SWEETHEARTS [flufftober]

Trapped/Locked In (Atsumu Miya)

[Greek mythology AU]

🧡

My name is Psyche, and for ages, I had been praying for a sign... but the gods no longer answered. And the worst part? I had no idea why.

My home became my prison at birth. From the moment I was thrust into the cold world, the seer in the room prophesied my fate, her eyes white from corner to corner and her hands trembling at her sides. By hook or by crook, she said, voice weighed down with significance and foresight and god-given power, the gods will claim this one.

My parents were simultaneously thrilled... and absolutely terrified.

From that day on, my parents singled me out, trapping me within the walls of their castle. Their fear of the gods—or, rather, the gods' vengeful spirits and acts of divine retribution—led my parents to go to unspeakable lengths to ensure my safety and my flawlessness.

My tutor survived ten rounds of interviews before hire; they needed to be the best of the best if I was to someday live among the gods (or so my parents hoped, per their own interpretation of the prophecy). Thanks to the excess of royal guards, I've never seen beyond the twelve foot high hedges surrounding the grounds. Due to my parents' rules, I've never spoken to anyone besides my family and their retinue of servants, never been anywhere except for around and around and around my maze of halls and corridors and rooms that I'd always seen.

My two older sisters told me stories of their daily adventures, but it wasn't the same as seeing things, going places, tasting foods... experiencing them for myself. My sisters were allowed in the outer courtyard—the one beyond the hedge—for games and parties, allowed to accompany my mother into town on errands, allowed to sail across the sea on royal visits, allowed to court and kiss and dance and live. As we got older, they dressed how they wanted, ate what they wanted, went where they wanted, and married who they wanted.

But not me. The rules set forth by my father were clear: I was to never leave the palace, to avoid contact with outsiders unless hand-chosen by my parents, and to be good and obedient above all else; with these tenets, I was raised so the gods would not need to use force, so the gods would accept me among them, so I would be no burden... and most importantly, so I would go willingly when they called.

On my fourteenth birthday, I was explicitly forbidden to resist my fate.

Now, as my twentieth birthday approached, I stood outside of my father's office, wringing my hands and mustering the courage to speak— no, to plead with him for a taste of freedom. Just one night was all I wanted, and I'd spent months selecting the perfect one: my sister's wedding was in a fortnight, to be held at the height of summer along the shimmering coastline.

I wanted, more than anything, to see the sea just once.

And if my father denied my plea...

Then I'd have to make my own dream come true. No matter what.

🧡

"This is... a terrible idea."

Hidden in the shade of an olive tree, Atsumu sighed, counting and recounting the arrows in his quiver to pass the time. His glittering golden wings fluttered in the breeze. "If you'd just shut up, then maybe it would be less terrible. Didya think about that, nerd?" he said in a whisper, trying to avoid being noticed. "Plus, yer the one who decided to follow me when ya didn't hafta... Now zip it before ya ruin my mission."

Beside him, his brother Osamu sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. The whole reason they'd left Olympus in the first place was for this stupid errand for their mother, otherwise known by her most ancient name: Aphrodite.