"YAHOOO!!!" Yuushi tells us the name of her favourite
website. ;) Okay, seriously, she's in a huge hurry to get to the job board
early for a change, and is happy because she thinks she'll actually make it
this time. Only _one_ little problem... "EEEK!" ...she happens to zoom RIGHT by the Queen. Erm...
oops? Aren't you a little...short, for a nun? As a
result of being taken to the Principal's office and lectured for a long time about
running in the halls, there is only _one_ job left when Yuushi finally gets to
the job board (natch). And it's...guard duty at an empty, echoey, dark church, all by herself,
on a foggy, dark and stormy night. (Literally). I see also that Yuushi is evidently a graduate of the Department of
Redundancy Department's college program. (hee) Don't turn around! Or you're gonna see my heart
breaking...wait a minute. :P Anyway, (creepy voice) soooommmmeeetthhiiinnggg is
sneaking up behind Yuushi, in the daaaaarrrkkkk....ACK! Be seeing you! Yuushi's being watched by the Eye of
Sauron, the _heck_?! (snicker) Okay, okay, sorry, I'll stop with the in-jokes... Gotcha! But it's really only Grenda, up to her old
tricks. (Why is this particular illusion of hers reminding me a bit of Shippo's
pranking...?) How exactly does one say "duh" in Japanese? Grenda explains her
reason for being here. "What was that?!" But when _another_ spooky noise is
heard, Grenda is just as quick to freak out as Yuushi, for all her (Grenda's) talk about
being so much more "mature". "Actually, I've been here all this time..." But it was just
good ol' Kokoru, unnoticed and "invisible", as usual. Candlelight vigil Grenda goes off with Gaga after hearing
about a monster that escaped from the Underworld, leaving Yuushi and Kokoru to keep watch by
themselves. I like this shot, it's pretty. Sleeping stranger... There was a knock at the door and a
mysterious, dangerous looking man in a cloak staggered in, only half-conscious. Sister...well,
they never gave her a name, so I'll just call her "Sister Lee", after the nun in Princess Maker
2--Sister Lee and the two girls put the stranger to bed in the church. After all, churches _have_
always, traditionally, been places of sanctuary. Here, we get our first real look
at the stranger in good light. Love at first sight? Yuushi leans over to look closer at the young man...
RIGHT when he happens to wake up. EEEEK! (Actually, considering the way _he_ is, I wouldn't put it
past him to have actually been awake for a while, and _choose_ to open his eyes as soon as she comes
near him, for maximum embarrassment factor. It's just his way.) And so, a nickname is born...much to Yuushi's eternal chagrin. (Well,
it could be worse...he COULD be calling her "Meatball-Head"... ;)) Fugitive Royal guards are out looking for someone? Hmmmm.... (Here,
Sister Lee lies on the stranger's behalf.) Well excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess! Sorry we couldn't make you a five-course
meal in the space of only a few minutes... (Dude, you're a fugitive from the law...you should be glad to have anything at all!) Wow, YOU'RE certainly in a hurry. Within _seconds_ after hearing that
guards from the palace have been by, he has his backpack on and is pulling on one of his boots.. Just _why_ are you in such a
hurry, Mister, hmmm...? "C'mere..." Mystery-boy beckons Yuushi closer...then gives her a big kiss! On
the forehead. "Your forehead just looked so soft, I couldn't help it." After this, Yuushi is pissed off
and embarrassed beyond belief. (I couldn't get a picture of the kiss itself...it was too much of a
close-up.) "I think he really did something bad!" Yuushi is not going to forgive
or forget "huge forehead" any time soon... "Okay, who are you?!" For some reason, Mystery-Boy wants to go see Drago-Sama.
In exchange for showing him the way there, Yuushi demands some answers. The unfriendly skies Meanwhile, Grenda soars above the land on her
broomstick, looking for the monster that was set loose from Hell. (I'll avoid the obvious comment here about
how well flying on a broomstick FITS her...mainly because I don't _have_ to say it; Gaga already said it
for me! ;)) "Aha, I will make the ultimate meal!" Papa imagines Yuushi being unbelievably happy upon eating his food.
