butterfly effect // castor
Mar 31, 2017 14:01:57 GMT -5
Post by Python on Mar 31, 2017 14:01:57 GMT -5
  Time warped; flashbacks to grey days and white uniforms. She could feel Ellise’s body growing heavy against her chest like an anchor. Blood spattered against pavement, painting the world an uglier color of destruction. She could relive every loss in a single moment – the stench of roasting wood in her nostrils, the white uniform hovering over her body with a grape peeler, the sound of Asriel’s body thumping against tiled floor. The flood of memories brought a burning sensation to her eyepatch, drawing phantom images in a glass eye that would never see beyond black. It left her winded, blinking in a daze as bullets scattered into butterflies. The world of black and white and monstrous flames morphed back into present time. She was on a staircase again, pivoting so she could reach her hand out to Jano. The blood streaming from his neck triggered everything all at once: a scream ripping from her throat, the image of Ellise limp against her body, the blood wetting her hands after she plunged her knife into a Peacekeeper’s black heart. The very menace they had invited into their lives had his sword through Jano’s neck, splitting her existence into more fragments. In a world half-dark, she needed her twin to shed light. He was everything, from a shared heart to a shared mind even as hers wasted away. It was the fall of Ellise, of her home, of her sanity, and of Asriel gathered into one mallet to shatter her soul into a thousand guilty pieces. She could see them vanishing into the haze of kaleidoscope wings, Jano’s blade sliding into Ingran’s body in retaliation. There was no victory to be had – she gripped her axe in a panic as the swarms closed in, shielding their bloodied bodies from her. Wings slapped against her skin and she could process the pain through the despair, swatting them away as she shrieked her twin’s name. It all became too much too quickly – bites and scratches warning her of the microscopic, gnashing jaws of these tiny beasts. She could not see beyond the vibrant wall to catch her brother or bury her axe into Ingran’s sternum. Her instincts said he was not a lost cause. Her mind reminded her that he was, because she knew loss. She knew the irreversibility of life and death, and like a curse it had struck again. She stumbled up the stairs, leaving everyone and everything to be devoured. Cannons blasted in her wake but she could not afford to glance back. Bodies would be abandoned: Asriel, Jano, Ingran, every connection she had ever held was lain to waste. Piles of bones to be sent home and buried, never to be witnessed again. Corridors swallowed her up as she sprinted, vision fogged by tears. Chance guided her to a floral green room. The grimy windows cast odd glimmers across tangles and tangles of vines, which snaked around her ankles until she collapsed to her knees. And there she sat, wax melting in her hands, tears trailing down her cheek, drowning in Jano’s memory. His smile, his walk, his scars, his habits, his ideas – everything precious about him was lost. And for what reason? Because I volunteered? Because she wanted dignity in her death, but Jano was never supposed to follow in her footsteps. This is your fault. And there she sat, contemplating purpose. There was nothing left. No will, no love, no reason. She stared ahead in a daze, without a plan for the first time in her life. But she could honor her original plan, the one that landed her in this nightmare. You could just die. A single crayon landed upon her thigh, redder than death itself. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and pressed it against the grimy floors. She traced something that would be light in her hands; one hilt, and one sharp edge. The same knife she used to commit her crimes. She brought it to life and pointed it toward herself. What an easy target, a girl with two choices; waste away, or end it quickly. Her body would not obey. Despite her failure to save Asriel, to stop Ingran, to seek revenge for her twin, to say goodbye, she could not end it this way. This was not how they would choose to die. She screamed in frustration, voice bouncing from window to window, and stuck her knife into the floor. This was a glass prison now; she couldn’t finish herself off, but she couldn’t waste away into dust either. It contradicted her reasons for volunteering. With an exasperated sigh, she walked over to the rusty spigot and filled her pink jug with water. She knew her limits from years of rationing; she would pass out if she continued without water, and that was a death she wanted to avoid. She boiled it over a fire and sipped slowly. Her eye was puffy and red, lights dancing between every blink as she stared off into the flickering flames. The smell of smoke left her stomach churning, reminding her of home. It was a fresh memory – sitting beneath the forest canopy with her brother, believing that everything was over as their house turned to ashes. Stupid. Now she knew what “over” meant. A world without her brother. |
[using f/a from the swarm]
[receives ventian red crayon from sponsorship]
[draws knife]
[collects 3 bundles of medicinal plants from greenhouse]
[dumps salt water and gets fresh water from spigot]
[uses 1 bundle of firewood to make fire]
[boils water and drinks]
[eats 1 bundle of edible plants]
[receives ventian red crayon from sponsorship]
[draws knife]
[collects 3 bundles of medicinal plants from greenhouse]
[dumps salt water and gets fresh water from spigot]
[uses 1 bundle of firewood to make fire]
[boils water and drinks]
[eats 1 bundle of edible plants]
