The People We Are

Chapter IX; Anastasia

They fought on the bridge. At first, Arlie had a bit of an edge, but Anastasia would come back. The battle raged on for what seemed like forever, and Arlie seemed to get tired. Anastasia knew she'd do whatever it took for Xayah, but Anastasia would do the same for Beau. It was through her excitement of having a life with him that kept her going. She wanted to be his wife, she wanted to bear his children, she wanted him to be her King and to remind her why life was worth living. They had fought so long together, and she wouldn't dare give that up. Eventually, Anastasia dealt her signature move and swept Arlie off her feet, plummeting her to the ground. She put one foot on Arlie's stomach and bent down to her, where they were face-to-face. The world was silent. Even the river had muted itself. "Please" Arlie mouthed. "Dear friend, I must. For Iphica, for Beau, for me." Anastasia whispered before she sliced her best friend's throat. The blood got onto Anastasia's arm, and it splattered into three spots. One washed off immediately, another slowly trickled down, and one remained. She cried out in agony, immediately regretting what she had done. She dropped the shiv as Xayah tried to run to Arlie, but the others held her back. Anastasia turned to look at Beau, who had two different expressions. In one eye he looked lovingly to his future wife, glad she was alive. In the other, he was tainted with fear. "I am no longer Anastasia." she cried out for the world to hear. "That name is innocent. I am no longer innocent." she dropped to her knees. Xayah broke free and carried Arlie's body away from her. Beau carefully approached her, and she latched onto his legs. "I did it all for you, King. I did it all for you."

That seemed like so long ago for many.
But for Anastasia? It felt like another lifetime.
Anastasia was re-remembering her teenage years.
But no matter what her first victim said, Anastasia's regrets and sorrows couldn't be undone.

Kicked out of the discussions once more, Anastasia and Ryaxleb made use of their free time to reunite with Beau and Calxyan respectively. Ryaxleb and Calxyan were very excited to see eachother again, seeing as this had been the longest they had been apart since they first got together. Beau was ecstatic to see Anastasia, and she him. When they saw each other again, they ran to each other as Ryaxleb and Calxyan had, but instead of in the name of love they ran in the name of close friendship. She told him of their travels, and showed off her new ability. "Does it work on people?" he asked. "I haven't tried. You'll catch me, right?" she started. "Assuming I get that high before I fall." she finished. They laughed and he got onto his knees so that it would be easier for him to catch her at whatever height she got to. She attempted to lift herself with her new gift, and she got a few inches off the ground. On pure adrenaline, she lifted herself higher. She was about his height when she stood, so she went a bit higher. "I'm finally taller than you!" she mockingly exclaimed. He laughed and stood, and proved she was higher. She went a bit higher, and it seemed she had flown away from all the problems on the ground. However, when she thought of the freedom, she had forgotten to stay focused on herself. She began plummeting back down, unable to re-collect herself. Her only hope was Beau, and he pulled through as always. He caught her, one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. She was hugging herself to embrace for the impact, and when she realized he had caught her this way she put her arms around his neck to stabilize herself. His face flushed red as he carefully bent over to set her back on the ground. "It does work though!" she said jokingly. "Yeah... It sure does..." he said, barely able to speak.
"Anastasia!" Ideus called from behind them. "Hi Ideus!" Anastasia responded. "Oh, you must be Buck. That's your name, right?" he asked almost degradingly. "It's Beau. Beau Plath. Who are you again? Prince Ideas?" He responded in the same manner. "I'm Prince Ideus. Of Faormen. I'd watch your tone if I were you." Anastasia didn't know what was going on, but she knew she had to butt in. "Beau, Ideus, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. I guess I didn't annunciate either of your names well. Beau, this is Prince Ideus Eilf. Ideus, this is Beau Plath." she said, making sure to sound out each syllable. The two boys glared at each other, silently having a conversation that Anastasia couldn't understand. "Ideus, are you kidding me?" Luna said behind them. "I said get Princess Anastasia, not talk to her and that farmer guy. The both of you, we're having a discussion and everyone insists that you two be there." she said before walking away. "We should probably go, Anastasia." Beau started again. "It's Princess Anastasia to you!" Anastasia snapped at him "No, it's not. I told him not to use my title. Let's go, Ideus." she said, leaving, for the first time, bitter at him.
"They've taken over Rielweth. They went to Imperial City, finished off Mirirejar with Faormen and have now taken Capital City. The things are relentless and it seems no one has the power to overthrow them. No one ordinary, at least." Luna started. "I think that at this point the only way to defeat them is to go for the source. The fastest way to kill someone is a stab to the heart, and their heart lies in the isles. Should Anastasia's book be true, which it somehow has been so far, the sovereign isle holds the key to what we need. If we get the leader's heads and present them to the others, they'll flee back." Anastasia hadn't read Luna any of that, though she had herself. "How did you know that's what the book says?" Luna scoffed. "I looked through it the night you and Ideus stayed up stargazing." Anastasia felt intruded on, but Luna had done what she had done for good reason. "So, is everyone on board with this plan?" Luna asked. Though they were all terrified for what would come with this plan, they knew it would be the best way to do what they needed to do to save Iphica.