Chapter Five: Speak Now
Devia sat in front of a giant oval mirror as the lights coming from it were starting to make her face hot. The heat combined with the tugging at and brushing of her hair made sitting still almost impossible. Devia decided to sit through the ordeal, a lump in her throat forming from the chatter in the background. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the guests were talking about behind her back. Apparently, word had gotten out about Devia's failure from yesterday and everyone made sure to not let her live it down. Devia wouldn't be able to hear the end of this long into both her life and her marriage. It was a greatly noticeable scar on her reputation, and the other half of the chatter was focused on their sympathy towards Härec. He was the real star of the show, and Devia was the villain.
"It is done." The Norgavian hair stylist let her hands free from Devia's hair. Before Devia could get the chance to thank her, she walked away without saying another word. Devia looked into the mirror one last time, looking at how the stylist did her job. Ponytails were strictly used for special occasions, and this event was no exception. A roll of her hair started the ensemble as the rest of her hair tumbled down neatly from the bottom. Shards of gold were put on the small bun and the rest of her hair, giving it a shimmering effect. The fihema in the center of her head was even like a tiara. However, the stylist couldn't find a way to tame the spikes of hair popping out from her head, so she gave up on trying halfway through the gelling process.
"Okay, Devia. You can do this." Devia looked into the mirror, talking to herself. It didn't matter to her that passerby's had their attention turned to her. "This is your last chance to prove that you are worth something here. As long as the wedding goes as planned, there should not be anything to worry about."
"You are absolutely right, Devia." Ylla came out, causing Devia to make a small squeaking sound out of being taken out of the moment. She looked at the dress Devia had on. It was a metallic dress that reached down to around the thigh, a mixture of pale blue, gray, and black. It was asymmetrical in both the chest and the lower part where it began to split off in two directions. The accents of the dress also followed their own rhythm, either going horizontal or vertical. The boots she wore covered her knees like a set of protective pieces, and the bottom of each boot had a black accent to them.
"My, you look absolutely ravishing." Ylla flattered Devia. "I wouldn't expect less from such an important day."
"W-well, um.. thank-"
"And don't forget what you're doing, either. Fail again and there will be a heavy price to pay." Ylla grabbed Devia by the chin to force her to look her in the eyes. Once she stopped talking, Ylla loosened her grip on Devia and turned her lose. "I'll see you at the front row, honey!"
Devia watched Ylla scurry back to Chulir and take his arm. Devia wanted to be happy like Ylla and Chulir are, or even like Zadra and Arawon. She wanted to have a love like that. But she couldn't dare love a man that made her feel like a toy. For him, she felt nothing. She tried to get herself to feel something for him, but all that did was give her a migraine. Devia looked at the clock by the mirror. One more minute, and everyone would be expecting her to be out there. She had to be something that she wasn't: perfect.
~~~
The doors remained shut for the moment. The Wedding Hall was filled with family and friends, some of which were well known in high class circles. Everyone she and Härec knew were out there, probably chatting to themselves quietly before the bells would ring. She wondered what they were talking about, hopefully nothing too harsh. Devia held on to a box barely the size of her fist, where the ring for Härec was in. Devia took in deep breaths every few minutes and tapped her feet to try and calm herself. Just as she was finally calm enough to endure the ceremony, the bells began to softly ring. The two doors in front of her opened before her slowly, creating an atmosphere of suspense. Her grip on the box tightened. The tapping stopped. All eyes were on her.
There was no turning back now.
Devia gingerly took one step at a time towards the altar, where Härec looked at her with a blank expression. Härec was just about as elegantly dressed as she, except he had silver in his hair and his suit was dark gray and taupe. She tried to focus only on him, despite the sets of eyes judging her from where they were seated. Some of disinterest, others of scorn and distrust. The only one who seemed to be smiling was Zadra. They were all like millions of microscopic cameras, monitoring every minuscule movement from head to toe. Her hands began to shake and she was beginning to lose feeling in her legs. She tried to gulp down the anxiety, but to no avail. She couldn't afford to crack now. Her whole race depended on a successful marriage and new generations to continue with their plans. All this responsibility on her and none on her suitor. Devia began to feel dizzy. Sweat was coming down her forehead Suddenly, all the possible and visible sayings that they had in their minds were flooding into the girl's head. The voices became mashed together, barely indistinguishable from each other.
"How dare she be marrying my son."
"I wouldn't want her anywhere near my children."
"Fail again and there will be a heavy price to pay."
"Do. Not. Ruin this. For us."
"You're the weakest link in our strongest generation!"
"I greatly pity your future children, since they'll have to grow up with such an incompetent mother. Hopefully, none of your genes follow on to them."
"How did I get stuck with such a useless woman!?"
"You can't do anything right! How will you be able to survive a marriage?"
"Remember to make us proud."
"You will bring honor to us all."
The crowd wasn't prepared for what would transpire. A loud and bloody screech echoed throughout the hall, shocking everyone due to the volume and location of the sound. Another scream. And then another. And another. There was barely a gap between each of them, which all spelled out fear and catharsis. Each loud sound came back to back to back in rapid progression. Gasps from the guests and chatter began to surface, wondering what in the world was going on. It was Devia, howling at the top of her lungs with her hands clawing at her head.
"D-Devia!" Zadra got up from her seat and rushed over to her crying friend. Ylla was also standing on her daughter's other side. "Are you alright!?"
"Devia, you're embarrassing us." Ylla spoke to her in just above a whisper. "Pull yourself together for us, okay?"
"Of course you would want me to do that!" Devia, rather unexpectedly, yelled directly in her mother's face in a rather sarcastic manner. "That seems to be all you truly care about! You and Damka!"
