CHAPTER FIVE

the three days were up and Arelle was brought back to the throne room. nightmare sat on his throne, looking regal with the black mass enveloping him. he watched her kneel and hummed. the room was a little bit packed, as most of the servants and guards were present, making him groan. he hated crowded places and if not for the negative emotions spewing out of them, he would have made some leave. he noticed killer leaning against the wall, horror's axe beside him, as he waited for Arelle to give her final decision. nightmare gave a silent prayer, hoping that Arelle would at least say yes and try to escape later; not like he would let her. he didn't want to end up shattering a soul like hers...with its endless potential. 

"Have you thought about the choice you have to make?" he asked, his deep baritone hushing the murmuring crowd as it echoed through the room." yes..." she said in a quite voice, her head bowed.

"so...what will it be?" nightmare hesitated, stretching the last part of the question a little bit. "I accept." she said and it seemed as if time had stopped.

"W-wait! You do!?" Came killer's cry of surprise.

"You do!?" the rest of the people in the room echoed his statement as Zoie breathed a sigh of relief. Cross hissed in pain and Zoie eased the death grip she had on his arm, giving him an apologetic smile as she thanked her stars.

Killer didn't seem glad about the turn of events. not only had he been robbed of the one in a lifetime opportunity to kill someone with Horror's axe, he also had to figure out why she changed her mind all of a sudden. ' first she's screaming bloody murder and now she's basically saying yes to the king...something ain't right.'

he didn't have time to ponder over that for much longer as they were dismissed. he sighed as Horror walked over to him and picked up his axe. he gave Killer a murderous look before burying its blade in the wall, right beside his friend's head.

Killer gulped as he saw a few strands of hair falling down to the ground. "You have a lot of explaining to do...Killer. You better tell me why you made Melissa cry or else I'll send your corpse over to Hilda to roast on my behalf." he growled as Killer flinched at the mention of his ex's name. "I will...at the right time and place." he said and winced as the blade was pulled out of the wall and Horror rested his axe against his shoulder.

"Can't wait." he said with a menacing growl and walked away, heading to the royal kitchens, as usual. Killer sighed and placed both hands in his pocket as he went to look for dust, worrying thoughts clouding his mind.

Arelle sat still, almost doll like, as Zoie rambled on and on about how happy she was that she was alive. however Arelle wasn't as grateful. 

"Why the hell did i say yes! That's not even the worst part of it all... why are my hands tied together?!" she exclaimed as she sat, crossed legged in a black void. she struggled to release herself. 

"heheheh...i wouldn't do that if i was you?" came an echoing voice, making her look around anxiously...but all she saw was darkness. " who are you and what have you done to me?"

"I've just taken over your body, dear...though not completely. If i had done that, your spirit would have been floating right beside your body... making you visible to a certain monochromatic being... even though i can pack a punch, i don't think i would be needing that kind of x-perience any time soon." it replied and suddenly fell into a fit of laughter after a slight pause.

"Who the hell are you?! What do you want?! what are going to gain from making me his personal knight?" arelle yelled out the questions admist the echoing laughter of ...whoever it was. "Oh...." it finally said after calming down, her questions intriguing the creature. "Well... since i'm using your body for a little while i guess i can answer some of your questions. first of all, my name is Crash and i'm just doing a little favour for...well i can't tell you that. second of all, i can't tell you what i gain till after the knighting...that's when you're going to see my real form. Isn't it exciting! Anyway the last thing i'm gonna tell ya is that i'm...oops can't tell ya that either. ha ha!" the voice sounded cheerful almost as if it was enjoying itself as it mocked her. "At least untie me...or is it that you're scared of a fight."

"opposite really. you see, darling, the only thing keeping your soul connected to your body is that little thread around your hands. if it breaks...let's just say, you're going to x-pire." "Fine...but just tell me why you're so hell bent on getting me to stay by that bastard. i just can't understand why..." " out of all the traitors, you're the own he picked?" "Y-yes..." "Just count it as the king's favour." "Favour my ass" "oh my, do you plan on kissing the king with that mouth." "Hell no! There's no way i'm getting together with that monster!"

