Again, thank you for waiting! Finished this chappy and am ready to start on the next one!
Hope you enjoy and stay awesome while doing so!
For a moment, Ness almost dropped his barely eaten cake on the floor. However, he caught himself from being surprised too much. He set down his plate on the food table, and turned to Paula, who was already saying something.
"Ness! Are you okay?!" Paula asked worriedly. "You looked like you just saw a ghost!"
"Maybe I did!" Ness said. Then he looked back to the orange haired boy, who was there as solid and living as can be. He looked back to Paula. "Nope, I didn't see a ghost."
"Then wha- what's going on?" she asked
"Er, well, actually..." Ness was trying to find the right words. "I have to go do something. I'll be right back in a bit! Don't worry! Just stay here and eat cake and stuff!" Then he went off before Paula could argue. She just gave in and stuck around the table, finishing her cake.
Meanwhile, Ness approached the boy. He was far off from the food table, almost impossible to see from there. Ness' eyes just got lucky. The more he got closer, he could see what he was wearing more better.
He was dressed in a dark black tuxedo. His crazy cowlicked hair was still insane, but it was brushed neatly to fit his classy appearance. His face was clean, practically spotless compared to the last time he saw him in the market. Currently, he was leaning against a pillar with his left hand in his pocket, and the other out. He stood near 3 cute girls, currently chatting with them. It didn't take a genius to tell he was the center of attention.
Ladies' man, huh? Ness guessed. And it turned out to be right, when he grabbed the hand of the cutest girl, and brought her into the dance floor. He bowed politely, clearly asking the young girl for a dance. However, Ness interrupted that.
"Hello," Ness greeted the couple. They turned to him once they heard his voice.
"O-OH MY GOD! H-HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS!" The girl immediately bowed. the boy, on the other hand, remained straight.
"Yes... Yes that's me," Ness said, a little bothered about how the girl's sudden shout gathered a little attention to him. He turned to the orange haired boy. "Well, aren't you going to bow in the sight of His Royal Highness?"
"Hm. Why don't you give me a good reason first?" the boy snapped back.
Oh, bad temper. Ness marked that in his head. A little too early for that, is it?
"Why don't you give me a good reason as to why you aren't bowing?" Ness retorted.
"I don't have one." The orange haired boy smirked. "Exactly my point."
"Nice," Ness genuinely complimented him. The orange haired boy dropped his smirk, and raised his eyebrow.
"So, any business with us, 'Princey'?" the boy asked.
"Why, yes," Ness told him straight, "May I have this dance?"
The girl blushed, and nodded. "Y-Yes! I-I'd love to dance with you!"
"Um well..." Ness rubbed the back of his head. "I wasn't actually talking about you, sorry..."
"H-Huh?" Then who are you talking about?" she asked.
Ness looked over to the orange haired boy. When the orange haired one finally caught on to the subject, he answered quite bluntly.
"Hell no," he declined.
"You will if I say so," Ness stated. Then he gestured towards himself. "Don't forget who you're talking to."
The emerald eyed boy groaned quietly, then took Ness' hand. "Whatever."
I win~ Ness sang in his head, as he got in place with the boy. At first, the crowd staring at the prince thought that him dancing with another male was weird, but they shook it off, considering he was betrothed. Even so, they still stared upon the two.
"This is torment," the other boy said, holding Ness' hands, preparing to dance. As their hands made contact, a pulse of warmth ran through them.
"Oh trust me, there's more where that's coming from." Ness smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just get on with the dance. I'm leading."
"Fine, fine."
Being the one to start the first step, Ness began to lead the boy into the wonderland of dance. This time, he didn't need to count in beats. He was too focused on the boy. Right now, they weren't as far from each other, but even now, Ness could see and feel things about him that he hasn't noticed yet. Compared to himself, that boy was slightly shorter. His hands felt like silk, despite the fact that he had small scars on them. He had on cologne too. Ness sniffed it. And not just any cologne, an expensive one. His suit, too, it wasn't something any commoner could buy just like that.
