March 24, 2013, 9:37 p.m.
Strangers On This Journey: Part 2
K - Words: 6,812 - Last Updated: Mar 24, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 4/4 - Created: Mar 24, 2013 - Updated: Mar 24, 2013 172 0 0 0 0
Kurt turns around quickly, surprised and frightened. His daydream is now completely gone. He is caught in a ray of light, directly in front of the painting. He is next to the image of Kurtis. The resemblance is striking. Blaine seems to be taken back, while Cooper is unaffected.
"You're trespassing kid," Cooper said to him.
Kurt is dazed by what just happened to him and can't quite refocus on reality. "I...I...spoke to you earlier about traveling papers."
Blaine pokes Cooper with his elbow but doesn't take his eyes off Kurt, "It's him."
"He's him?" Cooper asked.
"Look," Blaine said pointing.
Cooper stares and squints his eyes, "Ooh."
Kurt doesn't know what to do, "Are you Cooper? I didn't mean to trespass. I don't want to do anything dishonest, but if you could help me-"
Cooper and Blaine walk up the stairs and start to circle around him. "Perhaps you heard of our brilliant plan to find a boy and-"
Blaine pokes him hard in the ribs and shakes his head, "He doesn't want to do anything 'dishonest.'"
Cooper gets it and whispers, "Ew-the honest type."
Blaine gives Cooper a 'let me handle this' gesture as he turns back to Kurt. "You look like him. Like the Prince Kurtis. Has anyone ever told you that before?"
Kurt comes back to his sense and realized he doesn't like the men circling him, "Oh yeah. In the orphanage they constantly told me I looked like a prince," he said sarcastically. He watches Blaine circle him, "And would you stop that! What were you a vulture in another life or something?"
Blaine stops circling and then begins to use everything that Kurt says to get what he wants. "People say Kurtis was the only member of the royal family to escape alive. That makes him an orphan too." He looks over at Kurt, "What happened to your parents?"
Kurt shrugs, "I don't know. I don't remember anything that happened before the revolution."
"You know, it's strange," Blaine tapped his chin, "Kurtis' aunt, the grand Duchess Sophia, has been looking for Kurtis since the revolution. Why do you think he wouldn't go to his own family?"
"I don't know," Kurt said, "I don't see what this has to do with me."
Blaine smiles, "Perhaps it's because he has amnesia too, can't remember."
Cooper stares at Kurt, "How much do you weigh?" Blaine pokes him again. "I was just wondering since we already have an outfit."
Kurt groaned, "Look, I came here to get papers to travel to Paris and-"
"Why do you want to go to Paris?" Blaine asked him quizzically.
"I have my reasons," Kurt crossed his arms over his chest.
"Kurtis' aunt is in Paris. We're going to bring Kurtis to her in Paris,' Blaine explained, "And I think you are the Prince Kurtis."
Kurt stares at Blaine with wide eyes before he begins laughing. He laughs so hard he has to hold his side.
Cooper mouths to Blaine, 'do you think he's really Kurtis?' Blaine shakes his head no, of course not, and then continues with Kurt. Cooper smiles to himself and walks down the stairs. Blaine is so good even he got confused, which happened more often than he would like.
"You never thought of the possibility?" Blaine asked Kurt.
Kurt gave him a look, "Look there isn't an orphan in the world who hasn't dreamed they are a prince or princess but, come on, look at me!"
Cooper walked over to help his brother. He took Kurt's hand and spun him around in a circle. And he dramatically started to point to the image of Prince Kurtis, "No, look at him! Look at him!" He took Kurt's hand and let it run across the painting, "It could be you."
Kurt let his hand fall and reached up to fiddle with the key around his neck. He turns to look down at the ballroom and remembers what happened just moments ago. Could have been a memory what just happened?
Blaine shoved his hands into his pockets and started to walk down the stairs, "You don't have anything to lose," he said to Kurt, "If I am wrong, the Duchess will simply tell us you aren't Kurtis and we'll be on our way. No harm done, but at least you will be in Paris."
Kurt lifts his hand again and touches Kurtis' painted hand on the painting. "Things my heart used to know, things it yearns to remember," he sings quietly to himself.
Blaine watches Kurt with his back toward him and he raises an arm in Kurt's direction, "Find out the truth, come to Paris with us."
