P.O.V. Third

Shadow sighed as she stood outside of King's room. She wasn't sure why but she could feel that something was wrong with King. She didn't know what exactly but she could feel it in his aura and she could even see it in his physical appearance. Something was definitely wrong with King. As she stood guard outside her masters room she heard some clicking from down the halls and turned to see Cinder walking towards her. 

Shadow felt a little nervous seeing this but didn't move or acknowledge the female's existence apart from looking at her. Cinder continued to walk down the hall and Shadow had hoped she'd just walk past her however she wasn't that lucky as Cinder came to a stop in front of King's door. "Where's King?" Cinder asked as she looked at the male in front of her. 

"He's in his room," Shadow answered honestly. Cinder smiled hearing this and reached for the handle to his door however stopped as a shadow in the shape of a spike came in front of her cutting off her access to the hand. Cinder looked at the female in front of her, Shadow glared at Cinder for a moment before it faded into a innocent smile. 

"Sorry, but no one's allowed in my master's room without his or my permission," Shadow said in a light airy voice once again portraying a slight illusion of innocents.

"Well unfortunately, Salem requires his assistance," Cinder said as she looked at the female. 

"You may serve Salem, and my master may serve Salem. I however do not, I serve my master . . . no one else," Shadow said as she looked at the female in front of her. Cinder gritted her teeth hearing this and glared at the female in front of her. 

"I don't know who you think you are but-" Cinder began as she looked at the female only to stop hearing some coughing. The door in front of them then opened and Cinder saw King. However he looked a bit different than usual. King was a bit paler than usual, and his hair for some odd reason was glowing giving his usually pure white hair a snow-like appearance. King then cleared his throat making it clear that he was indeed sick. 

"Would you two shut up? I have a headache and you're bickering isn't helping," King said as he looked at the two in front of him. Cinder smirked seeing the male in his state, it was more than obvious from his tone that he was less than excited hearing the to. 

"So King," Cinder said with a smirk as she looked at the male in front of her. "How are you feeling?" Cinder asked as she looked at the male. She just wanted to confirm what she already knew. 

"Miserable, I'm congested, my throat is sore, and I'm fatigued despite the fact I just woke up," King said as he looked at the two in front of him. Cinder smiled hearing this and began to laugh slightly. 

"So it would seem as if even the son of Salem herself is capable of becoming sick. My, how the mighty have fallen, I must say that-" Cinder began only for King to swipe his hand right in annoyance and send her down the halls into one of the several walls that the building had. When he did King felt his stomach tense up and covered his mouth with his fist trying to conceal his current urge to vomit. 

"Great," King mumbled to himself clearly irritated with what he had just done. "Seems like I can't even use my semblance without puking my guts out," King said more than annoyed as he began to walk down the halls. After all his mother had to of sent Cinder and her underling to him for some reason. 

As he began to walk to the area Shadow began to follow the male and looked down at him. "Are you okay master?" Shadow asked clearly concerned for King's safety. 

"I'll be fine," King said as he continued down the hall. However as he continued to walk it became very clear that King wasn't as fine as he was letting himself on to be. As before he even reached the room he was already out of breath. King then opened the door and took a seat at one of the several chairs that were around Salem's throne. 

"Shadow," King said as he looked at the female still clearly exhausted. "Get me something to drink, I don't care what it is," King said as he looked at the female. Shadow smiled hearing this and nodded as she began to leave the room. After all this was her chance to help her master without deliberately going against him. 

King then heard the door next to him open and turned to see Arthur walking into the room. The male then took a seat that was close to Salem and King sighed as he continued to wait. Shadow then once again entered the room with a cup and placed it in front of the male. "Here, you go master peppermint tea with honey," Shadow remembered reading something similar to this in a book King had ordered to read once. 

She didn't think it would be rid of his sore throat completely but she thought if nothing else it would at least make it to where he didn't feel like he had glass in his throat any time he went to talk or swallow something. "Thank you," King said as he took a drink of the beverage and to his surprise he liked it more than he expected. 

"That does sound lovely, would you mind fetching me a glass as well?" Arthur asked as he looked at the female in front of him. 

"Piss off, this tea is for my master," Shadow said with an oddly innocent smile as she continued to look at the male in front of her. King chuckled slightly hearing this and continued to wait for the others to come into the room. After the others had arrived Salem walked into the room. She then took a quick glance at all the members in front of her. 