"So, did you enjoy the money?" Ness asked out of the blue.
The boy stared at Ness with his intense eyes. He started looking worried. "...What money?"
"You know..." Ness twirled the boy around and brought him back into his arms. "The money you stole."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, looking away from Ness.
"You know clearly of what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb."
For a moment, the boy growled, one that was similar to the last time he and Ness got in a fight, except less raging. "Just who the hell are you?!"
"Out of all people to know, I expected you to know who I was. I'm disappointed~" Ness sang. He was enjoying this much more than he expected himself to. "Maybe I can give you a little clue."
Then at that moment, in the middle of dancing, Ness brought the young boy into a romantic dip. He neared his face very closely to his. Using that moment, the other boy looked deep at Ness. He examined every single facial feature he had on him. unfortunately, he couldn't find any leads on to who that boy actually was. That is, until he saw it. On one of his cheekbones.
With their faces very much near each other, the boy rubbed off a small layer of makeup on Ness' face. There, he found a bad-looking bruise.
His eyes widened. Then Ness finally brought him up again.
"Y-You... you're... y-you're..." the boy stammered. His arms shook in Ness'.
"The one that you punched and stole from. I hope you're happy." Ness' voice was serious now. "You realize what I can do to you, right?"
Trying his best to wipe off the scared expression off his own face, he looked angrily at him. "I-I'm not scared."
"You're trembling. You may seem tough, but once you're scared, even you can't seem to lie." Ness smirked. The boy finally gave up and showed Ness his complete and utter fear. The fear ran through every part of his body, and even Ness could see it in his eyes. Those eyes that usually burn with intense passion and strength, now blown out of its flame. The radiant emerald, now a dull green.
"I... I..." The boy didn't know what to do. He has just found out he punched and stole from the prince of all people! He didn't want to die. He had to... run.
Ness raised an eyebrow. It wasn't until now that he finally considered that he went too far. "Hey... are you oka-"
In the middle of that sentence, the boy lightly pushed Ness off of him, and escaped him grip. Then he started running.
"Wait I didn't mean to- WAIT!" The prince shouted. He acted on impulse and began running. Through the tables, and past all the guests who were enjoying themselves. He ran and ran and ran after him.
Catching attention of many, people looked over to see the prince running.
"WAIT! PLEASE! I'm sorry!" Ness called. He shouldn't have scared him like that. Now he felt bad. Maybe what he did was wrong. No, it was wrong. He couldn't let him get away like this. He'll probably never see him again if he does.
So he ran without caring who saw him. People were surprised at the prince's sudden vulgar acts. Running in the ballroom was not considered mannerful. By now, everyone's attention were practically on the prince. However, the Eagleland and Polestar rulers were too distracted by each other's company to notice what was happening around them. Until a man came up to them.
"Your Highnesses!" a duke called, interrupting their conversation.
The Eagleland king was the one to respond. "Ehem, it is not exactly polite to interrupt your higher-ups."
"I'm deeply sorry! But your son- the prince is-"
"MY DRESS! OH!" a lady's voice rang across the room. The kings and queens looked over to her, and that basically was self explanatory. The duke needed to speak no longer.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Ness apologized. He accidentally knocked the woman's drink out of her hands and onto her dress. He took that little moment to apologize, and still continued after that boy.
Where is he going?! Ness complained inside his head. And now he knew where. That boy was running out of the ballroom. He followed suit, trying not to hit anyone else. Before he knew it, he went through the side doors where the commoners went through to get inside.
"Son? SON!" The king called, but Ness was already through the side doors and out. However, it didn't lead outside, it led into the complicated hallways.
"Alert the guards!" The king boomed.
"Already on it!" a guard shouted, grouping with a few other heavy armored men. They tracked those two down.
The guests of the ballroom were completely horrified. Their faces showed either fear or confusement. They had no idea what was going on, and with their imaginations to formulate what probably happened was not helping in the slightest. The queen saw this, and went to calm down the crowd.
