The woman sighed as she walked into her children's bedroom, only to see vacant beds and missing stuffed animals. Knowing that the little goofballs would be around here somewhere. Shrugging her shoulders and throwing her hands up in defeat, she turned.
"I suppose we'll never find out what happens to Blue." she sighed, mocking sadness as she walked out the door.
"No, Mama, no!" Celina cried out, rushing out of the closet and latching onto her legs.
"Celina!" Aini cried out as Iri crawled out of the closet, uncaring that he also blew thier cover. "Oh, come on, not you too Iri!'
"Iri wants to know the story too." Celina giggled.
"Come on, you three." the woman said, scooping up Iri in her arms. "Aini, get the storybook for Mommy?"
Aini grumbled something under her breath, though scooped up the book and hurried after her mother and her siblings. Scrambling onto the king-sized mattress in her parents room, she passed the book to her mother and settled next to her, Celina on the other side and Iri in her lap.
"So continuing on," the woman said, opening the book. "So Blue had to leave her beloved brother and friends..."
o.0.o.0.o
The Monster and the Thief, Part Two
To Blue, having to leave her village was a win-loose situation.
She finally got to leave Masque's controlling grip, but she had to leave her brother behind. She had a sickening feeling that was his plan the entire time. He knew he couldn't control her anymore, and he also knew that she was convincing Silver to break away as well. He also knew she would do anything, even giving up her own life, to protect him. He probably had some sick idea that if she was gone, he'd regain control of Silver.
She scoffed at that.
Silver was a smart boy. He could play his cards as good as, if not better, than her. He would continue work under the blacksmith, and, if she could be hopeful, he'd hook up with the bakers girl and they'd be living on their own somewhere.
She sighed, glancing over her clothes. She and Silver had treated this something akin to a funeral, whether intentionally or unintentionally. She had ended up in her long black dress, a simple thing, really, with a skirt reaching her ankles and straps that covered her soldiers, though not protecting her arms from the cold weather. To remedy that, she had pulled a brown cloak around her shoulders, long hair tied up in a bun and black boots on her feet.
"Blue..." Silver trailed of uncertainly as he eyed the ominous black carriage. There were bars on the windows, tattered curtains blocking world from seeing the inside, and judging by the fact that instead of wheels, there were these odd, spider like legs, she had a feeling the thing was enchanted.
Blue looked at Silver with a sad smile on her face. Silver was the only one outside to say goodbye, the others were to busy basking in their father's 'success'.
"Please, Blue, you don't have to do this."
"Yes, Silver, I do." Blue said.
"But what if that... that thing tries to kill you?! You know the childhood legend, the one Soul reenacts all the time for the kids. About the beast who lives in a decrepit castle who eats everyone who dares to enter his property? What were you even thinking?"
"First off, he made a deal with Masque, correct? Either he was to disgusted with his presence and he wanted him to leave, or he thought he was unappetizing and didn't want to eat him. Second off, I wasn't thinking." Blue responded. "I want you to stay safe."
"Please, Blue, it's not worth it." he begged, completely ignoring the earlier jest about Masque being unappetizing. Blue raised her eyebrows. Silver was begging? Wow.
"Come here, you." she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Silver immediately responded by returning the hug. For the first time since they were kids, Blue realized, Silver was actually hugging her back. Oh, Arceus... "Listen. If you need any help, I want you to go to Jade and Onyx. They'll provide you with shelter and protection. Masque is trying to get a reaction out of you so he can use that to his advantage. Just act as impassive and antisocial as always, okay?"
She felt him nod. Must be to afraid to speak if he's not saying anything back.
"I'll be fine, okay?" Blue stepped back, Silver furiously reaching up to rub his eyes. Blue smiled. Even when he was sixteen and she was nineteen, he was still just a little boy who wanted his big sister by his side. "I'm tougher than I look. Keep up the good work, and don't let Masque convince you of anything otherwise." she paused. "And for Arceus's sake, make a move on Soul!"
"Only you could joke at a time like this." Silver murmured, looking up at her. He glanced over his shoulder at the house, then scurried over to a bush and pulling something out. "Here." he held out a sheathed dagger to her. She took it, pulling the black an silver hilt from the brown sheath, admiring the pointed silver tip and the small sapphire adorning the hilt.
