o-AN: YAY! Mucho thankees to the people that reviewed!! I feel loved ^_^
So sorry for the long wait, but I'm going through a bit of writers block
combined with homework -_- so please be patient, I'll do my best ^^
Megumi of the Moon- Oh, I'm planning on having lots of fun with the lessons ^_~
Usagi345- Thanks a bunch for the encouragement!!
Frin- Well, can't really spoil the surprise now can I? ^_~ But it WAS who you originally thought it was…cause when 'she' came back, he kinda got...pushed out…well, that's my theory anyway…but hope you still like it!
***- Thanks for the input, I'm glad somebody is watching out for me ^^ As for the romance, just you wait and see ^_~ Glad to hear from you!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose stifled another cry as Millerna tugged harder. 'What did I get myself into???' Millerna panted.
" Just a little tighter…suck it in Rose!" Rose turned her head to glare at the princess.
" I'm sucking it in as far as I can! Why make me wear a stupid corset now?!?! I have two weeks!" Rose gasped breathlessly as Millerna tied the strings together, standing back. She wiped her forehead.
" Rose, you have to have time to get used to it without fainting." Rose quirked an eyebrow at Millerna. She was NOT a fainter…well…except when she faked it…but that didn't count!
" I don't faint," she replied flatly. Millerna tsked.
" If you get short of air, say, if you're laughing or running, which you won't be doing anyway because it's not lady-like, you'll have a hard time breathing. The lack of air will cause you to faint." Rose glowered at Millerna. 'Drat her for being right all the time. Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it…' Then Rose did a double check.
" Hold on. You said no running. Does that mean I can't train either??" There was a nod, and Rose gave a full-hearted groan. Or, at least, she tried to. She glared daggers at the beige corset.
" Ah ah ah! A lady must never glare or show signs of anger in the presence of others." Millerna grinned as Rose took a deep breath.
" Please excuse my grievous error, my Lady," replied Rose sweetly, forcing a smile. 'This is gonna be torture…'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Taking a deep breath, the man pushed open the door, stepping into a dimly lit room.
" Ah, I see you've come to visit, huh?" A man leaned forward in his chair; his features illuminated by a single lantern on the table, making him seem all the more eerie.
" Yes. The…process…takes a few days to get used to." The other man chuckled, stroking a scar on his cheek. 'Is he STILL going on with that?'
" Now Folken, don't you think you're being overly concerned? I'm glad I'm back. After floating around in nothing for a while I have new reasons to kill him." Folken sat in the chair on the other side of the table.
" Perhaps. Must you keep it so dark in here?" Another chuckle.
" It's nice in the dark. You don't know what's going to happen." The man brushed his silver hair out of his eyes in a gesture of disgust, then continued.
" So, I hear from our lord that the Dragon has a new toy, hmm?" Folken sighed.
" She's not a toy, Dillandu. She's a person. We're merely experimenting." The door opened again and Naria slid in, shutting it behind her.
" Lord Folken, our lord wants to see you. He says it involves the fate machine." Folken sighed, standing.
" It's hard to imagine Miguel as our lord. When I was here last he was my Dragon Slayer," Dillandu sneered, reclining lazily in his chair. Folken allowed himself a small chuckle.
" Well, the last time we were here Gaia was in the middle of a war. Things change Dillandu." With that, he left, following Naria. To be honest, he felt sorry for the girl. She had no idea what was about to happen.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose sighed, her back nearly plastered to the chair. 'This has got to be THE most embarrassing thing that I've ever done in my entire life,' she thought as she smiled faintly at the conversation Allen was making, imitating a half-drunk noble almost perfectly. Millerna stood in the corner, watching critically.
" Rose, you have to remember that this is a banquet. You have to eat." She commented, and Rose restrained herself from saying something very rude to her in reply.
" I would eat, except that there's no food on the table and my shoulders are tied to the chair with a SCARF!" Rose twitched slightly, nodding her head to the red scarf that was tied around her arms.
" Now, now Rose, a ladies voice should never be raised." Allen tutted, leaning back in his chair and grinning lopsidedly at her. She clenched her hands under the table.
" You guys are determined to make this as difficult as possible, aren't you?" Two identical grins answered her question.
" Hey you guys, how's it going?" Merle walked in, tail twitching. Spotting Rose, she started to giggle. Roses' eyes glinted, but she managed to keep from frowning at the cat girl.
" May I inquire as to what amuses you so, Lady Merle?" She asked politely, struggling to keep the annoyance in her voice down. 'Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this!' she thought brightly. Millerna seemed to notice this as well. She cleared her throat, untying the scarf.
