Chapter Text
Cherri was getting married. Cherri did not WANT to get married. Cherri had no say in the matter. Blah blah blah democracy shit blah blah blah civil war blah blah blah mistake we need to undo. She wasn't even ALIVE when the kingdoms split. That was her grandfather's fault. Also, a man?? Cherri didn't want to marry a MAN. If gay marriage was legal, she would propose to the first woman she saw on the street purely out of spite. Fuck this. Fuck her fiance.
Apo was getting married. Apo did not want to get married. Apo had no say in the matter. Not to someone who would see her as a man and only like her for her dick or some shit like that. Maybe her future wife would be nice? Or maybe she would be ragingly transphobic and kill her! She liked the idea of being in love with someone, actually. She didn't like the idea of someone falling in love with Mr. Perfect Little Prince Apo. The fake Apo everyone wanted to get to know.
Despite how much she hated all that this marriage stood for, Cherri could never resist a good party. Despite her father's wishes, she spent the greater part of her day with the maids and servants, planning a grand ball.
A masquerade. Cherri had always wanted to go to a masquerade. This thing was going to be a masquerade whether her father liked it or not.
Setting up, issuing country-wide invites, she and the servants had so much to do. It was invigorating.
She made her own special mask for the occasion, a bejeweled pink base that covered enough area to completely obscure her face. A pink flower over her bad eye. It was beautiful, it was perfect, it was HER.
Maybe, with this, she could finally be free from the shadow of royalty, even if it was just for a couple hours.
A ball. Apo had been invited to a BALL. Not just any ball, a blasted MASQUERADE.
This was perfect, actually. Apo struck up a plan with her butler. If she disguised herself well enough, no one would know who she was. Nobody would know she was "supposed" to be a boy. All she had to do was somehow get her hands on a dress.
That might be hard. But maybe she could finally introduce herself as a girl to someone. Maybe, just maybe.
Cherri was feeling very pretty princess today.
She was running around with the maids helping to prepare things, but she was already in the dress she planned to wear that night. Multiple times she ran into the kitchen, only for the maids to give her scornful looks and forbid her from going in.
Which made sense.
Last time she was in the kitchen, she didn't realize how close the stove was and she almost set her shawl on fire, as well as getting a decent sized burn on her thigh. 1/10. Would not do that again.
Regardless. She took to putting up string lights in the palace garden instead. Tonight couldn't come soon enough.
Apo was on the train. Apo was also having second thoughts. Would she really be able to make her plan work? Most likely not. She couldn't hold back though, getting the dress was a nightmare and a half.
Too late to go back.
She watched the scenery whiz past as her father's servants absentmindedly chitchatted behind her. Buildings started to fly by as they neared a station in a small wayside town.
Suddenly feeling very nauseous, Apo mumbled an excuse of wanting to get some fresh air and got up quickly and left their private car. Not oblivious to the butler silently tailing her.
She pulled her hood up as she joined the flurry of people getting off the train. Once she was out of the pack, she ran to the nearest patch of greenery, doubled over and threw up.
Apo got back onto the train.
Cherri was mingling. Chitchatting with normal civilians was actually quite fun, she learned things about normal life she had no idea existed. People had to cook their own food and wash their own laundry? How queer.
Nobody really caught her eye enough to go off and talk to however, so she lingered by the banquet table snacking on hors d'oeurves.
She was drifting around aimlessly when cheery voices suddenly shrunk to hushed whispers. Trumpets. King Sal and his entourage had arrived. Oh joyous day.
Cherri pushed her way to the front of the crowd, after all, she was probably one of the only people qualified to see them in person, even though she was very fixated on not interacting with any royalty tonight.
There was no one there who looked like a prince. Good to see her betrothed couldn't be bothered to come.
The idea of marrying that guy grew worse by the day. Cherri huffed and walked the opposite way with a roll of her eyes. The whole ooooo wow royalty thing was a heap of bullshit anyways.
Distance herself. She just needed to walk away and distract herself.
Someone ran into her from her blind spot. "Watch it," she hissed, whipping her head towards the unidentified and idiotic person who CLEARLY did not know what personal space was.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Cherri turned to glare at the person and- wow okay. They were good looking at least, to make up for their horrible lack of knowledge of their environment. Almost everything about them was red. Red mask, a glimmer of red eye behind it, auburn hair in a pixie cut, and an orange dress that faded into red and was trimmed with white like a sunset.
