Chapter Ninety

THIS IS THE END: ARE YOU STILL THERE?

Lined up like little ducks were his family.

“I’ll see you soon! Nice to meet everyone!”

Osiris smiled and waved as they set off at midnight. The wagon was a simple wooden box, four wheels, and a driver seat. A cow pulled them slowly through the forest. Osiris sat backwards on the driver's seat and watched his family sleep. They were still drunk.

“We should arrive by sunrise.”

No one replied.

They stopped by a cliff. Osiris hopped off and stood over the ledge.

“Chew it thoroughly. I don’t want you to choke.”

The body fell into the belly of the beast.

Osiris watched the Eldritch keep his lips pulled back as he played with his food.

“Good boy.”

The beast swallowed and Osiris got back on the wagon with a lighter heart.

“Like I promised.”

The cow marched on.

The elven forest was quiet tonight. It smelled like ivy, birch, and hints of mint. Osiris took a deep breath and puffed out his chest. He held it before slowly letting it go. It sounded like a tea kettle went off.

Still his family slept.

I should probably do that first.

Osiris got down from the driver’s seat and grabbed the king by the hair. Such a waste of a man. Osiris sat across from his siblings and threw the body in front of him. This is going to be messy.

He got to work.

A few hours passed and they finally hit the border to the territory. Osiris summoned a few A Grade potions and tossed them haphazardly across his siblings' bodies. Should be like sniffing smelling salts.

And just like that, each of his siblings startled awake like they did a line of coke.

“What! What!”

“Where-”

Then the screaming started.

Darwin turned his head and clenched his teeth. Luella swayed and gagged. Axel was crying and groaning. And Mercedes-

“Na, uh, uh, uh.”

He stabbed her thigh with a knife laced in stimulants.

“No sleeping for you. I want you awake.”

Darwin shook and turned away from Mercedes who had a really good, gut wrenching cry of pain. He got back to work mutilating his father’s body.

“He’s still alive, just not aware.” He pulled another tooth. “I can’t have him killing mom before we arrive.”

Osiris was almost done separating his body parts for the display. He should be dreaming of Kina by now.

He saw his jaw try to open in a silent scream.

Yup. Hope mom appreciates it.

A gust of wind blew a few pink petals past him.

“You promised me.”

Osiris looked up and Darwin was crying at him.

“Don’t worry, you will die quickly. You’re next anyways.”

He laid the king out for display.

“I just needed you to see what will be happening to your body.” Osiris looked at him. “Unlike dad, you will feel nothing.”

“Tha-”

His head rolled and bounced, splashing everyone in a line of blood. Luella vomited and Axel was having another panic attack. Mercedes was muttering to herself. She’s praying to lux.

Osiris put the head next to their fathers and pulled his body up in front of him.

“You’re a monster!”

“Yup.”

He ripped his chest cavity open and began tossing organs off of the moving wagon. One hour left.

“How could you?! He never did anything to you!”

“He didn’t.”

Should I do a cross this time?

He glanced around at the ground. Damn, oh well. He ripped a panel off the side of the wagon and started a makeshift cross. A head on each end, should I use their hands like god rays? Light rays?

“You won’t get away with this!”

Osiris gave Axel a flat look.

“I already am.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

He let them go and kick and scream, but as time passed, they ran out of energy and stared blankly at the floor. Osiris looked at the sky. Next.

“Do you still think my blood is dirty?”

Mercedes startled and looked up.

Hes asking me?

“Dirty? When did I-”

“When you left me for dead, did you think I would forget or something?”

“But Darwin ran too!”

He ignored Luella.

Mercedes was shaking.

“It’s not so cute when you’re on the other end, is it?”

Osiris grabbed a glob of skin, organ bits, and gore, spit into it, and shoved it down her throat.

Luella shook as he kept forcing bits and pieces of their father and brother down her throat.

“Am I still dirty to you?”

Luella flinched every time she heard her jaw crack. Her body dropped in front of them and she was still alive.

Osiris dusted his sticky red hands off.

“Unfortunately, I’m no longer in a nice mood, so you are just going to have to deal with it until you die.”

Osiris started to dismantle her body.

Luella sobbed as she watched someone she loves more than life itself suffer. Her gurgling and begging eyes were all she could see until she finally stopped breathing. She sobbed.

