Disclaimer: *Tyler* Willow doesn't own Grand Chase, Within Temptation, or molotovs. She also doesn't own any of the games that Patrick and I play…
Willow: DX I'm trying to get The Orange Box, okay? Stop bugging me about it.
Tyler: What about Deadliest Warrior? Huh? Or Borderlands? Kleiner told you to get Borderlands!
Willow: I SAID I'M WORKING ON IT! *knocks unconscious with a Stanley*
Patrick: Oh god! Run away! Run away! Run away…
Sora: Lul
Willow: Lul
Tyler: Lul
Patrick: Run…away…lul
Willow: This is a fic for Jay's birthday *huggles Sora* so be NICE!
Patrick: YEAH! OR ANSWER TO STAAAANLEY! *holds up Stanley and lightning crashes* Dun Dun DUUUN!
Willow:…y-yeah, Stanley. As always, RRE~
~*~*~*~Hand of Sorrow~*~*~*~
A cave was lair-esque with torches. Despite the flames, the cave was still poorly illuminated. The night had come so there was no daylight streaming in from the outside. Its conditions were perfect for the deeds taking place that night. Patrick, an average heighted blonde man wearing a ceremonial crimson, hooded cloak, tied the unconscious siren to the stake and doused her in oil. He covered the surrounding area in the same oil before gathering the rest of his clan.
"Alright, today we gather here to celebrate the death of an evil woman. She has caused many wrongful deaths in her crusade against Archemedea that must be avenged; AVENGED!"
"Avenged!" his clan repeated in an elevated tone. Three hooded males of varying heights, presumably making up his 'clan'.
"She must also suffer for the unceasingly annoying singing of songs while everyone is trying to sleep!"
"Suffer!"
The woman roused herself from her cataleptic state and quickly became aware of her situation.
After struggling for a moment, Princess Amy of Xenia began to plead, "Please! I don't want to die! What did I do?" She had missed the original statement.
Patrick's expression was one contorted with pain, anger, and anguish, "You killed my children Stanley, Steven, and Billy because they were half Archimedean," He paused for a moment, allowing the words to sink in while regaining his composure, "On top of that you forced me to watch. Everyone in this room has had you take something away from them. Tyler's pet penguin was killed. John's idol was publically humiliated, raped, and then destroyed."
"He was my hero!" the one in the middle, most likely Johnathon, cried, falling to his knees, "I loved him!" the person farthest right bent down to comfortingly stroke his back.
"You see what you do? YOU SEE WHAT YOU DO? You made him cry!" Patrick slapped Amy hard across the face. She shrieked and Patrick slapped her with the same force in the other direction, "You're gonna be burned. It should prepare you for the rest of eternity," With a cruel smile, Patrick slowly and with a sadistic tone asked the following question, "Any last words?"
Amy thought about it. Did she really want to go silently? Didn't she want her side of the story to be heard? Wasn't it only fair? Why wasn't she saying those things out loud?
Patrick smiled and turned away, "Well, looks like that's it," he grabbed a torch off the wall, "Good bye"
"Wait!"
Amy's eyes were wild with fear, "I can say anything?" Patrick hesitatingly nodded and stared at Amy. He put the torch back on the wall, not taking his eyes off her.
She sighed, "I -I don't want my story to go unheard." She took a deep breath before Patrick stopped her.
"I said you could say anything. I didn't say you could tell us a story."
Another man, the one who had been comforting Johnathon stood up, "But Patrick, that counts as saying something."
"Shut up Tyler!" Patrick yelled, looking back at the man.
The last, unidentified male laughed, "You just, haaaad to ask, didn't you?"
"You too, Josh!" Patrick looked back at Amy's hopeful eyes and saw a vulnerable child. He hadn't seen that look since he was staring at his child's eyes as they chopped off his head. They should have enraged him, instead they did the opposite.
'Josh' moaned in irritation, seeing that Patrick was giving in.
Patrick sighed, "Fine, tell your story."
Amy mentally cheered and smiled, "Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah, just get it over with so we can leave," Josh said in an irritated tone.
Amy frowned, "Is he always like that?"
Tyler answered, "No, he just hates you."
"Oh."
An awkward silence overtook the room before Johnathon cleared his throat loudly, "Do you wanna start talking or have us kill you now and get it over with?"
"No no! I'll talk.
It all started when I was about four."
~*~*Flashback Begins*~*~
It was a brisk winter morning in the continent of Xenia. The royal family exited their home for a morning stroll. Princess Amy was particularly eager to leave. She skipped and pranced about the changing room as she waited impatiently for the others to get ready. Her father was helping her mother into her coat and Amy's older sister tapped her foot in an agitated tone.