"Are you alright? You're staring." Mystery Person's voice was slightly scratchy and cracked, like it was forced and didn't fit them right. Their voice had a humorous, almost teasing lilt to it.
"I'm alright? Why would you-? Ah, forget it."
"Alright."
The minute Apo arrived at the palace, and before the greater part of her company entered the palace itself, she slipped away. She wove around, attempting to find a bathroom. She did, and she tapped her feet on the tiles while waiting for her butler to arrive and to carry out with the plan.
With a creak the door opened, and Owen handed her the luggage bag.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, he whispered back. He stood outside the door while Apo slipped into the dress that had been concealed in the bag. She handed her suit to Owen with a swift nod and sped-walked out of the bathroom.
Trumpets announced her father's arrival, and it made her feel more frantic than usual.
Maybe it was due to the fact she was walking faster than normal, wasn't entirely paying attention to the bustle around her, or something else, but a woman in a pink gown walked out directly in her path, and she couldn't stop herself in time.
She ran into the person in front of her.
"Watch it." They turned and glared at her with one storm gray eye, the other hidden under a flower that looked to resemble a cherry blossom, Apo thought. Apo also thought that she looked incredibly gorgeous, dressed in a pink dress, with a mask that covered the entire top half of her face, with long brown hair that was pulled up into a haphazard bun.
"Sorry, sorry!"
The other person paused and looked at her, clearly calculating and sizing her up.
Was humour the right idea here? "Are you alright? You're staring." Too late. The words were out, and they sounded much more teasing than she had intended.
"I'm alright? Why would you-? Ah, forget it."
"Alright." She rocked on her heels, all too aware of the cold stare she was on the receiving end of. Something about this woman made her incredibly nervous. "Sooo…. cool party huh?" She did not know how cool the party was.
She had been here all of five minutes.
"Yeah. Royalty. Crazy."
"Um." She didn't know what to say to that. So she lied. She didn't want to let a random commoner from a different kingdom know she was not only royalty, but that she was supposed to be a boy as well. "I've never seen King Sal so up close before!"
"I'm not… that big on royalty," the other explained, wearing a grimace on the visible part of her face.
"That's understandable, royalty can be exhausting." She giggled, trying to lighten the mood. "How long have you been here for?"
"For twenty two years."
"What?"
"I was born twenty two years ago."
"In the castle?"
"Yeah yeah, I was birthed on this very floor, of course not, you idiot."
"You made it sound like that!"
The other pinched the bridge of her nose, or where it would be, under the mask. "How long have you been here, is a way of asking someone's age. Are you dense?"
"I never learned that. Cultural differences? Wild." The other giggled, and it sounded like a choral masterpiece to Apo.
Cherri didn't know why THAT of all things got a snicker out of her. "Different places have different ways of saying things? Crazy!" Mystery Person let out a bubbly laugh. Something about it was comforting to her.
"I went to Chromia and was surprised when they spoke a different language," Mystery Person said before bursting into giggles again.
This strange woman was starting to grow on her. Unprecedented. "This ballroom is magnificent, I've never been in this castle before." She was piling lie atop lie. At least it was for one night. With people she would never see again.
"Really? I've never been in a castle either." Her voice wavered, as if she wasn't entirely confident in that statement, but Cherri tried not to pay much mind to it. "The ceiling is so high." She rocked back and forth on her heels to the swell of the soft jazz of the band playing.
"It's fascinating. Did you know it was finished only sixteen years after we broke off from your kingdom?"
"Wow."
"Yeah, this place is pretty cool," she bragged. "Awesome place to live- so close to." Well that was FUCKING CLOSE. And IDIOTIC. She was lucky she caught herself, or otherwise she would have punted her brain to the MOON.
"I bet. I've never even seen a castle so up close."
"Yeah, so close you're inside it." A pause. "That's what she said."
"What?"
"What." She coughed into her fist, trying to ignore the words Mystery Person was barking at her.
"Girl, what the hell??" She shook her shoulders and Cherri CACKLED. She dipped out of her grasp, causing the other to dip forward.
"Whoa!" She rushed forwards to catch her, accidentally swinging her around before stabilizing herself.
