seen from France
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Hungary
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Egypt
seen from Moldova
seen from France
seen from France
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Venezuela
It doesn't really exist; it's just basically lots of different stages between the two pieces, and you end up with, like, a third shape that doesn't exist but is suggested to you by the image. - Sean Booth http://www.quotationsensation.com/quote.aspx/quote?quoteid=19198
prompt 01.
ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ
s ʜ ᴜ ᴛ ɪ ɴ
“Might be safe to assume we’re stuck in here, huh?” Thorn’sarms were folded neatly over his chest, back resting against the corner of the elevator. The lights had just resumed its normal constant when he had said his remark; he honestly didn’t even mean to start small talk with the gentleman whom he shared the narrow space with, he merely wanted to state the obvious but apparently it wasn’t a mutual sentiment.
The other turned to him, panic evident in the expression donned. The man was beginning to sweat profusely when he responded, voice cracking at the last word, “W-we’ll be able to get out of here though, right?”
Fantastic. A crier, he assumed.
Calm down, he braced himself. It won’t take long; just try to be nice before he begins blubbering like a fool. “Yeah, as long as you click the emergency button over there.” He gestured to the vibrant red button at the bottom row of keys.
The other’s head shot in the direction to which he pointed and punched the button with a fist, forcing more pressure than necessary into it. Unsatisfied even after the alarm had sounded, the panicked man continued to jab at it continuously. Thorn bit into his lip as he watched in silence.
Click.
Click. Click.
Click, click, click, click, click.
Well, he tried.
Annoyance had gotten the best of him. His teeth clenched and unclenched before he yelled out in annoyance. “Hey, calm down! Do you want to damage the elevator?!”
“N-no, I just want to make sure someone knows we’re here—“
“The alarm’s already ringing, that’s enough of a sign to let people know we’re here!” His voice was even louder this time; he had an arm raised with a hand pointing to the now blinking orange light just above the elevator door. It was enough to get the other to stop and stare wide-eyed. Thorn took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking up once more. “Alright, look, the only way this,” he took a step forward and gestured to either of them, “is going to work out until the time someone opens the damn door is if you keep quiet, and I mean quiet. Get on my nerves once more and trust me, I will not hesitate to hurt you. Not for a second.”
The other male could only bring himself to nod in response.
“There we go. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He sounded happier than he was a few moments prior, but his expression didn’t match the mood. To him, working out his facial muscles was simply a waste of time, so convincing with words and his tone was his way of compensating for the lack of emotion. “Now sit yourself down and wait patiently. People will come, I promise.”
They sat at the same time, slow at first, just before gravity caught up and they both dropped with a dull thud. Thorn leaned his head back and gazed up at the white light tucked away behind thick frosted glass in the ceiling. Very slowly, he allowed himself to slip into the depths of his thoughts. Ah yes, silence was his most favorite thing; it was like a field extending itself outward, on and on until noise came again.
——
The faint sound of sobbing tore him from his quiet little world. He lowered his head and almost instantly his eyes registered the sight of the other male curled into a ball rocking back and forth. He raised his brows and swallowed the oncoming sigh that threatened to leave his lips; he knew this one was a crier. He knew it, he knew it!
With a heavy sigh and a purse of his lips, he scooted himself just slightly closer to the other. He was just about to speak words of comfort before the ground shook; a near deafening beep sounded through before the heavy metal doors finally slid open.
An eerie buzz of silence muted Thorn’s surroundings for the briefest moment as he watched the other scramble away to freedom. He realized that had they taken any longer to get the elevator running, he would have actually broke and shown kindness--a feat he was never quite so sure he could achieve.
[04] Lucid
ʟ ᴜ ᴄ ɪ ᴅ ɪ ᴛ ʏ
One morning you wake to find yourself in a straight jacket, being taken off to an asylum.
How do you prove your sanity? What do the guards and psychiatrists say you did?
Are you pretending or are you just scared?
Maybe you are just a little insane after all.
This was it. He had finally snapped. He had done it.
There was no protest on his lips as he was drug down the barren hallways, the puke green half wallpaper making him feel nauseous. Sehun had wanted to fight, had initially tried to and it had resulted in a rather nasty bump on his head and a fracture somewhere deep inside. A realization that maybe, just maybe he had finally came to the place he belonged. There was only so much trauma a man, no a boy, could take before it was lashed out onto the world around him. Maybe he should have taken that therapy. Maybe he should have talked about it.
