Chapter Text
“Is all this really necessary?”, the young Pippins protested as her mother began to tie the bow on the back of her dress. She let out a huff at the sudden tightening of the fabric around her waist.
“What kind of question is that?”, the mother Pippins gave back, now laying a pearl necklace around her daughter’s neck from behind. “Of course it is! You have to make a good impression if you want to work in a king’s court!”
Who said I wanted to work there, she thought to herself, while only giving back a defeated hum in response. She supposed she did live in a kingdom, but she’d be fine working somewhere in the lower ranks as well. There, she at least had more choice over the things she would wear. But on a king’s court? Pippinses all wore almost the same uniform, with only a few differences between male and female. And those tacky ponchos! Depending on which of the four kings they belonged to, different symbols were depicted on the front, like some sort of way too large badge. She was sure she could design something better than that, even with her still limited expertise!
“W-wait”, Jade stepped backwards when her mother returned with a rectangular little box of colored powders, “isn’t this all enough already?” She motioned to the extravagant dress she was forced into, an uncomfortable grimace in her face. The flat soled shoes were already a compromise, as she couldn’t even stand in the heels her mother gave her previously. But this was far worse.
“Don’t you talk in that tone to me, young miss!”, the mother scolded, “You need to be presentable if you want to be chosen! And even more so if you aren’t red like the rest of-”
“It’s not my fault I was born like this!”
Silence. Then, a sigh, “We talked about this, Jade. We don’t know why you came out green, but there isn’t much we can do about it. And trust me, we tried everything we could. Your father and I always wanted a little Ruby, after all…”
Jade’s chest stung at her mother’s words, but it wasn’t like she didn’t hear that particular comment before. After all, her parents were both red, of course they’d expected a child that looked like themselves. The fact that she wasn’t at all how her parents wanted her to be – both in her appearance and her character – made her feel like she was a just a big disappointment to them. A failure on all fronts. Unwanted and useless.
A hand placed on her chin, her mother turned her head to face her, a brush with light pink powder on the end of it in her other hand.
“And now hold still, we need you to be pretty.”
She reluctantly obliged.
Jade was never as uncomfortable as she was in this moment. Standing in a row next to other, normal looking Pippinses, all in more subtle make-up and less flashy outfits – obviously, as they didn’t need to make themselves look more appealing, unlike her. She felt ridiculous and overdressed, almost as if she was trying desperately to make the king choose her.
The whole ceremony was strange to her. Once a year, one of the four kings would visit and take a look at various young Pippinses who just recently became adults, male and female, and take one of them with them to the castle. Those who were chosen would automatically start within a higher rank in their whole society, and could even become the king’s personal advisor if they were lucky. A Pippins would have to state their name and one thing they could bring to the table, that could potentially benefit the kingdom in any way. Based on the answers given, the king would then choose a single Pippins who he thought was the best fit to his court, and everyone else was to return home and wait another year for their next chance.
The whole way this was orchestrated, this unnecessarily and overly fancy ordeal, only succeeded in bothering and annoying her. If her parents were so sure she wouldn’t have a chance against the others, why bother with all this? She would have preferred to stay at home and work as a commoner instead. Yes, the pay wouldn’t be nearly as good, but at least she wouldn’t be forced to wear all this junk. It was a waste of time to bother with all these unnecessary things and accessories she’d have to put on and off every day, precious time she could spend on actually being productive and working!
The sudden presence of Rudinns and Rudinn Rangers announced the diamond king’s arrival at last. A chariot was pulled in, in which the serpentine ruler sat, reclining on a pile of gold and gems, although obviously only a fraction of his riches. He was never seen without at least a part of his treasure near him, the absence – or even merely a greater distance to it – said to bring him great distress.
Then, a Ranger slithered forwards.
“Suitors”, Jade rolled her eyes at the (perhaps unintentional) wordplay, “form a singular row along the walls for your king!” It continued to give instructions which the Pippins already heard a hundred times already from her mother. State your name clearly, keep your hands behind your back, lower your head when the king passes you, bow when he first addresses you, and all that other formal nonsense. Just like the first few times, she didn’t quite listen to a thing the ranger said, only following what her red brethren seemed to be doing – minus the giggling and excited chatter. There was nothing to be looking forward to for her after all.
