Disclaimer: Square owns FFIX, I own Jeremy and Vanessa and unique character designs. But I think we all knew that.
A/N Teasers: Castle guards, troublesome boys, and realization... and someone has to relieve themselves in the middle of it ^^;; And to get my (lame) joke, I pronounce Brahne's name Queen (kween) Brahne (bron) .. okay, n/m ^^;;
Like, Final Fantasy IX - by ThingBling
Chapter IV: Buns of Brahnes?!
"Let's see... eleven packages of twinkies, two packs of Coke, five frozen pizzas, and a french silk pie..." Jeremy trailed off, checking his supplies. Yes... it just might be! He stuffed the frozen and refrigerated objects (pizza, Coke, and the pie) into Vanessa's mini refridgerator-freezer-thing. "I could LIVE IN HERE for the weekend!"
"Jeremy-honey, see you Monday! Daddy and I are going on one of our little outtings... Take care, baby!"
Jeremy listened as his parents banged the door shut behind them. A smile crept across his face. Good thing they had forgotten-
"OH! And no parties!"
"DANG!!" Jeremy flopped back on the bed, back-floating on the adorable pink blanket. He listened as his parents got in their new Mustang and drove off. Oh, well, he didn't really want to have a dumb party any way. Last time, all the girls had followed him around until he had locked himself in his room. Just hearing the word "party" and looking at his twinkies at the same time made him feel sick. Uh.. for no good reason, of course!
The screen of Vanessa's otherworldly TV was still, one word sticking out in the middle of the blackness of the scene. "Pause" was a lifesaver, Jeremy was to learn, but just whose life was he saving?
"Okay, I think I'm set! Well, almost," Jeremy looked into the mirror Vanessa kept on her bedside table. He shook his head, parting the loose curls that flowed over his forehead. Charcoal eyes stared back at him, a boyish desire burning bright within. He was always proud of his nose... he wasn't quite sure why. It was normal-sized and didn't attract too much attention, and that was good enough for him. He ran a smudged thumb over the band-aid on his cheek, wondering when his mom would let him take it off. Oh, well. At least she LET him play football, considering how she absolutely refused him the hockey position he wanted.
Jeremy fished around under his bed. It was bound to be somewhere... a-ha! Slowly but surely, an old notebook was drawn from the ancient mess under the bed. Jeremy brushed back his chocolate waves as he plunked the worn book down beside him.
"I think it's about time I read a little of Vanessa's diary, like a younger brother should," he grinned like an imp, leaning back against the many pillows Vanessa had collected over the last year for her new bed. "Nah.. I better read after I get to another moogle thing.. koo-poh! Who knows? She'd probably burst in and unplug the game if she caught me! I want to save before any of THAT happens.." Well, a little brother's reasoning, as many would know, isn't the easiest to sway. He was going to read. Alas, the pause button had more priority!
"Whoa!" Vanessa followed Vivi, avoiding the eyes of many as she raced along the back of the seated audience. "Look at all the people! Vivi, is this the rich crowd?!"
The small boy didn't answer, spotting and pointing at a choice view a few yards away. It was behind a weird bird-lady and an insane-looking otter-man. Vanessa didn't argue with the choice of seating, however, because it was better than standing behind, oh.. say.. that scary, fat monster just beyond the balcony!
"Here.." Vivi panted, stopping abruptly. He was nearly knocked over when Vanessa came to a halt, still enamoured with the surroundings. Clapping suddenly filled the air, and he joined in. Vanessa was too dumbstruck to do anything. "I-I think it's starting, M-Miss Vanessa..."
And so it was. Before, only a hint of music could be heard as the two had been in a mad rush to catch the play before it began, but now, proud trumpets blared and the hidden strings section seemed to weave in and out of the drums' steady beat. Vanessa and Vivi shielded their eyes as the intense fireworks split the scene with ear-throbbing cracks and colorful designs. On second thought, maybe Vanessa WOULD rent this game out again!
"What the heck?!" Vanessa whispered.
"W-What?" Vivi turned to look at her.
Vanessa's heart jumped in an erratic shock. "Th-that monster... it's dancing!"
Vivi stared where Vanessa was pointing. A round-faced, yellow-pigtailed, blue-skinned blob rotated behind the railing of the balcony Vanessa had spied earlier. Vivi tried to restrain Vanessa, as she looked like she was going to scream.
"Like, oh my-!!!"
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Vanessa was interrupted by a pigfaced man, accented against the stage's darkness with a spotlight.
Vivi tried to avert Vanessa's attention away from the "monster", but it was no use. The more he tugged at her brown, flowery sleeve, the more Vanessa seemed to slip into shock. Finally, he gave up and muttered something that sounded like, "G-girls..."
"Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago," the man's goggles flashed, and he extended his arms towards the gossiping audience. "Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus."
"Huh? Oh, how sad," Vanessa stroked her hair, wondering when the introduction would end, and when the dumb guy in front of her would stop scratching his dumb otter-head! "What did he say, Vivi?"
