'It smells like...pomegranates?' Arien woke up with a grumble, scrunching up her nose to a heavy scent blocking her smell. '..It's oddly refreshing, feels like Sora's beside me...wait—!?'
She opened her eyes and looked around and saw that the room was covered in butterflies. The subtle movement made the butterflies near her move jump and fly around but eventually flew back down and rested all over Arjen, her head, shoulders, legs, hair—wait, hair?
Calling it long was an understatement.
Her hair swirled on the bed and draped down onto the floor. All of her scars that scattered along her arms and legs were gone as well.
"Arien...why do you look like that," Arjen commented, grudgingly sat up and rubbed his eyes, which then widened when he noticed his surroundings - red adorning the place, himself and Arien included. "What the..?"
"Arjen, you look exactly the same as me."
Arjen noticed his hair was evidently much longer as well, along with his body feeling...fresher? He noticed the bump beneath the blanket to his side, with an arm out and was holding onto his hand.
Two butterflies rested on their intertwined hands.
He noticed a cluttered cloud of butterflies resting on the blanket where Sora was hiding under and chuckled. His grip tightened on the hold.
Arjen looked up at Arien and asked, "What happened?"
"I have no idea," Arien answered with a shrug. "But seeing...this—" she looked at the butterfly covered room, "I think we both know it's Sora."
"Mhm..."
"Should we wake her up?" Arien glanced down at the bump in the blanket.
Arjen shook his head.
"Then what do we do about all of this?"
"I don't know, but we're not waking her up."
"Can't we call the servants?"
"Maybe."
Arien carefully crawled off the bed and walked over towards the door, dragging meters of her blonde hair across the carpet.
'I really need to cut my hair...it's so heavy'
"Um...Is there anyone there?" Arien called out through a sliver of the door, she was going to open it, but the butterflies stopped her from touching the door handle.
"Have you awoken, Your Imperial Highnesses?"
"...Is that you, Ishian?"
"Yes, Your Imperial Princess."
"You're finally back!...Can you come inside though? I need some help..."
"Your Imperial Princess, I cannot enter the room."
"What, why?"
"No one is allowed...able to enter the room, be near you, or touch you without the explicit permission of The Imperial Princess."
"Oh," Arien seemed to expect Sora to order do such a thing, but asked, "Then how did we get here if Sora didn't allow anyone to touch us?"
"The Emperor was the one who carried Your Imperial Highnesses into his room," Ishian informed.
"Then, can he come inside and help?"
"Unfortunately, right after The Emperor placed you down in his bed, he was attacked immediately and he had no other choice but to leave. If you need assistance, Your Imperial Princess, you may have to wake up your sister."
"Uh...I think we just have to wait until Sora wakes up."
"Then, the servants and I will be standing outside until The Imperial Princess wakes up. We have also called upon The Emperor, so he should arrive shortly."
"Alright..."
Arjen sat there patiently, unmoving, with Sora beside him. Arien sat on the floor in front of the door.
Silence passed, before Arien picked up on footsteps echoing throughout the hallways outside and heard Ishian speak.
"Glory to the sun and empire, Your Majesty, The Emperor."
"So they have awoken."
"Only The Imperial Prince and The First Imperial Princess have woken up. Her Imperial Princess is still asleep."
"So we are unable to enter till she wakes..."
"That is correct, Your Majesty
"...Alright. Has it been a week?"
"Yes, just like the second prince."
'A week..? What are they talking about out there?' Arien wondered, ear pressed against the door.
"Arien."
"Ekk—!"
Arien jumped involuntarily when she heard her name being called out.
"Are you able to hear me, Arien?" The Emperor asks.
"Um, uh, yeah," Arien answered.
"Are you hurt in any way?"
"No?"
"That's good. Do you know when your sister is going to wake up?"
"No...sorry. Arjen says to let Sora wake up naturally...it's been a while since she actually slept."
"Wow, not you guys talking about me the one time I'm out."
Arien turned around, eyes widening seeing that a cloud of fluttering red scattered around as Sora sat up. A hand dragged through a long heep of her hair and an annoyed expression plastered on her face. An appearance devilish by her complexion.
"So rude," she slurred with sarcasm.
"Sora, you're awake!" Arien beamed.
"Unfortunately...uh, hey—!"
Sora winced as Arjen hit her head with his fist.
"So you finally decided to wake up."
