The princess with the long, red hair and the beautiful gown sighed as she looked into the mirror. "Please, father, do I have to do this?"
"You are the princess of Gareth and the heir to the throne of the Middle Realm," her father, Emperor Hal, told her with a smile. He watched with satisfaction how his daughter was prepared for her eighteenth birthday by her chambermaids. "You know, you look so beautiful in that gown... just like your mother."
"Thank you, father," Princess Beryl sighed. "But... I was wishing for, you know... a NORMAL birthday. A birthday with my friends."
"Now, what are you saying?" the emperor asked. "Look outside, hear their cheers: The whole kingdom is celebrating your birthday! And of course, they expect their princess to step in front of them." Turning to his daughter's personal maid, he said: "Make sure she looks more representable than ever. As the future queen, this is a very special day for her."
"Don't you worry, Your Highness, we'll make her look as beautiful as the goddess Minako herself," the maid smiled.
The emperor nodded and turned to leave. "I shall welcome the guests now, honey... make sure to show some manners when you are in front of the baron of Baliho."
"Yes, father..." Beryl murmured.
As soon as her father was gone, she surprised her three maids by throwing off the veil they wanted to place on her head, and stomping on the ground. "That is so unfair! Every other girl in the kingdom can enjoy her birthday, why can't I?"
Two of the maids didn't want to protest to either the emperor or his daughter, so they just looked at the floor in silent embarrassment.
But the princess' handmaiden smirked at her. "Why, I suppose that's the burden of being a princess."
"I don't want this," Beryl groaned. "I want a small, fun party with my closest friends, my fellow students from the academy, and maybe one or two of my royal friends..."
"I'm sorry, princess, but your father is right: As the crown princess, you are someone special and have to be treated as such."
"At the academy, the Masters treated all of us as equals," Beryl whined. "Why can't my father and the other people do the same?"
Her handmaiden gave her a thoughtful look, then she turned to the two other maids. "Leave us alone for a while," she told them.
The other girls looked at each other uncertainly, but as the princess' handmaiden, Akari was their superior. So they bowed and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Akari sat down next to the princess. "Listen, there is a reason why the Masters at your school do that. Inside the orders of the mages, it doesn't matter if you were born as a noble or a peasant... all that matters is that you are the student and have to listen to what your Master or Mistress tells you. But you are not just any magic adept... you are the princess of Gareth. And thus, you should expect that people outside of the academy treat you differently than your classmates or Masters would."
"I hate my life..." Beryl murmured. "I don't want to be a princess..." She sniffed. "Why is life always so much easier for the princesses in the fairy tale books? They never have to worry about anything... recently, I read about a queen who had four handsome generals working for her." She sighed. "And nobody ever told her what she had to do. I wish I could be like that queen..."
"But, unfortunately, real life is rarely like in a fairy tale, princess," Akari said. "And that's why we have to get you ready for the festivities."
Beryl then tapped her finger against her chin. "Akari, I just thought of something. The first day I arrived at school, nobody in class realized that I was the princess of Gareth. Not until the Master read our names, at least. And do you know why?" She smirked. "Because each one of us had to wear the same white apprentice robe. I had no royal garments or any insignias that showed my royal heritage. I was like any other girl in that class. I bet that if I'd put on my robes from school again, nobody of the commoners out there would even recognize me."
Akari snickered. "Yeah, I suppose so. But let's not do that, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a birthday if nobody would recognize the birthday girl..."
"But that's just it, Akari!" Beryl grinned. "That's how I can get away from these boring activities and do whatever I like to do. I put on my mage robes, sneak out of the palace and hide among the crowd. I have fun in town without the risk of anybody recognizing me, and I'll be back in the evening, so father won't be mad! How does that sound?"
Akari stood up. "That sounds absolutely crazy, princess! I don't believe you would even suggest that! And your father? He'd be angry, no question about that! Why, if he found out I helped you with this, he'd surely hang me..."
"Nonsense, Akari!" Beryl grinned. "I can handle father, don't you worry! And besides, he doesn't have to know that you helped me."
"Still, I cannot allow this! I am sorry, princess, but that plan of yours is insane! Forget about it!"
An angry frown then appeared on the princess' face. "Akari, as your princess and the heir of the crown, I COMMAND you to help me sneak out of the palace so I can have some fun in town!"
Akari grimaced and raised her hands up to the sky. "Oh gods, help me! Whatever did I do to deserve this?"
"I'm sure the gods won't mind," Beryl snickered. "Especially not my patron Ami. You know that owe the gift of magic thanks to her daughter Mada's willingness to disobey the rules, don't you?"
"Yes, and look what good it did to her," Akari grumbled. "I'm telling you again, princess, this is not a good idea!"
"Aw, hush!" Beryl huffed. "What can go wrong?"
Meanwhile, the past self of the goddess of wisdom, accompanied by a gryphon in human form, entered the tavern 'The Golden Rooster'. An inviting scent was coming out of the kitchen, but Ami was hardly in the mood to look forward to her meal. The image of Nephrite just wouldn't leave her mind.
Together with Mikuru, she searched for a quiet corner, but with customers sitting everywhere, they had to sit down at the least occupied table. A diminutive, aged man with a bushy beard was sitting there, an impressive mug of beer in his hand. An equally impressive mace was leaning against his chair.
He lifted his mug when the two girls were approaching him. "Greetings, youngsters! What a nice day to celebrate a princess' birthday, eh? Come and sit down with me!"
"Thank you, sir!" Mikuru smiled nervously. "You are too kind."
"Hey, my father - may Rei rest his soul - always used to tell me: Never chase off young ladies, or your beard will be infested with fleas." He laughed heartily, while Ami wondered if she should take the little man seriously or not.
