Fiona and Harlan sat in silence in the train car for a while. The blue princess tapped her feet anxiously as she tried to think of a conversation topic that might engage the lizard scientist.
Harlan sat with her arms crossed and stared into space in front of her. She wasn’t looking at anything in particular but was lost in thoughts.
“So um,” Fiona finally said after a long quiet. She never came up with a conversation topic and instead chose to break the silence simply. The Zenotote scientist broke from her deep trance and looked at the princess. Harlan’s expression was blank, and Fiona couldn’t tell if the scientist was frustrated by being spoken to.
They stared at each other for a moment as Fiona tried to focus on something. The orange Needaimus hanging off Harlan’s shoulder became immediately relevant to her.
“So, your ability is to make things scarier… right?” Fiona asked. She had not witnessed Harlan’s use of the ability and only heard secondhand from Gwyn of what had occurred in Horizon.
“In a manner of speaking, I suppose that is one outcome. My ability allows the accessing of the future potential a given species may hold,” the Zenotote scientist explained. Fiona tilted her head slightly. She squinted her purple eyes before shrugging and nodding to what Harlan said. The green Zenotote shook her head.
“My ability can… upgrade things… like was done with the Ali,” Harlan added. Fiona’s eyes lit up like a light bulb was switched on. Then, her look became more stoic as she entered a quick thought. The expression didn’t last long, and she soon switched to a more concerned look as she spoke:
“Does it work on people too?” The Aqueenian princess asked.
Harlan nodded.
“It can, although it will only affect willing participants when they are sapient beings.”
Fiona nodded to pretend she understood.
“So, if you use it on yourself, do you become Ultimate Harlan?” Fiona asked with a childlike sparkle in her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“Like a special move from one of those shows?” the blue princess asked. Harlan remained equally confused.
Growing up, neither of the two had much access to the full extent of entertainment available. Harlan had been quickly put into schooling by her father to support the Zenotote Absolutism. When she showed proficiency as a scientist, her path was set. Nevertheless, she had been allowed some free time and spent all of it learning and loving beauideals secretly.
On the other hand, Fiona did not spend much time on entertainment. She simply recalled a time when Donn had been obsessed with a show of transforming heroes, monsters, and giant machines that the heroes piloted. The show had been written and co-directed by K.A. Natos, though Fiona was unaware of any staff involved.
“I am unfamiliar with your reference, but please do not call me ‘Ultimate Harlan,’” The Zenotote scientist said calmly.
“You’re probably right; it should sound cuter. I’ll think of something,” Fiona said with an agreeing nod. Harlan bit her lip slightly as the frills on her head shuddered, though the movement was too small for Fiona to notice.
“Please do not come up with any names, princess,” Harlan said as Fiona became lost in thought.
“Harlan Mark 2? No. Neo Harlan? No.” The blue princess began to think of names out loud.
The Zenotote scientist quickly realized that she would have to come up with a change of subject. She began to frantically rack her brain for something she might have in common with Fiona.
“What is it like to be the daughter of a national leader?” Harlan continued to talk in a calm voice, but to her, she had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Oh, terrible,” Fiona bit at the new conservation like an easy-to-catch fish, “It was classes in the morning, classes in the day, classes at night…. Though, I did skip most when possible.”
“Do you dislike classes?” Harlan asked with genuine confusion; she always liked to learn new things.
“They were the worst! Like how they wanted me to learn the proper way to hold a spoon at the dinner table but would never let me eat with anyone important anyway! So, I just skipped the class!”
“Wouldn’t skipping the class just lead to being left out, to begin with? Perhaps if you learned as desired, you would have participated more?” Harlan offered.
Fiona’s mouth was wide open for a moment. Then, her face scrunched up as she pondered the shocking revelation.
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“Well, that’s enough about me! What about you, Harlan?” Fiona quickly pushed her thoughts away and switched the subject.
“Me?” Harlan asked. As far as the Zenotote scientist thought, she had kept her father’s identity a secret from the others. A careful inspection of Fiona’s expressions showed Harlan that the secret was still intact. “I was… thought to be a little strange when I was born….”
“Oh, me too!” Fiona said with a nod.
“My father thought best I indulge myself in education… to counterbalance any strangeness I might have been born with….” Harlan explained.
She was careful to keep details vague. Since she had been born with a very flat face and considered very ugly to Zenototes, Mixolydian desired to train her mind to be the smartest in the whole land. Under normal circumstances, the ugly Zenotote children would be disowned and shipped to Nun for adoption if they did not have some obvious value, and the red leader was too stubborn to give up his daughter.
Her education focus from birth would eventually land her a position as a junior science officer at a very young age.
“That sounds so boring, though. How can you have fun if you’re learning all the time?” Fiona asked.
“Learning is fun….” Harlan replied in a calm but confused tone.
