𝐖𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐏: 𝐒𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞

2: Athanasia, not the Eternal

Let one's imagination take flight, not run it into the ground.

Athanasia strolled across the grounds, undeterred by the wind in her hair as she made her way to the Emerald palace, watching out for the guards but finding none, and thinking it odd. 

For all her time in the palace, the only time she had gone without guards in and around the palace had been up until she had turned five. 

Peculiar.

She walks a few more steps and sees a small red haired child in the distance, squinting, she thinks he resembles Felix, but surely there were others that had that striking red hair-?

The child turned around and Athanasia spotted familiar grey eyes that were like thunderclouds and immediately found herself hiding behind a wall, her hands covering her mouth as she slid down the wall and stared at the ground in disbelief. 

It couldn't be.

Felix wasn't a young child. He never mentioned having a child. Was it his nephew that he gently spoke about? But there was no reason for the nephew to be in the palace wandering around. It could only be Felix...

Felix back when Claude was still a... a prince. 

The child doesn't see Athanasia and turns to face forward again, thinking the blonde had been a figment of his imagination. There were only three people in these palaces with blond hair and that was his majesty, his highness the crown prince, and his highness Claude. 

None of them had long blonde hair. 

Athanasia hides there in the darkness until she hears the sound of Felix's footsteps fade and she breathes out a small sigh of relief as she buries her head in her arms as she listens to her faint breaths. 

She had gone back into the past...or she had gone to an alternate world. One where Claude was still the young prince that was hated, and had not yet revolted against Anastasius.

She murmured aloud out of habit, "I have to leave...I don't belong here...but going back isn't an option either..not yet.." and nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears a small voice that was full of suspicion. 

A voice that had not yet matured into the deep, elegantly bored voice she heard everyday across the table during teatime. 

"Who are you, and who allowed you to come in here? State your purpose." Athanasia doesn't want to look up, but at the same time- does. 

Her nervous eyes that she forgot to hide with magic in the heat of the moment reveals themselves to a younger Claude, and he startles, seeing the Imperial eyes that had only been shared by three people in the world.

And now? Four. 

Athanasia's gem eyes meet Claude's that mirror her shock as she sees herself reflected in his and she wants to slap herself.

She didn't know how to erase someone's memory so she was stuck with Claude knowing she was part of the Imperial family, but to her knowledge, no one else besides the current emperor, Anastasius and Claude had the gem eyes.

How could she get out of this situation? What should she say? What should she do? ..run? Disappear? Explain?!

Claude's finger points at her eyes, his voice trembling before it cracks. "You- you have my eyes! That means you're a member of my family!! Why have I never known I had a.. an elder sister!?" 

Athanasia blinks in confusion, her heart beating fast in her chest, like a rabbit's foot thumping on the dirt in desperation. She moistens her lips before speaking.