View source for Dimension Past: A Day in the Palace (Bow)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2024/04/24
|Location=The Golden Kingdom
|Synopsis=Bow, seperated from the others trapped in Beryl's portal, finds himself in the Earth Kingdom's palace on the day of the great party, and ends up pitching in to help with music and food - and to reflect on the time he spent back in Castle Brightmoon and how much he missed his best friend.
|Cast of Characters=226
|Tinyplot=Operation: Past
}}
As he stepped out of the portal, Bow looked around him. The room he had arrived in seemed to be a linen closet of some kind. Far too small for the group he had been with just a moment ago. Confused, he asked out loud. "Madoka? Ami? Usagi?" Nothing. He was alone. But remembering what had been drilled into his head about not interacting with others, that they were all echoes of the past and as long as he remained out of the way, he'd be fine. 

But he realized that he could not just stay in the closet and hope that a new portal would open up. It took a bit to find an outfit that fit, but eventually Bow found a black tuxedo with white tie and tails - he de-henshined to put on the clothing, leaving behind the street clothing that he had been wearing when he changed forms to scan the portal back in Juuban that had led him here. As he tugged on the clothing, he looked down at his stomach and considered for a moment - but finally with a sigh, he slipped on the cummerbund, covering his abs. "When in Mystacor." he muttered to himself as he moved to open the door to step out into the hallway. 

And collided with someone as soon as he stepped out. "Watch out!" the man's voiced called, and then grabbed Bow by the shoulders, causing the teenager to panic. He had just gotten out the door and already broke rule one! "You don't see me... you don't see me..." he started to speak over and over, as if it would be words to power. 

"What are you talking about?!" the man said in exasperation. "Of course I see you! And we need to get to the orchestra pit now, it's only a few moments more until the curtain goes up!" And that's when Bow noticed that the man was older than him - but was dressed in the same outfit he was in, causing Bow's eyes to widen in panic. "....Oh ''no''." 

Having little choice but to commit to the moment, Bow started to walk with the man in the hopes that he would find some side passage to slip down and disappear, some way out of it - but at the same time, curiosity tugged at him, wanting to hear the music from this time - to experience and live it... and in the end, that won out as he followed after the musician to head to the stage entrance. "What piece are we performing?" 

"Yumemigokochi no warutsu." the man said, and looked at Bow in confusion. "You should know that though. What instrument do you play?" he asked, suspicions rising. 

''The Dream Waltz''. Crystal Hope translated directly into Bow's brain, as he scrambled to find a reason why he didn't know that. "Violin!" he offered quickly, "I'm a fill in after one of them fell ill. Bad bit of hand pie." Please let that work, he prayed to whatever deity might be listening on this side, and if not, let Angella hear him. 

"Right. I didn't know about that, but I'm glad they were able to find a replacement quickly enough." the man said as he gestured to the chairs. "There's where you will be sitting with the rest of the strings." As Bow moved to take his seat, he looked confused. "Where are you going?" he asked the older man. 

"To where I belong." he commented, as he moved up to the conductor's stand and settled into place, taking out his baton to tap against the stand to alert the orchestra to be ready as Bow scrambled to open the violin case and set the instrument against his shoulder. The curtain rose on the opulent ballroom, and a moment later, the small symphony began. It only took Bow a couple of moments to catch onto the waltz, and while the music was written down in front of him, he had always learned better by ear and it was catching up him. 

(Song Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di_5GiiBaDY )

The waltz was lively and vibrant and he looked out at the nobles that paired up and took to the floor, twirling about in their finery, a kaleidoscope of fashion as the waltz played out. However, try as he might, he could not spy or lay eyes on Mamoru, to see if he had arrived or if he even had shown with Usagi. Nor could he see any of the shittenou, which was a blessing from what he'd been told. 

What he did see, however, was the stage door open, and a young man standing there, a violin in his hands, and gesturing to someone else as he pointed to where Bow was sitting. "Oh Brightmoon." Bow muttered, waiting for the song to end as he quietly and quickly slipped out of the seat and hustled backstage, ducking away from security and hoping that the rule was true - if you don't interact, you'll get away. More importantly, he felt his stomach rumbled and realized he hadn't had eaten in a bit. 

