Blood.

[Metamancy 1767]

 

OOC:

Spoiler

This is the continuation to my previous post, Still Here. Again, this is a purely narrative post and none of the below information should be metagamed, all information in this post is only known to the characters involved. I’ll let the post speak for itself – it’s a much longer post than the last one, so grab a nice drink to read with, and enjoy!

 

“Sister.”

 

Avaline turned, and Leonardo was standing there, his sword in his hand. His eyes were wild, and the blade was stained with blood. A suffocating feeling clutched Avaline’s heart with an iron fist as she looked upon the sight.

 

Her surroundings were blurry, and the only thing she could see was her brother.

 

He stepped closer, the blade quivering in his hand. Avaline felt her breath catch in her throat, and she could not breathe. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

 

“Why did you leave?”

 

Avaline asked weakly. She had been meaning to ask him. Now that he was here, she could, at last, demand an answer. 

 

“I miss you.”

 

Leonardo did not speak another word, his eyes suddenly finding themselves shrouded in darkness. He stepped forth, an arm’s length from her, and suddenly swung that blade towards her neck, in an attempt to behead her.

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

A shrill shriek sounded out throughout the empty streets of Saint Godwinsburg as Avaline awoke with a start on the top floor of the Aldor estate.

 

She glanced about, a hand defensively risen to her neck, as though to catch a blade that aimed to behead her. 

 

A dream.

 

Avaline exhaled gently, her eyes softly closing as she slowly lowered her head back onto the pillow. It was the third night in a row she had had a dream of the sort. She felt the growing emptiness in her chest; the feeling was permanent, now. 

 

It was then that she noticed.

 

She quickly sat up in the bed, gathering her bearings. Where was she? This was not her room at the Helvets estate.

 

The memory of the previous night returned to her, slowly. Avaline had escaped the suffocating ball with Rothwin, and had returned to the Aldor estate. Through her lethargy and tiring conversation with Rothwin in which she had had to explain to Rothwin the matter of Leonardo, Rothwin had offered her rest in his room, such that she did not have to make the long walk back to the Helvets estate. Though it was, she supposed, a little strange that she had spent the night in a man’s room, it was certainly more comfortable than the confines of the room she had rotted away in for almost two years. 

 

She slowly slid out of bed, rubbing at her eyes. If nothing else, she had certainly overstayed her welcome at the Aldor home; it was time to leave. Despite how much the dream had left her shaken, Avaline managed to somewhat steadily make her way over to the door, slide it ever-so-slightly open, and peek her head out.

 

The halls of the Aldor home were empty. 

 

She stepped out of the room entirely, and made her way downstairs.

 

“Rothwin?”

 

Avaline called out, weakly.

 

“Roswyn? Is anyone home?”

 

The answer was made apparent for her in the silence.

 

Mulling over the dream, she made her way out of the Aldor home, retrieving her jacket from the coat hanger and pulling it tightly over herself. 

 

Leonardo.

 

Leonardo.

 

Leo.

 

The name echoed in her ears, and she had to shut her eyes tight as she shivered in the winter cold to drown out the voice in her head. 

 

Leonardo.

 

Leonardo.

 

Another shrill shriek sounded out through the streets of Saint Godwinsburg as Avaline fell to her knees, clutching her head. She could barely recall the last time she had seen her twin brother, for she had still been suffering from pneumonia when she had. She could barely stand the idea of him standing amongst the elves and dwarves, fighting against the Crown.

 

Traitor.

 

Brother.

 

The streets were empty, and not a soul had heard her scream.

 

Her eyes wide, she shakily stumbled to her feet, clutching her head with one hand. 

 

A prospect – an idea – sparked to life in her mind, burning brightly like a bonfire. 

 

She felt her feet begin to run home, to change into her travelling clothes. 

 

To turn herself to Dahlia. 

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

“Oh, Guinevere!”

 

Avaline called out, pulling her scarf over her mouth and nose to hide her face. It was difficult to breathe, but it was her only option.

 

She tossed her hood over her head and pulled herself on top of her steed. 

 

Where might Leonardo be? He had mentioned Urguan.

 

Before the war, before her sickness, Avaline had visited the Urguan vassal of Cerulia on what she had thought at the time was a grand adventure. If she recalled correctly, she was on the ledger. 

