(A/N: SHOOT ME NOW!)

It was hopeless.

Everything was.

It was like the littlest beacon of light in the hugest vortex of darkness. Or at least, that's what Brady felt like.

He felt like he was a really tiny pigeon in a world of eagles and hawks. Everything else was so much bigger, and so much more filled with hope. There wasn't any hope here, that's one thing for sure.

-''I'm sorry, Mikayla… I'm sorry…'' Brady whispered to himself, his voice cracked with blackness. He was still on one knee, and the one final obstacle, a fierce creature known as an Oronda had brought him down to the level of defeat.

-''Brady…'' A quiet voice then said from somewhere inside of him. ''Don't give up. There's still hope.'' Brady recognized the voice.

It was Mikayla's voice. A voice as sweet as the song of angels, but still firm as the top commander in an army. So… Soft, so near... But still so distant, and so harsh...

-''Mikayla... I don't know what to do...'' Brady's own inner voice said, without him even saying anything. ''I've failed...'' Brady sighed hopelessly as he was still on one knee, awaiting the foul spray that would end his existence in the dreamscape, and thus end his life.

-''Brady...'' Mikayla's voice then said again, with all the sweetness a voice could have. ''As long as you have hope, as long as you hold on to your faith, even in the moment of defeat, you will prevail.''

Brady had a hard time believing that what the voice said was true. He defeated one of the feared Orondas, but the other one was more careful, and with a new trick, it was now Brady that were almost literally knocking on heaven's door.

Brady felt his own life almost flashing before his eyes. He had been resistant to these fearsome creatures before, but now, he felt empty. Empty, fearful, and derived of all the confidence that had once strengthened him. He didn't know why he felt like this. So brave, so believing, only to be stripped of all his courage.

Flashback

-''Brady, what are you up to?'' The young female guard asked as she walked into the Throne Room after hearing some noises from within, only to find Brady sitting on top of the Throne with a sombrero on his head, and a Mexican outfit that had a giant jalapeno on the back.

-''And how are we today?'' Brady then said romantically, with a horrible Spanish accent in his voice. Mikayla simply stared at him in what appeared to be disgust.

-''Why are we staring, hm? Can't we resist the hotness of...'' Brady paused, getting down from the Throne and bringing up both of his arms into the air, like he always did when he wanted to impress Mikayla. ''Boom... Boom... POW!'' He finished with an extra tint of drama in his terrible Spanish voice. Mikayla just rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

-''No, I came to tell you that the annual Triple King Spin Event is about to start, and you both need to change out of those... Ridiculous outfits!' Fix yourselves now!'' Mikayla exclaimed angrily, stomping down with one of her feet to emphasize what she meant. Boomer, who was also there, dressed in a sort of matador's outfit, walked over to Mikayla. He waved his hands about, looking like he was fending off a bull with a red piece of cloth.

-''Relax, Mikayla...'' Boomer's Spanish accent was significantly better than Brady's or at least to the point where it didn't give you a headache by listening to it. ''Feel the anger drain from you, like the bull that is draining its rage on charging at the matador.''

-''Would you STOP IT?'' Mikayla yelled in anger, rather forcefully pushing Boomer away. He didn't lose his footing, but he did stumble back a good few feet. ''When are you going to take this seriously?'' She then furiously stomped away, leaving behind two young, confused kings.

-''Don't worry...'' Brady began, smiling and raising an eyebrow in a humorous fashion. ''She's always like that when she fails to admit that she loves me.'' Shortly thereafter, a vase flew through the air from the entrance door to the Throne Room, and Brady and Boomer were both forced to dodge behind the Throne, the vase crashing into it. After a short moment, Brady poked his head out.

-''Never. Taunt. A yeti girl!'' Boomer then growled as he too came out of hiding. Brady just looked at his brother with a terrified face expression.

Flashback End

-''See, Brady? Everything, all the things you and Mikayla have done together, and you're just going to give it all up?'' Brady's inner voice said to the petrified king, who was still kneeing, time around him seemingly having stopped as he experienced the inner monologue.

