Long ago in a faraway land no one remembers,
Was a kingdom,
The ruler was a young princess, born on a winter solstice seventeen summers ago,
She was a cruel and heartless monarch. All the riches in the world are what she had claimed. The lives of her people as mere playthings, to dispose of in a whim. Neighboring kingdoms were nothing more to her than land to conquer. Fresh blood spilled each day to honor her.
If you are penniless, then there is nothing to fear, for you will meet your demise by her hands—just like everyone else.
Cherry Red
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles © CLAMP
Felicia Levitt
After falling through a pitch-black abyss for what seemed like an eternity, Feli finally landed on a surface. Hard. The pain took her by surprise, and it crawled from her tailbone to her head. She couldn't move, the pain paralyzing her. She wanted to cry, but her eyelids were shut so tight no tears could fall.
Only once the pain subsided could the girl move, relaxing her rigid muscles. She rolled over to the side and groaned, her spine aching and her whole body most likely bruised. Briefly wondering if she had broken any important bones, the girl gingerly opened her eyes.
The sight of a fifty-foot drop to an unwelcoming cold marble floor greeted her.
"Gah!" she cried out, scrambling back from the edge and into a small crook behind her.
It seems that she has landed on a juncture of a very high ceiling—silently she thanked God that she didn't have to go through a fifty-foot fall. Had she fallen a few meters away, she wouldn't have had the chance to open her eyes ever again.
But then again, her current predicament isn't much better. Of course, she's still alive, that's something. But being stuck fifty foot above ground in a small protruding structure of a ceiling isn't very life-guaranteeing either. One wrong move and she'd plummet to her death.
Feli gulped, looking down at the marble floor and then around—it was more of a great hall than a room, the sheer size of as big as a soccer field. There was no one in sight, each rustle of her uniform echoing in the empty hall. As seconds pass by, she begins to realize that it's very cold. Her knee-length skirt didn't offer much warmth and soon she finds herself shivering in the cold.
"Hello?" the blond calls out, her voice echoing in the empty hall. "Anyone there?"
A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach—known as dread—begins to haunt her. Fears creeping up her mind. What if no one finds her here? And where exactly is here? What happened? How did it happen? Questions plague her mind, none of them reassuring in the slightest, and she couldn't stop the sob from escaping her lips. The sobs soon turns into a full-fledged wail as Feli curled into herself.
She's going to die alone, starving, cold and scared. And alone.
The creak of a door opening startled Feli and she let out a choked yelp. Her sobs wouldn't cease, and in an attempt to stop it, she buries her face in her hands. She's going to die, she's going to die, she's going to die…
"Hello?"
Feli snaps her head up from her hands and looks down, her blue eyes meeting another pair of blue eyes… On a face that looks just like hers. The stranger's eyes widened, his mouth open, but no sound came out.
Right in the middle of the hall stands an exact replica of Feli; the same exact shade of blond hair, blue eyes and pale skin, only clad in different clothes and a tad more masculine—sharper edges and a leaner chest (not that Feli had much of a chest to begin with, but the point is that he's very much a man). It's more than a bit unnerving to see a mirror of herself so suddenly, and it seems that he's just as taken aback as her—if not more.
"W-who are y-you?" Feli's voice comes out a tad shakier than she intended, but she's certain that she got the message across.
The blond man blinked once, then twice, his eyes still wide. It feels so strange to see her own face staring back at her outside of a mirror. He opened his mouth only to close it, no sound coming out of his mouth. Feli couldn't blame him—she finds it just as unbelievable.
"M-maybe this is a-all a bad dream, h-huh?" she tried to curve her lips into a smile, failing miserably. "You l-look a lot like m-me."
"Fai?" His voice comes out more like a rasp than anything, but Feli hears him.
She hugs herself tighter, finding the man's expression unnerving—this whole situation was unbelievable. "My n-name's F-Feli."
Unreadable expressions fleet over the man's face before it settles into a sad little smile. "Why are you up there, Feli?" His voice comes out softly, echoing in the cold hall. He seems to have gotten over the sheer weirdness of the situation, and decided that he might as well roll with it.
Feli tries to answer, but her throat constricts and she ends up choking back a cry. Her eyes and throat burns as more tears run down her cheeks. She couldn't stop crying, too many overwhelming emotions overloading her brain. In fact the whole situation is so ridiculously impossible that she just can't fully grasp it.
"Would you like to get down from there?" He asks gently, holding up a hand in invitation, his other hand gripping a long staff so tight, his knuckles turned white. Feli could only shake her head, sobs racking her body. His eyebrows knit together in confusion, but it dawns on him that she most likely couldn't jump down on her own. A smile spreads on his face as he came up with a solution—"Would you like me to help you?"
