"You've got to be kidding me." Caspian said, indignation dripping from every word. He shuffled over to his food bowl and nosed around in the recently added vitamin food. "I am NOT eating that."
"Yes you are." Tohma answered lazily from his couch. "Eat it or starve."
Caspian uttered a string of muttering for response and ruffled up all of his feathers. He got out of the cage and started pacing, waiting for Tohma to break down. After a few minutes that lacked response he started his high pitched shrieking, hoping Tohma would fill his bowl with something satisfactory.
"Ah, now you're de-evolving?" Tohma asked sarcastically, looking over at the now furious conure.
"I want real food you nincompoop!" Caspian screeched, his feathers sticking out at odd angles. "NOW!"
"Eat your vitamins, bird."
"NO!"
"I'm not dealing with this, Caspian." Tohma answered, reaching for his ear plugs.
"Oh no you don't!" Caspian muttered, swooping down and grabbing one of the plugs before Tohma could stop him. "You're not going to hear the end of this until you give me back my food."
"EAT THE VITAMINS!" Tohma yelled, jamming the one plug into his ear. "THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!"
Caspian glared at Tohma for a few beats and then crawled into his cage, slamming the door behind him. He walked over to the vitamin-filled bowl and started to hurl them out of the cage, aiming for Tohma when able.
"Those are worth more than you!" Tohma screamed, frantically trying to pick up the vitamins littering the floor of the office. "Stop it!"
"Never surrender!" Caspian yelled, flying out of the cage and landing on the shoulder next to Tohma's un-plugged ear. He then unleashed a torrent of parrot screams causing Tohma to fall on the ground, writhing around in pain.
"DAMMIT, CASPIAN!" Tohma yelled, slapping at the parrot and sending him flying back to his cage for safety. "EAT THE VITAMINS!"
"NEVER!" Caspian yelled back, pelting Tohma with the accursed vitamin food. "NEVER, NEVER NEV-"
"SILENCE!" screamed Mika, having broken down the door to the broom closet. "Shut up in here!"
"Mi…Mi…Mika?" Tohma said, stopping in mid-step towards Caspian's cage. "Milady?"
"What?" Mika snarled, turning around to leave.
"Heh, Technicolor." Caspian remarked from his cage, taking in the sight of Mika.
She was covered head to foot in brightly colored paint, her hands were bandaged, and her hair was frizzed out to the maximum amount.
"What the hell happened to you?" Caspian asked, stretching himself out to see better.
"After I kill the kid, I'm coming after YOU." Mika said, pointing at Caspian.
"Whatever, lady." Caspian said, scratching his head. "I'm sooo scared."
"Caspian, be respectful!" Tohma hissed. "But, um, Sultana, what happened?"
"The kid happened. That little brat has been messing with me all morning, and I'm going to have him killed!" Mika said, stomping towards the door.
"Sultana, wait! You shouldn't kill him…he may yet prove useful?" Tohma posed, trying to find an excuse to keep Shuichi alive. If Mika killed him, questions would be asked and lots of people would lose their heads, himself included.
"I thought you hated him too…I thought you were on my side, Tohma." Mika said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"I am, Mika, but…" Tohma said, sensing her change in tone. "People will talk…"
"Let them." Mika replied haughtily. She wasn't about to lose her opportunity to take out Shuichi and his elephant.
"Well, you'll have to find him first. I'm guessing you don't have him in custody?" Tohma said, sighing.
"And why would you assume that?"
"Because the paint is dripping off of you into a puddle on my freshly washed floor. If it's that recent, he's still on the loose, correct?" answered Tohma, pulling out the pink apron and a mop.
"Hmph. Smart ass." Mika said, glaring at Tohma and walking out of the office. "I'll leave you in charge of arresting him."
"Where is he exactly?" Tohma asked.
"How the hell should I know? It's your job now." Mika said, smiling at Tohma in an evil manner. "And, I've thought about it. Don't kill him. Just keep him out of my hair for a while. It can't take anymore voltage."
"Wise decision, milady." Tohma said, inclining his head towards Mika.
"As always." Mika returned, leaving the office for good and returning to the throne room to hold court.
