章 6: Hell's little angel
Emberle had been unconscious for almost a week without signs of recovery, until the night she was visited by a dream.
Under a large tree, over a cliff with a pond at it's foot ,she sat with a boy who had his arms wrapped around her as she laid comfortably on his chest watching the peaceful sunset.
This dream was warm and inviting, with no sound to be heard nor discomfort to be felt. The only thing felt was the warmth of the sun and the strange boy's sweet little inaudible whispers. Until Eve showed her fangs.
"What do you think you're doing!? These are mine!!" she screamed, "LEAVE!"
At those words , Emberle was hurled from the dream. She sank in the ground and was thrown in complete darkness.
Here, there was only a black haired 12 year old girl with bangs over her eyes. She had cut up chain cuffs on her wrists and feet and wore a black torn up dress that stretched below her knees like a rag. Emberle covered one of her eyes with her hand as tears started forming while she remained seated. "Eve...wha- who was that?"
"It doesn't matter ,you were never meant to see it anyway" Eve replied.
For some reason, what Emberle saw in that dream ate at her, it hurt so much that she couldn't stop her tears from silently leaking out of one eye.
It didn't make sense why it made her ache so much when she didn't even know the boy in that dream, but she knew she had to see it again.
"Who was that!? Was that real!? why don't I remember it? what did you do to me!?" she shouted at Eve, losing her temper and mixing pain and confusion with anger.
"I didn't do anything to you!" Eve's voice echoed in the darkness, overshadowing Emberle's, "As per the terms of the contract I own everything that makes you who you are. You shouldn't have seen it and I shouldn't have let it slip so let it go! This is what happens when I let you borrow too much of my power."
Shock and disbelief were all Emberle could express in her teary eyes, "You mean to tell me...that I had a life...before you?"
"Emberle, leave! If you break the terms of the agreement, we both suffer. You're past is mine! Accept that!" Eve snapped.
But Emberle could not bring herself to let it go. "Then...how about another deal." she offered, "Give me back my yesterdays...and I'll give you every second of my tomorrows"
Eve looked at her and saw she was grumbling, the desperation in her words was painted clear in her eyes as well.
"... Nonsense," Eve replied coldly,"If you're okay now then wake the hell up already. We're gonna starve to death" she said as she turned her back on her.
Like that , Emberle's eyes flashed open back in her cold ,dark , lonely room with her wounds healed...but the tears remained.
The most efficient way to keep someone prisoner is to keep them oblivious to the fact that they are prisoners. Because people who are self aware...have dreams of freedom and a will to act on those dreams.
As morning came, a maid prepared a tray of ointments, towels and a bowl of Lukewarm water and carried it down the hallway, humming a soft tune in sync with her casual walk.
She entered Emberle's room expecting to find her lying on the bed, but she soon turned pale when she saw her head sticking out on the side of the bed.
Her hands trembled and she dropped the tray with a gasp, but covered her mouth instinctively hoping she wouldn't hear her. Emberle raised her head to look at her. The maid was surprised when she saw a tear hanging down the princess's left eye, but quickly turned away, acting as though she hadn't seen it. Don't ever anger the princess, that was the general rule among the servants.
" ... y-your highness? I s-saw nothing." the maid stuttered.
But Emberle ignored her. "You made a mess. Clean it up" she ordered.
" oh! yes , of course! I'm sorry"
She picked up the items that fell off the tray and placed them on a nearby antique table then cleaned up the water she had spilled with one of the towels.
" My sincerest apologies, your highness" she bowed after cleaning.
Emberle slid a red wooden box full of the letters she was reading under her bed. She had begun to connect the dots, relating the mysterious writer to the boy in her dreams.
"It's fine. Are you new?" she said to the maid as she walked to her wardrobe at the opposite end of the room and started looking for a suitable gown to change in.
" uhm...yes" the maid replied nervously with her head down.
"Makes sense," Emberle remarked, "None of the old maids would ever enter my room as carelessly, even if I was on my death bed. Guess they played you. What's your name?"
"H-Historia, your majesty" the maid stuttered again.
"Historia, that's a beautiful name. Thank you for taking care of me "
Emberle's stomach then growled at the end of her sentence.
"uh-uhm...s-should I prepare breakfast?" Historia instinctively offered, it was her job after all.
"sure, just cut your wrist and fill up a cup for me, yeah?" Emberle said jokingly as she started changing into a gown.
Historia's little heart trembled in fear as she struggled to hide the uncontrollable shaking of her legs.
"hehe, calm down, I'm joking. It's not your blood I want. Just don't tell anyone I'm awake, okay?"
