I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. My mom was asleep at the table. She had seemed so tired when we first started planning on going to the surface. She tried to get past the guard doors, but they seemed to want something else from my mom.

At the door, I could see Vanessa jumping to be seen behind the tall back door. I walked over to it and left the house, making sure to close the door softly when I did.

"Where do you want to go before you finally leave?" Vanessa asked when she started walking down the street.

"I think you know where!" I said excitedly.

A few minutes later, we stopped in front of the new building on the street. The building was brand new and you could see people approaching it from all sides. Only one entrance wasn't being used and we knew exactly where it was.

We ran around the side of the building and started climbing the ladder to the roof. Once we reached the top, we swung our legs over the edge and got our disguises on. A mask and wig is all that is needed for this place to not recognise you.

As soon as the masks were placed over our eyes and the wigs were situated on our heads, we went over to the door leading down the building using the staff entrance.

When we were inside we could not believe our eyes. It was so colourful, but it kind of smelled like hand sanitizer everywhere we went from the alcohol.

We went over to the dance floor and started dancing wildly, sometimes even close to a stranger. They didn't need the money anyway.

The bar was so loud and crazy that we could only stand to be in there for a few hours and then we usually left. This time was different though. It seemed that mother dearest wanted a few drinks while her daughter was asleep.

The Next Day~

"I can't believe you would do something so stupid!" Mom whispered to me, trying to stop herself from screaming so that the person in the front would not hear what was said.

The carriage pulled to a stop and the front of the carriage's weight was shifted.

"You're lucky I'm still taking you!" The door opened when she was done. A smile replaced the anger, but her eyes were still burning a hole through my skull.

"We have arrived. Would you like to be escorted inside to the throne room?" the driver said.

I looked past him and my mom exchanged a few words, no doubt her saying that they could use all the help that was given. The world above the surface was beautiful. We were much more inland then before, as I couldn't see any water. I reached for the flask around my waist and took a long sip, feeling myself come back to the world around me.

"..Use all the help you can give us, with us not knowing the… human world all that well."

The driver then started leading us up these big steps. My father was right next to me, holding my hand. He doesn't really talk much but he is very nice.

The steps took forever, but when we got inside, the castle looked like a maze with the servant going everywhere and the only way to know where to go was the large group of people going to where the throne was supposedly placed.

After about 10 minutes, my mom was anxiously talking at dad and he had let go of my hand to calm her through physical touch. The line was taking forever, so I went back to the entrance and decided to climb the grand staircase at the end of the hall. When I reached another intersection, I just kept reaching for the one that went higher. Soon I was at the top of a tower that overlooked the whole kingdom.

I sat down on one of the steps and took off my bag. I grabbed a scroll and a pencil that was made to look like a quill. A gift from Vanessa.

I started drawing the kingdom to the best of my abilities.

"Hello? I'm sorry, are you allowed to be here?"

I turned my head over my shoulder and saw a boy, much older than me or Vanessa. I had seen some girls around his height, but they were all teenagers.

"I wanted to get away." I replied. I then turned back to my drawing, finishing up the rough details.

He decided that this escapism was an invitation for coming closer because he sat down next to me. "I wanted to get away, too. Mind if I sit here?" He asked, clearly not aware of the fact that he was not welcome. "That's a great doodle! My parents say that the kingdom is in the eyes of the beholder, or the king. They expect everything to be perfect. They are even talking to other kingdoms, calling over the commoners from there, trying to make peace happen. I think that it is dumb though. Why have peace everywhere when your home is already all you should need?"

So he's a talker. "Sounds really interesting…"

Wait.

"Hold on. Did you just say King?"

He looked at me confused. "Yeah I did. He's my father, though he is a very foolish king."

I shoved my stuff back into my bag. "I have to go."

I then ran away. Back to my parents. Away from the crazy boy. There is no way he's the prince.

When I got back to my parents, I grabbed my dad's hand and kept walking with them, not daring to run away again.

After a while they finally got to the courtroom and were told to follow the guards into the sectioned off room and wait.

The room was very red, but the cushions of the seats were very comfortable.

Soon the King and Queen got into the room. I scrambled to my feet after the entry and bowed, almost letting my hair touch the floor with how low my head was. When my head rose up, I saw him. The boy was actually the prince. He seemed to have noticed me and waved me over to the couch.

I looked over to my parents for approval, but they were already talking to the Royals. I slumped over and walked to the couch sitting next to the prince.

"Guess I know who I'm choosing."

Is this what hell feels like?