ᴍʏ ᴜɴᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇᴅ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴍɪɴᴅ | ᴛᴇɴᴢᴀɪ & ᴋᴀʟɪ

[Tenzai]

#D69CFF​

I made loving you a blood sport
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ꜱᴘᴏʀᴛ | ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴛᴏᴋᴇɴ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

Would you invite me in again?
Let me pay for my arrogance?
Won't you show me your weakness?

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Unclaimed. That was the title the entity bestowed upon the accursed knight in training. Over the origin of his fallen angel blood, Nadir was labeled unworthy to love by those who held the power as matchmaker. No matter how much his hopeful supposed father in law could vouch for him, no matter how much his beloved princess could fall for him, there was only so much he could do against the powers that be which controlled the world. He was nothing more than a flawed cog in the wheel, a soul whose existence was never meant to be.

With a fallen angel as a mother and a human knight as his father, the knight in training had chosen to pursue the same virtues and values as his parents. Even if they were no longer with him to support him, they lived on through the hopes that stirred in his heart; That no matter how poor his upbringing, Nadir would be able to make a difference in this world to make it one that his princess could live proudly in... At least, that's what he had originally thought. While he pursued knighthood underneath the banner of the entity that dictated his fate in spite of the loss of his childhood friend and lover to another prince, what he never would've expected was to be commanded by his superiors to draw his weapon against the same woman that had made him take his first steps as a fledgling knight in the first place. He was given a simple order: To slay the princess.

Regardless of how he might have felt on the matter, Nadir decided to accept the order. Should anyone else have been given the task, he doubted they would've offered the same mercy that he would. In some corrupted way, it would've also helped him make good on the promise he made to her before they departed over ten years ago: That no matter what happened, they will reunite again. At least this way, they would find closure for their tragedy of a story. At least this way, they both would claim their peace of mind.

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[Hey, N. Are sure you could do this? The last knights that were sent to handle her have all gone MIA. If you have any feelings coming into it, I advise you turn around before you hold one of us back.] An icon of his friend speaking in his helmet's visor had stirred the knight from his nostalgic stupor. Nothing he could think would be able to diminish the gravity that was taking the life of the woman he treated as his soulmate. With his blade and pistol on his hip and his rifle in hand, the fallen angel gave his ally a nod. He was far from powerless, taking on many bounties of different monsters before. What difference was this save for his past relationship? [I'll be fine, just worry about yourself.]

Deployed as a team of five knights including himself to take on the dungeon she was supposedly imprisoned in, Nadir found out through briefing that the monstrous his princess had used to protect before was what made her a target. It made him sick to his stomach knowing that he was riding a gunship sent with the purpose of deploying a kill-team in mind, though he understood its purpose; The cold wilds that her dungeon was built in to keep out of the eyes of the public was dangerous; Full of monsters that sought to end any unfortunate enough to come along their path. It had served as a security mechanic, both ensuring that curious wanderers would stay away for the sake of their own safety while adding another layer of imprisonment, preventing those inside from wishing to wander beyond. Though from rumors, the prison that her lover had stashed her in had fallen to unknown hands; Whether that be of an outsider's doing or that of her own had yet to be decided as those who were deployed never came back.

[Landing one hundred meters away from the dungeon. Be safe and be careful.] The pilot aboard had spoken through the comms channel to make the team inside the passenger bay aware of their up and coming descent. [Notify me in advance when you're ready for pickup. The closest landing bay is ten minutes away.] As soon as the ship had brought itself down to land, the door opened, revealing nothing but a cold wall of ice. 'They knew she was weak to cold.' He thought to himself before following his team leader out of the ship. 'How much do they know about her?'

[N, we'll be splitting into two teams. Us three will explore the south face of the dungeon while you and Z handle the north.] A map displayed in his visor of what was known of the dungeon's blueprints. From the looks of it, it was incomplete, as though something about the dungeon had changed since its construction long ago. [Got it. You can leave it to us, Cap.] His friend, Ziogenes, saluted as the three departed in the opposite direction. [Looks like its just me and you, N. Let's get this taken care of quickly. This place is giving me the creeps.]

Upon marching towards the opposite entrance from the one that the other team was set to explore, the two were met with a rusted opening that seemed bombed open by previous teams. [Hey, you ever wonder what took the past teams out?] N shook his head. They weren't privy to the last recordings of past teams. Most likely, whatever they saw or heard was classified, even for other knights that were to be deployed for the task. [You think knowing now would change anything? We have a job to do. Let's handle it.]

With rifles drawn and visors set to recognize heat signatures within the dark, the two pushed inward, refusing to let the dungeon's haunting history sway them from continuing. The pair doubted that they would be granted a ride back should they fail in their mission in the first place anyways so there was little point in turning around. [I'm not leaving without seeing her.] N mumbled into the mic, unaware of the strength of his attachment.

Further in, as they made their way into the darkness of the building, beyond a few corridors and hallways, the sound of rumbling had caught their attention; Its source had seemed to be behind them, following them after the last few turns. [Did you hear that?] Ziogenes was the first to list his concern while N kept moving ahead. [Nothing but hell and halls behind us, Z. We stop now and whatever it is behind us will catch up.] Seeking to avoid conflict before reaching her, N attempted to persuade his ally to no avail. The man's weapon was drawn towards the direction of the hallway corner behind them, his eyes glaring through the infrared scope. [Either we deal with this now or we'll end up getting overwhelmed later.] Taking his position behind a door that led into an abandoned cafeteria, the fallen angel sighed before taking cover opposite of him to avoid grouping.

Within moments, the source of the sound had made its presence known as it turned the corner: A rusted construct that was originally programmed to patrol the halls for any intruders. [A robot.] Its arms were covered in dried blood, suggesting conflict with the past occupants of the building; Though before the others had a chance to check whether it was hostile or not, it charged. [Still think it was worth stopping now?!] The two opened fire at it, only to find their rounds unable to penetrate its reinforced hull. Believing that they lacked the punching power, instead of continuing to waste rounds on the robot, N drew his sword and charged at the mechanical hulk, taking a swing at it with his enchanted weapon in an attempt to disarm it and bring it down.

"Bring it." Blow for blow, they traded until its arm had struck the helmet of the unclaimed knight, knocking it off of his head and leaving him without the protection of before. Given the darkness and the lack of night vision, the next strike was unseen, leading to Nadir being unable to dodge as it sent him through the floor of the complex. [N!] No response. The ground shook as the two were separated from each other. With the damaged structure and a lack of intel or vision, as the fallen angel fell through whatever space existed underneath him, it took a few seconds before he landed in a pool of water with a current that took him downstream. Ice that melted into the dungeon itself had bathed the angel in ice, shocking him for a moment before he regained his consciousness in an unknown part of the dungeon; One that even with his implants, he couldn't decipher due to it being unmapped.

[Z? Captain? Do you read?] All the angel could hear was static with the sounds of gunfire ringing in his ear. Whatever was happening up there, it seemed that his team had made contact with guns drawn. "Shit. They can't hear me." Looking down, he felt around before grabbing his weapon. It felt cracked in the center, though thankfully, it still held a functioning flashlight that was resilient to the water he came from. "Looks like I have to find my way up on my own." Turning on his flashlight, he made stock of his surroundings as well as his wellbeing, smelling the taint of blood on his suit. He was injured; To what end, he didn't know. However, sticking around wouldn't serve any purpose other than to further his demise. He knew he wouldn't be rescued. Not here. Not in a place like this. Attempting to unfurl his wings had come at a terrible cost; as he tried to spread them, he realized that they were too wounded to fly. Wherever the robot must have struck him on his back, it must have directly impacted where his wings were.

"Funny... To think that I could die so close to you." In an attempt to keep his mind focused and his head conscious, he spoke to himself while walking through the empty hallways of the floor below. It felt ironic that he had spent so much time training for this moment only to suffer a fate like this. Though, oddly enough, as he walked, he felt peace. If he died trying to reach her, he felt like he didn't have much to regret other than the fact that if she were still around to begin with, that she would find his corpse instead. However, as he scanned his environment to get a better idea of where he might be, he noticed that he was in a hallway with a tiled floor that led to a single door on the opposite end. It was different from every other room they came across so far. While the top floors of the facility had seemed more like a laboratory meant to house staff and conduct research, this area had seemed to be a closed off section that was meant to house test subjects. Signs around that displayed risk levels were evidence of that conclusion; Wherever he was forced down, it must have been among the deepest areas that any knight reached.

"Well, I guess there's no way but forward." Drawing his sidearm due to his wounds being too great for him to wield any of his primary weapons accordingly, as he attempted to open the door in front of him, it didn't seem to budge. Whatever that locked it must have been controlled on the inside, preventing the knight from coming in. "Hmm..." Raising his pistol towards where he assumed the lock of the door was, he prayed a short prayer for himself and those he fought alongside to the entity above before firing a couple rounds to ensure that whatever prevented him from coming in would be broken enough for him to work through. With the second flash, the door budged, slowly swinging open by itself to reveal someone on the other end. A wave of the flashlight overhead had caused his eyes to grow wide and his heart to sink. In the bottom of this hellscape, there was a familiar face. Blonde strands of hair cut through the darkness as his eyes scanned her form. There was no denying it. It was her.

"V?" Instead of using the name that others called her, unconsciously, N chosen to use the nickname that he gave her during childhood. His voice came out weaker than usual, but given the silence of the dungeon, his acoustics had bounced off the walls of her prison. The bodies of past knights were scattered around, each having been lucky enough to take a glimpse of her before meeting their own end, though unlike them, he wasn't afraid. It was fate that brought them together again.

Her voice was haunting, one that he never thought that he would hear again. His name coming from her lips had felt so right to hear again, despite its monstrous undertones. Her eyes glimmered on the sight of his flashlight at the end of his gun barrel; His armor was the same as the many men and women she rended with her potency. Interestingly, unlike those that came before him and unlike the monsters he faced before, his pistol shook upon seeing her, trembling at the knowledge that he had orders to bring her down. "... I missed you. To think, its been ten years since we last saw each other... Ten years for us to reunite... Like this." It felt like divine irony to have the same organization he fought so hard for to move up the ranks be the same that commanded him to bring her to an end; The very same organization he chose to become a part of to protect her as her bodyguard.

"...Are you disappointed in me?..." No matter how much he could will his arms to aim, there was nothing he felt like he could do to ever direct harm towards her. While the world may have seen her as a monster, to the fallen angel, she was the only one who could understand him; Behind the horrors of her flesh was the innocent soul that he fell in love with in the first place. "... I became a knight, like I promised you." His boot stepped closer, one after another. While there was still the fear that she might strike him like the robot guardian did before, something about the way she looked at him reminded him of the same way she did before when they spent hours together in the darkness of nature. "I came here to save lives, you know?" Noticing her bloodied hands bound together by chains, he pointed his pistol at her. "And I'm sorry things have to end like this... But you deserve better. We deserved better."

A gunshot. Aimed not at her chest nor her head, the round snapped through the cuffs that bound her hands together. While she was able to walk around without it, the sight of seeing his beloved in bondage was something he would never accept. "... Even now, I struggle with following orders. Ha... ha..." The world became a blur as he felt his strength leave his legs. The warmth he once had was leaving him, being frozen away with the blood that spilled from his head and back. "... and I still don't know how to love you right."

"Would you punish me if I told you, I never stopped loving you?" Feeling an arm beside him, the fallen angel leaned against it. It was far from the first time she saw him spilling blood. Fighting monsters to keep her safe before, of both those of species that were familiar and those that weren't, he was often met with the ground after a tough fight, only to wake up in her arms or lap with his wounds tended to. However, this time, it seemed as though it could be at an end. A stroke of misfortune had sapped the vitality of the hopeful knight before he had a chance to even see her again.

"Would you forgive me for trying to forget?" As a part of the promises he made as a child, among them was to always remain honest with his feelings towards her, no matter how much it could hurt. The long nights during shifts, the lonely evenings at taverns, and even the missed birthdays and the lost ceremonies had all served to make N bitter about their circumstances. In the years that passed, he followed the mass media of the princess and her happy marriage with the prince she was destined to be with before her fall, causing his mind and heart to shatter over and over again to see glimpses of her happiness. It was painful to remember and even more so to forget. No amount of alcohol or drug no matter how bitter either could be could ever make him forget the woman that taught him what love was in the first place.

"I wouldn't blame you if you hated me. After all, I became one of them, the people that locked you up here." His armor bore the insignia that those loyal to the entity would adorn on their body. "I was sent here in the first place to kill you... Me and four others. I doubt they would find you if you're holed up here." His mouth grew dry as he felt himself growing weary. Without help, his soul edged on the line to oblivion, beckoning him to give up his last vestiges of vitality in exchange for peace. "... If you do choose to kill me... And I end up like one of the other knights here, can you do me a favor, V?" Opening his eyes weakly, he stared into her own seeing his teary reflection adorn a soft smile, the same he would offer her if she sought his comfort. "Can you... Lie to me and tell me you love me back? Please?"

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And somewhere
Somewhere the atoms stopped fusing
I'm still your favourite regret
You're still my weapon of choosing

And out there
Stuck in a quantum pattern
Tangled with what I never said
You say it doesn't matter​

 

[Kali]

I guess I’ll have to face, that in this awful place
I shouldn’t show a trace of doubt…

NOW PLAYING:
Escapism | Steven Universe​

Life was never meant to be like this for someone like her. She was meant for so much more, but fate does not play fairly. Her life started fairly normally; she grew up happy and in love with a person who accepted her not just for her status, but for her as a living being. Her knight. The one person in this world who would defend her no matter the cost. He proved that to her time and time again growing up, but that all changed when she was matched with another. A crueller man who had no patience for her supposed misgivings and, when faced with the truest parts of her, ruthlessly banished her to a dungeon, far away from home. From him. Her N.

The dungeon was large, but she was forcefully contained on the bottom floor, where the building was its coldest and the room was as small as could be. During the first few weeks of containment, she cried constantly, begging anyone to come and take her away. She was so cold… Most regular people would have died in her condition, but she was far from that. She was so weak in this state, barely able to stand on her own two feet. That was until the first knight came to ‘rescue’ her. She had already lost track of how long she had been down there. Nobody, not even her cruel husband, came to visit or even feed her. When she saw the door crack open, it was the first light and warmth in so long…She called out to the knight, hoping for this nightmare to be over. When the first knight saw her, his resolve wavered, and as she spoke, it was as if all direction given to him was thrown out the window.

