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Kingdoms of Darkness and Light

headlessSpleen

headlessSpleen

New Member
((I'm just going to continue where we left off since we both know what's going on.))

Marco heard a scream echoing from deep within the castle. "Flower?!" he screamed, his eyes widening with panic. He took off at an even faster run. "I'm coming for you, Flower. I'm not leaving you." 

Turning the corner, he could feel an encroaching darkness. He could tell that he was getting closer and closer the more uneasy he felt. His stomach was turning and his palms were sweaty. He clung to his sword tighter, his shoulders aching from the effort it took to keep it aloft with his one arm while continuing to run. He stopped as he came to a closed door. His chest ached and he knew that he was in the right place. Flower was right through the door and her screams were echoing in his mind. 

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the handle and prepared himself for the horror he might face on the other side. 


Dominic looked around at the dead and dying. The enemies were gone, almost all having fled into the castle. They would have to go inside in order to continue their assault. But, knowing Draco, it could easily be a trap. Looking around, he was desperate for some advice. Anybody's second opinion would be appreciated. Looking around, he watched as the medics scurried around checking pulses. His brother Benn was sitting crosslegged on the ground, part of his face being treated for burns. Chuck was beside him, wary and waiting for more orders. The twins were obviously in no state to advise him on battle plans. He needed Ty but... Where was he? 


Mia's eyes opened wide as an impact didn't occur. She heard the sound of Deathwish's blade slicing through the air and, when she looked in front of her, there was the body of a shapeshifter lying in front of her. "Deathwish..." she breathed, confusion filling her voice. She didn't know what to think. One moment he was trying to kill her. The next he was kissing a stranger. And then he was slicing said stranger in two. Her heart ached as she waited, wondering if he would turn around and do the same to her. 
 
Flower laid on her knees with her hand covering her left eye. Part of her shoulder was exposed with the name Draco clearly carved into her skin. Draco stood over her with her knife held in one hand and Flower’s hair in the other. Flower turned to look at Marco opened the door. Her one good eye widened significantly.


“Oh, you stupid…” Flower was cut off as Draco tugged at her hair. She looked exhausted from their battle while Draco seemed perfectly fine. Flower’s hair was dimmer and a black streak ran through it. Draco had taken her magic for himself as obvious by the lighter streaks of magic. Draco had control of light magic. Light magic swirled around the knife he held which could explain the singing around his name on Flower’s shoulder.


Draco looked at Marco and smirked widely. “Hn, the youngest brother with a dose of poison I see.” Flower suddenly tried to bolt to Marco, but Draco held her back. “Protectiveness will not save him from it.” He said as he narrowed his eyes at Marco.


“Marco, get out of here,” Flower said with a growl before Draco pulled her up into his arms. Flower was too drained to try and fight him off. She could barely stand. Draco had taken enough to exhaust her but not kill her.


“Yes, dear Marco, run off.” Draco hissed out as he snapped out his fangs. He was clearly antagonizing Marco. Flower was their protector and the best way to break her was to kill them. He needed Flower hopeless.


 


Zelda slowly made her way towards Dominic. Her arm was held tight to her middle and her armor a complete mess. Her face was badly bleeding, and her dragon wings drooped so low they swept across the ground. Her tail swung high above her as to keep its deadly blade away from her captive. Behind her dragged the body of a humanoid Beast. He was unconscious and clearly injured more than Zelda. Once in dragon form, it wasn’t easy to break into their tough scales.


“King Dominic.” She said as she shoved the unconscious Beast aside. She noticed Dominic appeared to be at a lost. Zelda was also missing her brother. James was nowhere to be seen and she was too injured to try and keep looking for him. Once Beast was forced to change back into human form, he had explained Draco’s plan to her. Beast wasn’t so bad, as long as he wasn’t being controlled by Draco in a rampage.


“Draco wants us to follow them inside. He wants you.” Zelda informed him. She looked like she was about to drop. “He wants your brother’s too.” (Totally should have Ty kidnapped….)


 


Deathwish stared down at the shapeshifter as she looked up at him. Deathwish saw the eyes of Neshema in her eyes. This shapeshifter knew his feelings, knew his memories, knew everything Neshema did. He had killed Neshema, but clearly somehow this Shapeshifter could tap into who she was. She didn’t just change her outside appearance, she could change who she was on the inside. She could sense the feelings of those around her, she could impersonate someone down to their very soul. How? How could she? He’d never seen a creature that could do that. Deathwish looked as Mia spoke his name.


“Hn.” He gazed at her with those emotionless eyes of his. “Mia.” He said simply. He decided to leave the shapeshifter to the medics. It was clear that turning into Neshema had changed her as well as gave Deathwish a chance to say goodbye to Neshema. Deathwish silently mused at how even dead, Neshema managed to change someone for the better. She certainly had that effect on him.
 
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"No," Marco said, authority in his voice. He stood up straight, authority oozing off of his body. He held his sword, ready for Draco's assault. Even though he was weak and injured and winded from running, the sight of Draco's hands on Flower gave him a second wind. As Draco rushed at him, he held his head up without fear. He aimed a perfectly calculated strike at Draco, avoiding Flower's body at all costs. The last thing he wanted to do was injure her. 

He knew that she may never forgive him for facing death for her sake, but he didn't care. If he died, she would blame herself. She'd never forgive him for his stupidity. But, he was okay with that. If he died trying to help her, then he wouldn't die in vain. 


((I was actually thinking of doing something like that with Ty. Having been caught in the explosion and all, he can't be doing too good. Easy target for kidnapping.))

As Dominic looked around, his eyes were lost trying to pick out the form of his brother Ty. Zelda's words echoed in his head. The feeling of dread sunk in his stomach. "He already has Ty..." he muttered, breathing deeply through his nose. "Gather anybody who's able. Once we have enough healed forces, we'll have to face what's inside. It may be a trap, but we can't give Draco time to rally his monsters up again." 

Chuck approached, followed by his twin. They weren't so identical with Benn's face covered in bandages. "We'll go in. If this is a trap, you need to stay out of it and stay alive." Chuck said, crossing his arms. 

Dominic shook his head. "I'm the King. I need to be an effective leader. I can't let my people go marching into the face of danger and sit on the sidelines." 


Mia immediately noticed Deathwish's change in demeanor. He appeared to be... himself again. "Deathwish," she said, approaching him slowly. Her posture was wary, like a dog that had been kicked one too many times. Once she got within arm's reach of him, her entire composure changed. Her brows furrowed together and she lashed out, slamming an open palm heavily into his chest. "F**k you!" she screamed, her voice cracking with strain. "You f**king b*****d!" 


((Oops! Forgot Thea in my last post!))

"Don't worry." Thea said, her mouth twitching into the faintest little smile at Vicente's comment. "I appreciate your honesty, even if it comes across as insulting." When he addressed her, her fear melted to almost nothing. If anything, he reminded her vaguely of her petulant younger siblings. So what if he didn't think she was a pretty princess? She wasn't trying to be and she wasn't trying to impress anyone with her looks. 
 
Draco looked at Marco with calculation. He raised his head high, this…this was just stupid. Something seemed to click in his mind, now he had to test something. Draco held Flower close to him as he eyed what he considered to only be a boy.


Flower growled loudly at Marco. “Marco, so help me I will...GAH!” Flower yelped as Draco licked the wound newly engraved into her shoulder. She felt as if she was going to throw up again. Flower definitely felt nauseous. “When I kill you, I’m going to chop you into little tiny pieces and feed you to wild dogs!” She snapped at Draco.


“Hmmm.” Draco suddenly flashed light magic in Marco’s eyes as he rushed at him. By the time the magic subsided Flower was pierced through the shoulder on Marco’s sword. Draco was across the room observing much like a scientist watching two animals interact.


Flower groaned in pain. “How many times do I have to be stabbed through with a sword for you boys?” She mumbled under her breath before her arm reached and grabbed onto his shoulder just so she could stay standing, and so he didn’t pull away from her. She needed to convince him to get out of here.


“Marco…” She looked at his arm and growled. She rested her head on his shoulder, exhaustion tugging at her consciousness. She hated that he had to see her in such a weak state, she hated that he had followed her. This wasn’t the time to start acting like a lost puppy when normally he was somewhere else sulking!  “He’s toying with you.” She whispered as she turned her head to look up at him or at least the side of his neck. Her eyes were clearly infuriated with him. She knew Draco wouldn’t let her die, but he wanted to kill Marco and his brothers.


She could barely move and was putting her full weight on Marco and or the sword that was currently sticking out the other side of her. Her eyes were clearly infuriated with him. She knew Draco wouldn’t let her die, but he wanted to kill Marco and his brothers.


 


Zelda looked at Dominic and straightened up her back. She might be injured, but she could clearly stand behind Dominic. Zelda looked at the twins for a moment before Dominic argued their point. The King often lead the battle and death was always a possibility, there was no protecting him out here. Zelda looked around before she nodded to Dominic.


“I will, sir.” She said before she lifted her wings and shot up. She flew off and quickly got Sky, Hunter, and Vortex into a group for the infiltration. As she circled, more and more began to pure in ready and waiting for Dominic’s next set of orders.


 


Deathwish looked down at Mia as she screamed at him. He seemed unfazed at her lashing. He held that stoic expression to perfection and stood still as she beat on his chest. Deathwish blinked as he moved his hand and placed it on her head. He looked down at her without saying a word. Deathwish wasn’t an emotional man, but he knew very well how emotional Mia was. She was angry at him for so many things, leaving her, kissing another woman, and maybe trying to kill her and or not recognizing her in his insane state.


Deathwish had been through so much, and he knew he had done it to protect her and hopefully separate himself from her feelings. Perhaps that was why he was so quick to accept the hope that Draco had resurrected Neshema. Neshema was safe, Neshema was his first love, but Neshema wasn’t Mia and certainly was more careful.


Deathwish took the opportunity of Mia’s temper tantrum to look around again. He knew Draco was planning something big, but he didn’t know what just yet. While he was out of control, he couldn’t figure out what Draco was planning. Deathwish glanced back down at Mia. He knew he had to get her out of here before the second assault he knew the army was probably planning.


 


Vicente blinked and looked at her in confusion at her odd response to his inquiry that princess was supposed to be prettier. She was…strange. Vicente looked at Caretaker who merely was offering Thea a meal.


“I suppose living with my father would give someone an appreciation for honesty,” Vicente mumbled before he looked to the side at the wall. His wounds were healing much faster now that light was refueling his reserves on light magic.


“I suppose you get your blunt approach from Flower.” Caretaker jabbed again. The longer Vicente thought on Flower, the more he might be willing to support her instead of Draco. After all, he was merely an experiment to Draco. Vicente knew he could die, but Flower spared his life and that meant everything to Vicente.
 
((Sorry for taking so long! Midterms are K I L L I N G  M E!))

