“Amazing.”

Nero was only a quarter of the way up the West tower, but he could already see the whole city as he looked over his shoulder. These towers were immaculate. They were so high that clouds would sometimes pass under the tops of the towers.

“So, if the royal children want to go to bed, do you they have to climb up an incredibly large stairway? Or perhaps there is some sort of magic involved that transports them” Nero asked himself.

Nero was hanging on a window sill, and saw a small balcony above him. He used the strength in his arms to launch himself up to it. Once he landed, he noticed that the room inside was empty and dark.

“Probably a guest room.”

He continued to jump as high as he could, and grabbed on to anything that could be used as a platform for his next jump. Whether it be cracks, window sills or balconies. He repeated this process until he was almost to the top, once more he looked down.

The view was so beautiful that it caused Nero to reflect on his journey so far. He pondered his strength and speed.

“Who was I before I awoke?”

“A warrior? A king?”

“If I were to fall right now..., would I survive?”

Nero didn’t want to try jumping though, it seemed rather counter-intuitive. He continued his climb yet again. As he launched himself higher and higher, he noticed his body wasn’t fatigued at all. For some reason, this excited him. Deep down he wanted to be as strong as possible. He wants to test himself, but he doesn’t want to lose control either.

“Am I cursed?” he muttered to himself sadly.

“No matter, something keeps telling me to keep moving.”

Perhaps this climb put him at peace. Nero hasn’t been afraid of loneliness once since awakening. Could it be that some traits from his life before have stayed with him?

“Almost there.”

Nero was only three floors away from the large balcony on top of the tower. It had been a couple hours since he started and he was eager to get to the top. After a few easy jumps, he had softly landed on the balcony. It was luxurious, there were chairs placed by the ledge. As well as a fountain of water, and plants that hung from the wall.

There were white curtains that covered the glass windows and door, but a soft glow could be seen slipping through the fabric. He was sure this was Stella’s room; he remembered her scent. Reminiscent of honey, that had been warmed in the bluest of skies.

“Hopefully she doesn’t think this is weird, but I need her help. Here goes nothing.” Nero thought to himself.

He approached the door, and turned the handle. His heart was racing for some reason. Was it instincts telling him to stop? Or perhaps the thought of seeing her once again was giving him butterflies. He stowed his emotions, and opened the door.

The room was amazing. There was a large desk covered in spell books and knight’s academy textbooks. There were plenty of odds and ends around the room, no doubt from her adventures. There were also pictures of the trio; Stella, Aria and Alexander. As well as pictures of her siblings. This was defiantly Stella’s room.

As he looked from right to left, he saw Stella, absolutely frightened in a corner of her room. She was wearing a nightgown made of silk, its thin texture was almost revealing her body underneath. She was gripping her rapier. However, she dropped it when Nero took down his hood. Her eyes lit up.

“Nero?!”

“Hey Stell.” He said back with a smile.

She quickly ran to him and gave him a hug; she buried her face in his chest.

“I was sure you’d been killed; I heard the Abiti was sent after you!” She exclaimed in a muffled voice, face still being in Nero’s chest.

“Oh yeah, those guys were very... annoying.” Nero said.

He didn’t want to tell her what happened. Just thinking about the torture and the killings made him uncomfortable.

Stella realized she was being really clingy, and stepped away from Nero, slightly blushing. He found it cute, and gave her a smile.

Stella cleared her throat, and took on a more serious tone. The two began to exchange words on what happened since they separated. Nero told her about his meeting with Kymil, and the vision he had while looking into the Gleam Flame. As well as the Lieutenant arresting him. Nero chose to lie, and said that he escaped and ran away from the Abiti after they “questioned” him. Stella felt sad to hear what he had been through.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m tougher than I look believe it or not.” Nero lied.

“Nero, you should know something.”

“What is it?” He asked.

“After I helped you escape the academy, I had to report to my father, the king. After I was ruthlessly scolded, I told him everything. The catacombs, the gargoyle... and you. He sent Evo, the court wizard to investigate with the Abiti. Evo performed a mystic survey to try and find out what type of magic was being used there. The results came back as unknown. Apparently the Abiti also questioned Alex and Aria. I haven’t seen them since yesterday.”

