Chapter 90 This is Your Brain on Hormones

"Don't let Jogug go anywhere. What ever just happened, he was affected by it, and he's not demon. Yet, Alfred wasn't affected, and he isn't either. I'll be back. There's one person I can ask about this," she said, preparing to teleport away.

"Aella, wait. Are you going to see Bridgette?" asked Alfred. "She might know what's going on."

She thought about that for a moment. Her father would be a guy, and if her hormones were causing other demon men around her to go crazy…NO!

"That's a good idea," she said, nodding.

"Let me go with you, I want to be there if you faint again," said Frederick.

"No, you keep your distance. We know Alfred isn't affected by whatever, so he can go in case I faint."

Frederick looked unhappy with her decision, but nodded, keeping an eye on Jogug, who was looking around the room curiously.

"I don't know why you would be fainting," wondered Josephine, thinking about that, as she looked at Aella carefully. "That almost seems like you're overdoing it, but we all know you can teleport much easier now, then when we first met you. Has anything recent happened, that might be manifesting?"

"Manifesting? Is that like infesting, but with a man?" asked Aella, scrunching her brow.

"Go talk to Bridgette. I'm going to bed," said Josephine, turning and leaving.

"I saw that coming. Alright, let's go," sighed Alfred, holding out a hand for her to grab.

Aella wasted no time, as Jogug grew closer. She was starting to notice the muscles moving on his body again.

Bridgette looked up as they appeared before her, with Felix by her side, reading a book.

"What brings you guys here?" she asked, setting the book down carefully.

"I have a problem," said Aella, moving towards her.

"Usually, when you show up," laughed Bridgette. "What is it this time? The monster in the spell spire? Another environmental calamity?"

Alfred sat down on the edge of the desk with a sigh and said, "No, it's men."

"Oh, well, I guess your mother did die when you were born, and your father… well," rambled Bridgette, sitting back in her chair and waving her hands in the air. "Alfred, have your muscles grown?"

"Aella, you look really pretty," said Felix, standing up with a lazy smile on his face.

"No!" she snapped, pointing a finger at him. "Sit!

The boy sat back down with a pout, and Aella shook her head. After all, he was scrawny. No muscle to him at all.

Shaking her head at her thoughts, she backpedaled away from them, and stood by the door.

Glancing at the look on Felix's face, and Aella's reaction, Bridgette's eyes widened. Looking back at Alfred, she blushed furiously, and stood up, intentionally putting distance between her and him.

"I think I see what you were saying," she said, turning towards Aella. "Have there been any other manifestations, other than these?"

"Why do you guys insist on these big words?" growled Aella, getting frustrated. Her mind was starting to wander back to the throne room again. The route she had taken last time, to clear her mind, didn't seem like a good idea, in the library.

"Tell me what happened," tried Bridgette, noting her deteriorating mood.

"The first problem was when we tried to teleport this morning. She fainted when we arrived, just south of the town. She was fine after a few minutes, but as night fell, we stumbled into a sleeping orc. The moment Frederick, her demon regent who was traveling with us, saw him, they started to fight," explained Alfred.

"It was really important who won," she said, remembering the rush of excitement and intense concentration. She thought Frederick had the upper hand, but only because of his wings…

"I hit them over the head with a board, when no one would listen to me, and she almost tore me in two," said Alfred.

"I managed to gain control of myself, long enough to teleport everyone to the throne room, but I'm losing my grip, again."

"Josephine thinks she's in heat, but I don't know," shrugged Alfred. "I had her get hot enough to begin to melt the floor, and that seemed to help some, but it's fading again."

"Pheromones," said Bridgette, nodding at the word. "Felix, I want you to take your book and go to the top floor, and sit on the pillow we have in the very back. Don't come back until I tell you to."

He was eyeing Aella, and barely managed to drag himself away, clutching the book. The further he went up the stairs, the less he tried to keep an eye on her.

"Aella, stay there, while I discuss this with Alfred. I think the reason it's not affecting him, is because he's a hero."