"It's beautiful." she murmured. "Did you forge this?"
"It took a while." as if to prove his point, he held up his hand, showing small burns from the sparks that burned through the gloves. "It was for Christmas, but since you're not gonna be here for the next one..."
"Daaaw, Silver, you're real sweet when you wanna be." she said, ruffling his hair. "Look, I got something for you, too." with her spare hand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out two pairs of gloves. "Look. Black for you and white for me." Silver glanced at them, taking them
"If he tries to do anything, kill him." Silver said, pulling them on. Blue rolled her eyes, pulling her gloves on with her teeth, not willing to tuck away the dagger from her brother. She tried to keep her jovial mood though she could feel her heart breaking for her brother.
"Everything will be fine. I'll try to write."
"I'll miss you." Silver murmured. "Are you sure-"
"We talked about this. You don't get the choice. I'm going in your place and that's final." Blue said coldly, then hugging him again. "It'll be okay. I love you."
"Me too." Silver murmured, pulling back. Gathering her small suitcase with very few items held within. Gripping her new dagger with the handle of her bag she turned and walked onto the carriage.
She didn't dare to look back. She didn't trust herself not to throw her hands up and decide to stay with Silver. She didn't trust Silver not to dash past her to take his 'punishment'. She didn't trust herself to stay strong enough to look back and see the obvious hurt in her brothers eyes.
By the time Blue was sitting in the carriage, she turned towards the door. She had worked up the courage to wave one last goodbye, but the door had shut and the carriage was moving forward. Hesitantly, she reached out and tugged at the handle, only to find that it hardly budged. Locked? She wouldn't be surprised.
Silently, she bowed her head, clenching her skirt in her fist. A million thoughts ran through her mind, though an overwhelming sadness enveloped her heart. Reaching up towards her face, she stubbornly rubbed her tears away. She would not cry. She was strong. Stronger than Masque. Stronger than her elder siblings. Strong enough to handle herself on her own. Strong enough to get through this new problem.
She would not cry.
She was strong.
o.0.o.0.o
"It's an old tale, nearly a century old..." Blue perked her ears up as she heard the bakers daughter, Soul, tell a tale to the children, so to distract them from their mothers frantically trying to buy up goods in the market. "But this is the tale of the Beast Prince."
The children oohed and awed.
"Once upon a time," she said with a grin. "There was a handsome prince named Green. He lived in a big castle with tons of servants at his beck and call, and he had everything he could have ever asked for. But it was not enough.
"The fourteen-year-old prince wanted to rule over all the lands. Despite his young age, he was extremely intelligent. He knew how to make everything sound good and beneficial to the villagers, when in reality, he was slowly taking over the lands. As time passed and he aged, the villagers hated Prince Green, so much so that they loathed the color of his namesake. Green, on the other hand, was uncaring and cold to his subjects.
"One fateful day, a haggard old woman appeared on the doorstep, asking for the prince, refusing to leave until she could talk to him. Not wanting her dirtying his castle, Green greeted the woman, in which she offered him a rose. He refused, seeing no need for it. She then asked for shelter, as a storm was brewing. Again, he refused, seeing as she had nothing worthwhile to offer to him.
"At that point," Soul paused for dramatic effect. "The haggard old woman revealed herself to be a beautiful fairy of knowledge, the 'Understander', Platinum!"
The children gasped in awe.
"Ashamed by his actions, Platinum cursed him and his castle! His beautiful castle became dark and uninviting, and his servants became pokémon!"
The children, once again, gasped in awe.
"And she turned Prince Green into a horrible beast!" she exclaimed. "With huge claws and scaly orange skin and terrifying wings and horns!"
The children shrieked as Soul jumped up with her arms raised, acting as the horrendous beast and chasing them around the square. Smiling slightly at her antics, Blue turned back to Silver, widening her eyes a fraction as she noticed his gaze transfixed on a certain someone, a small smile on his face.
She cast her gaze back to Soul, seeing that she had scooped up one of the younger kids, a small girl with gray eyes and light brown hair as she finished the sad tale of Prince Green. Nudging him with her elbow, she smirked as he snapped out of his revere.