Sora grumbled a few things under her breath and rubbed her head. "I said unfortunately...Why the hell do you look like that—no, actually—just, why."
"So, Sora has awaken."
"Yeah, did you not hear me, old man? Oh, don't tell me your hearing is already deteriorating!"
Sora opened her mouth to say more, but pressed her lips shut when she felt the hold on her hand tighten.
"Christ—okay, okay! I'll shut up, Arjen."
"Good. Now let him talk without, any interruptions. Then you can diss him all you want after that."
"Call off your...ability. We need to be able to enter the room safely, so the servants can assist you and your siblings."
Arien and Arjen all turned to look at Sora, who looked back at them left and right and sighed, "Sure, whatever."
She snapped her fingers and the butterflies in the room fluttered frantically off the surfaces they were resting on and flew up closer to the ceiling.
Sora looked at Arjen with an 'are-you-happy?' expression, and he reciprocated with a deadpan 'sure' expression.
Arien smiled awkwardly seeing her two siblings converse, but decided not to question it and called out through the gap, "You can come in!"
Arien hurried away from the opening doors and watched from a safe distance as The Emperor stepped into the room with a dignified stride, while the servants following behind him visibly trembled and quivered.
The cloud of deadly red engulfing the ceiling was the center of attention the moment someone entered the room, and made the servants instinctively shrink back in fear in case of inadvertently provoking the princess and getting themselves brutally murdered.
Sora remained in close proximity to Arjen, resting in his lap and largely concealed beneath the covers. She didn't pay much attention by the arrival of The Emperor or servants and averted her gaze towards her side, her arm neatly wrapped in clean bandages.
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
'Seriously? Couldn't they have just left me to bleed...'
She wanted to poke around at the wound and feel something from it, but her other hand was currently held down by Arjen, and she doubted he'd let go.
Arien stood silently near the corner of the bed frame at the servants, who didn't look up directly at them, but she noticed they all looked all had an expression of astonishment mixed with fear.
Mainly fear, but Arien ignored that.
"What's wrong with them..?"
"Uh, constipated?"
"...oh."
The Emperor's gaze fixated on the butterflies, observing their poison-laced wings fluttering above his head. Without pointing them out, he turned to the bowing servants and ordered, "Fix them up and bring them downstairs."
He looked at Sora for a few silent moments before turning his back with a wave of his cape billowing behind him as walked out.
"Your Imperial Highnesses, we will need to fix up your hair first," Ishian declared, stepping up in the commanding role as The Emperor left.
Arien, although perplexed, gave her a slow nod. But everyone knew that Ishian was waiting for a certain princess' consent before proceeding with anything.
"Sora, can you give them an answer? They're all waiting and it's getting awkward."
"...Ask Arien and Arjen. Don't touch me."
Ishian gave the servants behind her a simple nod and they all began hurrying to do their job.
Sora reluctantly allowed the servants to tend to Arjen and Arien, since she wasn't really bothered any more and needed a small breather to herself - the sense of detachment and weariness bitch-slapping her in the face from the moment she woke up. Her past seemed to swallow her whole, making her left to feel like her former (still) fucked up self.
In other words; she felt like shit.
She needed to gather her thoughts without going off at every single pig that pissed her off in one way or another.
But when the servants brought out scissors to cut their questionably long hair, all Sora saw was red.
A wave of frantic butterflies sharpened their wings and mercilessly lashed out at all the servants who held the scissors, breaking the metal tools into shattered remnants. The reserved, innocent creatures resembled rabid beasts, unleashing a tempest of destruction as they tore through everything in their path.
"What are you doing Sora?!" Arien's voice rose with concern, however, her voice seemed to agitate the butterflies further, causing them to flutter erratically throughout the whole room.
Arjen quickly snapped at Arien with a gesture for her to be quiet and whispered, "Sora?"
Receiving no response, Arjen's demeanor tensed and he pressed his lips together in a tight line.
"Can you talk to me?"
"Argh—ew, okay—fuck. Yes...yes I can talk," Sora swallowed dryly, grimacing feeling the scratchiness in her throat and the lingering bitterness in her mouth as she spoke.
"Okay...alright."
'Not dissociating, good. I can't deal with that—not yet'
The servants were in a state of panic from the cloud of deadly butterflies swarming around them. The more panicked they were, the more dysfunctional and erratic the butterflies reacted, creating a cycle of increasing dysfunction as the situation spiraled out of control.
