The lamps flickered continuously
The music stopped playing
Thomas and Autumn looked around frantically
Everyone was looking at them
The two backed closer together
Autumn grabbed his hands
Atop it all, Esther smirked
Staring down at the cornered teens
She chuckled softly, her hands covering her mouth
Richie was chained to the post along with Bob
Bob's blood had stopped dripping onto the floor
His head was low, while his blood-soaked hair fell over his face
Richie glared at her, one eye swollen shut
"You fucking cunt!" he shouted
Esther stopped smirking
"C-cunt?" she repeated
She squeezed her dress, eyes closed
Then released
Leo turned, looking at Richie
Eyes low.
But he didn't move
Instead, it was Esther.
She walked over
Stopping just inches from Richie
Eyes locked with his
"What?" Richie asked, his gaze never faltering
Esther smiled, her dimples forming deeply
Instantly, she covered Richie's mouth
VOXALETH NHAR
She whispered
Immediately, Richie's eyes went wide
Yes, even the swollen one
His shouts were muffled
He squirmed, but the binding chains glowed brighter
A sizzling noise filled the air
He squirmed harder
All the veins were visible in Richie's eyes
His head fell limp
Smoke rose from the bindings
Esther removed her hand from his mouth
"In a few minutes, the crowd will come and butcher you both."
She gripped Richie by the hair
"And you won't be able to scream," she added, while smiling
She raised his face
Richie didn't have a mouth
His skin had completely fused together, covering the area
His teeth pressed against the flesh
Blood started dripping from his nose
His eyes fluttering shut
She shook him
"Wake up, darling. They are almost here" she half chuckled
Down below
The crowd fully surrounded Autumn and Thomas
Thomas tightened his grip around Autumn
SHINNGG
A sword was unsheathed
One of the guards moved swiftly through the crowd
Pushing past all of them
He dashed forward
Aiming at Thomas' head
In that split second-
WOOSH
A burst of air blew into everyone's faces
The guard crashed into another civilian
He missed
Autumn was floating in the air, gripping Thomas by his shoulder
Suddenly, Thomas' tuxedo split open
A clean horizontaly arc in the middle
Blood trickled down his tummy
Some manage to drop on the floor
The rest soaked into his pants
"Get them!!" someone shouted
They didn't have time to process
The whole room glowed. Most of the nobles had wands.
While the civilians roared some grabbing stools, knives from the small bar-anything they could find.
Instantly, Autumn soared.
Wind whipping behind her ears
She flew through the castle's window
The moonlight making the tiny pieces of glass glisten
She swerved, flying low towards the castle's yards
Then soared higher
Ready to pass the castle's gate
But
Far back inside the castle
Upon the podium, Esther chuckled
Head held low
MYORSH VEILEM
She changed
She looked up, eyes glowing cyan
Stretching her hands forward
The whole room glowed violet
With that said, she smiled while disappearing behind the curtains along with Leo
And Autumn.
Autumn slammed into some type of invisible wall
A sudden gasp escaped her when she hit it
A purple veil was cast upon the whole castle grounds
She began to fall
Eyes shut
"Aaaaagh!!" Thomas shouted, swinging wildly in the air
"Autumn?!"
No response
Instantly, Thomas used his flames to propel himself toward Autumn
An explosive sound whipping behind his ears
He rushed forward, grabbing her
But it was too fast
He was spinning midair along with her
Thomas gritted his teeth, aiming his hands towards the ground
Flames propelled forward
Trying to slow his fall
He still spun
It wasn't enough to cushion their fall
Thomas twisted, putting Autumn above him.
His back aimed toward the ground, with Autumn on top
The two slammed into the ground
A heavy thud
Thomas coughed. Blood formed at his lips
He didn't get up, but he could hear the crowd shouting inside the castle
He could see the sky, the edges of his vision getting blurry
The dark sky, not a single star in sight
But somehow the moon broke free of all the darkness around it
The moon stood alone
Autumn had rolled away from him when they fell
The sky blurred momentarily
Then he heard it
Footsteps
He didn't move
A green-eyed figure stood over him
The other footsteps went toward Autumn's body
INSIDE THE CASTLE
Multiple voices could be heard shouting
Everyone below was looking for some type of object
Breaking chairs into stakes
Glass cups were broken into sharp pieces
The nobles were turning those objects into weapons
At the top of the podium were Richie and Bob
Richie had one eye open, the other swollen shut
He couldn't speak or cry
He just watched as the mob sharpened their weapons
Bob was still unconscious
Head low, while his blood-soaked hair covered his face
"N-nina... No," he muttered
"Come back," he whispered
"Come back..."
Richie turned, looking at Bob
"Dad... Mom... Nina... I'm sorry."
His voice was barely a whisper
Tiny drops of tears fell to the floor
A mix of blood and tears, he sniffed loudly
"By- by blood freely given," his voice cracked
Richie looked at him
"By soul freely bound... I forsake tomorrow."
Richie's eye widened. He started pulling against his chain, his voice muffled
He was shaking his head while looking at Bob
Bob wasn't even conscious
"That I may claim today," he continued
The binding chains glowed, a sizzling sound
Bob gritted his teeth
Smoke rose from chains.
