“Ugh…”

Maya woke up with a piercing headache. Waves of exhaustion and pain took their turns crashing against her mind, only to recede briefly, and then come back again stronger than before.

What happened last night? Did they...really kill Amma and Appa? Did they really…kill everyone?

Am I still alive?

Why did Nanny...Nuissa cut me? Why did she choose to keep me alive? What could she possibly want from me? Money? Power?

Maya tried to open her eyes to take a look at her surroundings, but she couldn’t even get her eyelids to twitch. She tried to stand up, move her arms and legs, but she didn’t have any success with that either. It was like her brain had been completely cut off from the rest of her body. She was too weak.

Her pulse hammered loudly against her temples. Tears leak out of her closed eyes and stream uncontrollably down her cheeks.

What’s going to happen to me? Are they still out there? How will I escape?

Amma...Appa...Nanny...Someone…Help me.

The ground beneath Maya was cold and rough. It dug uncomfortably into her back, her thin nightdress not providing any kind of protection against the harsh marble. She focused on her hearing for a few moments, but her frantic heartbeat drowned out everything else. She finally forced herself to calm down and listen. But she couldn’t hear anything. Not the whisper of the wind, the singing of the birds, nor the usual early morning chatter of people at work.

Did everyone leave? Or maybe it was all just a dream...

Relief started to seep into Maya’s limbs as her body finally started responding to her commands. She rose and went outside, still partly unsure of what to expect.

The stench hit her first. It was acrid, like rot and decay. Debris as well as the remnants of smoke were everywhere. There were partly disintegrated bodies strewn about the garden, along the pathways, and at the palace entrance. Everywhere.

Her stomach lurched. Appa’s crown. It was inches away from a shriveled skeleton. Appa’s? She spewed the full contents of her stomach. She approached the skeleton as she wiped away at her mouth.

No. No. Oh god, please no.

The robes he was wearing last night. They hadn’t even waited until he was sleep. She didn’t even have time to wonder about where Amma was. Another body was next to Appa’s with Amma’s crown and robes still mostly intact.

Maya collapsed to the ground then, feeling completely overwhelmed.

No one...there’s no one here….no one on my side.

What am I going to do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hunger.

Maya didn’t even really know what to name the feeling at first. Her stomach ached with emptiness, even as any thought of food sent streaks of nausea through her stomach. Her throat was dry but it hadn’t occurred to her until hours later that she was thirsty.

Maya had decided to wait for Nanny, but she was dizzy with hunger.

Before today, Maya had never really done anything by herself. The freedom that she had mischievously stolen moments of in the past was now too frighteningly readily available. And she didn’t know what to do with it.

She didn’t know where the food came from. It had just appeared in front of her in the past. Nanny had brought it. And fed her. Or the servants placed it in front of her.

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She didn’t know where the cool drinkable water was. She tried the pond water in the gardens, but it was disgusting. Slimy with green weed and smelled of bird poop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A day passed.

And famished, Maya grew more desperate.

She started to explore the palace corridors, sticking closely to the walls. Maya had to be cautious. She wasn’t sure who would be there and what they would do with her if they found her.

The inside had never appealed to her in the past, the outdoors were more exciting. But not now. The prospect of food and water was tantalizing and lured her to explore the indoors. Someone had to have food there. Maybe a child hid a pastry underneath their bed. Something. Somewhere.

My sense of smell must’ve improved! I can smell raspberry and blueberry pastries from over there. And warm, spicy spinach curry….it must be just past this corridor.

But Maya couldn’t find a single pastry or curry anywhere. And she quickly lost her abruptly and irrationally gained confidence in her ability to smell. The servants were too diligent at their jobs. They’d wiped all the surfaces clean back then. And now, the servants were no longer there and everything was dust-ridden. But it didn’t matter, there was still nothing to eat.

Maya saw shattered pitchers, useless now that the water had spilled out. She found pitchers of water that were left carelessly uncovered by the nobles. The water was dusty and unappetizing. But after the third such pitcher, she finally succumbed to her thirst. At least there was water to be had. At least this water was more drinkable than the pond water.

