Chapter 10
"Farah!" the Prince called half-heartedly after the two of us got past all the traps and through the closing door. "Farah, are you there?"
"Hello?" Farah called back in almost the same tone. "Hello?"
"Here I am!"
"Where are you at?" I added.
"I'm here!" she answered.
"Where's here?"
"Here!"
"Just stay where you are!" the Prince called, "We'll find our way to you!" The two of us started descending down the stairs.
"'We?'" I asked, eyeing him. He eyed me right back.
"Yes, 'We.'" At that moment, I grinned very broadly.
"That means… you accept me as part of the team!" I squealed, "I FEEL SO LOVED!" I latched onto him, which took him completely by surprise. He stumbled back a bit and guess what? Sand monsters appeared! Don't these guys EVER freaking stop? Guess not… Gee, doesn't that remind me of a certain someone whom I loathe…
"Uh, Naomi, DO YOU WANT TO LET GO OF ME NOW?" the prince bellowed as the sands Creatures approached us.
"…No, not really."
"ARG!" He quickly drew his sword.
"Oh, fine…" I let go of him and drew my own sword. "But I still want to know what your name is!"
"WOULD YOU DROP IT ALREADY?"
"No!" I heard him growl in frustration, but we continued fighting.
After the battle, we healed, then hurried to wherever Farah was. Prince had to smash through a lot of walls to get to the lever to open the door to get to her, but we got there… only to get involved in another battle. This one took bloody forever, and I'm almost certain that the Prince had to use more than a few sand tanks for all of us. But when it was finally over, no one really said anything, and the Prince almost automatically stepped into the sand vortex.
Once again, I grinned and stifled a giggle when it kicked him out, but Farah… I dunno, she just seemed to stare at him blankly. That's when I remembered. This was about where the two of them started falling for each other. That thought only made me grin more. When I first played this game back home, I knew from the start that those two would get romantic in some way, and when I saw Fthe scene where farah was stroking his hair and saying "My love, please don't leave me." I damn near jumped around the room screaming "I KNEW IT! I BLOODY FLIPPIN' KNEW IT!" Well, I was all for a romance between those two. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I helped in along a bit.
"He's cute, yeah?" I said nudging the Princess in the ribs a little with my elbow. She only sighed. "Come on," I encouraged, "you gotta admit he's sexy." She looked at me, slightly puzzled by my use of slang.
"I'm sorry?" I simply shrugged.
"Alright, plain and simple… He's handsome. And in my humble opinion, you two might make a good pair." She looked down at the Prince's unconscious form. "I mean, he's a prince… you're a princess…" I cleared my throat. "Well, anyways, I think I'll go scout up ahead and see what dangers lurk around the next corner. Keep an eye on him, yeah?" Without another word, I walked around the fences, then used my wings to my advantage and flew silently to a place where I could watch. Yep, the Great Naomi Fox: Angel, Matchmaker and Super spy! This was gonna be great!
Just as I remembered, Farah looked around, then went to the Prince's side and knelt by him. She carefully lifted his head into her lap, her black eyes full of concern and she gently stroked his hair from his face. A huge, goofy grin spread across my face as she started whispering that oh-so-familiar phrase: "My love… please don't leave me…"
Unfortunately for her, the prince suddenly awoke in her lap. He looked up at her strangely and asked, "What did you call me?" Startled, she suddenly stood up, his head almost hitting the ground again.
"It doesn't matter," she replied, relaxing, "The important thing is, I know how we can reach the Tower of Dawn." She walked a few steps as the Prince got to his feet.
"Yes, the Hourglass…" he muttered in agreement, but then his voice became irritated. "All right, but this time, stay with me. I can't spend all day chasing after you." He turned and started away. Farah just looked at him with a small scowl before following. "Where's Naomi?" he questioned after a moment. Uh oh, time to move and make it look like I wasn't spying!
"She said something about scouting ahead," Farah answered.
"Oh, just perfect. That foolish girl is probably in trouble again!" I quickly jumped down from my peach.
"I resent that!" I shouted irritably. I walked around the corner to make it seem as though I had been by the gate the whole time. The only problem was that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop smiling.
"There you are," Farah announced.
"Yup… there's a gate in the way."
"… Why are you grinning like that?" the prince questioned suspiciously. Uh oh.
"Oh, nothing… nothing at all," I replied, trying to act mysterious, "I was just thinking about something stupid…"
"You seem to do that often."
"Yes, I know. In the mind of a teenager, nothing is as it seems." I waltzed confidently right past him and looked at the big statue against the wall. "There's a hole here. Prince, help me move it and Farah and get in there and step on that switch." I knew he was still suspicious of me, but said nothing and we both pulled the statue out of the way. The only thing was that Farah didn't move.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" the Prince asked in that annoyed tone of his.
"I'm afraid. What if I get into trouble and you have to come chasing after me?" Farah answered, almost sarcastically. I smirked.
"Oh, please…" the Prince muttered under his breath.
"Do you mean to say that you actually need my help?" Farah asked. I knew exactly what she was getting at.
"Yesss…" the Prince hissed. The Indian Princess smiled cheerfully.
"Alright then, in that case," she walked over and crawled through the crack and stood on the pressure plate. The Prince said nothing and walked past me.
"I'm afraid! What if I get into trouble?" he mocked as he got outside. I followed him.
"Now, prince, be nice," I teased, smiling tauntingly at him. He glared at me.
"And you, stop grinning!"
I stood by the gate as the prince turned the rotating handle thingy. It clicked into place and the gate opened, revealing Farah.
"There you are," Farah said happily as the prince joined us, "are you sure I'm not slowing you down?" He sighed in frustration.
"Alright, alright…" he said through tight teeth. I was already ahead of them. I was rather anxious to get moving… Why? Because up next was one of my favorite levels: the Hall of Learning!
