Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 59-

Day: 43

Days Left: 5437

Lives Saved: 0

After changing into her sleepwear; shorts and an oversized top, Corinna peered behind the paper screen-door that divided the double bed away from the rest of the room. Harmony was about to open up the trap-door and go down into the basement, but the young woman stopped her.

"Are you planning on sleeping in the tent downstairs?" asked Corinna.

The chimaera stopped in her tracks and looked back at the young woman. "I always do."

"But it's too small!" Corinna folded her arms, recalling back when they had to share the tent, how cramped it was. "It'll be bad for your back if you keep doing that."

"It's still fun... to sleep in a tent." Harmony shrugged.

Corinna's eyes glanced at the bed, then turned to face the chimaera. "You know it's a double bed, right? There's plenty of space for us both."

Harmony peered over at the double bed, then her brow furrowed. "You sure you don't mind sharing?"

"Not at all!" The young woman smiled. "Used to share a bed all the time. There was always one of the little ones who had a nightmare. And I had to share with my sister Bess a few nights when her bed broke." Corinna quickly tidied the bed, making sure it was flat and smooth even though in a few seconds it was going to be occupied.

They both slid underneath the covers of their respective sides, Corinna in the fetal position like a condensed ball and Harmony lying flat on her chest. Upon seeing the young woman smiling at this, the chimaera explained, "I can't sleep on my back due to the wings." She extended her black feathered wings then let them recede back. "It's painful."

Corinna often forgot that Harmony had wings as they were usually hidden underneath her green cloak. Even when they weren't, they blended in easily with her black fur due to how small they were when compacted. Though they were as long as the chimaera's arms, they were not big enough to grant the ability to fly.

Something cold brushed up against Corinna's leg, and she jolted upwards, almost screaming.

"Sorry," Harmony growled, shifting her body closer to the edge of the bed. "That was my tail."

Nestling back into the warmth of the duvet, her back facing the chimaera, Corinna said, "thank you... for before."

"It was nothing," Harmony grumbled back, her voice muffled by her pillow. "Are you all right now?"

Corinna returned an affirmatory grumble back. Then they both said good-night and drifted off to sleep, with Corinna thinking of her family, and how she would solve her memory problem.

*

"The Chimaera is correct," said Queen Corinna, already speaking before the young woman even realised she was in a dream. "You are trying to remember too much."

"I can't so easily narrow all of my family down to only five people, Your Majesty," replied Corinna Warren, almost letting slip her formal address. "I love them all. It is not a simple task."

The queen held her chin up high. "We would begin by eliminating all of those who did not volunteer. That gets rid of twenty-eight people, We believe."

Though it was not vocalised, this was responded with abhorrence and shock.

"It was clear that Your Majesty was not going to accept anyone else," Corinna Warren once again argued back. However, the queen sensed that this belief was no longer as stable as before. It was slowly crumbling down. A crack had appeared that let a small drop of doubt enter into the young woman's mind, and it was spreading.

"They did not volunteer to save you, Miss Warren." The Queen gripped tightly onto the armrests of her throne. "Therefore, We see it that they do not love you as you do. Why waste your precious memories remembering any of them above others who do?"

Clenching her fists, Corinna Warren gazed down at the non-existent ground and muttered, "they do love me." She raised her head and stared back at the monarch. "They do!"

The void around them seemed to shake. A powerful force tightened around Queen Corinna's body, almost suffocating her. The young woman undoubtedly did not know what she was doing, or that it was even possible to manipulate the world inside her dream. If she did, she could easily break the connection and banish the queen out of her mind.

Of course, Queen Corinna knew she wasn't actually suffocating or feeling any pain. She had been trained to trick her mind that it was not real, but for a moment, she had forgotten. With a subtle wave of her hand, the queen influenced the young woman's mind into calmness, and her body was no longer under threat. Fortunately, Corinna Warren did not even notice what she had done to the queen due to the white mask the monarch always wore, hiding her fear and pain.

Though she had regained her composure, there was still a small fire burning inside Corinna Warren, one not so easily put out. "They sent me food," Corinna continued. "They're still protecting me. And I bet they've sent more again, haven't they?"

The queen did not respond.

"Haven't they!"

Raising her head high, Queen Corinna spat, "only out of guilt." 

Then her image faded from the young woman's mind.

Day 44

The next day, Corinna awoke, finding that she was trapped underneath the chimaera's long furry arm. After lifting it off her, Harmony stirred and sat up, apologising that she had taken up most of the bed.

"It's all right." Corinna smiled, standing up and heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. "We've got a big day ahead of us!"

"Yep." Harmony wiped her eyes, yawning. "Food drop-off day."