FIDGET, BATRISHAN PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Royal Party, Adults, and Love at First Sight?

"Are you alright, Fitzgerald?"

It was close to 5 pm and the Denada Cortés were sitting in a carriage heading for the party at the Royal Palace. Hernan, now commander, had come back home to see his family before he left with. Despite the heartfelt reunion, Geneva was still upset at him for not protesting against the Queen for requesting Fitzgerald's presence but she gave up when Hernan explained that rumors going on from the mouths of every aristocrat in Aldorada, eventually to the ears of the Queen, Hernan's old childhood friend, about his Batrishan son, the last of his kind. And of course, who wouldn't want to meet a somewhat celebrity?

Hernan was asking Fidget how the latter was doing as their carriage was pulled away from their mansion. The small child was dressed up in a modest, yet high-class outfit consisting of a white shirt, a black waistcoat under a purple coat, black breeches and boots. His hair was tied back in the ponytail style that boys with long hair and wore and a small, Aldoradian purple-and-black tricorn. His dark physical appearance matched his attire. Concerning whether or not Fidget was alright, the young thing was anxious. This was his first time outside the walls of his idyllic home, meeting people other than just his parents or the staff. The young child was rather nervous of how people would react when they saw him.

"What if they don't like me, Papa?" he asked quietly.

Hernan picked up his son and let him sit on his lap, comforting him. "I promise, Fitzgerald, that as long as I live, nobody shall ever harm you."

Geneva gave Fidget a small nudge. "Look, sweetie. You can see the capitol city!"

That got Fidget's attention. He crawled on Hernan's lap until he could reach the carriage window and was amazed by the site of the city. All of the Renaissance-themed buildings ranging from the common households to the wealthy estates. Street markets, big stores, stables, plazas, parks, and so many wonders. With all the people of all classes, from the poor to the rich, walking around happily as if social status didn't matter, it was as if Aldorada was the city of the gods.

"Mama! It's beautiful!" He gasped.

"I know, sweetie," Geneva said. Hernan pulled Fidget away from the window for his safety and placed him back on his lap.

"Stay put, Fidget," Hernan said as he held on to his son. "We'll arrive at the Royal Palace in a few minutes."

"Speak of the Devil, we've arrived," Geneva said.

Fidget took a peak through the window and saw what his mother was referring to: their carriage was crossing through open green gates along with a few other carriages ahead of them. Around them were large gardens full of green mazes, rows of pine trees, statues, and flowers. People were gathered within these gardens for the celebration. Never in his life had Fidget seen so many lights coming from lanterns, fireworks exploding in the sky, and music ringing in his ears. All the commotion around the small child made him ignore the majestic royal castle.

"Remember, Fidget," Hernan said as he helped his son get down of the carriage once they arrived, "when you are speaking to an adult other than us, you speak politely and address to them as 'sir' or 'milady'. Also, you bow when introducing yourself."

"Hernan! Don't pressure him so much!" Geneva scolded.

"Papa wasn't, Mama," Fidget tried to sweetly reassure his mother, who sighed as she planted a quick kiss on her son's forehead.

"That's nice of you to say so, Fidget," she smiled.

The three of them walked throughout the gardens. As they walked, Fidget admired with great curiosity how luxurious and beautiful the sights were to him. For him back then, it was the sight of a child's wonderland that he could never imagine except in his biggest dreams, but eventually in the future, it would be the sight of a villain's desire to obtain everything.

"Ah, Commander Denada Cortés!" a voice broke his wonderland daydream. Hiding behind Geneva's protective arm that was pushing him closer to her gown so that he couldn't be seen, Fidget saw a dirty-blonde man with a mustache and a wealthy blue outfit who could have been older than Hernan himself.

"Hello, General Pizarro," Hernan said dryly. He and Pizarro were on rather bad terms: although Pizarro was a great general, he wasn't an amazing military leader like Hernan or as closely related to the Queen as Hernan. In other words, these two didn't quite like each other.

"I assume this is your charming wife, Geneva Denada Cortés," Pizarro said, bowing to Geneva, who gave a small curtsy in silence.

"Greetings, Commander Pizarro," Geneva said politely, yet in the same dry tone as her husband. "Congratulations on another victory for Aldorada. I assume that the battlefield wasn't so rough?"

"Oh no, it wasn't, lady Geneva. After our, our country's a very…" Pizarro noticed a dark child hiding behind Geneva and arched an eyebrow. "Why, Commander Hernan, I didn't know you brought slaves with you to a royal party?"

By saying these words, Pizarro had attracted the attention of many people standing by, who looked with curiosity at the Denada Cortés. Geneva bent down to cover Fidget, who hugged her back and hid his face in her chest, while Hernan looked angry. Claiming him of holding slaves was one thing, but to insult his son…

"I see that you have the tendency of insulting a child as usual," Hernan hissed. "You wouldn't treat your own child this way, would you Pizarro?"

"No, because my son isn't a slave," Pizarro said flatly. "Or not white." Gasps were heard among the crowd. "I mean, isn't one of your slaves a maid and cook in your own estate?"

The reference to Carmen stung Fidget's small mind. Hearing this man insulting his beloved nurse and Auntie Carmen just because of her skin color and inferior status made him rather angry for the first time in his life.

"My Auntie Carmen isn't a slave," he said out loud, pulling himself from an afeared Geneva and glaring daggers at Pizarro, who was shocked to see the child's actual appearance. "And you're being mean!"

"Fitzgerald!" Geneva said, pulling her son closer to her while he still looked at Pizarro.

"What on earth is this monstrosity that you've brought, Commander?" Pizarro demanded Hernan in disgust.

