A/N: ..I'd also like to thank Lulu who read my script. She's cool, she's a very nice person too. Did y'all read Sly's story? Isn't it awesome? God, I wish I had that talent. *envies her* You must all read "Death of a Fairy Tale"! You MUST, or I'll...SPORK youuuu. Eek! Yesh, Tey is an odd bish. ^.~
Anyway, I'm on medication for this terrible illness I have. I regret to say that it hinders my writing. I'm in pain. So, please forgive me if I skip ahead - I really want to finish this, I love writing, but I'm in pain and it will be this way for a little while longer. But only a *little* while longer. ;) No worries. Just keep reviewing.
~
Kuja stood in the now empty auction house, a hand to his delicate chin, his intelligent orbs flashing with an electirc-like current of flashing, circulating thought. The image of the Garnet staring back at him branded into his mind accompanied with a spark of intrigue. Who would have thought the princess would be here? Certainly not Kuja! Oh, he'd seen the lovely crowned princess from afar when he visted Alexandria castle - and he was sure she might have caught brief glimpses of him, to see her even closer was a real treat. She was stunning, even in peasant garb - like a Snow White, oh and a Snow White she will be in her slumber...
Lips, like a rose, hair dark as ebony, and skin white as snow..or as a dove...a voice of a canary...
But what was she doing here in Treno? But where else should she be? He'd heard that she had run away. But she was near Alexandria? One would have thought she'd be farther. He 'hm'ed to himself, then, at length, smiled. She was returning to her mother, for surely she's heard of the trouble in Burmecia! Trying to stop her mother, how sweet...how sickening. She was a typical do-right princess who wanted nothing more to be a hero. A hero is a person who, usually, needs a swift kick in the rear to be brought back to reality. Whatever, thought Kuja, she's only endangering herself now and she'll see how idiotic her ideals are...that things are the way they are. Little Canary, dear sweet Canary, you yearn for too much..
"How was Burmecia?" The Auctioneer walked into the room where Kuja mused to himself. Kuja stood up straight upon the entrance of the auctioneer and smirked after a short spell of thought. "Not bad...better if I didn't have to see those vermin and that elephant-lady." Kuja was very sensitive, although, he mainly said this to get his point across about the gruesomness of Burmecia's dead and Alexandria's queen. He shuddered. "They offend my senses."
The auctioneer rolled his eyes mentally. Oh! Poor, girly, delicate Kuja! "You must be tired." He sincerely asked, though Kuja saw his concerned expression was only forced on with great realism because Kuja used to be his highest bidder, making him a very rich man. Whatever, thought Kuja. "It's not over yet," He turned his back to the auctioneer, tilting his head up and looking at the ceiling thougtfully, hands behind his back. "The rest of the vermin must be done away with."
"You'll be heading to Cleyra, then?"
"Yes; I trust you will deliver them?" 'Them' meaning the mages.
"Certainly, I will prepare now." And the auctioneer prepared to leave, but Kuja spoke and that stopped him mid-turn.
"By the way, did you see a pretty lady in the crowd today?" Perhaps, thought Kuja, he spoke with her and I did not see?
The auctioneer raised an eyebrow, a small smile coming to his lips. Oh? Did Kuja have an interest? His "friend" suddenly seemed interesting. "A pretty lady? Shall I arrange a meeting?"
Kuja rolled his eyes mentally, but daren't show his frustration with this simpleton. The pale man walked a bit away and down the small aisle towards the door, and stopped when he was halfway there. "There's no need." Said Kuja, then he tilted his head and smiled bemusedly. "The canary I've been after...she flew into my cage of her own free will."
The auctioneer gave Kuja a strange, but overall confused, look. Kuja felt the look, but paid it no mind and started for the door again. "Never would I have imagined meeting you in a place like this. It must be fate. But you can not rest your wings yet...fly home to your mother, my little canary." He stepped outside, the sky full of stars and the moon bursting a bright becon of light that paled in the comparision of Treno's ever glittering sight. Kuja held out his arms to the sky - the same sky that loomed over Garnet - arrogantly grinning, "I, too, will welcome you with open arms."
.......... .. .
Meanwhile, on the thieve boat, on the south end, a knight's mind lamented:
What in the world am I doing...?
I'm assisting thieves in committing a crime...
No... I must be patient.
Protect the princess. Escort her back to the castle. Focus on your duties...
Trust the queen. She would never commit an atrocity.
There must be a good reason.
No thoughts of my own?
Nonsense.
How can I, a lowly knight, understand the queen's thinking?
I need not worry about the ramblings of a criminal.
Just think about escorting the princess home.
I'll probably never see him again...
He was the culprit. He pulled the princess and me straight into his intrigues...
~~~
And on the north end, a princess incognita unfolds before herself:
It was your fault, Zidane. If you hadn't treated me like a child...
...I wouldn't be here hunting after Supersoft to save one of your friends.
Why am I doing this...?
Because Blank saved me? Yes, he saved me.
He saved my life... The least I can do is return the favor...
But I never thought about things like this before...