 

That meant she could almost guarantee herself unquestioned entry.

 

…one had to start somewhere.

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

Avaline rode up to the gates of Cerulia, her head pounding in her ears and her breaths shallow from how long her mouth and nose had been covered by her scarf. 

 

She dismounted some distance away from the gates, striding with some hesitance up to those iron bars–

 

And there he was.

 

A man with black hair stood within the gatehouse, speaking to the woman on gate duty. And on the other side of the gates– there he was. 

 

Leonardo.

 

So close, yet so far.

 

Avaline could only watch on in rage, in unending grief, in confusion as the inner gates opened for the man within the gatehouse. 

 

Leonardo offered Dahlia a wave.

 

Her heart in her throat, Avaline – no, Dahlia, at the moment – averted her gaze, staring down at the floor. There he was. Her brother; the man she had spent her later teens with, the man she had learned how to be an adult with, her twin. With his hair and eye color identical to Avaline’s and his tall, bulky build, it was impossible to mistake him. 

 

“Welp, she’s rude,”

 

Leonardo mumbled as she looked away.

 

The outer gates opened for her to step inside.

 

Avaline stepped into the gatehouse as the man who had entered before her conversed with her brother. 

 

“...good day,” 

 

“Dahlia” spoke, facing the woman on gate duty.

 

“My name is Dahlia. I should be on the ledger.”

 

As the woman gave her a nod and began shuffling through the ledger, Avaline could see and hear, in her peripheral, Leonardo saying:

 

“Let's go, Fred, we got a lesson to begin.”

 

Fred. Was that the man with black hair’s name? 

 

And what was his relationship to Leonardo? Was he a threat? By the sound of it, he seemed a student; and Avaline began to recall that Leonardo was supposedly a master alchemist. 

 

She did not register that the two were leaving until they were already almost out of her vision. She quickly turned to the inner gate, hoping to say something – anything – to stop him. Alas, no words managed to work their way into her mind, let alone past her lips. So she could only turn back to the woman on gate duty, hoping to get inside – and catch up, perhaps – as soon as possible.

 

Leonardo and Fred vanished, and Avaline felt her heart fall into her stomach.

 

“Indeed you are! Then all that remains is, I ask for your weapons,”

 

The gate guard was saying in the meantime. 

 

Avaline instinctively reached for her self-defense knife at her side, ready to turn it in; though something stopped her hand. That very something screamed at her to keep hold of it, to not turn it in. 

 

“I carry none,”

 

“Dahlia” lied. She was getting quite good at lying.

 

“Very well…”

 

The woman spoke in response, with little trace of suspicion. 

 

“May I ask why you are visiting? Since your last visit was a while ago.”

 

Oh. That was not good.

 

Avaline desperately searched her mind for an answer that was anything but the truth. Why she had to hide the truth, she was not sure; she only knew that she had to.

 

“I-”

 

She felt her voice catch, and suddenly, she could not breathe. She frantically took a few deep breaths, just as she had practiced so many times over, and finally found an excuse.

 

“Shopping,”

 

She lied unconvincingly.

 

The woman on gate duty tilted her head, suspicious now if she was not before.

 

“...are you sure that’s why you’re here?”

 

This was it, surely. She would be caught and slaughtered. Her life would end here.

 

“…I carry no ill intention,”

 

She promised, a desperate plea to be let in. If she were to be caught and killed here, she would at least have to see her brother one last time. 

 

The woman paused, considering “Dahlia’s” words. She then shrugged.

 

“Very well. Welcome to Cerulia!”

 

By some miracle, the gates were cranked open, and Avaline was granted entry.

 

Without so much as a thanks to the guard, she near-stumbled into the city.

 

She was greeted by the pristine blue-and-white city, with its brick roofs and fantastical architecture. When she had first visited, she had been in awe; now, there was no time to admire Cerulia’s beauty.

 

She quickly got ahold of a stranger, a dark elf, and asked somewhat desperately:

 

“Excuse me. Do you know where I might find the home of the good Leonardo Helvets?” 

 

She had to force out the words good and Helvets – for was Leonardo really either?

 

The dark elf only shook her head. 

 

“Xye, not off the top of my head.”

 

Xye? What did that mean? Was that no in dark elven? Sorry, perhaps?