Marco's weight shifted ever so slightly as Draco temporarily blinded him with light, and as soon as he felt his sword pierce through skin, he could tell that something was horribly wrong. By the time the black spots faded from his vision, it was too late. "No..." he breathed, his eyes wide in horror at the sight of Flower impaled on his blade. Flower was right. All he had done was cause more trouble. He may have just destroyed their chances of defeating Draco by incapacitating their best chance at taking him down. 

He knew that pulling the sword out of her shoulder would be dangerous. She had used a lot of magic, meaning she probably couldn't heal herself. If he removed his weapon, she could bleed out. Holding her up with his one good arm, he pulled her close, feeling the anger in her gaze. He couldn't bear to look her in the eyes right now. Instead, he cast his gaze to Draco. 

"I really thought I would get a more pleasant greeting from my brother-in-law." Marco said, malice dripping from every word. "I'm not the bad guy, here, Draco. I want her alive just as much as you do."

He wasn't a strategist like his older brother Ty. He wasn't a born leader like Dominic. He didn't have the innate improvisation skill of the twins or even the calm and collected nature of his sister. But, he wasn't giving up. He was making up a plan as he went and pulling it off flawlessly. 


Dominic turned to face his growing army. Despite the casualties, they still had a sizable force. All they needed now was instruction. Dominic's unicorn came up behind him, giving him a light bump with her nose. Taking the queue, he swung himself up on her back to address the crowd. 

"You have all fought valiantly," he began, his voice projecting over the crowd, "But, the battle is not over yet. In order to truly defeat Draco, we are going to have to go inside. His remaining forces and who knows what else are lurking behind the castle walls. Draco is expecting us. There will be no element of surprise. But, my brothers are in that building. Flower is inside. And, most importantly, Draco is in there just waiting to be slain. On my mark, we charge the front doors and face whatever he has waiting for us head-on. Are you ready?"


As soon as Deathwish placed his hand on Mia's head she froze. Looking up at him, furious tears welled up in her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she smacked his hand away from her, growling more vulgarities under her breath. Even though he appeared to be back to his normal self, she wasn't letting go of her anger just yet. She turned away from him and strode off toward the gathering masses, ready to join the rest of the army. This time she wouldn't be fighting for Deathwish. She would be fighting on her own terms.


Thea nodded her thanks to Caretaker as she took some bread from the platter and took a bite. Looking back to Vicente, she gestured to the food. "You can have some too, if you'd like." she said. He definitely was starting to remind her more and more of Flower. Thanks to the traits she had given him through her DNA it was obvious he could easily be swayed to their side. He could be rehabilitated into someone good rather than one of Draco's monsters.   


 
 

(Awww, I’m sorry to hear that! Now that I know, take as long as you need!)
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Draco and Flower
​




Draco watched the boy silently before he tilted his head for a moment. He smirked at the boy as he examined the pair. Flower seemed more concerned with just doing her job, but the boy seemed to take this a little more personally. His eyes widened and he spread his arms out wide as he laughed.


“You’re right, I want her alive just as I wanted your sister alive. After all, they both will share the same purpose.” He zoomed across the room and grabbed Flower before throwing her off of the blade. As she cried out, Draco placed his hand on the wound and used light magic to heal it. Flower’s body relaxed against her will as it felt the familiar warmth of her own magic. Flower suddenly felt a strong pull of magic into her body. Draco took notice and quickened the pace of the healing.


Flower suddenly was on the floor again. Draco was a few feet away from both of them. Flower felt some of her strength had returned; Draco hadn’t counted on the fact that her magic would have a strong desire to return to its owner. She groaned and gripped her newly healed shoulder. It was completely and utterly sore.


“Why are you toying with him?” Flower looked at Draco. He could have killed Marco ten times over by now. “What do you wish to gain?”


“It’s not time yet.” Draco said with a wide smirk as he laughed and spun around placing his hands on the wall on each side of a window. Below he watched as Dominic’s army roared and began to march. His eyes widened in excitement. He turned back to Flower and Marco. At this point, Flower really began to see what was behind the evil man. He was insane….purely insane. As if reading her mind, Draco chuckled darkly.


“There is a fine line between insanity and genus, my dear.” Draco laughed before he pointed to Marco. “Now boy, do you plan to fight or just stand there? Your little flower is out of harm’s way.” He said before he snapped his fingers.


Robotic arms suddenly came down at Flower. She yelped and tried to roll away, but they caught her and soon she was pinned to the floor. Flower growled and struggled, but it was no use. Her burning eyes turned to Marco in one last order to run. Draco was preparing to bring all the brothers to that room. He was going to kill them all in one swoop and all right in front of Flower.


 




The Army
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Deathwish’s stoic mask did not slip has she slapped his hand away. Deathwish narrowed his eyes slightly as she headed toward the forces Dominic was massing together. She might be angry with him, but that wasn’t going to stop him from making sure she would be safe. Carrying her out was out of the question, they needed him. Deathwish could easily pathe a way inside, well not easily. Deathwish rolled his shoulders before he moved to follow after her. He would keep close to Mia and hopefully keep tabs on Dominic as well. Following what Draco wanted them to do was a dangerous prospect. He need to make sure they survived long enough to kill Draco. The castle was visibly shifting and changing from the outside, most likely becoming an even harder maze to get through. Deathwish stood still as he eyed that cursed castle.


The forces roared that they were ready and before long the mass was moving to head on the attack. Roars came from inside the castle and as they took their first steps suddenly the largest beasts reared up and blocked the paths inside. They snarled and swiped at the masses.


Zelda flew above the mass before she transformed in the air. Soldiers raced backwards as Zelda landed at the gate. She roared out and released a massive amount of fire to clear the way inside. More Dragons of different sizes headed up the front and began to push the monsters further inside.
 
((Ok, I got my midterms sorted out. Had a small emotional crisis and I am BACK IN BUSINESS!))

Marco met Flower's gaze as she was pulled far away from him by the robotic contraption Draco had created. Her eyes burned straight through his icy outer layer straight to his heart. She wanted him to run. He knew it better than anything. It was her job, her will to protect him and he was throwing himself in front of a moving train right before her eyes. It pained him to see the concern she felt for, not just him, but for his whole family. Because of that one look, it took all of his willpower not to turn heel and run away. He wanted to do whatever she said as long as it would take that look of worry out of her eyes. 

But, he had his father's stubbornness. 

Turning to face Draco, he held his head high. His poisoned arm hung limply from his shoulder, completely dead. If he survived this encounter, it would be a miracle if he would ever be able to fully use that arm again. "Draco," he said, his voice soft and calm, like waves lapping up on a sandy shore in the cool of the evening. "If you want to fight me, then so be it. But..." an eerie smirk crossed his thin, pale lips. "I know this is a losing battle, and I would much prefer to be on the winning side." Taking a few steps forward, his feet barely made a noise on the solid floor. He knelt down, his head bowed low and his one good arm crossed over his chest in a sign of respect. He was willingly submitting himself to Draco. 

Maybe all those years of being pushed around as the baby brother had finally gotten to him. Maybe the thought of losing Flower made him snap. Maybe he was just scared. Or maybe he had been ready to switch to Draco's side all along. It was hard to tell from the outside. 

But, internally, Marco was making a plan.


Dominic charged inside, allowing Zelda to clear a path for the army before leading the way. His unicorn began to expertly impale every monster that dared cross her path as Dominic shouted orders to the swirling masses. "On your left!" he shouted at a knight who looked just in time to block a flying arrow with his shield. This rally that Draco had pulled up was a strong wave against their own weakened forces. But, despite the dangers ahead of them, Dominic was determined. With Chuck and Benn slashing away at beasts behind him, he lifted his sword and charged into the crowd. 

Two of his brothers were somewhere in this castle and he was going to make sure that he took good care of them. 


Mia charged in with the rest of the army, a powerful battle cry screaming out of her lungs like a siren. She pulled her knife and ran, trying to ignore the fact that Deathwish was close behind her. She knew that he was going to try to stay close and protect her, but she knew that she didn't need him. As the two armies collided, Mia's killing frenzy began again. Every powerful swipe with her blade drew enemy blood. Every punch hit right where she wanted it to. 

A humanoid figure with massive tusks and long, scraggly fingernails managed to get behind her and grab her around the waist. He pushed her into a wall, pressing her chest into the solid stone of the castle. Grinning maliciously, he leaned in close and whispered something deplorable into her ear with his rancid breath. Mia didn't even flinch and, instead, threw her head back, knocking him in the nose with the back of her skull to stun him before twisting just enough to clamp her teeth onto his ear. He screamed in pain as he tried to claw her away. His nails dug divots into the skin of her cheeks, but she wouldn't let go. Finally, he managed to pry her off, but not without tearing off a good chunk of his own flesh in the process. Mia spit out the dismembered ear with a grimace and, with a swift slash of her knife, slit the beast's throat and went on her way. 
 

(Yay! I missed you!)
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Flower and Draco
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Draco watched the boy and Flower. His smile twisting as gears turned in his head. The power Flower had over these boys. Or rather, what she could have. Yes, he could use this to his advantage indeed. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Marco spoke once more. Draco hummed as he watched the boy. As Marco bowed to him, Draco’s eyes narrowed considerably.

Flower looked at Marco, only his back was facing her, so she couldn’t see his eyes. Flower struggled that much harder. Flower didn’t know if she should believe him or not, but right now her emotions were at a high. Somehow, she doubted he would truly do such a thing. Flower’s eyes remained glued on his back as if trying to read his soul. She was so angry right now and so truly afraid. Flower’s hand had started to tremble, and she wasn’t sure when it started or if it would ever stop. Suddenly Draco moved and Flower cried out no, but all that was done was a needle in Marco’s arm. Draco pulled out the needle with a wide smirk.


“Here’s the deal, you serve me, and I won’t torture Flower for every lovely scream she’s got. You disobey me and she’ll pay for it.” Draco hissed out. The needle he gave him was an antidote for the poison. Whether he would regain his full ability to use his arm was a 50/50 shot at this point, but at least he wouldn’t have to amputate it. “And do believe I can drain every drop of blood from her without killing her.” Draco moved over to Flower. “Castle…” Flower looked up at him with pure hate.


The image of an older Trinity appeared before him. She turned to look at Draco with her emotionless eyes. “Yes, Master?”


“I want the rest of the princes directed here. See to it that they are separated from the troops.” Draco growled out and Trinity nodded.


“It is done.” Trinity said as she waved her hand. For a moment, Trinity looked at Flower and Flower looked at Trinity. Trinity looked away and Flower set her forehead against the floor. She suddenly was very tired. Her body suddenly trembled as if cold every once in a while. Flower remembered this kind of fear very well. She never thought she would have to deal with it yet again, not as an adult. She felt as if she could barely breathe.


“Don’t fall asleep yet.” Draco looked down at Flower. Her trembling body made his smirk only grow wider. His tongue ran over his fangs as he stared down at Flower. “We aren’t finished yet.” There was something in his eyes that Flower didn’t want to pinpoint. He liked see Flower in fear. Fear for herself and those she swore to protect.