"Dreaming of your future family with Soul, I see." she teased. Silver widened his eyes, face going pink as he ducked his head down, hiding his eyes with his bangs.
"Shut up, Blue."
"And so," Soul continued. "Prince Green was cursed. No one knows how to reverse the curse, but some say," she paused again. "That he's still alive today."
o.0.o.0.o
"Yo, blue-eyes."
Blue blinked her eyes open as a voice suddenly jerked her out of her sleep, looking around, only to see nothing. She blinked. Who had spoken? Turning her head, she saw the carriage door open and cold air hitting her face. Shivering, she clutched the cloak tighter around herself with one hand.
With the other she began rubbing her left temple, she stepped out of the carriage with her things in hand, secretly hoped that she dreamed the voice up from a result of emotional exhaustion. Looking to her right, she saw a large, dark, gloomy castle. Remembering her dream, she realized that Soul's description of 'dark and uninviting' hardly did this place justice.
The place was enormous, built with dull, gray bricks, ominous gargoyles sticking out over castle ledges, dangerous stone spikes sticking out here and there. Trees were barren and devoid of life from the winter air, and the overwhelmingly huge wall did not go unchecked. The iron spikes on top? Well, delightful.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you."
She widened her eyes, searching for the source of the voice, but once again, there was nothing. Something tugged on her skirt.
"Down here." slowly, she moved her gaze down, open mouthed, staring at an aipom. He blinked back. Slowly, he smiled. "Heya, toots."
With that, she promptly booted him halfway across the yard. With a yell of pain and a humorous poof of snow, the pokémon landed.
Blue frantically looked to her left, and saw an iron gate, a brick wall surrounding the rest of the property. She could probably scale that gate in three minutes, tops, though she may need more time considering the long skirt she was wearing.
"I wouldn't think of trying to escape if I were you." she turned back to the golden gaze of the aipom, rubbing it's chin with it's paw, a small bit of blood trailing and patching in his fur. "There's mightyena out there and surrounding the woods. They'll attack if you try to leave. Plus I wouldn't even want to think what the Master would do if you escaped."
"Shut up!" Blue exclaimed, whizzing a snowball and hitting him in the middle of his forehead, still trying to figure out if she had truly lost her mind or if she was still asleep in the carriage.
"Gold!" a sharp, female voice cried out. She turned to the source of the voice, and saw the large doors open, and... a chikorita.
"Nope." Blue decided immediately, turning towards the gate again. "Nope, nope, nope."
"Oh, honestly." she heard the Chikorita's voice again, but decided simply to ignore it because it simply couldn't exist. "You rode here in an enchanted carriage, right? How could talking pokémon be so weird to you?"
"You don't exist." Blue stated simply, reaching the gate and giving it a good shake. Surprise, surprise, it was locked. Fine then. Reaching up, she pushed the hood of her cloak down, revealing her brown hair done up in a bun. Reaching under her hair and pulling out a single bobby pin from her bun, she picked up the padlock, weighing it in her hand, and stuck the pin inside, moving it to get the lock to turn.
Suddenly, something landed on her her shoulders. It wasn't particularly heavy, but heavy enough to make it's presence known.
Then something cold was shoved down her back.
Shrieking at the sudden coldness, she jumped back, throwing the weight off her shoulders and frantically scratching at her back and shaking her clothes to get the onslaught of cold out of her dress and cloak, though this only made it melt into her clothes. Her hair was now somewhat loose, practically falling out of the bun she had done up. Enraged, the lock forgotten, she turned to the aipom, who was rolling around on the ground, laughing with one paw on it's chest and the other pointing to her.
Had that little dastard shoved snow down her back?!
"We'll see how funny you think it is when I skin you alive and shove you in a snowbank!" Blue shrieked, enraged. The aipom leapt up at that, and dashed behind the chikorita, who simply watched the events go down with an impassive look on her face.
"Crys, protect me, she's gonna hurt me!" he cried out. The chikorita, Crys, sighed.
"Honestly, Gold, you deserve it." she stated calmly. She then turned back to Blue, crystal blue eyes calm and composed. "Please excuse his behavior. He's an idiot."