Flashback

-''Come on, Boomer, you can do it!'' Mikayla heard Brady's voice scream in excitement from inside the royal bedroom. Confused to what it was, she decided to check it out. Wasn't the kings supposed to be at the meeting for piece with the island Jabba Kabba?

-''Yeah! You got it, Boom!'' Brady then exclaimed happily, causing a sound that reminded of a high-five. Mikayla frowned and stepped into the bedroom, only to find the kings almost glued to a new TV-set that they had ordered for, while Boomer was playing some sort of fighting game. Mikayla just rolled her eyes irritably and walked over to the kings without a sound.

-''Alright, Brady! This is the last level! If we beat this, we'll win the entire game and the trophy!'' Boomer said with the happiness of a 6-year old in his voice. Then, Mikayla cleared her throat loudly.

The two kings jumped and screamed in terror, clutching each other in the process. Boomer's character was then defeated in the game. Boomer looked on in pure agony.

-''No! Not on the final level!'' He shouted loudly, turning to Mikayla. ''You monster!'' Mikayla sighed, annoyed, and then forcefully pulled the kings up to their feet by the shoulders.

-''You are supposed to be on the meeting right now! Why are you sitting here and... Playing this stupid game?''

-''We thought the meeting wasn't until tomorrow!'' Brady whined, wincing in pain of Mikayla grabbing his shoulder. Boomer didn't say anything, but simply nodded.

-''I told you three times!'' Mikayla then said, releasing the kings. Brady clutched his shoulder with his other free hand. Then, he looked at Mikayla in his usual flirty way.

-''Well, I did kind of get lost in your eyes when you told me...'' His voice trailed off romantically, causing Mikayla to shudder in disgust.

-''Please! Just get into your meeting attires and hurry! You are already one hour late!''

Flashback End

-''Mikayla needs you, Brady.'' A new voice then spoke up, which seemed to be a merge of both his own and Mikayla's. ''She misses you, and she really wants you back in her life. Please, don't give up, continue fighting!'' After those words were spoken, Brady looked up, seeing the Oronda towering over him, just like it had what felt like the latest ten minutes. Knowing what the voices had told him, he knew that they were right.

He had to fight.

He had to finish this.

For Mikayla.

Just as the cascade of acid started raining down from the Oronda's mouth, starting with that distinctive gurgling sound, Brady snapped out of his paralysis and immediately rolled to his left, just barely avoiding the shower of death. Even though almost all of his armor was destroyed, new hope had been instilled in him. He grabbed his sword from the ground and held it in a defensive position.

-''Come on, let's finish this!'' He then yelled defiantly, shielding himself with his sword. But then he realised a problem.

Even though he had the courage, he didn't have the energy; the fight with the other Oronda had left him exhausted. He couldn't possibly either taunt the fearsome creature into a death trap like with the previous one; it would have learned the mistake. How was he going to do this?

Brady felt his own courage fade again, but when his inner voice spoke again, he steeled himself. He simply had to do this.

All the while effectively dodging the Oronda's fierce attacks, Brady weighed different options he could utilize. Stabbing wasn't possible. Neither was taunting. Brady's mind was working on highest possible overdrive. He simply had to find a way to defeat this big thing.

Then, it hit him.

If he could somehow down the pillars in the arena, it would surely be enough to kill the Oronda. Wouldn't it? Not only the weight, but the sharp spikes on the top of the pillars would probably be very effective, seeing as they most likely would pierce the armor.

He knew the taunting would most likely fail, but he still had to go for it.

-''Come on, you big worm!'' Brady shouted at the top of his lungs, waving his sword as if trying to threaten the big creature. Surprisingly enough, it tilted its head to one side, as if it was curious of what Brady was doing. Then, it lounged with a shriek.

Immediately acting out of partly his instincts and partly his fear, Brady dove to one side, just barely avoiding the deadly mandibles. The Oronda snarled and turned its head to look at Brady, who was readying himself with his sword once again. Fearless once more, Brady held his position.