Kurt thinks, he honestly doesn't know what to do. The opportunity to go to Paris is everything he ever wanted, but what if no one is there for him. What if no one is there waiting for him? Then again his family could be there waiting for him with open arms. A home, something he has wanted all along. He spins around, "All right. I will go with you."
Alexander lets out a low meow as if in agreement.
Cooper shouts and punches into the air, while Blaine smiles and bows to Kurt. "His Royal Highness Prince Kurtis," Cooper says playfully, "I am Cooper Anderson, while this is my younger brother, Blaine."
Kurt smiled at the pair, "I'm Kurt, it is nice to meet you."
Something the three new friends did not see was the small white bat, Chandler, hanging upside down listening to the entire conversation, "Oy. He's going to be so mad." He spreads his wings and flies out the window.
Chandler flies through the night and the city lights begin to fade. There is a sudden darkness in the forest. In the distance there is an orange glow and as Chandler gets closer he sees it's a fire.
Chandler wiggles his feet trying to find his courage and swoops inside of a black wagon, the largest and most elaborate. A lone candle lights up the dark wagon. A frightened Chandler stays on the window sill. "Umm, Lady Beiste? It's uhh, me. Chandler." He let out a sigh of relief when no one answered, "Phew, not home."
Suddenly Sebastian's face suddenly appears from the bed below, his eyes are fiery red and has scruff on his face, "What?"
"Oh my god!" Chandler falls off the table he is standing on, "Don't do that. Feel my heart," he brings a wing to his chest, "Go ahead. I'm dying here."
Sebastian waves a hand, "And what do you want, my little rat with wings?" He stands up and tests to see if any of the bottles have any alcohol in them. Finally he finds one and takes a drink.
"Name calling, that's mature," Chandler said to him.
Sebastian reaches over and grabs him by the throat, "I gave you that tongue and I can rip it out!"
Chandler wiggles around, "No, I really like my tongue, we're really attached." Sebastian lets him go. "Oy. Okay now, promise you won't get angry."
Sebastian smiles over at him, "Why would I ever be angry with you, my little friend?"
"Yeah right," Chandler said as he waved a wing, "Keep that thought okay? I'm in town, stop by the old palace. You get a better class of bats there. No tattoos or anything."
Sebastian's bottle is empty to soon and starts looking for another tossing the empty ones over his shoulder.
"So I'm cruising' the rafters and what can I say, I struck out. I thought the boys would like the fact that I can talk, you know but, I mean, the way things are going I couldn't be invited to a plague." A flying bottle smashes against a wall, "Someone's got to clean that up."
Sebastian satisfied that he finally found a full bottle. He takes a drink, "Get to the point sometime tonight. I'm late for a bucking."
"Okay," Chandler said, "You're not going to like this but, well it looks like Kurtis is...still alive." He tenses and waits for an explosion from Sebastian.
Sebastian starts laughing, "Impossible. That rumor has been around for years."
Chandler flies up into Sebastian's face, "Trust me, it's him!"
"How do you know?" Sebastian asked him with his eyes narrowing.
"Rodent's intuition, how do I know? He looks exactly like him, except he's taller," Chandler said thinking out loud, "Which is natural. Of course my second cousin, he never grew. Looks like a little pepper shaker. He was so cute." He hears Sebastian start to growl. "Oh boy, I knew this was going to upset you."
Sebastian howls in anger and smashes the bottle he is holding against the wall. He moves towards the cabinet and knocks it over the furniture. The reliquary begins to glow gently as if it was sleeping.
Chandler covers his eyes in fear. Even Sebastian seems a bit nervous in front of it.
"Source of my power," Sebastian walks closer to the lantern, "Owner of my soul. I need your help." He picks up the reliquary and sets it on the table.
"Hey, he's just a kid," Chandler said quickly, "And he's going to Paris out of sight. Out of mind. Out of Lima."
"I cursed them all!" Sebastian shouts.
"My Aunt Bella, sweet woman not the brightest bat in the world, she used to hang right side up. Anyways she always said 'curses were made to be broken.' Course, she said it in those irritating little bat squeaks, so it wasn't so profound," Chandler rambled on with his story.
Sebastian grabs a doll from the ground and it has an eerie resemblance to a young Kurtis. He squeezes the doll in hands. "The Hummel's tried to kill me and I swore to destroy all of them! If he lives, if he should have a child someday, the Hummel family continues! And I won't let that happen!" he shouts out loud.