"Hey!" Gold exclaimed.
"My name is Crystal, I'm the lead housekeeper." she turned her head to the aipom behind her. "This is Gold, the stableboy."
"I'm not a stableboy!" Gold argued hotly. "I'm the groom!"
Crystal ignored this, bowing her head slightly, and nodded towards the still open door.
"Let us head inside." she offered. "The cold air is coming in."
Blue paused, casting one long glance at the gate, then she swallowed her rage, deciding she'd deal with Gold later. Snatching up her bag, dagger hidden safely in the pocket of her dress, she stomped into the castle.
Once inside, a mightyena wearing a red bow tie approached her. Bowing it's head, it looked up at her with bright red eyes.
"May I take your cloak, milady?" he asked. Blue looked around at the cold, gray walls around her.
"I'd rather keep it, thank you." she responded. The mightyena nodded. "I'm Blue."
"My name is Ruby." he introduced himself. "I'm a butler." he turned, nodding towards a hallway. "Come on, it's cold outside." Leading her through a series of hallways, Gold and Crystal opting to go somewhere else, Ruby lead her into a parlor-like room. Ruby nodded towards two chairs. "Take a seat, I'll get Sapphire to light a fire."
"Alright." Blue said, watching the 'butler' trot out of the room.
Glancing around the small parlor, she couldn't say there was much to look at. It was cold with dark colors, a fireplace sitting at one end, two chairs in front of it, one simple and wooden, the other much larger, ornate, and comfortable looking. In fact, the wooden chair looked oddly out of place, like something she would see around the tables at the pub she worked at, contrasting greatly with the ornateness of all the other objects in the room.
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
With a slight jump, Blue looked over her shoulder. She saw Ruby come in again, with a torchic and a pikachu with a flower tucked behind it's ear trailing behind him. The pikachu was holding a cup with steam drifting over it, the torchic dragging a bundle of wood with a rope.
"Sapphire, Yellow, this is Blue." Ruby said. "Blue, Sapphire is the torchic and Yellow is the pikachu. Yellow is the medic of the castle. Sapphire works as a stablehand with Gold and an emergency maid. As in, the last ditch, last effort, no where else to turn to maid."
"Can it, Ruby." the torchic said gruffly as she dragged the wood to the fireplace. Untangling it's beak from the rope, it began to make work of putting the fireplace.
"I don't think you'll be able to do that by yourself." Blue commented, reaching down to help, only to have the tiny thing peck at her fingers. "Ow!"
"Sapphire!" Ruby chastised, glaring.
"Can it, you pansy!" Sapphire shot back. With an impressive display of strength, she flipped the wood over her head, landing in the fireplace with a thud.
"Barbarian!"
"Germaphobe!"
"Dirt-bather!"
"Oh dear..." Yellow muttered, setting the tea aside on the floor as she tugged at Blue's skirt. "Let me see that, Miss Blue."
"I don't know how much you can do." Blue said, kneeling down so that the pikachu can take her hand in her fuzzy yellow paws, staring at the small welt that Sapphire left. "I mean, it's only a tiny little thing. Nothing to worri-" she paused midword as Yellow closed her eyes, the welt and her paws glowing slightly. Blue watched in slight awe as the welt disappeared before her eyes. "Some." she finished as Yellow released her hand. Holding it up, she looked at where the welt was, eyes wide. "Wow. I can see why they call you the medic."
"Yeah, well..." Yellow trailed off bashfully.
"So are you, like, a witch or something?" Blue asked as Yellow scurried to the side to get the cup of tea, and brought it to her. Blue accepted it gratefully.
"I prefer the term sage." Yellow said.
"Sage..." Blue trailed off thoughtfully. "So you use magic, right? Can you learn magic?"
"No." Yellow shook her head. "It's something you're born with. Sometimes people can learn magic... but it's rare and extremely complicated..."
"Sounds like to much work." Blue said, tilting her head back. "I have a friend who has a sister who has a boyfriend who knows magic. A lot of earth things, making flowers grow in the winter, disappearing in a blast of petals, making harvests healthy..." she trailed off for a moment. "Yeah. Aaaaaand I'm talking to a talking pikachu about magic."
