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How to Kidnap your Princess
A little help from my (girl)friends

A little help from my (girl)friends

Elven and Fae magicians are easy to identify if you have time to spare. Their hair color change with the seasons. The months of Summer draw warm colors of yellow and red and the months of winter cool colors of blue, green and white. Fall and Spring bring pastels and vibrant colors. These changes also tell them when the seasons are changing as their hairs shift colors in the span of a couple days.

Excerpt from the Great Compendium of the Races, vol 3

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Dawn and Aidan left the laboratories at night to Noble's dormitories. Dawn was still irritated and Aidan was mentally exhausted. Their levels of mental drain and irritation were the same, however, the thresholds of each physical body were different.

At the dormitories, Prince Brian of Heath was waiting for them.

"Lumina! Hey, Lumina!" The bland Royal waved for Dawn.

Dawn glared at him. It was easy to put a lot of intimidating power behind that glare, given her current mental state. She was feeling murderous.

"It is Princess Lumina, at least it was the last time I checked. Don't give Pearl any more reason for her anagram joke and respect your betters, Prince Brain."

The young boy shuddered. Aidan yawned to mask his surprise at how close to the real thing they got. It only improved Dawn's stance.

"I'm sorry, your Highness. I won't bother you anymore, I just wanted to know if you had any news of my brother and sister."

They had, but Dawn didn't feel like sharing. "I don't know. Maybe they decided to camp down in a bog and hunt Glurlocks for a while. For sport. But I didn't know that Sierra was coming too," Dawn lied. "Maybe we'll have a blast of a tea party, the four of us Princesses."

Brian shuddered. Aidan knew why. The gossip mill had that Sierra often used Brian as the butt monkey of her practical jokes to impress her fellow Princesses. It also said that he took the scholarship in Yutis to get away from her.

"Oh. I dare ask only this little favor then, Princess Lumina. Send me a messenger with any news from them."

"I'll think about it. Good night, Bairn. You are dismissed."

Brian made a confused face at the new anagram but scampered away. Dawn was amazed at how tame he got when she changed her tone to an imposing one. Anyway, time to retire. Brian didn't deserve more of their time.

They reached the common room of the private cluster of rooms dedicated to the Royal family and guests and met the girls. Sora, Cythrel, and Pearl waited on by both Lola and Deb.

Before they could even utter a word the elf was the first to pounce them, hyperactive as always. It put a smile on Dawn's face, "Dawn! We went shopping today, we bought a lot of new dresses. Come' have a look." Cythrel halted to a skid when she was able to take in the weary expressions on them, "Rough day? Did the King chase you out of the castle on foot?"

Dawn shook her head but she couldn't hide her annoyance from the people close to her. She showed the Regalia Ring, earning a sympathetic smile from Pearl. "No, nothing like that. The talk with the King was fine even though it was heavy with his grief for his loss. He even bestowed me this ring so I can keep on playing Lumina."

Sora stood up and scooped Aidan, supporting him with an arm, "I think it is bedtime for our hero here. I'll take him to bed."

Dawn sighed, "The problem was how Lucien reacted after he learned that I am not Lumina."

Pearl frowned, "Did he lash out on you? Did he hurt you?" She opened and closed her hand into fists a few times, "Do you need me to talk to him?"

Dawn smiled at the show of support from the Princess, "Yes, yes and no. Thank you so much, Pearl. Claire and I already dealt with Lucien with the help of the Headmaster. I think I could knock some sense into him after I slammed him into the wall with magic."

Cythrel whistled, "Wow, I'd pay to see that."

"Come, come," Pearl waved her hand. "Sit down and have some tea."

Dawn sat and raided the pastries. She realized she skipped lunch.

Sora returned, "By the way, Dawn, the jeweler was asking for Aidan. It seems his order is ready."

"Oh, thanks. I'll drop by and pick it up later," Dawn's impromptu speech caused just a few crumbles to fly out.

"What a dreary sight, Lumina talking with a full mouth." Pearl shuddered. "Wash that down with some tea and tell us everything. With the juicy details, please."

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Dawn told what she could of the day's events. Besides having to hold Cythrel from laying siege to the castle in the middle of the night, Dawn was surprised to how well Pearl took Lucien's reactions.

"That was terrible, darling. How I wish I was there to give you support," Pearl tried to be diplomatic. "But please forgive Lucien. He is too distressed by everything that is happening. Say, can I talk to him? I'll try and put some sense in his head. He was absolutely wrong to treat you like that and I'll make him see that."

"I still can't believe you gave Prince Lighthead a fetch quest," Mocked Cythrel. "It will be hilarious to see him work for a change."

Dawn sighed. In hindsight, maybe she mishandled the Prince just a little. But when she thought back everything she felt flared back and she could not let go of the grudge. The fact that Aidan was fast asleep and could not counterbalance her thoughts also helped. Her irritation just simmered on a back burner.

"I was so mad that was the only thing I could think of. Well, what is done is done," She looked at a particularly interesting spot on the ceiling and pouted. "I won't apologize."

"Nobody will make you," Sora encouraged her. "But I have one question, didn't you say you were going to restore Lumina today?"

