I'm Just Your Problem (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 17: Ripples

••• King Gumball •••

The night air was perfect for a walk with the escalated stress that has been going on lately. An unusual amount of angry and hateful letters and comments have been coming my way and I know why, but it's still unnecessary and has me in a mood. Marshall has been really distant and moody since the announcement and he won't tell me why but and it bothers me more than the actual hate mail. I draped the pink blanket around me and pushed the door open to the courtyard. The breeze was cool against my inside temperatured skin. I kneeled at the edge of the water of the pond, my fingers drifting across the top, causing ripples in the water.

The longer I sat there, the more I connected my life to the pond. It's funny, because it was the most contrasting things that were easily compared. This pond gives so much life; to the gardens, to the ducks, and everything around it, but it seemed the more it gave, the more it got hurt. The trees would drink it and then shed its leaves into the remaining water, the same with the flowers. The ducks and other palace animals would drink it as well, and then leave their wastes in it. It helped out the entire environment, only to be treated poorly in the end. I could relate a lot to that. Being used and then thrown away without a second thought; it was something I had experienced a lot I my life, and I'm only in my early twenties. I stared at the reflection in the pond for what seemed like forever, just watching the rippled invert the images. It was funny how something so delicate can cause a ripple, and with that it reached every corner of its being, washing over it like the waves on the beach. The ripples rolled over the surface, but this time, I hadn't touched it. It had been the wind, but not the usual wind, it was wind from movement.

I saw the figure in the reflection. It was hooded in a black robe sort of cloth. I instantly froze, but reminded myself that I needed to be calm. "To what do I owe this pleasure, intruder?" my voice slightly quivered as I spoke, but I reinforced it without turning around to face them. When getting no reply, I thought of way to stall them so I could think of ways to get the guards. "The quiet type huh? What is it that you want? Money, you want some money?" they remained silent as I stared at the pond. What if I fell in the pond? That would cause the guard outside the gate to rush in. but this intruder may intend to harm me, they may have a knife or another kind of weapon. "You're gonna have to tell me what you want, I can't read your mind." I began to stand up, but was quickly pushed to the ground. I'd only felt this afraid in my life only twice before, and I highly dislike the sensation. The intruder stalked toward my soaking body as I crawled away from him. The splash should've alerted the guards, they would be here any second with any luck. The cloaked arm extended a ceremonial golden blade with a silver symbol on the blade. I knew the symbol well, but at the m moment I couldn't remember what it was from. Without a pause, the intruder rushed me and I was hopeless against their strength, the blade thrusted hilt deep just below my rib cage. The pain was nonexistent, either from a coating on the blade or from my body not processing it completely yet, but I could feel the blade cutting me. All of the sudden I knew what they wanted, they wanted my baby, they were gonna hurt my baby. I instantly thrashed and screamed and hit them with a blunt rock. The pain suddenly echoed in my body, like a ripple. The guards rushed in to my aid, but the intruder was gone, and so was my baby.

I didn't wake up for three days, and I almost wish I wouldn't have at all. The beeping was getting to be a nuisance and I rapidly hit the 'call nurse' button. The nurse finally came in and did her normal checks and ran some more in depth, and slightly invasive checks. She tried explaining what was wrong but I couldn't comprehend what she was saying. It's like when you're talking to someone, and you hear them, but you don't understand what they said until you ask them to repeat it and end up getting it right before they start to re-explain; only I didn't understand at all. It was like she was talking in a foreign language and in a tunnel on the other side. Words were being lost and at this point I just couldn't focus on anything. The feeling in my wounds crept up and I vocalized my pain, instantly screaming bloody murder as the pain increased. She asked me another question but I didn't understand it either. Moments later a bunch of medical personnel rushed into the room and wheeled me into the Intensive Care Unit. I was adorned an oxygen mask and they ran sedatives and pain killers through the IV system. In minutes the pain faded, and so did my vision.

••• Marshall Lee •••

The otherworldly words spilled out of my mouth as I recited the ancient incantation. The candles flicked in the points of the circle on the ground. The cold stone hadn't been used in years, and the room gave an ominous feel. I floated above the stone work, a giant hand emerging from the floor, the palm facing the full moon from the grate in the ceiling. The palm was detailed, with all the crooks and crannies of the usual hand. The ember sand and sage powder glowed like the flames on the candles. The ring of the ritual powder gave off a force unknown to me, and the power was nearly overwhelming. The last words left on my breath, and the ring created a barrier of light, matching the circle in the ceiling. The ceremonial blade floated in the air, the blade spinning in a circle; slowly getting faster and faster until it appeared as a circle. The circle got larger in circumference, and it began to lower itself back down. I flew back to get away, but I was trapped by the ritual powder behind me. The portal got closer and closer until it stopped three feet above my head. I continued to recite the incantation and the blade fell out of the portal, stabbing the half developed fetus. The blade sunk into it, and lifted it back into the portal. The point of the ritual was to extinguish everything that had been caused. You leave a marker, and at the point it made a difference to the ritual leader's life, the marker is consumed and everything from its existence on is exterminated from time, taking it all back. I never wanted the baby or anything else. Just Gumball, and I'll do anything to keep it that way.