Fiona’s abrupt appearance in a flash of blue light made Rheba’s tail twitch before her long face turned into a longer frown. A pile of suitcases zapped next to her, landing in a perfect pyramid stack.
“You need to stop teleporting in front of people for no reason.” The warrior crossed her arms and looked down at the shorter princess. To her side, the blue girl could see the two younger Bentulousian warriors, whatever their names were, snickering.
She turned her face up to Rheba and beamed. The giantess was clearly not amused, but didn’t give off any suggestion she was genuinely upset with her.
“I can’t carry this all on my own.” She waved a hand to the pile of cases.
Rheba groaned
“Just ask some guards to carry it, princess. What even did you bring along? Isn’t this only a week-long trip?”
“What do you mean?”
Rheba closed her eyes and rubbed her snout a moment before nodding. The blue girl couldn’t help but wonder what might have been going through her friend's mind.
“Anyway, Fiona, we really shouldn’t be going on this trip. Zenith sent us here on a standard diplomatic mission.”
Fiona pressed a finger to her chin and tilted her head, “But you said you wanted to come?” The Bentulousian warrior made a small cough into her fist.
“It’s not that I don’t want to come, but orders are orders. We are supposed to be here to assist Aqueenian royalty and…”
“And since the rest of them are gone, you have to accompany the princess on her trip.” Fiona zapped in the air so that she could pat Rheba’s shoulder before gravity pulled her back. “See, I’m not as dumb as the they say!”
The blue princess put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. She beamed at Rheba, but her friend only shook her head without saying a word.
The golden Bentulousian tottered over and said in what was probably meant to be a whisper, but was still clear as day, “Do we really need to get on that ship?”
The dark-furred warrior chimed in from the back.
“She’s afraid of the water, don’t pay her any mind, princess.”
“I am not afraid of the water; I’m afraid of drowning in it!”
The two warriors charged close to each other and began spitting vitriol in Bentulousian tongue. Rheba groaned and for a moment Fiona thought she might have shrunk a little.
“What are they saying?” the blue princess asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Rheba sighed. Fiona smiled with wide eyes. “No, really, they’re going to get a serious talking to the next time we are alone.” Rheba cracked her knuckles. The princess took that as a sign to let it go, and noticing a new figure approaching, she turned.
Gwyn, in what would be the opposite of best dress to wear to the temple, slumped closer. His face looked as if he expected death to take him any moment. Disheveled hair on his head paired with the stubble on his chin in a sloppy union.
Colton quickly ran up to his side and handed the Nonpareil a bag, to which Gwyn took and groaned something unintelligible. Mem, who rode on his right shoulder as usual added a friendly “thank you” as if to make up for its partner’s attitude.
The green guard stayed back, turning suddenly and looking around. Fiona wasn’t sure what he was focused on, but it was probably something ridiculous, given his track record. She beamed at Gwyn, but his scowl darkened the area far more.
“Cheer up Gwyn, the suns up there this time of year is wonderful!”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh, and the stars are even more visible too! And the weather is so clear before all the storms start coming.”
“Huh-uh.”
“And… and… oh they have the best food there too! You’ll love it!”
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Rheba put a large hand on her blue shoulder. She lowered her voice so that it didn’t boom as much as normal.
“Gwyn, you look a little ragged, like after a promotion duel with one of the Goliaths….” Rheba looked like she was pondering her words, Fiona guessed the next phrase might be asking if he had a difficult battle recently or something and she jumped in.
“I’m sure the gentle sway of the hover ship will help. You know the water ones feel a little different than the land ones, after all!”
Gwyn stared blankly at Fiona and she wondered if she messed up in some way. Fortunately Mem was willing to break the silence before it went on too long.
“Colton! Quit standing over there like an oaf and come say goodbye already!”
The green guard’s shoulders twitched before he shook his head and marched over to the group.
“Princess, I’m fairly certain a couple of troublemakers are trying to stow away for your trip without putting in for the proper vacation,” he muttered softly. Gwyn’s eyes went up to the sky for a moment, and Fiona wondered if something flew overhead. She frowned and tilted her head to the side. “Your blasted fan club! They’ve converted about thirty percent of the guards, and they all tried to put in for vacation at the same time! So much it was all rejected, so I’m pretty sure the three ringleaders are waiting close by….” Colton looked around. Fiona chuckled.
