Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving, the day where we are thankful for something. Today, we have a new chapter. Hopefully, you guys will find this as entertaining and somewhat confusing. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Love You like Salt

Today was a fun day. The fun time of the year... And the most mischievous. At first, Brigid thought that today was going to be a normal day. She was sadly mistaken, especially when she has fallen for one of Serafina's traps. Having opened the door to the living room, Brigid felt the weight of heavy clothes dumped on top of her. Popping her head from the pile of clothes, the Princess was puzzled. She wasn't hurt luckily, but that doesn't help with her confusion. As the girl struggled out of the clothes, Serafina called out to her.

"Brigid!" immediately, the Royal Guard rushed over to help the eleven year old. Pulling her out of the pile, she sheepishly apologize, "Sorry..."

"It's okay, but what was that?" Brigid questioned, looking at the top of the door to see where the clothes have fallen from.

Attached to the door knob was a string that leads to the top of the doorway. Where the string ends was a basket where the clothes were kept. Realizing that after she opened the door, she must have triggered the string to pull on the basket, letting all the clothes to fall where she stood. Finally, she turned her attention back to her older sister.

"Hehehe... It was a prank meant for Mercy." Serafina nervously laughed.

"Mercy? Why would you want to prank Merce?"

"Well, my beloved Princess, today is April Fool's Day."

"April Fool's Day?" the girl repeated, tilting her head to the side.

"The one time of the year where everyone play pranks on the other. They're harmless, of course." Serafina explained.

"How come I never heard about it?"

"It's something that only the townspeople play and Mercy never participate in such fun. I usually would get into trouble with her because of the many times she fell for my pranks." the older sister explained merrily. "And of course, I would never prank you."

"Did you prank Mercy all those other times because it's more fun?"

"That too, but I wanted to prank Mercy on every April Fool's. You know she can be very stoic sometimes. She had it coming for being so perfect."

"She can be a bit serious with her duties as my guard..." Brigid trailed off, agreeing.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Grak Palace, Mercy was walking down a hallway. She was very cautious today because it's April Fool's. Just this morning, her sister had melted the ice steps in her Snow Room. And unbeknownst that Serafina would pull a prank this early, Mercy had fallen onto the floor. Though the soft snow softens her landing, it was frustrating that she fallen in the first place. Now, Mercy would be looking around her shoulders every once in a while.

Paranoid that Serafina would jump out of nowhere with a new prank on her, the Royal Guard tried to keep a lookout. There would also be a time when her older sister would speak ill of her by intentional means so she can have her sneezing. They have discovered the sneezing after Serafina once spoke badly of her one time. It was harmless of course, but it would always be full of sass. Ever since then, she would do it on purpose with each April Fool's. Speaking of talking ill, Mercy suddenly sneezed as she turned around the corner.

"Choo!"

"Na zdrowie." a voice told her.

Looking up, Mercy smiled as she bowed in front of King Henryk. She did noticed a jewel that has been pocketed by the King, but it was still visible. When asked about the piece of jewelry, the King answered that it was the only item he treasured, but he didn't specified why. The subject was dropped immediately. She was grateful when he handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." the Royal Guard happily took the handkerchief.

"Did you caught the cold, Mercy?"

"No, Your Majesty. I'm sorry. Someone is talking ill about me again. It's only natural that it has come. After all, it is that time of the year."

"I'm sorry, but what is this 'it' you're talking about?" King Henryk became confused.

"Once every year, a creature would arrive on April Fool's Day. And it looks like it's scheming something against me." Mercy sighed, closing her eyes.

"What?"

Opening her eyes, the younger Royal Guard exclaimed, "It's that hot headed monster again!"

In her vast mind of imagination. Mercy has an image of Solais spewing fire with Serafina's face on it. She was the dragon destroying the kingdom with her fiery breath.

'Grr!'

"Achoo!"

Quickly, elsewhere in the forest, Nuada let out a sneeze. Well, that was strange. Was someone making fun of his dragon? Currently, Solais wasn't summoned, so the Daemon Prince sneezed in response to the ill thought. Who would be thinking poorly of his Daemon? That was much of an insult to him too. Anyway, back to the palace...

Giving a sly smile to spite her sister through her imagination, Mercy snapped out of her thoughts when King Henryk cleared his throat.

"So, have you been feeling well?"

"Pardon?"