"Everyone! Do not worry! The problem is now being dealt with, and shall be solved without further trouble. Now, you may resume what you were doing. This celebration's not over yet."
"You're right. It's not over," a young man, clearly a commoner said, "but now it is. This celebration was to honor His Royal Highness and his betrothed. It can't very well be called a celebration if your son, the prince, is into his shenanigans again. I'm leaving." Then he took his wife's hand, and went out the doors.
Another man rose his voice too. "I agree. I used to think this kingdom would flourish as it is right now as long as possible. But when that prince takes the throne. Well, I'm not sure if he could take care of this kingdom's problems... if he can't take care of his." Then he took his daughter out of the ballroom.
More and more followed behind, however, a young girl's voice rose before anymore could leave.
"YOU'RE WRONG!" her voice rang through the whole ballroom. It was Princess Paula.
"Daughter..." her father was about to quiet her, but she ignored him.
"No one, absolutely no one can make accusations of what the future will be like for this kingdom!" she shouted for everyone to hear. "You all say that Prince Ness is immature, unprincely, and even more worse names that I will not mention. But he's human too. He cannot be the perfect little prince figure you all want him to be! You all just need to believe in him-"
"WE CAN'T!" a woman interrupted. "We try believing in that prince, but he messes up every single time! What if he messes up when he's king-"
Paula interrupted back. "Everyone makes mistakes!" She then singles out that one woman with a strong glare. "And you... you can't just tell me you're a perfect person that has never made a single mistake in your whole life."
The woman quieted down, and didn't speak another word.
"That's what I thought." Paula then points her words to all the subjects and nobles of Eagleland. "I know... I know that Prince Ness is quite vulgar and his acts may do some damage at some times." She spared a moment to look at the woman's ruined dress. "And he's sorry for that. He really is. He, himself, is not sure if he'll be a great king. But no matter what, I'm sure when that time comes, he'll try his hardest to make the best for all of you. Despite all the personal problems he's going through right now. Being prince or princess is not an easy job as many of you think. What will make it even harder on Ness is if his future subjects can't even have faith in him. Even so, he, and even I, will endure it all."
Silence filled the air, as everyone thought the whole thing out. Small whispers can be heard. Soon, a few seconds later, voices arose.
"...WE BE-LIEVE! WE BE-LIEVE! WE BE-LIEVE!" they chanted. Those chants calmed down Eagleland's king and queen. The two, and even Paula, sighed of relief. When the chants died out, Paula continued.
"Thank you everyone. Thank you for understanding!" She smiled. "Now what do you all say? The night's still young! Let's get back to celebrating!"
This earned many cheers from the crowd, as everyone got back to what they were doing. When all was good and sorted again, Paula went over to her parents and Ness' parents. Once she did, the king and queen of Eagleland glomped her in their arms.
"Princess Paula! We are honored to have you be betrothed to our son!" The queen told her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" The king appreciated it. "If you were not here, it would have been a complete disaster!"
"Hehe, you're welcome!" Paula told them. "But that wasn't even the problem. One still remains. Finding Ness."
Ness and Paula's parents nodded at each other.
"WAIT! God you run so damn fast!" Ness yelled. He had been running in circles around the castle, only to have chased the boy outside the back doors. They led to the beautiful garden in which he had been this morning. As expected, the boy went into the large gardens. Following right behind, Ness entered too. He was kind of glad that the boy chose to come into the garden. He knew this place and its routes very well. It was true, it's a maze, but he knew every pathway. Having that advantage against that boy, this was literally his territory now.
Now into the garden's maze, the boy made sharp turns. Right, left, straight, left, right. Ness looked closely at his movements, and when the boy turned a right, Ness went straight still and ruffled through trees and flowers. He knew the two paths he was on would soon connect, bringing him face-to-face with his mysterious interest.
He should be coming in 3, 2, 1... Ness saw him heading his way, only a few feet off. Currently, the boy had a little grin on his face as he looked back. He thought he had lost him, but it turned out he didn't, when he felt himself being grabbed by the prince.
"N-No!" the boy broke away. He was just about to run away again, until Ness spoke up.
"No use trying to run! The paths are dead-ends from here!" Ness shouted. The boy immediately froze in his tracks, and turned back to Ness.
"Why are you chasing me?!" he yelled angrily. "You could have just let me go and sent the royal guards to come fetch me to have me hung or decapitated! Jeez, you're such a retard!"
"Well I'm not going to have you executed! But maybe I should, considering you don't have a single respect for me in the world!" Ness retorted.
The boy's angry expression softened. "Y-you're not going to execute me?"
"NO!" he yelled. "But like I said, I should! But I'm not going to!"
"W-Why?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Now Ness was angry. At the boy, but mostly at himself. Why doesn't he just have him executed? Why doesn't he just let him go and never see him again?
"Well that's a bit stupid of you if you don't know the reason, Princey."
"I am seriously going to hurt you someday, kid."
"It's not 'kid', it's Claus, dumbass."
"I don't understand." Ness looked over to Claus. "Why are you so mean? Especially to me?"
Claus looked at Ness, then away from him. He didn't say anything for awhile because he, himself, didn't know either. "F-Figure it out. You must be smart enough. You're the prince for God's sake."
"Some respect you have," said Ness sarcastically.
"Whatever! So do you hate me yet, huh? I won't be damn surprised." Claus crossed his arms.
"No. In fact, I don't." Ness tapped his foot impatiently. "Surprised?"
"Very." Claus clenched his teeth. "You're hard to understand, dude."
"That's what I should be telling you."
From that point, their conversation ended like that. A long silence took place as the two looked away from each other, clearly having no idea where to bring the topic. However, the problem solved itself when small giggles were heard from Claus.
"...What?" Ness asked, confused. Claus went on laughing. "What?!"
"There's flower petals all over you! Hahahahaa!"
"What the-" Ness looked all over him. Flower petals and dirt ruined his entire suit, there were even some in his hair. "How funny. Ha. Ha. Ha." Ness dusted off the petals and fixed his hair.
"It is funny!" Claus laughed genuinely. "You look like such an idiot!"
"Well, your fly is down," Ness pointed out.
Claus stopped laughing and looked down at his pants. "O-OH MY GOD!" He blushed as he zipped it up quickly.
"Who's the idiot now?" It was Ness' turn to laugh.
"Shut up!" Claus snapped. "I wonder if it was down when we were at the ball..."
"It wasn't."
"Oh good!" Claus let out a sigh of relief. Then when his senses returned to him, he asked a question. "Wait, how'd you know my fly wasn't down?"
Ness froze. "Er, uh, you look really good in those pants...?"
Claus looked over at him suspiciously. "Okay, I'll buy that to save you the embarrassment." Then he laughed once again. "Oh my gosh... dude, you're hecka funny!"
"Eheheh... thanks..." Ness smiled sheepishly. "You're not too bad yourself."
"Huh? You really mean that?" Claus asked.
"No use lying to you."
"I see..." Claus looked down at his hands, and started fiddling with his fingers. From Ness' point of view, he could see him taking out a pen and writing something on a piece of paper, but ignored it. Then, in the most quiet voice ever, he said, "T-Thanks..."
Ness was a bit surprised from him saying that, but accepted it happily. "You're welcome!" He smiled.
"Hey! Don't get used to me saying that!" Claus shouted. Even so, Ness kept that same glad smile. Claus rolled his eyes. "Seriously... it's like you're a little kid."
"You're not that far from one either."
"Pft, I know."
Little giggles erupted from their mouths. However, they stopped doing that when a distant voice was heard.
"Maybe His Royal Highness and the one he was chasing went into the garden!" a guard yelled.
"You kidding me? I doubt the two could be in there! Besides, the garden is like a maze! Like hell you could get me to go in there!" another one shouted.
