Captain Bloodthorne stared at the dwarf and reached for her knee with her hands as the water gathered around her hand only for Jack’ron Horner to wave his claw at the element of air that flew in the form of an eagle. The elemental had placed the urn down on a nearby table and he stepped on the Jager’s knee as she yelled out in pain. He then squeezed down on her leg and she screamed in pain as Captain Drakwa smiled at what he saw. He lived through it and it looked like he would finally be returning home with his crew gaining even more recognition than ever.

“Goldi…”, I shook my friend who remained unconscious and I reached for a blue vial that I opened only to pour its contents into her mouth, hoping to restore her manna.

I waited for a while until I heard more glass collapse from all around the tower and I breathed heavily, thinking that everything beneath my feet would certainly fall down as well and then I turned to see what I searched for since I began this journey. There she was, straight in front of me, before my very eyes; Briar Rose. She lay in her coffin in her deep state of sleep-like death and it was that an unholy shadow appeared before my eyes, a rift like a void in space, and from it emerged Talia Carabosse along with a broom that thrust its handle towards me that was the shape of a drill that functioned like a drill-bit. I leaped into the air and rolled over during my leap of faith as the broom traveled past underneath me and I landed onto my feet only for my body to spring up into the air, time itself reverting and the broom itself returning back to her. It was then that time would resume and I reached for my sickles before striking the spear-drill with both of my weapons that I would thrust down into the glass that it would drill through and shatter. I leaped backwards to see a hole in the ground and when I looked before my very eyes, Talia was gone and the coffin that held Briar was missing. I was then kicked in the back by Talia who pushed me towards the hole in the ground as the broom’s flew upward before I leaned my head back only for it to fly past me. The broom’s spear drilled through Talia that broke into pieces of broken glass and her remains shattered over the ground as the broom continued to fly.

“Kirya?”, I heard Goldilocks call my name and I saw her hold her head as the broom flew back towards her general direction that made me rush towards her very quick.

Goldilocks turned to see the spear of the broom thrust itself towards her and her eyes widened before I threw myself into her, pushing her over on the side as we slid over the ground and then I saw Talia stomp onto the ground with her feet that broke another piece of glass beneath us. Goldilocks dragged her claws over the ground and transformed into her tiger like form before she got up and clawed at Talia that shattered into many shards of broken glass.

“What is happening?!”, I shouted while the broom flew towards me and Goldilocks waited patiently as it flew while I pushed myself up to stand, and before I knew it she somehow managed to snatch it and misdirect the broom before she pulled back on it.

She then thrust the broom over one of her knees and broke it in half as it dissipated into darkness, leaving behind nothing from which it came for it conjured and animated by arcane magic.

“The broom was conjured….”, I said. “She’s a mage?”, I then looked to see many conjured illusions made by the glass that surrounded us and each of them appeared as the spitting image of Talia that made Goldilocks and I press our backs against each other.

“She’s a witch, Kirya, and a Sarku witch to be exact.”, explained Goldilocks as we could both feel the immense cold surrounding the field that started to become foggy and mystifying.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Cockaigne still carried on with the scarecrows and cuckolds battling the spriggans that clashed with them below with the three bears leaping onto their enemies with Aleanah Dawnblade, the elven spriggan, at their backs. The TEC-9 and the Bloodstone Tribe kept battling each other while Jack’ron staring at Bloodthorne.

“That is unfortunate as it has been rather amusing to watch you follow their path.”, said Jack’ron before looking up to the dwarf and then he felt a flame that he felt is rekindled once more.

“Ah, saved by the flame…”, said Jack’ron and then out of the office room appeared Bloody Mary whose presence could be felt by the dwarf who felt a shadow of flame lurking over him.

Jack’ron stood where he was and Captain Bloodthorne gazed towards the Combatant that didn’t even bother to react for he knew where Bloody Mary is even before she stepped out of her room. It seemed he allowed for the dwarf to make his next step and he turned his head slightly, gazing upward to see the malicious Bloody Mary smile back at him.

“There, there, midget…”, she patted the dwarf over his head as he held his gun firm in hand. “It’s all over…”, before she set him on fire in front of their very eyes and Captain Bloodthorne turned her head only to see Jack’ron gazing down into her eyes, lifeless and unmoved.

However, the look that he gave her was one of warning that if she should try anything stupid that he would murder her and so she did not do anything at all, and instead she waited while Goldi and I attacked the many images of the conjured illusions of Talia Carabosse, their numbers seemingly were endless upon endless.

