Disclaimer: Sofia The First Belongs to Disney.
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I FEEL THE PRESSURE...
...NEED A JOB...
...NEED TIME...
...NEED SUPPORT FROM FANS!...
I don't know how much time will I have before I have to give in to finding an actual 'JOB'...I was hoping that maybe I could depend on luck and time for the government support money to help me be on my feet...but I really need money to survive in the world...and to feed my daughter...and the bills...My writing might go down in the dumpster one day...
I need all of the support I could get on here...Youtube...Blogger...just so I could continue what I love doing...but it seems it'll all go back to just being a "Dream That Never Made It"...Please help spread my legacy out to the rest of the world...I just want my work to touch even one second of their life...even just a smile...
Anyways...I'm still not sure how many chapters will there be since I'm still in the middle of it all...the PRESSURE!...so If you'd like to see a different pairing after Ced-Fia...please vote your choice of pairing found on my profile page...if you do not have a FanFiction account...you can leave your choice in my Twitter...Deviant Art...Blogger...or on my Youtube Account...I will be accepting these votes until the end of September this year...Yes...You've got a lot of time to get your friends or acquaintances (who likes and knows the STF series that is) to vote for your next favorite pairing for me to write...the highest votes will be the next pairing series for me to write after Ced-Fia...Remember...VOTE VOTE VOTE!
Here's a list of my social accounts...
Youtube: Natnarf1 (With a Cedric picture)
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Ello: natnarf
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Well...I won't keep you guys any longer...
Remember...My next Preview of the next chapter or part will be posted in my Deviant Art and/or Blogger, on the 11th of every month...
Happy reading everyone! Enjoy!~
Until then...
This is Natnarf...
Signing Off!~
Cedric's POV
We entered through the doors, and for the first time in forever, I never thought that I would ever experience that feeling again, like the first time I entered the castle of Enchancia: the moment you enter into a new environment, your skin starts to feel dry and and itchy as it contracts, your clothes starts to feel uncomfortably tight and hot, and you could feel the closed parts on your body heating and moisten. A feeling I would often feel only when faced with highly important people and mighty Royal Kings; a feeling I call 'Nerve-Wracking'!.
The floor of the hall's filled with ever flowing 'fake' fog. Long rows of tables with white table cloths are lined up on either sides of the room, filled with endless dishes of food and beverages, plates and utensils, tea cups and napkins, and some pure white wax candles on gold candle stands, placed evenly apart from each other to embrace as much of the delicacies as it could with its bright flame. On that note I looked up and a huge chandelier hang above with all of its candles lit up, but its brightness was slightly dimmed, just a bit. The decorations all over the hall were sophisticated, but elegant. The walls were filled with long and heavy dark red curtains, tied up with golden ropes to let the natural light from the outside in through the large glass windows. As if it weren't enough, you could even see the air sparkling with some sort of shiny dust, suspended in the air. As we walked deeper into the room, you could feel the floor was all smooth, indicating that there were no carpets around even with all of the fog around, which will also mean that the floor will be at its most humid, that everyone will eventually start slipping all over the place in more than 2 seconds. Some young princes and princesses that were already at the scene were slowly walking around, but it would be a danger if any one of them would start to slip right now.
"Princess." I said with a tone of concern. "I have a slight concern about this fog. It should be turned off."
"Huh? Why?" Princess Sofia looks at me as we stopped walked altogether.
"The moist in the fog with create lots of wetness on the floor, and it will become very slippery that everyone will start slipping and sliding all over the place."
"Oh. That's right." She says as she looks around. "You're very observant."
"Um, thank you, Princess." I tipped my head a little.
"Well..." She says as she looks around the room as if searching for something, but doesn't seem to be able to find what she's looking for. "I don't see Amber anywhere. Maybe you could use your magic and diminish the fog?"
"I'm afraid it won't be possible unless I know where the source of the fog is coming or generating from."
"Right. Hm..." She pauses for a minute. "Maybe...you could place...a slightly soft carpet on the whole floor, where it won't be easily seen but can still be danced on it."
"Good idea. Excuse me." I said as I wiggled my arm away from hers.
I took my wand from inside my jacket and start circling in a small circle downwards towards the floor.
"Vestis Extendere!" I whispered out the words.
'Vestis' means 'Carpet', 'Extendere' means 'To Spread'. And with a direct blast towards the floor of the room, it was instantly covered with a pale yellow carpet, which no one would be able to tell. Then I quickly hid my wand back inside my jacket.
"No one will suspect a thing." I said as I offered m arm.
"Great." Princess Sofia says delightedly as she took my arm.
"Yoohoo!~ Sofia!~" A voice called out from the side.
We turned to face the left side of the hall and saw a princess in teal colored dress, almost as if it was in a pattern made to look like scales of a fish or reptile and her hair naturally let down with a couple of shells clipped onto her hair, probably. Standing beside her on her right was probably the prince from Tangu, who had his turban on with part of his long hair parted and rested on his shoulders, dressed with only a vest, and his pants, or baggy pants perhaps, in the same teal color as the princess's dress.
"Ah. It's Hildegard and Zandar." the Princess said. "Let's go over to them."
"Uh...okay." I answered.
"She's Princess Hildegard of Friezenburg, and he's Prince Zandar of Tangu. They're both dressed up in a Mermaid theme." She said quietly as we walked closer to them.
"How do you know that?" I asked quietly.
"Just pretend you don't for now." She said just as we got in front of them.
"Hello, Sofia." Princess Hildegard said as she opened her fan.
"Hi, Hildegard." She curtsied with her right arm still around mine and her left hand slightly lifting her dress. "When did you both get here?"
"Just before you did, probably ten minutes ago or so." the young Princess Hildegard answered with a dignified tone, smiling. "Love your dress by the way."
"Oh. Thank you. Yours looks really pretty and shiny. Are you a Peacock?"
"Oh, I wish I was, but I'm dressed as a Mermaid, even though I couldn't really wear a tail all the way here."