"You know," Chandler said landing on the table, "This is really an obsessive behavior. There is this doctor in Austria, Sigmund something and he feels..." he waved a wing and it knocked over the reliquary down and started to roll.
"You idiot!" Sebastian yells as he makes a leap, grabbing it seconds before it hits the ground. He holds it up and the smokey spirits inside start to swirl around and moan. "Yes, you'd all like to get out, wouldn't you? Sorry just one at a time and only when I call."
Chandler is trying to slip away, but Sebastian spies him and grabs a glass. He slams it on top of the bat to keep him from escaping.
"Do you have any idea what would happen if that broke?" Sebastian asked him.
Chandler's muffled voice answered, "You'd lose your security deposit?"
Sebastian ignores him and goes back to his task. "Evil, powerful beings! I have their power only if I contain them, control them. If they should all be released at once, well..." he smiles a horrible smile and lifts the glass as if to whisper in Chandler's ear, "You don't want to be around if that happens!"
The volume of Sebastian's voice rattles Chandler around the inside of the glass.
Sebastian lifts the reliquary, "Where is he? Where is the Prince Kurtis?"
Inside of the lantern it awakes with a sudden growl. And the smoke explodes inside and then a picture comes to view. The picture shows a train with Kurt, Blaine, and Cooper running after to jump on.
"He has friends. No matter," Sebastian said.
Chandler wants to get out from underneath the glass. He tries to topple the glass over, but jumping up he just hits his head, "Ohh, that was dumb." He turns to Sebastian, "Hello, I've got really terrible claustrophobia. That's why I could never live in a cave."
But Sebastian is giving all of his attention to the reliquary, "Finish my prophecy." The smoke begins to pour out of the reliquary. Almost giddy with thought of finishing his ambition, Sebastian starts laughing.
"Ew," Chandler said sitting down, "I hate when he does this."
As Sebastian swirls his arms the smoke begins to form into minions. All look human at first, but then we see one of the minions with the body of a human and the head of a jackal. Another minion changes to have a face of the woman and has the claws of a tiger. The last minion is the most horrible of all, with a body of a bear and the head of a vulture. All of them are wearing long capes with hoods.
"He is not to get off the train alive!" Sebastian shouts to them. He kicks open the wagon door and leaps outside. The minions follow him out of the wagon. One of the wisps of smoke, swishes and knock over the glass prison holding Chandler.
Sebastian releases the black horses that start to whinny meaning something bad. Two minions start to float and fly ahead of them. "Go! I don't care what you do with the others, but finish the boy! Kill him! And have fun," he added.
In Paris sitting down in her study, Sophia had her hands covering her face. When she lowered them, anyone could see a much older and sadder Sophia. "Take him away, Rachel."
A young woman with long black hair and a small figure comes to stand in front of the desk.
"Haven't these boys anything better to do than to break my heart," Sophia said waving a hand.
Rachel ushers the young man out the door and while he looks amazingly like Kurtis, his hair is slightly darker and his clothes don't look right though. The young man walks with a regal grace until he passes through the door and let's his shoulder's fall.
"No more. No more," Sophia said with a sad voice.
Rachel sighs, "Oh, I must say. I thought that was him. I'm just so shocked that he wasn't real. Well, he was real. I mean he was human, of course, but not our real. I must say, even my family was touched by him. Yes, yes they were." She ran around the office fixing things, "Moved to tears with joy. We won't be fooled next time. I'm going to think of really hard questions next time."
"No, Rachel," Sophia held up a hand, "My heart can't take it anymore. I will see no more boys claiming to be Kurtis." She walked out of the room sadly.
Kurt was sitting near a fire, sleeping with Alexander in his lap. They were waiting with the other people on the train.
Blaine looked over Cooper's shoulder nervously watching him forging their travel papers, "Hurry up with those."
Cooper glared at him, "Would you have leaned over Rememberbrand's shoulder and told him to paint faster."
"It's Rembrandt," Blaine corrected him.
Cooper just gave him a look, "Whatever, you still probably would." He hands Blaine the papers, "They're still wet."
A train's whistle blows and caused them to jump. Cooper slides next to Kurt and shakes him, "Wake up young man, that's our train."
"Wake up your highness," Blaine corrected him. "We should start getting used to saying it."
