Everyday, I Fight!

"No, no, it"s the least I can do..." Charles replied, feeling guilty about something.

Fred just sat there quietly. He didn"t say a thing... he"d been like that for a while now. I thought I"d ask him, but the time wasn"t right.

"You are indeed the best suitor for my angel, Carmine!" Dad brazenly stated.

My jaw dropped, "What?" I asked, shocked and staring viciously at Fred.

He produced a sheepish simper on his face and nodded, "yes".

I sighed as heavily as possible. I felt a bulldozer just ran over me. It was horrible! My stomach churned and all I felt was pure agony.

Truth be told, I really wanted to burst out in rage and say all kinds of rude things... even if I had to burn down the entire castle... that seemed okay.

However, a chill ran over me, and for some reason I abandoned the thought. I was helpless and I needed the answers. This time, even if I"m in the wrong and I"d have to die anyway, I wanted to know the reason... unlike before.

So I stayed quiet for most of dinnertime. A few conversations were thwarted here and there, but I just had my fill of the meal and never joined any of the topics. Soon afterwards, I was in my bed, thinking things through.

_______

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"...!"

I fell out of my bed, panting and whizzing hysterically. It was such a peaceful dream... that I"ve forgotten completely thanks to these horrible knocks!

Furious and drowsy, I open the door and scream, "Okay, which b.a.s.t.a.r.d is dumping their a.s.s, here at this hour!?!"

It took a while to register, after my bawl, to recognize the two men in front of me. My face literally turned pale purple to blue to white. My head was spinning as I remained utterly silent. Even my heart rate was accelerating...

It was the Crown Prince!

Fred was frightened, or at least he seemed to be, while he stood beside the prince with a face of a statue. He was sweating all over himself.

I took a gulp of fear inside my stomach. I stood still and finally... sighed.

I remembered about the engagement of Charles and Carmine again. That"s when that irritating feeling stumbled upon me.

"I could care less what he thinks of me now..." I thought to myself as I unconsciously glared at the dark prince.

Suddenly, Fred popped up and I got distracted. He took hold of me and they both came inside.

"Excuse us~" They carelessly p.r.o.nounced in complete harmony.

Now I was FURIOUS!

I fought off Fred, who was squishing me in his arms. I glared at him and then turned my attention back at that devious dark prince.

Who knows what caught his attention, but all he said was, "If you"re looking for your big brother George, then he is not here."

"Eh?" I was caught off guard.

"Oh yeah," Fred joined the conversation, "where is little George, anyway?"

"With the King." The Dark prince replied with a frown.

"Situation?"

"Something like that."

"How long until he"s back?" I intervened their unusual conversation.

"Probably in a day or two... not exactly sure." Charles replied.

The conversation was going off topic. Moreover, it seems like Prince Charles did not want to give me any information regarding George. Frankly, its p.i.s.sing me off even more!

I can"t help but worry about George... I"ve never actually known much about him. Especially his powers and abilities.

"How is he? Will he be fooled? What if he is in danger? What about the Dark Guild??" I agonize myself even more with all these awful mind plays.

My attention turns to Fred. He has been sighing quite often lately. Practically, at every chance he gets! In the carriage, at dinner, and even now, he has been thinking about something and I"ve noticed that his unusual behaviours have been putting me on edge.

He"s never had this awkwardness when he used to be J...!

"I wonder..." I sighed and pondered, "who should I worry about? The George, who is too nice to others for his own good..." I paused to look at Fred and back into the empty cup, "...or this Fred, who has some screws loose~?"

I couldn"t help but think of myself as a mother hen doting on her two chicks and worrying about them for no apparent reason.

"...Ah!" I recalled with a jolt.

I gave an intimidating look to the dark prince and grinded my teeth, furiously. He tensed up. So I smirked at him and then unconsciously shot my eyes at him as if threatening to slaughter the guy.

"Hey- hey," He barely p.r.o.nounced his sentence, sensing my menacing aura, "if you"ve got something to say, say it!"

...

I eyed at him with rage popping throughout my veins. He had offered me a toast and gave me a simple, as he stated, sip of wine...?!

"Are you fre" but before I could lash out at the outrageous behaviour, Fred took the gla.s.s from the prince"s hand, with a fake smile.

"Thank you," Fred stated as if he would rather bite his own tongue.

I stopped and simmered down for a few seconds.

The both of them just began to have a laugh and joke about how hilarious Dad was with his formality. With each sentence Charles always had this hidden remark about the importance of family and how it made him proud.

I was getting sick of this!

"Listen, Charles," I tried to be polite, "I respect you as a friend, I really do..."

"Thank you," Charles replied, "but I hope you"ll come to respect me as a family member."

"Listen here-" I tried to say, but a thump on the table turned our attention.

Here I was, trying to change the mind of this 50 year-some reincarnated old geezer, for the better of everyone. And yet, Fred was interrupting me, every living moment!

I shot my eyes at my big brother like a maniac and then turned my attention towards the dark prince. They both glanced at each other and then Charles finally looked at me.

He sighed. Long and hard.

"Look," I stand on top of the chair to reach him neck to neck, "you are like, way over your 50s. That"s wrong on so many levels... so why can"t you just choose someone else?!" I tried to plead with my obvious anger flushing within my face.

"Its not fun and games," Charles replied, "I"m serious and you are wrong. Look, Glow, I"m not as old as you think I am. I"m just like you. I was reincarnated into this body. And acting like this... as a mere child... you should know, more than most, how this feels!"

I could see how much I hurt Charles with my unreasonable questions, but...

"Why... why does it have to be my sister?" I asked him with teary eyes.

"I wished no harm upon you, little one, but life isn"t always fair. This might be fate, or otherwise, but I"m not guilty because I..." he paused and coughed, "I might come to love her once I get to actually meet her in person one day."

