Hello, my beautiful creatures! Okay so to paraphrase Jim, I didn't think when it came to this chapter. I just wrote. Also, I had a problem with my "accent" (I live in Michigan but I have a Western New York accent from my mother so I say a few things a bit differently) when it came to theater and I wanted my Scottish Boy to suffer like I have.
I hope you guys, gals, and all those in between enjoy this update!
"Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will! Where shall we dine?—O me! What fray was here?" I cringed to myself as I heard my accent take over within the last line.
Damn Scottish accent. Sometimes I wish I had Douxie's English mannerism. It would be much easier to have within moments like these.
"Have no worries, Mr. Lake. We're only a week in and I understand the struggles of your native vernacular. Would you wish to restart?" I gave her a small nod before I took a deep breath to restart the line once more.
"Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will! Where shall we dine?—O me! What fray was here?" I guested at what was supposed to be a small bloody fight between a few side characters. "Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. Here's much to do with hate but more with love." I gave the person playing Benvolio a confused look before bringing my hands to my sides. "Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first created! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!" My voice surged through the lines before softening as I continued to read the line from my small clipboard. "Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this." I looked over to the actor playing Benvolio once more with an annoyed look as the actor was failing at a fake chuckle while wiping at his eyes. "Dost thou not laugh?"
"Beautiful you two!" The boy that was about to present his line seemed quite annoyed for a second as Miss. Janeth cut him off. "Can we skip to the Cupid's arrow speech near line two hundred? I would like to hear that one before we move onto the next scene. I nodded my head as I flipped a couple pages over my clipboard before I found it. "Begin when you can, you two." I gave her a small smile as I read over the lines quickly. Before I decided to speak, I looked back at the boy I was acting with to see Claire standing in the wing knowing that her introduction scene was the next we were working on.
"Well, in that hit you miss. She'll not be hit With Cupid's arrow." I felt a genuine smile appear on my face as her eyes met mine. "She hath Dian's wit."
Well isn't that true. If I learned anything from the small religious teaching Morgana gave me is that she would be the closest human to the Goddess' wit I have met.
I pulled my eyes away from Claire's as I made sure it was obvious I was only trying to picture the girl that Romeo was. "And, in strong proof of chastity well armed From love's weak childish bow, she lives uncharmed. She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor bide th' encounter of assailing eyes, Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold. Oh, she is rich in beauty, only poor That when she dies, with beauty dies her store."
"Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste?"
"She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste, For beauty, starved with her severity, Cuts beauty off from all posterity. She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, To merit bliss by making me despair. She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow Do I live dead that live to tell it now." I mentally grumbled at myself as I tried to present the those lines like I did not despise them.
One thing you learn from Shakespeare is how truthfully long it was in-between my era to the modern on certain ideas being practiced. These lines are about a young teenager moping around about the fact that the woman he supposedly loves was sworn to Virginity. At least, that's the main point I could gather. I hate these early lines of my character. He's filled with sadness due to the love of reciprocation and he won't let the idea that the woman he loves sworn herself away from love.
This might be incredibly modern for a knight of Camelot to think, but I have always believed that if you loved someone, platonically or not, that you'll love them through their choices. That if it is someone you romantically want to be involved with, that you would be understanding and stand beside them. No woman owes a man their body for love just as love is not owed to those that believe that to be true.
This might just be incredibly modern of me, or the fact that I was raised by a woman far ahead of her time.
"Wonderful work! Now let's get set act one scene three." I took this as my opportunity to walk off toward Claire's side of the stage and I let out a small sigh once I was by her side.
"I could tell from here you hate that paragraph you recited. Trust me, I've been there. Don't let it get to you." I smiled softly toward her as I rubbed the back of my neck with my left hand.
"It just sounds so," I waited for a moment as I tried to get the right word into my mind.
"Sexist?"
"I was going to say misogynistic but that works as well." This caused a small laugh to come out of her as she crossed her arms over her chest with her clipboard script tucked under her right arm.
"And I thought I enjoyed you before." I felt a small blush appear on my face as I gave her a lopsided grin.
"And here I thought you liked me for my Scottish charm."
