Sam gasped aloud as the wall of flowers came crashing down on him. He expected to feel a tremendous weight slamming down on him, but to his surprise, all he felt was a gentle, almost ticklish sensation brushed against his face and skin. Then, in front of his own eyes, his legs and his left arm disintegrated into flower petals, followed by the remaining of his body. Oddly enough, he was not fearful of the occurrence – as a matter of fact, a part of him seemed to welcome it.
‘What…is happening?’, Sam thought to himself.
Despite losing his physical form, he could still sense everything – the chaotic rustling of the flower petals, their delicate feathery touch, and also their mesmerizing wave-like movement. Moreover, he felt something slowly dragging him to the edge of the platform until the pond resting at the bottom of the mausoleum was in his line of sight.
‘I can’t…move,’ Sam mouthed quietly before plummeting down toward the depths.
As he made his descent, the flower petals inside the pond instantly cleared up, unveiling a dark, opaque liquid. Sam immediately took a deep breath, seconds before nosediving into the water.
||| THE END OF THE PATH OF THE INFERNO |||
***
[Meanwhile…]
[Somewhere in the Forest of the Bandit Lord]
“Urgh,” Rupert groaned – his jaw felt slightly numb while his neck was throbbing and warm to the touch. Even without looking into a mirror, there was no doubt in his mind that the skin around his throat was as red as a beet.
Lucy, who had been noticing the grimace on her older brother’s face, walked up to him and remarked, “You’re awfully grouchy ever since Sam left us. If you’re not happy about him going alone, why didn’t you follow him?”
“He told me to stay, so I stay.”
“Huh, I never saw took as someone who likes to follow orders.”
“It’s not that I like to follow an order,” sighed Rupert, “Dad always told us to repay our debts, so I’m simply repaying my debts – whether I like it or not.”
“And you heeded our father’s advice,” Lucy replied, crossing her arms together, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve put a lot of trust in him to come back alive.”
“Well, look who’s talking,” said the elder Nightingale before stretching both of his arms. He then looked over his sister’s shoulder – directly at Theo and Aria. In spite of his own injury, the Captain of the Royal Guard was helping the princess of the Opal Sun to stand up on her feet. “Oi, you two lovebirds alright?” Rupert cried out, much to Lucy’s chagrin.
“Gosh, you are so stupid sometimes,” Lucy ranted with a grimace on her face.
“Hey, at least I’m not saying that to you.”
“Wha-? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“A-hem,” Aria cleared her throat, causing the Nightingales to jump on their feet, “My apologies, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”
“Oh, no worries. It’s nothing really important anyway,” Lucy retorted while glaring at her brother.
“I…I see,” the princess stated as she sensed the tension between the siblings.
“What about you? I mean, it will be pretty messy when you return home, right?” the female Nightingale quickly changed the subject.
“Messy is an understatement, Miss Nightingale,” answered Theo who appeared next to the princess, “allowing the Distorted to raid the Edge, abandoning our assigned posts and subsequently leading to the death of countless civilians – there will undoubtedly be a heavy repercussion for our transgressions.”
“But it does not seem fair for the Inner Circle to punish you over something you have no control over,” said Lucy.
“Fair is the last word one would use to describe the Inner Circle,” Theo spouted. “Although some will see reasons, regrettably, most of them will utilize the tragedy to smear the reputation of the Opal Sun monarchy even further.”
“Smear? Wouldn’t that be, um, what’s the term, treason?” Rupert inquired.
“If those geezers had the balls to do it themselves, then yes,” Aria interjected. “Unfortunately, they preferred to let other people do their dirty work.”
“And Daedalus is okay with this?” Lucy blurted out, causing both Theo and Aria to look at each other with a pained expression.
“It’s...,” the princess took a deep breath and sighed out loud, “It’s much more complicated than you thought. The others in the Inner Circle – they learned how to hide their trails well. So well that Daedalus himself could not find sufficient evidence to convict them.”
“Not yet,” Theo added, “But we’ve been making some steady progress.”
“Really? I find that hard to believe.”
“Jason-I mean, the prince has been gathering intel for a while now. Given enough time, he might be able to purge the Inner Circle’s corruption. However, in order for that to happen, Prince Jason needs to return to the Palace to sort out everything, including the recent incident.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Time – that is something our people lack right now,” Aria murmured gloomily before shaking her head left and right, “Sorry, that was…not how a princess should act.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” said Lucy, “I mean, the kind of position you are put in – I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
“Well, that aside, Theo,” the princess turned to her Royal Guard who in turn seemed to understand what she wanted.
The visored man quickly brought out a tiny crystal orb from his inner pocket but before he could throw it to the ground, he felt the atmosphere shift. The gentle cool breeze that brushed against his hair and skin was gone, replaced with a stagnant air that reeked of rotten flesh. “They’re here,” said Theo with a breathy voice.
“Who?” asked Rupert and his question was answered by the crackling of branches above his head.
“Shit!” Lucy cried out before shoving her brother away.
A large shadowy mass fell on the spot where the Nightingales were standing, it raised its head and let out a shrill hiss that prompted Theo to shield Aria from the Subsumer.
“Finally! Some nightly entertainment!” Rupert yelled out as he jumped on top of the giant leech’s head. He drove both of his sickles into the creature, causing the latter to scream in agony. “Come here!” the elder Nightingale gleefully tugged the Subsumer away from Theo and Aria.