Making his way along the stage props and orchestra rooms, Bow caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. Opening the door, he saw another portal and let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully this will be the one that brings him home - or at least link him back up with his friends. Taking off the jacket, bow-tie and cummerbund, he set those items to the side and stepped through the portal. 

And stepped into another room - this one much busier and lively. The sound of meat hissed on the grill, the rattle of metal on metal, the clatter of ceramic and porcelain, the sound of knifework on wood as Bow found himself in the busy royal kitchen, and his dark eyes widened as he glanced towards the multi-tiered cake that was being prepared. And that is when someone bumped into him. "Stop gawking!" the female chef called to him. "And get into your uniform if you're going to help out, I don't want my people half-dressed!" 

"Oh... oh! Sorry!" Bow ducked out of the way, noticing that there was a changing room for the chefs. Making his way within, he grabbed a sous chef's jacket to throw on over the shirt he was already in, and grabbed a toque to slip onto his head before stepping out back into the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, with the hopes that he could avoid people and just observe as they created the royal feast that they were preparing. 

Eventually, though, he noticed one dish in particular that grabbed his attention and he made his way over, carefully stepping aside as someone rushed by with a freshly prepared tray of tarts. The smell of them was enticing and his stomach growled in angry protest again - loud enough that it actually caught the attention of someone. 

"If you're hungry, there's some hand pies that did not past inspection over at that station. You can go work there!" One of the chefs called out to him. "But I warn you, they are the young prince's favorite and if you do not make them correctly, he will have you sent to the frozen wastes!" A twinkle of amusement showed in his eyes, he may be teasing the teen, but he doesn't need to know that. 

A gulp came from Bow as he made his way over to the table where the ingredients were laid out, and he grabbed one of the misshapen rejects, popping it into his mouth and chewing. "Soo good...." he murmured, enjoying the taste, flavor and really... just the mouth feel as he chewed through it and moved it around with his tongue to enjoy it completely. And as he considered what to make - after all, he had no idea what went into this recipe, he realized that while these may not be the same hand pies that he's heard Mamoru talk about when they were on the camping trip, they were at least a similar recipe - and that they were similar to one that he remembered making back on at Castle Brightmoon when they were preparing to head out into the field for a campaign. 

A couple of breaths were taken in, and then Bow set to work, going to gather a few extra ingredients. First, he took the smoked pork tenderloin and started to cut it down to cube it as he got it down into bite-sized pieces. Once that was cut down, he turned his attention to a small basket of figs, cutting them up as well, dicing them down as he moved to some pecans, smashing down the nuts. Finally, he worked on the baby spinach and placing it all in a bow, mixing it with fresh goat cheese, completing the mixture for the pies. 

As he worked on the pie crust, he was taken back to thinking about doing this with Glimmer - she would often sneak into the kitchen when he was working on preparing for deployments and the two of them would talk and laugh as they'd make some snack and share it - he realized these would be a great snack for the pair of them. Would he ever see her or Castle Brightmoon again? He felt the sadness well up in the bottom of his stomach. He missed her. Bow felt his heart hurt as he realized how much he missed the once-Princess now Queen. And how guilty he felt that he wasn't there when she needed him most. That he had failed her. That everything he's doing now, the runestones, Adora - it was all to find Glimmer and bring her home. He felt the tears stinging his cheeks as he allowed himself a moment to cry, to mourn. To miss his best friend and someone he loved dearly as such.

''Bow?'' for a moment, it sounded like Glimmer speaking to him. "I'm sorry..." Bow started to say. ''Bow!'' It wasn't Glimmer, it was Crystal Hope. ''Back on task.'' she warned him, ''You can reminisce later.'' "Right." Bow said, turning his attention back to completing the crust, a buttery affair as he started to fold it into the pie shape as he filled each one with a dollop filling. Closing them up, he made his way to the oven to set them in to bake. 

Stepping back, he spent the next twenty minutes watching the chefs as they worked, not directly interacting with them as he observed their work. Finally, he made his way back to the station he was at as he pulled the savory hand pies from the oven and set them to the side. Taking one to blow on to cool, he finally took a bite, chewing on it with an open mouth to suck in a few breaths to cool the filling in his mouth. "Sooooo gooood..." he murmured, before he noticed that a new portal had opened. "I guess it's time to go." he commented, grabbing a towel to wrap up a couple of hand pies for the road before he entered the portal that would take him to civilization's end.