 

Avaline mumbled a quick thank you before continuing on her search. Leonardo and his student Fred were nowhere in sight; and so she could do nothing but continue knocking on doors, interrupting the days of strangers, and asking:

 

“Have you seen the good Leonardo Helvets?”

 

“Apologies, but do you know where the residence of the good Leonardo Helvets is?”

 

“Hello, do you–”

 

More and more no’s and sorry’s and I don’t think so’s were tossed at her carelessly. Helpless, she could only continue knocking on doors.

 

Eventually, she found herself entering a strange underground residence, with peculiar lighting and houses that were built into the walls.

 

Perhaps Leonardo lived here? 

 

She knocked on the first door she saw.

 

“No, sorry.”

 

She knocked on the second.

 

“I’m not sure…”

 

Defeated, she felt just about ready to give up. She knocked on the third, and the door slowly creaked open following a few muffled calls from inside. 

 

Avaline gazed down at the floor as the door opened, the words now practiced several times over spilling from her lips.

 

“Excuse me. Do you know where I may find the home of–”

 

She glanced upwards, fighting the hopeless tears, only to find herself looking into the eyes of Leonardo Frederick Helvets.

 

“...you.”

 

Leonardo took a step back at the immediate hostility in her voice. It was clear he did not recognize her in her disguise. 

 

“Fred, I'm not liking this already,”

 

Leonardo called into the house before turning back to the cloaked Avaline.

 

“...and you are?”

 

Now that she was here, she was not entirely sure of what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, the rage, the grief, the confusion all bubbling within her, but no words came.

 

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, one in confusion, one in what could, perhaps, be considered hatred.

 

It was only as she felt herself pulling down her scarf and throwing off her hood that the words began spilling like water from a shattered dam.

 

“You would think a man would recognize his own sister,”

 

She seethed, the weeks, the months of pent-up emotion threatening to burst.

 

“But I suppose you are no longer a brother, or a man, are you?”

 

Leonardo’s eyes widened in horror as he at last recognized her venomous expression. He went pale, his face losing all color, and he quickly grabbed Avaline and dragged her into the home.

 

“What in god's name are you here for? Fred, get your ass down here,”

 

Leonardo began to ramble in a panic. Avaline felt her entire body go into a state of shock as he laid his hands on her. She had to force herself out of her own panic to realize what was happening, and quickly shoved him off of her as roughly as she could with what little strength she had.

 

She wheezed a little, her lungs unable to keep up with the dusty underground air and the stress of the situation. She took a moment to catch her breath, bending over and resting her hands on her knees, before she was at last able to rise to her full height. 

 

“…Firstly, let me just say that I hate you.”

 

She glowered at him as she felt her entire body begin to tense horribly. Her hands clenched into tight fists, and her shoulders rose ever-so-slightly towards her ears in tension.

 

“Not constructive – why are you here, and how did you know I was here?”

 

Avaline ignored him, stepping forth and aggressively poking at his chest. 

 

“You - have you any idea what you've done? The family reputation has been smeared with your blood. What am I to tell my siblings - your siblings? I hate you - I despise you.”

 

Her breaths remained shallow, and she found herself having to take deep breaths in between her sentences. Involuntary tears began to fall from her eyes, down her cheeks, and onto the dusty wood below. Try as she did, she could not stop them for the life of her. A terrible desperation crept into her voice as she continued on.

 

“Ever since you have been gone, life has resumed as though you were never there. Except you are not there. And I cannot stand it, I cannot bear it one bit.”

 

It was apparently Leonardo’s turn on the offensive, for his expression contorted into one of mild annoyance as he returned her anger in equal wrath.

 

“So the woman who tried to turn me in to Imperial officers missed me?”

 

It appeared a highly doubtful prospect to him. He glanced to his right, at Fred, who had reappeared, this time wearing a dark red hood.

 

“Also, Freddy, I'm 80% sure she knows who you are. You look stupid.”

 

Avaline did not, in fact, know who he was, nor did she care, too hyperfixated on her brother to pay attention to anything, anything else at all.

 

“Also, don't lie to Learza, she's a kind lady and doesn't deserve being lied to. Rather overworked, too – and why did you go with Dahlia as your name?”

