Sorry for not updating for so long, but I had initially lost motivation to continue this story. I also realized that what I originally had in mind for this fic was a bit too dark for what the actual film is, and I didn't want to ruin anyone's favorite childhood movie. This is a film meant for children, and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to write such dark things about it. Thanks so much for all your lovely and amazing comments on it, however, and I'll see what I can do with this. :)

No warnings for this chapter!

Chapter 2

Pacha had left that evening and followed the winding road that lead to the palace, and had stopped by an inn when the sun had set and it became too dark for him to continue further. His back was throbbing from the day's travel and the bags slung over his shoulder. He had lain in the tiny bed for a long time, staring up into the darkness; sleep would not come to him easily. The room smelled faintly of horse dung, and horrible images of people hanging by their heels in the dungeons continued to surface in his head. Pacha knew he was over-exaggerating the whole situation, but on some occasions he had a thing with coming up with the worst case scenarios. He had also contemplated different explanations as to why the crops were reduced, but each story ended up sounding more ridiculous than the previous, and so he came to the conclusion that the truth was the only way. When he had finally calmed his anxious heart, he fell into a fitful slumber, devoid of any rest.

The next morning, he was awakened by the sun shining into his eyes painfully through the dusty window. With an irritated groan, he heaved himself up and rubbed his face, his mouth splitting open into a great, big yawn; his spine cracked from the stiff position he had been in. Disoriented and sleepy, he looked around blearily, wondering why he wasn't at home in his own, comfortable bed.

It took a few moments for everything to finally return, and as a result he snapped awake in an instant, heart hammering in his chest. What time was it? Was he late? Oh no, he was going to be hanged for this. No, wait a minute; the Emperor wasn't that cruel. Nobody could be that cruel. He was human, after all. Sure, he probably wouldn't be able to get away without some punishment, but death was definitely taking it a step too far when it came to tardiness. Still, Pacha scrambled to gather his bags and paid the inn lady in a flash, and bolted out the front door like a madman.

His heart sank even further when he saw the sun's position, indicating that it was well past noon. By the time he arrived at the palace it would be dusk. Technically he wasn't late, nor was he ignoring an order, but the guards would probably think otherwise and chase him down. Pacha quickly made his way down the road, his throat dry from the intense heat. He glanced up at the golden architecture of the palace, standing proudly atop the great mountain. Great, Pacha thought to himself grimly. It was going to take a long time to even reach the mountain, let alone climb it.

Here, the roads bustled with more people than ever. He bumped into many shoulders and apologized countless times, and barely managed to squeeze out of the major swarms into thinner crowds. Weaving his path this way and that, before he even knew it, he was almost to the base of the mountain. All that was left were some stairs, slopes, and more stairs that loomed before his eyes, taunting him. Pacha thought he would get his whole year's worth of exercise from this.

By the time Pacha reached the top, he almost fell to his knees from exhaustion. His breaths came in deep gasps as his lungs sucked greedily for air. Before him, an enormous, magnificent palace in all its golden glory presented itself in front of the village leader, and an endless row of strict guards in identical uniforms stood watch. He could see even more stairs beyond the human barrier.

Pacha waited until his breathing returned to a normal pace, and hesitantly approached one of the stoic guards. "Erm..." The guard made no move to acknowledge his presence. "Excuse me," Pacha began uncomfortably, feeling like he was speaking to a statue. "I received a letter from the Emperor saying that I was to come for some ques—"

"Come with me." Pacha nearly jumped when the unmoving figure of the guard suddenly spoke. His voice remained neutral and devoid of any emotion, and he stiffly turned around and began to climb the stairs. Resisting the urge to groan, Pacha followed after him.

Once inside the palace, Pacha couldn't help but stare in amazement. He'd never seen such luxurious halls before. The walls were made up of smooth stone and huge silk banners hung from the ceilings; great, extravagant sculptures towered above him at almost every corner. Bright paintings of previous emperors hung in polished, wooden frames, and the ground was lined with a soft, lush carpet dyed in crimson and gold. Their footsteps echoed as they made their way towards their destination, and Pacha could see more guards stationed at every possible turn and doorway that existed. It was such a strange feeling to be existing in such an environment.

Suddenly, the guard stopped before a large, double-door entrance with huge bronze handles. The symbol of the Sun God was carved intricately into the painted wood. "Wait for your summon," the guard stated gruffly, before knocking thrice on the door, producing an enormous sound that reverberated throughout the hall. With that, he turned and left.

Pacha stared at the shining metal grooves before him, feeling awkward and out of place. Everywhere he glanced, the occasional man or woman passed by swathed in layers of clothes that screamed wealth and nobility. Thought they paid him no attention, he shifted his own poncho self-consciously, and quietly waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Risking a glance around him once more, Pacha wondered if he had been forgotten. A sliver of doubt began to crawl into his heart, and despite himself, he was starting to get a little impatient. He contemplated on asking one of the guards, to see what the matter was. Perhaps the Emperor changed his mind. Maybe he didn't need to answer questions anymore, and he could return home safe and sound—

"Let him in!" All at once, the wide doors flung open, creating a gust of wind that nearly blew Pacha's hat off his head. There, on the far opposite side of the giant room, was the very emperor that ruled his home, sitting atop a glorious throne of gold and silver. For a minute, Pacha was struck with awe. The slender figure sitting in the throne could not have been older than eighteen. His black hair had been meticulously combed and oiled to perfection, and a golden crown was placed neatly over his head to signify his royalty. His handsome face was currently twisted slightly into a smile that could've been pleasant, yet somehow felt slightly insulting at the same time. It was a complete wonder how this man—no, boy—could rule an entire nation. He looked like a damn kid compared to himself!