Maybe...
Maybe...
Maybe...
The word became convoluted and twisted in his head, sounding strange and foreign as he continued to think back on the things that could have kept him from here. There were so many things he could have done differently. So many things that should not be. And yet they were, the tips of his toes dragging across the pristine tile as the orderlies took him to his room, hoisting him up by his arms. He was limp, barely clinging on to his thoughts.. or was he thinking clearly? It was hard to tell in the rambling madness that had become his skull. Dogs nipping at the white heels and skirts fluttering in whirling motions as he was tossed against a bed with hardly any cushion between his body and the springs. At least the jacket they shoved him in kept him from having to touch the woolly blanket, that was a heaven sent. Sehun just knew it would make him itch.
But... how did he know that when he was only just brought here? How could he fathom such knowledge when today had been his first day... It made no sense. The snippets though, the flashes of memories (or were they dreams?) kept flitting through his mind as he felt himself clawing past a fog that he hadn't realized blanketed his mind. The one that placated him into place, probably a drug, who knew for sure... the sensation that left his skin tingling and his mind reeling, sending him back to day one. Back to when this all started, back to that feeling of utter helplessness as he sat on the bed in a doped stupor, staring at the wall with marked ticks. His ticks. His days. His time spent in that room, withering away.
Or were they from some poor soul from before...
Shit. There was no way to tell. He didn't know. He couldn't trust his own mind, not in here. Wasn't that why he was here? He had finally broken himself, somewhere deep in those twisting corridors he called his mind. It was all too dark, too messy, too distant. Nothing was at his fingertips, nothing he could grasp and understand. There was no sun, no sign of time in the small room. Sehun didn't know anything and he hated not knowing. How long did he lay there staring at the scratches in the wall? How long had he been here? How long did the pounding in his skull match the sluggish pulse of his heart?
Rolling over, he stumbled up to his feet, his arms free. When had that jacket come off? When was he left alone here? Was here even real? Was he still laying on that bed instead of banging on the cold door? Was he even screaming to be let out or was he just trapped in his own mind? Was he going crazy or was he already there?
Sehun supposed that if he screamed, begging to be let out, he would eventually gain attention from someone, anyone who could answer his questions. It felt like minutes or maybe hours, his throat was sore and the knuckles of his hands were an angry red from abuse. But the slot in the door had finally opened, a woman dressed right and proper peering back at him. At least it wasn't one of those hulking brutes. It was enough to relax him slightly as he stared at her, the words tumbling past his lips faster than he could think.
"Why am I here? I don't belong here, I didn't do anything! I know I had my problems, but... I was okay, I would never go too far! I'm perfectly sane."
_Are you really? _That little voice nagged at the back of his head. He knew what he looked like. Eyes bloodshot, rambling like a mad man desperate to escape a lynching. That look on the woman's face was unexpected. Exasperation, the final straw, like she had heard this one too many times before. Even doctors had their patience worn thin. Not like you'll remember it tomorrow anyway.
"Mister Oh," her tone was stern, her gaze blazing and leveling as she stared at him, "for the last time, two months ago you were found wielding a blade, bleeding with your friend Kim Joonmyun butchered beside you. Once you can tell me why you might have done something to him, we will be able to get down to the bottom of this. But so far your wild accusations have done nothing but warranted medication to help with your delirium and hallucination. It's for your own good."
The words were clipped, foreign, distant, unforgiving, and cruel. Joonmyun... his Joonmyun. The man that couldn't be killed. The one that healed without a second to spare. How could Sehun have killed him? Why would he have killed him? Joonmyun had been his last source of comfort. His little oasis in the black desert that had become his mind. He was a God, he could perform things that no human could. There was no way Sehun could kill him, a mere mortal... Even if he could, he wouldn't have wanted to. No amount of jealousy would have pushed him to this.
