Chapter 47: We're Done Here

....

[ Violence warning ] [ Gore warning ] [ Death ]

....

After a few hours of resting beside an oak tree, Luther had to wake Ivery up because the sky was turning dark.

"Ivery.." Luther lightly shook her

"Hm..?" Ivery opened her eyes

"It's time to go now." He gently said to her

"Already...?" Ivery rubbed her eyes

"I don't want to go back yet...." Ivery snuggled closer to him

"I know." He smiled

"Luther..." Ivery looked up him

"Yes..?" He looked down at her

"I truly accept the way you are and the last thing I'd want to do was change anything about you." She said

"But as advice...I think...it's best that you should only kill your enemies or people that wrong you severely in some way...you don't have to make everyone your enemy.." She told him

"That's easier said than done, I've tried to hold back the bloodlust that's been created for years due to being ordered to kill countless people by my father and the Vandell family curse." He said

"Family curse?" Ivery was confused

"I found out from my father a few months ago that a curse is passed down through my father's bloodline, but only to certain descendants...so it could skip a lot of descendants...but I'm not one of them." Luther said

" The Vandell's and Castiell's have a long history together, our two family bloodlines were family friends for thousands of generations." He explained

"A demon placed a curse on both of our family bloodlines because both Emperor's of our countries of that time gravely angered it."

"The Vandell curse takes root once a Vandell takes a life for the first time.." Luther said

"The Castiell curse takes root once a Castiell experience's deep sorrow..."

"The Vandell curse makes us easily angered...more merciless than normal and..brutal when our patience is tested...it's almost impossible to fight the urge to kill because it heightens my anger as well as my satisfactory...and both can only be satiated by killing."

"I've thought about sparing some people in the past but, something in me just snaps and it's like something else takes over me completely, and it's hard to it hold back...especially when I'm pissed." Luther painfully smiled

"I'll help you then." Ivery grabbed both of his hands

"Help me?" Luther looked at her

"To try to control your cursed temperament....so you can choose for yourself what you want to do instead of having it act for you.." Ivery said

"If I could take control over my demon...then you can too.." Ivery smiled

"Alright, thank you" Luther smiled back and rubbed her head

...

Luther and Ivery eventually made it back to the Hollow's Castle.

Ivery was tossed up to her bedroom window by Luther, she gripped on to the window ledge and pulled herself up and into the room.

Luther entered through the window right after her.

"I'm...so tired." Ivery stretched and walked to the bed

"You slept all of that time and you're still tired?" Luther lightly laughed

"It felt like a long day today...I feel like I deserve some rest." Ivery laid down face first on the bed

"Alright...sleep well.." He rubbed her back

.

.

Ivery sat up and yawned as she rubbed her closed eyes.

She opened her eyes and her sensitive eyes felt like they were blinded by the sunlight. She shifted her legs over and got out of the bed covers.

She slid her feet into her slippers and stretched her back out. She noticed Luther was still fast asleep and didn't want to wake him yet.

She groggily walked to the door and opened it.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, a sudden scent of food entered her nose.

But it smelled...almost...delicious?

As Ivery walked down the stairs, she could hear the chatter and excitement of children.

She saw the children gathered at the long dining table, with several plates of well-prepared breakfast meals in front of them.

She saw that the maid she injured was serving the food....

Ivery sits down at the table, everyone looking clueless as to who she is...

"Children, this is the previous crown princess of the Lilith Kingdom...the one who was kicked out by the Emperor.." A maid told them

"Her!? Wasn't she younger?" A girl asked out loud

"I appeared younger because I was affected by the flower of youth...I'm actually seventeen years of age." Ivery told the children at the table

"Oh.." All of the children said almost simultaneously

"Here, my apologies for our last encounter, I hope you can eat this as compensation." The injured maid tried to smile

"Sure...I guess.." Ivery faked a smile back

Ivery took a fork and took a bite of the food like everyone else..

Ivery noticed the maid looking at her....almost intensely....as if she was waiting for something..

Ivery turned her head and spit the food out into her hand. She discreetly put the food in her hand on the napkin beside her and rolled it up.

"Loki.." Ivery whispered

"Yes?" Loki appeared on Iverys lap, he sat in a blind spot so the maids wouldn't be able to see him

"What's that maid thinking right now?" Ivery directed Loki's attention to the maid that was staring at her

"Hm..." Loki listened closely to her thoughts

"She's waiting for you to pass out...from the drug she mixed in your food." Loki told her

"Oh...." Ivery knew something was suspicious about how the maid was acting

"I'll handle it from here." Ivery told Loki

"Alright." Loki nodded and mister away

Ivery closed her eyes and laid her head down on the table.

The maid smirked and walked over to Ivery.

The injured maid slowly took Ivery from the table and sat her in a conveniently placed rusty wheelchair.

The maid pushed Ivery down the halls and took her down another flight of stairs.

