Hello, guys. Just a heads up on what to expect in this chapter:
- A serious alteration of many scenes up until getting the Supersoft.
- Heavy out-of-character Baku, he plays a role to Blank and my OC's relationship
Side note: as I keep on writing.. I'm starting to fall for Marcus /
Anywaysss. Enjoy!!
Part 12: The thought of seeing him
"Tiara, we're here…" Marcus said, grabbing my attention.
I nodded to him, standing up from my seat. We exited the car. We were at the Rest Area in The Summit. We discussed our plan again. Marcus and I would be waiting for the car to Alexandria so we could head to Treno. Cinna decided to go back to Lindblum to inform the others.
"I can't believe I'm back.. And without the Princess too," I muttered.
I watched Cinna run to get the famous South Gate Bundt Cake. He decided to eat outside to enjoy the view. Me and Marcus followed him of course. We enjoyed each other's company while we waited for our respective cars.
"So what are you gonna do when you see him?" Cinna blurted.
"Who? Me?" I asked, confused and surprised.
Marcus chuckled. "Who else? You must be excited to meet him again…"
I shook my head, looking down at the slice of pizza I just bought. I grabbed it and munched quietly. I could sense the two boys were smirking at me. Cinna started another story about Blank which of course, caught my attention. He was so into it.
"Don't you have any good stories you wanna talk about?" Cinna asked me.
"Yeah, I'm curious too. How was Bro when he was a kid?" Marcus asked.
I felt uncomfortable when their eyes were kept on me, waiting for me to say something. I sighed. "Well if you must know. Blank has always been the one taking care of me.. Or should I say babysitting me? Since I was little all I could remember was him cleaning up my mess or teaching me new things. He was the one who taught me how to use a spoon, read a book, write and many more things.."
"Whoa..so he was not lying when he said you're a spoilt girl," Cinna remarked.
I nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't. I had to be who I am now thanks to him disappearing on me."
"That sucks…" Marcus remarked.
"Uh Cinna… I think you just missed your ride?" I changed the topic.
We all turned to look at a car, closing its door and was on its way. Cinna ran up to see if he could catch up but failed. Marcus and I came up to him.
"I missed my ride! I'm the worst!" Cinna exclaimed.
Putting both of my hands on my waist, I replied, "You sure are…"
Marcus nodded. "You're too into that South Gate Bundt Cake you've been eating…" he muttered.
"I'm really gonna be late returning to Lindblum…" Cinna sighed.
"We won't tell on you," I reassured him.
He spaced out for a while and then said, "Well, let's eat another Bundt cake."
"Geez…" Marcus groaned.
"He should really cut on the fats a bit…" I muttered, dragging myself into the Rest Area again.
As we entered, I saw our big old rusty; Steiner. He spotted the three of us and charged at us. I wasn't really happy to see him. I didn't know it would take them quite a few days to get to Alexandria.
"Scoundrels!" he shouted, turning to me, "To think that you were actually one of them!"
"Excuse me!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Are you here to kidnap the princess again?!" he shouted at us.
"Who's the big tin man?" Cinna asked me calmly.
I shook my head and shrugged. I sneered at Steiner.
"WHAT? How dare you?!" Steiner exclaimed.
Marcus calmly replied to Cinna's question, "He's the captain of the Knights of Pluto."
"Oh…the bad actor," Cinna muttered and I burst out laughing.
"Have you no respect?" Steiner said, containing his anger.
I felt someone tapping my shoulder. When I turned, I saw Dagger. I was so delighted to see her that I accidentally pulled her into a hug.
"Get your filthy hands off the Princess!" Steiner demanded.
I half glared at him. Dagger smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Sure took you a long time to get to the castle," I said.
Nodding, the Princess replied, "Yes. We had..a very bumpy ride."
"Princess, you shouldn't waste your breath on criminals!" the male knight shouted in my ear.
"Ergh… For your information, I am a knight too…!" I shouted at him.
"Princess!" the male knight shouted again.