The Army​



 




The castle began to shake and suddenly it started shifting. Each shift slit off more and more men from the massing group. Draco’s monsters looked up before they scattered as rocks fell from above, left over pieces as the castle made a massive shift in order to separate the princes and start to lead them to Draco’s room.


Zelda looked up as a rock hit her back. She roared out and moved to the side suddenly a wall hit Zelda and pushed her back outside of the castle. Zelda moved and hit at the castle wall, but I wouldn’t budge. Zelda roared just as Altair came into sight. His screech caught her attention just as he attached to her back and pinned her against the wall. Zelda turned her head and unleashed fire onto him. He flew back, and Zelda turned to give chase. Her movement was slow though as her side bled from the rock that had hit her.


Deathwish looked to be surrounded on all sides. He quickly lit his scythe with shadow fire and swiftly spun as his blade sliced in all directions. He stopped with his scythe behind his back and both his hands on it. He looked around as the monsters fell over dead. Deathwish noticed the castle suddenly was shifting massively. Pillars shot out in all directions, some crushing men and monster, and even Deathwish had to duck as one zoomed over him.


Walls broke down and shot up and even the floor zoomed and twisted. Stairs from nowhere appeared and confusion gave birth to panic. Deathwish quickly moved and jumped. He jumped up the walls before rolling onto another floor. He sliced his blade up to his right and a lizard appeared and fell back sliced in half. Deathwish stood up and looked around before he spotted Mia down below. He quickly jumped through a hole and landed near her.


His aura spread out and chilled the air. He was serious and his scythe was quick to dispatch anyone that dared get close. Shadows rose from his own shadow and two red eyes opened from within it. His reaper was close to surface and it was quick to remind him that it was at his service. Deathwish ignored him for now.



Caretaker, Vicente, and Nick​



 




Vicente looked at Thea as if surprised she offered. He looked at Caretaker for a moment before he slowly sat up. He groaned and wrapped an arm around his middle. It was still very sore. “Um…thank you.” He said quickly as if embarrassed and looked away to the wall. Suddenly Caretaker held out a plate for him. Vicente looked up and nodded in thanks as he took it and began to eat.


“Why do you think Draco asked me to kill Flower, if he actually wants her alive?”


“Well if you succeeded in killing her, that meant his use for Flower would already be void, but if you didn’t he probably hoped you would be dead.”  Caretaker eyed Vicente. “Though Flower is a merciful soul….surprisingly. She can be brutal sometimes.”


“How do you know all this about her?”


“Trinity’s memories are a part of the castle and such now a part of me.” Caretaker explained. He soon jerked his head up as he heard the sound of dragging. Caretaker narrowed his eyes. He quickly stood up before he heard a bang on the door.


“Caretaker…” The exhausted voice of Nick spoke through the wood. Caretaker was quick to open the door and watched as Nick fell to his knees.


“Nick!” Caretaker looked to what Nick was carrying, the corpse of his son. Caretaker snapped his mouth shut.


“Draco….had already killed him.” Nick said, his eyes red from both anger and tears. “I couldn’t leave him for the monsters to eat.” He slowly tried to stand but quickly fell down, Caretaker swiftly caught him.


“I understand…” Caretaker said before he turned to Vicente. “You’ll have to move.”


“Right.” Vicente said as his eyes stared at the dead Peter. He slowly moved and limped over to another chair. As he sat down, Caretaker dragged Nick all the way in and shut the door. Once Nick was laying down, Caretaker placed Peter on the other side of the room and began to wrap him up in bandages.


Nick seemed very far away and quickly turned his back to everyone. His world was in shambles and he barely had the will to keep breathing. Vicente was quiet sensing the gravity of the situation. Vicente knew this was life when dealing with Draco and even he was never too far from the same fate.
 
Marco didn't even flinch as Draco's syringe plunged into his arm. The absence of feeling in the right side of his body started to slowly return. It started with a tingling sensation in his shoulder that flowed down to his fingertips. Rising to his feet, he opened and closed his hand, testing out how much use he had of his formerly useless appendage. Somehow, he wasn't expecting Draco to willingly fix his arm. In fact, he was anticipating a significantly more skeptical response. 

Bowing his head, relief filled his body. Sure, he was flying by the seat of his pants, but at least him and Flower were still alive. "Thank you for this opportunity," he said, his voice deadly serious. It was impossible to tell where his loyalties lay, but at the moment it seemed that he was genuinely ready to support Draco in whatever he had planned. 

He picked up his sword off the floor using his dominant hand. The strength was there, but he couldn't feel anything but the same tingling and numbness. It was almost like his arm wasn't part of his body anymore, even though it was attached and functioning. He silently wondered if it would ever be the same, but he doubted Draco's insane mind had anticipated curing the affects of his venom, let alone giving the recipient full use of their body again. 

He could hear Flower struggling behind him, but refused to turn around. He couldn't look her in the eyes and explain what he was doing. He hated the idea of lying to her face too. Seeing the pain and fear in her face scared him. It broke his heart. But, he knew he had to do something, and this was all he could think to do. 


Suddenly, on the other side of the castle, walls began to shift and move. Dominic's eyes widened as his army was methodically cut off from him, pushing him and the twins farther away from the rest of their party. "Stay together!" Dominic screamed, hoping his voice could reach someone, anyone. He couldn't let isolation get the best of them. 

"Dominic." Benn said, his voice muffled through the bandages covering most of his face. "Draco's not just splitting up the army. He's separating us from the rest of them!" 

Suddenly, the thought clicked in his mind. Draco wanted the princes. If he killed the rest of the royal family, there wouldn't be a leader for the army to follow. Their rebellion would fall flat in an instant. "We need to get back to the army," Dominic said, looking at the walls around them, trying to find a way to make them part and reveal their army. 

One wall slid down into the floor, revealing an empty hallway before them. 

"Draco's leading us right to him," Chuck grumbled, crossing his arms. "We can't just follow like sheep!" 

"But, if we don't," Dominic said solemnly, "He's going to find a way to flush us out." 


Mia's eyes widened as the entire castle started shifting around her. Her immediate instinct was to run, but there was nowhere to go. But, there was nothing to fight either. She couldn't just punch the walls and get them to stop moving. Suddenly, an eerie chill surrounded her and she looked up to see Deathwish himself. She growled a curse under her breath, wishing that he would get the hint and go away. Didn't he understand that she didn't want his help? 


"Nick..." Thea breathed, her eyes widening with shock. He was alive, but barely hanging on. She tried to avoid staring at the body of his son. It was frightening to see someone who had been alive and well, calling her a whore and a harlot just days before, cold and dead on the floor. Her heart was breaking for Nick. She couldn't fully understand the pain he was in, but she could see the agony etched on his shoulders as he turned away from them. 

She approached him slowly, not wanting to give him reason to lash out at her. Kneeling down beside him, she closed off any look of sympathy she was feeling for him. She doubted Nick would accept pity at a moment like this. Instead, she didn't say a word. She watched him closely and, with calloused fingers, she reached out and brushed his hair away from his face. She tore off the bottom hem of her skirt and used the soft fabric to wipe some blood and sweat and possibly tears off of his face. 
 

Flower and Draco
​




 
​




Draco looked back at Marco from the corner of his eye. “And miss the opportunity to watch you kill your brothers? Oh, that would be brilliant wouldn’t it?” Draco smirked and looked to Marco. He looked as Flower growled. She looked up at him with burning eyes even through her shaking body.


“My my…aren’t we angry?”


“Don’t you dare touch any of them!” Flower growled loudly as she jerked at the robotic claw holding her down.


“You are in no position to make demands.” Draco kneeled down before her and grabbed her chin. “I have no choice but to kill them now, don’t you see? I left them alive once and look what they do.” He tilted his head to the side. “Plus, you will always be rebellious as long as they live. Well, I will keep Marco if he proves valuable. Besides, who will rule this kingdom while I’m away? I might let him have it once I concur more. I do reward those loyal to me. You might even figure that out.”


“Kill them and I will never be loyal to you.”


“Hmmm….nah. I know you and as long as your hope is still alive, you’ll fight.” Draco turned to Marco. “So, will you do it? Will you kill Dominic?”


Flower’s eyes widened. Dominic! The magic she gave him, it still was there! Her mind started to turn as she thought of a plot. If she could get ahold of the magic it might just be enough to help her gain control of the magic within Draco. He stole it from her and as long as she was still alive she could take it back. However, getting the magic within Dominic would be tricky. She needed him to approach her. Flower slowly started to move her arm. She twisted and turned it until it was free enough to move. If she could quickly grab Dominic and get her magic from him, that would be enough to burn Draco from the inside out.


It might not kill him, but it would go a long way to killing him. However, it could also kill her too. Controlling magic, even if it’s your own, from inside another person could allow them to control the magic within you. It worked both ways when you connected magic like that. She just hoped Dominic would give her the opportunity.



The Castle and Deathwish
​



 


Draco would find a way to flush them out; the wall behind them opened and suddenly heat from a massive furnace threatened to incinerate them if they didn’t get moving fast. Smoke started to pour out into the hallway and heat would come next. The fire slowly started to spread out from the furnace as if it had a mind of its own. Slowly the fire morphed into what looked like a humanoid form. It roared as it slowly clawed at the metal bars keeping it in. It was only slowed down by the door which was slowly moving up preparing to release it. The fire elemental continuously morphed back into the furnace before rushing and banging against the door.


Draco wasn’t playing games and if he wanted those princes to move, he’d be sure they did or die. Their only chance was to face him. He made sure they had no choice.


 


Deathwish looked down at Mia with his emotionless eyes. He knew she didn’t want his help, but he wouldn’t listen. He looked as a pillar shot out and he quickly grabbed Mia and pulled her back as it zoomed past them and hit another wall on the other side of the room. Deathwish quickly started to look for a way for her to get up and out of this area. Once he spotted a way for her to climb out, he looked back down at her. He guessed that if he suggested the path, she would stubbornly stay so he waited in silence to see if she would see it herself.



 
​


 Caretaker and Nick



Caretaker looked at Thea and continued to wrap Peter’s body. He would give Peter the best burial one could have in this castle, burning. With ashes, Draco could not take the body and use it for his experiments. Caretaker knew Nick would want that. He looked at Thea who was approaching Nick.


“Careful, you might see something you don’t want too.” Caretaker knew Nick hid a lot of things under his smile and without that smile who knows what one could see. She probably has already seen more from Nick than most. Caretaker turned his head and closed his eyes as he whispered a small prayer for the dead.


 


Nick laid there as he thought on what he did after he found Peter dead. His hands were bloody and blood covered him as if he had bathed in it. His hands still held the long nails and his hand was still shaking. He seemed completely shut down.