Slowly, the snake-like king left his chariot, guarded by a quartet of rangers on each corner. He passed Pippins after Pippins, studied them carefully, yet spoke no word to any of them. It was a particularly slow process – agonizingly so for the only green one in their ranks. She was stationed towards the further end of the row, and there were hundreds of them! If he kept up the pace like this, they’d all be here until next week. Why couldn’t he just choose the very first one and buzz off again? Why couldn’t this stupid ceremony just end already?
Jade heard a quiet giggle from beside her, before she was pushed forwards out of the row, and landed face first on the floor. All eyes were on her now, and more stifled giggles came from behind her as she tried to get up again. Well, there went her chance to be chosen. Oh no, what a pity. Better luck next time.
“You!”
Silence broke out, and she only saw as a Rudinn approached her, the diamond king stopped in his tracks. She calmly arose once more and dusted off her dress, fully aware of her oh so unfortunate fate. She’d be sent off, forced to return home for disrupting the ceremony, and possibly even disallowed to attend such an event ever again! The thought alone brought a slight smile to her lips, the very first genuine one she’d showed that entire day.
The Rudinn stood before her, only slightly taller than her, an expression that seemed stern and serious at first glance, but upon further inspection clearly displayed boredom and disinterest. At least one person she could somewhat relate to here.
“Follow”, it only said as it turned around again to lead the way. The Pippins did as she was told, not intending to drag things out further if she decided to disobey. Getting out of here as quickly as possible was still her number one priority, after all, she wouldn’t want to cause any further delays, no matter how little she cared about royalty.
The both of them stopped, the diamond king standing before her with a curious expression on his face. One pair of arms were folded behind his back in thought, while a hand rested on his chin. Jade let her gaze wander upwards, having to strain her neck to do so. He was way taller than her, yet still not as tall as she expected, based on how others would describe him and the other kings at least. She raised an eyebrow at him as her hands balled into fists, beginning to tremble. As calm as she tried to stay, actually being confronted with a king did intimidate her slowly but surely. He was authority after all, and she could potentially lose her head if he truly felt like it.
“State your name, little Pippins.”
If all eyes weren’t on her before, they certainly were now. She felt a shiver running along her back, momentarily stopped breathing when the serpent leaned down to take a closer look at her.
“I, uh-”, a pause, her eyes nervously darting all around as she tensed, “…Jade, your highness.”
The silence that followed felt like an eternity to her. What took him so long? Why didn’t he just tell her to leave already? Was it customary to stare people down for what felt like hours before banning them from the premises? Was this meant to humiliate her even further?
“Fascinating…”, the king finally mumbled to himself, before he arose and faced the crowd. “My decision has fallen”, he clapped his hands together to call his subordinates, then placed one hand on the green Pippins’ shoulder, “Rudinns, escort her to our castle. I’m certain she will be of great use to us.”
She, as well as the rest of the crowd, could only stare in disbelief. Two Rudinn Rangers appeared on either side of her, lightly poking at her back to make her walk forwards. She let her gaze wander through the crowd one last time, incredulous, and even partially offended stares directed back at her, and as she finally took a step forwards toward her new home, only a single sentence repeated in her head.
What the hell just happened?
The first few days were nothing but a nightmare. While she thankfully didn’t have to wear any dresses anymore, the uniforms weren’t exactly the most comfortable either. Itchy, frilly blouses with overly puffy sleeves, tights that felt like if she moved her legs they’d rip in an instant, and high heeled boots she’d fall over in if she so much as looked at them. And of course, that tacky poncho with a giant diamond sewn on the front – typically in red, but hers was custom made in green in order to fit her overall color scheme. She supposed it wasn’t as bad as the other suits’ ponchos – the clubs one looked especially awkward to her – and while it did hide the clothing beneath it decently well… it didn’t help much with that feeling of dread she felt when wearing it.
If that wasn’t enough, apparently the make-up she had to endure during the ceremony was such a hit with the king, that he immediately ordered it to be added to the female Pippins’ uniform. Fantastic. So she had to force herself to apply it every morning, a routine she already knew she would resent in the coming years – or however long she would be working here at least. Light pink blush on her cheeks, little green freckles drawn in (or red ones for every other Pippins), and of course eyeliner and lashes – to make them look cuter and more feminine. She could have ripped her own head off when she heard those words.
