Drake was happily asleep. He’d fallen asleep with his clothes on when he decided he didn’t give a care.
Now he had this… bad feeling. It was beginning to wake him up.

Pricilla slid to a stop outside Drake’s door. Luckily, her daddy got her a lock pick set for her eighteenth birthday.
She snuck in and ran over, jumping on the bed, “FOUND YA!”

Drake jumped, startled by the sudden awakening. “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

 

Eclipse growled, and instead of pounding on the ceiling like an annoyed neighbor, he pounded on the inside of Drake's skull momentarily with the headache-causing spell that he was so fond of. How the hell was he supposed to get any work done!?

 

Drake screamed and nearly set his floor on fire before he got up. “Pricilla!”

“Bad boy! Tried to hide!”

“I didn’t hide; I sent out a decoy—! You killed Ryan, didn’t you?” Drake accused, backing up.

“No. But he broke eventually; now we can spend every moment together from now until I leave, because I get to go with you tomorrow! And we need to talk about you using a decoy…”

Drake looked around for an escape. Pricilla was blocking the door… but there was another way besides that door.
Drake turned and ran for the balcony, got there, and jumped.

“DRAKE!” Pricilla screamed, shocked.

He’d jumped out windows before, but never this high up! … Not to her knowledge anyway.
She’d been chasing him ever since he got that familiar look that stated he was going to run, but the leap had been unexpected.

Drake spun around in midair when he heard his name. He saw Pricilla’s shocked look right before he went down.

And his back slammed into the tower wall. “Ow… Hey, what gives!?”

“Drake! You freak! You jumped!” She lectured, hanging onto his leg.

“I noticed!” He shouted back, trying to pull away. “How the hell are you this strong?”

“Why!?”

“To die!”

 

 

Eclipse growled even louder in frustration, though any human in the room might have at least felt a chill down their spine at the hint of something inhuman.
The pale red-robed man pulled himself to his feet angrily, and stomped onto the balcony, for most of the noises seemed to be coming through the window now.

He stopped and looked up, fully intending to start shouting, and probably give Drake another blast of the barrier spell. A good long one. However, what he saw simply made him surprised…

 

Pricilla tried pulling him up, but it wasn’t working.
Mostly because Drake had his claws dug into the wall.

“What are you doing?!”

“Let go!” Drake shouted.

“You’ll die!”

“I know!” Drake roared.
He’d already stated that once… It wasn’t fair that she was so surprisingly strong.

It was a surprise, though, when Pricilla suddenly lost her grip. “ACK!”

 

Eclipse darted to the edge and grabbed Drake by the left ankle as he fell past his balcony.

“What the hell are you doing?” Eclipse growled as he held Drake there, even though he could easily pull him up the rest of the way.

 

… Căcat… “Um…” He wasn’t allowed to fly that close to the castle, oh no, that was a major rule. “… Suicide?”

 

Eclipse shook the boy, which considering the weight involved, and the poor leverage, was quite impressive. He didn't give a verbal response, however. To Pricilla, it would probably look like he was struggling to pull Drake up.

 

Drake did his best to keep from hitting the side of the balcony.

Pricilla ran out of the room and to the hall, down the stairs.

Drake crossed his arms. “You asked for an answer, I gave one.”

 

Eclipse would have dropped him. He really would have! Had it not been for the risk of Drake’s true form being seen by the girl who was undoubtedly the biggest gossip in the entire world, without rival.
It just wasn't worth it, no matter how satisfying it would have been. So instead, Eclipse flipped the boy onto the balcony like a fisherman throwing an unremarkable fish into a bucket.

 

“Ow.” Drake hissed, getting to his feet.

Pricilla ran to Eclipse’s door, but, for perhaps the first time ever, thought better about going in.
Eclipse was weird, she didn’t like him.

 

“Go and entertain your guests,” Eclipse ordered icily and drifted back inside the balcony doorway. Then he paused, and spun around slowly. “Far away from the tower.”

