AN: Hiya everyone! So this drabble was based off of a few of my favorite scenes from the prologue of Final Fantasy IX, my favorite FF game! Don't worry, you don't need to know the game to read it lol

It's got thief!Seulgi and princess!Irene, so please enjoy!

P.S. The image is above is of the city of Alexandria, the setting of this drabble!

In all her years as a member of the Tantalus Theater Troupe (suffice to say, the vast majority of her life), Kang Seulgi has been on some crazy jobs— it’s not easy being both an actress and a thief, and thankfully, the Tantalus Theater Troupe is both, because it is easy to capture an audience’s attention with a good play or two, and it’s even easier to perform a quick thievery when nobody is paying attention to you.

So again, Seulgi has taken on some crazy jobs while in the business with her Troupe sisters, flying all over the world on their infamous theatrical airship, the Prima Vista, but tonight might take the cake for the most ambitious. It’s one thing to steal a few jewels from a rich proprietor’s house during a performance. It’s another thing entirely to be tasked with kidnapping the Alexandrian Empire’s crown princess— on Princess Irene’s birthday, nonetheless!

It’s a risky plan, Seulgi has to admit. But then again, when have any of their plans been on the safe side in the first place? Where would the thrill be in that? After all, Seulgi has never been one to question the likes of their charismatic leader, Moonbyul, and she’s been in the business for far longer than Seulgi has.

Besides, what’s not to love about a little acting?

--

Seulgi kneels on the ground in agony, emotion seeping through her very being. She clenches a fist, gritting her teeth.

Beside her, Yooa looks out over the enraptured crowd, her doll-like features painting the very picture of true despair.

“Fortune hath escap’d thee!” Yooa cries. “For what end shalt thou live?”

That’s her cue.

Brandishing her mock sword valiantly through the air, Seulgi holds the fake weapon high above her head.

“For the sake of our friend,” the thief declares, gallantly putting on a brave face. “Let us bury our steel in the heart of the wretched Queen Leona!”

“Aye!” Yooa and Eunae shout in agreement, and they race across the Prima Vista’s custom stage, wielding their weapons as they charge towards Moonbyul, acting out the role of the wretched Queen Leona. The audience gasps at the turn of events, completely captured in the emotional turmoil of the play. It’s simply impossible for them to not get into such a storyline; one wrought with star-crossed lovers and action galore.

Seulgi secretly smirks. It wouldn’t be very long until the main event.

The play keeps up the pace, with Seulgi soon finds that they’ve reached the point in the story where she and Eunae get center stage. It’s an intellectual argument on whether love or politics should come out on top; of whether the main characters, Cornelia and Maria, should be able to be together, and Seulgi’s character is all for the former.

“En garde!” Eunae shouts, pulling out a fake sword of her own, and there’s another gasp from their emotional audience.

Seulgi grins behind the handle of her sword. This is her favorite part.

Perhaps it’s because she finally gets an excuse to swing her sword and best her friend in sword-fighting, or maybe it’s simply because Seulgi’s always had an affinity for the spotlight. It’s ironic enough, though, giving how, as a thief, the attention really should be on anyone but her.

And so she and Eunae exchange blows, slowly but gradually backing up further and further into the aisles between the audience’s seats. To a mere citizen, it’s simply that the Tantalus Theater Troupe’s particular version of the famous play I Want to Be Your Canary is more “audience oriented” than any other rendition, but to Seulgi and Eunae, it’s an excuse to slip away.

“We shall finish this later,” Eunae announces, turning tail and running down an aisle.

“Come back here!” Seulgi yells, chasing her friend.

They fist bump quietly in the shadows a minute later, having slipped into the audience and into the halls of Alexandria Castle. Nothing suspicious here.

Now, to find the princess.

--

“Finished changing, Seulgi?” Eunae asks.

Upon entering Alexandria Castle, they’d quickly knocked out two soldiers, both members of Alexandria’s infamous all-female army, and stolen their armor in order to sneak around with the utmost secrecy— or, as much secrecy as a walking tin canister can provide.

“Yeah,” she says slowly, but she crinkles her nose in distaste. “This helmet though…” She tosses it noisily onto a nearby wooden table, not giving a care if anyone heard her. Eunae rolls her eyes good-naturedly at the act. “It kinda smells.”

“What are you talking about?!” Eunae demands, crossing her arms as best as she can, though it’s a struggle with the ridiculous metal armor on. “My helmet totally reeks, and I’m still wearing it! My armor’s also way too big, and my back’s really itchy. The boots are wet, the gloves are all slimy… there’s cookie crumbs in my pockets—”

Seulgi quickly cuts her off. “Okay, I get the picture.”

Their attention is quickly captured by the sound of the audience’s exclamation of shock from outside.