Embarrassing herself even further, she had to request another pair of boots within the first week of being here. No matter how much she forced herself, she simply wasn’t able to walk in those heels. Countless times she stumbled and fell onto the floor, oftentimes right in front of other Pippinses, who of course would only laugh at her instead of helping her get up again. Until she was one day seen by the king himself as she almost broke her leg due to the lethal footwear. He seemed rather disappointed, but ultimately allowed the change, if only for the safety of his subordinate. A broken servant wouldn’t be of much use after all.
Time in Card Castle passed, and every day felt like more and more agony to her. At the end of long days, Jade would lay in her room, free from all the constricting clothing and powder in her face, and just stare at the ceiling, unmoving, unthinking. Something about the deafening silence, the feeling of being alone in an empty room, nobody around who would be able to perceive her… she felt strangely comforted by it. Just merely existing in a void, without duties to fulfill, without roles to live by, no expectations… just a featureless body and mind.
She’d come back to lucidity for a minute, remove her bra and lay back down to a feeling of relief she couldn’t explain. Only for her inner discomfort and embarrassment to take over once more, fetching a blanket or shirt to cover up her chest. She knew, realistically, there was nothing to be embarrassed about. There was nothing underneath that quite honestly useless piece of fabric to begin with, nothing that could even be hidden in the first place, and yet… the thought of her chest laying bare filled her with dread. As if looking at it, or even merely thinking of it could physically hurt her – which, technically, it already did.
What little confidence she had in herself before, slowly started to decline further and further – not even a promotion and subsequent raise would be able to lift her spirits. Every time she had to look into a mirror, every time she saw her own reflection, she’d be filled with dread and resentment. She couldn’t explain it to herself but over time, that Pippins that would stare back at her just didn’t feel like herself anymore. It was as if she was wearing somebody else’s skin, yet couldn’t remove it from her body. As if she’d been forced into a body that didn’t belong to her. And she had no way of peeking underneath it, of seeing what her true appearance would be.
On one particular evening she had found herself in a closet filled with spare uniforms, in case there were new recruits or somebody ripped theirs. Whatever she was tasked with became momentarily forgotten when she laid eyes upon one of the uniforms which had apparently fallen to the ground. About to put it back where it belonged, she held the pieces of clothing in her claws for a few moments, blinked a few times. It was as if the fabric spoke to her, drew her in, and next thing she knew, she was already removing her poncho and unbuttoning her blouse.
A minute later she started to tremble. The buttoned shirt fit her perfectly without being so tight it squeezed her chest. The frills were completely absent, and nothing itched anymore. She finally had some proper leg wear that felt like actual pants instead of long underwear, finally she didn’t feel like her legs were being compressed at all times.
She walked over to the far end of the closet, where a mirror stood against the wall, and she flinched when her reflection came into view – she came to hate what would stare back at her, but something was… different, somehow. Seeing herself in a male uniform felt. Good. It felt fitting, it felt correct.
A moment of hesitation, and Jade quickly got a hold of the blouse she’d previously discarded. She let a thumb stroke over the lacey fabric, before frantically rubbing her face all over it without another second thought. Pink, green, and black smeared over brilliant, spotless white, further and further until there was just a giant stain in the middle of it. She dared to look at her reflection once more, and-
Her eyes widened. The change may have been minimal, yet it felt like so much to her. With a shaking hand, she reached up and let her fingers ghost over her cheeks, as if seeing herself for the first time. Perhaps even a glimpse at her true self. She felt as her eyes started to become moist, a shaky smile slowly forming on her lips. Why did she suddenly feel so much better about her reflection than before? How could such a small change in attire possibly make her feel this relieved and joyous? It was as if an entirely new person stood before her.
Yet, after several minutes of staring at what she wished were her, she came back to her senses. She couldn’t be seen like this. If somebody were to find out she’d been wearing a spare male uniform, she’d probably be executed on the spot! Many times she’d have to witness how others were threatened to have their heads cut off after they disobeyed the king’s orders, and as much as she hated her life here, she wasn’t quite ready to be killed yet. Too big was her fear of death, fear of pain. What would her parents think of her if she was killed for such a small, easily avoidable thing?
As she left the closet later on in her original uniform – making sure nobody saw her face or stained blouse (at least the poncho hid most of the mess) – she kept thinking back to how good the change in clothes felt. If she could sew her own clothes in such a way they’d feel better to her, but without the change being too obvious… With the poncho being big enough to hide most of what’s underneath, she could potentially get away with it. She just had to make sure not to take it off around others – which, given that it was mandatory to wear, shouldn’t be a big problem.
Back in her room, she immediately went to look for a spare needle and thread, and got to work.
