[chapter 18 - part 5 of 5 ]

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= This chapter contains deep graphic imagery of torture, physical violence, injury and cannibalism. =

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≃2000 years ago

[The night Queen Ymir Fritz was killed]

"She still got no pulse," Elke noted. The princess stood up and cleaned herself from the dirt as Maud remained on the dirty ground, holding Ymir in her arms. The old woman quietly cried in mourning, it seemed the Fritz Queen was in fact dead.

It had been three hours since the attack and the King, his children and also some advisers and confidants all huddled together near the undead witch; as the rest of the higher ranking soldiers all huddled even further. Protecting them and threatening any curious villagers who dared coming closer. The eldians wanted to know if the witch was in fact dead, and what that meant for their precious Titan.

That had been an anticlimactic afternoon, as Ymir had swiftly saved the King from the unexpected attack; that came from one of his most trustworthy soldiers. No one even knew where Azymondeus had gotten that spear from, as the soldiers weren't carrying any long-range weapons, only swords at that celebration. Only the princes and the Ackermanns knew, of course, that the strange man could conjure weapons and make them appear out of nothing.

This all had been a surprise for Ymir. She was proven wrong as she was told she would be. The mother bled out on the dais, desolate, and eventually unresponsive.

Ymir had decided to die.

The Fritzs were routinely checking her pulse, hoping she would eventually return to breathe. They knew the witch could heal herself, they just didn't know why it was taking so long. Ymir did not breathe again, she did not heal. Three hours had passed and the witch's body began to slowly let out a steam, similar to her Titan, which steamed away completely after she would remove herself from it.

King and company all immediately knew this couldn't be good. "Is she decomposing?" Torin asked, inspecting the witch closer. "What do we do now?" he asked his father.

Fritz looked over to the three small girls in the corner, all looking quite smallish and extremely terrified. He remembered Vékell's words: "The creature will give you three new girls of its own. Those girls, they will be powerful." The seer had said. And Fritz smiled with the memory.

"Come here, my dearest ones," the King called the small children. And Maria walked over mistrustfully, with Sina in her arms and holding Rose by the hand.

Those small and innocent children had no idea of what the King was planning for them. Fritz was aware of how cruel all this was, but he was not going to lose this power. He needed that power, all of his empire was dependent on it.

Before the ceremony could start the King walked over towards Ludvík, to give the General his final instructions.

Ludvík and his sons had tied Azymondeus up very tightly and had also left a dagger embedded quite deep into his chest in case he woke up, and had any ideas of running; for Ludvík knew he couldn't magically disappear while injured and he couldn't heal from a wound like that, not with the weapon still lodged deep into his chest.

The five sons surrounded the culprit as they prepared the carriage to quietly leave, avoiding the frantic crowd. The Ackermanns had planned to take their business up the mountain.

"Torture every information out of him," Fritz ordered, "do what you must, I want to know everything."

"Gladly, Chief," Ludvík replied, sounding quite vexed. The old Ackermann held that girl in the highest regard, Ymir was like a daughter to him, his only daughter. He was beyond mad and grieving heavily with her sudden death.

"Do what you must," Fritz repeated with emphasis. He held Ludvík by the shoulder. "But don't kill him," the King added gravely. "I need him alive, Ludvík. I need him," Fritz insisted.

"Yes, Sire," Ludvík affirmed, lying of course.

Ever since they had been young children Fritz had been the brains of the operation and Ludvík gladly followed him. He trusted his friend's instincts and intelligence and he was right to, after all it had gotten them this far. This would be the first time Ludvík would ever counter one of Fritz commands, and also the very last, for the two childhood friends had no idea what they had gotten themselves into and they were both about to lose their lives over it.

Ludvík was decided: he was going to kill that traitor. He was going to torture him until his last breath. He solemnly nodded at Fritz and the Ackermanns took to their carriage. All six men galloped fast into the darkness of the night and up those high mountains, taking the seventh to his doom.

-.-

"That's what we get for trusting the enemy. I should have known you were a traitor from the start. Now you will pay for it." Ludvík threatened the young Ackermann.

Azymondeus woke up with a shock. He was tied to a wooden chair and bleeding profusely. He looked down to his chest to see Ludvík slowly and painfully remove the dagger from it; a lot of his skin had already healed around that old knife so it was like he was being sliced through from his insides to his outsides. And the soldier bled even more.

"Why did you kill her?" Ludvík asked as he took the dagger and sliced a deep cut onto the man's face.

"Kill?" Az questioned as his left cheek bled out as profusely as his chest. "She-She can't be dead, she can't die," he argued in confusion.

