Had the world not been cruel enough to her already? Was the castle not vicious and cold enough as it were? The governesses were strict, and punished her with switches. The other children were mean, always snickering and pushing her. No one looked at her with kindness and love anymore, she was simply a bastard child left alone in Krakenburg…
Because her mother was dead now. While Arete hadn’t really had the ability or time to be a true mother to her, the woman had still been her mother. Had still looked at her with tenderness and held her close with love.
There was no one left to do that now. No one left to love her.
The small child had been hiding in her room for some time now. She wept into her pillows and clutched the stolen pendant close against her chest. It was the only thing left of hr dead mother that Aqua had… no one had allowed her to grieve the queen. She had had to steal the necklace from the open casket.
Aqua sobbed, her tiny voice hoarse and gone from her by now. Her yellow eyes were puffy and pink in swollen grief. Her hair a mess of unbrushed blue.
And that was when the voice sounded… a voice she hadn’t heard for some time. It was rare that Aqua had ever had a kind experience with a visitor to the castle, but once she had come across a strange man in the gardens, and he had been so gentle and kind to her…
She looked up from her pillows, sniffling as he approached. When his hood fell down to his shoulders, she was looking at the familia face of that kind man. His hair was long and blue like hers, and something about him always felt so warm.
When he offered her his hands to hold, she flung herself forward, finding new solace to cry against his shoulder.
“I want Mama!” she wailed, clutching his robes in all the confusion and sorrow of a child alone.
“I wanna go away! I h-hate here… I w… I want my Mama…”
HOW PITIFUL, the state of a child whose mother had passed away: whose eyes were red, puffy, anew with freshly shed tears, hair matted and knotted against her back. ( Anankos ) knew not how to comfort the child, not when he was the very thing that taken her birthright away. Not when, instead, she should have been resting between her father’s and her mother’s arms in their large, lavish beds, back in ( Valla, ) where the kingdom would have been hers.
BUT HOW COULD HE LEAVE HER HERE, alone, while she looked so abandoned? When she clung to him with her tiny, child’s strength, unwilling to let him go? He had done this to her: even when he had seen this inevitable future, he could not escape the guilt of forcing her into this life; of leaving her alone in the wake of the destruction he had wrought.
HE COULD STILL HEAR RYUUREI’S VOICE; still see the shadow of his smile. If anything, ( Anankos ) owed him this: owed protecting ( Aqua ) as best he could, with what little power he had left. ❝ I’m sorry Aqua, ❜ the ancient dragon breathed, almost being brought to tears himself, ❝ your mother ... she won’t be returning. ❜ Holding the child tight, he tried not to let the quiver filter into his voice, his sinuses already burning as the wetness gathered at the banks of his eyes. ❝ And ... and, I know ... I know I am not your mother, and I am not nearly as good as she will ever be, but I ... I owe something to your mother, your father. And I promise I will never leave you alone. ❜
GRADUALLY ALLOWING THEM TO PART, ( Anankos’ ) lips made no movement upwards, as he knew the smile would be strained; fake. And he would not allow himself to lie in front of this child, not when she looked to him with such broken, hopeless eyes. He was no father: his only child was better off with the mother who birthed him. And yet, and yet ... Taking a brush into his hands, ( Anankos ) gestured for her to come over as he led her to a chair. ❝ I’ll take care of you as best I can, ❜ he murmured, pulling gently through knotted hair, ❝ And we’ll get through this together. ❜ Finishing with her hair and then carrying her tired body back to bed, he tucked her underneath the covers, brushing away a few stray hairs on her forehead with the pads of his fingertips.
❝ There is a place ... a place that we can go together, far from here. I will take you to this place, if you promise to never speak of it: if you promise, that it will be our little secret. We cannot stay there forever, but it is a place far away, and that is good enough for some time. ❜ Kissing the small place between her brows, he wiped away at her tears. ❝ Now, sleep, Aqua, and tomorrow will be better. ❜
