Chapter Text
This should’ve been easy. Hell, it should’ve been easier than easy, whatever that meant. But instead, Jackie just stood useless in a corner as endermen and other creatures alike flitted about the ballroom. You see, he was sent to murder the prince of Terminus. Ran Aetherman, that handsome asshole.
Now, you may be thinking, how hard could it be to murder him? Especially for someone like Jackie who’s been in the assassination business for years. Well, the answer to that is very difficult. Apparently, no one had thought to inform him endermen were immune to most overworld poisons. Or at least, Ran is. So, why didn’t he just try why didn’t he try shooting, stabbing, or just straight up choking him? He had, several times in the past days, he’d even attended several of the boring council meetings just so he could take a shot at Ran. But the prince just couldn’t die.
So he found himself here, inside the largest ballroom in Terminus for the prince’s birthday. Jackie made his way over to one of the buffet tables, there was an assortment of foods. Some of which were foreign to him others he recognized. He picked up a glass of what he guessed was apple cider and made his way across the ballroom.
Jackie looked over to the empty throne, the prince had yet to make his appearance. Late to his own party. Jackie looked out to the dance floor, classical music played in the background. He stared in wonder as endermen danced in fluent rhythm. They incorporated teleportation into their dances, making them all the more enchanting.
Jackie took a sip of his drink and scanned the room. Had he missed the prince’s entrance? Did they know about his plans and were just waiting for the right moment to arrest him? A pit of worry formed in Jackie’s stomach, he needed to be alert. He needed to finish his mission because he was Jackie Brackett, and Jackie Brackett did not fail.
Jackie finished his drink and almost instantly an enderman teleported next to him, it spoke in accented common, “May I take your drink?” Jackie inclined his head politely and set his empty glass on the tray the enderman was holding.
“Thank you,” The enderman gave a small nod of acknowledgment and teleported away with the tray. The enderman had surprised him, but how could he prepare for someone to just teleport right next to him? He sighed, this mission just grew more frustrating by the second.
Jackie looked up to the staircase at the entrance of the ballroom, still no sign of the prince. He frowned, “Mr. Brackett, I wasn’t expecting to run into you here,” Jackie turned to see a man dressed in a blue sleeveless vest with a formal dress shirt underneath.
“Watson,” Jackie responded, “You’re still here,” Subbin sent Watson with Jackie since he had some sort of deal with the Terminus Council. Jackie didn’t know the specifics.
Watson laughed, “Yes, I am, don’t sound so disappointed,” Jackie only looked him in the eyes. He never really liked Watson, there was something off about him, “Anyways, how’s your night going?”
“It’s going great thank you,” Jackie said, trying to make it painfully obvious he just wanted to be left alone. But Watson didn’t seem to take the hint.
“Looking for the prince?” Watson asked. Jackie’s eyes widened, did he know about his mission? Did the king tell him? Watson chuckled, “You couldn’t take your eyes off of him the whole council meeting.”
Jackie felt his face heat up, was it that obvious he was watching Ran? “I just decided to treat myself to the festivities tonight.”
“Ah, I see,” Watson took a sip at his drink.
The silence between the two lasted for an embarrassingly long time, “So, uh, do you know when he’ll be here?” Jackie was getting impatient, and if Watson thought he was in love with the prince then so be it. It wouldn’t matter soon anyway.
“From what I heard, anytime now,” As if it was on cue, a bell rang throughout the ballroom, “Speak of the devil,” Watson murmured.
The room went silent as the chatter slowly faded out. In one cinematic moment, an enderman Jackie recognized as Flo spoke from the top of the staircase, “Attention citizens and esteemed guests, Ran Aetherman, prince of Terminus,” And with that, the prince made his dramatic entrance.
Ran was stunning, to say the least, he walked elegantly from behind curtains holding his head high. He wore a black flowing skirt with gold designs drawn in the edges of the fabric which melded into a shoulderless turtleneck. Placed on top of the black base was a flowing green fabric that draped off of his arms like it was a cape and tied loosely around his chest. To accent all of this, additions of golden jewelry were carefully draped over his chest. And of course, the prince’s signature eye covering was included. It was decorated with a variety of green crystals. To top off the outfit was the royal crown. To put it simply, he was beautiful.
