HAYLOFT ➵ dreamsmp

xvi - a terrible fortress

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𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 : 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬

After the sound of water splashing against tile flooring and a towel leaving it's holder, Eris had changed into a new set of clothing, even if it wasn't much of a different one. She did not even dare look in the small mirror that was placed above the sink, fearing the haunting image that would stare back at her; she'd rather live in ignorance.

Come to look at it, she'd rather live in ignorance of all of it. Her mental state, her physical state, from her physical place of existence to the emotions that caused her heart to crush over, and over again.

She wished she could tune out the world and ignore all of it.

And so she did.

Sitting on the side of the bath, wet hair dripping onto the white tunic, being the only thing that tied her to the existing world, she stared at the wall, waiting for the bird keeper to come bring her back to her cage.

Said bird keeper knocked on her door a few minutes later, asking whether she was done, with an uncertain tone before bringing her back down the hallway and down the stairs, into the cobblestone room.

He sat her down on the worn-out mattress on the backside of the space, leaving her to her thoughts as he cleaned up the wound on her ankle, which she had already forgotten about, as she kept staring at the wall opposite of her.

At some point George had left, but not before changing the one candle that lit the room and placing another plate next to Eris, replacing the one that had been untouched from the time before. She would say it had been the day before, but she wasn't sure.

And so a cycle came into life. A cycle of the plates being switched out with fresher bread, potatoes or soup, the candle being re-lit and the couple of times a day George would come down to bring her to the bathroom.

Between those moments, Eris was in limbo. A state of mind that couldn't be described as fully conscious, but to her unfortunate fate, never unconscious either, as every time she came close to the sweetest relief of sleep, another harming thought surged through her mind, forcing her to sit upright to fight back the urge to cry out.

The effects of her harmful pattern presented themselves quickly. It hadn't taken long before Eris couldn't walk up the stairs by herself anymore, and George was forced to carry her from her prison to the bathroom, never a word spoken.

Everything existed in a blur. Nothing made sense to Eris beside her raging thoughts, which subsequently brought her back to one particular person, or rather two persons; Tommy and Tubbo.

When she first thought of them, a tightening feeling of panic iced through her veins and she thought about the state she saw Tubbo in last. Because what if his wound had gotten infected while she was away? For all she knew he could be dead right now, lying six feet under in the dirt and soot outside of L'Manberg.

What if Tommy found himself in a situation she wasn't there to help him out of? What if his recklessness and impulsiveness had pushed him too far for the last time?

Her sense of sanity was rapidly draining in her current situation but at the same time, she felt like she could not do a thing to make it stop. A sense of self forced her to sit silently in the corner of her grey prison for unknown times on end. She could not find the motivation or sheer willpower to do anything else, and it terrified her.

Then Eret started making his way down occasionally, to the utter dismay of Eris, who couldn't bear the sight of him, glaring blankly at the floor every time he dared to set foot in her room.