"Can you—fuck christ—get those fucking pig outta here before I rip all their jaws off..!"
Arjen shifted his attention past the rambunctious servants and at Ishian, who appeared slightly bothered but remained largely unfazed. Upon catching his eye, she nodded in acknowledgment.
"We shall be excused, Your Imperial Highnesses. Please call on us when we are needed," Ishian said with a bow, and commanded the other servants to follow suit and exit the room.
The injured servants who were all clearly in distress, hurriedly scrambled out of the room and Arjen watched as Ishina closed the doors behind the last of the departing servants with a calm, stoic expression.
'She really is professional..!'
But back to Sora, who buried her head further into the sheets and clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into her palm.
'Kill them all. Cut them up then slit your wrists...Eh, not worth it...Just—fucking annoying—fuck, where is that smug bastard when I need him. I need—'
"Sora, you don't get to tell me not to hurt myself then do it a day later you damn hypocrite."
"Eun-seo?"
"Yes, yes. It's me, Noona."
"Fuuuck..." Sora slammed her head against the bed frame and closed her eyes shut.
Arjen gently slid his hand behind her head, his fingers intertwining with the soft strands of her hair as he drew her closer to his chest. Sora stubbornly tried pulling away, but Arjen applied some pressure against the back of her neck, holding her in place.
"Don't give yourself a concussion."
"I can do what I want."
"Stop being an idiot..."
"Fuck off, Eu—Arjen."
"Sora, I'm not blind nor stupid, I can see you're going to break as soon as I turn away, like always."
"You don't know that," she grumbled. "Seriously, you don't know jackshit..." Sora paused, her fingers buried themselves in the bunched fabric of Arjen's shirt. "So fuck off and let me deal with it."
"The way you deal with your problems is either by hurting someone, or yourself."
"So what? So. Fucking. What."
Sora raised her head, her eyes narrowing as she fixed a piercing glare on Arjen. He remained silent as he stared into an empty abyss that seemed to be endless, depths swallowing any hint of light. It was as if he was sinking into the unfathomable darkness, lost in a world of his own thoughts and emotions
"Sora, listen to me. I care about you, I always have and I always will; Worrying my ass off if you suddenly decide to destroy yourself to pieces, leaving me to piece you back together...You protect Arien and I with your life, but you won't let us do the same."
"That's because—"
"Because what? Because you're older? Because the man we're supposed to call 'father' decided to throw all responsibility onto you?" Arjen's tone became more and more agitated and his voice slowly rose. "No one tells you to place our life over yours, Sora, so don't act like it and value your goddamn wellbeing for once..!"
Sora paused, blinked a few times with the slight look of astonishment lit within her eyes but remained silent. Arjen tightened his grip on Sora's hand, adding more pressure to his fingertips but not enough that his fingernails were digging painfully into her skin.
He waited for a few more seconds, hoping for a response, but Sora remained silent, her contemplative gaze clouding her eyes and her irises began to blur. Arjen let out a subtle sigh and gradually released the pressure on Sora's hand but he noticed a fleeting twitch in Sora's eye and squeezed her neck.
"Can you at least try..? How are you supposed to protect Arien and I if you're just going to get yourself killed."
He extended his index finger, tracing the edges of the bandage that wrapped around her arm and a bitter expression crossed his features as he clicked his tongue, "Acting this reckless won't help anyone."
Sora brought her middle finger to his face. "I wasn't, dumbass."
Arjen raised his brow, not convinced.
"I borrow their power in exchange they can feed off my blood—It's give and take. You said before I should stop stealing shit and actually pay!"
"Not like this you idiot...Don't tell me this is the reason you drink those strange concoctions."
"I douse myself in toxins to, uh, fit their taste better. Darlings are some spoiled things, only seem to accept the best of quality," she chuckled lightheartedly.
"How are you not dead yet..."
"Dunno."
"Shut up."
Sora wanted to resort back, but chose to simply scoff, watching Arjen flip her hand over and trace the lines of her palm with his thumb.
Arjen's hand was warm. Well, Sora's own body temperature was probably questionable and needed to get it checked out, but Arjen's hand was warm.
The pressure around her neck was reassuring and lessened the anger burning at the tips of her fingers, begging to be holding a weapon, something—anything, and rip apart the next person who so much as breathed in her general vicinity, into pieces.
