Author's Notes:
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! Before we begin this story, here are some things you may want to know!
Names In This Section:
England- Alice Kirkland America- Amelia Jones
France- Francine Bonnefoy Romano- Lovina Vargas
N. Italy- Feliciana Vargas Spain- Antonia Carriendo
Prussia- Maria Beilschmidt Japan- Honda Kiku
Poland- Felicyta Łukasiewicz Ancient Rome- Alessandra Roma
Germania- Gertrud Pytheas China- Wang Yao
Taiwan- Sun Mei Liechtenstein- Lili Zwingli
Austria- Rosa Edelstein Belgium- Clara Dupont
New Zealand- Helen Kirkland Cameroon- Sierra Ahidjo
Monaco- Grace Blum Norway- Margaret Ericson
Pairings: US/UK is obviously the main one. Other will be Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Netherlands/Belgium/Prussia, Australia/New Zealand, Hong Kong/Taiwan, France/Seychelles, Denmark/Norway, Spain/Romano, Russia/China, Lithuania/Poland, Germany/Italy, Austria/Hungary, and probably a bunch more mentioned. It is an all-character story. Also, the pairing assignments don't necessarily mean that that Princess will end up with that particular Knight (though it is common).
Okay, so everyone in the story is in the age range of 15-18 years old, besides the middle school students and the teachers. It is a Gakuen AU, but not Gakuen Hetalia, though every character will be at least talked about once, hopefully. And, while it is Nyotalia, it is that the males became female, and only halfway, making all parties female. The setting just seemed like a good one for an all girls' school. Also, the reason for Saint Mary's have a school on each hemisphere is to explain why there are only three students from the Americas in the school, and so I would not have to use Original Characters to make the Princess Selections balanced.
By the way football is soccer, for all you Americans out there. And, later on, the Asian names are first name first, surname after. However, in the list above, they're the opposite. It's because above is how they're commonly referred to, but below, it's how Alice would think. (Though she won't think incredibly British, as I'm an American myself.)
Lastly, America's not actually in the first chapter, which is mainly an introduction to the school. That's why I posted 2 along with 1.
Disclaimer: I am not the genius that Hidekazu Himaruya is. I am simply a fan, expressing my love for APH. That is all. :D
The Princess and Her Knight
Chapter 1: A Compeition for Ladies... and Francine
Situated almost exactly in the dead center of the landmass of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania, exists a school. The school's name is "Saint Mary's International". The name doesn't elude much to it, but it's one of the world's most prestigious schools, and certainly near the top for all girls' international boarding school. The school was created many years in the past to hone and sharpen the brightest and most talented young women in the entire east hemisphere. School life there was not cheap, due to exquisite private dorm rooms, fantastic food, the world's most respected programs, and, of course, the constant transportation to and from the school to the students' home countries. However, if you made it through Saint Mary's, you were almost guaranteed success throughout your life. Therefore, obviously, schoolwork for the students at St. Mary's was to be taken completely seriously and above all else.
At least, this was the opinion of Alice Kirkland, a British student in Saint Mary's writing program. Currently, however, it appeared as though her schoolmates didn't share the same feelings. Alice had been in the library preparing for an exam the next week (she felt you could never study too much) on a late Thursday afternoon in the hours after the school had cleared out. Everyday after school (and most weekends), Alice had the same schedule. First, the twin-tailed blonde helped out as many teachers as possible with cleaning up their rooms, and the like. Then, she traveled over to the library, which, usually by that point in the day, would be almost totally empty. Alice then tackled all of her homework assignments that were given out that day in class. (Yes, this did include all projects.) Once the English girl finished all those, she studied as hard and long as possible. The librarian of the school had long given up trying to convince Alice to head back to the dorms and prepare for dinner, and instead handed Alice the key every afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The time that Alice was so rudely interrupted from her studying had been at 6:30 p.m.
It had happened when Alice's least favorite group in the entire school burst into the library, and, immediantly began causing their usual peace-shattering ruckus of noise. The three girls that Alice was so irritated by were: Maria Beilschmidt, a self-called "Prussian" student with long white hair in and red eyes in the football program; Antonia Carriendo, a Spanish football player with long brown hair and green eyes; and last, and certainly least (in Alice's opinion), was blonde-haired, blue-eyed cooking student, Francine Bonnefoy.
Alice dove behind the desk she was currently sitting, begging for the three to not notice her. Whenever they were around, something horrible always happened to Alice, especially due to Francine. The writing student certainly did not want to be found. However, she decided to listen to their conversation, to see if they were plotting for Alice's demise or anything of the sort.
It was a little mumbled at first, but then Alice would make out Maria saying, "…can't believe that something so fuckin' awesome wouldn't include me. Seriously, Francine, what the hell was your grandmother thinking?"
