Refusing My God’s Advances

By the time I was done, it was already lunchtime, and I heard the sound of the girl's voices coming closer. Danielle also heard them, but she reacted much differently than I did. 

I tried to run over to meet them since they were coming from the forest, but two hands grabbed the back of my shirt. I looked back to see Danielle cowering behind me.

"Why are you acting so scared all of a sudden? It is only the girls," I said, but Danielle shook her head.

"The princess doesn't like me! She always tries to keep me and Dary apart! She is terrifying!" Danielle squeaked, and I sighed, putting my hand to my face, and shaking my head.

Aria was probably just worried about how close Danielle was to her brother. Aria also probably knew it was pretty hard on Daryle as well, so I could imagine Aria giving her shit. At the same time, it was hard to believe anyone could be scared of such a beautiful woman.

Then again, that pretty face had almost deleted my arm by accident, so I could understand why Danielle might be a bit scared of her. I kind of felt the same way, but clearly not for the same reasons.

"Leon! We brought food!" Lyra called, as Shelli, Aria, and she came walking out, but Lyra was dragging something.

When they got closer, I realized that it was a deer of some sort, but it only had a single antler in the center of its head kind of like a horn. The other two women were holding up their dresses that were filled with fruit, all of which I had never seen before.

"Good job!" I called, but then Aria frowned at me and tipped to the side to look around me.

"Danielle? What are you doing here?" She asked, her face remaining bright.

"Umm... I am here to help Leon! That's it! I am here to only help Leon!" Danielle blurted out nervously, and Aria smiled, clapping her hands together to put on one cheek cutely.

"Great! I was worried that you might have come to bother your brother again. You know why he left the castle in the first place, right? Or am I wrong that you had to hunt him down to send him up here?" Aria asked, the look on her face slowly slipping to the dark side. "Just what did you have to tell my father to get him to send you out here to bother Daryle more?!"

Well, this was not what I expected, and I felt like my placement was not great in all of this. Considering that the women on either side of me could turn me into a grease spot without a second thought, this was not good. 

"Aria, Danielle did come to see me. I will make sure to watch her," I said, despite myself.

I really didn't want to get between all of this, but I was already in the shit, so getting dirtier didn't really matter at this point. I also had a strange feeling that there was more to this strange brother and sister problem. 

It might just be wishful thinking, but Danielle seemed to have a pretty fragile mental state. Part of me felt bad for her, and the other part felt bad for Daryle. I didn't like him at first, but the guy was really growing on me. He also was always more than willing to help me, so I kind of owed him at least a bit of effort.

"Oh? You are the one that invited her?" Aria asked with a curious look on her face, and I nodded.

"Yeah. Danielle said that she was going to help build us a new home," I said and looked back at the worried-looking Danielle. "Right?"

Danielle hesitated for a moment but nodded, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and uncertainty. Aria sighed, seemingly relenting a bit.

"Well, if she's here to help, I suppose it's fine. Just keep her in check, Leon. We don't need any unnecessary drama," Aria said, shooting a stern look at Danielle.

"Of course, Princess! I am here to be helpful and not cause any trouble," Danielle quickly assured, her tone overly sweet.

Aria rolled her eyes but turned her attention to the food. "Let's set up a little picnic. We have plenty to eat, and we can discuss our plans for Emberfall."

With a sigh, I started to follow them, but Danielle was still holding on to me. I turned around to tell her to let go but stopped when I saw the shy and embarrassed look on her face. It was a strange change from the confident and domineering attitude she had displayed earlier. She seemed like a completely different person.

"Um, Leon, can I sit next to you during the picnic?" Danielle asked in a soft voice, avoiding eye contact.

I blinked, surprised by the sudden change in demeanor. "Sure, but I suggest that you leave your brother alone for now. I don't know what kind of history the three of you have, but there is clearly some tension between you and Aria. I like Aria, and I don't really like getting in the middle of things, but..."

"But then why did you stand up for me?" She asked, and I laughed.

I really didn't know. I was not the type that liked getting mixed up with other people's problems. Yet, in a few days, I had racked up an entire circus of problems, and now I was taking on more monkeys as the saying goes. Still, I wasn't sure what to say to Danielle.

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea," I smiled, and Danielle just blinked at me for a moment, but then sighed.

"You really are strange."

"Hey! I don't want to hear that from you!" I growled, but then she started laughing, and my frown relaxed. 

She really did look beautiful this way, too bad she was fucking nuts. I mean, she wasn’t that bad, but I had clearly gotten myself into a mess.

Looking longingly at my printer, I sighed and headed over to where the girls were setting up a fire with Danielle close beside me. Aria was getting the fire ready with Lyra helping her, but it was Shelli who drew my attention. She was over at the edge of the forest skinning the single-antlered deer that was hanging from a tree.

My angel was working like a skilled professional, and I couldn't help but stand there in amazement watching her. She was the last person that I had expected to see dressing an animal like this.

Sensing my presence, or assuming that's how she noticed me, Shelli turned to me and Danielle with a smile. "Sorry, you have to see me doing this and covered in blood!"

The way Shelli said it with blood covering her hands and flecks of it on her face gave her a bit of a psychotic look, but it was also kind of sexy. Maybe I was the messed up one?

"No, I love watching you! I never expected you to have these kinds of skills!" I laughed as we walked over to join her. 

Since Aria was over setting things up with Lyra, it was probably best to keep Danielle over here. I was going to have to have a conversation with the princess later about them. If I could learn more, then I might be able to break whatever had a hold over Danielle.