Amity and Enmity

Chapter 20

Day: 1015

Days Left: 4465

Lives Saved: 5

That night, it took Corinna hours to fall asleep once Rin and Calanthe swapped with her and Dex for the early morning patrol. All that Corinna could think about was the open portal, how close she had gotten to making one of the biggest mistakes in her life.

But would it have been that bad? Something kept telling her that she had to stay in the Eternal Abyss for a very important reason, yet she could not recall what it was. That memory, along with everything else about her life before the Abyss, was gone. That was until, a few seconds after she eventually fell asleep, did they temporarily come back.

Corinna's eyes opened and saw only darkness, yet her body was visible, a place she was all too familiar with yet had not seen in quite some time. But then, her memory returned; the young woman finally remembered what was going on and, more importantly, why she must never escape the Eternal Abyss.

She turned and saw a white throne amidst the void, and sat upon it was the figure of Queen Corinna IX, adorned in the usual silver garments that covered every inch of her and the blank porcelain mask that hid her expression.

As soon as the memory returned, Corinna immediately broke down, collapsing onto her knees and sobbing uncontrollably, gasping for breath. Why did you give me that mask! Her thoughts cried out, reverberating across her mindscape, almost shaking it. If I had escaped, our deal would have broke, and my family would have been executed!

"You would never have been able to escape wearing that mask, Miss Warren," replied Queen Corinna.

Hearing the queen's calm voice, Corinna Warren, in turn, calmed herself, the tears still streaming down her cheeks, but her breathing relaxed. How?

The queen shifted in her seat. "We designed it to stop working if you came too close to a portal. So you were never in danger of escaping, Miss Warren."

I can't escape...

"Not by using your mask, no."

Still, Corinna thought, that eased her guilt. She had become so close to escaping through that portal and sentencing her family to death. But no matter how minuscule it was, there was still a chance that she could succeed in escaping, finding a way even without a mask like she had heard Harmony had done numerous times.

"Yes, that is true, Miss Warren."

A slight chance, but still possible.

"Correct." The queen paused, tilting her head as if studying the young woman before her. "You can talk in this place, Miss Warren; we are in your mind. With just your imagination, you can conjure up anything. You can return your voice... and your hands."

Corinna Warren looked down at her arms, trying to remember what they had looked like before. Despite it being so long ago, occasionally, she would feel like her hands were still there and try and pick something up, or there would be a sharp pain, though nothing was there, and thus she could never relieve it.

Then there was her voice. Even her breath was silent. What did she sound like before? She could hear her thoughts in her own voice, yet with each day, it seemed to sound more different than what it used to be, changing into something unrecognisable.

Though she could only have them return to her in this dream world, what would it be like to have her hands and voice back?

She hesitated, knowing that all she had to do was imagine it, yet Corinna could not do it. Not that she wasn't capable of such a simple feat, but rather because she didn't think she needed to.