 

His seeming lack of care for the gravity of the situation at hand only fueled her anger. She felt herself begin to tremble.

 

“…You keep on saying my name,”

 

Spoke a disgruntled Fred. Freddy? Avaline was not sure of his name, at this point.

 

“That's why I'm pretty sure she already knows you,”

 

Leonardo returned in jest.

 

“Also, look at the book Fred got me.”

 

Leonardo, still apparently unable to grasp the intensity of the situation, presented her with a book that read: Blood Magic.

 

Avaline was unable to even comprehend what this could mean through her anger as Fred continued to speak.

 

“Yes, Fred… your boyfriend,”

 

That Fred spoke slyly, before planting a kiss on Avaline’s brother’s cheek and whispering in his ear. 

 

It was almost comedic, the way Leonardo smacked Fred over the head with the book following the whisper. And yet still, none of it truly registered to Avaline, and she only shot Fred a glare of death before prattling on. Her knees buckled as she continued to speak, and had to cling to Leonardo to prevent herself from falling.

 

“Please, Leonardo.”

 

Her voice shook terribly, and the real intent of having come began to become apparent. 

 

“Come back. Beg before the Crown. You may be whipped, but you may live yet. When the almighty Crown burns this city to the ground, where will you be? When you face Adrian and Richard on the battlefield, where will your blade be? Please, Leonardo. Do not do this to our family. I cannot stand your absence one bit. Do it for me, if nothing else.”

 

“I don't like Adrian – and who's Richard – and I would probably kill them both – and I'm not begging to no false crown, or false Empire, and Cerulia will not fall, and doing it for you is not as convincing as it might seem. My choice has already been cemented in stone,”

 

Leonardo retorted in one, single, long breath. It was as though lightning had struck Avaline; Adrian and Richard’s faces flashed before her eyes, and she could see their blades clashing, she could see–

 

A terrible wave of grief overcame her. Oh, Leonardo. How had things turned out like this?

 

“Also, Fred said he wanted a date with you; that's what he whispered,”

 

Leonardo added as an afterthought.

 

Avaline felt a boundless darkness begin to build within her heart. Slowly, as she began to comprehend those words, she came to a terrible realization:

 

Her brother had died a long time ago.

 

Whoever was standing before her now – this monster – was not the silly, brutish teen that had made her cry all those years ago. This – this was some strange abomination of war, some blood-creation that should never have happened.

 

Avaline felt herself stumble, and had to support herself against a nearby wall to prevent herself from falling to the floor.

 

If this was not her brother, then who was he?

 

The answer was clear.

 

The man standing before her was the enemy. 

 

Slowly, Avaline rose and swallowed, hard. She gazed down at the floor, stepping close to her brother – no, to Leonardo.

 

She spread her arms wide.

 

“…Then, before I go, let me hold you. One last time. Like we would when we were teens.”

 

She felt the concealed knife at her side burning into her waist.

 

For the first time, an actual conflict could be seen behind Leonardo’s eyes; yet Avaline could not see it. His thoughts apparently running wild and his eyes darting from side to side, Leonardo moved into the embrace.

 

“Alright, you big baby – one last hug.”

 

Avaline felt his large frame connect with hers, and there was only one thing in her heart.

 

Hatred.

 

“Do me a favor – don't tell anyone you saw me here. You are the third to know I live here and only the third,”

 

Leonardo whispered as she felt herself trembling in his arms. 

 

“...okay.”

 

Avaline’s trembling hand slowly made for the dagger at her side. She felt her hand wrap snugly around the hilt of the blade. 

 

In the next moment, that blade pierced the skin of Leonardo’s neck, driving itself deep into his flesh with all of Avaline’s meagre strength. 

 

Leonardo collapsed onto the ground almost immediately, his throat filling with blood as he began to bleed out.

 

The dagger clattered to the floor, and Avaline could do naught but stare on in horror at what she had done.

 

Her eyes found Leonardo’s. Her entire body began to convulse violently at the sight of all the blood. 

 

“...Leonardo?”

 

No. No. Had she really– was she truly a– 

 

“...MURDERER!”

 

Leonardo’s supposed boyfriend, Fred, screamed as he fell to Leonardo’s side and pulled out an axe, in case Avaline made another move.