"That night during the Christmas celebration, I saw you left abruptly. I just want to know if you're fine." Henryk clarified.

"I am. Master... She did a check up on me." Mercy assured.

"Oh really?" the King questioned.

Perhaps it was out of goodwill... Or maybe it was just her crying out for help, but as she passed by the King, she gave him a warning. It came out in a cold, dark, lonesome answer.

"How long do you think this peaceful time will last, Your Majesty? If you continue to remain ignorant, someone might end up getting hurt. One day, you might lose the one thing you love."

The impassive warning alerted the King a bit. He remain quiet as he turned to watch Mercy disappearing around the corner. His concern eventually tainted with suspicion. Just what did she meant by that? What was she trying to say? Perhaps he should investigate the Royal Advisor. Although he trusted her for the help she has lend, old memories resurfaced that she appeared out of nowhere. What could she be planning?

Meanwhile... Back to the sisters, having felt that someone was speaking ill of her, Serafina let out a sneeze.

"Achoo!"

"Sto lat." Brigid happily replied.

"Thank you, Brigid." Serafina respond. "So, anyway... I wanted to lighten her up a bit."

The older sister left out a sigh. She not only have to reset the prank, but she'll now have to make it less predictable. If Brigid was able to accidentally get caught in it, Mercy might be aware of such a simple trap. Plus, she has good reflexes too. Maybe if the prank was moved, perhaps it might work...

Immediately, Serafina snapped out of her thoughts, having heard her little sister's voice.

"I want to prank Mercy too!" the Salt Princess exclaimed playfully.

'Yes... If she is too busy with Brigid's prank, she won't anticipate my prank...' she thought cunningly.

With that spoken, the girl ran off to set her prank. With Serafina's trap taken out to be place somewhere else within the living room, Brigid quickly set her own. Placing a bucket of water on top of the door that has been left ajar, the girl quickly hid, having heard footsteps approaching. As Mercy was walking near the door, once again, she let out another sneeze. Pushing the door wider to walk into the room, the middle sister was sniffling as a bucket of water started to fall, threatening to spill its content all over the Royal Guard.

Mercy gasped, having noticed the falling bucket. With quick reflexes, she reacted to the falling water by simply using her powers to control the liquid. With the swirl of water around her, the middle sister took a few steps - twirling gracefully as if in a dance - before pushing the water away from her, letting it rain the indoor plants that lacks the nutrients to grow.

With her arms crossed, Mercy had a stern look on her face, "Brigid, come out now. I know that you're here. Did Serafina told you about this?"

There was silence for a moment until the Princess hesitantly came out of her hiding place.

"Aw, I was hoping to prank you..." Brigid shyly admitted.

Stepping closer, the middle sister lean over to get to the girl's level, "Prank me? Did Serafina set you up for this?"

Before the Princess could even reply, the sisters' attention were turned to a sound. It was Serafina, who was leaning against a wall.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You have a lot of learning to do, Brigid. You can't prank Mercy like that. She's too clever for her own good."

"And you're too carefree." Mercy retaliated.

"You won't be able to get her like that, Brigid. You'll only be able to prank her... Like... This."

With a snap of her fingers, a rope nearby got burnt and snapped into two. Little did Mercy knew, there was a trap set above her. Realizing the prank too late, she only manged to look up to see the falling clothes before collapsing under its weight. Completely buried, Mercy struggled to get the heavy clothing off of her.

"Serafina!" she yelled.

"Come on. Let's go before Mercy doesn't give us any mercy." Serafina joked as she took Brigid's hand before running away immediately.

"Bye, Merce!" the Princess waved happily as the poor guard was left by herself.

"Achoo!"

Having escape from the room, the sisters began hiding. There was a closet that was barely used. It will make a great hiding place! Getting inside, the sisters giggled before quieting down. Opening the door a little bit to take a peek, Brigid look at the slightly ajar door to see Mercy have gotten freed from the trap. She looked very furious and was grumbling some words that cannot be heard.

"Sera, Merce can be scary like that." Brigid whispered, shivering at the sight of her sister like that.

"Yeah, that's why she is the biggest snow monster." Serafina teased.

"Choo! Achoo!" turning around, Mercy glared at the door.

"Uh oh." the older sister became alarmed.