"That's just an added bonus." With this, Claire walked off onto the stage with a toothy grin being flashed toward me over her shoulder before she gave her attention back to Miss. Janeth and her task at hand. All while I felt like a blushing fool as I stood in the wings.
She wasn't just flirting with me, right?
"She's interested, you muscle head!" I felt a small smack slap itself across the back of my head as Douxie was obviously annoyed with me. "And you actually reciprocated and she seemed to enjoy it, James!" Once I described the events of rehearsal to him later that night.
"How am I supposed to know that?"
"James. You've had maidens in Camelot give you their handkerchiefs during the knight tournaments. What did that mean at the time?"
"They thought I needed to clean up?" I gave Douxie a nervous smile as we walked out of the Hero's Forge together. A loud smack told me enough that the wizard face-palmed over my answer. I looked over to him seeing he dragged his hand down his face with an annoyed look on his face.
"You're a rather oblivious boy, aren't you?" We started walking through the heart of Troll Market as he continued speaking. " It was to showcase their interest in you and if you accepted, you had an interest in them as well."
"Good thing I never accepted then." I adjusted my jacket before slipping my hands into its pockets. "No wonder why Morgana would tease me afterwards though."
"You're helpless."
"Never said I wasn't." I gave him a large smile before our attention was captured by a large roar within the tavern some of the trolls would hang around. We walked over without hesitation as we were welcomed to a small number of trolls surrounding Draal who was chugging down his drink before slamming it down.
"You should see him! A small sack of flesh and bones that is supposed to protect us!" This caused a hearty laugh out of the troll as he continued. "Just a whelp. A blundering chi-"
"A blundering child, eh?" I slipped my hands out of my pockets to cross my arms over my chest as I allowed Douxie to do the talking. "I'll let you know this child was an honored knight of Camelot that was one of the few that fought against what Arthur had done to your kind. And where were you? Were you even thought of at the time?" A growl grew out of Draal as he answered the wizard with a bitter tone to his voice.
"I was one of the warriors within the Battle of Killahead Bridge. The battle that ended the surface war against the Gum-Gums and our kind. And where was your knight of Camelot for that?"
"Battling against the Pale Lady herself." I spoke myself as I took a step closer.
"That's preposterous! The Pale Lady is nothing but a myth to make the Gum-Gums loyal to Gunmar!"
"She's real and if you're arrogant enough to not believe that she lives, then I'm quite glad you weren't called by my master's amulet."
"Those are fighting words, wizard." I narrowed my eyes toward the troll as I dropped my hands to my sides.
"If you're threatening a battle, I would like to say that your hatred in us, specifically me, is pointless. You act as if I wanted to be called upon by the amulet. I'm already tied to the path that I'm leading and I personally believe that I don't need Daylight to know my destiny." I slipped my hand into my jeans pocket and pulled out the amulet to hold it tightly within my hand. "But destiny had called upon me. You of all people should understand it is something I cannot stop, but I can embrace it. Just as all those before me and just like all those that will follow." I slipped the amulet back in my pocket. "The amulet isn't something you can claim. No matter how much you desire it." I grabbed Douxie by his shoulder as I nodded my head toward the exit. "We should leave. We've extended our stay for too long, my friend." We started walking away from the troll as he called out toward me.
"You seem to place yourself on such a high horse, then why not battle me, Trollhunter?" I stopped for a moment before turning my body toward him once more.
"Why shall I prove myself with violence against someone I'm supposed to be protecting? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" I turned my body toward the exit once more and started making my leave again. "Let's go, Doux."
"You couldn't have asked me to leave any sooner." The Englishman grumbled as he walked out beside me.
"Keep your emotions stable, my friend. We cannot let his words tempt us. Remember what Merlin had taught you and that you have taught me. Only a brute tries to rage an unneeded war." I tried my best to mimic the old wizard's voice as I spoke one of his favorite lines.
"Doesn't mean I don't want to become a barbarian sometimes." I chuckled lightly at my friend as I placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." I patted his shoulder once as a wide smile appeared on my face. "Whatever happens I know I have Merlin's apprentice on my side and I don't think I need anything more than that."
