Byzantium

Aftermath- The End

The girl had tears in her eyes as she boldly glanced up at Ivy. "Why don't you love her like she loves us?"

The words hit Ivy like a punch. No one had ever dared ask her motives before. Everyone feared her since she was so close to the Goddess, and they never approached her or spoke in her direction unless the Goddess was present. It was a lonely way to live but Ivy favored it over being popular with these Goddess worshipping zealots.

Something must have shown on Ivy's face because the girl suddenly apologized profusely, her eyes so large Ivy feared they may pop out. Ivy took the girl gently and helped her stand right. "It's alright," she tried uselessly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl nodded but ran off as soon as Ivy let go. Ivy expected that reaction, but still it depressed her, and she sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. The rest of the staff ignore Ivy and moved around her, not even letting their eyes travel anywhere near her. They took great lengths to make her appear invisible.

Irritated, Ivy made her way to her room, people moving out of her way organically, as if they had planned to move anyway. Ivy ignored the behavior because she didn't want to make waves. If she complained, something was bound to happen. Be it fired staff or something worse, she didn't want to find out.

Ivy's bedroom was directly adjacent to the room where the Goddess slept. She had wanted a room change but there was never anywhere else available. If she tried to sleep somewhere different, by morning she was in the bed she didn't want to be, moved there by someone unknown. This room picked out especially for Ivy was entirely unwanted on her part. She could hear the Goddess do her nightly routine through the thin walls and it made her grimace. She knew the Goddess purposely made the walls that way, paper thin so that every little thing could be heard. She hated it- hated hearing Elise's sleepy sounds, knowing it wasn't really her. It was the worst torture.

Nostalgic, Ivy laid down in bed and clutched her pillow to her chest, the only remnant of the real Elise that she had. Elise's scent had gone away but... it was still comforting. And so she fell asleep that way, with only the faint memory of Elise's forest scent.

Days went on just like that without hardly changing. Ivy was forced to be around the one person she didn't want to be around, and she tried not to be the angry monster she felt she was. But no matter how snappy she was with her surroundings Rayna's promise kept true. Ivy lived in absolute luxury. She had anything she desired and the Goddess enforced that unnecessarily viciously. No matter how frivolous the request, Ivy received what she wanted. The Goddess went far and wide to find to fulfill the wishes.

When she wasn't being brought gifts, Ivy watched the Goddess control the world, destroying those who didn't adhere to her way of thinking. That left the Earth with much more women than men, and even less old world thinking elderly. Anyone bigoted or prejudiced was swiftly dealt with, no matter the age, gender, or race. Crimes that were once ignored were put at the top of the Goddess' list and it caused strange peace. Backlogged rape kits were filed and victims received justice. Men and women wrongfully sentenced to prison time were let free. Hate crimes were no longer ignored and white offenders were labeled terrorists as should be.

Ivy hated to admit it, but the world was a much better place. Things were much more... friendly. Not that Ivy had any time to see it up close for herself. She only knew current events through the news and internet. She was kept inside most days, per the Goddess' request. Ivy didn't want to cause a scene, and didn't have anywhere safe to run, so she obeyed and kept within the Goddess' walls.

Eventually, thanks to her constant presence near the throne, Ivy's name amongst the 'lessers', as the Goddess called them, was the Queen's Poison. Ivy didn't mind the name at all even though it was false and she wasn't as dangerous as the whispers told her to be. But it kept her in solitude as she wanted so frequently, not that she had a choice.