Nick laid the body of his son down. Tears streamed down his face, but when he looked up his eyes changed to pure black and the tears stopped. Shadows rose all around him and his nails lengthened. He stood up as he turned to look down the doors. He zoomed across the room and started tearing into monsters like a beast.


His eyes were hateful as he slashed straight through a creature mercilessly. Blood splattered and Nick hissed out as he laid waste to anyone in his way. Shadows covered his form as he roared and the shadows opened their glowing eyes. Nick had blacked out at that point. All he remembered was waking up on the stone cold floor with Trinity standing over him. In her hand was a ball of shadow. She had freed him.


Nick narrowed his eyes as he slowly tried to move. He cringed and groaned in pain. He had lost consciousness and upon that something else was released. “Kori…”


Deathwish kept Orpheus at bay….and Nick kept Kori. Both twins had masks for a reason. Nick had much to hide. There was always a reason why he never released his full potential


“Every beast has its cage…keep yours in.” Trinity warned as she crushed the shadow.  “Master would not appreciate you wiping out any more of his army.” Nick didn’t respond as he slowly stood up and used the wall for support as he slowly moved through the carnage that he had left.


Nick’s eye suddenly shot to Thea as she touched him. From the corner of his eye he watched her, but that gaze was not that of Nick’s. It were filled with hate and murder. His gaze was cold and his restraint was completely gone. There were shadows swirling in his eyes. He closed them before he looked once again to the wall.


Nick had lost Peter once. The pain left by his wife was still there and yet, he had hoped since he saw Peter again that he could have his son back. Draco had ripped that from him like everything else. Nick also knew he couldn’t have Thea as long as Draco was alive. However, he was too weak to do anything about it. He just hoped Flower would be enough.
 
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"Yes, Sir." Marco said, his voice deadly serious. An anger bubbled up inside his chest when he thought of taking his sword and stabbing his eldest brother clean through with it. Maybe it was that jealousy rearing its ugly head again. After all, he could easily kill him if he wanted. Not many were aware that Marco was probably the strongest of his siblings. But, did he have the heart to hurt his family like that? 

Marco clenched his teeth, refusing to react to Flower's struggling. He could hear sounds echoing in the distance, but he couldn't tell if it was his brothers or the war raging on without them. He could sense the emotional torment Draco was putting Flower through. Hell, he was even participating in the torment, not filling her in on his makeshift plan. It made him feel sick to his stomach, but he didn't show it. Marco was brutal, but he still had a heart. 


"And we're running!" Chuck exclaimed, grabbing Benn and Dominic by the arms and yanking them away from the lurking inferno behind them. He frantically searched for any gap in the walls around them, hoping to find an alternative route to the deadly path they were on, but there was nothing. They would be face to face with Draco and there was nothing they could do to stop it. 

Suddenly, the threesome burst through the door and face to face with not only Draco, but a trapped Flower and their youngest brother. Marco raised his sword. He was going to have to fight them. There was no faking it in front of Draco. But, it was still technically three against one if Draco made him fight as his champion. 

"Marco! Flower!" Dominic exclaimed, relieved to see the two of them still alive. But that dangerous look in Marco's eyes made him uneasy. What had Draco done to him? 

"Draco," Chuck growled, stepping forward with a menacing glare. Benn's eyebrows knit together behind his bandages as he gripped the hilt of his sword. Whatever this battle came down to, they were going to fight their hardest. It wasn't just their lives at stake at this point. It was their family's. It was Flower's. It was their people. Their army was off fighting a war for them. Flower had risked their lives for them. Ty and Thea were captured and hidden away somewhere in the depths of Draco's castle. If they couldn't protect these things, they wouldn't just lose this one fight. They would lose everything they cared about. 


Mia gasped as she saw a pillar jutting out in her peripheral. She wouldn't have been able to dodge it herself, but before she could even brace for impact, Deathwish had her wrapped protectively in his arms. She unintentionally clung to him for a moment before realizing what had happened and abruptly separating herself from him. "You didn't need to do that," she snapped, even though she knew she would have been crushed to death without his help. With a forced glare, she turned away from him and quickly started to look for a way out. Her eyes locked on a small gap that was already starting to close. Her window of opportunity for getting back to the rest of the army was shutting right before her eyes. She cursed and ran for the gap, climbing over pillars and rubble until she was finally able to squeeze her way through. 

Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking and clammy. She wouldn't admit it, but she looked back, her eyes scanning for Deathwish. No matter what she said or how angry she was, her heart still ached for him, despite how cracked and broken it was. 


Thea swallowed hard, startled by the darkness she saw in Nick's eyes. It was like nothing she had ever seen before and, coming from him, it was terrifying. She knew he was strong and powerful, but she never really thought that he could have something so dark and murderous lurking inside of him. Her hand froze, her thumb holding the torn piece of fabric a millimeter away from his cheek. The gears in her mind were working overtime in this moment of hesitation. Although it was only a split second, it felt like centuries as she wondered what exactly she had gotten herself into when it came to her feelings for Nick. Should she even try to pursue a romance that would no doubt be rocky and difficult? And with a man who, in this moment, she barely recognized? 

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and continued to gently wipe blood and tears off of his face. She wasn't going to let herself be afraid of him. A little more wary, perhaps, but never afraid. With her free hand she gently ran her fingers through his hair, cleaning out as much dirt and debris as she could. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but there were no words that could ease the kind of pain that he was in.

So, instead, she softy hummed. She could never remember the words to the song, but it was something that she could remember her mother singing to her and her brothers when they were younger. Especially after Marco was born, he was so sick, she spent every moment she could holding the pale little baby in her arms and sing. Her mother had the most soothing, silky singing voice that you could imagine - a quality that Thea didn't inherit. Her throat was a little scratchy and she was a little tone deaf, but there was an effortlessness to the way she sounded that still did the song justice. It might not help, but as she gently ran her thumb down from Nick's cheek until her palm reached his chest, she prayed that it would. 

((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Yj0TC4BJs this is sort of what I'm imagining here))
 

Flower and Draco
​




 
​


Draco looked as the three boys came rushing in. Draco smirked and chuckled before he looked at the utter fear on Flower’s face. She didn’t want any of them killed, but he knew there was no other way. She would always fight him if he kept them alive. He grabbed Marco’s shoulder and smirked at all three siblings.


“You better get to it.” He told Marco before he looked at the twins and snapped his fingers. Two figures dropped down from the ceiling. The Puppet Twins. The boy looked at Chuck, while the girl looked at Benn. The twins were so life-like but, their mouths soon extended beyond the range of a human mouth and from within wooden arrows shot out to separate the twins from Dominic. It was obvious Draco did not intend him to fight three on one. That might have been considered merciful, but Draco found Marco more useful to him alive and tormenting Flower than dead because he took on more than he could handle.


Draco chuckled before Flower cried out. He paused and looked at her.


“Don’t kill them! I’ll do what you want!”


“And what is that?” Draco asked with a wide grin.


Flower felt sick just trying to say it. “I’ll give you a child.”


“Now…there’s something.” Draco suddenly appeared in front of her and kneeled down. “You’d willingly lay in my bed if I let them live?” Draco leaned down toward her. “It’s very tempting. A child with no hassle from you and maybe I could have some fun.”


Flower cringed, but as soon as the robotic arm was released she sighed in relief. Now, she just needed to get close enough to Dominic to get her magic back by…kissing him….again. Flower didn’t like that idea, but it was better than what Draco wanted right now.


“I’ll tell you what. Marco kills Dominic, and I let the others live.” Draco said and caught Flower’s fist as she tried to punch him. He wagged her finger at her. “Tsk, tsk.”


“All of them!” She growled. “Or I make sure you never make the perfect vampire. Isn’t that all this is? To make a race of vampires weak to nothing? You need light magic for that!”


“That’s not going to happen” He sang. “Either Dominic dies or all of them do. I’m being rather generous here, think of what they could try and do again if they manage to form another army.” He pouted as he grabbed Flower’s chin. “But Dominic’s the real danger. You believe in him…you trust him…” Draco leaned very close to her. “Right now just proves you would do anything for him. He dies, that’s the deal. Make up your mind quickly or else I kill them all right now.” He looked at the puppet twins each pulled out two twin swords from compartments in their arms.


Flower lowered her head. “Fine.” She didn’t care if the others told her not to or not. Their lives were her responsibility.


“EXCELLENT!” Draco pulled Flower up and gave her a lustful lick at her neck and collarbone. Flower shivered in utter revolution and her face twisted sickeningly. He only chuckled and spun her around. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” He smirked as Flower stumbled away and tried to keep from throwing up again. She wasn’t in the best form and she still felt the effects of holding so much magic let alone having it sucked from her. She fell back down on her knees as she gagged. She managed to keep whatever was left in her stomach down, but she felt hopelessly sick


“Puppets! Keep the twins from interfering, but don’t kill them.” Draco clapped his hands. “Bravo, Flower, bravo. You saved most of their lives. I hope you’ll keep your promise?” Flower only glared in response. Draco might have promised to not kill them now, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have plans to kill them later once he got what he wanted from Flower.


A child born with both shadow and light magic. A vampire with no weakness to light magic and stronger than Flower herself. Vicente was just the first, but he proved mostly useless against Flower. He needed another one, stronger and he figured only one truly born from Flower would do the trick. Vicente might have the ability to use light magic, but he wasn’t bathed in it like light elves are when they are developing. That’s what gives them such strong abilities.


Flower looked at Dominic and did her best to pull on the magic inside him. She needed to get to it or she’d might have to keep her promise to Draco. She reached out her hand and tried hard to tug on it. She really hope he’d catch on what she needed from him. She hoped Marco truly didn’t want to kill Dominic. She…she let tears slip past her only good eye at this point. Only Dominic had truly seen her cry, but when she looked at Marco, she lost her struggle not to let tears fall. They fell, and her heart was breaking.



Deathwish
​



Deathwish relaxed momentarily as she clung to him, but when she pulled him away and said something that he knew both of them knew was stupid, he steeled up again. He waited for her to find the way out and only watched as she begun to climb up. Deathwish blinked and thought on everything for a moment.


Perhaps…perhaps this was better. Even if the shifter thought he should pursue Mia, even if he knew Neshema would want him to move on, he was still dangerous. Perhaps this had finally been what he wanted for her to push him away. The stoic man knew it would be better for her not to stay by him. He quickly moved and bypassed her without her knowing. Once she reached the top and looked back for him, it closed. Deathwish only let out an hn from behind her before moving to try and find the others.


Yes, this was better. For now he would protect her, but afterwards he would let her go.  It was only right and fair for her. He was not an emotional man and he was a man with a curse. A curse that killed the woman he loved once before. He doubted he could take it again.


