Chapter 18: The Pirate King and the Wicked Witch

~Sin-Vira's POV~

 Sin-Vira walked towards the fountain as he was instructed to do.

 Sibylla was already there with her eyes closed. He felt something was bothering her and quietly sat beside her.

 "Are you asleep?" He asked.

 "I wish…" she answered. "Do you feel any better?" Sibylla opened her eyes and looked at him.

 "Yeah. But are you okay? You seem kinda bothered."

 "Hm? No, I'm just fine." Sibylla laced her fingers together with a smile. "Thank you for asking."

 He stared at her ruby eyes than her lips. Her expression didn't seem to reflect how she actually felt. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

 Sibylla kept her smile up for a few seconds before it dropped. "You're sharp, Vira. I was just thinking back on some old memories. Most aren't very pleasant, so I guess it ruined my mood."

 "I get those too sometimes. When they start getting to me, I train or go for a long run. But I guess doing either today isn't a good idea," he chuckled.

 Sibylla smiled slightly. "True. We have to keep clean for the exhilarating party later. I'm surprised you managed to keep your clothes clean during that eating competition."

 Vira shrugged with a smug look on his face. "I'm not that ill-mannered like you think. I can be a big eater and be careful at the same time. Aren't I amazing?"

 She lightly clapped as she laughed. "Truly amazing! It was nice seeing you have fun with the folks here. A royal who can connect with commoners is respected by them. They're looked down on by those in higher ranks, so it was refreshing to see them so happy with you." 

 "Everyone deserves respect…" Vira knew he could relate to them because that's how he was always treated. Any royal he interacted with treated him like one. With Sibylla being the only exception. As far as he could tell anyway…

 He looked over to see a group of children playing with sticks and chasing each other. It made him smile seeing their cheerful faces. Ignorant to the cruel world and full of imaginative minds.

 "Playing pretend. Remember when we used to play that?" Vira asked as he looked over to her.

 Sibylla adverted her gaze to her lap and fidgeted with her fingertips. "Oh yes… those were fun…"

 Maybe it was embarrassing for her to remember? It was quite childish. Pretending to be a dragon and chasing the princess around. But he was forgetting one thing…

 "Arika was the knight. Who would slay the dragon and save the princess…" she spoke in a soft tone.

 Hearing that clicked the piece he was missing in his mind. Laughing as the memory came back to him. "Yeah! That's it! It was the only game she was willing to play with us. Otherwise, she'd go hiding in the garden and we had to find her before she ate something weird again!"

 Sin-Vira thought about how often Arika ran whenever he showed up. She'd only play if she got to kill him. He felt slightly anxious the longer he thought about it.

 "Do you think Arika hated me? Did I scare her?"

 "NO!" Sibylla suddenly shouted. Vira tensed up and looked at her in shock. Her eyes were wide and seemed panicked. "I-I mean…" she eased herself and shook her head. "She never hated you. Arika was just really shy around everyone. After you left, she couldn't stop asking about you and how strong you were! Towards the end, you guys did spend more time together…"

 Vira's heart ached. "Do you mean before she got sick?"

 He remembered Arika would leave the garden and walk around with him. Even though he wasn't to blame, he felt remorse for not trying harder to be friends with her.

 Sibylla sighed. "No one knew it would happen. It just came out of nowhere, just like mom's sickness. At first, we thought it was seasonal allergies, but then it only got worse. Father would bring her the most expensive medicines. She was scared, but was happy she got to have someone to play with at least." She suddenly stood up. "Why don't we crash in on their fun? Arika would've done that."

 "Would she?" Vira asked as he stood up. "I don't see why we shouldn't. Let's go."

 They approached the kids running around who stopped to look up at them.

 "What are you kids up to?" Vira asked.

 "We need a treasure! But they don't have any! What kind of pirates don't have that?" a girl asked.

 "Treasure huh? Let's see…" Vira felt his pocket where the gifts were. Even as a prop for pretends, he felt it would be wrong to use them. He sheepishly laughed and looked over to Sibylla. "Do you have anything?"

 Sibylla laughed and went through her purse. Handing over five silver coins and a jade shard from behind.

 "Thanks," he whispered before showing them off. "As the Pirate King, all pirates must follow my orders!" He announced. All the children ran towards him and chanted his name.

 "Pirate King!"

 "Pirate King!"

 Vira felt himself grinning and couldn't stop. They were too adorable. "Alright my fearsome pirates! We need more treasures! Any ideas on where to search?"

 A boy raised his hand and Vira called on him. The boy proudly pointed at Sibylla.

 "The Evil Queen has treasures!"

 All of the kids agreed as they kept mentioning the 'Evil Queen'. Vira looked over to Sibylla who seemed a bit hurt.

 "Princess Sibylla doesn't have to be an Evil Queen. Let's think of a nicer name, okay?" Vira suggested.

 "Selfish monster!"

 "Lying serpent!"

 "Wicked witch!"

 A high pitch cackling interrupted their suggested names. Vira looked over to see Sibylla as the one creating it.

 "That's right! I am the Wicked Witch and you'll never get your precious treasures! It's all mine and mine alone!" She boasted while waving her purse around.

 She seemed to be in character, so he hoped she wouldn't mind being the villain for a while.

 "You heard her, pirates? Are we gonna let her steal it all?" Vira asked.

 "No!"

 "What are we gonna do about it?" He asked. Expecting them to say 'steal it back' in their cute voices.

 "Kill the witch!" They raised their sticks before charging at Sibylla. She began running off as they chased her.

 "No no no! Not kill!" Vira chased after them after they continued chasing her to no avail.

 Sibylla ran pretty fast for someone in heels and was quite agile. Vira was struggling to catch up with her. She climbed up a tree with ease and sat on a branch.

 "Hey! That's not fair!" a little pirate shouted.

 "We can't get her!" another complained.

 "Haha! Then that makes me the winner!~" Sibylla taunted as she swung her legs.

 Sin-Vira looked up at her and sighed in relief. "Yep. She's escaped. Looks like we'll have to look for other treasures-"

 SNAP

 The branch supporting Sibylla suddenly broke under her. She tried grabbing onto anything but kept missing.

Vira dropped the money in his hands as he held his arms out to her. Catching her before she hit the ground.

 "Falling for me already, huh?" He shook his head. "You trip on rocks, jump on carriages and fall from trees. You're as reckless as you are beautiful," Vira teased.

 Sibylla looked at him as her pale cheeks became pink. Seeing her react to his teasing only made him want to do it more often.

 "Reckless, beautiful, and the loser of the game. Nice play, Pirate King," he complimented.

 "Thanks, Wicked Witch. Since I've captured you. I'm expecting a reward for it."

 "Are you gonna kiss her, Pirate King?"