"She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo." The pig-nosed performer's golden, shoulder-length hair shone brilliantly. His robe swept around him like a red river's torrent.
"Vivi..."
"What?" Vivi looked at her. She was squinting.
"When our story begins, Marcus, having heard this, crosses swords with the King." The speaker was noticeably overweight, but not like the "monster", Vanessa noted. She wasn't a deep thinker, Vanessa wasn't.
"Um, do you think it would be okay..."
"And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Brahne, Your Highness, Princess Garnet..." The man prepared to take a bow. Vivi couldn't help being amazed, but at the same time a little peeved as Vanessa kept interrupting. So that blue thing.. had a crown.. was a queen? Things never stopped getting weirder!
"I mean, I don't know where it is, but..."
"...noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want to Be Your Canary'!" The man dipped, and as he did so, a haughty sigh was heard from Vivi's friend.
"I need to go to the bathroom!"
"NOW?" Vivi's eyes nearly popped out. "B-but, we just got here!"
"I know."
"SHH!" A noble lady glared at them, and turned back around to view the play. Vanessa lowered her voice to a whisper, and Vivi tried his best to listen above the bellowing on stage.
"Really, I was wondering if you could come with me!"
"Oh," Vivi didn't know how to respond, but it must have had to be pretty urgent to take her away from this once-in-a-lifetime chance! "I guess, but c-can't you ask... oh, no, I g-guess you can't..." He looked at the guards "patrolling". Riiight... they were just as absorbed in the performance as the audience was!
"Please, Vivi? I think I'm gonna burst!"
"O-Okay," he sighed, but supposed the good part wasn't really until towards the end. Vanessa took his hand and led him past an oblivious guard, stepping into a fancy hallway ... that had too many other hallways to choose from! "W-Which way are we going to g-go?"
"Hmm," using her common sense, and a little bit of history class, Vanessa wondered if instead of bathrooms, the people here used outhouses. "Do you know what a bathroom is, Vivi?"
"U-uh.." Vivi scratched his hat. "It's a place where you go when you-"
"That's okay! That's all I needed to know," Vanessa crept past a reading soldier in the corner, scanning the cover of the magazine the lazy soldier was holding. "Weapons and Abilities: the Complete Guide!"
"What?"
"I wonder.. would the bathroom be upstairs or downstairs?" She tapped her chin, thinking about her own house. Oh, but that didn't help! She had a bathroom downstairs, and upstairs, as well as the ones in Jeremy's room and her room! "Let's try.. to the right."
"The right? Why?"
"Look at the wooden door, silly!" Vanessa bent down and peeked through the door's keyhole. "Ooh, maybe not.." She went red as she realized it was a locker room for the guards. "Well, then, shall we try-"
"We shall finish this later!"
"Come back here!"
The trespassers froze in their places as the voices of two teenage boys rang nearby. They turned and what they saw could have knocked an average person unconscious. But, they weren't average, were they?
"Follow the yellow gil road! Follow the yellow gil road!"
In through the doorway burst a red-haired boy with a belt shielding his eyes from view, and an EXTREMELY GORGEOUS, ATHLETIC, NOBLE, OUT-OF-THIS WORLD (in Vanessa's hormone-raging opinion) boy. They were both brandishing swords and cocky smiles, slipping the money they had been showered with into their pockets.
Well, Vanessa and Vivi just stared, not knowing what to do. After much contemplation, Vanessa coughed. The actors pivoted, giving the two lost children a calculating look. Vanessa didn't like this.. "look".
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Vivi suddenly felt himself being swept off his feet. The belt-faced boy had him clamped against the door, face pushing into the wood. A rope could be felt, winding around the small boy's hands. "W-we're sorry for intruding! P-please let-" His voice was cut short by a nasty crack on the head. Vivi slumped into unconsciousness as the red-haired youth pulled his fist back.
The monkeyish boy stuffed a convenient rag into Vanessa's face as he pulled her along with him. "Blank! I didn't think this would happen! Help!" The teenager gestured to his friend, whispering harshly. Vanessa was startled to see Vivi's now eyeless black form cradled against the other boy's, or Blank's, chest.
"They were intruders anyway, Zidane! Let's drag 'em along and use 'em as decoys," Blank, the redhead, clutched the sleeping body of Vivi close, afraid of letting it drop and alerting the guards around the corner. "Besides.. if they come with us, when they wake up, they can't tell anyone about us being here!"
Vanessa suddenly realized that Blank was right: she COULD tell others of the break in.. but weren't they just heading to the green room, anyway? She warily eyed the cutlet dangling against the monkey, Zidane's, leg. She wondered if she could just... she stretched. No, she couldn't reach it!
"Hey, you, girl," the unfamilliar, yet stunningly cute, Zidane lowered his face to Vanessa's. "You wouldn't tell anyone about this, WOULD you?"
"A-and what if I would? Like, you two-!" Vanessa squeaked as the boys slammed her against the wall. WHAT?! Real pain flooded her.. this virtual reality machine must have been very powerful, for she could feel the air escaping her mouth like it always did when she was winded.. but, but that was real! This was.. well, NOT real.. right?