“Jeez Colton, if you just wanted to say goodbye to us, you didn’t need to go out of your way to make up such an elaborate story. Especially when it’s so obviously false.” She put a hand on the guard’s shoulder. “Thirty percent of guards in the fan club, that’s such a ridiculous lie, but I’ll miss you, of course!”
Colton’s face flushed, and he turned his head to the side. Crossing his arms, he huffed and mumbled something before his words became coherent.
“Those troublemakers really are coming; you best be going before they get a chance to sneak on.”
Fiona laughed and nudged Gwyn with a soft elbow.
“Well, you heard him, you have to get going before the whole fan club shows up! Goodbye, Fiona Fan Club Vice President.”
“Please don’t remind me.”
Gwyn sighed and offered a hand to Colton. The green guard accepted.
“Goodbye Colton…. Thanks… for helping with the bag….”
Fiona zapped on the ship and stared out at the open channel of water. Her suitcases clanged on the deck behind her as they teleported next. Despite the shouts from Rheba about recklessly using her abilities, she remained unfazed and cheery. The others loaded on shortly after. With a synthetic horn sound from the ship's speaker, the vessel pushed up above the waves and gently began to coast down the channel. The wooden planks creaked gently as the hover panels below shifted along with the waves.
Gwyn found an open bench on the deck and plopped into it. He turned to stare out and watch the shining Aqueenian city shift to natural beaches and water.
Fiona stared back at her city. Shortly after their departure, a second ship floated out and went the opposite direction in the channel. Her mother’s royal vessel, even from a distance, the distinct shape like a sword cutting across the water, was clear as could be. She was headed to Nun, and what came of the trial was anyone’s guess. The blue princess couldn’t help but wonder if it was alright for her to be going to have fun. Maybe Gwyn had the right mindset, if a bit more extreme than necessary.
She shook her head and grinned. Turning back to the others, the three Bentulousians were back in plain English. The golden-furred warrior turned her nose to Gwyn and laughed.
“That’s supposed to be the Nonpareil? I bet a village granny could knock him to the floor with a flick of her tail in that sorry state.”
“When we heard you traveled with him, I thought he was at least as tall as us,” the dark-furred warrior added.
Rheba stammered some weak excuse, but Fiona was already charging over to dive into the group of giants.
“Hey,” she said with some more volume than intended. After clearing her throat, the princess resumed with a lower level but more feisty tone. “What are you two doing? He’s got much more feats that I bet the two of you have put together.” She turned to Rheba. “What’s the lowest rank in your culture? Flagbearer? And these two probably are still recruits? Or maybe just civilians on vacation.” Given the warrior-based nature of Bentulousians, Fiona was sure that her words would sting at least a little.
Rheba’s eyes went wide a moment, and then she spoke in an even tone. “Fiona, that’s enough. Kerra, Blenda, you were out of line. Go to your rooms and cool your heads.”
The two warriors glared at Fiona and wandered off below deck. All the while grumbling at how the ceiling was too low and stairs a trip hazard. Fiona smirked and put her hands on her hips. Rheba lightly chopped her in the head.
“Ow!”
“You insulted their whole family lineage saying that, please keep quiet in the future.”
“I’d insult them even more if it meant standing up for a friend!”
“Best to make sure you are at least as tall when you stand up.” Rheba hoisted her bag over her shoulder and marched to the stairs. As she descended, she made similar grumbles of space that her two wards had earlier.
Fiona sighed and looked at Gwyn, who was close enough to certainly have heard everything, but never once looked back their way. The vacation was already off to a rocky start. She wondered if they would be okay.
----------------------------------------
Within the dark, cramped luggage space, three Aqueenian men shifted and grumbled to one another. They froze with the opening door and waited until more was stowed before talking again.
“Guys, I told you this place was too cramped for all three of us!” Simeon, of the Fiona Fan Club, whined.
“That’s why I suggested you stay behind!” Siegfreid grunted back.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen. You forget the purpose for us being here,” Sinatra added with a singsong swagger added to his voice. “We have much to do for the brothers and sister of the Fiona Fan Club back home. Beach photos! It is our solemn duty to capture the divine presence of our royal princess for all of us to marvel. Such difficulty like cramped spaces and angry superior officer are nothing compared to it!”
The other two, being moved by his words, started to cry and nodded.
“They spoke in unison; You're right, boss. Beach Photos!”