DISCLAIMER: If I owned Final Fantasy IX it'd be recreated for the PS3 with voice acting AND have a sequel by now.
I trot down the steps as quickly as possible. I want to get out before anyone recognizes me. Especially Steiner. I finally get to the bottom of the stairs only to find that I've jinxed myself-Steiner is standing in front of the double doors-which is the exit. I stop in my tracks and just look at him. He seems to be staring at a random unmarked spot and muttering to himself. I roll my eyes and walk towards the exit. There is no other way out since I'm dressed as a peasant. I put the cloak hood up and hope it conceals who I am. But since we look exactly alike it may not be a problem. And of course as I try to pass Steiner, he blocks my way. He looks me straight in my eyes with his own eyes looking like a vile snake. It puts me off-guard and I step back a little. I didn't know he could look so... mad.
"How dare you bump into me! And how dare you get me criticized by the princess!"
He said it as if he was trying not to yell. He said it with such intensity that now I am "afraid". Is this what "fear" feels like? The constant beating of the heart and accelerated breathing? I have been in the castle for most of my life; all of the servants and guards were told not to speak to any member of the royal family in that fashion. No one even dared to either or else their jobs would be in jeopardy. And also because of my sheltered upbringing I have never known "fear". This is something I am not familiar with. Why would anybody talk like that? Why would somebody want to make somebody else feel "fear"? Is what I am feeling right now "fear"? Why am I even thinking of this? I have never thought of this before! I look at him, pretty sure that my eyes are blank. So I quickly decide to say something simple. I think of contractions and other words that girl might say in a situation like this.
"I'm... sorry... I didn't mean to... get you into trouble." Good enough, I suppose.
He looks so angry but he is obviously holding back. To express his anger he opens the right door, grips my arm and flings me out the door.
I land on the hard concrete with a loud thump. I landed on my left arm and it starts shaking uncontrollably. I wince and turn around to look up at him in shock. His face is now stern.
"That is your place. Now be gone!" He shouts as he slams the door.
Why would Steiner or anyone do this? I slowly get up and steady my balance. My left arm is still shaking a bit. Maybe my arm is shocked as well. If this is what it is like to be thrown to the ground then I really do not want to experience the so-called beatings that girl gets almost every day. But no matter, I must perservere! I start walking to Madame Eclair's Dress Shop. I've been there two times when I was younger-of course I was accompanied by Steiner-to pick out a present for my mother so I remember where it is. I pass by so many homes and poor people. I see so many unclean children. Has my mother really allowed poverty in her own kingdom? I must do something about this when I return to the castle!
I finally get to a small building with the name of the shop on it. I see a closed sign and take it down. Since I'm here it might as well be open. I enter the building and see a bunch of dresses on mannequins. I notice two rooms, one to the far right and one to the far left. I believe the worse one is that girl's room. I take off the cloak and walk to the room in the far left. It doesn't look like a room that Madame Eclair would sleep in so I put the cloak on the small mattress. I walk out of the room and over to an orange dress and start wiping dirt off of it. I then hear someone enter the shop.
"Good. You cleaned up this mess. I was considering not letting you eat dinner today but I've changed my mind."
I look up and it is Madame Eclair. I do not know what to say to the woman who starves and beats that poor innocent girl. I know what I want to say but it involves me revealing who I really am and I cannot do that. I just continue to wipe the dirt off of the orange dress.
"And by the way," she continued. "I will be going to the celebration honoring Princess Garnet's birthday so you will have to mind the shop until I get back."
That is impossible. Those seats are reserved for Nobles! And she is not a Noble! "Wait," I said. "Those seats are reserved for Nobles, right?" Surely there would be no harm asking her that. But she just looked at me.
"Are you stupid today? I go to every celebration the castle has! I look like a Noble so of course they'd let me in!"
I am shocked! Who would dare deceive all of royalty and nobility? Simply repulsive! Wait, if she does this... does that mean others do it as well? She doesn't even look like a Noble! What could the guards be thinking? I have to say something!
"But... isn't that... breaking the law or... something?" I asked, struggling with casual speach.
She all of a sudden put her face against mine so fast I gasp so loud you would think I am running out of air. "If you decide to tell, I won't feed you for three days! Got it?"
How dare she? She has no right to-Wait, wait... I am disguised. I suppose she can do this to me. For now. I nod my head in response and she backs away and smiles.
"Now, I'm going to a friend's. And clean everything! I'll be able to tell if you slack off!" She turns around and walks quickly out of the building, leaving all by myself.