~~~
They finally docked at a harbor in their 'borrowed' boat (the harbor mainly belonged to Treno nobles). They were behind a large building, near a basement window left open. They crawled in - Steiner, having difficulty, but he managed after a difficult moment (the window wasn't so small). The basement was that of a shop, full of boxes of things you would find in a weapon/item shop inventory. Dagger blinked at the multitude of boxes everywhere. The Supersoft was HERE? In one of these many, many boxes?? She felt dispair pull her lips into a frown for a moment as she continued to let her chocolate orbs rove over the mountains of boxes, but a smile pulled at her lips just as quickly as they fell. She must be determined and everything will be so much easier! Yes, that was the way to think, Dagger. Dagger's self-reassurance helped her mood a bit.
Steiner was different. "How are we to find the Supersoft in these mountains of boxes?" Puffed Steiner, hands on his hips, eyeing the loads before him with a set frown that looked as though it had no intention of leaving his face. Marcus looked at Steiner wearily, letting his annoyance slip away in a aggrivated sigh. "Just find it." He looked to the princess, surveying the boxes in her determination to help with her all. He smiled bemusedly and shook his head. She had such a naive mind-set of "anything is possible". Perhaps he should try that?
As they looked, they were, thus far, unsuccessful. Just then, Dagger paused as a sound, that struck her as something fearful for it should not be heard, grew louder. It was someone approaching! "Someone's coming!" She paincked in a whisper, and they all hid behind boxes cluttered at their greatest near the wall. Dagger and the rest peaked a bit to see who it was.
"Oh, I can't believe I ran out of ink on a night like this." The voice got louder and he entered the basement. He was a short, scholary man with a big, pointed nose and thick glasses, philospoher's cap with crimsion hair sticking out. Dagger looked at him, her brows furrowing as old memories tickled her mind as they came forth upon looking this man. Her eyes went wide, suddenly, and a pleased smile crossed her lips. The man spoke once more, looking around through some of the boxes. "I must find more ink and get back to the observatory..."
"Should I take care of him?" Said Marcus, not noticing the princess's happy look.
Dagger got shocked at the idea Marcus offered and shook her head. "Wait!" She whispered back, and jumpped out from her hiding spot in plain view to the man. Steiner, horrofied, called out in a harsh whisper - but too late - "Princess! No!"
"Hrm?" Was all the man said in response to the princess suddenly appearing before him, and then there was a silence as the scholary man studied the young woman smiling at him and standing there. Something familiar about her, he mused, but then it struck him. "You're...!"
"I've missed you Doctor Tot." Dagger bowed to her former tutor.
"P-Princess! Princess Garnet!"
Steiner was surprised, and he left his hiding spot. "Doctor Tot?"
Marcus came out of his spot as well, "You know him?"
Doctor Tot was shocked to see all these people come out the shadows, making him really scared of Treno's lack of security, but he knew Steiner and he was sure that Marcus, the one he didn't know, must be good if he was traveling with the princess and Master Steiner! But what on Gaia were they doing here? Oh, he had a feeling he'd find out. Tot was about to explain who he was to Marcus, but Steiner beat him to it. He bowed his head at the compliments thrown into the explaination.
"Doctor Tot is the highly respected scholar who tutored the princess!"
Tot cringed at Steiner's loudness. Haha, he hasn't changed! "Ah, Master Steiner, you must be quiet or you'll wake the shopkeeper." Tot smiled, then turned to the princess. "But Princess, what on earth are you doing here?"
"It's a long story. We're looking for Supersoft right now."
Steiner panicked, realizing why they were here and hated to think that Tot would think he - a Captain of the Pluto Knights - was here to steal. "There is a proper reason for this! We're not hear to steal or commit any for of crime-"
"Somebody down there?" Called a voice from above. They all froze. But then Tot broke the silence with a careful whisper. "Run along, I will give you the Supersoft later. Go left from the Treno entrance, and continue until you find a large tower. The tower is my home. It is locked, but I shall unlock the door and await your arrival."
Dagger smiled and nodded. "Alright," she turned to look at Steiner and Marcus, excited at how wonderful things were starting to go. "Let's go back!" She then turned to Tot and bowed her head respectively. "Thank you Doctor Tot. I'll see you later!" And they left.
The shopkeeper came down to see only Doctor Tot and smiled and sighed in relief. Doctor Tot got his ink eventually, but his mind dwelled on meeting the princess. She was looking for Supersoft, but it didn't seem like it was her original reason for being away from Alexandria. He heard that she ran away or got kidnapped - there were so many stories. The queen had gotten bad lately, that was something he believed. Oh, poor princess if that was one of the reasons she was here - running from her mother...or perhaps trying to get back? He'd find out, or get an inkling. He was a gentlemen, he won't get all up in her business. No, that was rude.
Princess...
............ .. .
"Princess! Thank you for coming. Welcome to my humble abode." Said Doctor Tot cheerfully as the group finally arrived at his tower-home. It was made of find stone and was full of piles of documents and research tools, it had a desk and cofortable furniture, and, of course, many books. Dagger was amazed. "You live here?"