Soon, multiple footsteps were heard moving up the staircase
"Let balance be fulfilled..." he uttered
Richie stopped squirming
PAX
Bob finished. The chains stopped burning.
Instead, the chains shriveled to dust.
Tears stopped flowing
Bob was on his knees, head still low
Richie exhaled loudly, looking away at the floor
The footsteps finally reached the top, multiple armed commoners following behind.
They flooded the podium
Weapons raised, ready to strike
Briefly, Richie braced for impact
But nothing happened
Just silence
As if time froze
Richie glanced upwards
They were indeed frozen
Hands shaking, knees buckled
Weapons fell to the floor
No one dared to move
All stared at Bob.
Even the sound of weapons being forged ceased
Richie wasn't surprised
He could feel it,
It wasn't an aura. It was the feeling of being prey.
Every strand of hair stood tall as something ancient settled over them
Their souls recoiled as if invisible claws were dragging across them
Even he pissed himself
Then Bob stood up, head low
He stepped toward them all.
The commoners backed toward the edge of the podium.
Bob raised his head. His blood soaked hair had covered most of his face.
But one eye was visible
An eye that was black as night
"Oh god..." One of them muttered
He gripped his knife tight
"Don't let him look at me!!" He shouted, shaking his head, his eyes shut tight
He twisted the blade and gutted himself on the spot
He fell backward, pushing another off the podium with him.
Bob didn't wait for the rest to kill themselves
Instead, he raised his hand forward
ERQUIS
The whole podium exploded
Down below
The nobles watched as the staircase collapsed
Dust enveloped the area
Through the dust, a hand landed on the floor
Then blood began to rain
Chunks of body parts began to plop to the ground
One of the nobles stood up, a moon crest on his collar
Eyes green as emeralds
He looked upwards into the dust, trembling, eyes wide, jaws clenched.
Through the dust, a figure floated
A dark aura evaporated fromhim like smoke
Eyes black and empty, like a void waiting to be filled with their souls
THOMAS' POV
He lay stiff on the ground
The moon shone onto his still silhouette
Then someone approached
"I knew it," The green-eyed figure said while standing over him
It was the same guards who were guarding the gates
The bald headed one went toward Autumn
Who was limping to her feet, blood leaked from her forehead
"Lady Esther will have our heads for this," The green-eyed one said
"Not if we take care of it" the bald one said, looking away.
A hammer spawned in his hands
He returned his gaze
But Autumn was gone
"Huh? what the-" He muttered
Silence
Only giant explosions were happening inside the castle
A soft breeze flew by
"What!? You lost her?" the emerald-eye turned toward Baldy
"I swear! She was just right here!" Baldy shouted
Suddenly, Autumn swooped from the air
Crashing her elbow into the man's face
Her whole weight and momentum slammed him into the ground
Cracking it
She began pounding his face nonstop
"Mitch!" the green-eye shouted one shouted
He twisted, moving toward Autumn.
Something grabbed his leg
It was Thomas
He lunged upwards
Wrapping one hand around his chest and the other around his face
Thomas pulled him close
His hands ignited instantly
Setting the man's upper body ablaze.
"Aaaagh!!" He screamed, flailing wildly.
Thomas took a seat on the freshly cut grass, clutching his head
Autumn flew over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder
"Thomas..." she called
"I'm alright," he answered
He stood up shakily
"Since we're trapped here, let's just find Leo," he said, breath uneven
He took the first step
Autumn grabbed his hands
"We failed, Thomas... We failed," she said
"I don't know why I keep holding on to things, even when there's nothing to grasp"
She squeezed his hands
"You're, hurt Thomas, and it's all my fault," she said softly.
Thomas turned around instantly
Gripping both her arms, he stared directly into her eyes
"Don't," He said. "Don't start with that."
"Leo started with this bullshit... just don't. This is not your fault"
"Leo did this same shit, and look where he's at."
"It's just..." She said, before wrapping her arms around Thomas.
"Why us?" She asked, tears streaming down her face
Thomas didn't answer.
He couldn't. He just hugged her tighter
Then they felt it
Something ancient clawing at their souls
Autumn released Thomas, clutching her mouth
But she ended up throwing up anyway
Thomas turned, eyes narrowing
Something was approaching from the castle
Not walking, but floating
Two figures
Thomas clenched his fist, but then released it... his eyes softening
It was Bob and Richie
"What happened to you?" Thomas asked
Bob didn't answer
Richie fell to his knees
Silent
Autumn couldn't hold eye contact
"Hurry. Esther is planning to fuse with Leo during the chaos," Bob said
He didn't look at them
His back turned toward the barrier covering the castle
As if waiting
"Go. Before it's too late," He added, his voice bringing chills. "Richie will guide you"
"What about you?" Autumn asked
"I have another mission," he replied dryly, his back turned.
Autumn took a step toward him
But a hand grabbed her
Richie
He shook his head
Autumn watched him turn and motion for them to follow
His back slumped as he limped toward the castle again
While the rest walked away
At the gate, Bob stood still
He sniffled like he was crying, but no tears came
His eyes were black and hollow
Just like the moon, he stood alone
Then finally, he heard it.
A horse neighing softly
End