Panicking, Serafina quickly closed the door only to hear stomping footsteps getting closer before the door was reopened. There was Mercy, standing before them. She was clearly not impressed as she dragged the two of them out of their hiding place. Initially, the responsible sister was yelling at them, clearly fed up with the older Royal Guard. Both pranksters simply stared at her in shock. Of course, Serafina was amused, smiling over that fact that Mercy has lost her cool. She was fuming and yelling in polish.

"O czym myślałeś, Serafina?! Szczerze mówiąc, co jest z tobą nie tak?" Mercy questioned in her rant.

"Nie mogę nic z tym zrobić. Jesteś moją ulubioną ofiarą." Serafina lightly laugh in response.

After her rant, the younger Royal Guard calmed down. With a hand on her hip and a finger pointing at the two of them, Mercy started chiding her sisters like a mother does to naughty children. She chastises Serafina for pulling a prank and for getting Brigid involved in her tomfoolery. The older sister could only smile sheepishly in response.

"Wait, Mercy. Serafina just wanted to have fun, she didn't really mean any harm." Brigid pleaded.

The middle sister sighed, her expression softens towards the Princess. She can always forgive her, but not Serafina. Turning her attention back to the other Royal Guard, Mercy was about to least get an apology out of her sister only to find that she have disappeared. Sighing, Mercy left to find and catch Serafina.

Searching near the Lakefront, the water doll felt pain in her chest. It was almost like she was being watched. Immediately after, she heard Meranda's voice. Oddly enough, her other half had a more softer tone than their last encounter. She sounded more sorrowful.

"What are you planning to do, Mercy? You know well that Master has no time for games." her voice expressed sadness.

"I'm just getting Serafina." Mercy simply replied back.

It was strange, talking to a voice inside her head. If this happen in a crowd of people, the girl was sure that everyone would think that she is crazy.

"You know, you've grown detached from our Master's plans ever since you've worn that bracelet the Princess has given you. I think it's distracting you from what matters most." again, her tone changed.

Why did her other half started to sound so fault finding again? And why is Meranda's voice becoming less of her own? It not only started to talk in a manner like the Royal Advisor's, but it was starting to sound exactly like hers.

Mercy shook her head, "No, no it isn't."

"Really? Then you won't have a problem discarding it, right?" Meranda darkly teased.

"What? No, I would never." the water doll argues.

"This is an order, Mercy. Get rid of that useless trinket. Do as I say." there was a hint of arrogance in her voice.

"You can't order me. You're me." Mercy counters.

"That may be true, but remember, a piece of Master's soul is in me. You are correct, I am you, but I'm also Master, not just you. I am you, Master, and my own person." Meranda reminded.

"No! You can't order me." the girl insisted.

"You really want to deny it? Alright, move three steps forward."

"W-What?" Mercy questioned.

It wasn't directed at Meranda. No, she was questioning why her body was moving on its own. As soon her other half had given her an order, the Royal Guard had found herself taking three steps closer to the Lakefront immediately after.

"I've been watching you, Mercy. Do you really want to become a failure like your sister?" the voice questioned.

"I don't care about that, I can do both. I can do my job and be sisters with Brigid." Mercy became irritated.

"No, you can't. You don't have the choice to make. Even if you do, there would always be one choice." Cailleach's voice snapped within the girl's mind. "Now, Mercy, discard that useless crap. Do as I ordered you!"

The Royal Guard was stunned. The voice sounded more and more like the her master's than her own self doubts. Whenever her hurt gains a voice of its own, it would always be accompanied by her master's intolerance. However, she didn't have time to think for she felt her body acting against her will.

Reluctantly, she felt her hand taking off the bracelet from her wrist. She tried to stop herself, but couldn't. This was strange. It was like she was possessed. Having the bracelet in her hand, Mercy raise her arm above her head before tossing the piece of jewelry into the lake. After that, the voice subsided and she regained control again. Mercy, herself, just look on in shock and disbelief.

What just happened? Her immediate reaction was to retrieve her bracelet out of the water. It shouldn't be a problem, but she became hesitant. What if the Royal Advisor was still watching her through Meranda? She might stopped her or do worse than make her throw her bracelet into the lake. She should not risk it.

Returning to the Grak Palace, Mercy was deep in thought until she got startled by Serafina, who had jumped out of a room.

"Ha, ha, ha! You should have seen the look on your face. Oh..." she laughed.

Recovering from her shock, the younger sister replied in a deadpan tone, "I'm in no mood for games, Serafina."

"Is something wrong, Mercy?" Serafina lost her smile, becoming concern.

