The Descendant

I - The New World.

        The sun settled inside my room, the window open - curtains pulled back, a harsh ray aimed directly for my olive face. I scrunched my nose, shutting my eyes tightly all in a desperate attempt at concealing the sunlight... Though ultimately failing, I finally succumbed to its bright grip. Deciding it was probably time to get out of bed.

Groggy and grouchy, I let out a big yawn - my eyes burning, all thanks to the little amount of sleep I had gotten.

It wasn't my fault, I was actually pretty responsible when it came to bedtime. It was my favorite part of the day, actually.

But, lately, there had been something keeping me up. Strange visions that kept my mind occupied, nightmares involving a dark entity, a celestial being... a man with the head of a jackal standing in front of me, looking down, a staff pointed directly at my chest; the titan then began to chant, speaking in an ancient tongue, he'd demand my submission. And with it, I'd always find myself abruptly awaking - trembling and sweating, it was an experience that repeated itself often. Almost every other night.

Just the mere thought of such a dream was enough to unease me, already making myself uncomfortable, I decided it was probably best to put it behind me.

The day had just started, I didn't want to ruin it already.

I looked at my alarm, it was 10:40 AM, I was late for breakfast.

And so, with an annoyed groan - I finally marched out of bed, composing a disgusted grimace as I could practically taste my morning breath. It was more than enough motivation to finally ready myself. Stepping towards my bathroom, I glanced at the mirror - my intensely blue eyes bore into my gaze, glancing, I watched the tone of my olive skin, tan - dark, as I was recently getting a lot of sun. It looked good on me, a clear indicator of my Egyptian roots. Along with it, I also possessed a long mane of thick jet black hair, a dark set of arched bangs settled upon my forehead, faring quite nicely with my heart-shaped face. My nose was sharp, straight, defined. My lips were full, large... but not too big. A perfect size, it all complimented my features well.

After a couple of seconds, I'd sigh, witnessing the huge hairball on my head - I quickly pulled out a brush, harshly trying to detangle my knotted locks.

"Greeeat," I mumbled, letting out several yelps as I desperately tired to fix the mess but I secretly knew it would be pointless. My hair was too thick, I knew this would take hours. And right now, the only thing on my mind was food.

I quickly brushed my teeth, threw my locks into a tight bun, and ran out the door, marching up to the kitchen in my pink PJs - only to be greeted by my caretaker, Maria.

"Sakkara! It's already 11 and you've just now woken up? You missed breakfast!" Shouted Maria, pointing a finger at me, she continued to scold me. "You know the higher-ups don't like an unpunctual bleeder! How do you expect them to take you seriously when you go around waking up at such ungodly hours!"

With a bit of a groan, I sighed. Rolling my eyes, I expected to get some sort of reaction from Maria, but I didn't expect it to be so... annoying. "Take me seriously? Don't be so ridiculous, Maria. You know how they see us. How they treat us. We're cattle to them. Nothing more," I paused, taking a slice of bread - I quickly stuffed it inside my mouth, "Nothing less."

Maria's eyes would immediately widen, and with a frown, she softly struck me on the hand. It wasn't enough to cause me any pain, it just served as a silent reminder to watch myself. "Impudent girl! Do not let them hear you say such things! You know there are guards around, you could be struck for that! King Ivar has been very kind to our home, be mindful to give him the respect he deserves!" Maria said, following it up by giving me a slight push, "Go, go, now! Get dressed, Chiquita. I need you to go to the store, pick up some things for dinner."