"That's it." A bead of sweat rolled smoothly down Zidane's boyish nose. His eyes darted to and fro, trying to spot a place of disposal for this.. this.. girl. "Too bad she's a hot one."
"Oh, shut up!" Blank hissed, barely letting his voice be heard. "No time for that.. tie her! We gotta hurry.. I'll go in and take out the guards!"
Take out the guards?! This made Vanessa a little more than anxious. They were NOT going to any greenroom, that was for sure! She had to thwart them before it was a game over! Good verses bad, right?
"Hey, um, I'm sorry," Vanessa averted her eyes from the targets.
"Huh- OOF!" Both the boys sank down, feeling unimaginable pain in certain.. areas. Their groans in unison, their cursings in rhythm, their revenge on its way.
Zidane wobbily stood up and looked around, still not quite sure what had happened.. but he knew deep down. That girl must have kneed him, and then Blank, in places unsuitable for mention! Why he oughtta...! But he couldn't, for that "chick" was no where in sight. The wooden door was swinging. Ah-hah..
"Oooooh! Vanessa and Maaaark, sitting in a treeee!" Jeremy giggled insanely, flipping through the diary of Vanessa Katrina Morrison. A twinkie was stuck halfway into his smiling mouth. A controller hung over the bed by its cord, swinging sullenly. Another page was discovered in her entries.
The screen before Jeremy showed a blonde character rotating this way and that continually, looking for his victim. The text that hung above the character Zidane's head was ominous...
Zidane
"So she's in the guard's room.. right on our way, Blank!"
Vanessa's eyes widened. The two knights in the room advanced on her. "Why are you in here, peasant?!"
"Peasant?!" The knights nodded and gained a look of hostility.
"Peasant.. peasant.. peasant.." The words echoed inside Vanessa's head. Too many people had called her peasant that day! Peasant this, peasant that.. blah, blah, blah! She was sick of it!
"SHUT UP!" Vanessa's scream coincided with Zidane, Blank and Vivi's entrance.. although, Vivi was still being toted along, and it wasn't REALLY his entrance, but- "I'm royalty! I control you all! How DARE YOU CALL ME PEASANT?!"
Royalty? Mistaking Vanessa's kind of royalty, and the ROYALTY kind of royalty, Zidane and Blank were at the peak of uncomfortability at the moment.. if uncomfortability's a word, but you know what I mean. If she could control them, it OBVIOUSLY meant she was ... but then, how come the guards treated her that way? Zidane and Blank didn't have time to find out.
"Uh, um... Attack!" Vivi was dropped to the floor as the actors pummeled the soldiers, beating them into submission. Vanessa watched as her "heroes" caught their breath, stuffing on the spoils of war.
"Why are you putting on their armor? Won't you get in trouble?"
The boys gave eachother a quizzical look.
"Well, no one said hot babes had to be smart," Zidane shrugged, folding his now-padded arms. "But I don't think she's the princess..."
"You kidding?! Who else would speak to a guard that way? Unless.."
"Are there TWO princesses?!" Zidane and Blank spoke together this last sentence, and glanced at Vanessa, who was now tending Vivi's body.
"Are you okay?" Vanessa was unaware of the shadows that loomed over her, trying to prop Vivi up to a sitting position. "Come on, like, speak or something!" Not even a sigh could be forced out of his mouth.
"Which one are we supposed to get, again?"
"Garnet, stupid!"
"Are you SURE about that?" Blank studied Zidane's twitching face. "Didn't think so. Nab now, ask later!"
The only thing that could be heard following this was the continuous complaining/whining/nagging of the 'nabbed' girl. Still holding Vivi like a precious doll, Vanessa was thrown over Blank's shoulder. Without so much as an apology for the awful position, the charming (and yet rude) actor rushed after his comrade, dodging guards as he bolted up the stairs.
Wait a minute! Vanessa kept a steady mind as Vivi's golden eyes flickered back into visibility, staring cluelessly into her own blue eyes. That monkey.. he was also on the cover of the game! Another good guy, or the big baddie?! She didn't have the time to object to this kidnapping, though, being thrown down on the ground as Blank dumped her and Vivi into a struggling pile. He ran over to Zidane and the hooded girl Zidane was talking to.
"What's happening..?" Vivi again passed into a dizzy slumber. Vanessa could only watch.
"H-hey, you're-"
No sooner had the monkey boy spoken than the girl took off, running past Blank... into the living heap. She tripped and fell, now entangled in the mess. Zidane and Blank rushed over, laughing hysterically. Obviously they thought it was "funny".
Vanessa actually had no idea what was going on for the last five minutes or so, from the time she had stumbled into the guards' room to when this mysterious person in the cloak had joined the jumble of confusion. This was too much! The game obviously had some very major bugs that needed to be worked out, and she had claimed the untested version from the store! Ooh, her mother was going to hear about this..
What? Picked up again?! "HEY!"
