"Patrem*, where are you going?" A small 5 year old girl cried, awoken from her peaceful sleep by the sound of abandoning men. She had ran outside to see why soldiers where fleeing, only to see her father, The Roman Empire, leading the men away. Why had he not even stopped to say goodbye?
"Patrem Rome!" She cried, as the man seemed to almost ignore her completely. The man stopped, but did not turn around, for fear if he did, he would forget about his war and go running to his second favourite child. (Italy being his first.)
"I'm sorry parva mea**, I only hope one day you can forgive me Londinium." He then followed his men into the distance. The girl ran and ran and ran, but no matter how quickly her little legs went they could not catch up to the disappearing men. Their light dimmed, she fell, and everything was silent. She remained there for a second, the cold wind chilling her to the bone, then suddenly, crash! The large structures of her once impressive city began to fall around her, the great civilisation went backwards. The dark surrounded her.
She was alone.
Alexandria Kirkland woke up with a start, sweating, shaking, and silently crying like she did thousands of years ago. Why did she dream of her childhood? Dreaming at all was a rare thing for the city, so to suffer a realistic nightmare like that was unheard off. Sliding out of her black covers, her over sized 'Guns N Roses' shirt pooled by her knees leaving the rest of her leg exposed to the fresh morning air. She shivered, before making her way over to the calendar like she always did, to see what was on her agenda today. Her heart sunk.
"Of course it's the 24th." She whispered solemnly, as things began to add up. It was the 2nd worst out of the two worst days of the year, for it was the day her father left her, never to be seen again. He hoped London would forgive him, but how could she? He left her there in the cold and dark, to try and survive in the world as a small child. Her life became hell; at one point she even seemed to disappear, all because he just abandoned her. It took her a very long time, but now she understood, a city like her did not belong in world of countries, they would only betray her.
"Well it could be worse." She tried to convince herself,
"It could be the 4th of July." As usual her chest began to clench at the memory, but she had grown so used to the thought, it was no more than a dull ache. Often London wondered if she even had heart left or just broken pieces of glass, stabbing her from the inside out.
Rubbing her emerald eyes, Alexa headed to the shower in order to try wash away the memory. She spent a good fifty minutes wrestling with her thick brown hair, before finally managing to wash, dry and spike it in its usual 80's rock fashion. London often dressed in a very rock orientated way, this time with her Red David Bowie shirt, black shorts and red scarf tied round her waist. The scarf originally belonged to her older brother England, now it was the only item of his she owned.
Finally London took her two braids from either side of her hair, and tied them together at the back with a White Native American feather, like she did everyday for many many years. It was a tricky task, and would be easier done if someone else had did it for her, however there was only one man whom she would allow touch the feather, and that one man had long since left her in shattered pieces. As usual her chest clenched. She ignored it, knowing the pain would become numb very quickly.
London was only two steps out her room when she heard the knock from the front door.
"It's rather early for anyone to be calling." She muttered to herself. Opening the door, she was surprised to see one of the Governments messengers stood at the door, and he appeared slightly shaken.
"Miss Kirkland, you're needed at an emergency meeting." She let out a small growl.
"I'm on my two months holiday! Whatever it is it can wait." It was unlike London to reject a government request. While technically she answered to the orders of the monarchy and not the government, with the monarch's lack of power it was the government who bossed her about. However, she was on her break, and while she might get in a bit of trouble, she technically did not have to listen to David Cameron.
"But ma'am this is urgent! Even America-" he pressed
"Oh please, if America is involved then I most certainly won't bring myself to such an event. I know I do a lot of work, but surly this country can survive without me." To most, it appeared that London hated America, and that is what she wanted them to believe, because the truth was far more complex. When she noticed the man was still stood there, a bad feeling shook over her.
"You haven't seen the news recently have you?" His posh accent had dropped for a more natural and serious tone.
"No I haven't." When you're constantly surrounded by the Government, Monarchy, and international relationships, you get sick of hearing the half truth of the news. So on her holiday, London would choose to completely ignore it. She wouldn't turn on the TV or radio, she bought all her stuff online and avoided the stores, and spent most her break time catching up on lost sleep.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"Why?"
"Miss Kirkland, Britain is declaring war."
Patrem- Father
Parva Mea- My little one