"It's still pretty though. I love it."
"Thank you." She looks at me. "Oh! And who's this?"
"Oh. Pardon me." I take my right hand over my chest and bowed my head, without letting go of Princess Sofia's arm. "I'm Jaime, a Sorcerer student, currently employed as a part time Royal Sorcerer for the Royal family Enchancia." I said and stood back up.
"Oh. I see. I'm Princess Hildegard." She curtsies.
"I'm Prince Zandar." The prince next to her says and bows. "You sure know how to bow without removing yourself from your partner's arm. Nicely done."
"Oh. Thank you kindly, Young Prince." I replied with a slight bow.
"So you're the Jaime that the twins were talking about." He says. "They've been talking about you while they were running about finishing the final touches not too long ago. Along with that odd touch out front."
"Must've been James' doing." Princess Hildegard followed.
"Do you know where they are now?" Princess Sofia asks.
"Probably looking for the Faeries. They do have to report back to them before the Ball-dance could even begin." the princess said as she opens her fan and slightly flutters it to fan herself.
"Oh." I said unintentionally.
"What are you guys talking about?" Another voice says behind us.
We all turned slightly to the side to see who it was, and it was another set of prince and princess, both wearing in black colors. The young prince was wearing an all black and snazzy suit, like a tux, while the young princess was wearing a black shiny long gown with short sleeves and long white gloves.
"Vivian! Desmond!" Princess Sofia waved excitedly. "You both look totally amazing."
"It's nothing special really." the princess says. "We have to perform later, so we really had to wear something formal and light."
"Under Amber's request?" Princess Hildegard asks.
"Yeah." the young prince answers this time. "She had also brought a few of her castle staffs over to play the music for the Ball-dance, but left the special opening for us."
"I see." Princess Sofia says. "I can't wait to hear you both play."
"I'm sure it'll be soon, Sofia." the princess smiles just as her eyes landed on me. "Oh. And who is this?"
"I'm Jaime." I bowed with my head again. "I'm a Sorcerer student, currently employed as a part time Royal Sorcerer for the Royal family of Enchancia."
"A part time sorcerer? Is that even allowed?" the eyes of the young prince widened.
"Dad granted it." Princess Sofia replied with a shrug.
"Well then. I'm Princess Vivian." She curtsies.
"I'm Prince Desmond." He bows. "Pleasure to meet you, Jaime."
"Pleasure's all mine, Young Majesties." I said with a slight nod of my head.
"Oh! You've got quite a hairstyle, Jaime." Princess Vivian points at my hair rested on my shoulders. "Shiny too. It's nice."
"Oh. Uh, thank you?" I wasn't sure how to reply to that.
"I didn't noticed he had long hair." Princess Hildegard says who was already behind me. "Zandar. Is your full hair like this or longer?"
"Obviously mine's longer than his." Prince Zandar replied. "But his is more thinner than mine, which is quite nice actually."
"I see." Princess Hildegard says. "You're really lucky, Sofia. He's quite a catch." As she closes her fan with two fingers.
"Thank you." Princess Sofia smiles.
I could feel myself blushing and heating, gradually getting faster.
"Welcome everyone! To-"
"-To Royal Prep's Ball-Dance!"
We all turned towards the source of the voices. Out of nowhere, a puff of magic dust exploded on the steps or stage and gradually appeared three fairies. If I'm not mistaken, they are the Headmistresses of this school: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. They are the most famous of faeries practically known by anyone and everyone. The only question that I have been dying to ask about them, if anyone hasn't asked yet, is their age. They've been around for so long that even my grandfather knew them as a child. I mean, who hasn't thought about it?
Fauna then flew over to us, or say hovered over us.
"I see everyone's well dressed." She said.
"Wouldn't have come unprepared, Ms Fauna." Princess Hildegard said and closed her fan.
"I'm sure, Princess Hildegard." Fauna replies. "Your dress is finely designed with flawless colors and fabric of choice."
"Thank you, Ms. Fauna." Princess Hildegard curtsies.
"And my, Oh my! How sharp and professional, Princess Vivian and Prince Desmond."
"Thank you, Ms. Fauna." Princess Vivian says and curtsies.
"I wouldn't say sharp, but professional, maybe." Prince Desmond says and bows.
"And Princess Sofia, you look dazzling!" Fauna looks at Princess Sofia. "Especially with the embroidery touch."
"Thank you, Ms. Fauna." She curtsied only using one hand to lift her dress again.
"And who is this fine young man?"
It was Flora, who was flying over to us.
"Good evening, Ms. Flora." Princess Sofia. "He's a Sorcerer student, currently employed as our part time Royal Sorcerer while he waits to takes his finals."
"Good evening, Madam Flora. Madam Fauna" I said and bowed my head with my left arm still holding Princess Sofia's right arm. "The name's Jaime. It is an honor to meet the legendary and heroic faeries of all time."
"My, my! What a charming young man." Flora says with a light laugh. "I'm sure we are not as legendary or as heroic as everyone says. We're just ordinary faeries running a school for young royalties."
"I'm not so sure about that. No other ordinary faeries have managed to establish and run a school, whether for royalties or commoners. And not to mention your bravery when you were all rescuing Princess Aurora from Malificent. I still think those are some of the greatest achievements ever done by such an honorable trio."
"Well-"
"Thank you very much, Jaime!"
Merryweather suddenly interrupts us.
"We really hope that you-"
"You'll enjoy yourself and have-
"-a GREAT time here!"
Both Merryweather and Flora kept on bickering while trying to finish each others' sentences while, just as the legends has also noted that about them.
"Uh, Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian." Fauna goes in between them to cut them off. "Please go take your positions, so that we can start the program soon." She struggles to keep both of the raging faeries apart.
"Oh, right! Let's go, Vii." Prince Desmond offered his arm.
"Alright." She smiles and accepts. "Excuse us, everyone." They both bowed and curtsied and left heading towards the stage.