"...I rather not talk about it."

That was a lie. She doesn't want to keep bottling her negative feelings, but there was no way her sisters would understand. They don't have the same problem as her. Therefore, the water doll felt it was right to keep the secret to herself. After taking a few steps, Mercy bumped into Brigid.

"Oh, Merce. I'm sorry." the Princess apologize. "...What's wrong?"

"I-It's nothing." the Royal Guard answered.

The girl studied her sister's expressions, hoping to catch something. It was obvious that she was lying again. Mercy would usually lie when something is bothering her. Eventually, Brigid looked down to notice the missing bracelet that was once around her sister's wrist. Upon questioning her discovering, the Royal Guard lied again. Her poor attempt of an excuse was that she lost it when it slips from her wrist. Of course, she has to lie. She couldn't say that she was forced to throw it away. Not only would that hurt Brigid's feelings, that would also bring suspicion.

"I see..."

"I'm feeling a little tired today, Brigid. I'll be in my room if you need me." Mercy admits as she started to walk pass the Princess.

"Merce..." Brigid stops her. She considered talking to her, but shook her head in the end, giving a reassuring smile. "No, it's nothing. Never mind. Rest easy, okay, Merce?"

Giving a grateful smile back, the sister answered tiredly, "Thanks... Brigid."

The girl smiled back before dropping it after Mercy left.

Sighing, she called out, "You can come out now, Sera."

Turning around, she waiting for her older sister to get out of her hiding place. After a while, Serafina moved away from the grand clock.

"You knew I was there, didn't you?" she sheepishly asked. Getting a nod for the answer, she inquired, "Mercy isn't really being herself, is she?."

"She was lying to me. Something is bothering her."

"Don't worry about it, Bri. I'll go talk to her." she assures.

Leaving the Princess, Serafina jogged to catch up with her younger sister. Calling out her name, she stops when Mercy turned around. The older Royal Guard questioned on her sister's sudden change in behavior, but didn't get the answer she wanted. Mercy wouldn't talk about it. Instead, she only gave her an advice.

"It's probably best if you put your bracelet away. We can't get caught wearing it by Master."

"Mercy, what the heck is going on with you?"

"You could almost say... I'm just fed up over everything." she answered with a sad smile before leaving.

Returning to the Snow Room, Mercy had another emotionless look on her face. Her suspicions has been confirmed. Walking up to a mirror, the girl looked at her reflection. As she place her hand on the glass surface, her reflection does the same. Meranda isn't the enemy here. She, too, was just another "pawn" forced to do their master's bidding.

But... Since when had Mercy ever had a hurtful side? She doesn't recall any of it. Of course, she does remember when her heart gem hurts, but she never thought that it could be Meranda. Maybe it has been that way for a long time. Had her hurtful side been with her all this time? It didn't make sense. When? On top of that, how could she have a hurtful side since the beginning? She is a doll after all.

Sighing, the girl just leaned her back against the door, conflicted on what to do and of her own purpose in life.

Later that day, Brigid decided to do another prank that involves salt. And she knew who to prank. Lately, her father has been cooped up in his study. She rarely even saw him, so she plans to lighten up his mind a bit. After all, shouldn't her father spend more time with his daughter? It wouldn't be fair if he continues with his work without some time spent with her. She'll make sure that today - even if the moment would be short - she'll take her father's mind off of work.

Running into the kitchen, she met with the chief and instructed him to leave all the salt from the King's dish, explaining her prank to him. Initially, the chief denies her request, not wishing to get in trouble with King Henryk... Until Brigid pouted in front of him with teary eyes that he complies. He cannot help it. She was very cute when she pouts like that!

"Okay, but only if I don't get into trouble."

Delighted that the chief agrees to aid in her prank, the Princess promise that he won't. After tampering with the other food, including sprinkling some salt into the ice cream, it was only a matter of time until the unseasoned dishes made it to the Dining Room where the King sat, awaiting for the cuisine. As Henryk took a bite, he immediately knew that his food were unsalted. His expression when he took the bite was priceless that Brigid couldn't help, but giggled.

"Sorry, Father." she smiled.

The man chucked at the harmless prank, "I assumed that you knew that today is April Fool's Day. It's alright, sweetheart, but I would appreciate it if you put the salt back into my dish."

Summoning her dragonfly, the Princess sprinkled the seasoning into her father's food before running up to give him a hug, "I love you."