With her thirst satisfied, Maya regained some control of her dizzied mind. She couldn’t smell any food, but that didn’t mean that there were animals that couldn’t. Like rats, or mice specifically. She shifted to her serpent form, a superior form when it came to her hearing abilities. She roamed the palace floors as she sifted through vibrations and finally discovered small patterns that resembled the movements of small rodents.

Yes! I’m so hungry that I might just eat the rats themselves.

…

Eww, not quite that desperate yet.

She slithered rapidly with renewed energy. Her reasoning was correct! There was a whole horde of disgusting rats in a holding room with boxes of bread and bags of uncooked rice.

Is this a kitchen? Like where Nanny used to bring food in from?

Shaking off her distracting thoughts, she shifted back and inched slowly towards an area in the kitchen with the least amount of rats.

Ew. Ew. Ew.

Ah!!! Is that rat looking at me? Nevermind, nevermind, false alarm.

Ew. Ew. Ew.

Maya discovered a bag of bread that mostly untouched, picked it up, and rapidly made her exit. Hopefully, before the rats noticed her and followed her. She ducked into another room. No rats this time. Maya whooped out loud. She’d done it! Without much fanfare, she dug into the bread.

The bread had looked a little green, but she’d tasted it and it just tasted a little sweeter than normal. Maya decided that it was probably just some kind of special flavoring and stuffed herself.

The bag empty and her stomach full, Maya slept. Content for now at least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maya queasily woke in the middle of the night clutching her stomach and vomited. She looked at herself, really looked at herself for the first time since everything had gone all wrong. She stared at the vomit streaks in her hair and nightdress over the grime that was distributed evenly all over her. And she burst into tears.

I’m tired. I’m so tired.

I tried to hold it together. I tried to feed myself. I tried to wait for Nanny.

It’s hopeless. I can’t do this anymore.

I have no power. I have nowhere to go. Nowhere to run.

I’m sick of waking up by myself. I’m sick of wanting to be comforted. Of not talking with anyone. Of feeling alone in this.

I’m so tired. I’m sick of it all.

I want Amma and Appa. Now. Why did they leave behind like always? Why didn’t they just take me with them?

I want Nanny now. Where is Nanny, anyways? How dare she abandon me? Doesn’t she care about me?

Maya sobbed to herself, grime and all. For the first time, there was no Nanny to make her feel better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the next dawn, there was no one there but Maya again. There was no sound but her own heartbeats.

She finally noticed her heart. It was oddly soothing. In spite of everything that happened, her heart was still beating. Still fighting. She’d made it, after all. She’d made it to another day. And she could make it to one more.

Even with the grime and the vomit and the tears, she was still here. She’s got this. She was in pain, but not dead. She was tired, but not without any strength. She was afraid, but she refused to feel powerless.

With what energy she had left, she refused to wait for Nanny any longer. If Nanny wouldn’t come, then Maya would go out and find her.

Maya marched out of the palace towards the city. The streets were quiet and empty. A loud authoritative voice rang out.

“Hey, you! You there! What’re you doing outside right now? We’re under strict martial order…”

Maya quivered in place.

Be confident. It always works.

She called out in a high-pitched, self-assured tone, “I’m looking for Nanny!”.

“Nanny?” the voice slowly repeated, stalling as it tried to connect why this dirty little girl would have a haughty tone and know a nanny. Noticing the grandiose embroidery on her grimy nightdress, he made a connection at last. A rich girl. A rich, serpentine girl.

“You--” the soldier threatened as he came out of the shadows with a green metal collar in his hand. He collared Maya. Like a dog.

Maya froze in outrage. This wasn’t going the way she thought it would. And she slapped the soldier.

“How dare you?!” she started back.

The soldier paid no heed to her tantrum and just dragged her along. Taking care to knock the little rich girl along every bump along the road as he took her to the Snake Pit.