Artistic Differences
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine!
A/N: Yay! I finally updated! I've been so busy…I had three papers due this week, plus I have to do two projects over the weekend, and write another paper about why I deserve to be inducted into National Honor Society…junior year sucks! At least there's no school on Friday! But enough with my blab…here's the chapter. Don't forget to review and thanks to all my fantastic awesome reviewers!
Cute Lil Sora: Aww..thanks! Marcus is in this chapter a lot, and we learn a lot about him. BTW, I love your fics, so update them soon!
Raine189: I'll try to update sooner but things just keep getting in the way!
Cherri88: There's not much takari or michi in this chapter, but I can promise more in the next one!
Yume-dream: Maybe it did. Tai really knew what he was talking about!
Chiara: I'm trying to put some mystery and drama in here, but I don't know how well it's working!
Winter-Green Elf: Thanks; yeah…Marcus is a smooth talker…
Blondie121147: Matt about lets him have it in here…
Scorpion05: Matt will tell Sora very soon…I promise…
Yakari Taito: Thanks!
Inconnu: Yep…I would never kill off Tai…it would be too boring without him!
Sorato4eva: Jun's going to be at the ball…
Curtis Zidane Ziraa: You'll have to wait to see what Marcus is up to…
Crazyamzy: I almost did kill Marcus off while I was writing his conversation with Matt until I realized I'd loose everything I have planned if I did. He'll suffer eventually, just not yet!
Chapter 13: Artistic Differences
The arrival of Marcus of Lockton certainly did not go unnoticed in the castle. After resting for the day, he was up and walking around the castle.
Rumors were spreading about how and why he had arrived. It was impossible to go from one part of the castle to the other without hearing someone talk about the young man.
Marcus came across as a strong-willed but benevolent young man. He offered his help to everyone no matter what they were doing. Marcus was perceived as a smooth conversationalist, optimist, and overall good guy—well to almost everyone except Matt.
Upon seeing him wake up, the blond knew Marcus was up to no good. While the rest of the castle seemed to marvel at the boy, Matt tried to catch him in the act of doing something. He didn't know what that something would be but had a strong feeling the former prince had not been disowned.
"I agree with you, Matt, but I don't know how we can prove this." T.K. said late Tuesday night as he talked with his older brother in the garden.
"We're going to have to think of something, Teeks. By the way, have you seen my harmonica? I was looking for it yesterday, and I can't seem to find it any where."
"Did you misplace it?"
"No. It was sitting on my bed stand, and when I went to play it yesterday, it was gone."
T.K. faced his brother. "I haven't seen it."
"Oh well, it's not that important compared to the ball. Here comes the king right now."
King Haruhiko walked over to the two boys and smiled. "I'm glad you both could make it. I bet you're wondering why I asked to meet you."
"Yes, sire." T.K. answered, speaking for both of them.
King Haruhiko smiled again. "As you know the ball is in three days. The royal family and I request that…"
"We'll stay out of your way." Matt answered. "You won't have to worry, King Haruhiko."
The King gave him a quizzical look. "Why would you stay out of the way when we are having a ball? Your family is the special guests; you must be there! I came to tell you the others are going into Roselle tomorrow to look at appropriate attire. We would like you to go with them and pick out something to wear. And don't worry about the cost. Money is no option. If you find something you like, please get it."
"Are you sure?" T.K. asked, unbelieving what the king had just said.
"Of course I'm sure!" He answered.
T.K. smiled. "This is…wow…thank you, King Haruhiko." The boy paused before speaking again. "Thank you."
"Yes," Matt answered, "it's really generous of you."
"Like I said, Matt, it's no problem. Now you two had better get to bed. It seems like you've got a busy day ahead of you."
T.K. smiled. "I think I will. Goodnight." He walked out of the garden and into the castle.
"Well, Matt, I think I am going to turn in for the night as well. Goodnight…"
"Wait!" Matt interrupted. "King Haruhiko, I have a few things I would like to talk to you about. Would that be okay?"
