Disclaimer: Thank Craig Mccraken. I don't - nor will I ever - own the Powerpuff Girls.


- CHAPTER 7 -

Siblings


"Bubbles! You will not believe what happened just now!" Her sister shrieked as she stomped her way into the blue-eyed girl's private little art studio. "That preposterous, arrogant, deluded imbecile! You know what he did? You know what he said about you?" Blossom plopped down on the windowsill, her face red with rage.

Setting down her paintbrush, Bubbles sighed and wiped her hands on a wet cloth, "Who's this 'he' you keep complaining about, again? I'm not sure I caught it."

"Brick!" Blossom screeched, her hair flipping dramatically over her shoulder. "He called you a liar! He accused you - my little sister - of being a liar! He is such an pompous little brat!"

"Calm down. You know how you start spitting out unnecessarily long vocabulary when you're upset. Besides, what did he say I lied about? I'm actually quite curious." Bubbles lifted her stool closer to where her sister was sitting, and rested her chin on her hands.

Blossom huffed and folded her arms, unable to bring her eyes up to her younger sibling, "You know how you told me the 'Blue Shadow' was a Gadrean? Well, Brick doesn't believe me. He thinks that just because his brothers lie, my sisters must, too. It's completely absurd! I've known you for fifteen - almost sixteen, your birthday is next month - years Bubbles, and you haven't lied once!"

Bubbles bit her lip. The truth was, he had not told her where he came from. She had only assumed since he was heading in that direction. Technically she didn't tell a lie. Not really, at least.

It was such a big lie.

She couldn't admit to Blossom that she told a fib. It would ruin her reputation as the good, kind-hearted sister! But if she really was a nice person, she would tell the truth. On the other hand, a good person would even consider lying a possibility, and she did. Maybe it would be alright for her to bend the truth just this once.

"That's ridiculous. I would never lie about something so serious! Trust me when I say this. The 'Blue Shadow' is definitely a Gadrean. Brick's just being unreasonable. Go talk to him again next week, hopefully his attitude will improve by then." She assured her, reaching her arm out to pat her sister's shoulder.

"Bubbles. Don't. You still have paint all over your hands." Blossom pushed her hands away and stood up, the red in her face quickly fading into a faint blush. "Well, I feel a bit better now that I'm certain that he was just being delusional. I'll have to go anyway, Father and King Him agreed we'd have to spend at least an hour 'interacting' with each other per week. Goodbye now, sister. I want to cram in some 'me time' before it gets taken away by marriage."

She swiftly opened the door and strolled out, a small smile dancing on her lips. Taking in a deep breath, Bubbles turned back toward her canvas and picked up a brush. Everything was going to be alright. Her family was happy, her kingdom was happy, and she was happy.

But as the paint touched the half finished artwork, she felt a sense of dread. Everything was not okay. There was a thief loose. There was a monster in their neighboring kingdom. She had just told her first lie. Suddenly the partially done sunset in front of her didn't seem so much like a sunset. More like an explosion. An explosion that once ready, would destroy her entire life.

Bubbles dropped the brush in a little pint of murky water. She didn't want to paint anymore. Her expression was blank as she stood up and left the room, not bothering to clean her tools. The door made a loud bang when she slammed it, but she couldn't care less.

More and more often these past days Bubbles' mind was occupied with thoughts like this. It wasn't like her at all. She wasn't sure why they kept popping up in her head, but they just did. At first it was just a minor problem, but as time passed it became a constant irritation. She lost her love of art, her ability to daydream, and her bubbly personality. It all started when she felt the fog touch her, two nights ago. It had been a strange sensation, and many images had flashed through her mind, but she couldn't make sense of them.

There was a lone man, clad in a long brown robe, his skin a sickly green and his grey-black hair that was obviously overgrown. There were three children, boys, that threw stones at passing people. There were three little girls, their cheerful, carefree faces seen through a dark red vision.

What did it all mean? At first she assumed they were but hallucinations caused by the smog, but now, she was starting to think they were more like… memories. Memories long ago, memories forgotten, memories lost. Who did they belong to?

Bubbles wanted to go back to Gadrea to investigate, and perhaps find out what the fog was, and why people feared it. She felt drawn to it, as if when it had curled around her foot, it had tied a piece of string onto to her, and was now pulling her back. Maybe she shouldn't go back though, after all, if it was the fog drawing her back, shouldn't it be obvious not to go? It would be like suicide. On the other hand, she didn't want these memories anymore. They were bothersome and caused quite a headache.

She glanced at the grandfather clock in the hall. Twelve forty two. It was time for lunch. Bubbles quickly pushed those thoughts away, deciding to first complete her job, then try to solve this mystery. Besides, she was hungry. After changing quickly out of her paint splattered dress and washing her hands thoroughly, she descended the marble stairs. As she neared the dining room, her expression became closed off; unreadable.


"So, this is the place, huh?" Buttercup snickered loudly as she flung open the door to the bar. "Best drinking place in all of Gadrea. To be honest, I'm not really surprised."

The boy next to her froze as three dozen of the toughest fighters in his kingdom's heads whipped around to glare at her. She pretended not notice as she walked up to the bartender, and took out five gold coins.

"Get me glass of the strongest stuff you got. Hopefully it's as good as what I usually have." She announced boldly, tossing them in his direction. Buttercup leaned casually against the counter, smirking at the rest of the regular customers.