"LOOK AT ALL THE BOOKS!" I exclaimed giddily as I burst into the large room. I immediately took to the air and flew around, completely awed by all the books that were there.
"The Hall of Learning," Farah stated simply, also looking around. Princy just watched me and sighed, shaking his head. I know, he was wondering just how in the world he ever got stuck with a bumbling, giddy person like myself. Well, he was just gonna have to deal with it.
"BOOOOOOKKKSSSSSS!" I squealed again, then landed on the highest level, grabbed a book off a shelf and started reading it, completely forgetting that there were Sand monsters in that area… I read about a page of the book in my hands, then shoved it back in and grabbed another and did the same until I'd read a page from about twelve different books on that book case.
And pretty soon, I was zooming around the room, grabbing books, reading a few lines from each and as I ricocheted from one book case to another, I was shouting "GOTTA READ 'EM ALL! GOTTA READ 'EM ALL!" Who knows how long I did that… But hey, I did have a passion for reading.
"Naomi… What on earth are you doing?" the prince shouted up at me after the fight.
"GOTTA READ 'EM AALL, THE HALL OF LEARNING!" I sang out loudly to the tune of the Pokemon Rap song.
"Excuse my ignorance, but would you mind translating that into a language that we can all understand?" he yelled impatiently.
"!"
"Naomi Fox, could you at least try to make sense?"
"BOOOOOOOOOOKSSSSSSSSSSS! OMIGOSH, LOOKIT, PRINCE! BOOOOKSSSS! LETS LIVE HERE!"
"I guess she is a big fan of reading," Farah shrugged.
"Evidently…" the Prince grumbled, watching me buzz back and forth. My two comrades started looking for a way to open the next gate. The poor Prince was just finishing moving the mirror that blocked the crack in the wall on the far side on the room, when I suddenly squealed, closed the book in my hands, held it tightly and zipped down at lightening speed, and tackled him.
"OMIGOSH, PRINCY, I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE PERFECT BOOK! SEE?" I shoved it in his face. Yeah… I'm a big reading enthusiast. You think this is bad, you should've seen when my mom used to take me to bookstores, or to the library. Things would get hectic. Matter of fact, one library asked us to not come back… I don't know why they would want to ban an avid reader like myself… it was only one small book case I knocked over… or two… and crushed an old man… no big deal… right?
"Yeah… great…" the Prince coughed, pushing it out of his face.
"So… can we keep it? Pleeeeeeease can we keep it?" I hugged the book tightly to my chest and gave my best puppy dog eyes.
"What?"
"Pleasey weasy? Can we keeeeep iiiiit? Come oooooon, pleeeeeeese?" I made a whining sound and stuck out my bottom lip at him.
"…yeah, sure… get off of me…"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I squealed again, and hugged him so tight I almost suffocated him. "!"
"As amusing as this is, Naomi, his face is turning red. I think you should let go now," Farah interrupted.
"Oh…" I realized that she was right and let him go and he flopped on the ground with a huge sigh, "Sorry." I leapt off of him and hugged my new book to my chest.
"Well, I gots a new book!" I proclaimed cheerfully, "I shall name him… Pookie!" Farah stared at me.
"Pookie," she repeated emotionlessly.
"Pookie!" I grinned.
"Uh… great… well, why don't you go read Pookie why the Prince and I find a way out of here?" she suggested.
"OKAY!" then I quickly darted off to find a nice, cozy place to read my new book.
Kiri: ok, that chapter was a little crazy...
Naomi: no freaking kidding! look at all the yelling I did!
Farah: ...Pookie...
Kiri: What's wrong with Pookie? I named my yearbook Pookie!
Naomi: ...you're serious.
Kiri: Yes! It even says so on the inside front cover! 'Hello, my name is Pookie!'
Naomi: ...ok, that's really weird.
Kiri: So what! My yearbook! My own! My precious!
Prince: ...ok, while Smeagol over here does whatever it is she's doing over in that dark corner, who is doing the FAQ today?
Mike: I did it last time...
Naomi: I wanna do it!
Farah: I haven't done it yet...
Gabby: Niether have I.
Naomi: ME, damn it, ME! Me!
Prince: I've done it already, so...
Kiri: (hiss) THE PRECIOUS IS MINE!
All: ...O.o
Prince: Naomi, you do it.
Naomi: THANK YOU!
Q: so... is this gonna be a Prince/Farah or a Prince/OC?
A: Convenient question, cuz I just asked Kiri thank a little while ago. She said that it was a secret.
Q: Can't you just torture it out of her?
A: Are you kidding me? She has complete control of my life! If I piss her off, she'll definately get revenge!
Q: So we have to wait to find out...
A: Afraid so.
Q: Fine. Will Naomi ever discover the Prince's real name?
A: Well, I'm certainly hoping so!
Prince: NO! No one must know!
Q: ...what is his name?
Prince: It's-HEY! Trick question!
Q: What's with this obession with books that Naomi has?
A: I just like to read books, alright? Is that so wrong that I get a little hyper when I'm in a room with hundereds and thousands of books all around me?
Q: It's damn freaky, actually...
A: oh, leave me alone!
Q: Heheh. so, um... Pookie?
A: ... don't ask.
Prince: Well, I think that'senough for today... we really need to coax Kiri out of that corner... I think she's starting to lose it...
Kiri: It's mines... the precious is all mines...
Naomi: Eh, leave her. She'll snap out of it.
Prince: are you sure...?
Naomi: Alright, we'll give it ten minutes, then go over there and wrestle that year book away.
Prince: Got it. Until next time, read and reveiw and all that stuff! Reveiws make Kiri a very happy authoress, and happy authoress' produce good chapters! So until the next chapter!