slavery and societal ranks.

    A little overview of the actual kingdoms now that we have a quick history lesson. There is the Kandy Korn Kingdom, they are the superiors above the other 3 kingdoms. They control most of the slave trade and sugar sources in the kingdom, they are known for being ruthless to those that oppose them and beyond generous to the loyal nobles. In a sense, they are a factory and production kingdom. They had a strategist that had a very skillful mind, very tactical and known for his ability to always find a win in any situation. Unfortunately, he had become too knowledgeable for the liking of the King and was quickly banished and sold out of fear by his own brethren.

    Now for the Pumpkin Marshmallow Kingdom, they are second in rank to the Kandy Korn, they control most of the fructose production and have a few sugar fields as well but mostly is a vacation spot for the nobles and royals as it is mostly a beach and has the most beautiful coasts. It's also a place of information and blackmail as the noble roam free and without care. There is a tavern one must not enter unless you know what you want.

    Next is the Black Licorice Kingdom, essentially they are the soldier factory for the kingdoms. They raise their young and commoners to be warriors of a higher class yet the noble children are treated as though they are the best when their stance shows they are about to stab themselves. From here there was a red twizzler that had become a master swordsman at a young age and was well known among the land; but, they became fearful of his abilities and strength and he was sold away to slavery after being restrained and his strength limited.

    Lastly is the Chocolate Skeleton Kingdom, they are known to be scholars and sometimes produce strong sorcerers for the kingdom. Though it is rare there will be some commoners able to practice magic and that is exactly the class of the last Master Sorcerer before they were banished and magically restrained due to fear.

    In a quiet autumn night where one can hear the chirping of the crickets, a low gasp breaks the peaceful night. A tiny girl with white hair and pale eyes, a beauty really, shivers in fear and anger on the floor where she had been dreaming of something truly painful. As she calms down and starts thinking about what needs to be done she decides to get started on the laundry for the day so she doesn't get beaten too badly.

     As she walks down to the laundry room she sees the clock on the wall says it is four am.

    'Well damn only an hour before I had to wake up this time, must be a new record.' She chuckles to herself in dry amusement. As she makes her way down to the cellar she notices the matron is already down there.

    "Oh hello there Sireen I see you are as diligent as ever. I have an emergency and I need these sheets cleaned immediately." The matron stated as she walked out now that she could dump the work on a slave.

    Sireen rolls her sleeves up and begins to work the stains out of the sheets before her dad or the owners wake up. She scrubs and washes until the sounds echo around the cellar and in her head, blocking out the memories that haunt her. Set in a steady rhythm and motion she quickly gets lost in the feel of cloth against her hands, the softest and purest cotton in the kingdoms, gifted to the most loyal of the followers. She remembers this feeling.

"Well aren't you early" A boy no more than sixteen years of age was leaning against the entryway of the cellar.

"My Lord you shouldn't be here, this is a slaves area you shouldn't by lowering yourself by being here." She replied with her head pointed down.

"I'm not lowering myself if it's because of you, after all you are a rare beauty I'm sure I could make you my concubine if you gave yourself to me." The boy said leering at her body.

"I am too young for something like that and I am simply a slave young Lord!" Sireen started panicking, she didn't want to end up like this she knew she couldn't deny him. Either way she'd be blamed, either for seducing the Young Lord or trying to frame him. She was only thriteen for fuck's sake!

"Nonsense I can clearly see you mature enough to handle adult play." He said as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer and got more aggressive. "Give into me right here and right now and I'll give you and your father an easy life." He finished with a smirk, sure he had convinced her. While Sireen did want to make it easier for her father she knew this wasn't how it would happen. The young Lord is spoiled and doted on but his parents wouldn't go against the royal family to give into their son.

"Please Stop My L-" Sireen tries to beg but is cut off by a slap to the face and hits her head on the metal tub and feels boiling anger in her veins.

"NO! You listen to me you little bitch I want you and no one says no to me!" The brat of a baby lord whines like a five year old. As he reaches down to grab her he feels his hands starting to burn. Slowly but surely boils start erupting from his hand burning him, before he knows what is happening he is flung through the concrete wall and blood gushed from his head. His shoulder bone clearly torn from the socket and through the skin. Such a grotesque sight made Sireen want to vomit as she heard shouting and fast paced running coming down the stairs.