The girl nods before burying her face in her knees. A rush of cold wind passed through the hall and suddenly the man was right beside her. Feli yelps in surprise at the sudden appearance, but manages to catch herself in time, just a few inches away from a fifty foot fall.
"Sorry!" He holds up his hand in the air as an act of surrender, eyes wide. "I can help you get down from here with magic," he explains slowly, trying to soothe the very obviously distressed blond.
"Magic?" she looks up at him bleary eyed, eyebrows knit together in confusion.
He smiles. "Yep! Magic." To demonstrate, he held out his palm and frost begins to form at the tip of his fingers.
"You have ice powers!" Feli looks at his palm in awe, blinking away her tears. "Just like Elsa!"
He laughs softly. "My name is Fai D. Flourite, and I'm a magician. I can do more than just make ice." Although he sounds happy, his expression seems to say otherwise. "Now would you do me the favor of taking my hand?" Feli takes his outstretched hand in hers and gripped it tight as he pulls her up to her feet.
"If you're scared then close your eyes." Following the advice, Feli shuts her eyes tight, holding on to his hand for dear life. There was another rush of wind and before she knows it, they're both on the steady marble floor.
"You can open your eyes now," Fai says, looking down at the girl. The hall was as grand from the ground as it was from the ceiling. Feli lets herself look around in awe. The whole place seems to be made out of carved marble, tall pillars supporting the grandiose structure. Light filtered in from the glass ceiling, reflecting on the marbled walls.
Much like a great hall one would see in huge castles centuries ago, Feli thinks. Or a magical palace filled with magicians. She lets herself get lost in the sight of the hall, purposely trying to forget her predicament. Feli thinks this is what it feels like to be a little kid. Magic and beautiful palaces are real.
So are princes, she thinks, looking up at Fai who stands just a few inches taller than her, clad in thick white coat. Although meeting a prince charming with the same face as me is kind of out of the box…
"Why do you look like me?" she suddenly asks, feeling like that was the most disconcerting thing out of this whole ordeal. The question seems to take Fai by surprise, the man blinking once, then twice. A gloved hand comes up to his chin as he leans to the side, seemingly in thought.
He shrugs with a huge grin, "Coincidence probably."
It wasn't much of an answer, but Feli accepts it anyway, nodding slowly. "And…" she trails off, craning her neck, "Where exactly am I?"
Fai turns to look at her, eyebrows raised. "This is Ruval Castle, didn't you know?"
"Uh…" Felle could only stare at him.
"I'll take that as a no." His lips curled into a small frown. "Then how did you…?" He didn't need to continue his sentence, the expression on the girl's face explains enough.
Fai got the message, but he pressed on anyway. "I really need to know how you got here."
"If I knew I wouldn't be half as stupid as I look right now," Felle snapped. A deep frown graced her face, and now the two looked like twins who are having a fight.
"Alright then," Fai turned around, arms crossed. "How about I just leave you here."
Feli panics, "No, wait!" She reached out to grab his hand. "Don't leave!"
Fai turns around with a smug smile on his face. "It seems you need me more than you'd like, no?"
Feli swallows a 'fuck you' that she's certain wont help and eyes the man impassively. "Look," she starts, "I've been having a really rough day, okay?"
He nods slowly.
"I'm sure I just got myself expelled from school, and then I got sucked into my own couch—which now that I think about it, is just ridiculous, I mean what the hell?" she rants, rolling her eyes and moving her hands around to emphasize her point. "But the point is that; I don't want to be here, I didn't ask to be here. I d-don't know what's happening," her voice broke, "I j-just really want to go home." The tears came before Feli could stop herself—It's amazing just how much she's cried in the short span of less than an hour. Maybe it's the shock.
"I… Well," Fai pats her shoulder in sympathy. "I don't understand, but I'm going to believe you, alright?" She nods, quickly wiping her face with her hands.
He tightens his grip on her shoulder and looks down at her. "Feli, listen to me," she looks up at him blearily. "I have to leave—" she grabs a fistful of his coat, "The best chance of you returning home, I think, is if you come with me." Feli didn't let go of his coat, still staring at him, blinking back the tears.
"Where are you going?" she finally asks. "I don't understand—who are you? Where am I? I don't—" He suddenly envelopes Feli in a tight hug. "Please come with me," he whispers.
"Okay," she answers stiffly, very much surprised.
Feli could only watch with wide eyes as he traces his fingers in the air, producing some kind of light using his fingertips, writing on thin air—magic. Wind picked up around them, getting stronger by the second. Feli tightens her hold on Fai's coat, his other arm around her tightly, his staff pressed against her side.
The wind was now nothing short of a whirlwind, and Feli closes her eyes hoping for the best. She never once let go of his coat.
.
.
.
.
Chapter 2/END
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Author's Note:
2 chapters in 1 day! I'm on a roll!