She hated when her limbs refused to obey the commands of her mind as if her body had become a foreign entity, or each unresponsive twitch of a finger or a failed attempt to move, creating more and more cracks in a cage of repressed memories.
Her surroundings had gone from fuzzy to frantic. Heat broiled just under the thinness of her flesh. Drops of metallic red and dancing blues gases flashed across her vision. Her skin that taunted her each time she glanced down at her body, missing marks that made her who she was.
She held her breath, closed her eyes and was swept away by the poison in the tide.
It wasn't at the will of injected toxins, the empty bottles of alcohol, nor was it at the hands of whoever held the end of her leash. So the desperation to regain control gnawed at her insides and clawed into her skin like the touch of his fingertips.
Vulnerability and uncertainty was her biggest enemy. It was drilled into her mind and body as law, whether it was forced or not.
Of course, it sucked ass.
Having nothing left of her but the memories and feelings she tried so hard to lock up, still finding a way to seep through the cracks and wrap itself lightly around her like the collar around her neck.
At a point, it was impossible to say she knew whether she was slowly choking to death on a kiss laced with poison or her bleeding limbs chained down. But she couldn't find it in her to care, when the last color she saw before black, was green. Bright, toxic, but lively green.
"Call the pigs back in."
"Are you sure..?"
"I'm sure."
"..."
"Seriously. I'm fine."
"Whatever you want to believe, my dear sister."
***
Ishian returned to the room without much of a reaction, however, the same could not be said for the other servants, who all had fear etched onto their faces, walking into the room as if they were treading on eggshells.
"Sorry for all the trouble...uh, Sora's just," Arien began, but Ishian merely shook her head.
"There is no need for your Imperial Highness to apologise to us servants. It is our duty to serve your Highnesses."
Arien nodded, "Well, you can help us now."
Ishian silently glanced towards where Arjen was seated, but he knew it wasn't him who she was looking at glanced away. Sora gave her the green card by lazily waving her hand.
"Yeah, yeah. Do what you must."
Ishian bowed, "Of course, Your Imperial Highness"
Arien and Arjen got settled, and the servants began helping them with their appearance.
Sora continued to hide in the bed sheets, though, all the butterflies were still on alert and everyone knew that one wrong move, someone's limbs would be missing.
Ishian was the one attending to Sora, waiting patiently beside her for an order.
'Christ I'm thirsty...'
Sora peeked her head out and said, "Ishian, get me something to drink."
"Of course, Your Imperial Highness. Do you have something specifically you'd like to drink?"
"Alcohol."
"Your Imperial Princess, I don't think—"
"I'm going to literally kill myself," Sora deadpanned. "Get me some alcohol, Ishian, or I'm going to find some myself."
"...alright. I'll get you an alcoholic beverage, Your Imperial Princess"
"Hurry, I feel like ripping my limbs off."
Ishian bowed before exiting the room. No one questioned it, since Sora made it so that Ishian was the only one who heard her.
Sora idly watched as the servants tended to Arjen and Arien, locks of blond hair falling to the floor, though she didn't miss the tremble in their hands.
It wasn't long before Ishian came back, carrying a tray with a bottle of supposed whatever liquor she picked, and a glass cup. While no one was paying attention, Sora took the glass and Ishian poured some of the liquid into it before Sora tilted the glass back with a gulp.
Her complexion almost seemed brighter and her signature grin was on.
"Never was a wine person, but not bad."
"I'm glad you enjoy it, Your Imperial Princess. It's one of the Levisay family's most favourable."
"Levisay huh?"
"The Levisay family have been widely known for their winery skills for centuries, each generation of their family being a better windmake than the last."
"I'll make note of that name. Can you get more of this, Ishian?"
"I will have to ask His Majesty for that request, Your Imperial Princess."
"Yeah, then don't bother..." Sora's expression visibly soured and she muttered, "I'm going to deal with this later..." She took another gulp before asking with her lips on the rim of the glass, "So, what's with this." Her eyes gestured to her hair.
"Your Imperial Princess, you and your siblings have undergone manifestations a week ago, which happens to every member of the Imperial family."
"The only thing that manifested was my alcohol addiction." Actually it was always there, but Sora just never had the chance to get it back again.
Ishian simply nodded and continued, "As you know, you have commoner blood within you, so it seems to have affected your manifestation."
"K'ay."
Ishian blankly looked down at Sora, who happily served herself to another glass, and smiled, before quickly returning to her black expression.
