SPLASH!
Athanasia stared blankly at the sky, feeling the roughness of the boat underneath her, her mind whirled as her body stayed in shock. She could still feel the loud thumping of her heart, blood rushing to her head making her dizzy.
She was sure she was about to fall into the water.
...So why was she still in the boat?
The sound of splashing water made its way to her ears. Slowly sitting up, her wide jeweled eyes made its way to stare at the man whose gaze was not trained on her. Following his gaze with slow movements, the sound of a person gasping for breath became the focus of her attention.
She stood up and stumbled to the edge of the boat. But a thought made her pause.
Where was Ardy?
Eyes roaming the boat, panic started to settle in her chest as her mind started to work against the shock. Hands trembling, she looked at the edge of the boat that was a little too tall for her to peer at from her current position.
"A..Ardy?" her voice escaped her shakily
With a trembling hand, she stopped short from peering over the boat right away.
Did Ardy just... Ardy...?
Pushing against the fear and shock, she leaned over the boat, only to feel bone-trembling fear. Seeing the small hands reaching out from the water— reaching for her —her blue jeweled eyes widened, mouth opening once, wanting to call out his name, but stopped as her throat felt parched and dry.
SPLASH!
He broke through the water to gasp for air, halting her breath. They eyes met, only for a brief moment, but as he went underwater once more, a piercing shriek escaped her lips.
"ARDY!!"
Turning to the man that was still in the boat, tears spilling down her cheeks, she cried out, "help him, please!"
He stared at her indifferently, chin still resting on his fist.
Why...?
Why wasn't he doing anything?!
"Please Papa, save Ardy!" she begged, unaware of what she called him, reaching out to him and gripping his pristine white robe. His jeweled eyes glanced down to her fist that had clenched his clothes, but rather than the usual fear towards the man, fear for her drowning brother suffocated her.
"Help him, please! Hel..."
As if doused with ice, Athanasia froze. Her fingers loosened against the Emperor's clothes.
'He won't save him'
'That man... he won't save Ardy'
Her gaze turned back to the edge of the boat, where her brother was still drowning.
'He's just going to watch him drown'
Her feet moved on its own as she stumbled back to the edge of boat.
'Just like that... quietly.. but even so, isn't he being too much of..'
Fear leaving her, her eyes hardened as a scowl formed on her lips.
'Of a Jerk?!'
Gripping the edge of the boat, she was about to jump in the water— ignoring the fact that she couldn't swim. 'Anything is better than Ardy drowning!'
A sudden warmth behind her made her froze. Right before her eyes a long slender arm reached over her and grabbed her brother. Feeling something gripping around her midsection, a gasp escaped her lips as her feet suddenly left the boat.
Suddenly finding herself on the ground, her eyes focused immediately to her coughing brother. "Ardy!" shrieking, she collapsed on his side, arms wrapping around him.
She ignored how Lily and Felix ran to them. She ignored the fact that Claude still saved her brother. She ignored everyone in her surroundings as big fat tears trailed down her eyes and a loud wail escaped her lips, body trembling from a mixture of shock, relief, and fear.
"Uwaa..."
"Princess! Prince!"
"UWAAAAA!"
-♕7♕-
"Cough cough!"
A groan of pain escaped his lips as he looked up to meet the worried eyes of his sister. Grinning weakly, he squeezed the hand that was holding his, "worried, Noona?"
She scowled, picking up another cold towel to replace the quickly warming towel she just placed. "Obviously, you idiot. You shouldn't have done that, you've been sick for days"
"It's been a day, you exaggerator," he rolled his eyes, before he was interrupted with another coughing fit. Finding a glass of water before his eyes, he passed his sister a smile of gratitude. Gulping down the cool water, he sighed in relief at the cooling sensation down his dry throat.
Responding to her demand, "Of course I'll do that," he sat up to lean against the headboard of his bed. Meeting the sad eyes of his sister that sat on his bed side, small hands fisted, he smiled, "It's Noona. I won't let Noona get hurt"
Tears pricked her eyes before she turned away with a huff, arms crossing above her chest as her lips puckered to a pout. "Whatever! I'll go get chocolate!"
Chuckling, he watched as his sister dash out of his room. Sighing, he made himself comfortable once more. 'This was one thing I don't miss from having a body,' he thought with a scowl, 'still sickly, back then and now... it sucks'
Eyes feeling heavy, he sighed in exasperation once more before allowing himself to befall the claws of sleep.
He found himself in the hallways of the Ruby Palace, but unlike the usual lighted halls that he had grown accustomed to, the halls before him was covered by a blanket of darkness. Oddly enough, a dim light was coming from... somewhere... allowing him to see enough.
A humming sound made him lift his head.
'This song...? '
Following the trails of the soft humming, he found himself facing a familiar blue door.
A door that wasn't his in this timeline.
Frowning, he lifted his hand to push the door open, only to find himself falling through the door. His eyes widened as he found himself on the floor of his past life's room. Lifting his head, he froze.
There, kneeling in the middle of the room, was an eighteen year old Athanasia. Immediately, he knew exactly where this was.
To be more precise, when this was.
She was kneeling in the middle of the cold, dark room. The only light coming from the rays of the moon outside the dusty window. Despite her sunken cheeks and eyes swollen from all the tears, she was still breathtakingly lovely.
His beautiful but pitiful sister that he failed.
Flower petals surrounded her, as she placed down a broken flower before her. As she leaned back, the moonlight's beams radiated her platinum blonde hair to glow an ethereal halo, her slender fingers caressing the broken petals of the withered flower. Her mouth tilted to a smile, but her eyes grieved with tears trailing down her cheeks endlessly.
The humming that drew him came from his sister. He felt his chest ache for the young woman, as it always had. And once more, he could do nothing but watch. Stepping forward, his feet instinctively paused.
Lifting his head, his eyes met the gaze of the one within the mirror.
Why is it that he wasn't surprised that the visage he sees wasn't the five year old boy that he had assimilated in his new life, but rather an eighteen year old golden haired boy with sad blue jewel eyes of the past?
It irritated him that he looked more like a carbon copy as his father.
"Ardy," the woman muttered, bringing him out of his reverie. His eyes trailed back to his sister, the sad smile on her face breaking his heart once more. "I'll be joining you soon, my beloved brother"
He closed his eyes as his fists clenched. No, she never did join him.
After all, he never died.
-
A/N: Hi! Just a quick note from me to say thanks for the constant support and for giving this fic a chance :) I'm really happy people are enjoying my story as much as I enjoy writing it, hehe. Well, that's all from me, see you guys on Monday for the next update :D