Jeremy's face broke into a grin as he watched the two members of that Tantalus, or whatever it was, sprint down the stairs and carry off their prizes: the whiner, Vanessa, that little boy, Vivi, and the hooded figure.. who Jeremy concluded, from the kidnapping, was Princess Garnet.
Life was good as Jeremy stuffed Vanessa's diary under her pillow. After he got onto the theatre ship, the destination of Zidane and Blank, he would be sure to save! He was always paranoid that something would shut the game off before he could talk to a moogle... but he didn't need to worry about it now. All he needed to do was relax as belt-boy and monkey-man strapped the two girls together, holding them hostage.
"Heh, what a weird game," Jeremy shook his head again. Gosh, how he hated having longer curly hair! He needed to get it cut soon, he knew... but, he thought, I'm still better looking than that dumb monkey guy! Sheesh, if that 'Vanessa' had seen HIM, her heart wouldn't have just been "thump-thump! thump-thump!" It would have been "CHICKA-BOOMA-THUMP! CHICKA-BOOMA-THUMP!" .... Yes, keep in mind Jeremy was a seventh grade boy with typical, self-loving, seventh-grade thoughts.
"Hey! You can't just leave us here!" Vanessa screamed after the kidnappers. "Wh-where are you going?! COME BACK!"
Vivi lay unconscious, in the middle of the Prima Vista's (for Vanessa could see a factual piece of paper about the ship posted nearby, and that's where she discovered the name of the ship) central 'living room'. Vanessa and, you guessed it, Princess Garnet sat, tethered to the table. It had been an exciting day for Vanessa, in the least.
"We'll be back, but we have a show to do!" Zidane disappeared through a doorway, Blank tailing him. Silence followed the bang of the closing door behind them.
Vanessa looked around. It was a colorful room, but not rich. Second-rate drapes flooded the corner, piled under the sign labeled 'Dirty Laundry'.. Vanessa squinted, trying to isolate a distant cound from the cheering audience somewhere above the room she was captive in. It was no use.. although she could've sworn she heard someone calling for the princess.
"Hey," Vanessa twisted around part way to look at Princess Garnet. She hadn't spoken since the "trip". "Don't you have anything to say? Don't you hate being here?"
The princess remained silent, strongly reminding Vanessa of Vivi... that's right, Vivi! The poor boy was still motionless. Vanessa started to get worried.
"Oh, man! It's so hopeless!" Vanessa felt a pinprick inside the corner of her eye. She struggled to remain, what she thought was, strong, but eventually a solitary tear found its way down her pretty, pointed nose. She didn't even know why she was crying, when she finally realized she was! Maybe it was the frustration, and the despair, and simply knowing she could be at home right then... and be loved... but she WAS home, wasn't she?
The first doubt she had, she had when a booming male voice penetrated the room.
"PRINCESS!!!"
---
A/N: REVIEW if you want to see Vanessa out of this awful fix.. (and into another one.. hehe ^^) Don't you feel sorry for her, sort of? She desperatley wants your view on the story so far, as do I! And if you review..
YOUR REVIEW WILL BE ACKNOWLEDGED!!!!! Proven below.
Reviewer Thanks:
Quistis88 Always first, no? Hope you're doing well on that Pokemon thing.. LOL! Chat me!
Mimi-kins You liked the potato-sack dress, too? Thanks for the funny review! Update your story soon, no?
the Sly Eagle ^^ ROTFLOL about the nail-thing, yeah, I guess the PS is a perfect nail-dryer-entertainer thing! I'll have to see your Ashley.. ^^ Thanks for reviewing!
Elyon and Amarant Email me some more, though I can't tonight.. I think I exhausted my brain finishing this up.. talk l8er, k? Thanx!
Gazing Dreams I hope you like this chapter, too.. yeah, Vanessa's a prep, but still human. Weird to put those two words in the same sentence j/k Hope you come back again! LOL thanks!
Lady Geagua I'm continuing it alright! How'd you like this chapter? Any part funny? Thanks for reviewing and.. well, the nezt chapter will be good!
Aya the Vivi Freak LOL about your review and yes! I r/r'ed your sucked into ff9 fic.. really good w/ Flare and Flow and everyone.. you going to continue? Thanks and come again!
Yumeko Mailing now! Sure, I'll update you!! No prob, I know how busy things can get.. here ya go and enjoy! And thanks for reviewing, too. ^^ I hope you like the descriptiveness to Jeremy, and hot? Yes, for a seventh grader..! ^^
S.queen Sorry if I don't update fast enough! So very.. I dunno, I'd be lying if I said, busy.. hmm.. I'll get the next chapter up quicker! Ok, and thanks!!
winky golden How'd yer test go? ^^ Got top marks, I'll bet.. hehe, she's a "princess" to the boys.. LOL come again and thanks!
Lorelei Valentine TWINS and BAD?! Ewwgh! ::shudders:: The worst kind! But at least they're not.. SEPTUPLETS O.O!! J/k ^^ Thanks!
Erin Tribal No prob w/ the stories.. cool, you know? I hope you read more.. because it just may be interesting! Thanks again!!
