Her plan is sloppy, and she doesn't even know if it will work. Shila had originally planned on just waiting for Javaaid to come save her, but then she realized once again that things weren't the same. She wasn't just some oblivious princess who had never stood up for herself, who had always obeyed to her fathers every command and had loathed the mere idea of disobeying him.
Shila was no longer just Shila Demacia. She was now a queen that people had hope in, a queen people relied on for their future and the future of their children. She is a saviour, and that fate was sealed as soon as she set eyes on that fruit.
And a queen must be independent, must know how to help herself. Atleast, a proper queen should.
So, Shila places a couple of pillows under her bed to match her height and then places a couple of silk ropes the same colour of her hair on-top of a dark pillow for the top. It may not do anything but she has to take every chance.
Expressing her thoughts out-loud is tempting, but shes come to learn her father knows and hears everything.
Every step she takes sounds like a strike of thunder to her and sends shivers racking through her body. The fear is overwhelming but Javaaid had once told her that was normal for even the strongest warrior, and that it doesn't change how strong they are as long As they don't flee from the battle they are facing.
This is her battle. A battle of fear, and a battle against her father.
She's got this, Shila tells herself. And as if echoing her, she hears multiple voices telling her the same thing.
She sneaks out her window, climbing on the sides until she reaches three more levels higher for a rather large window. It's dark inside, without a single lantern lighting up the library or any of the librarians awake at this time. She doesn't let the little relief she feels settle in too much as she opens the window quietly and slides into the library.
She takes off her slippers and clutches them both in her small hand, the other feeling out for things in front of her, though she had been here so many times the library is basically mapped out in her mind. Still, she needs to be extra cautious today.
Flinching at the cold touch of a door knob, Shila bites her lip and slowly moved towards the bookshelf beside the door, pulling at three of the books until it opens a hidden stone door.
As soon as the door creams slightly, thundering steps sound in the lower levels and she begins to hear yelling. The steps grew closer and closer the longer the door took to open, and just when she'd heard one of the knights yell she ran into the dungeon and closed the door, failing to conceal it behind the bookshelves.
The guards we're yelling and Shila wanted to as well but all sound left her voice when she fell into someone.
Black hair, soulless black eyes, rich silk robes.
A hand clutched her jaw and forced her closer. "You really thought you could escape me?"
That's it. She can't stop herself from crying, even in front of her father.
He waits for a second, as if expecting her to do something before squeezing hard enough for her to hear a crunch in her jaw. She doesn't scream, but she wants to.
"Usually, you would beg right away."
"I won't do anything for you anymore." She gritted through the pain. "I wont bow to you, or anyone. I'm the rightful queen, and I'm going to change this kingdom."
"Hmm," He seems amused by the idea, enough so that he allows her to continue. "You and what army, my dear daughter."
She doesn't reveal anything, not a single thing to give out her people that have trained for decades in preparation for this, and she most definitely wont fail them after coming this far. The princess even surprises herself when she reaches up with a shaky hand to grip his wrist, hard and without mercy.
"I'm going to leave and get stronger," She's seething with anger, enough that smoke leaves her mouth. His eyebrows raise at the peculiar sight. She digs her nails into his wrist until that dark liquid begins to seep out. "And when I get back, you'll be the one begging at my feet. And I won't show you any mercy!"
The jewel on the kings crown glitters along with that sadistic glint in his eyes, and she once again feels that dreadful feeling im the pit of her stomach. Everything in her screams to submit, to just obey him and protect herself.
That's not Shila anymore. Even if she want's it to be.
"You'll never escape me, my daughter." He laughs, the sound starting from a low pitch to an even lower pitch. It sends shivers down her spine. The large hand squeezing her jaw increases it's grip until her jaw begins to crack, the sound echoing in the dungeon.
The guards from before are watching behind, a little bewildered and horrified at the sight of the kind and gentle princess being abused by her father.
Yet they stand and watch. And thats what Shila needs to change.
"I am the only king of this kingdom. I am the only one strong enough to oppose the celestial dragons, and I WILL NOT allow a simple rebellion to ruin all of that! You will obey me, or I'll show you what happened to your mother by doing the same to you!"
"I know what happened," The ravenette whimpered quietly, "you killed her in her sleep. I saw it because I was sleeping next to you guys."
He laughs a maniacal laugh. "Killed her? No, she's still alive. And providing me with a well army of my own blood, too. The only thing she seems to be useful for."
And everything pauses. Her heartbeat is silent, the cracking in her jaw pauses, and so does the tears on her pale face.
Her father had always known how to break her so quickly. How to make her obey no matter how stubborn she acted. And now that she knows why they'd never had a burial for her mother, all the horror of what she must have endured for longer than an entire decade begin to settle in.
Purple sparks at her fingertips, soulless eyes dart to the digits and throw her to the ground like he had been burned and perhaps he truly had been.
"You," He growls, more livid than ever. "that's impossible. I got rid of that fruit decades ago!"
"You can't avoid fate," Despite her efforts to keep her voice strong, she still fails. Her words remain strong, though. Shila reaches up with her hand covered in purple and yellow flames and encases her lower face in it, the beautiful flames making quick work of her jaw.
For once, she fiercely gazes back at the king with hatred. "I'm not strong enough to stop you now. But when I come back, I'll be queen. I'll change everything, and the I'll give everyone their stolen land back."
It's here she realizes as she's placing her slippers back on, forgetting to halt her flames that only result in burning her shoes, that theres a new gleam in her fathers eyes. A new gleam that has her chin raising and back straightening with pride. A new look that has her chest filling with confidence.
