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»My Childhood Memories«
Small note: Amathis was born in the year 2978
February 2985- 2 years before the Palace of Hades
"I'm going to be there first!"
We ran so fast that I could feel the harsh and cold wind brushing past my face permanently. My arms were exposed to the cold as well, considering I was only wearing a thin t-shirt that barely reached to my elbows. The boys running behind me like maniacs and dogs were laughing as they heard my statement, their arms already reaching out to clasp my exposed ones and drag me back to win the race themselves.
"You wish, Am." Kyan was the one who laughed loudest of them two, his perfect row of white teeth showing as he smiled— I noticed when I turned to look behind me over my shoulder, before hastily running away.
I could feel their bodies getting closer, their heavy pants getting louder and voices cackling more presently in my ears. Despite being the youngest in our trio, I had never failed to stand and show my strength to the boys that jokingly bullied me from time to time, saying that I was weaker than them. But in what time did we live, that people assumed women or girls were not as strong as men or boys? I bet they could even be stronger if they only tried hard enough.
"You run like a girl, Amathis! You're never going to be first if you keep your attitude." Hobi screamed and yelled while running, which caused more need for oxygen as his gasps became more frequent over the course of our race.
"Really?" I turned my head around one last time to look at the struggling boys, only feet away from where I was. "If you run a little faster, you can run like a girl too Hobi."
Those were my last words before I took a sharp turn at the next corner, entering the Yan Neighbourhood in which we lived and where my parents restaurant was located. I could already see it from afar as my feet accelerated abruptly, for a while I could run faster than ever persistently, before my lungs started to signal that I had to slow down. I was short in breath as I pushed open the glass doors, on which an big OPEN sign was hung, before storming right into the main room and letting the doors fall close behind my back again.
The people who were enjoying their lunch at the small tables while crouching on the wooden flooring looked at me in disbelief, however most of them already knew my brother and me and figured what was going on the moment they recognized my face.
My mother, who was standing behind the counter while cleaning random spots, lifted her head immediately when she heard the door open and fall close in such a short matter of time. When our eyes locked and I smiled faintly up to her, she shook her head lightly while bringing down the cloth she was drying the surfaces with.
"Amathis honey, I told you not to disturb our guests like this." She looked over to the visitors with a nervous smile, before coming out from behind the counter towards me. I instinctively took a step forward and leaned against the counter while catching my breath, as she slowly kneeled down in front of me with a warm sweater in her hands.
"I told you it's cold outside and that you should wear your sweather." She brought the thick material around my shoulders, and I let my arms slip inside when I heard the bells above the door ring, signaling that we had new visitors— or more disturbers like myself.
Shortly after I had perceived the bells, the heavy pants of my trio members filled the main room, making my mom sigh for the hundredth time in a row. I chuckled inwardly as I awaited her usual scolding that was meant for only the rascals that dared to chase their friend and sister through town, only to disturb her guests at the restaurant.
"Hobi, I will call your mother if this happens again!" Mom threatened our closets family friend jokingly, which he wasn't aware of ever, making me break out into an even greater laughter than before. Her eyes were furiously narrowed down to the young boys while I stood behind her, watching their fear filled faces wash pale with anxiety.
He almost fell to his knees and hugged mom's legs when he heard the usual statement. "Mrs. Lee I'm sorry! I won't do it ever again!"
I loved my mom, not only because she never failed to protect me from the boys but moreover for the fact of her sense of humor and care for all of us. One could clearly see how much effort she put into everything that regarded Kyan and me, and I dared to say she loved Hobi almost as much as she did us.
December 2986 - 3 months prior.
"They talked about it again." Kyan towered over me as I sat on the edge of my small bed, watching the pattern of the bedsheets before my eyes were drawn to his in an instant. "They talked about the Palace and the royals again."
As I stood up from my sitting position, I almost crashed into him. I was curious, nervous, furious but most obviously excited for his news that he informed me about with a rather sad expression on his face. He had changed a lot these months, grown taller, adapted sharper features on his face gradually and his voice had even dropped- even if it was barely anything I perceived it as if it had been an entire octave. He was already eleven years old, brave enough to eavesdrop every time our parents talked in privacy.
"Again? What were they saying?" I enclosed his arm in my hands and dragged him to sit down on the bed comfortably, hoping for his tensed features to soften once he could settle down and relax, but I was yet to perceive that it would not happen this time.
"Kyan?"
"They were saying weird things, Am." His eyes were strictly fixed on the door through which he had just entered our room, while his body remained stiff on the bed. He bat his eyelashes a few times, silence engulfed as sooner than it ever had.
I shook his shoulders slightly to wake him up from what seemed like a shock or trance, looking up into his eyes with hope in my very own. "Just tell me Kyan! I can stand when you're keeping such exciting things from me!"
"They were thinking about how to say goodbye to our family and Hobi's family." After moments of silence after his first statement, he eventually turned his head to mine and our eyes locked in a moment of ultimate truth and fear. My lips trembled and so did his as he spoke his next few words. "I'm scared, Am."