" Alright Rose, I think we've put you through enough torture for today. Tomorrow you wear a dress, learn how to sit and, if all goes well, learn how to dance." Rose stood as gracefully as she could. 'I'm not going to let this beat me. I'm not stubborn for nothing,' she thought determinedly.
" Learning to sit?" She blinked, doing a double take. Millerna nodded, telling her that she'd understand when she wore a dress the next day. But now….Rose yawned as she headed for her suite, covering her mouth. 'Geez, I'm actually starting to do this stuff automatically,' she sweatdropped, opening her doors and walking into her room. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she glanced around her room.
" Ugh, I hate it when I feel like I'm being watched," she said aloud to herself, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Walking over to her small vanity, Rose picked up her latest item that she bought with the 'allowance' that Van had given her while he was gone. 'Probably as a way of apologizing…well, if he thinks that'll work, he's got another thing coming to him!' she thought angrily. But, she had to admit, it was a fairly large sum of money. The setting sun blazed over the blade of the sword, illuminating it's jagged edges in a fiery light that made it seem as if the sword itself was twisting and turning in living flames. The sword was formed in a twist pattern, moving in soft curves instead of a straight line. The edges were slightly dull, but it wasn't the stabbing or slicing. Allen was surprised when she picked that particular sword. When she asked him why, he explained that while it wouldn't hurt the enemy too much when you first stabbed them, the barbed sides of the sword would pull anything and everything out with it. Smirking to herself, Rose performed a few moves with it, the blade whistling through the air, and then she set it back down on the dresser.
" Well, better get to bed." Yawning, Rose changed and did exactly what she said.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Van stretched slightly in his seat, listening intently to Chid. He had done a good job of rebuilding his country after Zaibach attacked, and seemed years older than he really was.
" So, we can all agree that, given the information here, something is starting to stir around the area of the old Zaibach capital. There may even be people living there." Van felt a growing sense of dread build in the pit of his stomach. His memories of the war weren't exactly the best. And if Zaibach was on the move again…
" This is all ridiculous. Have we been so beaten down that we cringe at the sight of a few people building homes on available land?" A younger general spoke up, his legs propped up on the table and leaning back in his chair. Van frowned, and spoke up.
" Were you in the war, sir?" The general shook his head, grinning.
" Then you can't possibly understand WHY we are being cautious to movement in Zaibach. It burned down Asturia, Fried, countless villages, and Fanelia. We can't risk that happening again." He clenched his fists, and then calmed himself down. This meeting was NOT going well. Settling back as Chid described what he had already heard, Van let his mind wander. He wanted to go back to Fanelia…if Zaibach were planning something then it's possible Fanelia would be attacked again, and Rose… he shook his head slightly. Merle would know what to do. And who cares about Rose, anyway? 'All she does is get mad at me.' He thought grumpily for a moment. 'But it's true, if anything happened to her…I'd be letting Hitomi down.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, that's it Rose, you're getting it!" Millerna smiled happily, just before Rose stumbled and fell on her butt.
" Owwww.." she winced, rubbing the afflicted area. Allen chuckled, helping her up.
" Thank you." Rose smoothed her hands over the dress that Millerna lent her. It was a 'simple' green one with gold embroidery. And Rose kept tripping in it.
" Ok, let's try this again…sorry about all of this Allen." Rose sighed. He shrugged.
" Hey, learning to dance is harder than it looks." Rose gave a small nod.
" Perhaps. Besides, we still have a week left, right?" Millerna smiled.
" Of course Rose. Besides, all you have to learn how to do now is dance and sit in a chair." Rose rolled her eyes. 'How hard could sitting in a chair be?' She didn't have any more time to consider that because Millerna started counting again.
After several more attempts, Rose could get through the dance without tripping. And she only stepped on Allen's foot once. 'That's gotta count for something,' she thought happily.
" Ok!" Millerna clapped her hands, shooing Rose back towards the banquet table. Rose had grown to hate that table with a vengeance. Eating lessons, speech lessons, sitting up straight…ugh. Rose went to sit down, but Millerna pulled her up.
" No, no, no, you didn't do it right." Rose looked at her incredulously. Millerna explained.
" When you have a dress on, in order to keep it from bunching and wrinkling when you sit down, you have to sweep it from under you like this, and then sit down." Millerna demonstrated the action, and Rose tilted her head.
" All this just to sit down?" she asked in disbelief. Millerna nodded.
