The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: So here's the sequel to Flames of Love, takes place eighteen years after. If you haven't read the original, you probably ought to read it. I don't think this story will be as long as its successor, and I really hope and believe you'll enjoy it!

Chapter 2 (Sibling's Watchful Gaze)

"Where does your sister sneak off to anyway?" August asked with a curious tone. Astor raised an eyebrow and shrugged, he wasn't too interested in talking about his sister at the moment. Currently they were trying to watch a television program for some show over in America, but it was just a boring soap opera. The actual show they were waiting for was Shake it Up, Chicago, the only Shake it Up dance show that aired in Sviederbach, solely for its involvement with the country so long ago.

Wilbert laughed and moved away from the bookshelf beside Astor's bed. "Maybe she's got a secret boyfriend." Astor raised an eyebrow and scoffed at the thought, he would know if she had a boyfriend. Just like his parent's secret relationship, Uncle Flynn knew, Astor would know. Then again, he never put much thought into the whole question, he was busy watching after the younger siblings. "I can just imagine Aveline running off on some secret rendezvous, giving my mother the slip, and meeting with some mysterious guy."

"Only you would be interested in all that stuff, Wilbert."

"Says the guy obsessed with wanting to dye his hair black."

"Come on, I'm like the blondest back kid in the world! To top it off, Mom and Dad don't even believe in hair dye." Astor rolled his eyes and stared up at the clock on the wall, soon he would have sword lessons with his dad. His sword training took place at the same time Aveline took archery with their mom. It was a continual thing, and in a few years the twins would join them, depending on which weapon they wanted to learn. In Sviederbach, especially royal and noble families, children had to start learning to fight and military strategies at a young age. For him, he preferred the times he got to step away and have fun, rather than dealing with all this training and etiquette stuff. Hell, even the schooling went by faster in Sviederbach than in other countries, which made their education great, but harder than other areas of the world. When he turned sixteen, he would be done with school, Aveline was already finished. "How can I be cool if I'm blonde? I don't want to be blonde!"

"Look at it this way, August." Astor turned his head back, grinning deviously at the two boys. "In a few years your hair may start turning brown. Wilbert, on the other hand, will still be a bookworm." August laughed and Wilbert narrowed his eyes."Sorry Wilbert, had to make the joke."

"Don't make me sic my mother on you." He flinched and watched his friend's triumphant smirk. Of course, Rocky scared the hell out of everyone. She was nice and a very good friend, but when she got serious, boy was she scary. Karla was turning out to be just like her, which was perhaps, even scarier. "Anyway, why are we even watching the last few minutes of this soap opera thing? What will it hurt to miss a few minutes of that dance show?"

"Aw he doesn't want to miss his favorite dancer," August teased. Astor rolled his eyes once more and turned back to the screen. He enjoyed watching Astrid Bransford going through her dance routines, only because she was a friend. It wasn't so long ago that they met when Gunther and Cece took the family to visit the Bransfords in America. Hell, Aveline met Ander when she went to see the ball game going on at their parents' old high school, Ander was the pitcher, like father-like son.

"She's a friend." In the last eighteen years, Gary had since retired from the show and began traveling all over the world. No one was sure where he was now. It was one of the great mysteries of the show, and he would know, since Astor followed just about everything that was Shake it Up. "Anyway, I think it's about to start." August rolled his eyes and fell back on the pillow while Albert opened up a brown book he grabbed from the bookshelf. No one was quite into the show as he was, but who could blame him for wanting to watch girls as young as he was dancing all over the stage in various outfits? "Okay, that sounds so wrong…"

The theme began to play, and the new host stepped into the camera to announce the spotlight dance of the week. The new host was someone named Lewis Miller, he had some of Gary's youthfulness, which was great considering the shoes the man had to fill. It was better that he retain some of the youthfulness and excitement to try to keep the flow going.

The spotlight dance came and his 'favorite' dancer stepped into center stage, waving her hands in the air. She was the youngest dancer there, having turned twelve just last month, August 29th. She had a soft round face, sparkly diamond eyes, and curly brown hair that framed her head and acted as a blanket for her neck. She was not really a fantastic dancer, but she was beautiful. At least he thought she was, and at his age, he shouldn't even be all that interested in girls. Perhaps he was just simply older mentally than he really was, like Uncle Flynn?

Just as the dance was about to start, the door flew open and the two eight year olds of the castle came running around the room, laughing happily. Astor raised an eyebrow and smiled at his brother and sister. However, they currently looked like a blonde mass zipping back and forth. Both had quite a bit of hair. He preferred spiking his hair if he could, but Michael liked having long wavy hair like his sister. Although, mom and dad made sure it didn't grow any longer than his chin, while Mia's hair ran out past her shoulders.

"Guess what brother!" Mia exclaimed once she and Michael stopped bouncing around in front of him. The small girl, quite literally much smaller for her age, bounced towards the bed and put her hands onto Astor's knees.