"Oh stop being a pansy and come in here with us!" he replied.
"Fine, fine! Jeez..."
"Oh no..." Claus looked worried. "They're coming! They'll find me!" He looked over to the prince. "Is there a way out from here?!"
A little panicked for Claus, Ness thought deep into his mind. "No... wait, yes! But I'm not sure if it's still there..."
"I don't care! Just take me there!"
"Alright! Here, follow me, quick!" Ness began running. Like he said, there were dead-ends from where they were. Those dead-ends were from the tall, strong fence that divides the gardens from the forest beyond. It was put there to stop trespassers, as well as wild animals looking for food. The two made their way to that fence. When Ness got there, he searched near the bottom of the fence. Since he was very young, he knew there was a hole put into the fence on accident. When Ness finally located it, it was blocked by flowers and tall grass.
"Found it!" Ness said. Then he began tearing the flowers off to clear the way. "Just slip through from here, circle around the castle to get to the front, and you're home free! But be careful, the edges are sharp."
Claus nodded at Ness and was about to crawl through, however, he stopped and looked at Ness.
"What's wrong?" asked Ness.
"Hug me, Princey," demanded Claus.
"...? What the heck? There's no time-"
Since Ness was busy blabbering on, Claus did himself the favor and hugged him instead. It was a long and tight embrace, but once Claus was done, he crawled through quickly. When he was completely out and on his feet again, Ness called at him through the fence.
"Wait! Will I see you again?!" Ness asked, worried.
"Yeah, you will!" Claus assured. "Because you'll have to, heh." Then he dashed off.
Because I'll have to...? What? Ness had to think about the last thing he said. It confused him, but he brushed it off. It was probably just a saying or something.
When he was long gone, Ness turned around and heard the guards coming by.
"ACK! TO MANY FLOWERS!" A guard complained as he and the other two ripped through the bushes and flowers.
"Okay, maybe we should've just avoided searchin' through the garden..." another mentioned.
"Yeah, His Royal Highness couldn't possibly be- HEY LOOK! There he is!"
The three immediately went over to him. They checked every single part of his body, asking if he was hurt.
"I'm okay," Ness replied calmly.
"But young prince, where's that person you were chasin'? And why were you chasin' 'im?" one of them interrogates.
This is exactly what Ness feared. "How about we skip the questions and head back to the castle?"
"Why?"
"Because if you guys choose not to, I'll leave you here in the garden where you guys will never find your way out."
The guards looked at each other, then at him. "Deal."
"Great." From there on, no one asked any questions, and the guards just basically left him alone. They made it back to castle safe and sound. As soon as they entered, they walked Ness back to the ballroom, which wasn't to his surprise, empty. His mother had her arms crossed with the most angriest face ever, and as for his father, well, he was straight faced.
"Your Highnesses, he has been found."
"Thank you, Tamold, Jason, and Francis. Dismissed."
The three bowed, then exited. Ness stood on the red carpet in front of them again, nervous.
"Again, you got into trouble," said the queen. "Again. It may not seem as severe as last time, but you left it to Princess Paula to clear out your name!"
Ness looked confused. "She did...?"
"Yes. Once you made a big, rude, unmannered, commotion in the middle of the ball, it happened to offend some of the people when you left the ballroom. Everyone was on the brink of leaving, until Paula stood up for you. She talked to the guests for a bit, and managed to get on everyone's good side. If she wasn't there, everything would have been ruined! Young man, you should be thankful."
All at once, Ness felt bad and hung his head down.
"As you can see, the ball has ended already, and the rulers of Polestar have left. Princess Paula will be coming back next weekend. Take that time to think about what you did, and apologize to her."
"Yes, mom."
"And besides that, what in the world happened?! Who were you chasing? Did he hurt you? Did you really have to resolve into chasing that man away?" the queen asked. She didn't see who Ness was chasing quite clearly.
"I...I..." Ness bit his lip. "I'm sorry... I can't tell you."