"Just kidding, lass!" he grinned. "Say, can I pay for a round of beer? Or wait, you are humans, then maybe you aren't old enough to drink, aren't you?"
"Humans?" Ami wondered. "Of course we are humans, what else would we be?"
Mikuru winced. "Ami-san... I believe this gentleman is a dwarf."
"A... a dwarf?" Ami wondered.
The dwarf grinned. "Yup, and an Anvil Dwarf on top of that. And everyone knows that Anvil Dwarfs are the best fighters, drinkers and lovers in all of Aurius!"
That last comment made Ami blink and scoot away from the dwarf with her chair.
That made him laugh again. "Don't you worry, my dear! I'm not saying that you are a pair of fine lasses - for humans - but I really prefer the beauties of my own race. Now please don't take this wrong, but don't you human females ever eat? You're all so skinny! I'll take the stout, strong body of a dwarven lady any time!"
Ami and Mikuru exchanged a quick glance and decided not to address that subject any further. Instead, Ami said: "M-may we introduce ourselves? My name is A..."
She stopped herself just in time. It was obvious that people would look at her strangely if she told them that she had the same name as one of their goddesses... and if she told them her real origin, she would be locked up in the local loony bin in no time.
"Mercury!" she finally blurted out. "My name's Mercury, and this is my friend Mikuru."
"Mercury, eh? Now that's a pretty name. Strange, but pretty! I am Happosai, son of Happorox, at your service!"
Ami blinked. Then she smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Happosai!"
She really was glad to have met such a nice man, even if he was a dwarf.
She couldn't know that, deep within, Happosai was still the same as before his reincarnation. Only that the only women he had perverted thoughts of were dwarven women...
In the end, Ami and Mikuru ordered a glass of water each, as well as a small plate of bread, cheese and fruit. When the waitress wanted to see some money, Ami reached into the bag that was attached to the belt of her robe. She had looked inside just before they had entered the tavern and found out that it was filled with golden and silver coins.
But when she reached for the bag, she suddenly noticed that it wasn't there anymore.
"Mikuru!" she shouted. "Our money... it's gone!"
"What?" Mikuru gasped. "Oh no, how could that have happened?"
The waitress frowned. "So you mean to tell me that you can't pay? Well, too bad! Looks like you have to work off your debt in the kitchen."
"Now let's not be too hasty," Happosai smiled and gave the waitress some money from his own pouch. "Here, that should be enough."
Suspiciously, the waitress looked at the money. Seeing that it was real, she just put it into her pocket and left the table without saying another word.
"Th-thank you so much, Happosai-san," Mikuru stuttered. "I don't know how this could have happened..."
"The man we met at the entrance..." Ami then grumbled. "Nephrite... he must have stolen it."
"Aye, there are many pickpockets, rogues and thieves on the job on such a day," Happosai nodded. "Such a huge crowd always is like an invitation to their kind. But I doubt you have any chance to catch up with him. If he's smart, he's already at the other end of town."
"Dangit!" Ami sighed. 'I should have known,' she then thought. 'Reincarnated or not, Nephrite's still the same...'
Happosai cleared his throat. "So then... are you girls from around here or did you just come for a visit because of the festivities?"
"Um... we're not from around here..." Ami said.
"Ah, I see," the dwarf nodded. "A travelling mage and her friend, eh? Yep, I instantly recognized your robes. Although many of my tribesmen don't like your kind, I can't say that all mages are inherently evil."
"Wh-why would they be?" Ami wondered.
Happosai sighed. "Ah, that's the old story of us dwarves... ya know, while we also believe in the twelve goddesses, there's really one true goddess for us, and that's the goddess Rei!" He smiled. "She created our race, you know? She made our bodies from stone and appointed us to protect her treasures of the earth: gold, silver, gemstones, you name it..."
Ami frowned. Rei had created a race of dwarves? The next time she was back in Alveran, she would have to ask if that really was true...
"But how does that concern your people's dislike of anything magical?" Ami asked.
"Well, y'know, our Earth Mother Rei had an old and ancient enemy... and that was the Golden Dragon God Herb. He and his brood always wanted to rob her of all the treasure she hoarded deep within the earth, and that's where we come in." He grinned. "We defend the mountains and the gold from the greedy claws of the evil dragons and their lizard kin, and we kill them whenever we spot them!" He frowned. "Take my advice, girl: Whenever you see a dragon, run! It will take quite a while until even a mage like you can stand up to the ancient magic of a dragon. But see, that is the problem: According to our beliefs, magic is a thing of evil. Our old enemies have used it long before the first humans even wandered the land, and we have always fought to suppress it. So it's no wonder that most of my kin are slightly prejudiced against it, aye?"
"But... but Herb is already dead!" Mikuru blurted out.
When Happosai raised his bushy eyebrows, she blushed and stuttered: "Uh, th-that's what I heard... I mean, I have heard a similar story like that..."
"Well, it's true that the last time Herb tried to rise to power, High Dragon Ranma - may Rei bless his fiery heart - fought his archnemesis and tore his body to pieces. Still..." The dwarf lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper. "It's said that Herb's carbuncle, which is his brain, has fallen down into the endless vastness of the Khom Desert... where it is hidden until now. And, as Azulongmon from the Ancient Dragons says: As long as Herb's carbuncle is not shattered, the danger of the Golden Dragon is not banned."
He then leaned back in his chair and took a swig of his mug. "And that's why us dwarves are always prepared to battle." He patted the shaft of his mace. "I don't know any dragon who could stand up against the Anything Goes battle arts of dragon-hunting!" He grinned.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:34)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.