WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY? HOW? WHY? HOWHOW?
“Axure? Are you okay?” Her words broke the turmoil in my mind. I looked down toward the woman that held my hand.
Nora. Nora. NOOORAAAAAA!!!!!!
She looked into my eyes with a slightly different look. Something akin to suspiciousness.
I couldn’t even control it. My mask was slowly cracking.
But I felt it. I felt all the creases in my face as I looked down at her with disgust. And I could tell it showed on my face. She slapped my hand away as the coins from my hand clattered on the floor, scattering across her room.
“Why do you look at me like that?” She said in a furious tone, “You just asked me for money and that’s your response?”
Fuck you fuck you fuck you.
“Answer me. What is wrong with you?”
Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck all of you.
“Answer me!”
I ran out of the room, not even turning back pulling Laura down the hallway as I ran. I ran and ran and ran, ignoring Laura’s squeals and Nora’s rants from behind as she shouted my name. I ran and ran and ran. I ran down the stairs, ran out of the double doors. Ran past Zidane and ran to the canals.
“Axure! Axure! What’s wrong!? Tell me! What’s going on!” She pulled on my arm bringing me to a stop.
“Laura. Help me. Please.”
“What? What is it? You can’t just leave the prince-”
“Agh! I don’t fucking care!”
I frantically waved at a wooden boat and jumped on, telling the man to sail forth. I paid him no money, I ignored him as I left the boat and ran into Lorenzo’s workshop.
“Axure! How you been-”
I ignored him, sprinting through the room as I collected everything.
Straps, warheads, belts. EVERYTHING. FUCKING EVEYRTHING.
“Axure? Axure?” He called my name.
Fuck off.
I ran out of the shop, sprinting toward the wall, over the bridge.
And my heart didn’t even have time to process it. There he stood, once again with his hand on the sword.
“You’ve been sent by the Aylanists haven’t you?” Zidane said in a dark tone.
I ignored him.
I just pulled out the rocket launcher and fired.
And ran. I ran again. I ran and ran, ignoring my back as I filled the RPG with another round. I fled into the busy streets, barging past everyone. I didn’t even know what had happened beyond the explosion or if anyone had been caught in the crossfire. In fact, if someone else got hurt, then that was fine. Because then Zidane would have to tend to them.
I couldn’t tell if the public's eyes were on me. I just ran.
I ran and ran and ran.
I didn’t even know where I was. Left, right, straight, down, under. I closed my eyes and just fled. Hoping to God that he wasn’t following me.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
But I stopped in my tracks as my heart dropped again. I had just run in circles because there before me, a huge mansion stared down at me. I had come right back to the area of nobles. My eyelids tightened as my mind blackened.
Fuck fuckfuckfuck. No!
“Isn’t this someone interesting?” I heard the voice of arrogance trail into my ears when I looked up to see who it was. Dressed in emerald green with her luscious brown hair, Sylvia Van Vollaria stepped out of her carriage followed by a golden haired Knight. Rhyno.
“What are you doing all the way out here? At my mansion at that. Did my wretched sister send you?”
I was unable to respond. I just looked at her with desperation.
“Bring him in,” she ordered sternly and before I knew it, Rhyno clenched on my arm and dragged me through the gates to follow her. And soon enough, I was on the floor of a new hall, darkened by all the closed curtains as Rhyno left me there pathetically. Syvia walked over to the window, slightly opening it as beams of light shun onto her.
I was stuck.
I was lost.
I didn’t know what to do.
The woman before me stared out as Rhyno stood in the corner, covered by the darkness. Sylvia turned her attention toward me.
“Are you not fond of my sister?” She looked into my soul with eyes that read everything about me in this moment. I looked back at her, frozen in my solid state.
“No, let me change that. Are you trying to escape her?”
I gulped. And she read that too.
She fanned herself slowly, still keeping that widened smile.
“Well… I understand why you would. After all, that woman is disgusting by nature. If I were you I would do the same.”
Silence followed. Nothing else was said for a moment, until she locked her gaze back onto me. Her green emeralds shined in the light as a glint of hatred burned in her eye.
“You do strike me as capable. In fact, I don’t say that to anyone. I understand why my sister keeps you on a leash at least. That I can agree on. You have proved yourself twice and I’m a woman who loves results. Say, why don’t you abandon my sister and join me instead? I won't offer this twice.”
Nonononono. Not this again. Not you. Not you too. Please just leave me alo-
“That woman is blasphemous. Did you know? How she doesn’t believe in God, how she wants to abolish religion,” she said mockingly, “What a foolish woman. I can’t believe even half of my blood flows within her.”
She walked over to me slowly.
She began to raise her voice. It sounded demanding. It sounded like I had no options. It sounded like chains.
“So? Will you join me or not?”
I didn’t know what to say. I put my hand on my gun.
“And let me let you in on a secret,” she added.
No. No. No more secrets. I don’t want it . Don’t tell me. Don’t tell-
“Nora wants to destroy Stargazers bridge.”
I had enough. I knew too much.
I pulled out my gun and swiftly placed the nozzle underneath my head. I had never killed myself before.
Can I do it? Can I kill myself?
“Rhyno!” Sylvia screamed when a blade cut threw the air, stabbing my hand right through as the gun clattered onto the wall next to me.
Blood. Fear. Confusion. What? Why\?
I scrambled to reach the gun on the floor as I crawled near the doorway, ignoring the dagger jammed into my hand.
“That weapon. I have seen you use it before. That has the ability to kill,” Sylvia’s regular tone was swapped with a more furious one.
“Why do you want to kill yourself you scum?” She uttered.
She drove her heel onto my stabbed hand, locking me in place as I suffered on the floor.
“Why? Why?”
And then I just blurted it out.
I blurted out the words that were never meant to be said.
“Because I can fucking go back in time and fix all of this shit! You told me way too fucking much!” I finally roared in agony, “You. ALL OF YOU. KEEP CHAINING ME DOWN! I’VE HAD ENOUGH!”
But what seemed like it was supposed to be a sentence that would lock everyone in shock, seemed to have no effect. In fact, the two people present in the hall, Rhyno and Sylvia completely ignored me as I slowly felt her heel release off my hand. I looked up at Sylvia. Her face.
Pure dread.
I looked toward Rhyno’s face.
Pure fear.
And they all seemingly looked over me, behind me at the doorway. And before I got to look back with them, I watched Sylvia’s body butchered in half. Her torso flew to the other side of the hall, slamming on the wall and creating a streak of blood as if it fell down. And then Rhyno. Before he could even react, the man’s head went flying as blood splattered out of his neck. His body dropped with a loud thud as I darted my eyes around at the bloody mess.
But before I got a chance to even process the events, I heard a demonic, distorted whisper into my ears.
It didn’t sound human. The pitch was off, it sounded altered, it sounded distorted, it sounded dark, it sounded-
Demonic,
“I promised.”
The words rattled in my head when suddenly everything went black.
I died.