Mystery Person stumbled a bit, before looking up at her again with a large smile on her face. She was practically sparkling.
"At least take me to dinner first," She said jokingly.
"Don't you want to work up an appetite?" Cherri quipped back.
She giggled. "I mean."
"Fine," she said, feigning exasperation, "I'll dance with you."
Apo had just stumbled and fallen into the arms of a pretty woman. And then she had somehow talked the pretty woman into dancing with her?
God, what was her life about? She stumbled a bit in the other's arms, stepping on her feet and tripping occasionally, but she got the hang of it eventually.
She had never danced in a dress before. It was strange. Strange but nice.
The other's warm smile definitely made it all the better as well. It could light up a room, and Apo thought she was glowing.
She giggled as the other dipped her down on a low stretch of notes, before spinning her back up. "I didn't know you were so good at dancing."
"Instinct, I guess." She shrugged.
"I was forced to take dance lessons, and you see how that turned out." She intentionally stepped on her foot again to prove a point.
"Heyyy!"
"Haha, oops."
"You did that on purpose!"
"Me? No!"
"I'm done with you." She pulled her arms away from Apo in a dramatic, exaggerated gesture. "Begone, fair maiden!"
Her head buzzed. Fair maiden. Maiden. Maiden. At last, she was a girl to someone but herself. Well, and Owen. Owen didn't count. Owen wasn't a beautiful woman who danced with her and joked with her and had a smile that lit up the room.
The person Apo had met was special. Apo didn't know what her name was. She needed it desperately, to know more about her, to revel in her company.
When she left her thoughts, the other was gone, swallowed by the crowds of masked dancers.
Cherri didn't mean to get separated. Cherri didn't WANT to get separated - she was having a good time. She didn't want to look away for one second and get lost in the throng of people.
But Mystery Person was gone, and she hadn't even caught her name, no name for the sunset dress and pixie cut, no name she could throw into the crowd to reconnect.
She cursed herself.
She missed her bubbly laugh and awkward demeanor. She jumped at every red-orange dress, at every flash of auburn hair. But nothing.
She decided to retire to her room. Weaving through the crowds was a chore, but she escaped the ballroom eventually, reaching the large empty rooms that were usually lively with servants bustling about, but there was no one.
Muffled music and cheery voices floated on the air behind her. It felt so barren.
Her bedroom felt even more cold and unfamiliar than usual. It lacked a certain, unknown and metaphorical light. She collapsed onto her bed with a grumble, tossing away her mask. She missed Mystery Person.
They hadn't been together for that long, but the thought of getting to spend more time with her made her feel warm and somehow right.
Hm. Cherri might be in love. SHIT.
This marriage was going to be hell on earth.
"Did you have a good time?"
"Mm." Apo tugged at the too tight fabric of her suit bottom. "It was alright, I suppose." The servant sighed and went back to watching now night black scenery drift past.
Apo wasn't interested in staring out the window tonight. She was stewing in thought, that maybe if she hadn't gotten so caught up in a daze of thoughts and feelings, she could have gotten her new friend's name, gotten to know more about her.
But no, Apo was cursed to a life of being kept in the dark about things, and only stepping in the light when people needed things of her.
Apo had a crush. Apo had a crush, when she was engaged, engaged to someone she didn't even know the name of. Just like the girl she missed. Apo had a crush and she couldn't do anything about it.
She was completely and utterly fucked.
She was also engaged! You can't fall in love with someone who isn't your fiancee! She should have never given in and come, because now she was thinking about someone who didn't even know her name.
Maybe Prince Apo was in love with his betrothed, but Princess Apo wasn't.
Princess Apo turned to stare out the window. The stars looked like sequins on a pitch black gown. Reminding her of the ball. Apo didn't want to stare out of the window anymore.
"Special day' this, 'special day' that, all the 'you need to get dressed up for your special day' yadda yadda yadda bullshit. It was NOT a special day, Cherri wanted to run off into the desert and become a bounty hunter or something.
She normally liked wearing dresses, but this one was big and puffy and ITCHY. "A polite lady doesn't scratch" FUCK YOU. She would itch at the weird seams all she wanted.'
"Did you meet the prince at the ball?"
"No." She silently swore at the queen as she tugged at her hair.
"Keep your head still, love, this could be over faster."