"Heh. Yeah right, 'as always'." Caspian said, flapping over to Tohma's shoulder. "Someone should knock her off of her high horse."
"Caspian!"
"What, it's true."
"Keep the beak closed or I'll close it for you."
"Whatever. I'd like to see you try…" Caspian said, opening and closing his beak to egg Tohma on.
"That's it." Tohma said, grabbing some tar-like material from the bowels of his desk. "Come here."
"Come here, come here." Caspian mocked, flying around the room in circles. "Come here…"
"CASPIAN TOULOUSE." Tohma said commandingly, one eye popping out of his head. "Get over here."
Caspian alighted on the doorway and stared at Tohma thoughtfully. He rarely used any of his numerous middle names. While he was busy watching Tohma, the said vizier had run up to the door and reached out a hand to accost the parrot. Before he could adequately defend himself, Caspian was snatched off of the door way and his beak was sealed shut with the unnamed substance.
"There. Nice and quiet now." Tohma said, brushing his hands together and returning the adhesive. "What was that, bird? Oh, right. You can't talk."
"Mmmph!" Caspian said, unable to articulate words. Instead of further protest, he ruffled up his feathers and stalked off to his cage. He shut the door and locked it from the inside, glaring at Tohma. He then shuffled over to his sleeping perch and hopped on. Casting one last angry glance at Tohma, he shut his eyes and raised one foot to sleep.
"That takes care of him for a while." Tohma said triumphantly. "Now to find Shuichi…"
Shuichi was exhausted. It had been a very busy day for him, all of his time having been spent terrorizing his stepmother. Hiro had since retired to his own room for a nap, and now Shuichi was left on his own. He had visited Cinda, but she was busy plotting a way to get into the royal orchards. Eventually, boredom had won the war inside his head and he had returned to his room to think for a while.
As he was walking down the hall towards his room, he overheard a few of the guards talking.
"Good thing we're on break. I'm tired." Said the first guard, nudging the other. "I've been on duty since five this morning.
"Yeah…" replied the second guard. "I wonder if that crazy man and his parrot survived the Sultana's attack…"
"You and that broom closet…" replied the first, rolling his eyes. "And anyway, I overheard her ordering him to go find the prince."
"Really?" said the second, stopping and staring at his companion. "Huh, she must really be ticked to send her vizier after him."
"Let's just go to break. I don't want to be around when the vizier shows up to arrest the prince." Returned the first, glancing down the hall at the door to Shuichi's room. "Come on, let's clear out."
"Alright, alright." The second guard replied, shuffling down the hallway behind the first.
"Crap!" Shuichi whispered to himself. His experiences with Tohma always took a turn for the worst. Especially if Caspian got involved. "I hate that stupid parrot…"
Deciding not to make things too easy on Tohma, Shuichi skirted his room and headed for other parts of the large palace. If Tohma caught him…he shuddered and moved on from that thought process. He didn't want to end up like poor Yuki…
That thought made him stop in his tracks. He had tried to forbid himself from thinking about Yuki anymore. It had only been a matter of hours since he had met, and lost, Yuki, but the impression was deep. Ever since he had learned of the death, his mind had been stuck in a rut. Every chance it got, it went back to the topic of Yuki. Shuichi was convinced that slowly, but surely he was going to go insane thinking about the street rat.
After a few minutes of wandering through the vast palace, he found an empty storage room and settled in. Tohma wouldn't think to look for him here, and if he did, there was a convenient window that he could jump out of. He sat behind a few boxes, and propped up his feet. He put his hands behind his head and breathed out on a sigh.
He tried to organize his thoughts, and then decided to find a solution to his Hiro dilemma. He really liked Hiro, and had never had a friend like him in his life. Unfortunately, he was convinced that Hiro thought he was crazy. He had yet to find a way to explain the crazy mood swings, the hyper bursts of energy, everything. He sighed again, and groaned.
He knew what the root of the problem was, but he didn't know how to eliminate it. If he could get his mind away from Yuki, and away from his guilt, then maybe he could relax and start to feel better. Yuki was gone forever; he had to accept that. He wasn't ever going to see him again, he wasn't coming back.
