Chapter One

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1000 A.D.

Today was the day that King Guardia XXXIII was leaving for his vacation -- an entire continent away. In the mean time, the Chancellor would be running the castle while he was gone. His daughter, Princess Nadia, would have gone with him if she were not sick. Because he was so busy being a king, he barely knew his own daughter. He had hoped that this vacation would bring them closer together. But because she had a fever, there was no way she could leave the castle.

That day, the maid let him into Nadia's room and he stared on at his ill daughter. She looked very tired and sweaty. The poor thing was still in her nightdress, lying in bed with her eyes closed. Hw walked over to her bedside and felt her head. She was very warm and her skin was a little pinker than usual. "Nadia? Are you sure you will be alright while I'm gone?"

She opened her eyes and smiled. "Of course, Father. I'll be just fine. You go on and have a wonderful time." She sounded very weak.

He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. Her skin felt warm on his lips. "Very well. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

With that, he stood up and left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Nadia's maid to be with her. He marched down the flight of stairs, was escorted by several guards out through the main doors, helped into his carriage, and rode through the forest.

o O o

The maid watched out the window as the carriage rode off. She waited until she was sure that it had rode through the forest in front of the castle, then far enough away to the point where it could not be seen. "Okay, he's officially gone."

Marle's eyes popped open and she threw the covers off of herself, ran over to the water bowl and splashed some cold water in her face.

Her maid sighed and shook her head. "I told you. You shouldn't have taken a bath in such hot water."

"How else was I gonna fake a fever?" Marle asked. She ran over to her closset and took out her favorite outfit: a white tube top with matching pants and brown slippers. She ran over to the mirror and threw her light blonde hair up in a pony tail.

"Honestly, Marle. I just don't understand you," her maid said. "I'm sure that you would have had a lovely vacation with your father."

Marle scoffed. "He doesn't even know me." She smiled as she looked in the mirror at herself. "Not like he does."

"You mean Chrono?... Marle, just how long do you think your relationship with him is going to last? I mean, he doesn't even know who you really are... And I don't either."

Marle looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, whenever you're around your father, you a lovely young princess. But whenever he's not looking, you become... well... how do I say this? I mean--"

"--Normal? Is that the word you're looking for?" She gave her maid a serious look. "Listen, I act normal because that is what I am. I've always been that way. The whole princess thing is just an act for me."

The maid just sighed. "Well, I've helped you play sick. But I'm not helping you sneak out of the castle."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Marle jumped back in bed as the maid answered it. There was a young woman with shoulder length purple hair and glasses. She wore a long white rode and carried a large bag. "I'm the doctor here to see the princess," she explained.

The maid gestured to the "ill" princess. "She's right over there. Please excuse me, but I have to get some chores done." With that, the maid left the room, closing the door behind her. The doctor flung off her white robe, reavealing her true outfit: A longsleeved navy blue shirt and black shorts worn under an orange kimono top. She also wore brown boots and navy colored socks. Marle got back out of bed. "Where's your helmet?"

"I couldn't fit it in my bag, so I left it at the fairgrounds," Lucca replied as she looked around the room in amazement. "Wow... When you told me you were really Princess Nadia, I thought you were just kidding!"

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't lying... Anyway, what have you got?"

Lucca sat her bag on the bed and opened it. She took out a small blue stick with a bronze star on top. There were a few wires inside the blue see-through stick. "This is my latest invension: a gate key!" she exclaimed happily. "What you do is point it at a wide open space, press this little button, and vuala! Instant transportation to wherever you wanna go!"

Marle raised an eyebrow. "Does it actually work?"

"Of course it does! I've tested it out dozens of times!" She looked around the room. "And now, all we need is an open space."

They both moved Marle's bed and night stand over to the side a little bit. When they finally had enough room, Lucca pointed at the new open space and pressed the button. In a flash, a glowing blue portal with several brightly colored swirls inside appeared!

Marle was very impressed. "Wow! Not bad!"

Lucca smiled wide. "Of course! I am a genius, after all!" She grabbed Marle's hand. "Alright! Let's go! Chrono's waiting at the fair!" With that, they both jumped inside the large portal, which closed up behind them.