"Sorry." An uncomfortable silence settled around her, and she felt like she needed to break the silence, otherwise she suffocated in it. "I can do my own hair, you know."
"Oh, but I miss doing your hair for you! I remember when you were so small… ah! Don't move!"
"Mm." She obliged, tracing circles in the rug with her finger.
"I don't like suits. They're too tight."
"I know, I know," Owen said in a hushed voice, "But can we not say that around other people? I don't think your father would be very appreciative."
"Pish posh."
"Just be nice about it?"
Apo groaned and flopped back on her bed. "I'm not even interested in this woman, I don't think."
"Mhm, there's Beautiful Masquerade Ball Girl, isn't there?"
"Exactly! How do I tell my fiancee that I Can't Marry You, I'm In Love With A Stranger And Also I'm A Girl???"
Owen shrugged. "As long as you tell her on your own terms, it'll be okay?"
"Unlike you?"
"It's not my fault my job is to basic maintenance for you, I'd say it's yours for leaving a poorly stitched makeshift skirt on your floor where anyone could see it!"
"Lies!" She sat back up and threw a pillow at him, and he yelped at it grazed the top of his head. "But seriously, how? What do I do?" Owen made a noise like a sad trombone, and she threw another pillow at him.
Cherri wasn't expecting fanfare when her coach entered the palace grounds, but whaddaya know? She was the main event, she supposed. OOOO WOW THEY'RE FINALLY MEETING!! Good God, could people get a grip?
Her shoes made an unpleasant click click against the marble floors. It was so white in the entrance, and the blinding sunlight didn't help.
"Welcome, welcome! Can I get you anything?" A butler dressed in an orange vest top offered, and Cherri looked at him with pity as her company walked past him without any acknowledgement.
"Sparkling water," she whispered to him, and continued trailing behind the others.
Eventually, one after the other, the group started breaking apart, each dealing with their own strange diplomatic meetings and shit. Until Cherri was alone, leaning against a corner.
They even kept a random corner of a random hallway infuriatingly bright. She was meeting the prince later, but for now, everyone had forgotten her. She didn't know how long she sat there. Minutes? Hours?
"You good?" A boy asked, dressed in much fancier and sparklier clothing than any other of the servants she had seen in the castle.
"What do YOU think?" she grumbled. "I'm sulking in a corner."
The boy looked shorter than she would standing up. If that was true, she didn't know. He shrugged. "Okay. How's the weather down there?"
"Wouldn't YOU like to know?"
"Hey, it's not every day I get to say that to people," he giggled.
Apo found a woman on the floor while walking around aimlessly, trying to calm her nerves before meeting an actual, born princess-princess. "You good?" She did have her head in her arms, like she was hiding from the world.
She looked up and glared at her with mismatched gray and cloudy white eyes. "What do you think? I'm sulking in a corner."
"Okay. How's the weather down there?" Humor was one of the only forms of comfort Apo knew, and she hated it.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Okay. That went over poorly.
"It's not every day I get to say that to people," she giggled. She was short and she had to accept it, yeah.
"Oh, I'm sure."
"Is that… meant to be an insult?"
"No shit, Sherlock. Why don't you mind your own business?"
"I just-"
"Don't make excuses."
"I wasn't- ow!" The other woman had raised her leg and kicked her in the shin. "What was that for??? What the hell?" She kicked at her in retaliation.
The woman pushed herself off the ground and grabbed Apo by the collar of her shirt, raising her fist as if to punch her.
"Hey, hey, we can sort this out!"
"Can we?" She tightened her grip with a snarl.
"Please?"
She seemed to hesitate for a second, pity flashing in her gray eye as her white one remained cloudy and dull. Pity for what she thought was a man pleading for his life. Or something like that.
"Oh, Cherri, I see you have met Prince Apo!" A door creak and the cacophony of voices filled the otherwise empty hall, one of them being Cherri's father, the King.
"What." The Woman Now Known as Cherri dropped Apo's shirt collar and she slowly lowered her arm.
"I do hope you two have gotten off to a good start, it would be a shame if we did all this only for you two to hate each other!" He joked, but Apo and Cherri exchanged a cold glance.
"Well what do you know." Cherri's voice was filled with venom.
Apo smiled back with similar disdain, extending her hand and letting the other shake it.
There was no way in hell that this arrangement would end well.