A/N: I'll just keep 'em coming so y'all won't have to wait…enjoy! xD
The Pharaoh's Daughter
Chapter Three
Johnny was out again for the night…
He had left Tala and the others a suitable amount of food, but taking none for himself as he went away.
Brooklyn knew what was going on. He didn't tell anyone though, respecting Johnny's privacy. Tala, however, was becoming suspicious.
"I know Johnny likes being alone," the airplane head told Brookie that night. "But not this much…"
I'd say he's going somewhere…" Michael said as he handed them their share of bread.
Tala turned to him. "Going somewhere? Where?" he asked, bewildered.
"Do you guys think it has something to do with him taking Princess Oli from that flower garden?" Raul asked, joining the conversation. "You realize he didn't really do anything to her yet he said he had fun…"
The others blinked at the accuracy of his memory. Brooklyn shot him a mildly annoyed look. Had the younger teen overheard his conversation with Johnny?
"That's well over two weeks ago…" Tala pointed out. "Why bring it up?"
The younger redhead pouted. "It's the only exciting thing we've done recently…"
"Doesn't mean that that event has to be the only source of Johnny's reason…" Tala mumbled.
Michael frowned. "So you're saying that raiding Memphis wasn't exciting?"
"It was!" Raul whined and they started bickering again.
Tala sighed and turned to Brooklyn, who had grown quieter and quieter during their conversation.
"What about you?" he asked. "Seems you don't have anything to say about this issue…"
"Stop bothering the guy…" Brooklyn said darkly. "You know how he doesn't like anyone meddling with his business…whatever that is…" he lied for effect.
Icy blue met calm green. "So you DO know something about this, and you know what's going on…" Tala eyed Brooklyn's uneaten share of bread, which was being unwittingly deformed by the hand holding it.
"Spill Brook…"
The addressed said nothing and faced the horizon. The sun had sunk well beneath the earth.
"I don't need to…" he said quietly. "Johnny can tell you…"
Tala followed Brooklyn's gaze.
"Oi! Johnny's here!" Raul called.
The four stood up to greet him.
"Hell? Who's with him?" Michael asked.
Nobody had ever seen their fearless leader looking so tender to other people besides them. Usually he was closed to the world.
"…I knew it…" Tala hissed.
The younger redheads (Raul and Michael) looked scandalized. They didn't know what to say.
Brooklyn, however, broke into a smile and approached the couple.
"Good evening Princess."
--
It was like being admitted into some sort of cult. Oliver had strongly opposed coming with Johnny to meet his "family". But the redhead had so uncharacteristically pleaded and so the princess agreed.
He felt their hostility from fifty feet away. Oli tried his best to act people-personly and not judgmental. He answered their curt and intrusive questions, feeling very much like he was being tried at court.
Tala scrutinized him most meticulously he thought that the tangy redhead would declare that he was really a boy and not a girl at any moment. Johnny was mildly pissed and held on to Oliver's hand in moral support. Brooklyn wanted to laugh.
"She might not be able to cope…" Tala told the group. "We undertake the most dangerous things…" he was unsure if Princess Oli particularly had magic, in which the art was needed in most of the raiders' endeavors.
"I can cope…" Oliver replied sheepishly and displayed his power.
…
Tala was unable to think of any other excuse.
"Whatever Johnny…" Michael said as he and Raul went back to their campfire, shrugging and accepting the princess's presence.
Brooklyn looked at Tala, who seemed unyielding. Oliver looked so insecure that he was almost pitiable.
Johnny tugged on the green-haired boy's arm and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Tal' we need to talk…" he addressed the airplane head. "Brooklyn, make the princess feel at home…"
This request, the emerald-eyed redhead did most enthusiastically. Oliver however was horrified.
"W-what?" he asked, shaking. Tala's icy blue stare sent chills through his delicate frame.
"Oi! Princess Oli!" Raul called from where he was with Michael. "Over here!"
"Come princess…" Brooklyn said kindly and forcefully steered the shorter being to them, leaving the two eldest redheads alone.
--
"Shall I call you a traitor?" Tala asked Johnny as they strolled around the dunes.
The elder fixed him with a stern, purple-blue stare. "None of that from you…" he said authoritatively. "Our groups is nothing like that…"
The paler teen fell silent. "So all right. What's up?"
Johnny sighed. "I want you guys to take care of her…" and hesitated before saying. "I love the Princess…and by the way she is, I don't think she'd be able to keep sane without me…"
Tala looked at his best friend in concern. "I'm assuming that you two've been together for quite sometime, though I cannot call it long. Is the relationship in jeopardy already?"
Johnny considered him for a moment. "Last night, Oli told me about Prince Enrique's inheritance of the throne…"
"That's going to be in about…what?" Tala counted. "Five years?"
"Three…" the other corrected. "Pharaoh Robert imposed a new order. She said it may be partially due to the pharaoh's illness…which he may die of soon…"
"This all means?"
Johnny stopped walking and faced Tala. "The princess shall be in danger…I don't want to ruin her because of a stupid mistake. When the time comes, I want you to take care of her…"
Tala sighed. "Where'll you go?"
The other redhead smiled. "We'll have to part ways…"
The airplane head nodded. "Curse you and your love…" he smirked. "The future ain't gonna be bright…"
"Sorry…"
"Don't mention it…"
--
Tala and Johnny returned to the campsite to find Oliver very much at home with the other raiders. The green-haired boy looked up at his lovers arrival and hugged him.
Tala shrugged it off and quietly observed the princess's actions. The party thus passed an enjoyable night.
In three years time, however…these happy moments would end…
TBCA/N: like it? scream for more! review!xD