"What a world, when a man is calling a peasant 'Your Highness,'" Cooper said rolling his eyes.
Blaine leaned over and tugged on Kurt's hair, "Wake up."
Kurt's eyes fly open and on reflex he reaches out hitting Blaine in the nose. Blaine falls back and lands on his bottom.
Cooper looks over at Kurt, "We have a lot of work to do."
They see the train and started walking towards it. Cooper started pushing his way towards the train getting some of the people out of the way. He starts to climb up on the back of the train, followed by Blaine. Blaine turned around and held his arm out, "Come on!"
Kurt can see Blaine holding out his hand and then he realizes he can't quite remember something. He doesn't know if it's a memory or just a feeling. He snaps out of it when Alexander pats at his feet. Looking down, he sees the kitten and scoops him up. He runs towards the train.
"Take my hand," Blaine yells over the sounds.
Kurt holds Alexander in his hands and jumps without touching Blaine's hand. They walk into the small compartment that is jammed with travelers. Suitcases and packages are balanced carefully.
Blaine finds a space big enough for them and touches his nose, "Do you always punch people first thing when you wake up?"
Kurt smiles sheepishly, "Sorry, it's a reflex. Living in an orphanage if someone bothers you, you automatically come up swinging."
"I wasn't bothering you. I was trying to wake you up," Blaine exclaimed.
Kurt gave Blaine a glare, "By pulling my hair?"
"I was all out of dynamite," Blaine said to him. He reaches up to touch his nose again.
Kurt leans and looks out the window, he opens it letting the fresh breeze inside. He notices that he could reach out and grab some snow so he does. Handing it over to Blaine, "Here put it on your nose. For heaven's sake, you're making such a fuss."
Blaine takes the snow and holds it on his nose. He flinches as the ice touches his face.
Kurt rolls his eyes, "Some men are such babies." Blaine gives him a look.
An elderly woman walks by with her arms loaded with packages and trying to get them into her compartment. Kurt stands up immediately to help her, "Here, let me."
Blaine and Cooper pull him back down to the seat. "You are a prince now," Blaine said to him.
"Royalty does not help people with their luggage," Cooper tells him.
Kurt just pushes the hand off of him and helps the woman anyways.
Cooper leans over, "Well, he certainly has a mind of his own."
"Yes," Blaine said leaning back and staring at Kurt helping the woman, "And I hate that in a man."
Holding on to Alexander, Cooper tries to keep him from running out of his arms. Alexander starts to bat at the string hanging of Cooper's coat. He looks between the two and looks down at the cat shaking his head with a laugh.
The compartment door swings open and a large guard walks in, "Papers!" he shouts to everyone.
Everyone in the compartment rushes to get their papers out. Blaine pulls out their papers confidently that were done with beautiful black ink. He glances at the papers the person is holding next to him done with bright red ink. He looks over at Cooper and scrunches his face.
Cooper looks over and shrugs, "It's what I hate about this government. Everything in red."
The guard hands someone their papers back, "Thank you sir." He then approaches Blaine and Cooper.
"What do we do now?" Cooper whispers to his friend.
Blaine shrugs his shoulders, "Pray he's color-blind?" He flashes the guard a charming smile and hands him their papers.
"Wait here," the guard said as he turned around and left the compartment.
Cooper and Blaine exchange looks realizing they are probably more in trouble than they ever thought they would be in.
Kurt stands up, "I'm going to stretch my legs."
"That's a good idea, a great idea," Blaine said standing up himself, "Stretch your legs," he pointed, "Stretch them that way."
Kurt looks over at him like he is crazy and walks away, "I must have hit him harder than I thought."
Blaine runs back in and grabs his small backpack he brought with him. He pulls Cooper's arm, which is carrying Alexander, and takes off with him towards the compartment he had just sent Kurt too.
The guards burst through the doors ready to arrest the three when they realize they are no where to be found. In the background, no one sees the three hooded minions.
Kurt looks out the window as the country side starts to fly by and he smiles.
The guards spot three figures at the far end of the car. "That's them" one of them yells, "Come on!" They run after who they think the fugitives are, but then they grab a minion by his shoulder and turn him around.
The minion is beak to face with one of the guards and he lets out a horrendous screech, causing another one of the minions to turn around.
The guards yell and start to walk backwards, pushing and shoving each other out of the way.