She turned her gaze to the crackling fire, now alit and glowing thanks to Sapphire. She was still arguing back and forth with Ruby, but Blue opted to ignore them.
Despite the fact that the fire was casting a warm glow across the room, Blue hardly felt the chill lift. This place was creepy, hardly some large and adventurous place that Soul made it sound like.
"Hairbrush hugging cur!"
"Unladylike chicken!"
"For Arceus sake-" Blue began, only to be cut off by the door slamming open by someone so strong, Blue was expecting the door to A, fly off the hinges, or B, smash through the wall and whip around to hit the person in the butt. The door didn't do either, but the cracks that formed around the wall and across the door didn't go unnoticed.
Slowly, her gaze went from the door to the person obstructing the doorway, and she widened her eyes. First off, whatever it is, was neither human nor pokémon, but it was huge. It was taller than any man she's ever seen, border lining seven feet at it's full height. Large, clawed hands hung at it's side while devilish horns stuck out of a head of spiky hair. Flickers of light from the fire revealed scaly orange skin and an elongated, almost lizard-like jaw, a huge tale with a small bit of fire visible behind him. Demonic wings sprouted from it's back, making the green eyes that practically glowed even more ominous.
"M-Master!" Yellow squeaked, skittering back in surprise. Ruby and Sapphire ceased their arguing almost immediately, staring at the man in the doorway.
"Who is this?" he, judging from his voice, growled out, staring at Blue. Blue scrambled to her feet, taking the nearest thing to her, which happened to be the oddly placed wooden chair, and held it in front of her, just so she had something between her and the beast standing in front of her.
"Well, sir," Ruby said courageously. "You remember the deal you made with that man, trade the first thing he touched on his property for all the wealth he could ever need? I-I think this woman is the thing that he first touched."
The beast stepped forward, leaning in, as if to judge her. She bristled slightly, though tried to remain impassive like Silver always would in the face of danger.
"You're not the first thing he touched." he growled out. Blue gripped the chair tighter. She wasn't to sure what to say, but she had a feeling being cheated out of his 'deal' was not something he expected. She couldn't tell if he was mad at Masque for daring to trick him, or mad at her for daring to trespass. Taking a step back, she prepared to break the chair over his head if needed.
Suddenly, the chair went flying from her grasp, smashing into the wall into a thousand tiny splinters.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" he roared, enraged.
"Well, then." Blue thought, taking a step back as her gaze moved from the chair back to the beast.
Blue slowly reached into her pocket, gripping the dagger and unsheathing it, hidden behind the folds of her skirt.
"Prince Green!" Ruby exclaimed. "Don't hurt her!"
"I'm going to get Red!" Yellow exclaimed, tears budding around her eyes as she bolted out of the room, pun not intended.
Green roared, charging at her. Sapphire leapt up to stop him, Ruby frozen in place, as if conflicted on what to do. Her attack hardly mattered, as his eyes flashed, and he smacked Sapphire across the room, slamming her into the wall. The little torchic fell to the ground, unmoving, and Blue seriously feared she was dead. It didn't matter, as Ruby bolted across the room, gently picked Sapphire up in his jaws, and ran out of the room.
Green turned from his fleeing servants, his full wrath on her. He charged,
Blue freaked, whipping out the dagger and slashing him across the chest. The dagger gave him what humans would consider a paper cut, the finely crafted blade hardly nicking the sturdy scales protecting him. On the plus, though, it seemed to surprise him. He stepped back, giving Blue the chance to lash out, punching him in his jaw.
This time he actually stumbled, staring at her in wide eyed surprise, as if the thought of another person, a woman no less, punching him across the face was implausible.
"That was for scaring me!" Blue exclaimed, giving him an uppercut. "That was for hitting Sapphire!" She waited for him to open his eyes again, and promptly poked both his eyes with her index and middle finger. He hissed in pain, reflexively snapping his eyes shut, stumbling back. "And that's for charging at a lady!"
With that, she bolted out of the room, just in time to hear him roar in rage. Stumbling around the corner, she began fiddling with the belt around her waist, and over her skirt. In one fell swoop, the loose, constricting skirt fell, revealing a much shorter skirt going only mid thigh, making it easier to run through the corridors.