TO BE CONTINUED, if you review! This is kind of taxxing, so I'd like to know if you appreciate my work! Thanks..
A/N Teasers: Castle guards, troublesome boys, and realization... and someone has to relieve themselves in the middle of it ^^;; And to get my (lame) joke, I pronounce Brahne's name Queen (kween) Brahne (bron) .. okay, n/m ^^;;
Like, Final Fantasy IX - by ThingBling
Chapter IV: Buns of Brahnes?!
"Let's see... eleven packages of twinkies, two packs of Coke, five frozen pizzas, and a french silk pie..." Jeremy trailed off, checking his supplies. Yes... it just might be! He stuffed the frozen and refrigerated objects (pizza, Coke, and the pie) into Vanessa's mini refridgerator-freezer-thing. "I could LIVE IN HERE for the weekend!"
"Jeremy-honey, see you Monday! Daddy and I are going on one of our little outtings... Take care, baby!"
Jeremy listened as his parents banged the door shut behind them. A smile crept across his face. Good thing they had forgotten-
"OH! And no parties!"
"DANG!!" Jeremy flopped back on the bed, back-floating on the adorable pink blanket. He listened as his parents got in their new Mustang and drove off. Oh, well, he didn't really want to have a dumb party any way. Last time, all the girls had followed him around until he had locked himself in his room. Just hearing the word "party" and looking at his twinkies at the same time made him feel sick. Uh.. for no good reason, of course!
The screen of Vanessa's otherworldly TV was still, one word sticking out in the middle of the blackness of the scene. "Pause" was a lifesaver, Jeremy was to learn, but just whose life was he saving?
"Okay, I think I'm set! Well, almost," Jeremy looked into the mirror Vanessa kept on her bedside table. He shook his head, parting the loose curls that flowed over his forehead. Charcoal eyes stared back at him, a boyish desire burning bright within. He was always proud of his nose... he wasn't quite sure why. It was normal-sized and didn't attract too much attention, and that was good enough for him. He ran a smudged thumb over the band-aid on his cheek, wondering when his mom would let him take it off. Oh, well. At least she LET him play football, considering how she absolutely refused him the hockey position he wanted.
Jeremy fished around under his bed. It was bound to be somewhere... a-ha! Slowly but surely, an old notebook was drawn from the ancient mess under the bed. Jeremy brushed back his chocolate waves as he plunked the worn book down beside him.
"I think it's about time I read a little of Vanessa's diary, like a younger brother should," he grinned like an imp, leaning back against the many pillows Vanessa had collected over the last year for her new bed. "Nah.. I better read after I get to another moogle thing.. koo-poh! Who knows? She'd probably burst in and unplug the game if she caught me! I want to save before any of THAT happens.." Well, a little brother's reasoning, as many would know, isn't the easiest to sway. He was going to read. Alas, the pause button had more priority!
"Whoa!" Vanessa followed Vivi, avoiding the eyes of many as she raced along the back of the seated audience. "Look at all the people! Vivi, is this the rich crowd?!"
The small boy didn't answer, spotting and pointing at a choice view a few yards away. It was behind a weird bird-lady and an insane-looking otter-man. Vanessa didn't argue with the choice of seating, however, because it was better than standing behind, oh.. say.. that scary, fat monster just beyond the balcony!
"Here.." Vivi panted, stopping abruptly. He was nearly knocked over when Vanessa came to a halt, still enamoured with the surroundings. Clapping suddenly filled the air, and he joined in. Vanessa was too dumbstruck to do anything. "I-I think it's starting, M-Miss Vanessa..."
And so it was. Before, only a hint of music could be heard as the two had been in a mad rush to catch the play before it began, but now, proud trumpets blared and the hidden strings section seemed to weave in and out of the drums' steady beat. Vanessa and Vivi shielded their eyes as the intense fireworks split the scene with ear-throbbing cracks and colorful designs. On second thought, maybe Vanessa WOULD rent this game out again!
"What the heck?!" Vanessa whispered.
"W-What?" Vivi turned to look at her.
Vanessa's heart jumped in an erratic shock. "Th-that monster... it's dancing!"
Vivi stared where Vanessa was pointing. A round-faced, yellow-pigtailed, blue-skinned blob rotated behind the railing of the balcony Vanessa had spied earlier. Vivi tried to restrain Vanessa, as she looked like she was going to scream.
"Like, oh my-!!!"
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Vanessa was interrupted by a pigfaced man, accented against the stage's darkness with a spotlight.
Vivi tried to avert Vanessa's attention away from the "monster", but it was no use. The more he tugged at her brown, flowery sleeve, the more Vanessa seemed to slip into shock. Finally, he gave up and muttered something that sounded like, "G-girls..."
"Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago," the man's goggles flashed, and he extended his arms towards the gossiping audience. "Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus."
"Huh? Oh, how sad," Vanessa stroked her hair, wondering when the introduction would end, and when the dumb guy in front of her would stop scratching his dumb otter-head! "What did he say, Vivi?"
"She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo." The pig-nosed performer's golden, shoulder-length hair shone brilliantly. His robe swept around him like a red river's torrent.