 

“...LEON- LEO! LEO, WAKE UP!”

 

There was a rough banging on the door.

 

“Cerulite guard, open the door!”

 

Avaline’s eyes darted frantically to the door, and she involuntarily found herself running as fast as she could – further into the house.

 

The door was broken down, bursting open. The woman from the gatehouse – Learza, was it? – as well as the dark elf that Avaline had originally asked for directions rushed into Leonardo’s residence as they scanned the scene.

 

“Leo?” 

 

Learza, the woman from the gatehouse, spoke in horror as her gaze panned firstly to Fred, who was standing over Leonardo with an axe, then to Avaline, who was running from the scene. 

 

“Back away!”

 

The dark elf commanded Fred as she dropped to her knees before Avaline’s brother, readying a medical kit. The dark elf’s head inclined in Avaline’s direction as she looked to Learza:

 

“Detain her.”

 

Fred was happy to do as asked, rising from Leonardo’s side to begin giving chase to the fleeing Avaline. 

 

Learza, too, made after Avaline, blade in hand. 

 

Avaline ran up a stony stairwell, not quite looking back, and continued running – only to find herself facing a balcony.

 

She looked down in utter horror; it was a drop that she could not survive if she fell.

 

She pressed herself against the fence and turned, prepared to face her demise, as Fred approached with his axe. He pointed the sharp edge at Avaline, demanding:

 

“Down on the ground, ******* now.”

 

Avaline could only do as commanded, curling up into a fetal position upon that balcony, sobbing gently to herself. 

 

She was a murderer.

 

She had killed her brother.

 

Fred, surprisingly, did not strike her immediately, only moving to search her, mumbling,

 

“I ain't letting this sneaky fucker keep her blades.”

 

Avaline, of course, carried no more weapons.

 

“Very well, remove the hood and wait by the wall behind me once you are done,”

 

Learza ordered Fred. She then approached Avaline, sheathing her blade and withdrawing some rope.

 

“Lady. Hands together. Now.”

 

Avaline extended both her arms, resigned, her face buried in her knees. Through the tears, she could not see a thing – she could only hear the shing of the axe as Fred brought it down to cut off her hand, and the thud of Learza intercepting it just in time.

 

“No! Judgement is yet to be decided.”

 

Avaline could scarcely comprehend any of it. The only thing ringing in her ears was her brother’s name, once more.

 

Leonardo.

 

Leonardo.

 

Leonardo.

 

Somewhere in the back of Avaline’s mind, she heard Fred’s axe clatter to the floor and him mumbling,

 

“Judgement better be death…”

 

Learza could be heard sighing.

 

“Leo is a friend of mine too… This is ne easy for any of us, now.”

 

Avaline felt her hands be bound in a secure knot.

 

“Sir. Could you remove the hood? You are both to be questioned at the very least,” 

 

Learza spoke unto Fred.

 

“I will not in the presence of the lady, for a number of reasons, that you can speak to Peter of Beleth about…”

 

Fred snarled. 

 

Who was Peter of Beleth?

 

Either way, Avaline was scarcely listening, her tears falling to the floor in streams of droplets. 

 

“That is fine, you will not be required to unhood right now in front of the suspect. You will be given apart cells, until clarity of events is found by those who pass judgement.”

 

Avaline was pulled onto her feet, and the sounds of the commotion faded away as she was dragged out of Leonardo’s home and back out into the streets of Cerulia. 

 

She was left with only the pounding of her heart in her head, and the sounds of her ragged breaths.

 

She could not breathe…

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

Avaline pulled the covers more tightly around herself, but it did not help with the pressing cold.

 

There was no fire in the room, and it was the middle of one of the harshest winters Avaline had ever seen.

 

She felt her very bones begin to freeze as she coughed violently, leaving her breathless as her lungs burned in their attempt to draw air again.

 

She attempted to sit up in bed, though made the attempt too quickly, and her head spun as she collapsed back onto her pillow with a groan.

 

Am I really going to die like this? 

 

She raised a hand to her forehead to feel her burning fever. Her arm felt heavy in the gesture, and it took her almost a full minute just to raise her hand to her head.

 

Time blurred together. How long had it been? Days? Months? It felt close to a year, now. 