The guilt also haunted Shuichi. The fact that Yuki had been killed because he couldn't save him drove Shuichi crazy. But then he stopped and thought for a moment; this would have happened eventually. Yuki was on the wanted list, he was a master thief. He would have been arrested some day, and the same sentence would have been carried out. He took a deep breath, and felt at peace.
Suddenly, the world looked brighter to him. The death no longer hung over his head and he started to feel more at ease. He didn't feel the need to cry, or to scream, and he felt much calmer. He decided to sneak over to Hiro's room to try and explain his new revelation and his change in thinking, and was elated. He looked out the window at the afternoon sunlight and was happy.
It was a perfect day in Agrabah, and the people seemed to be having some kind of parade, or festival. Shuichi leaned out of the window, trying to get a better look, and noticed an elephant leading the procession. Immediately thinking of Cinda escaping, he looked closer and assured himself that it wasn't her.
He continued to watch the spectacle unfold, trying to figure out what was going on. Along the sides of the procession, a tall blond man was holding people back and brandishing some sort of strange weapon. In the front of the parade, a man with short brown hair was leading the procession with a baton in one hand and a pink rabbit in the other.
"Wait a minute…" Shuichi muttered, trying to remember where he'd seen such a rabbit. After a little bit of dredging his memories he gave up and continued to watch the parade.
The shorter of the two men was running down the main street of Agrabah, throwing confetti into the faces of startled passerby. In response, most recoiled, frightened of the man and his bunny chum and a few more pushed him away. Shuichi could see the sad face of the leader, and half expected him to burst into tears. Instead, he ran over to the other man and started pointing to the crowd.
A couple of seconds later, several explosions went off, startling Shuichi so much that he almost fell out of the window. Holding on for dear life and trying to find the source, he soon spotted the tall, blond man holding a smoking weapon of sorts and laughing maniacally while the people that had pushed the other man ran away in terror. After a few seconds of this, the parade continued on. The man with the rabbit had re-assumed his position at the front of the parade and was marching hand-in-hand with the stuffed rabbit. Behind him, large drums boomed with music and a whole array of maniacs trailed on. On top of the elephant, a curtained box was precariously rocking back and forth, and Shuichi was immediately curious about what could be inside.
Before he had time to guess about the box, the music from the parade picked up and the crazed blond man started to yell. Shuichi strained to hear him, and could just make out the words.
"RYUICHI! FIRE 'ER UP!" he shouted, snapping his fingers a few times. Seconds later, even more people appeared out of nowhere and a large group of soldiers started to march directly behind the one apparently called Ryuichi.
When he saw the soldiers flood onto the street, Shuichi decided to leave his tower haven to find a better vantage point. He opened the door quietly and looked all over for Caspian or Tohma. Finding neither, he slunk out of the storage room and headed for the main hall of the palace. Outside in the street, the performance had begun.
"Make way, for Prince Eiri!" The first row of soldiers sang, tossing their swords in the air to catch the sunlight. Ryuichi attempted to wrestle one way from an unsuspecting soldier with a squeal of 'SHINY OBJECT!' but was successfully warded off.
"Say hey! It's Prince Eiri!" the second row shouted out, doing even more creative routines with their blades and keeping their eyes on Ryuichi who had re-assumed his marching position with Kuma.
"Hey! Clear the way in the old Bazaar! Hey you, let us through! It's a bright new star! Oh, come be the first on your block to meet his eye!" Ryuichi sang, working his new set of clothes. K had given him a makeover as well. Instead of his loose pants and vest combination, he was wearing a pair of tighter black pants, a dark blue tank top, and a black jacket that was adorned with a lot of metal fastenings and that hit a little above the waist. Kuma was wearing his usual red bowtie. He dropped his voice a few pitches and his serious facial expression matched only his serious singing voice; his march was still utterly ridiculous. He was flapping his arms mechanically and taking huge steps that were dangerously close to throwing him off balance. Kuma was now perched on his head, swaying back and forth with Ryuichi's insane steps.