I hope he wants to talk to me about what I want him to talk to me about. "Sure, that would be no problem. Please, go ahead."
Matt paused. I'll go with the easier one first. "I don't trust Marcus. I have a very strong feeling he is up to something and is targeting your kingdom and family."
The King paused, soaking Matt's thoughts in and trying to word his own opinion. "You've never lied to me before, Matt. Marcus has come across as a good man, but I, too, have had some suspicions about him. There are things I've noticed, though I do not feel the need to share them with you, that have made me question some of the things he has said and done."
"What are you going to do about him, King Haruhiko?"
The man sighed. "I am not sure yet. He will be staying through the end of the week and for the ball and then leaving. I want some more time to understand what it is he is plotting. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sire."
The man smiled. "I knew you would. Is that it?"
Matt cleared his throat. "No."
There was a long silent pause. "Don't be shy, please tell…" the King motioned for the artist to continue.
"The thing is…well, it's like this…you see…" Matt paused. This is so much harder than I thought. Come on, you can do this! "Sire, I'm…over the past few weeks your daughter and I have become really close…what I'm trying to say is…I love your daughter more than life itself and would like to ask her hand in marriage. I know I have nothing to offer her; I'm just an artist and she's a princess but I love her, and she loves me…" The blond rattled on.
"Matt!" The King shouted several times, waving his hands in front of the blonde's face. "Matt, it's okay! Queen Toshiko and I are not opposed to it! We've been waiting for something like this to happen."
"You were?" Matt asked, incredibly surprised the king had answered the way he did.
King Haruhiko smiled. "Yes we were. Matt, you have my blessing. Sora is yours."
"You mean it?" Matt answered in disbelief. "You. Really. Mean it?"
He wrapped an arm around the younger man. "Yes, Matt, I really mean it. I know how much Sora cares about you and how much you care for her. Don't say you have nothing to offer her. She doesn't care that about the differences in your backgrounds and neither do her mother, your parents, and I. We are all one hundred percent supportive of the two of you and would be quite disappointed if you weren't the future king."
"King?" Matt asked, weakly. I can't believe I forgot about that little detail.
"You'll be fine, Matt. I'll be here to help you, and Sora will make one very good queen. Between the two of you the kingdom will prosper." He paused. "Well, it looks like we've got a little more to look forward to in the coming days, if you get my drift. I'd say sleep would be a good thing."
"Yeah." Matt answered. "King, Haruhiko…thank you."
"It's no problem Matt…welcome to the family…"
Matt woke up to a knock on his door. "What?" he groaned.
The door creaked open and he was greeted by a loud, loud noise. "WAKE UP!" Matt sat straight up in bed and stared at the intruder.
"Tai, what are you doing here and are you TRYING to wake up the whole castle?"
"Everyone else is already up," Tai answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "and we're heading into Roselle pretty soon. Get dressed and down into the front hall quickly. Everyone's ready to go but you."
"Who all's going?"
The brunette held out his hand and began counting off. "Me, you, Kari, Mimi, T.K…Marcus."
Matt's eyes narrowed. "Why's he going?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"What do you got against him, Matt?"
"It's complicated," the blond answered. "I just don't think he's as truthful and godly as he comes off as."
The artist was silent and Tai knew he wouldn't say anymore. With a wave of his hand, Tai left the room so Matt could get ready. Typical Matt; when you want to find out something from him, he tends to hide it. Oh well, he'll share it when he's ready. I'm starting to wonder about that Marcus guy…better keep my guard up.
Matt appeared in the front hall awhile later and found everyone else already there. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's fine." Mimi answered, perkily. "But we can't waste anymore time. LET'S GO SHOPPING!"
T.K. and Tai blinked. "I'm not carrying her bags."
"I'm not either." Tai answered. "Matt will."
The blond shook his head. "No, Marcus will."
"Marcus will what?" the brunette asked, facing his rival.
"Carry Mimi's bags. Tai normally does, but he injured his arm the other day," Tai gave Matt an odd look, "and Mimi really would like some help."