 

Sweat soaked her sheets, despite the cold. It seemed as though one moment, she would be burning in her clothes, and the next, freezing despite the layers of blankets she pulled over herself.

 

She drew in another deep breath. Her lungs burned; oh, how they burned. It was a terrible, terrible feeling, that triggered another horrific coughing fit that left her gasping for air afterwards.

 

Every breath was torture. Every second stretched infinitely on, yet the weeks passed by when she blinked.

 

How much longer?

 

She felt her eyelids grow heavy. It was bright outside, still, but sleep called to her. 

 

If I fall asleep, will I stop breathing? 

 

She was unable to deduce an answer before her consciousness slipped away once more, stolen away by sleep.

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

Avaline fell sideways onto the chair in the prison cell, still sobbing gently to herself. It was a terrible, pained sound, for through her struggles to breathe and her tears, it seemed she very well may have been about to die of suffocation.

 

Learza leaned upon the wall opposite Avaline, looking pitifully onto the murderer.

 

“Are you capable of speech?”

 

“Y-yes,” 

 

Avaline half-wheezed.

 

“What can you tell me about what happened?”

 

The Cerulite guard’s voice was calm and low, controlled as she questioned Avaline.

 

“Leonardo,”

 

Avaline moaned, shivering as though it was freezing. It was, in truth, quite warm in the cell.

 

“Leonardo.”

 

Learza pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

 

“Who is Leo to you?”

 

“Leonardo Frederick Helvets,”

 

Avaline recited.

 

“My name is Avaline Helvets.”

 

Learza nodded, deep in thought.

 

“So you are family.”

 

“I am going to cut it a bit short. Who stabbed him?”

 

Who? Who had stabbed Leonardo? Who was the murderer?

 

“Me!”

 

Avaline near-screamed, choking on her own sobs.

 

“I am a murderer. I attempted to kill my brother. There. Why am I still alive?”

 

“For I must know if you did this freely, or not,”

 

Learza continued on.

 

“Why kill your brother?”

 

“I don't know,” 

 

Avaline bemoaned through harsh gasps and terrible wheezes. The tears, they did not stop; and they were affecting her ability to breathe.

 

“I don't know. Oh, Leonardo… Leonardo….”

 

Learza, the elfess, paused.

 

“You don't know why you would kill your own brother? As a sister myself, I would need an insanely convincing reason to do so. And your panic attack suggests the same for you…”

 

Avaline could not bring herself to respond. She only descended into heavier, more painful sobs.

 

Though, it was a good question. Why had she done it? There was, truly, no explanation. She was a monster. She had become some strange abomination of war, some blood-creation that should never have happened.

 

“Was it an order? A punishment? I know he was once Imperial.”

 

Avaline could only find one answer in her heart.

 

“I did it. Because I am evil!”

 

“Do you regret doing it?”

 

The elfess countered almost immediately.

 

Avaline opened her mouth to respond, though found that she could not.

 

Did she regret it?

 

Externally, she could be seen blubbering unintelligibly, unable to answer.

 

Learza’s tone grew colder.

 

“If you hope to keep that hand of yours, I will need a reason to not let that hooded one take it from you.”

 

Avaline began to panic. Her hand; she could not have her hand cut off. 

 

She made another weak attempt at speech, but every time she tried to speak, her breaths caught in her throat, threatening to choke her.

 

Learza observed Avaline’s breathing carefully.

 

“I hope you aren't asthmatic,”

 

The elfess muttered, unaware that Avaline was still recovering from pneumonia.

 

Learza drew in a deep breath, then exhaled.

 

“Can you try and follow my breathing slowly?”

 

It was strange, really, to have her captors attempt to steady her breathing. The gentle encouragement, however, allowed Avaline to steady her breathing, at least to a relative degree, once more.

 

A trapdoor above opened, and the dark elf from earlier gazed down at Learza and Avaline.

 

“What's going on?”

 

“She's having a panic attack. But confirmed she stabbed him…”

 

“Well, that makes it easier… come out whenever you have the chance.”

 

Learza continued to assist Avaline in steadying her breathing, and soon, Avaline found herself capable of speech once more.

 

“Care to try and tell me more?”