Emberle chuckled as she passed her by the door and left to search for Grey.
Historia's heart wouldn't stop racing as Emberle shut the door behind her. She slid down against the wall and tried hard to control her trembling and heavy breathing. Her little heart almost burst out of her chest.
Back in the throne room, Johnathan barged through the door with an angry frown to an unfazed Marcos who looked as though he was already expecting it.
"Good morning, Johnathan" Greeted King Marcos politely, "What brings you here so early?" he added calmly.
Johnathan held out a neatly folded piece of paper. "What is this!?" he inquired.
"...An order of execution. I sent it to you just moments ago" casually, Marcos replied.
"Your highness, with all due respect, I don't think-" Johnathan tried to protest but was interrupted.
"Nobody asked you to think. Your only job is to be loyal to me, your king, and follow my every command." Marcos said, cutting him off completely.
"You're asking me to execute 458 civilians without question because of a curse that might not even be real, do you hear yourself!?"
Marcos leaned forward on his throne ,"Watch your tongue , Johnathan. You would do well not to forget your place"
"The people just got over the deaths of a thousand others and you want me to take away the few they thought were safe!? their mothers! children! OUR KNIGHTS! These are the same people you swore to protect when you sat on that throne!" Ignoring Marcos's warning, Johnathan snapped.
"Ah, but see, that's where you're wrong." Marcos said as his eyes lost all color, "I swore to protect nothing else but my own. If they die, they'll just breed more as they have since the first humans. It's called the circle of life"
In his mind, Marcos repeated the same words over and over again to keep from wavering. He could never be seen wavering when making the necessary decisions to protect his people, especially when he was backed into a corner.
'Steel your heart ,Marcos. Even if the whole world despises you!' He thought to himself.
"You cannot do this, your majesty." Johnathan pleaded.
'Sacrifices must be made!'
"Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do!? You haven't come here to offer a solution and we're already out of time!" Marcos said.
'Shed your humanity. Sympathy is a luxury you cannot afford'
"If you wish to challenge my authority ,you can always take this throne as I did years ago...but until then, my word is absolute!" he added.
'You will burn in hell for this one day! don't let it be for nothing,'
Johnathan stared at the angered king in disbelief, had he no heart?
"...They were right." Johnathan said in low spirits, "Everyone who told me about you, they were right all along. You are no king."
"...Maybe not. But so long as the crown rests on my head, I am a god." Marcos said as he slouched and spread out on his gold plated throne. "Now leave. You have work to do"
'Take their sins with you to the inferno. Your people come first.'
With nothing left to add, Johnathan stormed out of that room with a long face to a courtyard of knights who were anxiously awaiting his return, his mind waging war on his heart the whole way there. Rumors of the execution order had spread amongst knight order...and seeing his face like that told them everything they needed to know.
"Anyone directly related to the victims has permission to leave if they wish." Johnathan announced.
Before dawn ,there was a public gathering by the knights. Everyone was told there would be an emergency escape drill in case of another demon attack and every person living in the market district of Marcos was to participate. They split the people into two groups and made it look like everyone was chosen at random for both groups...but people with a bite mark were all gathered together.
They then led the two groups to opposite sides of the city and beyond the wall under the guise of finding an escape route. Of course there were complaints and angry murmurs in the crowds but the knights' hearts were heavy enough already.
Their demons would not let them free. These people were family ,childhood loves ,wives and even fellow knights. They had no right to retaliate when they scorned them.
When they reached the canyons where the first bodies were dumped and burned, people got suspicious.
"h-hey ,what the hell is this?" one of the civilians asked.
The knights surrounded them and aimed their riffles before they turned around. This caused a panic among the crowds.
"What do you think you're doing!?" some rebelled.
"wa-wait ,please no, we haven't done anything" others pleaded, but Johnathan would not listen.
"By the order of his Majesty the King! All of you bearing the mark of the demon Tiyanak shall be executed for the good of mankind!" Johnathan announced in a thunderous voice.
The people's hearts beat like drums as fear struck their core. Then they began to protest, shouting,
"No! Please no! My son is here"
"You can't do this! These are our families"
"Your job is to protect us!"
The knights' hands shook when they placed their fingers on the triggers. Then Johnathan ordered "fire...", but no one had the guts.
"They're right ,we can't do this, sir! We never signed up for anything like this!" one of the knights protested.
"You took an oath when you became a knight, the kingdom comes first!" Johnathan tried to persuade them in a harsh tone.
"Yes! And these people are part of that kingdom ,sir!" another knight added.
