บท 48: Chapter Forty-Eight
This statement brought a smile to Sir Lucian. "My King," he seemed breathless as he, too, kneeled. "It is an honour to be the one to bring you back."
"So, this is your doing?" Anita spat. She marched up to him and backhanded him; it created more sound than damage.
"My league?" Sir Lucian took a hand to his face but seemed more shocked.
"How long hast it been since the fall of the monarch?" Anita rubbed the back of her hand as if it were sore.
Sir Lucian hesitated before answering. "Perhaps two centuries, sire."
Anita's eyes widened, "Two centuries!" She appeared angered by the news, "How dare it take thee two hundred years to deliver mine vengeance! All those whom I find dear be gone, and those I loathe be further so!"
Raphael bit down on his lip at the sight of Anita. Her eyes now bright green, aside from a passing comment of a headache and the occasional tilting of her head, she showed no signs of being in pain. "So why am I summoned then? I cannot be vengeful to mine enemies if mine enemies no longer exist!" Anita seemed outraged, "And in a vessel such as this? A mere child? And a girl no less! How, if I am to be any authority, shall I strike fear in a body such as this?" Anita seemed genuinely irritated.
"Sire I-"
"Silence!" Anita held a hand out to him, "I shall do with what I have, no matter how disconcerting. Give me a blade so I may test my ability."
Sir Lucian again hesitated but obeyed as he passed her his sword. She looked to expect to be able to hold it, but her weaker arm dropped from the sudden weight of a full-length sword.
"What is this tomfoolery?" she hissed, lifting the weapon with both hands.
In anger, she twirled with the sword and chucked it, the blade skidding to a stop close to Raphael's face. He saw the reflection of his eyes.
"Uhh…" Sir Lucian stumbled with his words until he revealed a small dagger and presented it to her, "Perhaps something such as this?"
The dagger had a golden handle and a clean slate of steel. When Anita took it, she tossed it between her hands, able to see the reflection in the waterfall behind her in its cold gleam. "Oh, this is lovely." She admitted with a few swipes at the air. She started blinking countlessly as if something were in her eye. She took a few steps closer to Sir Lucian before suddenly kicking her leg up under his chin and striking him. The force sent the knight backwards, crashing into the ground and sending everyone into a moment of shock.
No one aided him as Anita jumped on top of him and pressed the dagger against his throat. By now, other knights had realised the threat and moved in with their weapons, but she bellowed out threats, one after the other in both English and French. Raphael's guard turned his attention to her, and Maria's discarded her to help his boss.
"If any of you come near me, I'll cut his head off!" Anita threatened.
Raphael pushed himself to his feet and went to grab her, determined to protect her from the situation. Because while the threat was genuine, and she did hold a knife to the man's throat, Anita was a lean eleven-year-old girl whose knees couldn't reach the floor when she straddled the man's chest. In the time of a single glance up, Sir Lucian disarmed the girl and rolled over, pinning her to the ground and holding the dagger at her throat.
Raphael was strides away from tackling him, from cursing at him for touching her. Anita appeared to have a fit that lasted seconds, and when it finished, her eyes were green. She demanded, "What is this? Release me this instance!" she demanded, new aggression filling her, "You dare to touch your King!"
Taken aback, Sir Lucian lifted the dagger and rose, allowing His Highness to stand. "My deepest… apologies, sire." He was hesitant as Anita stood up, clearly frazzled by the incident like the onlookers.
Maria looked to Raphael for some form of explanation, but he could offer none.
Anita saw the dagger in Sir Lucian's hand and held a hand out, "Give me that dagger. A King should never be unarmed, especially when there's the potential of espionage in his presence."
Sir Lucian vacillated again and voiced concern over handing her the dagger. When Anita responded with outrage, the knight attempted to explain what had just happened.
"You tell tales, my boy," The Unknown Prince stated as he patted Sir Lucian on the arm as if they were the same size and he was a male, "That's ludicrous. Mad even. Surely I would have remembered something such as that." Quietly, the little girl took the dagger from his hands and stood away, balancing the dagger's blade in a rip of the dress. The prince looked around at their subjects and smirked, "So these are my men?"
