The sound of loud shattering nearly deafens me. I'm catapulted into the air, and I fall from a terrifying height. Then everything is solid and a jolt courses through me. Breath gets stuck in my throat, and it takes a long agonized moment for me to recuperate.
I sit up. I'm astonished by what I see. A horde of black crystals cover the throne and stretch up towards the ceiling. They jut out all over the place, and they spread closer to me, new crystals forming with a sound akin to the breaking of glass. I flinch and scramble backwards, putting some distance between me and the massive obstruction in front of me.
More onyx crystals shoot up and assume the shape of a human. Beady red eyes emerge from the skull. I jump to my feet and clumsily reach for my sword a couple of times before finally grabbing the hilt. I strike the person, but I don't make a dent. Unfortunately, the crystal is hard enough to put a crack in my sword. I toss the useless weapon aside.
"Die!" Belar's voice thunders from within the black crystal. His arm extends and shoots at me. I move to dodge, but his elongated arm catches onto mine. I scream in agony as the sharp crystals pierce my skin.
All my limbs go weak and turn numb. All the bones in my body lose solidity and I sag, hanging off Belar's crystalized arm. Once I regain my senses, my arms feels like it's about to be torn off. I struggle to get back on my feet, grunting and yelping at the sharp, little stabs of pain. When I have righted myself, I cast a fire spell. Belar wails and his grip on my arm loosens.
I break out into a run and exit the throne room. I make it halfway down the hall before I hear the smashing of glass behind me. I throw a glance over my shoulder to see that the black crystal is on my tail. I run faster, ignoring the burning in my lungs. I have to keep going. I have to escape.
Dizziness seizes me and causes me to lose my footing. I stumble into the wall. The crystal catches up to me. Just in time, I ward off the incoming assault with fire. I slide down onto the floor and hold my head. Everything goes fuzzy. I blink in an attempt to clear my vision, but I fail.
No, I can't allow this to keep me down. I try to stand, but it's as if gravity itself is fighting against me. I push myself, incidentally putting a strain on my body. I manage to get onto my feet. I use the wall as support with hunched shoulders.
Yuuri's disapproving gaze comes to mind.
He despises me.
No. He has yet to despise me.
However, that doesn't matter. I may not be welcomed home. I may be chastised and shunned. I have broken my oath. I have disobeyed Yuuri's ideals. Even if he winds up hating me, I'm going to protect the world that he lives in.
The crystals approach with a vengeance.
A copious amount of vigor pulses through me. It proves to be overwhelming. I doubt that I have the capacity for such power, and I double over. Just as fast, this newfound strength settles inside me. I stand up straight and spin around to face the oncoming onslaught and release all the fire that I can muster.
Concentrate. Eileen urges.
I shut my eyes. Behind closed lids, I see the flames incinerate the crystal, traveling all the way back to the throne room. I grind my teeth together, feeling like I'm being torn apart. But I refuse to stop. I won't stop until I have destroyed the black crystals.
Eileen gasps.
What is it?
There are way too many of them. You can't possibly destroy them all. You must retreat!
Not until I'm finished here!
Once I've eradicated the crystals in the throne room, a screech cuts through the air. I imagine Belar writhing in agony on the floor, scorching the red carpet beneath him, frantically trying to escape the flames. His excruciated cries attract the attention of guards, who crowd the hallway from both sides, leaving me trapped between them.
Stubborn prince. Eileen huffs, impatiently. You leave me no choice. I'm taking over.
My head feels like it's being split in half. I grapple for control, but Eileen is too strong, and I'm much too weak to fight her off for long. Quickly, she takes over, and I feel myself being shoved back.
She spreads her wings and zips through the halls in search of an escape. I try to regain control. The attempt is pathetic in and of itself. It's tantamount to moving a boulder. She just won't budge.
Eileen, I address her with irritation.
She pays me no mind. Instead, she locates a window and busts it open, immediately flying through it. It's not snowing anymore, but it's freezing, even more so when she speeds up. I feel the hairs on my arms and legs bristle as the cold seeps into my exposed pores. I shiver, violently. I hope that Eileen will warm my body. I suspect that she will because she has to be feeling frigid as well. But she doesn't.
Eileen, what the hell are you doing?! I ask, enraged. I have to make sure that all the black crystals are destroyed so that they don't spread!
No answer.
My temper reaches its peak.
Eileen! Don't you dare ignore me! Give me my body back right now! You can't disregard my existence forever. Eventually, you'll have to give me back control. Eileen, are you listening?!
Wolfram, shut the hell up!
I'm floored by this sudden explosion of anger. In all the time that I've known her, she hasn't yelled at me once. She usually handles me with benevolence. Even so, the surprise easily wears off.