"Amy, do you have to skip around like a caribou? It makes you seem gamely."
Amy's mother corrected her, "Elesis, I believe the proper way to say that is 'seem like a piece of game'. Gamely is akin to doing something willingly or eagerly."
"But wouldn't that make me correct?"
"…just, don't use it like that. It doesn't sound right." Their mother said, stubbornly refusing defeat. Elesis, quite used to this treatment, simply sighed and dropped the subject. It'd be pointless to argue with her. Soon all strolling participants were prepared and Amy bounded out the door with a smile on her face…until she tripped while she was skipping off the front porch. Amy shrieked and fell on her side, rolled up and looked around for what she could have possibly fallen over. A quick investigation proved that the basket sitting on the front step was the source of her stumble.
"Who put the basket there?" Amy asked scrambling to get up and check the item in question.
Elesis frowned and examined it, "It…looks…like…there's a baby in here." Their father picked up the basket and the group went inside to figure out what to do with it.
Amy, obviously over the falling incident, hopped up and down excitedly, "Let's keep it!" She exclaimed the moment everyone got to the living room.
"No," Elesis said with finality as she sat down on the couch and crossed her legs, "We cannot accept every baby that comes to our door step. To accept this child would be to encourage child abandonment."
Amy whined, "But 'lessie! This is a special baby!"
"How so?"
"I don't know! It just is!"
"He," The king boomed over the top of his children's argument, "has no name. There's a note though," The girls quieted down to hear what he had to say, "It seems to be a…poem of sorts."
The child without a name grew up to be the hand.
To watch you, to shield you, or kill on demand.
The choice he'd made he could not comprehend.
His blood, a grim secret they had to commend.
He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life.
He prayed for both but was denied.
So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed.
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?
So many years have passed. Who are the noble and the wise?
Will all our sins be justified?
The curse of his powers tormented his life.
Obeying the crown had a sinister price.
His soul was tortured by love and by pain.
He surely would flee but the oath made him stay.
He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life.
He prayed for both but was denied.
So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed.
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?
So many years have passed. Who are the noble and the wise?
Will all our sins be justified?
"Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear.
For all the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be.
Still I'll be the hand that serves you,
Though you'll not see that it is me."
So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed.
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?
So many years have passed. Who are the noble and the wise?
Will all our sins be justified?
~*~*Flashback Intermission*~*~
"No one knew what to make of the note," Amy continued, "We ended up keeping him and naming him 'Seighart'. In the ancient language, it means 'fighting heart'" Amy looked down sadly. Patrick looked at her with confusion on his face.
Josh cleared his throat to break the silence, "Is that all?" Amy shook her head slowly, "Well, hurry it up. We don't have all night." Amy frowned heavily upon him but continued with her story.
"Seighart had this…mystical aura about him. I seemed to be the only one to actually notice it…but others gave way to it. They felt comfortable in his presence. He was a perfect spy, knight, whatever you needed him to be. We had to keep him away from the staff because they'd stop working due to the lax atmosphere around him. When he was five, he underwent knight training. His battling ability was quite impressive. He was born to fight, a gladiator -if you will. On The Night, he took an oath to always be there for me, no matter what. We were the best of friends." Her sadness was starting to show in her voice as it cracked. She took a deep breath but found it not comforting. The stench of spilled oil filled her mind and made her light headed. Amy felt her consciousness slipping but held on. If she passed out then, she'd most likely never wake up. The story was the only thing keeping her alive at that point.
"What night?" John asked, obviously drawn into her story.
Amy looked down again to regain her composure, "The night of my family's slaughter."
~*~*Flashback Resumes*~*~
Amy was awoken by the violent shaking of her bed and the urgent tone of her sister's voice.
"Amy, we're under attack! You need to wake up!" Elesis was holding her father's sword while bouncing on Amy's bed. The littlest princess rubbed her eyes tiredly. She'd been able to stay up late for her eleventh birthday.
Amy stood next to her bed and Elesis grabbed her hand, "We've gotta get out of here," She headed over to the window to look to see if there was a quick way down that wouldn't kill them. There was none.
"Damn it!" Elesis cursed. Amy was taken aback.
"Elesis! It is not proper to speak-"
"Not the time for etiquette lessons Amy."
As if on cue, a man dressed in all black kicked down the door. Elesis pushed the screaming Amy to her bed and gripped the sword she could barely lift with both hands. She succeeded in lifting it into fighting position. He laughed at the sight of a thirteen year old girl in a nightgown with a shaking sword outstretched.
He advanced cockily, "You honestly think that you could stop me from doing anything I want? You can't even lift the sword! You're such a stupid little girl!"
