Ripples

Rubies VI

Includes homicidal ideation, character deaths, and mentions of murder, death, blood, fear of death, precious death experiences, and grief

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"Should I kill that whore's sister? What's her name, Rosalia?" Lucas suddenly asked, tearing Athanasia away from staring up at the sky. A surprised frown took away her content smile as she looked down at the head on her lap. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, she's going to frame you, right?" Athanasia blinked, nodding thoughtfully. "She will... but... maybe we shouldn't."

It wasn't that she was a stranger to murder, death, in particular, clung to her, but murdering... "it feels so wrong."

The young blonde had always associated Claude with homicide, violent and familial, as if he wanted to get rid of everyone with the Obelian blood. Of course, he didn't do that with Jennet, but Athanasia still associated that man with that morbid act. That's why she didn't want to kill anybody, to have the liquid on her hands, especially the blood of somebody innocent. After all, even though Rosalia was planning to frame the princess, she hadn't done it yet.

Her companion huffed, nudging her side painfully and earning a sharp gasp from the seventeen-year-old. "Lucas, what is wrong with you?"

"Obviously, I'm trying to stop that useless emperor from killing you!" Lucas sat up and glared at the princess.

Athanasia bit her lip. Wasn't he the one who said that they weren't the type to go around killing innocents? How could he suggest such a thing and yell at her when she couldn't bear with the thought, the guilt? And yet, the rubies that she loved gleamed brighter than ever, boiling with determination like the crimson fluid in their veins. As she looked within those eyes, the princess realized that, more than anything, "I don't want to lose him."

That undying maiden clenched her jaw, her heart thundering in harmony with the hisses of death. Now that she had something to lose, something to cherish, she felt afraid of dying again. "If I can stay by his side, then it might be best for Rosalia to die."

What she did not know was that the man that she wanted to stay by her side, would have preferred if they just ran away instead. At the very least, maybe they could travel together to the world tree. However, he believed that she wouldn't have wanted to.

The gardens, the palace, and even the air that they inhaled, "everything holds memories that she adores," Lucas bitterly thought. And, even though she often claimed that she hated Claude, her bitterness was from the pain of losing him. In the end, "while she can lie to herself, I know that she cherished him more than life itself."