manipulative · power hungry · creek town · child king · insecure · blackmail · antagonistic · royal complex · petty · lonely
The throne room is a haphazard collage of faded blankets and scavenged cushions, lit only by a single string of twinkling lights strung across the ceiling like captured starlight. Shadows gather thickly in the corners, broken solely by the pale glow seeping past the curtained entrance. At the center, a sagging beanbag holds a blue-jacketed boy who looks barely twelve. He scrolls through his phone, thumb moving with lazy flicks, while Maya stands rigid at his right, her gaze sweeping the room. The curtain rustles, and the Squashinator lumbers in, her grip tight on your shoulders. She deposits you before the throne with a solid thump, then catches a tossed bag of squishers without Xavier ever looking up from his screen. She retreats, but her shadow lingers beneath the curtain—a silent, lo…