"Ben 10: The Wintarian Race" Chapter 3
Ella was surprised to find herself in the Plumber's headquarters only hours after finding out the news of being allowed to meet her father for the first time.
She was in the holding room next to the communications lab, sitting in formal Wintarian wear. She felt so awkward with the way the dress looked on her. It only hugged around her torso and waist, leaving her legs bare.
She glanced at herself in the mirror across the room from where she was. She didn't even look like Ella anymore. Her chocolate hair was now her natural snow white color, and her eyes shined brighter than ever. Her skin looked as if there were a thin layer of ice over it, sparkling in the flauresent lighting.
Brielle was sitting with her grandmother in similar wear as her mother. The only difference Ella could see was that her daughter was a lot smaller than what she was, and her hair was still the beautiful dark color it always was.
"I feel like I'm naked." Ella finally said, hugging her arms around her body.
"I think you look beautiful." Her mother smiled to her. It was obvious that she was as nervous as her daughter was. Her royal blue dress flowed down her slender body, and her own chocolate brown hair was pulled out of her face. No one would have guessed that she was a mother, let alone a grandmother.
"We're ready for you in here, now." One of the men in a strange protective suit said as he opened the door to the communications lab.
Ella and her mother slowly stood, looking at each other for their own support. Brielle ran to her mother and was lifted into her embrace.
"Are you ready for this?" Ella asked her mom, who looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She stood tall and lead her small family into the huge room.
Ella's eyes widened when she saw who was all in the room. She knew there would be people there, but not as many as there were.
Her eyes scanned over the faces, and ended up resting on a familiar one.
"B-Ben?" Ella stared at her friend as if she were a deer in headlights.
"Ella? Is that you? Why are you here?" Ben stood, staring at the girl in awe. He had never seen her look so... wild.
"Hi!" Brielle waved to Ben, giggling with delight at seeing one of her favorite people.
"Hey there, Bri." Ben laughed, taking the child as she practically launched herself from her mother's arms.
"Okay, settle down you three." An old man in a Hawaiian shirt said, causing all eyes to be on him. "King Brikian has never asked for an audience of this sort before, so you can see the importance of this event."
"Please stand here, Miss Bates." One of the techs instructed her. Ben followed with Brielle in his arms, along with Ella's mom.
Ella stared at the huge screen in front of her that her father would be appearing on soon. She had no clue who he was or what he looked like. One thing did confuse her, though. Why was he appearing with the King of Wintaria? Was he really that important?
"Everyone, may I present King Brikian of Wintaria." The old man introduced the king as the screen flickered to life, revealing a scruffy man in his early thirties. He had snow white hair like Ella's, and deep blue eyes. Not as light as hers, but beautiful all the same. His skin glittered on camera just as the crown placed on his head was.
"Brikian." Ella's mother let out a breath at the sight of the man.
"Hello, Grace." The king smirked down at Ella's mother.
"Mom, is this...?" Ella turned and looked at her mother in shock.
"Yes, Ella." Her mother nodded. "King Brikian is your father."
"So this is Ellainia." The king looked down upon his daughter.
"H-hello." Ella slightly waved at the man on the screen.
His gaze shifted to Ben and Brielle. "That child has Wintarian blood running through her veins, doesn't she?"
Ella swallowed hard and nodded her head. "Her name is Brielle."
"I see. And this young man is...?"
"I'm Ben Tennyson, sir." Ben introduced himself. "I'm a friend of Ellairen?" He looked at Ella, confused.
"Ellainia." Ella corrected, pursing her lips together.
"So you are the infamous Ben 10." The king smirked down at the boy. "A wise choice, daughter."
Ella and Ben looked at each other and back at the king, both of their faces instantly turned red at his comment.
"N-no you have it wrong, we're just-"
"We can speak about this at a later date." Brikian interrupted. "I need to speak with you on another matter."
"Yes sir, what is it?" Ella asked, feeling anxious as to why her father had arranged this meeting anyway.
"Wintaria is in danger. We are at war with the Galagdians."
"Galagdians?" Ben questioned.
"They're a race that are raised to fight from birth." The old man explained. "Their fire power is enough to take out a planet in one swoop. The Wintarians are obviously strong enough to hold them back, however."
"I fear that we are going to need help from you Earthlings." The king looked breifly embarrassed at the thought, but then turned to his daughter. "But you, daughter, I have a different task."
"You want me to help?" Ella asked in shock. She didn't know anything about fighting.