Alice heard Francine sigh, and answer. "You are saying it as though it is my fault, mon amour. I did not choose the contestants for the competition. Also, as I have explained, neither you nor Antonia is a student on the Arts Side."
Alice silently gasped. A competition? How come these three idiots had heard of it before she had? Alice thirsted to win all competitions in her high school years possible, and this one sounded more important, and even life changing. After all, it was being organized by Saint Mary's leading lady, Headmistress Roma (who also served as a grandmother to Francine and a pair of Italian twins in the school). Realizing that the three were speaking once more, Alice shut out her thoughts, and concentrated again on what they were saying.
"Ah, here it is," Francine commentated, flipping open a book. Alice was in put into a second's shock, as she sounded much, much closer than before. However, Alice sighed with relief (albeit, silently) once she realized that instead of being right beside her hiding space, they were instead near the books on the history of the school itself and the surrounding area, which were closer to her than the three had been previously.
Francine continued with, "I see. So the winners in the past have all been in the singing and acting programs. That is why Grandmother decided on not including them." A sound was made as if the blonde cook slid the book back onto the shelf.
"I still don't get why awesome people in the awesome sports program, such as the awesome me, can't be included," Maria angrily grumbled.
"B-But we could be their partners, right?" Antonia said hopefully. "Buyooh~ I want to be Lovi's partner!" Her faced flushed red with excitement.
"I don't want to be someone's fuckin' partner," Maria stressed. "Though, obviously, all the contestants are gonna want to pick the awesome me." Alice guessed (correctly) that the albino girl was sticking her nose high in the air at this point.
Francine sighed and said, "Oui, oui, Maria. But, let's go back to the dorms now." The French girl giggled with a sense of evil and explained, "I saw some very cute girls from the middle school section who I would love to acquaint myself with."
Maria and Antonia sighed knowingly in unison, and began to follow Francine out the library, leaving Alice all alone once more, just like she wanted to happen. Alice's wheels began turning quickly, as she pondered what in the world the three could have been talking about. It had sounded as though it would be amazing to be apart of. However, there were many things that concerned Alice about it. Why did it sound as though only Art students were allowed to enter the contest? It could have something to do with a competition with the sister city in the Americas, as Saint Mary's Art program was much more popular than the one there, but it didn't seem to be that sort of thing. Also, if it did include solely the students of the school, why had Alice not caught wind of it earlier? It could have been that Headmistress Roma had accidentally leaked the details to Francine, as the French girl was her granddaughter. But, even though Francine wasn't a genius (and Alice would be the first one to tell you that), if the cooking student was supposed to start collecting buzz for a relatively far-off event, the contest would had been around school faster than the track program. (Francine's gossiping skills were second only to one of the Polish girls, Felicyta.) Thus, Alice concluded that all would be revealed soon, and she would be that much closer to her ultimate goal.
Glancing at the clock above her head, Alice realized she was already fifteen minutes late for dinner. Gathering her things quickly, she dashed out the door, and ran.
However, the one thing she didn't realize what just how soon all would actually come to light.
It was the next morning at Saint Mary's, a gorgeous Friday day, and Alice was walking to the largest of the school's three auditoriums, in a slow, calm pace, silent as she should be, as opposed to the large group of girls surrounding her, who seemed to have no end to their giggling and running.
Alice sighed, and contemplated the upcoming assembly. The teachers had announced at the beginning of the day, without any premise, as usually was given about it, something that was most odd indeed. Going over the events of the day before, she could only hope it had something to do with the mysterious competition the three idiots had been speaking of.
And, indeed, as she filled into the auditorium, it appeared as it may have been. The entire school was there, including all of the students from every section and year of schooling. All of the teachers and faculty were sitting on the stage, also, even including the Vice-Headmistress, and the Headmistress herself, who appeared to be the first speaker. 'That's interesting…' Alice noted to herself, as the Headmistress rarely ever appeared in front of the students at these sorts of things at all. She was a tall, strong-looking woman, with curly red-brown hair, and a single odd curl on the back of her head. She usually started more fights than stopped them, but was a great leader nonetheless. However, usually, the responsibility for this sort of event fell on the shoulders of Vice-Headmistress Pytheas, a cold, eternally glaring woman with long golden hair and a single braid.
The English student hurried for a seat in the second row, a place that was surely to be seen by all those important, so she would be that more ahead in the contest already. It was a most necessary action, at least, by Alice's standards. Luckily, the seat avoided having to sit by anyone that would bother Alice at all. She had gotten a seat beside no one on the end of the row (though she wasn't able to figure out whom that Cuban student could possibly be mumbling to).
It took a few minutes for the teachers to calm down the persistently noisy girls in the auditorium, but once there was silence (as much silence as a room filled with young people can be), Headmistress Roma began her speech.
