The only thing granted to all equally is an unfair reality. But, what if that reality weren't so unfair? What if the narrative of the world as perceived through an individual's sole eyes, as though everything revolved around them?
This is a story of realization.
'I remember having to wake up every day to stare at the ceiling, that endless, never changing ceiling… it seemed to produce patterns bottomlessly like it only obeyed my whimsy. That was the best part of my day. They'd always drag me out of bed, whether it be to 'play with me' or to beat me senseless before breakfast. Over time, I became desensitized to it. I didn't even cry anymore when I cut myself afterward. That was the only time I felt anything. Today, I wake up in that same bed, but this ceiling…
It's one I haven't seen before.'
"Morning, my beautiful girl! Time to get up; school today! Gotta push through til Friday, c'mon now!"
'That voice...'
The young woman sat up, covering her arms with a gasp, as the blanket fell over her limbs to expose her tanned skin, there was the oddest thing.
'My scars… they're… gone?'
"Hey! What's wrong?"
The older lady pushed up her daughter's chin with her thumb, and though she'd never seen this woman before, it was like second nature to know who this was. The way her skin just barely mimicked her complexion, there was no denying this was the mother she'd lost, the one she'd desired so long ago.
The wretched excuse of a human who meant on the doorframe sipping tea she'd made so casually, it seemed the memory of her presence in this abode had all but faded. She was the only one left with such feelings plaguing her young mind.
The memories of a father with a Crow mask and a cousin with red hair dropped out a crack in her shattered skull as she buried her face in her mother's chest, sobbing into her breasts, Blaire didn't falter. No matter the unknown reason, no matter the terrifying nightmare she must've endured, she shan't leave, not this girl, not here- and so, as she rubbed her back, time for Katie seemed to turn nonexistent as she bathed at this moment for what seemed like an eternity.
"Is everything alright..? You're never this emotional with me. If you want to stay home because you're feeling bad, you'd have to ask your father… ugh, speak of the devil."
Blaire rolled her eyes at the thuds his boots created as he stepped along the upper floor, now watching as he appeared from the doorframe's corner. Adjusting to the collar of the turtleneck under the black-tinted coat, his lips parted,
"Hey, babe, we have enough gas for the trip to the school, right? Or should we just walk and you fill it up after we leave- whoa, whoa, whoa, what's wrong?" The black-haired man touched the shoulder of his daughter from behind.
Raising her hand in turn for a slap, the second his hand got close enough to his face, Azazel caught it with his own… and made it into a handshake. Suddenly, her heavy breathing started to cease as his comforting, bearded face infiltrated her vision.
"Good morning to you, too, kid. Get dressed or we're gonna be late! We'll be downstairs with breakfast when you're ready!"
Azazel and Blaire ruffled their child's hair, to which the latter received a slap on her behind as she walked out in front of her lover. Quickly garnering a raised eyebrow from Katie, she turned away and rubbed her eyes, slipping her legs off the mattress and onto that marbled floor.
'What the hell's happening? I remember… I remember walking past Ace, then- ugh! Blank. I hate when that happens. Maybe this is all in my mind, maybe Alex's death, I don't remember.'
Katie relapsed to her daily routine: toothbrush scraping at her combined teeth from left to right at a rapid pace, the turning of the shower sparkling water, now descending onto her dry hair as she yawned with a moan.
'But, if that's the truth, if this is a dream, maybe… things are better this way. Is it such a bad thing-
If I stay here?'
The next thing she knew, her stomach rumbled with her head thrown back, leading Azazel to laugh at his shorter kin.
"What's so funny, huh?" Katie raised her fist with that certain brazenness, leading Karlo to cough on his chortle,
"Ahaha! Ahh, ahem, uh- nothing, miss," He replied in a submissive tone with a sweat drop dripping down his face, waving his hands as she turned away to continue walking.
The two of them shared an awkward silence as they were shielded from the sun by an overpass with zipping cars honking horns and roaring engines.
"You know you can tell me anything, right? In this family of ours, nothing goes… unbelieved, if that makes any sense. If anything, I'll tell the Headmaster to look at you."
Azazel bumped into his daughter after the suggestion, unleashing a schoolgirl-like giggle from the girl's closed lips, but as she returned to here she once stood, an eyebrow raised over her eye.
"Why would the Headmaster 'personally' look after me?" Katie queried confusedly, leading Az to scratch his goatee.
"There is something up with you. Have you forgotten where you live, my girl?"
