Boy, am I tired. I stayed up all last night for safe grad, so I slept mostly today, but I'm still tired. However, you guys have been so good with reviewing, I felt I should suck it up and update this fic.
First off, I'm sorry to tell you guys that you won't be learning any more about Aerrow's lost siblings in this fic, because this fic is centred on Aerrow. Also, it is a lot of work to create eight unique characters, and to have them in this fic would have taken me a lot longer to post fic. On that note, if anyone has an idea for a name of an nine year old prince, you can put it in your review. (I'm really bad at making up names). The names of the other princes are Jacob, Adrain, Bradon and Charles.
However, you'll be pleased to know that I'm am currently working on a sequal to this fic that will introduce you to all of Aerrow's siblings through a number of flashbacks. I'll explain more about it at the end on the final chapter.
The song quoted in the last chapter was "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas. Good job SakariWolfe and Saerphe (you messed up the name a little, but I know you meant this song.)
Chapter 7
"I believe you now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was."
"—And make sure you get your girlfriend out of those labs and out on the dance floor!" King Jeremy shouted merrily after Aerrow as he walked down the hall.
"How many times do I have to tell you people?" Aerrow yelled back, slightly agitated, "Piper's NOT my girlfriend!"
Aerrow could hear his parents' jolly laughter as he rounded the corner—
BANG!
"Ow–" Aerrow began, but stopped as he opened his eyes.
He found himself on the floor, limps tangled up in those of his crystals specialist, who lay partly underneath him.
"Piper!" Aerrow rushed to get up, but only got caught up in a trapped leg and found himself nose to nose with his teammate.
"I was coming to look for you–" Piper tried to explain their predicament as her face grew red.
"Sorry, this is my fault,"Aerrow answered, blushing as well, "I wasn't really looking where I was going..."
"To busy telling your parents I'm not your girlfriend?" Piper asked sarcastically.
Aerrow answered with an awkward laugh as the pair untangled themselves. Standing up first, Aerrow offered Piper his hand, which she took.
"So, I guess the coronation ball is back on?" Piper asked.
"Not coronation ball, more like a 'welcome Aerrow, meet all our friends' ball for my parents." Aerrow said with a smile.
"Well, I guess I should go prepare, since there's only a couple of hours and your parents are excepting you to offer me a dance." Piper smirked as Aerrow's face reddened once again, from her comment.
"Yeah, I guess I should get ready too–" Aerrow said, sounding a bit distracted as he tried to hide his blush. "Well, see ya later."
As he began to turn, he was stopped by the sound of Piper clearing her throat. Glancing back, she saw a rather amused look on her face.
"You wouldn't mind letting go of my hand now, would you?" she asked playfully.
Looking down, Aerrow saw that she was right, he still held her hand. Feeling even more embarrassed, Aerrow reluctantly dropped the girls hands - surprised at how much he'd enjoyed the feeling of it in his. Yet, he could feel his cheeks heating up, and guessed they were as red as his hair.
Aerrow sat slumped against the throne, elevated a few steps above the floor of the grand hall. His parents had insisted that he sit there, even though he would not be accepting his role as crown prince. Though Aerrow was sure that his parents fully accepted his decision, he had a feeling they still had a little hope that he would change his mind.
Sighing, Aerrow laid an elbow against the throne's large arm, resting his head on his raised hand. He pulled at the gold clasp around his neck, which was choking him now that he was sitting on his cloak.
Aerrow had tried to be on his best behaviour for the first hour or so. He'd greeted his parents' guests politely and didn't pull away when the occasional elderly woman pinched his cheek and cooed. However, this was all starting to get old. He was thankful that none of the younger women had ventured on asking him for a dance yet, but knew it was only a matter of time.
Aerrow's eyes did another sweep of the hall. Where was his squadron? He knew they could be tardy at times, but three hours was kind of ridiculous. He'd at least expected Finn and Piper to show up - the former for 'the ladies' and the later to give him some support. He was beginning to think they'd all bailed on him. Not that he blamed them.
It was then that Aerrow saw a blue blur and felt a heavy weight smash into his head. Aerrow tried to ask what was going on, but only got a mouthful of fur. Not being able to see anything, Aerrow brought his hands up to his head, and grabbed hold on the fuzzy creature who had attached himself there.
"Radarr!" Aerrow heard Piper's annoyed voice as he peeled said animal off his face.
Aerrow looked down at his best friend and could only laugh at the puppy-eyed face he received. He had to admit, Radarr must have been through some sort of ordeal, since he was wearing a little black suit!
"What she do to ya, buddy?" Aerrow asked with a laugh.
"I made him look presentable, that's what I did to him!" came an answer from the floor below.