"The last Batrishan," one of the other noblemen said in defense for the Denada Cortés. "They adopted Fitzgerald when he was found at St Alejandro's Chapel on the day of St Fitzgerald."

"Named after the saint, to top it off." Pizarro now sounded more disgusted.

"Would it have been better if I had demoted you to a vulgar private, Commander Isaac Pizarro?" a voice said. Everybody turned to see Queen Florencia herself walking down the royal Spanish steps towards the group as the crowd made way for her. The Queen's arrival wasn't as surprising as the fact that the young Fitzgerald Denada Cortés was the first one to bow before the monarch. The pale blonde queen smiled at the youngling and patted him gently on the head.

"Thank you, young Fitzgerald," she said before turning to Pizarro. "As for you, Isaac Pizarro, I thought you knew better than to judge others based on appearances…"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty…" Pizarro stammered. "But…he…the Batrishan isn't human like us."

"He was raised in Aldorada like us," Queen Florencia said firmly. "He lived on our principles like us. Human or not, he is an Aldoradian. In addition, he's still a toddler and yet he bows more maturely than the adult you are."

"But…but Your Majesty…"

"You're excused from the party. And we'll have a discussion tomorrow about your position as General." She pointed the exit, indicating that she wanted Pizarro to leave. The latter said nothing; he only bowed and left looking angrily at the Denada Cortés, most notably Fidget.

"My dear people, there's no need to end the festivities. Let's forget about this incident and go back to celebrating," the Queen addressed her subjects, who agreed and went back to their joyous activities.

"I'm terribly sorry for my son's outburst, Queen Florencia," Hernan apologized as Geneva went to hug Fidget. "It's his first time outside our house and…"

Florencia laughed. "Hernan, Hernan. Fitzgerald did nothing wrong. He was only defending the honor of someone he cared for."

Fidget let go of his mother so that he could also apologize to the Queen. "I didn't want to ruin things. The blonde man was being mean to my Auntie Carmen," he said quietly.

Florencia knelt down in front of Fidget and smiled at him. "You only did the right thing by being selfless and defending someone who was aggressed unfairly. By doing so, you were being more Aldoradian than Pizarro himself."

Fidget smiled.

"Your parents raised you very well. I'm sure they're very proud of you." Florencia caressed the head of the happy child and looked at his parents. Hernan did look proud and Geneva was holding back tears of joy.

"Thank you, Queen Florencia," Hernan smiled.

"Perhaps your son could meet my son and daughter? I'm sure they'd get along quite well. Plus, I'm sure Fitzgerald would prefer being around other children than just adults."

Fidget gave pleading eyes to his parents, who agreed.

Time skip

A few minutes later, Queen Florencia had escorted Fidget to the Victory Garden, where two children were seen playing among the crowds.

"Pablo! Isabella! Come here!" she called.

The children heard and rushed towards her. One of them was a boy with golden blonde hair tied in the same style than Fidget. He wore practically the same clothes than Fidget only they were royal blue. He carried two wooden swords in his arms as if he wanted to play soldier. The other was a girl with golden hair tied in a Renaissance hairstyle. She wore a cute red Renaissance dress with golden ribbons. Both of the children had green eyes.

"Pablo, Isabella, this is Fidget. He's the son of Commander Denada Cortés ad it's his first time coming to a big party. Will you let him play with you?" Florencia asked.

"Yes, Mommy," Pablo said eagerly. Isabella took quite a while to answer to her mother since Fidget distracted her.

"OK, I'll let you three play." Florencia smiled at them and left them alone to play while she went to join the other adults.

"Do you play with swords?" Pablo asked, showing Fidget his wooden toy swords.

"I haven't," Fidget said sheepishly.

"That's OK. I'll show you." Pablo pulled Fidget by the arm and led him to a quiet corner with Isabella following them behind.

"You hold the sword on the grip," Pablo explained, placing one of the wooden swords in Fidget's right hand. The latter felt a strange force that made him hold the toy in a position parallel to his entire right arm.

"See, you're already holding it correctly," Pablo grinned. "Then, you have to use the sword to hit me or stop me from hitting you."

"But…won't you get hurt?" Fidget asked worried.

"Nah. I've done this several times."

"He even broke Mommy's vase from Agrabah," Isabella chuckled. This made Fidget silently giggle and Pablo look angrily at his sister.

"Ok, let's do this!" He charged his sword towards Fidget, who easily blocked the attack by holding the sword above his head in perfect balance.

Flip your sword to your right, Fitzgerald, a voice whispered in his soul. Not even wondering where the voice came from, Fidget flipped his sword on the right, causing Pablo to start losing balance. The prince looked rather surprised at the sudden, balanced attack of the newbie.

Let your two fingers spin the blade, the voice repeated. Fidget let the blade slip between his index and middle fingers and twirled the blade at the speed of a vortex until it managed to get knocked off Pablo's hands and landed on the ground.

"That was amazing!" Pablo panted. "We're did you learn to do that?"

Fidget let his left hand trail up and down the wooden blade in awe. He felt like he just unburied a hidden treasure that was hidden from him all his life.

"I…guess I just had it in me," he said, answering Pablo's question.

The boys kept playing with their wooden swords as Isabella watched them. However, her eyes were mostly locked onto Fidget. Everything about him intrigued her: his past, his bat-like, yet rather cute looks, and his sudden talent in swordfights. Isabella was such a big fan of tales that featured a beauty and a beast who was actually a prince in disguise.

And on that day, she knew that Fitzgerald Denada Cortés was the beast who would become her prince charming.