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


~ CHAPTER 15 ~

Understandings


It was the twenty-fifth of November, and Brick was sitting on the bench in the corridor, tapping his finger impatiently as he waited for the King to call for him. The leaves outside had long since turned red, and when the wind blew they would flutter off from their branches, sweeping across the kingdom. The workers were going to have a hell of a time this year.

Though the streets were sure to be cold, inside the castle it was rather pleasant, warm even, due to the many torches that lined the walls, giving off both heat and light. He watched the shadows flicker, his silhouette dancing along the stone.

The heavy door creaked open, and the bright light of various lamps sure to be lit in his father's study cut a clear path through the darkness and onto his outstretched leg. He looked up through heavily lidded eyes, sighed, and rose.

"So, what is it you called me in for, Him?" He drawled, taking one step into the room, his feet inches away from the dark red carpet that lined the floor.

Across the massive sea of red, with a couple of questionable stains of an even darker variety, sat a desk and an chair. It was empty. Off to the side, though, was a fireplace still glowing with embers, two armchairs, and a small table in between with tea and cookies that smelled buttery and sweet. The one facing away from him was occupied.

"Is that any way to address your father?" The King reprimanded, His voice fluctuating madly - one of His quirks that always threw people off - and the shadow He cast shifted.

Brick scoffed and leaned against the wall, folding his arms in a defiant manner. "You're no father. You and I both know who he really is, and though I would't want to relive those memories, he was still better than the likes of you."

There was a moment of silence, and then He spoke again, this time in a much more strained tone. "Why don't you come take a seat?"

"No thanks."

"Why not?"

"Why the hell would I?"

"It's…comfortable and cozy here by the fire, and I want to talk to you face to face. Man to man."

"Like how you did with all those other people?" Brick spat, and his eyes swept across those dark, ominous blotches of dark red that were generally gathered around the area the King was. "I repeat: no thanks."

"Pish posh, Brick. Those days are gone. I haven't done anything like that in almost a year. Much too old. I think I spotted a couple of gray hairs the other day. What's next? Going bald? Can you imagine that? Me bald? It's insane!" He patted His hair self consciously, on the verge of shrieking.

"Okay, God, get your crazy vocals under control. You're going to shatter all the windows in the castle." Brick muttered, but still refused to take another step into His study.

"Son, are you really doing this? Sit down this instant."

"Don't call me your "son". And no, I won't. Standing is fine."

The King scoffed, and said, "I see you've still kept your childlike stubbornness. Glad to see that hasn't changed…"

Brick squinted his eyes, and adjusted his arms before harshly saying, "Get to the point, old man. I don't have time for this."

He was once again quiet for a while, then rested His elbows on the arms of the chair. "Of course. You're a very ambitious and busy young man; I shouldn't waste your time."

"Yes, exactly, and?"

"I've called you here today to discuss matters about Princess Blossom. It seems like there is some…ahem, trouble between you two, and we can't have that."


The next time Blossom was supposed to visit had been cancelled. She couldn't go back to that place again, and risk running into whatever that had cornered her that day. She didn't care if everyone said she was just hallucinating under the pressure of having to organize a giant ball and festival. But, knowing that if she did not return a second time. the King would certainly be angered, she decided she would visit the next week to make up for lost time.

When the guards opened the door for her, they asked if she was okay, and if she had any "difficulty" getting home the previous time. She said No, There Was No Problem Whatsoever. They said Good, We Were Worried.

She could tell they were relieved, and knew something was up. Something that the King knew about, that he didn't share with the other kingdoms.

"Brick,"she announced, striding into his room with false bravado, despite feeling absolutely terrified of his reaction. "I have a question for you."

"So, just because you have a question, you think you have the right to just walk into wherever you want to, regardless of what the current occupants were doing?" He said sarcastically, propping his head up with an arm. "How charming."

"Shut up. I'm here on serious business."

His eyes widened, and he framing his face with his hands. "Oh no. Is something wrong, my dear, sweet Princess Pinky?" He mocked, a disgustingly worried expression plastered onto his face, which was once again replaced by that snarky grin of his.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, my knight in shining armor, something is wrong," She replied, sitting herself down in the chair across from his.

She was tired of his ridiculous and immature shenanigans. She had put up with it for far too long. It was time for her to just drop the nice princess act and stand up for herself and those she cared about.

"I did not say you could sit there. Get up." He spat, confusion flashing across his face for a second.

"No, Brick. I'm tired of your stupidity. There's nothing you can do about me. Absolutely nothing. If you try anything, or decided to be rebellious and sabotage me somehow, the only thing that will happen is your father getting mad. King Him isn't known for His kind and understanding heart, you know. I've been putting up with you for so long, it's time you learned your place. Your citizens aren't particularly fond of you, you know? If someone brought up the idea of overthrowing you, and they were all united, you'd be hanged. Your younger siblings might have a chance of slipping out of their punishment, but you? Not a chance," she said, stony faced, completely serious.

"The Utoniums are - not to brag - loved and adored by the townsfolk of Selodia. They wouldn't turn against us. One of my sisters is practically friends with everyone in our kingdom, and the other is well known as an honorary member of the knights. She goes hunting with the forces of our army every week. We're all one big family, Brick. We're not broken like you are."

He stared back, gritting his teeth, obviously angry at being lectured by someone his own age, not to mention the princess of the weak neighboring kingdom. But just by looking at him, she knew that he knew it was true. He had a streak. A terrible, terrible streak. One wrong move, and he'd be dead.

"What did you come here for?" He got out through his tight lips, biting back a snarl.

She narrowed her eyes, and propped an elbow the armrest, resting her chin on her hand. "I came here to talk about a monster. A monster thats been li-"

"You mean the furry, greenish stout little beast that is always surrounded by fog?" He interrupted, bored.

"Wh-yes! So you know about this creature?" She said, surprised.

"Of course. He used to be my caretaker. Quite a nasty person, if I do say so myself. Only got two meals a day before I figured out how to make money off of bets. Did not like him at all," he rolled his eyes, yawning a bit.

"I don't understand… what do you mean?"

He sighed, and groaned dramatically. "Okay, let me start over. There once were three little boys-"

"Is this a story about you and your brother's upbringing? Oh, I'm so excited!" She gasped, exciting to hear what she had only learned in textbooks from the very subject of said learning himself.

"Yes, now quiet. It's not easy telling your life story, you know?" He snapped, leaning back in the chair.

"So, there once were three little boys, blah blah blah. Okay, so I was abandoned by whoever my real parents were. Mojo took me in, along with Butch and Boomer, we worked for him, brought him food, and in return he gave us a place to stay and taught us how to live off the streets. One day he planned our greatest heist ever. To steal the crown from the King. We thought he was crazy, of course, but we still made a half-hearted attempt, despite knowing that this would be the end of us. Of course we got caught, but instead of culling us like we thought He would He decided that we were destined for something greater in life, some sort of fated destiny that 'could change the world'. He was also crazy. But, we still took the offer to stay will Him over death, as unhappy as we were. He punished Mojo for his crimes against the kingdom, though, but casting a spell over him that was supposed to turn him into a mouse. But, the witch He had brought in was not as experienced as He was hoping for, and had turned him into the disgusting beast he is today. Now he wanders the street under a full moon, either killing whoever comes his way, or driving them completely mad. The end."

She blinked. That had been so fast and short. Blossom had been expecting a long tale of hardship and coming-of-age, not just a one paragraph description.

"Thats it? That's all there is to your life?"

He shrugged. "I like to keep things concise. Besides, that's all there is. Everything else is irrelevant."


"So, Travis, you coming to the festival? It's only three weeks away." Araceli inquired, her legs dangling from the ledge.

It seemed that she had completely fallen in love with the peaceful, rolling waves of the ocean, and almost every time they went out she insisted on going to their little beach. Today was no different. It was a beautiful afternoon, much like the one on which they first came here, but this was their free day. Her sister was out on errands, while he well, this was just any other day for him.

"Of course. It's the biggest event of the year. Not to mention all the pretty girls." He replied easily, tapping his chin. He wanted to do something nice with the place. Maybe put a small basket of dried foods in that corner, fresh water over there, blankets in the back, and some other supplies by the entrance.

"Say," he continued, turning around. "how many knives should I stock? Three? Five? Ten?"

"Wait, what?"

"I'm thinking of turning this place into a hideout. You know, like if you're on the run and you need somewhere to go and stuff. What do you think?" He sat down next to her, his back to the ocean.

She blinked, then slowly looked away. "I don't know. Maybe? It seems like a pretty good idea."

"Great. So, how many?" He said in a cheery tone, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

"I think five is enough."

Butch furrowed his eyebrows. Something wasn't right. There was something wrong with her. It bothered him that she would let something affect the way she acted around him.

"Hey, you seem really…out of it today." He leaned back, scooting forward so he wouldn't fall off the cliff, all the time watching her.

She sighed.

"No, it's nothing. It's just that my sister said I could finally…she said I could go off during Christmas by myself. She never let me before. I'm glad, really, it's just, I don't know."

"I always just slipped away. My father doesn't seem to mind much anyway. Never seems to care about anything involving me," he joked, trying to sound casual.

Araceli tensed, then sighed again. "I just, don't know. It's weird. I mean, she's really uptight about things like this. It's still going to just be her and my other sister since I always run off on my own, but it's just, this time she's okay with it."

"Hm."

"Yeah."

"I'm not really good with this kind of stuff." He lay down on his back, his eyes wandering from her face to clouds to the cave ceiling and back to her again. Butch understood what she meant. He had felt that way many times when his brother and father waved him off absentmindedly, not even giving him a second glance.

A cool breeze swept by, and her hair shifted slightly. He continued to look at her. There was a strange mix of emotions displayed on her face, and after a while, she finally spoke.

"Travis?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know if I really want to…really want to hang with Mitch and Floyd and the others this year."

"Oh."

"Can I go with you instead?"

"…Sure, I guess."


First off, sorry for not updating for a while, second, summer vacay is finally here! Hell yes! Although it's been 15 days already, I'm still super hyped about no more school! Well, now that there's no more tests or homework, I should be able to write more, so yeah.