"Yes, but we didn't. The Headmaster talked us into not doing it yet. Stupid politics. I'm tired of only having half my soul."

"Let me guess, darling," Pearl tapped her own cheek with a finger. "They want you to stand in for Lumina until Brody goes away, right?"

Dawn blinked and then remembered. They didn't include Pearl in their little murder conspiracy. She probably suspects it, but they had to shut her off to give her the ability to deny involvement.

"Yes. And it means I have to both host him and keep a healthy distance from that grub."

"You better keep your distance from the grub's grub too," Joked Sora.

The girls made a disgusted face and laughed. Dawn didn't realize the joke until a few moments later.

"Oh," She shook her head to dispel the image. "Yeah, I won't let it touch me. But maybe I'll touch it to whither or cut it off."

"Coming from you, that's cruel," Pointed out Cythrel.

"Well, grubs aside, there is one problem," Pearl mused as she scanned Dawn from head to toe. "Please forgive me for the honesty, darling. You really need to learn how to be a Princess. I can assure you, Brody will know you are not Lumina. Even if you cook up some lame amnesia excuse. He will ask you to take off the ring and he will be super suspicious all the time."

"Yes, I thought about that," Confessed Dawn. "But I don't think a person can learn how to do that in a week. I have a few memories from Lumina and that will have to do."

"I could give you a few pointers actually but I guess you are right. There's too little time."

They stopped talking for a while and Dawn used that time to eat some pastries. She had almost no opportunity to eat during the day. Deb and Lola poured them tea and the silence was finally broken by Sora that maybe had figured out a solution.

"Why don't you just get the rest of the memories from Lumina then? Summon her and ask the Princess to remember her etiquette lessons. After all, she is the person with the biggest interest in breaking Brody."

The idea of bringing Lumina back in Aidan's body was at the same time disturbing and enticing for Dawn. She knew that if Aidan was awake and contributing with his mind to their shared reasoning, the idea would've been shot down immediately.

"I don't think that is a good idea. Lumina in my... Aidan's body is a dangerous thing. I can't even call her Lumina." Discretion was the best part of valor. Dawn decided to not delve deeper into her reasons.

Sora smiled. "How about we stay with you and we all have a girl talk? You just need Lumina to remember, right?  She doesn't have to focus or anything."

"Yeah, I'd like to talk to Lumina at least once." Cythrel shared her thoughts. "Let's do it now."

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And that was how five real girls and half of a boy almost entirely turned into a girl stood inside the bedroom where the other half of the aforementioned boy slept, intent into summoning another girl into the body of the boy. At least Sora went in first to dress him up in some pajamas.

"Let's go. Summon Lumina," Encouraged Cythrel.

Dawn sighed and used the spell. "Twin Soul Advent."

Aidan stirred and Dawn felt the connection between them falter. Dusk stirred and opened his eyes.

"Oh. Hello there." He greeted still in a half-asleep mode. Aidan's body naturally resisted waking up. "Are we having a party?"

Pearl stood in front of Dusk and waved. "Hello, Lumina. Do you remember who we are?"

"Pearl! So good to see you. You've grown a lot, good for you. I was told you were here, but Dawn wouldn't let me..." Dusk craned his neck and stared at Dawn. "You told me you wouldn't call me back in this body, that the next time I awake I'd be in my own body. Did something happen?"

Dawn sighed. "Yes. Brody is coming to check on his fiancée. As you are... undisposed, the honor will be mine."

Dusk scowled, his face full of bloodlust. "I am sorry. I really am but I have no way of helping. I can only ask you to fight back with all your strength. Don't let him touch you."

"I won't!" She professed with absolute conviction.

Dusk's scowl turned into a cheesy smile. "After all, you are mine, Dawn."

And that was the reason Dawn thought using that spell was a bad idea. Lumina's outward brazen demeanor coupled with a male brain produced this cheap philanderer.

"About Brody, I'm doing you a huge favor by standing in for you." Dawn ignored his flirting and went straight to the point. "Could you try to remember all the etiquette lessons you had? I need to act like you."

"I think I can. You are a terrible Lumina anyway. What do I need to do? Just remember?"

Dawn took Dusk's hand and guided him through the process of collecting the memories. "Yes. Close your eyes and focus on your memories of those lessons."

Pearl cut in and tried to help. "The etiquette ones. The dance and music lessons. When the tutors taught you how to behave like a princess. How you practiced your facial expressions in front of a mirror for hours."

Dusk with his eyes closed just hummed in agreement while nodding his head. And then Cythrel yanked a few ones from the memory lane.

"How much you hated Brody and his slimy greasy hands. How you ruined Princess Melissa's wedding. And why you hated Aidan and Sora in the first place."

Dawn immediately dismissed the spell on the second question, holding on Sora's arm to avoid crashing down from the sudden memory flow. Of Cythrel's questions, they only got the seething hatred for Brody.

After they got their bearings back, Aidan stared at the elf and scolded her. "That was really uncalled for, Cythrel. We are trying to get help, not interrogate Lumina."

Cythrel just shrugged in her trademark 'sorry not sorry' way.