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you all here. So I won't waste any time and I'll tell you all. I'm going to start the next phase of our plan a bit early. I want all of you, to begin searching for the maidens as well as the location of their corresponding relics," Salem said as she looked at the figures in front of her.

"Question," Arthur said as he held up a hand. "What if we encounter some rather difficult complications? More specifically any huntsmen and huntresses?" Arthur asked as he looked at the female in front of her. When he said this Salem turned to look at Tyrian. 

"I trust that Tyrian is more than capable of handling any huntsmen that he comes across," Salem said as she gestured to the male beside her. 

"Salem, you can't be serious?" Arthur asked as he looked at the female. 

"I am," Salem said as she looked at Arthur. "I've found that the best learning experiences come as the need arises. It's true he hasn't properly been field tested like King yet. However I'm sure that when the need arises that Tyrian will not disappoint. After all he trains with King on a daily basis. At some point some of King's prowess is bound to rub off on him," Salem said as she gestured to the male. 

"Thank you, my goddess," Tyrian said with a rather respectful bow. Salem nodded hearing this and once again turned to the group in front of them. "Now starting today we will begin this phase. Arthur you will infiltrate Atlas as a scientist to see if there is anything we can use there. Tyrian you of course will be responsible for eliminating any and all huntsmen you can find," Salem said as she looked at the male. 

Tyrian nodded hearing this and Salem turned to Cinder with a slight smile. "And Cinder, I have something special planned for you," Salem said as she looked at the female. "You will inherit the power of the maidens," Salem said as she looked at Cinder. When she said this Cinder seemed a bit shocked hearing this. 

"I-I . . . thank you," Cinder said as she looked at the female in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This meant that Salem was choosing to not only place a large amount of trust in her, but also fulfill her wish of being powerful and feared. 

"Of course, my dear," Salem said as she looked at the female in front of her. "However," Salem said as her voice became much more serious. "I expect a lot from you because of this, which means that you are not only one of the most important parts to my plan but you are also the one person that is not allowed to fail me. Are we clear?" Salem said as she looked at the female. Cinder became a bit nervous hearing this and nodded. 

"As for you King," Salem said as she turned to the male. "You're useless to me in this state," Salem said bluntly as she looked at the male. "You're glowing hair is a clear indicator that you're sick. So until you recover you are useless to me," Salem said as she looked at the male. King seemed shocked hearing this and clenched his fists. How could she trust Cinder more than him. Not only could he use magic without the maiden powers but he's also killed someone that she herself said was causing her trouble for a long time. 

"I'm fine," King said trying to convince his mother to give him a slightly more important job other than recovery. 

"King, don't argue with me. As I said in your current state you're more of a hinderance than you are an advantage. I don't need someone who can barely walk down the hall without getting winded," Salem said as she looked at the male. King gritted his teeth hearing and nodded as he looked at his mother. Salem then turned to look at Shadow. "I trust that you can take care of him," Salem said as she looked at the female in front of her. 

Shadow smiled hearing this and nodded eagerly. "Of course!" She chimed happily. "I'll take good care of him, and nurse him back to health!" Shadow declared proudly as she looked at the female. Salem smiled hearing this and nodded.

"Then that is all," Salem said as she stood up from her throne and began to make her way back to her room. King gritted his teeth hearing this and stood up from his chair before he walked into the hall. When he did Shadow looked at him with a smile. 

"Don't worry master, I won't force you to lay down but I shall do my best to keep you well until then," Shadow said as she looked at the male in front of him. 

"I'm fine," King said as he looked at the female in front of him. Shadow seemed a bit distressed hearing this and looked at him. 

"It's okay master, I know you're not well. But you're loyal servant will try and serve you to the best of her ability," Shadow said with an eager smile as she looked at the male before she began to reach down to the male to pat his head. When she did the two heard a chuckle from the room the two had just left. 

King gritted his teeth hearing this and turned irritated by what he was hearing. When he did he saw Mercury staring at him. "You know it's kind of funny how quickly someone like you is reduced to nothing more than a brat who can't even get his own mother to care for him," Mercury said with a smirk as he looked at the male. 

When he said this King clenched his fist and Shadow noticed that the temperature around King began to raise and moved away from him slightly as the heat continued to make it's presence known. "Yeah, the all mighty King has been reduce to. I bet even J-" Mercury began only for King to cut him off. 

