View attachment 49310 The castle was relative close now. Ignis said, 'Well, let's just keep an eye out for anything weird, how's that? Knowing out luck, something is going to happen, whether it be good or bad.' He had said the same thing like minutes ago. Well something was bound to happen at some point. That was how thing worked for the most part. One minute it would fine then the next things would be going crazy. He then looked at the court yard. Then Beuce said something about spending money. "Well things have to look somewhat nice for people to show up." He was not sure what else to say. Soon they would be inside and get to see what was there.
View attachment 49305 As they walked towards the castle Ignis went on about her personal experience that she had gone to parties with royalty. There was something about a big chair somewhere in the room and the princess and/or queen is going to be sitting in that chair. Or at the very least, near it. He was not sure if Ignis was joking or not. The only thing that he been remotely close to going to was a mayor thing but he did not end up going. At still was not sure if Ignis was joking or not after all of that. As the walk continued Beuce gave a refresher on wheat they were going to do. 'One of us gets friendly with Anna, One with Elsa, and one of us keeps an eye on the Duke. AJ seems to think he's up to no good, so it can't hurt to be prepared in case of something. We shouldn't be too close together, but we should stay close enough we can keep in contact if something changes.' "Well I do not think that we need to follow the Duke around like a lost puppy, that said flat out ignoring the man does not seem like a good idea. It does not hurt to keep a eye on him if we so happen to see him." Generally when you ignored something or someone that was when something happened. They seemed to be getting quite close to the castle not and it seem as not as many people were around anymore. AJ: 18 Beuce: 17 Ignis: 18
View attachment 49262 He stood there when Ignis said, 'Well, obviously we're not going to take the princesses anywhere. Sheesh, you guys take things so seriously.' He could not believe the conversation was going this way. He did not feel like that there need to be a answer to his question. Then Ignis asked, 'should we try to do it all at once, or each separate and try to get to know them? I don't know about you, but three people all of a sudden out of nowhere would be a little overwhelming.' "Well the castle is big so they could be anywhere. There is also the fact that we do not know what they look like so they could be anyone." 'You do know there are other ways of making use of people outside of trying to marry them, right?' Well no kidding sherlock he thought. He took a deep breath and did not know what to say. Then Beuce said, 'Yeah. There are also two princesses. That means one of us should be with each of the princesses separately, and another should be there for backup in case something goes wrong. It's a little hard to say who should be with which princess since we know nothing about their personalities. So, we'll decide on that once we get there.' "Maybe we should just wing it. Things seem to work out for the most part when we do so. I am also sure that we will know who the princesses are when we get there. Once we know more we just go with whatever happens." AJ: 17 Beuce: 16 Ignis: 17
View attachment 49260 When Ignis let go he was not expecting it and he was surprised. Well that was one way to end a dance. It was nice of her to even dance with him in the first place that said he did not like it. He walked out of the shop after Beuce had tried to pay. They soon walked to a secluded area. 'We have the clothes to blend in, but aside from finding...whoever it is we need, what are we going to do? It's not like we can just run off with someone important.' "Why would we do that? They are far safer somewhere, were more people can see them. I know that if someone wanted to take them away or do something the best thing to do would be to do it when no one was around or looking." That was when Beuce said, 'We're not here to take them away, but more to make sure no one else does. Obviously we can't just whisk them away against their will. We just need to be close enough to keep an eye on them. Elsa and Anna were both names on the lists of princesses of heart. We need to protect them at all costs.' "Well the Duke did not seem to know anything about them that said he is after something. So if we keep him away somehow then he can not do anything." 'Honestly it might not be a bad idea to just get friendly with them. That way we can be close without drawing too much attention to ourselves. I think our best bet to get close to them would be at the dance.' "Well we do have to find a way off of here and a boat is the best thing to use, that said they are not just going to give a boat away." 'It's a coronation, right? So one of the two of them is becoming Queen.That hairdresser thought I was here to marry one of the princesses. If both of them were apparently an option, that means there isn't a king right now to take up their attention.' "Wait you do not think that is the Dukes plans to marry one of them? He is old as dirt by the looks of things, so it seems odd to me." So we should act like we are interested in the princesses?, he thought. He was not to found of the concept that said Beuce and him would probably have a better chance talking to the princesses if that was what they were after. Beuce had made this whole plan seem like it was a walk in the park but he knew better. He had been around long enough to know that things were not that easy in fact if he was a betting man he would bet something would go wrong. AJ: 16 Beuce: 15 Ignis: 16