Those words ignited a flame inside Elesis. Her eyes grew crazed and blood-thirsty. She lunged at the man with a newfound strength. Elesis pierced his chest with the enormous sword as three more men came in. She didn't miss a beat. The girl disemboweled the man in front of her and sliced off the arm of the man to her immediate right with one slash. The third person made a dash for the bed but Elesis was faster. She spun to gather momentum and cut into his jugular vein. Blood soaked the carpeting, the bed, and the clothing the girls were wearing. Amy was shaking and crying in fear; not only of the men trying to murder her, but at her sister's sudden ability to slay three fully grown men with a sword that was bigger than her. Just as Amy was regaining her composure, a breeze rolled in from the window and defenestrated Elesis. For a split second, a man was visible in the background, but in the blink of an eye he was gone.
"Elesis!" Amy screeched in terror. She held her sister in her arms.
Elesis looked up with a light smile on her face, "It's only a flesh wound. I'll be fine." That's when a man came in and beheaded her, marking Amy's arms with the sword blade. Amy hadn't noticed him come in due to the high speed of the world around her. More afraid than she'd ever been in her life, Amy looked up at him and saw the eyes of an Archimedean. They shone one blue, the other gold. Heterochromia was characteristic of Archimedians. The eyes were barely visible in the moonlight, but she swore she saw a malicious glint in them.
"Well, well well; if it isn't the prettiest princess in existence. Sweet Amy, you will remember this day for the rest of yourlife," He walked around the room, investigating several objects nonchalantly. The babe trembled strongly, backing herself up against the wall that her bed was against. She had effectively boxed herself in. The man turned to see her holding her pillow as if it would protect her and whispering to herself. He slithered over to Amy and listened in on her conversation.
Amy had her eyes shut tightly and rocked back and forth, "This is not happening, this is a dream. Wake up now, you'll be fine. It's just a nightmare. It's not real."
He laughed loudly and clutched his sides. Amy opened her eyes and looked at the man. His head was tilted towards the window. It was a light blonde color and he had a tanned complexion. It most likely came from working because he was also quite muscular. It was wavy but poorly kept. For a male, it was long because it reached his shoulders. Her tormentor looked at her with deep eyes. And for a second, his expression wavered.
"You know I can hear your thoughts. I can smell your fear. It'd be a lot more delicious if you didn't remind me so much of my daughter."
'What a sick freak!' Amy thought to herself, 'He is reminded of his daughter when he sees me? What happened to her? HE CAN HEAR MY THOUGHTS?'
The man laughed heartily again, "Yes I can hear your thoughts. I don't know what happened to my daughter. She was taken captive by one of your soldiers, along with my wife," This fueled his anger, "You're parents are lucky that I put them out of their misery completely. Now the last thing that will hurt them will be watching in spirit form as their daughter gets mutilated."
Amy realized what was going to happen and screamed then. She struggled as he pinned her down. Elesis had to be restrained to get an injection when she was ill one time. Now Amy knew how it felt. She was powerless and in severe danger. Somehow, the man was able to make a laceration behind the girl's left ear. The sweat from fear and struggle trickled into the wound and stung with ferocity. The man then sat on her chest to keep her controlled as he took her hand. The man kissed the back of it before creating artwork. He drew little symbols. When he was done, he wiped the sweat from his brow and cleaned away the excess blood. Amy shrieked even more than before and he silenced her.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked. Amy shook her head no, "I'll show you," He put the hand to a position where she could see it, "This character means 'unclean', that one means 'and', and that one means 'unloved'. Do you know what that means?" Amy struggled harder, "No one will ever love you again. You aren't a pure and beautiful flower that everyone thinks you are. You're a dirty, insignificant, pile of shit that is the spawn of evil. You are evil. You are not now, nor will you ever be, attractive. You will die alone, dirty, and no one will miss you." At that point Amy had been reduced to a pile of tears. Her struggles faded. He didn't need to keep her down, she didn't want to move. Every part of her soul ached and bled. The man spat on her.
"Stop crying you ugly little rat. It's annoying." Amy didn't listen and continued to wail. The man proceeded to beat her.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" He would cry out at certain intervals. Just when she was about to lose consciousness, her valiant knight appeared to save her.
"STOP IT!" A little boy named Seighart yelled. He jumped up and brought his sword down on the man. He'd been attempting to cut open the jugular vein, but he missed and cut into the shoulder deeply. The evil one hissed in pain and picked up his sword. Seighart didn't miss the second time and cut the male's wrist all the way to the bone, slicing through a couple of tissues binding the bones together. The rogue screeched and fell back. The young knight didn't waste any time. He ran the villain through the stomach with his blade. Blood and stomach acid spewed everywhere as the man moaned in pain. He was going into shock. Seighart hacked through the man's head after seven tries. The boy was not strong enough to cut through in one blow. Amy shivered in pain, fear, and disgust on the bed.