"Steiner! That's enough. They are my friends!" Dagger exclaimed angrily.
"He's being scolded…" Cinna said.
"How embarrassing…" Marcus said.
I chuckled at the sight. Dagger turned to me and smiled. I told what I had been through and that we were heading to Treno to get the antidote for Blank. The announcer announced that the cable car for Alexandria had arrived.
"I'll see you two off," Cinna said.
Marcus and I nodded. I walked alongside the Princess while Steiner staggered behind us. He was overwhelmed by the Princess' scolding just now. I shook my head at his attitude. We boarded the car.
"Good luck!" Cinna shouted to us.
"Yeah! I'll save our Bro!" Marcus replied.
"Take care of his wife too!" the creepy face smirked to me.
"Hey! You are so gonna get it, Cinna!" I shouted back.
Marcus pulled me into the car before I started shouting even more. I sat beside Marcus with my hands crossed in front of my chest. I puffed my cheeks angrily.
"Just like what Bro said you'd do when you're sulking…" the male beside her said, smiling.
"Why would Cinna say that…?" I muttered and puffed my cheeks even more.
"Hahaa…as if you don't know…" Marcus replied, laughing the question off, "He really likes teasing you…"
"Yeah.. he sure does," I scoffed.
Dagger came in with Steiner. The conductor announced that they were departing. She came up to us. I stood up with respect for her. She shook her head. I sat back down.
"Say…is there any way I can help? I am partly responsible…" Dagger asked.
"You don't have to say that…" I replied nervously.
"Thanks, but we'll be fine by ourselves," Marcus replied.
He didn't sound cold and used a very soft tone with the princess. He's way nicer than I thought. Our conversation was interrupted by a sudden stop of the car we were riding.
The conductor went out to check the engine and he barged back in, shouting, "It's a demon! A demon with a pointy hat!"
"A pointy hat?!" Dagger and I exclaimed.
The two of us, and Steiner nodded to each other. We rushed outside. Marcus followed us, wondering what was wrong. We found that Black Waltz No. 3 was not dead yet and he was very malfunctioning.
"Mission…retrieve…Princess…alive…" he kept on muttering.
"Isn't that the one we saw on the cargo ship?" Garnet said.
"We'll finish it off this time!" I said.
"Wait!" Garnet took one step closer. "Tell me one thing. Why do you want to capture me?"
"It's no use. It doesn't understand!" Marcus exclaimed, ready to fight.
Steiner and I went in front of the Princess. It came closer to us and shouted, "Eliminate…all!"
We got into our battle position. I took out my axe and Marcus as well as Steiner took out their swords. Dagger stayed behind us with her rod.
It started off with trying to hit me. I dodged and landed a hit on its back. It was paralyzed for a few seconds. Steiner took the opportunity to slash it with Marcus' help. It casted Lightning onto the male knight, but missed. I cut off his right wing for good, catching him by surprise. Marcus cut off the other wing. He tried to push us away with his staff. He was weaker than before but also was even more wicked. He hit Marcus and Steiner when they were about to land a combo blow onto his head. It dazed them for a while as Marcus landed on Steiner. I rushed to help them.
"Tiara, look out!" Dagger warned.
I turned around but didn't have time to react. The Black Waltz's fira hit me. I saw a blur image of Marcus giving out the final blow with Steiner's help. Then, I faintly heard Dagger calling out my name. Before I knew it, everything went dark.
I slowly opened my eyes, to find myself in bed with Marcus staring at me. His face was a breath away. I screamed.
"Whoa, hold it!" Marcus begged, covering his ears.
"What happened?!" I demanded.
"You fainted after you got hit. I had to carry you all the way here," he said.
"Oh…sorry." I mumbled.
Marcus explained that Steiner did not want to carry my axe, so handed me a sword. He told me that it used to be Blank's before he bought a new one and this one was still kept in good shape.
"That's how our Bro is…" was what he said last. "We're ready to retrieve the Supersoft."
"Where is the Princess?" I asked him.