"A monster is he? I see..." it said thoughtfully as Arelle looked around once more. "Oh well, i guess it's story time then." it returned back to its cheerful demeanor as Arelle heard her voice saying she wished to retire. "Woah..." she exclaimed as began to shake with each step her body took. she heard a door open and closed and gasped as soon as she felt her body touch the coarse covering of her bed. ' seems like i can still feel the things my body, touches.' she thought as the warmth of her bed calmed her down a little.

"Of course you can!"it quipped cheerfully as Arelle groaned, disturbed by the voice which could read her thoughts. "your soul is the very constitution of your being, which explains why it's in that form right now...since it kinda knows you're no more in control. taste, smell, touch, hearing...you can do all of these...but i stopped your soul from receiving images from your brain. "get out of my head, you creep!" "Haha...now...enough chitchat. why don't i tell ya a little story before ya get to sleep, hmmm." Arelle rolled her eyes as it began. "Once upon a time, in this very land, there was a magnificent tree which had one of its sides bearing golden ripe apples while the other side bore nasty black ones. these weren't ordinary apples, in fact they both had a meaning. the golden apples were the positivity of those in the world and beyond and the sickly black apples represented the negativity of the world. Now the tree was so special that it had to be protected from fiends and foes...and so it was, by two young brothers...twin brothers. the guardian of positivity was just an outright golden boy who everyone liked. he shined with positivity and spread cheer to everyone... while the other was just an ordinary shut in who would rather read books than get away from his side of the tree. the people hated him for protecting the negative emotions which, they thought, they were better off without. their hatred for him and the dark side of the tree grew day by day till...they began to attack him...wherever he went. they threw sticks and stones and raised weapons on him. he complained and begged his brother to control the people...but golden boy just shrugged and told him to be more positive...What a joke..." its tone got darker and darker as the story progressed. Intrigued, Arelle listened attentively to every word.

"What happened next?"she asked as the paused lasted for longer than she had hoped. "He died!" She gasped out of shock, giving her sympathy out to the little guardian."The villagers...they finished him off!?"she asked solemnly as she mourned the poor boy. "No...it was suicide. He took the coward's way out by eating one of the apples off his end of the tree. he believed that he deserved no happiness and would rather have to die full of negative emotions."

"I can't believe it!"

"story's not over yet kid..."

"It doesn't end at him dying?"

"No...it turns out...that he wasn't really dead...he just changed. he became a NIGHTMARE to those that once used to hunt him down and he never forgave his brother for not being there when he needed him the most. THE END" Arelle sighed as she closed her eyes, consciousness fading fast. "Sleep well little one, tomorrow's a brand new day." she heard it say again as she fell asleep.

THE NEXT DAY

servants went flying about the castle as they prepared for the ceremony that would be held that day...yet they had just been informed the day before. Zoie was busy applying 1st aid to a few unlucky servants who might have been caught up in an accident while working, Hilda and her sous chefs were up to the neck with the cooking. Melissa, however, was busy resting and looking through a brochure,trying to pick a perfect getaway for her maternity leave. And as for Arelle, she waited in the void as she tried to pinpoint any way for her to gain control of her body. however, her struggles were fruitless as she could do nothing but sit and listen as she got scrubbed and lotioned, given food to eat,got her hair done and got measured and fitted into a suit of amour.

she sat still as she walked down the aisle.she sat still as the nightmare's words penetrated through the void. "ARGH! This is...torture" she yelled before hearing the king ask her to say her vow of allegiance. She flinched as the lines she had been dreading the whole day departed from her lips. Nightmare patted her on each shoulder with a sword and declared the rest of the day as holiday to all but the kitchen staff. She was then led, her body, away from the throne room. Arelle was full of gratitude as she heard a familiar voice echo through the void. 

"Oh well... it's been fun and all but i gotta go. Can't wait for us to meet again." it said as a bright light blinded Arelle's vision and she felt herself go limp.

"Here we go again." were the last words she said as she heard fuzzy voices of concern and worry.