The knight took her hand in his, lifting her up to stand and offered to help her escape this accursed place, dagger in hand. This knight reminded her of the man she had once loved, might still love. She was desperate to leave this place, and just with the warmth coming off of the knight, she could feel strength seeping back into her. Just as they turn to walk out of her own personal hell, the door slams shut and a lock is securely put in place. She could faintly hear from the knight's helmet an order. Slay the princess or you will not leave here alive. She gasped, stumbling a few steps away from the knight. He looked conflicted for a few seconds, staring at the door, then turning to her. He gripped the dagger tightly, realising that he wouldn’t last long in this cold abyss. There was only one way he could make it out of here alive.

Slay her.​

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But every time I watch one die
I'm thinking only of the first one
The first one, the first one, the first one, the first one
The first one, the first one, the first one

NOW PLAYING:
Nothing | The Asylum

How long has it been…? How much longer can I stay in this hell before I lose my sanity?​

Vita sat curled up in the corner of the small room she called purgatory. Around her, five bodies were slumped on the floor, each seemingly more mutilated than the last. Dried blood was dotted all over her originally light pink dress, almost creating a strange polka dot pattern. Her hands and feet were also covered in the dark liquid of the men that came to end her, but the blood on her back was purely her own. Three perfectly shaped stab wounds surrounded her chest in scarring, looking almost like the centre of a target. Another deep, jagged wound could be seen near her collarbone on her left side, the first attempt. Vita remembers the first one vividly as that was the closest she had gotten to death's door, but all five were sitting here with her just the same.

OOO
One. “Hello? Is someone there? Are you here to save me?”

Two. “Hello…? Who sent you? I hope you are here to help…”

Three. “... Don’t come any closer. Nobody has to die today. I just want to leave.”

Four. “LET ME OUT.” stab. “LET ME OUT.” stab. “LET ME OUT.” stab. “LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT!!!!” stab. stab. stab. stab. stab. stab. stab-

Five. “...” All that could be heard was the plunge of a dagger through a young knight's throat and his gurgling cries and pleas for mercy.
But nobody came.
OOO​

The smell of decay and rot was intense, but it had been so long that she no longer remembers a world without it. She used to choke and sob from the fumes, but now she can do nothing but stare blankly at the door and hope that the next person to come through would either save her or be forced to suffer a gruesome and long-suffering end. Maybe she was truly a monster. Or maybe she had no other choice. It does not matter. She will make it out of here. Alive. If it’s the last thing she does.

She slowly looked up toward the ceiling, her eyes lidded and a small, crazed smile forming on her face. Noise. Movement. She was unsure how long it had been since the last assassination attempt, but considering the most recent knight still looked relatively human-like, it had to have only been a few months. The freezing conditions of her holding cell made the decomposing process even slower, along with the lack of insects to feast on the decay of the unfortunate men. No matter the length of time, another assassin has been sent. She shakily stood, using the wall and her prop chains to pick herself up, attempting to prepare herself for another altercation. She ripped the dagger that was still plunged in the fifth knight's neck and wiped the dark liquid and dead skin onto the dead man's shirt. She hid the dagger in a small handmade pocket near her hip, making it almost invisible to someone walking into the dim dungeon. Not that it will matter. They’ll be dead on the floor before they notice where the dagger was hidden.

She had not been chained since the first knight, but realised that perhaps seeing a ‘mostly’ defenceless princess would lower the defences of whoever came to see her. Not that it mattered at this point. Anyone who came down here would find her sins lying dead on the floor. Despite that, Vita decided that maybe if she could convince the person to come closer to her, she could conserve her already sapped energy and kill them with one thrust of the slightly rusted knife. She heard a large crash and knew that her performance would start soon. She could no longer play the sweet, innocent princess because she simply wasn’t. She watched the door with clinical eyes, prepared to face her next enemy and perhaps this time be freed from this horror.

She could hear a voice from down the hall, a familiar tone, but too distant and muffled to know who or what it was for sure. She looked down, making sure her weapon was in an easily accessible position and waited.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And if I start to grieve
'Cause it feels you're 'bout to leave
Forgive me, I'm not naive
I've been here before

NOW PLAYING:
Nothing's New | Rio Romeo

​

Nobody had ever had to shoot the door down to get in, but that is what she heard. One, two, three, four, five, six shots and then the door slowly creaked open, allowing the first bit of warmth and light she had felt and seen in months to wash over her like a comforting blanket. She didn’t savor it for long, tensing for what was to most likely be another person's blood on her hands. She put her head down for a moment, hissing softly at the flashlight pointing directly onto her face. It was heaven and hell. She couldn’t handle its shine.

“V?”
Her eyes went wide, a shiver running down her spine. No. No. They couldn’t have. They couldn’t be so cruel. Not him. Not…

“N… Nadir…?”
Her voice held an almost hysterical tone, albeit a bit hoarse from the lack of speaking regularly. The words felt foreign in her mouth as she looked over to where he stood, clearly injured in some capacity, although she didn’t know why. He continued to speak. Ten years. Ten. YEARS. She had been separated from him for only three years before she was brought here. She had been down there for seven years.

“Ten… what-”
Vita flinched and almost cowered as her former lover, confidant, and best friend made his way closer to her, as if drawn magnetically, with a gun gripped in his hands, rambling questions and unbroken promises. She kept her mouth shut, unable to believe that this was reality. That she would have to kill the one person she promised never to harm again. She gazed up at him, blood-red tears streaking down her face and dripping onto her bloodied hands. When he raised his gun, she couldn’t force herself to move, no matter how strongly her instincts told her to. For once, she thought that maybe dying is the right thing to do. If it was him making the killing blow. Instead of closing her eyes, she decided to lock her eyes with his. If these were to be her final moments, she wanted to know happiness just one last time in those eyes.

The gunshot rang in her ears, and while she expected pain to bloom in her chest, she instead heard the crack of metal as the cuffs around her wrists shattered, causing her body to reverberate with the force of the action. She looked down, finding her hands free and quickly looked back up to find N swaying forward, falling to his knees in front of her.

“Would you punish me if I told you, I never stopped loving you?”

Almost instinctively, she pushed herself forward, grabbing him and propping him against her arm. She felt as if she was burning from the warmth of his skin. It had been so long, but she had no time to cherish this buzzing feeling in every inch that was touching him. She felt the slippery blood trailing from his head, down his neck and back, and now it was pooling onto the floor and part of her dress.

"Would you forgive me for trying to forget?"

Vita looked down at Nadir, gently brushing his hair from his face so she could see him clearly, or at least as clearly as she could in the dimly lit room. Nothing else mattered at that moment.

“Please… don’t do this to me…”
She cried, this moment becoming the worst part of her seven years of confinement. She couldn’t lose him. Never him.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me. After all, I became one of them, the people that locked you up here.”

She glanced down at his uniform, recognising the insignia that all of the other knights in the room once wore with pride. She felt nothing towards it. She knew it was an order, and no knight worth his salt refuses an order even if that meant facing certain death. She wonders what people believe happened to the poor men that happened to made their way down here. Not that many people were grieving them. All knights are unclaimed as it allows them to be fully devoted to their duty, to their cause.

“I could never blame you…”
Vita whispered, listening to his almost frenzied statements. Four others? Had all of the other knights had others accompany them? She would most likely never know, not that it changed things. These men were dead, and the others most likely died due to the terrible conditions of this place.

“...If you do choose to kill me… And I end up like one of the other knights here, can you do me a favor, V?”

She could feel his heartbeat slowing as he spoke his last request, her eyes meeting his once again.

“Can you… Lie to me and tell me you love me back? Please?”

Vita stared at him in abject shock and horror, her entire form shaking as she pulled him closer, his head resting on her chest and brokenly whispering in his ear.

“I do. I never stopped.”

She began to sob, holding him close, praying to any deity or god that would listen to spare his life. She no longer cared about her own mortality when his was now on the line. Despite ten years of absence, he was still the centre of her world. She refused to let him die in her arms. This is not how their story will end. Vita gently set his almost limp body down, attempting to avoid any unnecessary pain. She began looting the corpses around her, as she had not touched them since their demise. All of them had packs with a small amount of medical supplies: bandages, alcohol wipes, medical tape, and a small stitching kit in each. She had never stitched wounds before, but she had to hope that stitching clothes was similar. At least it would close the wounds until she could figure out how to get them out of there. If they could get out of there.

She sat back down next to N and slowly but gently removed his armour to better look at the damage to his head and back. She continually checked his pulse as she began wiping the blood from his skin and revealing the size of the wounds. The head wound was very luckily just a flesh wound, so she wiped and bandaged it, hoping that the bleeding would stop soon. As for his back, he had deep slashes in three separate places as well as major damage to one of his wings. She worked methodically, stitching and bandaging each cut, checking that he was still breathing and his heart was still beating periodically. Once she was finished, she sat with her back against the wall and manoeuvred him to where he was sleeping with his head on her lap. While he was in his comatose state, and she was on the verge of sleep as well, she whispered into the heavy silence.

“Please… Don’t leave me...”​

 

[Tenzai]

I have travelled far beyond the path of reason; Take me back to Eden; Take me back to Eden
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴅᴇɴ | ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴛᴏᴋᴇɴ
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"I never stopped." His heart was her garden; A world of their creation full of happy memories. Even in the midst of the darkness where they were surrounded by decaying corpses, Princess Vita was made aware of Nadir's smile in the fading glint of the glow that came from his helmet. Despite it being ten years since they last saw each other, it was clear that his memory was not one-sided. She had not forgotten him in the decade since.

Before he had the chance to question what kept her faithful after so long, the sound of sobbing had split his curiosity, causing his focus to turn towards the feeling of her rain on his exposed skin in the rips of his armor. In spite of his end nearing, his soul mustered the strength to reach for her, but only just enough to coil his fingers around hers. She was cool but receptive to his warmth and ginger touch; After seven years of isolation and torment through solitary confinement, his soft affections had brought a brief pause to her eternal torment.

"Don't cry. I made it, V... I finally found you..." With his vision clearing only momentarily, as he found her smudged tears on his visor, he leaned into her embrace, unafraid of the monster that his own kind feared. "The least I deserve is a smile after coming all this way. Please... Please grant me peace in your arms." If she sought to be his end, he doubted that he would be still alive to speak to her.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long... I'm sorry that I couldn't have found you under any other circumstances." Stroking his thumb against her hand, he basked in their proximity, believing her side to be the only piece of heaven in this hell of a nightmare. "But maybe in another life. I'll find you again. Maybe in another, we'll be together living a life that we both wanted." Unable to hold her hand for any longer, his fingers spilled from her grasp, falling to his side as his heartbeat drummed slower and slower. He was running out of time.

His wounds were deep. While the injury he sustained to his head did not reach his skull, the one he received on his back was a different story. Where there was meant to be plating, there was an open gash that ripped through his protective layering, his gaping wound spilling his warmth and his life down onto the frigid dungeon floor. In combination with the trauma he endured on his head, the blood loss was too much for his body to continue remaining conscious for much longer. His eyelids felt like anchors. Her words and presence were beginning to feel distant. "Please… Don't leave me..." As her voice faded away, her fallen angel's consciousness drifted to another life; One that they lived before they were separated ten years ago.

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"Always by your side, V. Up to the bitter end." A pinky promise had sealed their pact in the middle of her father's garden. Away from the prying eyes of nobles and away from the responsibilities that the government wished to instill into the children, a fallen angel orphan and his best friend were hidden in a special place in the brush where even her father struggled to find them. It was a place of confessions, of secrets, and of promises; One that had never left his mind as one of Nadir's bastions of peace. Here, he wouldn't be judged for how he felt or what he was. Here by her side, he felt safe to be free.

"Hey, have you ever wondered what our future would look like?" Without concerns for her father's judgement, her knight to be spoke his honest truth while swinging his wooden blade to train his muscles. Given his fondness for spell blades and her father's preference for his company, he was offered an education and a place to stay in exchange for his loyalty and continued reassurance that he would protect his daughter through thick and thin. "I wonder what our marriage would look like?" Nadir mused. "Then again, I don't think I need anything fancy like a marriage to be happy with you; As long as I'm with you, that's all that matters." Dancing with his blade to practice his lessons on footwork, as he turned around, he gave the sitting princess a genuine smile, finding her beautiful when in the presence of nature outside her stuffy noble lands.

"Oh... Here, let me get that for you- Woah!" Noticing a leaf that got caught in her long, blonde hair, as Nadir had attempted to remove it for her, he tripped on a rock, falling atop of her instead. "Oof- Hey, are you okay?" Concern was the first tone he held in his voice. Regardless of his knowledge on her physical resilience of her monstrous form, he still treated her like a lady all throughout, preferring to love her as though they were both normal rather than bound to the common identity and reputation of their species. "Sorry about that. Looks like I still have need for more practice." Her knight chuckled, only to blush when he realized how close they were face to face.

In truth, he wasn't afraid of thinking about a romance with her. While there may have been other women that were prettier, that were wealthier or more influential than his childhood best friend, there was none better at understanding him and loving him for more than what his biology said he was other than her. She didn't care about his past like the others in her court; All she cared about was whether he was okay and whether he was happy. Smiling as he saw a reflection of his own blush on her cheeks, the young fallen angel gave her a peck on the lips before pulling away with a leaf in his hands. "Got it~"

Eventually rolling to her side, Nadir reached out for V's hand while he looked up at the orange sunset skies of their home world, imagining their adventures in the space beyond. The comic data slates of space knights who braved the galaxy above against threats both eldritch and alien was always something that excited him, and he never felt a better adventuring partner by his side than the girl who knew how to fight as hard as he did. "You ever think that we could find a quiet place where we could just be?"

Nadir questioned. Given the reputation of fallen angels by the entity, he wasn't sure about how well his future would pan out. Still, no matter what it looked like, he couldn't imagine a future with her by his side. "I'd like to take you out to see the stars one day. Just me and you. A ship we could call home and a crew that we could call family too. Somewhere out there; Somewhere that isn't... Here." Upon seeing that the end of the day was approaching, as the stars above became visible through the star's glow, he turned to her as he yawned. Whatever words she mentioned in response were a blur as his world began to fade away after a long day. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to dream, would it?"

