The journey was very boring.

For one thing, if my dad really knew I was his killer then he wasn't making any effort to stop me. I was tired however. Stupid King. This is so stupid. The whole journey was stupid. Is this my destiny??

"Hello?"

"Hello? Is there anything in that head?"

"No I guess not. It's empty."

"Nah, maybe this girl's just frozen. I guess I need to leave without her then. Okay, then Mime buh-bye."

He was teasing me. I cast a dirty look at his direction and signaled Artemis to butt him while she was licking at the pond water.

I stifled a giggle as he stumbled and fell into a bush. He smiled good-naturedly and stood up again. And again, Artemis made a move.

"Eeeuurggh.. Don't do that."

That was me this time. Artemis decided to show us her famous process of digesting and emptying. "Phew," I said, waving my hand in front of my face. "That was unnecessary. Hey, Wotcher, don't go close to it!"

Both of us laughed. I mean, Byan and I did. Artemis had let out a mixture of urine and um, poo. If you're eating currently, please forgive me for saying this.

Wotcher wagged his tail happily. He loved to watch animals dumber than he was to.. you know.. um, yeah, that..

We continued. Wotcher was pretty lazy, I know but he would never leave us in danger. We figured that out later. Bryan glanced at Artemis. Then he turned to me. "Whos turn is it to clean that up?" he asked, playing for a time.

I laughed. "Not me," I said. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A usual, Bryan cleaned the poo. I wasn't horsing around either. I had to groom her and I ended up stepping on Wotcher's furiously wagging tail. "Oops, sorry Wotcher," I replied to his yelp. I saw Bryan wince.

"Hey, where are we supposed to be heading?" I asked suddenly. "I wasn't hearing half he was saying." By he, I meant the Imp King.

Bryan shrugged. "I dunno. Something about "The Fortress in the Sea". I'm not sure. Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I don't want to end up in a mental asylum instead of my dad's hideout." Bryan stared. "Hideout?? Everybody knows that place. It's just.. They were never able to destroy him. Ever hear of Jygaud, Sharon? He was the best warrior the land ever had.. And they had such high hopes. But you know what happened the day after he was sent to bring down your dad? He was never found," He said in one breath.

"What?" I exclaimed loudly. No! I didn't want to end up like that guy. I wasn't even a warrior! I'm just a simple girl. Nothing can change that.

"Yeah that's right," said a nasty voice.

"What? Who said that? Show yourself!" Bryan said, scanning everywhere with his eyes.

Huh? I thought Bryan said that.. I mean that nasty voice.. Who was that? Was he/she a danger to us? It sounded like a female voice.. Unless.. It was my MOTHER who said that? That piece of sh*t. I drew out my sword.

"If you're who I think I am, I swear I'll kill you and you better believe it!" I yelled loudly to the air. "I hate you and I have a weapon!"

The voice continued. "Tsk Tsk Tsk.. So this is my daughter after I took care of her for 15 yrs... This is what I get. My rude, murderous, traitorous DAUGHTER.. Yes, I knew who you were the day you were born.. Yes, the avenger of good.. Unfortunately, I am my husband's wife.. Yes, I must kill her first," it hissed. An outline of a plump woman appeared. "Do you really know who I am, you dog?" The duchess snarled. "You witch, you traitor, you vampire of my husband's blood.."

I had an idea.

"He doesn't love you," I shouted. "He hates you, he hates you, he's going to kill you!" She froze. I felt both Bryan's and her eyes on me. "Do you have proof for that, you fool? Prove it to me and I'll believe it," she sneered.

I hate her. I hate her. I want to kill her. I held my sword in front of me and I silently prayed for some courage to kill that.. No words can explain her.. I hated her so much I wanted to behead her and not be satisfied with it. But I can tell that she was scared now. Determinedly, I kept it still. My hand was shaking. "Tell me a reason why I should, and I'll destroy you, you stupid fata$$. Watch me," I said whispering. "I hate you, and I'm going to kill you. Say bye to your dear HUSBAND, now."

She was dead in two seconds.

Oh my Lord. I was extremely shaky when I saw her body. She was deathly pale. I was deathly pale. Bryan placed a hand behind my back just in case I fall.

"She's dead. You killed her," Bryan said calmly. "It's over." He spat and her stomach. "Useless pile of mucus."

I nodded weakly and shook my head. "I can't believe.. No, this isn't happening," I croaked. Bright red liquid spurted from her side. Bryan tugged at my arm. But my body refused to move. "I'm a murderer. She's right," I screamed. "I hated her but now I can't take this whole stupid journey! I don't give a damn now.. I can't take this anymore, I don't want to kill anyone else! I can't kill both of them, I just can't, can't.. They're my freaken parents! I can't kill them.. I can't kill them both.."

Bryan nodded. "I know," he said.

I glared at him. "No you don't! You didn't kill your parents! It wasn't you who stabbed them with a sword! It wasn't you who're SUPPOSED to kill them!!"
He shook his head sadly. "You're wrong. I DID kill them.. I started that fire. That was me. It wasn't my baby brother. It was me, me..."

I stared. Still, it was an accident. I wanted to tell him that but I couldn't. There was a lump in my throat. Buzzards started approaching. "C'mon let's go," I urged.

We mounted on Artemis. I was still too weak to drive a horse, so for a change, I sat in the front. Bryan, however, steered Artemis.

"Bryan?"

"What?"

"Tell me more of what happened five years ago."

~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm putting a lot of importance to Bryan's past in that fire because I wanted to kind of foreshadow what will happen later in the story. And yes, there will me more murder in the story. I think the next chapter will disappoint you people who know that there will be some type of relationship between her and B. Okay, tell you the truth, I don't know either. Yet.