[INT. PALACE THRONE ROOM – DAY]
The room is decorated with Family Day banners. Colorful streamers. Punch bowls. Laughter echoes from distant rooms.
But Princess sits on her throne. Alone. Hands trembling. She hasn’t moved for 10 minutes.
Suddenly—
A cold wind sweeps through the stained-glass windows.
And then—
Footsteps.
Click. Click. Click.
VOICE (off-screen):
“…Still can’t sit up straight, I see.”
Princess doesn’t look up. Her eyes widen.
PRINCESS (barely audible):
“No… not today. You weren’t invited…”
QUEEN LILY (O.S.):
“I built this town, girl. I don’t need an invitation to my own funeral.”
A tall, regal woman enters. Lily, Princess’ estranged mother.
She hasn’t aged a day. Her presence is sharp like glass—perfect posture, venomous smile.
[FLASHBACK – PALACE HALLWAY – YEARS AGO]
Young Princess, maybe age 7, stumbles through the corridor in a torn dress.
LILY (O.S.):
“If you’re going to cry, go where no one can hear you.”
The Queen stands towering above her, wine glass in hand.
[BACK TO PRESENT – THRONE ROOM]
LILY (circling):
“This town still smells like Luis. He was always so… desperate for peace.”
PRINCESS (cold):
“Why are you here?”
LILY (smirks):
“Because someone needs to remind you that you’re still a child playing queen.”
A tense silence.
PRINCESS:
“You abandoned me...”
LILY:
“I gave you freedom.”
PRINCESS:
“You locked me in a tower for two years!!”
LILY (shrugs):
“And you got out, didn’t you? Such a little hero.”
Princess stands. Her hands spark slightly with corrupted energy.
[INT. STIX’S ROOM – MOMENTS LATER]
Stix, watching from his balcony, narrows his eyes. He senses something.
STIX (to himself):
“Nope. I don’t like that vibe at all.”
He throws on a cap, grabs a piece of gum, and teleports directly into the palace.
[INT. THRONE ROOM – MID-CONFRONTATION]
LILY:
“You never earned the crown. You inherited it. You wear it like a costume, not an armor you fool!”
PRINCESS:
“I never wanted it…”
LILY (stepping forward):
“Then give it back to someone who knows what it means to rule.”
As she reaches forward—
BAM!!
A blast of wind knocks her back.
Stix stands between them now, fork in hand.
STIX:
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“You lay one more hand on her and you’ll be tasting metal for the next decade.”
LILY (chuckling):
“And who’s this? The jester?”
STIX:
“Nah. Just a guy who doesn’t like abusive ghosts showing up uninvited.”
[INT. PALACE HALLWAY – MOMENTS LATER]
Stix leads Princess away from the throne room.
PRINCESS (shaky):
“She’s not supposed to be here. I buried her. I buried her.”
STIX (softly):
“She’s not here to stay. Just to haunt. Let’s go.”
[INT. TOWN OUTSKIRTS – ABANDONED PLAYGROUND]
Princess and Stix sit on the old swings. The wind is soft here.
STIX:
“You’re still scared of her.”
PRINCESS:
“I’m scared I’ll become her!”
Stix nods. Then looks at her.
STIX:
“Then don’t. That’s the whole point. You can make new choices. Even if she’s in your blood.”
Princess realized Stix is being nice to her for the first time.
Princess doesn’t respond. But for the first time all day—
She breathes a little easier.
[INT. PALACE HALLWAY – NIGHT]
Lily stands alone now, her reflection fractured in the glass.
LILY (to no one):
“They always forget. But the town remembers. The walls whisper. And soon… they’ll all remember me too.”
Lightning flashes. The screen cuts to black.
[INT. HAPPY TOWN CENTRAL PARK – PARENT’S DAY EVENT]
Tents, booths, and decorations now fill the park. Balloons float lazily over happy families reuniting. Signs read:
“Parent’s Day: You Raised a Contestant!”
Kids run around. A soft band plays from a small stage. There’s joy—but also a strange tension underneath it all.