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Water droplets. The frigid cold air of the dungeon's internal wind was a reminder that he was still alive; Though interestingly enough, he didn't feel like he was spilling anymore blood. Beside him, he felt the feeling of warm breath on his face... His face. His helmet was gone, placed to the side for her to inspect the scale of his head injury. While a sense of nervousness had come from knowing of the monsters that traversed her dungeon's halls, as he scanned around the area, it seemed as though none dared approach her territory. Their instincts had taught them better than to engage that of which the knights have failed five times before to execute.

'I guess I'm the sixth to fail, huh...?' He looked at himself before noticing a puddle of red on the floor now that his eyes were accustomed to the dark. Bandages in his reflection had suggested that his princess treated him while he was out; The blood on her dress served as better evidence of that fact. "... Thank you, V." Lifting himself from her lap, he felt a sudden influx of pain come from contorting his body upward. His body had far from recovered from his wounds, though at the moment, it seemed as though there would be nothing that would disturb them. The dungeon was a massive complex and he doubted that his allies would have chosen to fall through an unknown gap in the floor to chase after him.

Noticing her lack of support for her head, he adjusted himself to sit right beside her, slowly grabbing her chin to arrange her neck and rest her on his shoulder instead of letting her head hang. "So this was the world you've grown used to, huh?" Scanning around the room, as he imagined what she must've done here, he couldn't help but feel lonely. Scrapes of a tally on a nearby wall must've been her way of counting the days til rescue; At least, until it stopped. She was a princess without a knight to save her; Forever locked in a tower to be treated as a monster. It was no wonder why she turned against the other knights, he couldn't blame her. The only interaction she might've had with anyone else were attempts on her life.

"To think that the entity would've preferred a lonely life for both of us instead of a happy life together. Shame." Slowly running his hand down to her own, as he noticed the lack of a wedding ring on her hand where he expected one, an idea came to mind. Pulling off his gauntlet, he freed his hand from his armor to find a promise ring; The very same he received from her when he pledged to be her knight in the first place.

"I know its not the most romantic of places... But, maybe... If we survive this, I wouldn't mind starting our life again from here." Reaching for her hand, he slid the ring on her wedding ring finger before noticing her shift and stir. "It might be a short life together and maybe I won't see the light of day again," Staring up at the crack he made through the ceiling out of the doorway, he noticed a stream of light from their planet's moon connected to the surface. It was a far way up, but one that gave him a sense of hope; That even in the pits, there was still light in their darkness. "But its a life with you. I'd rather go through hell by your side than be in heaven alone."

Once N made eye contact with his princess again after their long evening asleep, with whatever moonlight her face was able to capture, she seemed to glow. "Morning... Huh, feels strange being able to say that to you again." He chuckled. Even if he lacked the vigor to exhibit any more than a whisper, he still found a little bit of humor in the situation. It felt strange to find more comfort here than he did in his lonely flat back in the floating castle he was deployed to garrison in the first place. Unlike the grey walls and quiet of his home, she was here; She was present and she was by his side. "I'd offer to do more but... I could barely move right now. Though I should thank you, its your fault that I'm still here by your side. Your fault that I kept your ring after all this time."

Nadir took a deep breath, trying to relax to avoid disturbing his sore and wounded flesh any more than he did already. "You look great with it you know? Way better than me... Fancy things like that never looked good on me in the first place." Save for his sword, everything else about his gear was standard issue, passed down by previous knights that were promoted into something better.

"That ring is more deserving for a prince, or in our case, a princess. Keep it. Its yours. All I ask is your company in return for whatever life I have left." Content for the first time in a decade, as he leaned in close to share his warmth with her cold body, the sound of a flickering came through the speaker of his removed helmet. [N, do you read? I should be approaching your position now.] Far beyond the sensitivity of his own ears, the princess was able to pick up two new sounds in her environment. The sounds of what transpired from his helmet and the sounds of footsteps followed by the racking of a rifle coming from nearby.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

I guess it goes to show, does it not?
That we've no idea what we've got
Until we lose it
And no amount of love will keep it around
If we don't choose it​

 

[Kali]

NOW PLAYING:
An Open Door | Brandon Boone

​

Vita fought to stay awake, not wanting to take her eyes off her knight, afraid that if she did, she would wake up alone and surrounded by death again. She took deep, shuddering breaths and gently lifted her right hand to trace his face. She wanted to remember him again. She could tell their separation had taken a toll on him; he seemed thinner and less built than he used to be. Not exactly a shell of the person she loved, but something was missing. She had to blame herself for that, even if it technically wasn’t her fault. She had often wondered why the entity paired her with such a monster when her perfect man stood by her side for most of her life.

‘I guess it was fate. Perhaps I was always doomed to become like this. Maybe he was right to put me here…’

She pushed the intrusive thought from her head and focused on her knights' shallow gasps for air and how they slowly converted to deep, solid breaths as he fell deeper into his slumber. Once she confirmed that he was in no real danger of dying for the moment, she finally relaxed her body for the first time in seven years. Her body had held so much tension for so long… It almost hurt to let it all dissipate under the weight of his head on her lap. She couldn’t completely relax, but it was a definite improvement. And for the first time since the first knight… she dreamed.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moon will sing a song for me
I loved you like the sun
I shine only with the light you gave me…​

NOW PLAYING:
The Moon Will Sing | The Crane Wives

​

A younger, carefree girl stood in a garden with her best friend, happy and completely unaware of what her life would become. She thought her life had already been planned out. She hoped she would become his wife one day. That was the plan, and no noble or government could change that; that’s what she believed, at least. Her N. They had been hiding in the garden for hours, giggling at old stories and playfully sparring, when a stray shot from Vita hit Nadir in the arm. It wasn’t hard enough to properly injure him, but he would definitely have a bruise the next morning. When he hissed in pain, she dropped her wooden blade and rushed to him, checking his arm and apologising repeatedly. It was the same arm as the first time. He tried to assure her that it wasn’t a problem, that he was completely fine, but since the first time she had injured him in a fit of rage, she never forgave herself. She vowed that day she would never hurt him again. That vow would be broken many times over.

“I’m so sorry… I hurt you… I didn’t mean to…”

She began spiralling, as she often did when she was upset, seeing herself as an appalling creature, a monster. She sat on the grass, curled her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around herself. She hated herself for getting like this. She hated being fragile, but when it came to hurting the ones she loved, she found it hard to cope with their suffering, even if it was just a bruise. It was still her fault. How many people had she unintentionally hurt over her short lifetime? N sat down next to her and gave her silent comfort, allowing her to let those negative feelings out in a safe space. He then gently took her hand in his, locking their pinkies together and maintaining eye contact.

“Always by your side, V. Up to the bitter end.”

He murmured, giving her quiet reassurance that all was truly well and she did not really hurt him. They sat for a few more minutes, leaning against one another and watching the sky change hues as dusk began to settle around them. They would soon have to go back to the castle for dinner, but N wanted to get a bit more training in. Vita decided it would be better if she stopped for today, but sat under her favourite tree and watched as he practiced movements and footwork with his sword. After a few minutes of silence, Nadir spoke up again.

“Hey, have you ever wondered what our future would look like?”

‘Every day.’
She almost says out loud, but decides not to.

“Sometimes… Why do you ask?”
She decides to say instead. She knows that if she spoke her mind, he wouldn’t be taken aback, but she was still afraid to completely commit, considering that although she desperately wanted to be his, there was a small lingering chance that it wouldn’t happen, no matter how much they needed each other.

“I wonder what our marriage would look like? Then again, I don’t think I need anything fancy like a marriage to be happy with you; As long as I’m with you, that’s all that matters.”

Vita felt her face flush a light pink at his carefree confession. She honestly couldn’t care about marriage either, but it was expected of her as the Princess to marry and carry on the family name and legacy. She admired his physique as he parried with an imaginary foe, watching as he moved with steady, practiced strides. As he smiled at her, she couldn’t help but smile back, allowing herself to relax, her curled-up pose shifting into a cross-legged position. One of the petals from the blooming tree gently floated and fell onto her head, nestling itself into her hair.

“Oh… Here, let me get that for you- Woah!”

She watched as N approached and haphazardly tripped on a rock, causing him to fall onto her and, in turn, pushing her onto her back.

“Ah!”
She squeaked as the full brunt of his weight landed on her for a few moments.

“Oof - Hey are you okay?”

“Can’t… breathe…”
She responded in a breathless, teasing tone. Once he lifted himself just enough to allow oxygen to enter her lungs, she began to giggle. Only her N could be both clumsy and thoughtful at the same time. When her giggles finally subsided, she opened her eyes to find his staring back only inches away. A deep red blush spread all over her face and down her neck as she realised the compromising position they were in. She couldn’t help the small smile of adoration that planted itself on her face as she stared up at him. As he pressed his lips quickly to hers and pulled away, all she wanted to do was pull him back in and get lost in his eyes again and again and again… As N rolled to lie beside her, they locked hands and watched as the ever-changing skies shifted from light to dark orange, pinks and purples. Nothing could ever match the beauty of this one moment in her mind. (When she had first gotten married, this memory played on repeat anytime she had to be around her husband. It was the only way she could pretend to smile and be happy by his side. She was never the best actress.)

“You ever think that we could find a quiet place where we could just be?”

She pondered the question for a moment, letting the thought sink in.

“Maybe… It would definitely be a lot easier… no stuffy nobles… no duties… Sounds like a dream, almost. I think I would miss it sometimes, though. I was raised for this life, you know?”
She let the silence sit between them for a minute or two, gently rubbing the top of his hand with her thumb, before Nadir spoke up again.

“I’d like to take you out to see the stars one day. Just me and you. A ship we could call home and a crew that we could call family too. Somewhere out there; Somewhere that isn’t… Here.”

She wasn’t sure what to say, but she understood what he wanted. She wasn’t as sure of that future, but she wanted it too. To be with him. To make a family of their own. That truly was the dream. It was as if N had been reading her mind as he stated,

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to dream, would it?”

As her dream came to an end, Vita remembered what she said in response.

"As long as it's a dream with you in it, I'll be content."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She promises to fight them all when it all becomes too much
And he, he curses at the world
For leaving him behind, and he's falling out of touch​

NOW PLAYING:
Fair | The Amazing Devil
​

Vita began to slowly stir from her slumber, allowing herself the pleasure of basking in the now gentle warmth next to her. Suddenly, her mind caught up to her body. Warmth. Her eyes fluttered open, and she begrudgingly pulled her head away from his shoulder to stare up into his eyes. Those eyes… The ones she never thought she would have the opportunity to get lost in again.

“Morning… Huh, feels strange being able to say that to you again.”

“You’re really here...”
She whispered, mainly to herself, looking down at her hand to see that a very familiar ring had been slid onto her finger during her slumber. She looked back up at him in a mix of shock and awe, unable to comprehend that what happened earlier was not her best dream/nightmare since she arrived in this icy hell, but was real. She shakily placed her adorned hand to his cheek, holding his face in her palm, properly feeling his skin against hers. It burned in the most pleasant of ways. He was definitely cooler than he was when he first fell here, but their constant closeness allowed some heat to stay between the two of them.

“I’d offer to do more but… I could barely move right now. Though I should thank you, its your fault that I’m still here by your side. Your fault that I kept your ring after all this time.”

She pulled her hand away from his face and examined the ring on her finger. She felt as if she should be crying right now, but she couldn’t. She knew they weren’t safe, and that thought alone kept her from pulling him into a long-awaited kiss. She knew it wasn’t the time or place. Not here. She may have killed the knights, but she still had enough respect for the dead to not want to kiss her former (current?) lover in front of them. They had a lot to figure out, but first, they needed to make it out of here and get to somewhere safe. Where that could be, she had no idea. She also had to think of the four other knights sent with N and their mission. She didn’t want to kill them, but if that was what it took, she would gladly do so. For him. For us.

While her mind raced, Nadir was still speaking to her, and she tried to focus, though it was very hard. When she finally zoned in on his voice, she heard him say,

“That ring is more deserving for a prince, or in our case, a princess. Keep it. Its yours. All I ask is your company in return for whatever life I have left.”

She had to push back a broken sob as a slightly pained smile found its way to her face. It was all she ever wanted in the worst possible way. Why couldn’t things have been simple? Why is she forced to endure so much suffering to finally get what could be a very short-lived happy ending? She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to live in the moment. She leaned into him, moving forward to place her head gently against his chest and tucking herself under his chin.

“I’ll be with you as long as you’ll have me. To the bitter end.”
She whispered, remembering one of many vows made to one another. She wondered what the garden was like now. Would she ever see it again? Did he miss those spring days as much as she did? She hoped so. Just as she closed her eyes to bask in the happiness of their sudden reuniting, there was a faint noise coming from the speaker of N’s helmet a few feet away. [N, do you read? I should be approaching your position now.]

Vita froze, her body fully tensing back up and preparing for a fight. Only a second after the transmission, she heard footsteps and the sound of some weapon being prepped. They weren’t the only ones with weapons. She jumped into action, crawling from her position next to N to the fifth knight and searching his body for a weapon. She soon finds something similar to the now almost broken gun that N had shot her chains with, and a small pistol. She was silently praying that this wouldn't turn into another massacre, but she wouldn't give them a chance to have more of an upper hand. She was going to win. They were going to leave alive. No matter the cost. She looked over to N frantically, a crazed look forming in her eyes and tremors wracking her body.

“Will you resent me if I must do what needs to be done? I will get us out of here, but I need to know that you will still love me all the same.”

 

[Tenzai]

And it seems my hell is your high water
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʜɪɢʜ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ | ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴛᴏᴋᴇɴ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

For the time being
I will still avoid my own questions
And we both bury that history deep
But you know, I can hold my breath forever

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​

"I'll be with you as long as you'll have me. To the bitter end."

Those eyes of hers when the princess stifled her pain, the way she smiled when she knew she needed to be strong. It was heart wrenching for sure, though Nadir understood just how strong she had to be. None of them had ever asked for this. They were naive and young when they were forced to depart, and now that they were of wedded age, supposed to be dealing with the ideas of how they would give the best take care of their children, instead they were at the bottom of a dungeon in an area that the others who worked alongside him had colloquiality named, the Winter Hell.