 

Drake figured it was best not to mention it was now early morning and clawed his way back up to his room.
First night in years that I go to bed before the AM hours and I‘m kicked out of the tower. Damn Pricilla… he yawned as he walked to his door and headed down the hall.
An idea came to mind… I was just told to go hunting. “Come on, Pricilla… Let’s go play a game.”

 

Eclipse went back to his business once Drake was off his balcony. Finally, some peace and quiet.

Speaking of peace and quiet, Ryan had got up to his room, and tiredly prepared for bed. He'd washed, and brushed his teeth, and was just looking for his nightclothes. He could never remember what bag he'd packed them in.

 

Drake pounded on Ryan's door. “Ryan!”

“I don't understand this game...” Pricilla pouted.

She was getting very tired, but wasn't going to admit it.

“Oh, it's fun, I promise.” Drake grinned, glancing back at her.

“Your idea of fun games usually involves you hiding while I spend hours trying to find you.” Pricilla pointed out, wanting to be sure he wasn't going to try and get away again.

“I know... But this one is a team game.” Drake snickered, knocking again.

 

“Go away!” Came the disgruntled reply. Didn't Drake know what time it was? Didn't that damn prince know that he'd had enough, and just wanted to sleep?!

 

“Either you come out on your own free will, or I drag you out because I have the key, Ryan!” Drake warned.

 

There was a dull thud as a sturdy wooden chair was jammed under the handle to prevent the door from opening. There was no vocal reply. Ryan had also overlooked the fact that the door opened outwards.

 

Drake unlocked and opened the door by pulling on it. “Ahem...”

 

“He's in the next room!” Ryan called in a fake, deep voice. He didn't know why he thought it would work, perhaps his mind was just too tired to think straight.

 

“Mm hm, grab your shoes, we're leaving now!” Drake ordered.

 

“Have fun!!” Ryan called from the other room, “I'll stay here.” He gracefully volunteered.

 

Drake sighed and walked over, grabbing Ryan’s arm. “I gave you too many warnings, let’s go.” He stated and started walking out, dragging Ryan with him.

 

Ryan growled and tried to stop himself being dragged, but Drake was deceptively strong. “Go where!?” The tall and very tired boy demanded.

 

“Drakon forest.” Drake stated, speeding up.

Pricilla followed them outside, and down some sort of path leading away from the palace.
Drake let out a whistle and one of his awful little birds flew to him.

“Eww! Why are you bringing that thing?”

“Celestina is going to make sure we don't get lost.” Drake explained, smirking to himself.

Pricilla grumbled, not liking the fact that the bird was coming…

They walked for hours. HOURS!

“Are we there, YET?” She yelled, stopping. “We better be, because I’m not walking anymore.”

Drake stopped and let Ryan go. He surveyed the area. “… Yeah, this will do.”

“Good.” Pricilla yawned, “Now what?”

“Now we wait.”

“… why?”

“Hunting! We wait; something will show up sooner or later. I’ll take first watch.” Drake stated, still grinning.

 

Ryan had pretty much remained silent the whole time. Both shocked that Drake was taking him hunting at that ridiculous hour, and attempting to see if it was possible to fall asleep while being half dragged by an apparently unstable prince.

Once they stopped. Ryan observed the hard ground that he would have to sleep on if he wanted to get any sleep at all that night, and then punched Drake at the top of his arm, hard. It clearly said: 'You jerk!', and would hopefully wipe that smile off his face too.

 

Drake rubbed his arm and kept on smiling. “You were right, Ryan. I owed you one.”

Pricilla sat down and leaned against a tree, grumbling about this horrible trip for a few minutes, and then she fell asleep.

 

Ryan soon followed, wondering how he was going to make Drake suffer for this. He hated nature! He could hear the noises of who knew how many bugs, and something smelled weird. Drake had better not even think about waking him up till morning.

 

Drake didn't even dream about waking them up.
Nope. He let them sleep the rest of the night, and the morning... while he ran at a dead sprint to the airship that was preparing to take off.
“It worked, it worked!” He cheered.

