(Eraklyon, throne room)
Now that that pessimistic Queen wanna-be's heart is broken, my plan can finally move forward… The queen of Eraklyon thought to herself… First we start by attacking the other realms… She let out a frightening laugh and let her eyes fall upon the map that sat under her hands; They will all fall one by one… Two by two… And three by three! She laughed again and ran her fingers across the solar system… Stopping just short of Sparx… No one is safe from this tyranny! Now that Sky's been put under that ingenious spell, my hands won't be the ones with blood on them.
What else is he good for? He was dense enough to believe, his entire life, that I was a kind person… She looked to the corner of the desk on which the map sat, and looked at the picture of Sky that sat in the corner; At least he's worthy enough of being my pawn… She chuckled, Oh! Won't it just be delicious to see Bloom's reaction when she finds out that he destroyed Layla, and her planet?
Yes… First we must destroy hers, then work our way up to Sparx… Gain a little strength and glory before we mess with the big guns… But it is all very necessary if I am to gain my place as High Queen… Not to mention… The gift of Immortality from the Golden Dragon, for becoming stronger then it…
Besides all that, Bloom shouldn't have the heart to interfere now, as long as Sky had done as the spell made him… Why would she have the strength? That reminded her, she'd been wanting to talk to her son for an hour or so now, so she could begin briefing him on the plan's status…
"Sky!" She screamed and then primped her hair a bit before she yelled again… "Dear, could you come down here for a second?" She finished and then smoothed down her frilly, cream colored, lace and chiffon dress…
Not but an instant later there came the sound of boot heels hitting the floor; slowly, one after another in what could've been a rehearsed pattern… "Yes, Your Highness?" Said the prince, the second his foot hit the last step and he stood directly in front of Scariialla…
"Och, shove the formality son; besides… Tis me who'll be having to call ye, Your Highness, in a few days…" Remarked Scariialla a bit indignantly.
Even the spelled part of Sky new this was something uncalled for, and blinked at the realization…
Scariialla, being very proud of herself, just dove straight into the point; "You are to become King, with-in the next week son, you will rule by my side… And together the universe shall become ours..." The queen said hysterically.
For a moment Sky seemed to be out of it, his eyes flashed a golden color and all he could say was, "Yes, mother." Before she interrupted him again…
"Good!" The queen cackled… "Then the first part of the plan is ready for completion!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Vitalion)
A few moments before they reached the palace's doors she stopped and just stood their looking down at him so he could get his full of gawping…
"It's so nice to meet you." He said, still flabbergasted, and thinking that this could not in any possible way be the Queen of Sparx, yet…
"I am sure that it's nice to meet you too." Bloom said, still somewhat disgusted at the informality.
Bloom pushed the door to the castle open… a look of irony still on her face … and was about to walk inside the palace when he stopped her with his words.
"Ya know, you're beautiful."
Bloom winked at him… "Well, Prince you are obviously well trained in the art of flattery." And walked through the door…
His gaze followed after her as she walked up to his parents. So, she's the one that saved me from all those arranged marriages? He grinned.
Wow, she is so beautiful, he thought to himself, but there's something about her. Something that makes me think she's just been through a horrible experience. His gaze flicked back to the door… I can't wait to find out more about her… He let out a sigh and went on… I've never believed in love at first sight. But for some reason, I am pretty sure that just changed.
I'm glad it was her I was waiting for… And no one else… Julian thought to himself as he stepped into the throne room behind Queen Bloom and quickly placed himself behind his parent's chairs…
Bloom smiled slightly as the Prince strode past her and took his place behind his parents… Her eyes hastily darted away from his form as her mind began to run in a circle that she didn't want it to…
She was saved from the amount of mental dragging it would've taken for her to stop her thoughts, when the king interrupted… "You are the Princess of Sparx?" He questioned, his voice full of obvious doubt... "She was said to have died eighteen years ago… On her birthday as well as our Julian's…" He looked her up and down, then glanced at his queen.