"Vii?" Princess Hildegard's eyes were opened widely.
"I guess they've taken their relationship to another step already." Prince Zandar says as he offers his arm to her. "Shall we get going?"
"Might as well." She says and takes his arm. "See you later, Sofia."
Princess Sofia only waved in response.
"Sofia!" A voice calls out from behind.
We turned our heads to see a girl in tanned skin quickly striding over to us. She is wearing a shiny and sparkly brown dress, brown gloves, a fur like scarf, and has a hair band with ears.
"Oh, Clio." Princess Sofia said. "Are you dressed as a cat?"
"No, Sofia. I was trying to get a Lioness theme." She twirls around slowly and we noticed the skirt of the dress having a layer of fur, fake of course.
"You've gotten too excited that you practically left me behind in the coach."
A boy was walking over towards us. His whole attire was in a darker shade of brown; he had a crown like the one that boastful King Magnus always wears, a jacket with a thick line of fake fur around the collar as well as the ends of the sleeves, his brown inner shirt and vest was visibly seen as the jacket was widely opened, and he was wearing knee leveled brown heeled shoes. What an odd theme to wear for a Ball-Dance. Must've been the princess's idea.
"Oops. Sorry, Hugo." Princess Clio said.
"As long as you don't fall and trip, then it's alright." Prince Hugo said.
If I remembered correctly, this Prince Hugo is from the Principality of Albuquerque, and most of the male members of the family are famous Derby riders. They are also known to be a little...high on 'Pride', if I remembered right.
"Evening, Sofia." He said.
"Good evening, Hugo. Did you both come in one coach together?" Princess Sofia asked.
"Yeah. I picked Clio up from her place." Prince Hugo said. "Who's this?"
"Hugo, Clio. This is Jaime, my escort for this evening." Princess Sofia answered. "He's a Sorcerer student, working temporarily as our Royal Sorcerer before he takes his finals at Sorcerer's school."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Hugo and Princess Clio." I first bowed to the prince then to the princess.
"Likewise, Jaime." the princess said with a curtsy.
"Jaime." the prince said short, which was expected. Most of the members in his family are also short on their greetings, unless it is someone who they really respect, like how he had greeted Princess Sofia just now. He would've partnered well with Princess Sofia instead of Princess Clio. Then again, I don't really know the back story on their pairing, or everyone else on that matter.
"I really love the green color, Sofia, as well as the gold and sparkles." Princess Clio points at the gold lacing fabric on the dress. "Did you handmade this one, too?"
"Yes, I did." Princess Sofia says.
"I knew it. I remembered how you said you made that Swan themed dress before for Halloween when we were still kids. It has always been imprinted in my head, comparing how I had tried to make a Leopard costume, but most of my spots on it fell off before I even arrived at the school."
"But you got better at sewing later on, right?"
"Yes, Sofia. I did, after about fifty needle injuries on my hands."
"So how about this one? Did you make it, too?" Princess Sofia gestured at Princess Clio's dress.
But Princess Clio shook her head. "I only did the ears and gloves. My Dressmaker back home was scared that my hands would be covered with spotted-scars that she decided to put it together instead, then she done Hugo's."
"We don't have permanent Dressmakers of our own since they always get hired on the first day then get fired three to five days later. We usually ask the Dressmakers amongst the common folks, but they would never finish an order within a day, fastest was three days, so I went to her castle to get my measurements done. It was only this afternoon that I got to try the clothes on."
"Oh. Jaime also had his measurements done by our Dressmaker last night, and only got to fix the final touches right after lunch today." Princess Sofia uses her left hand to gesture at my whole attire.
"Oh." He says as he looks at me from head to toe. "It is very well made, especially that bouquet he has there." He gestures his hand on his neck to indicate the area around my collar. "I might try to visit your Dressmaker sometime, Sofia, when I have the chance."
"Of course. Just tell me when you wanna come by so that I could bring you to her personally."
"Thanks." Then he looks at me again. "When is the best time to visit you? I'd also like to see how you work sometime as well."
"I'm...usually at the Royal Sorcerer's workshop in the castle from noon to midnight, uh, Prince Hugo. Only for six months though." I couldn't help but feel delighted for some odd reason.
"Alright. I'll be sure to remember that." He then looks at Princess Clio. "Shall we?" And offers his arm.
"I thought you'd never ask." She says and takes it. "Later, Sofia. Jaime."
We both watched them walk away from us.
"Alright then." Princess Sofia looks at me. "Let's go."
"Please. Or we'll never move away from our spot."
We both moved closer to the stage as we stood near the center of the platform stage, between Prince Zandar and Princess Clio, and another pair whom I did not recognize. Then all of the lights instantly went out, except for one spotlight that focused centerly on the stage. The stage had large red curtains hanging and closed, which wasn't noticeable unless you went closer to the front of the stage or had turned off most of the lights like now. The curtains then parted open in the middle and out came Princess Amber, who was dressed in a green dress, and had a large tail fan on her back with colors that almost looked like her pet Peacock's tail.
"Good evening, everyone." She said loud and clear. "Welcome to our last get-together-as-a-whole-class Ball, in short, our Ball-dance. Let us all enjoy this night as we start off with a musical number from two of our most talented classmates, and popular love team, Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian!"
She walks off to the side of the stage as the curtains slowly opens and reveals Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian standing in the middle and in front of the other musicians, who were all sitting down in chairs holding different other musical instruments near the back of the stage. The prince had an accordion, while the princess had some sort of string instrument, perhaps a ukelele or a small guitar. They both bowed and positioned their instruments in place.
"Places, everyone!" Princess Amber says aloud.
We all scattered into a space, where we all had enough space to dance with our own partners. We ended up in the middle of the room, which was alright considering that I didn't want to be anywhere near a wall. I take my bow and Princess Sofia curtsies, and link our hands together, hers on top and mine below.
"Vivian." Princess Amber said again.
As the princess started playing a few tunes and we start off with a 'Box' step, it took a few tunes for me to realize that she was playing a mandolin.
