"I'm Madison, but most people call me Mad, after my father. And who are you to say that I 'talk weird' when your grammar and use of words is atrocious and… random?" The princess replied with a smile and a gesture at the seat across from her next to a small table upon which sat a crystal jug.
Blaze smiled back and took the seat readily. "I just told you- I'm Blaze. Is your memory that bad, or does your name describe you better than one would hope, and you really are mad?"
Mad laughed until tears began to escape the corners of her eyes. "You are certainly no nun. No, you say very mean things, and no nun would ever do that."
"That is not true." Blaze shook her head. "A nun called my friend a dog."
Mad put her hand up to her mouth with a concerned expression. "That is horrible. Every nun I have ever known has been very kind and-" Her next words went unheard, as the palace shook and the princess was shaken off of her chair. Blaze jumped to her foot immediately, and was barely able to keep her balance until the tremors ended. Then she quickly made her way to the princess and helped her up amidst the sounds of distance screams and cries.
"Princess, are you OK?" The man with the queer sword burst into the room and stalked toward Blaze and Mad with an alarmed and… eager expression?
Sensing that something wasn't quite right, Blaze pushed the princess, who had just regained her footing, to her butt behind her and faced the man, who had a drastic change in expression.
For a split second, Blaze saw rage flicker across his features before he was able to regain control and assume a concerned and confused expression. "What are you doing with the princess? Hurting her is high treason and is punishable by death. Get out of the way. "
"Destroyer, watch the boxer." Blaze ignored the order and gave one of her own to her fiery ally.
The wolf turned its attention from Blaze to the man who had been sparring with the plantaroo and growled at him. The man had taken a step toward the princess, but came to a stop and looked to the swordsman for direction.
"Little girl, I will only say this once: get out of the way. Pretend you never saw what is about to take place, and I will return you to the nunnery unharmed." The man took a step forward and placed his hand on his sword.
"First Guard… what is about to take place?" The princess hadn't moved from her spot, and spoke with confusion evident, though she seemed remarkably calm to Blaze.
Blaze made no moves, merely remaining in her spot with her eyes trained on the man with whom she'd shared a sad moment with. She knew that father would probably do what she was doing right now, in protecting the princess, but she also knew he would do it because his strange and convoluted morals would drive him into it, even if he knew he was going to end up killing the princess later.
That didn't satisfy Blaze. She needed a good reason for her actions, and that reason was very simple: she thought Mad and herself could become friends. They had met only minutes before, but she had a strong feeling that keeping Mad alive was important.
When the First Guard, as Mad had called him, saw that Blaze wasn't going to move, he hesitated only a moment before launching himself forward and throwing a blade from nowhere.
Blaze smirked, and a burst of adrenaline flowed through her veins as her excitement level rose at the thought of the impending fight. Time seemed to slow down as she focused on the knife set to fly past her and impale the princess, and she sent a burst of fire out at the perfect moment to knock it off course.
She wasn't able to turn around to see the effects of her move, but she knew she had succeeded when she heard the sound of the knife sticking into the stone floor.
Her second move was to send a wave of fire with a corporeal center at the charging man while simultaneously grabbing the princess and shooting fire from her foot to jet herself and her potential friend to the side.
While this was happening, the boxer wrapped in armor and pillows lunged for the spot the princess had been occupying on the ground, but was thrown to the side by Destroyer, who slammed into him with an explosion of heat that set the cushions on fire.
Blaze pushed the princess to the side and turned to the wave of fire that was making its way across the room. First Guard's form could barely be seen through the most intense portion of the center on the flames. It looked like he was holding something… suddenly, the flames were slashed apart and he burst through weidling his bent weapon.
His eyes were focused and grim, his clothes on fire. He scanned the room quickly before his eyes settled on the princess getting to her feet behind Blaze, who was frozen.
His skin was metal.
Blaze didn't understand why she couldn't move. All she knew was that she couldn't take her eyes off of the super-heated metal man in front of her.
And she was terrified.
Her leg started hurting, causing her to tear her eyes from the man and look down at… the stump that had replaced her leg all those long months ago. She could feel the leg, though it wasn't there. The blood pumping through it, the feel of the floor her foot- no, feet- were resting on… but she only had one foot. And yet the one she was missing was hurting.
This strange feeling and the terror coursing through her veins prevented her from reacting in time to the slash of a bent sword moving toward her neck.
But Mad was there.
Mad pushed Blaze to the side and stretched her hand toward the blade, and tiny vines wrapped around her arms extended to stop the blade midswing. Her other hand launched forward to punch his stomach, and more tiny vines shot forward from around her arm to impale his metal skin as if it were paper and rushed with horrible speed for his heart.
He was dead in three blinks of the eyes.
His form was much too heavy for the princess to support, but with the help of innumerable tiny vines wrapped around her body beneath her stylish clothes, she was able to gently set him down to where he wouldn't land on Blaze. There was a tenderness to her actions, and she seemed more sad than angry at the fact that he had tried to kill her.
Blaze turned her wide eyes from the somber sight of the princess gently closing the eyes of First Guard to witness the outcome of the fight between the boxer and Destroyer… and Plantaroo, who had joined the fight on the side of the fiery wolf. The boxer was a pile of burned, perforated goop, at this point, and it was very gross watching the two companions devour it, so Blaze returned her attention to the princess.
"You have my eternal gratitude for coming to my aide, Blaze. I am so sorry that you had to witness a foul betrayal such as this." Mad extended a hand to Blaze and gracefully helped her up before looking back at the dead man beside them. "He has been my bodyguard for longer than I can remember. Always so distant and aloof, so serious. Yet caring and compassionate. Keeping me safe from unspeakable horrors and aiding me in my tricks and games even when he thought they were silly… I shudder to think of what I might have done to make him want to kill me so badly." She turned her eyes back to Blaze's and said with a fierceness that Blaze could relate to. "He was a good man. Whatever caused him to betray me in this manner is my fault, and my fault alone."
Blaze disagreed. "Everyone must take the blame for their own actions. To take the blame for someone else's mistakes and mess ups only shows that you don't respect their strength." She was thinking specifically of father blaming himself for letting her lose her leg. But she knew it was her fault. She had seen the monster charging toward her, but had been too slow, too weak, to move.
Just like she had been moments before.
Only this time, someone had been there to save her and balance out her lack of strength.
The princess shook her head. "I absolutely respected his strength. But some things are beyond our control as humans."
"Emotions and feelings and deciding who you're going to kill are well within our control." Blaze objected and stroked the flaming fur of Destroyer, who had quietly made her way to Blaze.
"Oh? And were you in control of your emotions when he charged at you?" The princess raised an eyebrow.