"I traveled quite far in search of a sponsor for my research after I departed Alexandria. I finally found one here in Treno. You have grown into a fine young woman. I am pleased to see you again."
Stenier also admired the home of the scholar, but then looked to the scholar. God, it had been so long. Tot hadn't changed a bit! Hadn't aged at all. "Doctor Tot! You look quite well."
"Ah, Master Steiner! You are escorting the princess?" This would give him some inkling.
"Yes, sir!" Saluted Steiner. "I deeply regret my earlier actions."
Tot chuckled, "Still a straight arrow, aren't you? I'm sure you had your reasons but I won't ask why. The Supersoft is in the box right there," He gestured. "Please take it."
"Don't mind if I do!" Said Marcus, going to the box and extracting the small vial. Tot gathered that this whole 'Supersoft Mission' was really this Marcus's mission and the princess was tagging along, Steiner ever following her. So, Tot gathered that they were now going back to Alexandria - after all, since Steiner was escorting her. Whatever happened prior was not Tot's business, but he knew, from Garnet's facial expressions, that they weren't exactly going back becaused the missed home. No doubt Garnet heard about what her mother has done lately. To was shaken from his thought by Steiner scolding Marcus.
"Have you no manners? Thank the good doctor!"
"It's quite alright, Master Steiner..." Waved Tot.
In this time that allowed, Dagger wandered a few more paces, looking up at the ceiling for some unknown reason. It was globe! How..fascinating! Bu was it a globe of Gaia? "Doctor Tot, is this Gaia?" She felt like she was eight-years-old again, asking stupid questions out of childish fascination.
Doctor Tot smiled, looking at the princess and remembering the good old times of when he tutored the princess, chuckling at her interest in the world and at her wild imagination. "Yes, it is the Globe of our planet, Gaia."
"I remember your lessons."
"You remember the ramblings of an old fool."
A memory danced through the tutor and princess's head....
~
Mother yelled at her again. She was so clumsy! She accidenly knocked a vase over with her rod that her father gave her. A Princess should be able to defend herself - and she also used the rod to conduct some of the white magic she was learning. But she was now here in her room, reading "I Want To Be Your Canary" by Lord Avon, because mother was angry at her daughter ruining her prized vase, so she read a dumb book given to her by her strange tutor. Actually, Doctor Tot wasn't that bad and niether was this book, thought eight-year-old Princess Garnet. Mother probably wasn't even that mad, and half of her angry probably wasn't directed at her. Father did mention something about mother's realitives having passed away, but Garnet had yet to understand death and Garnet never knew her cousins well enough to truly miss them.
She finished the last page of her book, her emotions stirred by the tragic ending of Princess Cornelia getting killed because she loved her father, still. Garnet felt such relation to Cornelia, but yet it was only words that created a fictional character...but still, Garnet's emotions were stirred and her heart touched. What an excellent story! She closed her book and put it on her book shelf. The grandfather clock in the hall chimed. It was time for her history lesson! Garnet didn't like history all too much, but Tot gave a lot of lectures and eventually gave her a study sheet to go by for the test he would give her. During his lectures, she could daydream.
Skipping down the hall, she turned a corner sharply, running right into Captain Steiner and General Beatrix. She yelped and fell back, landing on her rear. General Beatrix gasped and immediatly held out her hand to assit the princess on getting back up, Steiner blinked off the shock and then stared at the princess, shaking his head. "Do be careful, Princess."
"I'm sorry, Steiner, I was just going to history class...I-"
"Steiner, do not upset the princess!" General Beatrix turned and scolded Steiner. She looked back to Garnet. "Fare well, Princess, hurry to class!"
"My apologies, Princess!" Steiner said as the princess started to walk off. Garnet turned, bowed, and smiled up at Steiner. "Fret not! It is past. Um, but...your right. I should be more careful. Mama thinks I'm clumsy too." Her hands went behind her back and she shamefully looked at her feet that were shuffeling. Steiner's face dropped in sympathy. "Nonsense! You are not clumsy. Your mother doesn't think so. The other day she as just telling Beatrix and I what a wonderful, graceful, charming daughter she has. We agree, don't we, Beatrix?"
"Absolutely."
Garnet smiled, curtsied her best and skipped off. Steiner and Beatrix giggling, then going off on their way, continuing their talk on improving Alexandria's security, teasing and joking as they did so.
Garnet arrived and sat at her desk, Tot rambling to himself as he usually did. Garnet ignored it for a moment, dozed off in her thoughts - she was permitted to because Tot often got off track, though sometimes the things he rambled on about was pure genious! Later on, she drifted back to reality, her thoughts of "I Want To Be Your Canary" disolving. Tot was still going on, but she could tell he'd break out of it.
"Two phrases are commonly found in documents more than 500 years old. One is 'jewel'. The other is 'summoner tribe.' But 500 years ago, the phrases mysteriously vanished from history. The archeologist Frederick Ash theorized that 'jewel' refers to the pendant passed down to the ruler of Alexandria. But the pendant... It is much too small to be referring to the same 'jewel.' Other research suggests a relationship between 'eidolons' and magical 'stones'..."