For the first time in her life, Blue realized, she thanked Masque for something; having her dresses specially designed for an easy switch to make running easier.
She whipped around a corner, and saw Yellow rushing up to her with another Pikachu, this one with a small sword strapped to it's back. Blue almost did a double take. That little sword was so cute!
Something suddenly yanked at her cloak. She choked at the sudden pressure around her neck, boots leaving scuff marks on the floor as she continued to get dragged back. Blue didn't waste a second, unclipping the garment at her neck and bolting through the hallways.
"Master Green!" a male voice shouted. Blue assumed it was sword Pikachu. Blue didn't care. She whipped around another corner, and grinned at the sight of the large wooden doors that lead to her freedom. She didn't care if her legs or her arms were exposed. She'd run through the freezing cold butt naked if she had to.
Wrenching open one of the doors, she bolted across the yard, only to have something suddenly slam into her back, searing pain going across her skin, and like that, she was airborne. A shriek left her lips as she flailed, trying to find a way to land without breaking something. She slammed into a a tree, the wind getting knocked out of her.
She fell to a heap at the base of the tree, snow from the branches falling on top of her, as if some god above her wanted to mock her waning fortune.
She tried moving, but pain shot up and down her back. Had the impact done that? Or had Green done it?
She shivered under the blanket of snow.
Now she really wished she kept that stupid skirt on.
o.0.o.0.o
Green slammed the castle door shut, about to hastily stomp to the west wing when some of his servants, Yellow, Red, Gold, and Crystal, stared at him with varying expressions. Yellow looked absolutely horrified, about to break into tears while Crystal just glared at him. Gold had his arm crossed, and Red had a disapproving look on his face.
"What?" he demanded, tired of them just staring.
"You're an idiot." Gold boldly, and perhaps stupidly, stated. Green felt his eyes flash as he snatched the aipom by his neck, yanking him up off the ground.
"Say that again, stableboy." he growled out.
"Again, I'm the groom." Gold said. "And you're an idiot."
"I-It's true." Red muttered, staring up at him with hard eyes. "I mean, a girl-"
"A hot one at that." Gold added unhelpfully.
"Suddenly shows up in the castle," Red continued, opting to ignore Gold. "And your best course of action is to attack her and throw her out?"
"She hit me." Green responded, still not releasing his grip on Gold.
"That's good!" Gold exclaimed. "She's got some fire in her!" Green looked at him.
"You're not helping your situation, stableboy."
"Dammit, I'm the-"
"Groom, we get it." Crystal sighed. "What we're saying, Master Green, is that perhaps you should be a little... gentler?"
"She was trespassing. She's not the first thing that gutterborn craven touched."
"Does it really matter?" Yellow asked, not daring to speak before that. "I mean, she might break the curse..." she squeaked as he turned his gaze to her.
"That woman? Not a chance." he responded, unceremoniously dropping Gold to the ground. He turned, going up the stairs.
"Platinum never said you had to love her back." Gold said, rubbing his neck. "She just needs to love you."
"And the rose is wilting, sir." Crystal said, eyes hard as steel. "This may be our last chance."
Green froze at that.
Truly, he did feel bad that his staff got roped into this mess, especially for Red and Yellow, as they had recently gotten engaged, their wedding planned for the new year, after Christmas. But then that fairy went and cursed them, and everything had to be put on hold.
"A-At least go and get her in from the cold." Yellow suggested. Green gripped the railing, then relented, turning back around and going outside. Hopefully she didn't run off yet. If she did, then he'd just go and scoop her up and bring her back.
Hardly phased by the cold, he stepped out of the castle and turned his attention to the tree she had flew into. His eyes widened a fraction, seeing that the mound had hardly moved since he watched the snow fall onto her. He hadn't killed her, had he?!
Rushing towards it, he began digging at the snow. Underneath, he found the girl, eyes closed, teeth chattering, hair a frazzled, damp mess, ice already freezing on the strands. Was she already getting cold from the short time she was out there? Noticing the blood around her, he slowly turned her over, blinking as he saw four claw marks going up her back. Had he done that?
"Who else would have done that?" he thought bitterly, scooping her up and going back into the castle. The four servants were still standing there, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Master Green, she's bleeding!" Yellow exclaimed.