"Students of Saint Mary's…" the older woman began. "I have some great news! Something amazing (created by myself, of course) is coming to our school this year! What could this be, as you may be mumbling to yourselves? Why…" the Headmistress paused for dramatic effect. "A contest to become Saint Mary's Princess for the current generation!" Her voice boomed, loudly and with enthusiasm. However, this was nothing compared to the noise that followed the announcement. Unashamed conversations exploded from every student in the school simultaneously, or so it appeared. It took the staff another fifteen minutes to quiet down the girls again.
"Now, as you may have asked one another, what is the Princess Competition, anyways?" Headmistress Roma continued, not appearing as she had been winded by the excessive noise at all. "Well, many years ago, when the school was still young and fresh…" The Headmistress trailed off at that point, reminiscing about her old days. When it appeared as though she wouldn't snap out of it, Vice-Headmistress Pytheas not so discreetly stuck her leg out, and kicked her boss on the side of her shin. The Headmistress snapped out of it with a rather loud, "Ah!" and finally seemed ready to continue. (Alice wasn't able to deal with time-wasting very well.)
"A-Anyways, as I was saying," she said, regaining her posture. "In the earlier days of this school, for a few years, there was a problem. It seemed as if weren't able to please our student body with the selection for the Student President. When the teachers made a staff-wide selection, the girls cried out with protests for student selection. However, when voting was instated, the losers of the race always complained that the girls would always vote based on whom it was that they all knew the best, which made it a competition of popularity, not necessarily based on competence.
"Well, us teachers didn't know how to please the students. It seemed as if they were just being rebellious. But then, alas, I had an epiphany! We would create a system in which none of the girls would be able to argue with. First, the teachers would select fifteen standout girls, from different areas of the arts. Then, there would be a timeframe of several months in which the candidates would be given numerous tasks to complete to show their skills and qualifications to the students, showing the truly good for the job, against the not so much."
Headmistress Roma looked up at all the girls from her script, and explained, "Us teachers are ready with our contestants! How about you girls?" The applause that followed this questioned was thunderous, even deafening. The Headmistress smiled her widest in response. "Great!"
She then let the girls quiet down, and continued. "Here are your fifteen candidates!" More applause followed this, and excited whispered conversations broke like hives across the large room. "If I call your name and art program, girls, please come up to the stage as soon as possible."
While she paused once more to let the staff attempt to silence the excited students once more, the wheels in the Alice's head were spinning faster than they possibly had ever been. The prestige and honor that would come from this would be great. It would give her a ladder, no a trampoline to her future ambitions. It sounded almost too great to be true.
Then, Alice remembered she wasn't necessarily a candidate, and the air deflated out of her like a balloon. 'No!" she told herself in frustration, shaking her head. 'You're going to be chosen, Alice! You've been helping teachers and making top grades since your arrival upon school grounds! There's no way they wouldn't pick you.' She sighed. 'Right?'
"Here we go!" Headmistress Roma started once again, grabbing a sheet that held the future of fifteen lucky students on it.
"The first candidate for Princess is…" Here came another pause for dramatic effect. "Francine Bonnefoy of the cooking program!"
Alice inwardly groaned as more applause followed this. Though the blonde girl hated to admit this, Francine was, for some reason beyond Alice's comprehension, popular, especially with the younger girls. (She was such a perverted frog, after all.) If it had been the original set up, the French student would have probably won over Alice.
As the noise eventually died down, Headmistress Roma announced, "The next candidate for Princess is Feliciana Vargas, of the drawing department!"
Feliciana Vargas was one of the two Italian Vargas twins in the school. Feliciana had dark red-brown hair that she tied in a ponytail a curl similar to her grandmother's, but in the front of her face to the right. She was school-known for her eternal love of pasta and hate of working hard, especially in the minimal physical classes the art students had to take. However, she was still a very optimistic and happy girl that most students liked.
Alice was then hit with realization. 'Wait, if both Feliciana and the frog are candidates, then the next candidate must certainly be…'
"Lovina Vargas of the sculpture department, you're up next!" the Headmistress announced, the choice completely in line with Alice's thoughts. 'Of course the Headmistress would choose her three granddaughters to be the first three participants in the competition,' Alice thought dryly. However, she wasn't particularly angry with the Headmistress choosing her third granddaughter, Lovina. Lovina, while having talent in the sculpture department, was lazy and moody, and her sister outshone her. Lovina was also grumpy and hard to get along with, so she was not the beacon of positive energy her sister was, and was school-known for being even angrier about the whole ordeal, as she not Feliciana was the older sister. However, it wasn't that she was ugly; her shoulder-length dark red curly hair and headband suited her eternal glare well, though it did put on an air of her being stuck up. Therefore, she wouldn't be that much of a competitor to Alice.
