WARNING: Graphic depictions of death, allusions of trauma & abuse, violence/vore, and other ideologically sensitive subjects ahead.

CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Mon Coryphée

Book II, Ton Sourire

"The Bluebird Mother: Halcyon Wings I"

Beep beep beep beep…

Alarms raised; Shadow's vitals were tracked loudly. This time, he'd fallen into cardiac arrest. Sonic didn't care how or why, now. All he knew, once again, was this may be the last time he'd see his soulmate alive.

"Daddy…? What's this red stuff, and…why is it leaking out of Mommy?"

Shark-toothed lilies swarmed Rapunzel, their vines writhing and wriggling in a malicious tease. Their leaves shivered, sharp edges glinting in the same chaotic hues as the sky. Although they snickered like children, their sneers were two-faced and insidious—like devils with a nasty prank to pull. The roses' syringe-like needles sprinkled acid, which killed nearby innocuous grasses and flowers. They hissed at him, threatening to melt the seed he guarded so fervently. The sandworm magnolias shrank back to yield to the incoming entity parting the briars.

"You remember that day clearly, child. It was something you weren't meant to witness, yet here you are…clinging in such worthless memories."

There it was, even here: That golden swan. Here, however, it wasn't a tie clip; it was the ornament atop a staff. In full arabesque, finely crafted, and masterfully articulated, all the way down to the tumbled rubies for eyes.

The Vermilion Sorcerer had come to retrieve Rapunzel personally, after such an abysmal attempt at freedom. His knight had been reduced to a seed. His precious gown, now torn to shreds and splattered with conflict residue. His memories, churning the heaven-sea in deranged, hyperpigmented hues.

Click, clack, went the Sorcerer's low heels. They created glasslike splinters in the meadow, somehow. "My sweet Rapunzel, did you think that lowly street rat could save you from me? I could've sworn I taught you better than that: No one can save you from me. Not even your precious mother."

The Sorcerer struck the meadow with his staff. Grass and flowers shattered in a specific spot, and something was revealed: A corpse—a full female skeleton, withered sunflowers in its bony fingers, eroded satins and crinoline where its Sunday Best had been, and the scent of silence. This version was better than the real one, but still distressing to look at.

Only because "Shadow" didn't want to remember the real one.

"Here she is, sweet Rapunzel—the mother you love and miss so much. What would she say if she could see you now…cowering in fear before me, embracing a dead seed, and praying to a nonexistent God for salvation you'll never receive?"

The man readied his staff, and the demonic flowers poised themselves to strike. The roses aimed their needles at him. The magnolias salivated as they rested near the Sorcerer's feet like obedient hounds. Meanwhile, the lilies' crooked smiles widened into grins at the same time as their master's.

"You hold fast to those memories. Now, remember this: Your mother is my Vestigial Queen, and you are her heir. You have inherited her Crown of Life, dear child. Yet even in your happiest memories, there is a seed of inferiority I've planted within you." Cruel snickers crept from the lilies surrounding them. "You see, Rapunzel, that seed you're clutching is your inferiority. If you abandon it—no, destroy it now…you will save yourself. From the misery of being 'less than,' the pain of failing, and the dread of disappointing me…and your mother."

"JOiN uSssS," the lilies whispered in uncannily familiar voices.

—"Don'T bE AFraid,"

—"HE iS OuR SAVior!"

—"If yoU do As You'RE tOLd, eveRYthinG wILl be FIne."

All Rapunzel could do was clutch the seed closer. He began to hyperventilate. Beads of sweat rolled along his jawline. The Crown of Life slowly manifested over his head as a ring of fire. Not terribly different from the halo of an angel, it was fiery but warm.

"Take your Crown of Life, Rapunzel, and burn that seed out of your consciousness. Return home with me," the Sorcerer persuaded him with a coaxing hand. "I will keep you and the Crown safe. I've dedicated myself fully to this endeavor. Do it for your mother, so she can finally rest in peace."

The lilies snickered once more—"DO IT."

—"FoR MOMmy."

—"She deSERVes a gOOD rEST, DoESN't sHe?"

No words could form in Rapunzel's mouth. His mind had halted. His eyes had stayed on the eyeless corpse. Tears had fallen. The heaven-sea continued to churn. Neon lightning flashed high above him. Thunder rolled like low, unintelligible murmurs. The more he listened, the less he understood.

"Come now, Rapunzel," the Vermilion Sorcerer continued, "there isn't much time before the storm worsens. I'll not have you fall ill, at this juncture. Time is of the essence."

