A Desolate Tragedy

The fire crackled loudly as the two silently enjoyed each other's presence, both heavily intoxicated after drinking away for hours. It was already getting dark outside, the sun setting slowly to signify the end of the day. Zeya could barely open her eyes when she heard a loud thud from below her. It was Amrit, out cold on the wooden ground. Her voice barely came out as a whisper when she called out to the fallen Roseabelle.

No response.

'He's completely gone.' She thought when Amrit didn't even flinch when she poked his ribs with her wings.

Time had passed quickly while they busied themselves with talking about the past, although it was mainly Amrit who talked while Zeya listened intently. He spoke of all the many details that she had missed after leaving and how the people still quietly supported her despite Baron's strict ruling.

Many protested against the treaty due to their love for Zeya but alas, since majority of the High Roses were for it, the decision was made. He described everything with great recollection, occasionally smiling through the joyful memories but for most of it, all Zeya could see in him was resentment.

Whether the feeling was towards her father or himself however, was a truth only Amrit knew.

Somehow, she was glad that her friend had decided to pass out before he managed to pry into her past — there was nothing extraordinary enough to talk about anyway.

All she did was wait. Waited for the days to pass by, waited for the seasons to change, and more importantly, she waited for the day her father would lift the ban and ask her to come home. And she did whatever she possibly could to keep herself busy, but nobody would've thought waiting would be this torturous, not even Zeya.

Life there was rather lenient since she was finally free from the strict rules that she was forced to follow when she lived in the palace. No one told her what to do and she was no longer punished for any minor mistakes but somehow, she still felt like she was in prison — an incredibly isolated prison.

"You'll probably kill me if I just left you down there, wouldn't you?" She asked the unconscious man, who coincidentally replied with a loud snore.

With a light chuckle, Zeya finally got down to the floor and helped Amrit up, dragging his heavy body upstairs to where his bed was before she left.

Unbeknownst to her however, was an entity watching her closely from deep within the darkness, eyeing her as if she was its prey. Once it saw Zeya leaving Amrit's residence, thousands of ghostly hands appeared from under the creature, lifting it up from its hiding spot. With one final glance at the house, the creature dragged itself away, apparently satisfied with what it has seen.

==========

It took Zeya approximately three days to convince her friends (mainly Amrit and Lex) that the tip she had received from the emperor was indeed reliable. Because of this, they were left with only a day left to prepare which resulted in Zeya trapping everyone (much to their dismay) in her study until they managed a plan that ensured no one would get killed during the mission.

The skies were inauspiciously murky on the night of their investigation. Zeya, along with the others were already in their positions, hiding around the entrance of the village.

"How are things looking, Lex?" Zeya spoke into the fleshy earpiece she wore on her left ear. Although she was clearly speaking, not a word could be heard from the outside.

Made with Nevra's sound manipulation spell, these were special equipment that ensured whatever was said between the group remained a secret to the outside world.

"Nox is on standby next with the rest of the shadows." Lex finally confirmed as he appeared out of thin air before crouching next to Arius and Zeya. "As long as they do their jobs properly, nothing will get past us without being seen."

"... We shall do our very best, Lord Lexian." Nox's dejected voice came through from the bubble.

The villagers were clueless of the whole ordeal thanks to the fortress Nevra had set up earlier. Although it was risky to proceed without informing them, this was the only way of ensuring that the beast would actually show up. However, even with all these precautions, there were still no guarantees.

"The path has been successfully altered." Rowen's fatigued voice suddenly erupted from the earpiece, grabbing everyone's attention. "Once that thing gets in here, it won't be able to get out."

"Make sure you all have those earpieces with you at all times." He warned, appearing out of the shadows on top of the trees. "Even I can't guarantee you'll get out of there with your sanity intact if you get lost."

"Do we have a time limit?" Arius asked, worried for Rowen's health due to the fatigue his spells put on his body. "The last thing I need tonight is to drag your unconscious body to Margaret."

"Fortunately, we don't." Rowen answered light-heartedly, proud that he was still strong enough to cast a spell as powerful as this one. "But the spell is gone as soon as I lose consciousness so be wary of that."

The conversation naturally died down after Rowen's words, the hours passing by with no signs of a potential suspect... until, there was.

"Something is here." Nox's monotonous voice boomed from the earpieces, unnerving everyone. "It's heading directly towards the village."

The bustling of the nearby bushes sent chills down Zeya's spine, while both Lex and Arius immediately unsheathed their weapons next to her.

"Stay calm everyone." Arius reminded everyone; his eyes fixated on the rustling bushes. "No one move without my command."

Although his expression remained indifferent, his heart failed to keep calm as he felt it beating violently against his ribcage. Thump, thump, thump.

'This is it.' He thought, feeling excited amidst his nervousness. He was finally going to see what this beast he's been hunting for months was going to look like. The monster responsible for his slowly dwindling sanity and most importantly, responsible for some many innocent people dying.

With everyone holding their breathes, nothing could've possibly prepared them for what they saw next.

"... This is the fucking monster that's been on the run for months?" Lex said everyone's thought out loud, his voice breaking the silence shared between the six Roseabelles.

"Impossible... this- this must be a mistake." Arius denied though he too seemed unsure of himself. "There's no way this is the monster that managed to kill half of my men."

It looked almost like a ghoul Zeya had seen plenty of times in the wilderness, but something seemed off about it. Zeya watched nervously as it slowly made its way out of the bush, revealing its entire body. It's skin almost appeared greyish with its back hunched over unnaturally, which inconveniently kept its face hidden.

It didn't cower like a prey as its size would suggest, as every movement it made was stealthy and yet incredibly unnatural. Something was off about this thing; Zeya could feel it.

"Let's get rid of it first." Amrit decided all by himself out of the blue, preparing to pounce on the creature. "Maybe that's one of its minions and I bet it'll get mad once we kill it."

"No, wait-" Zeya tried to stop Amrit but she was too late. The creature was immediately slain by Amrit, blood spilling everywhere before it fell down the ground, motionless. Amrit still continued to stab the body multiple times to ensure its death, while the rest watched warily.

"Well?" Lex deadpanned, not impressed by everything that was unfolding before him. "What's the final verdict, dear brave warrior?"

"It's dead alright." Amrit confirmed, stabbing the lifeless body again to confirm. "Shit it better be after what I did, I mean, look at it."

Nevra and the rest noticeably winced at the sight of the gruesome sight, Amrit really did a good deal of damage to the poor thing.

"I can never seem to get through that thick skin of yours, can I?" Zeya complained, getting up to lecture Amrit about his recklessness. "What the hell happened to all the reminders I had repeated so many times yesterday-"

Zeya trailed off her sentence when she, along with everyone else, noticed the corpse suddenly started twitching violently. Just like a liquid, the creature slowly bubbled into something larger, seemingly changing back into its original form. It was hard to comprehend what was happening to the creature as it slowly but surely grew bigger and more menacing. All six of the Roseabelles were starting to believe that this truly was the monster after all.

Almost as if it sensed something was in the air, the ghoul scanned its surroundings until their hungry gaze landed directly at the stunned Empress, staring into Zeya's eyes as if they had known each other for eons.

"I... I've finally lost it, haven't I?" Zeya muttered breathlessly, feeling her blood running cold.

That was when she saw it, the creature's face. Zeya could feel her heart rate quickening at the sight of the being. The monster from her nightmares was standing right in front of her.

And it was here to drag her down to where it came from — down to the deepest, darkest depths of hell, just like in her nightmares.