View attachment 49252 When Beuce said, 'Your lady awaits,' he was not sure what to say. Ignis was not really his. She was her own. Then Ignis took his hand and began leading him in a dance. He miss stepped a few times but was always steeping were he would not step on Ignis' feet. He would have to keep on trying. He messed up a few times but just kept on stepping in a spot were Ignis' feet would not be. He was about to give up when something came to him about this dancing thing and that was it reminded him of something. Once he had this idea in his head he moved with a grace that he did not have before. Dance had a flow to it just like something else. That was when Ignis said, ''There's definitely something we should do while here, but what exactly is it? I mean, going to the coronation is all well and good, but we should probably do something else too.' He would have shrugged but that did not seem like the best idea to do considering what he was doing at the moment. He had to choice his words carefully. "Well once we get to the Coronation we should try and read the room. You know keep a eye on people and things going on. I am sure it is a big deal to some." At his point just looked at Ignis and wounded how she thought his was fun. This dancing was like fighting in a way. They both had movement. Maybe that was why he was able to pick it up. He did not know. He was trying not to think about it to much. "You know that if the others ever find out about any of this they will not let us live it down." He did not think that the others would find out but you never know. It was at this point that someone had said, 'I must've gotten something wrong. It looks to me like you already have a place you belong. You've got friends like them to keep you goin'.' He smiled at the woman would had no clue what she was taking about. From what he could tell the group was just a teen group of misfits. Sure the others may think that they were family with each other but he was not sure if he belong in that family. The group probably knew each other for about a year now if he had to guess. He had just shown up one day and the first person who talked to him other then Hikaru was Kaida. They had know each other for so long. He was just there and did not want to do anything because of that. He then continued to dance. He knew the dance had to come to a end at some point. He knew in the movies how it ended but he was not about to do that. It felt wrong in a way. "Whatever the case may be at the coronation we should keep a eye and stay close if possible to the 'hearts' of those there." It felt odd talking in code but what could he do about it. As the dance came to close to the end he was not sure how to end said dace. AJ: 15 Beuce: 13 Ignis: 15
View attachment 49228 He stood there watching Beuce and Ignis dance for some time. He kept watching there feet and was watching closely. That was when Beuce said, 'Well AJ, this might be a good opportunity to learn something. You won't have to dance at the coronation, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep up appearances.' "I have been watching closely to try and get the general idea." He kept on watching the two dance. Then Ignis said, 'Well, if you really don't want to dance, you could always try to be one of those people that goes to the party and after thinking he's hidden away try to sneak out and look around the castle.' "That has never been a issue before. I have always gone unnoticed before. I am not sure why that would change now. As for explaining to the guards I do not think that will be much of a issue." He continued to watch the two dance when he thought he might have the general idea of the dancing thing. There was that and he was feeling more comfortable about the whole thing. "If you say dancing would be helpful then who am I to argue?" He was not happy about it but, Ignis looked like she was having fun, so how bad could it be? That said dancing was not the easiest thing in the world. There was two things he could not do or simply never tried and that was singing and dancing. He held out his gloved hand for someone to take to dance with. AJ: 14 Beuce: 12 Ignis: 14