One of the minions spotted Kurt looking out the window, he grabs him. But when he turns him around, he realizes it's not Kurt, but some other guy wearing similar clothes.
In the other corridor, Blaine and Cooper caught up to Kurt and grabbed him in each of their arms. They hear the screams coming from the other car.
Kurt, Blaine, and Cooper step out onto the platform and realize there is no where else left for them to run. Only the engine is ahead of them.
"Wait here," Blaine yells at them. He leaps gracefully grabbing the edge of the roof and pulls himself up.
Kurt turns to Cooper, "Would you like to tell me what we are..."
Blaine's head, upside down, appears from the roof, "Come on up," he shouts.
"Why?" Kurt yells back.
Cooper grabs Kurt from behind and hoists him up to Blaine. Kurt yells as he flies up to Blaine. The force of Cooper's toss up caused Kurt to collide with Blaine and they fell down. Kurt was on top of Blaine and they look at each other for a moment before Kurt rolls off of Blaine to let him catch his breath he knocked out of him.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" Kurt asked him.
Blaine reached up to touch his chest, "Trying...to...breathe..."
Suddenly Alexander appears as if he was flying and lands on Blaine's chest. He hands him over to Kurt. After a moment, Blaine catches his breathe and reaches down to help Cooper.
Blaine pulls Cooper up and realizes he still doesn't have all his breathe back, so Kurt sets down Alexander and helps pull Cooper up along with Blaine, laying him on the top of the train car.
Blaine and Kurt let out a sigh of relief when they get Cooper up. They both look up and see a tunnel rapidly approaching them. The pair falls down flat on the roof and lies down with Cooper in between them.
The minions are now climbing up the side of the train and are plunged into total darkness.
Light hits the train as it comes out of the tunnel. A minion reaches his hand over the edge and Blaine assumes it's a guard. "The guard!" he gives Kurt a shrug, "I'll explain later."
They all stand up. Kurt and Cooper follow Blaine as he heads towards the back of the train. They run and jump over the spaces between the compartments.
The minions are now on the roof, and see the three of them in the short distance.
Kurt, Blaine, and Cooper were running forward and not looking back. Alexander is being tossed around like a football between the three of them as they jump along the cars.
The train whistle erupts and causes Kurt to glace back to see their pursuers just as they are enveloped in the thick black smoke of the engine. Behind them, Kurt can see another tunnel. All of them drop down before they hit the tunnel.
The minions weren't so lucky and as the train roars through the tunnel, the minions explode with a colorful burst of smoke as they hit the rocks.
Kurt stands up with a hand on his hip, "Forged papers! Now what?"
"Now just get off the train," Blaine said.
"What?" Kurt asked confused.
Blaine made a sweeping motion insinuating they were going to jump off the train.
Kurt shakes his head, "No."
Cooper nods his head in agreement, "He's right Blaine, we really are not as young as we used to..."
Blaine shoved his brother off the top of the train with Alexander in his arms. He then holds out his hand towards Kurt, "Come on, we'll just together. Take my hand." He looks ahead and sees the train approaching a high bridge over a rocky ravine, "Come on."
"No," Kurt shook his head.
Blaine groans, "Let's go!" He wraps an arm around Kurt's waist and jumps off the top of the train.
Cooper was rubbing his bottom as he landed in the large snow bank, "I think you hurt my ass."
Alexander pops up out of the snow and meows at them.
Kurt rubs his head and looks around wondering where Blaine was until the ground below him started to move. He jumps up in surprise.
"You must enjoy causing me pain," Blaine groaned rolling over on to his back.
Kurt tugged on his shirt, "You shouldn't have pulled me along then."
Cooper walked over to them with a shivering Alexander in his arms, "Is everyone alright?"
"I'm fine," Kurt said.
"He's fine," Blaine stood up and limped over to him, "I may never walk right again, but he's fine."
Sebastian begins pacing back and forth. He is angry at his minions for failing.
Chandler is nervous and fakes a yawn, "Well, I better get going. I got a busy day letting all the blood rush to my head."
Sebastian reaches over and pulls him back, "He's too far away, isn't he?" The reliquary glows red. Sebastian places it back in the cabinet. "Yes, our power is much stronger when we were near. We must get close to him."
"Oy, not a road trip. I get wagon sick, you know that," Chandler said.
