Chapter 3: Nude Greek Statue

Rima wakes up on the softest pillows and sheets she's ever been on in her life. "What…"

"Good morning," Amu says. "We're in the royal palace and you're engaged to marry the crown prince of America."

"I'm going back to bed," Rima says, rolling over onto her stomach. "I hate hanging out with you. We always go on these horrible benders and then I can't remember anything through the brown-outs. I'm not as young as I used to be, Amu."

"This is not a drill, Rima!" Amu says, shaking Rima's shoulders. The pillows are so soft, and Rima could just go back to sleep… "I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Rima gives up, rolling back onto her back and looking up at Amu. "Do you really expect me to believe—" It comes rushing back, then; the frog, the kiss, the naked man. "Where's the nude Greek statue?"

"Your priorities," Amu says, her laughter is strained, and Rima looks at her more closely. She looks like she hasn't slept all night, and the tired lines around her mouth make her look kind of droopy and sad, like the flowers on Utau's desk that Kukai gave her for Valentine's Day that she's watered maybe once. "That naked man turned out to be the Prince."

"You called her Ikuto, though," Rima remembers suddenly. "You did!"

"Prince Ian…" Amu's frown has become more pronounced, "Prince Ian is Ikuto. They're the same person."

"Your friend is the prince? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know," Amu replies stiffly, and Rima gets the impression that they've recently fought about that very fact. "But now I do. You'll be marrying him in two months, by the way, a September wedding."

"Don't be ridiculous," Rima says. "I won't be marrying anyone. I hardly know him."

"You don't really have a choice," Amu says. "At least, as far as I've been able to work out talking to the royal advisor."

"What do you mean, I don't have a choice?"

"So it turns out that kissing the frog is a kind of… magical contract," Amu says. "The kind that compels you to get married or something… bad will happen."

"Something bad?" Rima feels like a parrot, and while she's always liked them, she likes to consider herself capable of independent thought.

"Something bad," Amu repeats. "So you're marrying the prince."

"And in my sleep, I have been relocated to the palace."

"I tried to wake you up for the fanfare but you were out like a light. You were drooling when one of the bodyguards threw you over his shoulder. It was embarrassing. You're embarrassing."

"This is your entire fault," Rima says. "You and your delight in other people's misery." Rima scrubs at her face with both hands, relieved when they come away clean of both slime. Her body still aches, but it's less than it had been the night before. "I've kissed a frog and it's turned into a prince, and hell, Amu, now what am I supposed to do?" her words are half scream, half sob, and Amu grabs her in a hug as she starts to shake. "Can I wake up from this dream now?"

"Sorry, but no," Amu says, and Rima's just about to reply when the door bursts open, an averagely tall, green-haired man rushed inside.

He says something in rapid-fire English, and Amu quickly starts talking back, letting Rima go so she can fully engage in conversation. Rima notes that the man has his hand on a sword of some sorts, and he only lets go once Amu's hurried explanation trails off.

He nods, his eyes scanning Rima like he's looking for injuries, and then he's gone again, out the door, leaving Rima and Amu alone again inside the room that Rima is beginning to realize is bigger than her flat and Amu's combined. The embroidery of the blanket over her feels good under her fingertips, and she absently plays with it as she waits for Amu to tell her what just happened.

"He heard you scream," Amu says. "He's your bodyguard, now."

"My bodyguard?" Rima focuses on the colors of the embroidery. It's a pretty gold, and Rima traces the pattern with her thumb as Amu sighs.

"Your bodyguard," she confirms. "You're an important person now." her day-glow hair is not styled, hanging limply on her forehead. "They only let me stay because you can't speak a word of English."

"Because I'm going to marry the crown prince of America," Rima says. Her throat feels like it's swelling shut, and her heart is beating so fast "I haven't been on a date in three years and I'm getting married." She finds herself laughing, and tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Married. Terrific."

"Rima, calm down," Amu says. "Ikuto… Or Prince Ian, I mean… He's…" Rima looks up at Amu, who's clenching her jaw so tight that Rima is afraid she's going to crack her molars. "He's a good guy, a great guy. He's kind, and handsome, and…"

"And so very honest with you," Rima interjects, and Amu scowls and slaps her upside the head before Rima can deflect it.

"You're so violent," Rima says, and Amu gives her an arched eyebrow of look who's talking before she hunches forward and grabs Rima's hand.

"This is a huge honor, Rima," Amu says. "I know it must seem absolutely insane to you, but…"

"Why would you think that?" Rima asks. "Why would waking up in what is apparently the royal palace after kissing a frog that turned into a naked man and being forced to get married to him seem insane?" Rima slumps back into her pillows, pulling her hand free of Amu's and dragging her covers up over her head until Amu yanks them down again. "That's normal, right? Ha, Normal."

"I never thought the legend would be real," Amu says, and Rima, who has been existing in a subspace created by her own denial, feels herself quaking with fear at the tone of Amu's voice.