Aerrow turned his eyes to Piper. It took a lot of self-control to keep his mouth from gaping. She wore a beautiful evening gown. It's many layers of flowing material were every shade of blue imaginable. What really caught Aerrow's eye was the crystal specialist's hair, for she wore it down, and he'd never seen it out of its elastics before.
"You're gawking, Aerrow." Piper teased, smiling up at him.
"It's your fault," Aerrow defended as he walked down to the floor, Radarr now perched on his shoulder, "You shouldn't wear something like that if you don't want people staring."
Piper laughed at his remark, but couldn't help a light blush from reddening her cheeks.
"I thought you guys were no-shows." Aerrow commented, "What took you so long? Was Radarr really that much trouble to get dressed up?"
"Radarr? No, he wasn't too bad," Piper commented, then glared towards a shadowy corner, "At least, not compared to a certain merb."
Aerrow followed her gaze and saw a sulking Stork leaned against the wall, mumbling to himself. His hair looked a bit bedraggled and his cloths - a green suit - were slightly wrinkled.
"At least Radarr gave in after I offered a bag of sandcakes." Piper ranted, "But in the end, I had to get Finn and Junko to help me with Stork."
"How'd you manage that?" Aerrow asked.
"I just told them that none of us were going until we were all properly dressed." Piper answered with a smirk. "It turns out Finn's want to meet 'the ladies' and Junko's want for food is more then even I expected. We had to chase Stork all around the palace, and he even set some booby-traps for us! I think he's still grumbling about these fabric moths that can eat through your skin in matter of seconds."
"They're not real, right?" came the voice of Junko behind them.
The pair turned to see the wallop making his way towards them, a massive plat of food in one hand, and the other flapping the coat of his suit in an attempt to get rid of any unwanted moths.
"No, they're not real Junko." Piper reassured, "It's only Stork being, well, Stork."
"Oh, that's good." Junko said, relieved, "I wouldn't want them to stop me from enjoying this awesome food! I'm only on my sixth helping!"
"But we've only been here for five minutes!" Piper said, exasperated, "And were's Finn got to?"
Junko pointed across the room as he stuffed his face. Finn was standing by three teenaged girls, fashing his 'suave' smile. The girls were giggling like fools and Finn seemed to be in his element.
Piper's hand made solid contact with her forehead, "Will the embarrassment ever end?"
"Not likely." Aerrow answered with a smile, "So why not stop playing mother and come dance with me."
"Why not." Piper answered, with a sigh, letting Aerrow led her onto the dance floor.
Aerrow took Piper's hand in his, and placed his other hand on her hip. Then, he began to led her in a simple waltz, spinning around lightly.
"Where did you learn to dance so well?" Piper asked, seeming quite impressed.
"My mother—" Aerrow stopped, correcting his error, "My adoptive mother taught me when I was little."
Piper only nodded, not wanting to push the subject further.
Aerrow had to admit, he liked dancing with Piper. It was nice to have an excuse to hold her close and look into her beautiful golden eyes.
"Ahh, how sweet." an unfortunately familiar voice hissed.
Aerrow and Piper's dance came to an abrupt end as they both turned to see the Dark Ace standing at the hall's entrance, only a few feet away.
"Oh, don't stop on my account." the Talon leered.
"What are you doing here?" Aerrow asked spitefully.
"To finish the job I was unable to complete those many years ago." Dark Ace replied with a sneer.
"To think we trusted you." Queen Gabriella said scornfully, as she came to stand by her son.
"Your trustnever meant anything to me, my queen." the Dark Ace spit out his last word with disgust.
"We treated you like a son, and this is how you repay us?" King Jeremy's thundering voice rang through the hall as he strode towards the Dark Ace.
"Well, it seems fitting repayment to me, after how I hear you treat your sons." the Dark Ace spat.
"You know nothing!" the king's voice boomed back.
"Nothing?" the Dark Ace's voice teased, "Do you forget so quickly that I was Jacob's best friend? He told me everything."
King Jeremy stopped in surprise, not knowing how to answer. Aerrow felt his blood boil as hurt became apparent on both his parent's faces.
"If you ask me," the Dark Ace continued, casually shrugging his shoulders, "I merely took his out of his misery."
"I've had enough!" Aerrow yelled and ran towards his nemesias, wipping out his blades from where they were concealed beneath his cloak.
With lightning reflexes, the Dark Ace drew his own sword to meet Aerrow's. The Sky Knight was surprised to see his enemy's sword glowing a bluish-purple instead of its regular red, but was not fazed enough to stop his assault. As their weapons meet, Talons began to pour in from the entrance, blocking any means of escape. Aerrow heard the familiar battle cries of his squadron as they flew into the fight, along with those of the armed guards.