Nick, Caretaker, and Vicente
​




Nick knew he had made her afraid in that moment, he practically smelled it from her for a split second. Her hesitation even clearly displayed that he had disturbed her. He might have felt guilty for frightening her if he had any more room for it.  The guilt of his son’s death took up quite a lot of space in his heart. Nick felt hate, anger, pain, and loneliness. Peter was his son, which means he would have lived as long as vampires, but now he was dead and who knows where Deathwish was at this moment. As far as Nick knew, Deathwish was still lost to insanity. Nick was alone and Thea was human, she would die way before he did.


Nick’s eyes still burned with hate and anger at that thought, and then Thea started to hum. Nick took paused for a moment and remembered the times where his mother would encircle Deathwish and him and sing to them. His sensitive ears could easily pick up the flaws in her singing, but it none the less relaxed him. He closed his eyes as her thumb ran down his cheek. That combined with her fingers in his hair, and he couldn’t ignore the treatment. Nick relaxed even only a bit. He still felt pain, he still felt loss, but he felt Kori locked up back where he should be. Nick turned to look at her, his eyes still filled with pain, but they were much softer, much sweeter, like the eyes of the Nick she knew. He carefully moved and gripped the hand on his chest. Tears once again slipped down his cheeks, but at least he had calmed down slightly.


Caretaker carefully watched the two before he turned to Vicente who tilted his head when Thea started to sing. “You’ve never heard singing before, have you?”


“No.”


“It’s what people do to share many things, emotions, ideas, and love.” Caretaker smiled lightly. “What do you think?”


“It’s…nice.” Vicente whispered to Caretaker.


“Wait till you hear real singing, Vicente.” Caretaker whispered in order not to offend Thea. “What have you decided?” He asked as he looked at Vicente.


“I want…mother to win.” Vicente said as he looked at Caretaker with a sad expression. “I want to know…what’s outside the castle.”


“Good…” Caretaker nodded his head.
 
"Flower!" Chuck yelled, drawing his sword and dodging as the puppet twins dropped down and came for him and his twin. "Don't give in!" 

Benn raised his sword as well, being forced to back away from both of his brothers. He didn't like the idea of being separated from his siblings in a situation like this, but there was no other option. He cringed as he heard Flower bargaining with Draco. "Don't forget, he's a married man!" he called out, keeping his eyes locked on the grotesque puppet in front of him. 

"He's right!" Chuck chimed in as he tried to side-step his way closer to his brothers. "He's already the worst, and now add cheating on top of that. You can't let him get his way!" 

Dominic felt a tug in his gut. Something inside of him was pleading for him to move toward where Draco was holding Flower. He turned to look at Marco and a silent bolt of electricity seemed to shoot through the air between their gazes. Before he had the chance to fully comprehend what was going on, Marco was running toward him with his sword drawn. Dominic barely drew his sword and blocked the attack, stepping to the side and allowing the momentum to carry Marco past him. 

"It's finally time for me to have the upper hand," Marco growled, his voice filled with malice.

Dominic knew that something wasn't right. He lifted his sword as Marco rushed him again. Their blades collided and Dominic was forced back a few feet from the force. "Marco, please..." he grunted, his feet sliding against the floor. 

"You've always been terrible at begging," Marco retorted, stepping back and coming in for another attack. Their blades collided in a fury of swipes and jabs, causing Dominic to step farther and farther back. The nagging sensation in his gut was growing stronger, almost making him a little nauseated.

But then he realized what it was. Flower's magic. She needed it now and it was trying to return to her. If he could just find a way to get close enough to her, then they might have a chance of surviving. The only thing in his way was Marco. 


Mia quickly whipped around only to see Deathwish walking away from her. "A**hole..." she grumbled under her breath. A spark ignited in her chest as she watched him stalk away from her. One second he's stalking her, and the next he's running away. Was she really going to let him throw her around like that? 

She took off at a run after him, deciding that, whatever he was trying to pull, she was going to get to the bottom of it. She wasn't going to run away from her heartache and wonder for the rest of her life what went so wrong. No, she was determined to get answers, and if that meant following Deathwish through a war zone, then so be it. 


Thea laced her fingers through Nick's, giving his hand a tight squeeze. She didn't miss a beat in her humming. For a person with little to no musical abilities, she had impeccable rhythm. As the song came to a close, her fingers that were running through his filthy hair glided down and touched his cheek. Her jagged fingernails gently grazed his skin as she looked down at him. She could feel his heartache and knew that he would never be quite the same, but at least she could see something recognizable and familiar in his eyes. 

"That's the man I fell in love with..." she thought, caressing his cheek with the back of her fingers. Sure, she may not know everything about him. He had dark secrets. But, he still wore his heart on his sleeve in good times and in bad. 
 

 
​


Flower and Draco
​




Draco rushed and got behind Chuck. “You think your sister is the first woman I have ever married?” Draco laughed as he slashed his nails down at Chuck. “Married or not, I will have what I need. Your sister is already pregnant with MY child, but I need another to test it against.” He smirked wickedly. “Oh…you couldn’t have known that. Oops.” He chuckled darkly and Flower’s eye burned in furry.




 “You couldn’t protect her from me, Flower. How far will you sit there claiming to protect them and you have forgotten about Thea? Did you forget about her? Did you forget you left her behind? You have already failed, like your parents failed to kill me.” Draco laughed. “Where’s the girl that was just shivering in fear on the ground a few minutes ago?”




Flower’s eye burned with hot angry tears. She didn’t bother to look at him. She didn’t bother to respond fearing that her voice would fail her. She only focused on trying to pull the magic from Dominic. She wiped her eyes.




“Marco…please…stop.” Flower’s voice was soft and pleading. She didn’t have anger, she didn’t have fury, she only had her the last bit of strength she could muster. She was going downhill fast. Emotional pain, physical injuries, lack of magic, and a promise that made her stomach turned.




“He stops and I kill them all.” Draco reminded her.




Flower bit her lip. “Then I will just have to stop you.” Flower whispered before she gathered what little she had and made a dash toward Dominic. She didn’t care if Marco got her again with his sword, she didn’t care if Dominic did. She only had one choice left. Even if she failed and lost her strength before she could reach him, at least she would be that much closer to him to try and force the magic to her. If she made it to Dominic or not, she didn’t know. Her vision went black for a moment and she nearly fainted on the spot.


 




Deathwish
​




Deathwish could hear her footsteps after him. Did the girl always come when he ran away? Deathwish only slightly turned his head toward her before he slashed his scythe through a monster. He hummed as he kept moving through the castle. He kept the same pace for Mia’s sake and told all the soldiers he came across to find a way out. They won’t be able to fight in here, not like this. He didn’t know where Dominic or the others were, but he needed to herd them all out.




“But sir, King Dominic!”




“I will find him.” Deathwish glared at the man and his small group. “Get out of here and regroup outside!” Deathwish turned as the castle began funneling soldiers outside. Deathwish narrowed his eyes in surprise. So, the castle would fight if they went in deeper, but she would help if they tried to get out.




“Trinity, you truly are a wonder.” He whispered before he moved to head further in. He suddenly heard the growls of Hell Hounds and paused as they lunged down from a floor above and through the hallways. Deathwish quickly moved back and gripped his scythe as he prepared to fight.


 




Nick, Caretaker, Vicente
​




Nick looked up at her and carefully rubbed circles on her wrist in response to her own caressing. He closed his eyes again, for he was very tired. His own strength was drained and he hadn’t had any blood to help fuel his powers. He let out a deep sigh before Caretaker addressed him.




“I’m ready.” Caretaker said as he finished bandaging up Peter’s body and placing scented oil jars around the place. “You’re lucky I can make things appear.” Caretaker snickered before he looked as a hole in the floor opened up to a fiery pit below. A fire elemental roared until Caretaker tossed some water down.




“Behave.” He scolded the creature before he turned to Nick. “This is the best I can do, so your son doesn’t become an experiment.”




“Thank you…” Nick voice was hoarse and horribly strained. He slowly moved and looked at Thea before he slowly stood up and walked over to where Caretaker and Vicente were. Nick looked as Caretaker whispered a small prayer and gently pushed the body into the fire. Nick let his bangs fall over his eyes. “Goodbye, Peter.” Nick whispered as grief threatened to overtake him again. He swayed for a moment before he gripped a chair to keep him standing.
 
Chuck growled out a curse as he whipped around, swinging his sword at Draco. He knew that he was just trying to get a rise out of him, but it was working. The idea of his sister being pregnant with Draco's spawn made him shutter, but the thought of what Draco might do to that poor child filled him with burning rage. "I swear on my life..." he growled, his eyes filled with blinding rage, "You will never lay a hand on my sister again." 


Marco was good at ignoring what was around him. Draco taunting his brothers didn't make him miss a beat as he relentlessly backed Dominic into a wall. Suddenly, Flower's voice resounded in his ears, pleading. He couldn't block her out. "You can't let up now or Draco will get suspicious," he thought as he took another swipe at his brother. "You need to buy more time but..." Before he could finish his thought, he saw Flower out of the corner of his eye. 

"Flower! Stop!" Dominic exclaimed, holding out one hand to try and keep her distanced from the sword fight. He blocked one of Marco's jabs, stepping closer to him to catch his sword with the hilt of his own. He couldn't allow her to risk herself even more for their sakes. Looking into Marco's face, he silently begged him to reconsider what he was doing. He had no idea what Marco was trying to accomplish, but whatever it was, he needed to either stop or let him in on the plan. 

Marco looked into his brother's face and, while Draco was distracted trying to deal with Chuck, he gave a silent cue, jerking his head to the side. Dominic quickly sidestepped, following Marco's lead. There was no time to question if Marco had really turned to the dark side and was trying to trick him. The way he moved put his body between Marco and Flower, effectively shielding her from the volley of slices and jabs that continued. 


Mia ran after Deathwish, keeping a close tail on him. She was acutely aware that he could outrun her, but he wasn't. She only stopped when she heard growls coming from all around. Gripping the hilt of her knife, she watched as hellhounds rushed from all sides. Narrowing her eyes and turning her back to Deathwish, she went to work slicing and dicing the hounds coming at them from behind. She may not be as strong as Deathwish, but she was still fierce. One dog latched it's teeth onto her arm, but she was unfazed as she stabbed her blade into its throat and flung it away from her. 


Thea slowly rose to her feet, standing carefully behind Nick as he approached the flaming pit Caretaker had opened up in the floor. She didn't reach out to comfort him immediately, but stayed close enough behind him where, if he needed her, she was right there. As he swayed and gripped a chair for support, Thea was right by his side, one hand between his shoulder blades and the other gently holding his arm. She gave him a little squeeze of silent comfort and solidarity. Although she didn't cry, her heart was aching for him. She didn't know his pain, but she could empathize with it. 
 

Draco and Flower
​


Draco smirked as Chuck attacked him out of blind rage. “You won’t swear on anything when I’m finished.” He laughed as he dodged with ease. He whipped behind him and sent several shots at Chuck’s sides to try and break his ribs.