A feminine scream tore through the air, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON!"

"My Lady I don't know what happened." Sireen said while sobbing in guilt. She refused to tell her she did it in fear of death. She doesn't even know what happened, one second she's wishing for the young lord to be away from her and the next he's dead.

The family doctor comes rushing into the cellar and immediately checks over the young lord in hopes that he would be alive at least. As he is doing this he has ordered his assistant to stop the bleeding and seal up the wounds. As he feels for the pulse his eyes widen in fear and sadness.

"My Lord and Lady Kandy Kanes, I'm sorry for your loss." He says while bowing his head in submission to avoid any physical backlash. As he says this Lady Kandy Kanes turns in fury back to Sireen and marches up to her and grabs her as and pulls her up the stairs as Sireen can do nothing but cry.

"The little bitch will pay for what she's done!" She screams in anger and agony.

"My Lady please don't blame Sireen she is just a small child who doesn't have the strength to do this!" Her father pleaded for her safety.

"No! Someone did this to my son and the head maid said only Sireen was down here! She must pay the price for my son!"

"My Lady please she is but a child and a girl at that!"

"No my wife is correct there will be a price to pay," Said The Lord, "But you are right Sireen is far too young."

"Thank-"

"Therefore you will bear her sins and take the punishment instead." Continues the Lord. Sireen can do nothing but stare in horror as her father is dragged to the dungeons and she is forced to watch. They beat him, drown him, just the most unimaginable tortures in the world and all she can do is watch. The power from earlier won't listen, it won't help, she can't feel it anymore.

Finally around four hours later they put him out of his misery and discard the body in a furnace. As he burns and turns to ash all Sireen can think is how much she wants everyone here to burn. 'They will all suffer, I'll make sure of it father.'

10 years ago in the Chocolate Skeleton Kingdom

“Sorceress Rayya, thank you so much for visiting our lands today the crops have been wilting and withering away due to the harsh winter.” Said the Chocolate Coin Baron.

“Of course, we can’t have the kingdom suffer due to weather now can we?” Rayya said regally. She lifted her hand to the sky and focused on the surrounding magic in the air. The magic began to engulf her hand and swirl around, she kept gathering until she felt it was enough and then shot it up to the sky. The clouds dispersed over the Baron’s lands and it became clear and sunny.

“Thank you so much Sorceress, with you controlling the kingdom’s whether the land will be fruitful this winter season!” The Baron continued to butter up to the royal sorceress

“As is my duty to the kingdom for everything the royal family has done for me.”

“Of course they did raise you as a royal ward after all! Merry travels your excellency! And thus the baron took off to monitor the farmland, leaving Rayya to do as she pleases until she had to be on her way to the next destination to clear up the weather. She had approximately four hours until she had to be at the next location and if she flew that’s how long it would take for her to get there. Thankfully she had set up a teleport point for herself in that town the last time she was there to clear up a problem. Actually she had planted a teleport point in each major area including ones in other Kingdoms but those are absolute secrets as that would be classed as a security breach.

‘Well, I’ve got nothing better to do might as well enjoy the scenery along the way.’ And with that, she took to the skies. She could see all the people looking as small as ants, wondering if there was any point in trying to fix things if they were all so insignificant anyway. As she appeared at her destination she noticed the banner of the royal family surrounding the town.

As she landed twenty feet away she noticed the prince’s personal guard surrounding the entrance to the town. As she approached she knew exactly when they noticed her presence because they immediately drew their weapons and turned hostile.

“What is the meaning of this?” Rayya sputtered out in shock as the prince came out from the center of the protective circle and pulled out a scroll.

“By order of the king, Sorceress Rayya is to be stripped of her titles and magic suppressed through inhibitor bracelets. Most importantly her engagement to Prince Viktor is to be annulled” The prince readout and as he did the guards approached to put the bracelets on her and she let them.

“My Prince, why?” She said with tears in her eyes.