"Ryuichi! Mingle!" K shouted towards Ryuichi. He also shouted some orders to the extras, which then amped up their antics and tried to draw in the crowd that had assembled around the procession.
In response, Ryuichi nodded energetically, never breaking from his structured marching step, and continued the song.
"Make way, here he comes!" Ryuichi sang, jumping around and waving his hands around his face with a crazed expression. He hopped over to the other side of the street and tried to get a few people to dance with him. The startled onlookers jumped back and look startled. Unfazed, Ryuichi went on. "Ring bells! Bang the drums! You're gonna love this guy!"
In perfect time with the song, K conjured lines of instrumentalists to illustrate Ryuichi's lyrics. As the parade moved forward, people continued to avoid Ryuichi. Most couldn't decide which they feared more; the rabid Ryuichi or the homicidal K.
"Prince Eiri, fabulous he, Eiri! Genuflect, show some respect, down on one knee." Ryuichi sang, making Kuma bow to demonstrate to the crowd. At the same time, K pointed at a few of Tatsuha's guards and snapped his fingers, forcing them to bow. "Now, try your best to stay calm, brush up your Sunday salaam, and come and meet his spectacular coterie!"
K snapped his fingers again and hordes of exotic dancers, tropical birds, and fabulous entertainers poured into the street and circled around the elephant. With yet another snap, the curtains fell from the box to reveal its contents. Inside the box was a very irate Yuki, and for the safety of all involved he had been gagged and tied down to the elephant. His old clothes had been traded in as well. Instead of the tattered clothes he'd had, he was sporting a royal blue top with flared sleeves that came with solid gold buttons on the cuffs. His top had a drooping neckline that was bordered by a very thick ribbon with gold thread inlaid in an intricate design. The shirt was loose fitting around the waist, and didn't cling to him at all. The pants were a beige color and fit him closely around the ankles and at the waist. At the cuffs, a thick blue ribbon with gold thread was sewn on, and at his waist, he had a darker blue sash.
Behind him, the carpet hovered warningly, having been ordered by K to keep Yuki in line. K gave a thumbs up to the carpet and turned his attention back to directing the parade.
"Firing up the pictures!" K shouted to Ryuichi, who waved Kuma in affirmation that he had heard the announcement. K snapped his fingers and a gigantic screen of sorts appeared above the elephant the very angry Yuki and hovered. Pictures of Yuki doing various feats of strength flashed up and the crowd started to 'ooh' and 'ahh' in response.
Underneath the screen, Yuki's eyes had narrowed to slits. Internally, he was hoping against hope that the pictures were fakes. There were parts of the morning that he couldn't remember, and he was convinced that he'd either been drugged or knocked out during the course of his unwanted princely makeover. Down in front, the parade continued.
"Prince Eiri, mighty is he, Prince Eiri! Strong as ten regular men, definitely." K sang, gesturing to the screen and conjuring fireworks to explode around it. Up on the elephant, Yuki was frantically working to untie himself so that he could escape the indignities of his cohorts. Meanwhile, Ryuichi had blended into the crowd with Kuma and was attempting to converse with them without being smacked; his first few attempts had not gone so well.
"He faced the galloping hordes!" He said to an old man in a weak voice while he bent over a stick. In a flash, he jumped over to a small child and thrust Kuma into the startled kid's face.
"A hundred bad guys with swords!" he said, through Kuma, in a playful voice. He then jumped over to a large man and put on his best tough face.
"Who sent those goons to their lords?" Ryuichi questioned seriously, nudging the man with his elbow. After a warning glare from the man, Ryuichi squeaked and ran back into the main street to continue the routine.
"Why, Prince Eiri!" the extras shouted, coordinating perfectly with Ryuichi.
"He's got seventy-five golden camels…" some extras sang gracefully, while K ran amuck through the camels, snapping to make more fireworks appear overhead. "Purple peacocks, he's got fifty-three…"
"When it comes to exotic-type mammals," Ryuichi said to a couple of kids, leaning down to whisper with Kumagoro in front of his face. "Has he got a zoo! And I'm telling you, it's a world-class menagerie!"