 

Avaline had to reach deep into her muddled thoughts to put the timeline back into place. There was a deep, empty hollowness in her chest, as though someone had pierced a hole right through it. Somewhere through the agony, Avaline found herself explaining to Learza, coming up with all sorts of excuses for what she had done.

 

“He told me that he would kill my brothers. And told me that he would fight against the crown. So I stabbed him.”

 

Sob. Sob.

  

“I see… your brothers being of the Empire I take it?”

 

Avaline could only nod in response, for the tears found themselves overflowing once more. Learza hummed in thought.

 

“Soldiers, what’s going on here?”

 

A voice could be heard from outside.

 

“That's uh- some extreme sibling rivalry, no?”

 

“...”

 

Learza sighed, looking upon Avaline with pity.

 

“I have asked all I could. I'll let you rest up a bit, alright?”

 

At last, Learza was gone. The door to the cell creaked shut gently, leaving Avaline to her bound hands and her boundless tears.

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

How much time had passed? Minutes? Hours? Avaline wept through it all within that small cell, alone with no one but her thoughts and a murderer.

 

At last – after eons – the trapdoor above opened once more, and a cursed child could be seen dangling a sandwich from a fishing rod.

 

“Hungry?”

 

Weakly, Avaline looked up. 

 

Food? 

 

She realized that she was, in fact, starving. 

 

She reached up to take the sandwich, only to realize that her hands were bound.

 

After a moment’s consideration, the cursed child jumped down into the cell. Avaline felt herself reeling from him – this was the first time in her life she had seen a “Blessed” Child of Ixris. And yet, she could not resist as he searched her for weapons, confirming she had none.

 

“You know lass, why'ya stab em.”

 

Avaline sobbed quietly through it all.

 

“Because I am evil.” 

 

The devil moved to replace the ropes that bound her hands with shackles, allowing her room to pick up and eat the sandwich.

 

“Not everyone is good or evil. Descendants are a fine line between such. What you did was wrong. That much, you can admit. Family, in this accursed world is one thing to be cherished. But should you ne be pressed on charges – take this as a lesson, miss.”

 

The voice of the cursed child faded into obscurity as Avaline felt her soul shatter and leave through her mouth. 

 

“All are not perfect, but we learn from losses, not victory.”

 

With shaking hands, Avaline reached for the sandwich. It was likely her last meal, after all. She took the tiniest of bites, her heart burning with – something. Was it shame?

 

She looked at the devil with wide eyes, in complete lack of understanding. 

 

“…So when is my execution?”

 

Avaline asked weakly.

 

“That depends on your brother and my verdict,”

 

The devil spoke calmly.

 

It depended on Leonardo? But was he not dead?

 

“Let me ask you this. Did you do it as you two were on opposite sides?”

 

What a peculiar question. Was that true? Did she kill her brother because of the war?

 

Avaline nodded, slowly. She was unsure as to whether or not she was lying.

 

Then, suddenly:

 

“I am going to sit, standing hurts,”

 

A familiar voice spoke from outside the cell.

 

Avaline’s eyes darted to the door. 

 

Leonardo?

 

“Leonardo!”

 

Avaline shrieked shrilly, the hole in her chest finding itself magically mended. 

 

“Leonardo!”

 

“Miss, I've seen almost five empires rise and fall, none of them have been pleasant. You fight for a corrupt lord. Though we shall now see his word,”

 

The devil, who apparently held some position of power in Cerulia, spoke calmly. 

 

“Are there any words you wish to give him?”

 

“Yup, that’s the shrill screech of a demon right there,” 

 

Leonardo could be heard murmuring outside. Avaline ignored the cursed child entirely.

 

“Oh… you're alive… you're alive… oh… Leonardo…”

 

The devil stepped out of the cell. Muffled discussions could be heard through the wall as Avaline was, once more, left with her thoughts.

 

Leonardo was alive. Leonardo was alive.

 

She felt her heart leap into her throat, but in a different way this time.

 

Leonardo was alive.

 

What did that make her? Was she still a murderer? She was unsure. Avaline could only hold her head, her thoughts screaming at her, as the trapdoor above opened.

 

“...I have one question for you.”

 

Avaline looked up at the cursed child, in despair. 

 

“Do you regret what you've done to your brother? And answer truthfully.”

 

If the answer was not clear before, it was now. Avaline felt the tears begin to fall at full force again.