Marcus smirked. "Sure…Matt." He made a point of saying as they walked out the door. "So how's the art going? Get any good payments."
Matt glared at the boy. Does he know about Sora and me? "The normal, average pay, Marcus. But you should know that." The blond paused. "So, what fueled your decision to run away from home? I thought you and your daddy were very close?" Matt antagonized.
Tai, T.K., and the girls looked at each other and walked a little ways ahead. They could sense the tension between the two. "They obviously don't like each other very much." Mimi mused.
"Obviously." Kari rolled her eyes. "T.K., do they still carry all that hatred from when they were younger."
The boy nodded his head. "Matt thinks Marcus is up to something, and I agree with him. If you see anything suspicious with him, let me know and I'll tell Matt. We think he's after Sora." T.K. whispered so the two behind him wouldn't hear, though it was apparent from the conversation behind them, they couldn't be heard.
"I don't feel the need to share this with you. Father and I just didn't agree on some things."
"Yeah right." Matt mumbled. "What a pity. I guess you won't get to be king and will have to settle in the working world like the rest of us. Do you think you can handle that?"
"I believe I can, Matt. Tell me, is art a good field to go into or does it pay too little? I'd hate not being able to eat everyday."
"Well, Marcus, things aren't served on golden platters out here. You might just go hungry."
The brunette glared, knowing he had walked into a trap. I'll get you, Matt. "It wasn't me I was worrying about, if you get what I'm saying…"
"I heard you loud and clear." Matt answered. The two continued their quarrelling as the group entered Roselle.
"Guys!" Mimi shouted but the two didn't hear her. "Guys!" she tried again. "HEY!" the two boys were so wrapped up in their conversation, they did not hear her.
"All right," Tai said finally, "T.K. you're going with me. Mimi, you and Kari can go off by yourselves. As much as I hate leaving Matt with his guy, we're never going to get anything else done otherwise. We'll meet at Joe's in an hour. Does that sound good?"
Mimi stared at her future husband. "An HOUR? How am I supposed to get all my shopping done in ONE HOUR! What kind of nonsense…"
Kari pulled the girl away. "We'll meet you there in an hour and a half."
T.K. and Tai took one more look at the two boys, still trying to get the better of each other. "We'll meet you at Joe's an hour and a half from now!" Tai called, though he heard no response.
T.K. glanced at the bushy-haired teen. "Well, we may as well go. Hopefully they don't stand there and argue the whole time."
"I hope not." Tai answered, as they headed off in the opposite direction than the girls.
"Well after this ball, I will at least have a wife." Marcus answered, smiling victoriously.
Matt smiled sadly. "I don't think any of the servants are interested in settling down yet. And the cook is far too old…"
Marcus shook with fury. "I was referring to the gorgeous redhead, with the incredible body who will be all mine."
"I don't think Sora's interested either." Matt replied coldly.
Marcus let out a laugh. "And she's interested in you, blondie? Yeah, I saw you two kissing the other day but seriously…who's going to let the two of you be together?"
I know one very, very powerful man who has no problem with it…
"And why would she want to go with some common worthless person like you when she could have someone like me? Face it, Ishida, Sora's mine."
"She's not a prize to be won." Matt raised his voice.
The dark-haired boy man shook his head. "We'll have to see about that. Women…women are like a piece of artwork…"
Matt raised an eyebrow not wanting to know what Marcus was planning to say.
"Art serves the purpose of being admired, nothing more. Women are the same. Their looks are their selling price and the only thing they're good for is having a bunch of rotten little brats and cleaning up after the place. When I marry Sora, she'll give me a lot of heirs and sit in the background." (A/N:I must refrain from having Matt kill Marcus with his bare hands right now. What an ass! He's needed in the story though…)
Matt bit his lip and balled his hands into fits. "Listen," he growled, "no woman deserves to be talked about that way, especially Sora! She's a million times any woman and could hurt you badly if she would have heard that comment. If you say one more bad thing about her, you will never live to see her again. There's more to a person than what's on the outside and obviously you're to hardnosed to know it." Matt glared Marcus. "Stay the hell away from Sora."