"Amy!" Seighart cried out, dropping the sword and rushing over to his best friend. The rest of the knight squad came in then, missing all the action. Seighart looked up at them with tears glistening in his eyes.
"Get a doctor!"
~*~*Flashback Intermission*~*~
"I spent three weeks in the healer's ward. I'd been beaten within an inch of my life. Seighart visited me as often as he could; sometimes skipping meals and opting to sleep in a chair next to me instead of in a bed. My advisers told me the man had indeed been Archimedean. In the end, I got out with many scars, most of them emotional. The deepest one was rooted against Archimedea. My parents and sister died that night because of them," Amy looked down trying to summon up the words she needed, "I was barely old enough to be given the crown. I had the weight of the nation on my shoulders. My first mode of action was to declare war on Archimedea. My second was to officially knight Seighart. His talents excelled after I did this…in a way. He developed the ability to use magic. He created flame with his blade and he could see into people's lives as he killed them. It harmed his spirit, but I didn't care about anything other than exacting my revenge and myself. Seighart was always there when the pain from that night came back. Before I knew it, a decade had passed and people were pressuring me to marry. All I knew was I wanted Seighart to be my husband. He was the only person I could trust; even though he'd grown very different due to the tasks I'd assigned him. What I didn't know was that he was already in love. Even MORE shocking was that it was with an Archimedean woman. Seighart accepted my proposal because he didn't know what to do. I thought everything was fine up until our wedding day."
~*~*Flashback Resumed*~*~
Seighart stood expressionless as ever standing next to the priest. The doors opened slowly and out appeared a beauteous figure. Amy was dressed in a traditional Xenian wedding gown. Xenian's are known for their clothing, or lack-there-of. White foliage pattern cupped her breasts from the outer side. It retracted to the center of her back where thin white material ran down her spine. The fabric connected with a skirt piece. The back was long with a slight train and it circled around to cover most of the right side, left side, and private area. A white mesh piece covered where the skirt lacked and went to the floor. Amy wore white pantyhose to cover the rest of her legs. Amy's hair was worn down long and silky beneath her knee length veil. It reached down to the area just beneath her shoulder blades; approximately where her bra clasp would be…if she were wearing one. The veil was a crown of flowers that rested on her head like a circlet. The translucent white veil made Amy's vibrantly pink hair appear a lighter, more subdued shade. She was excited, nearly vibrating. She knew she looked stunning and she was about to be married to her best friend. Amy bounced after she made it down the long isle to her betrothed.
"Well?" she asked, "What do you think?"
Seighart looked at her body once before turning away, "I really think you should have gone with a less traditional, more clothed version of the wedding dress. You look like a succubus."
Amy smiled, "Well get used to it~ you're going to be seeing a lot more of my body now that we're going to be married." Seighart's eyes widened briefly before he regained his composure. Amy didn't notice. She was staring intently at the priest.
Amy had decided to go very traditional with the wedding. There wasn't time for much else. There was no color scheme, just white. The vows themselves were also traditional. Before the two knew it, time had come to say the 'I do's'. Amy went first, then came Seighart's turn. As he was supposed to answer, he looked down and stared at the ground. Seighart was stalling.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Amy asked as she touched his shoulder. Seighart didn't move or react for a moment.
He looked up at her with tears in his eyes, "I…I-I…"
An explosion came from the door. Pieces of it went flying and everyone in the room besides Seighart hit the ground. Two females, one with knee length light blue hair and one with short purple hair appeared through the smoke. The purple one had purple eyes to match and the blue one had blue and brunette eyes, heterochromatic. A man with indigo hair, indigo eyes, a Tyrfing, and a cape appeared behind them. Following him there was an orange haired, green eyed male elf with storm blades. A blonde haired, green eyed female archer elf holding a composite bow walked in to his side. A blue eyed man with gray hair lurked behind in the shadows and observed the room. The purple one ran up to Seighart and hugged him without slowing down. In Xenia, such actions are referred to as 'glomps'.
"SEIGGY! We're here to rescue you!" She screamed. Seighart smiled and looked into the eyes of the heterochromatic woman as if to say 'I'm sorry I let it go this far'. She nodded and waited for him to come with her. The girl let go of Seighart and bounced for a second. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him off the stage. Amy locked Seighart's arm in hers.
