Not So Sweet Candyland

XII: Forget About It

It was the night when Berry and Chase started packing up.

"Just forget about it." Berry mumbled under her breath.

Forget about what? Chase thought as they started to pack up their things and move to their next destination.

"What is there to forget about?" Chase asked.

Berry sighed.

"Fucking blockhead!"

She ran toward Chase but he stopped her by holding her head in his hand.

She was running into him and that's when she looked at him.

"What are you even trying to prove?" Chase asked her.

Berry stopped and pushed herself back.

"Didn't you say that you had a weakness to your father? What is it? You clearly have brains and brawn, what is it?"

Berry looked at Chase straight in the eye.

"Power. I don't have power."

She took a deep breath, and soon, they started walking up a hill, covered in a glaze of candies.

"Of course, you'll probably ask, what do you mean you don't have power? You're actually a princess! Compared to most of my family, I had no power, at the time, I was a child. Why would they put a kid first when I couldn't think for myself. They put my extremely stupid and controversial dad in the spotlight and he started messing things up one by one. I could beat my father in a game of chess or a sword duel, but if I did that, guess what would happen? I'd be executed because my father uses his power to manipulate others!"

Berry was hardly stomping on the candies, and every word that she said, they made a crunch under her feet.

"Do you want power?"

"It's something that I do want, but I feel like if I have it, then I'll turn into my father and then follow his ideologies. I'll become too obsessed with the power and the status that it will affect my train of thought and by then, I would be murdered in my sleep!"

"So, no power?"

"The only thing that will let me take down my dad is to burn the entire castle, and kill everybody. From the servants to the children of the harem. As much as it hurts to do that to my half siblings, that would be the only way to take down my father, start anew and instead of being a monarchy, why not a democracy or an independent rule? Because you know what? If you think about is, what's the point of the superior human or humans when we are all equal, regardless of gender, age, race, or sexuality. At the end of the day, even if a 10 year old boy and a 32 year old non binary asexual are two completely different, the one similarity is that they are human."

"Honestly, in America, what we see is ironic for our country. Land of the free and home of the brave? America says that to attract people from other nations but discriminates against them when they come to there. People could be in a war zone or being chased by a mafia or be in a country with an abusive leader or even to get away from loved ones because their own families were toxic. I might not know much, but if you come to America, trust me, it's not as different as Candyland as you think it is."

Berry was impressed by Chase's words.

"And I thought that you didn't have a brain."

"Guess that makes us not so different after all."

Chase flashed her a smile and Berry went red. She looked away and they were now at the top of the hill.

"Places like our homes, they are pretty on the outside, places that have potential, and places that are meant to welcome you with a warm heart. But really, cold people, cold laws, cold rules, everything is not what it seems."

"Did your mother ever tell you anything about America?"

"She said that America was the only place that she ever knew, and yeah, she did not agree with some points of history. But, she sees America as a successful place, to thrive there means you have to sacrifice yourself to be something in the world."

Chase gasped.

"My mother had a personality, but she sold her soul for good grades and poor mental health. She only knew studying, because she had a fear of failure. I don't even know anything about her parents or family, I only knew her. She told me her deepest secrets, but deep down, she is a woman full of trauma. You could see in her eyes how hurt she was and the flashbacks that she had everyday were horrifying. I never asked what was wrong, although I should have done that. That's my weakness, my lack of sympathy and empathy, the only trait that I had gotten from my father. And I hate that trait, I hate that I can't feel that way, when others are hurting, what do I do? Go away and hide? That's not me. That's not me. I wish I could teach myself the ways of sympathy and empathy, but every time I try, it hurts."

Chase saw Berry was trying to hide her tears in her eyes. Berry noticed that Chase was staring at her and quickly wiped the tears and looked at him.

"You didn't see that. I just miss my mom and my eyes got wet."

Chase went closer to her.

"You don't have to lie to me that you were upset. It's ok."

"You wouldn't understand." Berry started walking down the hill, and she went faster and faster.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Chase followed her and he started tumbling down the hill, and he collided with Berry.

He was on top of Berry and Berry shrieked in pain.

"God dang it, you're so heavy! Get off of me!"

Chase got up and Berry picked herself up and quickly dusted herself off.

"We have places to go, people to see, and asses to kick and beat, if you can't do my pep and get your feet in 4 step, then you are not surviving in this territory."