“Goldilocks…”, it was then that Goldi stopped while I attacked another conjured illusion before I saw it too. “Kirya…”, it was the image of Jour that appeared before our eyes and we both looked at each other as the fog and mist cleared only for all the conjured illusions to take on the image of our dear old friend as the coffin itself reappeared again.

“Which one of them is the real Jour?”, I asked as we gazed upon limping images of Jour who had their white beards covered in blood and their green attire messy, and only one of them moved towards the coffin that I pointed at for Goldilocks to see.

“There’s the real Jour!”, I said and the conjuration that heard me say that growled loud.

One of the conjurations then charged towards me and I broke it apart with my sickles before a wave of fog and mist appeared once more, and so quick that it blinded us in a matter of seconds. The conjurations then appeared to approach us with their hands forward begging for our help in desperation and we hacked them apart with ease and shattered their broken glass until suddenly I impaled one that did not shatter but rather looked at me shocked, and I saw him fall down on his knees as I thrust my sickle directly where his heart would be and blood started to pour from his body. Goldilocks then moved past me and rushed towards her friend.

“Jour, Jour!”, she fell on her knees and he landed into her arms as her tail rose to slither around him as well and hold him tight as I stood where I was, horrified at what I had done, before I heard footsteps only to turn and see the magic broom emerge out of the smoke that passed me only to strike Goldilocks in her shoulder and drill through her flesh repeatedly as she screamed.

“Goldi!”, it was then that a fist emerged from the fog and mist of the shadow that struck me that launched me across the tower until I fell over the ground and slid only to hit the coffin.

I could hear Goldilocks scream as the fog and mist cleared all around us. I could see Talia gazing at me as she turned to see Goldilocks being drilled through by the broom whose handle she reached over and then the glass beneath her shattered as she fell down into the palace of broken glass to her death. I looked upon with horror as Talia just turned and gazed at me with a smile. Goldilocks herself fell down into the palace and landed onto many shards of broken glass that would all break underneath her before she fell from the chandelier and towards her demise. I stood up to stand and saw Jour breath his last breath as he gazed upon me before his eyes closed.

“What did you expect would happen, hmm?”, Talia said to me as Jour died before our very eyes. “I told you to leave well enough alone, didn’t I, you foolish Cutthroat?”, she then turned to gaze me and approached me before several illusions appeared that spread out when she approached.

“Now your friends are dead because of you and soon your armies shall be broken!”, she spread her arms and taunted me, reminding me of my failure as I looked to the coffin behind me.

“You will have nothing left!”, she raised her arms as her voice echoed throughout the tower. “All because you were foolish to come here, to meddle with the affairs of MY world!”, she shouted.

“Now tell me…”, she said before she disappeared along with her images that appeared all around me. “Do you have any last requests?”, they stood around the coffin and gazed towards me.

I reached for the rose that Jour gave me from before. I lifted it to my mouth and kissed it before I swung my sickle towards the glass coffin that shattered that surprised Talia who watched me place it on the body of Briar herself that was pale as the milk of the poppy.

“As a matter of fact, I do…”, I said and they all gazed in silence before I lifted my head. “Die.”, I said before throwing a grenade into the air that all the conjurations gazed upon and Talia herself before it would explode to unleash a large flash that blinded her while it did not blind the others.

I leaped across the coffin and took a leap of faith as I thrust my sickle forth that struck one of Talia’s shoulders before striking the other as well. I then landed onto the ground and pulled as my chains were tied to it and I kept on pulling only to see that I could not pull on her for some reason. It was then that a tail emerged from behind her and its tip pierced through the chains that made me roar and swing my sickles around that shattered the many conjured illusions of ice repeatedly. I kept waving and lashing out blindly, and all I could hear is glass shatter all around me. Drakwa Myers’ body was ash after Bloody Mary was finished with him and he melted before their very eyes as Jack’ron and Bloodthorne watched. When it was all over, Mary stood and approached Jack’ron as she gazed deeply into his eyes.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“I didn’t notice that you intended to save your friend unless you had no intention on saving him in the first place?”, she questioned Jack’ron at once. “Guilty.”, said Jack’ron with a smile.

“So what is it that you want?”, asked Bloody Mary and the haru grinned. “I came here to deliver a message.”, he replied. “A message?”, she giggled at his comment she thought foolish.

“Yes…”, he said with delight. “And I am to return with or without your answer.”, he stated and she leaned her head on the side. “And if I kill you right here, right now?”, she asked and smirked.

“That’s why I said with or without your answer.”, his response made her smile as she could totally tell that Big Jack Horner had no fear in his eyes and in his mind for her that fascinated her while Bloodthorne had so many questions and concerns about the Combatant that stood there.