"She's really good with that mandolin." I said while turning Princess Sofia in a Ladies Underarm Turn.
"That's Vivian for you." She whispered back. "She can play different kinds of instruments, from the mandolin to the violin, to the piano and the bongos."
"Really?" I felt both my eyes widen. "I wish I was also that talented in music."
"At least when you take and pass your finals, you will become a very talented and well known Sorcerer." She said. "Who knows, maybe Mr. Cedric would end up hiring you as his personal assistant."
My hands almost tightened their grip at the mentioning of my name, but I took quick breaths to calm myself and continued to do the 'Box' dance steps.
"What's wrong, Jaime?" She asked me.
"Uh...I was...I was thinking of what to reply back, but I couldn't of anything good so I remained silent." I could feel a bead of sweat starting to form on the side of my left temple.
"Hehe. If it was someone else, just say 'Thank you for the compliment' or ''Maybe, maybe not', or something that could end the topic and move onto another one." She giggled.
"I'll try to remember that." I said without looking at her.
We danced continuously in same the repetitive pattern, the 'Box' and 'Ladies Underarm', over and over again, until the music finished playing ending with Princess Vivian's plucking on the last few notes on the mandolin. All of us stopped dancing and faced forward to applause. Princess Amber got onto the side of the stage as the spot light shone on her.
"Once again, Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian." She spreads her arms wide towards to two royals on the stage.
The dimmed hall gradually brightens up as the rest of the room became more visible. As the castle staffs on stage starts to play on their instruments, everyone in the room starts to chatter with each other and their partners.
"Jaime, wanna rest by the curtains?" The princess tugs on my arm while pointing to a curtain near the table with refreshments and the doors.
"Sure, Princess."
We went over to the tables and leaned against the wall. She released my arm and I could feel and hear the blood flowing and pumping through my tired arm, telling me that I wasn't very relaxed at all during our little dance number. I flexed my arms a little bit as remind myself to not to get so tense in my hold in the future.
"Want some?"
The princess was pointing to a bowl of orange liquid in a large bowl, with a serving spoon with an extended handle in it. There were a stack of clean cups next to it, not like the ones used during the family meals back at the castle.
"Uh...sure. Won't know when's the next time we'll have a chance to have a break just to get refreshments." I replied. "I'll pour it for us-"
"That's alright. I'll do it." She quickly cuts me off. "I invited you here, so I should serve you." And pours a scoop of juice into the cup, which is exactly the right amount, then hands the cup to me. "Here you go, Jaime."
"Oh. Thank you, Princess." I carefully take the cup while avoiding her fingers.
I took a sip while I watch the princess pour one for herself to drink. The taste of the juice was freshly squeezed as you could taste the pulp bits in it. It's sweet, not too cold or warm. With my current body size, it took only two gulps to finish the whole cup of juice, it would've taken about four or five if I was in my normal state. Being this big as a person, I'm still not used to it.
"Oh. You're finished." The princess noticed just as she was about to drink in her cup. "Want some more?"
"It's alright. I can pour some myself." I held up my hand to stop her from moving. "I am kind of a big person, so everything's...a small portion to me."
I went over to the front of the bowl and took the big serving spoon and poured into my cup, filled to the brim. I quickly and carefully drank it as to avoid spilling any of it onto my clothes or the floor.
"You're really thirsty, aren't you, Jaime." A voice said beside me.
I turned to look and saw Princess Vivian next to me and Prince Desmond just coming from behind her.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Did you want a drink too?" I said as I put down my cup. "I'll help you pour one-"
"No, no. It's alright. I kind of want to do things by myself while I'm away from home." She said. "I saw that you were pouring yourself a second serving while I was coming here."
"It's just the size of the cup is a little small for my size." I said as I realized how tall I was compared to her and Princess Sofia when getting back
"Well, you are a big person. I'm sure you'll still be growing until you've reached the age of twenty-one." She said as she poured herself a cup to drink. "See you both later." She leaves us with a smile.
"I wonder if I'll be able to grow as tall as you." Prince Desmond said as he and Princess Vivian appeared beside us.
"You're still young, Young Prince. I'm certain that you'll grow even taller." I said. "By the way, your opening number was absolutely fantastic, and melodious if I may be able to add."
"Me-low-dous?" Princess Vivian looked at Prince Desmond curiously.
"It's 'Melodious', 'Meh-low-Dee-Ous.'" Princess Sofia came into the conversation and explains. "It means pleasant to the ear, like the sounds of nature combined with the breezy wind, or the chirping of the birds along with softly rustling of the leaves of bushes and trees."
"Melodious...I like that word." Princess Vivian nods with a soft smile.
"I guess we were 'Melodious' in a way." Prince Desmond nods as well.
"So are you both not playing anymore?" Princess Sofia asked.
"We actually have a little surprise in store later. Maybe after an hour or so, depends on Amber's cue." The prince looks up momentarily as if imagining a clock just above his head.
"I hope you both like dancing as much as we love playing the music for it." Princess Vivian said. "There will be a prize involved."
"Is it a sort of contest, like dancing?" I asked as I drink the remains in my cup.
"Yes." Princess Vivian nods her head in delight. "Most of the songs will be based for ballroom theme."
"Except the last song, which is a surprise number, and will be played when there are only three teams remain standing." Prince Desmond says enthusiastically. "Of course, Amber herself doesn't know about it either since we never told her about it."
"Nor the castle staffs playing in the back." Princess Vivian added. "So It'll just be the both of us playing it."
"Wow." I said filled with noticeable honest excitement in my voice. "This sounds interesting."
"I didn't think you'd be that excited." Princess Sofia said with her eyes widely opened. "Even your eyes are brimming with excitement."
"A Sorcerer? Excited about dancing?" Prince Desmond's eyes were so widely opened that you could pop them anytime with anything that has a point, like my wand.
"It's not that odd, Desmond." Princess Vivian says. "Do you all know who Greylock is?"