"I'm aware." he stated, glaring pointedly at her. Yellow fell silent, though she and the others scurried after him as he carried her to the tower and laid her on a bed of hay.
"Really?" Gold asked, crossing his arms and raising a furry eyebrow. "If you're trying to woo the girl, maybe you shouldn't lock her in a tower."
"I won't have her bloodying my items." he turned to Yellow. "Heal her. Make sure she lives." he then looked to Crystal. "Get White to clean up this trail of blood. I want it gone by the time I return here."
"W-What should we do with her if she wakes up?" Yellow asked.
"Bring her to me." he responded. "Make sure she's presentable."
o.0.o.0.o
Blue awoke to being very cold and not in as much pain as she recalled passing out with.
A sudden, warm feeling passed over her back. She flinched at the strange sensation, opening her eyes to figure out what was going on.
"Miss Blue?" she blinked her eyes open, and saw the pikachu with a sword. He was staring at her, ears twitching. She blinked. "Are you okay?"
"Better than I was." she responded, glancing around, crinkling her nose at the stone walls, barred window, and hay she was laying on. Slowly, she sat up, and saw Yellow scurry from behind her.
"I'm glad you can move." she smiled. "Those were some pretty bad gashes." she turned to the other pikachu. "This is Red. My fiancé."
"I'm the head knight." Red explained.
"You're engaged?" Blue furrowed her brow. "That's so cute!" She swore the two blushed. "How long have you been an item?" they glanced at each other.
"Are we going on eighty or ninety years?" Red asked.
"I believe it's ninety-nine." Yellow responded, as if doing the math in her head. "Yes, ninety-nine."
Blue's jaw dropped to the floor.
"You're nearly a century old?!"
"Chronologically? Yes." Red answered, nodding. "Biologically, I'm nineteen and Yellow's seventeen."
"Time stopped around the castle." Yellow said. "It's a part of the curse."
"Curse?"
"I'm sure you've heard of it in childhood legends and such." Red said. "Prince Green getting cursed by a fairy? Now you know that it's true."
"The curse was set over ninety years ago. It turned Green into a beast and us into a pokémon." Yellow said, frowning. "And time stopped."
"When the curse is broken," Red stated. "We'll regain our human form and time will go on, as if nothing happened.
"I suppose Platinum was a least wanted to see us young and happy after the curse was broken." Yellow commented softly. "Make sure our lives didn't completely waste away."
"How do you break the curse?" Blue asked curiously, cocking her head.
"We can't tell you." Red shook his head. "It's a part of the curse. You'll have to figure it out for yourself."
"Is there, like, a list or something?" Blue snickered. "'Ye Magical Rules of Thine Curse'?"
Both stared at her wide-eyed.
"How did you know?"
"Er..." Blue waved her hand in front of her face. "Never mind."
"You're awake?" she turned to the doorway, and saw a snivy standing there, smiling slightly, holding a bucket and a rag with her vines. "That's great! I just finished wiping up the floors." she set the bucket aside. Blue spotted the water tinted slightly red. "I'm White. I work as a maid."
"Blue." Blue responded.
"Come on," Red said, urging Blue up. "The Master wants to see you."
"Like hell!" Blue spat back.
"I know he scared you," Yellow said gently. "But it's important you see him."
"I'm not avoiding this because I'm scared. I'm avoiding it because he's a jerk!" Blue stated.
"He's not that bad when you have to deal with him for a couple of decades." White offered helpfully. Blue stared at her as if she was insane. "Truly!"
"...Fine." Blue muttered, standing up.
"Oh, wonderful!" White exclaimed, clapping her snivy hands together.
o.0.o.0.o
Green stared at the fireplace, sitting in his chair, in his parlor, trying to avoid looking at the cracks in the wall where Sapphire landed and Black, using his mouth and curled tepig tail, carrying pieces of the shattered chair to the fireplace for burning.
Honestly, he had hoped to have a civil conversation if the first thing that man touched was a person. But the moment he saw that troublesome woman and didn't smell his scent on her, all he saw was red. The craven had dared to trick him? To cut him short on his deal?
Prince Green of Kanto did not like being tricked.