"Umm… Yes, sire." Sir Lucian rested a hand on his sword.
Raphael felt his mouth run dry as he tried to understand if Anita was acting or someone else was in her head. Her demeanour was the same, the way she walked, held her hands and looked around, but her speech was different and considerable in authority she just didn't have.
The little girl's eyes fell on the Queen, who remained tied to her chair with a gag in her mouth. Like Raphael, she appeared confused and conflicted on how to act, eventually choosing a stern expression. "And who is this? Surely not the next person you planned on sticking me in, surely." They released a bellow at their own joke.
"Umm… no, sire. That's the current monarch of Paris," Sir Lucian informed sheepishly as he stood by the King.
The girl released what should have been a low chuckle but appeared a slight giggle, "Surely you jest. This old hag being? Where is the King at this moment?"
"There is no King, your Highness," one of the other knights chimed in.
Anita scoffed, "Well, isn't that an absurdity." She leant on her knees and looked at the Queen like one would look at a bug in a jar, "No King? How on earth is anything ever done?"
"Only the Lord knows, sire," Sir Lucian agreed. This gave him a hard stare from Her Majesty.
Anita's head suddenly started twitching, and she groaned as she held her head. "Your Highness?" Sir Lucian went to touch her, but she flailed when he came near.
She held the blade out threateningly again, demanding everything stay away from her.
Similar to before, the other knights held their blade ready to attack, but just as quickly as it came, Claude Albrecht returned, confessing to a sudden spurt of nausea and called out a demand for everyone to lower their weapons.
Not a second later, Anita started slashing blindly at the air, nearly hitting both the Queen and Sir Lucian more than once. But again, the Unknown Prince returned, this time agitated. "What is happening?!" he commanded someone to tell him.
Sir Lucian was at a loss for words and tripped over them when he tried to speak. "Umm… well… I…"
Anita squealed in pain as she hunched over, clutching her head. Raphael had had enough and sprinted over to her, ripping the necklace, breaking the chain and tossing it, the jewellery getting dangerously close to the edge.
Upon separation, Anita suddenly took deep, pained breaths as she started crying, pulling at the crown on her head but unable to get it off. The jewels on the crown glowed a furious green once again.
"Anita… sweetheart, it's me, Raphael," he attempted to soothe.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and attempted to lift her face, but her eyes remained the green hue as her hand snatched the chest of his shirt and lifted him. Her eyes, like the jewels, glowed as a small sphere of light formed in the palms of her hands. "You shall address me as King." When she threw him back, light pulsed from her fingertips as he crashed into other knights.
Anita started squealing in pain again as she staggered around the platform, everyone too frightened to approach her.
Raphael had landed on the metal armour plates of three men and the pointed corners of badges, bolts and a weapons holster. His side sent jolts of pain up his back, and when he leant on his hands, they too sent pain running up his arms. In a moment of clouded uncertainty, Maria's face flashed across his vision as she stood over him and helped him up, ignoring the blood coming from his hands.
"Where's Anita…?" Raphael managed to voice.
Maria was throbbing, his vision only seeing the dark ceiling and the blur of her golden hair. "What's happened to her, Raphael?" she asked, resting a hand against his back as he sat up.
"The hex mustn't be strong, or at least not strong enough to rip through her mind," Raphael stated, recalling what Anita had been saying earlier. "She's strong. Claude Albrecht can't take over her mind. She's fighting back." Maria helped him stand, "But she's not strong enough. She's only a little girl. We need to get the ring and crown from her."
"Ahh!" Another one of the knights was sent flying, a spider web of green light pulsing on his skin before evaporating, and he laid there too exhausted to move.
Anita growled in pain, stumbling dangerously close to the edge of the platform. Sir Lucian approached with his sword while her head was in her hands, her fingers trying to pull the crown off.
"Forgive me, your Majesty, I'll try again with someone else," Raphael heard him say as he lifted the sword to the side, ready to swing.
Raphael used Maria to push off and ran at him as he began to swing in a burst of sudden energy. In the momentum of tackling Sir Lucian, the pair fell over, and the sword lost its strength, but the edge connected with Anita's head right where the crown's rim was. The crown was jarred off her head as she fell over. It started rolling aimlessly around the edge of the platform. In a panic, Sir Lucian pushed Raphael off him and pursued it.
