09-28-2015, 08:08 AM
To say that she is terrified of returning to the Valley is the understatement of her life.
Wounds half-healed and the dragon on her chest black as the night sky, she finally makes her way back to the kingdom. It has been several days since she has escaped from the dark god’s lair, and only reassurance from Ledger has given her the strength to finally turn back towards her home. She isn’t quite aware of it but several weeks had passed between her initial kidnapping by the hellhounds and now—so much time had passed and it had just slipped by her as if it meant absolutely nothing. Maybe it doesn’t; maybe time is irrelevant.
She hesitates before crossing the border. She wonders what Demian will have to say to her—she can almost picture it now. ‘Why have you come back?’ he’ll scream at her as he drives her back towards the edge of the kingdom—to banishment. Because this is my home, she thinks, whimpering slightly as she crosses into the kingdom of her birth. No one should be afraid of their monarch or of her childhood home, but she steels herself as she takes one step and then another. She will make him understand that she belongs here; this is rightfully her home as much as it is his.
Eventually she grows to weary to take another step and stumbles to a halt, head hanging dejectedly. From here her unhealed stumps for ears will be the first thing someone notices and she makes no effort to hide them. Between the scars and the brand and the remnants of blood that she can’t seem to wash away, she is quite the sight. It is clear that she has been through something traumatizing and she feels no need to hide it. She watched her parents die before her eyes just days ago, here in this very Valley. No doubt the fairies had already lifted their remains to a resting place at the Beach, but Cress cannot force herself to drag herself there, to find their graves.
It is not long until she hears hoofsteps and the rustle of feathers—her King, no doubt. She glances up as Demian emerges from the trees and cannot help but tremble as she stares at the man that hates her. She had not noticed as he watched her; plenty of time in the Valley has made his footfalls nearly silent and she knows she only hears him approaching now because he wants himself to be heard. For a long time he is silent and Cress shakes as she waits for the anger that is sure to come from his direction. Any moment now and she will be banished for life.
When he speaks it is in a low, concerned voice, and Cress does not believe it at first. He doesn’t care about her well-being; he’s just trying to lure her into a false sense of security. Trembling, she meets his gaze. “I was tortured by a cruel god,” she whispers, voice breaking as she trips over her words. It is clear that the golden girl has lost her innocence and everything that made her Cress. The flames she has not learned how to control blow gently from her lips as she breathes. In time she will learn how to control the sacs that create the fire, but for now she enjoys the heat source. It is one of the only things she enjoys.
“I watched my parents die, Dem, and let me tell you: nothing, nothing will ever get that out of my head. I watched them die and I couldn’t even heal them.” But surely he must know already—he had found her only moments after Father’s fall. “Then you told me I was a failure and I was forced to become a killer.”
She laughs then, a cruel laugh. “I don’t even know why I came back. My family died here and you hate me.”
you’re only happy when you’re making a scene