sweet & brutal || h.s ✔️

~45~

A/N WARNING!!!! Possible triggers in this chapter. Skip to * sign.

3 months later...

"The rallies in the courtyard have intensified as citizens try profusely to climb the palace gates. They urge for Princess Aria Amara Alfa Atronado or as they call her the 'Reckless Princess' to assume the throne and make things right. They state that the politicians must be punished and that the decisions made are injustice. "

"We spoke to a passionate elderly woman, who claimed she was close with the former Queen and knows that her daughter, the beloved Princess Aria will punish those who have committed sins and will revive justice and happiness to the kingdom"

-----

"Politicians spend their days hiding behind the palace walls, protecting themselves from the rowdy republicans that wait and fight desperately for change. They say that the behaviors of the people of the Sunshine Territory are 'barbaric' and 'unruly'. Saying that they will not hesitate to take action against the protestors with harsh consequences"

-----

"Protestors have been completely stripped of their rights and snatched off the streets. Pictures resurfaced of these people locked inside the palace prison and while all prisoners were roughly patted down before entering the palace, one protestor has happened to catch footage of the whole ordeal. The video entails lots of harsh breathing but through all the noise, we have happened to see a real peek into what it is like to be imprisoned. The owner of the device, George Leeson says "The act is really barbaric. They have left us with no food or water and sometimes take the ones who are making too much noise to a secret room. We have no idea what they are doing to them but all we hear is screams"."

"The video shows George and other prisoners in cells not larger than a small room with no bed or shelf. He claims that they are starved, tortured and he has seen people as young as 11 years old on the dirty floors of the cells"

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"Just three days after the video from a protestor captured in the palace dungeons surfaced, the people have gone wild with rage. The video showed the awful and inhumanly acts of the people in charge of our empire. The politicians in charge of the palace while the heir to the throne, Princess Aria is still missing, sent a message to the public. The video shows explicit images."

{Video plays}

[Politician steps in front of the screen]

"We do not condone the behavior of our citizens. It is unruly and downright stupid. We rule the land while the pathetic princess stays buried in the ground. The reckless princess is dead. We know that because we killed her. We will rule this land with our rules and if you do not follow them then we will take your children and slit their throats while they cry for their mother and father. This is our warning to you and your family. Stop the protests and we will stop the killing"

[Politician steps away from the camera]

[Camera shows man covered in balaclava holding a knife under a girl's throat]

[The camera goes black and all we hear is her cries]

{End of Video}

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*

Aria's POV

I stared at the news station playing with tears in my eyes and guilt swirling inside of me. I didn't avert my stare as the TV abruptly shut off and Harry stepped in front of me, scolding me for watching it.

The rest of our group looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. I clenched my jaw, playing the images on the screen over and over in my mind, knowing I should've stopped this back in February before it got too far.

They were torturing children and imprisoning people, killing innocents. They wanted salvation, they wanted me but I wasn't there to help them. They thought I was dead and that struck a chord within me because I knew all hope was gone for them now. The people that surrounded me when I was just a baby, who welcomed me with baths of flowers as the princess of their country had given up. I wouldn't tell anyone but I had recognized quite a few people in that dungeon. Especially the 15-year-old child with tears streaming down her face and a knife under her throat. But she was dead now and it was my fault.

I couldn't just accept the responsibility. Nigel was right. Mother would be ashamed, and that was something I never wanted to happen. She should never be disappointed in her daughter because I spent my entire life trying to be her backbone. Trying to be everything she wanted but that stopped when I abandoned my sole purpose in life.

I was brought out of my thoughts when my vision focused on the worried people in front of me. My hearing slowly resurfaced and I sniffled, wiping my eyes. I sat there staring at them until realization hit me.

"I have to go back" I rasped.