They stared blankly at each other for a moment.
“Is this one of those agree-to-disagree moments?” Fiona asked.
“I suppose it is,” Harlan confirmed.
The train came to a halt as their conversation reached a lull.
“Oh, I think this is our stop!” Fiona said as she jumped up. The duo quickly exited into center Nun.
The center of Nun was just as bright, busy, and bustling as the south section the team had seen the previous day. The difference between it and the south section was that many old buildings were left for historical significance. This led to an odd juxtaposition between the modern style and traditional styles.
The contrast caught the eyes of Fiona and Harlan as they exited the train station, but the regular citizens passed by without a care. The sight was so common that they were blind to the difference.
“Oh, we should go take pictures in front of that building! We can show them to Gwyn later to mess with him,” Fiona said with a villainous chuckle as she gestured to one of the many historical spots.
“We did not come here to sightsee or find things to bother Gwyn with,” Harlan said with a shake of her head.
“It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun before we get there,” Fiona said as she crossed her arms and pouted. Since Hal had informed them of the news broadcast, the duo knew the best place to go was the grand stage-arena in Center Nun.
The arena was the largest beauideal venue on the whole planet. With the capability to house 200,000 people, it filled the role as a place for beauideals and many other sports. The floor of the area was made up of countless tiny triangles which could raise and lower. Combined with holographic technology and the ability to fill or drain water, the building was quickly made one of the modern seven wonders of Resh.
Fiona and Harlan laid eyes on the imposing structure in no time. It was easy to spot even from the train station, and the Zenotote scientist’s focus saved the duo from little distractions as they walked down the street to it.
“Are you aptly prepared?” Harlan asked Fiona as the arena crept in closer with every step.
“Prepared for what?” the blue princess asked.
“This may be the first time you face your father’s murderer after….” Harlan tried to say softly.
“Oh, yeah… I should be okay,” Fiona answered with a mixed tone.
“You…” Harlan paused to consider if she should finish her sentence. After some debate, she figured it was best to understand Fiona’s emotional state before potentially facing Dia, “You haven’t seemed all that concerned with your father’s passing,” she said bluntly.
Fiona nearly jumped at her words. Though the green Zenotote spoke calmly and softly, the words had felt like an attempt to stab. She looked to the ground and began to tap her fingers together.
“I suppose I haven’t put much thought into it… There’s plenty of stories about him that sound fantastic….” Fiona stopped talking but continued to think to herself.
She had never known a ‘good side’ to her father, at least not one she could remember, but he had not tried to send her for adoption. When faced with her journey and some of the villagers in Horizon, she realized he still allowed her to live like a spoiled and sheltered princess.
Harlan’s words about classes berated the back of Fiona’s mind. Had she been given an opportunity to receive his affection? She shook her head. She didn’t like to think deeply about such things. It was easier to run around the castle and cause havoc.
The Zenotote scientist awkwardly watched Fiona go through her thoughts as they continued to walk. The princess's blue face betrayed her inner thoughts as she moved from pensive to worried to confused in a cyclical pattern. Harlan figured it was best to drop the issue.
She was well aware of Fiona’s and the late King’s relation, or at least as knowledgeable as an outsider thought they could be. With Fiona’s varied expressions, she could not determine what to expect when they encountered Dia. The green Zenotote figured it would be best to simply keep an eye on here to avoid any rash actions from being taken.
The duo continued to walk with only the loud sounds from the city, preventing any awkward silence from creeping in. They didn’t speak again until they stood in front of the arena. A long line of enthusiastic fans was already waiting to enter.
“There’s a lot of people here today,” Harlan said aloud.
“Is this for one beauideal event?” Fiona asked in shock.
“Hal wasn’t clear on the details, but I would suspect there is a tournament being held today.”
They quickly got in line and slowly moved up to the entrance. After a long wait, they paid and successfully entered the arena.
The structure was open and vast. Many shops for food and souvenirs lined the walls, and a flood of all species had a clear flow of direction.
“What should we do?” Fiona asked as she eyed her tickets. They had procured the cheapest tickets, which read ‘Nosebleed Seats’ plainly in no attempt to sugarcoat the location. “Do we wait for Dia to appear on stage?” she added.
Harlan shook her head.
“The last thing we want is a horde of angry beauideal fans,” she replied.
Fiona looked at the passersby in the stadium. She leaned close to the Zenotote scientist and whispered.
“I don’t think they would be much in a fight.”
Harlan shook her head a second time.
“I would rather fight the whole Aqueenian, Bentulousian, and Hobusian armies than an angry horde of beauideal fans.”
“Now you’re just exaggerating.”
Harlan waved for Fiona to follow.
“I suspect we can find our way backstage. With your ability, we should be able to get past any guards.”
The duo began to sneak their way into the closed-off section of the arena.