My smile turned into a frown instantly at the mentioning of Greylock's name.
"Who's he?" Prince Desmond asked.
"Oh. You mean King Magnus' Royal Sorcerer." Princess Sofia says.
"That's right. He and King Magnus came over to our castle some time ago, to discuss with my mom about trading and stuff. I never got to know the details about it. I was in my music room that time, practicing on the piano, and it was during my playing that I heard weird metal clanging sounds just outside the room. Crackle happened to be near the door, who was taking a nap and was waken up by the sounds, and I gestured her to slowly open the door. There I saw him! Greylock! Dancing with one of the full Amour gear that was on display, right outside my door." She started laughing, in a very humorous, yet graceful way. "Haha. You should've seen how red his face was when he finally noticed me watching, and laughing hard on the piano stool."
I could feel the corners of my mouth curling, as I could imagine the humiliation he felt at that moment. The others were giggling and holding theirs mouths, trying not to burst.
"Ha ha...ha...Mom and King Magnus never knew or found out about it. Please though, just keep this between us, everyone. " Princess Vivian puts a finger to her lips as she dries her teary eyes with her handkerchief.
"We won't tell." Prince Desmond and Princess Sofia said at the same time, still giggling.
"Of course." I said with a smirk. I have just found my newest revenge.
"Is something going on I don't know about?" A feminine voice said from behind us.
I turned to see that it was the princess from earlier, who was beside me when we went to the front of the stage. Her hair was at chin level, black and shiny. She was dressed in a peculiar design: Her sleeves were off shoulders, in black, her waist was wrapped around in a large pink band, but her skirt...that was the part I couldn't even begin to describe. If I had to use simple words, I'd say that it is...as if her was just covered in different shades of black ribbons: long, scattered, had no coordination, multiple layers of ribbons but not leveled, and yet it looked good in its own way, like some sort of freelance artwork.
"Wow." Princess Sofia slid her arm off mine and approached her in awe. "Your dress...it's Ah-Mazing! All of the ribbons! Look at them! It's like a ball of yarn! Or spaghetti!"
"It's like you're a little birthday box, wrapped in ribbons instead of paper." Princess Vivian said, without moving from her spot, still wiping any tears left on her eyes from laughing so hard.
"She looks more like...I don't know...I can't find the words to-"
"A-A-A-A work of art!" I decided to cut Prince Desmond in case he was going to say anything unpleasant. "Like a metaphor, describing how a young lady filled with different layers of emotions and personalities, one in each ribbon."
"Yes, that's exactly right." She looks at me. "I've never seen you before."
"I'm Jaime, Princess Sofia's partner for tonight." I bowed. "I'm a part time Sorcerer for the Royal family of Enchancia."
"He's a Sorcerer student, and he's preparing to take his finals by serving us during the months of waiting." Princess Sofia added.
"Ooh. I see." The princess says and curtsies. "Well, I'm Princess Mae." Stands back up and opens up her fan, made of black lace in it instead of paper.
"Oh, Mae. I really love this dress." Princess Sofia goes around her happily. "What about Frederick? What is he wearing?"
"Oh. It's hard for me to describe actually. He's chatting with Hugo and Clio at the moment." She gestures her hand towards the other end of the room. "But you can still see what he's wearing."
At the other side of was also the end of a long table with a large bowl of filled pink colored liquid. Standing beside it were Princess Clio, Prince Hugo, and a young man who had fair pale skin, his right side of his face was in our line of sight. His body was postured slightly sideways, so we could see his entire clothing. His jacket and pants were black in color, and his inner shirt was in a shade of pale pink. What was unique about the whole outfit, is that his jacket and his breeches were sewn on with many different lengths of ribbons, put together side by side. The jacket was opened in the front, the breeches had many overlaying layers of ribbons that it covers beyond the knee, looking like he was being wrapped up as a Mummy. His socks were in a dark gray color, which blended in with the breeches very well. I kind of feel a little jealous with his looks. He would look really good in almost anything he wears, even to the point of wearing rags or robes alone.
As if by chance, his eyes slightly looked in our direction, he momentarily waves to us and goes back to talking with Prince Hugo and Princess Clio.
"Cool." Princess Sofia says.
"Who thought of the design?" Princess Vivian followed.
"It was an accidental design. We were supposed to come with ribbons, covering and wrapping ourselves from head to toe in one continuous ribbon. We requested the local Tailor in my kingdom to come to my place to start doing the wrapping. He arrived, carrying two really heavy bags of ribbons still in their rollers. Just as the he started wrapping Frederick with the first roll, snapping sounds started going. For some reason, the ribbons started tearing apart on their own, still in the rollers. The Tailor then had an idea and started gluing the torn up pieces of ribbons all over Frederick. I had a dress-cage on stand by, so he did the same thing with the ribbons and started gluing all over it. It took the whole lunch period and two extra hours for the glue to dry, but it was worth it. Frederick suggested adding some pink bits to our clothing, and it really matched our tastes." She finishes her story and lifts one of her individual ribbons hanging on the side.
"I still think it is a brilliant dress." Princess Sofia had her hands together, really tight as her own knuckles were visibly turning white.
"Thank you, Sofia."
"Desmond! Let's go over to Hildegard." Princess Vivian says looking in a different direction.
"Sure." Prince Desmond says and takes her hand. "Let's catch up later, everyone."
"I better head back to Frederick as well. It kinda looks like he won't be able to get away from Clio's excited chatter." Princess Mae curtsies and walks away.
I walked up to Princess Sofia's side, who was still waving to them.
"You are one energetic child, Princess. You know that?"
"Child?" She says as she turns to me. "I guess you could say that, but we're not that far apart in age you know."
"Eh, uh..." I forgot that I was Jaime .
"Well, it doesn't matter." She says and lifts up her skirt to curtsy. "Wanna dance a little more?"
"Certainly." I offered my arm. "Just stop stealing my role, Princess."