“Oops, almost lost her there.”

Axel watched in horror as he brought her back just to tie that red string of his around her body. He started to assemble them.

“I made Seth a few the other year.”

He started with their bodies.

“I couldn’t use mana, so I tried to melt pieces of skin, but that didn’t work to well.”

He’s a psychopath. There is no other word for it.

“But with mana, now they stay in place!”

He used the cross like a skewer on their torsos, leaving their dad as the main at the top.

He, somehow, got it on there like a stick figure wearing an oversized shirt. He then mounted the arms and feet.

“W-Why did you kill them now?! I thought you wanted my mom-”

“I thought about killing them in front of her.”

Osiris stood to mount the heads.

“But won’t it hurt so much-” Dads head was mounted first. “-more-” Mercedes was next. “-knowing there isn’t a single thing-” And lastly Darwins .“-she could do to save them.”

He turned and proudly showed them his work.

“Can’t bring back what’s already dead.”

Axel became angry, but flinched when he spoke again. NOT ME NOT ME-

“Shout out to mom. You, somehow, broke the laws of nature. Respect.”

He gave a kiss to his fist before pointing to the sky.

Axel sobbed in relief.

“Luella, Luella, Luella, Luella. You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Their eyes snapped up, and like some crazed doctor, he was flicking a needle full of black liquid.

“I had to have Masika check it to make sure it wouldn’t kill you.”

Luella screamed as he grabbed her hair and shot it into her neck.

“Every five minutes it will cause inflammation and dislocate every joint in your body. Don’t worry, it resets after ten seconds.”

He plunged.

“Koa gives his regards.”

Axel trembled as he watched Luella’s body disarray. She couldn’t even scream.

“And you.”

Axel pissed himself.

“I actually didn’t have much for you.”

His chest shook as he took in a double breath. The crunching of Luella’s bones snapping back in place made his vision swim. Her scream hurt.

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Osiris sat back down and stared at Axel.

Well, not now.

He smiled.

He left Axel crying to himself as Luella finally calmed down enough to focus. Four minutes til the next one.

Even he didn’t think of something like this.

Koa must have loved him dearly.

The Kingdom was in sight.

“Finally.”

He rolled his ego through the grass, across the ants, snails, rocks, and dirt.

He enveloped the land.

“Richie are you sure-”

“Yes grandpa, I told you it was just a hoax.”

Those three weirdos came and scared-

She felt a familiar touch of mana.

Osiris? But isn’t he-

A small little creature jumped from her window into her lap. It was cute.

“Hi! I’m penny! Can I have a penny for your-”

The ball popped and blew half of her face away.

Bishop, and a few of the other men from the military, all stood on elven lands and watched the destruction with baited breath. The prince was alive and he was- Bishop was in heaven.

“Phenomenal.”

Zuri and Fahari stood outside their mansion in utter horror. The place was infested with demons.

They were strong enough to handle a few, but whatever that giant thing was that was lurking in the streets was not something they could handle.

“What do we do?!”

Zuri stood tall and summoned her strength.

“We fi-”

Heat.

The Queen felt him before everyone.

She went to jump from her seat but screamed as her skin stuck to the chair.

“Queen!”

“What-”

Everyone was glued in place. She could only move her head. Monitors began to spring up. One, two, ten, thirty, fifty, hundreds.

Each one played a different part of the city.

The people were screaming.

Osiris started a big stretch as his trusty cow marched on. It’s in a fantasy land, but it’s still a good pull.

“Can’t spook the hand that feeds you! Walks you..”

He waved himself off.

“Whatever.”

Dove held Mancio’s hand as they watched from the treeline. Her, Aspen, and Mancio were out looking for herbs she was interested in, but their home was being-

Luella was going through her disarray again.

Axel cringed as she turned to mush before everything snapped back into place. She could only moan and sob the longer it went. Suddenly another one happened.

“Oops, did I forget to tell you it speeds up every few minutes. It’ll stop soon..I think.”

Axel shook as Luella’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. Osiris made a weird screech as he finished stretching and let his body hang loose.

He was covered in gore.

“I’m making sure mom can’t see us just yet. I’m waiting for Luella’s drug to kick up a notch.”

Axel looked to the streets as they casually passed the destruction. Why is he doing so much, isn’t this enough, godCANTHISJUSTSTOPPLEASEPLEASE-

Osiris was happy his little critters were having fun.