Ylla's look of concern turned into a scowl. "I don't know what has suddenly overcome you, but you need to stop. Now!"
"And for what? So I can marry a Norgavian who doesn't love me?!" Devia threw the box down onto the ground, breaking it and letting the ring roll away onto the ground. Härec went chasing after the ring, clasping it within the palms of his hands.
"Devia, you know that love only complicates things. It's a barbaric emotion." Ylla tried to remain composed through her daughter's tantrum.
"Well, I want to feel love! I want to feel like I'm important for once!" Devia made a pointing gesture to herself, poking at her sternum. "I don't want to continue feeling like I'm worthless!"
"Devia, you are not worthless. You're purpose is furthering the success for our future-" Chulir tried to cut in.
"See?! It's like I don't have a purpose unless it's for this damn 'greater good'! Well, what about whatI want to do?! Did you two even thinkabout your own child, or was I just a pawn for all this?!"
"You know good and well that marriage and procreating are the best thing for our kind. Ever since the war, our numbers have dwindled." Chulir's voice temporarily overcame hers. "Even you must understand this."
"Come now, Devia. We can talk about all these sorts of politics later." Ylla tried to calm down Devia despite her failing to do so herself. "Can we please continue where we left off?"
"No." Devia growled.
Ylla was taken aback, including Härec's mother and father. "What did you just say?"
"I. Said.No." Devia glared at Ylla, giving her the same icy tone she had endured time and time again.
"You ungrateful child!" Ylla shouted.
"Devia, don't be ridiculous." Chulir tried to place a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just move on with the wedding and-"
"No!" Devia shouted, visible tears pouring down her face in anger as she swiped it away. "If you want Härec to have a wife in this pointless pursuit, then find someone else! Because you and I all know that I'll never be a suitable wife! It's like all of you keep saying to my face and when I'm not around! I'll just doom us all!"
The whole crowd grew silent. There was only the sound of Devia's heavy panting now. She didn't know or care to find out what would happen now. All that mattered now was that all that pent up frustration was out of her system. A ringing sensation returned to her ears and the tears soon faded away from her cheeks. The silence after the storm was only temporary. Härec's voice soon took over.
"If you refuse to comply, I guess we'll just simply have to kill you." His voice was suspiciously quiet. "Luckily for you, I called in the guards from the main entrance to take care of the issue. They're much more equipped to handle executions. Did you know that, Devia? Of course not. Stupid girl."
Devia's eyes widened as she frantically turned around to see the two burly Norgavian men from yesterday. Devia automatically regretted her outburst earlier. She didn't want to die, but she didn't want to be strapped down to Härec either. "Kamda, Damka! Please!"
"You can take her, now." Härec passively said to the guards. Her parents were doing nothing to stop this. Within the crowd, Zadra tried her best to loosen the grip her parents had on her.
The guards both lunged for her much smaller body. Thankfully, her more slender figure allowed her to be able to slither away from their grasp. Devia backed away from the crowd and the guards slowly and her eyes went in every direction, trying to find an exit to get away. Her brain was on fight-or-flight mode, and she was going to use the latter. Devia saw the doors she used to enter the hall, and she dashed towards the doors. Devia haphazardly tried to close the doors and lock them with a specialized key. However, before she could even make it out of the building, the guards found a way to use their physical strength to their advantage. Devia tried this same process again, only this time the doors were made of a sturdier material. This would buy Devia much more time to go through with the next phase of her plan. She couldn't hide anywhere in the Hub because she would be found eventually. Devia, in her panicked state, saw everyone as an enemy out to get her. She was not thinking. Her only thinking was through her actions. Her eyes took aim for the entrance. Those doors would be her way out of here.
Devia freed some parts of her hair in order to prepare for any possible combat. The two temporary guards took notice of her running towards the door. They got out their laser guns and began firing directly at her. Devia now had to dodge each stinging ray as she came closer and closer. Devia kept pushing on, and by the time she had gotten close enough to use any sort of offensive tactics, she used one side of her hair as a whip to knock one guard to the ground, picking up his gun in the process. The guards from before were now in her range of sight, and Devia used the gun to fire at the guards. They were mostly misses, but the ones that really counted were towards the neck and the fihema. The shots that didn't get directly towards those areas reached the arms and feet, which was enough to be able to slow them down.
Devia made a perfect aim for one guard's fihema, and from there she zoomed to his position to steal his entrance card. Devia slipped a little as she bolted for the door and slammed into it. A laser shot to the leg made her screech and cower, but she forced herself to slip in the card with her other hand in order to break free. Each set of doors would only be open for a set amount of time, so she had to act fast. From there, Devia hopped to the next set of doors and repeated the same process, trying to avoid getting hit. Another hit to her free arm made her slump forward. Shakily, the card went inside a rectangular slot. The doors opened up a world of blue hues.
Devia slid out of the first door and weakly stumbled back onto her feet. Right in front of Devia in the distance was a great waterfall. She quickly darted a look behind her before quickly moving towards the body of water at full speed. She was fatigued, but she needed to run. The water above her head crashed and slammed her down to the ground, resulting in her unexpectedly getting a small amount of the liquid substance in her lungs. By the time she had become submerged, Devia was chaotically trying to find her way up to the surface. Devia gasped in the fresher air deeply, her hair and clothes now completely drenched.
Devia's legs now felt like jelly and her chest was burning. She could barely make another sprint with the water log effect in place. But the fact of the matter was she still wasn't safe here. Devia didn't care which direction she was headed or where it would lead her to. The only thing that was on her mind was to get as far away from the Hub as possible.