 

Her brother was alive.

 

Her brother.

 

At long last, she nodded.

 

“Then I shall give you your verdict. Stand,”

 

The devil announced.

 

Avaline stumbled to her feet. She thought of Rothwin, of Roswyn. She thought of Eugenie, of Adrian, of Richard. She thought of Susanna, she thought of Leonardo.

 

She could see their faces.

 

She had not gotten to say goodbye.

 

“For Attempted Murder: Class B, Assault with deadly weapon: Class B and Obstruction and attempt of escape: Class C. Your charges are as follows,”

 

The devil rumbled.

 

And, for the first time, Avaline felt ready to die.

 

“Two moon hours of Jailtime. One-thousand minas fine. Banishment till a sum of materials worth labour to the sum of two-thousand five-hundred minas worth of work is paid, as well as half of your hair as a blood tribute.”

 

Avaline looked up at the devil. She had no time to comprehend that she had not been sentenced to death before the immensity of the fine was laid on her.

 

Her family was destitute. A one-thousand mina fine? She could not possibly do this to them. Death would have been preferable, even.

 

Avaline shook her head desperately.

 

“That is my verdict. And I shall be put in writing with your blood as a seal.”

 

“Be lucky thy brother is more merciful than I.”

 

The trapdoor was shut once more, and Avaline was left to accept the immensity of what had just occurred.

 

She was allowed to live.

 

She put the thought of the heavy fine aside for one moment, reveling in her survival. 

 

A thought crept into her mind, then.

 

If this was the Empire.

 

I would not even have been questioned.

 

I would have been beheaded.

 

And yet, they let me live.

 

…why?

 

A moment later, the devil reentered the cell, with a piece of paper in his hand. 

 

“Your hand,” 

 

He commanded. Avaline extended her shackled hand as ordered.

 

A dagger was drawn out, and an incision just barely deep enough to draw blood was made on Avaline’s thumb. She flinched, reeling at the sight of the blood.

 

“Read, then sign. This is your debt. Once sighed, turn around for your hair to be cut.”

 

Avaline read over the paper. It outlined the details of her debt clearly: A one-thousand mina fine. Banishment until two-thousand five-hundred minas worth of work is paid. And half of her hair as tribute.

 

She signed with the blood on her thumb, before turning around to allow her hair to be cut.

 

She did not think much of it, until she felt that sharp blade upon her hair, and the weight being lifted from it as half its length was removed.

 

Her hair. 

 

What did her hair represent? She would have to think more of it. That hollow feeling in her chest returned.

 

She had taken such great care of her hair…

 

Meanwhile, Leonardo could be heard laughing, making jokes, and conversing with the guards outside.

 

For the first time throughout the entire day, Avaline found herself smiling.

 

She was alive. And so was her brother.

 

Avaline was led out of the cell, only able to catch a fleeting glimpse of her brother, before being forced to pay all the mina she could. She had two-hundred and one to her name; only seven-hundred and ninety-nine remained.

 

And then, she was led out of the gates, and unshackled. 

 

Guinevere blinked at her short hair in confusion.

 

“Are there any questions you have?”

 

The dark elf, who had led her outside, asked. 

 

Avaline shook her head, slowly, clutching the hole in her heart.

 

The maehr disappeared back into the city gates, leaving Avaline once more to the wilderness.

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

Avaline rode through the wilderness, as fast as she could, tears trailing behind her. She was quite the skilled rider; it was one of the few things that her sickness had not taken from her, her ability to ride.

 

She had not a penny to her name, her beautiful hair was gone, and there was an empty hole in her heart.

 

And yet, despite everything, despite her tears, she smiled the whole way home. 

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

“Good eve, sister,” 

 

Spoke a merry Eugenie as Avaline arrived back in Saint Godwinsburg as she eyed Avaline’s travelling garb with confusion.

 

“You return home late.”

 

Avaline felt herself collapse to her knees, and the tears began to fall once more.

 

“...Eugenie.”

 

•───────────────────•°•❀•°•───────────────────•

 

[StingyParrot 1595]

Spoiler

peak 

 

[Galion 44]

Fire tho I was compelled to read it at like 1 am

[PrinceJose270 1211]

Loved Rping with ya that day Meta. Hope you had a blast with it all!