View attachment 49226 The hairdresser finished with his hair and he stood up. "Thank you miss." He then turned to Ignis when she said, 'Well, I wouldn't say I've been to a lot of parties, but the ones I was, let's say "coerced", into going to, I stayed to the side, and trust me, you stay out long enough, people tend to notice.' "I alway thought my mom would teach me how to dance or at least a pretty girl that I knew well enough", he said with a shrug. "It just always seemed like no one cared enough to teach me." He was not sure what else to say so he just stood there watching Beuce and Ignis. AJ: 13 Beuce: 11 Ignis: 13
View attachment 49224 The first thing Ignis said when she walked in was, 'You do realize a lot of parties have dancing right? It may not be fun, but take my word for it, if we don't want to stick out, it's best we learn how to blend into this party.' "I would not know. I never been to many parties other then for my birthday. To be honest I would rather avoid it if it was possible." He then explained the cut he wanted for his hair and the hairdresser began cutting his hair. AJ: 12 Beuce: 11 Ignis: 12
View attachment 49222 He still there watching Beuce dance. "Is it really that nessacary to learn how to dance for this coronation?", he asked the woman. There was still the look of fear in his eyes for this dancing. He stood there for a long moment before looking at the woman once more. "Do you mind if I get my hair cut?" At this point he had been running his hand through his hair and was just felling how long it had become. At some point Beuce had let Ignis into the shop. AJ: 11 Beuce: 10 Ignis: 11
View attachment 49195 The lady who was fixing Beuce's hair turned to him and said, 'Sweet jesus boy, where in the hell did you come from?!' A look of sadness over came him in that moment. Perhaps that was why none of the others had noticed he was there and tried to talk to him. "It is fine I am use to not being noticed, in fact sometimes it is almost like I am invisible." He could just disappear and no one would notice. That was when Beuce said, "Nah. I don't have anyone back home. My uh...'kingdom' was destroyed. There was a neighboring kingdom who invaded. We were completely wiped out. As far as I know, i'm the only survivor.' "Oh my... Beuce... I am so sorry." There was not much he could say or do for Beuce in that moment. 'You came here to marry one of the princesses so that you'd have a place to call home, didn't ya?,' the woman said. The woman turned the 'open' sign on the shop to the other end, indicating it was closed. She began pulling chairs out of the way so that the center of the room would be open and stood in the center. 'I'm gonna teach you to dance so you don't embarrass yourself in front of the princesses.' "What?" This woman was going to teach Beuce how to dance. He started walking backwards and almost fell over a chair that was in the waiting area. He could not do this. "I can't dance." It was not like he could leave here because the woman more or less locked them in. There was a look of fear in his eyes. As long as it was Beuce and not him it did not hurt to watch. It was not so much he could not dance more so that no one ever bothered to teach him. He was not really that thrilled to learn so he never bothered. He figured that it would never be useful. He only came to get a hair cut not to come and get random dancing lessons from a lady. AJ: 10 Beuce: 9 Ignis: 10
View attachment 49178 He started to walk with the others. As he walked he got the sense that there was something wrong. He wanted to cut the webs but Izra said not to touch the webs which ruled out cutting the webs. They seemed to be going deeper into the swamp. There was a thin path through the thickets and spiderwebs. As he walked he saw that there were many spider sacs of different sizes appearing around them; some looking like helpless insects that ventured in too close. He knew that these spiders might come a issue latter on but to kill them on the spot just seemed ill advised. They came closer to a large clearing overshadowed by trees where the spiderwebs became bigger and draped everywhere around them. Only thin streams of moonlight shone through the trees to light the area around them. The tree that could be seen was huge. Well if they had to burn this place down having that tree on fire would be the place to start. As they walked into the clearing the He could see Selena. This happiness did not last long as the mayor soon came out from the tree and was holding Muriel with him, but it appeared she didn't come willingly. One of Maliel's arm pinned painfully behind her back by Mayor Nudgav to keep her still, and a knife pressed dangerously close to her throat. Welp. It did not surprise him in the slightest the mayor was here. He wanted to wipe that stupid grin off the mayor's face. Thea then steeped forward to offer herself up. It was not like he could stop Thea even if he wanted to. Which at this point he did not. He soon spotted a single finger light up with a flame. He then walked to a spot when he could see what was going one better, looking around before he picked the spot as he was sure the mayor had some sort of plan. It looked like he had been right about not trusting the mayor. As he stood in his spot he looked at the mayor and those that were around him.
View attachment 49164 Beuce had said something about it not huring to get food before the coronation. It would not hurt to do so. The way things tent to go on missions he was sure that as so as they got there something would happen. Beuce was getting his hair done and he need his cut so he decided that there was nothing to but to follow Beuce. He turned to Ignis before he left. "See what you can find. It also would not hurt to get something for when we are back on the road so if you so happen to find anything we can take with us on our way out of here. It would not hurt to grab somethings." With that said and done to tossed Ignis some munny for any possible food that she could get. Then he left to go find Beuce. At some point he had lost Beuce but there was nothing that could be done about it. He figured that he would find him sooner or latter. As how many hair places cold there be? He soon found a shop and entered the shop. Beuce was the only one in there which he was glade to see. 'But you do gotta tell me what you're doing at the ball. Did ya come to ask for one of the princesses hands in marriage? That would explain why you've got such a peacock-y suit.' He just smiled at Beuce. Then something came to mind. "So Beuce do you have anyone special back Home?" Since the topic came up of marrage he was somewhat curious. He did not know BEuce that well and this might be the chance to get to know him better so why not? "You do not need to answer that if you don't want to" he said with a smile. Then something came to mind as he waited for Beuce to get done. Did he want to get close to Beuce or anyone else of that manner? First there was Glen who was the closet person to a friend he had since he left his home world. Next there was Hikaru who died not that long ago. It seemed like everyone he got close to ether disappeared or died. It was the same with Aldwin. Maybe it was him. Maybe this way the way thing were meant to be. If he did not get close to anyone then they could not die or disappear. He then went into deep thought. AJ: 9 Beuce: 8 Ignis: 8
View attachment 49162 He turned when Ignis she said, 'You're both free to spiffy yourselves up as much as you want, but are you sure you don't want that dress that was inside that store while you're at it? After all, I can't think of anyone but girls that try so hard to make themselves look good for events like this.' As Ignis had said this he ran his hand through his hair. It was starting to get long he could feel it. He had just got it cut right before everything hit the fan on his home world. That was what at least a few months ago. Beuce had said something about the dress not being his color. 'Oh, oh! But we could go shoe shopping, and get a makeover and..and...Oh! Manicuuuures~!' He could see that Beuce was trying to make light of the situation. Beuce was ready to go so there was nothing he could do but follow him. This was when Ignis said, 'Don't suppose we can find something to fill ourselves with while we're at it?' He shrugged for a moment. "I wish that I had packed some more food but food only last so long." He continued walked but there was something missing but he did not know what it was. Maybe it was his homeworld or something else he could not say. He continued to walk with the two not saying much else. AJ: 8 Beuce: 6 Ignis: 8
View attachment 49155 Once Beuce and him had met back up with Ignis she said, 'Well, at least I didn't have to con my way to find some clothes to wear.' He just looked at her not really knowing what to say. He had nothing to do with that. In fact they could have found another shop with cheaper dress up clothes. Then Ignis said, 'So what do you think we should do now, huh Mr. "Royal Inspector"? It still seems pretty early, and I'd rather not deal with that crowd trying to get into the castle right now.' He asked one rhetorical question about going to get there hair done and Ignis took it seriously. She was right in a way tho. "You are right when we got to the castle there was a mad dash to get inside. If we want to get run over then we can go." Beuce then said, 'Hey hey, he deserved it. He was being a prick.' He was but what was done was done and there was nothing that could be done about it. 'Well, I know AJ was joking about the royal inspector thing, but getting our hair done might actually not be a bad idea.' He smiled at Beuce well someone got the rhetorical question. Beuce then said something about going over a plan which was not a bad idea. Just at the moment more people seemed to walk by mostly staring at them no it was not them as more and more people walked by it became clear they were looking at Ignis. In fact one man had just walked into a lamp pole. It was not just the men that were looking it was the women too. That said it looked like it was more men then women that were looking at Ignis. "So should we be on our way?" He asked the two. AJ: 7 Beuce: 5 Ignis: 6
View attachment 49148 He just stood there in shock at the following turn of events. Beuce had practically said that they knew Elsa. He was somewhat impressed in the way that Beuce had handled things. 'Come on AJ, lets go grade the next shop.' He decided to play along with Beuce "Yea maybe the next one will be more compromising." The shop keeper seemed to think that they were some kind of royal inspector. This was turning out to be working out better then he had thought. The shop keeper then said, "Please...It...It's free! You're going to the coronation right? You still need a suit right? What do you say you uh...You just couldn't make it to my shop and it's free! Any suit you want, for both of you! On the house! Just forget all this...Grading business?" He watched as Beuce went to the most expensive part of the store and picked out two of his most expensive suits. He looked at the suit that Beuce had handed him and it looked ugly to him. That said it did look like something someone would were at the castle. He put on the Suit. View attachment 49149 He watched as Beuce left the store and he quickly followed him. Then Beuce said, 'Well damn. I gotta say, you might not like wearing dresses, but you certainly wear them well.' "What is next being a royal inspector to a hair place?" He was sure that it was not a bad place to start, but hay anything to pass them time. By the looks of things it seemed like they had some time to use before they got back. AJ: 6 Beuce: 4 Ignis: 5