"Not exactly." He shook his head. "Ellainia, I want you to come and live on Wintaria with me for a while. I want you to come and help me lead. Just until this war is over."
Ella stared up at her father in shock. Her? Lead a whole planet with a father she just met?
"But Brielle-"
"Bring the child with you." Her father said. "I would love to get to know my granddaughter."
Ella tried to gather her thoughts, still not sure what to say. Her mother put her hand on her shoulder.
"El, he needs you."
"I know, mom. But if I leave, you will be alone." Tears were threatening to form in Ella's eyes at this point. She didn't want her mother to be left alone.
"I'll stay here with Magister Tennyson and help out on my end. I'll be fine, Ella." Her mom reassured her.
"What is your answer, Ellainia?" King Brikian asked his daughter. "Will you come and learn your place as a princess of Wintaria?"
Ella looked at all the people around her. All of the eyes that were on her. She locked with green ones, which were strong and determined to do anything to help.
"I will." Ella answered with a nod.
"Then I look forward to your arrival, my daughter. Your sibblings will greet you with open arms, I'm sure." The king looked satisfied at his daughter. "I shall take my leave, now."
"We will be in touch to discuss our plans, sir." The old man said to King Brikian.
"Of course." He nodded. "I anxiously await your arrival, my daughter."
Once the screen was off, everyone let out a breath that they all seemed to be holding.
Ben let Brielle down, and stepped to Ella. "So you're a princess, huh?" He smirked in the playful manner he always did.
"I guess so." Ella ran her hand through her hair, feeling even more anxious than before. As she ran her hand through her hair, it returned to its chocolate state.
"Cool, mama!" Brielle giggled, pointing at Ella.
"I'm so proud of you." Ella felt her mother wrap her arms around her.
Ella turned and burried her face in her mother's shoulder and began to sob. She was feeling so many things in that one moment, it was all she could do to let her frustraitions out.
She was only fifteen. How could she help lead a planet out of war?
"So Ella is short for err..." Ben was trying to attempt to say Ella's full name again. He took her to get a smoothie with the others after the meeting with King Brikian. Everyone else was still in school.
"Ell-ain-i-a." Ella said once more, putting it in syllables and saying it slowly for him.
"Right, right." Ben nodded his head. "So if that's your first name, what is your middle name?"
"I'm not saying it." She folded her arms.
"Come on! It can't be as bad as Kirby!"
Ella giggled. "Please. Kirby is freaking awesome. Like that pink puff ball. You know?"
"No. Please don't compare it with that." Ben pleaded.
"Fine." Ella sighed. "Bernadette. You happy?"
"Bernadette?" Ben snickered. "That's such an old name. How did you end up with it?"
"It was my great-grandmother's name. Mom adored it at the time. Now... Not so much." Ella shook her head. "She thinks that the hormones caused her to name me what she did. My father chose my first name. If it had been up to her, I woud be Bernie, not Ella."
"Ouch." Ben laughed.
"Yeah." Ella giggled. "She says that I did a much better job naming Bri than she did with me."
"What's Bri's full name?" Ben questioned.
"Brielle Faith." Ella smiled, looking down at her smoothie. "That was the only thing I was sure of when I was going to be a mom."
"I could never imagine going through what you have." Ben said, leaning against the building they were outside of.
"It's hard, but it's worth everything." Ella sighed. "I'm so worried of how she's going to take being on Wintaria. I'm not sure how I'm going to do, myself."
"I think you're going to do a good job." Ben said, trying to cheer her up.
"I hope so." She bit her lip. "I have these sibblings that I have never met before in my life, and I have to work with them to make Wintaria a better place. I don't have any clue how I'm going to do that. They were born into royalty, and I know nothing about being royal."
"Just be yourself. There's no harm in that, right?"
"I hope not."
"Look, let's not worry about that. You should relax before we go." Ben kept trying to lift her spirits up.
"We?" Ella raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah." Ben beamed. "I get to come with you. Your father requested that I come and help out with the war efforts."
Ella sighed with relief. "At least now I'll know someone there that I can talk to."
"Okay, so no more dread!" Ben stood tall and smirked at Ella. "Now, we just have fun with our friends until we wait for someone to say otherwise."
"You're right." Ella smiled. "Thanks for hearing me out."
"No problem. You can count on me for anything." Ben beamed another smile. "Now let's go see a movie or something while we wait for the others to get out."
"Sounds good to me."