The door opened when he was about to answer. Garnet stepped inside and came up to us.
"When do we leave?" she asked Marcus.
"We can leave right away? So you're coming along, huh?" he asked one last time.
"It might be dangerous," I told her.
"Let's go," was all she replied.
I got out of bed. I fastened the holster of the sword around my shoulder. Marcus gave a nod to me and Garnet. Steiner ran inside and rushed up to us.
"Princess! Please wait!" he called.
"Boss's waiting at the dock," Marcus explained.
"Boss?" Garnet and I said in unison.
"You mean…" Garnet muttered.
"Yup. There's only one man we call 'Boss'," Marcus replied.
As we made our way down to the dock, Steiner kept rambling on about not to trust the 'criminals' and the consequences, because Garnet is the Princess after all. We soon met with Baku.
"Princess, do you know that breakin' and enterin' is a crime?" Baku asked her.
"I need to make sure you don't steal anything else," she replied. I can sense the determination from her tone of voice.
"Let's go," Marcus said.
"Damn it! I'm coming along," Steiner decided. "It is my duty to protect the Princess from bad influence!"
"Do whatever you want…" Marcus sighed.
"Always talkin' about yer duty. Ain't you got any thoughts of yer own…?" Baku muttered.
"Don't you talk back to me. I'm escorting the Princess--" Steiner shouted.
"I thought you might've changed after travellin' with Zidane, but…you ain't changed. Do you even know why you're here?" Baku sighed.
"What do you mean?!" Steiner demanded.
"Let's just go, okay?" Garnet interrupted.
"I'm really sorry about him," I said to Baku.
He eyed me from head to toe. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous. This is Blank's Boss for goodness sake. What would be his first impression of me?
"So this is the fiancee?" Baku asked Marcus who smiled at the question.
"You too?!" I exclaimed and groaned.
"Blank made the right choice," Baku remarked. I wondered what he meant.
I saw Marcus agreeing with him. Whatever these two were thinking, I could never understand. We took the small boat. Garnet swapped places with Marcus on the way. I was face-to-face with him. He kept his eyes on the path that we were going through, not on me. I could not help but wonder what he and the Tantalus people thought of me.
"Do you think…" my words were interrupted.
"What made you fall for him?" Marcus asked me. "Don't get me wrong. Bro is a one-of-a-kind guy but…you're a knight and all so…"
I stared down at my hands on my lap. I could not think of one reason. A memory came across my mind.
"What happened?!"
Blank's father's voice could be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. Blank had a few scars on him from fending off wolves that were trying to eat Tiara. He looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with his father.
"It's my fault, Uncle…" Tiara chimed in.
"Can't you be more responsible in taking care of her?" he asked the son.
"But…" Tiara didn't finish her sentence. She saw Cornelia shaking her head at her.
She took one step back and hid behind Blank. The boy's eyes were on her. He was concerned and so was she. He held her hand in his.
"Cornelia, I expect you to set him straight. No son of mine is going to behave like this," the man said.
"I will," Cornelia replied, short.
The man went inside the house and to his studies. Cornelia knelt down in front of the two kids. Blank was still frustrated at what had happened. Tiara almost broke into tears.
"He didn't have to shout…" Blank spoke up.
"He was just worried…in his own way," Cornelia said, picking up Tiara, "Come, let's treat your wounds."
Blank took his mother's hand. They went to the kitchen where he took a seat on one of the chairs. Tiara was on the chair next to him. She was staring at his wounds.
"I'm fine…" he assured her.
"But it bit you…" she mumbled.
Blank heaved a sigh. Tiara watched as he struggled to lift his arm up so his hand could reach for her head. He only made it to reach her face, so he cupped her cheek. The girl calmed down in his hand. She touched the hand on her cheek.
"Sorry…" she said.
"Hey… your safety always comes first," Blank said.
Cornelia came with the first aid kit. She started to clean Blank's wounds. He cringed from time to time but tried hard not to show how painful it was. He did not want her to worry.