In time with the music, K conjured up several varieties of wild animals to mix in with the extras. He neglected to cage the animals, being busy directing the rest of the extras. A few of the tigers charged into the crowd, causing mass panic. Chalking it up to overexcitement, K shrugged and moved on, letting his array of ferocious animals terrorize the people in the street.
All through the song, Yuki had been furiously working at the ropes that bound him and had tried several times to remove the gag. He finally succeeded in setting himself free and ripped the gag out of his mouth with a ferocious grab; K and Ryuichi were going to pay for this. He glanced around through the chaos, but couldn't see an easy way out. Plus, most of the people that weren't being chased by K's rampant wild animals were staring at him. He sighed, and resigned himself to quietly plotting the deaths of K and Ryuichi.
"It's all yours K!" Ryuichi shouted, interrupting Yuki's murderous reverie. "Showtime!"
"Roger that." K answered, disappearing with a snap of his fingers. He reappeared with a bang several seconds later in full drag standing in a balcony packed to the brim with singing harem girls. The people not being ravaged by bloodthirsty beasts gasped and stared with their mouths open at K; it was quite obvious that he wasn't a woman. His muscular physique was rippling under the tight, mid-riff exposing, silk brassiere. His abdomen muscles were a dead give-away and the short skirt that accompanied the ensemble made several people flee the street in pure panic. The make-up job that he'd attempted looked terrible and clownish and the wig didn't quite cover his voluptuous ponytail.
Without stopping to adjust himself or to make a better attempt, he urged the girls to continue singing.
"There's no question this Eiri's alluring. Never ordinary, never boring, everything about the man just plain impresses!" the girls sang, trying to scoot away from the now dancing K and failing miserably due to space confinements. "He's a winner, he's a whiz, a wonder! He's about to pull my heart asunder! And I absolutely love the way he dresses!"
Yuki had immediately stopped any and all plotting when he heard a chorus of female voices and his head whirled around to face in their direction. Instead of seeing a group of beautiful women serenading him, he only saw K wearing a slinky dress. He had to try very hard to stifle his automatic gag reflex and shuddered. After a few seconds of self-pity for having had to see K in such a condition, an idea came to mind.
"This is it…" Yuki muttered. Everyone was still gawking at K and the elephant was slowly walking between a set of very tall buildings. Yuki glanced over his shoulder to where the annoying carpet was floating behind him. It was under orders to make sure Yuki stayed put, but it was also distracted by the car wreck that was K. Without a second thought, Yuki reached out and grabbed a ladder that was attached to one of the buildings. He quickly climbed down and tried to settle on a destination. Before he could, however, K started to sing in a very fake and very shrill voice. Apparently, he was still trying to convince the terrified crowd that he was indeed a woman.
"Prince Eiri! Handsome is he, Prince Eiri!" K sang, gesturing widely with his arms and knocking a few of the harem girls off of the balcony. "That physique! How can I speak, weak at the knee! Well, get on out in that square, adjust your veil and prepare, to gawk and grovel and stare at Prince Eiri!"
K finished his song to the loud applause of Ryuichi and the many echoing boos and horrified shrieks of the crowd. Seconds later, the head of the harem house appeared with a large stick and started to beat K. Instead of fighting back, he let out a womanly shriek and toppled off of the balcony into a merchant's cart. Dust rose around the broken cart and a few curse words issued from the debris. K walked out of the settling dust seconds later, thankfully dressed as a man, and signaled to Ryuichi to continue the parade.
A few blocks ahead of the parade, Yuki was heading towards the palace. All the other routes through town had been meticulously blocked off by K's insane extras and Yuki didn't have the energy to trifle with them. He was hoping for a chance to double back through town once the parade had passed through the palace gates. He glanced around to make sure that he wasn't being followed by the killer rug and his eyes fell on the palace.
He sighed, thinking of Shuichi, and moved on. He skimmed the skies for a sight of the carpet every few steps, but didn't see it. It wouldn't do to be captured by K and Ryuichi. If he was going to see Shuichi again, it would be on his terms, not theirs. Behind him, the parade continued.