The mother sat there with her mouth wide open. "You cannot tell me? Young man, you better speak up, immediately!" she said. Never once had her son deny to tell the truth.
"Dear," finally, the king spoke up. This brought alarm to Ness.
Great, what's he going to say this time? Probably something of how he's so disappointed in me and how I make him look bad because I can't be his perfect figure of a prince! Ness thought. He didn't want to take any more of his father's words. His mom was okay, but not him.
"I think we should just let Ness be."
Ness raised his head in surprise. He looked at his father with wide eyes. His mouth was agape.
"..What?" The queen was in utter shock. "Why?! He is in trouble and he shouldn't be keeping secrets from us!"
"That is true, everything you say, but... Ness, he's a good boy." He switched his gaze from his wife to his son. "It's true, you are a good boy, and you mean the best. If you made a mistake, it was probably from accident. Sure, you mess up a lot, but it's okay. Paula's right. What you did during the ball, it wasn't meant to do any harm, was it? Of course not, because it's you. You don't need to tell us what you did. I trust you did what you thought was the best for the moment. And... you definitely don't act like a proper prince..."
Ness paid full attention, showing his dad that he was listening.
"But you'll get there." The king smiled. The queen's expression was fully surprised.
"Dad..." Ness' eyes reddened. He felt like crying at that moment, but held it in. "I... I'll make you proud!" He blinked away the tears. His dad got up, and when he did, Ness ran into his arms and gave him a tight hug.
Unlike Ness, his dad was letting out his tears like there was no tomorrow. The queen sat there, smiling at the two of them. Finally, the king understood.
"I love you, Ness." The king ruffled his dirty hair. "Did you like the bracelet I made for you?"
Ness came out of the hug. "I did! It's right here-" He reached deep into his pocket that he kept it in. Nothing. "Er... Give me a sec." He looked in all his pockets, but found nothing.
"I really do hope you haven't lost it, I made that bracelet from smelting one of the priceless golden vases past down from our ancestors."
Oh god, where is it?! Ness fumbled through his pockets. He felt nothing, however, in a certain pocket, he felt something. Not the bracelet, but... a piece of paper? It was folded, and on the outside of it, in pencil was written, 'From Claus:'.
Ness stared blankly at it. Then looked at his father. He was thinking the same thing as he was.
"What is that?" he asked, reaching for it.
"N-Nothing! Just a blank piece of paper of reminders for myself!" Ness stuffed it back in his pocket. "Um, may I be excused?"
"You may, but-"
"OKAY THANKS!" Ness darted out of the ballroom and straight to his room. Once he got there, he sat on the side of his bed and opened the note.
On the inside was written:
To Princey:
I bet you're wondering where your precious little bracelet is? I'll have you know, you won't find it! That's right, I took it. Now come and get it! Little mutt! ;) I'll be at Town Square tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Be there. I'm only giving you tomorrow.
...By the way, if you're wondering how I managed to get your shmancy bracelet, I could see the outline of it through your pocket. It looks like it's worth millions. Dude, you need to be more careful. Dumbass...
"..." Ness stared blankly at the note.
"THAT LITTLE- WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?! HOW DID HE EVEN SNEAK THIS NOTE INTO MY POCKET AND STEAL MY BRAC-"
The hug he gave me before he crawled into the hole. That note he was writing in the middle of our conversation.
"...WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS COMING?! I MEAN SURE THE HUG AT THE END WAS FISHY AND I FELT SOMETHING MOVING IN MY FRONT POCKET BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE!"
For a moment, Ness thought over what he just said, and lightly smacked himself on the cheek.
"Calm down, Ness. Everything'll be alright once you get that bracelet back. I just hope he's careful with it..."
Ness scratched his head in a fit of frustration. There was another thing he noticed as well.
So that's what he meant when he said I'll HAVE to see him. Gr, fine. I'll sneak out tomorrow. I'll give him what he wants. I'll see him.
Wait wait... So does that mean he stole my bracelet just to have a reason to see me again?
Hm... clever boy.