"Bow before the mighty Emperor Kuzco!" a sharp voice barked behind him somewhere while a rough hand pushed him into the room, and Pacha, realizing that he'd been staring rather rudely, made haste to do as told. The doors slammed shut, leaving a ringing silence behind.

"Your—your Majesty," Pacha stammered. "Forgive my poor manners, I did not mean—"

"Bah, whatever," came a drawling tone from the throne. "You can look up, eh?" His voice was smooth and clear as bells, and while it was evident that he possessed the skills for perfect enunciation, he seemed to speak with a purposely lazy tongue.

Pacha's head shot up, too surprised to reply.

"You know, sometimes I wish they didn't do all these stupid formal things," Kuzco said, frowning. "A complete waste of time, really. Don'tcha think?"

"Er—"

"So you're that village leader?" Kuzco piped up suddenly, rising from his seat with a wide, eager smile on his face. His perfect white teeth gleamed in the torchlight, the hem of his red robes flapping as he shoved them out of his way. "The one that they all talk about?"

"I'm... not sure about that, but yes, I am the village leader, your Majesty," Pacha began hesitantly, wondering if it was considered rude to scratch his head in front of the emperor.

However, it quickly turned out that he needn't have worried about any propriety that was written in the books. "Ooh, that's great. You're just the guy I've been looking for." The boy hopped off the throne and all but dashed up to Pacha, even going so far as to poke him in the shoulder. "So, you must be very knowledgeable in the arts of farming, yes?"

Pacha flinched at the unexpected contact, gaping. Warnings went off in his head as he knew that it was unspeakable for someone of his class to be so close to an emperor without good reason. But it was hardly his fault. The boy had just run up to him without warning, as if he wasn't aware of such regulations that restricted their close proximities, or he simply didn't care. "Er—I'm actually a llama herder, but I do have experience in farming, yes," he replied, wondering if he should back up to regain their personal spaces.

"I knew you would," Kuzco said, beaming. "Because who in this whole world can live without knowing how to farm? Well, except for me, of course. Why would I when I have you to do it for me?" He laughed at his own joke (at least Pacha hoped it was a joke) and nodded to himself, his ear accessories jangling frivolously. "That's why I called you here. I need you to answer some of my questions."

Pacha was rather taken aback at the way words just seemed to fly out of the emperor's lips in rapid succession; he opened his mouth and closed it a few times, before managing to say, "I—I suppose so, your Maj—"

"Which brings me to my first question; is there something wrong with you?"

"...pardon me?"

"You heard me; is there something wrong with you. Otherwise, why would there be such a shortage in crops this year? You must've been deathly ill or something, because how else would you explain the food stocks dropping to an all-time low? Come on, big guy. Are you trying to starve me here?"

"What!" Despite it being thrown out there half-heatedly without real threat, the llama-herder still felt his blood run cold at the accusation. "I would never dream of such a thing!"

"You must have some sort of secondary plan sorted out, then," Kuzco said, raising his eyebrows. "What happens if you fall ill? Who will see to those crops getting properly harvested? Are you planning on just neglecting your job like you did this year?"

"Whoa—please your Majesty, this isn't my fault," Pacha began, flustered at how blunt the questions thrown at him were. "There's been a severe drought and it's been harder for us to grow things in our fields lately, and—"

"I don't care." The mild smile was quickly twisting into an ugly smirk on Kuzco's face as he made a show of crossing his arms over his chest. "Make more food."

That's not how it works, you child, Pacha wanted to shout. "I can't," he stuttered instead, struggling to explain things without making it sound like an argument. God help him if he was thrown into prison for raising his voice at the emperor. To his dismay, Kuzco's smirk only widened at his obvious discomfort. "Recently my town has been barely making enough for ourselves. We'd be lucky to see a full sack of grains in our houses, or more than a single barrel of tubers; some of us can barely scrape by each day!"

"Really? Well..." The boy's dark eyebrows met in a mock frown as he tapped his fingers on his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "Hmm... oh, yes that's it! I don't care." The fake act was instantly replaced by a shit-eating grin, although his eyes were glinting with crude mockery. "If I don't see those people hauling ass back up here with my wagons full, my man, I will consider that an open act of treason."

"But your Majesty, people are working so hard—!"

"Not hard enough if they think it's okay to starve their own emperor," Kuzco said, shrugging nonchalantly as he studied his perfectly manicured nails. "Like I said; if I sit down for my birthday dinner in a week without that feast I've promised for myself, I will consider you guilty of treason for attempting to murder your ruler and throw you all in prison for life. Sound good?" He flicked his gaze back up to meet Pacha's stupefied stare, and raised a thin brow as he waited for confirmation.