So who did he touch that was so important to him that he sent her instead? As troublesome as she was, he highly doubted that she was his wife. She was incredibly young, to young for the likes of him. A daughter they couldn't afford to feed? He didn't smell his blood in her veins. She couldn't be a maid, he talked of financial troubles. Then who was she? Why did she come here?
He heard the door open, and he slowly stood, turning.
Blue walked in with the confidence of a warrior, eyes like shards of cold glass as she glared at him. Her hair had been combed and she was wearing a new dress, almost uncannily similar to the one she was wearing earlier, only it had a turtleneck over a scoop neck. Around her waist was her belts, small pouches on it, the sheath to her dagger dutifully attached to the belt, though the blade was missing.
For the briefest moment, he wondered why she insisted on wearing the short dress. Wasn't she cold?
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Black going out the door.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to her.
Neither of them spoke.
"Good evening, milady. I am Green." she spoke, voice in a lower octave. "Well, good evening Sir Green." her voice returned to normal. "I am Blue." she stared pointedly at him. "That was how our first encounter should have went. Not you going on a rampage and chasing me like a zubat out of hell."
"My apologies." Green muttered. He could be civil. He would be.
"Good!" Blue nodded with a small huff. "Anyways, like I said before, I'm Blue."
"Why are you here?" Green immediately demanded. "You're not the first thing he touched. Why are you here?
"Rude." huffed Blue. "If you must know, that man got his hands on my younger brother first. I took his place."
Green stared at her for a brief moment. She willingly took on her brothers task? He... had not seen a person do something so selfless in a while. Ever since his sister...
He shook his head. What was past is past. No use dredging it up now.
"Well, Blue. This is my castle. You may go as you please, just never, ever enter the west wing. Understand?"
"Sure!" she chuckled after that. He did not like the sound of that chuckle. He left the room. It had only been an evening, and already he was annoyed with this woman.
Sighing, he shook his head, flying up to the west wing and opening the door, revealing tattered curtains and a single enchanted daisy and mirror sitting upon a table. The flower was covered in a glass case. He watched as a single petal drifted from the daisy and fell to the ground. Running his clawed hand through his hair, he stared at the daisy, sorrow ripping through his eyes at the thought of his sister.
Crystal was right. This woman, this Blue was his last chance at humanity. As much as he disliked her painfully obvious rebellion of a personality and the unsettling chuckle she laughed and how she seemed to have an underlying plan B hidden behind her eyes... he knew that if he didn't do this right, he would be stuck like this forevermore. Time would remain painfully frozen for him and the servants of the castle. They wouldn't be human again.
Daisy would die.
Sighing, he picked up the mirror, the only connection he had to the outside world.
"Show me Blue." he stated, watching as if glowed green and the girl appeared in the glass. She was talking to Diamond and Pearl while they worked in the kitchen, preparing a meal. The munchlax and the chatot, respectfully, worked away while Blue talked to them, a sly look on her face as she carefully snatched some deserts, hiding them away in the pouches on her belts.
The two chefs hardly noticed, for Blue was to busy flattering them about how clean their workplace was and how they must be excellent cooks and such.
He slowly ran his hand down his face. Well, at least one thing was certain. He would never fall for a woman like that.
All he had to do was get her to fall in love with him.
"Diasy," he murmured as he placed a clawed hand against the glass. "I won't squander this chance. Soon you'll be by my side again."
o.0.o.0.o
The woman frowned slightly.
Two of her three children had fallen asleep. Celina was leaning against her shoulder, and Iri was leaning against her chest, snoring slightly. Aini was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Time for bed, Aini." she smiled, kissing her forehead.
"I'm not sleepy. Tell the next part." she murmured in response as the woman untangled herself from the bed, gently laying Iri down so not to wake him.
"Without your siblings?" the woman smiled, setting the book aside and silently covering them with a blanket. Aini was already sleeping.
"Just where do you get that stubborn streak of yours, Aini?" the woman whispered softly as she left the room and shut off the lights.
o.0.o.0.o
Hopefully Green isn't to out of character.
Anyways, it's a bit late and I'm going to be traveling the next two days or so. Read, review, and stay tuned!
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^