The fairy gave an unseemly snort and looked the king square in the eye; "Don't believe everything you hear," Bloom replied, attempting to keep herself from causing an untimely bald-ness in the king... She barely kept herself from doing it before she finally said… "If you do, you will not survive in this universe... And trust me… I've just recently been forced to learn life's game…"
This time the queen shot a glance at her husband that seemed to say; Ah, well, she's a bit cynical isn't she? The king looked as if he understood this, and shook his head… All the while saying; "Good point, but can you prove yourself as the Princess?" His gaze wavered a bit, for he feared the beautiful, fierce, looking woman that stood in front of him.
Bloom snorted again, feeling undignified that he'd called her 'princess' again… "Queen, actually, and yes. Of course I can." She suddenly started feeling the urge to yell at a vase that was sitting a little to her left…
"Gerald," the queen of Vitalion interrupted just before he was about to open his mouth again... "This girl need not prove anything, can you not feel the royal aura radiating off of her? Tell us your name, young maiden."
Before Bloom could get the chance to state her name the king went on; "I am still not sure," Gerald replied, his voice still holding apprehension… "The last time a girl came and said she was the Princess, she turned out to be one of the servants in our own palace." The queen threw him a look that clearly said: I did not say that one was the Princess!
The fairy rubbed her temples for a moment, the fighting was beginning to rub her the wrong way… "Eh… Emmm!" Bloom broke up the glaring contest… "My name is Queen Bloom Ambrosius-Regina…" She said before she could find time to kill something… " And really it's no problem, I can prove my heritage…" Bloom hesitated for a moment... "But if I must, I would recommend stepping back," she smiled peevishly. "For what I am about to show you can be very dangerous."
With that, Prince Julian stepped out of the shadow of his father's throne, and moved to its side… Hoping that he could get a better view of what she was about to do…
Bloom glanced his way briefly, the single touch of her sapphire eyes darting down his frame, snapping the breath out of his lungs.
Oh, yes there is a secret here… And I will find out what it is… Julian thought as her eyes quickly snapped back to his parents.
Even though she could've just snapped her fingers to make the dragon appear, Bloom decided that she wanted it to be a bit flashier and said a fake enchantment… "Dragon Flame… You are my spirit… You are my protector… You are my power! Come forth and show yourself, oh mighty DRAGON!" She grinned at the awe in their faces as they heard this, and at the end of her words she snapped her fingers, so that the dragon would really appear…
The second her fingers made contact with each other, her entire body started glowing a bright crimson and the cloak fell from her shoulders… A strand of light began to loop around her body; it flashed a golden color before it widened and started to spin at a faster rate… After about twenty seconds of this it flickered and roared as it became a recognizable dragon… It continued to weave around her for a minute before it lay down on the floor directly behind Bloom, and the girl sat down on its back… Her legs crossing over one another, in one proud sweep.
It took a few moments for the drool to stop dripping out of the royal family's mouths, before anyone finally said anything…
When anybody did actually get up the courage to open their mouth and talk, it was the king… "You are the Queen of Sparx." He stuttered… "But, where have you been all of these years."
Bloom beamed happily at him before she let go of her enthusiasm and finally answered… "For the first sixteen years of my life, I had absolutely no idea what-so-ever! That I was royalty, but then my best friend found me on Earth, while she was having a rather bad troll problem... Anyway, she took me to Alfea…" Bloom stopped a moment to remember the day… "I then graduated a year early because of my powers…" Well, they don't deserve the whole story just yet… Her mind interrupted; "I was crowned Queen at the age of seventeen." She finished, her voice dripping with pride...
"The youngest Queen in all history," Julian said absently, and out loud for once.
Bloom's eye twitched at the sound of his voice, and she looked over at him through her lashes…
The Prince noticed this anyway, even though it was discreet, and looked down… Thoroughly embarrassed… "How long have you known you had an arranged marriage to our son?" The queen asked... Noticing Julian's look, and trying to save him…
Nice to see that he's got a good family, at the least… Bloom thought to herself as she replied at the same time… "About four days…"
She's responsible… Lilca thought before she said… "And you still came, even though you know you didn't have to, being that we thought you dead?" She said incredulously…
The fairy inwardly groaned at how long the conversation was turning out to be… "Yeah," She said, looking the queen straight in the eye, from her perch on the dragon's back… "That's one thing I know about being royalty... You have to do things that you don't want to some times." Replied Bloom.