The disbelief must have been evident on his face, the shock coupling. There was no way... in heaven or hell that Joonmyun was dead. The doctor gave him a soft sigh of resignation. Moving to close him back up in his room. "Wait! How could I-" He wasn't allowed to finish as she spoke up suddenly for him, "Kill a God? A being that is above our law of physics?" It was snapped. She looked to be on her last straw. Had he been that difficult of a patient... He couldn't have been. He fell silent immediately, retreating back slightly like a slap to the face.
It sounded ridiculous to his own ears. Was he making it up? He clearly remember Joonmyun taking him to a bar where the drinks sparkled and the Faye were mischievous. But even that sounded fantastical even to his own ears. Maybe the truth was right before him and he refused to accept it. He had loved... still loved Joonmyun, couldn't handle the thought of sharing him, letting anyone else close, so he took matters into his own hands. He wouldn't be left alone again. It made sense in the black and white world, but not his mind. No. His mind didn't accept it. He wasn't crazy. Joonmyun had to be alive and he wasn't dead, it wouldn't be his fault.
Sinking onto the bed, Sehun buried his fingers into his hair, pulling his knees up to his chest as he started to rock himself slowly. It was so easy to remember being held and comforted, to hear those silky words of beauty and promises of waiting. Then why was there this ache? Did he really kill him? Did he try to kill himself? Had he lost himself in fear of losing the last person he had? Was he crazy? Or was this all a mad dream...
seeds of redemption: [o2] abstain
exist-coll:
ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇᴛɪᴛɪᴏɴ
ғ ᴀ ɴ ᴛ ᴀ s ʏ ɪ s ʟ ᴀ ɴ ᴅ
What if one thing you hoped for, wanted, wished for.. came true?
Or rather, you could live out your desire and in the end decide whether or not you’d like to c o n t i n u e ? Everything comes with a cost. Your life, all your memories.. they’ll be gone with a single wish at Fantasy Island.
Congratulations.
You’ve won a one way ticket there.
Word count: 1557
She woke to the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, eyes opening to find land unfamiliar to her. Again.
Vartouhi wandered for two hours before she finally found the shore. She squinted, trying to spy another landmass out on the horizon, but all she found was ocean. She grit her teeth and refused to cry. There was saltwater everywhere; she couldn't afford to lose water over feeling sorry for herself. Her arms came up to wrap tightly around her stomach, shoulders hunching forward slightly, as if she could hold in the feeling of being kicked when she was down. She turned her back on the gleaming waves, unable to watch their rise and fall, like thousands of mouths laughing at her, taunting her.
You’ll never go home.
Sand gave way to soil. She abandoned palm trees for the giant kapoks and balsas. Eyes glowing, she hopped gently up onto a high branch, and then another, and another, until she could peer over the canopy. The clearings weren't as obvious as she'd hoped, but one spot surrounded by younger foliage looked promising. Vartouhi lifted off the branch and began to fly that way.
She felt the presence of fresh water before she saw it. The air cooled as she neared, and she could see warped light dancing on the undersides of the leaves. When she touched down and looked about to survey the area, there was one thing she didn't expect.
A woman stood in the water a little ways away from the edge of the spring, looking at Vartouhi as if she were a gift. Vartouhi quickly averted her eyes; she was shy, but more importantly, all of the woman's lovely tanned skin was exposed to the air. She heard the splashing of water against (shapely) legs and it made her curious to look again. The next thing she knew, a wet hand pressed to the back of her neck and pulled, and her lips met the woman's. Her thin almond eyes were closed, but Vartouhi's went wide with bewilderment, and once the shock wore off, she quickly stepped back.
Her hair reminded Vartouhi of sunshine filtering through leaves, so golden and pretty. When she opened her eyes, she beamed at the princess, cheeks lifting and making the diamond shape of her face more prominent. "I'hlaya~" Her voice was silvery and charming, but rather than endeared, Vartouhi was even more astonished, blinking owlishly. The girl came forward with arms held out to receive her, but Vartouhi quickly pressed her hands on the girl's shoulders to stop her.
"You are not of Balah-- Why do you know this word?" the princess questioned.
"I am not from your home, it's true, but I know many things." Vartouhi's jaw dropped at the answer. She'd spoken it in perfect Balahyan.
Vartouhi switched to her native tongue, testing her, "What do you mean? What do you know?"
