Scene II
"Oooh, my back." Billy groaned, flopping backwards onto a bale of hay, one of many that were stacked in the old barn. "I really don't see why we have to make this much fuss over a stuffy old king."
"Hey! If anything, we did more work than you did!" Cordelia snapped, throwing a handful of hay at the lazy herald. " We girls were carrying the granite statues on our backs while YOU were sitting down snacking on stolen sugar cane from the kitchens!"
Billy's mouth opened and closed in defeat.
Emilia watched their bickering with interest. It was astonishing, really, how close the two were and how badly they could fight.
It had been a week since the news of the engagement, and the kingdom had gone into overtime to prepare for it. The citizens had been tidying like crazy, as had the castle staff. The chefs were baking nonstop, whipping up delightful sweets for the ball. Everyone had a job to do, leaving no time to decorate the ballroom.
So, naturally, the Queen had called for her three "most trustworthy" servants to handle the beautification process in their spare time.
"Why does the Queen need fifty granite statues of herself for the ball?" Emilia grumbled. "I thought she was trying to present herself as selfless and kind for visiting allies."
"Apparently, it is the latest "trend," as they call it now." Cordelia sighed.
The three rolled their eyes.
"Emilia! Billy! Cordelia!"
Quicker than one could bat an eye, the servants were up and running, gathering the items they were sent to fetch from the barn, and bolted off to the castle.
The doors to the ballroom crashed open as Emilia, Billy, and Cordelia poured inside.
"Aah, if it isn't the Three Stooges!"
The condescending words belonged to none other than Brume Noire, the Queen's favorite and most faithful servant. He had come from a distant nation far across the seas, and, as such, had the strangest of accents. He had spiky black hair and pale skin tattooed with red markings.
Brume also had the personality of a snake. It was second nature of the kingdom to say he and the Queen deserved each other.
Emilia sighed. "Bonjour, Brume. And who are the Three Stooges?"
Brume snorted. "Some ridiculous nonsense spouted by our idealistic future king. A pity she chose him. I always thought we had quite the relationship going."
"Him and everyone else in the kingdom." Billy muttered to himself.
"I come with orders from our illustrious Queen." Brume warbled. "She says that after you have finished with the ballroom, you may prepare yourselves for your duties tonight. Delia shall be guarding the north entrance, Bill here shall be announcing the guests, and YOU, Emmy darling, will be serving the entrees. Is that quite clear?"
"Oui, monsieur." Emilia grumbled.
"Excellent! Now, I must be going! Queen Anna's outfit is not going to floof itself!"
And off he went, mumbling to himself about dress lengths. The three friends stared after him. "What a strange man." They said in unison.
"Oh, my dear! The ballroom looks so beautiful tonight!" Gushed the Queen of Spain.
"Oh thank you so much!" Queen Anna trilled. "I just knew you'd love it! Why, my servants were all disapproving and whatnot, but I just had to take some part in it! And I picked the colors myself!"
Emilia huffed and rolled her eyes. She had served under Queen Anna for nine years, but she never would adjust to the Queen taking credit for the work of the servants.
The ballroom did look beautiful, there was no denying that. Colorful banners draped the walls, and statues of Her Most Beautiful Majesty were placed strategically between pillars of pure gold. The center of the room was shining, inlaid with jewels that shone with an intensity to rival the sun itself, and the glass roof showed the starry sky in full glory.
Emilia smiled in spite of herself. She was clean for the first time in forever and wearing her nicest black dress. If only she had not been carrying around the platter of sandwiches, it would have felt like she was a guest herself!
Billy was really bored.
He was waiting at the grand entrance to the ballroom, supposedly attentively watching for another guest to arrive, when in reality he was staring off into space.
Billy so hated his job at balls. At least Delia and Emmy got to mingle! HE was stuck in one position for the ENTIRE DARN NIGHT. And there was nothing he could do about it.
"Excuse me-AARRRGH!"
Billy turned around just in time to see a girl falling down the steps. Thinking quickly, he threw himself forward and caught her without a second to spare.
"Are you okay, miss . . . ?" He trailed off when he saw whom he had caught.
The young lady was tiny, just reaching up to his shoulders. She had the most perfect, dawn pink hair and fine green eyes, like twin emeralds. Her dress was a shade of green that perfectly matched her eyes and tucked behind her hair was a soft pink rose.
Billy didn't care if he was yelled at for staring. Heck, he didn't even care if he was drooling at this point. He was staring at the face of an angel.
