Scene III
Emilia paced back and forth in her tiny room, stopped to look at the door, then started pacing again.
'Gosh, Billy should have been back by now! Where the heck was he?'
Emilia's silent worries were quenched when Billy came crashing over the threshold.
"The army has left, Emmy." Billy panted. "Delia was safe at the front."
Emilia nodded. "Excellent. And she knows what to do?"
Her old friend nodded. "Yes, she knows. When I reminded her, again she wacked me over the head with her helmet and told me to shut my yapper."
The pale servant chuckled. "Sounds just like our Delia." The pacing resumed.
Billy blinked. "Emmy?"
No answer.
"Em! Emmy, Emmy! Em? Emmy!"
Still nothing.
Billy raised his voice.
"EMILIA!"
"Yes, Billy?" Emilia stopped mid-stride to face her old friend once again.
"Are you okay?"
"No. I fear I am not well." Emilia faced the wall. "Oh, Billy, what if something goes wrong? What if King Yu refuses to listen? What if our army falls? What if-" Emilia cut herself off, too frightened to speak the rest of the sentence.
'What if Delia dies?'
The girl shuddered when she felt Billy's arms wrap around her. "Don't worry, Emmy." Billy said soothingly. "Your plans never fail, and our Delia is a clever warrior. I am certain everything will turn out fine."
Emilia nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Billy."
But she worried all the same.
Cordelia crawled through the bushes, praying to the gods of her father that an arrow would not shoot in her direction.
"Ooh! When I get my hands on Em, right after I hug her, I will strangle her!" Cordelia vowed, flinching when she heard swords clanging near her position. "I should be on the front lines, not squirming like Brume through thorns!
The United Diamond Lands' army had snuck up on the Sparrows Isles in the middle of the night by boat, two days after they had left the castle. Currently, they were laying waste to a portside village, and Cordelia was unsure whether to be proud or ashamed that her forces were advancing rapidly.
Emilia had told her that, in order for this scatterbrained scheme she'd come up with at five in the morning to work, Cordelia must sneak through the rows of bushes that lined the little town, separating the houses and businesses.
"OW!" Cordelia whisper-yelped, wincing as she yanked a barbed thorn out of her arm. Even her armor was proving useless against these vile branches.
"First, I'm going to have a talk with the King about his choice of plants." The lady knight snarled, pulling herself forward. "Then, I am going to have a long heart-to-heart with Emmy about who she chooses to do her dirty work . . ."
"I promise . . . if I ever get the chance . . . I will make Anna carry these stinking statues herself . . . so SHE can know how it feels . . ." Billy panted.
"And I as well." Emilia grunted. "And if she asks why, I'll give her the exact same speech she gave me! 'Honey, you're just built for hard labor' my foot! Uuugh!"
The two huffed and puffed up the stairs, tugging the last of the granite statues from the party with them.
"Finally! Okay, that was the last staircase. Now we just need to get it down the hallway and then we're done."
Billy nodded. "Right. Oh man, am I gonna need a healer after this . . . Huh? Emmy?"
Emilia was staring off into space, her head tilted to one side.
"Hey, Em? You in there? Emmy?"
The pale servant girl ignored him. She moved to the wall and dropped the statue – right onto Billy's foot.
"AAAAAH!" Billy wailed, hopping on one foot. "Ow, ow, ow! Emmy, what was that for?"
"Shhh, Billy!" Emilia put her ear to the wall, listening intently.
The herald limped over. "What is it?"
"I hear something . . . weird." Emilia listened for another minute. Then she moved to the opposite wall, where a dusty suit of armor was displayed.
"I never knew why the builder of the castle did that." Billy remarked, watching as Emilia gave the armor a swift kick in the knee. The wall where Emilia had been listening cracked and trundled open.
"I mean, why the suit of armor? Why not a torch holder? Or a sliding brick?" Billy continued, grabbing a torch from the wall.
Emilia flashed a crooked grin. "Maybe he just wanted to be original. Now, hush, and follow me!"
"Why, why, why did I have to go along with Em and her stupid plan?!" Cordelia wailed, clinging frantically to the windowsill she was hanging from. "I could have passed it off to Billy, but, nooooo, I just had to offer first! Gah! I hate my inherited sense of loyalty!"