"Me either," Rima says, and while she's always wanted to believe in magic, a little, Rima has never before wished the world were ordinary and mundane as much as she wishes that now.

- Line Break -

Prince Ian knocks on Rima's door two hours later. An hour previous, a team of four servants had come into the room and kidnapped her, scrubbing her from head to toe as she cursed and whined about her sunburn, Amu laughing the whole time. Then they'd carefully dressed her in layer after layer of ball gown. Nice fabric, but far too much of it for a hot July day in Cali- screw Califorinia, for all she knows she may be at Egypt.

"I'm not going to make it, Amu," Rima says. "Tell them they're mummifying me."

"These are the traditional clothes of my people," Amu says with a smirk. "You should be more respectful."

"I'll be more respectful when I'm dead," Rima says. "Which will be in about five minutes if I'm not allowed to peel off at least the petticoat."

"I'll speak fondly of you at your funeral," Amu replies.

"No you won't," Rima says, and Amu laughs as if to imply that she agrees.

The servants apply makeup to her face, smoothing away the imperfections, which was close to none since the only imperfection was the bump when she fell, and Rima is shocked when she looks into the mirror when they're done, her hair was gracefully done that she almost can't believe it's still herself. The hair takes most of the part with the difference.

"You look so different," Amu says quietly, and Rima nods as her hand skims down the elegant dress pale yellow organza. "I've never seen anyone wear gowns in broad daylight outside of a drama before."

"A what?" Rima asks, and Amu laughs.

"You're a shame."

"Not my forte," Rima says, pushing a pieces of carefully styled hair off of her forehead. The headpiece she's wearing is hurting her scalp and her neck is already starting to ache.

"What is your forte?" Amu asks. "Imagining things that aren't there?"

"The frog was there," Rima says, and then she makes herself smile into the mirror for Amu to see. "What if Daniel Radcliffe was there, too? What if, after all this time, it turns out I just have superior eyesight?"

"In your dreams," Amu replies, and Rima prepares a retort.

Everything settles back down into nervousness and solemnity, though, as the knock resounds through the room. The green haired man Amu had said was Rima's bodyguard steps into the room and clears her throat.

He says a lot of things, but Rima only hears what she thinks is 'Ian' before he's moving aside and admitting the naked man into Rima's sight.

He's not naked this time. He's wearing clothing pretty similar to Rima's, only made for men and a European cut suit, his hair swept back from his forehead and his eyes dark and serious. His chin is strong, Rima notices, and his hands are huge.

"Hi," he says again, in English, and Rima gulps.

"Hi," she replies back, and Amu exhales heavily.

"The prince," Amu says coolly, and the prince winces visibly at the chill in her voice, "doesn't speak very good Japanese. He knows some, though, so you should be able to speak to him."

"I can say a few things," the prince says.

"It's nice to meet you," Rima says. "Again. Clothed."

The prince blushes, and he suddenly seems a lot less cool and a lot more nervous. "You look nicer," he says. "Without the…" he motions at her bump on the forehead, and Rima is mortified to remember the last time he'd seen the man, she'd had her face covered in aloe to soothe a horrid bump from the biking.

"Thanks," Rima says, before she looks down to memorize the floor or the pattern on her fancy heels or anything but the prince's face. "I don't know what to call you."

"Ikuto is fine," he says, and Rima sneaks a glance at Amu. Amu is scowling, arms crossed. "I prefer Ikuto."

"Alright then, Ikuto," Rima says, "I want to go home."

"I'm afraid you can't," Ikuto says miserably. "There's a curse on my family. You broke my curse, so you're stuck with me."

"So what now?" Rima feels like she's drowning in the clothes. It's hot, and Amu is upset, and she's pretty sure her shoulders are peeling. "I stay here? Forever? What about my job, and my flat, and—"

Rima tries not to panic, but it's hard when she doesn't know what's going on or what she's supposed to do.

"We'll take care of everything," Ikuto says stiffly. "But right now, you have to be introduced to the King and Queen as my intended."

"I have to meet the them?"

"Yes," Ikuto says, standing straighter and frowning, "You do." He looks apologetically at Amu, "I'm sorry, but…"

"I can't come," Amu says and tried not to glare at the prince. "I know. I'm leaving the palace this afternoon, anyway. I have my own life to get back to" She seems like she wants to say more, but whatever it is, she keeps to herself.

"You can't abandon me here," Rima says, and Amu pats her gently on the back, more gently than she's ever touched Rima before. Rima isn't some doll now that she's wearing these fancy brocade clothes, and she frowns deeply at Amu. "I don't speak English."

"I don't have a choice," Amu says. "I don't belong here." She looks at Rima, then quickly at Ikuto, before rubbing her hands on her own simple gown. She's dressed up, Rima realizes, and she looks as uncomfortable as Rima does. "You do, now."