"M-my apolog-gies, monsieur." The lady murmured. "I fear I am quite clumsy in dresses." Something must have been wrong, for she was staring at him intently.
Somehow, in the abyss that was love at first sight, Billy found his voice. "That is quite alright, mademoiselle. Might I inquire about your name?"
"Oh!" She jumped out of Billy's arms and straightened her gown. "I am Queen Rosalinda Rhoda Riley of France." Queen Rosalinda blushed. "And what is your name?"
Billy blinked. "Uh . . . Billy of the United Diamond Kingdom, you Highness."
Suddenly, all in a rush, Billy remembered his job. Turning to the crowd of milling royals, Billy held up his hand. "Honored Guests, I present to you Her Majesty Queen Rosalinda of France!"
There was a light scattering of applause. Queen Anna cried out in delight. "Rosalinda, darling! Oh, you simply must come join us!"
Queen Rosalinda smiled. "I shall join you in a second, mademoiselle!"
She turned to Billy. "Thank you for catching me." She whispered, pressing a quick kiss to Billy's cheek. "Oh, and please, do call me Rosie."
She smiled and walked into the oblivious crowd below, leaving a frozen Billy gawking after her.
He put his hand to his cheek and grinned. "Rosie." He mumbled, blushing. "I shall hope to see you again soon."
Cordelia smiled to herself, watching the gathered royals talk and dance and eat. It was honestly quite amusing, watching the pampered fools conversing about politics, new fashions, or simply share the latest gossip.
It was too bad. If they spoke more often to their lower classes, Cordelia knew some who might have been friends.
Catching sight of Em in the crowd, Cordelia waved happily. Em waved back. Cordelia tugged at the neck of her armor, the overall stuffiness of her forced attire grinding on her last nerve. Em gave an apologetic shrug, but her mouth was set in a sly grin.
Em suddenly pointed to the front of the magnificent room, towards Billy's station, the sly grin still set on her face. Cordelia looked over, confused.
Wait . . . what was wrong with Billy? The boy was standing in one place, a goofy grin on his face. Cordelia squinted. No, not goofy. It looked more like . . .
Uh oh. Love struck.
Cordelia doubled over, struggling to contain laughter. Oh goodness. Billy was in love?! She bit her lip. Oh, the poor boy.
"Well, Lady Knight, I am glad to see you are taking your job seriously."
Cordelia straightened up. "Monsieur Brume. And who is your friend there?"
Indeed, the snake was accompanied by a hooded figure, who gave her a polite nod.
"This is a friend of Queen Anna's. He wishes to make a grand entrance to impress our majestic Queen, his future wife." Brume said, winking at the lady knight.
Cordelia blinked. Could this stranger be . . . ?
"Now come, my good man! We have things to be doing!"
And with that, Brume began to lead the cloaked man away.
"Oh, wait! Lady Knight!" The hooded man called out. When Cordelia turned around, he continued. "I must say your sword is remarkable! Such an elegant style, and so befitting for such a lovely lady!"
"However, I must say with some sadness that in a mere matter of millennia, such weapons will be nearly extinct, and replaced with machines that can fire shells faster than any cannon. Pity. Those things are hideous."
Finished with his statement, the hooded figure turned around and strode off, followed by a baffled Brume. Cordelia stared after them, her eyebrows raised.
'Dear me.' She thought. 'What is wrong with that man?'
"Why, thank you, my fair lady!"
Emilia gave a swift bow to the Duke of Sandwich. "It is my pleasure, my lord."
He nodded and trotted off. Immediately, Emilia gagged. When was the last time the man had bathed, for crying out loud?
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Came Brume's voice, tempered to a polite drawl. Every royal and noble turned to him as he continued. "It is my greatest and utmost pleasure to introduce to you, the great and powerful King Yu!"
The audience gasped as the hooded figure stepped into the light and swept off his hood, leaving a shell-shocked Emilia to stare at the most extravagant hairdo she swore she had ever seen.
The man's hair was mainly black and tufted up into seven spikes. These seven spikes were outlined by a thin orange-gold streak and streaked through the middle with dark red. In front, he had two magenta tufts of hair that stood up in a cowlick a number of inches tall, and off to the sides he had two dark brown bangs that fell just shy of the bottoms of his ears.
"Thank you!" King Yu called to the crowd, who had applauded like nothing was odd about the man. "I am so delighted to be here! And, my dear friends, I have an announcement to make on this fine evening!"
"You see, I am now engaged to the most wonderful woman in the world! She is the crown jewel of all of the lands, the kindest and most wonderful of all beings"- Emilia could hear Queen Anna's ego inflating all the way from the back of the crowd –"and I cannot imagine life without her."