As much as he wanted to cry alongside her, as much as he wanted to falter and break at the sight that even now, he couldn't comfort her pain away, he struck a soft smile through his tears, playing the role he once did back when they were in heaven together; Back when they were two young lovers in her father's garden. "You know, V? You really suck at trying to hide your tears." He chuckled weakly, wrapping an arm around her back to draw her closer into his form while he wiped whatever tears that reached her cheeks.

"Then again, I wasn't that much better either. You were always much better at keeping up a face than I was." The memories of her lying to her father of the antics they got into in his garden was a fond collection of past scenes stored safely in his mind after all this time. It offered him strength in himself, knowing that out of everyone, there was someone that was willing to put herself at risk to defend him despite his species.

Though as soon as he relaxed once he felt her meld with his body, he noticed the sudden tension in her back. Something was bothering her, something that neither his broken equipment or wounded senses were able to detect. Withdrawing herself from his arms, he raised his head towards her scattered eyes that searched through the remnants of the corpses around him. Among the fallen's gear were old weapons, most non functional save for the gun that N shot her chains with and a pistol from the fifth's attempt to kill her. "What's wrong V? Something the matter?" He attempted to lift himself up, straining his body and causing his bandage to stain red with fresh blood. He wasn't in a state to fight, and perhaps, not even in a state where he could run well.

"Will you resent me if I must do what needs to be done? I will get us out of here, but I need to know that you will still love me all the same." The sudden call to attention had made him reach for his knife and his pistol should a beast or enemy approach them. While he might not be in the best shape, that didn't stop him from wanting to do his best to prevent himself from being her liability, especially after this long of a search and the luck he had with finding her first compared to any other knight in his team.

Giving her a nod, he gritted his teeth as he stood himself up from his resting place, dripping his own crimson while holding onto the wall for added support. "I won't ever stop loving you, V. I promised you before, haven't I? That I'll always be by your side, until the bitter end?" Speaking the same proverbs as his younger self would say when handling a tough task with her, Nadir hobbled over to the only door that led into the room, sticking to its side like his training had taught him to prepare to act on the defensive. Even if he was injured, that didn't mean he wouldn't be a threat either, especially if positioned properly.

Unfortunately, as he walked towards the door, he nearly stumbled, only to be caught before he fell. "Sorry, I'll... I'll be alright, I promise." Nadir was stubborn. It was hard to watch her fight by her lonesome no matter how injured or wounded he could be. Though, as he leaned towards her pointing over to where he wished to be placed in advance, the light of a bright flashlight had shone through the door, causing the helmetless fallen angel to squint away from it after having his eyes grow focused on the low light of her prison cell.

"... N? Release him, monster! That's an order!" A green laser shot through the darkness, highlighting the center of his lover's head. "I won't let you strip this knight of his life. I won't let you prey on him the same as every other knight that came before." Believing that the princess had taken N hostage, he reached for a grenade in preparation of potentially sacrificing him should she act rashly against him.

"Z! Stand back!" As soon as Nadir spoke, the knight froze in his footsteps. "No matter what you can do, you won't hurt her. So don't try. We could work this all out." In the hopes that he could feign the same combative prowess she would hold underneath better circumstances, Nadir lied to his combat companion. If he could violence, he believed it would be the best outcome for all three of them. "Let's just put our weapons down and talk-"

Interrupting him, Ziogenes refused to listen. "So it appears she has you under her spell. I'm sorry N, you know what the entity briefed us about. Those who take her side are lost to her magics." Placing his finger on the trigger, he spoke his apologies. "Consider this a mercy. I'll be sure to put an end to you before she could corrupt you any further." Upon realizing that words would no longer work, as soon as he heard the weapon charging in the knight's hands, N tackled Vita to throw her out of the line of fire, watching as heated plasma was sent flying overhead. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, N. I don't want you to suffer needlessly." Throwing a high explosive grenade next, the knight wrapped his lover with himself as a blanket, hoping his armor would protect them from the worst of it as he held both his own head and her's down.

An explosion rocked the room, causing the structural integrity that kept the weight of the ground above them balanced to give way. The bending of metal had caused a groan to echo through the halls. With the lack of maintenance upholding the strength of the structure, they didn't have long to make their escape before the corridor they rested in would collapse underneath the rubble from above. However, the way out was through him and it was unlikely that they would get out with him in the way.

"I'll tell the others you died bravely; That you were a necessary sacrifice for bringing down the devil princess." He voiced as he backed up from the room, half expecting them to be dead, half expecting a monster to come out. "So be a good knight and die right. I'm sure you will forgive me in the afterlife."

"Hey, V. You alright?" Feeling the rubble bounce atop his back in the aftermath of the explosion, it seemed as thought the two were alive. The bodies of the slain had acted as a protective barrier, absorbing the worst of the shrapnel while some silver flakes had embedded themselves as splinters that raked across his back, piercing the knight armor, though not being able to hit anything vital due to the layers of protection he donned on before coming here. Sighing in relief once he found that she was unscathed by the explosion, he rolled to her side to let her get up. "Don't move too fast. He might notice you." Nadir whispered, keeping his voice low enough for the sound of falling and bending beams to drown out his sound.

"If need be, I'll take his attention while you take the shot. I don't think there's any other way around this other than killing him." Slowly rising from where he bled, Nadir noticed the sight of his crimson staining her dress with fresh blood. It was a sign of what he sacrificed to find her and how much more willing he was to go to keep the love of his life safe. "Let me be a target, I'll be a distraction. He thinks me an enemy anyways so I don't have doubts that he won't hesitate to put me down, but I'm relying on you, V. Do what I can't, finish him off. I trust that you'll keep me safe."

Nadir gave her a smile before squeezing her hand reassuringly that it would end alright. It was a practice he did whenever he himself was nervous, one that didn't die in the ten years that they were apart. "I'll move on three. One, two-" Angling his body in preparation of using whatever reserves of adrenaline he had left to run while his body felt little pain, he shot himself forward on three.

"Three!" Using one hand on his pistol to offer covering fire and another to grab the shrapnel covered body of one of the slain, he ran into the room that his once-companion was in, wielding the corpse of his dead ally as cover only to be met with a barrage of gunfire that cracked at his body shield while ripping through his uncovered flesh. The bullets from the pistol themselves were not enough to breach the energy field that covered the other knight, though they served enough purpose to draw the Z's attention away from the true threat; The woman that wielded the rifle.

Realizing that his weapon wasn't putting down N, Z quickly swapped to his blade only to feel the same in return, sending the wounded knight into a losing defensive while his beloved lined her shot. "It does me no pleasure putting you down, Nadir, but we can't afford her ever escaping." With blood spilling from his wounds the more he strained his dueling arm, Nadir fought back using his conviction in their love as his strength. "She deserves to see the sun too, Zio. We all deserve to. I don't care who gets in the way. She's leaving this place with me, whether its over your corpse or not."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

When the mouth of infinity buries its teeth in me
I'll smile through the agony for you
And I know you still bear the weight of your own existence
And you'll never bear the weight of two​

 

[Kali]

You don’t really know why
But you wanna justify
Rippin’ someone’s head off

NOW PLAYING:
Break Stuff | Limp Bizkit

Vita watched as N began to stand, gritting his teeth with the sudden movements. She could tell one of his wounds reopened, not enough to bring him back to death's door but enough to form droplets on the floor below him. She moved, unsure whether to stop or aid him to where he wanted to be, but he decided for her as he stumbled, almost smashing face-first into the stone floor if it weren’t for her quick catch. She had no time to banter or panic. She was in full defensive mode now. All these years had prepared her to fight for herself, but it did not prepare her for a stubborn knight who was too hurt to fight but wanted to help anyway.

“Sorry, I’ll… I’ll be alright I promise.”

Vita grunted in response, silently moving him to his preferred position with slow, measured steps. She could carry him, but just barely as it took a lot of energy she didn’t have the reserves for. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, pushing her forward despite the aching exhaustion in her bones. She was leaving today with her knight. Before she could get lost in that thought, she felt the shine of one of those annoyingly bright flashlights hit her and Nadir’s face. She let out a low hiss, probably not helping the precarious position they found themselves in.

“...N? Release him, monster! That’s an order!”

V let out a slightly crazed giggle, wishing she wasn’t holding most of the weight of her beloved so she could show this man what kind of monster she could be.

“That’s no way to speak to your princess… A bow is common courtesy, but I guess a gun to my head will have to do.”

“I won’t let you strip this knight of his life. I won’t let you prey on him the same as every other knight that came before.”

Before she could say anything more, N stepped in, attempting to de-escalate the situation. She kept her eyes locked on her foe. She knew better than anyone how this would go. Someone was going to get hurt. And someone was going to die. The cycle was going to continue, but this time it was not just her life on the line.

“Let’s just put our weapons down and talk-”

“So it appears she has you under her spell. I'm sorry N, you know what the entity briefed us about. Those who take her side are lost to her magics. Consider this a mercy. I’ll be sure to put an end to you before she could corrupt you any further.”

Before she could blink, Nadir tackled her to the ground, such a cruel juxtaposition to their time in the garden. They fell into quite a similar position, his body on top of hers, but this time, instead of picking a leaf out of her hair, he was blocking her from plasma guns and grenades. As she hit the ground, her ears began to ring, and when the explosive went off, she temporarily went deaf. As the sound of the explosion dissipated and her hearing returned to her, she heard Z’s voice once again.

“So be a good knight and die right. I’m sure you will forgive me in the afterlife.”

At that very moment, she saw red. This man was going to die today at her hands for his tone towards her beloved. He was hers. Under her protection.

“Hey, V. You alright?”

N whispered, causing her to turn her head to look up into his eyes. She fought hard to keep the rage in her heart burning bright, but just looking at him was like dousing water on the flames of her fury. Blood red angry tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, instead nodding and moving to get out from under him.

“Don’t move too fast. He might notice you.”

He whispered. She barely noticed the slowly warping building, not fully aware of how close they were to a lack of escape route, because that was not a choice for her. She crouched next to him, her hand resting on her pistol, watching Z as he slowly backed away from the room, almost believing that they were dead. It was idiotic of him to think it would be that easy.

"If need be, I'll take his attention while you take the shot. I don't think there's any other way around this other than killing him."

As he slowly moved to get up, she could tell that another, if not all, of the stitches on his back had ripped open and were slowly oozing blood. Nowhere near as bad as the day before, but still dangerous considering he had not eaten since before he arrived in this hell. She hoped that she would be able to find something for him on the upper floors of the dungeon once they got out.

"Let me be a target, I'll be a distraction. He thinks me an enemy anyways so I don't have doubts that he won't hesitate to put me down, but I'm relying on you, V. Do what I can't, finish him off. I trust that you'll keep me safe."

“If you think this is the best way, then I will put my trust in you as you put your life in my hands. Don’t worry. It will be over soon.”
She whispered, the first part aimed at him and the latter more for herself. She gripped his hand, not wanting to let go but knowing that as soon as the threat was eliminated, they could walk away from this room hand in hand as they were meant to long ago.

"I'll move on three. One, two, three!"

As Nadir moved to initiate combat, Vita jumped to the left and fell into a crouched position, silently slinking closer to the combatants with her pistol in her right hand. She watched as N lifted the corpse of the third knight and used him as a shield against the sudden barrage of bullets flying towards him from Z’s direction. Once Z swapped to his blade, she knew exactly what had to be done and waited for the perfect moment to strike.

"It does me no pleasure putting you down, Nadir, but we can't afford her ever escaping."

"She deserves to see the sun too, Zio. We all deserve to. I don't care who gets in the way. She's leaving this place with me, whether its over your corpse or not."

Steadying her arm, Vita finally took the shot, two bullets, one hitting him square in the chest and the other at his dominant arm, the one holding the blade.. She could have gone for the head, but decided a slower death was more befitting of the condescending knight. She decided she would attempt to coax some information out of him before ending his sorry existence and leaving him to rot in the rubble with his former comrades. Vita rushed towards Z, quickly kicking the blade out of his hand, causing it to skid across the room. While he was still in shock, she pushed him to his knees and pressed the gun against his neck, ensuring a slow and painful death if he were to try any sudden movements. She looked over at N, knowing he didn’t have much more strength in him.

“Darling, I need you to take any weapons he has off of him, please.”
She then turned her head to face her slowly dying captive.

“Don’t make any sudden moves. If you comply, I may let you and your team leave here alive. If you don’t, you and everyone left in this hellhole will die slowly, painfully. The choice is yours.”
She whispered, slowly pulling off his helmet and lifting the gun to rest against his temple to ensure a clean shot, and got a proper grip on his shoulder-length black hair. Z spat on the ground, a mix of blood and saliva landing only inches from her feet.

“Why would I listen to a monster? Look what you did to all my comrades. To Nadir. You made him your traitorous puppet. I’m not going to let you do that to me. I’d rather die.”
Z growled as his wounds slowly oozed blood. He could still potentially survive, the wounds were not intended to be fatal. Not yet. She needed answers.

“That can be arranged, but first, you’ll answer my questions.”

​

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ticket price of my patience
A decade stuck in location
Of misery and damnation
And now I see the causation
Of all this pain and frustration

NOW PLAYING:
REVIVED | Derivakat​

Vita gripped Z’s hair, pulling his head back as she stood and traded her gun for a knife to his throat now that he was disarmed. She stared at him, trying to remember the faces of the men she had killed over the past seven years. All but the first had a similar look of stupidity and arrogance that led them to this pit of hell. The difference between them and the man in her grasp was that they did not try to kill the one man she trusted implicitly with her life. She would enjoy this.

“Who sent you here?”
She growled, her voice becoming less human the more her bloodlust increased. She wanted to tear him limb from limb. She wanted him to hurt. Z was forced to stare at her face, and despite the clear danger he was in, he gave her a malicious grin.

“Our leader, of course. Who else would want you dead as much as the man you are holding back from greatness?”

“What do you mean? My father is-”

“Your father ran like the coward he is after your mother was killed. But don’t you worry. Your filthy bloodline is going to be snuffed out like it should have been years ago.”
He spat, glaring up at her as if she were the one who deserved the knife at her throat. As if she had done anything to deserve the fate she was currently being given. Vita pressed the knife harder against the skin, blood slowly began seeping from the shallow wound.

“Malum.”
She whispered as those ruby tears of hers welled up, but refused to fall. Not yet. Her husband did this. And the only way for him to legally ascend to the throne is to destroy the bloodline of the current rulers.