The sizzle and clang of crystal powered weapons rang throughout the hall. The screams and trampling feet of fleeing guests soon joined the racket, bouncing off the curved ceilings and making the sounds' origins unknown to Aerrow.
Aerrow and the Dark Ace spun and jumped in their deadly dance, meeting each others every blow. With a quick glance, Aerrow took stock of his team. Piper had drawn her crystal staff and was taking on two Talons at once. Finn and Junko were back-to-back, taking on any enemy that came their way. Stork and Radarr had formed an odd, yet effective team. Stork had picked up a forgotten spear, and was using it to trip up unsuspecting Talons, while Radarr smashed a wrench into their head on the way down (Aerrow assumed the creature had been keeping the tool under his little jacket).
Aerrow felt pride bubble in his chest when he saw his mother fighting off a Talon with her own crystal staff, and not running away like most of the other people in the hall. His father was fighting beside her, sword glowing gold.
Unfortunately, Aerrow's second of distraction gave the Dark Ace the upper hand. Aerrow wasn't prepared when his enemies sword came sweeping down at him, a blast of energy coming straight at him. Aerrow quickly brought his blades up to block the attack, but wasn't fast enough. The blast hit the Sky Knight in the chest, and he was thrown across the room. He slide along the floor and didn't stop until he hit the wall with a resounding THUNK.
"Aerrow!" Piper called, unable to do anything else, as three Talons blocked her way.
The Dark Ace sauntered up to Aerrow as the Sky Knight began to regain consciousness and will his aching body to move. The Dark Ace's face grew into a twisted grin as he raised his sword over Aerrow's sprawled form.
TWANG!
Dark Ace's blade never made it to Aerrow. It was stopped by a crystal staff.
"Don't you dare touch my son!" the queen yelled at the surprised Talon.
However, the Dark Ace was quick, and with one swift movement, he shot a blast of his sword at Queen Gabriella, flinging her against the wall as well.
Watching his mother fall limp only feet away, Aerrow's anger grew, and he found a strength he never knew he had.
Jumping up, Aerrow grabbed his blades of the floor and charged at the Dark Ace, screaming with anger. Hatred burned in the Sky Knight's eyes, and his teeth were clenched in madness. His opponent wasn't ready, and Aerrow's fast and powerful blows began to push him back towards the door. Aerrow was relentless, thrusting and lashing out at the Dark Ace, giving the older man no chance to fight back.
The Dark Ace was getting nowhere, and a glance around the room told him that his comrades were faring no better. Most of the Talons were unconscious on the floor, or were surround by a dozen or more guests, who had lost their fright now that they outnumbered the enemy.
"Fall back!" Dark Ace commanded the remaining Talons, before glancing at Aerrow, "I'll be back, and I'll finish what I started fifteen years ago."
"I'll be waiting." Aerrow replied confidently.
The guests cheered and whooped as the Talons fled, and then proceeded to help restrain those who were left behind.
Aerrow did not celebrate his victory, but ran to his mother. King Jeremy was helping his wife to her feet. She was unsteady at first, but soon gained her balance and turned to look at her approaching son.
"Do not worry dear, I am fine." she said pleasantly, flashing a smile.
"You could have been killed!" Aerrow said, worry in his eyes.
"I was not about to let you get hurt!" his mother answered, "I was finally able to protect one of my children. Do you think I would pass up that chance?"
"Oh mom—" Aerrow didn't know what to say, so he wrapped his arms around his mother.
King Jeremy put a hand on Aerrow's shoulder, and the Sky Knight turned to look at his father.
"You are a good fighter, son." King Jeremy complimented, "As good as your brother, even."
"It means a lot for me to hear that." Aerrow said truthfully.
"You are a great Sky Knight son, and I'm proud of you." his father continued.
"We both are." the queen put in.
"And we know you will someday defeat Cyclonis and bring down the Cyclonian empire." King Jeremy finished.
Aerrow couldn't help the large grin that filled his face. His parents were finally fully accepting his choice.
"And after all that, if you decide you want to settle down," his mother winked in Piper's direction, and Aerrow felt a blush spreading across his features, "You can always come back here. No matter if you want to take the crown or not. This will always be your home Aerrow, never forget that."
Then, Aerrow and his parents shared a happy embrace, and they all knew that what Queen Gabriella said was true. This really was home.
"This is home
Now I'm finally back to where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
This is home."
Well guys, there's only the epilogue left now. Though I'll still have quote in the next chapter, it won't count in the final point count (but I won't tell you the song's name until the end, in case you want to guess for fun). So, this is your final chance, get guessing! I'll have the results at the end of the epilogue. Remember, whoever wins gets to pick the fic I post next!
Thanks again for all the great reviews! Your all too kind.