Reaching over, Sebastian smacks him against the wall as he stomps out of the wagon.
Chandler slides down the wall, "You're absolutely right. Travel broadens your horizons.
Sebastian walks out of the wagon and leaps on top. Chandler, who was still dizzy, was following behind trying to catch up.
"We'll catch him and finish him!" Sebastian shouts grabbing the reigns, "We ride this night!" He then looks down and can see there are no horses harnessed. He gave a slow growl.
"Well," Chandler smiled, "We wait this night!"
Kurt was walking ahead with Cooper as Blaine followed still wet from the snow bank they fell into.
"We have a lot of work to do, Kurt," Cooper said to him, "Come along, Alexander."
The cat was chasing after the untied shoe laces on Blaine's shoes.
"We have to prepare you for an audience with Rachel," Cooper said to Kurt.
Kurt scrunched his face, "Who is Rachel?"
"Ah, lady Rachel," Cooper said with sigh, "She is one of the ravishing first cousins, once removed, from the royal family. We must convince Rachel that you are the Prince before we'll be granted a meeting with the Duchess, your aunt I mean."
Kurt stops dead in his tracks, it was the first he had ever heard of this. "What?"
Blaine wasn't paying attention and slams into the back of Kurt. Kurt turns to Blaine and sees him rubbing his now sore shoulder.
"You never said anything to me about having to prove I'm a prince!" Kurt yelled at him.
Blaine just stared at him, "You are the Prince."
Cooper smiled, "We are just going to refresh that memory of yours."
"I don't have a memory and I'm not a prince!" Kurt yelled again. He was outraged by this new information. He then looks down at himself, "Even if I were-no one's ever going to believe it. I'm not exactly..."
Kurt sits down on a log and let's his head fall into his hands, "...good enough." He turned towards Cooper and Blaine, "I can't go through with this."
Cooper looks at his younger brother who is just staring at Kurt. He nudges Blaine with his elbow. Blaine just gives him a look. "Go," Cooper whispers as he pushes Blaine towards Kurt.
Blaine sits down beside Kurt. He uses his hand and wipes the snow away to look into the ice, "What do you see?"
Kurt looks down and can see a dirty boy with a smudge on his face and clothes two sizes to big, "I see a skinny little nobody with no past and no future."
Blaine reaches over and uses snow to wipe the dirt off of Kurt's face. And then he swipes Kurt's hair off to the side and uncovers his face. Kurt is very handsome and he truly looks wonderful. Blaine is staring into his eyes, "See, the prince is under there."
Cooper clapped his hands making the two on the log jump, "Ah. Let us begin!" He picked Kurt up off the log, "You were born in a palace by the sea."
Kurt had wide eyes, "A palace by the sea? Could it be?"
"Yes, that's right," Cooper nodded as they walked down the road, "You rode horseback when you were only three."
Kurt smiled, "Horseback riding? Me?"
Cooper gave another nod, "And the horse..."
"He was white!" Blaine jumped in singing.
"You made faces and terrorized the cook," Cooper sang making gestures with his arms.
"Threw him in the brook," Blaine laughed.
Kurt smiled, "Was I wild?"
Blaine nodded his head as he walked beside them, "Wrote the book!"
"But you'd behave when your father gave that look!" Cooper sang trying to intimate the look King Burt once gave.
"Imagine how it was," Blaine sang.
Cooper waved his arms in the air, "Your long-forgotten past."
The two hooked their arms into Kurt's arms, "We've lots and lots to teach you and the time is going fast!"
Kurt stood proudly, "All right. I'm ready!"
"Now, shoulders back and stand up tall," Cooper sang fixing Kurt's posture.
Blaine showed Kurt how to walk, "And do not walk, but try to float."
Kurt started walking, "I feel a little foolish. Am I floating?"
Cooper laughed, "Like a little boat!"
"You give a bow," Cooper sang bowing.
"What happens now?" Kurt sang.
Cooper smiled, "Your hand receives a kiss!" Blaine grabbed his hand and kissed his hand. Kurt blushed as he looked down at his hand.
Cooper and Blaine linked arms and sang together, "Most of all remember this."
Cooper pointed at himself, "If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it."
"Something in you knows it," Blaine sang out.
Their voices joined together, "There's nothing to it!"
"Follow in my footsteps, shoe by shoe," Cooper walked and Kurt followed behind him.
