Princess Malfested

Friendship

AUTHOR'S NOTE/SHAME: As I mentioned in the description of this, I first made this story when I was about nine, and I'm really just editing and rewriting what I can, but some plot gaps have proved hard to fill, and so certain bits of this might be a little bit...nonsensical or out of place. I just decided I might as well upload the rest of it without doing as much editing since it was getting really tedious and it was taking me forever (seriously, I'm pretty sure it's been over a  year since I last updated this story). This section of the story is probably the worst of it - the later chapters should be more recent and much more well-written.

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Taelia awoke later that night, at first confused, but then absolutely terrified when she remembered all that had happened. She tried to get back to sleep, but she was too anxious to rest. After awhile of staring into the darkness with nothing but her own anxiety, there was a knock on the door. She looked at the clock. It was just a little bit past midnight.

"Come in," Taelia called to the door.

Felicity came in. She looked exhausted and equally petrified.

"I can't sleep," Felicity said with a deep grimace, sitting down on the side of her friends bed.

"Neither can I..." Taelia sighed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "I just can't believe I'm a Malfested. I hardly feel different, but...I know how fast that can change..."

Felicity yawned and rested her head on the blankets, looking up at her friend, tired eyes full of pity.

"You can sleep in here if you'd like..." Taelia suggested after a moment. "I wouldn't mind."

Felicity nodded and smiled gratefully, slipping under the covers of the large canopy bed.

"It's just so depressing," Taelia sighed, burying her head in her hands. "Just how quickly my life changed...I can't stand it, Felicity...what am I going to do? What are we going to do?"

"At least your soul wasn't eaten, right?" Felicity said, somewhat jokingly in an attempt to cheer her up.

"At this rate, that's what I wish had happened..." Taelia said sullenly, falling back against the pillows.

"...well, I mean, why change the past when you can own this day, right?" Felicity replied after a moment with a shrug.

"Huh?" Taelia was rather confused - was her naive friend actually trying to give her good, sensible advice for once?

"Well, there isn't anything you can do now other than move on...I mean, you're here right now...and you're fine," Felicity went on. "Most of the Malfested completely lose their minds. They forget who they are, they forget about their friends, but...you're lying here, talking to me like any other normal person...you're still my best friend, Taelia."

Taelia stared at her, entirely speechless. Her eyes had teared up a bit - she was completely touched. Her friend leaned over and hugged her tightly.

"We should really just go to sleep now," Felicity said gently before releasing Taelia. "We'll figure out what to do in the morning, okay?"

Taelia nodded gratefully, closed her eyes, and got as comfortable as she could in her current state of terror. The two girls fell asleep, feeling just a bit better when they were side-by-side.

The pale sun later rose, casting its brilliant rays through the tall windows. Felicity awoke first, sitting up and glancing around the regal bedroom. She was thinking hard about Taelia. When she got up she noticed two guards outside Taelia's room...she overheard just a few sentences and knew right away what was going to happen...

Felicity ran back into Taelia's room, blanching, completely panicked.

"The guards are thinking about imprisoning you!" she cried. "They think you're dangerous!"

Taelia's eyes flicked open. She sat bolt-upright and stared at Felicity.

"W-what's the matter...?!" she demanded tiredly.

"They guards! They're gonna lock you up!" Felicity was hysterical at this point. "They think you're dangerous just because you're a Malfested!"

Taelia took a deep breath, biting her lip slightly. She considered asking Felicity just what the guards had said that had caused her to believe this - after all, if anything they would get arrested for attempting to imprison the princess - but she decided to humor her, as she had been planning on something anyway, and this was the perfect excuse - she was going to run away.

"I sort of thought about that last night," Taelia told Felicity calmly. "There have been rumors of this little rebellion group in the woods for Malfested like me that don't want to lose themselves to the Azure Knight. They're totally on the Spirit Sword's side...I was thinking maybe I could join them...that way the guards can't find me."

Deep down, Taelia sort of believed she was unsafe around her friends and family, and wanted to make as much of a difference as she could for the victims of Soul Edge - it seemed like the perfect plan to both rebel and protect those she loved.

"Well...I have an idea," Felicity went on, nodding. "It's...kind of risky, but it's all I can think of, and we'd better hurry..."

And so Felicity explained her idea - Taelia grimaced slightly, but had no choice but to oblige.