"Vivi..."
"What?" Vivi looked at her. She was squinting.
"When our story begins, Marcus, having heard this, crosses swords with the King." The speaker was noticeably overweight, but not like the "monster", Vanessa noted. She wasn't a deep thinker, Vanessa wasn't.
"Um, do you think it would be okay..."
"And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Brahne, Your Highness, Princess Garnet..." The man prepared to take a bow. Vivi couldn't help being amazed, but at the same time a little peeved as Vanessa kept interrupting. So that blue thing.. had a crown.. was a queen? Things never stopped getting weirder!
"I mean, I don't know where it is, but..."
"...noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want to Be Your Canary'!" The man dipped, and as he did so, a haughty sigh was heard from Vivi's friend.
"I need to go to the bathroom!"
"NOW?" Vivi's eyes nearly popped out. "B-but, we just got here!"
"I know."
"SHH!" A noble lady glared at them, and turned back around to view the play. Vanessa lowered her voice to a whisper, and Vivi tried his best to listen above the bellowing on stage.
"Really, I was wondering if you could come with me!"
"Oh," Vivi didn't know how to respond, but it must have had to be pretty urgent to take her away from this once-in-a-lifetime chance! "I guess, but c-can't you ask... oh, no, I g-guess you can't..." He looked at the guards "patrolling". Riiight... they were just as absorbed in the performance as the audience was!
"Please, Vivi? I think I'm gonna burst!"
"O-Okay," he sighed, but supposed the good part wasn't really until towards the end. Vanessa took his hand and led him past an oblivious guard, stepping into a fancy hallway ... that had too many other hallways to choose from! "W-Which way are we going to g-go?"
"Hmm," using her common sense, and a little bit of history class, Vanessa wondered if instead of bathrooms, the people here used outhouses. "Do you know what a bathroom is, Vivi?"
"U-uh.." Vivi scratched his hat. "It's a place where you go when you-"
"That's okay! That's all I needed to know," Vanessa crept past a reading soldier in the corner, scanning the cover of the magazine the lazy soldier was holding. "Weapons and Abilities: the Complete Guide!"
"What?"
"I wonder.. would the bathroom be upstairs or downstairs?" She tapped her chin, thinking about her own house. Oh, but that didn't help! She had a bathroom downstairs, and upstairs, as well as the ones in Jeremy's room and her room! "Let's try.. to the right."
"The right? Why?"
"Look at the wooden door, silly!" Vanessa bent down and peeked through the door's keyhole. "Ooh, maybe not.." She went red as she realized it was a locker room for the guards. "Well, then, shall we try-"
"We shall finish this later!"
"Come back here!"
The trespassers froze in their places as the voices of two teenage boys rang nearby. They turned and what they saw could have knocked an average person unconscious. But, they weren't average, were they?
"Follow the yellow gil road! Follow the yellow gil road!"
In through the doorway burst a red-haired boy with a belt shielding his eyes from view, and an EXTREMELY GORGEOUS, ATHLETIC, NOBLE, OUT-OF-THIS WORLD (in Vanessa's hormone-raging opinion) boy. They were both brandishing swords and cocky smiles, slipping the money they had been showered with into their pockets.
Well, Vanessa and Vivi just stared, not knowing what to do. After much contemplation, Vanessa coughed. The actors pivoted, giving the two lost children a calculating look. Vanessa didn't like this.. "look".
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Vivi suddenly felt himself being swept off his feet. The belt-faced boy had him clamped against the door, face pushing into the wood. A rope could be felt, winding around the small boy's hands. "W-we're sorry for intruding! P-please let-" His voice was cut short by a nasty crack on the head. Vivi slumped into unconsciousness as the red-haired youth pulled his fist back.
The monkeyish boy stuffed a convenient rag into Vanessa's face as he pulled her along with him. "Blank! I didn't think this would happen! Help!" The teenager gestured to his friend, whispering harshly. Vanessa was startled to see Vivi's now eyeless black form cradled against the other boy's, or Blank's, chest.
"They were intruders anyway, Zidane! Let's drag 'em along and use 'em as decoys," Blank, the redhead, clutched the sleeping body of Vivi close, afraid of letting it drop and alerting the guards around the corner. "Besides.. if they come with us, when they wake up, they can't tell anyone about us being here!"
Vanessa suddenly realized that Blank was right: she COULD tell others of the break in.. but weren't they just heading to the green room, anyway? She warily eyed the cutlet dangling against the monkey, Zidane's, leg. She wondered if she could just... she stretched. No, she couldn't reach it!
"Hey, you, girl," the unfamilliar, yet stunningly cute, Zidane lowered his face to Vanessa's. "You wouldn't tell anyone about this, WOULD you?"
"A-and what if I would? Like, you two-!" Vanessa squeaked as the boys slammed her against the wall. WHAT?! Real pain flooded her.. this virtual reality machine must have been very powerful, for she could feel the air escaping her mouth like it always did when she was winded.. but, but that was real! This was.. well, NOT real.. right?
