𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘴!"

A man hissed, holding his wife back while glaring at the figure that stood near a cradle. Everything about him seemed normal, except for the black in his scleras. The woman behind him had tears streaming down her face, a glare present on her features. 

"Don't you worry, Hathaways," Belos replied, laying a hand on the baby's cheek. 

"Your daughter will be in safe hands."

The baby wriggled in her crib, whining slightly until the man picked her up. Soldiers began pouring into the room as they restrained the parents, the duo struggling to fight back. 

 "She's of utmost importance to me. The Titan has big plans for the little one." 

"Don't you dare speak that Titan nonsense to me!" The father hissed, his wife being shackled as they were dragged away. 

"It only seems like nonsense to the non-believers and practitioners of wild magic," Belos cradled the child. 

"A magic that must be purged of. Take them away."

He waved a hand, the parents struggling as they began to fight harder, the last chance of defending their child, gone.

"Prepare them for the Petrification ceremony," He glanced down at a demon with a hand for hair, the woman nodding. "I want all the world to see the price of performing wild magic."

Time passed by as the ceremony soon drew near, Belos standing near a large cage as a crowd gathering as they glanced at the cage in horror, seeing the Hathaways, one of the most powerful families, in it. The Emperor neared the cage, glaring at the duo with his glowing blue eyes.

"This is your last chance, Hathaways. Join a coven and see your daughter flourish in my coven, or forever hold your peace, and never spare a moment with her again." 

He placed his hands on his staff, Kyle Hathaway glaring. 

"Never."

"Then perish."

Belos walked away from the pieces of metal, facing the crowd as they gasped in horror, seeing the petrification device.

"People of Bonesborough," He announced. "We gather here today to see the consequences of the wild ways."

The crowd gasped, surprised. Hathaways? Wild magic? Impossible. 

"They have disregarded the ways of covens, and now have caused chaos in our system," Belos raised a hand. "The price of their felony? Petrification."

A green light flashed, the crowd letting out sounds of horror as the two figures in the cage screamed in pain, clutching each other close.

"Let this be a lesson to all who defy the rules," Belos hissed.

The baby cried in the background, the man walking towards the child as he soothed her, the green light bright while he picked her up.

"There, there, Little One." He hushed. "Everything's alright."

The baby's cries died down, tears still evident while the screaming continued, the green light never ceasing.

But the child didn't care. She was safe and warm. And that's all that mattered. 

Everything was alright.