“The lieutenant of the Abiti told me that they were questioned, Alex was honest, but Aria wouldn’t cooperate. He said that they had to rough her up a bit. You should check in with her.” Nero said.

“Oh Aria, she should’ve just done what she was told. This lieutenant needs to be put on trial.” Stella replied angrily.

“Yeah, I agree. But...”

Nero told Stella about his plan. How the lieutenant agreed to help him appeal to the king. Stella’s face turned cold.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“You... believed him?” She said meekly.

Just then, footsteps could be heard from outside of the room. From the sound of it, there were three to four knights. A loud female voice was heard from outside.

“Stell! Open up! We need to make sure you’re alright! The Abiti claims there is a murderer on his way to kill you!”

Nero’s heart dropped. How could he have been so foolish. The Abiti operated with blackmail, espionage and torture. And he believed the leader of this group would help him? The lieutenant lied to his face, to trap him. Plus, he probably reported the four killings to the knights.

“Eclissa?! There are no murderers in here!” Stella said with a panicked voice.

“Eclissa?” Nero asked.

He knew what was about to happen.

The wooden door flew from its hinges, and landed on the balcony outside after shattering the large glass window. A Hevarian woman entered the room, followed by three knights wearing silver capes. Eclissa wore white armor made from hevarian steel. She looked like a little like Stella, if stella was slightly taller, more muscular and had her hair tied back. She wore two large mechanical gauntlets as weapons. Her red cape was flowing with a breeze made by the broken glass from the window. Her eyes were locked on Nero. Almost as if she was looking into him. She began to walk towards him.

“Step away from my sister, monster. You are under arrest. Come willingly or be annihilated.” Eclissa commanded.

Nero stood his ground, and stared back at her intently. Her strength was filling him with excitement.

“Monster? Liss, Nero is good and he’s been misled by the Abiti. He’s killed no one!” Stella exclaimed to her older sister.

Eclissa stopped in her tracks and looked down at Stella with disapproving eyes.

“He savagely killed four people, three of them were major knights. They’re all piles of bones and blood now.” Eclissa said coldly.

Stella looked up at Nero, whose head was down. He was not denying these claims.

“This has to be a mistak-” Stella tried to say.

“They tortured me. I did nothing wrong and they tortured me for fun.” Nero said.

His eyes were like those of a beast. His look of anger even put Eclissa on guard. There was no way someone wouldn’t believe a man with that look.

“You want me to come willingly? Like hell. I don’t trust you people. You’re going to have to kill me.” Nero said with a look of pure rage.

Eclissa was uncompromising. She had orders and planned to carry them out.

“Annihilation it is.” she said with a smirk.

Eclissa moved faster than anything Nero had seen; she crossed the room and delivered a punch to his gut. A blast of force came from his back which caused the ceiling to crack.

He buckled over, and threw up a mixture of vomit and blood. He was at Eclissa’s mercy. She then grabbed him by the shoulders, and delivered a knee to his face. He was launched onto the balcony.

“Liss! Stop!” Stella yelled.

“Restrain her.” Eclissa commanded the knights.

The three knights began to hold Stella back, she struggled against them but wasn’t strong enough to resist.

“I’m sorry princess, please try to stay calm.” One of the knights said.

Nero was knelt down in pain, unable to stand. He was bleeding out of his nose and mouth. He looked up at Stella, and she began to cry. The sight of this gave him some strength to fight.

Eclissa approached Nero, and attempted to kick him in the face. However, Nero caught her leg. The collision caused a loud sound that could be heard throughout the city. This caught Eclissa off guard. However, she proceeded to spin around and land a kick on his jaw using her other leg. The balcony below them cracked, and almost gave way. Nero was barely conscious at this point.

“She’s so powerful.” He thought to himself.

The gallant knight grabbed Nero by his neck, and lifted him off the ground.

