Blood was everywhere. Luna had to cut Anastasia severely in order to get her to stop resisting. Not wanting her prisoner to bleed out however, Luna had efficiently bandaged her wounds. Getting up off of the small straw bed, Anastasia looked at her surroundings. She was in a tall, stone, windowless tower. Noticing a door, she attempted to break it down. "It'll be no use." She heard behind her. "It's locked, bolted, and I think she put a table in the way." Turning around, Anastasia saw Cordelia in a very small tub. "What happened? I- I don't remember anything." She said, walking towards Cordelia. "You were coming to me for advice on that troll, and Luna took her chance. She grabbed my fin, knocked you out and drug us off." She said, attempting to get into a more comfortable position in the tub. Her purple scales that once shone brighter than the sun were now dark and solemn. "Keep quiet!" They heard a voice say from outside. "Who's there?" Anastasia yelled, disobeying immediately. "None of your business, just pipe down! We're trying to sleep!" The voice yelled back.
"We? It was just Queen Luna that got us." Cordelia whispered as soon as they couldn't hear the voice's footsteps anymore. "Well sure, she wouldn't stand guard herself. Speaking of, why are we even here? We haven't been at war since our grandparent's time, we're finally at peace. Why ruin that?" Anastasia prompted, Cordelia looked down at the bloodstained floor. "Greed is a sleeping beast, Anastasia. Those who go to kill it wake it up instead, and are consumed with its sickness. Luna has woken the beast of greed." She said, still staring at the blood on the ground. "Bloodshed," She continued, motioning to the stains. "Bloodshed is like the cough from the sickness. Too common for its own good. Frightening at first, then, unfortunately, just another day." She looked up and stared at Anastasia. "The only way to stop a sickness is to kill its host. The same goes here." Cordelia's blue eyes were glowing, as they always were when giving advice.
They sat there in silence, thinking over what Cordelia had just said. After a while of stillness, they heard the table being moved outside. Then the door bolt, then the keys and its lock. The door opened, revealing a dark figure. She wore a long black dress with extravagant sleeves, covering her arms. Her hands were hidden behind black gloves and she wore a dark veil over her face. Despite all of this, Anastasia knew it was Luna. She walked in, closing the door behind her. Without a word, she walked over to Cordelia's tub, grabbed her tail, and took her out. Struggling to break free, Cordelia was screaming as Anastasia and Luna both tugged her in their direction. After this fight of brute strength, Luna had won and drug Cordelia out. Anastasia heard her screams as Luna re-locked the door.
Once they were gone, Anastasia again tried to break down the door, since it was only locked now. Unsuccessful once more and with a large bruise on her arm, Anastasia laid down on her bloodied bed, worrying if Cordelia would come back, and, if so, in what condition. Her fatigue getting the best of her, she slowly drifted off again. When she woke up again daylight seeped through the tiny cracks in the walls from small imperfections in construction. Cordelia was still not there, but the tub had been removed. Other than this, the room was as she left it. Her bruise was much larger and a much darker shade now, but that was the least of Anastasia's worries.
Trying to break the door down on her other side now, Anastasia was able to get it off of one hinge. Alright, she thought. That's a start. Grasping the bottom of the door, she tried now to rip it out as quietly as possible. However, the quietest she could do this task was still very loud. A few guards came and, hearing their footsteps, Anastasia ran over to her bed. The guards however, were not fooled. Placing her in handcuffs, they took her out of the tower.
After her eyes adjusted to the new torchlight, as there had only been a few gaps in the rocks of the tower letting light in, Anastasia soon realized the entire castle was made of these same sturdy stones. Coming down the stairs and through the long hallway, Anastasia realized where she was being taken. At the end of the hall was a very large room, decked with portraits of Luna and her ancestors. Luna herself was sitting on a very large throne that sat on a very tall platform, with glorious stairs coming down. "What is she doing out of the tower!" Luna snapped as she stood up, after seeing Anastasia. "Your majesty, she was trying to break free. She got the door unhinged." One of the guards said and he bowed towards her. "Then why is she here? Put her in another tower! The plan hasn't been carried out yet." Luna said, sitting down. "It has only just now been put in motion. Soon, my soldiers, soon we can execute the rest. For now, get her in another tower." Frightened, the guards ran across the room to take Anastasia, who was struggling to keep up with them with her short legs. Rushed, she was thrown into another tower after the cuffs were removed for some reason Anastasia couldn't fathom.