Shadow found out why King's temperature appeared to be raising as white hot flames burst from the male and began to burn anything within reaching distance of him."I'll burn you ali-" King began only to stop feeling something wrong and he leaned over covering his mouth as he did so before he coughed up a large amount of blood. 

"See master! Something is wrong with you!" Shadow said as she looked at the male in front of her. King gritted his teeth hearing this and wiped the small amount of blood that was around his mouth. 

"I said I'm fine," King said as he looked at the female in front of him, still very annoyed by what she was doing. As much as he hated to admit she was right. He was feeling off, his muscles were sore, he felt fatigued, and he kept suppressing his urges to cough and sneeze. 

"Talk about giving a new meaning to the term temper tantum," Mercury said as he looked at the white haired male in front of him. King once again felt irritated hearing this and continued to lean against the wall suppressing his urges to cough up more blood. 

"Shadow," King managed to get out in between his rather course breaths. When he said this the female turned to look at him awaiting his orders. "Break one of his femurs," King said as Shadow stared at him a bit shocked for a moment before she smiled her usual happy smile. 

"Of course master," Shadow said as a large spike came from the male's shadow and impaled his femur just above where his metal legs began. Mercury let out a cry of pain hearing this and King smirked clearly satisfied that Shadow would still listen to him even in his rather pitiful state. 

"You bitch," Mercury said just before the shadow suddenly retracted causing him to let out another cry of pain. 

"You know," King said as his breathing became more stable and he stood up. "I remember reading in one of those books that Arthur gave that having a broken femur is the worst pain someone can experience," King said as he looked at the male in front of him. 

"Did I do a good job master?" Shadow asked as she looked at the male eagerly awaiting his approval. 

"Yes," King said with a smile as he looked at the female. "You did an excellent job," King said with a smile as he looked at the silver haired female in front of him. Shadow smiled hearing this and looked at the male in front of her. King then sighed and looked at the female. 

"Follow me," King said as he began to walk down the halls of the building. 

"Where are we going?" Shadow questioned as she looked at the male. 

"We're going to my room, as much as I hate the fact that mother has confined me to my bed she is still my mother and I'd rather not argue with her. The last thing I'd want is for her to start searching for a replacement," King said as he continued down the hall. Shadow seemed a bit confused hearing this. 

She had a basic understanding of human concepts but some ideas were still rather foreign to her. This was one of those subjects. How could someone replace her master? After all there was only one King, and any other offspring that Salem had would surely be inferior to her master. Even his own clones that should have been identical to him were inferior to him. 

Shadow tried to rid herself of these thoughts if nothing else she thought that she might understand in a few years after she had spent more time with the humans. King then walked into his room holding the door open for Shadow allowing her to walk into the room as well. When she did King walked over to his bed and began to lay down much to his annoyance. 

Shadow smiled and walked over beside his bed. "So master is there anything I can do for you? Would you like something to eat? Some more tea perhaps? Oh would you like me to draw you a bath?" Shadow asked as she looked at King ready to tend to his needs. 

"A book would be nice," King said as he looked at the female. Shadow nodded hearing this and began to dash down the halls so that she could retrieve any books that she thought King might enjoy. King sighed when she left and looked across his room seeing a window. "I used to love staring at the stars," King said to himself as he looked out the window. 

However when he did he began to think about the time he had spent on the island. He had hoped that when he agreed to go with his mother that things would change. That's the reason he had been so willing to kill so many innocent people, well that and the fact they had tormented him for most of his life made the decision rather easy for him. However now that he had thought about it things hadn't really changed that much, or at least not when it came to how others treated him. 

He was almost always alone, and even when others knew that he was stronger than him he was almost never praised for anything that he had done. In fact as Mercury had proved just a few minutes ago others still berated him. Then there was the main reason that he had come to this place at all. His mother, ever since he had arrived despite the fact that as far as he knew he had done everything she had asked she still remained distant from him. 

He knew that she couldn't afford to show emotional attachment otherwise others might exploit it. However he had killed someone that she had specially said had been a thorn in her side for a long time, and he had received no reward and the only praise he had gotten for doing this was "That's pleasant to hear" Other than that he had received no praise from her. 

In fact she had even praised Cinder more than she had him, which irritated him to no end. King then heard the door open and quickly rid himself of these thoughts as he turned to see Shadow staring at him with a few books. However King noticed that she wasn't wearing the same attire as before but had changed for some reason. 

"Why did you change?" King asked as he looked at the female in front of him. She had went from wearing a uniform that King personally thought was nice to a rather skimpy version of a nurses outfit. 