However, when the Sorcerer reached out to take his arm, an epiphany struck Rapunzel as a bolt of said lightning:

"That dream the other morning…wasn't a dream at all. It was a warning."

Somewhere in "Shadow's" mind, a different revelation had dawned on him. A resonance between both entities flickered in rapid sparks—synapses of inspiration and alarm. The Crown of Life wobbled over his head, as though losing its balance. Before the Sorcerer knew it, it had disappeared and hidden itself away.

It was a powerful bolt, for even the Sorcerer recoiled. His cohort of demonic flowers shrieked from the sudden burst of sound and light. His normally neutral expression was full of fury, now. The Sorcerer's aura began to swell.

"Foolish boy! You dare defy me here—where nothing but misery and anguish thrive?! The Vestigial Queen has nothing left for you!" Fuming, he pointed his staff at the corpse. "Now, I will make sure of it…by destroying her myself!"

A rush of adrenaline Rapunzel didn't know he could feel propelled him from his helplessness, unlocked his legs, and leapt to his mother's body. He raced against the roses, magnolias, and lilies rushing towards the cadaver.…

"Don't touch her!"

Beep—

"Shadow!?" Sonic panicked. Tears flushed from his eyes. Mighty was the only one strong enough to hold him back. "No, Shadow, don't give up! I'm here—I'm still here!"

Time felt slower moments into Shadow's seizure. Brain damage couldn't be traced, as it was so elusive that a prognosis had been made if it kept up. With the deadly combination of nonstop dance practice, malnutrition at home, overtaxing his mind at school, years of mental abuse, and unaddressed grief, Shadow's body was working with a bare spindle of nerves. His body couldn't support him anymore. Had Shadow's father worked him into the grave? This was the first and last time Shadow had a seizure that led into cardiac arrest.

"Shadow! Shadow, don't leave me! No! No! Please!"

David knew there was still time to bring back the seventeen-year-old, so he repeated those CPR sequences in the midst of those frightened students. He thanked Heaven for his first responders' training, but he also begged the angels not to take this child just yet. He checked for a pulse but felt nothing, once more. Even so, he refused to give.

"C'mon, kiddo, breathe," David coached the lifeless victim. "Your friends are here…and my kid's not ready to lose you!"

He couldn't wait for help any longer, so he grabbed the defibrillator and waited for a fresh charge. As soon as he could, he filled the Student Council Room with—"Clear!"—commanding space while filling Shadow's body with a revival shock.

Had a heart attack claimed such a little, trauma-riddled life?

"I've hit my limit. I can't go on…!"

"Traitor, Traitor! Crusher of our dreams!

"Traitor, Traitor! Puppet in his schemes!

"Failure, Failure! Child of sin!

"Failure, Failure! Tear him limb from limb!"

Fathoms into the abyss of Death, phantoms swarmed Rapunzel and the Vestigial Queen. Flower petals swirled in; those flowers had returned as said phantoms. From within the blooms, faces from his life appeared. Shark-toothed smiles spun around him. Blood oozed from every orifice in their faces. Eyes—rolled back, hyper-pigmented, or void. Despondent cackling garbled Rapunzel's mind even further; they were laughing and crying at the same time. Unintelligible words screeched in lilting soprano, demonic bass, or dual-toned alto. Vines twined into hands; those hands bore claws that dug into his flesh. Blood streamed into the abyss, sending the demonic flowers into a feeding frenzy.

Pain wrung whatever nerves he had left like a washcloth. His entire life ran back and forth, from his childhood all the way to the present. Trigger words exploded like gunshots: Failure. Useless. Disappointment. Bastard.

The Vestigial Queen's skeleton crumbled further. No longer pearly and pristine, her bones crumbled to gray ash. The Vermilion Sorcerer's magic seals had overpowered hers. He burned her influence away without an ounce of mercy, as if to kill her all over again. Water pressure pulled him and his mother's body together closer than physically possible. Her Sunday Best was his Sunday Best. Her flowers were his flowers. Her silence was his silence. Now, the Crown of Life had all but gone away.

Bloody tears reddened Rapunzel's sclera. They encroached upon crimson irises as they slowly lost their light.

The last thing he'd see was a cacophony of madness.

After Death's crushing hold, a new light glowed. A music box clinked out an unforgettable, morose, but calming, cradlesong.

"Good morning, sweetie."

"Her Blue Halcyon Wings" Set…