“You don’t even deserve to say his name.”
Z snapped, using his slowly draining strength to lift his left hand and attempt to topple her over. Vita in response stabbed his shoulder, making sure the blade went to the hilt before twisting and ripping it out, creating a sizable gash. Z screamed in agony, falling back onto his knees and doubling over himself. Vita, now sure he couldn’t harm her, grabbed onto his hair once again and pulled his head back to stare up at her. She smiled, but there was no warmth or kindness to it.

“Zio. You have two choices now. You can answer the rest of my questions and have the chance of a quicker death, or you can keep fighting and your crew can have the opportunity of hearing your agonised screams as I push your body to its absolute limit.”
There was no humanity in her voice anymore. At this moment, she was truly the monster that people feared. It didn’t need to be like this, but life isn’t fair even to the people who may deserve it.

“Fuck. You.”
Z groaned out before screaming as she deftly stabbed the other arm where the bullet had hit him prior.

“What do you know about Malum’s plan?”
She shouted over his agony. She pulled the blade out and let go of his hair, allowing him a moment to breathe. He coughed and gasped, trying to gain his bearings. For the first time since he arrived, he showed genuine fear. He shivered on the cold floor, refusing to meet her eyes.

“All I know is… He wants you and your miserable bloodline… dead. At any cost. And he wanted your corpses brought to him.”

“I’m guessing there was a reward tied to this?”
She asked, preparing to show him a final mercy before he spoke again.

“Yes… The reward was knowing that you and your filth would finally be gone. You really are the monsters they say you are… Rot in hell.”
He spoke in ragged breaths and choked laughter. With those words, everything went red. All other questions forgotten, she pounced into action, stabbing him repeatedly in the chest. The unshed tears finally came down her face, mixing with the blood pouring from the wounds of the now-dead knight. He didn’t even fight back and was gone within thirty seconds. She didn’t stop after his heart stopped beating.

She began to scream and sob as she further mutilated the man N once had seen as a comrade and friend. She felt a presence come up behind her and, in a flash of fury, turned backwards and went to strike as a hand grabbed her wrist. The knife was just inches from his chest. Vita’s eyes widened in sheer horror as she looked up at him. Her N.

The blade clattered to the floor.

​

 

[Tenzai]

I can feel you inside my soul ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴛᴏxɪᴄ | ᴅ'ᴀꜰʀɪᴄᴀɴ & ᴄʜʀɪꜱᴛɪɴᴀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ Addiction that I just can't let go You're what I see when I close my eyes You're what I hear when I'm all alone The reason why it's so hard to trust You hit my buttons and I erupt Can't get enough, cause even with everything that you do I still love you ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​ Gunshots rang out, one after another, allowing the quick, lethal skirmish between the two to end. While the knights have trained for both the use of blade and rifle alike, they were never meant to be fighting alone. Usually arriving in fire teams, they were trained to cover each other and ensure that their flanks were covered to the best of their ability; To be fighting by themselves was to invite death and disaster. Only through Zio's hubris did he find himself vulnerable to the bullets of his enemy; Only through his pride as a knight did he make his fatal, last mistake. Falling to the ground upon being shot in his lung and his arm, before he had a chance to react to the advancing princess, she kicked away his blade, sending it flying in the opposite direction while burrowing her gun into his neck, ensuring that he wouldn't try any more resistance. Nadir on the other hand had fallen to the wall to support. Without the battle to fuel his adrenaline, his mind was quick to recognize the overwhelming pain that came from the reopening of his wounds; Each bandaged tear in his muscle causing the cloth that was meant to keep his flesh inside to stain red with his color. If not for the intruder, her beloved would be in a much better state. "You think killing me would change anything? At least I get to free his soul from your clutches, you witch." "Darling, I need you to take any weapons he has off of him, please." Nadir nodded his head, unable to mutter much more than a groan as he ran his hand down Ziogenes' leg to pull the combat knife from his boot and his rifle from his back. With both removed, there was nothing to get in the way between him and her questioning save for his stubborn will to resist to the end and his desire to buy enough time for his own to arrive to save him. An interrogation followed, and with it, a terrible resilience born of loyalty. Nadir understood that no matter what words he could give him, the indoctrination of the entity and his masters in his heart had made his fellow knight mind unsalvageable. Their propaganda was rooted too deep in his mind and in his soul for him to ever let go of. He genuinely believed that his beloved had hypnotized him into a loyal monster, one more worthy of death than he was grace. To Ziogenes, Nadir was already dead; The only thing that remained was the princess' puppet and if death was seen as a mercy, Nadir had little doubt that any words said to convince him otherwise would be wasted breath; Breath that could be better used to keep his insides under control given the circumstances that led up to him finding V in the first place. While the sounds of stabbing, the groans of his ex-friend, and the splattering of his blood against the frigid dungeon floor were all tough sights to see, he endured it, remaining steadfast in his faith and choice in his princess. If not for the fact that he attempted to kill them despite listening to his words, perhaps there might've been a different outcome, but in the end, this fate was his choice. From now, Nadir had driven his line in the sand; Unlike Ziogenes, he made his beloved princess his choice. She was the reason why he was able to become who he was in the first place. To act like she didn't was to lie to himself. Only until he heard her voice grow cold, her screams turn coarse, and his friend left ruined beyond recognition did her lover choose to intervene. However, as if she failed to notice his presence in the first place due to some overwhelming level of hate, as she turned towards Nadir, instead of greeting him with a hug, a blade came in the place of love, only to be stopped not by his hand on her wrist alone, but by his other arm of which the knife was embedded into instead. "V!" Her lover voiced, feeling the strength behind her swing being enough to kill before she withdrew her weapon. Only until the light returned back to her eyes did it fall back to the floor, causing his own blood to join that of his friend. Now was not the time for curiosities or bickering; They needed to move and she needed to be herself again. "... Don't let his words get to you. Your father is still alive. Let's focus on that and get out of here before this floor collapses. Please." Wrapping his bleeding arm around her to help guide her, his fresh blood stained her dress; The same blood from a wound she inflicted on top of him. No matter how much she could hurt him, he didn't seem like he was going to give up on her. Especially after all the time he endured alone in the hopes that one day, his role as a knight would somehow bring him back to her. "I'm not going to leave you behind to stow in your anger and your hate for the knights. You deserve better. We both do." A quiet walk followed as they made their way away from the crumbling remains of her once-cell. Looking back once more to see the man he was raised up in the knights with for a final time before he would be buried in this abyss forever, he muttered a silent prayer in thanks for all the good he gave before he turned against him. Just because they were different in belief did not make Ziogenes a bad man. They were only enemies by circumstance and he was sure that a path beside his beloved would end with the spilling of more innocent blood. "Let's leave. There's nothing left for us here but regrets and bad memories." Eventually, they were able to make it to the next floor up. From the looks of it, there were more cells as though this dungeon was meant to act as a prison for those the entity deemed as too dangerous to exist on Ophelia's open surface outside. While most had seemed empty as a result of the inhabitants of the prison doing away with most of them over the sake of survival and food, a few pests had seemed to make this place home, unaware of the inhumanities that took place in these same cells many years ago. Upon finding one with bars broken out of it, Nadir had finally chosen this place to be decent enough to take a break inside. They were still far from the surface but they made progress after once being at the bottom of the dungeon. "Princess..." Being assisted into a bench, he sat down and looked up at the princess he bled so much upon. If not for his flawed divine heritage, he'd have doubts that he would still be alive. Most humans were not meant to lose so much blood, and yet here he was, still breathing, all as a result of his accursed genetics and the love of the woman who the world outside had deemed as a monster worth slaying. "... You could be honest with me. Do you hate my kind?" Pulling out the badge that represented years upon years of training, dedication, and commitment in order to achieve the status as a knight, one of the greatest titles that any unclaimed could achieve, he seemed to have looked at it with a different eye. Others that did the same as him had sought her demise, making it feel like all the sacrifice that he placed towards his greatest achievement feel worthless. "In truth, I don't know what happened to you in the time since we last spoke. I tried to keep track of you but... Once you were with him, all I saw was the bright side before you disappeared. They didn't brief us on much more than orders from the higher ups. That you were here. That you... Weren't capable of saving..." "If the knights have made you feel so much hate that you couldn't even recognize me... Then I don't need this anymore." Tossing his blood stained badge on the floor in front of them, he sighed. All that time wasted. That dream had only served to make him one of her enemies, not one of her allies when she needed him most. While the training they instilled upon him was priceless, their vitriol against her species and against her kind was skipped on him. No matter what they could do, they couldn't train him to hate the same people that taught him love. They could train him to fight out of sheer aggression alone. "What's the point of keeping this symbol of protecting the ones you love when all it shows is that I'm good at doing the opposite? I nearly died trying to reach you. And now, you're protecting me... What does that make me? ...Am I a liability?" Here he was trained to protect her and all he did was need her protection to remain alive instead. By now, he was the one holding her back from escaping, from seeing the same skies he took for granted for an entire decade. "... I don't want to stop you from tasting freedom... And in truth? I don't know if I'd be able to make it out with you at this rate." Wounds from her as well as the marks of battle from his duel against Ziogenes was made much more apparent at this level than the last. Here, there was some lighting from the cells, from magical lamps that absorbed the radiant flow of magic from the world itself to be used as fuel. Here, it was made much more apparent of how much they had changed since the last time they saw each other now that they were in the light and up close. "Huh... If I didn't think you looked pretty before. You look a lot better now." Nadir chuckled sadly, trying to find humor in the midst of the dungeon only for it to return to an unnerving silence once the reality of their situation settled in. They both understood how increasingly grave his condition was becoming and without additional help, the view that he had of her now would potentially be among the last. While there was a medic on their team, she was deployed with the other three. Whether they would find her in time was unknown, and whether she would choose to operate on him with her healing magic and medical tools willingly was even more unlikely. "... I'm... Sorry. Even now, all I seem to do is give you more problems." Lifting himself from his bench now that he had a moment to breathe and a time limit to watch out for, he persisted through the pain, doing what he can to ease the pressure on his wounds while holding onto the gear that he was able to strip from his former friend. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. We always have a way of getting through the impossible. There's a medic that was deployed here alongside us. Perhaps, we could seek out her help. if Zio called for help, they might be making their way here as we speak." Leaning on her arm for support, he kept Ziogenes' rifle pointed down the hallway, trying his best to avoid the thoughts over the consequences of his failure. "Remember when your dad was mad at us for what we did in his room?" Focusing on the good memories of their past, he kept his mind away from the growing dread that came along with the throbbing pain of his injuries. "I swear, with how angry he was, he could've reduced me to cinders with his words." Hell by her side was better than heaven alone. He rethought his proverb to himself. A minute here was worth an eternity back in the barracks where he had nothing more to look forward to. At least, his actions now had purpose. His faith had a place. His beloved was in need for his high hopes and his present soul to remain in his body. He was going to see the stars with her one way or another. What more was a sacrifice made in the promise that it would come with her freedom? "You think he would be proud of me? Of us? For being able to find each other after all this time?" Last he remembered of her father's thoughts on their relationship, despite how youthful they were when it came to their experience with understanding relationships, he was supportive. Nadir was the only suitor that knew of her other side, not seeing it with disgust but instead, seeing it as another side of her to love the same. She may have ended up hurting him from time to time, but it was that same side that saved his life when he needed her most. It was that side that proved to both her and her father that the feelings he held towards Vita were more than just surface level. If he were to love her at her worst and most fearsome, then there would be nothing to stop him from loving her otherwise. "...I know it sounds strange to say, but I was hoping I'd be able to see him again." ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ Road trip, I hit the bowl while you hold to the wheel You are more like my best friend, this is more than the sex appeal Still my friends say you're bad for me but they don't know just how good you feel They tell me you'll be the death of me It must be why you're always dressed to kill Oh could it be because I care about you more than I do my own life Or is it cause I know people search for a love like this their whole life? The reason Romeo drank the poison, reason Adam ate the apple It cannot be planned you never get to choose who when or how, It just happens now​

​

 

[Kali]

For so long, I have waited
So long that I almost became
Just a stoic statue, fit for nobody
And I don’t wanna get in your way
But I finally think I can say
That the vicious cycle was over
The moment you smiled at me

NOW PLAYING:
Rain | Sleep Token​

I promise to never harm you… promise to never harm you… to never harm you… never harm you… Harm you.

​

Vita couldn’t comprehend how she got here, unable to believe that she would be part of the reason he was in fatal danger. The same sentiment from the first time she saw him when he entered the dungeon came to mind. Why him? Her mind was swirling, and she couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs; it was as if she was drowning. Her vision blurred as she looked up at him, those eyes that normally brought her solace only brought her gut-wrenching guilt. Tears continued to stream down her face, but the screaming and sobbing ceased. She was on the verge of total mania until he weakly shook her frame.

"... Don't let his words get to you. Your father is still alive. Let's focus on that and get out of here before this floor collapses. Please."

She took in a sharp exhale of air, shaking her head, trying to shake the insurmountable feeling of self-loathing to one side to make it out of here alive with him. As his arm wrapped around her, she felt the blood further stain her now mostly crimson dress. She dragged her feet forward, attempting to lead them towards the exit, but as they got closer, she couldn’t believe it was happening. She expected the door to shut and lock like the first time. She wouldn’t be able to handle more loss. She would die here, if not by the collapsing stone under them, then by her own hand. She knew he was gravely injured. She wasn’t even sure if he could be saved, but she would fight until the very end. She then thought of her mother and father, but the pain was too strong, too deep. She stopped only a few feet from the exit, her knees shaking as if she were on the verge of collapse.

"I'm not going to leave you behind to stow in your anger and your hate for the knights. You deserve better. We both do."

She looked over at him, confused but unable to formulate the words at that moment. Is that what he thought this was? Hatred for a group of men fighting for their nation? No. She would need to rectify that when they were finally safe out of harm's way. She took a deep breath and took the final step out of her cage, refusing to look back even as N turned to do so. She felt a knot forming and releasing inside her chest. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or scream… so she did nothing. She started to breathe in the slightly fresher air and began to cough. It had been so long since she hadn’t breathed in decay, and her body didn’t know how to handle this new change. N turned back toward her and wrapped his arm back around her shoulders, placing a bit more of his weight atop her due to his injuries, and she heard him faintly whisper.

