Fiona disappeared in a flash of red light to avoid another blow from the Bentulousian warrior, Flora. The calico warrior's fist smashed into the floor where the princess had once stood. Her fist had some resistance as she yanked it from the floor. It had almost gotten stuck for a moment.
Flora ground her teeth as she began to search around the room for where Fiona had gone. The conference room they were in was ample, and Fiona could use her abilities very well in the open place.
Awkwardly to the side of the room stood the Princess Fiona Fan Club. The trio watched as Fiona appeared behind Flora and kicked her in the back before quickly disappearing to avoid the counterattack.
"Lady Fiona!"
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
"We are ready and willing!" The trio shouted off one after the other.
"Just get back and stay out of the way!" Fiona shouted back as she zapped behind Flora to deliver another kick.
Flora angrily swung her long arm back, like one would do to shake off a fly, as she tried to strike the princess. Fiona disappeared in a flash of light before the blow could be made and reappeared in front of the trio.
"But we can help!" the trio yelled in unison.
"Go, I can't have you hurt on account of me!" she shouted as she waved her hands to indicate they should leave.
Fiona didn't stay long and quickly zapped next to Flora's side. She tried to strike Flora in the side just under the ribcage but misjudged the Bentulousian bone structure. Fiona shook her hand in pain and could not react to Flora's palm thrust.
The light sapphire blue princess sailed across the empty conference room until she crashed against what was equivalent to a whiteboard on Resh. The board fractured like it was glass as Fiona fell to the floor.
"Lady Fiona!" the Fan Club shouted.
"Quiet from the gallery, please," Flora snapped as she strode across the room to the fallen Fiona.
Fiona coughed as she tried to push herself up. She focused across the room at one of the chairs.
"Work, just once more," she pleaded quietly. One of the chairs suddenly disappeared in a blue flash. It reappeared over Flora's head and fell on top of the unsuspecting Bentulousian.
That's it! Sun shouted in Fiona's mind.
"Not much good it does now," Fiona muttered as she pushed herself to her feet. She recalled the words she had first heard when bonding to Sun.
'Greetings, Princess Fiona, I am known as Impression Sunrise. You may shorten that if you like. I am a Tenmont type made to study the movement of objects in space. The application is a little difficult to comprehend for Aqueenians or any species for that matter, but I hope we will be able to work together effectively.'
The young princess at the time could only awkwardly stare at a yellow arm that was two times larger than her normal arm at the time. All she could think was that she met the worst Needaimus the castle had to offer. She had been right; the royal family only gave her a Needaimus to keep with tradition.
"Useless," Fiona found herself muttering as Flora was reaching down to grab her by the throat.
"Lady Fiona!" The Fanclub could not keep quiet any longer and charged across the room with their pickaxes at the ready.
Each drove a pickaxe into Flora's back in the same manner they would drive it into stone. Between the tougher hide of a Bentulousian and the bonus durability from her Needaimus, the pickaxes did minimal damage; it was still enough to annoy Flora.
The calico warrior decided to put Fiona's defeat on hold with her fingers just about to close on the Aqueenian princesses neck and spun around to face the fan club.
"No, run," Fiona weakly said as she leaned back against the cracked whiteboard. She focused on the trio as Flora raised her fist to strike one of the three. Each disappeared in one large red flash. They reappeared further back into the room just as Flora's fist piledrove into the floor. Fiona zapped next to them and weakly pushed on the shoulders of one of the trio. "Go, I'll fight her alone," she said coldly as she swayed.
"We may not be much, but we will support you, Lady Fiona," one of the trio said.
"Why do you want to help so much? You don't know anything about me!" Fiona almost shouted as she tried to push the Fan Club Member harder.
"You are the princess of our nation; it's only natural," said one.
"We want you to win your battles in a splendid manner," said the next.
"And it is a huge honor to support you in that endeavor," finished the last.
Flora struggled to pull her right fist from the floor as the four talked. She had intended to strike with enough force to squash one of the members completely to make an example of the others. Now, that was backfiring as she had embedded her fist in the floor.