 

“What are you so happy about?” Ellipsis quizzed grumpily. Obviously he was unhappy about being dragged out of bed at such an early hour just to take an airship ride, where he would very doubtfully be needed anyway. He was already on the airship, and reading the newspaper when Drake boarded. He'd just skimmed an article on what to do if you ever get lost while out hiking.

 

Drake grinned and looked back the way he’d come. There wasn’t even a sign of the two he’d abandoned in the forest, “I don’t know. I guess I just am.”

 

“Riiiight... So, now we just have to wait for Pricilla...” Ellipsis observed. The ship was going to be late leaving, but they would still arrive in plenty of time.

 

“What?! Why?!” Drake shouted, all amusement suddenly gone.

 

“Well, she's coming, isn't she?” Ellipsis asked. That's what Eclipse had told him, even though he hadn't seemed that bothered. It made sense, though. Why would Pricilla miss the world leader's meeting? Especially if she would be missing Drake too, and she was a world leader after all.

 

“No. No, she’s not coming, no. No, no, no.” Drake insisted, trying to keep the dream alive.

 

“Nice try,” Ellipsis granted. “However, Eclipse was quite clear.” With that, he turned back to his newspaper, but then seemed to decide against it, and stood up from his seat. He'd felt a few spots of rain, and the sky was looking dark, as if it was about to pour down.

“Let the pilot know when she gets here,” Ellipsis instructed, and then went inside. He did not want to be stuck outside on a day like that.

 

“… Okay,”

Drake went and put Celestina back in the keep, fed the other raptors, and then went to the bridge of the airship and walked over to the pilot… they were already going to be late arriving. “Alright, Pricilla’s here.”

 

“Oh, alright.” The pilot nodded, taking off.

 

Drake was happy the entire trip.

 

 

Eclipse came up on the main deck just in time to get a breathtaking view of Lindblum from the air. Though this didn't really thrill Eclipse that much, and he barely glanced at it before he continued his search for Drake.
He had to remind the boy what he had to say at the meeting, and that he had to stay at the meeting. Not that Eclipse didn't trust him, but— well, actually, he didn't trust him. Not around Garnet.

 

Drake was happy. Very little would be able to change that. He was in a good mood! He sat on the edge of the front of the ship, watching the smaller airships buzz about.

 

Eclipse approached Drake ominously, like the dark storm clouds that had crept over the palace before they left.

“Drake,” The man in the deep-red robes said with a voice like an icy wind.

 

Drake looked at him. “Don’t blow this meeting by being yourself, try and persuade Zidane to open The Secret of Terra’s doors without letting him know why, try not to let Queen Brahne ruin it all, stop grinning and get away from the ledge?”

 

“And if you do screw this up, I'm going to let a gimme-cat loose in your bird keep.” Eclipse threatened, mostly because of Drake's sarcastic comment. Although Drake knew what was expected of him, Eclipse wasn't sure he understood the penalties for not doing it.

 

“Raptors eat housecats.” Drake pointed out, with yet another grin.

 

“I'm sure I could manage to find a cat that will eat those birds.” Ellipsis said, and it was an undisguised threat.

 

Drake heard the threat, but still his good mood remained. “Noted,”

 

Eclipse left Drake alone for the rest of the trip, and was of course, playing the 'devoted adviser' once they landed. Ellipsis stayed on the ship, as usual… he really did wonder why he had to come this time.

Lindblum was a city that Eclipse expected to be replaced in the years to come. All town and villages on this continent were on high ground, so that they would be out of the Mist. Now that it was gone forever, the hard to get to cities and villages that had been built with limited space to expand would surely be rendered obsolete as far easier to live in places sprung up on the liberated ground. No doubt at much cheaper prices, too.

Still, at that moment, Lindblum was enjoying its renewed prosperity and today, it was important to Eclipse for the sole reason that the fate of his plan might very well be decided in the coming hours. He was depending on Drake...

 

The dark prince did his job without flaw— the only problem caused was done so by Brahne. That woman had no patience whatsoever. She pressed to hard, excessively soon. She threw out everything she had, all at once, put all her cards on the table and Zidane, of course, disregarded them.
She pressed on, and Regent Cid interjected. Now she looked like a fool.
Then she used her pearl… Zidane broke right through it and people were going to start noticing that it glowed.
Zidane stormed out and people stared at Brahne questioningly.