" It's a pain, but you get used to it after a while." Rose sighed. Allen laughed, leaning back in a chair and watching them. Catching herself before she glared at him, Rose went up to the chair, looked behind her to check that she was going to land ON the chair, she swooshed the dress from under her and sat down.
" There, that wasn't so bad." Millerna shook her head.
" No, you did it wrong. You can't look over your shoulder, and you moved your dress UP. That must never happen." Rose sighed again, standing. She seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately. 'This had better be worth it.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" I still don't see why we can't just burn it to the ground like last time!" Dillandu fumed, pacing the room.
" Remember what happened last time, Dillandu? Zaibach was defeated." Naria said sharply, toying with a dagger. Folken stayed silent, looking at some sketches of the redesigned fate machine. It didn't take Dillandu long.
" We only lost because somebody," here he paused, sending a glance at Folken, " betrayed us and killed Dornkirk." Naria growled.
" Silence." She flicked the dagger upright, glaring at him.
" Stop it you two. You won't accomplish anything by killing one another. Do you really want to experience death again so soon?" Dillandu looked at the wall, and Naria settled back in her chair. He smirked to himself.
" As to the reason of attacking, I believe I already told you. Besides, it will be more fun for you, I think." Dillandu hmmed, stroking the scar on his face.
" Perhaps. How long do we have to wait, anyway? I want to get this started." He grinned, eyes glinting as he stared at a candle on the table.
" One week. It will be ready by then. And then you can have your fun, Dillandu." A chuckle filled the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" Millerna, do I have to??" Rose was doing something she had never done before in her life. She was whining. Millerna nodded.
" You have to learn to sit." Gathering up her skirts, Rose stared straight ahead. 'Don't look behind you, don't look behind you,' she chanted. One habit that was particularly hard to break. Taking a deep breath, used to the corset by now, Rose moved her skirt and sat down. Completely missing the chair. She bumped the back of her head on the seat as she tumbled over. She lay there for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
" Rose, are you ok?!?" Millerna rushed over, covering her mouth. Rose swore that she was laughing. Pushing herself up, she nodded.
" I think that the chair is out to get me, Millerna." This caused Millerna to burst out laughing.
" Yes, yes, I think it is. I think that perhaps we should retire for the day…give you some time to recover from your…injuries." Rose smiled sheepishly. It was true that she was a little sore.
" I think I'll go for a walk. Do you think that it would comply with his Majesty's order?" She asked sarcastically, indicating that order or no, she was going outside. Milllerna smiled.
" He won't hear about it from me. Just don't go too far, ok?" Rose rolled her eyes, taking a break from the princess act.
" Yes MOTHER." Smiling, Rose went to her room, grabbed her sword and strapped it to her leg. She snuck past a couple guards and climbed out a window, the difficulty increased by the dress she was wearing. After she landed rather clumsily, she made a dash for the gardens.
" Phew…" After looking around, Rose pulled up her skirts so she wouldn't trip on them and started wandering through the maze of flowers and bushes. Smiling, she let her mind wander and let her feet lead the way, praying that she didn't fall into her usual habit of getting lost.
Rose looked around, a frown marring her formerly peaceful expression. This place tugged at some tiny detail in her mind, and it bothered her. There was a crumbling stone and a LARGE mound of vines beside it. Sidestepping the rock, she headed for the vines. She may not be a plant expert, but vines did NOT grow like that. Coming closer, she caught a glint of white metal under a mass of green. Squinting slightly, she brought her nose so close the leaves of the plants brushed her cheek. Humming thoughtfully, Rose stood back and thought about her situation. She could leave the obviously man-made thing alone and be curious forever, or she could see what it was and satisfy the growing itch in her mind. She smiled.
" And when you have to pick between curiosity and safety…" she said aloud, before reaching out and moving the rope-like vines aside. After 10 minutes, all she had managed to do was get herself annoyed. The vines kept sliding back into place, and they were too heavy to rip down. Climbing the thing was out of the question, even if she COULD grip the vines there were no footholds. Reaching down, Rose undid her sword, smiling happily to herself.
" The bigger they are, the harder they fall," she said gleefully, then started hacking at the vines. They started falling like dead leaves around her as she worked her way to the white spot. She finally reached it, panting and out of breath.
" Gods, how long have those vines BEEN there?!?!" She complained for a moment, relaxing and looking at the white patch. She blinked. Hold on a minute, that wasn't white, it was a foot! A giant one, she had to admit, but a foot none the less!
