Chapter 38 - Nutjob

"Ow! Why did you slap me?" I gave Princess Talia a questioning stare. "You don't like me anymore?"

She smiled sheepishly at me. "Mosquito. Oh, there goes another one!" The princess clapped her hands together, missing my face by a few inches. "It slipped away," she said, looking disappointed that she didn't kill the insect that has been bugging us for the last 15 minutes since we started our conversation. Talia fixed her eyes at me. "Back to my earlier question Van. How's it going with Brooke?"

I didn't know how to answer her properly, so I just gazed at the town below, pretending that I didn't hear her. From where we were seated on the hill, the view was incredibly nice.

She snapped her fingers. "Earth to Vanessa. It's rude to ignore your princess."

"Sorry princess. It's just that I didn't get enough sleep last night," I lied. "My thoughts are filled with Brooke. If it's a schedule, it will be overbrooked. If you know what I mean?" I wiggled my eyebrows. "My heart is Brooke-n too."

Talia started to giggle. "You're such a weirdo." She bit her lower lip. "But seriously though, did you manage to get through her? The two of you were so quiet after you returned from your hunting trip last night. Cybele and I thought something happened. Something good I hope."

I took a sharp breath. "Are you okay?" she asked, concern beginning to show on her face. My stomach made a dive to the floor. How could you lie to someone who worried about you deeply? It was all Brooke's fault. If she didn't admit that to me last night, I wouldn't have to feel guilty about anything. I wouldn't have to choose. I wouldn't have a hard time talking to Talia whom I liked deeply as a friend.

"Yes I'm alright princess." I smiled widely, my mouth beginning to hurt from the pretense. I pointed at the horizon, towards the rising sun. "The gorgeous sun just astounded me. Oh such beauty!" I curled my hands, pretending like I was a poet reciting her best work. "Oh the splendor!" I said dramatically.

"Oh such bullshit!" she said in return, sounding sarcastic. "Can you cut the crap and tell me what happened?" She scowled, looking displeased.

My eyes darted quickly to the house. "Shhh! The spirit of your dead mother will hear you princess. Heaven knows she'll hate you for talking like a pirate. On the other hand, pirates are sexy. Not that I've met one."

"Unfortunately my mother is still alive and well. She's probably out there looking for us right now." Talia searched my face. "And you're not telling me something. I know you long enough now to tell when you're lying. Remember when you were still a nutjob? The time when we first met? I learned all about you since then."

"But I'm still a nut job princess. It's just that I'm your nutjob now." She gave me a lackluster smile. But I could tell that underneath that calm demeanor, the princess probably felt happy that we were like a family now. Except for Brooke that is. But Talia didn't need to know that. "And yes I'm keeping something from you princess," I said mysteriously, just to pique her interest.

Her eyes flashed. She took the bait. "What is it?"

I stood up and dusted myself, taking my sweet time. After I was sure that no grass was caught on my jeans, I stuffed my hands into my pocket and gave her a lopsided smile. "I've always had a crush on your girlfriend."

Talia's eyes widened, making me see the grey of her iris completely. But that was just for a second. Her eyes turned from a look of complete surprise to irritation. "Why you!" She scrambled to her feet, but I was faster. By the time she was up, I was already running away. "Come back here Van! Do you really have a crush on Cybele?"

I stuck my tongue out at her. "That's a secret."

With my quick feet, the princess wasn't able to go after me. She did try her best but I managed to slip away. Whistling over my small victory, I entered the house feeling good about myself, the thing about Brooke almost forgotten. That was when I heard a crashing sound, like a chair slamming on the wall. My heart drummed crazily against my chest almost instantly.

The first thought that came to mind was did the people from the palace find us? If so, did they have her majesty Cybele? I ran quickly to the kitchen, wondering if the commotion was happening there. My guess was wrong. There was nothing but peace and quiet.

Again, the same thudding sound reached my ears, and this time I was pretty sure that it came from somewhere above, on the higher floors. I took the stairs double time, ignoring my labored breathing and the pain shooting at the side of my body. I must rescue Cybele. Following the sound, I reached the third floor. The shout was coming from the last door on the right hall. I almost tripped while running to it.

As I opened the door with trembling hands, I caught sight of Brooke on top of Cybele. If it weren't for the dagger that Brooke was holding on Cybele's neck, I would have though that they were doing something inappropriate. My mind was just screwed up like that. I was already grabbing Brooke around her waist away from Cybele before she could further her intensions.

