Poisoned Lips

1: Trigger

(This is not a trigger warning)^
Ignore typos/mistakes and enjoy

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Despite Freyja’s sore muscles, she rolled to the left, dry sand sticking to her sweaty body as she narrowly avoided her opponent’s sharp blade. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed her dagger from the ground, and lunged at her opponent. She was too slow. 

Her mother grabbed her wrists and disarmed her. She swept Freyja off her feet with a swift move and she went crashing into the sand, using her arms as support. Her mother dropped to the ground with a disappointed sigh and they stayed there, together before the rays of the setting sun.

"That's enough for today," Her mother said.

Freyja took off her face mask and her shoes, savoring the feeling of the cool sand. As she advanced towards the ebbing waves, the dry sand beneath her feet slowly became wet, her footprints leaving a trail. The cold water enveloped her feet. With a deep sigh, she drank in the beautiful orange color of the sky, the never-ending turquoise blue of the sea, and breathed in the cool salty air of Afoya.

Behind her, towers of gray cliffs firmly stood. On them, houses were clustered together in admiration of the setting sun. On either side of the sea, thick forests served as the welcoming guards of the sun while the sea served as the sun’s blue carpet.

“Freyja,” Her mother called. “We need to leave.”

Freyja bit her lips in annoyance and spun around. Before she could argue, her mother waved her hands dismissively.

“I would let you stay but the herd of teenagers is going to come soon. You know- Put on your mask!” She exclaimed.

She did as she was told. 

Freyja heard the high-pitched voices alongside the deep laughter coming from the far side of the beach.  The herd of teenagers. Her mother grabbed her wrists and dragged her in the opposite direction.  She yanked her wrists away.

“I am not a child, mother.”

“An adult would understand the consequences of you meeting outsiders.”

The wind tossed her dark short hair in her face as she stopped in her tracks with balled fists. Her insides were like the waves crashing from beside her. Her emotions were tangled. She couldn’t make sense of how she was supposed to feel. 

Her mother was trying to protect her. She knew and she was grateful (for the most part) but why did it hurt her to not be able to meet an “outsider”. She understood the possible consequences of others being aware of her existence but she’d still wished her mother would let her leave the house on her own.

Her mother sighed exasperatedly. “Please tell me you know why you can’t go out alone?” 

She muttered the response.

“Louder. I can't hear you.”

Freyja looked up at the sky, watching the seagulls with hatred. She hated them for their freedom. "Because, I might get executed."

"Exactly."

She took in a massive breath and stilled her emotions like cliffs to her right.

The mother-daughter duo neared the dangerous wooden staircase that was beaten and bruised by the centuries of users. She reassured herself and began climbing, her mother behind her. She wrapped her fingers tightly around the rope and pushed herself upwards, her knuckles scraping the rough surface of the gray cliff. No wonder no one ever came down here. 

As she reached the surface, she turned to her mother, a smirk on her face.

“The last person to reach the house has to--”