The prince gave a small bow before surveying the room. Jackie could’ve sworn the prince’s gaze froze for a moment when he saw Jackie. Chirrs of excitement filled the ballroom and some clapped as he descended the stairs. Soon enough the room returned to normal, the music began playing again and the guests returned to their dance.
Jackie needed to stay focused, it didn’t matter how attractive the prince looked what mattered was killing him. He shook himself out of his thoughts, “Well I’ll leave you to it,” Watson said, noticing how Jackie was seemingly mesmerized. Jackie didn’t respond, he just focused more on the blade in his sleeve.
Watson walked off to somewhere as Jackie began to slowly approach the prince. He decided to walk by the buffet table and grab two apple ciders. He slipped a bit of poison in one. Trying twice couldn’t hurt. He grabbed the drinks and approached the group of people Ran was conversing with. Jackie felt small here, not only because of his height but also the way these people carried themselves. As though they were above everyone else.
As Jackie stepped into the conversation all eyes landed on him, he looked towards the prince and held out the drink, “For you,” Jackie gave his best smile.
The prince practically beamed, “Thank you, Sir Brackett,” Ran inclined his head gratefully and took the drink.
“It’s flattering to know you think I am worthy of being a knight but I’m only a Mr. Brackett currently,” Jackie took a sip of his drink, the other endermen watched the pair intensely.
“Well perhaps I will have to give you the honor while you’re here, I wouldn’t mind having someone as handsome as you for a knight,” The prince smirked at Jackie and his face heated up. He imagined Ran would be winking at him if he could see his eyes. Sly bastard, he was starting to get under Jackie’s skin.
“If you could excuse us,” The prince said giving a bow to the group of endermen, they each responded with a nod. The prince let out a sigh and his posture slouched for a moment before he seemed to notice and correct it, holding his head high once more.
The two walked over towards a corner near the buffet table, this area was less crowded. Jackie needed to get Ran alone. He couldn’t assassinate him in front of the whole ballroom, sure Subbin was trying to start a war with Terminus but Jackie wasn’t trying to get himself killed in the process.
“What did you want to talk about?” Ran asked looking to Jackie.
“Oh, nothing,” Jackie thought of an excuse other than he just needed to assassinate him, “You just seemed like you needed a break from talking to those people.”
“Ah, thank you,” Ran visibly relaxed and took a sip of his drink, his face twisted in surprise. Jackie couldn’t help but laugh, “Why is this stuff… fuzzy?” He asked.
“Never had a carbonated drink before?” Jackie smiled in amusement at the prince’s face.
“I suppose not,” Ran took another sip, this time he seemed to think about the drink for a moment, Jackie watched intently as he processed it. If this poison worked the prince would be dead by morning. Even better, if he could get the prince alone he could have him dead before morning, “It’s not bad,” He said before relaxing and leaning back against the wall until he straightened his posture again.
Jackie raised an eyebrow in confusion, Ran noticed, “I’m supposed to be on my most formal behavior tonight, no time for relaxing.”
“Oh, well I don’t care about being formal,” Jackie shrugged. He really didn’t care, he wasn’t the most formal person himself so who was he to judge?
“I know, it’s just,” Ran paused for a second, “Everyone else does. They’re always watching,” Jackie couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the guy, having eyes constantly on you must be unnerving.
“How about we dance? It could take your mind off of things,” Jackie needed to get closer to the prince, what better way to do that than dancing?
Ran thought about the idea for a moment, “Why not,” The prince held out his hand to Jackie, he accepted the offer and gave a small bow. Ran guided the pair to the dance floor, all eyes were watching Ran and the mysterious overworld boy.
They stopped in the center of the dancefloor, the other dancers moved away to make space for the two, “I’ll have you know,” Jackie looked up at the prince as he spoke, “I’m not very good at dancing.”
“Well, you don’t have to be very good at something to enjoy it, do you?” Ran seemed to lighten at Jackie’s comment.
“No, I suppose not,” Ran gave an almost unnoticeable smile.