"Goodbye? Are we going on vacation finally?" I grasped his arm with joy in my eyes, the previous irritation and faded from my face within a slip second. "Are we going to visit uncle and aunt over in Hora?"
He let his body fall back on the bed and sighed in exhaustion after hearing my question, covering his face with his arms as he crossed them over his face loosely. "I don't know Amathis, I don't get it. Why would they talk about our Royal's and then about saying goodbye? Maybe it also has to do with that weird thing they suddenly stopped talking about."
"You mean this Eden?" I stressed my last word weirdly since its meaning remained unknown for the two of us our entire lives. In spite of the two of us trying hard to somehow understand it through our parents countless conversations, we never managed to grasp and comprehend it entirely.
"Yeah this Eden." He turned his head to me when I laid down in my back as well, right next to him. "Do you think it's like a special city? Or, a holiday resort or something that they wanted to take us to for years and now the royals decide to gift us the journey?" Even though his statement was quite funny and thrilling, the frown in his face never left.
"I hope so, Kyan." I leaned my head into his shoulder and closed my eyes. "Maybe we should try and listen to them more often to find out."
"Do you want to play cards?"
January 2987- 2 months prior
Kyan and me were enjoying a game of ball outside in the front yard with Hobi, when mom called us from the inside. Her voice was carried outside through the small window in the kitchen, through which she observed us from time to time as we played carelessly. Hobi stopped the ball with his feet as her words finally arrived in our senses, making our heads turn to the back door of the house.
"Kids come inside, food is ready!"
The sun was already coming down to be replaced by the shining bright crescent which I loved to observe from my window sill every night these days. We walked around silently, taking our shoes and jackets off in the hallway where mom was already standing with dad. They smiled down to us, but I immediately perceived something weird in the atmosphere. I looked to Kyan, who as well detected the nervous smiles on their faces, and my precious doubts were supported by the unsure look on his face.
Kyan and me had not had one chance to catch our parents talking about the goodbye and palace thing ever again in the last month, hence every slightest suspicious was grasped by us almost immediately to hold on and find out more behind the meaning of last month's conversation.
Our dad guided us to sit in the chairs at the table located in our kitchen, while mum gathered bowls and dishes to neatly place them all over the surface. Kyan, Hobi and me sat down quietly and studied every of my parents movements, all of us trying to sense what was going on. This wasn't our usual meal in the afternoon. We had told Hobi briefly about the things we've heard and not, therefore even he understood that the suspense was unbearable at that moment.
Mom placed a big pot with steaming soup on the center of the table before she took her place besides dad, looking over to him with raised eyebrows. He shook his head with furrowed ones, enclosing the ladle in his hand and started to pour the well prepared soup into everyone's plate while mum gave each person a piece of freshly baked bread.
"Enjoy your meal, kids." Mom's voice had never been this distant and quiet, leaving me with even more mixed feelings when I tried to enjoy the food she had made for us. Somehow I could not gulp more than only a few spoons of if down— my stomach was repelling everything as if reading my mind and only thirsting for answers of unvoiced questions.
As dad noticed, he immediately leaned his spoon against the edge of the bowl. "Honey, why aren't you eating?"
"Our appetite is gone, dad." Kyan spoke up for me as I was about to let my lips fall open. His voice laced with annoyance and riddance as he finally spoke what he wanted to say all this time. "Is there nothing you want to tell us?"
He was only eleven yet so brave that I admired him like a hero, but he was only my stupid older brother.
My eyes shifted to Hobi, who quietly sat and hid behind his big bowl of soup as if to avoid the family argument that was about to be declared and break out in the next few moments.
"Kyan, be quiet and eat your soup, I did not make this to chug it back down the sink." Mom's voice was raised even though she remained looking calm as ever.
"Darling, shouldn't we-"
"No." She was so stern that it immediately raised my attention, and by that point I was sure that something was about to implode inside of her any second. "They will find out when it's the right moment."
I almost threw my spoon back into the bowl filled with soup as my eyes kept switching from looking at my parents. I immediately gained their attentions as the spoon shattered against the glass with a loud, sharp noise before it silently settled down in the liquid. "What will we find out?"
March 2987 - 3 days past.
There weren't many times in my childhood in which I had cried because of something severely emotional. The only times I cried had been as a baby, when I got hurt as a toddler or when a boy in school took my most loved notebook and smashed it into the trash bin in our classroom.
Since we had moved into this place, I had cried three days in a row— day and night my cheeks were flushed red and stained by countless of hot tears that emerged from my sorrowful eyes. Even Kyan had cried, my brave and cool brother who was eleven years old had cried and I could not befriend the new place we were supposed to call our new home. It was cold, cold hearted and cold floored, my room was so big and filled with ten pieces of furniture but so empty at the same time.
We lived so close to the palace of Hades and the royal family itself; the most beloved and prestige family in the entire realm was so close to me and yet I felt small and weak underneath their eyes. The only one I wanted to see was Hobi and my friends from school but from this very day on it was forbidden, like a crime or an illegal act of some kind.
My heart was crushed for the first time even though no one had laid a hand on me. Only fate had laid its hand on my life and formed a fist; I was captured inside inevitably.