Soon enough they reached the first floor and headed even further down. The maid pushed Ivery into the basement entrance.

After walking further into the basement the maid opened an empty cell.

She kicked the wheelchair over and Ivery fell on the ground with it. Ivery cursed the maid in her head once she hit the cold floor inside of the cell.

"I'll make you experience the pain I felt...once...I return…" The maid smirked as she walked away

Ivery stuck up her middle finger.

...

Luther opened his eyes and reached over to touch Ivery.

"?" He turned his head and didn't see Ivery next to him

"Ivery?" Luther got out of bed

He walked to the door and opened it.

The hallway was empty…no signs of anyone at all.

He walked outside of the room and headed downstairs.

As he walked down the stairs he saw the children sitting down at the long dining table ravishing plates of food.

His eyes quickly searched for Ivery and didn't see her anywhere downstairs.

"Hey, kids," Luther said

They all stopped eating and looked at him…having a strong sense of danger as soon as he spoke.

"Did you happen to see a girl, older than all of you, she's beautiful, has long blonde hair and red eyes?" Luther asked them with a description

"Oh yeah, one of the hags took her away." A girl that looked to be 13 said

"Took her away?" Luther raised an eyebrow

"She fell asleep on the table before she finished her food, so the hag took her away." A boy told Luther as he munched on buttered bread

"Where was she sitting?" Luther asked

"There." The boy pointed at the empty chair with a plate of food on the table in front of it that was definitely eaten but a good portion of it was still untouched

Luther walked to the chair and looked down at the food on the table.

"Erebus." Luther said

"Yes?" Erebus appeared beside Luther

"Check for anything abnormal in the food." Luther ordered

"Alright." Erebus hopped on the table and stepped close to the plate of food

He sniffed it and reached out and his paw made contact with the food.

He licked his paw and his eyes displayed a bit of shock.

"What?" Luther looked at Erebus, noticing the strange look he had

"It's some type of sleeping medicine, it's a large quantity though….although it is medicine, if too much is used, it can be poisonous…if she's not tended to carefully and immediately, she could die from the large amount of medicine used in this."

Luther's heart dropped.

Although he did know if Ivery ever happened to die from something, she would be revived as long as Hecate is looking after her…

It didn't change the fact that she still would've died….and alone at that…and he wasn't able to be there for her to assure her that she'd be fine…

He wanted to give her comfort instead of fear…

"I can't let that happen." Luther's body disappeared into a black mist

….

Ivery laid in the cell pretending to be asleep.

The maid soon returned, with a sound of a cart rolling in.

On the cart was a pair of scissors, a long knife, clampers, and a bloodstained saw.

She opened the cell door and rolled the cart inside.

"That's as close as you're going to get to her." A voice said behind her

The maid turned around.

Luther held a scythe in his hand and instead of the usual smiling expression he always wore, this was an expression of pure anger.

"What were you going to use those tools for?" Luther asked

"W-What does it matter to you?!" She grabbed the long knife off of the cart and pointed it at Luther

"That's my fiancé in that cell there, and whatever you were about to do…prepare to get punished for it." Luther threw his scythe at her

"Aughh!" She screamed as the scythe went straight into her torso

She fell to her knee's and blood gushed out of her chest.

"I've actually been trying to refrain from killing but writhing in agony suits you maids best…and recently….I can't seem to help myself after danger keeps surfacing for Ivery…" Luther walked towards the maid

He tore the scythe vertically through her body. Splitting her in half chest up. Her body collapsed on the ground with a splat, blood spilling from the body.

Loki appeared beside Ivery.

"I'm taking her out of here.." Luther walked into the cell Ivery was in

"Of course, why would you let her stay in the cell?" Loki shrugged

"No…I'm taking her out of the Hollow's Castle.." Luther shook his head

"What? But…she's supposed to stay here…that'll ruin her whole plan.." Loki said

"I don't care anymore…it's too dangerous to let her stay here anyways…she made a good point to me earlier today…Eos and Xia know's where she'll be at all times…and I don't like knowing and feeling that Eos can get to Ivery anytime she wants…" Luther told Loki

"And even these maids are a threat to her safety as well…if they will go to these extents to harm her…then I refuse to let her stay here any longer, regardless of the price." Luther looked completely serious

"I understand that but what about Beatrice….the person who Ivery's doing this all for….if Xia finds out Ivery's not here anymore…Beatrice will be in danger and that'll crush Ivery.." Loki told him

"I personally don't care about what happens to Beatrice at all, I only care about Ivery…and her safety…if she won't prioritize her own life…then I will do it for her." Luther determinedly looked at Ivery in his arms

….

Ivery opened her eyes and looked at Luther.

"You're awake?!" Luther noticed Ivery looking at him

"I've been awake this whole time." Ivery nodded

"Then why...." Luther raised an eyebrow

"I already figured out what the maid was planning to do..." Ivery shrugged

"What am I going to do with you....?" Luther sighed

.

.

.