THE MOMENT
"My daughter was the light of my life...," the king droned on. His explanation of why he summoned the small group of adventurers hadn't actually started yet. He'd been talking for almost five minutes about how much he loved the princess. Four adventurers answered the call along with Pyxis. She wouldn't have attended if she knew the king was going to be there. The flyer she picked up asked prospective adventurers to meet at the Royal Stable. It sat a decent distance from the main castle and she had never visited the stable when she was still a princess.
She assumed she was safe; but, she pulled the red hood of her cloak lower over her face once the king appeared. She stood behind the other four adventurers. Luckily, they were all approximately the same height and they were all girls. One with dark, bushy, curly hair that ended at her shoulders. One girl had short, straight violet hair, and another had a long wine-red pony-tail that reached her waist. The fourth one had straight, silver hair that stopped midway down her back.
As the king went on at length, Pyxis felt some faint resentment beginning to grow in her gut. The entire reason she ran away from home was that she felt like nobody noticed her. It was a huge castle filled with servants and guests alike; but, it always seemed like everyone was too busy to play with her. Her parents only ever acknowledged her in passing. The nannies and tutors that were supposed to raise her only did the minimum of their duties. But, now, the king stood before a group of strangers and pretended to be a distraught father.
"I asked you all here today because it seemed appropriate," the king changed his tone. "My daughter loved these stables...," he said.
"I've never been here...," Pyxis couldn't keep the comment to herself; but, she managed to keep her voice to a whisper. And, she suppressed the giggle that followed. The violet-haired girl turned to glance at Pyxis after the comment. But, it was quick, then she was facing forward again.
"...she visited the stables daily until she disappeared two days ago...," the king explained.
"No I didn't," Pyxis shook her head. "Two days??" The timeframe surprised her and she spoke louder than she meant to. The king continued talking but the violet-haired girl turned around again.
"You okay?" she asked. Her question prompted the other three girls to turn around. Pyxis was stunned. She ran away from home almost a month ago. The day she turned 14, no one seemed bothered enough to care. She realized she did not want to endure another 14 years like that and left. But now?
Now, she had four strangers looking at her with obvious concern on their faces. It was a negligible outburst, she was too confused to be upset. But it was the first time in 14 years that she'd heard that question. The king continued talking despite the fact that all the adventurers were focused on someone else.
"Yes, sorry," Pyxis nodded. "I'm okay, don't mind me," she said.
"Are you here alone?" the teen with dark curls asked. Now that they were all facing her, Pyxis could see their eyes. The dark-haired teen had one green eye and one coffee-brown. She also had golden highlights in her hair that weren't visible from behind. "You could join us for this quest if you like," she added.
"Thank you...," Pyxis nodded. "Really.. thank you," then, she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea though."
"Why not?" the girl with wine-red hair asked.
"...the rewards would be beyond your imagination...," the king continued behind the girls and something clicked in Pyxis' mind. She was used to being ignored by her dad; but, it didn't quite explain why he was ignoring the adventurers he summoned to find his beloved daughter.
"Because...," Pyxis took in a quick breath for courage. Then, she stood up straighter and pulled her hood down. "...I'm the princess," she said. She no longer whispered.
"What say you, brave adventurers? Will you find my daughter?" the king asked.
"I'm right here...," Pyxis said. She spoke with volume and waved her hand to get the king's attention. The four girls in front of her split to give him a clear look at her. The king stared at her blankly.
"I'm Aurora," the dark-haired teen introduced herself with an outstretched hand.
"Pyxis...," she shook Aurora's hand. "...you have to believe me, I'm the princess!" she said.
"We believe you," Aurora nodded.
"I'm Vivi," the violet-haired girl smiled and waved.
"Emily," the silver-haired girl smiled.
"Valentine," the girl with wine-red hair nodded.
"What say you, brave adventurers? Will you find my daughter?" the king asked.
"I'm right here!" Pyxis repeated her assertion. Then Aurora put a hand on her shoulder.
"He won't recognize you as the princess anymore," she said.
"What?" Pyxis asked. "Why not? How do you know?"
"It's kind of complicated," Aurora shrugged. "There's some good news and bad news mixed in there. What's the last thing you remember?" she asked.
"I ran away from the castle about a month ago," Pyxis answered. "I've managed to stay hidden and adventuring keeps me fed."
"Oh, okay," Aurora nodded. "Well, it'll take some explaining; but, we'll hang around with you until you're comfortable. The good news is, you got what you wanted," she said.
"The bad news is, your old life was one as an NPC. That's a Non-Playable Character," she added when a look of confusion appeared on Pyxis' face. The explanation didn't help the confusion any.
"It means you were part of someone else's game, doing what they wanted you to do," Vivi chimed in. The explanation helped. Pyxis knew that feeling very well. She didn't know why she felt at ease, but she trusted her new friends enough to accept the explanation for now. They had promised more answers later.
"When you ran away, the king needed a new princess to be kidnapped. As far as he knows, the current princess is the only daughter he's ever had."
"So... what now?" Pyxis asked. She was too distracted at the moment to wonder about a replacement princess. She had her own things she wanted to do with her friends.
"Now, we go save the princess," Aurora grinned. "After that, it's whatever you want to do."