"That's it." A bead of sweat rolled smoothly down Zidane's boyish nose. His eyes darted to and fro, trying to spot a place of disposal for this.. this.. girl. "Too bad she's a hot one."
"Oh, shut up!" Blank hissed, barely letting his voice be heard. "No time for that.. tie her! We gotta hurry.. I'll go in and take out the guards!"
Take out the guards?! This made Vanessa a little more than anxious. They were NOT going to any greenroom, that was for sure! She had to thwart them before it was a game over! Good verses bad, right?
"Hey, um, I'm sorry," Vanessa averted her eyes from the targets.
"Huh- OOF!" Both the boys sank down, feeling unimaginable pain in certain.. areas. Their groans in unison, their cursings in rhythm, their revenge on its way.
Zidane wobbily stood up and looked around, still not quite sure what had happened.. but he knew deep down. That girl must have kneed him, and then Blank, in places unsuitable for mention! Why he oughtta...! But he couldn't, for that "chick" was no where in sight. The wooden door was swinging. Ah-hah..
"Oooooh! Vanessa and Maaaark, sitting in a treeee!" Jeremy giggled insanely, flipping through the diary of Vanessa Katrina Morrison. A twinkie was stuck halfway into his smiling mouth. A controller hung over the bed by its cord, swinging sullenly. Another page was discovered in her entries.
The screen before Jeremy showed a blonde character rotating this way and that continually, looking for his victim. The text that hung above the character Zidane's head was ominous...
Zidane
"So she's in the guard's room.. right on our way, Blank!"
Vanessa's eyes widened. The two knights in the room advanced on her. "Why are you in here, peasant?!"
"Peasant?!" The knights nodded and gained a look of hostility.
"Peasant.. peasant.. peasant.." The words echoed inside Vanessa's head. Too many people had called her peasant that day! Peasant this, peasant that.. blah, blah, blah! She was sick of it!
"SHUT UP!" Vanessa's scream coincided with Zidane, Blank and Vivi's entrance.. although, Vivi was still being toted along, and it wasn't REALLY his entrance, but- "I'm royalty! I control you all! How DARE YOU CALL ME PEASANT?!"
Royalty? Mistaking Vanessa's kind of royalty, and the ROYALTY kind of royalty, Zidane and Blank were at the peak of uncomfortability at the moment.. if uncomfortability's a word, but you know what I mean. If she could control them, it OBVIOUSLY meant she was ... but then, how come the guards treated her that way? Zidane and Blank didn't have time to find out.
"Uh, um... Attack!" Vivi was dropped to the floor as the actors pummeled the soldiers, beating them into submission. Vanessa watched as her "heroes" caught their breath, stuffing on the spoils of war.
"Why are you putting on their armor? Won't you get in trouble?"
The boys gave eachother a quizzical look.
"Well, no one said hot babes had to be smart," Zidane shrugged, folding his now-padded arms. "But I don't think she's the princess..."
"You kidding?! Who else would speak to a guard that way? Unless.."
"Are there TWO princesses?!" Zidane and Blank spoke together this last sentence, and glanced at Vanessa, who was now tending Vivi's body.
"Are you okay?" Vanessa was unaware of the shadows that loomed over her, trying to prop Vivi up to a sitting position. "Come on, like, speak or something!" Not even a sigh could be forced out of his mouth.
"Which one are we supposed to get, again?"
"Garnet, stupid!"
"Are you SURE about that?" Blank studied Zidane's twitching face. "Didn't think so. Nab now, ask later!"
The only thing that could be heard following this was the continuous complaining/whining/nagging of the 'nabbed' girl. Still holding Vivi like a precious doll, Vanessa was thrown over Blank's shoulder. Without so much as an apology for the awful position, the charming (and yet rude) actor rushed after his comrade, dodging guards as he bolted up the stairs.
Wait a minute! Vanessa kept a steady mind as Vivi's golden eyes flickered back into visibility, staring cluelessly into her own blue eyes. That monkey.. he was also on the cover of the game! Another good guy, or the big baddie?! She didn't have the time to object to this kidnapping, though, being thrown down on the ground as Blank dumped her and Vivi into a struggling pile. He ran over to Zidane and the hooded girl Zidane was talking to.
"What's happening..?" Vivi again passed into a dizzy slumber. Vanessa could only watch.
"H-hey, you're-"
No sooner had the monkey boy spoken than the girl took off, running past Blank... into the living heap. She tripped and fell, now entangled in the mess. Zidane and Blank rushed over, laughing hysterically. Obviously they thought it was "funny".
Vanessa actually had no idea what was going on for the last five minutes or so, from the time she had stumbled into the guards' room to when this mysterious person in the cloak had joined the jumble of confusion. This was too much! The game obviously had some very major bugs that needed to be worked out, and she had claimed the untested version from the store! Ooh, her mother was going to hear about this..
What? Picked up again?! "HEY!"
Jeremy's face broke into a grin as he watched the two members of that Tantalus, or whatever it was, sprint down the stairs and carry off their prizes: the whiner, Vanessa, that little boy, Vivi, and the hooded figure.. who Jeremy concluded, from the kidnapping, was Princess Garnet.