Bloody Mary looked down to Jack’ron’s belt and dragged her fingers over the frozen head of Naomi Pharon in thought before looking up rather attractively into Horner’s eyes.

“Well?”, she asked, awaiting for him to pass on the message and I turned before crouching down.

I held my eyes closed, holding the sickles criss-crossed in my hands, and then slowly opened my eyes to see Talia gazing back into mine. I stood there, equally courageous as I was afraid, and waited for her to retaliate in some way or the other. However, for the first time I could see that she was afraid as well and then she looked down before slowly turning around only to be bitten in the neck. Her hands reached upward and her fingertips turned to icy like claws that reached into the body of the one that bit her. I was shocked when I saw this and my jaw dropped as I stood up only to see that it was Briar Rose that bit into the flesh neck off her aunt. She kept biting onto the neck of her aunt that gasped desperately for her last breath before letting go and raising her head, and I could see Briar’s razor sharp fangs and her emotionless eyes stare towards me. Suddenly, she dropped her aunt down over the ground that slowly bled to death and pushed her down before she stood up and gazed towards me from afar.

“Don’t worry, little one, I won’t kill the one who has strived so hard to release me from my prison.”, said Briar Rose. “Isn’t that right, Jour?”, my eyes widened in shock before I turned my head only to see the old man revert to his natural and ordinary form, gazing at me with his red eyes and spiky white hair while his robe turned black after he was seemingly transformed into the undead creature that Briar brought him back as, a vampire much like herself.

“No…”, I said because I knew he was now forever lost. “No, what?”, responded Jour. “It was our plan all along.”, he added much to my confusion before I thought about it.

The bodkin that he brought to her on her birthday to do her hair and then I turned to gaze towards her to see the very same bodkin in her hair that had never left her that was his gift to her.

“Aunt Talia wanted to live forever.”, described Briar who looked down upon her aunt that was choking on her own blood. “She cursed me to put me in a sleep like death to have revenge against my father, but that wasn’t her only reason to do so.”, Briar explained.

“It was also to preserve her youth.”, I said with realization and Briar bowed her head. “By stripping my life away with every passing year while I slept. Over time, I became dehydrated, lifeless, pale, and far more importantly lacking almost any and most of my own blood in my body. To tell you the truth, my body yearns for it, craves for it, lusts for it...”, the way she described it sounded like she was suffering from an addiction, a withdrawal, and now she had an insatiable thirst of blood lust.

“My body needs it just like my aunt needed all the manna.”, she added and I turned only to hear the footsteps of Jour walk past me as he stopped to gaze towards me.

“And what her beloved aunt did not know is that true love’s kiss comes in many forms.”, described Jour, who pointed over to Talia that held her neck with her own hand desperately trying to hold on for dear life, but it was pointless, and soon the last source of needed blood would leave her body as she would die before her niece’s very own eyes.

Within the Castle of Cockaigne, the scarecrow elves that battled against the spriggans continued to their battle until one of the waved her claw only for it to dissipate into darkness. They gazed into their own claws as they began to dissipate in front of their own eyes and those that were hurt in the battle previously closed their eyes, their body fading into ashes in front of everyone’s eyes.

“What a pity…”, added Jour while Briar waved her hand to conjure a goblet in her hand and the blood itself rose from the floor that would pour into it that disgusted me.

There were many scarecrows that fell on their knees and others that dragged their claws and scythes over the ground as they looked around with their bodies fading into ashes to ashes, dust to dust, returning to Mother Nature that they have forever sought to return to in a loving embrace. The farmers that served as the cannon fodder to the Bloodstone Tribe remained hiding and those who saw what was happening were finally able to look up in hope as even all the farms around Teyvat had the scarecrows fade away from view and wherever their ashes spread new life began to grow and be healed from the curse that once befell the land.

“So for ten years my beloved Briar slept.”, Jour walked past me as he continued to explain. “I would of awoken her sooner if it weren’t for Bloody Mary and her tribe.”, the vampire explained as he approached his beloved Briar Rose that conjured him another goblet and raised the blood for him that would pour into his cup that satisfied him before they both toasted their victory.

The cuckolds below turned to see the spriggans surrounding them and they hopelessly raised their hands as they dropped their weapons to the ground in rapid succession for they knew the battle was long lost now that all their scarecrows had faded away. There were many among them who were confused for they always thought the scarecrows were bound to Bloody Mary and they thought that their mistress was finally destroyed, her phylactery torn asunder at last…

“Goldilocks died for you, for both of you! She gave her life for you!”, I shouted at the vampires in anger before Jour turned. “She gave her life for Teyvat!”, Jour shouted back as the three bears moved towards their sister, Goldilocks, and pushed their heads against her, mourning for her.

