Knights and Princesses

Misery glanced down at the piece of paper in her hands, shock written all over her face. There was no way this was actually real. Obviously, she had just woken up today morning and walked into some alternate dimension of some sort. Nothing short of that would explain the neat scrawl on the piece of faux parchment.

Nami undid the ribbon on her own tiny scrawl and unrolled it with a flourish. She read the words printed on it and her face fell, excitement disappearing almost immediately. "I'm one of the ladies in the court?" She burst out indignantly. "Supporting cast, can you believe that?"

"Uh..." Misery mumbled, still staring at the paper before her, wishing the words would just vanish.

"I wanted to be cast as Guinevere, but do I get that?" Nami continued to rant furiously. "No! Instead, I'm cast as a lady in King Arthur's court room! A part of the crowd! A prop!" She looked over at Misery, who would have normally either agreed or told her to shut it. "What's wrong with you? You've been looking at that piece of paper as though it's your death sentence."

"It is..." Misery held it up in Nami's face.

The orange haired girl grabbed it, eyes going wide. "Y-you're Guinevere?" She screeched loud enough for the entire classroom to hear. Many heads swivelled in their direction immediately.

Misery ducked under her desk slightly to avoid the glares she was receiving from some of the other girls. "Thanks a whole lot, Nami. This is exactly where I wanted to end up."

"I thought you told the teacher you'd write the script." Nami handed the parchment back to Misery again.

"I did. I remember telling him that."

"Then why didn't you refuse when he asked us to draw the parts?" Nami demanded, brandishing her own finger-sized parchment at the black haired girl.

"I tried!" Misery hissed, grabbing her 'sort-of' friend by the shoulders. "Trust me, I did. But he refused! He said I had to draw, and if I chose the parchment that said playwright, then I was lucky. But otherwise, I'd have to act."

"Do you want to act?" Nami raised an eyebrow.

"Hell to the no." Misery shook her head frantically, black strands falling free of the loose bun and whipping around her face. "Of course not!"

"So go up there," Nami pointed to the teacher's desk, where the boys in the class were drawing characters now. "And assert your refusal. Be a woman!"

For effect, the orange haired girl even gave her a little push. Misery stumbled over her feet slightly, turning over her shoulder to glare at Nami. Nami winked and smiled, mouthing, "Tell him to cast me as Guinevere instead!"

Misery took a deep breath. Assert your refusal! She told herself firmly. If you can't manage to do this, you're going to have to stand up in front of a stage and perform! Make this happen! Tell him who's boss!

"Sir." Her palms landed on the teacher's desk, startling him enough to look up at her. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it, Misery?" The teacher sighed. "I'm up to my eyes in work. Just draw your character part and leave."

It was a golden opportunity. He was obviously either too busy or too stupid to realize that she had already drawn. It would be so easy to just pick again and pretend the first time hadn't happened. But, the black haired girl thought dejectedly. It wouldn't work. Nami knew the truth, and thanks to Nami, half the class knew too. And even if they somehow miraculously kept their mouth shut, someone would realize that no one had claimed the role of the princess.

"I have picked already." Misery showed him the parchment. "But I don't want it. I want to pick again."

"I'm afraid that's impossible, Misery." The teacher told her apologetically. "I'm trying to be fair here. Everyone gets to pick only once."

"But – but – but I can't act!" Misery protested. "I'm terrible at acting! I can barely walk without tripping over my own feet! I'd be a health hazard on stage!"

"Don't be silly." The teacher snorted. "That's exaggeration right there. Stage fright isn't as bad as you think. Just walk onto that stage like you own it, play your part and leave. Easy as pie."

"I got Guinevere." Misery said flatly, wondering if he had even seen the parchment she had thrust right under his nose. "I can't just walk in there for two minutes, do my thing and then leave! I'm practically on for the whole thing!"

The teacher blinked, caught off guard. "Oh dear – I – I mean, good for you! Guinevere was a lovely lady and I'm sure you'll – "

"She cheated on her husband with his most trusted knight and they betrayed him together." Misery's voice continued to retain that deadpan tone. "Hardly 'lovely', don't you think, sir?"

The teacher massaged his temples. Why had he even taken up this job again? He was positive teaching this particular class of seniors in high school was going to result in the premature greying of his hair. "This is out of my hands, Misery, I have strict instructions from your Drama teacher. Everyone has to take part."

"Then let me switch!" Misery hissed, leaned down to him. "She doesn't have to know! This is just between you and me. Come on, sir, I've always aced your class! Can't you do me this little favour?"

"Your obvious talent in English has nothing to do with the play, Misery." The teacher shook his head hopelessly. "As much as I would love working on the script with you, there's not much I can do. And there's not much you can do either." He gave her a small smile. "Other than grit your teeth and pray for a good Lancelot."

Oh hell. Misery's shoulders slumped. She hadn't even thought of that little detail yet! She cast a look over her shoulder at the boys in her English class and shivered. She would very simply have to kill herself if she got stuck with someone like –

"All right! I got someone named Lacksalot! Hey Zoro... who's Lacksalot...?"

"It's Lancelot, you moron. And he's the main character."

– like him.

Misery went almost three shades paler as she saw the boy jump and laugh and cheer at picking the main lead. She turned back to the teacher, eyes wide, but he was only giving her an equally helpless look. "I'm sorry it had to be this way." He said solemnly as though he was at a funeral.