His lime green eyes searched the crowd wonderingly, perhaps searching for the girl he so clearly favored.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you-"
Everyone in the room held their breaths.
"-my fiancé and future queen of The Sparrows Isles-"
Emilia leaned forward. It was the moment of truth.
"-Queen Victoria of Spain!"
The crowd gasped and held silent for what seemed like hours, surprisingly shocked into silence at his statement.
Emilia blinked. "So, he really is getting married to Queen Victoria-"
Wait, WHAT?!
A girl with green hair and red eyes cried out in joy in the crowd. She shoved her way through the crowd and jumped into the waiting arms of King Yu, who slung her over backwards for a long kiss.
The crowd burst into cheers with the men wolf-whistling and the women giggling and crying from the sweetness of the sappy lovers. Emilia could care less about what the crowd was doing. While the foolish nobilities was squealing about the happy couple, the pale servant was more worried about the supposed hostess fiancé. She had to find the Queen!
Finally, Emilia found the Queen. She was standing completely still and was, for once, utterly silent. When those around her started to notice her shock, she assumed a happy face and clapped with the rest of the crowd. Only Emilia saw the glint of rage in her eyes.
Emilia caught Cordelia's eyes from across the room. Her old friend, who had never been one to show fear, had terror written all across her face. Then she looked over at Billy, who had apparently snapped out of his love-induced daze to see the events in the crowd. He too looked horrified.
The three friends were scared for the future. Their Queen was going to have her revenge.
No matter what the cost.
"I thought King Yu was to be mine, but no, it was not to be. He shall pay, pay with his LIFE."
Queen Anna slammed her fist onto the war table. Cordelia gulped, watching her Queen rage at the emergency war meeting.
"I henceforth declare war on the Sparrows Isles! Delia, mobilize our forces! You shall leave first thing tomorrow morn . . . zzzz . . ."
The Queen slumped forward on her throne, mashing her head against the table. She started to snore, a waterfall of drool rushing out of her mouth and covering the war table.
Typical. This was ultimately the result of a hurried one-on-one war council with her Queen at three in the morning after all of the party guests had gone home: rancid saliva spread over the oak war table.
For once, though, Cordelia paid no mind to Queen Anna's habit. If the Queen waged war against King Yu, their battered army was sure to be crushed. The whole kingdom was so deep in poverty they could barely scrape any sort of living. If this mad, senseless play of the Queen was to draw out, it would surely crush the kingdom.
Cordelia watched the sleeping girl for a few more minutes. It was so strange. She used to be the best of friends with the Queen when she was younger, and she was always so kind! How on earth had she turned into this?
The lady knight sighed and left the room. She had to tell Billy and Emmy about this.
"You know something?" Yuma mumbled. "I really like that King Yu guy!"
"Gee, I wonder why." Kotori sighed.
The Barians were all staring at the stage with open mouths.
Kaito blinked. "Um . . . what's going on up there guys?"
"UNBELIEVABLE! WHAT WAS YU THINKING? HOW DARE HE TREAT A LADY THAT WAY!"
"Shhh!"
The Barians all shrank down in their seats as the audience hushed them. Meanwhile, Kaito, Kotori, and Yuma stared at the former Emperors for a solid minute, too shocked by their explosive outburst to do anything else.
"Sorry. Just got us mad, that's all." Misael grumbled. "Kaito, you remember where you've seen this before?"
"Working on it." The Number Hunter screwed his eyes shut. "Maybe I'll remember if I see more."
"Perhaps." Durbe agreed.
Yuma faced the stage. "I still really like that King Yu guy . . ."
Disclaimer: YuGiOh! Zexal and YuGiOh! itself are property of Shin Yoshida and Kazuki Takahashi respectively. This is a crazed fan's plot.
Thanks to Anonymous for the review and 90sboy for the favorite!
Drexal: Allow me to introduce Brume Noire, played by Tokunosuke, Rosie, played by Cathy, King Yu, played by Fuuya, and Victoria, played by Anna.
Vector: King Yu. He is exactly who you think he is.
Zexal: Tali-chan would like to issue a special challenge. Anyone who can both guess what language Brume Noire is, AND what it means, gets a one-shot of their OTP.
Tali: Yep! Now, I will be offering an explanation for King Yu's behavior in about one and a half chapters, never fear! In the meantime, please do review! I love constructive criticism, and actually do need it. (sweatdrops) Badly. Read, rate, review, and enjoy!