curses ➵ schlattbur

dos ➵ castle

alex wandered along the edges of the neutral territories, a drop of sweat trickling down his face as he sighed. grasping his mandolin tightly, he looked around, before noticing that for some reason, along the borders of the once easy-to-access, friendly safe haven of eret's castle... there was a ripple of color. something felt... off.

should i try to enter...? alex thought. he knew that it would be rather rude to try breaking into a castle, especially one owned by the nicest person in all the kingdoms, but... eret was in prison. he should at least try checking what's off with the border. no one had been leaving the kingdoms, and it was possible that with all the fear going around, especially in emonburg, that nobody would ever figure out if anything was wrong there... he sighed.

"might as well try crossing the ripple." he muttered coldly, grabbing a nearby stick and throwing it into the borders of eret's castle. it was just gonna fall through. he knew what punz said--just a hallucination. and he'd prove his claim for him. he closed his eyes, sighing.

then he felt hard, tough wood strike his face.

"the- the hell...?!" screamed alex, backing off as the wood dropped to the ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces as he saw the ripple grow larger, wobbling violently as sparks fluttered out of it. for a moment, he swore he could see the outline of a violent-looking, dark palace. then... without any thought... his hand reached out. he couldn't stop himself, he was already reaching out, and...

then he felt a shock go through his body as the ripple's center wobbled, slowly growing unstable, until...

he broke through. 

and he fell straight through, collapsing on the other side as he watched the border increase as an entire, huge barrier began to ripple violently, until cracks appeared, as if it was glass breaking under intense pressure... then it shattered completely, and alex focused on the other thing. the thing that was much more horrifying.

a dark, foreboding palace. completely different from the once welcoming castle of eret.

"holy shit...! what is this...?" alex whispered to himself, before walking towards it. it's aura felt like it was dragging him closer, like a venus flytrap to it's prey. as he almost reached the entrance...

he was yanked back by a strong arm into the hedges.

alex panicked, beginning to struggle, but a gruff voice snapped, "shut up! shut up! they're going to hear you!" the voice said, as his captor gripped him around the chest tightly, not allowing alex to escape as he slowly quieted...

then the soldiers came out. hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers. their faces were obscured by plain, white, featureless masks. they were like puppets on strings, stomping out to survey the grounds of the endless boundaries of the palace. soon, as they stomped around, one raised his hand and a beautiful, voluptuous woman sidled out of the palace, a bespectacled, well-uniformed man bumbling behind her. the woman only pointed her finger at the soldier, and a mouth appeared on his mask, the soldier coughing loudly.

holy shit, thought alex, that's not a mask... that's his face. 

"what is it, simp #00102?" the woman asked in a gentle, sweet tone, her long, trailing cape being floated up by nonexistent wind--the sign of a professional conjurer's work, that was for sure.

"m-madame pokimane!" the soldier stammered, "the wall's gone! completely gone! everyone can see us, and they can even see your blatant homophobia as well! we'll be stormed in seconds!" he was soon slapped on the face sharply.

"first of all, #00102, i am not a motherfucking homophobe for removing the pride flag from the palace rooftops. it simply just makes the palace look too welcoming. secondly, who fucking cares if the wall's gone, sweetie-fucking-pie?" she spoke, in her cheery, friendly tone as she tickled the soldier's injured cheek with a kindly grin. her words didn't seem to match her tone. 

"it just means a little rat has made his little tiny way into my palace.~" she said with an adorable smile on her face. "don't worry, #00102. whoever this rat is... they simply do not matter. they are nothing. i'll have them rotting to shreds by the end of the day, ehe!~" she flicked #00102's cheek with a smile, and as he tried to respond his mouth slowly turned back into its usual mask-like form.

alex shivered, and the man holding him began to pull him away. "come on... fucking idiot. hurry! she's after you! we gotta fucking split!" alex didn't want to admit it, but he agreed. he'd already wasted so much time listening to the conversations of this mysterious "madame pokimane" that he'd forgotten how much danger he was in until she...

she talked about him.

more specifically, about how she was going to kill him.

as he and the stranger stopped gripping each other and running on their own, they escaped the bush, alex heavily breathing. "how are there no fucking branches in those hedges?" he gasped for breath, leaning over as he clutched his knees. 

"madame pokimane enchanted them so they'd act as a sort of pocket dimension for her so her soldiers could hide if they were raided. they're still in the process of transforming, but they're easy to navigate through." explained the stranger, strangely not as exhausted as he. 

"i see..." alex muttered, before realizing something, "wait, who the hell are you, then?!"

the man sighed, and alex could now see him more clearly--he was wearing a tattered, broken set of armour, his helmet completely gone. a broken sword stood at his side.

"the last of eret's guards. i haven't had time to remember silly things like names--this castle is an absolute fucking maze--but... if i remember correctly, i was called tybalt when this place was still... well, eret's."

alex nodded, "ah. i see... well, thanks for the help, tybalt-" he paused. "wait, last?! weren't there 20?" eret's soldiers were some of the most renowned in the kingdom, mainly for their strength and prowess, and their ability to deescalate conflicts easily without too much violence. it was practically impossible to kill one--let alone 20.

tybalt sighed bitterly. "all of them. 4 died from the initial blast--a giant earthquake set off, only affecting eret's land, and then an explosion happened right inside the main hall. but the most casualties were from the army that arose. about 11 died while fighting, and the other 5, including me, scattered afterwards. gradually, two of us were killed, and eventually me and two other soldiers teamed up to get out. we didn't stand a chance against madame pokimane, so we had to escape and find help... but... it was futile in the end." he paused from the monologue as a single tear dropped from his eye. he wiped his face before proceeding with the tale.

"one of us died while trying to get a teleportation spell to work. he was never an experienced mage, and the strength of the magic he used ended up killing him, and fucking... and fucking teleporting solely his corpse out." he said, trembling. "then... that madame pokimane... she found me and rowan and she fucking froze him to the ground while i watched. she forced me to watch as she placed... as she placed her palm on his forehead..."

"and literally sucked the life out of him bit by bit. until he was pale. an empty husk."

alex muttered, "holy fuck."

"she changed him, man. she turned him into... into advisor carson."

"advisor who?" alex interrupted.

"that guy following her around. he was rowan. but she imbued a new soul into him--i don't even know what kind of magic you'd need to do that--and turned him into her assistant."

"rowan was my partner."

"oh my god-" the dark-haired boy whispered in pity, before pulling down his beanie tighter. the story was making him fear this woman already. "then... why did she let you go free?"

suddenly a hand clasped tightly over alex's mouth. a cold, unfeeling hand.

"so he would accidentally help me find any little rats who can't keep their noses out of things that aren't their fucking business."

a/n: yeah. pokimane is the villain. :) please vote, follow, or comment if you enjoyed this chapter!!!!!!!