He was trailing, now was the best time to pull him out of it so she can get on with her lesson. "Doctor Tot?"
Doctor Tot jolted, looked up and noticed the princess, as if for the very first time. "Ah, Princess!"
Garnet smirked, got out of her desk and walked over nearer to her tutor. "Were you reading big books again?" He often rambled after reading historical books and reasearch documents - this was him 'musing' what he learned and applying it to help him discover something new and to help him. He called his 'learning'.
Tot chuckled. "Ha ha ha... but I've already read every book in this library. But I think better when I'm surrounded by old books."
"Really? I don't like books." Said Garnet absent-mindedly, as her eyes looked at all the books in the library that she was in, trying to count them. 20..21...he's read ALL of these?
"You're a person of dignity. It is imperative that you study hard." Said Tot, seeing the princess count the books, he struggled not to laugh.
"I know, I know..." She pulled out of her counting, giving up and guessing that Tot really had a lot of time on his hands to read all of these books. That made her remember. "Oh, but I was quite taken with that one book you gave me. What is it called? It was..." Why did it slip her mind?
"Was it 'I Want to Be Your Canary' by Lord Avon?"
"Oh, yes, that's the one! So there is a book I like after all." Garnet smiled, proud.
"My, my." Doctor Tot smiled. Amusing that a girl so young should like such a poetically written piece of liturature. She was delightfully surprising young girl.
Garnet moved towards a separate desk, her attention caught by a sphere. She tilted her head. "Doctor Tot, what's this?"
"That is a globe of Gaia. It is a modle of our planet."
"A Gaia globe? I never knew our castle was shaped like a sphere."
"Ha ha ha...we live on the surface, Princess."
Garnet gave him a confused look, but gradually let it run over in her head a few times. Eventually, she understood and nodded. Then, Tot went on in a new train of thought, talking aloud.
"Ah, yes, the stars! They inspired the theories relating stones and eidolons. That is why...Oh! I'm sorry, I was lost in thought again."
Garnet smiled politely at Doctor Tot, she didn't mind. "It's ok." She looked back at the Gaia globe and gave a thoughtful smile. "Where is my room on this globe?"
"Oh, your room is much too small to point out on this globe..." What a delightful child, I wish the queen wouldn't shelter her and hold her in the castle like this...
"What about the castle?"
"That, I can do..."
~
"How long has it been?" Said Garnet through a thoughtful sigh, her memory ending and her finding herself back in the tower, and sixteen and in distress. "Eight years?" She guessed.
"Time passes quickly." Tot pulled out of his thought, as well. "But I haven't changed. I continue to collect and research items."
"Where did you get this globe?"
"It's an antique. It's broken, as you can see, but I use it as an observation deck." He pointed to a hole in the globe-ceiling. "Ironic, isn't it? Looking up at the sky from inside a globe."
"It sure is..."
Tot felt awful. The little girl he used to tutor - the smart, intriguing princess...he couldn't abandon her! "Princess, I don't mean to meddle in your affairs but...I am on yours side, now and forever. Please tell me if there is anything I can do."
"Doctor Tot..."
She spilled all, telling him about what happened since the play up to now. Doctor Tot let it all sink in, nodded, paced and then looked to the whole group - the princess, the thief, and the knight. "I see... So the queen's forces have already grown quite powerful. Okay, then. It may be dangerous, but I shall see to it that you reach Alexandria."
"How?" Dagger asked, feeling glad that he offers help - if anyone she felt great recieving help from it was Tot, he was a smart man. He would help her...but how?
"I had an old transportation device remodeled in the case of such an emergency." He waved his hand dismissively, then placed a hand to his chin, nodded slowly, then turned to climb up a ladder, and down a hatch. He stopped at the bas of the ladder, though. He motioned for the group to go first. "This way, please."
"Ah! We can finally return to Alexandria!" Steiner said as he climbed up the ladder. Marcus called up to him and the princess climbing up now. "I'm coming with you."
"What!? Why!?" Steiner called down, preparing to climb down the hatch. He was outraged that this thief would still be with them.
"I can reach Blank more easily from Alexandria." Marcus sure as hell wasn't going for Steiner's company.
"Yes, come with us, Marcus." Smiled Dagger at Marcus, glad that suc ha a skilled fighter and great friend was coming with them. She didn't talk to him much, but she still wanted to help him and his dedication to his friend Blank was admirable. She shot Steiner a firm look. "Okay, Steiner?"
"Grrr..." Steiner glared daggers at Marcus, then went down. Dagger followed. "Let's go save Blank! And restore my mother to her former self!" She said, and went down to Gargan Roo, followed by Marcus.
In Gargan Roo they had to operate the switches to call the gargant - a large, friendly bug creature that fed on plants and stayed underground. Attatched to it was a little boat-like carrier for passengers to sit in. The gargant hung upside-down grasping a root from the under ground tunnels dug for it to crawl through - that it was trained to crawl through. When they got on the gargant and rode off, they did have a bit of trouble - a monster was terrorizing the creature. It was a worm like creature, or perhaps it was more snake-like. In either case, they had to fight it to get it to back off, and then they were off to Alexandria...
