Categories > Original > Drama > The Girls
"I shouldn't have to deal with this. We shouldn't," said Iie. She was pallid, drained.
"I warned you," said Des.
"Not just that, Des. Any of it. All of it. I was forced into this position. We were supposed to be happy now. Ilu was supposed to be alive. None of this should have happened. But I didn't have a choice, not about any of it. There were no other options. And now it's all wrong, everything is wrong. Not just the thing you warned me about, but all of it," said Iie. "But about that, about the specific thing you warned me not to do? Stop comparing it to the Princess's long shots, and implying that her long shots were mistakes. Because they weren't mistakes, and we both know it. Should I remind you of 'mila? Was that a mistake?"
"Ah, 'mila. You use your brother's name for it," was all that Des said.
"My brother..." said Iie sadly, looking down. "I miss...never mind. Never mind any of it."
"I've followed you down your path. And I've done my best for you, as well," said Des. "And for me."
"Well, you work quickly, Tai," said Iie. "I suppose I should thank you. It's what we both wanted out of this, after all."
"Don't thank me yet," said Des. "If long shots are the Princess's specialty, then this is mine."
"Oh, I understand the joke," said Iie. "They are your specialties, yet you both fail spectacularly at them most of the time."
"Yes," said Des. She paused and looked around. "Anyways, she's breathing." Des said this casually, as if this fact was not grave and enormous.
The Princess looked like the dead walking- except that she wasn't walking. But she was sitting up. The bloody gashes down her chest and back were still there. Pools of blood were under her eyes, and blood ran down her cheeks, as if she'd been crying in red. She looked as if she should be dead, but it was a different sort of death-look from the one Iie had had. The death had been in Iie's eyes. But the Princess's eyes were alive and blazing. It was her body that was mangled. She was still beside Ilu's lifeless body.
"I am sorry, Princess," said Iie.
"Do not be sorry," said the Princess. "You were correct. It was what I would have wanted."
"Do you want..." began Iie.
"No," said the Princess. "You were right about that, as well. You cried for me, and therefore that is your Key. It is yours. Take care of it."
"I will do my best, Princess," said Iie.
"And I will try to protect Ilu," said the Princess. "I agree with Des. She cannot be brought into this."
"Yes," agreed Iie.
"Iie, your brother's Key...do you want it back?" asked the Princess.
"No, Princess...it is an inactive Key...he's...he is gone. And we can't...there's nothing else," Iie finally finished.
"It's OK, Jellik. I will keep it for you, then," said the Princess, addressing Iie by her middle name. "And you don't have to keep calling me Princess. You can use my name."
"But Chaos, your name is all of ours," said Des.
"Then call me by my middle name," said the Princess.
"Yes, Faer," said Iie.
The Princess Faer still sat protectively next to Ilu's dead body, and showed no signs of moving away.
"I warned you," said Des.
"Not just that, Des. Any of it. All of it. I was forced into this position. We were supposed to be happy now. Ilu was supposed to be alive. None of this should have happened. But I didn't have a choice, not about any of it. There were no other options. And now it's all wrong, everything is wrong. Not just the thing you warned me about, but all of it," said Iie. "But about that, about the specific thing you warned me not to do? Stop comparing it to the Princess's long shots, and implying that her long shots were mistakes. Because they weren't mistakes, and we both know it. Should I remind you of 'mila? Was that a mistake?"
"Ah, 'mila. You use your brother's name for it," was all that Des said.
"My brother..." said Iie sadly, looking down. "I miss...never mind. Never mind any of it."
"I've followed you down your path. And I've done my best for you, as well," said Des. "And for me."
"Well, you work quickly, Tai," said Iie. "I suppose I should thank you. It's what we both wanted out of this, after all."
"Don't thank me yet," said Des. "If long shots are the Princess's specialty, then this is mine."
"Oh, I understand the joke," said Iie. "They are your specialties, yet you both fail spectacularly at them most of the time."
"Yes," said Des. She paused and looked around. "Anyways, she's breathing." Des said this casually, as if this fact was not grave and enormous.
The Princess looked like the dead walking- except that she wasn't walking. But she was sitting up. The bloody gashes down her chest and back were still there. Pools of blood were under her eyes, and blood ran down her cheeks, as if she'd been crying in red. She looked as if she should be dead, but it was a different sort of death-look from the one Iie had had. The death had been in Iie's eyes. But the Princess's eyes were alive and blazing. It was her body that was mangled. She was still beside Ilu's lifeless body.
"I am sorry, Princess," said Iie.
"Do not be sorry," said the Princess. "You were correct. It was what I would have wanted."
"Do you want..." began Iie.
"No," said the Princess. "You were right about that, as well. You cried for me, and therefore that is your Key. It is yours. Take care of it."
"I will do my best, Princess," said Iie.
"And I will try to protect Ilu," said the Princess. "I agree with Des. She cannot be brought into this."
"Yes," agreed Iie.
"Iie, your brother's Key...do you want it back?" asked the Princess.
"No, Princess...it is an inactive Key...he's...he is gone. And we can't...there's nothing else," Iie finally finished.
"It's OK, Jellik. I will keep it for you, then," said the Princess, addressing Iie by her middle name. "And you don't have to keep calling me Princess. You can use my name."
"But Chaos, your name is all of ours," said Des.
"Then call me by my middle name," said the Princess.
"Yes, Faer," said Iie.
The Princess Faer still sat protectively next to Ilu's dead body, and showed no signs of moving away.
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