Switching Lives
MDM: Man! Sorry it took so long to finish this! But, I hope it will be well worth it.
PokemonFreak90: So, enough talk! Let's roll it!
Chapter 2
The Meet and Switch
Dawn stood in front of the front gates of the castle. She was amazed by its splendor and immense height. Piplup hopped up onto her shoulder and she walked up to the gate of their servants' entrance.
"State your business." A guard said to her.
"Message for Her Majesty from Lord Cyrus." Dawn replied.
The guard eyed her up and down, taking in her sooty appearance and servant rags. "Very well. Proceed."
Dawn passed the guard and frowned when she entered the quarters. Everyone sees servants like her as property; never having the freedom to say anything or do anything for themselves. They just do as they say without a complaint or second thought. She hated it.
Dawn was completely awestruck as she walked on. All of the finery that blinded her view once she stepped out of the servants' quarters did all of Cyrus' riches justice. Beautiful pearl white marble floors were perfectly polished, the beige walls reached up to the high domed ceilings, with a diamond chandelier dotting every twelve feet. Beautiful paintings were on the walls, and finely carved dark oak tables were beneath each one, having porcelain vases and fragrant, colorful flowers in them.
Piplup had stars in his eyes, just like his friend. "Pip-lup!" He exclaimed.
"I agree, Piplup. I'd love to live here." Even though Dawn couldn't understand exactly what he had said, she knew that he was amazed by all that was surrounding them.
They walked down hallway after hallway, each one being more magnificent than the last. Dawn then saw a girl her age walking down the same hallway. She had fire-orange hair, ruby red eyes, and fair skin. Even though she was a servant, she was dressed much nicer than her, with a clean, simple light green dress. Beside her was a Glameow.
"Hello!" Dawn greeted her with a smile. The girl stopped and looked over Dawn, taking in her sooty face and torn rags. But she returned the smile.
"Hello." She said politely. "I'm Zoey, head servant of the royal household. What brings you to the castle?"
Dawn reached into her apron pocket and pulled out the letter, saying, "Lord Cyrus has sent me to give this letter to the Queen."
Zoey took the letter and said, "I will give this letter to Her Majesty personally, I assure you."
"Thank you." Dawn said, nodding her head. With that, she began to leave, with her and Zoey going in opposite directions.
Dawn sighed, with Piplup patting the back of her head. She saw the way that Zoey had been eyeing her, judging her. At least she was polite and didn't throw her out at the sight of her dirty appearance.
Dawn never had many friends, just because she was a servant. She couldn't afford to have nice things, and she looked as thin as a bean pole, due to being half-starved most of the time, since her meals were very small. If only she lived here, in the castle. Then she wouldn't worry about a thing ever again. But that would have to be a miracle.
Suddenly, she had bumped into someone. "Oof!" Dawn then landed on the floor, with Piplup flying in the air. He was chirping like crazy, panicking.
"Piplup!" Dawn cried out.
But before the little Penguin Pokémon could crash onto the marble floor, a Togekiss glided over and caught him on her back. Piplup let out a sigh of relief. Togekiss trilled to him, asking if he was okay. Piplup chirped an "okay". Dawn exhaled with relief.
"Are you all right?" A regal voice asked her.
Dawn turned to who was speaking. It was another girl her age, but she was dressed much fancier than Zoey. Her light blue sundress was clean and crisp, showing off her fair skin tone. She wore shiny white low heels, and her dark blue hair was up in a bun. They were eerily similar to her own blue locks.
"Yes, I'm okay." Dawn replied.
"Please, allow me." The girl offered her hand and Dawn took it. The girl then began looking over her rags and soot-covered face. Dawn prepared herself to be scoffed at and kicked out. But instead, the girl had a look of pity.
"Oh, goodness. Come, let's get you cleaned up a bit." She offered.
Dawn blinked, then slowly nodded. "If you insist." She then started to follow the girl, with Piplup and Togekiss behind them. "What's your name?" She asked.
The girl looked confused, but then softly smiled. "Please, call me Salvia."
"Salvia?" Dawn asked. "That's the same name as the princess."
"Well..." Salvia trailed off. Dawn then realized that this actually was the princess!
"Oh, I am so sorry, Your Highness." Dawn dropped to the floor in an apologetic curtsy.
"No, please." Salvia said, taking Dawn's arm and bringing her up. "Just call me Salvia."
Dawn was still a bit hesitant, but slightly grinned. "If you say so. I'm Dawn."
Salvia smiled. "That's a lovely name."
Dawn blushed a soft pink and replied, "Thank you." It was rare that someone had a kind word for her like that.