"I love you too, Brigid."

After eating dinner, the King was having a craving for dessert. So, he had ordered a serving of ice cream. Recalling that she had put salt in the ice cream, Brigid was about to warn her father, but it was too late. King Henryk had taken a bite of ice cream to find it taste a bit salty. Silence was among the table.

"Father...?" she meekly called out.

"Brigid... Is this the last prank?" Henryk asked sternly.

"Yes..." she hesitantly answered.

Had she gone a little too far? Most people can't handle salty ice cream.

"Then I'll have you know... This is the best prank you ever did. The salt compliments the sweetness of the ice cream." the King exclaimed.

Taking a try, the Princess took a spoon of ice cream, "Mm... It really does taste good."

"Alright, Brigid, I think that's enough pranks for today. It's time for bed."

"Okay. Goodnight, Father." she waved before exiting the Dining Room.

After leaving her father, the Princess went for a quick visit to say goodnight to Serafina before resuming to her bedroom. She didn't went to Mercy because the door was locked. Entering her room, after changing into her nightgown, the girl was about to head to bed until she stop. It happened so suddenly. First, her head was feeling light and then she collapsed onto the floor.

'Why do I feel weak all of a sudden?' she wondered as she place a hand on her head. 'Everything looked distorted... I must be getting tired.'

Shaking her head, the Princess slowly stood up, but could barely stay standing. Just taking one step has caused her to collapsed on her knees again. Left with no other option, the girl crawled to her bed and finally climbed onto the soft mattress. Her body felt drained of energy as the girl face planted on the soft pillow.

Tilting her head to the side, Brigid stared at the door, trying to focus her vision at the exit. But no matter how hard she tries, everything was moving and it was making her head hurts. It wasn't long before she slips into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Royal Advisor was in her room, having seen the events within a crystal ball. A gleeful smile spread on her face. Yes! She knew. As it was getting closer to Princess Brigid's fourteenth birthday, the girl is starting to feel weak from using her salt powers. Oh, it's a great time to be happy. Placing a hand on the crystal ball, the image transition from Brigid to Mercy.

The Royal Guard was in her room, with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head lowered. She look quite upset and it was understandable.

"In due time, Mercy." Cailleach mutter. "Very soon, you won't have to worry about Meranda. She is only a manifestation of your sadness. Feelings such as regret won't ever plague your mind ever again. Just remain focus, my dear precious doll."

Why go through the trouble with finding immortality, when one can simply transfer the soul into a new body? Especially if the body is basically immortal? So what if the vessel objects? The purpose of creating her dolls in the first place was to make a suitable host for her soul. The "failure" Serafina wouldn't do. She is full of emotions that would only be a hindrance to her plans. But Mercy... Created to be just like her, it won't be a problem. There are just a few emotions she'll have to dispose of. Like disgusting weeds, she'll uproot the plants so there will only be a field full of roses. With the flower's thorny stems, she'll be unreachable.

1) I always wanted to see a fun loving side to Serafina since she was so casual in the game. But further into the game, she became more serious. I wished we could have explore more on her living like a normal human because I can easily imagine Serafina as the mischievous trouble maker. She isn't perfect and there are some flaws to her, but that's what makes her human and I love that part of hers. It makes her seem real. Makes you wonder what her life and Mercy's would be if they were Brigid's real sisters and weren't bound to the Royal Advisor's orders.

2) Did you know? In Asian countries, when someone is talking bad about you, you would sneeze? I wanted to added that between Mercy and Serafina since its kinda a cute moment. Serafina, Mercy, and even Nuada were subjected to ill thoughts.

"Sto lat" is polish used after when someone sneezes, like "bless you" or "geziout". However, the word translate to "may you live for a hundred years". A little joke because they actually did live for a hundred years.

"Na zdrowie" is the same thing as "sto lat". It translate to "may you be healthier". A bit ironic for King Henryk to say that to Mercy because she isn't getting healthier.

3) Mercy's polish line translate to "What were you thinking, Serafina?! Honestly, what's wrong with you?"

4) Serafina responded with "I cannot do anything about it. You are my favorite victim."

5) Brigid taking away the salt from her father's food is a reference to the original story, the Princess in the actual story bringing salt with her to her father after tasting food that didn't taste well. Since King Henryk died before Brigid returned, I decided to have this sweet moment for this chapter.

So... Leave your reviews and I'll see you next time.