They were eagerly awaited...but dare I say with open arms?
Anyway, I'm on medication for this terrible illness I have. I regret to say that it hinders my writing. I'm in pain. So, please forgive me if I skip ahead - I really want to finish this, I love writing, but I'm in pain and it will be this way for a little while longer. But only a *little* while longer. ;) No worries. Just keep reviewing.
~
Kuja stood in the now empty auction house, a hand to his delicate chin, his intelligent orbs flashing with an electirc-like current of flashing, circulating thought. The image of the Garnet staring back at him branded into his mind accompanied with a spark of intrigue. Who would have thought the princess would be here? Certainly not Kuja! Oh, he'd seen the lovely crowned princess from afar when he visted Alexandria castle - and he was sure she might have caught brief glimpses of him, to see her even closer was a real treat. She was stunning, even in peasant garb - like a Snow White, oh and a Snow White she will be in her slumber...
Lips, like a rose, hair dark as ebony, and skin white as snow..or as a dove...a voice of a canary...
But what was she doing here in Treno? But where else should she be? He'd heard that she had run away. But she was near Alexandria? One would have thought she'd be farther. He 'hm'ed to himself, then, at length, smiled. She was returning to her mother, for surely she's heard of the trouble in Burmecia! Trying to stop her mother, how sweet...how sickening. She was a typical do-right princess who wanted nothing more to be a hero. A hero is a person who, usually, needs a swift kick in the rear to be brought back to reality. Whatever, thought Kuja, she's only endangering herself now and she'll see how idiotic her ideals are...that things are the way they are. Little Canary, dear sweet Canary, you yearn for too much..
"How was Burmecia?" The Auctioneer walked into the room where Kuja mused to himself. Kuja stood up straight upon the entrance of the auctioneer and smirked after a short spell of thought. "Not bad...better if I didn't have to see those vermin and that elephant-lady." Kuja was very sensitive, although, he mainly said this to get his point across about the gruesomness of Burmecia's dead and Alexandria's queen. He shuddered. "They offend my senses."
The auctioneer rolled his eyes mentally. Oh! Poor, girly, delicate Kuja! "You must be tired." He sincerely asked, though Kuja saw his concerned expression was only forced on with great realism because Kuja used to be his highest bidder, making him a very rich man. Whatever, thought Kuja. "It's not over yet," He turned his back to the auctioneer, tilting his head up and looking at the ceiling thougtfully, hands behind his back. "The rest of the vermin must be done away with."
"You'll be heading to Cleyra, then?"
"Yes; I trust you will deliver them?" 'Them' meaning the mages.
"Certainly, I will prepare now." And the auctioneer prepared to leave, but Kuja spoke and that stopped him mid-turn.
"By the way, did you see a pretty lady in the crowd today?" Perhaps, thought Kuja, he spoke with her and I did not see?
The auctioneer raised an eyebrow, a small smile coming to his lips. Oh? Did Kuja have an interest? His "friend" suddenly seemed interesting. "A pretty lady? Shall I arrange a meeting?"
Kuja rolled his eyes mentally, but daren't show his frustration with this simpleton. The pale man walked a bit away and down the small aisle towards the door, and stopped when he was halfway there. "There's no need." Said Kuja, then he tilted his head and smiled bemusedly. "The canary I've been after...she flew into my cage of her own free will."
The auctioneer gave Kuja a strange, but overall confused, look. Kuja felt the look, but paid it no mind and started for the door again. "Never would I have imagined meeting you in a place like this. It must be fate. But you can not rest your wings yet...fly home to your mother, my little canary." He stepped outside, the sky full of stars and the moon bursting a bright becon of light that paled in the comparision of Treno's ever glittering sight. Kuja held out his arms to the sky - the same sky that loomed over Garnet - arrogantly grinning, "I, too, will welcome you with open arms."
.......... .. .
Meanwhile, on the thieve boat, on the south end, a knight's mind lamented:
What in the world am I doing...?
I'm assisting thieves in committing a crime...
No... I must be patient.
Protect the princess. Escort her back to the castle. Focus on your duties...
Trust the queen. She would never commit an atrocity.
There must be a good reason.
No thoughts of my own?
Nonsense.
How can I, a lowly knight, understand the queen's thinking?
I need not worry about the ramblings of a criminal.
Just think about escorting the princess home.
I'll probably never see him again...
He was the culprit. He pulled the princess and me straight into his intrigues...
~~~
And on the north end, a princess incognita unfolds before herself:
It was your fault, Zidane. If you hadn't treated me like a child...
...I wouldn't be here hunting after Supersoft to save one of your friends.
Why am I doing this...?
Because Blank saved me? Yes, he saved me.
He saved my life... The least I can do is return the favor...
But I never thought about things like this before...
