A Study On Destiny

3: A Final Goodbye... For Now

The sun once again shines through Ana's window. Making itself know as she laid there, again. Frozen. The morning breeze came through her open window as she started thinking about everything over and over. She was delighted at the thought of seeing Professor Dovey again she seemed really nice the last time they met. Even the thought of perhaps seeing Lady Lesso again made Ana feel more comfortable about her new school. Ana went off her trail of thought as she wondered what her first day would be like, once again.

Lyra came in once again ready to dress Ana once again. "Good morning Anastasia. How are we this morning?"

"More excited then I was last night" Ana said sitting up straight and watching Lyra get Ana's clothes out for the day.

"And hopefully more sober?" Lyra asked getting out Ana's best casual blue and silver dress ready for making her first impressions last.

"I really did not drink that much you know," Ana replied almost offended that Lyra would even suggest such a thing. "Must I wear that thing Lyra?"

"His majesty insisted I'm afraid ma'am" Lyra continued as she presented the dress ready to put on. A sea blue kinda colour throughout and the inner skirt is a royal blue. Silver beading lined the outside as white lace lined sleeves and chest. White shoes with a silver buckle on the toe. It was perfect for a princess, a perfect princess. Ana.

"Ok" Ana huffed swivelling herself to face Lyra and jumped off the bed. Quickly through small talk Lyra pieced together the dress with a new hoop skirt accompanying it.

Time passed and it was not long before the princess skipped happily down to breakfast with a clear mind. Descending the marble staircase with clicks from her white fabric shoes. She skipped happily towards the dinning hall doors before letting a servant know to open them. She entered casually into the great hall, that happiness was very quickly erased after she saw her father's sour face.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?" Her father shouted driving his dagger through the table below him. "LAST NIGHT WAS A DISASTER! JUST BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO WHAT? BE-"

"Have my own opinion?" Ana shot back. Cinderella chocked on her fruit as she was shocked at her daughters response. Then Ana said in a mocking tone "Imagine a girl having an opinion," She threw a dramatic hand over her head like a damsel in distress.

"Now you are just being ridiculous!" He yelled still with a temper but not as loud "You and your brother have a lot of explaining to do and why my gardeners found..." He slammed one of Ana's lost heels on the table "This... in the garden this morning,"

"Because I dropped it father," Ana said calmly before taking a seat at the dining table and grabbing the toast in front of her, that was piled high like they were at a banquet with thousands of guests. She started buttering her two pieces of toast before she began to speak once more not once looking him in the eye "I do not really know what else there is to explain father,"

"I don't know what or who I've raised anymore," He said rather calmly "you've turned into some sort of monster. You no longer act like a princess, no longer respect out families values," he continued as Ana looked at him with an outraged expression "and you have turned the daughter I once knew into a monster,"

"Darling, plea-" Cinderella started before the king interrupted his queen.

"Please what?" He shot back at her "I'm not going to sugar coat it any further. That is not the daughter I raised"

"Maybe the daughter you raised does not want to be that anymore. She wants to explore other opportunities, meet different people and go to other places. Find out stories for myself" Ana cried in hopelessness trying to make her father understand. Yet it was, in fact, hopeless. As he did not want to listen and the king instead sat quietly eating his breakfast with his family as Gregor walked in and immediately felt the tension in the air. Sitting down quickly they all decided to ignore it and eat in silence.

Breakfast continued with that same awkward silence as dinner started the night before. Scraping of plates, sounds of crunching and chewing and people moving about the hall fetching drinks and more food for the royals. Not like they needed anymore with the piles of fruit, bacon, eggs and toast sat on the table.

With Breakfast finally over the royals walked to the entrance. Not together, oh no, separately. Well the king walked separately at least...

At the front of the palace all the servants mainly around Gregor and Anastasia had come to say goodbye, including Lyra and Gregor's personal assistant Adam.

"Goodbye you two," Cinderella started as the siblings turned to her "have a great year and we will see you at Christmas after the ball,"

"I know. I am going to miss you," Ana said hugging her mother tightly while Gregor did the same on the other side.

"I will miss you, mother," Gregor said as he loosened his grip from the hug and came up to face Cinderella.

"And I will miss the both of you my dear children. Don't get up to too much fun and tell Anemone I said hello," Cinderella said as she had a hand on each child's shoulder.

"Children," a stern voice emerged from behind Cinderella "we expect the best from you and expect to hear good things from the school. Anything of failing and the school will deal with it their way. We won't stop it this time," The king warned standing beside the queen with a worried look planted on her face as she watched her husband give a disappointed look to their son.

"But they won't fail Charming they will be top of their classes. Won't you children?" She asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes mother," the siblings said in sync

Suddenly a dark cloud emerged from the sky and the loud squarks of the stymph could be heard. The wind picked up and the clouds darkened around them. Strangely this wasn't normal yet the bird still flapped it's wings, or what was left of them, and approached the castle. Ana looked at Gregor who's face had gone pale. The wind picked up and started to blow Ana's dress about as she attempted to hold it down before she looked back up, at the red sky, to see the boney bird continue to advance closer to the castle and escaping from the blood like clouds. It flew towards the castle fast with fabric like decaying flesh and muscle hanging off of the bones and blowing in the wind. The squark became louder and louder till it was just a few feet away. Now it was closer Ana got a better look at the creature. It's eyes were hollow and filled with just darkness and it's big beak opened and closed to produce a bloody curdling screech. Ana didn't know if it was a angry, sad or feared creature as the face of thing depicts all of them emotions at once.

"What is happening?" Asked the king for the for time Ana saw him genuinely worried.

"This is not normal?" Ana exclaimed as she turned to the king who seemed to be frozen in fear "Gregor? Did this happen last year?"

"N-N-NO!" He yelled, well more screamed, as the bird got closer.

"Yes to the bird but not the sky and the weather," Cinderella told her "something is terribly wrong. Ana stay near your brother at school and I must tell you something now you must remember while your there,"

"Yes ok. What is it?" Ana asked walking closer to her mother as she battled the winds to get closer.

"Remember while your at the school for good stay away fro-," but she was cut off as the bird had grabbed Gregor and Ana in a firm grip and was already flying off with them. Cinderella tried to yell over Gregor's screaming and the winds but it was no use. She had to stay away from someone but who? She wouldn't know until Christmas so she had to figure it out.

"Wait no! My mother wasn't finished!" Ana yelled at the bird who was already in mid air "Who do I need to avoid?! Listen to me you freaky fucking creature! Take me back!" She screamed as she slammed her fists onto the birds claws but it didn't matter as it was no use.

"Language!" Gregor yelled

"This is hardly the time to be scolding me on my language, Gregor! I should be scolding you on how much your bloody screaming!" I yelled as the bird continued it's journey and the harsh, cold winds blew against Ana's face. Her feet dangled down as she feared the bird like creature may drop her without a second thought. Although little did Ana know, the bird had come to grab the Prince and the Princess for their trip to the School for good and there was no stopping it in its journey. As the bird took them through the strange red cloud it had one mission drop the siblings off at the correct schools and nothing was going to get in its way.