In the early hours of the morning a groaning could be heard coming from an apartment at the top of a tavern. The sun rays shining through the curtains, hitting the two occupants' eyes and waking them up. The pink haired candy shivers from the cold as they wake to find all the blankets stolen by the orange haired candy,

“Kai I swear to sugar you better stop hogging all the damn blankets!” Atlas yawned out in irritance.

“Shuddup you kick them off anyway.” Kai responded, annoyed at having been woken up.

“No you yank them.”

“No I don’t.”

“Then why do I always wake up to you bundled up and me freezing?!”

“You kick them off because you always complain about overheating so I take them and now you wanna blame me in the morning? Don’t you fucking dare.” Kai finished his rant only to hear Atlas laughing in amusement and because they didn’t wanna admit they were wrong.

“You seriously gonna try to laugh this shit off after you woke me up for it? Not. Fucking, Allowed.” And thus Atlas was tackled by Kai into a pillow pile on the floor where more things were kicked off the bed by the one and only. 

It started with a tickle that escalated to a tackle by Atlas followed by a kick from Kai. They kept play wrestling until they got tired, they stopped and stared at each other before Kai, who had managed to flip Atlas over, leaned down and kissed them.

Immediately After The Prologue

“Reporting to His Highness, The Baron’s estate has been burned to the ground, no amount of water could put it out.” Spoke the High Knight, Sir Adrien.

“Are you aware of the cause?” The King Spoke.

“No Your Highness, but the few slaves that managed to escape talked about a young child with white hair that had been found assaulting the young master of the manor that morning. They believe she caused the fire and her remains have yet to be found.”

“You said white hair?!”

“Yes, Your Highness it seems to be the same child as that of the fallen Counts.” This caused the King to fall into deep thought. “Damien was right, they did turn out to be nothing but trouble.”

“Have the royal guards search for her immediately, she must be found and made a lesson of, just like the rest of her family.”

“Right away your highness.” As Adrien turned around to execute his orders, all he could think was if he was doing the right thing, after all, she was just a little girl. As fast as those thoughts came they were pushed away for he was loyal to the throne as his father was before him.

Back to the present

Right before Kai could get inside the doors, they all hear the clash of metal and turn around to notice fire and smoke coming from the north.

“What the fuck is happening over there?!” Said Sireen in a scared voice.

“Ooh! Seems like the royal family ordered either for this town to be enslaved or they’re looking for someone because no one else would dare attack here. But anyway yay! Seems like I can cut up some bodies today!” Atlas said all this in a cheery tone, not once sounding like someone under attack. At the idea of this being an attack by the royals Sireen loses the cowardness and gains a stance of anger and confidence.

“Did I ever tell you how much I love that analytical mind of yours?” Kai told them. He was also sounding and looking calm but his posture was ready to fight if need be. He continued, this time to Sireen, “And judging by your background it’s probably you that they’re after.”

“Then what do we do? Other people are getting hurt because of me.”

“It seems that my new apprentice is a trouble magnet.” Said a voice from the doorway they were currently blocking. Sireen turned around to see a female candy with pink hair and sparkly skin in a black robe.

“My apologies but you are?” Sireen asked

“Your new mentor if your will is strong enough, let me see what you are capable of, go take care of the intruders.” The black-robed figure said.

“I’m doing this because of my own vendetta not because you told me to.” Sireen clarified. She rushed north towards the fire and found the town folks escaping the raid as four candies held the guards back. In the midst of it, she saw Kai and Atlas fighting, Kai with twin daggers and Atlas with a Scarlette sword, both decapitating heads as they went along quite merrily. To her left, she saw what looked to be twins, one fighting hand to hand breaking bones. The other using throwing knives and tear gas. It was complete chaos with guards clearly losing, if she wanted to prove herself she had to do something fast. She once again felt for the inner core, when she felt the once more raging and angry core she pulled it forward with the guards in mind and soon found all of them aflame. Their anguished cries fell on deaf ears as they gained no pity from the onlookers.

Cheers filled the air as everyone turned to her in clear respect and gratefulness, everyone except the twins, Kai, and Atlas. The twins seemed annoyed and hostile while Kai looked disinterested. Atlas, on the other hand, was peeved he didn’t get to cut up more bodies.

