Akemi: Princess of Bandits
Chapter 4: Akemi's Fiance! (pt. 2)
Disclaimer: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi and Prince Caim and several other concepts. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.
A/N: Well, this chapter was certainly very difficult. Not because if inspiration, because this was quite fun to puttogether and I had enough inspiration for it. It's just all the stuff i could do with it and all the things it could have been. It seems my problems consist of either a lack of choices or too many choices. Heh, well, fixed my problem...so far.
Sich freuen, bitte. .
x x x x
What happned last time:
"Hey! Get back here you!" Jing jumped down onto the shore next to the water and was about to run after him when he realized Akemi hadn't followed. He stared back up at the bridge and went wide eyed when she wasn't there, "Akemi! C'mon!"
There was no answer. Just silence. Kir circled around and perched on Jing, "What's up?"
"Akemi...she's...gone."
x x x x
All she could remember was watching Jing jump down off the bridge after Kir. In that moment, she'd been happy. The next, she was struggling against a strong force she hadn't been able to see. She made the mistake of panicing. Why had she done that? After being taken to the throne room to be shown to the king and queen, a pill was forced down her throat and she'd fallen alseep. Now she was slowly coming to with a headache the size of the giant coins Jing, Kir and her had gotten a while back.
Akemi sat up suddenly when she felt silk surrounding her. She found she was in a bedroom filled with silk, fine wooden furnature and all things expensive. Her black cloth, net and such had been replaced with a loose black silk shirt with a matching skirt, "What the hell!"
"I hope the accomidations are to your liking, Miss. Akemi," came a familiar voice from the doorway. It was Prince Caim.
She glared, "You lost, fair and square! Now let me go!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I chose you as my bride and my bride you will be," he said simply, "There's dresses for you to choose from in the closet. We'll be expecting you to dinewith us at six sharp. Farewell," And with that he left heralone with one of the maids.
Akemi sighed, 'Great. Now what am I to do?'
She suspected there to be guard everywhere, like a prison. She also expected them to be watching for her in case she might try to escape. Of course, she could easily get past them. The problem was she didn't know her surroundings and there were other people other than the guards who'd surely roam the halls, also on alert for her. She could put on a convincing act, but just how close could she get to the front gate before nobody would fall for it?
Akemi watched the maid clean the room from the bed. It was then that she found herself wondering, 'Why me?' Why that beautiful maid? The maid was very pretty and closer to Prince Caim's age, no doubt. Caim had to be in his early twenties while Akemi was still only sixteen. She wasn't even legal yet. And it wasn't like she was an actual princess. It was just the term bandits used to describe someone of above acceptional talents. It was all getting t oweird for her. There had to be a hidden reason behind it.
Perhaps the cops were in on it. Perhaps this was a plot to elliminate her as a threat to cities and treasures everywhere. But somehow she didn't think they'd do it for that reason alone. Unless there was some fame or fortune going along with it. A marriage to the "former princess of bandits", or taming her, would cause an eruption of popularity amung this kingdom. That had to be it.
Well, she did know a few things; she was not getting married to him and she would not give up both the game and contradict her title so easily. She'd play along for now, figure out the ropes and getout before the wedding. Akemi stepped onto a cold marble floor and walked to the closet. The maid, seemingly not noticing Akemi's presence earlier, finally acknowledged her, "Would you like me to help you Miss? Some of them are quite difficult to handle..."
She smiled kindly at the maid, "Once I choose one, maybe. And call me Akemi. What's your name?"
"My name? It's Molly."
"Well, Molly. How are things run in this place? I'm sure it's much different than my 'live life at the moment' kind of lifestyle," she shoved massive dresses with flowing ribbons and cloths of pinks and bright colours to the otherside of the closet in search of something at least a blue colour or not to flowy.
"Yes, I suppose it is. Master Caim is to become King once you two have married. But for now thinks are run by his parents, Master Malkior and Mistress Lizbet. They're not so bad. They are a peaceful folk and are excited for this marriage," Molly spoke as she continued to clean, "But...seeing as you are the princess of bandits, I do not expect their expectations to be met. Am I correct?"
The statement with the following question was thoughtful, not spiteful. She did not think Molly approved of her being forced into it. Akemi pulled out a magenta, gray and black dress from a sea of pinks, yellows and blues. She glanced at Molly who was grinning, "I believe that dress will look fitting...on a bandit princess. Don't you think?"
Akemi knew it wouldn't be there without the slyness of Molly. She smiled and thanked her, "Life is under no obligation to give one what they want or expect."
Molly nodded knowlingly, "Here, how about you get a relaxing bath in and then I'll show you how these things work?"
x x x x
Jing approached the palace coolly with Kir resting on his shoulder like normally. The two guards reguarded him, "State your name and business with the royal family!"
Jing looked thoughtful, "Hmm...Jing and I'm here for the bride."
The guards jumped at this, "Leave or we will place you under arrest for attempted kidnap!"
"Then I guess you all should be sitting in sing sing with your prince for successed kidnap," he began walking past them.
"How dare you!" the guard pointed a gun at him and fired.
Kir flew at the guard and forced his aim downward as Jing backflipped away landing on top of the second guard. That would be the last of that one for now. A few more shots were fired in his direction, most of which he deflected with his sword. Once close enough, he hit the guard in the back of the head knocking him out.
"Come now Kir. We'll miss the wedding if we don't hurry!" he grinned and began walking through the gates like the king he was famed as.
The halls were like a maze! They took twists and turned in unexpected ways. Staircases would randomly appear seemingly out of nowhere and everything seemed completely perpetual. Though, it wasn't too much of a job for the king of bandits. If he could hike across the universe with living bombs under his care, he could figure this mess of a palace out no problem.