The incoming scenery as they fled the shield of the prohibiting overpass bedazzled her like nothing she'd seen before. She hadn't realized the wonder she was missing by dwelling on that Island, the shine the sun gleaned as it illuminated her face, reflecting on every building, every storefront, everything in sight.
'I only heard stories about this place before… but to see it this way, maybe it wasn't real, the way I was perceiving it. But the way it was laid out before me, the way my eyes sparkled as I beheld such glory. New York City. To think this was the truth of the world I'd been missing all along. For the first time in my life, I can truly say I was… marveled.'
"Alright, c'mon! Don't wanna be late, now, do we?" Azazel beckoned her further down the street, leading his daughter to run after, the two continued to walk with one another by their sides.
'I didn't see the Empire State…'
"Hey, where exactly is this school again?"
The second she'd asked that her foots' movements mimicked her father's, spinning so they could turn the corner and lay their eyes upon that wondrous sight. Multiple teenagers with gifts of their own seemed to manifest out of thin air before the school, the summit piercing the white clouds surrounding the baby blue sky.
"Woah."
"Never does get old, huh? I'll see you around, kid!"
Azazel pecked his daughter on the forehead, gifting her a complimentary scratch on the head before walking away. Katie was left in shambles, touching her face and rubbing her cheeks, surely enough, this was 'real.' As she shook her head rapidly, the same words were birthed from her mind endlessly.
'This can't be real- I'm not here, right? This is just a dream; I need to wake up and get back to Ace and everyone!'
However, another arm seemed to drape over her nape. Sweat appeared over her face, reaching for her sleeve, but to her surprise, she was met with nothing in her fingers when she yanked her hand back. But this presence, it felt so odd and yet- familiar. Like she'd been around it so regularly but at the same time, she'd never sensed it before. It all came together when his lips parted and the memories came flushing back from the perspective of her father.
"Long time no see, Kay. Ace and June told me you plan on comin' over to the house later? You gonna bring your old man or do I gotta drag him out again?" This was the voice unique to that of the Requiem Reaper from the Old World, none other than August Rivera with sunglasses shielding Eternal Sight.
"U-uh, sure. Yeah, uh, I'll- tell him after classes," Katie replied with a faked grin, leaving August to pull back, adjusting his collar and pushing her forward so she can walk ahead.
"Hey!" She yelled but continued forward nevertheless.
"There's something up with cha and I can't quite put my finger on it. Well, whatever. Come to me if you have any… problems that aren't related to periods," August walked past her with a ruffle thrown from his fingers, leaving her hair frizzy.
'He's rather blunt, isn't he? Guess that's where Ace gets it from, I guess.'
Katie ran after her cousin and found him to look down at her, the two sharing indistinguishable words as they conversed through the halls of the prestigious Academy, all the way to the end of the corridor where that fateful door lay.
"I'm surprised you're escorting me, don't you have classes to teach?" She'd asked this with August's hand midway opening the door, leaving someone else to respond for her.
"He does, and he should be getting there before I fire his ass on the spot so he has to my work with his aunt at the company," The tolls of a familiar vocalization resounded through the fabric of reality, rippling through time; the legend of the Requiem Emperor was less known than that of his other name.
"You're…" Katie whispered, leaving the Headmaster to finish,
"I'm..? Yes, I am. Something wrong, Kate? You act like you've seen a ghost. Kid, why'd you bring 'er?" Ben Rivera asked, spinning a black-haired frame to face himself, settling into the chair in front of the widened window.
"She's been acting kinda weird like this's all new to her. That being said, I have to call Kristina and Ace so we can prepare. See you, old man."
August waved to his father as he left, Katie taking her seat and examining the face of her uncle.
"Alright, tell me something- what's the last thing you remember… from your old home?"
She could feel his voice like it was something tangible like if she held onto it forever, she would remain in this place without end. Maybe she did subconsciously, or maybe she didn't. If you were to look with that special sight, it'd be like peering through a camera's enhanced lenses, for inside that raging storm, as the sky opened up, one girl was sitting at the center. In the real world, she curled her knees to her chest and enjoyed the silence of her fantasy. In all intents and meanings of the word, there remained no chains tying her down, and there was only a matter of time before the fabric of reasoning continued… it's shattering.
And so, to his question, there was only one thing she could say. With the sunlight shining half of her white face… she said:
"Freedom."
Euphoric Escape Arc - Start!
The new arc continues in Chapter 111.