She watched as the other lifted into the air, though she had to look away once the girl reached a certain height, cheeks pink. "I have a gift, to see anything I please." She spun quickly before Vartouhi could respond, waving her hand in a swift arch. Water spurted from the lake, lifting and falling in an arch as well, and remained there, little particles of mist falling to the surface in a continuous, moving sheet. Images appeared in the mist and Vartouhi's eyes widened again as she saw herself--sleeping, walking, bathing (her face burned redder), everything.
When the woman turned again, her smile was mysterious, and she giggled as if very pleased with herself to confuse Vartouhi. "But I found myself using my gift to watch you, more and more." She lowered back down and came closer, the princess stepping back to keep space between them. "And now you are here. It is fate that we are brought together. It is a sign. I am for you, and you are for me."
Vartouhi's brows furrowed, puzzled. "You speak my language yet I do not understand what you say."
"You feel it yourself, do you not? I know you. You do not tear your eyes away from a beautiful figure--you let them linger. Yet you cannot keep your eyes on me. Don't you wonder why?" Vartouhi chanced a glance at her as she mentioned it, but quickly looked away again, frowning as she tried to figure it out.
"It's complicated. Glancing at you as I have been, I feel this warmth come over me, and I feel like coming closer to you and..." Vartouhi trailed off, eyes wandering back to the strange girl to let the feeling come over her, so she could properly describe it. "...and keeping you close to me forever. It scares me. I do not know you. Why should I want that?"
"Doesn't it sound like love at first sight, to you?" The princess's heart fluttered, and she opened her mouth to reply, but the woman smiled sweetly and stepped close to wind her arms around Vartouhi's waist, cutting her off. "It is a shallow form of love, but I have seen our potential life together in the mist, and I know you will come to love me as I do you, should you accept me."
Vartouhi's heart thudded in her chest. The woman smiled knowingly, leaning forward, and Vartouhi leaned back, making sure to keep her hands off the other. "Maurus would kill you, and..." Her heart beat even harder as she realized how much the idea upset her--more than normal. Her hands automatically pressed to the woman's back, fingers curling to desperately cling to her.
The mist shimmered. The image depicted Maurus turning, a sword coming down on the crook of his neck, and then a coffin lowering into a grave. "He is no more. Do not let him torture your heart any longer, my love." Vartouhi tensed up as the woman smoothed a hand over her pink hair, cupped her cheek, and softly pressed their lips together again. As the seconds ticked by, Vartouhi's fingers flattened against the other’s warm skin, her eyes fluttered shut, and she tipped her head to deepen the kiss.
But that night, after long hours of conversation and laughter, closeness and comfort, pleasure and passion--Vartouhi was curled up with her, carding her fingers through the other's hair. She thought of how very strangely happy she felt, and remembered something her sister Lusine told her long ago.
"Love is the cure for all needs." Lusine's smile was gentle as she said it.
But Kohar barked out a laugh. "I don’t know about that. In regards to my most frequent and pressing of needs, I don't think love can top the skilled fingers of that musician."
Lusine's face flushed pink. "If you're with someone you love when you do those things, it’s even better."
"Oh, and you'd know, Miss I'm-waiting-for-the-one?" Raisa chimed in as she sat backwards in her chair, grinning cheekily.
"If Siran were here, she'd tell you all I’m right."
"I wonder how love is supposed to cover the basic need for food..." Anoush pondered aloud, in a tone of voice that clearly indicated teasing.
Albena snorted. "Easy. Fall for a chef!"
The room filled with laughter--even Lusine's. Vartouhi's heart warmed as she thought that Lusine was wrong. She decided family was the cure for all needs.
Her chest tightened at the memory. She listened to the wind rustling through the trees, and the other sounds of the night. Distantly, she could hear the ocean. It reminded her how very alone they were on this island--"an oasis just for you and I," the girl next to her had said earlier. Vartouhi's hand slowly slid out of the woman's hair, and she untangled herself from the other to lie flat on her back and stare at the stars.
What if they were still alive? She thought as she closed her eyes against the sting of tears. It was true that since she was a child, Lusine's storybooks and rosy daydreams made her long for romance--a yearning that endured even today. Vartouhi wasn't sure she could feel complete with just a partner, however. No friends to make new memories with? No relatives to relive old memories together? No children to raise while they begin collecting memories of their own? Sure, there would be warmth at her immediate side, but wouldn't the emptiness surrounding the rest of her be terribly cold and lonely?