"Oh, she's dead alright," the old Ackermann affirmed.

Az looked down, in pure disbelief. He was sure Ymir was immortal, just as he was. But he was about to be proven wrong in both accounts. Azymondeus looked up again, he looked around that mountain peak, it was a dark night; illuminated only by a small bonfire the brothers had built. And he could see all around him: his good Ackermann friends sharpening all their pointy weapons, they all had turned on him.

Ludvík made another cut on the man's cheek, on the same side and almost completely parallel to the other he had made previously. The old Ackermann had incredibly good precision, and much experience. "I know that as long as you bleed, you can't run," Ludvík explained while making yet a third cut. "I know that you can't use that demonic power unless you're fully healed."

Azymondeus had difficulty breathing as the hole in his chest tried to heal, he stared down, confused and hurt. His arms and legs were tied to that wooden chair, but not so tight that his extra human strength couldn't free him. The problem was that he had already lost a lot of blood and he was too weak to even think, let alone set himself free.

Ludvík proceeded to make cuts to his face and arms. "I could have shared your secret. But I kept my word and never did," the old Ackermann argued. "I could have, and let you be sold and experimented on," he proceeded while making more cuts into the man's skin.

"I protect you from witches, warlocks, alchemists! I protect you from all kinds! 'The undying man'," Ludvík leaned closer to Az's face as it bled profusely. "I could have ratted you out, I could have sold you, made lots of money, but I didn't. Instead I treated you like a son, I made you one of mine and you betray me like that?" he questioned, Ludvík stood up again. "Now it's time for my own experiment." He threatened.

"Father is going to bleed him dry," Erik quietly pointed out to his brothers. The five sons were over at the side of their little makeshift camp, sharpening their weapons as their father conducted the torture.

"I don't think so, if he can regrow limbs, he can probably regrow blood quickly as well," Tyr considered.

"Exactly. Father is not even making a dent," Klaus agreed.

"I can hear you," Lud complained of his sons' loud-talking. Not that they were commenting all that loud, but the mountain was very silent, there was barely the noise of the wind. So any quiet whisper could be considered loud-talking.

"Come on now, Azzy," Lud proceeded with his interrogation, making yet another cut in the man's face. Ludvík was so precise that his cuts were starting to look like a nice piece of art.

Azymondeus was shocked. "Where did you hear that? No one in this land has ever called me that." He questioned with blood dripping all over his face. Az felt extremely strange to hear his family nickname being called out by that old man.

"She has," Lud replied. "She has called you that many times, and very affectionately," he added. "I heard."

Ludvík made another cut on the man's arm.

"Why? Why did you kill her?" The Ackermann asked once more.

"I didn't." Az replied very firmly. "I didn't kill her. She can't be dead. She can't die. That wasn't the plan. She should heal!" the broken man exclaimed. Az could not believe that silly spear had genuinely killed Ymir.

"Well, maybe you broke her heart," Lud argued. "Those don't heal very easily, now do they?"

Az looked down, brokenly and contemplative. "That woman broke my heart too many times for me to count." He let out his own frustration. Azzy looked up again. "What about the girls? Where are they?" the father finally realised and questioned. Az's heart started beating faster.

"I don't think that is of your concern." Ludvík replied and turned to grab a bigger sword. He gave Axl his small, blooded dagger.

"Of course they are!" Azymondeus countered in pure anger.

"You should have thought of that before delegating their care to the hands of another man and his family." Ludvík maintained while checking the blade of his precious Azumabito sword.

Azymondeus was becoming increasingly angrier, thinking of how those monsters could hurt his children; especially since neither him nor Ymir were now there to protect their girls. The father couldn't bear the thought of them being left in the care of those abhorrent Fritzs.

His eyes started to glow, a bright blue glow. Az was calling over all the power he could muster in that debilitated state. His insides were glowing but he didn't want to focus on healing. He was feeling for the weapons all around him. And they all started to vibrate, to almost move: the axes, maces and swords. Ludvík's sons all looked at each other. They all remembered very well what had happened in the Battle of the Merciless. So they all looked at their father, all quite scared for a moment.

Ludvík swiftly walked over and hit the man's face with much force; with the hard handle of his Azumabito sword, dislocating Az's nose.

It all stopped. He had no power anymore, Az was too weak. He was truly trapped in that place, Ymir was dead, the girls were left alone; his mind was racing with all that pain. Internal and external pain, for with his now broken nose, all the cuts and his flooded lungs; it all made breathing and thinking very difficult. Ymir was dead and that was all he could think about. The broken man just wanted to hug his children.