~~~
They finally docked at a harbor in their 'borrowed' boat (the harbor mainly belonged to Treno nobles). They were behind a large building, near a basement window left open. They crawled in - Steiner, having difficulty, but he managed after a difficult moment (the window wasn't so small). The basement was that of a shop, full of boxes of things you would find in a weapon/item shop inventory. Dagger blinked at the multitude of boxes everywhere. The Supersoft was HERE? In one of these many, many boxes?? She felt dispair pull her lips into a frown for a moment as she continued to let her chocolate orbs rove over the mountains of boxes, but a smile pulled at her lips just as quickly as they fell. She must be determined and everything will be so much easier! Yes, that was the way to think, Dagger. Dagger's self-reassurance helped her mood a bit.
Steiner was different. "How are we to find the Supersoft in these mountains of boxes?" Puffed Steiner, hands on his hips, eyeing the loads before him with a set frown that looked as though it had no intention of leaving his face. Marcus looked at Steiner wearily, letting his annoyance slip away in a aggrivated sigh. "Just find it." He looked to the princess, surveying the boxes in her determination to help with her all. He smiled bemusedly and shook his head. She had such a naive mind-set of "anything is possible". Perhaps he should try that?
As they looked, they were, thus far, unsuccessful. Just then, Dagger paused as a sound, that struck her as something fearful for it should not be heard, grew louder. It was someone approaching! "Someone's coming!" She paincked in a whisper, and they all hid behind boxes cluttered at their greatest near the wall. Dagger and the rest peaked a bit to see who it was.
"Oh, I can't believe I ran out of ink on a night like this." The voice got louder and he entered the basement. He was a short, scholary man with a big, pointed nose and thick glasses, philospoher's cap with crimsion hair sticking out. Dagger looked at him, her brows furrowing as old memories tickled her mind as they came forth upon looking this man. Her eyes went wide, suddenly, and a pleased smile crossed her lips. The man spoke once more, looking around through some of the boxes. "I must find more ink and get back to the observatory..."
"Should I take care of him?" Said Marcus, not noticing the princess's happy look.
Dagger got shocked at the idea Marcus offered and shook her head. "Wait!" She whispered back, and jumpped out from her hiding spot in plain view to the man. Steiner, horrofied, called out in a harsh whisper - but too late - "Princess! No!"
"Hrm?" Was all the man said in response to the princess suddenly appearing before him, and then there was a silence as the scholary man studied the young woman smiling at him and standing there. Something familiar about her, he mused, but then it struck him. "You're...!"
"I've missed you Doctor Tot." Dagger bowed to her former tutor.
"P-Princess! Princess Garnet!"
Steiner was surprised, and he left his hiding spot. "Doctor Tot?"
Marcus came out of his spot as well, "You know him?"
Doctor Tot was shocked to see all these people come out the shadows, making him really scared of Treno's lack of security, but he knew Steiner and he was sure that Marcus, the one he didn't know, must be good if he was traveling with the princess and Master Steiner! But what on Gaia were they doing here? Oh, he had a feeling he'd find out. Tot was about to explain who he was to Marcus, but Steiner beat him to it. He bowed his head at the compliments thrown into the explaination.
"Doctor Tot is the highly respected scholar who tutored the princess!"
Tot cringed at Steiner's loudness. Haha, he hasn't changed! "Ah, Master Steiner, you must be quiet or you'll wake the shopkeeper." Tot smiled, then turned to the princess. "But Princess, what on earth are you doing here?"
"It's a long story. We're looking for Supersoft right now."
Steiner panicked, realizing why they were here and hated to think that Tot would think he - a Captain of the Pluto Knights - was here to steal. "There is a proper reason for this! We're not hear to steal or commit any for of crime-"
"Somebody down there?" Called a voice from above. They all froze. But then Tot broke the silence with a careful whisper. "Run along, I will give you the Supersoft later. Go left from the Treno entrance, and continue until you find a large tower. The tower is my home. It is locked, but I shall unlock the door and await your arrival."
Dagger smiled and nodded. "Alright," she turned to look at Steiner and Marcus, excited at how wonderful things were starting to go. "Let's go back!" She then turned to Tot and bowed her head respectively. "Thank you Doctor Tot. I'll see you later!" And they left.
The shopkeeper came down to see only Doctor Tot and smiled and sighed in relief. Doctor Tot got his ink eventually, but his mind dwelled on meeting the princess. She was looking for Supersoft, but it didn't seem like it was her original reason for being away from Alexandria. He heard that she ran away or got kidnapped - there were so many stories. The queen had gotten bad lately, that was something he believed. Oh, poor princess if that was one of the reasons she was here - running from her mother...or perhaps trying to get back? He'd find out, or get an inkling. He was a gentlemen, he won't get all up in her business. No, that was rude.
Princess...
............ .. .
"Princess! Thank you for coming. Welcome to my humble abode." Said Doctor Tot cheerfully as the group finally arrived at his tower-home. It was made of find stone and was full of piles of documents and research tools, it had a desk and cofortable furniture, and, of course, many books. Dagger was amazed. "You live here?"
"I traveled quite far in search of a sponsor for my research after I departed Alexandria. I finally found one here in Treno. You have grown into a fine young woman. I am pleased to see you again."
