Strife of Misfortune(Wattys2016)

Monsters

Egypt felt nothing. The previous days had sucked the energy out of her and left her as hollow as a sea shell. Her mind was empty, yet simultaneously crowded. It didn't make sense to her, this feeling of hollowness in the presence of her woes. But yet, her thoughts were as silent as the spring breeze and as dim as the winter sun. she remained in that numb state, gazing aimlessly into distance, wishing the scenery would swallow her whole. Egypt wanted to be like the garden, alive but undisturbed and unthreatened by life. She wished to be like a rose, devoid of human thoughts and emotions, like the whistling wind and shivering tree leaves, all alive and unburdened with what she had to carry. She knew it'll never come to past. She wasn't like the sand, so easily picked up by the wind. She couldn't fade into it. She was stuck here. Stuck in this nightmare she had no recollection of creating. Yet, she bore the lashes for it. The symbol still bled from her feet.

It was then that Egypt heard something. Something sweet and joyous. Laughter. She heard laughter. But, where was it coming from? Egypt looked to and fro, nevering finding the source of the laughter. It was then that her environment changed slightly. Her surroundings transcended time and space, dropping her in an alien time. It was the same time of day. The sun had not finished its descent into the womb of the earth, the horizon. Everything looked the same. But, different. Egypt looked at the rose bushes before her. A myriad of colors flashed before her,a rainbow of roses where there were only red ones. Where did they come from?

Did the trees grow taller? Once naked and bare, their limb like branches now carried fruits, golden apples and pears. In the pond below, Egypt saw two exotic fish dive in and out of the shimmering waters, dancing into the reflection of the melting sun. They weren't there before. This was the same garden, but it was different.

She then heard the laughter again but only this time it was louder and more pronounced. Egypt turned around to find a mirror image of herself. Asta. Her golden eyes roared with the blithe of the sun. Her lips were pulled into a smile Egypt couldn't stand. Why was she so happy? There came the laughter again, peppered with sweetness and true delight.

"Loki!" The girl shouted as she raced into his arms. His lips produced a sound so heartbreakingly beautiful that it made Egypt's stomach flutter instead of curdle with disgust. She gazed into his smiling eyes, swayed to the music in his laughter and the intensity of his embrace.

Standing before her was a different man. A different person. He wasn't the monster Egypt remembered, the very man whom shredded her feet and battered her soul. This was a boy incapable of abuse. His eyes were gentle and soft, his lips were painted into a smile so genuine and bursting with happiness. No. Standing before Egypt wasn't Loki. Loki was a beast incapable of such happiness, of such affection and tenderness. He had a hole where his heart should be, his eyes were always so cold and unforgiving. But, somehow, she felt like she was gazing at the true Loki. She was contradicting herself. It scared her to think of it that way. If this was the true Loki, this sweet boy, then how did he devolve into the beast she knows, what shredded his humanity? Was he hurting as much as she was?

She was afraid to ask any further questions. She could feel herself walking towards the edge and gazing into that infinite space. One more question and she will be hurling over the cliff. Egypt didn't want to tempt herself into pitting her captor, into weeping over the lost of his humanity. But. If she did. If she took one step over the edge and surrendered herself into the endless abyss, would she find him there? Would she find the boy standing before her, the boy she always knew since she was small, the boy she always dreamt about and knew by name? Was she brave enough to find out? Was she brave enough to search for his soul, even if it meant losing herself in the process? Egypt took a step back. There was nothing more repulsing than sacrificing oneself for one's enemy. Loki was her enemy.