Chapter 10: The start of something bad.
"So, even after him attacking you, you let him in your home and make food?"
"Yeah. Looking back, I understand that I didn't really have hate for him like I should of and I'll tell you something that'll make you know why I didn't."
"Okay? What is it?"
"I'm not going to say it now! I just remembered about someone else who had crossed a bad line with me."
"Mm, who?"
"Oh...It's someone we both don't like..."
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Wednesday, 12:30pm. 1992, the 7th of October. Zapple.
It was a beautiful Spring afternoon, though on the planet named Zapple it was called the Flower season. The warm sunlight was pooling over the carpeted floor through glass panes that opened through brick walls. A cool breeze blew in through the open panes and cooled the overly heated areas. The smell of flowers coming in with the breeze was all fresh and perfuming the castle halls in a rosy smell, one that could make anyone smile knowing that it was going to be a good day. Anyone is not Angela right now. Despite the good vibes waving throughout the castle, Angela's mood couldn't change to happiness with just one sniff of flowers. She had been told to meet her father in one of the many hallways to meet someone and that told Angela to have a bad feeling, which she listened to it. But now, Angela was not believing this, not for one second. She didn't want to believe it at all, not now, not later, not ever! Because this could not be happening.
"Angela, this is Phil."
Alarmed at the name she just heard, Angela froze in front of her father with her ears straight up, her eyes drifting themselves to the neatly dressed male next to him. The name Phil rang way too many wrong bells and the moment she saw the male, she knew why. Their very first meeting, only a year ago, was terrible and it made Angela swear to never ever trust him again. So seeing the black hair, purple eyes, and gray wolf features of the one she hated, she glared. Despite the glare, Phil was smiling politely as his ears perked up and his wolf tail slowly wagged when he noticed her looking at him. He looked into her glaring eyes, somehow ignoring the harsh look she was giving him and countering it with a happy look. Angela glared more, her tail lashing behind her and beating the silk of her dress not so quietly as she looked Phil over before looking over at her father, who stood by patiently watching them interact with just looks. "Father, why is he here?" Angela asked as politely as she possibly could while inside her mind she was seething with unexplainable anger at the sight of Phil. The simple fact that he was in the castle, her safe place, made her angry. He wasn't supposed to be in here and because he was, she felt danger and she hated it. Her father looked over at her, seeming to notice the tone in her voice because he glares at her scoldingly, Angela not being fazed because she was too mad. She waited for an answer, glancing at Phil again with her anger burning more. He was smiling too much, it made her uneasy and her bad feelings grow. Finally, her father spoke up. "He's here because he's going to be your husband after your birthday." He said. The immediate moment the word husband left his mouth, Angela's bright blue eyes were on him in shock. "W-what?" She was breathless, surprised, she was not believing this. This was not happening! The one person she hated out of everyone and her father decides to make him her husband?!
"I'm going to be your husband, Angela." Phil confirmed the dreaded thoughts and her glare returned as she snapped her gaze over to him. That's why he was smiling, he knew about this before she did and he was happy about it...But he couldn't be happy just to be her husband, there had to be another reason. "Of course, this means you'll be having a wedding and then you'll need to show you both can be loyal and faithful to the kingdom as their King and Queen." Her father said and then it clicked, King and Queen. Phil would be the ruler of her family's kingdom if she and he got married, he could do anything he wanted then. Angela's stomach twisted in knots, her ears going down in an instant at the thought of someone like Phil ruling over a whole kingdom of people. The things he'd make those poor people do, her people. She couldn't allow this, the thoughts made her shiver and she knew too many of her people would be suffering. "You both will have five months to get to know each other while the wedding gets planned by me and your mother." Her father said, Angela nearly scoffing at this but instead frowned. Phil's first impression already said they would never get along and any attempt he made to be nice wouldn't change that, call her stubborn but she wasn't going to let a toxic person into her life willingly. Besides that, didn't she get a say if she wanted to be married or not?? She could just rule the kingdom by herself and wait till she was ready to marry or just keep having her father and mother as rulers. Anything was better than shoving her with someone out of nowhere like this. Phil smiled at Angela more with his bright purple eyes shining at her, the gaze sending an uncomfortable feeling to her body as she looked away, not wanting eye contact with him if she could avoid it. Her anger slowly settled in and started affecting the air around her, discomfort and anger was not a good thing to feel at once. It made her feel like a cornered animal, angered at those trying to harm her and uncomfortable that they even chose to disturb her personal peace. It really made her want to snap at them. "But I thought we were going to have suitors come here and I got to pick, father." Angela said, looking up at the man she called father and speaking through clenched teeth. She couldn't believe he would do this to her after many promises of how he wouldn't just pick someone and say 'hey, here's your husband!'