The lady knight was in quite the situation, indeed. The windowsill she was hanging from was on the top floor of King Yu's castle, which she had had to scale. Because, clearly, the invasion would require all guards at the front door to kill every United Diamond Land soldier, white flag or no.
"When I get down from here, assuming I don't die," Cordelia screamed "I am going to kill Anna, strangle Emmy, and smack Billy for the sheer heck of it!"
Cordelia gasped in panic, horrified when she saw the window start to open.
"Please don't be another chamber pot, please don't be another chamber pot . . ." Cordelia begged.
"Yes, my love, the view from here is wonderful- GAAAH!"
The window had opened fully now, revealing a shocked King Yu. Codelia had never been so relieved to see such a ridiculous hairstyle in all her nineteen years of life.
"You are the lady knight from the party! What are you doing up here . . . and why do you smell like-?"
"Yes, yes, your Majesty, I am aware of what I smell like." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Now, I beg of his most merciful highness with the highest of all gratitude, could you please lift me into the tower before I FALL AND DIE?!"
King Yu blinked. "Oh right, of course!" He grasped Cordelia's arms and, with a great deal of huffing, puffing, and curses, hauled her into the room.
"YEEEEEEEK!" A high-pitched voice screeched as Cordelia crashed to the floor of the tower. "WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?"
"Now, now, darling! I just found her dangling from the side of the tower." King Yu reasoned. "So I did the obvious thing and pulled her up."
A pause. "Oh, well, that makes sense." Hands gripped the stunned lady knight and helped her to her feet.
"Oh, you poor dear!" Cordelia blinked and looked up into the kind face of Queen Victoria. "What on Earth happened? And eeugh-" She wrinkled her nose "-why do you smell like-?"
"Okay, can we just move on from that part!" Cordelia yelled. She took a slow step forward and tried to get her bearings.
The top part of the tower was decorated in perfect shades of dawn and rose, and had lily soft salmon curtains draped strategically around the room. A solid gold four poster bed with a swooping hot pink canopy was plopped in the middle of the floor, which was littered with flower petals and heart-shaped pillows. And lining the edges of the room were life-sized unicorns in every color of the rainbow.
(Author's Note: In other words, my interpretation of what a six-year-old Barbie's bedroom would look like.)
"My, what lovely, um, decorations you have?" Cordelia tried, fighting to adjust to the overall pinkness of the room.
"I know, right? I decorated it myself!" King Yu gloated. Queen Victoria facepalmed.
"Ah." 'Good grief, this room is almost as nuts as Anna.' Cordelia mentally added. "May I speak with you both, please?"
"Of course, dear!" Queen Victoria cried. "It must have been important for you to climb all the way up here!"
"Yes! Oh, where are my manners!" King Yu joined in. "Take a seat, lady knight! Pick any unicorn you want!"
Cordelia eyed the unicorns that surrounded the three. "Sir, do I absolutely have to?"
"Emmy, it's cold down here!" Emilia resisted the urge to strangle the whiny herald as they continued down the secret passage.
"And it's dark. And gross. And a breeding ground for nasty things! Like rats and weasels!"
"Will you shut-wait, weasels? What gave you that-?"
"I know what I said."
"Finally!" Emilia stopped in front of a circular doorway. Carefully, she pushed it slightly ajar.
"And are you certain this is the way to do it?"
The servants froze. "That is the Queen!" Billy squeaked.
"Shh." Emilia put a finger to her lips. They both leaned closer to the opening.
"For the millionth time, YES." A male voice answered, exasperated. "By causing chaos in the kingdoms, you have all but guaranteed their end!"
The two servants blinked. HUH?!
"Then, with your help, our armies shall decimate the lands, and we will finally rule over the world!"
"Aah, my twin sister, everything has fallen into place! I have so longed for the time when we shall rule together, as brother and sister, once again!"
Emilia slid the door shut, looking stricken. No one spoke for a matter of seconds.
"Sooo . . ." Billy broke the silence. "I guess this means we're not gonna get a better king?"
Emilia looked at him.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE ENGAGED TO ANNA?!"