Gasps of awe surround her and she looks up to see what the reaction is for and sees her new mentor flying towards them, this causes her to also gasp in surprise. She didn't know there were others that could still do magic, she was told as a child that they had all been hunted for they were too powerful for the ruling families to control. Now she understands why Kai had such a lukewarm reaction to her magic if he knew someone that could perform actual magic! As her new mentor landed she took into account the damage done to the enemy versus the allies and the surroundings.

“I’m impressed, you managed to kill off the enemy without harming others or the buildings and land.” She turns to everyone, “This one, Sireen, is my new apprentice. I hope you all will greet her with open arms.” As she finished cheers sounded out once more as they were happy to have another strong candy on their side.

“So where are we going exactly?” Asked Sireen for the ninth time that evening. After she had given her answer to the strange man, he had told her he would introduce her to people that would be helpful to her cause, but that she needed to rest for the remainder of the morning. So she was shown a room, given food, and slept the rest of the day. Honestly she was grateful, being on the run made restful moments far and in between. 

After the plant explosion, as she calls it, something in her flipped. It felt like she finally found and accepted how she is and is now more at peace with what she must do to gain retribution.

“We are almost there, be patient.” Kai responded as he took a left at a crumbling building.They were in the poorest area of the city, where beggars and such lived; If they weren’t captured as slaves anyway. Due to the fact that most of the lower peasant population were captured and sold, it was a shock to see the town in full bloom with a lot of candies bustling about. 

Sireen could see the townsfolk eyeing her with suspicion and distrust but looked at Kai in awe. She understood the reaction towards her but was curious about what Kai had done to gain such a response from these people. As they walked down the broken and debri cluttered alleyway, she felt the presence of two people following them. One from her left atop the building and another from behind, blended in with the crowd of people. She kept her senses trained on them as they continued to go down the same direction and obviously at a slower, stalkerish, pace. 

As they round another corner Sireen gets ready to pull out her hidden knives and throw them, but before she can, she notices a figure she hadn’t noticed launch out and grab Kai from behind. Before she can think to attack, she notices Kai’s smile and laugh of surprise towards the new candy as he is spun around so she stands back and takes the newcomer into account. Braided back pink and orange hair, light orange skin, and a taffy like body from what she can see, ‘must be a starburst’, she thinks. As the candy puts Kai down he finally notices Sireen standing behind them. 

“Why hello there little one and who might you be?” The unknown candy asked.

“Looks like it’s a shared trait amongst you two to not introduce oneself before demanding information from another.” She replied

“Ah but information is money don’t you know?” They replied with a smirk.

Sireen turns to Kai and raises an eyebrow and Kai sighs as he explains.

“This is Atlas, they identify as non binary so keep that in mind. They are my number one informant as well as my partner.” Then he turns to Atlas, “This is Sireen, she is a runaway noble with an agenda against the ruling kingdoms and will be helpful as her cause is beneficial to ours.” As he turns to give them both his attention, he notices the questions in both their eyes. Again, he sighs and begins to speak.

“Yes Atlas, she is important and safe enough for me to give her this information free of charge. And Yes Sireen, they are trusted enough to tell them your backstory and plans. Any other questions?” Sireen raised her hand as though she was in school.

“Yes, do you know about the two that have been following us since we entered this area?” She asked out of genuine curiosity.

“Yes, that would Dyllen and Rickki. They are twins that are a big part of making this town function and handle the more messy side of things. They are probably just checking out the new candy that’s entering their territory.” Kai replied

“You sure are telling her a lot of details, is that wise?” Atlas said in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry, I tested her personally.”

“Oh?”

“Yup.”

“Fine.”

“Well then!” Kai said in an overly cheery tone, “Guess it’s time you met your master for the foreseeable future, at least until you can better defend yourself and get a hold on your abilities.” He clapped his hands and led them to a door with an emblem.

Atlas let out a whistle as they turned back to Kai. “That much potential huh?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Kai responded, clearly getting annoyed.