He began to cry.

"Just let me out of here," he quietly started to plead. "Let me get out and take them with me. Let me take her body and bury her somewhere respectful. Somewhere peaceful very far away from here, so the girls can remember her, so they can visit her. We'll disappear for good and you'll never see us again. You'll never see me again. I swear! You'll never see me again."

Ludvík stood there silent, as he watched the broken man bleed out in his plea.

"Please," Az pleaded, "just let us go," he exhaled with difficulty. "I just want to take my girls somewhere safe."

"You are not going anywhere." Ludvík pulled the man's head back by his hairs and looked straight into Az's eyes. "You will not leave this mountain alive." the old Ackermann threatened.

Lud stood back again and sighed. He shook his head. "You shouldn't have killed her." Lud said while sharpening his Azumabito sword.

And Azymondeus started to laugh very quietly and with a little difficulty, as his lungs were flooded. "What are you even saying?" He let out in between coughs as he laughed with difficulty. "You can't kill me." the broken man declared with certainty. "You can hurt me as much as you want, I'll just come back."

"Remember, boy," Lud pointed his Azumabito sword at Azzy. "Remember when I said I could kill you? I said I would find a way," he reminded his young pupil.

He walked over and held Az's head back by the hairs again, he looked into the man's eyes and slowly made a light cut around Az's neck. Deep enough for the man to bleed out, but not deep enough that Az would lose conscience.

The old Ackermann proceeded to make even more cuts all over Azymondeus' body. The detail and the precision made the cuts look almost ritualistic, like a work of art. Ludvík couldn't contain his anger, he sliced through Azymondeus' feet and hands almost completely, his extreme limbs were almost detached from the rest of his body. The man was in excruciating pain, but he was still alive.

Azymondeus was breathing heavily, the pain was too much. His vision was blurred, for his eyes were covered in blood. His mind was spiralling.

Ludvík then sliced through the man's right forearm, the cut made was deep and it immediately started to bleed out profusely.

The man was in deep pain and he had no reason to live anymore. He had lost his love, he had lost their children. Azymondeus was ready for death.

"Why don't you just kill me? Kill me and be done with it." Azymondeus argued with difficulty. "You already said you could, and you already showed off your skills. Bravo, you are clearly very good with torture," the broken man provoked. "But you said you would kill me," Az let out in complete pain. "So just kill me. Kill me and be done with it."

And Ludvík then leaned closer to the man's bloodied face. "Oh, I will. Believe me. I will kill you slowly, just like you deserve. And I will make sure you are conscious throughout all of it." The old Ackermann proceeded. "Before I have the pleasure to do all that. I need you to tell me why. Why did you kill her?" he questioned.

He proceeded to make more cuts, asking: "Why? Why? Why?" Ludvík was frustrated and in deep grief.

"That spear wasn't for her. It was meant for Fritz," Az let out with difficulty.

Ludvík stopped and stood up straight, he looked at the broken man and at his own blooded sword, reflecting on it. Lud then pointed his sword at him.

"Either way it makes you a traitor," he argued. "We welcomed you, we let you join our tribe. We made you one of us and that's how you repay us? By killing our leader?" the old man questioned.

"You are all monsters! Horrible monsters, all of you," Az exclaimed with difficulty. "I was just killing the head."

"The same way you did to the marleans?" Lud questioned. "You joined them, got their trust and cut your superior's head. And I heard he treated you as a son," the old man maintained his argument. "That's all you are: a traitor."

"No," Az countered with difficulty as he gasped for air. "I'm not, I'm- I am-" he tried to speak. The broken man started to cry once more, he cried with difficulty.

"It was her last wish," he let out. "My mother's," Az tried to explain. "She told me to be a good man. I promised her I would be a good man, and I failed," the broken man let out as tears mixed with blood over his heavily mutilated face.

"All my life, I failed to be good. I failed my love and I failed our children," Az relayed as he exhaled deeply. "Killing that evil by its root would be my redemption. I would save my family, doing that one good thing."

They all stood silent, very silent as the broken man just bled out. "Fritz is a monster," Az maintained. "Look what you are doing to me, you are a monster too, Ludvík," Az looked around to that ancient family, in the darkness of that high mountain. "You are all monsters," he maintained.

Ludvík raised his blade, ready to strike. He stopped it close to Azymondeus' neck, the old man hesitated. And Az looked deep into his eyes.

"I will haunt you forever."

Those were Azymondeus' last works as Ludvík swung his sword again and cut the man's head clean off.

