Scarlet
By L. Hiiragizawa
The Entry in Blood
All she heard before unconsciousness took over her was the same haunting voice calling her a name she knew she had heard before. She racked up her memory of the events before she fell into a deep slumber yet even a single detail of what the voice said suddenly vanished and her mind went blank. She slowly opened her eyes as blurry images came before her sight. Her head was hurting and she tried to get up but as soon as the pain shot into her head like lightning, she automatically pinned herself to bed.
She spent the next few minutes trying to get the pain away and staring into the ceiling. The room was dark and only a lamp alighted the whole gloomy atmosphere. Feeling hungry, she got up, ignoring the painful shots of migraine and opened the door quietly. As she peeped outside to find if the coast was clear, she suddenly felt a tad frightened to walk into the palace corridors at such an ungodly hour at night. No, it wasn't because of ghosts nor spirits a-roaming if ever there are any, it was because she is scared of getting lost in a maze of corridors, halls and dungeons. Tomoyo tiptoed quietly out of the door and tried to maintain the eerie silence of the palace. As she tried to look for the kitchen, she looked around the walls and saw portraits of royalty, men and women of honor and knights both young and old. She stopped as she stared at a portrait of a king and a queen at the end of the hall. With her delicate fingers, she scanned for engravings below the golden frame.
"King Evroul and Queen Victoriana of Clementia," she read softly in a voice below whisper.
"Strange…but the queen has a slight resemblance with mother." Tomoyo noticed the deep hue of her violet eyes as a picture of the lady who looked almost exactly like her flashed through her mind. She scanned her surroundings, obviously looking for any portrait of the woman, but she failed to track it down amongst the portraits showcasing the lineage of the past rulers of Clementia.
"Clementia…but isn't this kingdom named Invidia?"
Her growling stomach bade her to continue her search for the kitchen, setting aside all the unanswered mysteries all stuck in her head, waiting for answers. She wrapped her arms around her as the icy, cold atmosphere of the night seeped in slowly into her skin, passing through the almost transparent nightgown she found herself wearing when she awoke. She suddenly remembered the king whose face she last saw before closing her eyes that very day and thinking of the pervert dressing her up was just unimaginable. It was probably the servants of the castle.
She turned left towards the throne room, looking for signs of a kitchen around the hall. Tomoyo was having slight Goosebumps while tiptoeing towards the right side of the hallway, peeping if she was going to the right direction. Torches only served as the source of light and heat around the castle and the eerie shadows of the statues formed in each wall increased her fear and the thought of getting lost scared her even more. As she peeped into the left hallway, soft footsteps were heard meters from where she stood. Tomoyo froze as her heart was racing and her mind was thinking of a fast solution to get away from the hallway.
Her eyes roamed her surroundings quickly and fixed its gaze in a slightly ajar door. Without further thinking, she quietly rushed inside and tried to silence her pants and heavy breathing. Her heart was still beating faster as she recognized a familiar room. Nobody was asleep on the bed, which sheets did not even have a single crease. Making sure no one was present in the very large room, she took a few steps from where she hid and silently roamed each corner. The window's draperies gave way to the faint moonlight, which illuminated a covered portrait near the side of the bed. She brought the torch nearer and opened the draperies covering the enormous golden-framed work of art.
"Who are you?"
As soon as her fingertips touched the engravings below the frame, Tomoyo suddenly felt colder than the usual and she felt her chest heat once more.
"Let me out..."
A strong gushing wind blew her raven hair away from her face as she closed her eyes and a white blinding light came before her sight.
"Nooooo…"
Cries and pleas filled her ears.
"Somebody…anybody…"
A woman's voice chanted.
"Help me…"
Slow and painful its melody went…
"Help me…"
…Haunting her soul and every nerve in her body.
"Who are you?" Her eyes still closed, she asked the voice.
"Open your eyes…"
"Who are you?" She repeated.
"Your eyes…"
Tomoyo carefully opened her doubtful eyes and it laid rest upon the woman who was her exact replica. She scanned it properly. Her eyes, her cheekbones, her nose, and her lips… everything was like hers except that her eyes were deep violet…
'Just like Queen Victoriana's…'
She averted her gaze to a table beside the portrait and stared at it for a second. She felt drawn to opening its drawers.
'Something is behind these occurrences…'
As soon as she carefully revealed its contents, her eyes' first interest was an open worn-out book, which seemed like a journal written in red ink. She reached out for the dusty, leathered text and examined the scripted writings years old.
'Blood.'
She read the entries written in dried blood.
Oh world! Why is thy cruel to me? I had suffered all days of my life without knowing my true self. I was living in a complete lie. A lie that would change my whole world and would shatter lives. Just when I thought a smile would streak my face forever, is when I realized I am bound to shed tears all my life for such a tragedy. When I thought everything was perfect, the defects came appearing. I now know why I never had my mother's brown eyes, nor her lips and long black hair. This hurting and revealing truth slashed wounds in me too deep. Just when I had found my true love, was when I knew the painful fact we are not meant to be together in this lifetime. I do believe in destiny and someday our paths shall meet but as for now, this forbidden love must be kept and I shall take the risks of trying to love a man who I shall never ever learn to love for the sake of my country's welfare. The scandal my dad has left before he perished left a scar that slowly pulled my kingdom down. My mother is ailing and I am weak at heart.
I'm sorry to those I shall hurt. I'm sorry for those who suffered because of my family's faults. I have no option left but to somehow lessen the flame of the war.
Forgive me Eriol though I know I am to blame for your pains…
Destiny shall weave its threads that would lead me back to you.
…Someday you shall learn to accept reality.
A tear fell involuntarily from her eyes. For some unknown reason, she felt everything she felt. She felt every stab she did, her loss of blood and all the tears she shed.
Somehow the entry helped her into clearing the mysteries of her purpose in that time frame but at the same time, it added to a blurry confusion.
The necklace…
The prophecy…
The portraits…
The entry…
The pieces of the past are slowly coming back but there was one thing or one person, perhaps, which resisted to the uncovering of the whole truth…
"Nobody interferes with my private affairs, woman…"
She froze as an icy cold voice spoke from behind her back. She accidentally dropped the journal and turned to face the room's owner. His eyes were unforgiving and his stare bore into her guilty conscience.
She was facing the man who holds the answers to everything…
The man who called her Sophia…
King Eriol, the ruler of Invidia.
AN: Yeah, yeah…. some of you may be confused again but I left clues for the mystery, didn't I? I made this chapter pretty long and don't worry, your questions shall be answered in due time. This story has a rather weird plot so please bear with me. I also experience difficulties in doing things.
*Proceeds writing an article about the World Cup*
Oh…drop a Review people… PLEASE?