The Double Tragedy

It has felt like many days since we have been thrown into this icy prison. Already, our hands are frozen with a blue tinge to our fingertips. Still, we huddle together in the farthest corner, violet eyes fearfully watching every shadow pass and startling at every loud noise and shout from the lower levels. I know we have to move, something other than doing exactly what the King wants us to do, die in this horrible prison at the tender age of six.

So, I move towards the iron bars covered in thick sheets of ice that glisten in the evening sunlight. But before I can move out of Miko's range, her hand snatches mine tightly, trembling as I turn to face her tearful face.

"Yuuki?" She whispers, eyeing the bars nervously, before going on, "You will always be here, right?" 

Her large, violet eyes stare at me intensely as I run my fingers through her long, fiery hair whispering firmly so no one, especially the guards, could hear, "I will always be by your side, Miko."

I stare down at the dead figure of my twin sister. Blood seeps through all the cracks in the ice of our prison cell. The guards have finally done what they had been plotting. To kill one of the royal twins of destruction. Tears blur my vision as I  kneel over her body, I am alone now. The thought terrifies me. There has always been Miko, no matter how much our country hated us. I always knew Miko will be by my side.

Time whether days or weeks, I didn't know, passed. I never left Miko, clutching her frozen and stiff body tightly to my own, afraid to let go. But as the shouts of an invader enters our level of the prison, I hope it would finish me off like the guards had done to my precious Miko. Shaking, I huddle back in the corner we usually stayed in, watching the hallways with fear.

The shadow of a man moves closer to my cell. But as it draws closer, I can safely say it wasn't one of the guards and most definitely not someone from Valeria. He is too tall. Soon, the man is standing in front of my cell, silver eyes watching me shiver and attempting to get as far away as possible with a gaze of heartbreak. How is he? I can't help but move closer as he shatters the bars of the cell with a few runes. Magic, like ours, no mine. I have to remember Miko's gone.

He stretches a pale hand out towards me, "Do you want to leave?" His question startles me.

I did. More than anything, I didn't want to stay in a place no one cared. But, glancing down at Miko, I whisper, "Miko, too?"

He smiles gently, "Of course."

So I take his hand and allow him to carry both of us out of the Valeria to a world he calls, Raidith. I realize the seasons were similar and so were the clothing designs but that is where all the similarities ended. As weeks went by as the King, Kamui, prepares for Miko's funeral, I grow to realize that when people look towards me, they didn't see what those in Valeria did, a cursed princess. Instead, they constantly went out of their way to welcome me amongst the palace members.

Dressed in a fluffy, thick coat, I headed towards the sacred shrine underneath the palace, where Miko's coffin is being completed. The urge to be near had woken me in the night and after slipping through the King's watchful guards, I finally reached the purple fluorite coffin, yet to be finished.

The smooth edges were magnificent. But near the bottom, the edges are still jagged. My throat tightens as sobs shake my still malnourished form. I had promised to stay by Miko, forever. how could I when she's gone. I stare at my reflection on the smooth surface as my tears glisten off its surface in the moonlight. But I can never see my face anymore, only Miko's. Tears continue to fall as I reach down, my fingers slicing along the rough edges, drawing blood.

My eyes widen. I can leave and be with Miko. But, I bit my bottom lip, it would be so cruel to leave the King alone again. But I had promise Miko. I struggle with the two warring sides, wanting to make my rescuer happy, but wanting, also, to keep my vow to my older twin. 

So with a whispered apology to the King, I let my wrist slide roughly down the jagged edge of the coffin that stood unfinished. The blood spills fast, a few shades darker than my ankle length red hair, the same as my sister's. Head resting on the coffin, I whisper, "I'll be there soon, MIko."

As my vision turns black, I can feel hands grasping me. "Yuuki!" The king's voice sounds so far away as slip farther back into the darkness, not responding to his worried voice. I only want to be with my sister.