As Marcus was about to respond, he was interrupted. "Matt! Marcus! Is there a problem?"
The two turned to face a familiar face. "Joe," Matt answered then saw the boy with him. "Izzy?" he guessed.
The two both nodded. "We heard some loud voices and some arguing. Is everything okay?"
Matt looked at his rival. "Yes. We were just having a few artistic differences." He glanced behind him but found none of his friends. "Do you know where the others went?"
Izzy smiled. Tai and T.K. had stopped by at Joe's, where Izzy was visiting a few minutes before. "The others went to find there things and they're meeting back at Joe's in about an hour and fifteen minutes."
"Well, we'd better be heading off to find our things. Right, Ishida?"
Matt ignored him. "It's nice to finally meet you Izzy. Are you going to the ball?"
"Yes." He answered, giving the blond a big grin. "I'm looking forward to it. Joe and I are both going."
"That sounds good. I'll talk to you more there." Matt said, extending a hand to them both.
"I've heard a lot about you, Matt. I'm glad we finally met."
"Same here. But we'd better be off. Talk to you two then."
"Bye." Joe and Izzy answered in unison. Matt turned on his heal and walked in the other direction followed closely by Marcus.
He walked into Maude's clothing store and began looking through the mountains of clothes, completely ignoring the other boy.
It seemed Marcus was okay with that idea too. He walked around the store, occasionally picking up merchandise. The brunette got an evil look in his eyes upon looking at Matt…
For the blond, this whole thing of picking out new dress clothes was a foreign idea. Finally, after lots of digging, he found it. He didn't know why, but it just looked right. As he was about to pick it up, Marcus grabbed it from his hands and went to the store owner. "I'll take this sir."
Matt's mouth dropped. That bastard! While the owner totaled the price, Matt went back to searching. Never thought I'd be one to get so worked up over clothes. I sound like Mimi!
"Um…sir…are you sure this will fit you?" the owner asked, causing Matt to look up.
"Of course I'm sure! Do I look stupid to you? I want this!" Marcus shouted.
"Yes, sir." The owner replied, trembling in fear.
Matt smirked. That would be incredibly funny if Marcus can't fit into that. As Marcus gave him an evil smile, the blond continued to look. Forty-five minutes later they walked out of there. Matt had finally found an outfit and though it wasn't as nice as the original one, still looked good.
They walked in silence to Joe's house and were surprised to find everyone else there. "How'd you get Mimi out of there in an hour?" Matt asked.
"That's exactly what I'd like to know." Tai replied, blinking continuously.
"Can I get back to you if I figure it out?" Kari asked, having a hard time believing it herself.
T.K. nodded and gestured to the ten bags lying on the floor. "She managed to find all of that in one hour?"
"That's our Meems." Tai replied. "Well, Joe, Izzy, it was nice seeing you and we'll be seeing you again in two days."
"We will." Joe asked as the rest of the group stood up. "Do you need any help with the bags?"
"Oh, no." T.K. answered cheerfully. "Marcus volunteered to carry them all back to the castle."
"Well that was a nice thing to do." Izzy answered. The others had informed him and Joe about the whole Marcus issue.
Marcus's eyes lowered as he realized what he had to do. "Well, I'm a nice guy."
Matt rolled his eyes as they said their goodbyes. "Well, only two more days until the big day. It's definitely going to be something." Kari said as they made their way back to the castle.
"Yes it is." Matt answered. In more ways then you all can imagine. Hopefully Marcus isn't plotting something to mess this up or stop me from talking to Sora and the surprise I have for her…
A/N: I hate Marcus! Wow, it was hard to write his part. Next chapter is the ball! Yay! You know the drill; please review! Ooh, and I'm in need of some help for To the Highest Bidder…if anyone has a Japanese background or has some knowledge about the Japanese culture PLEASE e-mail me! It'll be greatly appreciated and maybe it'll make that story get updated sooner :wink wink: