So at one time I planned on making this only seven parts, but I can see now that I was very wrong when I thought that was possible. I suppose I'll end it with her choice and that'll happen whenever it feels right, but that can't be too long because she only has, what, four months left? In other news, I've realized I spell Manjipour wrong, but I'm too invested in the way I used to spell it, so I'll keep it that way for now. I haven't written this story in over a year and forgot how to spell "Anala muck" and I wanted to spell it "Anala muk" because that just looks better to me as someone who pronounces muck (apparently pronounced mook in Manjipour) the way it's spelled and associates it with "mucking" out a stall. But that's the way I spelled it in 2013 and I'm not sure why I settled on that, but I'll keep it that way for now. If you didn't read the updated I posted a few weeks ago, I've rewritten all of the former chapters and made some changes, like the princess saves herself because I think that's really cool, she's a bit more wary and less damsel in distress and I just think its overall more realistic or at least as realistic as a story about a magical elephant princess can get. I'm sorry the update came late, college applications (ew) and trying to get a job (also ew). But I'll have the next chapter written in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much for your nice reviews! I read them all and thank you for being so awesome and so nice to me and for making me smile! This chapter was more of a "goodbye" chapter and is more about filling you in on some feelings and some plans. The next chapter will be a dialogue-filled one like this one, but those who ship my ship will enjoy it and you will see more of what direction she's taking to find a king in the next chapter.
Chapter Five
"Alex, stop," Amanda found herself stumbling through the cluttered living area after her friend. "Why won't you talk to me?" she asked for what must've been the tenth time that morning. "Just tell me what happened."
"Amanda, I'm just not ready to talk about it," Alex said in reply, her muscles aching as she carried another suitcase out the front door. It must've been equal to her in weight and half of her in size. "I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to talk about it. I just…I don't have enough time, Amanda. No boy from here will ever understand in a matter of months. No boy from here could ever learn to love me in that amount of time to move to a different world for me. And, to be honest, I don't think I could even get to know a boy well enough in that amount of time to trust him with a throne."
"Alex, he'll only be the king consort. He won't have any control over the kingdom." her friend reminded her, hoping she could buy some time before Alex left in her haste, hoping her friend would stop to talk to her about last night. When Alex didn't respond to her words and continued to lug the suitcase down the front porch steps, Amanda went on, "Come on, Alex. How bad could a date have been? Are you really that embarrassed?"
"Well," she began as reached the bottom of the steps and resorted to dragging the suitcase on the ground toward the middle of the yard. Amanda rushed to help her carry it. "The thing is, I realized that the only reason I actually went out of with him was because I was desperate. I knew from the first time he opened his mouth he was all wrong. It was just wishful thinking. Wishful thinking and pretty blue eyes." she muttered the last part and rolled her eyes at her own naivety. "And in reply to the king consort thing, I still don't want to bring home someone who'll corrupt my people."
"Home?" Amanda asked, tilting her head to the side.
"What?" Alex gave her a look as she dropped the suitcase by the rest of her things piled in the grass.
"Home. You called Manjipour home." she informed her with a sadness overtaking her face.
Alex sighed and stood up straight. "Amanda, we both knew I'd have to make that change in a few months. It just…happened sooner than we'd thought."
"Yeah, but Alex, you don't have to make the move to Manjipour now! I'm sure you could get to know a Manjipourian boy while still living here. That's not it. There's more you're not telling me. You got hurt last night. Tell me what happened." she demanded, following her friend as she walked back up to the house.
"Help me with this trunk, would you?" Alex asked, gesturing to the trunk on the porch.
"Alex, now!" Amanda snapped. The princess had returned from the beach earlier than expected the previous night. She walked—no, practically ran in the house, not even bothering to shut the front door behind her, and then she ran upstairs to her room. She hadn't even replied to Amanda's greeting, she'd simply hurried past her, as if she were being chased, but when Amanda peered out the door, there was no one, just a cab driver pulling away from the curb. The night was nearly black and it was peaceful, with nothing but the sounds of the wind and an orchestra of crickets. Amanda concluded that her friend must've been running from something more internal. She shut the door and turned to walk up the stairs and confront the princess, but she'd locked the door to her room and then locked herself in the bathroom inside. Amanda knocked on the door and called her name, but she got no response. A few moments later, she heard the shower start and she sank to the floor. She stayed that way all night, refusing to leave her post until she saw that Alex was alright. Alex had never reacted to something this way before. The princess did not cry, no she did not shed a tear, but she stayed in the shower until the earliest hours of the morning, until the water was cold and until she felt numb enough that there were no invisible hands on her. She tried to imagine that the water was able to wash them down the drain along with the sea salt and the sand, but the feeling did not go away until she was shivering and covered in goose bumps. The feeling wasn't comfortable, but it was better than feeling the ghosts of strong hands that used their strength for bad. She didn't get out until she felt sleep reaching out to claim her and only then did she turn off the water and drag herself to bed, where she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the mattress and dreamt a miraculously dreamless sleep. She didn't like to think what kind of dreams she would've had, had her brain not been so tired that it seemed to turn off completely.
It wasn't just his hands that'd scared her last night. She'd seen that she too was capable of using her power for evil. A part of her tried to fight the guilt, saying he would've deserved what might've happened had Kuru not interrupted, but another part of her hated that side. She was supposed to be merciful and patient, like a queen. But instead she was scared and she'd almost enjoyed seeing him suffer. Yes, he'd done something bad and if it weren't for her powers, she may not have been able to save herself, but if it were not for the interruption and reawakening of her conscience, she may not have been able to save him. Knowing that she held that kind of power and that her conscience had the ability to fall asleep and give way to a dark side didn't sit well with her. She was embarrassed that she'd trusted that boy blindly, she was ashamed that she would've enjoyed killing him.
"Amanda, please. I couldn't even tell Kuru last night. I promise I'll tell you someday, someday a long time from now, but please—"
"You went to Manjipour last night?" Amanda interrupted, her face the picture of confusion.
"No, he was here." Alex explained, walking around to one side of the trunk and picking up the handle. She nodded her head at the other side, gesturing for Amanda to pick it up.
She did so without a single grunt of effort. "Kuru was here? But that means that Anala must've brought him, meaning that she knew you were in trouble. Big trouble if she went all the way to the palace and got someone with thumbs to help her."
"Amanda, I don't think it was thumbs that she was after. More like someone with the capability to form words and save me from another person and from myself."
"So you had to be saved from Mr. Lone Star State?"
"No. I saved myself. It was Mr. Lone Star State that needed to be saved." she said, peering around the sides of the trunk as Amanda began to back her way down the steps. She spoke again after she'd had a moment to ponder the thought. "Well, I suppose it's possible that at first she ran off to get help in a blind panic, thinking I was the one who'd need saving, but…I wasn't. He was."
"Alex, you're 5'3. You're not strong, you're not even in shape. You refuse to go to my yoga classes or on my morning jog with me." Alex looked at her and raised an eyebrow. She wanted to be offended, but it was hard to take Amanda's signature excessive enthusiasm for fitness seriously. She'd suddenly become some sort of fitness god since starting college. "I mean, really, Alex! The only thing holding you together is your youthful metabolism. How could a fully grown man ever need to be saved from you?"
"Princess powers, remember?" Alex reminded as her feet found the last step.
"Okay, so he needed to be saved from your princess powers?" she pondered the possibilities as she backed into the grass. "Well, he must've done something to provoke you if you'd use your powers on him. He didn't…did he try to—"
Alex cut her off, dropping her side of the trunk and causing Amanda to bend over to keep from dropping her own side on her feet. "That's the last of it." she said, wiping her hands together as if she'd touched anything dirty. She didn't want to hear the word. It was such a terrible action with such terrible stories behind it. She didn't want to hear it ringing in her ears. Besides, it hadn't happened. And even to this moment, murder still sounded better in her ears. That thought scared her, the thought that last night she could've murdered someone and she thought it sounded almost pleasurable to the ears. She didn't want to sit on that thought for too long.
"The last of it? But you have a ton of stuff up in your room!" Amanda exclaimed, putting her side of the trunk on the ground.
"I won't need it. I'm bringing too much already. You can have whatever I left. Anything you don't want, just send home to my sister." Alex said, letting her hair fall in her face so that Amanda wouldn't see the emotions that played out on her face.
"But your guitars—" Amanda began.
"Keep them. I know you'll take good care of them." Alex interrupted her. She'd brought one acoustic, though she knew she would probably rarely get a chance to play it. She still liked the idea of showing it to the people of Manjipour and maybe playing it for the children.
"Oh, Alex—" Amanda's eyes swelled up with tears.
"Please don't cry, Amanda." she tried to sound annoyed. "I don't want to cry right now." she struggled to get the words out without her voice breaking.
After a moment of silence, Amanda spoke up again, "What do I say if he shows up here?" she asked, concern crossing her face.
"I don't know. What do you even tell a Texas boy when you don't want to him see again? Don't come 'round here no more?" Alex joked and faked her best American accent, but she couldn't force the humor into her eyes, so she looked serious. "Don't worry about it, Amanda. I totally freaked him out. He thought I was a witch. He was having a complete panic attack when I left. And if he is brave or stupid enough to show up here, just mention the police. He'll go running." she assured her friend.
"What am I supposed to tell your parents?" Amanda brought up the next issue, the first tears pouring over her cheeks.
"I already told my parents that I'm going to spend a semester taking some science classes in South America. The semester starts soon, so as far as they know, by now I'm on a plane heading that way. Of course, they were upset by the short notice, but I told them I was thinking about going abroad when this all started, knowing that eventually I'd have to disappear. I told them that it's very remote and I won't be able to call or write, which freaked them out, but they know I'm an adult and they knew that when I'm really passionate about something, I do it." Alex explained, remembering the phone call she'd made that morning. It'd taken a lot of nerve and she'd spent half an hour giving herself a pep talk, but she'd done it without even shedding a tear. She'd made it through that whole night without shedding a tear, she wasn't about to start that morning.
Her parents told her to make sure she took care of herself and to take lots of pictures, to watch out for piranhas, that they'd miss her until she came back. Alex felt a pang in her heart when she thought about the fact that she would not return as soon as they were expecting, that she was going to make up some story about finding love out there on the other side of the world and then make up another story about staying to dedicate herself to some worthy cause over there that'd captured her heart. Hopefully, someday within the next few years, she'd be able to bring her husband back to the Australian suburbs, tell her parents all about her "adventures" and show them pictures. She'd packed her old Polaroid and some refills. She planned on taking pictures of the Manjipourian world, sure that it could pass for South America with the little knowledge her parents had of either place. When she came back, she'd share with them pictures of her home, the land that she loved, where she slept, what she ate, what she wore. In a way, they'd be able to share in her life. They just wouldn't truly know what they were looking at. She felt anxious when she thought about how she'd have to come up with some background story for her husband, but that thought was usually followed by the thought of bringing her future child home to visit his or her grandparents someday. At least they would be able to know each other. Not very well, but know each other nonetheless. That thought brought her some peace.
"Okay, but what if later they want to know more and they ask me what country? What time zone you're on, what it's like there?" Amanda exasperated, thinking of every possible subject that could come up.
"I'm sure you can come up with a country, Amanda. You're smarter than you think. Just whatever you do, when they ask what it's like, describe Manjipour. That way the story will go with my pictures." Alex instructed. "Besides, the entire reason I picked South America was because I knew they wouldn't ask too many questions yet, it's too far away and they don't know anything about it. Asia is too close and they would've asked what country, Africa is close enough that they're familiar with a couple of places, but South America is a continent they have absolutely no knowledge of. They just know that parts of it are relatively unexplored and that it's a place that could be hard to contact me in. You've got time before they start asking questions."
"And what are you going to say when graduation comes up and you're not graduating?" she questioned, her hands on her hips.
"After the upcoming semester ends, when they ask, pretend that I went on a trip into the city or somewhere they have working phones and say that I didn't have time to call both of you, but I called you and told you to tell them that I'm staying out there and transferring universities because some sort of cause out there has captured my heart. You can hint that I've been seeing a boy if you're feeling brave, too. That way they won't be so shocked when I show up at your graduation with him. Just don't go into too much detail about him because I want our stories to—"
"You'll come back just for my graduation?" Amanda looked at her, blue eyes filled with tears again.
"Of course I will, Amanda." Alex smiled reassuringly. "Maybe I'll even stay for a couple of days so we can catch up."
Amanda smiled back and threw her arms around her friend. "I can't wait. I miss you already." she said, releasing a shaky breath. Then she pulled back and put her hands on her friend's shoulder. "When you have your first baby, will you send Anala for me?"
"Of course I will." Alex said again, taking Amanda's hands.
"Can he or she call me Aunt Amanda? Or Aunt Mandy maybe?"
"Of course, Amanda."
"You know that if you ever have to send him or her back here to keep them safe, you can send them to me."
"I know that, Amanda. You're my best friend." she said and she even surprised herself with how well she avoided choking on the words. "You're my second sister."
"You're my second sister too, Alex." Amanda then looked behind her friend at her pile of things on the front lawn. "I suppose you're waiting for Anala to come for you?"
"Yes, I was actually just about to summon her." she replied, glancing over her shoulder. "Anala muck!" she summoned and without even a second's hesitation, the elephant appeared in the front yard, where anyone driving or walking past could see her. Alex turned to walk toward her things, but Amanda stopped her and grasped her shoulders tighter.
"Promise me that when you get married you'll come back for me? Or you'll send Anala?" she asked with pleading eyes.
"I promise." Alex nodded. She hadn't really considered it before, but there was no reason that she couldn't. She would like to have her as her maid of honor. "And promise me that you'll try to wait to get married until you can tell me the date, so that I can be there at yours, too. But if you can't wait, promise that you'll save some pictures for me to take home."
"I promise, but you have to promise me that you'll pick out my dress for me in advance? I won't know what colors you'll pick and I don't want to show up and stick out like a sore thumb." Amanda explained, thinking about the horror of the very idea.
"I promise, Amanda."
"And could you pick blue or maybe red or—oh! Pink! Pink looks good on me!"
"Alright, Amanda." Alex rolled her eyes. "I'll make sure that your dress is pink."
"Oh, you have to make pink one of the wedding colors, too. So that I match." she reminded her.
"Alright, alright. I'll make pink one of my colors." It wasn't one of the princess' favorite colors, it wasn't a color she often saw in Manjipour. She saw more of reds and greens and earth colors, but she wouldn't want her friend to not match the wedding décor and be forever traumatized. "I have to be going now, before anyone sees Anala." she leaned in for one more quick hug and then she went to stand in the middle of her things, this way Anala would know she intended to bring them with her. Anala stepped closer and used her ears to fan herself in the Australian sun. Alex knew she'd grow impatient and take them back home any second.
"You know my measurements, right?" Amanda asked, stepping back toward their home so that Anala would know she was not coming with them.
"Unfortunately I don't think I'll ever forget them!" Alex smiled a real smile for the first time that day. The kind that spread across her cheeks and up to her eyes without her permission. She'd been with Amanda to many fittings against her will. For proms, weddings, and school dances among other formal events. She'd sat across the room and watched Amanda be measured more times than she could count on both hands.
"And if you marry, Kuru—" Amanda started as Anala began her magic.
"Amanda, if you finish that sentence I'll be forced to make yellow one of my wedding colors!" Alex warned, knowing it was her friend's least favorite to wear.
"You wouldn't!" she exclaimed. There was disgust written clearly on her face, but she couldn't hide her musical laughter or her grin.
"I would." Alex assured her as the magical became visible.
"Alright, you win." Amanda surrendered.
Alex smiled, knowing that she would not have won that easily if it weren't for the fact that she was about to disappear. "I'll see you soon, Amanda." she said, taking one last look at her friend.
"I'll see you on the big day, Princess!" Amanda waved and that was the last thing she saw.
In the blink of an eye, Alex found herself surrounded by green. She was seated on her trunk amidst the pile of things she'd brought in the middle of the royal elephant's favorite meadow. Anala was a few yards off, using her trunk to pull leaves off of a bush, her back turned to the princess. "Anala!" she exclaimed. But she wasn't truly angry at the royal elephant. Unfortunately, it would seem she lacked the ability to be so. "You couldn't have taken me back to the palace just this once?" The elephant turned to look at her, but she offered no remorse. "Oh well," Alex said to herself, taking the handle of one of the lighter suitcases. Of course, it was still too heavy for her to pick up herself and she had to drag it across the earth. "I suppose even a princess has to break a nail once in a while—or her back." she added when she realized just how heavy the bag was. "Yes, I think back would be more accurate."