Don't tell me to shut up!
Why not? You were being stupid and reckless. If I hadn't taken over, you would've gotten yourself killed! And what then? King Yuuri would have been waiting for you in vain!
He'd live without me….
No, he wouldn't, Wolfram! He loves you. He wants to marry you. He promised to share a future with you. Don't forget what he's said to you and what he's done for you! Not too long ago, he came to rescue you in spirit. Don't forget the passion that you two shared!
I recall Yuuri and Saralegui in bed. I see the hatred in his eyes. I feel his murderous intent. He wants me dead. He convokes his twin dragons and sics the gigantic beasts on me. It unhinges its jaw and comes flying at me, taking me inside its mouth.
No air. Drowning. I'm going to die. Yuuri is killing me.
Wolfram! Eileen roars.
Her voice yanks me out of my reverie.
Be strong! Don't let the miasma influence you!
…Miasma?
When was I exposed to miasma?
It was when Belar attacked me, I realize.
The miasma was transferred into my arm through the black crystal. I relive the shock and the intense pain. This causes Eileen to fall. I feel my stomach drop, and this horrifying thrill is more than enough to snap me back to the present. Eileen rights herself.
Are you all right? I ask.
She chuckles. Shouldn't I be asking you that?
I'd say that I'm fine, but I know that you wouldn't believe me.
I suspected as much. She replies, seriously. I wish that I can help you. Unfortunately, I can't. The miasma is too strong for me to remove from your body. I would try, but I haven't ever done anything like that before. I've seen people try to dispose of some pretty nasty miasma from others. Based on what I've seen, it was agonizing and ended with death.
I'm filled with white-hot dread.
Wolfram, she says softly. As soon as we return to Caloria, I want you to go home.
But…!
I can't believe this. This isn't the first time that I was exposed to miasma. When Yuuri, Conrart, Yozak, and I left the mountains with the cure to Sangria's ailment, the miasma wore off. The same thing has to happen this time around. It just has to!
It's not the same. Whatever miasma you were exposed to was benign compared to this. The black crystal is the manifestation of evil inside of the wielder's hearts. This is created from a spell that has been taboo ever since it was first used. Since then, few people have dared to utilize its wicked power, knowing that the result would be their demise. King Belar must've realized this and in an act of desperation, he injected some of the miasma inside of you to lighten his load, so to speak.
You seem to know a lot about it….
I can't help but be suspicious. This is the first that I've heard of such a thing. When I was younger, Gunter taught me about forbidden spells and the penalty to each one. At the very most, the punishment was in chanting the spell itself. If one decibel or word was out of place, the person would end up disfigured. I recall seeing the spells in a book that he assigned me to read. They were long and complex, but there wasn't a single spell that was anything like this.
That's because a dear friend of mine fell victim to the spell. Eileen replies. When I was still alive, I fought alongside a magnificent woman named Nina. She was always making me laugh. She gives a sorrowful chuckle. We would talk about everything and anything. But that all stopped when her family was slaughtered by humans. She told me that they had been destitute and murdered her parents for food, money, and other valuables. I felt horrible. There was nothing that I could've said or done to console her. I tried to get her to talk, but she'd just glare at me and walk away. She began to get distant. That is, until she came to me with the black crystal in her possession.
Eileen goes silent.
I see a woman who's a little taller than Eileen, standing in front of her with a large, black crystal in her hand. Her brown hair that was once long and beautiful has been hacked off, presumably by her newly forged weapon. Her blue eyes that were once akin to that of a clear, sparkling ocean were now dark and murky.
I asked her what that ominous-looking crystal was, and she told me everything. Eileen continues, despondently.
Eileen permits me access to her memories once more. She shows me the fight that she and her dear friend engages in after they exchange words, none that the other is willing to accept.
Eileen has been frantically trying to figure out how to break this spell. She tries breaking the crystal, but to no avail. When that pain fails, she keeps drawing blanks. Then the crystal becomes like a second skin on Lady Nina. That's the moment that Eileen has an upsetting epiphany.
In order to free Nina from the crystal's nefarious influence, Eileen has to kill her.
It's for the best.
This is what Nina would've wanted.
If she was ever controlled by evil, she'd want to be freed from it.
That was what Eileen repeatedly told herself.
Eileen runs her sword through Nina's heart. She cries as she watches the life leave her friend's eyes. Nina sags further into the blade and leans against Eileen, who sobs harder. Slowly, she pulls the sword out, hearing the gushing sound that her movement evokes. Bile fills her mouth, but she swallows it down. She doesn't want to sully the limp body in her arms more than she already has.