"Let's leave. There's nothing left for us here but regrets and bad memories."

She pushed them both forward, struggling up a long flight of stairs, and made it to the next floor above. Her eyes again had to adjust to the light as although to most it was still dim, to her it was quite irritating to her corneas. She blinked away the welled-up tears and let Nadir lead them to a suitable spot for them to recover. As she gently sat him down onto what looked like a mix of a bench and a bed, she felt another sharp pang of guilt. He was so weak. She hadn’t seen him this hurt since the duel…

“Princess…”

N snapped Vita out of that dreaded memory, and she locked eyes with him once again.

“Yes?”
She whispered, her voice hoarse and broken from her screaming earlier.

“... You could be honest with me. Do you hate my kind?"

The Princess stared at him in disbelief. She felt almost incapable of responding and moved to sit next to him as he pulled out his badge.

"In truth, I don't know what happened to you in the time since we last spoke. I tried to keep track of you but... Once you were with him, all I saw was the bright side before you disappeared. They didn't brief us on much more than orders from the higher-ups. That you were here. That you... Weren't capable of saving..."

“N…”

"If the knights have made you feel so much hate that you couldn't even recognize me... Then I don't need this anymore."

“Nadir, that’s not-”
She watched him as he tossed his badge on the floor and felt a pang of sadness radiate from her heart and throughout her body. He was and always has been her knight. No badge could change that.

"What's the point of keeping this symbol of protecting the ones you love when all it shows is that I'm good at doing the opposite? I nearly died trying to reach you. And now, you're protecting me... What does that make me? ...Am I a liability?"

“Stop.”
She said weakly, leaning down to pick up the leatherbound badge and setting it in her lap.

“I don’t… hate you. Or the knights. Even the ones I… I had no other choice. If I could have spared them, I would have. Despite what they were sent to do I know that they genuinely thought they were destroying a threat… Maybe they were right.”
She whispered that last part as she locked her eyes on the large wound on his left arm.

Monster.

They sat in tense silence until N shifted, aggravating his wounds. She moved to do something, but she wasn’t sure what that something was. She thought about trying to use her magic, but that had the opportunity of backfiring. Her hands shook as she reached toward him, but she quickly placed her hands back into her lap.

"... I don't want to stop you from tasting freedom... And in truth? I don't know if I'd be able to make it out with you at this rate."

“Don’t say that. We’re going to get out. We have to. I won’t lose you again.”
She whispered shakily, unable to think of any solutions that could get them out of this in one piece. She, in truth, never thought she would get out at all, so the fact that she was free of that hellish room was more than she thought would be possible. She believed that one day they would send more than one knight to slay her and get the job done, but for some reason, they simply… didn’t.

She stared at the gash on his left arm and contemplated their choices. If they stayed down here, they were most likely to be found by the other knights that had accompanied N and Z. If they tried to keep going up, the same could happen, but they could maybe find some food or more supplies. Maybe she could leave him here to rest while she explored. At least if the knights found him, perhaps he could lie and say that she had attacked him… Maybe they could save him. Would he resent her if she made that choice for him? At least he would be safe.

“Huh…”

Her thoughts were interrupted by Nadir’s hand gently turning her head up to meet his weary eyes.

“If I didn't think you looked pretty before. You look a lot better now."

She couldn’t help the shaky giggle that came out as she gently placed her hand on his face, accidentally smearing a small amount of blood on his cheek.

“I’d say the same to you, handsome… the scars suit you…”
She said, her voice shifting to one of slight despair as she recognised the number of scars that were inflicted by her throughout their childhood. Most happened during sparring practice, which is to be expected, but a few of them… She snapped herself out of it, pulling her hand away and scooting back.

"... I'm... Sorry. Even now, all I seem to do is give you more problems."

“No… If anything, I’ve always been the problem, and you were always my solution… My N.”
She murmured, standing up with him and allowing him to rest his weight against her once again.

"We'll figure it out, I'm sure. We always have a way of getting through the impossible. There's a medic that was deployed here alongside us. Perhaps, we could seek out her help. If Zio called for help, they might be making their way here as we speak."

She stayed silent, thinking that perhaps that was the best course of action to keep him alive. She hadn’t practised healing magic for so long. She wasn’t sure if it would be possible anymore. As they walked down the hallway, she silently placed her hand near the wounds on his back, not quite touching and attempted to let the energy flow in the space between.

"Remember when your dad was mad at us for what we did in his room?"

As N began to bring up old memories, it almost seemed to lift a weight from her chest.

“Which time?”
She joked, the hand hovering over his wound, feeling warm and a slight golden glow emitting from her palm. She stayed silent, hoping he wouldn’t stop talking, the memories helping her heal instead of harm.

"I swear, with how angry he was, he could've reduced me to cinders with his words."

Despite the time spent down in the dungeon, she could remember her father’s voice vividly. After the first time her father found them in a somewhat compromising position, he forbade N from seeing her for three months and gave her ‘the talk’, a traumatising scene. Little did her father know that what really happened was not as graphic as he thought. They were simply sparring, and things got a little bit out of hand. The princess simply found a new way to win that was all… and maybe it included seducing her opponent, but she still came out triumphant. As she thought about it, a small genuine smile formed on her face. The energy from her hand grew stronger, and she could feel the larger of the wounds closing up on his back. He would need to eat to replenish his strength, but he was not directly on death's door for now.

"You think he would be proud of me? Of us? For being able to find each other after all this time?"

Vita pondered for a moment, already knowing the answer due to the devastation that wrecked the family when the entity announced her partner. It was as if a blanket of despair and mourning fell over the palace that night; even her father couldn’t pretend it didn’t affect him. He was furious and even attempted to ask for an alternative match, but the entity refused. Vita had cried all night in her mother's arms, still wearing the promise ring N gave her only a few months before. The next morning, she had red streaks staining her face that no amount of scrubbing could wash away.

“Yes.”

"...I know it sounds strange to say, but I was hoping I'd be able to see him again."

She took in another shaky breath and cleared her mind, pushing them further down the hallway. The energy coming from her hand began to wane, but it had done what she needed it to. He would survive as long as there were no more major wounds, which means if there was another conflict, she would need to figure out how to keep his stubborn self out of combat.

“Let’s just try to get out of here alive first. How are you feeling?”
They continued walking until they reached the next flight of stairs. She listened for any movement above, but didn’t hear anything.

“What caused you to fall anyway? Were you fighting something?”
She asked, completely unaware of what was inside the dungeon. Vita believed that it was only her so to be informed that there were other entities around was quite a surprise. She began to lead the two up to the next floor, hoping to find a canteen, anything that could possibly hold food or ingredients to make something for N to eat. What they found instead were many bodies, some decayed down to the bone and some very fresh. Vita gasped, and the sudden stench of decay re-entered her nose, causing her to cough and gag. She looked around, recognising that indeed every knight came with a team, but only one remained from each one to complete the task. Was this a cruel game? A test of worthiness? Why send all these men to die when only one would be permitted to enter her dungeon? Was that the rule? All these thoughts swirled in her head as she gasped for air.

“NO.”
She cried, her knees giving out under her and hitting the cement floor, realising that she had inadvertently killed all these men and women as well.

MONSTER.​

 

[Tenzai]

Won't you show me how to dance forever? ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜꜱ | ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴛᴏᴋᴇɴ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ It's like you're dangerous to me I notice every time we meet I feel the ground beneath my feet giving way You've got me talking in my sleep As if you're conquering my dreams You have awakened what's beneath again ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​ Woe was the hidden price of love, their bonded hearts a paradigm of chaos and contradiction. By being together, he was granted heaven at the cost of hell. By being alive, he was brought the closest to death's embrace. The woman that mended all wounds was the same that inflicted them. The princess he longed for was the same monster that dwelled in the dungeon. Though no matter how bitter reality became with her, he could feel it. "Don't say that. We're going to get out. We have to. I won't lose you again." Her words were far from artificial. Genuine love had dripped from her voice. "I'd say the same to you, handsome… the scars suit you…" It was real; Her presence by his side was the product of no dream or hallucination. "No… If anything, I've always been the problem, and you were always my solution… My N." These feelings that possessed his chest were not the source of alcohol or some sort of magical construction. Each warm touch and joke, each compliment of the scars that made up his history, even each giggle and memory had all proven that their past was true. No matter how much the entity could try to convince them otherwise, no matter how far it could split them apart, it would never take away their past; It could never take away their history. "Let's just try to get out of here alive first. How are you feeling?" Her healing magic had brought his wounds to ease. While the strain of enduring that pain and the soreness he was subjected to had yet to leave his body, the difficulties Nadir had in walking were gone, giving him the freedom to walk by her side without support. "There's nothing quite like the feeling of your healing hands, princess. I'm feeling alright now. Thank you." Even here, in the depths of the cell blocks, he still found a way to treat her like he always felt he should; A princess deserving of love. "Maybe its not a bad idea that the other knights are too fond. I get to have all your attention to myself." Taking her hand, he placed his first step on the staircase leading upward. "After you." As they walked up the long staircase, princess Vita struck conversation. "What caused you to fall anyway? Were you fighting something?" Nadir nodded his head. "One of the many guardians of this dungeon meant to keep insiders in... And outsiders out." Recalling the look of the construct that nearly sent him to the afterlife, he remembered the details of one of older models of security constructs meant to act as replacement for wardens in monster-dominated prisons. They were far from humane but at least, they didn't subject prisoners to the cruel, dehumanizing punishments that their living biological counterparts did. "Robot construct. Third-war tech. It sent me crashing through the floor." Bringing his feet to a halt for a moment, he looked towards her. "If not for you, I don't think I'd still be here." Bringing her fingers to his lips, he offered her digits his warmth. "My life is in your hands, V." Eventually feeling the tug of her hands calling him back to her side as she walked up the steps, as he followed her, the sudden outburst had stolen his attention. "NO." Whatever she looked at had seemed to paralyze her, causing her knees to buckle and the rest of her body to collide with the concrete floor. "V! What's wrong?" The stench of death and decay had caused his insides to twist and turn, attempting to join the guts and gore that decorated the next room in a macabre display. The people that were here were all knights like himself. Each had limbs and chunks of their armor and flesh removed prior to death, some exhibiting strikes from grotesque limbs and mandibles, others hinting at torment and death from a more magical source via white ash, darkened roots, and crimson crystals. These wounds were not inflicted by one of the guardians of this dark palace. They were all wounds that he knew the princess could inflict. Turning back towards her, she seemed to be too struck by the scene to move. As if whatever humanity she held had intentionally buried the memories of what she did to these men and women far from her conscious mind, instead of finding the woman in front of him a monster, he extended his arms, wrapping one underneath her legs and the other behind her back to carry her when her legs failed her. His princess was far from a monster without reason. The cells they passed by had hinted that the robotic warriors that defended this dungeon were far from the only occupants responsible for guarding it. Marks on the cell walls and certain tools used for "interrogation" on political prisoners and empire dissidents had made Nadir understand some of what went on in this corrupted place. To the monster, these people were monsters, but unlike her, they didn't need any more reason to be monsters other than orders. The thought of what went on with his princess over the past years had driven him sick, far more than the piles upon piles of decaying organic matter in front of him. His mind was used to dark sights after spending so long on the battlefield against the entity's enemies. He deemed them less than human; Less than the worth of a living being, but the princess was different; The princess was still present in his heart. "Just focus on me, okay? I'll take you out of here myself." Bringing his hand from her back towards her head to pull her face towards his chest, the soldier marched through the wasteland of a floor, finding that the bodies extended beyond just the first room itself. This floor was a one-sided battlefield, a massacre and meat grinder for those too ill prepared to handle their assignment. If not for the fact that he knew her, he believed that he would've been one of them as well. However, as he walked through the flesh laden hallways where his boots had squished with every step, it began to make sense as to why ZIogenes had fought so hard. To a knight that didn't know any better, she perpetuated everything they were told by the entity's intel. She was an organic weapon too lethal to exist. She was a monster that only knew ruin, devastating all that she made contact with. She and the rest of her monstrous family were freaks of nature that had no right to live in the kingdom. It was a hard pill for him to swallow to think that he could understand those who turned their weapons against his princess; However, there was little use in dwelling on what happened. Nothing could change the past. All he could do now was keep moving forward. As he neared the end of the floor leading to the next steps that led upward, the sight of something moving in the darkness had caught his vision: A hand reaching out towards him. One of the bodies was still alive, forced to exist in a perpetual state of torment after being subject to a preservation-related spell as a result of their faith in the wrong god. The entity did not come for them; It did not offer them mercy when they cried for an end. With their one fading eye staring at the princess being held like she was an ordinary girl, the barely living corpse spoke. "M-monster..." Its vocal cords had decayed their voice to a near unrecognizable whisper as it saw the princess draw near in the arms of another. "Run.... Run... while you... can..." Pity had become the primary emotion he felt when looking down at this sorry state of a knight. They were merely a victim of circumstance, obeying their orders without giving it any second thought like he did. "No. I don't plan on it. Not after all we've been through." Betrayal was present in the eye of the fallen, seeing the woman that they worked so hard to kill be treated better than they were. "I'll afford you this final mercy. I hope you find peace in your next life. Goodbye." Taking the princess' pistol from her hip and aiming it at the head of the fallen, he fired a single round right in the center of their helmet, ensuring them a swift end. Unlike before where she was the one to draw the killing blow, this time, Nadir had taken the guilt. "I'm sure you had your reasons, V." Nadir was quiet as he spoke, paying respect to the fallen who's intentions were innocent. "I don't blame you for defending yourself." Resting her pistol back on her hip, after muttering a short prayer to a god her father believed in for mercy and grace in their next reincarnation, the knight had finally made it to the next level of steps. He was emotionally weary after being brought one psychological trial after another, of having his beloved stab him, of having his friend shoot at him, and now, of seeing the results of her incarceration, finding the remains of those who came before, and even putting one of them down himself. If not for the presence of the princess in his arms, he was sure he'd become mad, incapable of differentiating between hallucination and reality. "If you do ever find me in such a state where I'm begging for my end, please offer me the same grace and take me out swiftly." Making one final turn to see the corpse of the fallen knight decay away as the soul that was binding its flesh to its bones had left it, he looked back at the woman he wished to claim him. She was the only one who saw him for more than what his species was reputed for; The first to put her faith in him. "Though, I think with you by my side. I doubt I'd ever feel that way. No matter what you do, no matter how far apart we become, you will always be the woman I claim in every single life." His wounded wings unfurled, embracing her in a four limbed hug and drawing her into a kiss while he carried her up the stairs. "You saw me for more than what others described me as. Why can't I do the same for you?" ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​ By the time they had made it to the next floor, they found the mess hall meant for lower security prisoners. This one had more luxuries than the last, showing tables and benches that weren't split apart by concrete dividers meant to keep the guards safe and the prisoners secure from each other. It had appeared as a small place of rest, one of the last that would come before they would be forced to encounter the remaining forces that were deployed here to eliminate the princess in the first place if not one of the guardians that were instructed to deal with intruders and escapees before them. Taking his moment to relax, the knight rested the princess on the bench, only to sit beside her and rest her head on his lap. "Hey, V. About what you said earlier, about you being a threat to the knights." While the wound on his arm had healed, its rip through his armor did not mend, revealing just how much force she thrusted against him. If he wasn't ready to resist, he likely would've died if not gotten close to dying. "...I don't think you are to me. I've fought monsters before, those that look like them and those that look like me, and none of them cared. Yet here you were, healing me. Making sure I was okay. Talking to me. Letting me rest beside you. None of those things are what threats would do for me in the first place." Trying to strip her doubts away with his truth, the knight stroked her head with one hand while he did a visual inspection of the room with another. Most supplies had seemed to be stripped away, most likely from other prisoners that attempted an escape; Though certain doors that could be opened with the right security clearance were still undisturbed. "You're different from them, V. You care." "Give me but just a moment, I'll be back by your side soon." Gently resting her head from his lap to the bench, as he walked away for a couple minutes, the sound of a beep followed with the press of his hand on a touch panel, only for the scent of refrigerated food to flood the room. Taking a couple portions from the stock, eventually, he returned by her side with cold, preserved meals. "It might not be the most romantic place for a date, but... We could always do worse." Cutting open one bag that held jerky with his knife, he offered it to her first before cutting open his own. "Eat up. I know how hungry you get after casting spells, V, and I'm sure they didn't feed you much while you were down there, did they?" Helping her sit up, instead of eating across from her, he ate with her side by side, resting his shoulder by her side for her to lean on. "To think, our next time eating with each other would look like this after a decade." They were both a sorry sight if their past selves were given a glimpse of the future. She was covered in his blood and he was given a multitude of new scars that decorated his body. However, to the past selves of a year ago as well as just a week ago, this was heaven. This was the start of their journey from rock bottom together, a new terrible beginning where they had each other by their side. "... This jerky tastes like shit."

