Chapter Fifty

P A R A D E : DAY THREE OF THE CELEBRATION OF COWARDS

Osiris stumbled out of the bar, shirt half open, and cheeks flush with the sweet nectar of fermented yeast.

It was midnight.

Osiris picked a path and walked. The streets were quiet. He ran into a park. Through the trees there was a fog. Osiris walked through.

He stumbled.

The air smelled like a gas station. He stopped. The smell of strawberries and cream, the dollar store brand. He-

“Hey, ow, that, who?!”

Her voice was deep.

“Bella?”

The woman turned and flinched.

“Adam?”

Her voice cracked. She stepped towards him.

“Adam?”

He broke first. His body jerked. She threw herself at him, fists pounding his chest with fury.

“Why did you leave me?!”

Her voice broke his heart.

“It was so hard without you.”

He missed her every day.

“Your stupid parents went after your money, I did the best I could, but you never wrote a will.”

She grew up to look like her grandmother.

“When you died-”

He never meant to leave you.

“I miss you so much.”

She hiccupped.

“My dad died a few years after you. I fell in love, had my heart broken.. Your family didn’t let me have anything of you. No shirt, no hats-”

She was so angry.

What he would do to see her again.

“Most of our pictures were on your stupid phone, and-”

She sobbed harder. Her nails cut into him. He could only look down at her with his face washed with agony.

“-online I only have the pictures your agent allowed.. I miss you.”

His throat started to close as he replied in a broken voice.

“I miss you too.”

The fog was fading.

“Will I see you again?”

He laughed through a sob.

“Probably not. The gods here are cruel.”

He kissed her forehead.

“Are you eating three meals a day?”

His smile was bitter.

“Yes.”

“Are you sleeping well?”

“Sometimes.”

“A husband?”

He snorted.

“No, not yet.”

“Are you safe?”

“..”

Her sob pushed into his stomach.

“Are you okay?”

Wasn’t that what we all ask.

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His smiled.

“I’m trying to be.”

“You’ll give them hell, right?”

The laugh was pulled from his chest.

“Don’t I always?”

Her laugh sounded wet.

“I’m pregnant.” She rubbed her flat belly. “You promised to help me. You promised you would hold my hand if the father wasn’t there. What if I mess up? What if I..”

“You’ll be fine, you helped raise me.”

“I did. You came out terrible.”

“I did, but you were working with damaged goods.”

“But so was I.”

Adam hummed and looked up.

“I wish you were real.”

“I wish you could come home.”

“Bye Bella.”

Osiris laid alone in a little nook beneath three colossal trees. The moon was full.

“A lot of things are gonna change.”

“..”

“I want to go home.”

The three sat guiltily at the edge of the cove. Even if it was their duty to be this close… During the war he would often go off by himself. He leaves them somewhere and eventually comes back.

Sunnie looked to the laying Prince.

The fog only lasted a second but Sunnie could see whatever the Prince saw shook him. Fibble didn’t say anything yet he looked scolded.

Osiris felt the wrongness creep up his spine as the moon stared back at him. The eye in the sky smiled.

This is where the novel starts.

The wind ran up and down his sides.

She started the novel as a teen, and the rating was R-19. He wonders if he’ll be forced to fall in love. He wonders if things will change if he puts a stop to Nox’s plans. He wonders why he would stop things.

The alcohol was making the world spin.

So far it feels like he’s been forced to play out a role he has no control over. Even now, as he lays here looking at the man on the moon, he’s still playing along.

A twig snapped.

He worries he’ll lose himself to the plot.

“..”

He sighed with a smile.

All he can do is try. He has to be patient. He’s the only one who knows another war is just three years away. Osiris felt his rings.

He felt the needs of the ninth ring and he would have to scour no-man’s land 100x over. Maybe even past that. Osiris shivered. The fact that the Nox King was a hand, 9th Ring Sorcerer was..

Osiris was sure their fight would be worthy of a god.

The moon laughed.

The main character was supposedly somewhere in the festival getting nailed by the first male lead. Osiris was actually the last. He was the first person she meets but the last person she fucks.

“Maybe that’s why they fell in love.”

He never saw her at the festival.

Osiris held his hand up. The moonlight cast gentle beams through his parted fingers.

At school she’s allured by the distant prince, hoping that she could heal him with her love, but each refusal leads her further into a den of depravity.

He pulls her from it and they bond over their traumas. They fall in love.

It was rated R-19 for a reason.

“..”

His best friend rarely talked about the Sibling War, but he could tell they were going to get nasty soon. He does remember her mentioning they find out about a deal-

A deal with the devil.

He dropped his hand and rested his forearm over his eyes.

At any moment he could end the entire game with just a few words. The contract is only void if his father crowns them king before he can ask for it. That’s all he has to do. Ask for the crown. He can ask now, later, today, tomorrow, in five minutes-

He had a lot of power now.

“It’s been hard.”

It has. The rules of the world were brutal. Raw talent only gets you so far. The children here get strong, but only under the right circumstances. Just like back home, if a child is raised with love they will know how to love. In this world it’s power instead of love. Even out there in the wilds of the world, creatures follow the strong.

“..”

When the royals think he is not a threat, the assassination attempts will start again. He wonders what Axel will do when he manages to kill his pet, or when Luella loses face. Mercedes will be more of a pest than a threat, and like her father, they will try to work their way in.

Osiris tried not to look towards the bushes.

He worried his men will betray him.

When he looked at the moon he saw a duplicate of four. He was pretty drunk. If his men betrayed him he’ll do what he’s always done. It might hurt, of course it will, but if he worried about it now, then what?

Are they already guilty?

Worry was a deadly little parasite. Osiris took in a shaky breath. He’s done a lot of fucked up things. He’s seen a lot of fucked up things. This world supplies a lot of fucked up things.

“..”

He wonders if, after everything is done and the world has ended, if he’ll be able to rest.

“I hope she’s eating well. And sleeping. I hope her kid comes out safe, and her broken heart is healed. I hope she realizes she’s a great mom, and I hope one day we can meet again.”

The branches stretched to cover the moon.

Even if he kills the family now, that Nox bastard will chase him to the ends of the earth until one of them is dead. He’s not ready to fight him alone yet.

“..”

What does it matter if his revenge takes a little longer than most. His mana agreed.

Will he get cold feet?

His entire chest roared in disagreement. He chuckled. Sometimes you have to think the bad thoughts and see how you feel to know what is real and what is not.

Another branch snapped.

He guesses he might need a hug tonight.

“..I sure hope someone finds me and takes me to my room before I pass out..”

His men did not need another hint.

They couldn’t meet his eyes.

They helped him undress and get into clean clothes. He still smelled like a walking bar, but at least he would feel good about it. Fibble was the first to walk away. Osiris grabbed his shirt. They froze.

“Did you guys still want to stay?”

Fibble slid under his chin and pulled them to bed. Vep came up his back and Sunnie, weirdly, climbed on top of him and laid like lioness on a falling tree trunk.

It was warm. Too warm. The alcohol was making him sweat. Sunnie rubbed his lower back. He shivered. Lifting Fibble up he pressed his head into his neck.

He wanted to go home.

On the fourth day the prince wore his buffers and his men kept close.

No one spoke of the prince that cried for an entire day.