If someone was going to hold her hand for the rest of her life, she wanted to walk with them in a world encased in the warmth of a complete family.
Vartouhi turned her head to look down at their laced hands, and she slowly slipped her fingers out of the other's, taking her hand away to tuck under her cheek as she rolled onto her side to sleep.
She woke to the sound of a truck driving by, eyes opening to find a park just beyond the trees, and the city in the background.
Vartouhi thought of the beautiful woman and sighed heavily in an attempt to rid herself of the dull ache in her heart.
A white rabbit watched the princess stand and walk to the city, ears perking up in interest.
"Your sister was right to say you're stronger than you know."
I think the best thing I've said recently, was when I was having conversation with a friend about this guy who had been both asking me out and treating me in a sexual manner after I had rejected him multiple times Anyway I told him it wouldn't work (again) and he said something along the lines of we'll never know if we try And I was telling my friend this And I said " "We'll only know if we try" yeah and I'll only know if I enjoy homicide if I give it a go you wanna volunteer for that too" I'm psychotic.
my friend hannah from aus and i are planning to vacation in seoul together because it's better to meet up there than to have her come here or me go there ( cant go there anyway because she has cats )
but anyway
there ARE SO MANY CUTE APARTMENTS/BNB PLACES
and so cheap
-melts-
seeds of redemption: [o1] redirect
ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ #3
ʀ ᴀ ʙ ʙ ɪ ᴛ ʜ ᴏ ʟ ᴇ
You’re taking a walk outside when you notice a large hole in the middle of the road.
No one’s nearby, no fuss at all. You decide to look through; it’s a tunnel, leading to another w o r l d .
Except, it brings you to a pivotal moment in your past.
And it’s giving you an opportunity to change it.
Word count: 3165
Crystal clear azure--bright and twinkling like gems embedded amongst the soft white fur.
It watched her so intelligently. Even when she spoke to it, it seemed to understand her and respond in kind: a twitch of the ear or nose here, a turn of the head or stretch of the spine there.
When it turned its back to her and she asked if it was leaving, it moved to look back at her. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes went on and on, until Vartouhi became curious if the rabbit was waiting for something. Her head slowly leaned towards the right as she regarded it, eyebrows lifting in a delicate arch. The rabbit only blinked. She tried standing, and a breeze picked up. Over the rustling of the dry leaves on the ground and the barren tree branches, she heard a whisper.
“Come, Princess.”
Her eyes widened as the rabbit took off in a run, and Vartouhi quickly followed. The rabbit was as white as the snow, and hard to keep track of as a result. It was getting too far from her, so she jumped, lifting herself into the air in a high, graceful arch. When she touched back down, she was close--if it had been flying in front of her, she could’ve reached out for it and cradled it in her hands. They hit tall grass, and she kept her eyes trained on the rustling in front of her, until suddenly it ceased, and before she could slow down to a stop herself, she found her foot falling farther than it should. Panicked, she shot up into the air, hard breaths puffing out to fly around her face in wispy tendrils before disappearing altogether. When she lowered back into the grass, she daintily stuck out her foot, toeing around until she found solid ground again. With a small sigh of relief, she knelt, hands reaching out to part the grass and have a look at the hole.
Her lips parted, bottom lip quivering as she sucked in a stuttering breath. Her eyelashes fluttered and she had to slam her hands down in the snow, gripping the edge of the hole tightly, letting the sting of the ice keep her from fainting. There was no mistaking the crimson forests, the fields patched magenta and verdant green, the sprawling city built into and on top of the hills, the marble walls as white as the rabbit that had brought her here, and the swirling flower design embroidered in red on golden flags flying at the tops of the towers.
She was looking down at the palace. She was looking down at her home--her Balah.
There was a little push on her back--just enough to tip her into losing her balance--and as she twisted around, she saw the rabbit jump through after her. Its front paws burst into glittering white smoke that engulfed the rabbit, and out emerged a beautiful woman with rabbit ears. Her entire body was white and looked smooth to the touch, all except her eyes--sapphire blue. Her long hair swirled about her as they fell, and she opened her arms, elbows bent slightly to form an almost-circle about her waist.
