" she was planning to kill me on my 13 birthday "
" What? "
i was pulled back, i never heard about Mei killing Anny, Mei loves Anny
[ could it be..]
sob sob
" you're wrong, Anny. "
her hair covering her face as she turned her back on me,
" i'm not wrong. I heard her discussing it with those stupid Lords. I may be a princess but i was never treated like one."
" i was locked up inside that stupid Tower, like a prisoner."
[ i wish i could tell Anny the truth but that would make her hate me ]
the reason why they planned to kill her was because they fear Anny, they fear the 4rd 'catastrophe' too.
the easiest way to stop the 4th from happening is to kill off Anny, but in doing that, it won't stop it forever and i'll be agreeing to those dogs execution method
And if i did that, i'm no better than those dogs.
[ i won't let anyone hurt or touch Anny ]
i reached out, my fingers slightly curled, offering my hand like a bridge between us
"Anny, i'll protect you. I won't let them take you back."
A smiled appeared on my face,
calm and genuine
her eyes still wet with tears softened as she heard those words, she looked at me with an invisible smile, hearing those words her face eased like her world wasn't heavy anymore.
"You better not lie!", she said as she stomped her feet on the ground
"I'm not"
i bent down to reach her level
[ i've known her for 9 years almost—]
she wiped her tears and runny nose with her cloak, "alright..come, i'll treat you to some warm tea."
[ — and i'll continue to know her again for another 9 years ]
"Right."
i clutched my bag, "say Anny, do you live alone or with someone?"
since i'm two months late, i didn't meet Anny when she ran away
hands on her hips, she declared proudly, "i live with a nice lady! In exchange for me to help her!"
we continued to walk
"What's her name?"
" Eris! She lives around here. Come i'll show you!"
"Eris?", that name didn't ring any bell, who was she..?
[ i don't recall any Eris..things have already started to alter from the original timeline ]
?
" can you describe how she looks like?"
"huh?.." she stares at me in confusion
"Please?"
"well..hm she has ginger hair, curly, short hair, olive skin, green eyes and wears a man's clothing.."
my expression change drastically
i froze. My mouth opened, my eyes widened before i even realized what i'd heard, "..Eris..I remember her.."
i blinked
[ she was found almost dead by Anny, so i had no choice but to let her stay at my house..]
[ then…then…it was August..when it happened..]
…
"Remember her? Do you know Eris?", a sweaty tear ran down her face
i grabbed her by the shoulder which startled her, "we have to hurry!", I yelled
"She's in danger—your friend is in danger!"
" lead the way, Anny!"
without questioning me she quickly dashed towards her home
————————————————————
The house was a small house centred near the edge of a mountain's cliff, big rocks surrounding the house, trees with barely any leaves left.
Anny crossing her arms, "this is her house. Everything seems normal"
still looking concerned she asked me, "do you know Eris? Mister?"
i step towards the house, " stay here, i'll check inside"
i grab the door handle and pulled.
i step foot inside,
it was a single room made with solide rocks, a lantern was hung in the middle of the ceiling flickering, papers glued on the wall which were ripped out and there was a tool table hand made with mechanical tools and gears.
[ there's no one here… ]
Anny walked in inspecting the room, "maybe she's at town..shopping?
"No..it's not that.."
"Take a look at this..", i grabbed the camera that was hid behind a box
Her eyes widened before, locked onto the screen with a mix of disbelief and dread. She seemed like she saw something she wasn't ready to see.
[ "this video is for you Anny..Listen here carefully..i-i'm being haunted.. i-i..i've done something terrible that i shouldn't have and now they want me dead. Right now they're on the other side of the door. I-i..fuck..i want you…i..i want you to find another place and forget..—" ]
whrrrrr—
" Eris..!"
…
we were too late.
[ "AHH—! Le-let go of me!.. Get off of me..!!—" ]
in the distance you could hear her scream
whrrr—
whrr—
the camera shuts down.
sob sob..
wah..wahhh…
"ERIS…!"
"ERISS….!!!"
wahh wahh…
She hugged the camera as she cried hard
much harder than before
[ I know who took Eris away..but ]
I didn't react. My face stayed neutral, my eyes steady, like none of it matters.
[ does it really matter? Saving someone like her. ]
i turn my body towards the door, " come, let's go."
"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!", she screamed while tears steamed down her face
"G-GO… ALONE!"
