Belle of the Ball pt. 1 Tales of Pride - http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/7412 Flame had been appointed to escort Flia down to the ballroom. He whistled to himself as he, alone, walked down the hall to the princess' chamber. When he arrived, he gently tapped on the door. No answer. He knocked again, this time a little louder. Still no answer. He knocked a third time, very loudly, and still received no answer. Worriedly, he opened the door. Before his eyes sat a young blue lioness on the edge of her bed, sobbing. "...Princess?" he asked concernedly. She glanced at him silently, holding back tears. "I'm....Ferdinand Rodgers, called Flame by my friends....I'm...here to escort you to the ballroom." Flia nodded, slowly standing up. "Are...you... ready...your highness?" Flame asked nervously. Flia looked up at him. "No..." she muttered, bursting into tears once again. "Please...PLEASE don't take me down there!" She fell to her knees, burying her head in her hands. "Princess," Flame smiled at her. "Trust me. I promise not to let anything happen to you. That monkey's not marrying you...not if I can help it." Flia stared at him in surprise. "Now, come with me, or Andrew will start suspecting something." Slowly, a smile came across her face. "You mean, you're gonna help me?" She asked. "You bet," Flame answered, smiling. "Trust me your highness. All you have to do is spend about half an hour in the company of Oikonny." "Fate worse than death..." Flia muttered. "Yeah," Flame chuckled, "but you're a strong girl. If anyone can handle it, you can." Flia nodded. "In the meantime," Flame continued, "I'm gonna gather my two friends, and we'll put our plan into action." "Your...friends?" Flia asked. The red lion nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "You'll meet them in about half an hour." He glanced at his watch. "Come on, we'd better be going." ---------- Flia stood at the side of Andrew Oikonny, bored and annoyed out of her mind by his boasting and babbling to every diplomat he found. He was also a terrible dancer, stepping on her feet every, oh, 2 seconds or so. This was the longest thirty minutes of her life. "My dear," Andrew finally spoke directly to Flia, "I do believe it is time for me to announce our engagement." The blue lioness grimaced as he dragged her to the front of the great hall. "Lords and Ladies of the court," he spoke in a loud voice, "I have an announcement." "SO DO I!" Came a voice from the back of the ballroom. It was Flame, with Bulk standing next to him. "Stay away from the princess, Andrew! "How DARE YOU?! What do you want, Soldier?!" Andrew screeched. Ignoring the monkey, Flame stepped into the middle of the crowd. "Lords and Ladies of the court," he spoke, "Andrew Oikonny is a lying, cheating rat, nothing like the wonderful person he has pretended to be. HIS announcement was that he was to be married to the princess...but he wasn't going to mention that he is gaining this marriage only by kidnapping her family!" The crowd gasped. The Vizier glared at Andrew. "KIDNAPPING them?!" he cried. "YES!" Bulk answered. "He held her family hostage and FORCED them all to come here." "They've been under silence only to keep Princess Flia safe," Flame added. "Andrew threatened to kill her." Another round of gasps came from around the room. The King and Queen made a move to speak, but Andrew grabbed Flia, drew his sword, and held it against her neck. "One more word and the princess dies!" Oikonny cried. Suddenly, someone reached from behind and snatched the sword away, turned Andrew around, and punched him in the nose. "...Alton?" Flia stared at him surprisingly. Alton flashed his winning smile, then looked down at Andrew. "You STAY AWAY from her, you hear me?!" Alton kicked Oikonny and led Flia away. "...Makita...." Andrew called weakly. Suddenly, the ballroom grew dark, and a loud cackling sound was heard. After a few minutes, light came back into the room, and everyone looked around. Andrew was gone. Subject: Belle of the Ball pt. 2 Once recovered from the shock of Andrew's dissappearance, the Vizier fell down at the feet of Leonardo. "Forgive me, your Majesties!" he cried. "I cannot believe that I actually fell for that man's deceitfulness!" "Think nothing of it," Leonardo replied in an understanding tone. "All shall be made well again." He paused. "But New Leonias can no longer exist. We must now reintegrate ourselves into the Lylatian cultures. For the sake of peace, and for the sake of our children, we MUST. Now, let us now celebrate no longer my return to Leonias... but Leonias' return to Lylat!" The crowd cheered in approval. ~*~ "So...Princess..." Alton paused. "I guess I can't call you Princess anymore, can I?" Flia smiled, continuing to gaze at the stars from the balcony high above the city. "Guess not," She replied wistfully. Alton grinned. "At least you don't have to marry that idiotic monkey," he said, slipping his arm around her. "Good thing," Flia purred. Alton took a deep breath and reached into his back pocket with his free hand. "Flia." "Hmm?" "I...have a business matter to discuss with you...now... before it's too late." Alton took another deep breath. "Oh?" Flia blinked. Alton took her hand in his. "Please..." he said, "Don't hate me for this..." Flia blinked again as the man standing before her took yet another deep breath and slowly dropped to his knees. "Flioness Regalia deLeon, will you--" The two lions looked up. Three fleets of ships were heading straight for them! "AMBUSH!" ~*~ Later... "WHAT?!" Flia growled at the Vizier. "NO FIGHTERS?!!!" Alton roared. "How are we supposed to fight then?!" "We never had the need for--" "Nevermind," Alton snapped. He opened his commlink. "Whiteclaw, this is Alton Kanor. Do ya copy?" "Copy that, Muchacho," Perria's voice answered. "¿Que pasa?" "We have what you would call a...SITUATION. We have ourselves an ambush on an Aquan island...coordinates 32,48. That's 32,48. We have no starfighters. NO STARFIGHTERS. We need SERIOUS help." "On our way, chico!" Perria replied.