"He's wonderful in his own way…" I answered Marcus.
Marcus just tipped his head forward. I assumed he understood what I meant. We arrived at the crime scene.
"How are we to find Supersoft in this mountain of boxes?" Steiner asked.
"Just find it," Marcus replied.
As we were searching, footsteps down the stairs could be heard. Garnet and I ran to Marcus' side to hide. A man came down the stairs, grunting.
"Oh, I can't believe I ran out of ink on a night like this. I must find more ink and go back to the observatory…"
"Should I take care of him?" Marcus whispered.
Garnet looked at me. I agreed with her. We knew who it was. She jumped out to greet the man.
"Hmm?" the man looked at her. "Y-You're…"
"I've missed you, Doctor Tot," Garnet bowed.
"We both do," I made an appearance beside her.
"P-Princess! Princess Garnet!" Doctor Tot exclaimed.
We could not explain ourselves to him but he agreed to help. He told us where to meet him and shooed us away because Steiner had woken up the shopkeeper. We were able to escape thanks to him. Marcus explained everything to Baku.
"So, this Tootsie's gonna give us Supersoft?" Baku asked.
"It's Tot." Marcus corrected him.
"Whatever. I can't believe Tantalus is at the mercy of some old man," Baku groaned. "Hmph. I guess we gotta keep babysittin' the princess."
"Still?" I sensed Marcus was reluctant.
"He ain't gonna give you the Supersoft unless you're with the princess." Baku stated a matter-of-fact.
"I can get it and come back for you after?" I suggested.
"No. I want my boys to get it," Baku said, turning to Garnet, "That's the deal, Princess. I'm askin' you to take Marcus to this Toot."
"...It's Tot." Marcus and I corrected him.
"I was going to, anyway…" Garnet replied.
"Well, get some rest before you go. I'm sure Ted needs time to prepare." Baku said.
I found it amusing how many times he got the name wrong.
"...It's Tot." Marcus again corrected him.
I decided to head out for some fresh air. I looked at the slumps down the ladder. My thoughts again went to Blank and how much he had helped me. This is my way of returning the favor. I wanted to save him so badly.
"You know, I ain't jokin' about what I said," I heard Baku's voice behind me.
I turned around. "What do you mean?"
"Blank," Baku said.
"Oh… He said that to you?" I asked in curiosity.
"Well, he said that to most girls who confessed to him. He tried few to have a serious relationship, but it failed badly…" Baku told me.
"Boss, we're heading out now," Marcus interrupted him.
I stood up and brushed off the dust on my clothes. "Thank you," I said to Baku and walked past him.
I turned around and saw him smiling. Marcus and I exchanged a look. Garnet fixed her hair and was ready to go. Steiner was right beside her. We headed to the tower where we would meet Doctor Tot.
"Marcus… Do you think he'd be happy to see me?" I asked him as we boarded the gargant of sorts, whatever it was, it's going to take us to Alexandria.
"I'm sure he will. He has been haunted by your shadows for so long," Marcus said.
Smiling, I replied, "Thanks, Marcus. You really are a great friend to have."
"It has been a while since I saw you smile like that," Dagger spoke up.
"I guess I'm just happy to be able to see him again…" I confessed.
"I'm sure you are. You used to think about him all the time when you first came to the castle. You kept on muttering how you regret leaving a doll that looked like him, back at your house," Dagger said.
"Yeah…at that time my parents really wanted me to forget about him. I think that other part of me is back. I never thought he would still remember me…"
"She used to be all quiet unless I'm the one who's talking to her," Dagger told Marcus, "She was really weak back then. She chose to be weak."
"Princess!" I complained when she mentioned that part.
"I know. Bro told us that she was a crybaby. She always relied on him back then, crying into his arms all the time," Marcus replied.
I groaned, "Not you too, Marcus!"
They all laughed at me, including Steiner. I wasn't that angry but it was still embarrassing. The more they talked about me and Blank, the more I longed to see him. I just hoped he'd be really happy to see me. After all, he left without a word.