" Hold on a minute…" The memory surfaced, and she let out a gasp of surprise.
" Escaflowne…."
Megumi of the Moon- Oh, I'm planning on having lots of fun with the lessons ^_~
Usagi345- Thanks a bunch for the encouragement!!
Frin- Well, can't really spoil the surprise now can I? ^_~ But it WAS who you originally thought it was…cause when 'she' came back, he kinda got...pushed out…well, that's my theory anyway…but hope you still like it!
***- Thanks for the input, I'm glad somebody is watching out for me ^^ As for the romance, just you wait and see ^_~ Glad to hear from you!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose stifled another cry as Millerna tugged harder. 'What did I get myself into???' Millerna panted.
" Just a little tighter…suck it in Rose!" Rose turned her head to glare at the princess.
" I'm sucking it in as far as I can! Why make me wear a stupid corset now?!?! I have two weeks!" Rose gasped breathlessly as Millerna tied the strings together, standing back. She wiped her forehead.
" Rose, you have to have time to get used to it without fainting." Rose quirked an eyebrow at Millerna. She was NOT a fainter…well…except when she faked it…but that didn't count!
" I don't faint," she replied flatly. Millerna tsked.
" If you get short of air, say, if you're laughing or running, which you won't be doing anyway because it's not lady-like, you'll have a hard time breathing. The lack of air will cause you to faint." Rose glowered at Millerna. 'Drat her for being right all the time. Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it…' Then Rose did a double check.
" Hold on. You said no running. Does that mean I can't train either??" There was a nod, and Rose gave a full-hearted groan. Or, at least, she tried to. She glared daggers at the beige corset.
" Ah ah ah! A lady must never glare or show signs of anger in the presence of others." Millerna grinned as Rose took a deep breath.
" Please excuse my grievous error, my Lady," replied Rose sweetly, forcing a smile. 'This is gonna be torture…'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Taking a deep breath, the man pushed open the door, stepping into a dimly lit room.
" Ah, I see you've come to visit, huh?" A man leaned forward in his chair; his features illuminated by a single lantern on the table, making him seem all the more eerie.
" Yes. The…process…takes a few days to get used to." The other man chuckled, stroking a scar on his cheek. 'Is he STILL going on with that?'
" Now Folken, don't you think you're being overly concerned? I'm glad I'm back. After floating around in nothing for a while I have new reasons to kill him." Folken sat in the chair on the other side of the table.
" Perhaps. Must you keep it so dark in here?" Another chuckle.
" It's nice in the dark. You don't know what's going to happen." The man brushed his silver hair out of his eyes in a gesture of disgust, then continued.
" So, I hear from our lord that the Dragon has a new toy, hmm?" Folken sighed.
" She's not a toy, Dillandu. She's a person. We're merely experimenting." The door opened again and Naria slid in, shutting it behind her.
" Lord Folken, our lord wants to see you. He says it involves the fate machine." Folken sighed, standing.
" It's hard to imagine Miguel as our lord. When I was here last he was my Dragon Slayer," Dillandu sneered, reclining lazily in his chair. Folken allowed himself a small chuckle.
" Well, the last time we were here Gaia was in the middle of a war. Things change Dillandu." With that, he left, following Naria. To be honest, he felt sorry for the girl. She had no idea what was about to happen.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose sighed, her back nearly plastered to the chair. 'This has got to be THE most embarrassing thing that I've ever done in my entire life,' she thought as she smiled faintly at the conversation Allen was making, imitating a half-drunk noble almost perfectly. Millerna stood in the corner, watching critically.
" Rose, you have to remember that this is a banquet. You have to eat." She commented, and Rose restrained herself from saying something very rude to her in reply.
" I would eat, except that there's no food on the table and my shoulders are tied to the chair with a SCARF!" Rose twitched slightly, nodding her head to the red scarf that was tied around her arms.
" Now, now Rose, a ladies voice should never be raised." Allen tutted, leaning back in his chair and grinning lopsidedly at her. She clenched her hands under the table.
" You guys are determined to make this as difficult as possible, aren't you?" Two identical grins answered her question.
" Hey you guys, how's it going?" Merle walked in, tail twitching. Spotting Rose, she started to giggle. Roses' eyes glinted, but she managed to keep from frowning at the cat girl.
" May I inquire as to what amuses you so, Lady Merle?" She asked politely, struggling to keep the annoyance in her voice down. 'Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this!' she thought brightly. Millerna seemed to notice this as well. She cleared her throat, untying the scarf.