She has a friend? She has to be lying about that... I look around and it looks spotless-as spotless as this place can get, anyway. And when I was outside it looked fine too. But she wants me to do more? What more could there possibly be? Ugh, I wish Eva was here to do this instead of me.
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Eva stares at me looking confused. "Was that a friend of yours?"
Okay. I have to sound believable. I can do this, I can do this... Wait, what if I can't do this?
"Uh, yes. Yes she is," I say as royally as possible. That wasn't too hard... Even though I don't really consider her a friend right now.
She looks past me and her eyes grow as large as black grapes. "Princess! Why is the bathwater all brown?" She runs over to the bathtub and looks into it as if there was a flower garden growing in there. I have to think of something fast. I'm a princess and the bathwater is brown... What would sound believable?
"I... I had some tea while I was bathing... and I accidently spilled it in the tub." What? Did I really just say that?
She looks at me. "Where's the teacup?"
I think quickly this time. "I gave it back."
She stares at me for a few moments and sighs. "I'll get Sue and Joanne to clean up this mess. Meanwhile, Princess, it is time for your breakfast. It is eight-thirty and you have a big day today. Follow me."
She walks by me and starts walking out of the bathroom. I follow right behind her. She... believes me? And more importantly... breakfast? Usually all I get for breakfast is a piece of bread when I actually get breakfast. I can only imagine what Garnet eats every day. We get to the huge staircase and I'm so excited I want to skip down the stairs! But not only would I not know where I'm going, I don't think princesses skip. So I keep walking slowly behind Eva.
We finally get to the dining room and it's huge! The only thing in it is an incredibly long table and a door that I'm guessing must lead to the kitchen. Already on the table is a helping of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and a side of milk. I think I've seen people eating this in the pub and it always smelled so good! I'm trying not to freak out but it's becoming very hard. Luckily, Eva breaks the silence.
"The chefs apoligize for a limited breakfast this morning. They insist you save your appetite for the feast later on."
Limited? You call this limited? What exactly does Garnet eat every day?
"Oh," Eva continues. "Your mother cannot dine with you this morning. She has a lot of things to do."
I can't stand it any longer. I want to eat! I think of the most royal-sounding words so I can tell her to leave. "I understand, Eva. You are free to leave now." And right on cue she bows, mutters a 'Very well', and walks out of the room shutting the door behind her.
I wait for a few more moments and then take off running to sit down. I pick up the silverware and start gobbling down the food. The scrambled eggs are so juicy it makes me thirsty. I take a drink of milk and it's cold. I'm used to warm milk and I gotta say this tastes a whole lot better. I take a bite of bacon and it is crunchy and also a little juicy. I take a bite of toast and how can I explain it? It tastes amazing. I keep switching between all my food. It's a good thing no one is watching me. If the queen was here she'd obviously see that something is different about her daughter. Oh! It just dawned on me! I have to face her sometime today! Oh no. What if she notices? Wait, what if Eva already noticed and is gonna tell the queen about it? Why am I worrying too much?
I finish my food in about five minutes. Was that too fast? I'm really full now. Ah, I'm actually kinda happy now. I guess someone will take care of the dishes so I wipe my face and walk out of the room. Oh, wow, was that worth it. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Maybe I'll explore a little. I start to go down the stairs when I notice people in the lobby. Should I sneak down? No, never mind. I don't think I can. Maybe I'll just see what's going on. I keep climbing down and stop in the middle and sit down. There are three staircases. Two really big ones on either side and one small one leading up to a portrait of the queen. I'm on the left one, and I see someone huge standing on the small one. Looks like the queen.
She's talking to a group of eight people. I can't hear what she's saying so I lower myself down a few steps. Now I can hear better.
"I'm sure you will do an excellent job performing for my daughter. After all, 'I Want To Be Canary' is her favorite play."
A big purple-bearded man answered her. "Yes. My boys are well-trained actors. We won't disappoint, Your Majesty."
The queen smiled. "Very good. Now, from my understanding, you already set up your airship in the correct spot?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. We just need to round up the orchestra and make sure everything works and that everyone knows their lines," Purple-beard answered, glaring at two rhino-looking people next to him.
They're all men accept for one girl. They all look... relatively normal except the rhino-people and one pink-looking person clutching a hammer. Another looks really tough and has really long hair. Or is that a bandana? The girl is extremely pale and wearing skimpy blue clothing. Another boy has red hair and is also wearing skimpy clothing... And the last one next to him looks more decent than the rest of them. He has blonde hair and I notice something swaying behind him. Is that a tail? Okay then...