This was awkward. He was almost confessing to me that he was in love... even though they never met?

"But... but..."

"I promise to cherish her. Please, believe me." He stared at me with his beautiful grey eyes. I couldn"t say no.

I sighed reluctantly.

"I"m still against this!" I shouted, "You"re just a cheap little know-it-all, for now."

The room fell silent as both the boys stared at me in disbelief. The dark prince barely smirked while a frantic Fred decided to change the topic.

"By the way," Fred volunteered to speak out, "how is the search going for my other sisters?"

"..."

For a few moments Charles had tightened up. He seemed distant and cold towards us... Fred in particular though.

"But why?" I thought to myself, "Does it all relate to Fred"s accident from so long ago?"

"I"m curious too." I stated.

The dark prince opened his mouth and air just flew out. No words.

He paused and leaned over, "Not a word to anybody."

Both Fred and I shook our heads in agreement.

"Both the sisters had been spotted somewhere, together," Charles whispered, "running from somebody I presume, but..."

He waved his hands as he sighed and leaned back to the comfort of his armchair.

"Oh," Fred said, disappointed.

"You... what are you even implying?!" I burst out with outrage.

"They disappeared off radar. It"s not an easy task, y"know?" Charles toned himself with a deep voice I wasn"t familiar with.

I sunk back into my own chair, disappointed. Silent and still.

"I have no idea on what to do next. I"m in a blind spot and right now I"m bombarded with enough troubles as is... the Dark Guild is a really tough opponent for me." Charles admitted.

"What"s tying you down that you"re..." I paused again without completing my sentence.

"You." Charles replied to me, "I have to protect you and Carmine and everybody in the Windstorm Tribe. A lot of workforce has to be depleted in these kinds of risky situations. I can"t let a single loose end go. I have to hide you"re powers from everyone and I must protect my fiancee, too."

"Plus, my father is currently sick in bed. If he dies than I must sit on the throne and right now, apart from you guys and George, I don"t have many trusted aides. I"m in a cat and mouse battle." Charles went on.

"..."

I couldn"t utter a single word. I was devastated on one hand and at the back of my mind, I couldn"t help the urge to ask that idiot prince whether he was telling us the truth or not.

In my eyes, Charles was still, "a person of interest".

Through the corner of my sight, I noticed Fred"s imbalanced emotions of suspicion and disdain, which eventually strayed my train of thoughts. All I could squeeze out of my mouth were empty sighs.

"I don"t blame you," Fred said with a gloomy smile filled with sympathy, "everyone has their ups and downs."

"Actually," I interrupted with a squeaky voice, "There"s something you... both, should know."

Their heads slowly flinched towards me. My throat dried up and my legs turned shaky as I stood up on the chair.

"What?" Fred seemed too curious to let it go.

"I want to talk to you about my life." I confessed.

Too troubled to get a hold of my physical body, and the images of the fateful night drawing in, my memories were becoming too much. So I had to float and drop myself on top of the small coffee table between both the boys.

"Go on," The Dark Prince told me.

"As you both already know, I was a delinquent in my previous life. Then, after J"s death, I soon joined an underground gang to avenge him..." I paused.

"That," the Dark Prince admitted, his elbows crossed, "Is a story I"m not quite familiar with..."

"..." Fred had no special remarks. He just went on staring at me in silence.

"I had to drop out of high school because of my failing grades and violent behaviours. I also had some drug problems back then, which continued for just two weeks after I joined the gang, named VENOM."

Fred banged his left hand in front of me.

"You..." he glared at me and then looked away in anger.

"I"m sorry..."

"Is that the gang... the same one who"s leader picked you out of the streets for shelter? Hmm... but, didn"t he sell you out when you got caught by the guards?!" Charles questioned me in fascination.

"Police." Fred corrected him.

"Yes, that"s the one." I hurriedly replied.

"You know, Gloria," Charles said to me in a more gentle voice, "Fred has always boasted about Grade. His brother, his commander, his boss, his best friend and the one who saved him... I"ve heard more stories about you than Fred himself. So, I know all about, the promise."

"I see," I replied back to him with a fl.u.s.tered face.

I turned to look towards Fred who had long since been staring off into s.p.a.ce trying his best not to cut me off.

"I"ll tell you briefly about how, why..." I paused and stared at Fred once again, "... and who."

That"s when Fred looked back to me. That"s when his eyes sparkled like a thousand fireflies. His intrigued expression met mine, but he just snorted and looked away.

"I was killed slowly in a torture chamber. More specifically, my own room that was decorated to be that way." I said.

"Oh my," Prince Charles gasped as he looked straight at me, holding my tiny hand, while Fred had his back on me while I told Grade"s tragedy.

His shoulders were relaxed now, so I believed Fred would not lash out on me.

"The reason I was murdered this brutally was because I... betrayed the organization and escaped." I heaved a sigh, not wanting to remind myself of those terrible times.

"The creep"s a monster who killed you...!" Charles blasted his sword up in the air as if he was ready to kill THAT person.

"So I was right. It was him." Fred spoke in few words.

"Yep, the one who killed me was my Boss, Velenort." I finally let it out.

Almost drunk and reddish with rage, Fred banged once again, on the coffee table. Thankfully, I flew out of his grasp, as soon as I sensed danger. The gla.s.ses that were filled with water or wine, spilled all over. With his temperament out of control, he went and hit the door and finally rushed out of the room, grabbing his stomach.

Charles sighed as he dropped onto his chair, thinking something. All that came out of his mouth after the long uncertain silence was...

"Rest Well."

With that, he left, leaving me alone in that empty dark room.

Things were slowly untangling little by little now. I was relieved and depressed at the same time. Hoping that this was all just a dream, and nothing else, I crawled back into my fluffy pillows.