"Don't try to charm me, James."
"Charm? I would never do such a thing!" I gave him a cheeky smile as he turned his head toward me as we started our way up the staircase leading to Troll Market's exit.
"Say that to your Juliet."
"So now you foil out the 3x to each of the terms inside the parentheses." I nodded my head as I tried my best to follow Claire's instructions. I started struggling to keep up with my math lessons as my time between Trollhunting, theater, and normal school hours started to make my studying time to keep up with modern ideas to slip away from me. One of the subjects that was the worst for me was algebra and it was something I had to keep on an average grade to keep the teachers off of me. Especially my director, who was also technically my issue.
"I think I got that one." I circled my final answer as Claire shot me a small smile.
"Yep! Nice job. You're getting it. It just takes a little bit of time."
"And your ways of explaining it." I dropped my pencil onto my notebook as I looked over to the girl beside me at the outside lunch table. "Thank you for all of this."
"No problem. Might as well put my knowledge to good use." She knocked his fist into my left shoulder jokingly as a wide and genuine smile appeared on her face. I noted that the left corner of her lips always seemed to rise higher than the right as she did so. "I can't be Juliet without Romeo anyway, so call it making it fair."
Maybe I was getting too close to her. Same can be said about Tobias as well. I was becoming extremely attached and it frightened me. The only people I was close to growing up was Douxie and Morgana, and Morgana ended up becoming something I was now haunted by in my dreams.
But that doesn't mean the same fate would become of them as well, right?
While I watched her tuck a small strand of hair behind her ear before pointing at the next equation in my notebook. She was talking and I could swear I was trying my hardest to listen, but my mind was wandering off on its own.
She's already gotten a bit too close for comfort with my secrets. If Bular had gotten the best of me then, she would have never known what truly happened to me. Especially since with Bular, there is never remains when it comes to humans. I would be dubbed missing even though I would have been in the stomach of a Gum-Gum.
I can't risk her within all of this, but I have no right walking away.
Her eyes caught mine as she seemed to ask me a question. My mind refused to register as I finished my final thought.
I don't think I could even if I tried.
"What was that?" She rolled her eyes jokingly as she dropped her hand that she was using to explain whatever it was that she was talking about into her lap.
"Were you seriously not listening?"
"I was a little distracted." My voice was a lot softer than I wanted and it was a bit telling as of what it was that distracted me. I felt my heart skip a beat within my chest as I saw a slight tint of pink cover the tops of her cheeks. I was trying to understand if it was due to her understanding the rawness that came with my response or if she was blushing due to embarrassment. Either way though, I don't think it was a negative response. I wanted to speak but I was afraid of ruining the small moment.
But it seemed that a blonde brute I have dealt with before had other plans.
A loud slam made his appearance known to me as I looked over to see that Steve had chosen Eli to be his target once more. I grumbled to Claire as I saw him smack the books the smaller boy was carrying straight out of his hands.
"Does this guy never stop or something?"
"Welcome to Steve Palchuk. Grade A dick with no real A grades." I shot Claire a smile before the sound of Eli's yelp as he was slammed into the lockers once more made me cringe. I stood from my spot almost instantly after that as I pulled my sweatshirt off and handed it to her.
"Keep an eye on this for me, will ya?" She gave me a worried look and called out to me as I already started making my way toward the small commotion.
"Jim!"
"What do we do when we see someone struggling?"
"We lend a hand."
I tapped Steve's shoulder, grabbing his attention away from the smaller teen. It greeted me with a snarl as he instantly pushed me hard into my chest to try to get me out of the situation.
"And why do we do that, James?"
"Because not everyone can fight for themselves."
I took the push with ease as I held up my hands to show I didn't want to fight him. "I'm not here to fight you. Just leave the poor kid alone. You've done enough to him from what I saw."
"But what if they can handle themselves? Do we still jump into battle?"
"I told you once, Buttsnack! Stay out of my business!" He pushed me against right into my chest but I held my ground rather well.
"All because someone can doesn't mean they should."
"Wonderful, James! You'll become a valiant knight one day, I'm sure of it."
"Thank you, Morgana."