The blonde looks bored yet anxious. He starts looking around until he notices me. Oh no. Not good. He doesn't do anything to let everyone know I'm here. I start to feel relieved until he smiles and winks at me. I feel my eyes widen as I quickly turn away. He winked at me. Why did he do that? I feel my face burn up. As much as I don't want to, I look back. He's still looking at me but this time he does a little wave. This time I turn away completely. I hear a little chuckle and sneak a peak. The blonde chuckled and the red-head elbowed him in the ribs and whispered something to him. I tip-toe back up the stairs and go back into the dining room and shut the door. I lean against the door... What the heck just happened?
I wait for who-knows-how-long. I decide to peak out. I'm relieved to find the people gone. But the queen is still down there. I look at a nearby clock and it says nine-thirty. Has it really been that long? I step out and even though I don't want to talk to her I know it'll happen sometime today. I walk down the stairs.
"Hello... Mother," I say as calmly as I can once I finish walking down the stairs.
She turns her head towards me. "Garnet! Darling!" She walks over to me and takes my hands. "Happy sixteenth birthday! Aren't you excited?"
I try to smile wide amd sound excited. "Oh yes! I can hardly wait!"
She smiles. "Well, you're going to have to. The acting troupe Tantalus just left to prepare for the play."
Good. This makes me actually smile, making my fake smile bigger. "I am so excited, Mother!"
"Haha, yes. Well, I apoligize, dear. But I have a lot of things to attend to today. We'll chat once the play starts at eight-o-clock. How does that sound?"
Eight-o-clock? I have to wait that long? "That sounds... lovely!" I respond, coming up with a weird word.
The queen starts walking away and I'm by myself again. But I can't believe it. I just lied to the queen and she believed me. If I'm that good maybe I should join Tantalus. Wait, that blonde... Never mind it's not worth it. I decide to explore more. I see more stairs leading down so I walk down them. It's a library. I walk back up the stairs to look for something else to do.
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Meanwhile...
Queen Brahne fans herself on the balcony as she watches Tantalus set up for the play.
"Zorn! Thorn!" she calls.
Two court jesters appear. One dressed in red, and the other in blue.
"The time is drawing near," Queen Brahne continues. "Remember that girl that showed up on a boat in Alexandria ten years ago today? She's here."
"Should we do it now?" Thorn, the red court jester, asked.
"No! It is not yet time. You may do it tomorrow."
"What about Garnet, Your Majesty?" Zorn, the blue one, asked.
The queen grunted. "She is the least of my concerns right now."
Author's Note: How would YOU look at a bathtub if flowers were growing in it? I'd have a 'WTH' face. And I think Zenero and Genero look like rhinos and that Cinna looks pink... but that's just me. And does anyone know whether Marcus has hair or is wearing a bandana cuz I really don't know. Too long? Too dull? Yes? No? Feedback is much anticipated! AND GUESS WHAT? I MISREAD TWAIN'S BOOK! Remember my rant in the last A/N? It turns out that they switched clothes for fun but the prince gets mad and was gonna go tell his father about how bad the pauper was getting treated or something so he stomps out while still wearing the pauper's clothes and then the guard throws him out. I think. Ugh, I wish they'd publish this book using normal words... Anyway, thanks for reading this far! I decided to use most of the stuff I've already written for this chapter so no major changes needed to be made! No suffering this time! YAY! :D But from the next chapter on it's gonna be raw. As in I didn't write any drafts for any more chapters. Oh well, it makes it more fun that way. :P By the way, my Language Arts teacher passed around grades. I hate to brag but I've had the highest grade in my 2nd period class this entire year. I'm happy about that... But 105.44%? Isn't that a little too much? I mean, really... BY THE WAY! I'M TAKING A LITTLE BREAK! I have to memorize the Gettysburg Address and I need all the luck I can get...
To Johnny, the anonymous reviewer who reviewed the last chapter: I'm glad you like it so far! The only reason my writer's block wasn't really noticable in the last chapter is cuz I kept making changes and rereading it over and over again. lol. I have no idea if you spelled that Grotto right but I know what you mean. I love the FFIX soundtrack. And no... Eva isn't Eiko. Eiko has purple (or is it blue?) hair and I put that Eva had red hair. BUT I see how you got that idea though. :) And your suggestion on covering Garnet's past gave me an idea for a little twist in the story. So thanks for that too! :D (By the way, were you actually referring to Garnet or Dagger? Because they both have mysterious pasts I suppose... Garnet got sick and the thing with Dagger's real identity... I assumed you were referring to Garnet... But either way, you still gave me a REALLY good idea. Although Garnet's sickness isn't really mysterious, with my new idea I'll MAKE it mysterious. :P)