“And Teyvat shall reward her for everything she has done.”, Jour’s words were true as Aleanah would approach the body of Goldilocks from below and place upon her body a seed that would grow its own roots that would spread thorns, brambles and branches all over her body and throughout Goldilock’s own body that revealed that the vampires were telling the truth.

The brambles, thorns and branches that surrounded the Kingdom of Rosamond would finally lower themselves back down and seep deep within the earth, allowing sunlight to once more shine all over Teyvat and give the land new life once more. The undead within the ruined Kingdom would fade away as the wisps would abandon the bodies of the dead and leave while Little Tommy Tucker’s body would finally fall but his spirit remain. He stood where he was, saddened and broken, before he felt his beloved Jenny reaching for his hand. He raised his head up in joy and happiness at long last, leaning his forehead against hers as the spirits would share one last kiss before they would pass on into the light.

“As for you, Kirya Hennington, you shall remain to be an unsung legend. In fact, no one will remember who it was that saved their world from the darkness of Talia Carabosse. No one but us, of course, and the spriggans below.”, Jour was right as he said these words.

“The farmers will think it was the retribution of the Holy Light and the wrath of Mother Nature’s justice that saved Teyvat from the Unholy Shadow of Talia Carabosse and the Bloodstone Tribe. They will never know it was a group of outlanders that saved their world, but we will…”, Jour explained before one of his hands reached for Briar Rose that turned to face him with a smile.

“I do not understand…”, I said to them both. “Why would you willingly put her to sleep and why would you willingly go with it? Why would you both plan it?”, I questioned them both.

“My father wasn’t the nicest of people. I am pretty sure you’ve heard that about him already.”, she explained and I stood there, staring into her eyes as she looked down to her goblet.

“I was the son of mere peasants, farmers, and her father allowed us to be friends but once he found out I had feelings for her, he forbade our love.”, Jour explained and Briar smirked. “My mother and father fought regularly, and she consistently agreed with everything he said.”, Briar continued to explain their past as the couple grabbed each other’s hands and held on.

“He wanted me to be married to someone of nobility, someone wealthy and someone who valued the same ideals he did. He kept telling me it was good for our family name and that one day I would carry on the family line, that I was still fertile enough to breed, and my mother could not simply believe the monster she had married. She began to see her mistakes a little too late and as more time passed, she began to agree that my aunt wasn’t the monster my father made her out to be. However, that didn’t change the fact that she cursed me…”, Briar explained everything in vivid detail and I looked to both of them. “So you did this to be together?”, I asked them.

“Yes.”, replied Jour. “Talia and Sigurd were what my grandmother and grandfather made them out to be.”, stated Briar Rose. “My mother wanted me to make my own choices and my father wanted to dictate my choice for me while Talia simply did what she did out of spite to my father, her brother, because she probably thought I was the spitting image of my father that had left her behind, abandoned her, after all the love she had shown him.”, explained Briar.

“So that is why we wanted to make our own choices, together, and embrace the curse that Talia had placed upon my beloved scarlet rose.”, explained Jour and I sighed, lowering my head. “The price we had to pay is becoming the monsters that you see before you.”, Briar stated, which told me and revealed to me that they were well aware of what they had become and embraced it.

“So now I have something to ask you, Kirya of the Dragonlands.”, said Jour and I raised my head. “One day, an expedition shall arrive from your world seeking answers to what had happened to the Kingdom of Rosamond and the Sleeping Beauty of whom many tales were told throughout Teyvat. What is it that you will tell them?”, I looked to my surroundings when he asked me this question and gazed into the void thinking of an answer to that question.

The last thing I remembered after I turned back to gaze at them was awakening from a sleep within the ruined Kingdom of Rosamond to the smell of a plum pie given to be my the slow minded Jack’ron Horner and to the feeling of the warm sun light that blinded my eyes while also feeling so great upon my skin after so long. I would see the very next day the crashed TEC-9 and Bloodstone Zeppelin within the waters surrounding the beanstalk, hearing how the spriggans took care of most of the Bloodstonians although many more still linger out there in Teyvat. I would order the crew to march away from the beanstalk and to radio contact for help. Many days later, I would gaze upon another spaceship that would come to pick us up from the Dragonlands just as Jour stated it would happen and what little remained of the crew of the TEC-9 would be saved from others of the Dragon Empire. We gazed into the distance, seeing it land before our eyes, and we were somewhere secluded where no one could see us at all from any of the locals. They would never know, just as the vampires described, that outlanders had saved their world…