"It's my business when you're tormenting someone for no reason." I narrowed my eyes at him as he took a step forward to glare back at me.
"Do I need to teach you a lesson?"
"Do I need to remind you what I said last time?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I gave him a large smirk. "I'm not one for pointless violence, but if you punch me, you better hope it knocks me out, mate." This only seemed to anger him more as he threw back his fist and followed through to knock me across the left side of my jaw. I kept my head where it turned due to the impact for a moment as I moved around my jaw for a second. I could tell out of the corner of my eye that a crowd had formed around us. One of them catching my attention was Darci, Mary, Toby and Claire standing there together. Claire specifically watched with wide eyes as she clutched onto my sweatshirt as if it was a life line. I felt like telling her I had this covered, but I turned my head back toward Steve with a lopsided grin on my face.
"What the best you can do? Felt like a pillow smacked me." This caused him to swing back his opposite fist and punch the same way onto my right cheek but this time instead of rotating my jaw for a second afterwards, I gave him a soft chuckle and another lopsided grin. "Again. Is that the best you can do?"
"Why I outta-!" Within a second, he swung his fist at me once more as another voice joined his as he yelled out.
"Stop it-!" But both fell silent as I grabbed his right fist mid-air with ease. I smiled as I knew I showcased that I allowed him to land the few punches that he did. I looked over my shoulder to Claire who I knew was the one that called for us to stop.
"Don't worry about me," I pushed Steve's fist back as I turned my attention back to him. "I can handle this." He looked down at his fist for a second and then back up to me. He was seemingly having difficulty trying to understand how I was able to do what I did. "I've been taught how to fight since I was a kid. My mom made sure I knew how to defend myself, and if I needed to, others." I took a small step toward Steve as I let a small growl come from my throat. "And if you keep on tormenting people the way you have been, know that I'll be right here to stop you. To remind you that there is always someone stronger willing to knock you down a peg."
"You talk mighty big for someone that won't even fight back."
"I don't need to fight back to prove myself."
"Then why shed off your jacket, asshole? You only do that if you want a fight."
"I didn't want any blood on it." I gave him a cheeky smile as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Even then, I don't think you could handle me actually wanting to end a battle. I have fought those twice my size and I have made them fall to my feet. You wouldn't be much of a challenge."
"Then prove it asshole!" He pushed me in my chest once more as he then came closer to my face to snarl. "Prove you're as strong as you claim you are. Or are you too much of a pussy to punch me?"
"I don't need to prove my masculinity to you."
"Not to me, but what about your Juliet over there?"
"Don't." I narrowed my eyes at him as I dropped my arms to my sides.
"You know, I always wanted to ask her out to a Papa Skull concert." He whispered to me with venom dripping on every word. "How would that feel? Having your girl taken out by the person you seem to hate the most?"
"Claire wouldn't deal with the likes of you."
"You don't know ladies like I do, Buttsnack." I growled as he looked past me for a minute before looking back to me with a sick smirk. "But now I know exactly who to torment you with."
"Keep her out of this."
"And why not? You won't stay out of my business. Why should I stay out of yours?" He chuckled slightly as he took a step back. "Stay out of my way, Lake. Or she'll be next on my list."
"Threaten her one more time, I dare you!" I let my full accent out as I yelled back at the blonde. My hands curled into fist as I did so.
"And what are you going to do about it, huh? Tell me to stop? Cry to your mommy? Have your pussy brother-?" I couldn't stand him speaking anymore as I cocked my right fist back and knocked him right in the face. I heard a crack come from his mouth before he twisted from the impact, landing on his side as he held his mouth with his left hand. I knelt down beside him as I could tell he had finally realized with the tears welling up in his eyes that I wasn't toying with him.
"Never, disrespect my family, again." My accent curled around the words as I stood back up to my full height. "And if I heard you threaten her again, I'll do more than just punch you. Understand?" The kid spit onto the ground, a small amount of blood and a white little piece of what I could tell was a tooth came out as he looked up to me wide-eyed.
"You boke my thucking tooth!" I gave him a blank expression as I put my hands into my jean pockets.