The Original Ackermann's head fell to the ground and Ludvík's sons were astounded and stunned, as they did not expect their father to actually go through with it. The head immediately started to glow, and so did the rest of the body.

"You killed him!" Axl let out, confused. Ludvík didn't even acknowledge him, or paid attention to his sons' staggered reactions. The old Ackermann just swiftly cut all the man's limbs clean off as well, dismembering him completely.

"Dice him up quickly!" He ordered. And the men jumped into action. Even if still processing the situation, Lud's sons knew they had to deal with this threat quickly and swiftly. They couldn't risk that creature coming back to life.

They quickly set up their ritual. They minced all the meat, all the soft tissue, all internal organs, his brain, his eyes, tongue, lips, the broken nose, his whole face, and all his skin, even his reproductive parts. They grinded all the bones. All of the strange man's body emitted a bright blue glow and they were fascinated by it. The six Ackermanns quickly finished the job, the idea was to make all the parts unrecognisable, so they wouldn't preference anything.

And he was in fact unrecognisable. By the time the Ackermanns were ready to start the feast, their ritual table just looked to be filled with a mound of otherworldly blue and red glowing jelly, with some crunchy white pieces of bone sprinkled around the mound. All was minced and grinded into very tiny pieces, all apart from one organ: Azymondeus' heart.

The ritual of Warrior's sacrifice demanded that the human parts would be minced until unrecognisable, exactly to avoid any of the participants getting greedy and too picky. But Ludvík was extremely fascinated by that otherworldly heart, as it kept beating and beating. He had declared it for himself.

The undead heart sat at the top of the mound as they started their feast, and it kept beating throughout the whole ritual. It was a dark and very cold night, with barely any moon to witness this atrocity. The six Ackermanns stuffed their faces with that feast. They ate compulsively as that strange blue energy entered their bodies, it made them want more and more. Their own bodies were changing internally and they couldn't even tell. They just felt the insatiable need to keep eating.

After a few hours all of the mound of flesh and bones was gone, and all that remained was the beating heart. The five sons leaned back, in respect to their father. Their part in the ritual was done, they understood. Ludvík reached out in pure greed and fascination, and he quickly started to devour the heart. Even after all that immense feast, somehow this particular piece of muscle seemed more delicious than the rest.

The man finished and looked very pleased with himself, only for a moment. The five sons watched in horror as Ludvík's expression quickly changed from delight to despair.

'I will haunt you forever.' They all remembered those cursed words.

Ludvík started beating his chest with his right fist over and over again until he fell to the ground. Lying on his back, he agonised in much pain as his sons watched, paralysed and unsure of what to do. They kept calling out his name but Ludvík couldn't form any words, he just screamed in his agony, beating his chest frantically. He eventually reached with his own nails, finally cutting through his own flesh, he rummaged around trying to find the source of his agony.

The old Ackermann eventually pulled out his own heart with his right hand, raising it up with an expression of much relief. He died on the spot.

Ludvík died with his heart on his hand and his sons just all looked at each other: confused, traumatised and absolutely unsure of what to do next.

-.-

- The tower - Fritz Castle

[ The year before ]

Azymondeus walked over, into the Queen's quarters, in the early hours of the morning. "I heard you woke up screaming today," he said, gently sitting near her in the bed. "Maria told me," he added while kissing her shoulder. "The girls were scared."

"I had that nightmare again," Ymir revealed in sadness. She rested her face over her left knee, holding on to it. "I dreamt I was drowning, drowning and drowning, the agony never stopped," she added while holding her own throat. "I couldn't breathe, I-"

"Ymir-" Az said softly, he took her hand out of her throat and held it softly inside his two hands. "It was just a silly nightmare, nothing real," Az tried to appease her worried heart. He kissed her hand, hoping for some of their customary morning affections.

Ymir pulled her hand away and went back to embracing her left knee, contemplative. "You were there, and you tried to save me," she informed him. "To my relief, you appeared. You swam down closer to me and breathed into my mouth, but somehow it wasn't working. Somehow you couldn't-"

Az became silent and less cheerful as his love proceeded. "It seemed like you couldn't save me. So you just left me there," Ymir relayed, "on my own, agonising. You never saved me," she turned to him in despair, sadness and accusation. "You just left me there."

Ymir looked deep inside his eyes. "You let me drown." she told him in sadness.

-.-

"You let me drown."

Azymondeus could hear those words. Her voice echoed deep inside his consciousness, in his last moments, the memory lingered.

'I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry I couldn't save you,' were his last thoughts before death.

End of Chapter Eighteen: "A Z"