Chapter 2: Welcome
After arriving at the front of the large, gray castle, Amy Rose felt nervous. She was going to work for royalty, which was a huge deal and she was positive that the prince would have very high standards. She took a deep breath before approaching the guard that was in front of the castle. The guard was a tall and obese purple cat whose name was Big the Cat, strong and dimwitted but a gentle giant who enjoyed fishing at the castle moat.
"Hi pretty lady!" Big greeted.
"H-hello sir." Amy replied "I-I'm here to become the new castle servant girl." Amy held up the "Help Wanted" flyer that she found earlier so Big could make sure she was being legit. The cat took the flyer and looked at the writing.
"Hmmmmm…." He hummed, reading the writing. "What is dis?" he asked.
Amy sighed softly, "Like I said..it's a flyer from the prince asking for a servant girl." She answered.
"Ohhhh….who's the prince?" Big asked dumbfounded.
Amy's eye twitched a bit, slowly losing some patience. She didn't know how this guy could last guarding the prince's life.
"You know…the ruler of Mobius?" Amy answered, still not getting to Big. "You know, your boss?!"
"Ohhhhh, I get it now." Big said, before moving out the way. "Here you go, lady."
Amy sighed and smiled. "Thank you, sir.." she said before walking across the drawbridge to get inside. Once inside, Amy looked around the hall. While the castle was huge, it was definitely a mess. Dirt and Dust filled the castle which hasn't been cleaned in a very long time.
"Oh goodness…" the maiden muttered, taking in all the mess before her eyes. She entered a different room that led deeper into the castle. "I wonder who I should talk to…"
"Hello!" greeted a voice in front of her. Amy paused quickly and looked down in front of her to see a cute creamed colored rabbit girl with gentle brown eyes. She looked even younger than Amy herself. There was also a blue neutral chao with the girl.
"O-Oh my, you startled me!" Amy said. "I'm here to become the new servant girl….are you my boss?" she asked.
Cream giggled. "No ma'am. My name is Cream, I'm the daughter of the Royal Cook and this is my chao friend Cheese." she introduced.
"Chao Chao!" Cheese chirped.
"Nice to meet you Cream and Cheese, my name is Amy Rose." She replied. "So do you two live in the castle?"
Cream nodded, walking with Amy. "Mhm, we live here along with the Prince and the other servants because my mom works here..and if you get to work here, you will get a room too!" she cheered.
"I really hope so because this place really needs some cleaning up." Amy said while looking at the outside view from a tower window. Suddenly the pink hedgehog saw a space of land that was in the middle of the castle. The plants looked dead and the whole scenery just looked lifeless.
"Those poor plants.." Amy said.
"Yes…that was the queen's garden..when she died, the poor garden wasn't cared for and all the pretty flowers died…" Cream replied saddened.
"Chao Chao…" Cheese added.
"But someday, I want to grow a new garden for the queen!" Cream proclaimed. "But the prince won't let anyone go in the garden.."
"Oh I see…the prince must be really depressed…" Amy said.
Cream nodded. "He really is."
The three friends arrived to a room that had a few wooden stools. "Please wait here, Ms. Amy. I'll be getting someone for you." The rabbit girl said.
"Wait, Cream?" said Amy.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Why is the castle so..messy?"
"Oh that's easy. Momma said that the last servant girl was a huuuuge brat and the prince fired her. So this place hasn't been cleaned." Cream answered. "Now I must get someone for you, Miss…be right back!" she said before leaving with Cheese, closing the doors.
Amy sat down on a stool and twiddled her thumbs a little. The anticipation was building up for the pink hedgehog. Although she thought more about the prince, she never saw him before because he never showed his face out into the public after the death of his parents. However she has heard from the gossiping girls that he was quite handsome.
"We're back!" Cream cheered. The doors opened which revealed Cream, Cheese, and a red echidna with purple eyes. He looked serious and a bit intimidating from first glance. His name was Knuckles, and he was the royal Stewart. His job was to help make arrangements for royal events and such. He was definitely one of the most serious people that anyone has met.
"This is the servant girl?" Knuckles asked.
"Yes Mr. Knuckles, her name is Amy, and Ms. Amy..this is Mr. Knuckles, he will be taking care of things here." said Cream.
"That's right, I'm Knuckles. I'm the royal Stewart here." He introduced. "Now Cream, ya mind giving me and the girl some privacy?" he asked.