Simple shapes work best for the bombs.

“I sometimes wonder why I went to bombs instead of.. what else is there?” Osiris scratched this chin. “..”

I guess bombs just work for me.

His mana was purring.

“I know, I know, go ahead.”

A wave of mana pulsed and his bigger babies started to materialize. Isabella did love horror stories.

He let them play.

There was nothing they could do.

Claudia could only watch.

At least the children should be okay until they arri-

A tiny monitor suddenly swallowed and pushed the rest to the side. It took up the entire throne room.

“Hi moooooooooom!”

Osiris was waving around a stick.

Claudia looked down and LUELLA WAS A PUDDLE OF MUSH. It was atrocious the way she snapped back together only to dismantle again.

She was in pain.

Claudia felt her heart shake at the depravity.

CORRUPT, VILE, SINFUL, ATROCIOUS, PERVERTED IMMORTALITY. HE WAS-

“I brought the present you wanted!”

Axel wasn’t in pain, but he looked through the camera and begged her to save him.

“MOM PLEASE-”

Osiris dislocated his jaw.

“Now is not the time, Axel.”

Then she saw what he was carrying.

Her bellowing moan of anguish and mourning filled the throne room. NOT THEM, NOT-

“Don’t worry, Darwin is dead, but I can’t say the same for the other two.”

She would fall to her knees if she could.

The screen tilted with her.

She could not escape the view.

In a bastardized version of Lux and Nox’s cross, Osiris prompt them up on full display.

She could see Mikael and Mercedes’s faces frozen in agony. My babies, my beautiful-

The Queen was filled with rage and sorrow.

“YOU.”

He looked at the screen.

“Me.”

She flinched.

IFIEVERGETMYHANDSONYOUIWILLKILLYOU-

“See you soon.”

The spells cut.

Claudia started to shake.

“My Queen, what-”

But she couldn’t.

“My beautiful BABIIIIIEEEE-”

She lost herself to grief.

“That was fun, don’t you think?”

“You’re sick.”

Osiris sat back down and stretched out his legs. Axel jumped when he slammed them on the seat between him and Luella. The poison is almost done.

“You know, I was just going to kill you how I kill Axel.”

They entered the castle grounds.

Axel looked towards the double doors and two groups of beastmen stood at attention and waited.

They were his and Luella’s current favorites.

“You’re going to HELL.”

Luella was back. She was a mess of snot, tears, and blood. She spit at him.

“Ah, just what I expected.”

The wagon stopped.

Roughly they were pulled from the cart.

Nails dug into his skin-

“Not yet.”

The claws retracted.

“Just like, five more minutes guys.”

Axel looked up and his pets were foaming in the mouth. Their eyes were yellow washed and creamy.

“It’s just rabies. I made sure to add a bunch of fast acting diseases as well. Your dick will fall off within a minute, tops.” Axel screamed.

Claudia flinched as she heard her children kick and wail their way into the throne room.

They’re still alive?!

Claudia was sure he was going to kill them before they- Claudia ripped herself off the seat and-

“Sit.”

Red binding strings cut into her skin and she was forced to sit. Her head was strapped to the chair and her eyes were pulled open. They burned.

“Brown, Yellow, glad you two are still alive.”

They gritted their teeth and lowered their heads.

“Did you pups want a few more?”

Like a gang of coyotes they all yipped and yapped.

“Good, take care of these people first.”

Claudia prayed.

“Should I stake it or hang it?”

Osiris wasn’t an interior decorator, he didn’t know.

“Maybe at the top, like a flag? No, that’s not right either.” He needed to make sure it looked cool at least.

“I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I SAW YOU!”

“You should have.”

Osiris agreed.

The Queen screeched and tried to break the binds, but she was weak.

One by one everyone was eaten, beaten, fucked, everything you can think of, the beasts were going at it. This brings back memories.

“And not good ones.”

He let them be as he looked around the room. Maybe the window? Behind the Queen was the throne room’s stained glass window.

“Symbolism!”

Osiris walked past the Queen, who flinched, and placed it just above the throne with her right at the center. Osiris moved back to where Axel sat.

He turned and framed the scene in his hands.

“Make sure you save everything. Koa wants proof, the evil bastard.”

