RIDICULING FAIRY TALES

Her arms were growing weary. Her fingers were becoming numb, to the point where the only thing convincing her they were still attached to her body was by seeing them curling around the edge of the roof, turning a concerning shade of white. The piping holding her up was creaking slightly - she knew she didn't have much time. 

Sighing, she closed her eyes shut, gathering all of her strength. Taking a deep breath in, she gathered all of the energy she could muster. And then, she pulled her body up. Instantly her arms were trembling, muscles screaming for her to stop. She huffed, trying to pull herself up further. This time, she shrieked alongside her muscles, feeling her body move up the smallest of centimetres. 

Only to fall back down. 

Breathing heavily, she tightened her grip on the piping, blocking out the protests it made. Come on, think! She chastised herself, eyes frantically scouring the area around her. She could use her momentum to swing her towards the piping running up the side of the house, and shimmy her way down. She could find a window ledge to hold onto, and use those to climb her way down the house. She could hope that a window was open and go through, or break one if she needed. 

 Locusta prided herself for her logic - what she hated was her cowardice. She wanted to be safe, she wanted to not be dangling from a house in an unknown reality in an unfamiliar place where she didn't belong but every time she moved an inch that creaking pierced her being. She'd freeze. That noise could be last thing she hears before falling to her death, the warning that she didn't want.

Another creak. 

This time, she could feel the pipe groaning beneath her fingers, the material protesting. She was impressed that it had held her weight for this long; it wouldn't be able to do that for much longer. 

Her heart pounded in her ears, palms growing slick. She could feel her hands slipping. An involuntary whimper passed her lips. She didn't want to fall. 

Her pinky finger slipped. 

Locusta's breaths left her in pants, her brain whirring. She needed to act, fast. 

Her ring finger fell next. 

She couldn't pull herself up, she didn't have the strength, her arms screeching anytime she tried lifting herself. She'd need to drop onto something, or swing her way to the piping along the side. 

Her middle finger slid off. 

It happened before she could comprehend it. Like a domino effect, her remaining fingers trembled under the sudden effort they didn't have. The moment her middle finger succumbed, the rest of her fingers did too. 

She was falling. 

A shrill scream ripped past her lips, hands desperately reaching for purchase. She could barely breathe, the air stealing all oxygen from her. The wind smacked into her face, whipping her brown hair behind her. Her stomach dropped as she fell. 

It was strange how in that moment she found herself praying to every god and goddess she'd ridiculed for being fairy tales. 

She prayed to live a life she never got to have, to experience a beating heart for just one more day. She prayed for awkward teenage flirting and blushing over analysed text messages, and that the past nine years would be erased. 

She prayed for a day of normalcy, without the fears of a purple mad titan and becoming a girl mourned too soon. Without what she had become. 

Praying wouldn't be enough. 

Instinctively, Locusta closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart. Time came to a stand still. She imagined the wind clawing through her hair was because she'd gone for a drive along the highway with the roof down, and that the whistling deafening her was music pounding loudly from the stereo. She conjured the image of her, Curio, Octavian and Messalina sat in their banged up convertible, with her and Messalina singing along out of tune and Locusta drumming her hands on the wheel. Curio would be sat in the back, smiling at their antics and humming it under his breath after loudly decreeing that the music was too mainstream; that was the only protest he uttered. Octavian would have his legs propped up on Curio's lap, head lent back and his muscles relaxed - a rare sight. 

A smile grew on Locusta's face. At least she would die with her family being the last thing on her mind. 

A new sound entered the stereo. Flapping wings drowned out the music she'd imagined, and the moment she focused on that all of it melted away. The carefree faces of her friends disappeared, the rumble of the road beneath her going away. 

Her eyes snapped open. The sky seemed further away than before. She was close. 

Frantically, her arms spun out of control, grabbing one last attempt at life. She flailed in mid-air, another shriek ripping out her mouth. 

The flapping got louder; she got closer to the ground. Her life wasn't flashing before her eyes, the only thought running through her head being oh shit. 

She clenched her eyes shut, bracing herself for the deadly impact - it never came. A pair of muscly arms wrapped around her, pulling her into their sanctuary. Locusta still was rapidly breathing, not being able to suck in enough oxygen, her lungs constantly demanding more. Her heart rate was erratic, Locusta hoping that he was only touching her clothes. 

She didn't want to kill her saviour. 

Before she could comprehend it, she was being let down on the ground, her hero placing his hand on her covered shoulder. She shied away from his touch automatically. 

"Are you alright, kid?" Her hero asked. Locusta nodded her head, not wanting to waste her breath on talking. She knew if she spoke all that would come out would be a whimper and she really did not want to cry in front of this man. "Good, good. Stay away from tall buildings, okay?" 

Awkwardly he took a step back, his stature no longer towering hers. She spared the man a glance. Locusta blinked twice, reeling in shock at what she'd seen. Was that a man in a bird costume? 

He waved to her, and returned back to the air. 

Locusta stared after his disappearing form. He seemed somewhat familiar, as though she'd seen him before. She rooted through her brain for any recollection of him, anything to distract herself from her jelly like legs and near death experience. With technology like that, he needed connections. He would be wearing it for a reason too, not just to save random girls from plummeting to their death. 

What if he was wearing it to protect? 

That's when it hit her. She nearly fell over with the sudden realisation, and had to restrain herself from knocking her head against a wall. It was obvious! She'd seen his picture when training with Strange on the back wall of the training wall where pictures of all of the fallen were hung. Under each name, was a name, alias if they had one, and a small description. 

Her hero was Sam Wilson, otherwise known as The Falcon. An Avenger. He seemed to be in a hurry, which meant only one thing. 

He had more people he had to save, and a battle to fight.

"Oh fuck," Locusta cursed, jogging in the direction he'd flown in. Her mission - find an Avenger and warn them of what was to come, and help prevent the fate her reality had succumbed to for theirs. 

-

hey guys! i hope you're all loving locusta as much as i am, and i'm really sorry for the filler chapter of sorts? it wasn't the most action packed and i'm sorry for that. anyway, who is your favourite member of libertas?

i'm really sorry to vent but i feel like i have nowhere else to talk about this. i feel like my friends all have someone, someone they can rely on, someone they turn to first before me. i have one of those, and i would really love to spend more time with her but she's found friends in college who aren't big fans of me, and i don't want to cause tension. it's just really down heartening that moment you realise you're all alone. you know the only friend i can turn to is one of the few people who wished me happy birthday? i started sobbing when she did as none of my other friends from my town had, and it meant so much to me. this feeling just hit me suddenly and i'm not sure i can spend another year pretending to be secure. wow that went a little deeper than i expected, i am so sorry. i normally don't post how i feel on social media but i guess by me putting this out there, things will hopefully get better. 

anyhow, how are you guys? did you enjoy the chapter? just a little fyi, i am running out of pre written chapters. i have a months worth written, but i need to watch infinity war again before i keep moving and i'm finding that i don't have much time for that. this may mean i'll go on hiatus soon, but i'll keep you all posted on that. 

see you later!

-thirdwheelchurchill