"Wh—you li—" Both brows went up.

"What was that?" The emperor took a step forward almost excitedly. "Seems as though you were trying to insult me there."

"I—"

"And that will do you no good, village man!" Kuzco stated brightly, shaking his head for emphasis while his crown slid askew. "No, no good at all. So uh, you're gonna have to do something about those farms or you can go to prison for life, alright?" He turned to leave without giving any time for the other to process this, and therefore leaving the llama-herder to fall into a blind panic.

"Wait!" Without thinking, Pacha shot out his hand to grab Kuzco. But as soon as his fingers grazed the rich fabric, the boy whirled around and smacked his arm away with surprising force and speed, the sound echoing throughout the vast throne room.

"Don't," warned Kuzco quietly, in an unusually dark tone that contrasted entirely against his previous, cheerful demeanor, "touch me." There was a strange glint in his black eyes that had never been seen before, and was unnervingly chilling.

Pacha was rendered utterly shocked and speechless for a few moments at this rather sudden outburst and change in behavior, he didn't even feel the sting in his hand, but remembered why he had even done that in the first place. For now, his anger overshadowed any other uneasiness he would've otherwise felt in his current situation. "How can you care only about your feast when there are people out there working so hard just to have something on their plates for the day? How could you expect us to do that and please you at the same time?"

"I thought that was obvious," Kuzco retorted mildly. He gestured to his immaculate robes embroidered with golden intricacies. "This is a place for royalty, and it is law that I am first priority. Surely you know that by now. I can't do much else except for punishing those who fail to respect that rule."

Pacha could only stand there in disbelief. His mind was a numb void, failing to put together any coherent sentences that he could've used to counteract such an arrogant statement. So this was the emperor he'd been wondering about for all this time. This kid, donned in royal garb and wearing a crown that was much too big and heavy for his naïve soul, had just shown him in the span of five minutes, that he possessed nothing that declared him worthy of ruling a whole nation. Pacha couldn't tell if he was more disappointed, shocked, or angered at this fact. What was going to become of him and his family, or his townsfolk? If this brat continued to sit on that chair, Pacha truly feared for the downfall of his home. Because for as long as Kuzco continued to make impossible, absurd demands to suit his selfish needs, they would all be reduced to beggars or less.

As for now, he needed to say something fast to at least delay the most likely inevitable arrest he had coming his way. He frantically searched his brain for anything to offer. "Please, your Majesty," he pleaded. "Let me go back to my family, and we will do everything we can to provide what you need."

"Look, big guy, I'm very sorry about this whole ordeal," Kuzco began, not sounding very sorry at all, "but I can't really trust your word for that when clearly you say you've been 'doing your best', and look at what that's gotten you now. How can I believe that this 'best' that you can do will provide different results?"

"I'll do whatever it takes," Pacha said with gritted teeth. "Please have mercy, your Majesty. If you arrest me, then my family will be helpless." As the emperor still looked disinterested, he pressed on. "I'll also be unable to help with the farming. If you let me go, I can give you a third of my llamas before the winter."

Now that caught Kuzco's interest. He turned around curiously, smiling a little. "Llamas sound nice," he commented after a pause. "The warehouses have been running a little short on meats, too. I've grown very tired of eating cuy*. Yuck, peasant food." He made a face, not caring for the fact that he was standing in front of Pacha as he made his distaste known. "Very well, my man. I am feeling nice today so I shall let you go. I'll expect those llamas by the end of this autumn, and the crops by the last weeks of spring next year. Oh, and I want a full report on how those farms are coming along in ten days' time. I want you here to tell me yourself, none of that postage nonsense. I hate paperwork."

Pacha wanted to pull his hair in frustration; next year spring would give them nowhere near the bare minimum time required for crops to properly seed, let alone grow to their prime. But it was clearly obvious that voicing this would be useless to sway the kid's resolve, so he merely bowed stiffly. "Thank you for your generosity," he mumbled.

"Of course, I am the great emperor after all," Kuzco exclaimed cheerfully, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, off you go then. Say hello to those llamas for me."

And with that, Pacha had been dismissed. He emerged from the palace somehow feeling even more drained and exhausted than when he'd climbed all those steps to come here. But anyone would, he thought to himself firmly, if they came out of meeting with the haughtiest, most self-conceited little brat under the guise of a formidable ruler. At least he hadn't been sent to jail immediately. He still had some time to figure out how he was going to solve this predicament, though he wondered just how he was going to break the news to his wife.

He was going to miss those llamas, too. He hadn't actually wanted to give up a third of his herd, but it had been a last minute card he'd pulled out in a moment of desperation. He assured himself it was better than being locked up for who knew how long.

Sighing, Pacha, began his descent down the stairs, with nothing but an empty stomach and a heavy heart.

Cuy*: the guinea pig, which was normally consumed by the common folk during that time in west-central South America.

All/any info above was taken from Wikipedia.

If anyone's still reading this, reviews are very much appreciated and loved! :)