Ran moved away from Jackie and held his hand up, Jackie held his hand against the prince’s and the music began. A combination of strings and flutes, it was much more hollow compared to earth music but there was also something that made it so enchanting. Ran lead, clearly familiar with the steps of this dance. Jackie followed along, the prince lead them into a spin before stepping off to the side letting their backs face each other. Ran grabbed Jackie’s hand and spun the boy closer to him. Jackie was surprised by the unexpected spin but Ran caught him. Jackie felt his face heat up at the sudden closeness, his blade brushed his forearm. That’s right. He was here on a mission, not just to dance with the prince. He needed to stay on task.
Jackie took charge of the pair and spun them both as the music sped up, they danced in circles while the crowd watched with curious eyes. The music was reaching a climax and Ran carefully led them towards the center once more. With one final note of a violin, Jackie spun Ran to a dip and their dance concluded.
Jackie could’ve sworn that their eyes met despite the prince’s covering.
Here he was, his target in his arms. He could do it now, finish the prince off, one flick of his wrist and a powerful strike then Ran would be done for. Sure, everyone was watching, but this was the closest he’d gotten. Jackie shook away the thought, it was a bad idea.
Jackie helped Ran stand back up, “Well, Mr. Not Very Good At Dancing I’d say that’s the most fun I’ve had with someone at a ball in a while.”
Ran’s face tinted a slight green, “It’s my pleasure,” The prince said with a bow.
The two walked off the dance floor and Jackie survived the room once more. How could he kill the prince here? There were eyes practically everywhere. Maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about it, he did poison Ran’s drink after all. He would wait until morning, and if Ran wasn’t done he would revise his plans.
“Prince Aetherman,” A person Jackie didn’t recognize strolled over to Ran, “If I may have a word,” They glanced at Jackie.
“Of course,” Ran turned to Jackie for a moment, “Sorry, I’ll have to speak with you later. It was a pleasure dancing.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.”
______
Ran was in fact not dead by morning, he was very much annoyingly alive and sitting next to Jackie as they ate. Jackie should’ve been used to this, given the fact that all his other poison attempts had failed, “So,” Ran spoke, “What’s the overworld like?”
Jackie looked to Ran, mouth still filled with some Enderian purple fruit, “Uh it’s… green I guess? Have you never been?”
Ran shook his head, “Terminus takes the safety of their royalty very seriously meaning I’m not allowed anywhere dangerous.” Ran’s voice held a hint of annoyance at this fact.
“Well, it’s a lot more… alive? I think that’s how I would describe it, like instead of there being just a black void everywhere we have the sky. And clouds, and the sun. Also trees. But some places have a lot more trees and stuff than other places. Like Mempurr, it has a ton of forest and greenery but Subbin is a desert kingdom. So there’s mainly an overabundance of sand everywhere.” Ran watched Jackie as he spoke, his expression was one of wonder, “It’s pretty cool. This place is cool too, with all its void-ness. The architecture is really pretty.”
Ran nodded, continuing to eat. Jackie watched, how was he going to kill Ran? That’s what he needed to think about right now. He needed ideas. He needed to get closer to the prince. An idea fizzled up in Jackie’s mind, he needed to talk to Watson.
So that’s just what Jackie did, he found himself at Watson’s guest room, knocking at the door. Watson peeked out from behind, “Oh Jackie! Come on in mate,” Watson opened the door wider for Jackie to walk in.
“Thanks,” Watson closed the door again and sat in his desk chair.
“What can I help you with?”
“I need the prince’s schedule,” Jackie said bluntly.
Watson raised an eyebrow, “You know if you want to spend time with him you can just ask when he’s available.”
“Yes, well, I just didn’t want to bother him,” Watson looked skeptical but just laughed at this.
“Kids,” He muttered, “I’ll tell you what I do know, his free period starts around twelve, and from what I’ve seen he spends most of his time in the royal garden so if you want to catch him when he’s free that’s the best time,” Jackie nodded.
He had a plan, get closer to the prince, earn his trust and his affection then kill him when he had the first chance to. He just needed to be smart about it.