“Uh-oh…” Eunae clicks her tongue in anticipation. “The scene where Maria sneaks into Cornelia’s bedchambers is about to start. Let’s get this over with before the finale, okay?”

Seulgi gives a sharp nod, already making her way down one corridor. “You don’t have to tell me twice!”

--

Seulgi’s just climbed up the main staircase when she nearly crashes into a suspicious hooded figure, who jumps backwards in shock at the very moment she realizes that she’s been spotted.

She’s dressed kind of funny, Seulgi thinks to herself, studying the guarded expression on the hooded girl’s face. Beneath the white and red fabric of her hooded cloak, the unknown girl seems to retreat further into herself, ducking her head so that her hood could obstruct even more from view.

“Is there something on my face?” A quiet, low voice demands, and Seulgi raises an eyebrow in amusement, not that the hooded figure could possibly notice from beneath her hood.

“Oh, no,” Seulgi says immediately, shaking her head before propping herself up on one hip. “See… I just thought that maybe you were the one I’d been waiting for all this time.”

“Excuse me?” The stranger only manages to sound even more confused, and Seulgi grins.

“Yeah!” The thief girl enthuses eagerly, never letting an opportunity to let a cheeky move slip by without taking advantage. “I’ve dreamt of meeting you here ever since I was born!”

And now it’s the unknown girl’s turn to cross her arms. Seulgi can imagine her unimpressed expression from underneath her hood.

“Do you mock me?”

“No, of course not,” Seulgi is quick to clarify.

“Then, I shall take my leave of you!”

“Just a second!”

Seulgi smoothly moves to intercept the stranger, trying to get a closer peek at her face.

“Haven’t we met before?” Seulgi asks, keeping her tone light.

“No, I do not know you,” is the curt response she receives in return. The hood flaps with a dip of her head, revealing slightly more of a very beautiful face.

“Hmmm… Maybe you’re right,” Seulgi mutters, walking a full circle around the hooded stranger. Her eyes narrow as she spies a familiar symbol tailored on the very back edge of the stranger’s coat. “I’d never let someone as pretty as you get away. Say, you wouldn’t happen to be—”

“I must go!” The stranger interrupts, and she hastily shoves past Seulgi to run down the stairs. On her way down, she stumbles into a surprised Eunae, who gets pushed to the ground, completely caught off guard. Meanwhile, Seulgi races down the stairs after the hooded figure, impatiently beckoning for Eunae to hurry it up on the recovery.

“Eunae, get up!”

“Seulgi, did you see that?! What on earth just happened?!”

“That was Princess Irene!”

“Wait what?!”

“Come on, let’s go!”

--

Seulgi’s not too sure when she loses Eunae in the midst of the chase, but she’s hot on the princess’s tail— there’s no time to waste, especially if they want to finish this job before the final act.

Dashing through Alexandria Castle’s extravagant halls, in the back of her head, she registers the faint whispers of Princess Irene’s disappearance during the performance among the soldiers and servants loitering around. She really isn’t surprised that the word had traveled so fast. A mental shrug; what can you do?

She doesn’t even know how she managed to make it to the top of that awful spiral staircase without getting winded (but she suspects it has something to do with the awful training hikes Moonbyul had forced the gang to go on), but suddenly they’re atop a tower and she’s literally chasing the princess in actual circles.

“Don’t you get tired enough from running circles in my mind?!” Seulgi shouts as she skids around a bend that she must have just passed for the fifteenth time.

“What? Am I wearing you out? I thought you could last a few more rounds!” is the response shot back at Seulgi, and the thief nearly trips over her own two feet in shock, saving herself just in the nick of time.

Is the princess flirting back? No way!

And as if she’s not taken aback enough, Seulgi’s certainly not prepared for the sight that awaits her as the princess climbs atop a castle battlement, playfully smiling down at the dumbstruck thief.

“Are you crazy?!” Seulgi yells, eyes going wide at the way Princess Irene giggles—

—before she closes her eyes and falls gracefully from the very top of the tower.

Seulgi lets out a yelp of terror, racing over to the edge of the castle and peering over the edge, almost afraid of what she would find at the bottom.

And lo behold, grinning up at Seulgi from below, swinging leisurely from a rope of colorful string pennant flags, is the princess herself. Seulgi watches in disbelief as the princess laughs, the momentum of her swing taking her across the audience watching the play in apt attention far down below. She lands with more grace than should be allowed on the very top of the Prima Vista airship.

Seulgi shakes her head incredulously, a small grin making its way onto her face.

Well, this night surely isn’t going as planned. It had been in Moonbyul’s instructions to smuggle Princess Irene onto the Prima Vista from the very beginning— it’s just that no one had any idea that there didn’t actually have to be any real smuggling involved. The princess had boarded their airship all on her own.