"Oh yes, certainly!" Cream replied, leaving the room.
Knuckles faced the girl with his arms crossed. "So where ya from?" he asked.
"I traveled all the way from the Slumps." Amy replied.
Knuckles glared at the girl. "The Slumps huh? Really bad place…" he said.
"Oh no no no, the Slumps isn't all that bad. It actually feels like home sweet home!" she cheered.
"How do I know that you're not trying to overthrow the king huh?!" Knuckles asked, feeling a bit tenser which frightened Amy a bit.
"Calm down, she's just a girl!" a voice called from behind them. The two turned around and saw a gray hedgehog with a furry white chest and bright gold eyes. His name was Silver the Hedgehog, the royal host of the castle.
"Stay out of way, Silver! She could be dangerous!" Knuckles yelled. Silver approached them and got in front of Amy to defend her.
"She's just a young girl and she's our guest. Which means you have to show her nothing but respect." Silver replied. "Now if she says that she's applying to be the new servant girl, that's what she's gonna be…now you go and tell the prince that the new servant girl is here." He said.
"Fine.." Knuckles scoffed, leaving the room.
"Are you okay, Madam?" the silver hedgehog asked.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you for helping me." Amy said with a warm smile.
"It's no problem. My name is Silver, I'm the royal host of the castle. My job is to greet people basically." He answered.
"Nice to meet you, Sir Silver. My name is Amy Rose." She replied.
"Cute name." he commented. "So I'll wait with you until Knuckles comes back."
Knuckles made his way to the throne room still feeling untrusting of the new girl. He couldn't feel trusting, not after the death of the king. He heard many things about the Slumps; for example that it was a town of nothing but thieves and lairs. He was alerted incase Amy might hurt the prince.
The red echidna opened the doors to the throne room, which was very huge and lonely. It was so quiet, you could hear a mouse's squeak.
"Your majesty? A girl is here, she wants to be your new cleaning servant girl." Knuckles said.
"New servant girl huh…where is she from?" the voice asked.
"From the..Slumps." Knuckles answered with disgust.
"Hmm..a Slumps girl..that's new…what does she look like?"
"Uhhh..she's a pink hedgehog, normal girl height, some type of green eyes.."
"Sounds interesting..bring her to me." The prince commanded. Knuckles bowed before leaving, he headed to the royal "waiting room" where Amy and Silver were.
"He wants to see the girl." Knuckles said.
"Yay! I get to see the prince!" Amy cheered, walking through the doors.
"Yea just don't try any funny business, I'm onto you, girl." Knuckles warned.
"Knuckles stop!" said Silver, escorting Amy to the throne room while Knuckles followed behind. The three arrived to huge large but dusty doors. Amy couldn't wait to meet the prince of Mobius.
"Madam Amy, may I present to you…Prince Sonic T. Hedgehog…the Prince of Mobius." Silver introduced before opening the door. It revealed a huge room with the Prince at the end.
"Have the girl come to me, I want a good look at her." The prince commanded. Amy took a deep breath slowly walking down the aisle to approach the prince. The prince stood up and had a glare on the pink hedgehog. Amy blushed deeply, the gossiping girls were absolutely right..he was quite handsome...very handsome. The prince indeed was a blue hedgehog with emerald green eyes and a light tan muzzle and stomach. He wore nothing but a gold grown, a red cape, and his sneakers that were dusty. He was taller than Amy and had a larger and more pointed nose, but it was rounded while Amy's was a small pointed nose.
The prince also took a mental note of the girl's appearance; eyeing her shoulder length pink quills, her big eyes, the way that her brown raggedy dress kind of showed her figure a little.
"She's pretty cute for a poor girl.." he thought.
"State your business." He said.
"H-Hello y-your majesty." Amy greeted with a bow. "My name is Amy Rose…I'm here to become your servant girl."
"Are you huh.." he replied. "Well then…why should I hire you?" he asked.
"Because your highness..I'm here to save my brother..he's quite ill and we can't afford any medical help.. I'm not sure if anyone told you..but I'm from the Slumps…" Amy answered. The Prince secretly felt sympathetic for the girl deep down, which reminded him of how he lost his loved ones…his parents.
"Very well….I will allow you to work here…under my rules of course." The prince said. "Rule 1: You only speak when spoken to. Rule 2: No inviting anyone into the castle. Rule 3: Focus on your duties with no complaints. And Rule 4:…when I ring this bell, you come to my aid or whoever's aid immediately." Prince Sonic picked up a medium sized gold bell and a matching stick. He swat the bell making a long and loud "DONG" that went about the castle.
