The Things We Do

Chapter VII: Scheven

     Scheven slowly opened the door, holding on to the door knocker. He walked towards the stairs only to realize a figure stood on them. It was True Queen. In horror, he attempted to run away but she was faster. She swept him off his feet and pinned him down with her right foot, pressed into his chest. Her weapon was raised, aimed for the kill. "Why do you keep coming here? You know I'll win Scheven." her voice rang powerful. "I killed Lost Queen. I'll kill you too." Scheven went limp in hopes she would too, but her foot just seemed to weigh heavier on him, making his next words come out weaker than he would have hoped in this situation. "She had a chance to fight back. I don't. Give me a chance."

"Never."

"It's only fair."

"Life's not fair, Scheven. Do you think I wanted to kill her?"

"What happened after sure made it look like it."

"All's fair in war."

"But not in life?"

"Life didn't intend war. That was made by us."

"Life intended A-"

"Lost Queen!"

"Life intended Lost Queen to live."

"Then why did life leave her so early?"

"Everyone, even Death feared you in that moment."

"And you fear death in this one."

"This isn't you, A-"

"I AM TRUE QUEEN!"

"THIS ISN'T YOU ANASTASIA!"

    The syllables echoed through the room. After hearing her own name, Anastasia fell back. "Ana... Anastasia. Oh, Arlie, where'd you go Arlie? Xayah, I'm so sorry Xayah. Beau! Beau come here!" she screamed. Beau came flying down the stairs, ecstatic and scared to hear his real name and not "True Lover". "Anastasia?" he called as he ran into the room. "ANASTASIA! ARLIE! XAYAH! BEAU!" She kept repeating. "Anastasia, what's going on?" he shook her. "You! What have you done to her!" Beau ripped the bow out of Anastasia's hands and poised it at Scheven.
     Anastasia fell to her knees, still repeating, screaming the four names through the hands cupped on her mouth. Beau was conflicted between comforting his wife and watching Scheven. Anastasia fell onto her arms, sobbing, gripping the woven rug that filled the room between her fingers. With his long legs, Beau kept one on Scheven to keep him pinned down while still able to be near Anastasia. "What do you want me to do!" he screamed at his wife. "ANASTASIA! ARLIE! XAYAH! BEAU!" she continued to yell over and over. Beau's leg went limp, allowing Scheven to throw him off balance. He fell onto Anastasia, nearly crushing her, but she kept wailing. Scheven ran out of the home, slamming the door and causing the bow-and-arrow silver door knocker he himself had made to bang against the heavy door.
    Beau was able to catch up faster than Scheven had expected. He now chased him, screaming "What have you done to her!" In the distance, they still heard Anastasia wailing the four names. A few bystanders joined the chase when they saw their King in such dismay. Scheven's short head start was quickly overtaken, and Scheven was captured. Beau picked him up by the hood and carried him away, the bow strapped over his shoulder and carrying Scheven's weapon in his other hand.
     "What are you going to do with me?" he asked. Beau's face was stiff. "What did you do to her? She hasn't called me Beau since before the bridge battle. That was thirty years ago. She was wailing our names. What did you do?" he asked, staring forward. "I called her Anastasia. I panicked, it felt natural. I never got used to saying True Queen and True Lover. Something came over her." Scheven answered.
     "What happened there is the reason we came up with those titles. I knew she wouldn't be stable hearing Lost-. Arlie's real name, so when she brought up that idea I went with it. She hasn't been right since Luna took her to Mirirejar, I'm surprised she heard me out when I said Soleil should live and she let Luna live as well." Scheven interrupted him. "She has a good heart. You and I both know that. And I know that Luna and Mirirejar messed her up, but I think we need to stop blaming all of this on that and Arlie's death. There's something else there." Beau now interrupted him. "No, she's been my best friend since we were little. I would know of something else, she would've told me. We've been friends for so long, I'm her husband, I would know. You're just her attempted murderer, you have no room to talk."
     They walked in silence, Scheven dangling from Beau's hand. He didn't fight, he knew he would fail, again. He didn't realize where Beau was taking him until they got there; the hospital. "Why here?" Scheven asked. "Stay with me and you'll get minimum, alright?" Beau answered before putting Scheven back on the ground. They walked in to see Charlotte walking melancholy towards them. "Oh, True Lover! And Scheven. What's he doing here?" She whispered to Beau. "We're here to see Chloe. And Tage, if he's here." Charlotte nodded. "He is. I haven't slept in days, so they told me to go home. You two can go on ahead, it's the first door on the left." she said before exiting the building. Scheven and Beau walked over to the room, knocked, and went in to see that Chloe was asleep. Tage looked near exhaustion, but woke up more when he saw his father.
     "Oh, what brings you here?" He asked as he sat up a little straighter. "You know how they broke out? Well this one tried again." Tage looked down to Scheven aggressively. "Did you not hear the screams from here?" Beau added. "I think we heard something muffled. It sounded like they were repeating something. Was that mom?" he asked with concern. "Yes. This one called her by her real name." Beau answered with the same level of concern. "And?" Tage asked with innocence. "I'll explain to you and your sisters when I get the chance. For now, we need to figure out what to do with this one."
    "We can't keep him around. We need to find Sorren too." Tage said, snapping his head towards Scheven. "You tell us where he is, we can make this... easier." Scheven looked down to the ground. He figured this would be the end of him, no matter what he said. "I'm not sure. We got separated. I tried to find him, but I realized he was holding me back. I don't know where he is." Scheven said, looking his captors in the eye. "Did you see where he ran?" Beau asked, hopeful. "He was behind me." Scheven lied again. "We'll thoroughly check Luna and Soleil's again. They'll want to help find their son, won't they?" Beau asked his son. "Certainly. Let's go." Tage responded before he kissed his wife goodbye. Beau picked Scheven up by the hood again as they left the hospital and headed to the Seegol-Lee's home.
    They arrived and were let in, Luna and Soleil shocked to see Scheven being held by the hood. Scheven did his best to not look to the pantry where he knew Sorren would be. However, Tage was smart this time. He threw the door open, revealing Sorren, who attempted to punch him, but Tage caught his fist. He turned Sorren around and tied his hands together with rope. With the other end of the rope, they tied him to his mother Soleil. Beau used another rope to tie Scheven and Luna together, then forced them towards the Archier-Plath's.
    When they arrived, Anastasia was seated in her chair sipping on hot tea. The kettle sat over the fireplace near her, ready to provide refills. At the sight of Scheven she tensed, but Beau and Tage calmed her. The two sat on the couch next to her and forced Scheven and the others who were tied up to sit on the floor. "What do you want us to do with them?" Tage asked his mother. "Show them no mercy." she said in between sips. Scheven looked to Luna, who looked to her wife and son. "They can stay in jail tonight. But when the sun reaches the center of the sky tomorrow, they'll never see it set."