"He's got ninety-five white Persian monkeys!" K sang, gesturing behind him and snapping for a few dramatic effects.
"He's got the monkeys, let's see the monkeys!" Ryuichi sang back to K, dancing around in the monkeys with Kuma in one hand. After a few minutes of crazy simian dancing, he ran back up to the front of the parade and started marching his serious march with Kuma in one hand and a baton in the other.
"And to view them he charges no fee!" K returned, winking at a few onlookers and snapping to bring the gigantic screen back. He snapped again and pictures of Yuki doing charity work and giving money to beggars started to cycle on the screen.
"He's generous, so generous!" the people chanted after another snap from K caused gold and other treasures to rain from the skies.
"He's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies!" K sang, snapping his fingers to make the mentioned extras appear.
"Proud to work for him!" the extras sang, bowing to the elephant and falling into place in the parade.
"They bow to his whim, love serving him! They're just lousy with loyalty to Eiri! Prince Eiri!" K sang, running up to the front of the parade to join Ryuichi.
"Prince Eiri! Amorous he, Eiri!" the extras sang, lining up behind K and Ryuichi who were now standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms around each other's waists. K snapped his fingers and the doors to the main hall and to the throne room burst open with loud bangs. Inside the throne room, Mika screamed, paranoid from her morning filled with Shuichi and Hiro's pranks. In response to her scream, Tohma came skittering in with Caspian hanging on for dear life. Tohma spun around, saw the elephant marching towards him, and let out a scream of his own. He dived out of the way and stood quivering beside a pillar with Caspian laughing until a few of his feathers shook loose.
The procession entered, led by K and Ryuichi who were now doing kicking their legs into the air one at a time in a sort of can-can dance.
"Heard your prince was a sight lovely to see!" K said to Mika, who was glued to her throne with fright. She smiled nervously and nodded, completely oblivious to what was happening.
"And that, good people, is why he got dolled up and dropped by…" K sang, gesturing to the empty box on top of the elephant. He still hadn't realized that it was empty and the Rug Man had failed to alert him of the fact.
"With sixty elephants, llamas galore! With his bears and lions, a brass band and more!" Ryuichi sang, pointing excitedly to each as he mentioned them. A few snaps from K caused glittering confetti to fall from the ceiling of the throne room and fireworks erupted as well. The rug rolled up and stashed itself inside of the box to avoid being singed by the fireworks exploding in its vicinity. "With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers, his birds that warble on key!"
K and Ryuichi continued their can-can dance and advanced through the throne room, getting closer and closer to Mika. Hiro, drawn in by the noise, entered through a side door and slid behind a pillar to watch un-noticed. On the opposite end of the room, Yuki snickered at the look on Mika's face, having snuck into the throne room several minutes before the arrival of the parade.
"Make way, for Prince Eiri!" the extras sang, signaling the end of the song. The music sped up and started to die down and the extras quickly exited the throne room. Just as quickly as it had started, the parade was over, leaving K and Ryuichi standing in the middle of the throne room in front of a gigantic elephant.
"TA DA!" Ryuichi shouted, running towards Mika and then sliding onto his knees. When he came to a halt, he slid Kuma forward and started doing furiously fast spirit fingers. He finished off by smiling like a deranged idiot, causing Mika to back up as far as he could without knocking her throne over.
"Holy kookaburra..." Said Caspian, putting words to what everyone else was thinking.
Oh mon Dieu! I'm so sorry that this took me so long! Garr! For some reason, I couldn't figure out how to write the "Prince Ali" sequence. I know it sounds stupid, but I couldn't force it. I'm going to try to be more consistent, but college is a big meanie-face and takes up a bunch of my time. In closing, Caspian says hi, he's currently on top of my head, and I hope everyone had a nice Spring Break.
**Thanks again to New Light for catching the error in the "Friend Like Me" sequence. I wouldn't have found it on my own and Caspian can't be trusted with that sort of thing. So, thank you!
***Holy crap. Four hours of edits and I miss the most obvious ones. Thanks yet again to New Light for catching the Ali to Eiri mistakes, and Caspian is officially fired as my beta reader.
-Amaya