Behold, peasants! The prince has decided to post TWO (gasp!) chapters today!
I really just want to move along as quickly as I can,since my pacing is rather slow. I value character development too much. ;;
When Marine, Sheila, and Iris had gotten up, they found Alice in the staff kitchen, sulking in a corner about 'meany butt team mates that don't help at all'. Alice had gotten back into her Celestrial uniform, but kept the bandana that Stella had made for her. Even though it was against Celestrial conduct to wear other clothing with your uniform, it was one of the very few gifts Alice had ever received. Plus, it had two of her favorite colors!
"Alice! Good morning~!" Sheila cheered, hoping to raise the spirits of the little girl. Oddly enough, it worked; little flowers popped up behind Alice as she looked at them excitedly (except for Marine, whom she glared at).
"Oh, good! You guys are up! Now we can go!" Alice jumped up and down like a little kid who's waiting for their parents to get ready so they can attend a cool festival. Iris patted her on the head gently.
"You have to wait for us to get our breakfast first, and then we can go, alright, Miss Alice?" Alice deflated, but nodded, and lied on the floor, limbs spread everywhere to inhibit others' movement. As soon as they sat down to eat, Alice started making really loud, weird sounds.
Marine rolled her eyes, and threw a slipper at Alice's unmoving head, "Stop your whining, kid! Eating is not to be rushed."
It did the trick, and Alice quietly waited for the three of them to get ready to leave.
The guards were desperate to get out of their way as they approached the castle gates, and watched them as they went inside the castle.
"A group of teenage girls and a CHILD beat the Wight Knight and an evil witch!" Some stuttered in awe.
Some of the other guards kept trying to give Alice pieces of candy for a job well done, but Marine wouldn't let her take them, for some reason. Alice wasn't very pleased at the loss of candy. She's never really had it before. Sheila gladly accepted all offerings of candy, and saved it for later, so that she could have candy parties with Alice.
As they walked up the stairs (with Alice jumping up two steps at a time), they caught sight of Princess Simona being reprimanded by her father, the King, while her mother just sat on her throne, blubbering all over everywhere. Luckily, they were probably happy tears.
All voices were hushed as Alice skipped forward through the throne room, her companions hot on her heels. Alice gave the King a deep bow.
"Your Majesty~!" Before she could continue in her sing-song manner, the King stood up and cuffed her upside the head, ruffling her hair underneath the bandana.
"Oh, there's no need for formalities, Alice! It's good to see you, lassie! Simona's told me everything." He reseated himself on his large throne, "...It sounds like that Wight Knight was having a tough old time. In hindsight, I feel a wee bit guilty for giving him so much trouble..."
King Schott coughed slightly, "Still, all's well as ends well. You did a wonderful job there, lassies! I'm quite impressed!"
Alice squealed in excitement, and started jumping around with Sheila. The King left them to themselves, and turned to Iris, who was the tallest of the four. He handed her a large bag of gold, and shook Iris and Marine's hands for a job well done.
As they were walking away, the King let out a loud laugh, calling them back. "Oh, strivvens! I almost forgot that I've reopened the eastern checkpoint! It was closed while all that trouble was brewing with the knight. There's a large town beyond that checkpoint. Maybe the four of you will find more adventure there! Ho ho ho!"
As they continued to walk outside the city, people swarmed them to thank them for their dangerous work. Once the crowd finally had ebbed away, Iris had already escaped towards the inn with Sheila in tow, but Marine stayed behind, looking around. Clutched in Marine's hand was a pair of crystal blue earrings.
Alice was nowhere in sight.
Stella floated above Alice as they made their way back towards the Starflight Express, watching the girl skip towards the mountain pass. They had been travelling in silence for twenty long minutes, and it was starting to drive Stella crazy.
"You sure you shouldn't have said goodbye to your pals?"
Alice shook her head, "Nah, it's not likely I'll see them again anyway. We're going to go back, and I'm going to get to go home, and then all Celestrians will rise into the starry sky."
Stella raised an eyebrow at her strange partner, "...You're kind of a flappin' idiot, you know that, right?"
They turned the corner and finally reached the Starflight Express. Stella silently stared at it for five minutes before she flipped her cow patties.
"...What the?! The Starflight looks the flappin' same! I was sure it'd have some kind of life in it after all that work we did!... Did the Almighty not notice our good work? It should be glowing..." Stella took a shocked step backwards, almost bumping her elbow in Alice's face. "...! I didn't get the wrong end of the gearstick on this one, did I?!"
She shook her head, "...No, of course not! What am I saying? Come on, Alice. I'm sure it'll perk right up once we get inside."
Motioning for Alice to follow, Stella flew inside the Starflight Express, Alice stalling at the door as Stella stood in the middle, looking completely distraught.
"...I don't believe it! It's looks EXACTLY the flappin' same! After all that trouble we went through..." Stella rubbed her face sadly, "Has the Almighty turned a blind ear on us?"
Alice sighed at the sight. I wouldn't exactly be surprised if the Almighty had turned his back on Stella because of me. Him ignoring me doesn't surprise me at all.
She took a step inside the cabin in order to maybe console, only to be attacked by a weird tremor. Stella, of course, freaked the fuck out.
"YIKES!" She flew over to Alice, flapping her limbs around wildly, "What was that?! The whole thing just shook when you came in just now...!"
"...When you came in!" Stella stopped flapping her limbs, and started to shake Alice vigorously. "Don't you see! That's it! That's it, Alice! The benevolessence you got from helping that knight and Stornway gave you back some of your Celestrian powers!"
Alice's hands flew behind her to feel if her wings had come back, or maybe her halo, but there was no such luck. She didn't mean my FORM, then...
Stella grinned, and stuck her nose up in the air snobbishly. "It looks like my first instinct didn't sink after all! The Starflight will fly if she has a Celestrian on board!" She turned around to face the front of the cabin, "...But first, you need to help more people so that you can regain more of your Celestrian powers... then we'll have the old girl flying like a midsummer night's dream again!"
She smacked Alice on the shoulder, "The King opened up that checkpoint, right? We'll flat-foot it over to that town; I bet it's cram-packed with needy people!" Stella threw her arms up in victory, "Woohoo! Hope at last! Time to disembark on a mission of mortal mercy! Ahahahaha!"
Alice hung her head in misery when she realized what that meant for her, which Stella then reinforced before shoving her out of the Starflight Express.
"Good for you, girl! You'll get to see your little friends again after all!"