Soon, they had arrived at Salvia's room. Dawn was amazed at the regal sight of it. A canopy queen bed with turquoise sheets and white plush pillows was against one of the walls, and a matching lounge was near the glass doors leading to the balcony. A dark oak desk was against another wall, and rugs of dark blue were on the floor.
"This is amazing!" She exclaimed.
Salvia just shrugged, saying, "Well, for a princess, I can only have the finest things."
She walked over to a makeup vanity at a corner and got a clean rag. She then went back to Dawn, handing it to her. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Dawn said, then she began to wipe away the soot from her face.
Once she was finished, she gave the rag back to Salvia. The princess felt for a split second that she was staring into a mirror when she saw Dawn's clean face.
Piplup and Togekiss gave out surprised chirps when they saw the two girls. The girls turned over to their Pokémon.
"Piplup, is something wrong?" Dawn asked.
"Togekiss, what's the matter?" Salvia questioned.
But the two were just looking back and forth between the two girls. Piplup did it so many times so fast, that he literally got dizzy and fell off Togekiss' back.
The girls were still confused. Togekiss then pointed to the vanity mirror with one of her wings. They went over there, and they were shocked to discover something. They both had midnight blue hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.
"You look just like me!" They both exclaimed. They had no idea why they didn't see it sooner.
As they stared into the mirror with awe, Salvia suddenly had an idea. "Hey, since we look very much alike, why don't we trade places?"
"Trade places?" Dawn asked.
Piplup and Togekiss gave out chirps of alarm.
"Yes!" Salvia confirmed. "I can be you, and you can be me! And it would only be for a few weeks."
"No way!" Dawn exclaimed. "That's crazy! If I pretend to be you and someone finds out, I will be thrown into prison...or worse!"
"Calm down." Salvia said. "No one will find out. We look too much alike for anyone to tell the difference."
"But are you sure?" Dawn asked.
"Yes, I am." Salvia said. "I'm tired of being a princess. I have responsibilities that I do not want to deal with, and I haven't been outside the castle grounds even once. I want to see what's out there. I wish to live my own life."
"Really?" Dawn said, and Salvia nodded her head. She turned to the Pokémon, who were shaking their heads, then back to her look-alike, who was giving her a pleading look.
"Well, I hate my life of being invisible and not important. And I hate working so hard as a servant and not being appreciated for it. Let's do it!" Dawn exclaimed.
Salvia clapped her hands with glee. "Then let's get started!" The two girls then left the room and into the closet to swap clothes. Their Pokémon sighed with defeat.
In a few minutes, Salvia had dressed Dawn in a beautiful pink gown and white opera gloves. Her hair was tied up in a fancy bun similar to Salvia's, with some locks of her hair down, and a silver tiara was on her head.
"Awesome!" Dawn exclaimed as she twirled in front of the mirror. "I've always dreamed of dressing up like a princess!"
"You look lovely, Dawn." Salvia said, making her doppelganger blush the same shade of pink as her dress.
"Thank you." She replied, shyly. But then, she remembered something. "But I don't know a thing about being a princess."
"Don't worry." Salvia assured her. "It's actually quite simple. Just be polite, punctual, and graceful. Do that, and everything will be fine."
"Okay." Dawn said. She handed Salvia her working clothes. "Now it's your turn."
Salvia grinned excitedly, and took off into her closet with Dawn's work dress in her hands. A few minutes later, she emerged from it, dressed exactly like Dawn was before. She even had her hair down.
"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed. "You do look exactly like me!"
Salvia giggled and said, "Now, how do I act non-royally?"
"You still be polite, but you can complain about some chores." Dawn snickered, and Salvia joined in. "Also, you might have to get dirty."
"That will not be a problem." Salvia said. She was about to leave, but then saw Togekiss following her. "No, Togekiss. You'd best stay here and help Dawn if she needs it."
Togekiss gave a worried coo, but complied to her mistress' wish. Dawn then picked Piplup up from the lounge.
"You'd better go with Salvia. She would need help." She said.
Piplup gave a shocked "Lup?!" But when he saw his friend's pleading look, he gave a defeated sigh.
Dawn hugged him gently, saying, "Thank you." She then gave Piplup to Salvia, and he went over to her shoulder.
Salvia petted Piplup on the head softly. "I'll take good care of him." she promised to Dawn.
"Thanks." she said as she walked over to give Togekiss a reassuring pat on her head. "And I'll do the same for Togekiss."
"Thank you." Salvia said, then she and Piplup left the room.
Both girls were finally going to get a chance to live the life that they had always dreamed of. Little did they know that it wouldn't exactly be everything that they had dreamed of.
MDM: We hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review about what you think. They are highly appreciated.
Got to fly! ;)