Sisterly Help ( Tag: Phillip )

Anastasia streched towards her foot as it stood on the Dance bar. She inhaled before exhaling slowly and lifting her other leg up. It was time for her weekly dance lessons her mother seemed so bent on her learning. Although the Dance teacher always ended up being a least an hour late to her practice, her mother told her to stay in the ballroom before she showed. If she so happened to be caught sneaking around the castle, one of the guards would drag her back. So she finally gave and decided to stretch, practice moves, or do a dance if a visitor luckily came in.
Usually, it'd be a guard or one of her sibilings, even though both of them managed to trip everytime they practice to with her. What can Anastasia say? She perfected every one of her lessons.

((No!!! She's the one who trips Philip!!!! SHE'S EVIL!!! XD))

Philip walked down the halls of the castle, barely conscious of where he was walking. His face was downcast, his brow was furrowed in concentration, and his mouth a tight line as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. He was busy trying to figure a plan for how to deal with this Eric guy Odette had told him about, how best to tell the captain of the guard about him, without bringing up Odette. He had spent so much of his life avoiding the guards, he didn't know how to talk to them, and most of them seemed like pretty sorry excuses for guards from the things he'd seen and heard.

Philip shook his head and brought his hand up to massage his temple. He needed a break! He was walking by the ball room when he finally looked up from the ground, and he saw a figure he recognized as his twin. He smirked as he turned and headed into the room, bringing his hands behind his back. "Well isn't this an interesting sight. Both of us, inside the castle?" he said with a loud gasp, widening his eyes and bringing his hands up to clasp his cheeks before crossing his arms across his chest and chuckling softly.

Anastasia looks back at her twin, grinning. "Why, hello there Dear Brother, who has ceased to talk to his concerned sister in ages. Come, dance with me as we catch up." Before he could protest, she grabs his hand and drags him in the middle of the ballroom. She turns and places their hands in the right position before she leads them into a Formal Waltz.
"You seemed troubled." Anya points out, looking at his identical eyes. He looked stressed, even more now than before Cinderella came into the castle. "Care to elaborate Philly?"

Philip laughed as he allowed his sister to drag him over to the center of the room and lead him into a dance. It really felt good to laugh, something he hadn't done in a while, at least not like this, light and relaxed. He only meets her eyes for a second before he looks down between them and clears his throat. "I just-" he starts, but then stops as he sorts out his many thoughts, looking up and off to the side. "I've been neglecting my responsibilities as Prince for too long. I need to start taking care of the people of Nirethia," he said firmly as he looked back into Anastasia's eyes, his own solid, fixed. "Unfortunately, it involves working with some of the guards," he sighed, rolling his head and eyes down and to the side. "And you know my opinions on the guards," he said with a bit of a lighter tone as he looked up at Anya((Can he call her Anya?:3)) and smirked.

(( Of course! She's calling him Philly XD ))

Anastasia gasp dramatically, half of it real and the other over exaggerating, before stopping them quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! YOU? Prince Phillip who didn't give a rat's butt about the Kingdom. The Prince that doesn't WANT to be ruler. The Prince who escapes on every lesson thrown at him, wants to HELP Nirethia and DO his Prince duties. Not to mention talk to guards?!" Anastasia places both of her hands on her heart and sinks down to the ground. "I think I'm dieing from shock... Or maybe the world is ending... Either way. I'm dead..."

((.... She is soo me. XDD ))

Philip's smirk grew as he watched Anya's reaction. And as she stopped their dancing, he crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight to rest on one leg, and just watched his sister dramatize what he'd said. Although, she did have a point. "Ha ha. Very funny," he said dryly, despite actually finding it amusing. He tried to keep a straight face, but a grin slowly crept back onto his face and he started laughing. He did stop though and became semi-serious again, standing up straight, arms still crossed against his chest. "But yes. Things are changing," he affirmed, looking at his sister. "I am changing. I was wrong to act the way I did. There are more important things than my happiness," he said quieter, sadness clear in his tone, turning his head down and looking at the ground, dropping his arms by his side and balling his hands into fists, then releasing them defeated. His whole body showed just how defeated he felt knowing that what he was saying was true.

Anastasia looks up at her brother before bouncing back up. She narrows her eyes before circling around her brother. She shakes her head, "I don't want you to change... No one wants you to change or give up happiness Philly. You know that better than any of us."
She stops infront of him, looking up at him. She places her hand slowly on his chin and bringing his face up to look at her, to really look at her. The usual happiness and carefree brother she was used to, now gone or more like caged in. He was actually trying to appease to their parent's wishes. And that wasn't Phillip, not at all.

((AW!!!!<3))

Philip smiled softly down to his sister, hunching over her a bit, and he reached up and gently took her hands in his, and started swinging them lightly at their sides. He was honestly so touched that Anya was concerned about his happiness, it made his heart squeeze happily, but he knew why he was doing all this, and he knew he was right. "I'm growing up Anya. Everyone has to eventually," he said, smiling sadly, now holding their hands to his chest and rubbing the back of hers with his thumb. "And as the heir to the throne, I have to think of the peoples happiness before my own," he said as he stood up straight again, tightening his hands around hers, his eyes were intense. "Too much pain has occurred in Nirethia, perhaps because I helped in making people lose faith in the royal family. Maybe....Maybe I can help bring the kingdom back to the wonderful place it once was," he explained to Anya desperately, hunching over again and stepping in closer so that he was standing just over her.

Anastasia shakes her head, "Not unless you stop pretending to be happy Phillip. They can see, like I can see, right through you that you're doing this out of pain." She tilts her head to the side, "My question is, why a sudden change of heart? Is it because of Cinderella?"