"No I don't!" There's not nearly enough air in the room, and Rima balls her hands up into fists, nails probably leaving crescents in her palms. "I can't even remember my English name!"

"It's Marie," Amu reminds her. "Good luck."

"I'm going to kick your ass," Rima snarls. "Good luck?"

"Please watch your language," Ikuto says, smoothing the front of his fancy coat with one of his monstrous hands. "We try not to speak like that in the palace."

Bleakly, Rima stares at Ikuto, and then at the green haired man who is waiting impatiently at the door, frowning with thin lips and flexing his biceps.

"No cursing," Rima says. "Got it."

"We mustn't keep the King waiting," Ikuto says. "Please allow me to escort you."

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Rima asks, and Ikuto' expression is caught between frustration and sadness.

"No," he says. "You don't."

- Line Break -

This is the prettiest cage Rima has ever been in, but it's still a cage, and everywhere she looks there are all these high, golden ornately-patterned walls keeping her inside like Rapunzel in her tower.

It's not that anyone even wants her here. The King had looked down on her with disdain when she'd tried to bow and tripped over her feet, and when she'd turned to greet the Queen, the jewels of her necklace were so bright that Rima had sneezed all over herself, her nose running and probably messing up all the servants' hard work on making her presentable. Someone had laughed at her, and then everyone was laughing, and Rima wanted more than anything to go home or that her dress would actually eat her alive like they'd been threatening to since she put them on.

No one talks to her either, because she doesn't speak English and while she's surprised at how much Japanese the people around her pick up, it's not enough for a conversation.

Ikuto can talk to her, but he doesn't, disappearing after the disastrous introduction and leaving Rima on her own with the tall green-haired bodyguard that Rima realizes, with a sinking feeling, follows her everywhere but into the shower.

The first night, when Rima is all alone in her huge room, she stared up at the gold-decorated ceiling and wishes her family or Amu or Utau or Kukai were here, or that she'd brought something along on her vacation, just to give her something else to think about.

Rima doesn't want to be by herself, because all she can do is dwell on the fact that for the first time in her life, something magical has happened to her, just like she'd always secretly dreamed of, but it's left her all alone, with everything she knows ripped away from her and nothing to really look forward to except a future of being stared at and finally having to buckle down and learn English.

By the third night, she regrets not having her laptop.

The days alone are hard, but the nights are harder, because it's an unfamiliar place and the sheets are soft but don't smell like her detergent and she likes to sleep in cotton shorts but they keep forcing her into silky sleepwear. During the day, at least, Rima is forced into manners lessons taught by a woman who seems to despise Rima more than she'd despise gum on the bottom her designer shoes, and food she doesn't recognize but is delicious.

She has her unnamed green-haired bodyguard following her around and unseen parts of her prison to explore. At night, there's the silence, and the nothingness.

She has nightmares about frogs, and she thinks she has developed an unhealthy phobia of amphibians.

She can't sleep, at all, and on the fourth night, she thinks she'll lose her mind if she doesn't have anyone to talk to.

She takes out her phone and navigates to the skype option, selecting Kukai's name and hoping it's not too late for Kukai to be on his computer.

It isn't, and Kukai answers the call drowsily. "Rima?"

"Hey," Rima says, choking up and hating that she's choking up. "Do you have time to talk?"

"Can't you just order me to talk," Kukai says, sleepy and soft. "Aren't you the queen of everything now? I saw you on the news."

"No," Rima says. "I'm not the queen of anything and I want to go home."

"Are you crying?" Kukai says, suddenly sounding panicked. "You never cry. Don't cry. I don't know what to do if you start to cry, Utau's not here."

"I'm not going to cry, Kukai, so stop yelling." Rima laughs, the hilarity somehow worming out past the misery in her chest.

"You're the one who's always louder than me," Kukai says. "I'm the one who tries to sleep through it when it happens."

"You try to sleep through everything," Rima says. "Kukai, I don't speak English."

"You're so charming, though," Kukai says. "In an annoying kind of way. I bet they love you already."

"They hate me," Rima says. "Everyone here hates me."

"Isn't Amu there?"

"She isn't allowed to visit me," Rima says. "And every time I call her she gets all sad and stuff and I don't know what to do about it."

"She probably feels guilty for asking you to come to California now that you're trapped there forever," Kukai says, and then he gasps. "I mean, I'm sure it's not forever, Rima—"

"It is, though," Rima says ."I'm stuck here forever and ever."

"They can't really keep you locked up there, right? You're not even American!"

"Apparently there's some kind of magical contract," Rima says. "So they can."

"What happens if you break it?" Kukai is getting sleepy again, and Rima realizes Kukai has work in a few hours. She should let him go. She selfishly doesn't want to.

"I'm afraid to ask," Rima says, but later that night, as she tries futilely to fall asleep, she wonders if it could be worse than this already is.