 

[Tenzai]

#D4FCFF​ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ | ʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴋ.ᴀᴡᴀʏ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ And we fall into nothing, like the wind in our hair Trace it back into your arms And your lips are my secret I'll keep it or leave it Let you ruin my life​ It was meant to be a simple extraction mission. "Get behind me! I'll keep you safe!" A simple guard mission where he and his guard cohort was to take his beloved diplomat from point A to point B. "No! I'm not leaving you behind, Zamir! They'll have to get to you over my dead body!" But something was wrong. He should've known. The knights that he had served alongside for centuries were quiet; As though the pair were nothing but cold strangers when they were family just days before. These were the same men that were willing to throw down their lives, the very same that shed blood by his side to keep her safe. Only until he noticed the glints of their steel was he able to muster a defense, but by then, when it came to the idea of escape, it was far too late. Sparks of phase blades finding each other in a place they once deemed home had lit up the night as the most loyal guard had fought a losing battle, of one against many. Though, as if he used the fuel of his emotion as the soul behind his own blade and magic, one by one did he fell his once allies, subjecting his body to torturous wounds that bore into his face and body, stripping one of his eyes of his vision and cutting his dominant arm clean off. However, even with the graveness of his injuries, his body was but a mere offering to the gods, a wishful sacrifice in exchange for her safe passage. As the draconic fighter fought, he prayed to whichever entities above that could hear him for mercy and safe passage. A life without her isn't one worth living. Unfortunately, as his body was stripped of its stamina and his vision grew blurry from blood covering his face, what he failed to notice in time was the glint of a rifle scope aimed towards his fiancee. A silenced las-shot fired towards her before he had a chance to push her away. Instead of letting her succumb to her fate, he attempted to stand in the way, preparing to block the shot with his weapon only for the round to cleave right through the blade, his body, and through her, sending all three targets to the floor with a single shot. Falling down to his knees before laying by her side, as the lights in their eyes faded while the pool of blood they shared grew with every passing moment, the remaining knights that were assigned to bring her down had captured her, pulling her away while she weakly resisted before capturing him the same. Their happy ending wasn't something the entity had destined for them in this life. ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​ Held in a cell where he was to be kept under observation, he was able to hear the sounds of what they did to her. Each heart wrenching day he spent in captivity, unbeknownst to the world as though he was MIA after a mission that supposedly "failed", his mind began to crack. The woman he dedicated his all into keeping safe was being broken by the same people he had served alongside. Only until a month pass did the guards finally do something about the shell of a proud warrior; Unfortunately for Enoch, he was too useful to waste. He was a strong and capable asset, one deemed too valuable for anything less. Dragging him into a chair where he could be brainwashed, they attempted to prod and scramble his memories in the hopes of restoring his loyalty to the entity by any means. By magic, science, and tool alike, the doctors that worked on him had turned his love into a blur, fragmenting the foundations of their relationship in the hopes that they could replace it with a desire to serve instead. Through enough time and work reaching into the deepest recesses of his mind, they had reinstilled a sense of duty, believing that their work was a complete success. However, little did they know that their tools could never reach the roots of his love and his desire for revenge on those that split them apart. His love was a weed they could not kill. His anger was an addiction that dwelled quietly in his heart, awaiting the perfect time to enact his revenge. How could they kill a love for someone that was still alive in his mind? How can they truly purge his mind when his Zamir was still right there with him? In the quiet moments away from other living eyes, she was present, loving him. She was present, longing for him. She was present, touching and feeling him. She was still alive, no matter what others had tried to convince him of. ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘​ Knights. Reassigned as an unclaimed knight, while the other two members of his party had split, Enoch was assigned as one of the three to search the opposite end of the prison. Lulled into a fall sense of security, like the guards he served with before, there was something different in the way he spoke. He was dismissive, uncaring about their present situation. It was expected that they were to die, told lies that handling this mission was the responsibility of a good knight. [Hey Nox, what do you think the other team is dealing with right now?] One of them spoke, only to turn around to see Enoch's weapon aimed towards his head. [Hey- Wait-] Not even giving his allies a chance to respond, the monster pulled his trigger, bringing one down before the other and slaying both with heavy weaponry. Even on the ground, he didn't stop shooting until his weapon dry fired. "Good riddance." Given the fact that they were most likely sent there to die in an attempt to kill his sister, he was sure that he would soon be disposed of as well once the entity had found a suitable replacement. Turning on his radio, he reported to the other members of his team. [The medic and captain are dead. Its just me left. Scrapped the robot that killed them. I'll reunite with you soon.] No answer. Whatever happened on the other side of the prison must have taken the other team's attention if not taken the other team's lives. "Hell of a place for a family reunion." He muttered to himself before stripping the corpses for ammunition and supplies, only to hear the light steps of his beloved behind him. "Zamir?" He didn't seem question why she was here in the first place. These unnatural occurrences were taken in his mind as normal. By scrambling his head, the entity's scientists had removed hesitation and curiosity. "...I'm alright. Don't worry about me. Let's just head to the other side of the prison. I'm sure I could convince our pilot to come back with a good enough lie." Taking her hand in his, the broken man had walked down the hallway as though it were the halls of their home, going against his leader's orders and choosing to head back to where his other allies went. From the looks of it on his map, there was one still alive; One blip moving up from lower floors. Given how deep he reached, he felt it right to assume that they had found what they were looking for. "If that N managed to kill my sister, I'll bring him down myself. If he's simply too wounded to continue and he escaped her, it'll just make the job easier." Brushing his thumb over her knuckles, he gave her a smile behind his visor. "I just can't wait to go home with you. To finally be back where we belong. Not here. Not with them." He gave a dirty look to the corpses of his comrades, before disappearing down the dark hallway by himself. "This time, I promise I'll marry you right."

 

[Kali]

There's a God-awful shitty
feeling of dread in my heart
Yeah, it's got a lot to do with
having to finish what I start
And at any second now, I think
it might all fall apart
'Cause there's a God-awful
shitty feeling of dread in my heart

NOW PLAYING:
Dread In My Heart | Mother Mother

She was unable to stop staring at the copious amounts of lifeless eyes that stared back at her. She was stiff, unable to relax even a single muscle. She did this. She took a shaky breath as she felt her knight lean down to her level and gently lift her into his arms. She kept her eyes forward, now staring at a wall covered in blood red crystals with pieces of human flesh and bone rotting from where she had impaled a few of her more vicious victims. A flash of memory came back to her: a man forcing himself onto her, planning to do more than kill her.

I mean. Who really cares what happens to you first? You’re gonna die anyway.
The man growled as he made his way toward her. She, at this point, knew what he wanted to do and decided to use it to her advantage. The next flash of memory showed his body impaled on the crystals and his dying screams as he slowly bled out with no way to escape.

‘No… This isn’t right… I never left that room.’
She thought to herself. She had spent seven years locked in that dark room. She would remember making it out even if it was only briefly. But that was her magic. Nobody else in her family had her type of magic. She placed that thought to one side, deciding that she would think about it once they were safe and away from this wicked place. She felt his hand move to gently nudge her head into his chest, and that was all the invitation she needed to lean into his embrace. She couldn’t fully relax, but as she took in his scent, she began to breathe normally again. She closed her eyes, no longer wanting to stare at the gore that surrounded them, instead focusing on his heartbeat and avoiding the sound of his boots squelching against the viscera that could not be avoided. She couldn’t understand how he was acting as if this was at all natural. As if her horrific displays of violence were simply nothing to him. So many people died at her hands despite her lack of memory.

As they reached the next set of stairs, she heard N’s heartbeat as it quickened under her head and the sound of something- someone shifting against the floor.

“M-monster…”
It whispered, and her eyes snapped open, looking down at the mangled body of a young girl. She could not have been older than twenty. Vita gasped, moving in his arms to reach down to her, but before she could try to help, the girl spoke up again.

“Run… Run… while you… can…”
The girl rasped. How was she alive? Vita began to question once again what had happened here. Did she keep this girl alive through some sick spell? She never knew that she could do something so heinous, but she could see the slight shimmer of her magic curled around the girl in a sickening golden-red aura. Almost as if she were being healed just enough to avoid death, but still being constantly wounded. Vita retracted her hand, placing it back in her lap as Nadir took the pistol from her pocket and took the killing shot. She watched as the aura around her began to dissipate, and she was finally able to rest.

“I’m sorry…”
Vita cried, her gentle voice breaking. She wasn’t sure who she was apologising to, the young girl or N, perhaps both.

“I’m sure you had your reasons, V.”
Nadir murmured, and she shivered in his arms, coming to the concerning conclusion that she had no idea how or why this happened to so many people. Her heart burned uncomfortably in her chest, a long-lasting feeling of guilt radiating through every inch of her being. Her eyes began to blur as the wave of emotion made her dizzy.

"I don't blame you for defending yourself."

"If you do ever find me in such a state where I'm begging for my end, please offer me the same grace and take me out swiftly."


His words were muffled as her ears began to ring. She wanted to throw up, but she had nothing in her stomach to release. She hadn’t eaten in so long… she forgot what food tasted like. How long has it been since she’s eaten? She went limp in his arms, still conscious, but not very aware of the world around her until his eyes met hers again. It was as if the daze was cleared when their eyes connected. She didn’t know why, but did it matter? He was here, and she was in his arms. She focused on every point of contact that their bodies touched and took a deep breath before reaching up to cradle his face in her palm.

"Though, I think with you by my side. I doubt I'd ever feel that way. No matter what you do, no matter how far apart we become, you will always be the woman I claim in every single life."

Vita watched as his wings began to unfurl with wide, adoring eyes. It had been so long since she had seen him with his wings out, and all she could think was how soothing it used to be to help him preen the soft feathers in the spring. She once jokingly said that she should use his shedded feathers to make a soft pillow for her to cuddle at night. A few weeks later, he handed her a handmade, messily stitched, feather pillow with his initials messily sewn into the front of the fabric. She used to hold it every night while she slept, keeping it close to her heart so even when he wasn’t there, she still had a part of him. Coming back to the present, her breath hitched as he pulled her into a gentle kiss, their lips fitting together like long-lost puzzle pieces. Despite all the horror around her, she couldn’t help but think that this was heaven. As they pulled away, she noticed that they were already halfway up the stairs. She kept close to him, not wanting to break this moment quite yet.

"You saw me for more than what others described me as. Why can't I do the same for you?"

Vita didn’t know how to respond, instead, she pressed her lips against the dip between his collarbone, savouring the slight thrum of his heart against her mouth. As they finally made it to the next floor, she silently braced herself for more carnage, but instead found them in a canteen. As N sat her down on the bench, her lower lip pushed forward into a pout, unhappy with the change in position until he laid her head onto his lap. She stared up at him at this strange angle and found her heartbeat had finally slowed back to normal despite the swirling anxiety in the back of her head. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him, watching as his eyes continually flickered to hers before he spoke.

"Hey, V. About what you said earlier, about you being a threat to the knights. I don't think you are to me. I've fought monsters before, those that look like them and those that look like me, and none of them cared. Yet here you were, healing me. Making sure I was okay. Talking to me. Letting me rest beside you. None of those things are what threats would do for me in the first place.”

As he ran his hand through her, admittedly, knotted hair (she couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to wash and brush it again), she almost purred in satisfaction. It had been so long since she was given a gentle touch, and strangely, the last time was by N as well. He knew exactly what she liked.

"You're different from them, V. You care."

“I care about you. There is quite a difference.”

She whispered, closing her eyes and trying to enjoy the moment of silence around them. She let out a soft whine as Nadir began to lift her head from his lap, and she begrudgingly moved and laid her head on the hard surface of the bench as he spoke.

"Give me but just a moment, I'll be back by your side soon."