. Then again, he wasn't one that kept what he saw as small promises, this was a problem when what he saw as unimportant was quite the opposite for other people. His blue eyes looked at her questioningly, as if what she said was the first time she was saying it to him, it wasn't. "Camellia, we never agreed to that and it's too late to do that now." He said. Angela glared, her mind screaming one word loud with angered loathing: Liar! That's all he was right now. His tone told Angela to stand down and just go along with this but she did not want to, her anger was rising into livid levels. One simple little promise she had him make and he broke it into so many little pieces just to marry her to someone she doesn't like in the slightest. Angela's ears twitched back, folding against her head as her tail began lashing more and a sour look took over her face. "We have till my birthday to do it! Five more months, that's plenty of time!" She exclaimed, no longer trying to hold back her feelings toward all this, she was done bottling everything up. Her father's ears down at her raised voice before his expression turned angry as well. "Do not yell at me, young lady. You're going to get along with Phil, he's going to be your husband and he will be by your side till the day you die so try to do this!" He raised his voice right back at her in a stern tone, trying to discourage her from yelling back but poking at an already angry wolf isn't going to calm it down. Angela snarled, her nose scrunching up slightly and her jaw tense as her lips moved to bare her sharp teeth. Phil's ears went down, his eyes widening at her expression before he looked at her father with worry and reached out a hand to try and stop him from making this worse, but the older male knocked his hand away. "I am not marrying him!" Angela yelled louder and pointed to Phil, making him step back from the normally calm and shy she-wolf's anger now being directed to him fully. The older male's tail began lashing behind him, his anger starting to match his daughter's to the point that his glare was sharper than a knife towards her. Phil looked between the two, his ears going down as he realized where this could lead and that wasn't something that needed to happen. "Uh..how about we calm down..?" He told them in a soft voice but his words didn't seem to of been heard by either of them.
"You are going to marry him! You have no choice, you are just a princess!" Angela's father yelled, throwing her anger back at her full force but that fueled her's to a point it shouldn't have gone. Her face flushed red and she clenched her jaw, her hands balled up tight into fists. If she had no choice in it then she was damn well gonna fight it. "No!" Angela screamed, the ends of her brown hair lighting up with bright red flames that lashed violently at the air. Her father's eyes widened, his anger briefly being replaced by a glimpse of fear at the sight of the flames as he stepped back and brought his arm out to force Phil to do the same while he could only stare wide-eyed at the female. Angela breathed heavily and glared at the two of them, the flames in her hair burning bright behind her. She was not playing around right now and her father knew better than to add to her anger when it got to the point of fire. "I am not marrying him." She stated in a firm and stern voice coated in lethal levels of anger to show how livid she was, her gaze staring them down. "You'll have to kill me before I ever even consider it." She added, standing straighter as her hands clenched tighter into a fist as she made sure her words got through to them. Her father frowned at this knowing that she was serious about it. Phil however was in disbelief, his ears down as he stared at the female lit up with fire. "N-now, Angela...Let's not go that far..." Phil mumbled, not knowing what else to say because he knew he wasn't being listened to. Angela's father sighed after a bit, seeming to calm a bit before looking up at Angela again in disappointment. "Go to your room." He mumbled. Angela's ears perked up and her body tensed despite the flames dying out from her hair. "Wha..?" She mumbled, her eyes widening. "Go to your room. Now!" He said louder, a clearer tone of voice when she didn't move. Angela's glare returned before she turned on her heel, a deep breath coming out from her nose with a puff of smoke following as she hurried to get away from the two males.