The good thing about the stacked halls was that everytime someone passed, which was pretty often, he could duck down behind something and pass undetected. After a while of doing it repetatively, it became too easy and boring, but, of course, that was countered by the problem of which room Akemi was in. Also, when and where the wedding would take place was a problem as well, though, from his impression of Prince Caim, the palace would be absolutely buzzing over it.
Jing smirked at Kir, "Lets go to the dining hall, shall we?"
"What! Jing, this is no time for food!" Kir hissed so only they could hear.
"Not for food, Kir...for information. It's almost six. People normally eat around this time of day. And even if they don't, I'm sure that someone will be there," and from there they went in search of the dining hall.
x x x x
Molly has escourted Akemi to the dining hall that night. It was huge, and much like those ones you saw in old fashioned movies about kings and queens of far away lands and fairy tales. Once there, Caim stood and pulled out the chair for her. He sat next to her and for a while it was silent as the food was served and everyone ate. Just then, the queen spoke up, "Miss. Akemi, what do you think of the food? We have the best chefs in the world here for the wedding."
It was all Akemi could stand not to speak her mind. Instead of saying what had originally wanted to say, "Oh, so that means it's normally horrible?", in favour of something that wouldn't get her thrown into jail for life, "The food is fine. Obviously better than what I normally get..."
She smiled approvingly and nodded, "Clearly."
More uninteresting gossip ensued between the queen, king, prince and their subjects. She met Caim's uncles and aunts and cousins and such; people and things should could really care less about. When were they going to get into the wedding so that she could plan her next move?
"Well, sister dear," the queen's younger brother, Luck, began, "Tell us more about the wedding."
"Oh, it'll be perfect!" she smiled happily over at Caim, "Everything has been planned and it's in the process of being set up. Tomorrow morning everything will be blissfully wonderful!"
'Blissfully wonderful? Yeah, pull this leg, it plays fucking jingle bells,' Akemi thought being careful to keep the disgusted scowl off her face. The queen was just one big ray of sunshine, now wasn't she? Akemi wondered what she was like when she was pissed off. That would be quite the show for her.
Suddenly, a guard ran in with urgent news, "Your Highnesses! There's been a break in! We found the gate guards unconscious outside and the intruder has just been spotted! We don't have information yet. Everyone who's encountered him is out cold!"
Akemi's heart jumped, 'Jing!'
The king stood, "Everybody, to your rooms. No one is to come out unless called upon and escourted until tomorrow morning.
The king left with the guard to take care of business and Molly entered soon after to take Akemi to her room. Most of the people were out of the room when the large double doors on both sides of the room slammed shut so that nobody could open them on either side. The only people left were her, Molly, Prince Caim, some servants and a few of his relatives. The younger cousins began to panic when two sets of evil laughter echoed through the dining hall. Akemi smiled, knowing exactly what was happening.
Jing jumped from the balcony making up the perimeter of the room over their heads onto the chandelier. Kir flew down, circled around Akemi and then landed on her shoulder, "Hey Akemi!"
Jing cut down the chandelier landing right on the table and jumped off onto to the table as well. She ran to the table, but didn't get on, "Jing! I can't believe you came!"
"What's not to believe? You didn't think I'd leave you with that perversion of nature, did you honestly? Nice dress by the way..." he laughed.
Akemi rolled her eyes, "Yeah, took me long enough to get into it too!"
"Oh, so then you won't be wanting these for a while?" he held her original cloths up.
She didn't have time to reply, Caim had already called for the guards and they were breaking the doors down as they spoke. Jing held his hand out to her, which she gladly took, and lifted her up onto the table, "Lets hurry out before we have to deal with those annoyances." And with that he picked her up, and took her through a window on the balcony floor above them all.
The night was beautiful. A waxing crescent was rising in the distance and the stars smiled down on them as if celebrating the king's rescue of the princess. It was just like those old fairy tales, but would they really live happily ever after?
Once far enough into the forest surrounding the kingdom, Jing put her down and handed her her clothes back. Kir perched in a tree nearby.
"Thanks Jing...really," she said smiling appreciatively.
"Don't think much of it. I do it all the time, it seems to have become a side job for me," he smiled back and turned away, "I'll let you get dressed...C'mon Kir," Kir flew to Jing's outstretched arm and they sat facing the opposite direction behind a tree. Really quick, Jing turned back to her, "Though Akemi...that dress does look rather nice on you..."
Akemi hid her blush, "Oh...well. Just turn around...flattery will get you nowhere!"
He laughed and did as she said, his smile never fading. Akemi quickly switched to her not so heavy, black tank, net shirt and tights, black combat boots and black skirt. By the timeshe said it was alright for him to turn around again, she was sliding into her jacket.
"Come on now...lets get to our next destination!" Kir said excitedly.
Jing laughed, "Yeah, we have spent a little too much time here."
"Okay, coming..." she had no idea what to do with the dress. Shecouldn't bring it. She'd left her bag in her private treasure stash on the mission before this one. The location of which was still unknown to all but her. Then, she got an idea.
x x x x
Molly stood at the side of the forest staring at Akemi's dress hanging from a tree branch. It looked like she was still in it from the wind blowing inside and through it. She then noticed a note hanging from the collar with her name on it.
It read; "Dear Molly, Thanks for the help and for understanding my situation. I hope I didn't cause any trouble for you, but hey, I gotta do, what I gotta do. Oh, and don't hate Jing and Kir for ruining the dining hall...they ruin every place they go through. But, you probably know that from their rep. They're actually sweethearts once you get on their good sides. Well, take care. We might come back to visit soon! Here's hopin'!"
Molly laughed, "I hope so too, Akemi...princess of bandits."