Sorry... I'm really sorry how long this took...
I'm in a down phase. And although my head is filled with ideas, nothing I write seems good...
And I think I read a 1/2 Prince spoiler by accident... but when it got removed,
I was told it wasn't a (real) spoiler. Dunno what to make of it...
But I had been inspired for drawings from reading that... and now they're ruined!
Hah...
Anyway, I'm giving you this. Because I don't want to give you any more Half Prince withdrawal.
I know how horrible it can be. I'm having it.
Gōng Zhu
'Prince shoots his mouth off at the wrong person.'
All characters belong to Yu Wo, CatMuto does not own 1/2 Prince
"Ah, I know." Prince said, a grin bursting across his face. "You're going to clam up about it, right?"
Western Wind's jaw dropped onto the floor when he heard the elf say that and was torn between annoyance and admiration,
how the elf actually had the gall to say something like that in their current situation. What a moron... were Western's thoughts.
If only Prince had known what that pun would lead to...
Western Wind huffed slightly, shifting his grip on the elf that was currently being carried by him.
"Sonny, ain'tcha glad yer daddy's this strong?" he asked, although he knew the unconscious elf couldn't answer,
but Western was keeping up a conversation to stay concentrated. "Ya sure cause trouble, boy..."
Stopping in the middle of the grassy fields he was walking across, Western shifted his grip,
making Prince slide up his back a bit higher and readjusted the elf's cloak to cover him properly again.
"Why'dya have to say that...?" he wondered out loud and set off again, seeing the gates of Infinite City in the distance.
Prince continued to not answer anything Western Wind said.
As Western Wind got closer to the gates of the city, he noticed the last bit of the sun setting to his right and stopped,
feeling the strain of his clothes against his growing muscles and a few seconds later it was over. Happy to have returned to his male form,
Western looked over his shoulder at Prince who was still out like a light. Sighing exasperated, Western set off again,
this time a bit faster and felt less tired from carrying the elf further.
"Ya're not gonna wake up and get off yer daddy's back, are ya, boy?" he asked and knew the answer already.
When Western finally entered Infinite City, he ignored the nightwalkers' stares at the large hump on his back,
happy that nobody knew what was underneath. There's no way he would make it out alive or escape from the crowd then.
He sighed in relief when he was almost at the tower and he could finally drop that deadweight, when he passed Gui.
"Oh, Western Wind. You're ba-?" the bard stopped suddenly and his eyes grew wide as he noticed the cloak hiding the back hump,
then recognized the arms that were draped around the swordsman's neck. "What happened to His Highness!"
"Why did it have to be you?" Western Wind snapped annoyed, cursing his luck for making him meet this guy,
out of all the OddSquad members, to find him come back. "We were out level grinding and he got hit, okay?"
"Is he hurt?" Gui asked worried and made an attempt to pull the cloak off to look at any injury Prince might have gotten,
but Western Wind took a side step to avoid him and glared at the bard.
"He's fine, just knocked out! Back off, damn it!" he growled and headed for the tower faster than before,
almost running up the steps to Prince's chambers and hoped that Gui wasn't going to follow him.
Fortunately, he didn't and Western made it into Prince's bedroom without any further ado.
With a huge grunt and sigh, the swordsman almost threw the elf onto his bed and sunk down, exhausted, into a nearby chair.
"Ya gotta lose weight, sonny..." he mumbled and glanced at the elf, seeing no change. "Shit..."
Prince's eyes fluttered slightly as he woke up.
Frowning slightly, the elf noticed that he was in his own bed and sort of wrapped in the cloak he had worn yesterday.
He wiped some strands out of his eyes and looked around, seeing Western Wind sitting next to his bed,
his arms crossed around his big bosom and kind of frowning at the elf.
"Hey Western." Prince said and suppressed a yawn.
"Ya're a girl."
"Eh?" the elf squeaked, scared that the other had somehow found out about it. "How'd you-?"
Western merely interrupted Prince by thrusting his thumb towards the mirror that hung above the desk.
Wondering what the swordsman meant, the elf got out of bed and walked over to the mirror,
looking into it... and seeing himself. Well, with a few changes.
His face looked almost the way it had before, but his eyelashes had gotten longer as had his hair.
The platinumblonde strands were now reaching past his shoulders and reached about halfway down his back,
his shoulders had gotten slimmer and his hips wider. The chest didn't look all too different, either.
Okay, and he had shrunk a few inches.
All in all, it almost looked like Prince had merely let his hair grow and lost some weight.
"Huh." he said, staring at his reflection. "Whaddaya know."
Western Wind stared at the elf who didn't seem to care at all that his body had been altered to that of a woman.
"AnRui, right?" Prince asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Why'dya go and say that? No wonder he's pissed..." the swordsman shrugged his shoulders. "By the way, ya got a catch."
"Catch?"
"Ya don't turn back into a guy at night, like me. Ya're perma-girl."
"...Whatever."
"What the...?" Western fell out of the chair, hearing Prince say that. "Do ya have no male pride?"
And the swordsman clambered off the floor and rushed at the elf, feeling like he wanted to grab him by the shoulders,
shake him until some sense came to the guy and he'd realize what a dramatic thing this was! He almost did it,
not the shaking but he did start to wall-talk Prince into exactly what had been done to his body and how this would alter him.
Prince listened politely, but couldn't help but grin a little. He couldn't easily explain that he didn't care about being like this,
since he was already in a female body in real life.
Both stopped grinning and talking when a knock was at the door.
"Your Highness, are you up? Are you okay?" Gui's worried voice came from the other side.
Prince went to the door and opened it, getting instantly glomped by the bard when he saw the elf.
"You're alright! I was so worried! Why did you not PM us if you got into trouble while out?" he asked without stopping for air,
but then stopped talking completely. Hugging Prince felt different. Aside from not getting instantly punched for it,
the elf's head wasn't squished against the bard's shoulder but more around his chest. And somehow, he felt more... slender.
Loosening his grip, Gui took a half-step back and put his hands on Prince's shoulders to take a good look at him,
noticing for the first time the longer hair. Prince just looked up at him, a big grin on his face and he gave Gui the thumbs up sign,
like he thought this entire situation was just as planned and freaking hilarious as well.
"Wah!"
The OddSquad and Dark Emperor were assembled in Prince's chambers, listening to Western's recount of what had happened.
Prince was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, carelessly playing with a strand of her hair,
ignoring the stares she was receiving from everybody. Gui's initial surprised loud gasp had led him to call in Lolidragon,
because he thought it had been a glitch that had bent Prince's gender. Lolidragon, after seeing Prince, had burst out laughing,
finally PMing the rest of the gang to give them the big 'news'.
"Well, it's certainly... interesting." Wolf broke the silence.
"I can see the sales plummeting..." Yu Lian sighed, thinking of the many new merchandise and concerts that had been planned,
but then frowned as she studied Prince's face again. "Then again, the change isn't that big..."
"It'll be fine!" Lolidragon grinned. "We'll just have a new model for the bikini section!"
Prince shrugged her shoulders, wondering when she'd be allowed to leave her room so she could eat something.
Or at least to get away from everybody's stares. They were starting to make her uncomfortable.
Letting her eyes wander, she noticed Wu Qing staring at her with a certain expression in his eyes that she didn't like at all.
"What?" she asked snippishly and glared at Wu Qing.
"Oh nothing. I was just thinking..." he admitted, switching to the PM channel. "He got your breast size right, sis."
Prince glared angrily at him and landed her kneecap against Wu Qing's cheekbone the next second,
watching him fall to the ground and groan in pain. Then she turned to the rest of the group.
"Who cares? I haven't changed." she told them.
"That's right. Prince will always remain Prince." Gui said who seemed to have gotten over the initial shock.
"Prince?" Doll asked and cocked her head to the side. "Shouldn't it be Princess-jiejie now?"
Lolidragon snorted loudly and doubled over, holding her stomach with laughter.
"Just stick to Prince. Anyway, since I'm probably stuck with this body now... Loli~!" Prince said sweetly,
went over to her and grasped Lolidragon's hands into her own. "Let's go girl shopping~!"
"Yay!" Lolidragon laughed and ran off, pulling Prince after herself.
The rest stared after them and digesting that sudden behavior of Prince's.
Meanwhile, Lolidragon was rushing through the streets of Infinite City with Prince and an entourage of onlookers following them,
whispering to each other and sometimes nudging somebody else and even daring to point at the two girls.
"Why are we being followed...?" Prince asked, sighing, having hoped that her changed form might disguise her enough,
leaving her free to roam her city without feeling like the guide for some tourists.
"Cause you're pretty as a girl. And you're with the prettiest woman in Second Life." Lolidragon explained,
grinning at her last comment. "Or they just wonder why you look so familiar. They'll figure it out soon enough."
"Awesome!" the elf grumbled sarcastically.
The two entered one of the shops and began looking at all sorts of clothes, checking the parameter bonuses they gave,
elemental weaknesses or even just plain the price. Despite Prince's arguments, Lolidragon instantly nixed any full-body armor.
After all, 'you gotta show what you have' was Lolidragon's philosophy. And she was going to push it onto Prince,
no matter what she said. So they argued for a while, this looked too clothed, this didn't have enough covered skin... and so on.
At one point, the two lost themselves - Prince was looking at gauntlets and other hand equipment,
Lolidragon had spotted something golden and glittery in a corner and rushed on over there. She stared at the displayed items,
finally grabbing one with a huge grin and rushing back to Prince.
"Here, try this on!" she said and shoved it into the elf's face and the elf herself into a dressing cabin.
"Mhmpf!" was all Prince could bring out, wrestling to get the fabric out of her mouth.
Gui and Wicked were throwing glares at each other from time to time, walking down the street.
Having first been annoyed that they seemed to have the same goal, it finally turned out that Lolidragon had PMed both of them,
asking... or rather, telling them to come to the shop she was currently in with Prince.
"Did she tell you why?" Gui asked.
"No. But knowing Lolidragon, and what she's up to with Prince, it's probably carrying duty." Wicked answered.
"Hmm... Prince isn't really the type to buy tons of stuff..." Gui mumbled. "Then again..."
"It's Lolidragon." both said at the same time with an exasperated sigh.
They entered the shop that Lolidragon and Prince had entered almost an hour ago and instantly noticed a crowd,
all staring at Lolidragon who stood at the corner of the wall that separated the dressing cabins from the store.
She had an amused and superior grin on her face. When the two men entered, some of the onlookers stared at them.
"Oh hey, Gui, Wicked." Lolidragon said, waving lazily. "Great, you're here. Prince, come and show them."
"Why do you want to show them?" Prince's rather shocked voice sounded. "Why not Doll or... or Wolf-dage or so!"
Lolidragon sighed annoyed.
"Jeez, just...!" she muttered and reached into the dressing cabin, grabbing Prince's arm.
"You little bitch...!" Prince hissed when she was dragged out and stood stock still when she saw Gui and Wicked.
Prince was wearing a wedding dress. It had spaghetti straps and see-through white silk used as long, trailing sleeves,
a full skirt that was actually several layers of silk draped over each other. Standing, and feeling, absolutely awkward,
the elf felt her head ready to explode with redness and decided to stare at the floor of the shop.
A loud clatter suddenly came from the vicinity of the door.
Gui had, apparently, fainted dead away. And Wicked was holding a hand over his nose, which was bleeding profusely,
steadying himself against the wall with the other hand. He peeked over his shoulder back at Prince for a second.
"That looks really good on you..." he mumbled rather incoherently.
"Screw you, Loli!" Prince snapped, her face resembling a tomato, and returned to the cabin. "I'm changing!"
About ten minutes later, the group had left the store after purchasing clothes and Gui regaining consciousness.
Prince had changed into a dark royal blue sleeveless coat that looked almost black in the dark with gold trimming,
a short pink skirt with white around the hem and a matching top, silver gauntlets and knee high boots.
She was also wearing a very annoyed expression, clearly still angry over what had happened inside the shop.
"Well, you did look very pretty." Wicked said, trying to cheer her up. But it had the opposite effect.
"Whatever!" she snapped and set off through the city again, followed by the others. "I'm gonna dump this, then go off to fight some monsters!"
Wicked hastened his steps to walk next to her.
"Shouldn't one of us come along with you?" he asked and stopped when Prince did,
backing up slightly when she glared at him and struck her finger imposingly into his face.
"Damn it, Wicked!" she yelled at him. "Just cause I'm a girl now doesn't mean I'm weak!"
And she ran off after throwing the bag holding her old clothes into his face.
They just stared after her, probably realizing that Wicked had just really pissed her off.
Over the next few days, almost the entire population of Infinite City had figured out that their Citylord had become a lady.
From what they gathered by the chorus of people calling out for 'Miss' Prince, yelling compliments or similar things,
nobody seemed to care about the switched gender. According to the yells, they loved Prince no matter what,
as a player, an idol to them and the leader of the city, regardless of gender.
"Thank you!" Prince had once called back from the balcony she used to make her speeches from. "Look out for new stuff, then!"
And new stuff had arrived. Since Yu Lian insisted that there was no harm in it, now that everybody knew,
they might as well market the female Prince. And following Yu Lian's words, pictures of the female Prince were taken,
using them in albums or even turning them into life-size posters. They were even beginning to talk about the concerts,
how people would probably love them even more, most likely wondering how the 'new' voice of the Infinite Band sounded.
Actually, it was almost like Prince was still playing as a guy.
Except... Gui.
It was nothing definite and nobody felt like there was anything to discuss about it.
But Gui's behavior towards Prince had altered slightly. In the way he talked to her or otherwise interacted with her,
even the group pictures seemed to have a different air around them now.
"Okay, where is she?" Lolidragon snapped, looking around the room and seeing everybody from the OddSquad, except Prince.
Huffing annoyed, she began to bombard the elf with PMs although none of them got answered. Or they just got ignored.