Stenier also admired the home of the scholar, but then looked to the scholar. God, it had been so long. Tot hadn't changed a bit! Hadn't aged at all. "Doctor Tot! You look quite well."
"Ah, Master Steiner! You are escorting the princess?" This would give him some inkling.
"Yes, sir!" Saluted Steiner. "I deeply regret my earlier actions."
Tot chuckled, "Still a straight arrow, aren't you? I'm sure you had your reasons but I won't ask why. The Supersoft is in the box right there," He gestured. "Please take it."
"Don't mind if I do!" Said Marcus, going to the box and extracting the small vial. Tot gathered that this whole 'Supersoft Mission' was really this Marcus's mission and the princess was tagging along, Steiner ever following her. So, Tot gathered that they were now going back to Alexandria - after all, since Steiner was escorting her. Whatever happened prior was not Tot's business, but he knew, from Garnet's facial expressions, that they weren't exactly going back becaused the missed home. No doubt Garnet heard about what her mother has done lately. To was shaken from his thought by Steiner scolding Marcus.
"Have you no manners? Thank the good doctor!"
"It's quite alright, Master Steiner..." Waved Tot.
In this time that allowed, Dagger wandered a few more paces, looking up at the ceiling for some unknown reason. It was globe! How..fascinating! Bu was it a globe of Gaia? "Doctor Tot, is this Gaia?" She felt like she was eight-years-old again, asking stupid questions out of childish fascination.
Doctor Tot smiled, looking at the princess and remembering the good old times of when he tutored the princess, chuckling at her interest in the world and at her wild imagination. "Yes, it is the Globe of our planet, Gaia."
"I remember your lessons."
"You remember the ramblings of an old fool."
A memory danced through the tutor and princess's head....
~
Mother yelled at her again. She was so clumsy! She accidenly knocked a vase over with her rod that her father gave her. A Princess should be able to defend herself - and she also used the rod to conduct some of the white magic she was learning. But she was now here in her room, reading "I Want To Be Your Canary" by Lord Avon, because mother was angry at her daughter ruining her prized vase, so she read a dumb book given to her by her strange tutor. Actually, Doctor Tot wasn't that bad and niether was this book, thought eight-year-old Princess Garnet. Mother probably wasn't even that mad, and half of her angry probably wasn't directed at her. Father did mention something about mother's realitives having passed away, but Garnet had yet to understand death and Garnet never knew her cousins well enough to truly miss them.
She finished the last page of her book, her emotions stirred by the tragic ending of Princess Cornelia getting killed because she loved her father, still. Garnet felt such relation to Cornelia, but yet it was only words that created a fictional character...but still, Garnet's emotions were stirred and her heart touched. What an excellent story! She closed her book and put it on her book shelf. The grandfather clock in the hall chimed. It was time for her history lesson! Garnet didn't like history all too much, but Tot gave a lot of lectures and eventually gave her a study sheet to go by for the test he would give her. During his lectures, she could daydream.
Skipping down the hall, she turned a corner sharply, running right into Captain Steiner and General Beatrix. She yelped and fell back, landing on her rear. General Beatrix gasped and immediatly held out her hand to assit the princess on getting back up, Steiner blinked off the shock and then stared at the princess, shaking his head. "Do be careful, Princess."
"I'm sorry, Steiner, I was just going to history class...I-"
"Steiner, do not upset the princess!" General Beatrix turned and scolded Steiner. She looked back to Garnet. "Fare well, Princess, hurry to class!"
"My apologies, Princess!" Steiner said as the princess started to walk off. Garnet turned, bowed, and smiled up at Steiner. "Fret not! It is past. Um, but...your right. I should be more careful. Mama thinks I'm clumsy too." Her hands went behind her back and she shamefully looked at her feet that were shuffeling. Steiner's face dropped in sympathy. "Nonsense! You are not clumsy. Your mother doesn't think so. The other day she as just telling Beatrix and I what a wonderful, graceful, charming daughter she has. We agree, don't we, Beatrix?"
"Absolutely."
Garnet smiled, curtsied her best and skipped off. Steiner and Beatrix giggling, then going off on their way, continuing their talk on improving Alexandria's security, teasing and joking as they did so.
Garnet arrived and sat at her desk, Tot rambling to himself as he usually did. Garnet ignored it for a moment, dozed off in her thoughts - she was permitted to because Tot often got off track, though sometimes the things he rambled on about was pure genious! Later on, she drifted back to reality, her thoughts of "I Want To Be Your Canary" disolving. Tot was still going on, but she could tell he'd break out of it.
"Two phrases are commonly found in documents more than 500 years old. One is 'jewel'. The other is 'summoner tribe.' But 500 years ago, the phrases mysteriously vanished from history. The archeologist Frederick Ash theorized that 'jewel' refers to the pendant passed down to the ruler of Alexandria. But the pendant... It is much too small to be referring to the same 'jewel.' Other research suggests a relationship between 'eidolons' and magical 'stones'..."
He was trailing, now was the best time to pull him out of it so she can get on with her lesson. "Doctor Tot?"