"A small price to pay for the torments you've been guilty of." I felt guilty for what I had done to him, but I knew he wasn't going to stop. No matter how much I begged. No matter how much I warned him.
Then he brought up Claire and I wasn't going to deal with it. Not as he disrespected Douxie as well.
I couldn't get myself to look back at what I've done. A strong pang of guilt took over me as I decided to rush away from the situation. I walked right through the crowd that was created, much help to those that got out of the way without a second thought. I couldn't stand to look behind me. To see the faces that looked at me as if I was a monster in disguise for punching the face of that who tormented them. Once I got to an empty hallway in the outside corridors, I allowed myself to lean against the wall before slowly sliding to the ground. My feet laid out before me as I looked up to the sky as I tried my best to take slow but calculated breaths.
It's that what you told me, Morgana? To protect those I care for? To stand up for them when their honor is belittled? For the love of Excalibur, I wish I would have listened to you more. You and mother tried to create the best man you could out of me, but I have my faults and I'm sorry. I let my temper get the best of me today.
I felt a small tear roll down my cheek.
What is wrong with me? I did what was right.
Right?
My moral compass feels as if it's been re-wired. My mind feels like it can't even contemplate what had just happened. It was all so sudden. I was proud of what I did one minute and then the next, well, I wasn't. Why was I acting this way? I never felt this torn before.
But before there was a clear line that wasn't supposed to be crossed. Life within Camelot was black and white. You did as you were told and you protected those you loved. Follow the crown's orders and you would be rewarded. But there were so many grey areas here that I couldn't help but be lost within. This one being one of them.
"You ran off quick." I snapped my head to my right to see Claire standing there. My sweatshirt in her hands as my bag hung off her shoulder from where I left it to join the commotion. I slowly looked away from her as I placed my hands in my lap. I brought my legs up so they bent at the knee while my feet were planted firmly on the floor.
"Couldn't handle it." I wanted to speak more than that, but I couldn't get myself to as I fiddled with my hands. I was waiting to hear her footsteps leaving down the hallway, but instead I got a soft thud at my feet. I looked up to it to see that she dropped my bag there. I looked up to her to see she then leaned against the wall and did the same motion I did to sit beside me. I watched her drape my sweatshirt over her lap before turning her head toward me with the same soft look in her eyes like before.
"I can tell." I swallowed dryly before cracking out a hesitant laugh.
"It's that obvious?" I leaned my head back so it touched the wall with a gentle thud. "Mother of-." I stopped myself with a sad smile from finishing the old saying. I gave her a pitiful look before glancing back down at my hands that I dropped in my lap. "I'm sorry for all of this." I felt a hand place itself on my forearm as Claire spoke softly as if she spoke any louder that the world could hear.
"What are you sorry for?" She rubbed her thumb back and forth on a faded scar that sat there. It was ironically not one from the battles I fought in, but from a childish action of mine from when Douxie and I were young. I felt a small but joyful smile meet my lips as hers widened softly. "You did what you thought was right." She shrugged for a second as a little bit of humor came to her voice. "Personally, I believe there are a lot more civil ways to deal with things than punching them," I gave her a small chuckle at her attempt of lightening the mood of the situation. "But you shouldn't torture yourself like this." My eyes found their way down to where her hand was still placed on my forearm.
"It's kind of hard not to. Where I'm from," My eyes found hers once more as a smile took over my face. "Things were a lot simpler than this. Actions like that weren't tolerated."
Especially to a Knight of the Roundtable.
"Well, welcome to Arcadia Oaks. Sorry to ruin your morals. California oddly has that effect on people." I gave her a heart laugh at her comment as she joined along. She picked up the sweatshirt that sat in her lap still and placed it in mine as her hand slipped from my forearm down to my right hand to interlock our fingers together.
As a young knight, I never thought connections like these would matter much to me. I always thought I would fight out my days as a Knight of Camelot and I would die as Morgana's personal guard. I never cared for anything more than that anyway.
I looked down at our hands as I gave her a gentle squeeze.
But this feels natural. The way hers sits in mine. Like lost pieces to the same puzzle.
"Thanks, Claire."
"Anytime, Romeo."