Flower was barely conscious, but she felt it. Flower’s eyes shot open as she sensed her magic close. She suddenly leapt from the ground and onto Dominic. Once her lips touched his, her magic instantly transferred. Flower instantly put up a light shield to block Marco’s attacks. She pulled away from Dominic.


“Sorry.” She whispered before she felt her magic start to restore her body. Before she lost all the magic she had just gained, she sent out light and attached it to Draco. Her eyes glowed as she took control of the magic inside of him and made it start to burn.


Draco’s eyes widen as he sensed light magic. He turned and saw Flower gaining magic from Dominic. “What?! NO!” He roared but he already sensed her taking over his magic. He cried out in pain as his skin started to burn from the inside out. He felt his own blood boil. “YOU LITTLE B*TCH!” He sent light magic back at her and Flower growled as her hand started to burn.


Flower growled as this quickly became a battle of wills. Flower narrowed her good eye at Draco as she kept using the magic he gained from her to slowly kill him. This time, having less magic was the upper hand. Flower continued to burn him before he finally dashed away.


“Gaaaaaaaargh!” Draco grabbed onto the wall. His body barely recognizable. It was healing, but it was slow and everything was painful. He looked as Flower was barely conscious. “That….was difficult to do.” He spit blood. “But I will not be killed so easily!” He waved his hand and the puppet twins took positions to protect him while he heals. He still fell to a knee and tried to pat down the flesh that was still burning.  


“Now…kill him now.” She looked at Marco and Dominic. “Please.” She needed them to work together…all of them. Flower lost consciousness.




Deathwish ​


Deathwish twirled his scythe as he cut dogs down quickly. He knocked one up with the blunt end before he sliced it in half as it fell back down. One jumped and bit into his shoulder. As their eyes met, Deathwish felt the hellhound try to bring out his reaper. He grabbed the beast’s head and tore it away. When he slammed it down and crushed it’s skull he felt his reaper settle once more.


“Hnn.” He glanced at Mia as she seemed to hold her own. With his own injury, he moved forward to try and find more soldiers to lead out.




Nick, Caretaker, and Vicente
​


Nick looked over at Thea before he sighed. He looked as Caretaker as he closed the hole. Nick sighed and leaned onto Thea. He was exhausted. He looked at his injuries and groaned slightly as he was frustrated beyond belief.


“You need blood.” Caretaker stated as he looked at Nick. “In this condition you won’t make it out of the castle before it collapses.” He said with a wide smirk.


“What?” Vicente looked at Caretaker. “But that would mean father…”


“I’ve felt the change. Draco is losing control and that means something has taken his concentration.” Caretaker said. “The castle is momentarily free.”


“But that means you’ll die.” Nick said as he looked at Caretaker. “Without a castle to be bounded too…your soul will be released.”
 
Chuck doubled over and groaned as Draco struck him. His vision started to fade in and out from the pain. He could hear his twin shout his name, but it only sounded like an echo. Benn grabbed him around the shoulders, pulling his body away from Draco while he struggled to catch his breath. Benn put himself between his twin and Draco, lifting his sword and taking up a protective stance. What Chuck had said earlier applied to him too. He wasn't going to let Draco hurt his family anymore.

Dominic gave his youngest brother an apologetic look, trying to explain exactly what was going on, but he didn't have to. Marco's eyes widened with realization. It was protection, not romance. Flower had transferred her magic to Dominic to protect the true heir to the throne. His vicious jealousy fizzled away into understanding. 

The two of them knew what they had to do as they watched the scene unfold before them. Making eye contact with the twins, Dominic silently conveyed instructions to them. "Get the puppet twins. We'll take the opportunity to take down Draco". 

As Flower breathed the order, the Monroe princes leapt into action. Chuck and Benn rushed the puppet twins, prepared to force them back and away from Draco. Marco ran ahead past Flower with Dominic right behind him. 

Marco grabbed Draco by the shoulders, slamming him heavily into the wall and restraining him. He could feel how weakened he was now that Flower had used the magic he'd stolen against him. Dominic raised his sword as he came up from behind and, with one swift motion, he plunged the sword through Draco's chest. What traces of Flower's magic were left in his system traveled through the blade, causing the metal to glow and spark. Dominic pulled the sword from Draco's chest as Marco continued to restrain him. 

"You will never hurt anyone again," Dominic said. 

"The king has spoken," Marco stated. 

And Dominic swung his sword aimed directly at Draco's throat. 


Mia took down the last of the hounds only to feel a rumbling in the castle. Something was happening, and it didn't feel good. Turning around, Deathwish had already left. She cursed under her breath and ran down the hall to try and find him. Pieces of the ceiling started to crumble around her as the castle began to shutter and fall. If the building was collapsing, she was going to make sure Deathwish made it out. She wasn't going to leave the building without him. 


"I've already discussed this with Caretaker," Thea said, easing Nick down into a chair. It was shocking to see him so weak. The man that could carry her, running at mach speed was leaning on her for strength. "Even when he's gone, he won't be forgotten." 

She pulled her hair back as she crouched beside Nick, squeezing his hand gently. "Now, come on. Listen to the soon-to-be freed spirit and drink so we can get out of here." 
 
 

Flower, Draco, and The Puppet Twins
​


 
​


 Flower laid unconscious, her body had taken a beating and from the looks of it her eye wouldn’t be the same. Trinity appeared before her as the boys attacked. She leaned down and gave Flower a kiss on the forehead.


“Goodbye, Flower.” Trinity stood up and disappeared. There was one thing she needed to do. She looked as the castle started to fall apart. Trinity closed her eyes and her form started to disappear. She didn’t have much time left before she completely disappeared. She glanced back at Draco before she disappeared, leaving his pleads to the castle unanswered.


She appeared in another room and looked down at the prisoner. She kneeled down and checked his wounds. “Ty…” She whispered as she looked at him. She frowned at his condition. She might be the persona of the castle, but that didn’t mean she could do anything for him. Caretaker was the one that fed and helped the creatures of the castle. She only kept an eye on them and controlled their movements. She looked down at her form as more of her begun to disappear.


The Puppet twins swiftly moved to attack the other twins, but suddenly there movements stopped as Draco was run through. They both looked at each other before they placed their swords back into their arms. They tilted their heads as they watched with almost acute interest in seeing Draco die.


Draco called out as Marco pinned him and he hissed out as his body was barely reconizible. Blood and boils were everywhere and blood has splattered onto the wall behind him. He turned to see the puppet twins were no longer doing anything. He saw Dominic coming for him and noticed Trinity near Flower’s body.


“CASTLE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! CASTLE! HELP ME!” He cried, but that’s when Trinity looked at him and he realized he had lost control. He struggled against Marco before Dominic plunged his sword into his chest. He spit up blood and gasped out. He was dying! Impossible! They can’t kill him! Flower can’t kill him! She was just a child! They were all children! Once Dominic aimed his sword and plunged it, it was over.


Draco stood with unbelief in his eyes. He was an ancient vampire. It was minutes of silence before there was a roar in the castle. Beasts and monsters suddenly stopped. The puppet twins stopped as marks on their necks appeared before they faded away. Draco’s body suddenly started to turn to ash.


The puppet twins stood before they bowed to the princes. “Thank you…” The female started before her brother finished. “For freeing us.”


Draco was dead. With that knowledge the twins moved with noticeable difficulty before they gripped each other and fell over. They laid with their hands entwined before they suddenly stopped moving. There were smiles on their normally emotionless faces. Without Draco and the magic of the castle, they could no longer live. Monsters everywhere started to fade as the castle started to collapse. The castle’s magic was quickly fading, and without the magic the monsters quickly faded as well.


 
​


Nick, Caretaker, and Vicente 
​


 
​


Nick looked up at Thea for a moment before he leaned toward Thea. He sniffed her neck before nuzzled his head into her neck. He gave her neck a quick kiss before he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Vicente. He grabbed Vicente and bit into his neck. Vicente’s eyes widened considerably.


“GAHHHH!” Vicente shouted out as a blush spread across his face. “BITE HER NOT ME! THAT HURTS!” He said as he hit Nick’s head several times. Nick refused to budge. Vicente eventually stood there and took it with clear annoyance on his face. His eyebrow twitched considerably. “This is embarrassing!”


“Shut up, kid.” Nick said as he pulled away and his eyes glowed for a second. He wiped his mouth. “Biting a pregnant lady, honestly. Who do you think I am?” He smirked as his strength returned to him. He turned to look at Thea and swiftly picked her up in his arms. “That is, unless the lady likes that.” He flashed his fangs at her. He might be joking, he might be flirting, but even with that smile he always wore, he could not produce that sparkle in his eye. Nick was a master at hiding behind a smile.


Vicente growled just like Flower would and crossed his arms with a frown. He suddenly felt the castle shake. Vicente’s eyes widened as he looked around. “It’s time to go!” Vicente said before something glowed on his neck. “AH!” He gripped it before it suddenly broke and disappeared. “Father…” He whispered with wide eyes.


Caretaker’s neck glowed as well before the curse mark broke and Caretaker felt a weight lifted off of his soul. Suddenly Caretaker smiled out of pure happiness. Tears feel from his one eye and he looked down at his hands as his form seemed to faze. “Ah…the castle’s magic is quickly leaving.” He said with happiness clearly in his voice between the tears.


“I’m free! I’m free!” He shouted and cried out with the rest of the chorus and cries in the castle. They were free! Some more stable monsters raced out of the castle to disappear into the town while others died with smiling faces. There was howling and shouting that carried like trumpets.


Nick watched Caretaker and his eyes watered once again for a moment as he felt that ghost’s complete happiness. He silently wished Peter was alive to feel that too, if Peter would understand that is. Nick quickly pushed it away. He stayed so Thea could say one last thing to Caretaker and he would dash off once she did.


 
​


 Deathwish
​




Deathwish walked and guided everyone out that he could find. That was until there was a distinct shift in the castle. Deathwish paused for a moment as he looked up and soon the castle started to crumble even worse than it was before. Deathwish’s eyes widened as monsters and men rushed past him toward the exit. Deathwish turned and jumped into a roll as a stone slab fell where he once was standing. Deathwish looked back before he stood up and looked at Mia. He reached to pick her up so he could speed out of there.
 
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When they were absolutely sure he was dead, Marco let go of Draco's body, allowing it to slump to the floor, dark blood pouring from the wounds Dominic had inflicted. He looked around as the castle rumbled. Marco walked over to Flower's unconscious form and lifted her up in his arms. He was thin and small compared to his brothers, but he lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all. "Let's get out of here," he said, his face showing little to no expression. He headed for the exit without looking back. It was almost nonchalant how he moved away from the death and carnage behind him. The dead body of Draco didn't bother him as he walked by. That was over and done with and he would deal with the consequences of his actions later. 

