The Bad Fairy (girlxgirlxgirl)

38. Undefeated chains of restriction

💧

"We caught her, a demon."

Chepi was expecting to get more than just two hours of sleep, but to be fair, that was wishful thinking.

Her eyes snap open to the sound of a distantly familiar female voice, somewhere in the hallway outside her brother's bedroom. She's still half asleep-, her head pressed against Nayan's pillow, cuddled up into the warmth of an actual bed and thick, nice covers. But her ears aren't fooling her. There is someone out there, probably one of her cousins, talking about having caught a demon.

It's specifically the mention of a demon that startles her awake from that half-asleep state. Nayan's bedroom is covered in darkness, with the blue moonlight shining faintly through the covered windows. There is nothing but a small yellow glow, coming from the crack in the doorway that shows her any direction.

Nayan said that he'd sleep on the couch in his room. She got to sleep in his bed. But Nayan isn't on the couch anymore. He's out in the hallway, his shadow clearly moving in front of the yellow candle-lit hallway. And he's clearly talking to someone, his voice quiet but stressed enough to be loud enough for her to hear.

"What did she look like?"

Chepi sits up, trying to piece their conversation together. If they've caught a demon, could it be-...? Could it be Anemone? She's the only demon Chepi knows, so naturally she'd come to that conclusion. But then again, Anemone is pretty much the only demon bold and brave enough to actually sneak into the fairy kingdom's capital, so the conclusion isn't completely illogical and naive. Chepi listens in, her hands gripping onto the covers.

"Black hair... tall, probably someone higher up."

The description fits perfectly. Chepi's eyes widen. There is no way they aren't talking about Anemone. She must've followed them, all the way from the Heaven-Reaching mountains. Nayan is quiet for a while. Chepi listens in, trying to keep her breathing as quiet as possible. She can barely hear his voice. "Was she worn out? Bruised?"

"I think so. We secured her in the left wing of the abandoned dungeons."

Chepi doesn't know why she's so invested in this. Why it feels like she's ready to just jump out of bed and run to the dungeons. Run for her life. Throw those doors open and look Anemone in the eyes again. It's so conflicting. She came all this way just to avoid Anemone and Evangeline, but now that Anemone is here she wants to run over there like her life depends on it.

Maybe it's just because she can't handle the idea of laying still and doing nothing anymore. She can sleep when she's dead. This- this thrill, this excitement. It eats at her alive. Chepi tries to swallow it down. She recognises the feeling, even though it has only been a few hours since she came back home. She's always felt like this here. Like she's stuck, unable to leave, wanting to leave so badly. Chained, confined, feeling stuffy inside.

Anemone represents something free. The time she spent in the forest, the times she has run away. Even the time she was taken away from the goblin kingdom's capital. It's weird. The feeling in her chest is weird. To the point where she needs answers. She needs to know what, exactly, is causing her to want to see Anemone so badly, and there is only one way for her to get these feelings sorted out.

"Good. Keep her there until the afternoon. I have to go see father in the morning."

Nayan sounds like he's made up his mind.