“Now onto the main course!”

The beasts were around her children within a millisecond. What she could only hear from behind her, now played for her in stark clarity.

Her children did not die quickly.

Osiris watched the Queen slowly lose her fighting spirit. How disappointing.

But they weren’t done.

They were finally alone.

The room grew silent.

The mutts were dead. His siblings too. Osiris started a slow, noisy walk up the steps.

One.

Osiris watched Claudia look at him.

Two.

Claudia glared.

Three.

OSIRIS SMILED.

“THAT'S the woman I love.”

Her face made his toes curl.

His stomach spiraled with intoxicating, blissful, RAPTURE. TO THE VERY END. REJOICE. AMEN.

He grabbed her jaw. They were the last two standing.

“Let me tell you a funny little story of a boy named Adam.” Osiris dropped her chin and took a step back. “He lived in a world with no mana. It was filled with technology ran on electricity and hardware.”

Her brows pinched on confusion.

“Adam was used and abused, left to rot in the streets of a little town in New Mexico.”

He created a little childish display of buildings-THINGS SHE'S NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

“He made it big!” A little man in a box, with wires, stood in it. “He became a pro! Just like he always dreamed of.”

The scene changed.

He was in a box with four wheels and lights. Something double its size came crashing in.

“Then I died.”

Claudia flinched.

His eyes-

“Cast your gift.”

Claudia listened.

“I died on I-29 midnight tonight.”

She did not hear a single lie.

“When I woke up that king of yours slapped me and threw me in prison.”

He kept her stare.

“For six months I had no clue who I was, where I was, or what I was. I may have been thirty two, but I could tell NOTHING was right.”

His eyes filled with H A T E.

“And when I woke up this grown ass woman bullies, beats, and drugs me. THIS BODY WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD!”

He was breathing down her face.

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU MADE ME DO?! I HAS TO GIVE UP MY HUMANITY TO SURVIVE YOU!” He grabbed at his chest. “I HAD TO KILL BECAUSE OF YOU! I HAD TO-”

He closed his eyes and tears fell.

“I just wanted to be left alone.”

Claudia didn’t regret a single thing.

“I would do it all over again.”

Osiris laughed.

“Yeah, I know.”

Osiris wiped his face and stood tall. He grabbed her head and-

“It seems you lack proper etiquette.”

He removed the bonds and folded her in half. She wheezed.

“Noisy.”

One by one he repeated everything she has done. From the punches, to the kicks. To the stabbings, and the poisonings. He had plenty of mana and potions.

He had the time.

A few hours passed before she finally died.

“Only until my thirteenth birthday. Figures.”

She was a pile of gore.

Osiris stood and ran a hand through his hair, combing it back. He staggered before turning to the steps.

It started with a whistle.

It was small, barely audible, but a cheery little tune that hung in the air like the smell of a cold cup of tea.

He could almost hear it, the song.

Osiris’s whistle turned into a hum.

A foot began to tap. A hand began to drum. The mana in his feet loved it. The flare was hot, wild, it demanded more.

Osiris moved.

He chose to start with the slower dances, the ones where you can get up in yourself and in your chest.

He laughed.

That’s when the sparks began to happen.

Osiris smiled.

He added hops to the dance.

More. Another spark. He widened the strides, deepened the kicks. Osiris picked up a rock and began to play happy sack a small, loose piece of the broken throne.

Faster.

His moved and his mana sang. The backs of his heels lit up like fireworks. The bottoms of his feet melted the ground until he could feel nothing but the flush of mana splashing against his skin.

With each move his mana sparked, popped, and crackled like he was ringing out millions of black cats. More. He ran hotter, sun shining on his clothes. Faster.

He felt silly. He laughed. His moves turned his feet into active welding torches and sparks roared.

He felt like a god.

More. He moved more, danced more, he had fun.

He played.

Osiris’s laugh was breathless.

He reached the bottom step.

Adam smiled.

He has played.

Behind him, his mana began to eat at the ground, melting through the floors, and created a river of lava.

At the bottom of the steps laid Axel's rotting head.

Adam stepped past it before pausing.

“What was it that he told me once..”

The sun peaked in the sky.

“That’s right.”

Adam closed his eyes and smiled softly.

“Death is the ending for a trash prince.”

That was the story of the constellation that played with fire.