Fiona shook her head as she regained her composure.
"No, no, you have no idea...."
The trio spoke in alternating turns as they had done many times before.
"Lady Fiona, everyone in this town wants to support you."
"All the miners and your allies that came with you."
"We just got here first."
Fiona shook her head again.
"We know you might not be the best warrior or an experienced leader."
"You are younger than every miner in the town after all."
"But we trust our princess, and we have decided to fight even if it means death."
"Please allow the people that want to fight with you do just that!" the trio said all at once. Fiona took a step back and shook her head one last time. At that moment, Flora felt her arm finally begin to move from the floor.
The Aqueenian princess was dumbfounded. She had grown up being the royal family's black sheep and had gotten comfortable doing things alone. She had no idea how to react to what the Fan Club said.
A memory came to the princess in a flash. It was shortly after she had partnered with Sun. She was about as old as Bonfillia and could not use her ability at all. She had snuck to a far off corner of the castle to improve. There she had tried time and time again to move a vase from one side of the hallway to the other.
It was late, and she didn't expect anyone to show up. Yet, her eldest brother Donn was lurking through the hallways that night as well. He was cautious; everyone had been cautious of her since her birth, but he didn't bother running away.
"What are you doing here?" Donn had asked her.
The small Fiona pointed at the vase and simply replied.
"Practicing."
The young Donn rubbed his fingers on his chin as he thought. It was such actions that had his teachers label him a prodigy at the time.
"Well, maybe your issue is the mindset..." he replied.
They went back and forth about her power and how Sun relayed it should be applied. After a while, Fiona had stopped caring about her ability and enjoyed chatting with her older brother. Donn, likewise, became less tense as he genuinely spoke to his little sister for the first time.
The children had chatted in the hallway for some time longer and made many attempts to get Fiona's ability to work.
Then, just moments before the first sun rose, the vase disappeared in a flash of light. It reappeared in the air slightly to the left and promptly crashed into the floor. Both children had been dumbfounded as they stared at the shattered vase.
Fiona quickly tried to piece the vase back together.
"Don't bother; we need to get one of the maids!" Donn had said before, running off to do just that. Neither of them realized that their father walked down the hallway on his daily morning stroll.
Fiona was screamed at and locked into her room.
Donn came by later that day.
"Go away, you left me!" the small Fiona had said before refusing to speak again.
Donn had tried to plead to his sister. He had tried to take the blame by confessing to his father, to no avail. He had tried to take the blame by confessing to his mother, to no avail. He tried to rally Hermina to back him up, but the middle sister was still wary of Fiona at that time. In the end, the young Prince Donn had decided to break his sister out of her room, but she wouldn't reply to him at all. Donn sighed.
"Okay, Fiona, I'll go now. But, and I know it doesn't seem like it now, as you grow, people will want to support you. When that day comes, don't forget that I am counted among them."
Young Fiona had laughed at Donn's words and promptly forgot them. The first time recalling back to the moment was as she stared dumbfounded at the Fiona Fan Club.
As Donn's words echoed in her mind, she smiled. The princess could almost hear his 'I told you so' that the older prince would most assuredly tack on as well.
"Okay... tell me, what were your names again?" Fiona asked.
The trio made faces that showed her question hurt far worse than any damage Flora could inflict, but they quickly recovered and chuckled as they replied.
"It was quite crazy when we introduced ourselves, huh? I'm Simeon." An emerald, green Aqueenian said with a toothy white smile. His short hair was a light grey color and had been braided to look like a series of stripes that ran from his forehead to the back of his head.
"Your just forgettable is all. I'm Siegfried." A sapphire blue Aqueenian said as he chastised his fellow club members with a small laugh. His black hair had been pulled back into a tiny warrior's knot.
"You're both hopeless. I'm Sinatra." A ruby red Aqueenian said as he shook his head. He had long white hair and a burly white beard that made him look more like a Viking than a miner, and had Gwyn spent more time with the fan club; he would have told him as such.
Fiona nodded with a small smile.
"Alright, I got it; I won't forget."