"You can learn to do it too!" Blaine and Cooper sang out to Kurt.
They were now sitting at small table and had Kurt sitting in front of it with a bowl of broth in front of him. Cooper adjusted his arms, "Now, elbows in and sit up straight."
Blaine shook his head, "And never slurp the stroganoff."
Kurt waved a hand with a laugh, "I never cared for stroganoff."
"He said that like a Hummel would," Cooper laughed out loud.
Blaine waved his arms in the air, "The Samovar."
"The caviar," Cooper added.
Kurt stood up, "Dessert and then goodnight?"
Blaine shook his head while Cooper pushed him back down into his chair, "Not until you get this right!"
Suddenly they were riding on horses and Cooper was bouncing up and down, "If I can learn to do it."
Blaine wasn't riding as steady as his brother was, "If he can learn to do it."
Cooper held onto the reigns watching as Kurt rode with poise, "You can learn to do it!"
"You can learn to do it," Blaine sang watching as Kurt guided the horse to jump up over a log gracefully on the ground.
"Pull yourself together," Cooper sang.
"And you'll pull through it," the two men sang.
Cooper waved an arm in the air, "Tell yourself it's easy."
"And it's true! You can learn to do it too!" While the two sang, Blaine was thrown off his horse landing in a pile of mud.
The threesome had switched over to sitting on the back of a cart, "Next, you must memorize the names of the royalty," Cooper said getting a few papers out, "Now here we have Kropotkin."
"Shot Potemkin," Blaine added.
Cooper grinned, "In the Botkin."
Kurt had a surprised look on his face, "Oh!"
"And dear old uncle Vanya loved his vodka," Cooper explained.
Blaine looked at Kurt, "Got it Kurt?"
Kurt shook his head, "No."
Cooper held the paper closer to him, "The Baron Pushkin."
"He was...?" Kurt sang trying to find the right word.
"Short," Blaine sang for him.
Cooper took Kurt's hand and spun him, "Count Anatoly."
"Had a..." Kurt still wasn't getting it.
"Wart!" Blaine sang to him.
"Count Sergei," Cooper quizzed him.
Blaine pointed to his head, "Wore a feathered hat."
"I hear he's gotten very fat," Cooper sang gesturing towards his belly.
Kurt stood proudly, "And I recall his yellow cat!"
Cooper and Blaine looked at one another confused, "I don't believe we told him that."
Kurt was now walking along and Cooper used his hand to lift his head to stand up straighter, "If you can learn to do it, I can learn to do it!"
Cooper shrugged, "Don't know how you knew it."
Kurt smiled, "I simply knew it! Suddenly I feel like someone new."
"Kurt, you are a dream come true," Blaine and Cooper sang out.
They were now walking along a harbor and heading towards a boat. Kurt sang out strong, "If I can learn to do it."
Cooper and Blaine laughed, "You can learn to do it!"
"You can learn to do it," Kurt grabbed Blaine and Cooper's arms.
"Pull yourself together," Cooper and Blaine sang.
They all joined together singing, "And you'll pull through."
Cooper pulled them towards the boat, "Tell yourself it's easy."
"And it's true," the three voices joining together again.
"You can learn to do it," Blaine and Cooper stepped onto the ship.
Kurt followed behind them, "Nothing to it!"
They all turned back around and sang, "You can learn to do it too!" Alexander chased them at their heels.
Later that night, Kurt was trying on clothes that Blaine had apparently acquired from somewhere and he was trying them on. "No, I look ridiculous!" he shouted from behind a closed door.
"Come out," Cooper groaned, "I know you can do alterations on it."
"You'll laugh," Kurt grunts out.
Cooper shook his head, "No I won't."
"Not you," Kurt said, "Him."
Blaine knew he was talking about him, "I won't laugh. I swear."
The door opens and Kurt steps out in a pair of pants that is much too big for him and shirt that swallows him up. His hair is disheveled from the changing. The vest nearly fits, and the blue color does bring out his eyes.
Blaine couldn't help himself, he just started laughing.
"You said you wouldn't laugh," Kurt pointed at him.
"It's not you," Blaine said still laughing, "It's the outfit."
Kurt storms back through the door and slams it shut behind him. He sighs as he leans on it. Alexander is in the room and staring up at him. "I'm never going to be..." he freezes as he looks at himself. When he shut the door, his clothes got caught and he saw his thinner figure, "Well, maybe I am."