" Alright Rose, I think we've put you through enough torture for today. Tomorrow you wear a dress, learn how to sit and, if all goes well, learn how to dance." Rose stood as gracefully as she could. 'I'm not going to let this beat me. I'm not stubborn for nothing,' she thought determinedly.
" Learning to sit?" She blinked, doing a double take. Millerna nodded, telling her that she'd understand when she wore a dress the next day. But now….Rose yawned as she headed for her suite, covering her mouth. 'Geez, I'm actually starting to do this stuff automatically,' she sweatdropped, opening her doors and walking into her room. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she glanced around her room.
" Ugh, I hate it when I feel like I'm being watched," she said aloud to herself, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Walking over to her small vanity, Rose picked up her latest item that she bought with the 'allowance' that Van had given her while he was gone. 'Probably as a way of apologizing…well, if he thinks that'll work, he's got another thing coming to him!' she thought angrily. But, she had to admit, it was a fairly large sum of money. The setting sun blazed over the blade of the sword, illuminating it's jagged edges in a fiery light that made it seem as if the sword itself was twisting and turning in living flames. The sword was formed in a twist pattern, moving in soft curves instead of a straight line. The edges were slightly dull, but it wasn't the stabbing or slicing. Allen was surprised when she picked that particular sword. When she asked him why, he explained that while it wouldn't hurt the enemy too much when you first stabbed them, the barbed sides of the sword would pull anything and everything out with it. Smirking to herself, Rose performed a few moves with it, the blade whistling through the air, and then she set it back down on the dresser.
" Well, better get to bed." Yawning, Rose changed and did exactly what she said.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Van stretched slightly in his seat, listening intently to Chid. He had done a good job of rebuilding his country after Zaibach attacked, and seemed years older than he really was.
" So, we can all agree that, given the information here, something is starting to stir around the area of the old Zaibach capital. There may even be people living there." Van felt a growing sense of dread build in the pit of his stomach. His memories of the war weren't exactly the best. And if Zaibach was on the move again…
" This is all ridiculous. Have we been so beaten down that we cringe at the sight of a few people building homes on available land?" A younger general spoke up, his legs propped up on the table and leaning back in his chair. Van frowned, and spoke up.
" Were you in the war, sir?" The general shook his head, grinning.
" Then you can't possibly understand WHY we are being cautious to movement in Zaibach. It burned down Asturia, Fried, countless villages, and Fanelia. We can't risk that happening again." He clenched his fists, and then calmed himself down. This meeting was NOT going well. Settling back as Chid described what he had already heard, Van let his mind wander. He wanted to go back to Fanelia…if Zaibach were planning something then it's possible Fanelia would be attacked again, and Rose… he shook his head slightly. Merle would know what to do. And who cares about Rose, anyway? 'All she does is get mad at me.' He thought grumpily for a moment. 'But it's true, if anything happened to her…I'd be letting Hitomi down.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, that's it Rose, you're getting it!" Millerna smiled happily, just before Rose stumbled and fell on her butt.
" Owwww.." she winced, rubbing the afflicted area. Allen chuckled, helping her up.
" Thank you." Rose smoothed her hands over the dress that Millerna lent her. It was a 'simple' green one with gold embroidery. And Rose kept tripping in it.
" Ok, let's try this again…sorry about all of this Allen." Rose sighed. He shrugged.
" Hey, learning to dance is harder than it looks." Rose gave a small nod.
" Perhaps. Besides, we still have a week left, right?" Millerna smiled.
" Of course Rose. Besides, all you have to learn how to do now is dance and sit in a chair." Rose rolled her eyes. 'How hard could sitting in a chair be?' She didn't have any more time to consider that because Millerna started counting again.
After several more attempts, Rose could get through the dance without tripping. And she only stepped on Allen's foot once. 'That's gotta count for something,' she thought happily.
" Ok!" Millerna clapped her hands, shooing Rose back towards the banquet table. Rose had grown to hate that table with a vengeance. Eating lessons, speech lessons, sitting up straight…ugh. Rose went to sit down, but Millerna pulled her up.
" No, no, no, you didn't do it right." Rose looked at her incredulously. Millerna explained.
" When you have a dress on, in order to keep it from bunching and wrinkling when you sit down, you have to sweep it from under you like this, and then sit down." Millerna demonstrated the action, and Rose tilted her head.
" All this just to sit down?" she asked in disbelief. Millerna nodded.