"Now, darling, please, there must be just some misunderstanding! I was never engaged to Anna! I only ever met with you! HELP ME LADY KNIGHT!"
Cordelia did no such thing, watching amusedly as the king tried to explain himself to his rampaging fiancé.
"But, Lady Cordelia, there must be some mistake! I never even met with Anna about a marriage contract, I only met with my beautiful shining goddess here! I never even saw her!"
Victoria blinked. "Huh? Then why was she so mad when you announced your engagement to me?"
"Because it was a trick." Cordelia grimly realized. "She needed an excuse to dispatch of all her countrymen; now she's got one."
Silence.
King Yu scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, my dear! Queen Anna is surely not that vicious-"
"Yes she is." Cordelia murmured. "Just ask any of my people. Or, better yet, my army!"
"And who sent you to tell us this?" Victoria asked.
"My servant friend, K, Emilia."
Yu frowned. "K? What kind of a last name is that?"
The lady knight shrugged. "She prefers that we do not know her last name."
"I see." The king appeared to be deep in thought. "And was your friend born in your kingdom?"
"No. She was taken hostage when Anna took over the lands that make up our kingdom now."
"Ah." Yu did not look convinced. "I sense that there is more you came to tell us."
Cordelia sighed. "Yes. Emilia asked me to tell you her plan."
Both rulers sat silent while Cordelia explained clever Emmy's plan.
"And that is why we need your help." Cordelia finished, watching the two expectantly.
"Of course." King Yu nodded. "Yes, yes. We will absolutely help."
"I am not of much use, but I could contact my father in the east . . ." Victoria mused.
Cordelia blinked back tears and bowed low to the King and Queen. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
"Anything, my dear." The king smiled. "Now, we must get you back to your army. No, no! Not out the window again! Good Heavens, no! There is a secret passage out that way! Use that, please!"
The lady knight nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
The two rulers watched the willowy girl disappear before they dared to speak again.
"The poor dears over in her kingdom." Victoria simpered. "I would die if I was in their position!"
Yu remained silent, thinking hard.
"I wonder about that girl the lady knight was talking about."
"Why?" Victoria asked.
"She sounds like someone I knew a very long time ago, whom I thought was to be very different . . ."
'Whew! Thank the stars King Yu pointed out that passageway to me!' Cordelia gave a sigh of relief as she reached the battlefield.
A soldier approached. "Lady Knight, we are holding our lines well enough and our supplies have not been touched."
"Excellent." Cordelia nodded. "Direct more troops to where our chinks are weakest, and-oof!"
Something hard hit her head from behind, knocking Cordelia onto her knees. The pain swept her away and the last thing she saw was the frightened face of the soldier, screaming for a healer.
"Kaito, Kaito! It is just an act! She's fine, please! Calm down!" A terrified Kotori whimpered while Kaito fought to free himself from Yuma's grasp.
"Have to – see if- she is- all right!" the Number Hunter growled straining against the surprisingly persistent duelist.
"Man, you need to chill!" Yuma huffed.
The former Barian Emperors were having a similar problem with Durbe. It took Gilag pinning him to his seat to keep the brilliant man down.
"Durbe, snap out of it! For Don Thousand's sake, it is just a play!" Misael whisper-yelled.
"Wow, I had no idea that this was going to happen!" Alit whispered, in awe at the sight before him. "They must really like Rio!"
They both froze, cheeks blood red. Yuma and the others gaped at them. Kotori sighed and turned back to the stage.
"Well," the girl sighed, helping herself to some popcorn "I guess things can't possibly get much worse now!"
Disclaimer: YuGiOh! and YuGiOh! ZEXAL are the properties of Kazuki Takahashi and Shin Yoshida respectively. This is a work of a crazy fan.
Thanks to The Fresh Prince of BANANAS for the review and Sapphirestream for the follow!
Zexal: Congrats to a Miss The Fresh Prince of BANANAS, you win! Tell Tali-chan what your OTP is, and she will write a brief oneshot about it!
Tali: Yep! (sneezes)
Drexal: I am sorry that my creator has been unavailable. She has been ill and has had a lot of school things to deal with. But she's back now.
Tali: I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter!