El Hazard, Untitled at this moment.
by Key

If you by chance remembered that teaser I posted awhile ago...  This is
part 1 of chapter one of the fic...  I was bored studying physics so I
felt a need to write part of this today.  Sorry if this rough draft is a
bit too rough.

Chapter 1: Royal Pandemonium??

    Shayla sighed as she arched her back and let the sun 
warm her.  Absolutely perfect weather, she thought to 
herself.  Indeed it was a good day, with not a single worry 
on her mind.  Princess Fatora was occupied elsewhere, 
taking Alielle with her.  Afura was not as harsh as usual, 
and Miz was constantly doting on Mr. Fujisawa.  That left 
her all alone, for once.

    That was when a scream literally shook her out of the 
lounge chair.

    "I can't believe you!" cried Fatora as she stared at Rune.  
"How could you do this to me?"  The news was most 
shocking, something that Fatora had never expected.

    "It's for the good of our country," Princess Rune started.

    " `For the good of our country'" mocked Fatora, who 
wasn't up to the mood to hear her older sister talk on and 
on about the "responsibility of royalty" and "how duty to 
the country must be before our self-interests."  She shouted 
at Rune, her slim, smooth hands trembling.  "I don't care 
about the `good of the country.'  If it's not good for me, 
then I'm not doing it!"

    Princess Rune looked downcast.  This was why Fatora 
would never be a good ruler.  "Fatora, I'm asking you, for 
me, for our parents.  You remember how father was such a 
good friend of his father, and they always dreamed about 
uniting our kingdoms."

    "Well I don't remember father or mother, and I wonder 
why you aren't so eager at the moment to marry this 
prince," Fatora retorted.  Fatora was only 16 years old, way 
too young to marry.  In fact, she wouldn't mind if she never 
married, then life could be just a stream of constant fun, 
like Alielle, Shayla.

    Princess Rune sighed, "He's not my age, and he has 
voiced an interest in you."

    "He's not my age either, that 14 year old brat," muttered 
the distraught princess.

    Princess Rune felt that her younger sister had to learn the 
meaning of responsibility soon, and now was a good time.  
"Fatora, keep your facts straight.  He's 15.  You will meet 
with him tomorrow, and you will have to make a decision, 
a responsible one.  Don't make me force you."

    "You wouldn't!"  Fatora cried out.  This was literally the 
first time her sister had ever decided to stand up against 
her.

    "Yes, I would.  Fatora, if you don't want to marry him, 
then perhaps try a little diplomacy with him tomorrow and 
work it out with him."

    Alielle was doing her best to comfort Fatora, but not 
even the most passionate touching, feeling, fondling 
worked at all.  Fatora was as angry at the end, compared to 
the beginning.  "Fatora, if you keep thinking about this, 
you're never going to get some sleep," she muttered, after a 
long hard day trying to please her lover.

    It was past midnight, and the princess was sitting in bed, 
staring at nothing, her thoughts no doubt focused on a 
single goal.  Finding a way to cancel her obligations to the 
prince.  Alielle almost wondered to herself, how far 
Princess Fatora was willing to go.  "I don't need sleep."

    Well it didn't matter.  She fell asleep before she could 
think any more about it.

* * *

    "Presenting Prince Xavier of the Eastern Isles," cried the 
guard who made a crisp salute to the princess who were 
sitting on the throne.  In the case of the Fatora, sitting was a 
rather general word to apply to her position.  In fact, it 
seemed that she was positively sleeping.

    "Ladies," said the young prince as he bowed before 
them.  "It does me great honor to be in your country."  He 
looked up at Fatora who was lightly snoring away in her 
chair.  "Ah Princess Fatora, it has been such a long time 
since we last met, and you are more beautiful than ever!"

    "."

    Alielle tapped Fatora on the shoulder.  "Um, Fatora.  He 
just gave you a cheesy pickup line."  But Fatora slept on.

    The prince walked confidently up the dais and kneeled 
graciously before Princess Rune.  "Dear Fatora seems quite 
exhausted now, perhaps I shall speak with her tonight at 
dinner.  It has been a while since I've visited Floristica, and 
I take my leave to get myself reacquainted."  He bowed his 
head quickly, stood up, then left.

    As he left, though, he had the misfortune of accidentally 
walking into two people who were in vivid conversation.  
There was an exclamation of surprise as books showered 
onto the floor.  "You sniveling servant!  Watch where you 
are going!" cried the Prince from the hall, obviously 
furious.

    "I'm sorry, I was just sort of absorbed into the." 
apologized Makoto as he gathered books left and right.

    "You impetuous page!  Be gone before I have you 
flogged!"  Everyone winced as they heard the sounds of 
Makoto frantically collecting books left and right.  But not 
fast enough for the Prince's tastes.  Clapping his hands, he 
called out for his Royal Attendant.  "Attendant!  I need my 
hunting crop right now!"

     Luckily for Makoto, he finished gathering his notes and 
books, and was running down the hall at a breakneck 
speed.  The prince laughed, giving Dr. Stalubaugh a hard 
smack on the back, like he was an old friend.  "Look at that 
page go!  Doctor, sometimes you have to really show some 
discipline to see some results."

* * *

    Nanami and Shayla sat next to Makoto, who was 
somewhat uneasy.  It wasn't the fact that he didn't 
appreciate the company.  It was quite the opposite, he 
completely appreciated the fact that Nanami and Shayla-
Shayla were good friends.

    However, being sandwiched tightly between two people 
like peanut butter in a sandwich proved to be quite 
distracting for him.  He just couldn't focus on the tome in 
his lap, some crusty old book, written in such a way that 
Makoto felt that watching ten gallons of water evaporate 
would be infinitely more interesting.

    And the worst part, was that Shayla and Nanami always 
had these negative vibes.  "So, Makoto, I was 
wondering." started Shayla, only to be rudely cut off by 
Nanami.

    "So, Makoto, what are you reading?"  But before 
Makoto could even begin to respond, Shayla, in her 
eagerness to cut off Nanami, spoke out of turn.

    "Nanami, it's obvious that he's busy right now, so why 
don't you just leave?"

    Nanami gritted her teeth as she glanced at the book and 
then at Shayla.  "And what about you?  I doubt you could 
help him on the subject of `Advanced Parallel Qualities of 
Ether.'"

    Sparks showered from Shalya, as she took Nanami's 
insult to her heart.  "Are you implying that I'm dumb?" she 
shouted.

    Nanami crossed her legs and sat calmly.  "No, but for a 
person who's clearly sensitive about that, you must be 
pretty stupid."

    "That's it girl, you're toast!" cried Shayla as she stood 
up to deliver the mother of all punches to Nanami, only to 
have a wine glass placed into her hand.

    "My, my," said a mellifluous voice.  "What do we have 
here, a dispute between two women?"  Both Shayla and 
Nanami paused in their argument to see Prince Xavier, 
standing there with his overconfident grin.

    He gazed at Makoto, who was the only person not to 
acknowledge his presence.  Unknown to the girls, Makoto 
had a special ability of being able to focus so intently on 
something that he could mentally block out the noise of 
their fighting.  And each girl thought he had been on her 
side throughout the argument.

    The prince sneered somewhat, as he slapped Makoto 
across the face with his gloves.  "Page!  Leave this place 
for your stuffy study at once!  How dare you try to ignore 
royalty!"  He gave Makoto another token slap, which 
served to motivate him to leave.

    Nanami gave Makoto a strange look, perhaps still 
frustrated that he had never made the first move.  She 
spoke a bit loud so he could hear.  "Why thank you prince.  
Those bookish type always bore everyone."

    The prince settled down, his attendant kneeling down, 
holding a tray of wine and glasses at a height at which the 
prince needed the least amount of effort to refill his glass.  
"Ah, admirably spoken," said the prince as he offered a 
glass to Nanami.  Shayla had already drained her glass, 
which had been filled with wine of the utmost potency.

    Her mind already clouded over by the potent liquor, she 
rudely grabbed the bottle of wine from the prince after he 
poured a glass for Nanami.  "Excuse me, but I must go 
right now."  Nanami gave the prince a winsome smile and 
as his attention was distracted by Shayla's sudden behavior, 
she calmly emptied the glass over her shoulder into the fish 
pond.

    She couldn't help noticing Shayla filching a glass from 
the attendant as she left, clueing her into the priestess's real 
intent.  She stood up as if to follow, but found something 
grabbing her like a vice.  "Oh don't worry, I have more of 
that," he said, indicating Nanami's empty cup.

    The attendant scrambled about a bit and produced a new 
bottle for His Royal Highness.  He filled Nanami's cup to 
the rim, and sat there, as if expecting some comment from 
her regarding his beautiful countenance.  No comment ever 
came as she girl stood up, her eyes locked on the unfair 
advantage Shayla had. 

    "Oh no thank you, no need to trouble yourself," Nanami 
said as she broke free of the prince's grasp, her face 
reddening with rage as she followed on Shayla's trail.

    The prince sighed contently, and spoke to his servant.  
"See her, she must be blushing.  My beauty must have 
overwhelmed her."

    "Certainly."

    "Did I ask you to answer?" cried the prince, causing
the poor servant to cower in fear.

* * *