The Oronda delayed this time, seeking an opening to attack. It started circling Brady, who then did the same, hoping for the enemy to attack so that he could counter. However, what the Oronda did next was something that Brady couldn't have ever prepared for.

With a vicious growl, the Oronda suddenly spun around. Then, its rear end started vibrating and shaking madly, almost like a dog that was attacking a prey. Before he knew it, Brady was suddenly covered in a sticky, tangle-ish substance.

With a groan, Brady fell to the ground, the sword falling beside him.

-''Great, how many tricks does these things have?'' He muttered as he tried reaching for his blade. The Oronda started approaching its caught prey, proceeding to deal the killing blow. Brady frantically reached for his sword; his fingers were just gracing the handle of it. The Oronda then towered over him, jaws open wide, but just then, Brady finally managed to get a hold of his blade.

The Oronda's mouth came down, but Brady's blade came up as well with a scream from its wielder. Luckily, his ''sword arm'', so to speak, wasn't too much covered in the sticky web, and so it ended.

Brady felt a satisfactory, victorious rush surge through his body as he felt the blade pierce through the flesh on the inside of the monster's mouth. The giant centipede uttered a high-pitched screech and tried to retract from the counter-attack, but it was too late. The sword had already reached its brain. With one last dying gasp, the Oronda fell over, leaving Brady to the short work of cutting himself free.

The Real World, The Royal Plaza

As the royal poem reader finished the last of the one hundred and one burial poems, Mason ordered for oil, wood and finally, Brady's crown.

-''Hereby, I declare King Boomer, twin brother of King Brady, sole ruler of Kinkow, and now… We will burn our fallen king.'' Mason announced with a loud, firm but still very sad voice. Mikayla had decided to leave the entire scenery; she had explained to Mason that it would be too much to witness the burning of her best friend and also what was close to being a love interest. She had also told Mason that she had actually fallen for the young boy, after all this time together, and Mason had completely understood her, having let go of his extreme protectiveness. Right now, Mikayla was most likely in her room, bawling her eyes out for the supposedly dead king. But she was soon to be comforted.

Boomer was standing just beside Mason, feeling completely crushed on the inside. Being a king was certainly not going to be even comparable fun anymore. He, too, was soon to be proven wrong in believing his brother had died.

Just as the burning crew had placed Brady's body on the burning altar and were about to bring about the special Kinkowian burning oil, Brady suddenly opened his eyes. Without thinking, he sat himself straight up, causing the oil bearers to fall back in surprise, spilling the oil in the process. Everyone then burst into a loud gasp of what seemed to be a mix of horror, confusion and hope. Brady looked around, seeing all the shocked, no, dumbstruck faces around. He also heard voices in the background.

-''How is that even possible?''

-''Isn't he dead?''

-''How can he be alive?''

Brady, despite being watched from at least a hundred faces, got up from the altar on which he was going to be burned. No one moved a muscle, not even Mason.

-''Uh…'' Brady began, badly wanting the silence to be broken. ''I know that this looks really weird, but I can explain.'' He was barely able to finish his sentence before he was over washed with loud cheering and clapping.

-''King Brady is alive!''

-''Long live King Brady!''

-''You rock!''

Then, Mason and Boomer both broke out of their paralyses, literally charging over to Brady. Boomer practically flung himself at his brother, hugging him hard.

-''I'm so glad you're okay, bro!'' Boomer then said, his sadness still there but now compensated by the great amount of happiness in his voice. Brady returned the hug with all of his brotherly heart. Releasing each other, Brady then turned to Mason, who had the biggest grin on his face.

-''My king! You have to tell us everything!'' Mason pulled the young king into an overwhelming yeti hug, and even though it was sort of painful, he enjoyed every second. When the royal advisor let go of the Parker boy, he laughed contently.

-''Come on, Brady! Tell the people of Kinkow what on earth's name happened! We thought you were dead!'' Brady nodded, and turned to the large crowd. Boomer on one side of him, Mason on the other. Everyone was smiling cheerfully.

