Soul Collisions

One Saving Grace

         A bit of dust falls before being blown back up, the princess boredly trying to make it soar as high as she can. The room is filled with the arguing voices of the older servants debating about what should be printed on the banners at the upcoming ceremony. She could care less, and they could care even less about how much she cares. Not even asking for her opinion as she sits and blows at dust bunnies. As the dust molt flies higher, it joins the collection of specks floating about in the moonlight streaming through the barred window high above. What she wouldn’t give to see that view instead of the grey castle walls she’s gazed upon for her entire life. The tone of the room shifts however as all the servants suddenly bow, a deep voice booming though the hall, making Mari bolt upright in her seat, “Father!” The large man walks in adorned with his usual golden armour and dark blue cape, it looks just like what the kings would wear in the stories he would always read to her. “My dear Maria!” he laughs with a smile on his stubbed face, opening his arms wide to welcome his daughter as she runs up to him happily. Despite his kingly figure, the air about him is one of merriment that she always loves to be around. His gloved hand falls to rest under her chin, tilting her smiling face up to see him, “My, you’re as beautiful as your mother.” A blush fills her cheeks at her father’s praise, happy to see him while he isn’t busy. “And,” he quickly removes his hand from her chin, a faint cover of frost now upon his gloved fingers, “I trust that you are excited for the morning’s event.” Though she holds a smile on her face, she couldn’t be more upset about it. Her stomach churning at the mere mention of it, the thought having kept her awake for over a week in worry, “Uh, yeah.” He can clearly see through her ruse though as he lets out a short chuckle and holds a hand to his breastplate, “I know the Dawning Age ceremony can be a bit intimidating, dear. After all, I remember when your mother went through the same thing, poor girl could barely keep her footing on the altar.” He laughs merrily as he recounts the memories of his youth, leaving the girl to stand and watch as the servants hold onto the furniture around them to stay held up in their bowing positions, something that brings the attention of the princess. She decides to stop her father mid-laugh as she coughs awkwardly to draw his attention to the helps’ predicament. “Oh, of course,” he raises his hands to gesture for them to rise as they sigh in relief, Mari trying not to giggle as the king crosses his arm under his other and scratches his short black hair in embarrassment. Moments later one of the king’s personal guards walks in, bowing before whispering something to him. He nods in acknowledgement as he listens, "Really? A group that close by?" He thinks a moment as he strokes his chin before bidding his daughter farewell and exiting with them, “I will see you at the ceremony, dear. Try not to worry yourself sick over it.” Too late, the repeated mentioning of it causes her to feel queasy. It isn’t like the ceremony is dangerous or sickening in the way it plays out, but to stand in front of all the high society of the kingdom and give a speech, she can’t think of anything more horrifying.