A nice shot of the interior of their house, which I realise is something I don't take pictures of all that often. "Oh, dear..." Picking herbs in the garden outside, Cube can somehow SEE
the sparkles of Papa's little daydream, from out of the window. (As a side-note, look at the landscape in the background...hmm,
witches on broomsticks, herb gardens, rugged mountains...where are they, the Ramtops?!) Are we impressed yet? See, I told you I could take you to the old dragon, and here
he is! "Leave me alone!" Upon asking about the Eternal Tiara, Arc is told by Drago-Sama
to ask Yuushi, after all, she is a Platina Princess Candidate. "HER? Huge-Forehead? A kid like _her_, a Platina
Princess Candidate?! But they have to have nobility, sincerity, grace..." And he doesn't notice that, with every
new word he says, Yuushi is getting more and more upset...until finally she bursts into tears, saying, "Well,
maybe I don't have any of those things, but at least I don't know anybody like YOU anymore!" and runs off. _Ouch_. Cerberus! Ah, so THAT'S the monster that escaped from the Underworld... Never mind
the fact that Cerberus is from _Greek_ mythology and Hell is from Christian...never mind that he isn't supposed to
have a snake for a tail (that's the Chimera) or breathe anything from the three different heads...and he's also
not supposed to just randomly attack everybody, but is supposed to stay in _one_ place (the entrance to the
underworld) and attack anybody who tries to _leave_. Hey, I'm impressed enough that they actually _called_ him by
the correct name, Cerberus, instead of making up some other name in Japanese. (shrug) I've given up on expecting
accurate mythology from cartoons a LONG time ago, anyway. Whoah! Don't mess with Drago-Sama! Evidently he's not as old and feeble as he
looks... "The young mistress is WHERE?!" Cube, who saw the horse with Arc and Yuushi on it
go tearing by (while he (Cube) was out in the herb garden) has come running over to Drago-Sama as fast as he can to
find out what's going on. Our new Yuushi comes in a convenient, compact travel-size! (snicker) No, seriously,
here Arc is carrying Yuushi out of the forest and (he thinks) to safety...but it DOES kind of look like he's carrying
her like a suitcase, under his arm, like that. (Whenever somebody in my house carries our _cat_ like that, we go, "It's
suitcase-cat!" I realise this has nothing to do with anything, but ask me if I care. :P) Oh, yeah...THAT looks steady, all right... Safety? Maybe not... "Get across! I'll handle this." Arc draws his sword and prepares to face the foe. The battle A rather "darker" shot than normal, considering this is usually a more
"kiddie" type show. "I won't let go!" Even though he's much heavier than her, Yuushi won't let Arc fall to his
death...not if she can help it! She's had better days. A worried Arc looks over Yuushi as she lies unconscious on
the ground...but hey, she's doing pretty well for someone who just fell down a major ravine and had her fall broken only
by a TREE! I have a favour to ask of you... And that favour was: a message. Here, back home in her room,
Yuushi pushes her father out and locks the door so she can ask Cube about the message and hear it in private. (Well, private
except for Cube, but hey, he already knows it, since he was the one who _took_ the message...) What, you two never saw a Quick-Quotes Quill before? The message was..."encoded", for lack of
a better word, into a magic quill, which starts writing by itself the moment you put it against paper. Basically, it starts
with Arc calling Yuushi a Platina Princess Candiate, then he goes on to say that sure, a princess needs grace, sincerity,
nobility, all that but perhaps the most _important_ thing she needs, is courage, like the courage you showed today. Awww.
Then he has to go and ruin it by calling her "Huge-Forehead" at the end. (shakes head) Typical!
Click HERE to return to the Royal Art Gallery. Click HERE to return to the main page.