"So, my dad would be immune?" she laughed. That was a relief!

"What?" they both asked, turning back towards her.

She didn't wait to explain. If she could talk to her dad, without worrying about her affecting him, then she was going to go ask him what the hell was going on. Teleporting high above the city, she dropped a little when the fainting spell hit, but she was able to pull herself out of the dive. Climbing back up into the moon-lit sky, the feel of the air on her skin was amazing. Laughing out loud, she flew further north, looking for the place where her father would be camping with the men.

Below her, she heard noises rise up, as people woke from their slumber, but she ignored them. Her father's army was ahead of her, sleeping away the night. A noise behind her, drew her attention, as she hovered above the camp. Demons with wings, were flying towards her. As the realization of what had happened, dawned on her, she glanced down, and saw the entire camp waking up as well.

Her dad must have heard the commotion, and stepped outside of his tent. The moment she saw him, she didn't hesitate in teleporting next to him long enough to grab his arm and teleport to the northern mountains. Thankfully, there wasn't any fainting spells. There shouldn't be anyone there, that could be affected by her.

"Aella? What are you doing here? What's going on?" he cried, looking around.

"Dad, why is everyone turning into raving lunatics around me?" she cried feeling slightly calmer, away from all those guys.

He glanced at the full moon, hanging in the sky, and sighed. "Don't you remember? I told you about the moon when you were little. Hasn't it affected you before?"

"What are you talking about? I've been underground since you left. I've never seen the full moon before."

His eyes went wide as he realized the truth of her words, and a colorful stream of curses burst out of his mouth.

"Look, I don't know why it's so strong for you, but the problem is your smell. Every guy who smells you, who isn't a hero or immune to poison, is going to want to take you to bed. They will fight to the death, if they have to, for you to accept them. The moon triggers it. Luckily, it only happens once a year, but I told you all about this when you were little."

Aella tried to remember. Being away from distractions helped, and soon she remembered the little story her father had told her about moon crazy people dancing in the night, and how babies were born later that year.

"That was just a story, to put me to sleep, wasn't it?"

"Why would I tell you something, that wasn't true?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

It was her turn to stop and look at him with wide eyes. "You mean, everything you told me was true? None of it was made up?"

"I wouldn't waste what little time we had together, telling you fake crap. You should know that."

"So, the nightmare beast?" she whispered, remembering the nightmares that story had given her as a child.

"I hope to never encounter another one," he nodded fiercely.

"But, wait. That doesn't help me with my current problem. How do I control this? Does every demon woman have this problem?"

"Most demon women learn how to deal with it, as they get older, but again, most demons aren't locked away from the moon, either. I believe the ones who have wings have it worst, but you don't have wings."

"You do," she said, thinking hard. "Could it have something to do with the amount of gargoyle in me?"

"Where did you hear that word?" he asked, looking shaken and glancing around.

"It was one of the runes on the magical circle in the spell spire. I had the Sage look it up. She said our people are actually from two different races, the demons from the south, and the gargoyles from the north."

"That makes more sense, but promise me you won't mention that word around anyone in the palace, or outside of it, for that matter. The church has been on a witch hunt for any demons that know that word. My father told me about it, and I have heard things here and there. They wish to kill every single gargoyle they encounter, but I'm not sure why."

"So, you don't know if it has anything to do with the gargoyle?" she asked, ignoring the part about the church. They wanted to kill every demon they could, so that little bit of info was useless to her.

"I believe we are as pure, as we can be, in gargoyle. My father instructed me to only father a child with a woman who had wings, to keep the gargoyle in us as pure as possible, but then your mother came along."

"But why is this smell thing affecting me so strongly? I flew above the town, and just about every single demon with wings woke up and came after me. I saw some of them hop out of their beds and dive out of the window, to chase me."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact you are two heroes, instead of just one? I don't know. Maybe the Sage can figure it out. Wait, you woke the whole city?!"

"Maybe?"

"Well, that solves the population problem," he muttered.