“Princess. I know your plight. I know your sorrow.”
Vartouhi gasped as she watched images appear within the circle, hazy as if they were woven with fog. She saw Aram wounded while protecting her. She saw the Galgidori using Albena’s body to attack her, teeth sinking into the flesh of the back of her right calf. She saw Maurus murdering Elpidius. She saw her people being slaughtered as her escape vessel launched out of the bay. So many awful things had befallen her family and friends, her people, all because of her. She couldn’t look away as if she didn’t deserve the ache that gripped her, and the hot tears spilling over her lashes.
“Princess, listen well. Fate is a gamble. One action ripples farther than any eye can see--even mine. I cannot advise you on what action you must take to obtain the most favorable outcome, nor can I warn you of what action will lead to your worst nightmares becoming reality. You have only this one opportunity. You must choose your new path on your own and accept what comes with it, or take the path you know, and accept what can never be changed.”
The entity came closer to her, wispy fog spilling from the circle of her arms. She lifted them over Vartouhi’s head, putting her in the circle, bringing her arms down until she was embracing the weeping princess. “This moment I bring you to is the pivotal event. Choose wisely, Princess. If I could, I would give you my foot for luck.”
The haze of the fog completely blocked out her vision, and when she finally blinked to find it had cleared, she was standing in the ballroom of the palace. The room was basked in warm pink and orange lights from bioluminescent flowers arranged in elegant hanging fixtures. When she took a step forward, she realized she was in a gown, the soft fabric caressing her legs as it flowed about in the skirt. An intricate flower tapestry hung on the wall, depicting herself sowing seeds across the land and bringing a gentle rainfall complete with a rainbow--the poem sang of her hidden worth, how it could have been no one but her to bring the war to an end, how her kind heart and her dedication to the beauty of Balah’s culture won the heart of her fiancé.
Her eyes widened. It was the celebration of her betrothal.
Vartouhi’s mind raced. Her head snapped to the right. Maurus was there, dark hair smoothed back--formality and fashion all in one. His green eyes caught hers and he flashed her the warmest smile, eyes twinkling full of charm. Out of the corner of her eye, Vartouhi saw her handmaidens put their hands to their cheeks or chests and sigh wistfully. Vartouhi’s stomach lurched. Was this what she was supposed to change? Was she supposed to call off the betrothal before he became obsessed with her? Was it too late for that--would it change anything if she spoke up about her disapproval of him?
She hadn’t smiled back, and now he was walking over. This hadn’t happened before. Vartouhi felt dizzy, but she merely straightened her posture and set her shoulders back, arms sliding back the slightest so her hands could clutch tightly at her skirt with less chance of being noticed. It didn’t help. Her heart was pounding too hard--it hurt. She wasn’t ready--
“You’re prettier than any flower here,” he commented when he was close, reaching up to brush his fingertips along one of the braids in her hair, the hanging teardrop ornaments tinkling together as his fingers disturbed them.
She turned her head away slightly, just enough so he wasn’t touching her. “Maurus, please,” she began, self-conscious and feeling entirely too tense with him being so close.
But he didn’t stop touching her. His fingers curled delicately around her neck until his palm was pressed at the side of it, thumb sliding along the underside of her jaw until it was right under her chin, and he flicked it up to tilt her head while he came closer. “I think you need a refresher. You don’t seem to realize I was complimenting you.” She was frozen, uneasy about causing a scene, and panicked because this was an entirely new encounter, so she was afraid of setting him off--in public or not. His eyes slid closed and he brushed his lips across hers, and that’s when her brain started working again, her heart sinking. It was her first kiss. Now Maurus had it forever.
When he pulled away, he smirked. “You should be pleased. You will be wife to a handsome and powerful husband.” He slid the pad of his thumb down her throat, pressing it against the hollow with slightly more pressure than could be considered accidentally uncomfortable. His eyes were intense, suddenly, as they stared into hers. Surely anyone farther away would think he was overcome with passion for her, but Vartouhi stared into stormy pools of arrogance, greed, and madness. “And your people are so happy the war is over.” His thumb pressed harder, and she grunted, having trouble breathing. “You wouldn’t want to ruin it for them, would you?” The question applied to more than just this party. She knew from the way his voice lowered, just enough to let her know she was flirting with danger. He wasn’t letting up. Vartouhi tilted the corners of her lips up in the tiniest smile. “Good girl.”