He's afraid- intimidated by her. Rather, by her newfound power.
"I'll grow without you, father. In ways you've never seen anyone else grow. So prepare for the day I return, for I will no longer be Shila, nor will I be alone."
That gleam increases. "I'm not letting you leave!"
"Shila, get out of here." A gust pushes her father back from where he had lunged at her, and Shila doesn't even wait for whoever had jumped in to save her before she runs away. Almost instantly, a hand latches on to her ankle and yanks her down hard enough that she kisses the ground.
She groans at the thought of a swollen lip and quickly looks at the hand latched onto her ankle.
It's her father.
She furrows her eyebrows and looks at the other man behind her father. Who... also happens to be her father.
"They're clones!" Shaquanna yells, slashing through her father as if to prove her point. Sure enough, the clone fades away into ashes.
Without panicking, the princess lights her entire leg on fire with her devil-fruit, watching as her fathers clone hisses before fading away. A hand grips the back of her shirts and lifts her up, and Shila thinks its Shaquanna only for it to be another clone of her father.
Shaquanna slices at that clone too, then finally grabs onto Shila and begins running with her.
"What's happening?" The princess all but yells, wondering why she suddenly has ten fathers. Shaquanna thankfully explains while advancing forwards.
"From what we know, your father has the ability to create illusions."
"So he's not actually touching me?"
"No, he is. He's somehow managed to solidify those illusions."
A dreadful feeling settles in her chest. Could her father really conjure up his own army from thin air?
Sensing her thoughts, Shaquanna reassures her the best she can.
"The clones aren't nearly as strong as him, but they aren't weak. Neither are we, Shila. Don't flee from the battle before it even begins."
She nods, lip trembling slightly. "Right."
Right. She was a queen now. Fleeing wasn't an option anymore.
The familiar stench of sewage and rats filled her senses as their shoes carried the scent with each quick step taken through the sewage. For someone who wasn't used to running through such a passage, Shaquanna appeared to be unbothered and the princess could only wonder what worse scents she had smelled before.
The flashing of sudden light brought forth her attention to the fire on her shoulder working to heal a wound she hadn't noticed from before. Shaquanna gave a little side-eye and took note of this sight but did nothing more.
Finally, they exited the castle and arrived at the stables where two horses we're prepared with saddle and everything. One was a beautiful white with a gray tail and green eyes. The other was the opposite with black fur and brown eyes.
She got the white one and Shaquanna claimed the other.
Shila bit her lip and clenched the horse tightly, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.
"Q-Queen?" Shaquanna sweat-dropped as Shila turned her gaze upwards. For some reason the look her friend was giving her made her blush.
"You have yet to ride a horse?"
"N-no..." She turned her head away. "I was rarely every let out of the castle."
Instead of groaning like Shila had expected her to, the woman grabbed onto the lead and kicked her horse lightly, seeming to send a signal that both horses understood. In mere seconds they were racing through the city.
A small laugh managed to slither it's way from Shilas mouth at the feeling of the wind pressing against her face, at the care-free feeling in her after weeks of heavy feelings. It was refreshing, to say the least.
Snapping out of her stupor, Shila whipped her head around to stare at the flashing lights from several guards back at the castle, along with the chiming of small bells. Then suddenly, a loud bell rung once, the twice, then once more until it was clear it wouldn't stop.
"The princess has been kidnapped! I repeat, the princess has been kidnapped!"
Some cared, most didn't. It honestly didn't bother her that much.
The horses we're so fast, they were at the coast in no time. Shila boarded her boat and looked at Shaquanna who should have been in pursuit. But instead, the woman had paused and stared ahead, waiting for something- for someone.
"There you are." She breathed quietly as Javaaid approached, instantly embracing her. Shila couldn't hear the conversation and didn't think it was her place to listen anyways, so she looked away and hoped the couple had enough time to say their farewells.
"You're afraid." Javaaid said when he pulled back, cupping her face in his hands.
"I am." She admitted. "But that's alright. Even if the odds are two against one thousand, I would still fight. For my father, and for my queen and her kingdom."
She then stroked his cheek with her thumb, a loving gleam in her eyes. "You worry for me, yet I worry more for you. You struggle to keep yourself alive and well, and often I play a large role in keeping you sane."
But the comforting smile he gave said otherwise. "You need not worry, for I know Allah will resolve everything in the end, and in ways we could not imagine. So when you leave, sleep in peace knowing that He is far greater than anything you may face the next day, and the next after that, and so on."
Her lips trembled. "Just the thought of leaving you makes me feel cold."
Javaaid reached forwards to kiss her forehead. "Verily with hardship comes ease. So be patient my love, and if we are not reunited in this world, may we be reunited in the next."
She laughed slightly. "You're crying."
He chuckled. "You are too."
"How can I not cry when I am leaving my other half, the man I love?"
"Seek help through patience and prayer, for indeed Allah is with the patient. Whenever you think you're alone, remember Him."
She nodded and closed her eyes, appreciating his soft touch even if his hands were rough. Even if there was a small army behind them and even if their queen was watching.
It broke her heart to tear away from his embrace, but she agreed to do this. So, Shaquanna boarded the boat Shila remained seated on and instructed her queen to blow flames into the waters of the back of the boat, offering them a lift fast enough to take them a good distance away from the kingdom.
Shila didn't look away once. She was making sure to memorize every single detail of her kingdom, so that when she does return, she'll already have an idea of what to change after they win the war.
"Queen Shila, are you ready?"
Shila finally turned to the woman when the kingdom was out of sight. Flames lit up on Shilas shoulders.
"I will be."
YASSSSS HERE WE GOOOOOO