With a broken cry, she throws the sword into the ground, and falls to her knees, cradling her beloved friend against her chest plate. Eileen brings what's left of her into a tight embrace. She bawls as the piece of her heart that Nina had is severed and taken to the grave.
Gently, Eileen lies Nina down. Then she stands and takes a few steps to reclaim the sword that's drenched in Nina's blood. She wants to look away, but she doesn't. She refuses to overlook what just happened. For Nina's sake, she won't let herself forget.
I don't want the same thing to happen to you, Wolfram. So I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.
Eileen….
The silence that follows is harrowing.
Dozens of bodies litter the ground of Burleigh. Meticulously, Eileen begins our descent. I nearly leap out of my skin when I see Conrart and Yozak lying among the casualties.
"Conrart! Yozak!" I scream.
Once Eileen lands on my feet, she relents control to me. I stumble a little at how abrupt this is. She was so adamant about keeping the reins over my body before. But that doesn't matter.
I drop down to one knee in between them. I give them both a shake before I check their pulses. They're alive, but they're not out of the woods by a longshot. Their pulses are dangerously low. I have to get them to Lady Tilly and fast!
Wait. I can't do that. Lady Tilly and her husband, Sir Peter, left the village to go to the capital where they'll be safe, far away from the battlefield that Burleigh has become in these past months.
This means that Conrart and Yozak's lives are in my hands. My shaky hands. I urge them to stop. I can't panic.
I see Conrart's eyes open and I'm somewhat relieved to see that he's conscious. But then his pupils grow bigger and bigger until his eyes are completely black. He bares sharp fangs at me and lets out a deafening roar as his hands shoot up to harm me.
I gasp.
Then, he's immobile again, like he never moved at all.
"What the…?" I blink.
Focus, Wolfram. Eileen says. I'll assist you.
I search for Conrart's wounds and heal each one. I turn to Yozak to mend his injuries when my hands tighten and give one achy quiver. I wince. The powers that Eileen and I have are beginning to strain.
Keep going, Eileen pushes.
I take a deep breath and comply. All the while, I see Yozak transform into the monster that Conrart was a moment ago. I grimace, but I continually remind myself that this is all in my head. I have to disregard all of the delusions in favor of tending to Yozak.
Once I'm finished, pain erupts inside me. I fall onto my side and curl up into a ball. It's like my body is turning in on itself. My face twists in agony. I'm going to break. It hurts so bad; horribly bad.
Nothing but pain.
Blasts of relentless pain.
I hear a distant voice. I can't make out the words. All I can do is lay there and will the pain to go away.
Gradually, the pain ebbs. Little by little, the voices sound closer, and I'm able to identify who's calling out to me. My body relaxes. I open my eyes to see Conrart peering down at me, his face creased with worry. Yozak is kneeling beside him with a mirrored expression, a supportive hand on Conrart's shoulder.
"Wolfram!" Conrart exclaims. "What's the matter? Hey!"
I sit up and feeling a buzzing in my arm, as if it had fallen asleep. Conrart reaches out to keep me steady, but I instantly shrug him off.
"What the hell happened here?" I ask.
Slowly, I oscillate my head to take in all of the devastation around us. All of the bodies are still, covered in dirt and blood. There don't appear to be any survivors. Sir Paul's face flashes into my mind. Then I recall how concerned Lady Tilly was about her son, and my heart aches.
Conrart looks down at the ground, utterly defeated.
"Big Cimaron's army came and launched a surprise attack." Yozak says, solemnly. "They got us when our guard was down, when we were still sleeping. Those damn bastards." He scans the area. As he does so, horror creeps onto his face. Then, he's overcome by fury, and slams his hands wildly into the snow. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" He curses, hardly fazed by his cracked knuckles and the blood that trickles down from the self-inflicted injury.
"Yozak!" Conrart shouts, taking a hold of his shoulders.
Yozak hunches over, fisting his hands into the snow. "It happened again. Everyone, gone."
This is all my fault. If I hadn't left, none of this would've happened. I should've been here to help them, to prevent all of these people from being killed.
"You should've been here," Yozak scolds me, vindictively. "You left us. You abandoned us." He shows sharp, threatening teeth and his eyes become black again.
I flinch.
After I blink, Yozak reverts back to normal. He stares at me in bewilderment, as does Conrart. Then they turn back into monsters again. They flit back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. The rapid transitions make my head spin.
I fall back.
Deep, dark voices call my name and condemn me to damnation.
All of the portraits in my sanctuary glower down at me. Their aversion is stifling. I breathe heavily, on the verge of hyperventilating. I make it a point to steady my breaths. I can't panic.
I turn around and dart in the direction of the stairs. No, this isn't right. The stairs spiral downward. Why? They're supposed to go up.
