Strife of Misfortune(Wattys2016)

Their escape

Today proved to be the warmest day of the week, the sun was shining, the wind had sheathed its blade of ice. Jane breathed a sigh of relief. She had grown weary of the winter thorns, the cruel whipping of the wind, the stabbing and stinging. A temporary relief, soon winter's hands would pillage the world of the little warmth it had gained. Like pirates despoiling a town for its riches, frost would never end its assault. Even so, Jane was happy .

From the windows came a flash of sunlight, It's warm tendrils haloed her body, echoed the joy in her soul. The promise of spring was swathed within the sun, Jane felted it against her skin and soaked up the unspoken vow.

She felt good, looked great too. She stood in front of a standing mirror and admired her reflection. A fountain of loose brown curls, diamond earrings that had captured the sun, animated visage adorned by beauty and youth, Jane was truly breathtaking.

Jane giggled girlishly, her lips were etched in a smile. She felt different this evening and it was a wonderful feeling. She felt light and free, as if her body had sprouted wings. She no longer felt trapped by her reality and now, Jane could breathe, she could breath because of him, because of Thor. He had promised Jane a night of freedom, a night free of the stresses of daily life.

It was a vacation for Thor as well, for the both of them. Being a legendary norse god and newly made SHIELD agent has left the both of them on the brink of complete subjugation, imprisoned by responsibility. They needed this night more than anything, finally... a chance to be normal. Even though, they both knew upon midnight's call, their carriage will transform back into a pumpkin. They will return to being what they truly are, anything but normal.

Jane's optimism remained unwavered by their pending fates. She would cook the pumpkin into a pie, anything to keep from falling off the edge. Her descension whispered to her in the back of her mind, it was slowly manifesting into her life and coerced her back into reality's arms. Jane caught a glimpse of Aqua's favorite brush, bad mistake. Her rosy feelings were suddenly dampened, she became sullen. The gift of normality was certain for Thor, but, was it for her?

Jane slipped away from the mirror, the sunlight dipped behind swaying curtains. She closed her room door behind herself, walked a short distanced towards Aqua's room. Once there, Jane sunk into that space. Her room was touched by the fleeing sun, shadows hugged the walls. It was this eerie playfulness that Aqua adored, Jane never saw the beauty in it.

Jane looked upon the room as one would upon a bittersweet memory. Everything was as Aqua had left it, posters of her favorite bands laid slanted upon the walls, cosmetics crowded her dresser and pictures of her friends lined her dresser mirror. She plucked a photo of Egypt and Aqua from the mirror and sunk into the bed.

Two and a half months had passed since Egypt's disappearance, a disappearance Jane had hoped for. She felt her guilt resurfacing, threatening to devour her alive. It was agonizingly painful, sacrificing oneself to their emotions, feeling their teeth and hunger. But, Jane deserved it, it was becoming abundantly clear that the gift of normality was not hers to enjoy. She wanted Egypt to disappear, underestimating the power behind thoughts and words. Tears stained her cheeks. She was a terrible person.

All she wanted was for Aqua to be herself again, for her to return to being the gaily rose of her youth, that sweet and integrate girl she once was. Here Jane blamed another for the death of Aqua's ghost. She held on to the past so tightly to the point that she distorted her own present. It wasn't Egypt that caused her to change. No, she was already falling off the deep end way before their encounter. Jane knew why. The death of their parents. The old Aqua died along with their parents, the only difference was, there were no flowers placed on her grave. The grave was her mind, she was gradually decaying in plain sight, drowning in that terrible calamity and Jane just ignored it. She kept shrugging it off and ignored the warnings. It wasn't till Aqua allowed herself to slip away that she noticed. But, by then, it was already too late. The girl she knew was gone. She was gone because of Jane. She failed her sister. Egypt wasn't to blame.

She was.

For years, she blamed her sister's destructive behaviors on Egypt. She wasn't the trigger, though, Jane wished she was. If she was then, Aqua would turn back to normal since Egypt was gone. But she's gone and Aqua is still the same way. She was truly gone.

Soon the doorbell rang, summoning Jane back into reality. Thor. Jane thought. She quickly fixed a facade of joy, her imitations fell flat after opening the door. It wasn't Thor on the other side.

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It had been four days since Fenrir directed Egypt to the kitchen, two days till Wednesday. She could see the finish line from here. Her freedom was only two sunrises away. Egypt could feel her stomach coil from impatience and anticipation. She kept herself busy to keep from scrambling all over the place. Four days and not one maid suspected Egypt. She kept her face shielded from the world, everyone respected her 'modesty'.

It was a peculiar world within these fortresses, one that was trapped within the days of old, days of new were only myths in the ears of the kitchen girls. They lived by a code of femininity, one wrought by hammers of oppression. The girls remained clueless towards the optical illusion. Well, most of them but not all. Egypt had made acquaintances with a few girls, whose eyes were sharper than nails, whose brains exceeded average capacity.

Some of the girls were mothered by concubines, condemned for the blood they bore. Other girls were slaves, born free and placed in shackles for the sins of their fathers. The majority were spoils, the seeds of lust and terror, a true monster in the eyes of their mothers. Egypt had met girls of royal blood, but, being conceived out of wedding lock decimated such facts. They were all the same behind these walls, all plagued by monsters, left to wither in the face of a dead code.

"Gosh. "Egypt exclaimed. "I'm stuck in the dark ages."

She remained in the kitchen while the other girls catered to the palace. According to the maids, they loathed tending to the family and guards. But, very little favored kitchen duty, dodged it like the plaque. Some say, it is the greatest job on the best days...

Egypt wondered how the bad days were like. To her dismay, reality was in the answering mood today.

It was late in the day, shades of red, orange and yellow skated across the sky, appeared as mountains in the distance. Egypt admired the scenery, witnessed the sun's death and the moon's rebirth. Each waltzed with the desire to live, fought to climb above the horizon line, fought to freedom. Egypt eyed the line where the earth met the sky, wanting to dive into it, never see this place ever again. But, life isn't kind, like the sun and moon, a war existed between freedom and subjugation. She was about to receive a wake up call.

No one, not Fenrir or the three other maids with her had prepared Egypt for what was to come. Four guards entered the kitchen, guffawing as loudly as a storm. They brought depravity as their guide. Egypt nearly dropped her carrot in utter surprise, believed the kitchen was only accessible to servants. She hid behind her cloak and hoped her bashfulness would make her unappealing.

The guards approached the other girls first, mounting them like wild stallions. Egypt gasped at the brutality in their touch, at the savagery and lack of remorse. They were predators made flesh and they were on the prowl for mares. Egypt was too enthused in her own thoughts to realize that someone was behind her. She turned away in time and pulled her cloak.

"She's a coy wench!" The guard snickered. He moved to touch her and Egypt slapped his hand away. A chorus of gasps broke from the maids' mouths. Egypt soon felt the gravity of her actions. "Bloody cunt!" The man bellowed, seizing Egypt.

"No!" Egypt screamed, fire spewed from her pores and she was set free. Turning around, she landed a painful blow to the man's face.

"You insolent bitch!" He cried, raising his hand and striking her. The impact had freed Egypt's head of the cloak, revealing her. She glared into the guard's eyes, saw flashes of terror in his liquid blue irises. His anger dried, left him vulnerable to the typhoon of fear drowning his mind. "A-Asta!" He pointed. Silence seized the kitchen, strangled the words from everyone's mouths.

"Shit..." Egypt's cover was blown.