"Not on my watch!" I hollered.

Brooke struggled on my arms. "Let me down!" She elbowed me on the stomach. This girl could hit! I winced at the pain that radiated, but I tightened my grip around her. There was no way I was going to let go of her after seeing that. "What are you doing?! Get off of me!"

"This is how I love Brookey. I'll crush you to my heart." It was probably not a good time to joke around, but I was also panicking at the same time. What would happen now? Talia would kill her for attempting to harm Cybele. I couldn't allow that could I? I'd probably have to beg the princess on my knees so she could spare Brooke.

"Cybele," Brooke called out, attempting to get away from me. We struggled some more but I refused to surrender.

I caught a glimpse of her majesty, her eyebrows arched. Cybele was staring at us with a hint of disbelief on her face. "What are you doing mate?"

"Just hear me out your highness," I said, keeping Brooke on a tight hold. "She didn't mean any of it ok?"

"I think she did mean it," Cybele answered with an almost bored tone. "Didn't you Brooke?"

"Of course I did. Aaargh! Will you just release me Vanessa? You're so sweaty."

I looked from one girl to the other. My eyes returned to Cybele. "You knew?"

Her brows knitted. "I don't know if you're high on substances right now or you're simply hungry, but you're distracting my training session with Brooke. Can you release her please?"

At the mention of training, my arms released Brooke on its own. I was getting embarrassed by the second. My face was beginning to feel warm. It seemed like I was very wrong about it. But could you blame me?

Before one of them could even talk about what happened, I was already mumbling, "Excuse me, I have to catch a unicorn." With my ears bright red, I got out of the room in a rush.

An hour or two after that, I managed to relax by taking a nap underneath a tree. I woke up refreshed and ready to apologize to the two. So I made a mistake. Let us all laugh about it. As I rounded the corner of the house, I noticed Cybele standing still on a grassy area. She had her back to me. I was just about to call her and apologize when I detected a movement on the bushes to my left. It was Brooke. She was crouching there, concentrating hard.

The sun reflected on something shiny, drawing my attention to Brooke's hand. She was holding her favorite dagger. I had a nagging suspicion that Brooke was about to throw it in Cybele's direction. Since Cybele wasn't looking, she'd probably end up dead. I didn't even realize what I was doing. My feet carried me towards Brooke, allowing me to tackle her in the nick of time. I nearly broke my neck diving on top of her.

I heard Cybele running to us while I pinned Brooke on the ground. "What in the bloody hell Vanessa?" she said as soon as she reached us.

"This is for your own good your highness," I said with ragged breath.

Brooke slammed her eyes shut. "You're such an idiot! You did it again." Her nostrils flared. I turned in confusion at Cybele. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Her majesty shrugged. "She was helping me with my agility."

I licked my lips nervously. "Still training?"

"Still training," she confirmed.

I let go of Brooke and started to walk away without an ounce of explanation. Once again I have managed to humiliate myself in front of two gorgeous ladies. I passed Talia on my way to the house. Her eyes were hooded.

"Having a bad day Van?"

"Super." I entered the house without looking back.

At around lunch time, I was ready to communicate with my fellow humans once again. I did it once, shame on me. I did it twice, still shame on me. But damn it if I did it again. The same mistake would not happen. That was a promise.

I saw Talia at the kitchen. She was writing something on a notebook while seated comfortably. "What's that princess?" I asked to start the conversation.

"I'm making a story," she mumbled, her focus on the paper.

I pulled a chair back and sat. "About what?"

"An alien."

I smirked. "You're that bored huh?"

Her hands stopped mid-writing. She trained her eyes to me, placing the pen on the table. "Yeah. . . We don't do anything here anyway. I may as well use the time to be productive."

"True. . . But what did the alien do?"

Talia smiled radiantly. With her honey-colored hair pulled into a braid like that, not to mention her perfect smile, she really did look like a princess. Too bad she wasn't my type. Talia cleared her throat, shifting my attention back to my question.

"The alien became a panda," she said excitedly. I cocked an eyebrow. "She dressed as a panda in the amusement park so she could look after the person she loved."