Which, technically, he was. At her funeral.

"I'm supposed to be a fortune teller, I'm supposed to have good luck!" Misery threw up her hands as she stormed down the corridor after class had ended. "I'm supposed to predict misfortune in others' futures, not my own!"

Well, okay, she hadn't exactly predicted this would happen. If she had, she would have probably never ventured out of her house to begin with. In fact, that was what she wanted to do now. She wanted to skip all her after-school clubs, hide under her duvet and type out an urgent mail to her brother in University, begging for help.

But... she couldn't miss the Tarot Readers Club, what with being president and Michalis would just crack a rib laughing at her anyway. So Misery had somewhat resigned herself to the fate of having to play Guinevere. Opposite Luffy.

She shuddered slightly. Just because she was really too exhausted to fight against it didn't mean she was happy about it!

Luffy, she huffed silently. Anyone who watched her walk past would swear the young girl had a huge, dark rain cloud hovering over her head. Who, in their right mind, could possibly picture Monkey D. Luffy as Lancelot?

Now that she thought about it, Luffy was the least likely to ever fit the part of a Knight, save for maybe Zoro, but at least he could handle a sword without the danger of chopping his own head off! The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous Luffy as a Knight seemed to her.

Knight in Shining Armour, my foot! Misery fumed to herself. He's more like a loser in aluminium foil! That simpleton couldn't save a princess even if he bet his life on it!

"Miiiisery!"

There he was, tearing through the students that crowded the corridors as he made his way to her. Misery didn't stop walking, scowl etched on her face. What was with that weirdo? Could he read her mind and tell when she absolutely did not want to see his face? Did he then choose those moments to show up?

Grumbling under her breath, she walked to the staircase that would lead her to the Club Rooms down two floors. "What's the big hurry?" Luffy was still yelling behind her. "Misery, wait up, I gotta talk to you!"

"Not right now, Luffy." Misery called over her shoulder, but she didn't stop walking. "I'm already late and – AAH!"

Her shriek echoed around the corridor as he foot slipped on the top stair. All her books and papers – even her cards which she hadn't had time to pack – spilt out of her arms and scattered on the floor. The world tilted on its axis before her and her brown eyes widened in fear and dread.

She had never really given much thought to how she'd die, but slipping on a staircase and cracking her skull open seemed like a pretty pathetic way to go.

And even if she someone miraculously managed to survive this, she didn't want to see her own blood and brains spill on the floor. She screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact...

...But it never came.

Misery felt her fall halt abruptly. She winced as her back met something hard, but it wasn't the cold marble tiling of the ground. It was warmer and it felt... like an arm...?

Her eyes opened slowly and widened again, but for completely different reasons. Luffy's wide, wide eyes were staring down at her. Some wise person had said once that the eyes were the window to the soul. Misery couldn't agree more in this case. Luffy's eyes were his soul. Sometimes – most of the time – they were bright and happy and full of laughter. But at other times... they was driven and intense and they bore straight through a person, laying their soul out for him to scrutinize.

Then he spoke. "Be happy with your future king. Learn to smile again. Fall freely and let him catch you instead." He leaned slightly closer, but only to whisper into her ear: "Love crazily as I love you."

Misery felt her bones melt. Just like that.

The intense gaze lingered on her for a second longer and then his face brightened with that usual grin. He quickly straightened her body which had gone limp with shock.

"There's a scene in the play where I save you from the bad guys." He asked, finger coming to rub his nose in that typical Luffy Gesture. "I'm saving you now, so I thought I'd practice my lines while I was at it."

Misery just stood there, gazing at her classmate in absolute shock. "Anyway," Luffy bent down to pick up her fallen things, as though her sudden catatonic silence didn't bother him. Chances were, he hadn't even realized. He straightened and pushed them into her arms. "That weird old lady told me to tell you that practice starts tomorrow and not Friday. That's all I wanted to tell you, but you just kept running away!"

"I...um..." Misery was so sure she had a more developed vocabulary, but nothing staggeringly brilliant came to mind. Her body was still in the process of returning from Jelly Mode to Normal. She didn't even bother to correct him about "that weird old lady" being their Drama teacher.

Luffy turned, waving an arm over his shoulder as he scampered off. "See ya tomorrow for practice. And don't trip and fall again – " His voice called from the other end of the corridor. " – I won't be here to save you then!"

And he was gone, as swiftly as he came. Misery slowly readjusted the things in her grip, as though she was moving underwater. Her own body seemed slow and sluggish. She leaned against a nearby wall and took a deep breath, gulping in the air her brain desperately needed.

You didn't have to have noble lineage to be a knight. You didn't have to slay a ferocious dragon to be a hero. Funny how easy it is to save someone, really.

Standing on the corridor alone, Misery rubbed her arm, a self-conscious smile twitching her lips upwards.

Guess Luffy can be a knight if he wants to...

Princess Alice Rose was my 100th reviewer for WitC, so this her gift-fic that I promised. She wanted a Luffy X Misery with a high school. I added in a little bit of "Knights and Princesses" with that and volia! I really hope you like it, Princess Alice Rose.

Also, I think I would just die if I was in Misery's situation. Nothing more I can say about that.

Please tell me how it is. I love getting feedback from you guys!