Travis nudged her arm, "What are you doing Araceli? Are you trying to get killed? Because it's working!" He gestured at the room filled with people glaring at them with hate filled eyes.

"Hey Travis! Whose your new girlfriend? Shouldn't you be taking her to the little girls tea shop across town? " A gruff, bald man with arms like hams snorted as his buddies jeered.

'Your drink."

Buttercup caught the glass without turning her head and downed it in one large gulp, then let out an enormous belch, "First off, I'm not his girlfriend. And second," She took out a knife and threw it at the man's head, grazing it slightly before sticking in the wall behind him. "I don't drink tea."The bar was silent as he reached up and saw his own blood wet on his fingertips.

"Ha! Big Jerry's going to get you now, girlie!" A tall, dark figure wearing a mask laughed, his voice raspy. "Big Jerry" rose to a full six feet and lumbered over to Buttercup, his tall figure looming over her. He leaned in close, his scraggly beard mere inches from her face. She was unfazed.

"You don't get away with cutting me like that without receiving a few bruises yourself. Next time, little girl, stick with the tea shop." He breathed, his breath thick with alcoholic fumes. He raised a fist high above his head when Travis grabbed it.

"Jerry, she's the one. Don't hurt her." He said, raising his chin in the direction of the girl with folded arms and an unimpressed look on her face. "You don't want to get in trouble with Hood, do you?" He added, in a low voice so she would hear. But she did anyway.

Signing, Buttercup rolled her eyes and punched Big Jerry in the gut, "Come on Travis. Let me have some fun. I promise I wont hurt him." Groaning in pain, he bent forward slightly, but quickly recovered.

"Oh boy am I going to enjoy beating you! Nobody gets away with something like that! Nobody!" he roared, his fist aimed straight for her head. Smirking, she ducked and grabbed his arm, bending it backwards. Letting out a loud growl, he turned around, veins bulging out of his neck. Buttercup let go of his arm, obviously unsatisfied with how the fight was going.

"Is that the best you got? Really? I thought a big man like yourself would be a more skilled and impressive match than the boys back when I live. I guess I was wrong." She shrugged, turning around. Now furious, Jerry took out a knife from his belt and charged towards her, screaming insults that should never be recorded. Sighing, she easily step sided and stretched out a hand, then slammed it into his face, effectively making him let go of the blade.

"You know, the problem with you is that even though you might be the strongest man in the bar, you slow and heavy. Makes it kind of hard to move quickly, eh? Try losing a few pounds before picking a fight with me again, you giant bull." She sneered, bending down to snatch the knife from the wooden floor. Jerry whipped around to face her, eye twitching. "But hey, good try." She tossed it back to him, one hand cocked on her hip.

Grumbling, he took his seat at one of his tables, where his friends were laughing like hyenas. Buttercup settled back down at her spot by the counter, where Travis was gawking at her, mouth wide open.

"Wow Araceli. You are crazy. I can not believe you disarmed Big Jerry so easily." He said in awe, eyes still on the knife that was now tucked snugly back in Jerry's belt. "You're pretty good at this. Say-"

"You. Travis's friend. I'm Harrison, but you can call me Harry. You fight regularly? Who do you practice with? Your brother? Is he the one teaching you all of this? I know some people that would love to meet him." A young man interrupted, cutting into their conversation.

Unsure of how to reply, Buttercup said slowly, "Um, sir, I don't have a brother. And I taught myself how to fight." She squinted her eyes and stared at him, hard.

"Well, in that case, you must be-"

"Harry. She's from Selodia." Travis said firmly, stepping between the two's staring contest. "Don't be stupid."

The man's eyes widened and he blinked, "Oh. Well then I… best be going now." He scurried away, head low in embarrassment. Her gaze still on Harry, Buttercup turned back towards Travis, arms folded.

"Care to tell me what that was about?"

He shrugged and rubbed his head sheepishly, "There are a lot of different groups here. Hunting groups, that is. People are always trying to find new recruits."

"So why'd he seem so interested in my fighting skills instead of my hunting skills?"

He was obviously struggling to come up with an answer, and in the end said, "Well, I'm not sure, but sometimes the parties get into battles with each other over a kill. Maybe they wanted someone good on their side?"

Hah. Trying to sneak compliments into an excuse. The oldest trick in the book. She thought smugly, What an amateur.

But Buttercup decided to go with it anyway. She had finally met someone that didn't know her status as future queen of Selodia, and was determined to keep their trust. She was willing to do anything for her freedom.

"Okay. So, what do you guys do around here for fun? Please don't tell me it's like the stuff they do back in my kingdom. Playing darts and going shopping for knives and new saddles isn't exactly what I call exciting." She inquired, snorting at the memory of when Mitch and the gang forced her to go saddle-shopping so their butts wouldn't hurt when they rode or something. It had been quite ridiculous.

Travis smirked, "Glad you asked. We do things a little differently here in Gadrea." He jumped onto the table. "Who's up for a little game of Capture the Flag!" He hollered, raising his bow high above his head as everyone cheered.


BAM! I am on a roll! Two chapters uploaded in a single week? CRAZY! Anyway, consider this a special Christmas gift to all my viewers, your support and reviews mean a lot to me. Thanks a lot!