Life was good as Jeremy stuffed Vanessa's diary under her pillow. After he got onto the theatre ship, the destination of Zidane and Blank, he would be sure to save! He was always paranoid that something would shut the game off before he could talk to a moogle... but he didn't need to worry about it now. All he needed to do was relax as belt-boy and monkey-man strapped the two girls together, holding them hostage.
"Heh, what a weird game," Jeremy shook his head again. Gosh, how he hated having longer curly hair! He needed to get it cut soon, he knew... but, he thought, I'm still better looking than that dumb monkey guy! Sheesh, if that 'Vanessa' had seen HIM, her heart wouldn't have just been "thump-thump! thump-thump!" It would have been "CHICKA-BOOMA-THUMP! CHICKA-BOOMA-THUMP!" .... Yes, keep in mind Jeremy was a seventh grade boy with typical, self-loving, seventh-grade thoughts.
"Hey! You can't just leave us here!" Vanessa screamed after the kidnappers. "Wh-where are you going?! COME BACK!"
Vivi lay unconscious, in the middle of the Prima Vista's (for Vanessa could see a factual piece of paper about the ship posted nearby, and that's where she discovered the name of the ship) central 'living room'. Vanessa and, you guessed it, Princess Garnet sat, tethered to the table. It had been an exciting day for Vanessa, in the least.
"We'll be back, but we have a show to do!" Zidane disappeared through a doorway, Blank tailing him. Silence followed the bang of the closing door behind them.
Vanessa looked around. It was a colorful room, but not rich. Second-rate drapes flooded the corner, piled under the sign labeled 'Dirty Laundry'.. Vanessa squinted, trying to isolate a distant cound from the cheering audience somewhere above the room she was captive in. It was no use.. although she could've sworn she heard someone calling for the princess.
"Hey," Vanessa twisted around part way to look at Princess Garnet. She hadn't spoken since the "trip". "Don't you have anything to say? Don't you hate being here?"
The princess remained silent, strongly reminding Vanessa of Vivi... that's right, Vivi! The poor boy was still motionless. Vanessa started to get worried.
"Oh, man! It's so hopeless!" Vanessa felt a pinprick inside the corner of her eye. She struggled to remain, what she thought was, strong, but eventually a solitary tear found its way down her pretty, pointed nose. She didn't even know why she was crying, when she finally realized she was! Maybe it was the frustration, and the despair, and simply knowing she could be at home right then... and be loved... but she WAS home, wasn't she?
The first doubt she had, she had when a booming male voice penetrated the room.
"PRINCESS!!!"
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A/N: REVIEW if you want to see Vanessa out of this awful fix.. (and into another one.. hehe ^^) Don't you feel sorry for her, sort of? She desperatley wants your view on the story so far, as do I! And if you review..
YOUR REVIEW WILL BE ACKNOWLEDGED!!!!! Proven below.
Reviewer Thanks:
Quistis88 Always first, no? Hope you're doing well on that Pokemon thing.. LOL! Chat me!
Mimi-kins You liked the potato-sack dress, too? Thanks for the funny review! Update your story soon, no?
the Sly Eagle ^^ ROTFLOL about the nail-thing, yeah, I guess the PS is a perfect nail-dryer-entertainer thing! I'll have to see your Ashley.. ^^ Thanks for reviewing!
Elyon and Amarant Email me some more, though I can't tonight.. I think I exhausted my brain finishing this up.. talk l8er, k? Thanx!
Gazing Dreams I hope you like this chapter, too.. yeah, Vanessa's a prep, but still human. Weird to put those two words in the same sentence j/k Hope you come back again! LOL thanks!
Lady Geagua I'm continuing it alright! How'd you like this chapter? Any part funny? Thanks for reviewing and.. well, the nezt chapter will be good!
Aya the Vivi Freak LOL about your review and yes! I r/r'ed your sucked into ff9 fic.. really good w/ Flare and Flow and everyone.. you going to continue? Thanks and come again!
Yumeko Mailing now! Sure, I'll update you!! No prob, I know how busy things can get.. here ya go and enjoy! And thanks for reviewing, too. ^^ I hope you like the descriptiveness to Jeremy, and hot? Yes, for a seventh grader..! ^^
S.queen Sorry if I don't update fast enough! So very.. I dunno, I'd be lying if I said, busy.. hmm.. I'll get the next chapter up quicker! Ok, and thanks!!
winky golden How'd yer test go? ^^ Got top marks, I'll bet.. hehe, she's a "princess" to the boys.. LOL come again and thanks!
Lorelei Valentine TWINS and BAD?! Ewwgh! ::shudders:: The worst kind! But at least they're not.. SEPTUPLETS O.O!! J/k ^^ Thanks!
Erin Tribal No prob w/ the stories.. cool, you know? I hope you read more.. because it just may be interesting! Thanks again!!
TO BE CONTINUED, if you review! This is kind of taxxing, so I'd like to know if you appreciate my work! Thanks..