These two were not hyped up on sugar, this was exactly how they normally acted. They were often hell to get to bed, and just about anything that was scary to them left them with nightmares that no one could quite understand. For instance, dreaming about an invisible smoking man with floating gloves giving them a flower that wilted in three days time, was one hell of a freaky dream. Even weirder, they both had the same dreams at the same time. If they were separate, they'd want to be together, if they couldn't be together, they'd bawl their eyes out!

This concerned their dad very much, for obvious reasons. Astor had heard the stories before, and hopefully Mia and Michael would be okay to separate as the years went on. He cleared his throat as Mia continued to bounce and tell him to guess what her news was. He held his smile and leaned forward. "I don't know Mia, what is it?"

"A new guy came by today, looking for Aveline!" Another suitor? He understood the whole process of trying to find a person to rule with Aveline when her Term came up, but this was just absurd. The balls were fine, it didn't matter when they were invited, but the men who randomly showed up at the door? Those men were the ones that he thought were too far and too many. "Do you know where Aveline is?"

"She went somewhere, but is the guy still here?"

"Yeah, he's in the dining room with Mommy and Daddy!"

"Okay!" This took precedent over the dance show, so he quickly got up and looked back to his cousins. "August, Wilbert, can you uh…keep Mia and Michael occupied? I'll make it up to you guys later." The two boys instantly frowned and looked to the twins with expressions of terror. "Thanks!" He bolted from the room, listening delightedly as his siblings started their hyper laughs.

He made his way into the kitchen, stopping at the doorframe and scanned the surroundings. At the large oval table were his parents with the guest. His father had bulked up over the years, grown his hair out close to his shoulder, and the same striking eyes that never faded over the years. His mom looked almost exactly as she did when she was young, her auburn hair was a few inches shorter now, and she didn't have any bangs, nor did she show signs of age. Though, she did have some stress lines at her mouth. She was as she always had been, a strong, yet compassionate mother. She was holding onto Kuno, the small four-year-old child that was cuddled close to her chest. Kuno was the one of his siblings with brown hair. His head was shaped like a tomato, and whenever Kuno started to cry or get upset, he actually looked like a tomato.

Then there was the guest. He was a skinny looking slack-jawed man with a large frame. His hair was slicked back with what was an overload of hair gel or grease, and his eyes were so wide that he looked like an alien. He was seated with his back straight, and his hands folded over on the table. Astor could smell pompous as though it were a type of fragrance.

"Oh, this is our son, Prince Astor." Cece remarked with a gentle smile. "Astor, would you introduce yourself?" Astor grinned and quickly moved for the table.

"Hi, I'm Astor. Mom, Dad, you mind if I talk to him in private? I just want to get to know him." His parents looked at each other with uncertain, nervous gazes. Gunther started to respond, but held back. This wasn't the first time Astor requested to talk alone with one of the potential suitors that came by. "Don't worry, I only want to talk. I promise."

"I'm not sure." Cece looked down at Kuno, who was beginning to sniffle. Her face twisted and Gunther moved his hand up to his nose. Kuno still wasn't exactly potty trained. He was getting there, but it was just another thing that was difficult.

"Looks like someone needs to change him," Gunther muttered. Cece held Kuno up as the boy began to cry.

"I see that." They weren't sure if it had to do with his fear of water or not, or if that were another thing entirely. Sometimes, though, Kuno would be staring at the water in the toilet for hours, never daring to sit on it. When the child was just two years old, the family had gone out to a lake nearby and he'd fallen in. Mia and Michael pulled him out, but it was likely that's where his fear of water came from. "I'll get to work. Gunther help me out…and Astor, be nice to our guest!"

"Don't worry mom, I'll be nice." Smiling sweetly, he watched his parents leave the room. He could see the man watching, uncertain. Astor casually moved to the chair next to him and slowly shook his head. "It's such a shame. That happens to little Kuno all the time, I'm afraid he's just not potty trained."

"Really, you don't say?"

"Yeah, and most of the time Aveline's changing him. You know, as the guy, you'd have to help her." The man raised an eyebrow as Astor slowly nodded. He didn't want some random, nauseating guy hanging around his sister. Hell, she had enough of those types of men around, so it was his job to look after her. "There's no question about it, you're required to get knee deep in little Kuno's mess. That's not even the half of it!"

"There's more?" The man began to turn green. Astor leaned back, smirking triumphantly.

"Oh yes, but I shouldn't burden you with all that. What is your name?"

"Sir Markus…"

"Sir Markus? Well it's a pleasure to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but I'm just always sweating. I hope you don't mind a cold and clammy handshake." Markus moved his hand to his mouth as Astor offered up his hand. He'd just run it under some water on the way over, so it was plenty cold. "What? You're not afraid of germs, I hope. Mom keeps this place really clean, and the maids are always making sure everything's spotless, but there's always something they're bound to miss. No one's perfect, you know. The twins are always running all over the place…you don't have a problem with headaches, I hope."