The Headmistress then continued. "The next candidate for the Princess Selections is Margaret Ericson, of the guitar department!"
Alice thought this as an odd choice. Margaret was a Norwegian student, who usually kept to herself, and if spoke, it was mainly directed to her circle of five (particularly to assault a Danish girl). She had light blonde hair that reached halfway down her back that was styled with a navy blue sailor-type hat, a relatively floating curl, and two pins that made an 'X" on the side of Margaret's head. Her eyes were dark purple-blue, and always set in a sort of angry daze. However, as Alice didn't know the girl too well, she supposed she received high marks or the like.
After Margaret had lazily climbed the stairs, the Headmistress called out to the crowd once more. "Next up is Felicyta Łukasiewicz, of the fashion department!"
A very large, "Ohmygawd, like, totally?" was heard throughout the auditorium, even over the large buzz that was still occurring, and Alice knew exactly whom the Headmistress was speaking of. Felicyta was, to say the least, a stereotypical blonde (particularly if you watched American movies, not that Alice did or anything). She constantly spoke in Valley Girl talk, and was always excited and trying to make people over. She looked the part too, with her short, blonde hair and forest green eyes. Her permanent facial expression was a smirk. (The girl constantly exhausted her poor Lithuanian friend.) However, the one thing that differentiated Felicyta from the other stereotypical blondes was that she had a tendency to be oddly shy around people from the outside of those she was close to. Alice supposed that this pick had more to do with pure talent than grades, as Felicyta did not let the fashion department down, ever. The blonde was always setting trends.
The next few candidates seemed to tick by quickly for Alice, as none of them were the key name she was listening for- her own. The Headmistress called out Kiku Honda, the Japanese girl in the drawing program; Clara Dupont, the Belgian cooking student; Helen Kirkland, the film-making student from New Zealand; Mei Sun, a painter from Taiwan; Yao Wang, a Chinese photographer; a small violinist from Liechtenstein named Lili Zwingli; a Cameroonian flute player named Sierra Ahidjo; an Austrian pianist named Rosa Edelstein; and finally, rounding them off at fourteen, a girl from Monaco named Grace Blum who played the cello.
Alice was practically sweating buckets at this point. They were at the final spot left for possible competitors for the Princess title, and they had not released her name yet. There was only one shot left. All of her fate lay on this one name.
"And finally," the Headmistress began, finally silencing the entire auditorium, "I will announce the fifteenth, and final name for the Princess competition." In a miraculous moment, the crowd that had been so rowdy before remained quiet and still, anxious and worried.
"The final student of Saint Mary's in the Princess competition is…" the Headmistress paused for dramatic effect. "The writing department's Alice Kirkland!"
The outside world seemed to completely fade away, as Alice took in the news. 'Yes, yes!' she exclaimed to herself, standing up and taking her obviously rightful spot on the stage. The twin-tailed girl smirked on the inside, feeling pleased with herself for once. She listened for her own cheers, and while some did applaud for her candidacy, it seemed as if most were simply resentful about not being chosen themselves.
'Brilliant', Alice thought to herself sarcastically. 'I'll be the one they all remember as the one who took their spots.'
However, her thoughts were shattered when Headmistress Roma began to speak again. "Everyone calm down," she spoke, and silence once again appeared; the previous speakers beginning for some appointment to be a mistake and for themselves to be put in instead. Unfortunately, the announcement wasn't about that at all.
"As you all have heard," she started, gesturing to the expanse of the room, "the current candidates are all art students. The sport girls may be confused about this, and wondering how they are gonna participate." A general census of nods and grunts spread out across the auditorium. "Well, here's what you can do!" She gestured back at the fifteen candidates on the stage. "Apply for Knighthood!" A sound of surprise rang out. "See these fifteen girls? Because they're in the arts, they're more like princesses, the official royals of this kingdom. However, the sports teams are the strongholds, the Knights. So, we decided that when every candidate was selected, she would have to find a partner from the sports section, whom would become sort-of her right hand man. The way to do this is that the Princess candidate herself will choose. You may apply starting right after this meeting." She paused for a breath. "That is all. Good day!"
Noise exploded from all corners. The sports students were talking most animatedly about whom they were going to apply to, and how amazing it would be to be chosen. However, Alice was mainly stuck in her thoughts, only half-listening as Vice-Headmistress Pytheas explained everything else.
'A partner?' Alice thought worriedly, staring at her lap. 'Who in the world is that going to be?'
Okay, okay, so America wasn't actually in the section. So sue me. (Please don't though. I'm broke.) She'll definitely be in the next one, though! This section was just getting way too long. After the next one, which will still be from Alice's perspective, it may switch between the different competitors, just to get to know them better. I know for almost certain Kiku is getting one.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, or want to say anything at all (I mean at all) please leave a comment!
Natsumi;}}