"Wow. . . That sounds great princess. I have no idea what you're talking about but just continue what you're doing. It sounds solid though. Good luck!" I stood up hastily. "By the way, have you seen her majesty?"

"She's outside with Brooke. Don't you want to know the rest of the story?"

"Next time." I excused myself quickly, taking care not to be rude. I never realized that the princess had a wild imagination. Aliens? Pfttt! Give me a break. Now where was Cybele?

After a while, I spotted her highness talking to Brooke in the distance. Thank goodness they didn't seem to be training anymore. They were simply standing there. As I got nearer, I saw Brooke hand a glass of water to Cybele. How caring of her.

I watched as Cybele raise the glass. That was good. She needed to quench her thirst. I stared as Cybele slowly brought the glass to her lips. No Van. . . No Van. . . No, no, no, no.

Too late, I thought as I slapped the glass so hard it got knocked out of Cybele's hand. Brooke, Cybele, and I watched as the glass fell to the grass, the water spilling out. They both turned to me.

"Oops. My bad."

Cybele exhaled, as if trying to stay calm. "What is it now Vanessa?"

"When will you get your period your highness?"

I discreetly saw Brooke's mouth slack at the question. Yes it was too weird. "I don't know. Maybe a week from now. Who cares?" she said.

"I do!" I said, sweating uncontrollably. "If you want to impregnate the princess, you have to stay away from cold water."

"What the bloody hell?! I'm a woman." Cybele turned to Brooke. "She lost her mind. The heat got to her. What should we do Brooke? This is the first time I've encountered this."

Brooke attempted to speak. I cut her off. "If you want the baby to be nice and juicy, stay away from Brooke. No not nice and juicy because that's for chicken and your baby with Talia will be a bouncing baby girl. She's human of course. And that will happen because you will live for a long time Cybele. I'll protect you."

Cybele reached out to me. "Van I think you need to sit and rest."

I recoiled away from her. "No your majesty Vanessa will not rest. Vanessa will protect you." Brooke and Cybele glanced at each other.

Brooke said, "Van, just relax. Are you okay?"

The muscles on my face tightened. I pinched my eyes at her. "No I'm not ok. Are you?" I circled her like a wolf ready to tear its victim apart. "Cause you know damn well why I'm acting this way." Brooke's body stiffened. That's right you little girl. Cower before me.

"Van, I think we should talk about this first."

"Oh now you want to talk? As I recalled last night, you seemed to avoid every question I threw at you after you admitted about that thing."

Cybele butted in. "What thing? And what happened last night?"

"I'd like to know that too," Talia said, reaching us at the perfect moment of the conversation. Great! The more the merrier. "We're concerned about you Van. Please tell us what's going on. I know for a fact that you lied about having a crush on Cybele."

"Wait who has a crush on me?"

Brooke yanked my arm and grabbed my face. "You have a crush on Cybele?" With every question they asked, I was getting dizzier and dizzier.

"Don't change the topic Brooke. You have to come clean about that thing," I spat out in anger.

She glared at me. "Shut up!"

Cybele stood straighter and crossed her arms in front of her. "Tell me what's going on. My patience is hanging on a thin line." She glanced expectantly at Brooke. "Well?" Her best friend seemed to cower. It serves her right for wanting to kill Cybele. Even if I liked her, she had no right to do that. Brooke turned to me. Her eyes said one thing- help.

Cybele spoke again. "If no one's going to tell me anything then I'll think that you hate me."

"Van," Brooke murmured, pleading with me using her eyes. She was asking me not to blab.

I didn't know who was worse, Brooke for wanting to kill Cybele, or me for knowing about it and still wishing to protect her despite her bad motive. But what could I do? I was only human. And humans always end up protecting the person they love. In this case it was Brooke. God if only I could turn into a panda like the alien in Talia's story. Maybe things would be so much easier.

"Fuck it!" I said. The three of them looked at me with questions in their eyes. "Oh what the hell. Come here you." I grabbed Brooke's hand, carried her onto my back fireman style, and ran away from Cybele and Talia. Brooke, in her surprise, didn't do a thing.

"You didn't tell us what's going on," Talia said out loud so it would reach me.

"Brooke and I became a couple last night," I hollered back, feeling Brooke stiffen on my back. "We're having our first date."

"The nerve of this person," she complained, starting to struggle.

I smacked her ass. "Just stay still. Let me save you." She didn't complain after that.