Raphael was tempted to run after the crown, to kick it before Sir Lucian got his hands on it, maybe even push him into the ravine below. But Anita laid on the ground, curled in a ball, shivering and crying. Her gold hair was tainted by red.
Raphael charged over to her, put her head in his lap and brushed aside some hair. She was in a similar state to a few nights ago when a stranger dropped her home. Her speech was blurred, her teeth ground, and she fitted horribly.
"Anita… Anita, shh, please, I'm here. I'm here, Anita," Raphael assured as he held her.
Anita pushed against him weakly, clearly tired as she attempted to roll away from him. But he held on, "Anita… Anita, please…" he quietly pleaded, "I'm right here. I'm right here." He held her hand, which still glowed jade green. "I'm not going to leave you alone. I'll make sure you're safe now, and this time I mean it, okay?" Raphael's fingers found the ring and started slowly pulling it off her, "It's okay, see? It's okay, I promise. You're okay. I'll make sure of that."
He held the ring in his hand and promptly pocketed it, returning his hand to hers.
"You promise…?" she spluttered. "You've promised that before…" Her words were fragile, but she breathed easier.
"I won't leave you," Raphael held her close, his chin resting on the top of her head.
"Oh, how touching." Sir Lucian grabbed Anita and pulled her away. Maria jumped on his back quickly, jerking him this way and that to make her let go of Anita. His armour was hard to cling to, and she was flicked off without incident.
As she laid there, her pendant rested on the edge of the platform. She groaned as she rolled over and reached for it. A sword point was near her hand, "I'll take that," Sir Lucian was above her, Anita in one arm his blade in the other.
Maria grabbed it, sat up and held it close. "This isn't yours…"
He moved the sword to her face. Anita whimpered in his arm as he tightened his hold around her neck. "I could argue it's not yours either."
Maria saw the fear in Anita's eyes and reluctantly handed over the locket. "Excellent."
"Parisian Police! Hands where we can see them!" someone demanded. The platform was suddenly overrun by dozens of police officers, each with their guns unholstered and their helmets tight firmly under their chins. They soon had the Unknown Royals surrounded, guns at the ready.
"Your Majesty?! Are you okay?" one of them said, shocked, as they untied her.
She dismissed their worry, "I'm fine. There are more pressing matters!"
Amongst them, Raphael saw Detective Riley. But that was the least of his worries as he stood up, seeing Anita was in trouble.
"Detective Riley!" Raphael called.
Upon seeing him, he rolled his eyes. "Shut up, thief. I know you left that note with me on purpose," he stated, producing the note Raphael had dropped at the police station. "Do you know how many entrances and catacombs there are?"
"Argue with me later, please!" Raphael pleaded.
"Stay back!" Sir Lucian placed the crown loosely on his own head and put the pendant in the same hand as the one that held Anita. He dropped his sword to scoop up a discarded dagger. While the rest of his men surrendered quickly, Sir Lucian snatched Anita, using her as a shield, as he backed away from the oncoming threat. "Stay back, or the girl gets it!"
"No!" Raphael ran forwards, standing between the line-up of police and Anita. He composed himself, "No. There's no need for that, Sir Lucian."
"Phantom! Get out of the way!" Detective Riley demanded.
Raphael dismissed him. "She's not worth much to you, Sir Lucian. Leave her be, please. She means everything to me," Raphael assured, "But she means nothing to you. You won't get anything from her. They don't want her; they want me. I'm the one you want as leverage, not her!"
"Don't try to" The crown glowed, making Sir Lucian hold his head and yell out in pain. His grip loosened enough for Anita to get out of his grasp, she started running towards Raphael.
"Oh no, you don't!" Sir Lucian ignored the pain and chased her, managing to grab her by the arm again and lift her. "When this is all over, I'll make sure that Phantom of yours is six feet under," he hissed in her ear, "I'll do anything to bring His Highness back, and you will help me do just that."
Anita grabbed his hand and bit down on his thumb. In response, he jerked away, his leg slipping on the edge as he fell backwards off the platform, taking the crown, the pendent and Anita with him.
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