He released her, smiling softly. His hand lingered, fingers drawing down her shoulder and arm before he took her hand into his and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I’ll come find you later. Perhaps we could consummate the marriage early.”
Vartouhi couldn’t help the way she stumbled back two steps as he walked away. Her face went pale, because she knew with Maurus, there was no such thing as ‘perhaps,’ and no amount of protest from her would change that fate.
She looked around the room, trying not to whip her head around too wildly, not wanting to attract too much attention. It was obvious to her that she couldn’t change her fate with Maurus--she was bound to him by treaty and by the threads of the universe, it seemed. But she refused to have him stake claim on her body. Her sister was going to die tonight. She didn’t need him adding another tragedy on.
It was as that thought completed that she caught sight of her. Albena looked just as unrecognizable as before. Dark circles, dull eyes, shaking her head at times as if to ward away a headache.
Her chest tightened at the sight of her. The betrothal must not have been formally announced yet; otherwise she would have already succumbed to the Galgidori attempting to possess full control of her body.
Vartouhi took quick strides to her sister’s side, grabbing her hand tightly to get her attention. That seemed to rouse her out of the stupor for a moment. Vartouhi could feel the sting of tears behind her eyes as Albena flashed her a weak smile. “I’m sorry, Touhi. I’m a little too tired to dance with you.” She spoke softly, chuckling for a brief moment.
“Come with me,” Vartouhi urged, tugging her sister away.
She brought Albena to a secluded room far down the corridors. A feeling of dread washed over her as she entered and took in the sight of the décor. It was the exact same room as before. Albena would die here, unless Vartouhi could save her.
Vartouhi pulled her over to one of the sofas, sitting Albena down. “What’s gotten into you? Cold feet already?” Albena asked, trying to stand, but Vartouhi forced her back down with her hands on her sister’s shoulders.
“...It’s in you, isn’t it?”
Albena froze. A tense, long moment of silence passed between them, before finally she answered. “...Then you know you shouldn’t be alone with me.”
Vartouhi could faintly see in the dim light, but she caught the way Albena’s eyes started to become glassy. She sat next to her twin, pulling her into a tight hug, and Albena practically squeezed the breath out of her in her strong embrace. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Vartouhi asked quietly. It was a question she’d always wanted the answer to.
Albena sighed heavily. “I didn’t know myself, until three nights ago. But the extraction chamber lacks fuel, and though the war has ended, our confiscated ships won’t return in time with the imports. There is nothing to be done.”
The words echoed in Vartouhi’s mind, and a cold, aching feeling washed over her insides like they were submerged in ice water. Her eyes filled with tears, and she felt her sister’s lips press to the side of her head. “Shh, i’hlaya. You...” Albena trailed off, her grip loosening for a moment, body shivering, and then she held on tightly again. Vartouhi fought back a sob. The Galgidori was pushing for dominance. “You are stronger than you know.”
Vartouhi let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head and rocking her sister gently. “No. You always protected me. Everyone did. Because I’m not strong at all.”
Albena pulled back, cupping Vartouhi’s cheeks, and tears lined her bottom lashes as she gave a soft smile. She opened her mouth to speak before her eyes widened, little cracks of white creeping into her irises. Vartouhi’s tears slipped over her waterline and along her sister’s hands, waiting patiently for her to fight the creature’s influence. Albena’s hands shook as she spoke, eyes still wide as the cracks slowly began to expand. “We protect you because you could be the strongest. I’hlaya, when people have already found their strength, that’s it. There is no more to be seen. They never gain more. They just call upon that same strength over and over. They can lose it. Gain it back. But it will always remain the same.”
Vartouhi sobbed. “I do not understand.”