June 2990 - almost 3 years past.
My parents were working day and night in the palace, Kyan and me were taken care of by a housekeeper and a nanny that checked on us every few hours. I was twelve and Kyan was already 15, and conserving our age a babysitter was ridiculous in our eyes since we learned to be independent since our arrival in this hell hole.
Today was the day we were once again invited to a big dinner solemnity in the palace. Mom and dad had already spent the entire day there to prepare the food and everything that was needed, after all they were hired as private cooks for the royal family. It has come to my attention that a lot of people had known my parents restaurant when he had still lived at our real home, explaining the reason why my parents were suggested such an offer.
Did it justify almost locking us up and isolating us from the outside world? It seemed so. But my answer to his questions was boldly written across my heart like a tattoo, and it would never alter.
Kyan and me were brought to the palace around six o'clock in the evening, we had worn sophisticated clothing and expensive looking jewelry that seemed oddly unfitting on our bodies as we eyed ourselves in the center of the hallway, where the Royal family awaited us. Princess Kara, whom I had admired my entire childhood due to her dark beauty, was clad in a beautiful sparkly dress, her timid brother wore a dark suit. She was my brother's age, whereas Prince Baekhyun was mine. The King and Queen were quite intimidating if you asked me, but taking into account that my brother held my hand tightly and it was not my first time seeing them, made my heart feel a bit more at ease.
"Welcome children." The King spoke happily as he eyed us with his small, squinted eyes, patting my head as he came near me. I slightly shivered at the gesture but greeted him with a smile and a polite and respectful bow, before he turned to my brother.
"Your highness." He as well bowed to show his upmost respect for our Royals. "Thank you for inviting us to this festivity tonight."
From the corners of my eyes I studied every little detail in the main hall way that I had never paid so much attention to. I ultimately didn't know what had me so intrigued by the glistening lights and dark shadows in some corners of the foyer that my eyes were widely opened to take in every little aspect of it. It certainly was something people would count among beautiful, but it certainly did not fit my imagination of the word.
"Do you like our palace, Miss Lee?" All of a sudden I was torn out of my inner moment when Queen Niliria appeared right in front of my eyes, the gems on her dress drawing my eyes to themselves.
"Yes, your highness." I bowed my head and blushed as I was being addressed so directly by her. It was an honor of course, my anger from the last three years had always washed away when I faced with royalty or their employers.
It was quite odd that only Queen Nilria and King Byun Min seemed to address us— every time we visited the palace, the children of the family kept their mouths shut and their lips curled to speak only seldom. Most of the times they agreed to what one of their parental figures had said, something asking maids or cooks for more food or something to drink. What was even more odd could be found if one took a look at the Royal kids and our ages. They were quite similar indeed and yet we lacked anything to talk about, even our eyes locked only in the most necessary moments.
Today was one of the first times that my eyes had met with the Princes's of the family for longer than just a split second. They sparked with excitement as he noticed my will to keep the magic behind this moment hidden, so he simply gifted me with a faint, boyish but mostly sheepish smile. The Prince known as Baekhyun was sweeter than anything I had never laid my eyes upon, and I was already dreading the moment I'd have to take them off him later when the night would cast its shadow on our evening.
Today
It was obscure remembering all these and many more events from my childhood and time at the palace of Hades. I used to be a happy, youthful and active girl all the time until the day strangers locked us up in one of the most expensive residents in the entire realm of Hades. I could not deny that I smiled every time I thought about it, even now when I was holding the last photography of my family in my possession.
The smile was triggered by all these events and yet seemed to be somewhat content. Of course I was not truthfully happy about the isolation from the rest of my family and friends, from the place I had called my hometown, from the live I had used to live that had waved at me through the window from the outside from time to time. I was not happy about mom, dad and Kyan's death, not happy about the way I had someday submitted to the wicked Prince and his father. None of these things were tied to some kind of positive emotion in my heart, they were all horrific, gruesome and more painful that a stab into my beating organ.
Nevertheless, this smile was still tied to positive emotions— as unbelievable as it might seem. The reason why it arose to dance sheerly on my lips had a simple reason for which I was grateful to myself. I smiled because I had been strong enough to survive and not surrender, because I had lived through physical and much more mental pain, and because I had managed to flee from the misery I had been immersed in for many years.
I was still here, that was what truly counted in the end even though it was terribly hard to convince the people around me from that fact. How was I not depressed, gone insane, a lunatic? I didn't know, quite honest I didn't want to know because it would only raise more questions. One reason however stood right beside me this very moment, absentmindedly watching the trembling movements of my fingers around the photograph.
I loved this reason more than anything.
Who would have thought anyways that the small youthful and happy girl that was once intimidated by the Queen of Hades would be crowned one herself one fine day? One of another realm, one that she truly loved.
~
Before Amathis becomes Queen, we want to take a small look on her past and reminisce. I decided to leave out a flashback to Baekhyun because there have been enough and this ass does not fit into her mind bye.
Do you think Amathis can meet up to all the expectations that people have to her as the new Queen of Eden?
Also: check out theCatypillar 's Yoongi story 'Locked', you won't regret the surprise it bears~