The king wasn't yet satisfied, so he asked… "Are you prepared to marry our son?"
"I guess you could say that…" Bloom remarked absent mindedly, thinking that her intentions were totally opposite… And she had no plans of ever marrying… Or loving another person…
Bloom; finally having had enough of this chittering; got up and stalked to the door, went through it, and outside… The Dragon following her the entire way…
The Prince, seeing his chance, walked up to his parents and began to complain… "Mother, Father, I don't want her to marry me because she has to… I want her to marry me because she loves me…"
Ah, ha! His heart's finally been captured! His mother thought as he said those last four words…
His father must've been thinking the same thing, for he glanced at his wife and nodded… "Son, you know that's impossible," He said anyway… "But there is no law saying you can't court her," the Queen cut in.
"Thank," He rapped his arms around her in a quick hug… "You Mother." Julian finished and shot off towards, and out of the door.
"Queen Bloom!" He shouted as he got with-in range… His shirt had become un-tucked and was bellowing out around him…
The Queen stopped dead in her tracks and turned around slowly, her nearly floor length hair whipping around her to blow with the breeze.
"What?" she replied curtly, her temper running on a short fuse for the moment.
"I know my parents can be well, weird, in the way they partake things…" The Prince started... "And you seemed kind of miffed in there… Besides all that, you were understanding towards their questions… But they just kept being rude to you until the end… How you can put up with it, makes me wonder…" He looked her up and down… "With the authority you give off… I wouldn't think that you'd put up with them like that… And behind that mask of yours… I can tell there's also someone different deep down… I can't help but wonder what happened to you to make you so…" He stopped for a second; "So cynical…"
Bloom let out a puff of air and just said… "You ask too many questions Prince… And if I were you I'd stop being so curious about people like me… Take my advice now, and find yourself a pretty little fly-brainer to marry… Mine is the kind of life you don't want to get involved with…" She snapped her fingers at those words and the Dragon that had been following her up till then, disappeared.
She began to walk faster to try and leave him behind, but Julian reached out just as she started to move ahead… And grabbed one of her arms with his, slender, strong hand.
The Queen quickly whipped her head around again to glare at him before she pulled her arm out of his grip and started to walk again… But, to her dismay, she found out that this Prince was persistent... Because this time, he grabbed her arm with both hands and forced her to stop and turn around to look at him…
Bloom's face burned a bright red as she realized exactly how close the proximity was… She pulled away again, this time with more force, but just succeeded in making the man even more persistent… He grabbed her one last time and brought her closer then ever, so that he could get a better grip…
"Like I said, I want to get to know you more. If you'll let me." Julian pushed, and held her arm a little tighter...
"Why?" Bloom replied, looking at him huffily.
He looked startled for a moment before he finally responded… "Well, you're not a fly-brainer…" He chuckled as he got a haughty smile out of her… "You're relentlessly kind…" He let his grip on her arm loosen; "Not to mention you're beautiful… Now will you give me a chance?"
"Ah, I'll give you a chance… But don't blow it Your Princely-ness." She shot him a play-full grin and turned away from him slightly, and pulled her arm free… Successfully this time… As she began to walk she felt a fingertip trail down a foot of her long hair and then fall back to the side of its owner before she could catch him…
"You know… You don't have to call me Queen…" She gave him one last impish grin before she walked off to who knows where, to think for herself for a little while…
Julian blinked at her sudden informality, he closed his eyes for a second longer, as if to clear them of her brilliance… He then opened them quickly, hoping to catch a glimpse of her as she walked away… But to his disbelief… She had disappeared… And unknown to him; she was only a breadth away, hidden in the shadows of a tree's branches…
He gave up on the thought of looking for her after a moment, and turned round to start walking back to his palace…
As Bloom watched his retreating back, she let out a heavy sigh and slumped down against the tree's trunk... Her mind beginning to wander as she saw him disappear behind the corner…
No… I can't let myself fall in love again… But her heart had already fled…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the review guys! Please keep telling me what you think! R&R!
-Winged Rose