"He's right," Dominic said, gesturing to the twins. The group followed behind Marco as he led them through the crumbling labyrinth of the castle to find the exit. Dominic was surprised at how easily his youngest brother seemed to navigate Draco's castle. It was unsettling, but then again, when was anything involving Marco normal? Soon enough they came to a completely destroyed portion of the outer wall. The sunlight was almost blinding as they stepped outside. The family quickly scrambled away from the building that was rapidly destroying itself from the inside out. 

Marco immediately went to find someone to take care of Flower. No matter what he'd done to try and protect her, he wasn't a medical professional and knew that only they would be able to truly identify how much damage she had been dealt.

Dominic looked around, his eyebrows knit together. He searched the gathering crowd for familiar faces. Friends, warriors, staff, family... Some were there, but others were still vacant. "Ty...." he breathed, looking to the castle. It took everything in his power not to run back into the building and search for his younger brother. 

Benn placed a hand on Dominic's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Blood was soaking through the bandages covering the side of his face, but even with the covering, you could still see his frown. It was obvious that the twins weren't optimistic.


Thea gasped as Nick hoisted her up, surprised by his sudden change of mood. She looked up into his smiling face. It was comforting to see that familiar expression, but she could tell he was still hurting inside. 

She turned her attention one last time to Caretaker, smiling softly. "Thank you so much, Caretaker. For everything." Seeing his joy eased the pain she was feeling for Nick. And, with those last words, they were off. Before she knew it, she was outside, the outdoor light causing her to squint.

Chuck watched the crowd closely, hoping for a glimpse of one of his missing siblings. His attention was only drawn away by a flash of motion and, suddenly, there was Nick holding a white-blonde haired girl in his arms. 

"Thea!" Chuck shouted, making a run for it. His heart felt like it was going to burst. Was she ok? Was she still alive?

Thea turned her head at the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. It felt like a dream, one of her brothers running toward her. She carefully maneuvered her way out of Nick's arms just as Chuck collided with her in a frantic hug. 

"We killed the bastard," Chuck breathed, practically shaking as he held her close. He couldn't believe that she was still in one piece after being with Draco for so long. "He's gone. Draco's gone. I'm so sorry." 

Thea smiled, grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him at arms length. "Good too see you too, Chuck." 


Mia ran forward to meet Deathwish, practically throwing herself into his arms. For once, she was more than willing to have him carry her out. As long as she kept a close eye on him while he did it to make sure he didn't go back into the building and get himself crushed to death. She clung onto him for dear life, silently making it known that, despite her irritation with him, despite her heartbreak, she wasn't going to let him go that easily. 
 

Flower
​




Flower tried to fight to gain consciousness, but her body wasn’t having it. She was conscious enough to feel herself being picked up. She carefully sniffed and the scent was safe. She relaxed and took in the warmth that was provided. Her injuries her great and blood started to leak through her clothes. Her arm was burned, her eye held a cut straight through it, and her shoulder still held Draco’s name. There were probably internal injuries and the stress of holding so much magic for so long was exasperating everything.

One of the healer elf instantly spotted Marco carrying Flower. She quickly rushed over with worry. “Quickly! Quicky! Set her down.” She carefully examined Flower’s state. She looked at her Flower eye and grimaced. That eye wasn’t going to heal. It looked like it was damaged by light magic and sealed that way. She carefully removed some of Flower’s armor and looked at the shoulder where Draco’s name was carved. She carefully healed that first to make sure it didn’t scar with his name. She looked over Flower and frowned.


“She took a lot of damage and healed way too quickly. Keeping up with Draco must have taken all her strength.” She mumbled under her breath. She continued to heal her injuries while Flower continued to sleep.


 Deathwish​


Deathwish blinked as Mia lunged into his arms. He quickly supported her and felt her tighten her hold. She was not going to let him go. Deathwish kept that in mind as he zoomed them out of the building. She always would come running if he run away. It was an annoying fact. She seemed determined to keep him around. He looked at the mass of people. He glanced back just in time to see the entire castle fall. He narrowed his eyes at it as what was once a building of terror was rendered into mere rubble. He turned to see Nick with Thea. He was glad they had gotten out, now…had Flower and the princes? With a quick scan, he found most of them. Ty was missing.


There was nothing he could do about that now and he turned just as Nick approached them. He could tell right away something was wrong.


 Nick​


Nick turned to see Chuck coming for them. He moved to let Thea down before Chuck practically tackled her. Nick smiled at Chuck and gave him a small wave. “Glad to hear he’s dead.” He said before he turned and saw Deathwish come out with Mia. Nick looked at his brother and he felt relief. If Deathwish was with Mia, he was back to normal. He was back to normal. Nick slowly moved toward his brother.


Nick looked up as Deathwish stared him down. He quickly rubbed the back of his head and instantly Deathwish understood what had happened. Peter was dead, but no details were given. All Deathwish could do was shift so he had one hand free and place it on Nick’s head.


Zelda and Vicente
​


​


Zelda stood holding her arm as she came back. As soon as Draco died, Altair had flown off. She was left bloody and bruised. Altair had told her he had killed James. He was missing, and Zelda deep down knew he was dead. Zelda wiped her eyes before she spotted Flower. She rushed over to them. “Flower!”


“Ms, stay back!”


“Shut up! I’m HER doctor!” Zelda snapped before she kneeled down. She looked over Flower quickly. "She's so low on magic." 

"I'm doing my best to try and heal her body." The medical elf stated

"But if you don't let her replace the magic she's used, her body will not sustain itself." Zelda looked up as the sun was too low. "There's not enough light left." Zelda frowned. 


"What do you suggest?" The elf tilted her head. She looked as Vicente approached. Vicente looked down at Flower before he let his hand glow with light magic. 

"Who...are you?" 

"Her son." Vicente stated as he kneeled down and let the light magic flow into Flower's body. 

"Ummm...what?" Zelda's eyes were wide. "You're like her age!" 


"It's...complicated." Vicente stated as he looked at Zelda with sad eyes. "But I am telling the truth." 
 
Marco watched the setting sun, feeling concern for Flower. He watched her closely, debating internally if he should reach out and touch her. As Zelda rushed in on the scene, he quietly faded into the background, allowing her to do her work. He wanted to keep an eye on her, but didn't want to get in the way. Part of him was a little nervous about when she would wake up. She obviously wouldn't be happy about the little ruse he'd pulled in front of Draco to buy them some time. In fact, he guessed she would be furious. Now that she was in good hands, he decided that it was best to leave her be.


"Hey, it's my turn now!" Benn said, pushing Chuck out of the way so he could get in and hug his big sister. 

"You're a wreck!" Thea said, noting the bloody bandages on his face. 

"It doesn't even hurt," Benn said, pulling away from her and giving her a lopsided smile.

Thea frowned and crossed her arms. "I don't care if it doesn't hurt. Go find a healer." 

Chuck scoffed while Benn rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. You don't have to get so bossy right away." Benn said with a laugh. He grabbed Chuck, who was still hurting from the ribs Draco had snapped, and headed off to find a healer. 

"It was hard to keep them in line without you around," Dominic said, smiling softly as he approached Thea, but there was sorrow in his eyes. No matter how glad he was to see her, he had to break the news... 

"What happened?" Thea asked, her eyebrows knitting together with worry. "Is it Marco? Where is he?" 

"No, no... For once, Marco is perfectly fine." Dominic said with a soft sigh. He pulled Thea aside, bringing her over to a broken piece of wall to sit down. She looked up at him with a confused expression before the realization hit her. 

"No... Ty..." she breathed, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "He... No..." 

"I'm sorry..." Dominic breathed, "He set off a makeshift bomb and was captured after he was caught in the explosion... We couldn't find him before..." he shook his head, wrapping an arm around his sister and pulling her close. As the two oldest in the family, they were always the strong ones. They were the ones who were supposed to protect their younger siblings, but in the face of failure, they couldn't stop their hearts from falling. 


"Ow! Not so tight!" Maverick exclaimed, grimacing at the healer who was bandaging up his wounded leg. He had been left with a deep, jagged wound going from his knee, down his calf, and through his achilles and, despite the healer's best efforts, it would never be the same. He was holding himself together shockingly well for a man who had just been crippled for life. A neko approached carrying a makeshift cane for him fashioned out of a broken staff and some bandages. "Thanks..." he muttered, not giving them a second glance as he shakily stood up and tested out his leg. 

He had already heard of what had happened to James, but he wasn't going to let his grief get in the way of what needed to be done. After all, he was used to heartbreak due to war, and this was much easier than what he'd been through before. As he carefully picked his way through the rubble, he watched for familiar faces. Mia and Deathwish were accounted for and the royal family was, for the most part, reunited. He hadn't seen Roger or Isabel since they'd rushed into the castle and he had no idea what had happened to Zelda or Flower. 


Mia clung onto Deathwish as if her life depended on it, afraid that if she let him go he would disappear. She didn't want to be alone right now as the waves of relief washed over her. It was done. Draco and his castle were gone. It was all over and she could finally have some peace and quiet. Her heart was still aching from what she had seen transpire between Deathwish and Draco's created Neshema. She didn't understand everything that had gone on. In fact, now that the battle was over, she was left with more questions than answers. But, for the moment, she just wanted to hold onto the most familiar thing she had and try to ignore the questions nagging at the back of her mind. 
 
 

Zelda, Flower, and Vicente
​


 
​




Zelda looked at Vicente before she turned and noticed Flower stirring. “She’s going to be stubborn and wake up.” Zelda smirked lightly at Flower’s stubbornness. Zelda wiped her eyes as she held back tears over her brother. She was glad Flower was going to be okay.


Flower gasped out as she awoke. She jerked up before immediately regretting that. “Ow…” She said as she wrapped her arm over her ribs. She looked around and was instantly tackled by Zelda. “ZELDA!” Flower quickly tried to pry Zelda off of her. “I…. can’t…. breathe!”


Vicente looked down worriedly before Flower spotted him. She quickly pulled Zelda off of her as she faced him. Vicente looked at her and smiled a bit as he waved lightly. “Hello…mother.”


“Vicente.” Flower slowly stood up. She waivered for a bit before she straightened up. Flower quickly pulled him into a hug. Vicente seemed to freeze up for a moment.


“Uhhh…what is this?”


“It’s a hug.”


“What is it for?”


“Love.” Flower smirked as she giggled. “You’ve never had a hug?”


“Yeaaaaah, living in Draco’s castle totally gives you COMPLETE access to hugs.” Vicente deadpanned. “But I have a scalpel.” He held up a scalpel with the biggest smile on his face. Flower looked at it before she glared at him. “What?”


“No scalpels.”


“But!”


“No!” Flower held out her hand. “Give it.” Vicente pouted. “Vicente…give it to me.” Vicente slowly handed it over. Flower slowly gave it to Zelda who seemed even more confused. Flower patted Vicente’s head. “Good boy.”


“I’m not a dog!” Vicente hissed causing Flower to smirk. He crossed his arms. “Can I at least dissect things?”


“No, but you can work with Zelda.”