She laughs and takes my arm as we make our way to a free space on the dance floor. In hand in hand position, we danced around. After two songs, we ate a little of the food on the tables to fill us up a bit. After we ate we decided to go outside the school garden for a little stroll, to burn off any food inside and to pass the time. I was excited for the little dance contest that I kept on fantasizing all kinds of dance steps and patterns, running about in my head.
At one point, I was going in circles around a tree.
"Um, Jaime. Do you mind waiting her for a bit?" Princess Sofia asked.
"Huh? Where are you headed off to, Princess?" I stopped and asked.
"I need to go to the washroom. I think I had a little too much lemonade."
"Lemme go with you. I think I will also need to relieve myself. If I suddenly need to do so in the middle of dancing later I would've have to hold it in like a penguin."
"Okay." She laughed a bit. "You really do love dancing, don't you, Jaime?"
"I...can't help it, Princess." I said, trying my best not to smile too hard. "It's like a necessity that just can't be ignored or tossed into the bin."
"I know what you mean." She says. "It's like...a habit, or a pet peeve that you can't get rid of."
"Exactly, Princess." I snapped my fingers.
We arrived at the back door and I opened it. We then arrived at the washrooms and went into our designated gender washrooms. I finished first and waited a little ways outside of the washroom doors.
"Oh ho ho ho." A voice echoed along the hallway. "They all have certainly grown up."
It wasn't long before the voice turned into a shadow on the wall, then turning into the corner and went over in my direction as it became into a familiar figure, Fauna herself.
"Oh, if it isn't Princess Sofia's dance partner, uh...Jaime, right?" Ms. Fauna smiled. "How are you enjoying the party so far?"
"Oh. I'm having a great time, Madam Fauna. Wouldn't miss it for the world if I was ever given another opportunity like this, except for my Sorcerer finals, can't skip on those."
"I'm glad to hear that." She said. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Princess Sofia had to go." I gestured my head at the washroom door for the girls.
Just as I finished speaking, the door opens and out came Princess Sofia.
"Sorry if you had to wait so long, Jaime." She says and notices Ms. Fauna. "Oh. Hello, Ms. Fauna."
"You are one lucky princess, you know, Princess Sofia." Ms. Fauna says. "Usually the princes in the school don't wait for their princess friends to finish. They just go on ahead and socialize with someone else."
"Oh. Is it?" Princess Sofia said in a surprised reaction.
"Oh yes. You'd be surprised when you actually see it yourself." Ms. Fauna then looks at me. "It's too bad you're not one of our own students. "
"Uh...Huh?" I blinked multiple times.
"Just joking." She giggled again. "If you'll excuse me, I have to use the little Fairy's room."
We both watched her flying and giggling to herself, still could be heard when she made it inside.
"Let's...just go, Jaime." Princess Sofia says as she wraps her arm around mine and I followed her away.
We remained silent on the way back to the hall as it was already awkward enough. We couldn't be any more glad when the slightest sounds of music and the lively sounds of chatter hit our eardrums.
"Oh. Where were you two?" Princess Clio asks us as she was standing by the doors.
"We went to the washroom." Princess Sofia answered. "Where's Hugo? Why are you here?"
"Sofia. Don't you feel...like we're missing something?"
"Are we?" Princess Sofia tilts her head to one side. "What is it?"
"I don't know...but I know we're definitely missing something, maybe a person or two." Her face was really expressing some concerns.
"Well, we'll try to keep a look out and see who is or are not here." Princess Sofia says and pats on her shoulder. "You should go look for Hugo and rest a little bit."
"I think...I think I might just do that, Sofia. Thanks." She looks at both of us. "See you both later."
I turned to look around the room, observing everyone in the room while I tried to recall everyone we've met. So far, everyone seems to be present.
"I don't think so, at least I'm not yet sure." Princess Sofia said.
"Let's just hope that everyone is here, and safe." I said.
I couldn't say that I was sure, just in case that I could be wrong. It's usually answers like 'I'm sure everyone's here' or 'I don't think anyone's missing' would stir up bad luck and news.
The staff playing the music then ends. Princess Amber, escorted by Prince James as he brings her by the hand from the middle of the dancing crowd to the stairs of the stage. Most of us slowly gathered as close to the front.
"Thank you, James. Now." She looks up at everyone. "It's now time for the special event for tonight's Ball, the 'Dance Competition'. Everyone will spread around the room, giving enough space for each pair to dance around in. The musicians, will play different types of dance music, most of them we are most familiar with. For each pair who does not know the dance to each music, or stops dancing, will be taken out of the dance floor, assisted by my other castle staffs who will be on stand by from the curtains. We will keep removing until there are only three pairs left standing on the dance floor. These three pairs, will then dance to a 'Mystery' song number, played by both Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian. The reason I say that it's a 'Mystery', is because no one knows what kind of music will be played. Neither do the musicians or I know of it, and it's also not written in the program."
"Right." I went and made a fist with my right hand.
"You're really excited for this, huh?" Princess Sofia said to me. "I could even feel it...really good...around my arm."
"Huh?"
I looked at my left arm, compressing really tightly around her right arm that it's starting to go really pale in color. She starts massaging it as soon as I released her.
"I'm so sorry, Princess Sofia!" I apologized like a ridiculous mocking bird bowing up and down.
"It's alright." She says. "It's not everyday I get to see a Sorcerer excited for a school dance." As she moves her forearm up and down like she was exercising.
"I'm really sorry. I'll...try to remain calm."
"I said it's okay." She says and takes a hold of my arm firmly with both of her arms. "I'm glad Mr. Cedric asked you to be my partner."
I looked at her as my eyes slowly looked downwards, where my arm was sandwiched right in the hold of her arms and chest. I immediately looked away and blindly slid my arm out of her grip and blindly felt my way to hold her right arm. I heard her giggle. Not sure if she was amused at what she did or the fact that I looked away. I tried to get a peek at her face, and she was still smiling at me, innocently. I let out a breath, thanking the Spirits of Velvet that she's still thinking like an innocent child.