Drake almost laughed— she’d ruined her own plan! Instead, he ran after Zidane to try and repair some of the damage the stupid queen had done.
“Zidane!”

“Hm? Oh… hey, Drake.”

“That was quite an event.” Drake noted, slowing down to a walk as he got next to Zidane.

Zidane snarled at the floor and stopped to wait for the lift. “Yeah, sure was… Wish I knew what I’d done.”

“You broke the queen.” Drake grinned, glancing back toward the door. “When I left she was babbling like a loon—starting new words before finishing the first ones.”

“Good, but that’s not what I meant.” Zidane replied as the lift rose and he and Drake stepped on. “I just wish I knew why she kept bringing that up, no one else seems to care.”

“Ah, they care… but they’re too cowardly to actually speak it around you most of the time. If you exclude Empress Pricilla and Queen Brahne, most of them fear you enough to stay silent.” Drake explained, doing his best to explain it.

“Joy…” Zidane grumbled.

“You might have just lucked out. They probably think she’s insane now…” Drake offered.

“Or, they take it as a sign that things are getting so bad she feels she has to talk about it since she’s around me the most.” Zidane sighed, hating that thought.

Drake nodded. That is exactly what people would think, “Very true.”

“I can’t keep doing this.” Zidane groaned, kicking the side of the lift.

“It will just get worse.” Drake confirmed, no longer smiling.

Zidane looked at him. “How do you know?”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “I’m forced to live in their little world, remember? I don’t have a choice but to know. Garnet knows, too. That has to be hard on you both. She hasn’t had to deal with many of the leaders for very long, but she has more than you have. She knows how this works, which is probably one of the reasons Queen Brahne is going insane.”

Zidane smirked. “Besides the obvious reason?”

“That she already is quite insane? Yes, besides that.” Drake laughed, “She fears what her daughter must be thinking.”

“Which is?”

“Can I really hold my tongue for the one I love even if I know it will start a war?”

Zidane was quiet for a while, thinking that over. “She’ll be thinking that…”

“But she understands, of course. She trusts you,” Drake added.

“Yeah, she does.”

“Then perhaps you should give her a reason to trust you? Talk to the other Genomes and at least then you’ve proven that you have tried to comply. It very well might ease the tension around here a bit,” Drake offered.

“That… is actually a good idea. Vivi and the other black mages would see that I asked.” Zidane stated, thinking about it… it could work. “… You know you’re ditching your guard?”

“Advisor. And yes.” Drake grinned, “I’m aware.”

The lift finally stopped and Zidane got off. “Well then, come on. You can hang with me and Garnet till we have to go.”

“A grand way to avoid being yelled at for a few hours!”

Zidane laughed. “I learned from hanging around Steiner; sometimes being hidden is best.”

 

 

 

 

Eclipse was sorely tempted to throw the babbling imbecile of a queen over the side of the castle so that she became a giant pizza in the marketplace.

It all felt like one of those dreams where you are trying to give a speech, and then realize that you are naked, and they are all laughing at you. Well, people weren't laughing at Eclipse, but he was surprised they weren't laughing at all. The queen had made a complete fool of herself in front of all the world leaders, and he had been powerless to do anything about it. This was the woman that had almost taken over the world? Perhaps making an army of black mages was easier than diplomacy.
Drake had seemed to try, but to be fair, which Eclipse rarely was, there was not much the boy could do either, so he couldn't really blame him.

At least the meeting wasn't a total loss, most of the leaders seemed like they hadn't dismissed the idea. So, he still had a chance.

Now...where had Drake got to?

 

 

 

When they were boarding the Red Rose, Drake went with them.

“Still hiding?” Garnet asked.

“Indeed,” Drake smiled.

Garnet laughed and then glanced around. “Should come with us…”

“… Sneaky girl.” Drake applauded, and did indeed follow her onto the ship.