****Jade's P.O.V****
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight's
performance is a story that takes place long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess
Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only
to be captured by her father, King Leo. Marcus, having heard of this, crosses
swords with the king…"
I had a bad case of stage fright, and
now wasn't exactly a good time. Everyone was counting on me not to screw up,
and here I was hyperventilating… I tried to hide my trembling hands in my
pocket, but then realized I would need them to use that dagger for the fight
scene with King Leo.
"I can't do this." I turned to Zidane,
"I really can't do this…"
"C'mon, acting's not that hard."
I looked out at the audience again, " It is when there's over a million people
watching!"
Unfortunately, Baku had just finished
with the play's intro…
"That's our cue, c'mon, you'll do
fine."
Blank started his lines, " Bereft of father! Bereft of mother! Marcus! Thou
hast lost even thy love!"
"Fortune hath escap'd thee!" Cinna
continued, "For what end shalt thou live?"
Zidane raised his broad sword, "For the sake of our friend… let us bury our
steel in the heart of the wretched King Leo!"
"Aye" both Blank and Cinna answered on
cue, I was just a little behind. "A-aye…"
Being on stage wasn't as bad as I thought it was, not as bad as I remembered
anyway. Before I knew it, the battle had started. I couldn't believe everyone
had said their lines already, but you kind of lose track of time when you're
spacing out and trying not to throw up all over the stage. I clumsily grabbed
for the dagger Zidane had given me and took up a battle stance. Everything came
easily after that; I basically just dodged swinging swords and tried not to pass
out.
The play was going smoothly- or at
least so far- I found out I could act out a sword fight and not get sick. Then
Baku had to go and get me mad. He hit Zidane with the flat of his sword and
nearly knocked him out.
"Hey boss, not so hard!" he whispered
while trying to recover from the blow.
I decided to make the fight a little more interesting for the audience and have
some fun; this time I wouldn't miss my target like we were supposed to. (It is
just a play you know!) I only nicked Baku in the leg, not a severe injury;
I doubted it would even leave a scar, but it was revenge nonetheless. And
luckily we had run out of time for the fight scene, so I couldn't get cut back.
"Arrg… Grr…" Baku stumbled off towards
the stage's castle, "Thou hast not seen the last of me Markus!"
"Come back!" Zidane shouted and ran
after 'King Leo,' I (being backup) followed Zidane. Blank blocked our path with
his sword drawn.
"Out of the way, Blank!" Zidane swiped
his blade through the air, forcing Blank into a back flip to evade it.
"Consider this Zidane! If Prince
Schneider were to marry Princess Cornelia, peace would reign over both their
kingdoms!"
" 'Tis foolishness! If all were so
easy, why none would suffer in this world!"
Zidane and I chased Blank up the stairs where they crossed swords.
After Blank ducked a few of Zidane's swings, he jumped back onto the stage.
Zidane and I followed, chasing him into the audience.
"En garde!" Blank yelled, his sword
drawn.
"Expect no quarter from me!"
Blank And Zidane began their choreographed fight scene that must have taken
forever for them to learn. When it came near the end of the sword fight, Blank
looked at Zidane and nodded towards me. I wasn't exactly sure what they were
thinking, but Zidane gave a thumbs-up and fell to the floor.
"Just improvise!" he whispered
desperately at me. I smirked and nodded.
"Partners live together and partners
die together, I'll not let this endure without penalty! Prepare to die
traitor!"
I grabbed Zidane's broadsword and Blank
began whispering commands to me. I was a bit scared at first that I'd mess up
and would get my head chopped off, but after only seconds it seemed, the fight
was over and I was still in one piece.
"We shall finish this later!" Blank
said, while running off stage.
"Come back here!" I yelled, chasing
after him. The audience went wild and Gil seemed to rain from the sky. I
pocketed a bit remembering that I was broke in this world, then continued off
stage.
Zidane met up with us moments later and
we continued into the castle.
"You did great," Zidane said as he
approached, " nice work Jade."
"Yea," Blank continued, "But you're
lucky the boss didn't kill ya for that stunt you pulled back in the sword fight
with King Leo."
" He probably would have, I'm just
lucky we ran out of time for that scene. But anyway, don't we have a Princess
to kidnap?
"That's right! Let's go!"
I stood guard outside as Zidane and Blank beat up two of the Knights of Pluto
and 'borrowed' their armor.
"Finished changing Zidane?"
Zidane turned to face Blank, "Yea but this helmet… It kinda smells…"
He tossed the piece of scrap metal onto the table.
"What are you talkin' about!? My helmet
totally reeks!" Blank retorted,
"My armor's way too big… and my back's
really itchy… The boots are wet… My gloves are all slimy… There's cookie crumbs
in my pockets…"
"Okay, I get the picture…"
"And what about me? I need a disguise
too, don't I?"
Zidane looked out into the next room. "There's two female guards out there…"
"You expect me to wear that!?"
Zidane shrugged, "Just go as you are then."
He turned back to Blank, "you still
have the package right?"
"Don't worry! I won't screw up!" He
then reached out to grab an Oglop that had jumped out of his armor.
Zidane started to say something when I
interrupted, "Yes, yes, we know, you're going to pour sleep potion into
Princess Garnet's teacup…and you," I said turning to Blank, " have a little
something for the lovely Queen. Can we go now?"
They both nodded and we continued into
the next room, making sure no one saw us.
"According to recon…" Blank started.
"The royal seats are up there," I
finished, "let's just get this over with!"
