The Princess Who Returned

Chapter Ten

After I had the potion, I was once again out of control. I hated the feeling but it was what I had to do to survive. In order to test the potion, he said, "Let us go find mother Trista. I am getting bored." In reply my mouth said, "I don't understand how you can get bored in a tree house!" satisfied he got back to making something again and my mouth asked him, "What are you doing now Tristan?"

This was once again something I partly wanted to ask and he replied enthusiastically, "I'm trying to master a potion." My mouth asked again, "Ooh which one?" he smiled and said, "A potion that allows one to relive the happiest time of their life." my mouth pouted and said sullenly, "That isn't very interesting."

I did not mean it in the least, in fact I wanted a sip myself because I knew what my happiest memories were and desperately wanted to relive them but Trista was not someone who liked things like that so I had no opportunity to have a sip. He chuckled, "Why am I not surprised?" and my mouth said playfully, "that is because you know me too well." He smiled sadly, "I do, you are my sister after all." After that he turned back to his potions.

Both me and her were mesmerised by the sight, The potions while being heated bubbled up like soda in their respective colours but that was not the best part. The best part came when two of the bubbling potions were poured into each other. When this happened, the different coloured bubbles met,merged and made pretty multicoloured bubbles which left the test tube. That seemed like a good sign because Tristan put the test tube aside and instead took some of the dry ingredients and crushed them using the mortar and pestle.

 Just as he was about to use the last hit Ophelia came in and said happily, "Who is ready for game night!" Both me and him looked mad but Trista seemed excited and exclaimed using my mouth, "MEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Ophelia chuckled and said, "I thought so then turned to Tristan. What about you buddy?" , He took a deep breath and said hesitantly, "C- Can I skip? I really want to finish this potion." Instead of directly answering his question she asked, "What are you making?" The sparkle returned to his eyes and he said, "Freudig mémoire, I think I've finally got it!" I thought she would give in after looking at his excitement but instead she said, "You can do useless stuff like this later. What is the point of reliving past memories when you can make happier memories in the present."

He looked devastated and I actually felt bad for him but Trista seemed clueless and could not see it, "Yeah! Tristan let us make happy memories." That further saddened him. I didn't like the guy but I couldn't help feeling bad for him and wanted to smack Trista.

As soon as Trista said that. He dropped everything, flashed a fake smile and patted my head, "Alright I'll be right there." With that he busied himself packing stuff up while my body followed Ophelia.

I was actually felt bad for him and could hardly believe it but then I remembered what he was trying to do and my sympathy evaporated. He was helping her so I did not have to feel bad for him. With that I set my mind at ease and focussed on what I should do.

The punishments after being caught seemed too terrible to bear but I could not live like this for the rest of my life. This was not my life and I did not like this life at all. To top it all off I had the new fear of messing up and looking forward to a gruesome end. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This line of thought was interrupted by Tristan's arrival and he looked slightly better than before. I hated that I felt like this but I felt relieved. I was concerned for him whether I liked it or not.

The rest of the picnic was a pleasant affair or as pleasant as things could be in our current situation. The game was pretty fun and lasted the entire night but now that I finally had a more focused view, I could see that she really did not treat him well and was always belittling him with Trista being absolutely clueless to everything but the game.

She really was an idiot and my pity for Tristan only kept increasing. He was not being reasonable but his home life was so sad. I felt conflicted about him. Don't get me wrong, I still hated him but I could sort of understand him now.

No! I could not start thinking like that, he was bad and I had to get away. Instead of focusing on him, I had to make my decision by tomorrow but then I realised that the answer was already clear. I just did not want to admit it.

The answer was all too clear, all I could do was play her game, act in her play and be a part of her illusion. I had no plans at the moment and rushing out without a plan would be disastrous so until I could make a good plan. I had to play along and survive.

I was an unbalanced demon with no powers to my name , while she was a fully fledged demon with the power to destroy the entire forest.  My best bet was to bide my time until I came up with a solid plan. A plan I could execute without his help and her knowing.

Besides not having a plan even if I made one right now, I could do nothing without the antidote. This antidote could only be obtained from Tristan and he would only give it to me if I agreed to his lessons. There was no other way so I made up my mind to agree to his demands.

I wanted to tell him then and there because of the irrational fear I had of changing my mind later but had no means to. I was still Trista and Trista always went to bed after game night so I had to go to bed. Well bed probably wasn't the best name for this situation since I slept on tree branches but I hope you get the idea.

Regardless, after we finished game night the three of us went our separate ways. Ophelia went hunting, Tristan went to work in his tree house while I went to bed way earlier than Lily would have. It was frustrating but I had no choice so I found a tree branch and tried to sleep but failed miserably.

My body was sleeping but no matter what my mind could not sleep because I still controlled my brain and I never slept this early so I was forced to remain in the same position on my back and try to go to sleep. Luckily, I had chosen a tree branch that had a good view of the night sky.

To sleep I decided to count the stars which had never failed to help me sleep back home. Whenever I was unable to sleep back in Yale, I always made my way to the observatory where my parents had installed two beds and stared at the sky from the bed.

It was a wonderful experience especially when Aasha was around for one of our sleep overs. I really missed home;this forest could never be my home. My family wasn't here and without them I felt terrible.

Aasha was gone but I still had my parents. I could no longer fathom why I had ever thought that leaving them behind was okay. Why did I have to be so reckless?! Why was I not careful?!

Aasha definitely did not mean this when she referred to having a one-of-a-kind adventure. She might have been reckless but she would never have expected or wanted me to be as reckless as her. I had let her down in a way but I hoped to make it up to her along with the rest of my people. This strengthened my resolve and I finally fell asleep

The next day, I was woken exceptionally early by Tristan who clearly wanted to hear my answer to the proposal but because of the nature of my curse he had to act like he had something to show me. Luckily, for me Trista was an early bird and loved her brother so she immediately agreed and the two of us flew to the tree house. Once there he gave me the antidotes and I promptly gulped it down, eager to gain control again.

The burning feeling was still unpleasant though but I was able to ignore it by my sheer desire to gain control again. I hated being trapped in my own mind and saying things I did not mean in the least and probably never would.

After the potion worked it's magic he gave me a few minutes to get used to having control and then asked, "What is your decision?" I looked up at him with a fire in my eyes and said, "I'm in, when do we start?" he smiled a genuine smile and said, "After breakfast and slipping mom a sleeping draught. I promise you won't regret this."

I just rolled my eyes and he offered me the potion that would curse me again. This time I took it without hesitation, well aware of it's use. He was happy and might let his guard down soon. I was finally ready to party.