Ripples

Balance XIV

Mentions of alcoholism, emotional distress, veins, blood, coma, and death-like.

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A gust of wind slammed against the window, and the frame clattered loudly against the sill. For a moment, Athanasia wondered if the glass was going to shatter, only to think that it might be for the best. "The cold shower might help."

After confessing, Jennet had sobbed for an hour. Separated by the door, the younger of the two could not properly comfort her sister, but she realized that it might not have been what Jennet needed. Unlike with Lucas, who was grounded by touch and affection, Jennet might simply need the idea that someone was willing to stay beside her and listen, "maybe care about her opinion for once."

Still, after a little bit of gentle prodding, Athanasia came to the conclusion that it was not Anastasius that Jennet hated. In fact, going by the way that her sister spoke about the man, she was almost fond of him. The eldest was just so used to hating the blood that ran through her veins, especially after everything that Claude had done to her. And, when she met Anastasius, who looked and acted far too much like Claude, Jennet had convinced herself that she hated him as well.

"I just... if only he protected me rather than leaving me with those wolves. For once, I just want to be protected by somebody else."

Athanasia had vowed to protect her sister, she knew that, but she also knew that she couldn't protect Jennet in the way that the brunette needed. She didn't even have a great track record of caring for Jennet. Could they be blamed that Fate has always been a fickle bitch?

So, she simply hoped that Anastasius would wake up soon. Jennet needed a parental figure, something that Claude couldn't be, not for her, not that she would even want him. But, he didn't.

Granted, when she first collapsed from Blackie, it took her forty-one days to regain consciousness, but Jennet was becoming more anxious and so was Athanasia. Even Claude was becoming irritable, all because their memories were starting to get the best of them. When hatred and anger were all that they had kept in their hearts, for years and lifetimes, till death do them part, it wasn't easy to remember the memories well.

"You were right, uncle. Bloodline isn't that simple," Athanasia muttered, scouring the palace libraries for a hint of a solution. She had bought more and more books, having already read the books before, but nothing could even come close to offering a solution. There were a few, certainly, but they weren't quite safe. Then again, at that point, she was starting to feel that she had no choice.

And when, a couple of days later, her sister broke down, and her father had spent more than a few days drinking himself mad, Athanasia gritted her teeth and tore out a page. She held it close to her chest, walking towards her uncle's temporary room with firm steps. She hadn't consulted Lucas, there hadn't been a chance. She hadn't even seen him much the past couple of days, but she was confident. No, she wasn't actually confident at all. She was resigned, if anything, and desperate for a solution. Perhaps, since fate favored her, nothing would go wrong, but fate should never be challenged, especially by abusing her favors.

So, when she sat by her uncle's body and placed a hand upon his head, summoning her mana with the intent to keep him alive, Athanasia never noticed her core flickering out. She never noticed that cracks were forming in her core, nor the way that she was losing strength, her bones becoming heavy with exhaustion. The princess never knew that there was a price to keeping somebody alive, especially when they were already dead. It would be to exchange it for somebody else's life, and she had unknowingly offered herself.

Her mana had blanketed her uncle with warmth, with the breath of mother life, and Athanasia was running out of breath, but she kept pouring her energy upon him. It wasn't until she fell sideways, collapsing on the floor, that she realized what she had done. Her core had frozen, all of her mana gone, and her thoughts were stuttering, her vision going dark. 

And, when Jennet found her later, it was to her body beneath the moonlight, by her uncle's bed, pale-faced and frozen, seemingly dead.