"Didn't you hear? Eris said to forget about her it's too dangerous."
holding the camera tightly around her chest, she faced me,
"I-i thought you said you'll protect me! They took Eris! We have to go save her! She's out there!"
"This is a trap to lure you in. There's certain things you have to know.."
i stare at her with a worried expression.
sniff sniff
"Everyone wants you dead Anny, no matter where. I'm sure you know why."
She wiped at her cheeks with quick, frustrated swipes, like the tears themselves her burning her skin. She tightened the grip of her dress,
"They hate me because they think i have something growing inside me."
" like a monster."
she took slow steps towards me
"Saving Eris will put you in danger. Do you know who the MissFortunes are?"
nervously she answered, " i..i can't be locked forever from the public..and.."
"No..i don't know anything about this side of The Wall"
"That's fine, i'll explain it to you."
The MissFortunes or the MSF, they rule the 'Outside World' as you know our kingdom is split by a wall between Victoria kingdom and the "Outside" The MSF governs and is in charge but has little saying when it comes to decisions. The head of the MSF is Mertha, she's the ruler of this trash side of The Wall.
while in the Victoria Kingdom, there's the MistFortune or the MF, they're the ones in second seat next to the throne. They have powers all over, they're the Wings of Victoria. They're in charge of the military, the law, the people, the economy and diplomatic relationships outside our Kingdom. Honestly they're the one doing all over the works. The Queen only says 'yes' or 'no'.
"It's the MSF who took Eris."
My eyes shifting somewhere else,
"And..when you said your mom wants to kill you..it's not her wish. If she wanted to kill you she would've done it when you were born.."
i grabbed my bag again
"It's the MF who wants to kill you, because they're scared of you. You must not hate Queen Mei. I want you to never ever hate your mom, bur instead the MF"
upon hearing my words, her face softens, her eyes begin shifting slightly downcast. Her brows faintly drawn but not enough to suggest distress but rather a sense of something that hurts her beneath the surface.
The kinda look someone wears when they've been carrying something very heavy for too long and she finally let it settled
I bent my knees and looked at her gently, "the MF doesn't really like when someone is stronger than them."
she let a chuckle
i got up
"Come on, let's go save Eris"
she smiled at me with her teeth sticking out
————————————————————
We were back to my cabin,
" now that our plan will expose your presence in the 'outside world' you'll have to always stick with me and be on guard for any suspicious people. Got it?"
"Mhm", she murmured as she ran her fingers across my old books in the dusty old book shelf
i pulled out a large map and placed it on the table
"It's gonna be a long journey, Eris is probably with Master Sen, he's one of the collaborators of the MissFortune (MSF) along with the Terrorist group. Sen usually operates alone."
i pointed at the map,
the Kingdom was obviously split by a giant wall that the MistFortunes controlled, in this side there was about 10-12 states, Dauphin was in the center and on the East side just beneath Dauphin two states appeared : Camp-rose and Nanaimo.
"Right now we're in Dauphin, near the Port, Eris—well Sen's residence is in Mont-Fairy, just below Nanaimo and on the right side of Camp-rose, which is around 4-5 weeks before we get there."
"But if we go from Dauphin to Camp-rose to Mont-Fairy, it will be more shorter..maybe around 2-3 weeks?"
"But Camp-rose is too dangerous, there's still in a conflict so our last choice is Nanaimo."
Anny left baffled and confused with all this information i just told her.
Well it's not my first time living.
she launched a question at me, " is..the MissFortune's evil?"
now this is a debate question, certainly i would've had a lot to say if i was in my original time line.
"Well, some consider them Evil for not being able to help its people in the outside world. Either way, what most people don't know is that the MissFortunes can't move without the green light from the MistFortune. They are just being controlled by the MistFortune."
her hands tucked behind her dress, she looked me in the eyes and say, "i'm interested in this side of The Wall."
she gave me a sharp but friendly smile that felt strange on her.
"Mhm, but you're still young to focus only on politics"
i avoided her face and begin putting things in my bag
her gaze still remaining strong
i tried not to look at her.
[ in the original timeline, Anny ended up working for the MistFortunes. ]
i broke the silence, " come let's head out. Did you get everything in the bag?", i placed my hand gently on her head
"Yep! I'm excited!", she jumped in excitement
[ it wasn't like she didn't know the truth..she knew everything. I couldn't change her mind because she saw me as an enemy. After all, she was the strongest person. There was no stopping her. ]