         Things are finally decided, but with so little time left before the event everyone is rushing around to get ready. The princess just goes along with being pulled around, used to being pushed from one location to another just for the sake of having her standing there to witness the events. She looks at herself in another mirror now, seeing her smile absent since the ceremony is close at hand. Her thoughts are momentarily interrupted again, gasping as the dress she’s put on is pulled together behind her. “Does it have to be so tight?” she asks, looking back at the maid tugging the strings. “I’m sorry, Miss, but we need you looking your best for the King’s associates today,” they say without looking at her, only tugging them more despite her protest. “Yes, of course, Father’s friends,” she says with obvious disdain for them, “I’ve never even met them before.” They suddenly pull her up by them as she squeaks in surprise, “That’s why you need to make a good first impression.” She just pouts as she stands there, acting grumpy as the servants around her make sure that everything is perfect for their guests. “But why is it glittery?” she says, looking down at the sparkly light blue dress she’s been forced to wear. “Because, you’re the star today, Maria, and your father wants you to shine like one,” she sighs as she pictures him saying that, gushing over his adorable little girl, “That definitely sounds like him…”
         Soon, the princess is whisked away once more, but this time is different. As they walk down the hall they take a turn that she’s never gone down before, or been allowed to go down by herself that is. At the end, the large wooden doors are open to the gardens outside the castle. The grumpy disposition that she’s slowly been building falls away as she sees her exit to the outside world, not even needing to be coaxed towards it as she hurries along. And as she walks through it, she’s met with another set of doors. Her heart drops as she looks at the open carriage before her, “What?” she looks at it in disbelief, not able to see around the large vehicle despite her best efforts. “You’re ride to the ceremony, Lady Mari,” one of the oldest servants in the castle that’s been around since before she was born states as he stands beside it. “Thank you, Patrik. I can see that,” she says, more in a huff than before she was met with this dilemma. He sees her obvious concern and offers to help her up into the cart, but she waves him away with a hand, acting more like the royalty that she actually is. As she plops down into the cushioned seat, she’s met with four guards she doesn’t even know, quickly making her clam up. The jostling of the carriage as the horses start moving startles her before she gets used to it, never having been in an actual carriage many times before. The soldiers sit stoic, not making any motion that isn’t involuntarily caused by the vehicle. She glances at them quickly but says nothing as her eyes wander to the curtained window on the side of the carriage she sits.
Raising her hand to shift it aside, she’s met with another quickly grasping her wrist, making her squeak once more. “Please, do not open the curtains, Princess,” the guard in front of her says as he looks at her with concern. A look of shock on her face is quickly replaced by one of anger as she pulls her arm quickly from their grasp, flakes of ice falling from their parting touch, “Why is that?” Her shout clearly rattles him even as he keeps his stoic facade, “There may be those who wish to harm you watching the carriage, Miss. We can’t allow them to see their target in plain sight.” She lets out a scoff at that, not really in the mood for hypothetical situations, but she stays quiet after. The soldier bows a moment later, “I apologize for restricting your movement, Princess.” He clearly expects a punishment, but she merely waves her hand at him as she looks away towards the window again. Hesitantly he rises back up to a sitting position as she struggles to cross her leg over the other in the poufy dress she’s wearing. She chides herself for the outburst of anger she showed on someone who was just doing their duty. It isn’t like her to show that kind of behavior, the stress of the event must be getting to her more than she thought. She struggles to apologize to the knight for yelling before the cart comes to a sudden halt, throwing her forward and causing all the guards to reach out to catch her, but she holds onto the windowsill to do so herself.
Grimacing as she rubs her nose, a dull pain in it from where she just hit it on the side of the carriage, she steps out from the cart. Looking up a moment later and immediately forgetting of her minor troubles, a large and sacred structure rests in front of her. Guessing that it’s the cathedral, she looks up in amazement at just the architecture of the outside of the old building. It has tall spires like the castle, but is only a fraction of the size. Around her is a well-maintained courtyard, small statues of angels scattered throughout it. A dull bronze bell hangs in the belfry atop the center building, ancient symbols carved into it from long ago. Excitement fills her at how the inside must look as she picks up her dress and hurries inside, prompting the guards to follow just as fast in a funny looking jog.
         Just as she suspected, the inside is even more stunning. Huge columns support the high roof of the building as statues of both royal and holy figures line the sides of the basilica, watching over the members of the clergy and all who enter. As she passes them, she only stares up at the large and imposing figures, wondering who they are in relation to the faith. She nearly stumbles over her own dress as she comes to step in front of a very well-dressed woman. “I am so sorry,” she immediately apologizes as she bows before realizing that they aren’t a member of the church. “It is alright, Mari. After all, it is your big day,” she recognizes the voice, it’s one of the associates that she was told would be here for the ceremony. “Mmhm,” she hated that people kept reminding her, it only made her feel worse. “Your mother was so elegant when she had her ceremony,” that isn’t what she remembers being told, but she doesn’t bother to correct her. “I know that you’ll be just as dazzling.” She notices that their face is caked in makeup as most of the upper-class residents do, she never saw the appeal in it, and thankfully neither did her father. “Thank you, Miss Mayweather,” she says, just wanting to move on from the conversation. “I’ll be seeing you, Mari,” they smile as she waves until they’re far enough away, letting out a sigh of relief after. How is she supposed to do that in front of so many more people?
