Crash Landing

gratitude

*Mae*

Burning.

That's how my skin felt even as I was freed from Zephyr's powerful grasp upon my body, I felt like I was burning from the outside in, like a fire was stroking past the barriers of pain and torture of my nerve ends and pouring gasoline on the flames that ignited inside my blood cells.

It was as if the fire wasn't only external, it was internal as well.

I was bursting into flames on the inside, fueled by rage, humiliation, aggression and fear.

I wanted to hurt someone, mainly the man who thought he had the right to hurt me and get away with it, much like the people who have walked over me for most of my young life.

Except when it came to men, I had no problem flapping my big mouth whenever I pleased to, mainly because back on the Celestial, they could hurt me but only enough to where if they pushed it further, they would be in deep trouble with the Commander.

Because, as much as she loved to hate me, the Commander was a stickle when it came to rules surrounding verbal, mental and physical assault so those dickbags back on the Celestial where most of my life has been living out on could only do so much before their asses were either Casted Out or I beat the living shit out of them when the lights turned off after hours.

But I couldn't do that here.

Because all these people were men and their rules were different, their society and culture and lifestyle was so very different from my own and while I didn't view that as a bad thing, I came to realize that it could very much so lead to something bad after I was tackled and assaulted by the highest man in power yet, King Zephyr.

His name made my stomach churn with acid and my upper lip curl with disgust even hours after the event happened, after Zaxton led his father, cousin and myself down another hallway and through a secret back door leading down into the basement of the Palace where their servant's quarters lay, my heart aching in sympathy for the servants who had to live with such small, tight quarters.

These bedchambers were about the size of the rooms back on the Celestial if not a bit smaller and I inwardly cringed, hiding back the sounds of concern over the living situations as I watched a small rodent like animal dart across one of the tiled floors, the grime and grease coating the rough walls a stark contrast to the prestige and pretentious feel of the Palace upstairs.

It was both humbling to see the difference between the classes of what was deemed royalty versus the commoners and it, strangely enough, made me feel like I was at home, for the oddest of reasons.

Perhaps it was because these were similar to the living quarters back on the Celestial where I've spent all of my days and most of my years on, minus the rodents, of course.

Maybe it's because the tight bedchambers, coupled with the familiar scent of franticness and the lingering odor of semi unclean surroundings, reminded me of a time that was both of the Celestial and of Earth, the memories blending together and becoming more jumbled around in my head then the worst concoction of disgusting tasting mush that was regularly served to us back on the Celestial.

Shaking my head to myself to clear the blended memories that couldn't stay in their respective compartments for the evening, it took me quite a while to settle into one of the cots that Zaxton had set up for me, my back scrunched up against one of the coarse hard walls as I faced the center of the room, knees curled into my chest as my eyes stare unblinking at the sleeping forms of Zion and Casimir.

They looked at peace on their own springy cots, their hardened features relaxing in the nakedness of their slumbering state of body and mind and I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit envious towards their ability to sleep after enduring such hectic events.