View attachment 49142 He continued on his walk with Beuce when he said, 'Oh, probably some dancing, maybe some food. I've never actually been to a ceremony like this, so i can't say for sure. Though, the important thing is that the princesses are there so we can keep an eye on them and make sure nothing goes wrong.' Beuce then started going into a random shop. "What what?" He followed Beuce into the shop. "What do you mean there will probably be dancing?" He would rather dress up as a royal guard then dance. "Can't we do something else anything else?" He was trying watch what he said. Who knew what kind of connections the shop keeper had. Beuce wanted to try on some suits. 'Excuse me sir! I was looking to purchase one of your suits for me and my friend here! We're on a bit of a budget, so I was wondering if the price might be negotiable.' In response the shop keeper just looked up at Beuce. Looking up and down at him. The man decided to have some fun with this outsider. "If you want to let your legs feel the air as you walk you can always were this." The man said as he pointed to a dark purple dress. The price marked for the dress was 1'800 munny. Mean while AJ had started looking around. The shop for the most part was empty with what seemed like the most expensive stuff left. As he walked to the back the prices did seem to go down but not by much. He Did not see much of anything. Looking back up to the way they had come into the shop he wondered if Beuce had found anything. The shop keeper then continued talking. "If you want something cheaper then you could always try the bad part of town in a garbage can." At this point it was clear the the shop keeper was messing with Beuce, as he had a big gin on his face. AJ: 5 Beuce: 3 Ignis: 3
View attachment 49141 He continued his walk with Beuce and Ignis. At some point a random old lady showed up and Ignis went to help her out. The first few shops they had walked past. One of the first shops they had past had some fancy clothing. He had looked into the window of said shop. This shop had a sign that said now 50% off and get this suit for the low low price of 10'000. Cheap buy now. If the suit was cheap he did not want to know what expensive was. What was shop trying to paint something in gold or something? He had seem people come and go into the shop. It must be the look of dressing up or something he did not know. Now that Ignis was gone and Beuce was the only one there. He asked him, "So what do you thing is going to be at this coronation?" He was somewhat interested on what Beuce had thought of the whole thing. Most of the shops that they had pasts so far had high price tags in the window of the sore so he had to guess that everything inside would be just as much if not more. As they walked something came to his mind and that was how Beuce go his glass arm in the first place. It must have been painful to lose an arm. That said he was not about to ask him how it happened. It seemed like a rude thing to do. It was like pointing out how different someone was. He did not care that much. To him it was more about what was in the heart then what was on the outside. As he continued his walk with Beuce he continued to look in the windows of the shops. He knew at one point they were just going to have to beak down and go into one. AJ: 4 Beuce: 2 Ignis: 3
View attachment 49135 The next thing that Ignis had said was, 'No no no no no no! If I wear a dress and let people see me in it, it'll ruin my image!' This was odd coming from someone who not moments ago had said that anyone who spends so much time worrying about clothes like needs to get a new hobby. He wounded which one it was but said nothing. Ignis then got up behind him and Beuce and gave of the scariest aura she could muster. 'Realize that if we do this, you are not to speak to anyone else about it, understand!? Or you're going to suffer!' Was she seriously threatening them? It was not worth saying anything on tho. It did not seem like the time or place to be doing this. He let out a sigh. There were other ways to deal with things and Ignis could have just asked them not to say anything but she had to threaten them. "Look I do not like dressing up just as much as the next person. In fact I would almost rather go naked then to dress up, but that does not seem like a good idea nor appropriate." They need to get into the castle and there was no other way in getting a boat then gain friendship with the people inside. When Beuce said, 'I'll tell you later. We're not in the right crowd for that kind of discussion, if you catch my drift.' He just gave a simple nod to this as he understood where he was coming from. Then Beuce said, 'Wait do you not have munny? I thought we all did. Most places I've seen accept this as currency, despite being disconnected. It's kind of odd, come to think of it.' "I just thought there would be a local currency of each place. Look I do not know as much about other places as you do." He said 'place' because saying another world and someone over hearing it did not seem like the best idea. Beuce then something about the need with something with gloves. "From the looks of things it looked like everyone entering the castle had some sort of hand covering so if we did not we might stand out." He then continued there walk. AJ: 3 Beuce: 2 Ignis: 2