The crowd backed up the knights and an argument broke out. They were all talking over one another trying to convince Johnathan, who was already under enough pressure trying to hold himself together as the knight commander. Though he showed a straight and prideful face ,in truth ,he was breaking apart.
Among the panicked crowd was a fragile little girl named Ella who was hiding behind her mother. "Mommy, what are they doing?" she asked in a shaky voice.
Her terrified mother tried her hardest not to show that face to her daughter and instead forced a smile. "It's okay, sweetie. They're just playing" she replied as she gently ruffled her hair.
"B-But I'm scared" Ella teared up while clinging tighter to her mother's dress.
"No no no ,shhh Ella , don't cry" her mother said as she dried her tears, "Don't cry , mommy's here , okay? Everything's going to be fine. Have you forgotten what they taught you in school, what is a knight's duty?"
"To serve and protect?" Ella replied.
"That's right ,they would never hurt us. I'm sure they'll let us go soon and we can get back to making desserts" she said with the smile widening, "And if it makes you feel better , daddy's with them"
"really! Daddy's here!?" the poor child screamed excitedly.
"Yes. Hide behind me so you can surprise him later, okay? Don't worry , everything's fine."
Though these words made Ella happy, her mother knew they were not going anywhere. The commotion around them hadn't ceased...and her worst fear came to life when the first man was shot down. He was killed by a panicked knight who tried to stop him from forcing his way through the circle.
From this, the rest of the knights followed. Eyes closed ,they pulled their triggers one by one as the screams echoed ever louder.
"This is your duty as the black knights of Ignatia!!"
The begging and pleading got louder but the knights tuned out the noise with a battle cry, cast away their hearts and gave in to the hell. Little by little the screaming decreased until soon there was no sound to be heard. A deafening silence fell around them.
When all was said and done, not a single one of them uttered a word. Johnathan turned to leave while some of them squatted down right there with tears running down their faces.
Others didn't even dare to move until the sun finally sank in the horizon. One by one ,they all quietly left after offering prayers... yet they knew, the nightmares would haunt them for years to come.
When night came ,Emberle still had not found Grey. Her thirst was out of control so much so that she had trouble keeping Eve from taking over and the crystal on her nightstand she substituted for blood wasn't working anymore. She couldn't even get herself to stand.
Historia entered the room with her usual tray of ointments. It was so dark that she could not see anything.
"Princess?" she called out, "uhm...you told me not to tell anyone you were awake so I had to repeat my daily routine even though I don't really need to, haha" she said, awkwardly.
Near the curtains, Historia saw two gold marbles glow in the dark, but she couldn't make out the face. "Princess..?"
Emberle flew across the room faster than she could even think to run and sank her teeth in her neck before she could scream.
Historia dropped the tray as she slid down against the door, slowly losing consciousness.
*****
A few hours after everyone had left the execution site, a hand appeared from beneath the corpses and Ella rose ,soaked in blood. She was wheezing and coughing as her vision blurred. She stared at the blood on her hands and her mother, lying lifeless right in front of her.
She could hear the echoes of her voice as her mind slowly gave in to the trauma.
"Shh Ella , don't cry"
"Everything is going to be fine"
"Mommy's here"
"It's a okay ,Sweetie"
"...we can go back to making desserts"
Ella screamed her lungs out as her mind came closer to the point of insanity. She shook her mother desperately as she screamed for her to wake up. "MOMMY! please don't go! Wake up Mommy ,please!!"
The echoes came again when the realization that she was not going to wake up finally hit her.
"Ella, stay down ,okay!?"
"Be a good girl and stay under , mommy!"
"Don't cry , sweetheart ,just stay with mommy, okay?"
"Ella! Ella! Ellaaa!"
She remembered it perfectly, when her mother said this with a her usual smile, multiple bullets were ravaging her back. She bled right on her dress but held on to her fading life force until the firing finally ceased...and her smile never faded.
Everything was coming back to her all at once. She couldn't stop screaming and pulling her hair as the tears refused to dry.
But all it took was one more echo and her mind was completely broken.
"Daddy is with them."
As the first drop of rain splashed on her forehead, Ella's eyes turned red as her skin became pale ,white as snow. Tiyanak's curse had finally taken effect. Her tears stopped flowing and she made her way back to Marcos.
"Honestly, It's funny how humans treat us like villains... yet they always create their own demons" Tiyanak whispered.
クリエイターの想い 
Grey_Ember
Grey_Ember okay, kinda darker than it needed to be, I see that now but...well, still hope you enjoyed it. I know most people expect to see the mc in every chapter but, I mean, come on...I can't see the fun in that.
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