"You could call this a bit of "service". Emerald said that you'd probably be really happy if I did this. So of course I had to try it," Shadow said with an oddly innocent smile, and King sighed hearing this. 

"Yeah it does, but not for the reason you're thinking," King said as he looked at the female. Shadow smiled hearing this and began to sit beside the male offering him one of the books that she had brought. King smiled and began to reach for the book. King then began to read the book and several minutes passed before either said anything and of course it was Shadow who broke the silence. 

"Master can you help me with something?" Shadow asked as she looked at the male. 

"Of course," King said as he closed his book while being sure to keep a finger in the book so that he wouldn't lose his place. 

"I don't think Neo likes me," Shadow said as she placed her head on King's bed. "I know Cinder doesn't like me but I don't care because she's hostile towards you. But I haven't done anything to Neo and no matter what I say or do I can't get her to say anything to me," Shadow said with a sigh as she looked at her master. 

"I'm fairly certain that's because Neo is mute," King said as he looked at the female. 

"Mute?" Shadow questioned as she looked up at the male. 

"She can't talk," King explained as he looked at the female. 

"Humans can be defective like that?" Shadow asked a bit confused as she looked at the male. 

"Yeah, they can also be defective in other ways," King said as he opened his book and began to once again read it. "They can also lack the ability to hear, see, taste, feel things physically, and produce offspring," King said as he read the book in front of him. 

"Humans are so weird," Shadow said as she looked at the male. 

"Yeah they are," King said as he read the book in front of him. 

"Master," Shadow began once again hoping to gain his attention. 

"Yes, Shadow?" King questioned as he looked at the book. 

"Am I good servant?" Shadow questioned as she looked at the male. 

"Of course, there's a reason I have you guarding me at night and not Javelin. If you want to know the truth then I value you more than anyone else in this building. And yes that includes my mother," King said as he looked at the female in front of him. 

"Really?" Shadow asked as she suddenly sprung up clearly happy about what she had just heard. King smiled seeing this and nodded. 

"Yeah," King said as he reached forward and began to pat the female's head causing her to smile and nuzzle against his hand. "I've began to realize just how important loyalty is to me, and so far you're the only one that's proved your loyalty to me on several different occasions," King said as he looked at the female. 

Shadow smiled hearing this and looked at the male. "What about your mother?" Shadow asked as she looked at the male. King sighed hearing this and began to look at the ceiling. 

"I'm loyal to her that's true but so far she's failed to prove her loyalty to me, and at the moment I feel as if any action she does show won't be genuine," King said as he looked at the female. 

"Why's that?" Shadow asked as she looked at King. 

"Some people aren't loyal to you, they're only loyal to their need of you. When their need changes so does their loyalty," King said as he looked at the female. Shadow nodded hearing this understanding what he meant and King looked at her. 

"Shadow will you make me something to eat?" King asked as he looked at the female. When he asked this the female jumped up eagerly. 

"Of course master! Wait here while I prepare a meal for you," Shadow said as she walked out of the room. King smiled seeing this and began to once again read the book. After several minutes passed Shadow walked back into the room carrying a bowl of some type of soup. Shadow then sat down beside the male and reached for the spoon that was in the soup. 

She quickly filled it with the soup and blew on it gently so that she didn't spill any. "Now master," Shadow said as she slowly reached over offering the male some food. "Say aww~" Shadow said as she looked at the male. King sighed seeing this and opened his mouth allowing the female to feed him. 

"So master," Shadow once again began as she looked at the male. "Since I'm doing a good job of being a servant can I have a reward?" Shadow asked as she looked at the male. 

"That seems like a reasonable request," King said as he looked at the female. Shadow smiled hearing this and looked at the male with her face stained slightly red. 

"Then, I want you to take my virginity!" Shadow said sounding very eager about what she was requesting. King became a slight shade of red hearing this and stared at the female in front of him a bit dumbfound by what he had just heard.

After almost a minute of silence King finally decided to speak bringing the rather awkward silence to an end. "You're not allowed to talk to Emerald anymore," 

A/N: Alright everyone so I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Also for those of you that are curious I am still currently accepting OC's for this story so if that's something you're interested in then please PM me. Now I hope you're all ready because the next vote of the series is about to begin.

Is King good or evil?

1. Evil
2. Good
3. Corruption (Starts good then turns evil)
4. Redemption (Starts evil then turns good)
5. Other (suggest what you want)