“It’s hard to... to think right now,” Albena admitted with a shaky sigh. “What I’m trying to say, is that you have not learned to call upon your strength yet. It lies hidden within you, waiting to be seen. How can you know how strong or weak you are if you have never tested your strength?” Vartouhi was quiet, just sniffling, so Albena continued, “We have all protected you because we’ve already found our strength. We know the limits of it, we’ve seen its potential. Yours is a mystery to us all. You have the most potential out of all of us, because you have been protected--have learned from us. And because you have suffered much, i’hlaya. None of us have had to endure what you endured. Yet you are still able to carry on. You are still able to smile. You still find beauty in the universe and its inhabitants. It takes strength to do that. And I believe it is just the beginnings of what you can do with it.”
Albena’s eyes were marbled now--the milky white almost overtaking the black entirely. They glowed briefly and Vartouhi found herself tossed lightly to the opposite wall. Albena gripped the seat of the sofa tightly, body shaking and convulsing. Vartouhi’s expression twisted in anguish. She was going to lose her sister again. “Albena--“ she tried, her voice coming out no more than a whimper.
“Vartouhi--“ There was a rumble to the sound of her voice.
“PLEASE-- SOMEONE HELP HER!” Vartouhi screamed, eyes flashing brightly with light until it flared with an intense radiance. She grit her teeth and reached out for the second consciousness in her sister, trying to capture it, but it slipped through her grasp like smoke. Vartouhi lifted her hands out, physically reaching to better ground the mental force, and clenched her fists tight. Albena cried out, though in a voice that was not her own, and Vartouhi pulled.
For a moment, Vartouhi could see a black smoke seeping out of Albena’s mouth, becoming more solid as it came out farther and farther. A face whirled in and out of the smoke, keening with pain, and Vartouhi latched onto the most solid portion, dragging it with all the power she could muster.
There was a loud bang as the door flew open, and Vartouhi’s concentration faltered for just a moment as she flinched. The guards must have been too stunned to act, because the next thing she knew, the Galgidori had snapped back into Albena’s body like a taut string being pulled and let go. Her sister lunged at her, and Vartouhi’s eyes glowed again, ready to attempt to save her sister once more.
Something very solid collided into her side, and Albena’s teeth sank into her flesh. A hysterical “NO!” ripped from her throat as she felt the same searing pain just under the back of her knee. She tried to wrench herself out of her bindings, only to find it was a guard that had tried to tackle her out of harm’s way, and now he wrenched her away from Albena as her twin stood. She growled, ready to attack the guards. Time seemed to slow down. Vartouhi’s eyes widened as she realized this was her chance. She could save her sister. She just had to restrain her until the guards could find bindings strong enough to hold her. Then she could be held in a safe place until the shipment of fuel for the extraction chamber came in.
Her powers lit her eyes up again, but the pressure of the moment and the panic caused her to channel her telekinesis on the objects around her instead of on her target. The guards flew back and hit the walls. Vartouhi breathed hard, closing her eyes, trying to gather herself now that she had a spare moment. She could hear her sister’s footsteps coming for her. She focused intensely on the sound of it, preparing for the right moment.
There was a shunk sound and a gushing noise. Vartouhi’s eyes flew open, widening in horror as she witnessed two more spears pierce her sister’s body, one throwing her back to stumble against the wall, the last pinning her there. The light died out of Vartouhi’s eyes.
She’d failed.
Vartouhi screeched in agony and fear as she started falling, further and further into darkness, watching as the hole with Balah inside became smaller and smaller. She thrashed about, trying to fight the force tugging her and turning her around. She could see another hole now, and through it, the field of tall grass. “No! Please!” She begged, eyes glowing, trying to pull back. “One more chance! I know what I need to do, now!” But there was no voice to answer her. The cold wind of Seoul washed over her as she neared. “PLEASE!” she cried.
She fell in a heap on the snow-covered ground, surrounded by tall grass. Vartouhi scrambled to turn around on her hands and knees, pushing through the grass to find the hole again and crawl back through.
There was nothing.
For a long moment, she remained there, wailing. She didn’t care who heard. She cried until she was hoarse--until the sobs turned into whimpers and then into sniffles, her eyes red and bleary but unable to produce any more tears. When she was finally silent, her lips pressed into a thin line, and she stood on shaky legs, turning to walk back to the city.
Tucked into a wrinkle in time, the white rabbit watched with sad eyes as Vartouhi wandered farther and farther away from her original path.
“I pray that your new path leads to good fortune, Princess.”