She huffed, but otherwise didn’t protest, deciding instead to try her hand at untangling her hair. She watched as he shuffled around and disappeared inside what looked to be a supply closet. As he walked back to the bench, she saw him holding what looked to be… food?

How long had it been since she ate? She can’t remember eating in the past seven years.

As he sat down with the ration bags, he spoke about romance and dates, but all she could think of was the aching emptiness in her stomach that she had not thought of in so long. She never even questioned it, honestly. There were more pressing matters, but this is… strange.

If I find my father, I’ll have to ask him about that…
As he helped her sit up, she hesitantly placed her hand in the bag, grabbing a small leathery piece of what was assumed to be meat.

"To think, our next time eating with each other would look like this after a decade."

She hummed in agreement as she took the first bite. She felt physically sick, not because of the taste, but the feeling of chewing and swallowing felt so foreign to her that her body believed that this small piece of edible leather was going to kill her. She forced herself to swallow the piece. Luckily, her look of disgust matched his, but clearly for two different reasons.

"... This jerky tastes like shit."

Laughter echoed in the empty room as she shook in amusement, leaning against his frame. This was surreal to her. She still couldn’t believe this wasn't some wonderful dream…

You’re not out yet… there’s still plenty of time for him to-

Her laughter dissipated as quickly as it appeared; instead, her face turned solemn. She tried to ignore her thoughts, but the memory of the first(?) knight began to repeat behind her eyes. He had such kind eyes… He had taken her hand almost lovingly before…

A lone tear fell down her left cheek, adding to the pink stains adorning her pale face. She didn’t move, however. Even though her brain may try to treat him as a threat, it was as if the rest of her being didn’t care. She craved his warmth, his touch, his voice. Him. In his entirety. Instead of focusing on the uneasiness in her brain, she decided to take another bite of the jerky, quickly wiping away the tear and looking up at him with a small, uneasy smile.

“Yeah, but it could be worse. We could be eating that chicken pie you tried to poison me with when we were 17.”
She said dramatically, fondly remembering the half-baked pie with clearly raw bits of chicken mixed with the cooked parts. That day was specifically long for her as she had royal training with her father as next in line, which meant way too much talking to people she couldn’t stand and no time for her happiness, her N. She imagined that this was what her father felt when he was away from her mother…

Vita scooted away and turned to face Nadir, who was still munching on jerky.

“Did you know that my mother… that she was…”
She couldn’t get the words out, her eyes wide, glassy, and looking up into his. Not sure which answer she would rather hear.

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#F79AC0​

NOW PLAYING:
Zamir's Motif​

Just a few floors above the two traumatised lovers stood a golden-haired prince with a very familiar look upon him as he searched for his sister. A soft silhouette walked up beside the ‘unclaimed’ prince with what looked to be a soft smile on her face. She didn’t seem to even notice the dead men on the ground as their bright blue eyes met one another.

“Are you alright?”
Her voice was but a whisper; she never really spoke loudly. Not anymore.

All of the screaming had destroyed her voice-

"...I'm alright. Don't worry about me. Let's just head to the other side of the prison. I'm sure I could convince our pilot to come back with a good enough lie."

She reached her hand down, interlocking their fingers as if completing an unfinished puzzle, and they began to walk, gliding along beside him. As he began looking at his map she started to hum a soft song, a song that she would sing to him when he was stressed with his duties as a prince.

"If that N managed to kill my sister, I'll bring him down myself. If he's simply too wounded to continue and he escaped her, it'll just make the job easier."

She continued to hum, nodding her head long with his words, agreeing with his sentiment. She hoped Vita was alive… for his sake. Not that it mattered what she thought. Her hopes were the same as his. As he brushed his thumb against her hand, she looked back up at him, her song finally fading into its final note.

"I just can't wait to go home with you. To finally be back where we belong. Not here. Not with them."

She followed him into the dark hallway, slowly fading into the blackness herself before she was nothing beside him. An empty space.

"This time, I promise I'll marry you right."

The statement echoed across the empty floor, bouncing off the walls into the endless cacophony of broken promises made here.

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜꜱ | ʟʏɴ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

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“I care about you. There is quite a difference.” A solemn silence had overtook his partner once the waves of familiarity had come to an end. This dungeon only knew how to take and take, stripping their happiness through its eerie walls and haunting memories. Instead of being able to muster an easy strength to consume what he brought for the both of them to eat, her throat strained, struggling to remember how to swallow consensually. A tear had run down her cheek as Vi leaned closer to him, and with one simple inspection of his reflection in her own eyes, he found her thoughts; Of a what if this all wasn’t real, of what if she was simply playing into his hands and falling into a trap.

If it were the truth, Nadir assumed he would’ve been perfect. He had a history with her, one too genuine for the entity to not find useful. Even if he were not to make it out, it would be no stain on society; He was unclaimed already, having no one to return back home to. Perfectly disposable yet vital all the same. But that wasn’t what Nadir ever was.

His heart had cracked through his conditioning, revealing glints of the genuine knight novitiate she fell in love with all those years ago. His warmth was not alien, but real. Holding her chin with his hand only to wipe her tear with his thumb, he gave a sad smile seeing her reduced to such a state. “I still feel I’ve yet to earn that care.” He muttered before laying the rest of his leathery strip aside in exchange for taking her hands in his. “But I promise that who I am now is much closer to earning that love than who I was before.”

“To think, our next time eating with each other would look like this after a decade.” Sighing that it took losing her for a decade for him to find the strength behind his words, he took the challenge of the edible leather, finding nothing more than a material as resilient as his armor embedded between his teeth."... This jerky tastes like shit."

“Yeah, but it could be worse. We could be eating that chicken pie you tried to poison me with when we were 17.”

“Don’t remind me.” While it was endearing that she recalled his first attempt at cooking one of her castle cook’s staples instead of leaving it to the automations of the castle, it was embarrassing that she would remember such a vulnerable memory enough to inscribe it to her heart. “They never taught me how to do more than cook to survive, not cook for taste when I was back in the knight’s academy.”

Once proud of what he learned, he hoped that “with love”, any meal he put effort into would turn out delicious. However, little did the naive rookie know that, as with swordsmanship and spells, the skill of cooking itself was a task riddled with failure, one that he couldn’t better honed on the battlefield. “... I didn’t realize the importance of salt and the value of seasoning back then.”

Nadir’s dismay eventually transformed into a chuckle once he found his memory more comedic than embarrassing. In truth, it was an accident that came about from wanting to spoil her like the many nobles that were matched with others did their significant others. Though they offered token incentives through gifts and services bought through credits, where he lacked in wealth, Nadir had made up for in effort. “When we get out of here, I promise you to make something better the first chance we get.” With time, their amusement had come to an end once she brought up her mother.

“Did you know that my mother… that she was…” He raised his eyebrow as she scooted away. Given the nature of the mission they were given, to purge her bloodline, they weren’t given much more than propaganda made to make their enemies look less human. He never believed in them personally, finding them poor judgements of her and her father’s character. However, in the time he spent with both Vita and her father, Nadir had never truly met her mother, only finding her images through passing glances when walking across her castle.

“I don’t. And if the knights or nobles have gotten to her… I’m sorry.” Once again he was met with another reason to show disgust towards the goal he was working towards for most of his young life. He might have been a proud warrior once confident in his graduation from the academy to bring the world good, his idea of what it meant to be a knight had grown jaded over the mistreatment that his own company had done to the people. Even if not all of them were bad, far too many had grown corrupted from a touch of the entity’s power and influence. Enough to where he began to regret his life’s goal, choosing to train instead of spending more of that limited time in his childhood with the woman that became his everything.

“I haven’t been told much about her. Nor much about your father. However, I’m sure that if one of the knights have gotten to either one, they would’ve been bragging about it by now.” As soon as Nadir spoke, a certain single set of footsteps and the sound of humming had drawn near from opposite of them. Without his helmet functioning well due to the fall, he was unable to really use its functions to tell just what was on the other side. From the exit they were planning on heading to, it seemed that there was someone else; Someone that walked with the grace of a knight.

"...Get behind-" However, as soon as he attempted to stand, his body refused to move. It had sustained too much too soon, making his muscles weary and his body aching. "Shit... They're coming." Her knight needed someone to keep him safe this time. No matter what he could tell her, there was a limit to his body. He couldn't fight every battle on his own. "Vi, I could hold them back if you'd let me. Just please, don't put yourself in harm's way for me. I'm not worth it."

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"Keep your hand in mine. We'll be home soon." His beloved didn't need to speak for him to feel comfort by her side. Her humming and the cold presence on his fingers were all Enoch needed. "Cold again? I understand. The world outside is far from welcoming." As the couple walked through the hallways, the windows outside had revealed a snowstorm that bathed the landscape in white; Those that lacked the protection didn't last long out there, succumbing to frostbite before forever turning into a statue to be forgotten in these frigid wastes. "Stay close to me, I'll keep you warm." With one arm on his weapon and the other wrapped around his quiet fiance, he proceeded further into the depths of the dungeon, saying goodbye to the views of the outside to ensure that the last of the knights was dealt with.

Flashes of weapons fire had proceeded in each level downward. This knight, unlike those that he exterminated from behind, was a veteran; A member of a once-elite force that accomplished the impossible who was deposed from his role due to his relationship with the accursed, soon-to-be purged bloodline. The public wasn't meant to idealize heroes that shouldn't be. They shouldn't be given another reason to rebel or question why. Most likely believing that he was to be one day dealt with as a consequence of a mission, Enoch was sent one after another through more and more difficult tasks in the hopes that he would one day never come back, yet that day had yet to come. His love, his faith, and his desire to see his future through with his wife had become his stubborn will to live. He wasn't given a reason to die yet, not when his beloved was so close to him.

Her music was his peace. Within the stillness that came between strokes of rifle fire and slashes of sword swings against any monster that dared come near, he quietly listened to her tones, humming alongside her to avoid the feeling of being alone. "Can you hum the song you sang on the day we first met?" Her prince requested, careful not to raise his voice to disturb the medley of her personal compositions. With her sound in his ear, Enoch felt a sense of renewed will; A return to the vow he made with her before he left: That one day he would return, ready to wed her.

Approaching the next door, Enoch's humming came to a stop as he heard commotion on the other end. "I haven't been told much about her. Nor much about your father. However, I'm sure that if one of the knights had gotten to either one, they would've been bragging about it by now." It was one of the knights he was deployed with, though it seemed as though he was in conversation with someone else.

Given the lack of communication coming from the other knight that had separated alongside Nadir, he assumed that the life of Ziogenes had come to an end. With a single scan through the door, he found the location of his "squadmate" through the biometric scans of his heart. He was wounded but alive. Tempted to pull the trigger to eradicate his final foe, he heard another set of words follow that which drew him here in the first place. "Vi, I could hold them back if you'd let me. Just please, don't put yourself in harm's way for me. I'm not worth it."

'Vi?' Pulling his finger off the trigger, instead of sending a heated volley through the thin sheet of metal, the knight opened the door, revealing a princess standing in front of her wounded knight. Unlike the scene he expected to play before him, where he was to find his sister either taken hostage or worse, with her head in the knights grasp, instead he found her in staunch defense of the man she wished to claim for herself against the entity's will. Of love did she still show life even now.

"Vita?... Vita... You're... You're alive!" The knight had pulled his hand off his weapon, running towards his sister to offer her a hug. It had been decades since he last saw her, yet he never seemed to forget the essence of her soul. No matter how much she could change, he would always remember the little sister he taught how to walk.

"Vita?" Nadir seemed rather puzzled. By the time he met his princess, she was already in her early teens. He had yet to meet the brother she spoke so highly about. While at first, he was taken off guard by the display in front of him, he sighed in relief finding that this knight had strayed far from his expectations. It seemed as though there were still some people loyal to the family, even after being told the entity's orders. "The least you could do is offer us your name. You were quiet on the way here."

Remembering the flight before their deployment, the wounded man recalled him being the most silent of the five that were deployed. The captain had spoken highly of his ability on the field, hinting at his past working as someone in the special forces. However, to find that very same weapon of a man showing emotion to the princess he fought so hard to find again had offered a hint of peace in his mind; Their odds of survival were increasing.

"...Name's Enoch." Noticing his little sister's defense of the knight, instead of deeming him an immediate enemy, her brother had seen him as an ally, if not just a pet that befitted his sister's fascinations. Similar to the golden retriever he had waiting at home for them, he found Nadir's presence endearing if not a little annoying. "Vita, did you... Brainwash him? Threaten him into your service?... No... That isn't right." Try as he might to find any signs of both, Nadir had lacked the touch of her magic nor the fear that came with threats to his life. Whatever was motivating him was different; Something he must have deemed as a reward.

"I owe her my heart and life, Enoch. My name is Nadir. A childhood friend. She's someone I promised I'd marry." The sound of another vow being made only to have been most likely undone due to the entity's will had synced well with Enoch's soul. "That humming you did earlier. It was beautiful. The first I ever heard of it."

Raising an eyebrow, her brother smiled. "It wasn't me. It was my Zamir that sung it." Looking around for her, he couldn't find her. 'She must be shy.' He thought to himself. Believing that she would be safe given the extent at which he cleared the other rooms above, he felt it fine to give her some solitude. "She isn't here right now, but I'll introduce you both when I get the chance."

Before he could reunite with his sister however, another pair of footsteps had come from the staircase, most likely following the trail of weapon smoke and fresh corpses. In the doorway stood the same mechanical creature that nearly took Nadir's life in the first place. Its arms were still covered in his blood, scented in his life. Its hull was dented where both Nadir's and Ziogenes' rounds had once attempted to pierce it.

"It seems like we need to put our reunion on halt for now. Nadir. Can you fight?" The knight nodded his head. "I can't move much, but I could shoot from down here." Enoch turned to his sister. "Good. Vita, it looks like I'm going to need to rely on you too. Nadir and I will take its attention. You strike it from the rear. I'm sure you haven't forgotten my lessons on how to punch properly." Gently bumping her shoulder with his fist, Enoch turned back to the construct that took its first step forward, drawing his rifle to fire at it from its flank.

"Leave it to us, Vi. I trust you." Joining her brother's volley of fire, Nadir began to expend whatever rounds he had left in his rifle to overwhelm the creature, creating a wall of flashing light to flood its cameras and artificial synapses with too much information to give her flexibility and freedom in her movement.