"Alright, everyone!" Princess Amber claps her hands a couple of times and the chattering noise died down instantly. "Before I forget. To be fair on all of us, including yours truly, the music will be conducted by Prince Desmond's cue. Oh! And the winners, will be crowned the Prince and Princess of the Dance Floor."
I don't give a care for the title. All I want to do is enjoy a great dance out while the fun lasts.
"So without further a do, Let The Dance Begin!"
Everyone immediately spreads out and tries to get to their own space.
"Let's move over-"
"No need to move, Princess Sofia." I remained in place. "We'll be able to have the front space to ourselves."
As soon as I finished my sentence everyone was already evenly spaced out, also giving us space of our own. There was also a large area spaced out next to us. We all watched as Prince James and Princess Amber gradually come down from the stage and take their positions in the space next to us. I ready myself by facing my back to the twin siblings, but I could see Princess Sofia's intensive stare was looking passed my way. I glanced back a little to see Prince James also doing the same to her, but it didn't last for long as Princess Amber starts nudging him to get his attention. I turned back to look at Princess Sofia who looked very gloomy. These kids can really change their moods and emotions as if it was just an outfit or magic.
"Princess Sofia." I said to get her attention. "Here."
I grabbed a hold of her upper arms and spun her around, until we were both on each others' original dance positions.
"Just face this way. We wouldn't want that smile of yours to turn all ugly now." I said and pat her head. Trying not to feel all weirdly mushy at the same time.
She blinked her eyes for a couple of times, and then smiled, like the way she usually does.
"Thank you, Jaime. I'll be fine now-" She says and attempts to curtsy.
"Op! Bop! Bop!" I quickly bowed ahead of her and held out my right head. "Let me take the lead this time, Princess Sofia."
She giggled as I stood back up and took hold of her hands, like how we rehearsed.
"After '4', everyone! And a 1! And a 2! And a 3! And a 4!" Prince Desmond conducted.
The music began playing a strong french horn melody, by Princess Vivian. Few beats later, the rest of the staff began to follow. It is a slow paced waltz, one of mother's personal favorites, I began to led the princess on a slow box-step pace, then I turned the her in a twirl.
"Whoa." The Princess started giggling. "You're moving so swift and smoothly, it's like I don't need to move my feet at all."
"Is it? Then that must be why it's mother's favorite." I said as I thought about it.
"Ah!"
The music stopped all at once. We all turned to see a pair had fallen on the ground. Prince Frederick was down on the floor on his rear end, while Princess Mae landed on top of him, caught safely in his arms.
"S-Sorry, Frederick." She said nervously. "I-I stepped on my dress by-"
"It's alright." He says kindly. "We kind of expected this to happen."
"I-I'm really sorry." She apologized again.
"Allow us, Your Majesties."
The staffs who were on stand by walked over to them and helped them up. Lifting the princess up first, then the young prince. The prince then bows to the two staff and takes Princess Mae gently by the arm as they went over in a direction where there were some chairs already lined up by the walls.
"Please be careful, everyone." Princess Vivian says aloud.
"Don't forget to be wary of your dresses, young princesses." Flora says as she hovers over everyone in a circle.
While everyone else had their eyes on the eliminated walking pair, I noticed Princess Sofia looking elsewhere but I couldn't tell what or where exactly. I lowered my head a little closer to her ear.
"What are you looking at, Princess?" I whispered.
"Zandar and Hildegard." She answered. "I have a favor to ask, Jaime. Could you help me let them win this game?"
"Me?" I said. "You mean cheat?"
"Not cheating... We'll dance long enough to last on the floor, and when it comes down to us and them, we'll lose on purpose by tripping or something to let them win. Are you fine with it, Jaime?"
"Hm..."
I think quickly as my line of sight shifts back and forth from Princess Sofia to the pair, and I was about to surrender my response when something shines in the corner of my left eye. The Amulet of Avalor, it has once again caught my attention and reminded me of what I really desired from the Princess in the first place. It was then my head started to stir and an idea comes into mind.
"I'd usually say 'no', Princess." I said at first. "But since it's for your two friends, how could I possibly refuse?" I grinned.
"Oh! Thank you, Jaime." She says as she smiles.
"Alright, everyone! We'll start the music again." Prince Desmond aloud says from the stage. "On 'Four'. One! Two! Three! Four!-"
We all went into our dancing stances and began moving as soon as the music started playing. We decided to dance at a slower pace so that we could conserve enough energy and to last a little longer. Eventually all of the other Princes and Princesses began to feel fatigue as they quickly drained most of their stamina from dancing energetically, looking all tired and their paces slowed down. One by one, the groups left to go to the edge of the room as they either could no longer dance because their feet were sore or too numb from not being able to rest or take a break, or their partners trip and bump into another group just beside them that causes them to fall like dominoes. The Princess and I danced at a slow pace for about 30 minutes straight, that includes the musicians themselves. Some of the musicians have taken short breath breaks between a few notes of the music every now and then, only Prince Desmond and Princess Vivian played straight without ever pausing for a breather. That's proof of dedication right there.
The music finally stops when it was finally down to three pairs: us, Prince Zandar and Princess Hidegard, and a pair I recognize, Prince Khalid and Princess Maya, siblings from the Kingdom of Kaldune. I only know who they are by their names since their family's part of the Tri-Kingdom alliance with Enchancia and Wei-Ling. Speaking of which, I have not seen any of the children from the Wei-Ling family. Are they somewhere in the school that I haven't seen or been to? Well, what do I care? It's not like I'm responsible for them anyway.
We all stood apart from each other on the dance floor in a form of a triangle, facing the stage where the musicians are. The castle staffs gasp for a breath of air as they all slouch in their chairs tirelessly. Some of them even collapsed and have fallen and onto the floor from their seats .
"Oh! I guess you're the last three groups." Princess Amber says with an overexerted tone. "Let's give them a brief round of applause."
