A Rogue and A Royal

The Passion

Soon morning arose, and both were still asleep in the pillow fort. Goth was snuggling close to Gala, still. Ruslan opened the door of the bedroom and peeked in at them. A sudden shock came across his face. He quickly looked down the hallway. 

"Mack!" Ruslan whispered loudly, "Mack! Get over here!" 

Mack walks down the hall to Ruslan. 

"For the last time, we didn't put the sun in lightbulbs." Mack groaned, "It's just electricity."

"No! Not that!" Ruslan states. "Look in there!"

Mack rolled his eyes but did as Ruslan told. Soon joy crept across Mack's face too.

"Finally," Mack sighed, "Someone got her to sleep." 

Gala and Goth both rub their eyes and yawn. Both of their glances meet Ruslan, which made him nervously go into the kitchen. Mack soon followed after him. Goth and Gala's glances meet, and Goth smiled. 

"You did it, cookie!" Goth cheered as she hugged Gala, "you finally got me to sleep. I truly didn't think it was possible! Thank you so much..." she smiled gently. 

Gala smiled gently and kissed Goth's forehead. 

"Your welcome, snickerdoodle," Gala answered. 

"Now then, what are we waiting for!" Goth cheered, "We gotta get to school!" 

She leaped out of bed and steps over the stuffed animal army. She runs down the hall to Ruslan, who was making breakfast. 

"Good morning, Ruslan!" Goth says, "did you come to check in on me?" 

Ruslan flipped a pancake in the frying pan and sighed. 

"I didn't know I was that predictable," Ruslan mumbled. 

Mack chuckled as Ruslan puts all the fluffy pancakes he made on a large glass plate. Gala walked out and ate a few pancakes while Goth stole a few bites of hers when she wasn't looking. Ruslan took notice of this.

"My listener," Ruslan sighed, "there's more than enough pancakes for you too."

"Oh, it's fine, Ruslan." Gala chirped as she puts another piece of pancake into Goth's mouth. "I don't mind sharing. I'm not really that hungry anyway."

Ruslan hands the remainder of the pancakes to Mack, who might as well have inhaled them. 

"Your nuts!" Mack said with a full mouth. "Ruslan's pancakes are the best in the world." 

"Yeah Yeah, no need for flattery," Ruslan mutters sheepishly. 

Goth kissed Gala's cheek, then slinks over to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Gala went back into their room and cleaned up the stuff from the previous night. Something caught her eye from under the bed, so obviously, she bent over to see what it was. She picked it up, stood, and looked at it. 

It was a leather-bound notebook with yellowing lined pages. The pages had that distinct old book smell. Gala gently sat on the bed and flipped through the pages. Each page had roughly scribbled in words in black ink. She flipped to a random page; and reads the scripture on the faded black ink.

October 16, 3;49 AM

Late-night study sessions are fun. But when you start spacing out and thinking about yourself is when the aesthetic and joy of it all fades. More often than not, I was thinking about what I wanted to be if I was never forced to be part of the Brotherhood. If I was never a demon, and I was just a normal person. No ruling status, no supernatural demonic abilities, not a Starko or a drop of dragons blood, just a normal Morman. I've known this life so long that even thinking such a thought is ridiculous and unanswerable. I have no time to be pondering such stupid and trivial matters. 
Who even cares about such things anyway? Who even should? Why should I? 
But even against my better judgment, I keep straying to this question. I can't focus on what's important anymore. It's so aggravating. It's worse that I can't provide an answer for myself. 
But what's probably worse is that I pretended to be someone I'm not for so long, I can't remember who I am. 

The book was slammed shut before she could continue reading. She met eyes with a furious Goth. She snatched the book from Gala's hands and stares at her with a haunting, disapproving glare. She tightly clutched the skirt of her uniform in one hand and held the leather notebook in the other. 

"What did you read?" Goth asked in a cold tone. 

Gala froze. 

"A qua-qua-quarter of October 16, at 3 in the morning." Gala stuttered. 

"Of course, you read the one that I didn't want you to read." Goth sighed. "Not a word of it to anyone." 

Gala looks at Goth's furious face with a look of concern. 

"Goth?" Gala breathed. 

"What?" Goth answered while trying to keep her furious tone. 

"You truly don't know about life outside the brotherhood?" Gala thinks, "you don't have any other dreams  or anything besides this?" 

Goth's expression softened as she sits next to Gala on the bed. 

"No." Goth whimpered, "not anything that comes to mind at the moment."

"Oh," Gala mumbles. 

"But it's okay!" Goth says as she forced a happy tone. "We're doing the world's hardest profession no one else is here to do it. Plus, I can't let myself get distracted by petty things such as dreams that'll never come true."

"Snickerdoodle," Gala says, "they can come true if you try to achieve them." 

Goth looked away and gripped her wrist tightly. 

"There's no point." Goth mumbles, "I won't be successful in anything else in life anyway. And even if I manage to find something I'm good at, I won't have the time to do it because of the Brotherhood." 

"You're good at so many things, you self-deprecating meatball!" Gala cheered. "You can play the guitar, and Ruslan said how you draw landscapes really good, and you're really great with that magical stuff!"

"Well, the music thing was just so I can learn more magic, same for the art thing," Goth explained. 

"But you're still really passionate about magic! You have that going for you! Maybe you can be a professor at one of those magical academies in the East!" 

"I wouldn't call myself passionate. I only learned it so I can kill more effectively."

"But-"

"No more of this nonsense," Goth says, interrupting Gala. "Can we just go do something else?"

"Okay," Gala sighed. She made her eyes sparkle. "Can you explain the different systems of magic to me? I want to learn more about it." 

Before Gala could even blink, Goth was joyfully and passionately explaining the different systems of magic. Her love for the subject was clear. Gala puts her finger over Goth's mouth in a shushing motion, which finally quieted her. 

"See?" Gala says, "you really do have a passion for magic. Your behavior just now proved my point flawlessly." 

Gala puts her hand down. Goth blushed and looked away silently. 

"Point proven," Goth muttered. 

"Exactly!" Gala says, "you clearly are passionate about this! Maybe we can start our own coven together one day if you'd like!" 

"Really?" Goth asked.

"Yeah, really!"Gala chirped. 

Goth grinned, and so did Gala. 

"Now then, Goth today's Saturday." Gala says, "there's no school. So change out of your uniform, and meet me in the kitchen again." 

Gala kissed Goth's cheek, and she walks into the kitchen. Goth looked at her hand and smiles.

She finally discovered her passion once again.

~End of Chapter 37~