Doctor Tot jolted, looked up and noticed the princess, as if for the very first time. "Ah, Princess!"
Garnet smirked, got out of her desk and walked over nearer to her tutor. "Were you reading big books again?" He often rambled after reading historical books and reasearch documents - this was him 'musing' what he learned and applying it to help him discover something new and to help him. He called his 'learning'.
Tot chuckled. "Ha ha ha... but I've already read every book in this library. But I think better when I'm surrounded by old books."
"Really? I don't like books." Said Garnet absent-mindedly, as her eyes looked at all the books in the library that she was in, trying to count them. 20..21...he's read ALL of these?
"You're a person of dignity. It is imperative that you study hard." Said Tot, seeing the princess count the books, he struggled not to laugh.
"I know, I know..." She pulled out of her counting, giving up and guessing that Tot really had a lot of time on his hands to read all of these books. That made her remember. "Oh, but I was quite taken with that one book you gave me. What is it called? It was..." Why did it slip her mind?
"Was it 'I Want to Be Your Canary' by Lord Avon?"
"Oh, yes, that's the one! So there is a book I like after all." Garnet smiled, proud.
"My, my." Doctor Tot smiled. Amusing that a girl so young should like such a poetically written piece of liturature. She was delightfully surprising young girl.
Garnet moved towards a separate desk, her attention caught by a sphere. She tilted her head. "Doctor Tot, what's this?"
"That is a globe of Gaia. It is a modle of our planet."
"A Gaia globe? I never knew our castle was shaped like a sphere."
"Ha ha ha...we live on the surface, Princess."
Garnet gave him a confused look, but gradually let it run over in her head a few times. Eventually, she understood and nodded. Then, Tot went on in a new train of thought, talking aloud.
"Ah, yes, the stars! They inspired the theories relating stones and eidolons. That is why...Oh! I'm sorry, I was lost in thought again."
Garnet smiled politely at Doctor Tot, she didn't mind. "It's ok." She looked back at the Gaia globe and gave a thoughtful smile. "Where is my room on this globe?"
"Oh, your room is much too small to point out on this globe..." What a delightful child, I wish the queen wouldn't shelter her and hold her in the castle like this...
"What about the castle?"
"That, I can do..."
~
"How long has it been?" Said Garnet through a thoughtful sigh, her memory ending and her finding herself back in the tower, and sixteen and in distress. "Eight years?" She guessed.
"Time passes quickly." Tot pulled out of his thought, as well. "But I haven't changed. I continue to collect and research items."
"Where did you get this globe?"
"It's an antique. It's broken, as you can see, but I use it as an observation deck." He pointed to a hole in the globe-ceiling. "Ironic, isn't it? Looking up at the sky from inside a globe."
"It sure is..."
Tot felt awful. The little girl he used to tutor - the smart, intriguing princess...he couldn't abandon her! "Princess, I don't mean to meddle in your affairs but...I am on yours side, now and forever. Please tell me if there is anything I can do."
"Doctor Tot..."
She spilled all, telling him about what happened since the play up to now. Doctor Tot let it all sink in, nodded, paced and then looked to the whole group - the princess, the thief, and the knight. "I see... So the queen's forces have already grown quite powerful. Okay, then. It may be dangerous, but I shall see to it that you reach Alexandria."
"How?" Dagger asked, feeling glad that he offers help - if anyone she felt great recieving help from it was Tot, he was a smart man. He would help her...but how?
"I had an old transportation device remodeled in the case of such an emergency." He waved his hand dismissively, then placed a hand to his chin, nodded slowly, then turned to climb up a ladder, and down a hatch. He stopped at the bas of the ladder, though. He motioned for the group to go first. "This way, please."
"Ah! We can finally return to Alexandria!" Steiner said as he climbed up the ladder. Marcus called up to him and the princess climbing up now. "I'm coming with you."
"What!? Why!?" Steiner called down, preparing to climb down the hatch. He was outraged that this thief would still be with them.
"I can reach Blank more easily from Alexandria." Marcus sure as hell wasn't going for Steiner's company.
"Yes, come with us, Marcus." Smiled Dagger at Marcus, glad that suc ha a skilled fighter and great friend was coming with them. She didn't talk to him much, but she still wanted to help him and his dedication to his friend Blank was admirable. She shot Steiner a firm look. "Okay, Steiner?"
"Grrr..." Steiner glared daggers at Marcus, then went down. Dagger followed. "Let's go save Blank! And restore my mother to her former self!" She said, and went down to Gargan Roo, followed by Marcus.
In Gargan Roo they had to operate the switches to call the gargant - a large, friendly bug creature that fed on plants and stayed underground. Attatched to it was a little boat-like carrier for passengers to sit in. The gargant hung upside-down grasping a root from the under ground tunnels dug for it to crawl through - that it was trained to crawl through. When they got on the gargant and rode off, they did have a bit of trouble - a monster was terrorizing the creature. It was a worm like creature, or perhaps it was more snake-like. In either case, they had to fight it to get it to back off, and then they were off to Alexandria...
They were eagerly awaited...but dare I say with open arms?