I tense as I hear the sound of footsteps behind me. There are so many. Too many. I'm afraid to face them. These aren't enemy soldiers. These are friends and family. People that I care about. People that I love.
Someone tugs me back by the wrist and whips me around. I gasp. It's Yuuri in his demon form. His aura is dark red, his bloodlust palpable.
He takes me by the neck and squeezes hard. Half-lidded, I gaze at Yuuri's, who's grinning. His eyes lack their usual warmth and kindness. Instead, they're tainted by evil.
I look beyond him to see everyone from the castle glaring at me. They stand behind him, more than prepared to act as his reinforcements. A whole army that's more than ready to kill me.
That would be merciful compared to this tribulation.
"Yuu…ri," I manage to say.
"Wolfram," his face flickers from evil to good and back again. He tightens his chokehold. I wheeze and slide my fingers gingerly over his wrists. His kindness resurfaces, and his grip on me loosens significantly. He appears to be confused. Then he stares at my neck, distraught. "Wh-what did I…?"
I reach out to cup his face when he seizes my neck once more. He resumes his chokehold with a much stronger grasp. I screw my eyes shut, struggling for air. I try to claw his hands off. He's hardly fazed.
This can't be the Yuuri that I remember. He's not like this with anyone. He's nice to everyone. He believes in giving people kindness.
Abruptly, everyone vanishes, and I find myself plummeting. Shock fills me. I scream, extending an arm up.
Yuuri, I think, longingly.
A burst of light. I close my eyes and squint before I see Yuuri above me. My heart hits my chest continuously. Is this the real Yuuri or another illusion?
His lips curl downward in a worried frown. "I'm waiting for you."
I jolt awake in a dark, unknown place. Cautiously, I sit up, and feel what's underneath me. It's a hard cushion. I swing my feet over to the side where I can instantly feel the floor. I tap on it. Wood. Then everything sways. I cover my mouth, nauseous.
I'm on a ship, I realize.
But how?
The last thing I remember was being with Yuuri and everyone else from the castle. I put a hand on my face when I recall all of the animosity that I felt.
I see Yuuri's gracious smile in my mind's eye.
"I'm waiting for you," he had said.
He's waiting for me? Why? Wasn't I home just a moment ago? How the hell did I get inside of a ship?
A pair of red eyes flash in the darkness.
I gasp and slam back against the wooden wall.
Excruciation claims my body. I lay my forehead atop my knees and groan. I fall onto my side and grunt upon impact with the rock hard cushion.
Not again.
No more.
I see a red light behind closed lids. I open my eyes to meet Yuuri's gaze. I tremble. Seeing him like this is torture.
However, I know that it's what I deserve.
This is punishment for disobeying his orders, for killing people, for blatantly going against his ideals.
"Please…forgive me, Yuuri." I implore, feeling tears trail over my nose and drip off my face.
He holds out a hand that glows red. Right after, my heart thunders with agony. I clutch the fabric over my chest and shout. Everything hurts. So bad. I open my mouth to beg Yuuri to stop, but no sound comes out.
Suddenly, I'm freed from this torment and shoved back down into pitch black darkness.
A/N: So very sorry for the long-awaited update! I've been busy hanging out with family and tending to them as well. Besides that, I had a little difficulty figuring out what to write for this chapter, but eventually I figured it out. I will definitely update the next chapter much sooner! I apologize again.
Thank you to everyone who has favorited and story-alerted this story! I can't put into words how happy that makes me!
Alicia Spinet: I adore them together, too! They go together so well. Plainly put, they just match. This chapter has taken a dark turn, but you know what they say: "It's always darkest before the dawn." :)
Sawyer Fan: That was exactly the reaction I was aiming for. ;) You have my word, doctor, there will be no more harmful drugs known as 'Sara and Yuuri in bed'. Ugh, it makes me sick just typing that. Anyway, I enjoyed writing Yuuram so much in the last chapter, and I will enjoy writing more scenes of them in future chapters, especially now since matters are getting much more intense. I can't express this enough: you are too awesome! Love and huggles!
Winry1021: I don't like when couples make out in front of other people, but I made an exception because of special circumstances. ;D Yeah, that is sad. Although, I think I had Wolfram's father more in-character last chapter, according to the manga. Based on the anime, it was easy to assume that his father spoiled him too and that they had a good relationship (due to the way Wolfram fondly spoke of him in one episode), but I was wrong. Thank you, babe! Your support is always very much appreciated!
AgentStorm007: Thank you so much! I'm so very happy that you're enjoying my story so far! Don't worry. I will definitely finish this story. :D
Jenmoon1: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!