WADE’S FAMILY
Wade stands awkwardly next to two strange figures:
- His sister, a bubbly humanoid made entirely of purple soda, constantly fizzing.
- His father, a stern but calm man made of clear flowing water in a pastel t-shirt.
WADE:
“You guys didn’t have to come…”
DAD (gurgling):
“You’re our legacy. Your mother would’ve wanted to see this.”
Pepsera (giggling):
“I put a Mentos in myself this morning! Guess what happens if I sneeze?”
WADE:
“God please don’t.”
CARRIE’S MOTHER
Carrie walks hand-in-hand with her mother, a once-ill woman now miraculously healthy and glowing. She’s radiant, but keeps clutching her chest nervously.
CARRIE:
“You’re holding up okay?”
MOTHER (smiling):
“Better than ever, sweetheart. You really fixed me…”
Carrie goes quiet, unsure whether she should feel proud or disturbed.
ZORA’S MOTHERS
Zora rolls her eyes as two women bicker behind her:
- Mom #1: Tall, muscular, kind, and nurturing.
- Mom #2: Spiky hair, short-tempered, sarcastic, and smokes a cigarette.
Mina (Mom 2):
“Why are there no guardrails around the lake? Who designed this town?”
Zelda (Mom 1 (laughing):
“Oh stop it. You’re embarrassing Zora.”
ZORA:
“You both are. Let’s just get some funnel cake before someone starts time traveling again.”
STIX’S REPRESENTATIVE
Instead of his father, a butler arrives in a stretch car with rocket boosters.
BUTLER (monotone):
“Master Stix’s father apologizes. He is currently on Mars, finalizing a black hole deal—and attempting to destroy it. He sends this…”
(Stix opens the envelope—it’s a drawing of a stick figure giving a thumbs up.)
STIX:
“…Yeah, that checks out.”
RUDY’S SITUATION
Rudy sits alone on a picnic blanket. She has a typewriter beside her. Then a small stack of letters beside her, unopened.
She opens one. It reads:
“Dear Rudy, I can’t be there today. But I hope the people around you become the family I failed to be. —Dad”
She crumples it halfway—then smooths it out again. Her lip quivers, but she stays composed.
[INT. CASTLE GATES – NIGHT]
After Princess and Stix leave the palace…
The rest of the cast notices something’s off. Rudy gathers the group quietly.
RUDY:
“…Something happened? Princess didn’t come to the festival.”
CARRIE:
“She didn’t even say hi to my mom. That’s weird.”
WADE:
“She’s probably hiding something.”
ZORA:
“Maybe she needs us.”
The group makes a choice: go to her.
[EXT. TOWN OUTSKIRTS – SWINGS – NIGHT]
Stix and Princess sit in silence.
Suddenly—
Footsteps.
The group arrives, carrying snacks and blinking gift bags.
CARRIE:
“Hey… we brought lemonade and chaos.”
PRINCESS (surprised):
“You guys came?”
RUDY:
“We’re all each other’s family now. That means checking in when the vibe’s off...”
A firework goes off, it scares Rudy.
WADE (grinning):
“And none of us liked that lady in the palace, by the way. She gave me kidney stone energy.”
Princess laughs for the first time all day.
ZORA:
“wait—where’s Quibble?!”
The scene cuts to Quibble sitting on a cliff, as a familiar voice calls out to him.
[INT. PALACE HALLWAY – LATER]
Queen Lily still stands alone in the dark.
Suddenly—she sees the group walking in the distance, laughing. Her daughter… smiling.
LILY (to herself):
“She never laughed like that with me…”
Lightning flashes once more. Her face twists.
[POST-CREDIT SCENE – COSMIC REALM]
Pentuis watches from his throne, sipping black tea. As the realm where time and space end, countless storms happening and universes crushing together.
PENTUIS (chuckling):
“Ahh… there it is. The fracture. A mother’s curse… a daughter’s resistance. Oh this season’s delicious.”
END OF EPISODE 18