"Your Imperial Princess, I have a question."
Sora glanced up at Ishian and hummed.
"Do you know why I was assigned back to you again?"
"Arien asked."
"Her Imperial Princess did..?"
"Yeah."
Sora crossed one leg over the other as she rested her hand against her chin, propped up by her knee. She extended out her empty glass, and Ishian poured her another cup.
"Why? I wasn't very...affectionate to them."
Sora swished the cup around nonchalantly. "Dunno the exact reason, but I'm assuming it's because of your indifference. You don't give a shit, treat Arien the same as any other pissy kid, teach her what she needs to know and aren't annoying."
Ishian was silent, and Sora rolled her eyes.
"But I'm just making an assumption. She could just not want to deal with something new."
***
In the end, Sora refused assistance from anyone, including Ishian, and fixed herself up. She gathered her hair into a bundle and brought the blade of the knife to the gathered strands before she dragged the blade through.
Sora looked up at Ishian for any comment, and received nothing. Sora shrugged. She wasn't going to bother further with her hair, not until Arjen walked over and sighed.
"I wanted it short," she said.
Arjen stared at her before turning to Ishian and asked for a pair of scissors, which she seemed a bit too happy to give.
Arjen got behind Sora, fingers dragging through hair before asking, "Do you have anything in mind?"
"Do what you want."
"That wasn't helpful, but okay."
In the end, Arjen shortened the length so her hair just grazed her shoulders, fixed the ends so it didn't look like someone chopped it on a chopping board, and styled it in a way that looked almost too 'modern' for the time period they were in.
Her hair was somehow still long enough for Arjen to tie her hair in a half-up bun with her ribbon, but she didn't question it.
With some final touches to the curtain bangs Sora never asked for, Arjen backed away and Sora saw in the mirror he looked at her with pride.
"Still so amazing."
"Mhm, true."
Sora didn't compliment Arjen any more than a few words, but he knew what she wanted to say from the smile on her face.
Sora checked herself out a few more times in the mirror before she ordered Ishian to get her some clothes. She hopped off the bed and walked to the bathroom. Arjen didn't follow, but waited patiently as he watched the maids panic to find Arien an accessory that matched her outfit.
'I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that...'
***
"You bothered by them?" It was asked in a mutual tone, not bearing any conflicting emotion.
Ishian snapped out of thought and shook her head. "No, Your Highness. This maid was not bothered by the scars, simply wondering why they haven't healed when you have gone through manifestation."
"Seeing that most scars are gone, I'm assuming that manifestation is supposed to heal all scarring?"
Ishian nodded. She had no answer as to why The Princess still barred scars, seeing that the royal manifestation is surprised to cleanse the body and soul into a clean slate. As she washed Sora's back - careful not to add too much pressure when she got to the area around her neck - wiping the wet cloth over the layers of scars piled over each other, a shadow casted over her eyes.
"Your Highness, you should keep your arm out of the water."
"It's already healed, see," she raised her arm out of the water, showing Ishian the scar that ran from the side of her neck down to the palm of her hand.
Ishian knew generally what had happened when the siblings fainted from what The Emperor had told her, but not how Sora got the new scar.
"Don't worry, did it myself."
That didn't help Ishian's confusion.
"Pardon..?"
"Yeah, my darlings are some greedy, spoiled brats. Only takes my blood when it's downed in poison."
"Your Imperial Princess—"
"Ah, ah, ah. Unless you want to keep your vocal cords, shut your old mouth."
She did as told.
Ishian finished Sora's bath and helped her out before drying her off with a warm steamed towel. She went ahead and dressed Sora in a new outfit, dark red with hints of white.
Sora put on her own boots, seeing that Ishian didn't get a pair to go along with the outfit. She would have never worn anything Ishian gave her anyway.
Ishian fixed the decoration on her collar before Sora shooed her out. Ishian complied and walked out the bathroom without question.
Sora pulled out a needle.
***
Arien watched as Sora walked out the bathroom in an outfit similar to both her's, just less frilly and poofy. It was also shorter. Her eyes stopped on Sora's ears where two rubies adorned the bottom lobe.
"When did you get piercings, Sora?" Arien asked
"I always had piercings, dummy."
"Sora you can gaslight our sister later, The Emperor is waiting," Arjen said from the door, the servants stood silently behind him.
Sora stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not gaslighting anyone."
[]
idk man i suddenly decided to finish this chapter lmao