This one was wet rather than bloody, it was clear that for a time Cordelia had been held here. This tower had a window, providing some light for Anastasia to work with. Looking out, she couldn't see any signs of the bridge or Zellarid. All she could do was hope that Arlie and Soleil were on their way, and that they would get there soon.
From the window she could see a beautiful garden, filled with black, red, and purple roses in an ornate pattern that formed some sort of image, though Anastasia couldn't quite make it out. There were large hedges, sculpted in the shapes of various large animals. Whoever worked this garden was truly a master of their craft, as when it got dark these hedges could have easily been mistaken for the real creatures.
Looking at this masterpiece of a landscape was something to take Anastasia's mind off of the situation, her imprisonment, what might be happening with Cordelia, if Soleil and Arlie had even noticed she was missing, all of it. She tried to remember what happened at the bridge, but all she could drum up was an exchange of greetings with Cordelia. However unfortunate was that she couldn't have been conscious to leave a trail of sorts to guide Arlie and Soleil. Luna's castle was far from the bridge, especially compared to Soleil's home and her own. She thought of the last time she had seen them, that one last adventure. It had been such a peaceful day yesterday starting with sweet sunlight, but now? She and Cordelia seemed to be bait for Arlie and Soleil. She began to think. If they came straight to the tower, there'd be no need to deal with Luna. She quickly took off her small petticoat and used its strings to knot it to one of the window's bars. Its white fabric flapped in the wind as it reflected the moonlight. There, she thought as she admired her work. They'll be bound to see that.
Anastasia laid down on the bed, this one thankfully not covered in blood, and tried to sleep. It was impossible, however, when her mind was racing as it was. She couldn't push these thoughts away. She found herself getting up and pacing, looking again at the garden to calm her nerves, then laying back down again only to jump up and pace once more. She didn't sleep the entire night, but instead passed out from exhaustion around sunrise. A guard had woken her when he brought her food, but as soon as she was done eating she went right back to sleep.
This continued on for two weeks, and it had gotten to where Anastasia considered herself to have become nocturnal. The moon became her sun and the stars became her clouds, for the night was truly her prime. She found herself circling the perimeter of the tower, humming to herself the songs of her home, reminiscing on her early years where she, Arlie and Soleil wound dance around with flowers in their hair as their parents sang the songs to them and the other children. She recalled the youth dances where she and her best friend Beau would preform. Anastasia did those dances again, but instead of flowers she substituted straw from her bed.
Anastasia had become mad without realizing it. This isolation had gotten the best of her, for in these two weeks the only face she saw was of the man who brought her food. She played her flute, sang with her mother, and danced with her friends, or so she thought. The guard in charge of feeding her and guarding her tower began to worry about her mental state. Not for her, of course, but for this mysterious "plan" Anastasia had heard him talk about oh so many times. He had once drug Luna in the tower with him in the night, to observe Anastasia, who had no idea that they were there. Instead, she danced about like she was at one of the many joyous events that took place over the year in Zellarid. She seemed to think that she was dancing with someone, and when this imaginary man went to dip her she fell to the floor. Thing was, she got back up and continued her dance, humming a tune all the while. Luna and the guard watched her performance, when the guard began speculating what she might be doing.
"I'm telling you, your majesty, she's gone mad."
"Nonsense, she's simply..."
"Simply what?"
"Rehearsing for a ritual? Daydreaming about dancing with a certain someone? Surely, she hasn't gone mad. As much as I hate to admit it, the royal families on that side of the bridge have always been quite sturdy both physically and mentaly, I'll give them that."
"Yes, but your majesty, but this is different. I can't help but think that if the plan carried out correctly-"
"When the plan is carried out correctly."
"When the plan is carried out correctly, if we return her in this state it could cause an uproar, a rebellion of sorts. Is that really what you want? Surely not!"
"She won't be like this then. Trust me. She'll be back to normal when she is back home, even though it will be under my rule. She hasn't done anything to threaten us or herself yet, she's just dancing and humming. As far as I'm concerned, she's passing the time. Rightfully so, the other two are much slower than I thought they'd be."
"Well, you did use your power to get the three of you over here quite quickly. They have to walk."
"True. Although, this." Luna said, gesturing towards Anastasia. "This could actually prove useful."
"Oh? How might that be?"
And with that they took the discussion out of the tower, leaving Anastasia to dance with her imaginary gentleman alone underneath the romantic moonlight, soon blocked by a flying petticoat soaring into the forest.