Calamity Falls | Wattys 2019

LXV

"Papa! I made you a present! Mama helped me too, so it's really good!" She exclaimed.

The man turned to his daughter with a soft smile. "Is that so?" He spotted his wife peeking from behind the door of his office quietly. "May I see?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically, smile wide and innocent. Her maroon eyes glimmered with excitement. She pulled out an origami bird from behind her back. The red paper instantly caught his attention.

"That looks very nice, Calamity! You really did that?" He asked emphatically.

She nodded again, chest puffing with pride. "Mama showed me how, but I did it all by myself!"

"I'm very proud of you, pumpkin," he told her.

She loved hearing those words. She loved making her papa proud and being useful.

Behind the door, the queen silently took a sip of tea. She smiled kindly at her husband and daughter--the king and princess of the dark realm. She suddenly felt fatigued. She needed to sit down. She came out from her hiding spot and walked to her husband shakily.

"Avarice, I don't feel very well," she whispered. He quickly strode to her side, catching her when she collapsed.

He called her name, but she remained unresponsive. The little girl stared at her mother in horror. Was she gonna be okay? The man ran his wife to the infirmary as fast as possible, seeking immediate medical attention.

"Help!" He called to the doctors and nurses stationed there. "The queen has collapsed!"

Chaos ensued immediately. The queen was rushed to a hospital bed, where a doctor began inspecting her. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. Her hands shook uncontrollably. But what concerned him the most, there was blood running from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Even her ears were bleeding. It seemed as if every orifice on her head was bleeding.

Fearful eyes met with the demon king's. "Your Highness, I believe your wife has been poisoned, and I don't believe that we have a cure..."

The demon king whipped around and punched the wall by the door, startling the doctor and the little girl. "Calamity, go to your brother."

"But mama's sick. I want to stay with mama," she defied innocently.

He turned to his disobedient daughter. "Now Calamity!" He shouted at the little girl.

She flinched back at her father's anger. He was doing it again. She gazed helplessly at her mother. Only she could calm him down, but she was a bit occupied at the moment. The young demon scattered from her father's domineering presence, scampering quickly to her brother's room.

She didn't knock when she barged into his room. "Phoenix! Mama's sick! Papa is upset and yelled at me!" Tears streamed down the confused girl's face.

He woke with a start, quickly trying to hide the woman in his bed from his little sister. Alas, she woke up at the intrusion as well.

"Who's that?" Her childish innocence made her peer closer.

He quickly tried to hide the face of another nameless maid from his sister. "No one important, Callie. We were just having a sleepover. Let's go to mom, okay?"

The child nodded before noticing her brother's state of undress. She stumbled haphazardly out of the room to let her brother dress. When he joined her in the hall, he scooped her in his arms to quell her sobbing.