Seulgi’s sigh turns into a chuckle as she perches herself up on a battlement, bundling up her own string of pennant flags and taking a deep breath.

Seulgi surely can’t leave the princess to navigate through the Prima Vista’s corridors on her own, can she?

--

After what Seulgi affectionately dubs The Swing of Death, she lands (not nearly as gracefully) on the airship’s balcony, where the Tantalus Theater Troupe’s orchestra is playing, the princess nowhere in sight.

“Where did she go…?” Seulgi mutters under her breath, frowning. “Don’t tell me she left alread— ACK!”

Tonight is just full of surprises, isn’t it? Seulgi thinks to herself from where she’s currently unceremoniously splayed out face first on the ground, beneath the body of a very amused princess.

“Do you usually just drop from the sky?” She asks breathlessly, Princess Irene refusing to move from her spot atop Seulgi’s back.

“I try not to make a habit of it,” the princess says, the smirk evident in her tone; Seulgi doesn’t even have to look up at her.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

The princess rolls her eyes, making a point to step on Seulgi’s leg a little as she makes way to stand. Seulgi only manages to flip over with a groan, catching Princess Irene’s mischievous wink before the hooded girl dashes off, slipping further within the Prima Vista’s many halls and rooms.

--

When Seulgi finally catches up with the princess, it’s after saving her from Hwasa, another Tantalus member who happened to be acting as the main character, Cornelia, of the ongoing play. The princess had accidentally run into the actress as Hwasa was rehearsing her lines, and to say that the soprano was a bit more than miffed would be an understatement.

“Please excuse our new friend, Hwasa,” Seulgi says with as much gentleness she can muster, having just virtually run a marathon in order to chase their target. She quickly ushers the princess down a nearby staircase, bidding the actress good luck for her upcoming scene.

And then they’re finally alone once more.

“Whew,” Seulgi sighs in relief, standing behind a silent Princess Irene. She gazes steadily at the hooded figure in front of her. We had to improvise… but hey, we got her! “So you finally made up your mind.”

It takes a moment, but the princess slowly turns, coming to face Seulgi tentatively.

“Do you…” She bites her lip, blinking up at Seulgi hesitantly. “Do you work on this theater ship?”

Seulgi says nothing, raising a hand to sheepishly scratch at the back of her head, having realized that she’s been figured out.

“As you have no doubt suspected,” the hooded girl continues, each word coming out deliberately, well thought out. She pushes her hood back so that Seulgi’s can see her full face now— perfect doe eyes, raven black hair, red lips, and all.

She’s absolutely beautiful.

“The truth is that I am actually Princess Irene Til Alexandros, heir to the throne of Alexandria.”

Seulgi chooses to remain silent, taking a deep breath in anticipation of Irene’s next words.

“I have… a favor I wish to ask of you.”

Oh?

Seulgi her head in the utmost interest.

Well, this is certainly new…

And then all semblance of breathing properly suddenly leaves her when Irene reaches out abruptly, taking Seulgi’s hands within her own and gazing up at the thief meaningfully, right into Seulgi’s surprised wide, chestnut brown eyes.

“I wish to be kidnapped,” Irene pleads with her voice quivering. “Right away!”

Seulgi gapes, looking up and down, from Irene’s determined doe eyes to her hands now resting in the warm grasp of Irene’s smaller ones.

“H-huh?! I don’t… I mean—”

“Princess?!” The shrill voice of an Alexandrian soldier cuts through the air like a knife, and both Seulgi and Irene jump at the noise, startled. “Where are you?!”

“Please!” Irene begs, desperation seeping into her already fearful tone. “They’ve come for me!”

“Ah…” Understanding dawns on Seulgi, and Irene seems to brighten at the thief’s expression. “So that’s what’s going on.” And the face splitting, confident smile returns to Seulgi’s face, and she eagerly motions to herself with her clenched fist once; a symbol of dedication. “Alright! Leave them to me!”

“Thank you,” Irene breathes, her stance relaxing slightly. “You have my gratitude.”

Seulgi nods, the corner of her lip quirking.

Well, she is still a princess and all, so…

The thief gets down on one knee, head bowed slightly, much as a knight of the royal guard would— how ironic, how a lowly performing thief had managed to get in such a position. In front of her, Irene raises an eyebrow but stays mum, waiting for Seulgi’s next words.

“Alright then, Your Highness!” Seulgi declares with a flare, and she dramatically lays a hand on her chest, bowing once more.

Irene giggles quietly, having the liberty to look flattered at Seulgi’s efforts to calm her nerves.

“I shall hereby do my best to kidnap you!”

So she takes Irene’s hand, and off on a grand adventure they go!