While Lolidragon fumed, Gui quietly stole out of the room.
He sighed quietly, thinking that Prince had good reason to not appear - with the room filled to the top with props,
cameralights and whatnot, it would've been several boring hours of posing and smiling for pictures.
And there had been hundreds of those over the past few days. Lolidragon seemed to be in overdrive.
Looking around, Gui strolled through the city and wondered where Prince might be hiding out.
Not in the café or restaurant, he noticed after checking, although he had been sure to find the elf there.
He finally did find her.
Prince was sitting on the ground behind the tower, leaning against the wall and looking completely relaxed,
but she started and almost jumped into a position like she wanted to run away when she heard Gui approach.
"Oh, Gui, it's you..." she muttered and relaxed her position again.
"Lolidragon is looking for you." Gui said and turned his head slightly away from her. "No, I wasn't sent by her."
"Mh."
Both were quiet, Prince on the floor with her eyes closed and looking about ready for a nap,
while Gui hadn't moved from his position at all and seemed to have his eyes fixated onto a nearby tree.
The atmosphere between them seemed oppressing, at least on Gui's side and he finally turned towards her,
hanging his head low. "Prince, I'm sorry!"
Prince jumped to her feet at his sudden loud exclamation and frowned slightly.
"Sorry for what?" she asked.
"For, well, my behavior lately..." the bard explained. "I wanted to explain-"
"Hey, no need. It's obvious." she said and shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out."
Gui blushed slightly, hearing about how she knew everything.
"Ever since I've been changed into a girl, you don't hover around me anymore, no constant love proclamations,
incessant body contact or anything. It's because I'm not a guy anymore." she said, sighing and holding her head,
like she was suffering a severe disappointment. "Looks like you lied back then, saying you'd love 'Prince' no matter what."
"That's not it at all!" Gui snapped, shocked to hear her words. "Absolutely not! I still love you!"
Prince stared at him and the bard averted his eyes, his cheeks flushed.
"Just... I've known you as a man so long..." he stuttered, trying to make her understand. "Suddenly you're a woman,
it's... well, not awkward... it takes getting used to. No, I mean, first you're a man, then you're a woman, so... yeah..."
The elf cocked her head to the side, listening and she couldn't help but think that, for a genius with an IQ of 200,
he sure wasn't being very eloquent about this thing. Then again, it was a pretty awkward situation.
Shrugging her shoulders again, the elf took a few steps and crossed her arms across her chest.
"It changes nothing." Prince said, then felt her arm suddenly grabbed and she was turned around,
two warm arms circled themselves around her, holding her close and a few of Gui's strands tickled her cheek.
"You're right. Nothing has changed." he said close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "I love you, Prince."
Trying to ignore his breath tickling her ear and hear his words over her own fast beating heart,
Prince felt her face flush with heat. Slowly, she circled her arms around his neck and both stood like that for a while.
Gui leaned back a bit, letting go of Prince with one hand and gently carressing her cheek instead.
Feeling him lift her chin slightly, the elf looked up at him and gazed for a second into his amethyst eyes,
then saw them close and him leaning down. Knowing what was coming, Prince quickly closed her own eyes,
waiting for the kiss to happen and felt excitement and anticipation rising up inside of her, he must be so close now...
"There you are!" Lolidragon yelled.
"Argh!" Prince screamed and she and Gui jumped about a foot apart, staring at the newcomer.
Looking absolutely furious, but with a grin on her face, Lolidragon marched over to them.
"Sorry to interrupt your little Moment there," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "but I talked to AnRui. He'll change you back."
"He will? Really?" Prince asked excited.
"Yeah. Took some persuasion, but he finally agreed he might've overreacted a bit too much..." she muttered,
shaking her head. "He said if you come and apologize properly, he'll turn you back into a guy."
"Sounds like you've known for a while now. Why not tell me earlier?"
"I was going to tell you after the pictures, but you decided to not show up." Lolidragon explained.
The thief took a minute to let her eyes stray from Prince to Gui and back, finally putting an arm around Prince, turning away from Gui with her and grinning widely.
"Are you sure you wanna change back? You two looked pretty happy there, you know." she said in a PM.
"Hey, I decided to play as a guy for a reason. That hasn't changed!" Prince replied, blushing furiously.
"Whatever. Just make sure you repay me properly for my help." the thief said out loud. "Oh, and Meatbun. He helped a lot."
"Yeah, I'll cook him the best meatbuns!" Prince cheered.
Maybe a slightly strange place to stop?
Anyway, seems like I'm slowly getting out of my down phase... at least, I hope so.
Oh and bilingual bonus cookie for anyone who recognized the title of this chapter!
For those who don't know, it's mandarin for Princess. Except I couldn't get the v over the U here.