"Ugh…" Markus rubbed his temples and leaned forward. His eyes hovered on the exit. Astor chuckled and listened as his cousins started running through the hall nearby, screaming about the twins being too hyper for them. "What was that?"

"Oh, my cousins, I asked them to look after Princess Mia and Prince Michael, but I guess they were too much. You know, as Aveline's suitor, you may have to watch over those two on a regular basis."

"I-I don't know if I can do that. You see, I have chronic migraines. I take medicine." He clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest.

"Well I hate to say it, but you absolutely must follow your duties that are tasked to you. When Aveline's Term comes, she's going to be so busy with the rule that you have to do everything else." This may not be the entire truth, but he was known to embellish things just a little bit. Perhaps he hung out with Uncle Flynn too often. "Anyway Aveline's not here right now. She's probably off on one of her adventures, she's a very adventurous girl." That part was true, Aveline loved to explore whatever it was she could find. "You're going to have to be able to keep up with her, no straggling behind. I hope you enjoy rock climbing, hiking through the woods, swimming in the lakes, and you know…basically getting all dirty and sweaty."

Markus started to sweat and pull on his collar, this man didn't seem the type to enjoy hard labor work. No, the minute he got splashed in the face with a little mud, Markus might easily freak out. Astor moved his hands behind his head and gazed off as his parents started to reenter the room. His work was done, all he had to do was plant one seed. This man was more readable than Kuno's children's literature books! It was laughable! There was no way in hell he would be able to be a match for Aveline. Now the only question was, who was this guy that she was dating?

Cece gazed apologetically at Markus while Kuno walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. "I'm so sorry about that, Sir Markus. Now, about Aveline, I know you're wanting to talk about her hand in marriage, but all decisions must be made with her available. I can't find her anywhere, but regardless, we need to know about you."

"Exactly," Gunther replied in his gruff fatherly tone. Gunther was always overprotective of Aveline. Many men didn't even get to the door before Gunther started digging in on them and drilling them. "I want to know exactly how you are like, what your behavior is like, and how you'll treat Aveline. She's more important to us than every hair on your body." He'd seen plenty of guys mess around and hurt his daughter in one way or another, and most of those guys were ordered away with the assistance of Rocky. It was well known within the family that when Gunther sent Rocky on someone, things were going to get serious. "That being said, if you hurt a single hair on my daughter's body, you will not see my good side."

"A-Actually, I seem to be second guessing myself," Markus stated with a series of nervous chuckles. Astor held his smirk and watched as the man stumbled to his feet, nearly tripping over the chair. "I don't think I will consider this."

"You're changing your mind, then?"

"Yes sir, I apologize. Uh, thank you for your time!" Markus shot out of the room like his butt had just caught fire. Feeling rather proud of himself, Astor rose to his feet and stated towards the door. Before he could go another step, he heard his mother call out to him.

"Stop right there Astor," Cece ordered. He stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. "What did you say to the man?" He needed a smooth recovery here, and fast. He smiled and turned around, looking up and hoping to charm his mother. This was no easy task.

"I only said that Aveline was the adventurous type." Cece put her hands to her hips and shot him a skeptical look.

"I swear, Flynn is a bad influence on my children…"

Gunther laughed and put his arm around her shoulders, "It seems more genetics than anything, dear." Cece closed her eyes and breathed out her defeat. She was far too stressed today to deal with another issue, and it wasn't that much of an issue to start with. "Come, let's get some rest. There's a lot of stuff we're having to deal with lately, so it pays to relax."

"I suppose I could use a nap before Aveline's archery lesson."

"Right." He gave her a quick peck on the lips, and she began making her way to her room. Gunther walked over to Astor and put his hand to his shoulder, winking slightly. "Good job, my boy. I didn't care too much for Sir Markus either." Astor laughed once as his father hugged him.

"What's the hard stuff we're dealing with now, Dad?"

"Well you know the Bransford family, right?" Astor quickly nodded and started to fill with joy as he thought about Astrid. "Well Frankie is considering moving back here now that his son's started taking some college work over here. So we're hoping to bring him back over and put his family as nobles once more. Maybe not one of the Parliament nobles, but a noble family nonetheless."

"That would be fantastic, but what about everything that's going on over there? I mean isn't Mr. Bransford a coach?"

"Yeah, he's looking for some teaching jobs here. It's really a surprise for our families, but your mom figured it out."

"She's mom, it's almost impossible to surprise her." Gunther laughed and nodded his head. There was no arguing that fact, so perhaps that was why Rocky didn't throw her any surprise parties. "Anyway, I'd love to see them again."

"Well, one day, after all the preparations are made. It'll be good to have Frankie over here, I won't have to deal with him trying to give me advice an ocean away." Gunther's eyes drifted over to the clock and he slowly tapped his chin. "I think your show is on, so I won't keep you."

"All right dad, love you."

"Love you too, son."

So Astor, kind of resembles Flynn a little. What did you guys think of the chapter? What did you like, and etc? Anything surprising you?