“I DON’T WANT CRAZY SCALPEL BOY!” Zelda shouted before Flower glared at her.


“I don’t want loud girl. She hurts my ears.” Vicente glared at Zelda.


Flower glared at both of them. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Zelda and Vicente both slowly lowered their gaze. Flower glanced at Marco. Flower blinked before she remembered something. “Oh…. that’s right.” Flower suddenly smirked and it was terrifying. “Marco…” She said sweetly, but it was a trap. She waked over to him and leaned toward him. “You have some explaining to do…” She nearly sang before she suddenly grabbed his shirt and growled in his face. “And if you EVER do that to me again I will boil you from the inside out and I JUST learned how to do that.” She snarled. Actually, she couldn’t do that unless he had light magic inside his body but details…. right?


 




Zelda sighed deeply as she looked down. She sighed deeply before she looked around. She spotted Maverick and quickly rushed over to him. “Maverick!” She looked him over. “You’re okay…for the most part.” She eyed his leg.


 Nick and Deathwish​


Nick smiled at Deathwish. “Maybe I should give you two some space.” Deathwish only eyed him. “Don’t give me that look. I’m fine.” As Deathwish narrowed his eyes Nick waved his hand. “Honestly, Draco is dead…. that’s all I can hope for.” He turned. “Besides…I promised Thea I wouldn’t leave her alone.” He looked at Thea and Dominic. Nick made his way back to him.


Deathwish slowly nodded. “You can still make a good father.” Deathwish stared at Thea for a moment. He looked down at Nick as he nodded. Deathwish sighed and looked back down at Mia. He carefully observed her before he tilted his head. He allowed her the moment, since he didn’t think he could pull her off anyways. She was clinging to him like a baby monkey clings to its mother. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair. He glanced at her wound she gained from the hellhound before he hummed.


“Let me look at your wound.” Deathwish stated as he carefully peeled back the cloth around the wound. He hummed at it as he narrowed his eyes.
 
Marco couldn't look Flower in the eye as she approached him. Even with the initial tone of her voice, he winced as she came closer. He was prepared to get smacked and he knew he deserved it after what he pulled. "I know, I know..." he said, tensing up. His hair covered his eyes as he looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry." 

He had been so confident and determined throughout the war. Every challenge he faced head-on. There was a natural leader that emerged from within him. But, all of that was gone now. Marco was back to avoiding eye contact and being a man of few words, if any at all. After all that they had been through, all of the conflicting emotions he had felt, he was ready to retreat back into the shadows. After all, people didn't get mad at him when he stayed by himself.


Thea wiped tears from her eyes before they could even hit her cheeks. "I should've been there..." she muttered, trying to put on her brave face. "I could have helped him. I could've watched his back." 

"No," Dominic said, raising an accusatory eyebrow at her. "It's pretty obvious you aren't in a state to be running around a battlefield." He gently poked the side of her stomach. 

Thea sighed, "It's not that obvious, is it?" 

Dominic chuckled. "Either I'm going to be an uncle, or you've really let yourself go. What do you think is the more realistic option?"

"If it's a boy, I'm naming it Ty." she said, starting to regain her usual 'I'm the boss' composure. 

"The twins are already taking bets on the gender. They're both certain it's going to be a girl." Dominic said, patting her on the back. "Which reminds me, I should probably make sure the two of them aren't causing trouble." He stood up, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze and was off to investigate the rest of the survivors. 


"Yeah," Maverick said with an aggravated huff. "I'm really hoping I can at least get a pity date out of someone for being crippled. Otherwise, this damn leg is even more useless than it looks." He smacked his bad leg with the side of his cane for emphasis and winced. Grunting he added, "Nice to see you're in one piece, even though that means I still owe you free drinks." 


"I'm fine. It's nothing." Mia insisted as Deathwish pulled back her bloody sleeve to reveal a garish wound left by the hellhound. Her adrenaline had kept it from hurting, but as she was calming down, the stinging pain was becoming more prominent. Her initial response was to jerk away from him, but instead she relaxed into his touch. She was tired of fighting. "I'll get him back for this later..." she thought, filing away this moment in her mind, just in case an opportunity arose where she could use it as leverage. 
 

Flower and Vicente
​


Flower sighed and felt her anger slip away as Marco retreated back. Flower sighed deeply and reached and grabbed his chin and made him look at her. “No, you don’t. It’s too late for that. I know who you are underneath all that antsy teen thing you got going on.” Flower looked at him seriously. She smiled at him before she smacked his shoulder. “But don’t make me go through that again.”  She noticed something…one side of her sight was blurry. Flower pulled back her hand from Marco to touch her eye. She could feel the indent of a straight line straight through her left eye. She frowned for a moment. Her left eye was damaged but it healed the same.


“Hmm… another scar. Geez you humans plan to scar me to death.” Flower smirked at Marco. “How’s your arm?” She asked with a frown. She remembered how limp it was before Draco gave him an antidote.

Vicente looked around before he grabbed his arm and rubbed it. He turned to Flower before he walked up and stood beside her. He was nervous and felt quite odd being around all these people. He was mostly kept alone and only Caretaker really talked to him. He looked at Marco and tilted his head. He was sort of like a lost puppy. He only knew Draco and now Draco was gone. He could only stick close to Flower. Who seemed very accepting of his presence, which both surprised and relieved him. Caretaker was right about Flower. He was glad he wasn’t able to kill her. She didn’t deserve to die.


 
​


 Nick
​




Nick grabbed Thea’s shoulder. “I think a vampire’s nose is better than any human bets.” He said and tapped his nose. “I think it’s a boy.” He smirked at her. “Ty huh? I think that’d just irritate Draco to death…oh wait…too late.” He snickered as he looked around at all the soldiers. He took a deep breath. “They have so many emotions.” He said as he saw happiness, sadness, and relief. “How do you feel, Thea?” He asked as he looked at her seriously.


“You’re finally free of him as so many others.” Nick crossed his arms. He watched the others with his typical smile and charm. He put his hands in his pockets and looked at Thea. He was happy for her, and happy for everyone else despite his own pain. He was use to pain.


 
​


Zelda 
​




Zelda smirked at Maverick. “Aw, you don’t really want pity dates do you?” She said before she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “Oh yes…and after all this mess I’ll need enough drinks to satisfy a dragon.” She smirked widely. “And irritate the heck out of Flower.” She said and looked over towards Flower and Marco. “This requires a big party!” She said and threw up her arms. “Huge! Giant! And several kinds of illegal!” She laughed madly before she calmed down as if remembering her brother wouldn’t be there. Zelda became very quiet before she snapped her fingers and forced a smile.


“Oh! I need to introduce you to Nick! He’s a lot of fun, painfully straight mind you, but fun. We’ll plot to get Deathwish drunk and see what happens!” Zelda smirked as she thought of a drunk Deathwish. “Yesss, maybe he’ll cry! Or be flirty. Ohhhh! I want to know what type of drunk he is!”


Zelda jumped up and down. “Oh! I hope you have alcohol strong enough for a vampire.” She grabbed his arm. “Vampires are terribly difficult to get drunk.”


 
​


 Deathwish
​




Deathwish looked at her and raised an eyebrow at her. “Hn.” Was all he said before shifted her so he could get to the wound. He licked his lips before he brushed them gently across the wound and watched as it slowly started to heal. He looked over at Mia once more before he slowly tried to put her down. “Mia…I need you to let me go.” He had to report to Dominic and once again ask to be in his guard. Deathwish didn’t think it appropriate to have Mia clinging to him while doing so. Mia clinging to Deathwish was quite a sight. Deathwish was stoic and cold, yet he had a small human girl in his arms. It definitely cut down on his scary status. He needed that status intact if he was going to once again haunt the halls of the castle. In the weakened state of the kingdom, dangers for the royal family would arise in the chaos.
 
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((Happy belated thanksgiving/black friday!))

Marco internally winced as she mentioned his 'angsty teen' behavior. Was what he displayed while warring against Draco really who he should be? Or was he better off retreating into his former lifestyle of isolation? "You just need some time to yourself... to sort this through..." he thought, starting to drift off into his own mind. He looked down at the ground. There was so much going on in his head. The war was over, he still hadn't decided how he feels about Flower, he was tired and wounded and ready to be alone, but deep down he knew he was needed for the time being. It was all a bit much to handle. 

Flower's question about his arm pulled him out of his thoughts. "It works..." Marco said, flexing his fingers. "It's all numb. No sense of touch. But at least I can still use it." He rubbed his forearm, completely unable to feel it. The limb from the elbow down was completely numb to any sensations, but still relatively functional functional. His nerves must have been damaged in a way that inhibited his ability to feel, but not his ability to move.


He looked up at Flower through a curtain of dark hair, his blue eyes hiding concern. Despite the fact that he had been partially crippled by Draco's poison, he was more worried about Flower. "Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, his voice low, as if he didn't want anyone to overhear the secret that he might actually care.


"Do you want the honest truth?" Thea asked, looking up at Nick. With a soft sigh, she glanced away and said, "I'm scared out of my mind." It was embarrassing for her to admit to any sort of weakness. It wasn't really her style. But, now that the war was over, the reality of fixing what Draco had destroyed scared her even more than the man himself. Everyone had lost so much at the hands of Draco and now her brother was going to step up to take his place. Just because he lead the rebellion didn't mean he would be safe from skepticism. She knew that many would fear their family will continue the reign of terror that Draco had begun. And with her carrying Draco's child, she would have to find a way to protect her child and her family's reputation from the angry masses. 

"I never even dreamed I'd have a kid to think about..." she said, looking down at her stomach. "We'll all be feeling the backlash of keeping Draco's kid around unless we pull a serious cover-up... but I doubt Dominic would ever lie to the public without some serious convincing... And we have so much reconstruction to do... And once he's born I don't even know where to start when it comes to raising a half-vampire." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, calming herself instantly. "At least when Draco was around I knew what to expect but... this... There's no way of knowing what's going to happen." 


Maverick gave Zelda a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, sensing her trying to cover up her hurt from losing her brother. "Sounds like a great plan, and I know for a fact I have just the thing to get any vampire drunk out of their mind." He gave Zelda a tiny smirk. "When you run a tavern, you need to cater to all types, so I keep a special stash of the strongest liquor imaginable just for those who can't get drunk off the regular stuff. Pretty sure it's enchanted or something, but I've never received a complaint yet, so it's supposedly good. That is, unless you don't have the highest alcohol tolerance, because that'll give you the worst hangover you could ever imagine just from one sip."

Mia suddenly came to the realization of how vehemently she was clinging to Deathwish and quickly dropped out of his arms, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly with embarrassment. She muttered something, probably vulgar, under her breath and took a few steps away from him. It was obvious she was reluctant to let him out of his sight, but was trying her best to be subtle about it. Her hair, which had grown out almost to her shoulders, was shaggy and unkempt, which made it easy to disguise her facial expression. 
 
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