Kurt sets to work right away. He uses the small sewing kit and starts to alter the clothes. Knowing it will look better because he hasn't met a piece of cloth he can't sew.
About an hour later Blaine is leaning on Cooper and the door opens once again. It reveals a now wonderfully dressed Kurt. He always must have fixed his hair, because it was now standing up and coiffed off to the side. His clothes are fitted correctly showing off his figure in a princely manner.
Blaine's eyes are wide as he looks at Kurt amazed.
Kurt walks by them and then throws them a look over his shoulder.
The day at sea isn't the easiest for Blaine because of his sea sickness, but he does what he can. Cooper continues to quiz Kurt on the family.
Into the night, they are all sitting on the deck when some of the ships men begin playing on instruments. Cooper sees it as a wonderful opportunity. He walks over to the men and whispers over to them.
Cooper then walks over to Kurt and holds out a hand. "You want me to dance with you?" Kurt asked confused.
Cooper laughed, "Well you certainly aren't going to learn from anyone else," he tosses his head in Blaine's direction.
Kurt smiles, "Fine. I've never done this before."
"Fair enough," Cooper said as he took Kurt's hand and placed their hands where they need to be, "Just like this." They begin to waltz around on the ship.
Blaine feels his stomach beginning to feel better and he spies the two dancing. He looks at Kurt and realizes maybe he judged him a bit too hard at first. He saw Cooper look over at him and waved his hand over.
Blaine stood up slowly and walked over to them. Cooper let go of Kurt. Blaine gave a bow, "May I have this dance?"
Kurt giggled and took Blaine's hand, "Yes, it would be an honor."
Blaine pulled Kurt close and they began to waltz. Cooper honestly couldn't believe his eyes. The way Blaine and Kurt were looking at each other really shouldn't have surprised him. He looked down to see Alexander lying beside him and he started to sing.
It's one-two-three and suddenly
I see it at a glance -
He's radiant
And confident and born to take this chance.
I taught him well.
I planned it all!
I just forgot...romance!
Cooper, how could you do this?
How will we get through this?
I never should have let them dance!
Kurt looks into Blaine's eyes, "I feel a little dizzy."
"Kind of light-headed," Blaine said as they stopped dancing.
"Yeah," Kurt nodded his head with a short small nod.
Blaine gave him a small smile, "Me too. Probably from spinning, maybe we should stop."
Kurt smiled back, "We have stopped."
"Kurt, um I..." Blaine started to say.
"Yes?" Kurt asked and then they were leaning in close.
Blaine pulled away quickly realizing what was about to happen, "You're doing fine." He patted Kurt's shoulder and walked off.
Kurt looked taken back as Blaine walked away from him. He went and sat down next to Cooper. Alexander crawled into his lap falling asleep almost immediately.
Later in the evening they were in their cabin. Cooper was sleeping on the top bunk of the bed, snoring loudly. Kurt was laying and looking up at the ceiling thinking, Alexander was sleeping next to him.
Blaine was sitting on the ground on a cot. He volunteered to sleep on the ground saying he could sleep anywhere. "Hey, I wanted to show you something."
Kurt turned and looked over at Blaine, "What's that."
Blaine reached into his bag and pulled out a small music box, he handed it to Kurt.
"It's so beautiful," Kurt said turning it over in his hands, "And sad."
Blaine's eyes widened, "Sad?"
Kurt looked up, "Lost. It feels lost. This was his?"
"Yeah, well yours," Blaine shrugged, "You still don't believe that you're the prince do you?"
"I know I must have something to do with the palace," Kurt said, "I've had little flashes of things. But being a prince? It doesn't matter as long as I find my home."
"Well, the only thing you've got when you've got a home is fear of losing it," Blaine said bitterly, "You're lucky you don't remember the revolution. I never had much, but what I did have I lost."
"I'm sorry," Kurt said quietly.
Blaine looked over at Kurt, "Hey, it doesn't matter. You got to make your own way in the world. Don't be sorry for me. I'm going to get what I want don't you worry." He crawls over to his cot and lies down.
Kurt knows Blaine isn't all that serious about what he just said. He certainly doesn't remember, but he can only imagine what it's like to lose everything. Lying back down on his own bed, he holds the music box close and closes his eyes.