Teal Animal

10.vixa

She sits alone in the room, waiting for her end. The room glows with soft teal - the same soft teal of her eyes, that soft teal she wore on her first night out of the Colony, the same soft teal that she adopted as her moniker. That same soft teal now is clinical and austere, suffocatingly cold. It does nothing to soothe her. Vaguely, she wonders if it ever soothed the ones who came before.

The countdown begins but she stares straight ahead, eyes firmly open and firmly trained on the double-sided glass in front of her.

10

The lights brighten, pushing from soft teal to a harsh white, and she fights the impulse to snap her eyelids shut, remembering her vow to herself, remembering Lady Issan's words.

9

The white is blinding, blinding, blinding. She can hardly see anything anymore, can hardly make out the shadows at the edge of the room. She knows it doesn't matter if she can see, she knows the pain her gaze will bring him. She forces her eyelids ever wider.

8

The machine whirrs to life behind her, all clicks and shrills as she prepares herself. Her fingers grip the cold metal of the chair to which she is strapped but she does not struggle. Her fight is over now.

7

Her mind flits back to a memory of her mother. She was young, so very young, and her mother with her through the reflection pool in the Grand Plaza. She remembers her mother's laughter, the splash of water beneath her feet. She remembers seeing her reflection for the first time, and seeing the teal of her eyes.

6

She remembers how her mother scooped her up and sat her on the steps leading to the the Governor's Monument, remembers watching her feet dry under the warm rays of the summer sun. She remembers how her mother ran soft fingers through her hair, remembers her mother's words: I will always love you Vixa, your mother loves you more than you know.

5

She remembers how mere months later her mother was dragged up those very same steps towards the hangman's noose, remembers how her mother screamed out when a guard bashed her knee in because she was crying. She remembers the feeling of the summer sun's warm rays burning through the hood she had worn to conceal her face. She remembers the ice that had set into her heart as Mother Issan gripped her tight, and how then and there, they made her vows.

3

Make him suffer, make him scream and if all else fails, make him watch you die.

2

The high pitched wail of the machine draws near and she can feel the rush of air as it approaches the back of her neck. For a brief moment she is scared, but then she remembers her mother. There is no regret in the teal of her eyes as she tilts her chin up and meets his gaze through the two-way mirror. Her fight is over now.

1

A flash and then a splash of blood. Vixa is dead, but the legend of Teal lives on. She has won.

Behind the glass he stands, emotionless. He turns away from her (from her, who he loved, who he ordered killed) and returns to his politics. Outside, puffs of teal engulf the city.

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A.N: Stay tuned for more next week! If you like what you've read, leave a start and/or comment! - Sana