...
"I'm sorry about that, Phil. I don't understand why she was like that.." Her father said once she was out of sight. He counted themselves lucky that she didn't use her flames or they'd both have to go to the clinic for burns. He brought his hand up and rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. "It's alright, Sam. I don't expect her to agree to this." Phil smiled, looking over at Angela's father, Sam. A look of guilt crossed Sam's face, his ears going down and Phil's ears copied Sam's as he instantly knew why Sam had that look. "I know you don't, but I wish she would at least try, just to get you two back where you used to be." He said. The smile on Phil's face faded into a frown as he looked down and sighed deeply. "The situation is ...different...And believe me, I wish the same, but our last meeting-" "The last time you two met was long ago, it shouldn't affect her." Sam interrupted Phil, making him frown more. "It would if I made her mad and I did make her mad," Phil explained slowly, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder to try and get him to understand that anger wasn't something to misunderstand because then it'd just get worse. "Well, I don't care if she's mad at you, she's going to marry you," Sam muttered in his stern voice again but not having it directed to the male next to him and instead toward the female wolven that was standing in front of them just a moment ago. Phil let his hand fall back to his side as he sighed and nodded, feeling defeated. He couldn't make Sam understand, but then again he couldn't make his inner self understand either, no matter how he tried to explain it he knew nothing would change the fate of what was going to happen. He knew Angela wasn't going to be happy unless he showed her he wasn't as bad as their first impression made him out to be. "I'll try to get her and me on a good page, but try not to be so forceful with her, Sam. There's no telling what could be stuck in the back of her mind." Phil said with sadness lacing through the words as he looked away from the older wolven. Sam slowly nodded, looking over at the male with purple eyes full of guilt. "I know. I just wish she could forget it all and start over." He said, instantly startled when Phil shook his head and looked up shouting "No!" He sounded panicked. Sam's ears went up in alarm and his eyebrows furrowed together as Phil cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "If she forgot everything and we started over, the chances of us even being friends could never happy. The situation is way too different." He explained.
Sam frowned. "..You're right, I suppose. We can't make her forget what's in the deepest parts of her mind anyhow." Sam assured Phil who sighed in relief. "I don't want her to forget the good, just get rid of the bad," Phil mumbled, nearly to himself, to someone listening within his mind. Sam still heard him, thanks to wolven hearing, and a look of sympathy was on his face within seconds. Phil glanced up briefly, noticing his silence but seeing his expression made him straighten up and clear his throat, looking off the side. Sam sighed at this and went over to the younger wolven. "Come here." He said before wrapping his arms around Phil. The purple-eyed male froze when the hug surrounded him and its comfort seeped him. He hesitated with a voice telling him 'no' but soon he had his arms around Sam as well. "I know you want to be with her like you used to be before everything happened and I am trying to make it happen. It's hard to control this though when you're dealing with an open flame." Sam said, genuine with every word to the point it sounded like he was sorry. Phil knew he was trying his hardest, both of them were, but Angela was an open flame that was too wild to tame but still under some type of will that made her not lose control. Sam pulled away from their hug and stepped back, giving them some space as he straightened his posture and his ears twitched back up. Phil looked over, his own ears going up. "Is something wrong?" Phil asked. Sam glanced down the hallway to his left, a look of focus appearing on his face as he listened before looking at Phil. "I hear Marie calling for me." He responded. Phil nodded. "Suppose you should go then?" He asked. Sam nodding this time. "Yes, but I do want you to do something for me." He said. Phil made eye contact with him, surprised Sam wanted him to do something. "What is it?" Phil asked.
"Try to talk to her."
