Heart part 1

Chapter 48 - To Be A God

Several days passed. In the distance across one final stretch of road awaited the Casimir Mansion. At long last. If you could ask Heart, Esther, or Sandy, they'd all say that it felt like months since they left.

Despite all the days that passed, little had changed. Heart was only left feeling stranger and more confused than they'd ever felt. Esther's contempt for them only strengthened. Meanwhile, Sandy was left to act as the glue. So many days did she find herself in the middle of one of their regular fights.

Passing through the open gates, Esther and Sandy could hardly believe their eyes. For a few days, they thought they'd never escape that desert.

Heart glanced around. Something was amiss. It was then old memories began to awake.

Heading to the stables to load off, Sandy abruptly pulled the reigns, bringing the gangy to a screeching halt. She hopped off and froze. Esther followed to see what was the problem. Once the dust cleared, she too paled at the sight. Past the stable doors, all across the ground laid the festering corpses of several horses. Countless flies grazed across their rotting bodies and circled their dead eyes. When scanning around for a cause, the two noticed that the horses' feed and water troughs were emptier and dryer than a desert.

How did something like this happen?

Now that the two think about it, they don't remember being greeted at the gate by one of the mansion's guards. Now that they think about it, the gates were already wide open when they arrived. Now that they think about it, they could've sworn they remembered seeing a strange carriage they'd never seen before awaiting just outside the gates.

Now that they think about it...

...where is everyone?

Heart hopped down and hit the ground, startling the two.

" I can't believe I nearly forgot. The reason I left in the first place..."

Their slanted and tense eyes aimed their way.

" Something is happening at the mansion. All of the maids, butlers, guards, and even those two humans have seemingly lost their minds. They chased me all around that mansion with the full intent of harm. If I wasn't me, then I wouldn't have made it out. It was like they were under some kind of spell."

" But the glow that was in their eyes...it was the same as that one old man. What could it mean?" They thought.

Ever so insistently, the golden heart thumped, and like an afterthought, its noise went ignored.

" I recall you mentioning this before. Esther, do you-" Sandy stopped once she came to her face. With one of the most terrible scowls, Esther huffed a groan.

" And here I thought we were finally done. Let me guess, you had something to do with this, didn't you?" Esther hissed. " First Jaqueline, now my home. How much more are you planning to take from me?"

" Now, Esther-"

Heart's eyes curved. " As much as you're willing. Now, are you going to continue standing here or are you going to let whatever this threat is take your home?"

Leaving their words to linger in the air, they turned and started pacing away.

The moment stilled. The trees rustled.

" Wait," Esther spoke aloud.

Stopping, Heart glanced back. They watched her boil a moment. Her dagger eyes empty like a lens.

Fuming, Esther groaned and pushed past them. " You're going in first."

" I was already planning to." They snidely remarked, following her to the door.