         She isn’t left with her thoughts for long though as members of the faith come up to her all at once, their bodies covered in white cloaks startling her for a moment. “Princess, please follow us,” one says, she nods on impulse and does as they ask. Walking past the aisles that are slowly filling with people all wearing fancy clothes and neat hairstyles. She rests a hand on her stomach, if only to try and calm her nausea as they lead her to the very font of the huge room. When they reach the end, she’s shown a small room off to the side that the preacher would often use to get ready for his sermons. Leaving her there to prepare as she once again waves with a small smile at their departure. Though when they’re gone her face falls back to a frown. She tries to calm herself down in the small moment. She’s practiced her words ever since she was told of the ceremony after all, she can do this. But what if she messes up? what if she does something wrong? The thoughts creep in as she takes slow breaths. She inhales sharply on accident as she’s told to come to the altar sooner than she thought.
         Trying not to tremble too much, she makes her way slowly to the steps on the altar’s side. Not daring to look to her left at the rows of people all staring directly at her. She almost jumps as the organ starts to play, music slowly filling the building as voices of the choir harmonize with it. She closes her eyes a brief moment as she listens only to them, blocking out everything else as she finally steps up to the podium. When she opens them however, her body freezes immediately. The aisles are filled with people all watching her, she doubts they could fit another person in the room and still look organized. Her mouth opens but nothing comes out, she searches the crowd for her father but there are so many people that she doesn’t have the time to comb through all of them. As the music dies down and the rooms grows quiet again, she’s left standing there in awkward silence. “I…” she finally squeaks out, the small noise startling herself as it echoes of the high walls. She’s taken too long, some in the crowd starting to murmur as she stands stiff. “I…” she says, repeating herself as she looks past them, trying to distract her mind. Her eyes coming to rest on the shining light behind them, cast from the dawning sun streaming through the stained-glass window above her.
         In its glow she sees a shape, at first it almost looks like that of a bird’s shadow. Making her think that one might have landed on its sill. It seems to grow larger however, perhaps a trick of the increasing light from the sunrise. As she squints a bit, it starts to roughly look like an angel to her. She takes that as a sign in this bleak moment. Smiling softly as it serves to encourage her, and opens her mouth to speak properly. But another noise cuts in just as she goes to talk. The shadow above quickly growing as she looks up to see what it is. The window’s glass breaking over her as a figure breaks through it with a shout.
         The princess cries out as she covers her head, glass falling from the stained window to shatter around her. The figure tumbling down between the front of the aisles as it hits the ground. Voices of shock and concern are mumbled between each other as the guards lining the walls quickly move to check on the princess and figure out what’s happening. Maria assures them that she’s fine, the glass either getting caught in her hair or ripping holes in her large dress. She’s more concerned with what that was, the guards fussing over her as she looks over to see the cause.
         In the beams that the now broken window let fall onto the floor, a young man sits, groaning as he rubs his head. “I really thought I could stick that landing,” he lets out a pained chuckle as he stands up and dusts off the shards of glass on his clothes. Maria stares at him, having never seen someone like him before. His hand scratches his pitch-black hair, picking out a few loose glass pieces as he frowns. His clothes are baggy on his tall frame, a jacket covering them which he promptly pulls more glass out of. The thing that captures her attention the most however is his face, ruby red eyes and a mouth grinning with sharp teeth. Scars cutting across his chin, cheeks, and nose. He stretches himself out as he rises before smiling, “Alright, let’s get this over-.” He suddenly realizes he’s not alone, looking around to find that the building is entirely filled with people, “Shit.”