"What is going on?" She asked with the force of Partusay's strongest storm behind her voice, "What the hell is an Archimedean doing at my wedding, or in my country at all?"
The blue haired girl stepped forward, "I'm not an Archimedean. My name is Mari. I was born in Xenia and my parents are full blooded Xenians. I moved to Archimedea to get away from the prejudice against my eyes. My father was also heterochromatic. I believe you two have met? He went ballistic after you forced me to move back to Xenia. He killed your parents."
Amy's eyes went wide for a moment. A flurry of emotions circulated her heart at that moment. Her body went limp enough for Seighart to break free from. Amy shrieked as she felt him leave her. Such a simple action was such a shock to her system it caused pain. The purple haired girl went to take him away and Amy went to force her to release Seighart.
As Amy grabbed the girl she screamed. The man from the shadows appeared and threw out a kunai. It penetrated Amy's bicep and hit the bone. Amy shrieked in pain and recoiled. Seighart ran to Mari and the purple haired girl ran over to the male who threw the kunai. For some reason, to Amy, the man looked familiar. She suddenly recognized him; he was the man who killed her sister.
"YOU KILLED MY SISTER! SEIGHART GET- what? Why are you leaving?"
He sighed, "There's something I need to tell you. I'm in love with Mari." Amy had no thoughts. She stood in pure shock, "And also, I'm an Archimedean."
It was all falling apart. Her entire world plundered into the anonymous dark abyss, "But, you…I…we…" She choked on her tears, "You're my best friend. How could you do this to me?"
Seighart looked away for a moment, "You know that this could never work. I'm Archimedean. I can't stand here and watch as you kill my people just because of their race. And knowing that I am Archimedean, do you still want to be my friend?" Amy had no response, "Exactly. I can't live a lie. " He put his arms around Mari's shoulders and walked out. Amy fell to her knees and began to cry. One quote echoed in her head.
"Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear.
For all the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be.
Still I'll be the hand that serves you,
Though you'll not see that it is me."
~*~*Flashback End*~*~
Amy was crying then. Patrick's heart ached and John was crying with her.
"That's awful!" he exclaimed, "You poor girl!" Everyone besides Josh was shooting her sympathetic looks.
"That day, I discovered that my council had lied to me. I found out that everything that ever was close to me was torn away and that for over a decade, I'd forced my troops to fight in an absolutely pointless war. I honest to the gods had nothing. I left and ran to live in the mountains. I forfeited my crown to the next available person. I don't know who the leader is now, but I hope it's someone good. I loved my people."
Josh punched a wall and successfully gave himself a bloody hand. He didn't say anything as he grabbed the nearest torch and lit her on fire.
"But what about Willow! She did nothing! You are a liar! You didn't love your people because SHE was one of them! You killed her for no reason!" Josh stormed out. Amy sighed as she accepted her fate. They couldn't put the fire out and she didn't want to live anymore either. She was almost relieved that it was over. That was, until the pain from the fire started to set in. Amy screamed a blood curdling wail. The others left her to die.
"Well, the man was partially right. I am going to die alone, but certainly not cold."
~*~*Epilogue*~*~
Xenians lived in peace for many years. The people dubbed Seighart their new king. He married Mari and they had several children. Seighart, Mari, and the other people involved in the rescue were members of the Xenian Restoration Alliance. All members moved into the royal castle and lived happily. Arme, the one with purple hair, and Lass, the one with grey hair, were a couple that also had a child. The archer, Lire, and storm blade wielder, Ryan, coupled up but produced no heirs. The indigo haired male named Ronan lived his days out alone. He had been a suitor of Elesis before she died. He never found any female who caught his eye after her. In modern day, tales are told of a pink haired tyrant who ran the country into oblivion. The basket that their savior was in, held a song. It eventually became a traditional song that people sing at festivals. Most feel that it was just a folk tale, but if you listen carefully at the mountains at night, you can hear the siren sing.
"The child without a name grew up to be the hand…"
Fin
A/N: OMFG THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG!*dies* I'm sorry about the wait! I was so busy. I couldn't type for over 4 weeks OwO. Hopefully this is good enough for you all and it sorta makes up for that failtality. School is starting and I've gotten into sewing and cake decorating. Obviously I won't have a lot of time to type, but my new hope is to have UC finished by the New Year. I'm pausing the production of that to work on my NANOWRIMO stuffz. I think you should be glad to know that I have finished at LEAST the first 1/3rd of the next chappie if not half of it. My NANOWRIMO entry will be a fanfiction lol. ALSO, NANOWRIMO is the month of my birthday! November 4th! I found that quite amusing when I first started doing it. Anyways, RRE *hugs audience*