Take Back Our Future

001.

Tori leaned against the wall outside the VMA with her parents, waiting for her sister to come outside. She adjusted her jacket as she moved to the side slightly, the red leather settling in a different position. The golden buckles gleamed in the sunlight, as they moved with the jacket.

Kat walked through the wrought iron grate, side by side with Charlie. She was obviously sad, no sparkle in her eye and no smile on her face. It was as if shadows were consuming them both. The two said their goodbyes and Kat walked toward her family.

"So, what's up?" Tori prods her sisters arm, and she looks at the floor.

"Cheyenne died last night..." This elicits a gasp from Jack and Tori.

"The poor girl..." Mark stares after her, sadness in his eyes. He wished they could stay, but they were needed at the warfront.

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"MAMA! I'M HERE!"

"We're in the study!" Tyler hefts his backpack over his shoulder, making his way to the study. The corridor was a dusty gray color, a red plush rug lining the floor and purple curtains draping lazily over the window sills. The doors lining the wall opposite of the windows were ebony black, polished to a bright shine. A crown was carved in the corners of each door, with one in the center of the door he was looking for.

The study was a room different to the others. Instead of dull stone, there was polished wood paneling lining the walls, the floor a deep purple carpet. Bookshelves shoved against the walls, packed with volumes of various colors. A mahogany desk was placed on the ground, his mother and the princess sitting at it.
"Mama, Ashley," he addresses them both, setting his bag on the floor beside the door. A book was open in front of Ashley, turned to a page near the end.
The three spent hours reading, the topics of the stories ranging from fairytakes to war tactics. They would often make comments over any of the stories, and burst out laughing.
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The tavern was usually bustling with patrons by the time Charlie walked to her place behind the bar, helping as she usually was, but there were close to none there. Word must have gotten out about Mom, She thought, resting her elbows on the polished granite.
Red and Russ moved through the sea of tables, wiping them down with damp cloths as the radio blared in the corner.
"Another bloody houseplant, Phil?"
"A listener gave it to me earlier today!"
"It's not that I hate houseplants, but you guys gotta stop giving them to him."
"Why, Dan?"
"The fucking studio can't take it! It's looking like a jungle in here!"
She laughed at the hosts antics. Dan and Phil hosted the most popular radio show in Victubia, and she could almost never hear it over the usual crowds. She enjoyed the show, listening to it whenever it was online.
Red threw a cloth at her, hitting her face with it. "If your here, wipe that down, will ya?"
"Will do, Red."
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Mark pressed the onyx pendant into Kat's hand, closing her fingers around it. "It's enchanted," he says, "I'll send you messages and talk to you through it." She nods, stuffing the gem in her pocket.
"Do you have to leave?"
"Yeah, I do. You two will be fine, okay?" She nods and hugs him, breaking away after a few minutes. "Love ya, little biscuit."
"Love ya too." Jack and Tori have a similar goodbye, before the two men walk out the gate and into the plain land outside the capital.
Her hand closes around the cool stone in her pocket, slowly warming it with her body heat, watching as her fathers disapeared in the dust. Would they come back alive? In a wooden box, shipped home from the front? They didn't know, and couldn't tell.
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