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Anger. Lethal levels of anger. She could see red creeping in from the side of her eyes and trying to cover her vision. She had to force deep breaths as she gripped tightly on the front of her dress to hold it off the ground and stop herself from tripping. She could feel the flames running up her back from her hair trying to release them but she was keeping them at bay by simply breathing as calmly as possible and thinking; no more flames, no more anger, just calm. Repeating these words seemed to help, the feeling of anger draining and leaving the emptiness that normally followed it. The want to be away from the castle, her own family, was overwhelming now and getting worse with the disrespect she was receiving. Angela hugged herself, the final safe steps she could take without tripping on her dress leading to her room, one of the smallest in the castle. She opened the old oak door, more so pushing her way in when the door refused to budge and walked in without bothering to close it back. The room's color wasn't important for it wasn't the colors Angela wanted, simply another show of how much her opinions mattered. She just sighed, didn't look around, and made it to her bed to flop her back onto it. Her wings stretched out to lay flat on the soft covers of the bed and she stretched her arms out as she stared up at the dark ceiling, her mind now filling with more calm thoughts that still weren't too good. She just couldn't believe her father. They had clearly agreed to the idea of suitors coming to the castle, getting some time with Angela for her to know them, and then her picking someone. Of course, her father does something different though. She sighed in frustration, fighting the urge to turn it into a scream by squeezing her eyes closed and rubbing them with her hand. So stressful... Everything was stressful. Besides this marriage thing going on, and Phil suddenly being forced as her husband, she was about to turn fifteen in five mouths and it was an age she had to be careful with. At fifteen the chance for heat cycles started, meaning if she got near her soul mate or fell in love, she'd be in trouble. Luckily, love was not a thing she was interested in right now and her soul mate was nowhere near her hopefully, still the chances of starting it was dangerously high if she wasn't careful. What if Phil managed to do something that made it start? She shook her head at the thought. Disgusting. Disgusting! The fact that she had to marry him was disgusting by itself! Then she remembered, kids. She would have to show she could carry his children, the future kings, and queens of the kingdom. For a queen to not be able to carry children, she was seen as useless to the kingdom and so many wrong things happen to her. The thought of being pregnant alone scared Angela but being pregnant with Phil's children? It absolutely disgusted her, worse than marrying him did.
With another sigh out from her lips, her eyes opened and focused on the ceiling before she noticed red eyes staring at her. Her first instinct should have been to be frightened but instead, it was to smile. The smile coaxed a shadowed body, that the red eyes belonged to, to float down from the dark shadows of the ceiling next to her on the bed and lay down. "Hello, Shade." Angela warmly greeted the shadow that formed into a wolf, fear not being an instinct when this shadow had been with her since she was very young. Shade wiggled and laid against the female's side, sighing a deep breath. Angela smiled, gently petting Shade's very soft and misty fur. "Have you been in here all day, boy?" Angela mumbled, getting a grumble in response as the shadowed wolf rolled onto his back. She simply chuckled, drifting her hand to his stomach and allowing her nails to gently scratch within his fur. Shade tensed, his hind leg kicking as he made happy grumbles when her nails hit a very nice itch spot. Angela smiled, patting his stomach and sitting up. "What am I gonna do, Shade..?" Angela mumbled despite knowing she wasn't gonna get an answer from the happy shadow wolf and she was talking to herself. Even so, the wolf did understand her and would give whines and comfort so it was still worth asking. She removed her hand from his fur and he rolled over to shake it out before flopping over and laying next to her again. He nudged his cold nose against her arm and forced himself into a headlock within her arm. Angela chuckled, removing her arm from around him and petting his head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Shade." She said. Shade whined, wagging his tail and wiggling some more to show his happiness with her. She smiled just a bit more before it faded and she tried to actually think of ways out of marrying Phil, yet any thought she had meant death or being sent away, those outcomes being just as bad as the marriage.
Angela's frustration built up when she couldn't think of anything better and she sighed again. She closed her eyes, returning her hand to pet Shade but snapping into alertness when he growled the moment she touched him. She looked to see the problem and saw him looking at the door that had somehow closed again. "What's wrong, Shade?" She whispered, his growls growing louder as he stood up in a protective stance. Then she heard it, her ears twitching at the footsteps approaching. "Shh." She immediately shushed Shade, making him snarl at the door but at least his growls stopped. The footsteps got closer and closer, becoming louder until they stopped right outside her door. Soon a few knocked were heard. She stayed quiet and gently petted Shade, scolding him with her eyes when he glanced at her and let out a small growl. "Angela..?" A faint, gentle tone of voice sounded from behind the door.
It was Phil. This couldn't be good.