-''Well, it all began with making an ultimate sacrifice…'' Brady started, and so told the whole story to the people, and no one interrupted even once.

After the telling, he was bombarded by various questions.

-''Who was that Witch Doctor, Kaliyan?'' To this he responded by telling the Witch Doctor's story.

Everyone was simply overjoyed that the king had returned to life. Then, Brady thought of something that he just had to do. He turned to Mason.

-''Uh, Mason? Can I go somewhere? There's something I have to take care of…'' Immediately understanding what Brady meant, Mason nodded.

-''By all means, my king, go ahead.'' Mason said as he pointed down the corridor leading to Mikayla's room, patting him on the back.

Mikayla's Room

Mikayla was lying on her bed, completely still and silent. Her eyes were still stained with tears, they were red, and she was still sobbing brightly.

-''I miss you so, Brady…'' She whispered to herself, rubbing her eyes. Just after that, Brady walked into her room, but the young girl did not notice.

-''I'd do anything to get you back… You gave up your entire kingdom, and then your life, just to save me… If there was anything I could do to make you come alive, I'd do it in a heartbeat.'' With that, Mikayla sobbed even more, burying her head in her hands. Brady smiled and walked over to the broken and lost girl, sitting down in the bed. Feeling the weight on her bed, Mikayla simply grunted.

-''Please, Boomer, go away… I want to be left alone…'' She just said with full sadness.

-''Oh, but this isn't Boomer…'' Brady then said softly, putting his hand on Mikayla's throbbing shoulder. Hearing the familiar voice, she looked up.

-''Brady? You… You're alive?'' She asked almost in pure shock, but there was doubtlessly a huge amount of happiness in the tone of her voice. She stared at him like he was a hallucination.

-''Yes, Mikayla. I am.'' Brady smiled softly. He barely even had time to finish his sentence before Mikayla slapped him across the face. Gripping his cheek in pain, he protested.

-''That was for making me think I had lost you…'' Brady was about to say something more, but he was interrupted by something. Something soft. Something filled with love.

Pulling away from Mikayla after a short while, Brady looked at her in a shocked way.

-''Mikayla… Why did you…?'' Brady trailed off, leaving the question open. Mikayla just sighed, and started talking.

-''After you sacrificed your entire life for me, I realised that you actually can be a great king, and my dad told me that you didn't even hesitate. After hearing that, I felt something new for you that I had never felt before, but when you died, I was… Crushed…'' Mikayla explained to what had finally become the love of her life.

-''Does that word, that feeling, begin with a… L?'' Brady then asked in a more flirtatious way, although he really knew the answer. Mikayla smiled and then nodded. But then, Brady turned into serious mode, taking both of Mikayla's hands in his own.

-''Mikayla, in case you think that your feelings are only one way, which I'm sure you don't, but still, I fell for you the first time I saw you. In my eyes you are simply amazing, and you are extremely beautiful. I know that you grew fed up with my flirting, but I got so nervous when you were around that I just couldn't be myself.''

-''But why didn't you tell me how you felt?'' Mikayla then asked curiously, but still with a very sweet voice.

-''Well… Mainly because I was afraid you'd reject me completely. There's nothing I'd want more than to become a couple with you. You're just that… Perfect, beautiful, amazing… I can go on like this till the world ends.'' Brady then said with a sweet smile.

-''Thank you, Brady… And even though I didn't feel the same way then, I know that I do know. I love you, Brady.'' Mikayla then wrapped her arms around Brady's neck and shoulder, pulling him close.

-''I love you too, Mikayla. With all my heart.''

(A/N: Awwww, finally, the end with that Major Brakayla I promised you, or… Maybe not so Major, but still Brakayla! I know that the actual Brakayla part was sort of bad, but you tell me what you think in the reviews, alright? And sorry if it feels rushed, but at the same time it feels good. Anyway, I want to thank you all for following, and adding this to your favourite list.

Until next time!)