Mystic Messenger: Losing the Script (Zen x OC)

Chapter 1: The White Knight

"Amethyst Grace Hall, why aren't you ready yet?! We leave for the RFA party in an hour!"

Amy lazily raised her eyes from the notebook in front of her to look at her younger sister, Emerald, or Emma as she preferred to be called, standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Uninterested, she allowed her gaze to drop back to the page and hastily scribbled something down. With an irritated huff, Emma stormed over to her sister and snatched the book away.

"Hey, give that back!" Amy yelped, leaping off of her bed and reaching for the notebook. However, her little sister brought the book close to her chest, sheltering it with her body, and hastily scurried over to her sister's bookshelf.

"You're starting to get careless, Amy. What if Dad came in here instead of me and found this?" she said as she pulled out one of the many books and opened it. Instead of pages, a rectangular cavity rested inside the leather cover, its sides painted so it looked like a stack of yellowing paper from far away. After slipping the notebook inside the secret compartment, Emma hastily closed the "book" and hastily returned it to its place on the shelf.

Amethyst shuddered at the thought of her father finding that notebook. She knew what he would do. He would get angry and yell and he would possibly even hit her. He would remind her that her life belonged to him and that her life's purpose was to be a bargaining chip for his company and possibly a housewife, not a author or artist. In his eyes, women getting a college education or going to work was unacceptable; any man whose wife has to work is obviously not good enough to be her husband. In his opinion, women were not qualified to run companies or businesses; they were to remain at home like in the olden days and perform their duties there. That was why her and Emma's mom, a very independent woman, had left him when the younger girl was only five years old. Unfortunately, she wasn't qualified to care for the girls after the divorce, so their father had full custody of them. However, the three women kept in touch, and with their mother's help, the two daughters had been taking online college courses right under their father's nose. Of course, they had to do so in secret and being caught would result in dire consequences.

Still, despite the looming dangers, Amy longed to retrieve her notebook from its hiding place and return to her own little world amongst the safety its pages. She knew what this evening would hold and she wasn't looking forward to it on bit. However, the stern glimmer in her sister's told her the matter wasn't up for argument. With a loud sigh, she grabbed the simple, short black cocktail dress and the elegant matching heels her father had given her off of the bed and slipped into her closet to change. After she had it on, she walked back out and inspected herself in the mirror. The dress was a very flattering cut on her, much to her dismay.

"That's enough pouting. You'll get wrinkles. Now come sit down and I'll help you with your hair." Emma stated, patting the stool in front of her sister's vanity. As her older sister slid into the seat, she noted the sadness hidden in her blue orbs and felt her heart twange sympathetically for her. Being the eldest daughter of a very traditional father, she was burdened with the responsibility of ensuring their father's company and the family fortune endured by marrying a wealthy businessman who could take over and allow her father to retire. Every time their father had an important event, poor Amethyst would be dragged along and shown off like a prized pet to the other business owners in hopes they would become entranced with her and ask for her hand in marriage. So far she had managed to avoid her fate with subtle scowls and whispered insults when her father wasn't listening, but she knew one day such methods would not be enough anymore. She could only prolong the inevitable, but she intended to prolong it tirelessly for as long as possible.

Hoping to offer her sister some consolation, Emerald searched her mind for some glimmer in hope amongst the dark. Unfortunately, she could only find one, and she knew it wouldn't do much good.