“You’re pretty tough, I’ll give you that. But let’s see if you can survive this.” Eclissa said.

Eclissa clenched her mechanical gauntlet, and it began to hum with mysterious energy.

“No! Don’t!” Stella pleaded.

Her gauntlet was glowing now. It was seemingly charging up. Eclissa began to wind up a punch. Nero wondered if he was about to die, the look on Stellas face said it all. Whatever this attack was, it had not seen many survivors. He took in the scent of Stella one more time, trying to make some sort of peace.

“Pleasant.” Nero said quietly.

Eclissa thought she heard him say something.

She released her punch and everything went black. For a moment, Nero believed he was dead, but was awoken by a loud whistling noise.

The noise was coming from him, he was soaring over the city at high speeds, unable to control his movements. A few seconds later, he slammed down on the ground below. Creating a small crater. His body had completely given out. He was no match for Eclissa.

All Nero could do was look up at the sky, dawn was breaking. A few moments had passed, and some citizens began gathering around the crater. Oddly enough, he could feel himself healing very slowly. Much slower than after he had gotten tortured. Was it because the night was almost over? He was certain the moon had granted him strength through the night.

By now the concerned citizens were calling for guards, and before Nero knew it, he was surrounded. There were around twenty-five knights. The group was made up of Minor, major and even lieutenants. Nero knew he was done. He was beginning to lose consciousness. He then heard Eclissa’s voice, she had already made her way to his location.

“Attention!” Eclissa ordered.

All of the other knights gathered in an orderly formation and saluted to the princess.

“This man is a criminal. He is to be executed for his crimes against hevaria! Detain him with caution.” She commanded.

Nero’s vision darkened, and his mind slipped into a dream. He dreamt of Stella’s tower, and her beautiful scent. The way she embraced him, and her beaming smile. Her voice filled his mind as she began to speak to him.

“Remember me?” she said.

Nero looked at her, and she had turned into Elincia.

“Did you think you could replace me?” Elincia said.

She wrapped her arms around Nero’s shoulders, and pulled him closer.

“Did you think you could forget about us?” she said.

People began to appear, as the room turned into the tomb he awoke in. They all began to walk closer to him.

“Who are you people?!” Nero asked as his dream turned into a nightmare.

“We’re the ones you left behind, the ones you abandoned to be slaughtered.” They all said in unison.

“No, I didn’t choose to sleep. I know I didn’t, I couldn’t have!” Nero said with a teary voice.

“You did choose. The slumber was punishment for your horrid crimes. Now you must repent, you must avenge the night elves.” They said in unison again.

“What? What did I do?!” Nero said, unable to escape Elincia’s grip.

“Nero the Ruthless. 7th king of the night elves. You WILL avenge us.”

Elincia began to move her lips to Nero’s, and he tried to pull back. As her lips drew near, a black mist began coming from her mouth and nose. It was the Miasma. She forced her lips on his, and began breathing the black mist into his lungs. The feeling was terrifying, and Nero buckled down to his knees. Elincia did not relent and knelt down with him. His vision began to darken once more. He did not want to sleep again. He feared he wouldn’t wake up If he did.

“Rest, your majesty.” The voices said in unison.

The image before him faded, and he became lost in the ocean of his unconscious. He was adrift in the dark waters for what seemed like days.

And then, there was a sound.

It was rhythmic, almost like a heartbeat. No, it was cheers and applause.

“Who is cheering? Who applauds my suffering?” Nero said in the darkness.

He felt something change within his broken mind. A newfound animosity.

“I pray that I am dead, for if I awaken, I will never be defeated again. I will sell my soul to the blood of my enemies. This pain, I will not accept it any longer. How can one be prosecuted for the crime of existence? I will not accept it.” he spoke to the dark waters around him.

A light began to form in the distance. After a few moments, Nero stood up and looked to it. With eyes like a storm. He did not believe in mercy anymore. If this world wanted him awake, he would put on a show.

Nero began walking towards the light, and it only grew brighter.

“Hate will keep you alive where love fails.”