Ripples

Anchor II

Includes homicidal thoughts and fluff

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The same room and the same positions, that would have been nice. However, rather than the suffocating room that Claude had last brought her to, Athanasia found herself sitting beside him in the garden. "It's the same one that we used to go to before he built my maze or roses."

Athanasia looked down at the sweets before her, wondering if Claude had really lost his mind. Even when she used to have tea with him, back when he cared about her, they never sat side by side. Sure, she gave him the occasional kisses on the cheek, but there was always a distance between them.

Perhaps it was because she could never quite forget the image of the cruel emperor, or that he still hated her very existence, but there was a prominent distance... that he had just torn apart on their first meeting.

For the reborn princess, this was bad, terribly bad! She had thought that he would be the exact same, so she was ready to rain insults on the pathetic emperor. Not once did she imagine that he would be softer than before he killed her!

"What do I do? I already acted so innocently, and he's not even insulting me right now. Then again, he did call me a bug."

"Why are you just sitting there? Go ahead and eat." Claude commanded, placing the sweets closer to the panicking princess. When she looked up and the oceans met, she found that he was too calm, but she oddly didn't feel like she was about to die. "I ordered them to bring out something kids would like."

Athanasia nodded, bright eyes blinking gently as her hand lifted so that she could take a bite. The strawberry shortcake melted in her mouth, and she almost couldn't believe how good it was. Distracted, she forgot where she was for a moment and began to devour the plate. However, when she lifted her head and found a gentle smile on Claude's face, she almost dropped her fork... if not stabbed him in the face.

"He's mad," Athanasia thought wildly, staring at him. "That's the only explanation possible. He had to have gone mad."

Because there was no way that this Claude could love her, could cherish her like last time when she had yet to do anything in the first place. And, really, she was partially right. However, she underestimated how strong memories could be for the characters in the cycle. Even with others, she never noticed the slight changes that came over those whom she interacted with most.

The way that the ruby palace didn't need to be convinced of her adorability anymore. The way that Lily was more dedicated to her than ever before. The way that Jennet was clinging to her more and more. Without seeing it, she was already making ripples.

Because memories linger in the souls of people, not to the physical host. And when they die, reborn in another world, the memories remain, accessible only when there are certain triggers. Of tumultuous waves and falsified smiles, repetitive emotions that lingered along with the memories.

Since the princess was so lost in thought, she began to devour every single sweet in front of her. It was a sort of mechanism against her rising anxiety, because eating would be better than having to think about the chaos that was Claude. And really, said man couldn't help be amused.

"She looks like a hungry chipmunk."

Claude, himself, couldn't quite understand why he was acting with such generosity. All that he knew was the need to keep her by his side. He felt that if he didn't, she would vanish and never appear again. For some reason, that simple thought hurt far more than he realized.

"Don't eat too much or you'll get chubbier," the emperor commented, and relief filled Athanasia. This was familiar waters, about time too since this was still Claude, no matter how bizarre he was. "That's okay! Papa is also not very good looking!"

A flicker of anger and amusement appeared in his eyes, but before he could even open his mouth, Athanasia was already pulling out the forgotten bag of cookies from her pockets. "Oh! Hannah and Ces gave Athy some cookies! Athy wants to share with Papa! Here, ah!"

Claude froze before those bright, innocent eyes. Those eyes that mirrored his, though they were also quite different. For one, he thought that her eyes were too pure and his were too dark from trauma. Oh, little did he know what his daughter had gone through simply to perfect that mask.

Still, before the radiance of his daughter, Claude didn't have much of a choice. So, he soon bent his back a little, leaning forward to let the small princess feed him. Felix and Athanasia watched with mild concern. "Is he really okay?"

And all that Claude thought was, "it's not bad," while placing a hand above his beating heart.