Philip let out a sigh as he released Anya's hands and looked at the ground, moving his one hand to rest on his hip while the other rubbed his neck and his face. "I suppose indirectly, it has a little to do with Cinderella," he said thoughtfully. "But, I've just, seen and heard some things in town that I don't like, and aren't good," he explained, trying to be as truthful as he could, but not really wanting to go into details of who he spoke to.

Anastasia chuckles at Phillip's comment how he heard unpleasuring things in town. "You're a little late Philly. The Kingdom has tons of problems that you simply don't know about." Anya says, now moving away from him and stretching.

Philip walked passed Anya, his head hung low, and went over to the side of the room where he slid down the wall to the floor, letting out a deep sigh. He dropped his head in his hands, resting his arms on his knees, and he looked at the ground. "I know I am," he said sadly, running a hand through his hair and then dropping his hands. "But better late than never right?" he asked and looked up at Anya hopefully.

"Eh... True. But we can't fix all the wrongs in this world Philliy. We can only help. In order to help, this." Anya says, pointing to him. " needs to be happy and joyous of life. And where I'm standing from, you look more miserable by the hour..."

Philip sighed yet again as he looked back at the ground and roughly brushed his hand through his hair a couple times. Anya was right. He wasn't happy, not in the least. But from where he stood, there really seemed to be no way for him to help the kingdom and be a good leader AND be happy. The two just didn't seem to want to work together. "If I were to do what would make me happy, it would put the whole kingdom at risk," he explained to the ground. "And I couldn't do that to the kingdom. My home. The home of many people I love and care about. So if I have to sacrifice something, I'd rather it be me, not the kingdom," he brought his head back to rest against the wall, looking at the ground still and shaking his head against the wall slowly. His jaw was clenched, as were his fists, and he slowly closed his eyes, squeezing them shut as he felt his eyes start to sting with tears.

Anastasia looks at her brother and her face fell. Seeing him so sad and defeated, it made her own heart break. She walks over to him and slides down on the wall next to him. She pulls out her hankerchief from her pocket and hands it to Phillip.
"You know how glad I would be in taking your place for the crown... I just wish that Mom and Dad only understood... The title, the marriage, responsibilities of the Kingdom, the stress... It's not for you Philly..." She leans her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around his.

Philip chuckled dryly as Anya offered him her handkerchief and he gently accepted it, nodding in thanks as he did so. His face was blank as he listened to his sister speak, taking in every word and turning it over in his mind. Maybe she was right. Maybe the best life for him would be the simple life. Living off somewhere in the country, just him, Samson, a woman he was truly in love with, and a couple kids. Maybe he wasn't the best pick to rule the kingdom. Sure he cared about the townspeople, and if they were in trouble, he wanted to help them, but should he be responsible for all the people in the kingdom and their happiness? He didn't know. He didn't just want to put all this responsibility onto someone else because he couldn't handle it. Philip dropped his head into his hands and tried desperately to control his breathing, shaking his head slightly to try and clear his mind, and of course not succeeding.

Anastasia reeled in her head what she could do for her brother. All of this depression isn't healthy for him and the stress was only building. Anastasia chewed her bottom lip before an idea sparked her mind. She turned towards her brother and she grabs both of his hands, bringing them up to her lips.
"Lets work together! The Kingdom's problems, Mom and Dad's responsibilities, the marriage, all of it! If neither of us can get what we want, there's nothing that says that we can't get close, right?
If we can show Mother and Father, and the Kingdom itself, that the Prince and Princess can work together as one, we'll sure to make some progress of making them understand. Maybe even get what we both really want? I mean... It's just an idea... But I think it's the best one we got..."

Philip looked up in surprise as Anya took his hands, following their hands until he met Anya's gaze, his expression fragile. A small hopeful smile started to pull at the corner of his lips as Anya spoke of her plan, and he could feel himself becoming more excited. Maybe it could work, the two of them working together to change the public's perception of their family, and their futures. He chuckled softly as he looked down briefly before looking back up slightly at Anya. "You always have been bright," he complimented lightly, smiling at her kindly and squeezing her hands gently. "It's worth a shot," he agreed with a shrug, looking off to the side a bit and then smirking as he looked over at his sister again. "Let's do it," he said enthusiastically, his eyes glistening with determination.

Anastasia smiles, her smile bright and filled with happiness. "Alright! First thing is, if this is ever going to work, you need to start talking to anyone that you can in the kingdom. Not the nobles though, the commoners. They are the ones that needs us the most. Second order of buisness, getting rid of anything that can make you depress at any given moment." Anastasia tells him, giving him some few pointers.

Philip laughed lightly and looked down to the ground as Anya started to explain to him what he should do, hearing how full of excitement her own voice was making him start to feel even more excited too. His brain stopped thinking for a moment when she mentioned getting rid of things that made him sad, and his heart squeezed in his chest. He wondered what his sister would say if he told her that the thing depressing him the most was that he had already had to tear someone from his life. He bit his lip to keep from saying anything, not wanting to risk a negative reaction from Anya. "I guess I should get started on that then," he said softly, looking up at her. "After I talk to the Captain," he then added. He had to help Odette first, then he could help everyone else.

(( Aww Philly D': ))

"Oh~ Captain Phoebus? Tell him I said Hi~." She smiles widely. "He's very kind so he'll probably help you with your problem. He taught me how to ride a horse. Can you believe it?"

(( *cough* And he's into your sister. XDD ))

(And he's 33 years old....whereas Anya is 19 XDD)

(( Age is but a number in this day and age, Dear Hannah. ))

(XDDD I guess I can't say anything...I mean Odie is 21 and Mikey is 47 XDD)

(( I was going to say that XD Das just nasty Oddie...))