“I know but I can’t believe this pipsqueak is worth much. I mean look at how scrawny and small she is.”

“Excuse me but I don’t really care much for the words of some random candy I have never talked to nor shown myself properly to. So if you don’t mind, please keep your unneeded words to yourself.” She finished with a haughty tone. Kai turns to Atlas in clear irritation.

“Did she pass your little test?”

“With flying colors! Love the attitude, as long as she can back it up I mean.”

“She’ll be able to soon enough.”

“Hello i’m still here you know, what do you mean by a test?” Sireen interrupted agitatedly.

“I’ll explain later. Can we please just get you introduced to your new mentor, I’m really tired of standing out here.” Kai huffed out.

  A crisp autumn breeze chills the travelers as they make their way to town. Many travelers band together to avoid bandits and slave traders, it wasn't uncommon for someone to join randomly without a word. It wasn't until they were an hour away from the city that a strange one joined their group. A tiny body that could be a child's, feet were bare and dirty, clothes ragged, with a torn and used blanket as a cloak. Everyone knew immediately that it was a slave on the run. Their pity-filled eyes exchanged contact. Even though most didn't know each other, they still banded together to help this poor soul. All twenty-some candies encircled the beaten one and shielded them from view, like a pack accepting a new cub.

    As they got near the patrolled entrance they tightened their formation, and as they were checked over for identity, the ex-slave was pushed down and around to keep them away from the guards. Luckily the group was able to enter without difficulty and immediately headed towards a tavern. As they talked merrily to seem normal and unsuspicious, two of them grabbed the runaway's arm to keep them from leaving.

    "We are taking you to a safe place. The person there will be able to help you out of your situation." One of them whispered.

    "Do you swear on your life?" The feminine voice spoke.

    "We do."

    "Very well."

    As she entered the slightly worn down tavern with dim lighting, the first thing she noticed was a man standing next to a large furnace. Covered in soot and hair spiked in all directions, he seemed to be forging a dagger. She was so entranced by the sight of the heated metal that she didn't notice when the figure had noticed them and began walking towards the group.

    "Well, what do we have here, another runaway I see." He was inches from her face, his voice was deep and thralling. She stumbled back in surprise, only the fact that she was still being held kept her from falling down.

    "And what do I call you little runaway?"

    "Sireen, sir."

    "Why hello there. What is it that you want now that you have escaped?" This made Sireen pause, what did she want? She had managed to kill off the family that killed her father but now what? Search for her mother? Her brothers were dead from trying to fight off the attackers that night. That's it, she wasn't done with her revenge! This all started because of those royal assholes. She wasn't finished, not by a long shot.

    "I want retribution for all the wrongs, for all of the corruption and disgusting habits of this so-called society." She replied with a fierce look in her eyes.

    "I could tell it was something along those lines with that way you were looking at the dagger." He smirked. Sireen looked away blushing at being caught staring. He continues.

    "If you have the spine for it, I can teach you how to handle a weapon. You're gonna need to be able to defend yourself if you want to do any type of revenge."

    "Three things. One, it isn't polite to talk so much without giving your name. Two, What type of candy are you, I can't tell by looking, I am a zero bar. Three, I have something I can do but I'd rather explain my abilities in private if you will." She looked him straight in the eyes while saying this. He stares back before he smirks, again, she was getting really annoyed by them.

    "Very well, my name is Kai, I apologies for the late introduction Miss. I do believe the tavern is empty as we haven't started getting customers yet as we are still closed." He finished with an eyebrow raise. "A zero bar? That isn't something you should be saying so easily, though it does explain somethings, such as your coloring."

    "Apologies for coming unaware as well Sir. But why here in the open?" She said ignoring the last statement.

    "Somehow I feel as though you wouldn't feel comfortable talking to me alone in one of the many resting rooms here."

    "Thank you for your consideration then."

    "Enough pleasantries! Let's go ahead and talk about your future endeavors! I am quite excited for a new project." Sireen doesn't know how to feel about that last statement but she figures it's better than the shit she's been through. As she turns back to the group to tell them they can leave, she won't run away, she realizes they already left at some point. 'How strange, 20 some people and I didn't hear a thing.'