When she awoke, she found herself laying on a strange tiled floor, bright artificial light shining down on her, surrounded by glittery green walls decorated with little stars, that seemed to move along their sides. She held her head, trying to get up onto her feet, when a strange, purple colored paw extended towards her.
“C’mon, luv”, the unfamiliar darkner spoke, head tilted to the side to presumably show compassion. Jade hesitated, just staring into the stranger’s face for a few moments, about to reach forward as-
“Dammit Ramb, get back behind the bar!”, a voice from afar yelled.
“Yeah, nobody needs to see your ugly mug first thing in the morning!”, another voice joined, significantly more grumpy sounding. The darkner who she assumed to be this Ramb guy let out a sigh and arose again, stepping just a few meters away to let the others come near. Two Pippinses approached, eyeing the other on the floor curiously.
“Ya do know it’s evenin’, right, lad?”, Ramb crossed his arms over his chest, one of his ears raised in amusement as he shot a look at the perpetually mad looking Pippins next to him, who only groaned in irritation.
“Ugh, shut uuup!”
While a (rather one-sided) argument broke out between the two, the second Pippins wearing black glasses sighed and turned to look at the new one, still laying on the floor in what seemed like confusion.
“Come on, Greenie, get up already”, the red one waved her hand towards herself, “or do you want Tenna to catch you slacking off?”
She rose to her feet, dusting off her poncho as millions of questions shot through her head. Where was she? Who were these people? How did she get here? Was this another part of the castle she never got to see?
“Who. Who is Tenna?”, was the first thing she decided upon asking, earning a shrug and a grin from the shades wearing one in response.
“Oh, just your new boss. Make sure you avoid him, he has a real temper!”
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The first week in TV World went, surprisingly, not as bad as imagined.
After arriving and being given a new uniform – one without any gender differences at that, a real blessing for the Pippins – numerous people erroneously referred to the green one as either a man or androgynous, presumably because of the former uniform. Jade – creatively renamed by the other Pippinses to “Greenie” ever since arriving here – never dared to bother correcting anybody, feeling strangely content with being seen as neutral or masculine. It felt like everything finally fit together. The change was quickly – and more importantly, very gladly – adopted.
Moreover, Greenie was now employed to work in the studio’s costume department, a profession he’d wanted to pursue ever since he was young. Sewing and making clothes was always something he excelled in, and something he used to do for fun. In Card Castle, he had rarely gotten to sew, didn’t even get the opportunity to redesign those ponchos he’d always disliked from the beginning.
But here, there were so many new clothes to design and put together, and his new boss seemed to need new ones every few days for one of his shows. Even if it was often stressful since Tenna could be extremely impatient at times, but at least Greenie liked what he did, which couldn’t be said for most of his other Pippins colleagues.
Who he needed to look out for, if the words of his red brethren could be trusted, were the Zappers. Security guards with no sense of humor, strict and very powerful in comparison to his kind. There was one he ran into one day, but instead of punishing him, they let him run, even tried to help him get up! He was certain it must have been an attempt at tricking him, from what he knew about Zappers – which was, admittedly, not very much yet. That could be the only explanation!
He kept seeing that particular Zapper from time to time, and they kept acting all innocent and friendly with him, surely just waiting for him to lower his guard so they could punish him. For some reason. Instead of just arresting him or something the first time they met. …Maybe this one just enjoyed toying with their victims first!
In any case, here in the safety of his beloved costume department, he was safe. Just him, his equipment, and the outfit he was working on for the next show. From what he heard, it was supposed to be about Baseball, whatever that was. Probably a lightner sport if he had to guess, it sounded an awful lot like it at least.
However, a familiar southern drawl let him freeze in place. He knew that accent, he knew that voice. What were they doing here? Were they… seriously auditioning for a role?
“C’mon champ! Youse gotta, uh… Yous gots ta bat at dat ball dere!”
That… was terrible. Was that really the line they were going for? What was with the awkward phrasing? He may not know what this sports thing was all about, but even he knew that sounded off. Bat at that ball, really?
Although, now that he thought over it, that phrase did have a certain ring to it. A strange, perhaps even a little stupid one, but one that didn’t seem to want to leave his mind, regardless. It was like having one particular part of a song stuck in one’s head on loop, with no signs of stopping.
He shook his head, continuing his work. He’d have better things to think about. By tomorrow he’d probably already forgotten all about this moment anyway.