"and I'll try not to do it at night… since you women need your "beauty sleep"." He added. "Do I make myself clear?" he asked.
Amy nodded and smiled. "Yes, your majesty."
Sonic faced away from the girl. "Very good, now before you start, Silver will be showing you around and introducing you to the other servants."
"Oh yes! Thank you thank you-….I mean.. thank you, your majesty." Amy said with a bow before leaving.
Silver smiled at the maiden. "Wow, that went better than I thought." He commented, escorting her through the halls. They arrived to the royal kitchen that was in the lower level. In the kitchen was a rabbit who resembled Cream but was taller and looked more mature. She was chopping some carrots on a cutting board. Her name was Vanilla, the royal cook and the mother of Cream.
"Madam Vanilla? I have someone to introduce you." Silver said. The Rabbit mom turned around and smiled.
"Why hello Silver, and who is this dear?" she asked. "She's quite beautiful."
"This is Amy, she's the new servant woman replacing Fiona." Silver said. "Amy, this is Vanilla, the royal cook."
"Nice to meet you, Madam." Amy said. "Are you possibly related to Cream?" she asked.
"Why yes I am." Vanilla answered. "I'm her mother. Did you meet Cream?"
"Yes, she was a sweetheart. You should be proud" Amy replied which brought joy to Vanilla's ears. "By the way, who's Fiona?" Amy asked.
"Fiona the Fox was our last servant girl. She had a terrible attitude and did an even worse job. So she got fired by the prince." Silver answered.
"Amy, did you get the job?" Cream asked from behind, holding a basket of berries for Vanilla's fruit punch along with Cheese.
Amy turned around to the girl. "Cream! Yes, I did! The prince gave me a chance!" she cheered.
"We're proud of you Amy!" proclaimed Cream. "I hope we get to know each other while you're here."
"Chao Chao!" Cheese added.
"We gotta keep going, see ya." Silver said, escorting Amy back upstairs to a different hall. The rabbits and the chao waved at them.
Suddenly the two hedgehogs saw another figure walking the same hallway; she was a white bat with a buxom and curvy figure. She had teal eyes and wore a low cut teal dress with gold embellishment. Her makeup was also done nicely.
"Madam Rouge!" Silver called.
Rouge waved and smiled. "Hello, Sir Silver. It's such a nice day outside… although this place is not for a girl like me." She commented before noticing Amy next to him. "Anyways who's this?"
"Oh, this is Amy. The new servant girl." Silver introduced. "Amy, this is Madam Rouge, the royal beautician."
"Nice to meet you, hon." Rouge said. "and don't forget, beauty ain't cheap. I can transform both men and women and make them have the perfect first impression on others. " She added. "So where ya from?"
"Oh, I'm from the slumps, Madam." Amy answered.
Rouge looked at the pink hedgehog, making a mental note of her appearance. "Hmm..she has a clean fur coat… but that brown dress has got to go…nothing I that I can't fix." Rouge thought.
"Well that's good that you applied for this important role." Rouge commented. "By the way..did you meet Prince Sonic?" she asked. Hearing the prince's name made Amy blush deeply. Rouge saw this and giggled at the girl.
"I guess you have, he's pretty cute. Too bad he'll be off the market, he's arranged to marry Princess Sally someday." Rouge said.
The pink hedgehog's eyes widened feeling disappointed. "Princess Sally? Who's that?" Amy asked.
"Why she's the Princess of the kingdom called Acorn. Her parents are friends of King Jules and Queen Aleena. I'm sure you'll meet her." Rouge answered. "It's always been a tradition for two royal heirs to be married even if they don't love each other."
"A marriage without love? Oh I can't imagine.." Amy said.
"It happens." Said Rouge. "It's important for a women to get married in this society..but hey maybe you and me will bag some rich nobles" the white bat joked which made Amy giggle.
"Well if you girls are done now, I'd like to get moving." Silver said impatiently.
"Oh I better let you two go." said Rouge with a smile. "Good luck, Pinky."
"Thank you so much, Madam!" Amy replied leaving with Silver.
"So now who are we going to meet, Sir Silver?" Amy asked.
"Well next we're going to meet the royal flute player." The gray hedgehog replied.
To be continued…