𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥『↬』The Owl House fanfiction (𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦)

𝐢𝐢𝐢: 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 :𝟑

"So what do you want me to do? Sneak out of the castle and make friends?" Annika asked.

Lilith hummed. "That could be a good idea, but how would you pull it off?"

Annika lowered her voice. "I've done it before, but I didn't actually mean it."

The brunette whispered, "But in all seriousness, I can't sneak out again. I've been caught twice by Belos, and the last thing I want is to end up... in..." Annika slowly trailed off, showing slight discomfort.

"Where?" Lilith asked.

The girl shook off her discomforting look. "Nothing."

She didn't want or need to worry Lilith any further about her problems. After all, the blue-haired woman already had a lot on her plate.

Lilith furrowed her brows at the young witch's reply. "Annika, what's going on? I know you don't like to talk about personal things, but if it's affecting you badly, then don't you think you should tell some⁠—"

Annika could feel herself shaking, so she tried to change the topic before she noticed. "Don't you have a meeting with the Emperor, Lily?"

Lilith gently cupped and tilted the young girl's face so their eyes would meet. "The Emperor can wait, Anni. What's going on?"

The girl froze as she stared into the older woman's comforting mint-green eyes. Annika came back to her senses and looked down at her watch. "Well, would you look at that? This seems like a good time for you to leave and meet the Emperor before he gets upset."

Annika nervously giggled and dragged Lilith toward the throne room.

The older witch let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. I won't bother you about it for today, but⁠—"

Before Lilith could finish, Annika cut her off and quickly spouted out an excuse, feeling her airway slowly closing. "Sorry, I just realized I've got important things to do. Byyye!"

Lilith noticed Annika's voice gradually becoming shaky. "Anni, wait!"

But the brunette ignored the older witch as she quickly walked to the secret passageways. When she was inside, Annika ran to her room as if she were running away from a dangerous beast that was about to catch up to her.

When she reached her room, the brunette sat at the corner of her room and pulled her knees close to her chest as she fully realized the state of her body.

She felt her whole body shaking, her hands were sweaty, and her heart was pounding in her chest, which she could hear and feel through her warm ears.

Annika saw a familiar color return to her vision from memories she desperately wanted to forget.

She wanted to end this nightmare.

"Not again... Please..."

─── ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ ───

⬛˚·꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷·˚⬛

She was back.

Back in the familiar claustrophobic, vague, and lonely dark void.

Annika ran around mindlessly, trying to find a bit of light through the complete darkness, but found none.

"Lilith? Anyone?" the terrified girl called out, tears pricked in her eyes, but no one seemed to heed her calls.

Annika screamed at the top of her lungs, but no sound came out.