A Curse so Twisted And Cruel.

Market of Black Pearls.

I wake up early and decide to go for a walk.
I attempt to clear my scattered thoughts on the way down the hill, and all the way back up it.

Unsuccessfully.

I feel like my life is on repeat; steal, eat, sleep.
That's what I have to do to survive, I remind myself.

It doesn't feel like a good enough excuse. I want to live, not merely survive.

I want to see things, go places.
I want to explore. There is so much around me, yet I've never ventured beyond what I know.

What's familiar.

I'm suddenly sick of the old castle, of the dusty cellar that is my home, my happy place.

What kind of a home is that?

I wonder if the others feel the same, the need to escape, the need to be free.

Free from fear, the worry that we're going to get caught, the concern that we won't have enough.

Because somehow, we always end up trapped by some kind of fear.

Well I refuse to be a prisoner of fear any longer.

With these monumental thoughts in my mind, I rush back to the others, to tell them of my sudden and inexplicable need to leave my comfort zone.

I drop through the trapdoor and shake them all up, blabbing to them my plans.

They don't listen. Well actually, they politely tell me to shut up and deal with my thoughts in a more quiet way, like journalling.

So I do the obvious and sulk by the river, singing made up songs about why no one loves me. (Yes, I am a certified drama queen, thank you for asking.)

They eventually find me there and decide that;
1) I'm definitely hungry. And,
2) I've finally lost it.

And I can't exactly disagree.

•{§∆§}•

"Seriously guys, don't you want to see fairyland?"

My words are met with unappreciative grumbling, and some 'shut up's', which I dutifully ignore.

"But imagine what it would be like, the beautiful-" "The only beautiful thing I'm imagining right now is silence." Gnarl interrupts me.

"Fine then." I say sourly. "Have it your way."
And, true to my word, I stay silent.
For two whole minutes.

"We are going to a whole new market." Lira says, rolling her bright blue eyes. "You can't expect us to just up and move."

She has a point, and I respect that. Just not enough to keep quiet.

So I argue my point until they agree with me, just to get me to shut up.

•{§∆§}•

I'm bubbling with excitement by the time we get to the 'market of black pearls', which lies on the shore of a deep blue sea.

I've been to the sea before, but it was so long ago that I've forgotten what it was like.

We roam the enormous market, finding (and taking) all types of things, from sea jewels to cloudy hats, stolen siren's voices, and shark teeth, stained a dark red.

Fascinated, we spend two hours just in the market.

Then, I get us each a creamy cone, (paid for, mind you) in fun and weird flavours, such as; bubble bath, foam wave, and mermaid scales.

Then we head to the beach, licking our creamy cone, the cool water spraying our toes.

I lay my head on the wet sand, knowing I'm going to regret it when the time comes to brush my blonde hair with brown streaks.
Man. That's quite a mouthful. I'm going to have to find a better way to describe my hair.

"See? Didn't I tell you that going to beach would be fun? "
I say, to which Vin nods begrudgingly.

Lira rolls her eyes, an automatic habit, and Gnarl simply ignores me.
Only Silvey turns to face me, her brown eyes soft. 

"Yeah, it is really nice. Thanks, Jass." She gives me a rare, genuine smile.

My face lights up in response, and I jump up, grabbing her hands and spinning around.

She stumbles and laughs, her short pink hair bouncing around her head. I yank the others up, forcing them to spin with us, until we're all dizzy, and collapse onto the ground in a drunken heap.

"You know what?" Lira says, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her pointed ear. "The beach is not so bad."

I pinch her arm, and she winces. "It's amazing, you mean." She glares at me, rubbing her arm.

"But I'm tired." Vin yawns, "And hungry." I look at him incredulously. "We literally just ate, V."

"Your body doesn' need s'much as mine do, okay?" He says, crossing his arms defensively.
I roll my eyes. "Sure V. Whatever makes you feel better."

"Jass?" Gnarl cuts in. "I don't want to alarm you or anything, but I'm pretty sure those guys are looking us. And not in a good way."