"A 'Brief' round of applause?" I blinked as everyone in the room starts applauding.
"That's how ." Princess Sofia says in a low tone while softly clapping. "Just go along with it."
"Alright. Congratulations for lasting this long on the dance floor. Now it's time to kick it up a notch as our dearest and most adorable sweethearts take the stage and play their mysterious number. Take it away!" Princess Amber says and waves her arms gracefully as she gestures at the couple on the stage.
"Thank you, Amber." Princess Vivian said. "Shall we start, Desmond?"
"On your cue, Vii." Prince Desmond says.
Princess Vivian stands up from her seat and carefully lowers down her mandolin to her other instruments that were on standby just beside her. She then takes out a small case from the pile and puts it onto her chair, opens the case and takes out its contents. She faces to the front and holds an object in each hand: a violin in her left and a bow in her right.
"I think a few of you may be familiar with this song, so I do hope that you still have enough energy to dance this number." She says with a playful tone and props her chin onto the violin's chin rest, with her bow in her hand on her side.
"That pose means she's ready, but you guys aren't." Prince Desmond says while holding onto his accordion in his chair.
We all quickly got into positions, but Princess Sofia kept on looking to the side, where Prince Zandar and Princess Hildegard were, concerned.
"I hope Hildegard can still hold on. She looks like she's almost at her limit." She says concernedly.
"I'm sure it's going to be fine, Princess." I replied. "It's only down to us three groups."
"And that's an actual problem." She says. "The other group over there are Prince Khalid and Princess Maya, two of the three children from the Kingdom of Kaldune. Khalid is known to be really good in conserving energy, but Maya is the most athletic of all them, even better than all of us whenever we have our gym and dance classes. She's graceful and tough in any and every way, and it will be awhile before the fatigue actually starts to kick in."
But before I could have my say the music starts to play. All of our groups didn't move right away because we were listening to the melody being played, and oddly enough, it was a song very familiar to me.
"It's from-"
"It's the song from from the Hootenanny!"
I was cut off from the Princess's sentence. It seems that we both know the song very well. We both smiled instantaneously and began tapping our feet to the rhythm of the beat, we interlock our arms and hop-and-skipping on the spot in a circle. It was then that I only recalled that she was once a village girl and that this song would be the most familiar to her.
The other two teams were trying to find a way to blend into the song. Prince Zandar and Princess Hildegard were doing a set of steps that only involve "Hop-Skip-Hop-Skip-Turn" steps. I do not recall the name of that set of steps, but they were clever in doing that. It doesn't require as much energy and concentration, but it does tend to get a little boring after awhile and you will lose your momentum and pace. Prince Khalid and Princess Maya were doing a sort of dance that I don't recognize at all, probably the kind of dancing that only exist from their Kingdom. Doesn't require as much energy, but it does seem to take a lot of concentration.
So now I got a basic idea of each of our dances, my brain quickly scrambles to execute two objections at once. I look once more at our surroundings and listened carefully to the timing of the music being played.
"Princess. I've got an idea."
"You do?" She answered me quietly.
"Yes, I can't tell you though or it won't work, so you're going to have to trust me on this one."
"Alright. I have my trust in you, Jaime." She says without a second of hesitation.
"Excellent." I grinned. Foolish silly girl.
The plan is simple: once Princess Maya starts to do her dance steps going left, she would collide into our third twirl, and in that moment all four of us will crash and fall onto the floor. And in all of that mist of confusion, my hands will quickly and swiftly swipe the Amulet off the princess's neck from behind. Then I would make a dash toward one of the opened doors and quickly open the portal to Mystic Meadows so that I could hide myself in my parent's house. It's going to be one delicious plan that I could almost taste it.
As soon as the music got into the chorus I took both of the Princess's hands and started doing a triple twirl towards the Kaldune siblings.
The first twirl executed.
Princess Maya was stepping on her first step to going to her left side with her left foot.
The second twirl was executed.
Princess Maya was stepping on her second step to going to her left side with her right foot.
The third twirl executing.
…
But all chaos broke loose.
Princess Maya was supposed to be on her left foot, but the heel of her shoe got caught onto the hem on the back part of her dress and she starts to trip and fall. I decided to slow down our twirl by setting my feet down hard, but the speed in our twirl was going too fast, not even the friction of the carpet I placed onto the smooth floor earlier helped.
Princess Maya and I had our eyesight locked together in that split moment, not because we were inquiring or glancing at each other, but because we know what could and would happen next if no one could stop us from colliding with each other, and it would result into a horrible accident.
In that spare second of chance, I took out my wand from the inside of my jacket, then pointed my wand towards Princess Maya and conjured out a Magic Bubble. That way she won't crash herself onto the floor. With just moments to spare I quickly took hold of Princess Sofia tightly in my arms.
I felt My back hit the side of the bubble, but with our speeding impact, we were both caused to bounce away and hard from the bubble, sending us literally flying in the opposite direction like a pair of flying logs. I held the Princess tightly in my grasp realizing that my eyelids had already shut themselves. Waiting for that crashing impact felt like an eternity, which realistically should last no more than a couple of seconds. My back then hit the floor, HARD, followed by a few bumps and gradually rolling on the ground. I finally came to a stop after a few rolls, ending myself facing down as I could feel the carpet texture against my forehead and nose. I took in multiple deep breaths as I realized that I had been holding in my breathe while trying to fixate my senses and my mind back into shape.
"...That...That has gone...Terribly wrong..." I said in between between breaths as my eyes struggle to open by blinking and flickering. "...Hah...hah...Are...are you alright...P-Princess Sofi-" I said as I slowly moved my arms to prop myself up on my lower arms.
But the moment my eyes fully opened and got a clearer vision I instantly went numb and regretted ever executing the plan in the first place.
Despite having the thick fake fog on the floor her face was very visible to me. She was looking straight up at me, with an expression that I wasn't familiar with, probably a shock or confused...or worse.
"...J...Jaime..." She blinked once.
…I am going to be in so much trouble.