" It's a pain, but you get used to it after a while." Rose sighed. Allen laughed, leaning back in a chair and watching them. Catching herself before she glared at him, Rose went up to the chair, looked behind her to check that she was going to land ON the chair, she swooshed the dress from under her and sat down.
" There, that wasn't so bad." Millerna shook her head.
" No, you did it wrong. You can't look over your shoulder, and you moved your dress UP. That must never happen." Rose sighed again, standing. She seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately. 'This had better be worth it.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" I still don't see why we can't just burn it to the ground like last time!" Dillandu fumed, pacing the room.
" Remember what happened last time, Dillandu? Zaibach was defeated." Naria said sharply, toying with a dagger. Folken stayed silent, looking at some sketches of the redesigned fate machine. It didn't take Dillandu long.
" We only lost because somebody," here he paused, sending a glance at Folken, " betrayed us and killed Dornkirk." Naria growled.
" Silence." She flicked the dagger upright, glaring at him.
" Stop it you two. You won't accomplish anything by killing one another. Do you really want to experience death again so soon?" Dillandu looked at the wall, and Naria settled back in her chair. He smirked to himself.
" As to the reason of attacking, I believe I already told you. Besides, it will be more fun for you, I think." Dillandu hmmed, stroking the scar on his face.
" Perhaps. How long do we have to wait, anyway? I want to get this started." He grinned, eyes glinting as he stared at a candle on the table.
" One week. It will be ready by then. And then you can have your fun, Dillandu." A chuckle filled the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
" Millerna, do I have to??" Rose was doing something she had never done before in her life. She was whining. Millerna nodded.
" You have to learn to sit." Gathering up her skirts, Rose stared straight ahead. 'Don't look behind you, don't look behind you,' she chanted. One habit that was particularly hard to break. Taking a deep breath, used to the corset by now, Rose moved her skirt and sat down. Completely missing the chair. She bumped the back of her head on the seat as she tumbled over. She lay there for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
" Rose, are you ok?!?" Millerna rushed over, covering her mouth. Rose swore that she was laughing. Pushing herself up, she nodded.
" I think that the chair is out to get me, Millerna." This caused Millerna to burst out laughing.
" Yes, yes, I think it is. I think that perhaps we should retire for the day…give you some time to recover from your…injuries." Rose smiled sheepishly. It was true that she was a little sore.
" I think I'll go for a walk. Do you think that it would comply with his Majesty's order?" She asked sarcastically, indicating that order or no, she was going outside. Milllerna smiled.
" He won't hear about it from me. Just don't go too far, ok?" Rose rolled her eyes, taking a break from the princess act.
" Yes MOTHER." Smiling, Rose went to her room, grabbed her sword and strapped it to her leg. She snuck past a couple guards and climbed out a window, the difficulty increased by the dress she was wearing. After she landed rather clumsily, she made a dash for the gardens.
" Phew…" After looking around, Rose pulled up her skirts so she wouldn't trip on them and started wandering through the maze of flowers and bushes. Smiling, she let her mind wander and let her feet lead the way, praying that she didn't fall into her usual habit of getting lost.
Rose looked around, a frown marring her formerly peaceful expression. This place tugged at some tiny detail in her mind, and it bothered her. There was a crumbling stone and a LARGE mound of vines beside it. Sidestepping the rock, she headed for the vines. She may not be a plant expert, but vines did NOT grow like that. Coming closer, she caught a glint of white metal under a mass of green. Squinting slightly, she brought her nose so close the leaves of the plants brushed her cheek. Humming thoughtfully, Rose stood back and thought about her situation. She could leave the obviously man-made thing alone and be curious forever, or she could see what it was and satisfy the growing itch in her mind. She smiled.
" And when you have to pick between curiosity and safety…" she said aloud, before reaching out and moving the rope-like vines aside. After 10 minutes, all she had managed to do was get herself annoyed. The vines kept sliding back into place, and they were too heavy to rip down. Climbing the thing was out of the question, even if she COULD grip the vines there were no footholds. Reaching down, Rose undid her sword, smiling happily to herself.
" The bigger they are, the harder they fall," she said gleefully, then started hacking at the vines. They started falling like dead leaves around her as she worked her way to the white spot. She finally reached it, panting and out of breath.
" Gods, how long have those vines BEEN there?!?!" She complained for a moment, relaxing and looking at the white patch. She blinked. Hold on a minute, that wasn't white, it was a foot! A giant one, she had to admit, but a foot none the less!
" Hold on a minute…" The memory surfaced, and she let out a gasp of surprise.
" Escaflowne…."