“What are you doing!” Lucy shouted, baffled by his sibling’s action.
“Giving you time…to escape!” said Rupert, “Now hurry up! Put the Rift Gate up and get out of here!”
“And leave you here with that thing? Screw that!”
SQUELCH!
The ground shook as two Subsumers fell from the sky, surrounding the Faceless. Lucy tried to reach for her dagger but alas, exhaustion had caught up to her along with her injury. She ended up dropping to her knees, groaning and clutching her throbbing belly.
“Just stay put, sister and leave these filthy mongrels to me!” said the elder Nightingale while still clinging to the Subsumer. With a grin on his face, Rupert yanked his sickles in the opposite direction and ripped the creature’s head in half.
“Now, this is more like it!” Rupert laughed out loud, his face and clothes were drenched with the Distorted’s tar-like blood. The Subsumer beneath his feet collapsed to the ground and after making sure the monster was no longer moving, the blue-eyed man turned his attention to the remaining Subsumers, particularly on the one to his right. “Guess who’s the next lucky one?”
Rupert bolted toward his next prey, who in turn, sprayed a web of sticky liquid from its mouth. The man swiftly slid beneath the strands before swinging one of his kamas at the Subsumer, conjuring a powerful gust of air that tore the giant leech apart into small, sticky pieces.
“Who’s next!” Rupert cried out before feeling a sharp pain near his waist. He looked down and saw a tree bark sticking out of his lower abdomen. “You’re one sneaky bastard, aren’t you?” the elder Nightingale remarked as he turned his gaze at the perpetrator.
“Brother!”
Rupert’s eyes darted toward his sister’s voice who seemed horrified by what she was witnessing.
“Don’t look so upset, little sis. This is not the worst situation you’ve seen me in,” said Rupert proudly even though he could barely take a breath without feeling the tree bark clawing its way inside.
SHHHHH!
The Subsumer hissed as if it was laughing at his current predicament. “This is amusing for you, huh?” said Rupert before tossing his sickles to the ground. He then opened his arms wide open while trying to ignore the pain in his abdomen. “Let’s see if you’re laughing after this,” the man asserted, his fingers curled toward the palm of his hands.
The giant leech froze in its place, its slimy skin began to ripple as if it was boiling. Rupert slowly brought his arms together, his glinting eyes fixated on his last adversary. “Your life…at the tips of my fingers,” Rupert muttered, “I wonder what you’re feeling right now? Fear? Hopelessness? Then again, I doubt a creature like you could comprehend the concept of emotions.”
Rupert clenched his fists and the Subsumer’s body became twisted; squeezed until its innards and tar-like blood burst out of its skin. What was left of the leech fell down like a wet rag which prompted Rupert to chuckle. “That’s…what you…get…for messing with…ha…ugh,” the elder Nightingale suddenly felt nauseous and the next thing he saw was the solid ground along with his sister’s voice, calling out his name.
***
||| THE PATH OF THE INFERNO: SAMUEL |||
Sam slowly opened his eyelids and the first thing he saw was the blue, cloudless sky. The coldness he felt earlier – when he was plunged into the water had disappeared. More importantly, he could finally feel his fingers touching some sort of…grass?
Sitting himself up, Sam realized he was now in a different place – a vast field covered in butter-yellow grass and countless rows of black headstones. “This keeps getting weirder and weirder,” said Sam before getting on his feet. Then, he noticed a fine line on the ground forming a circle around him with a sentence written on the outer ring saying:
The Land of the Eternal Twilights
“Eternal…Twilights?” Sam unknowingly repeated the two words. “Wait, is this…?” His vermillion eyes shot upward, toward the headstones. There were various names inscribed to them but the surnames were always the same: Helians.
It was as he suspected. He was now standing in the graveyards of the former King and Queen of the Opal Sun Kingdom. The circle on the ground, he assumed must be some kind of a Rift Gate that connected the Coniferous Forest to his current location.
The only question that remained was the whereabouts of the royal prince himself. Sam’s focus soon settled on the lone black building in the middle of the cemetery which seemed identical to the Cerulean Mausoleum – only smaller. What was inside this place that fascinated the puppeteer of the Empyreans so much they were willing to sacrifice innocent lives? Sam wondered. But before he could finish his thought, both of his legs began to move on their own; dragging him toward the building.
As he was nearing the mausoleum, he caught a glimpse of something in his peripherals – a silhouette of a person. His head snapped to his right, expecting to see someone else standing in the field, but there was no one there. “Another phantom – like the ones in the mausoleum. Were they…watching me?” Sam murmured. He then looked over to the building again; its front door was ajar. Furthermore, there was a set of footsteps heading in but not out.
“Right,” Sam exhaled before unsheathing his blade. “Let’s do this.”
He carefully pushed the door open and went inside; into a spacious chamber decorated with fresco depicting the sun, the moon, and a star. At the end of the room, however, was a man facing a familiar-looking obelisk.
“Took you long enough,” said Jason(?), “I believe you enjoyed your trip through the Rift Gate earlier.”
“Yeah, no thanks to you.”
The prince(?) slowly turned around; black veins had fully shrouded his face except for a tiny spot on his nasal bridge. A tar-like fluid flowed out his eyes and ears, staining both his outfit and rapier.
“Ah, crap,” said Sam with a grimace on his face, "That is not good."