By Ignas, it was from the dream Alaris had shown her. Eli's brother had been the one to say it in that dream, after killing their father's Black stallion and holding the creature's heart in his tiny hands.She could still remember the little white humanoid creature Alaris had created in the child's place because he had been invisible too in that dream. She could remember him jumping around excitedly and talking about a heart Collection. They had both been invisible in that dream. Was it really because of the connection he claimed they shared or something else? Something stronger. A shiver ran down her spine, goosebumps laced her arms and this wasn't from the cold. Maybe Alaris was Eli's dead brother and he had just been lying to her to hide his real identity because he didn't trust her not to tell Eli or Lady Kestra about it.After all, despite Kestra being the reason why the brides disappeared, Alaris was still in the Brides' dreams and Kestra had pinned her crimes on him. So
"I can't see," Belladonna mumbled before she started crying out frantically, blinking as fast as she could. "I can't see! Alaris, I can't see.""I know. I'm right here." She felt him hold her hands and she relaxed a little. "You'll be fine. The light is blinding for mortals. It skipped my mind to tell you, sorry about that." There was no teasing in his voice. This must really be happening. She asked him if her hands were still bleeding and he assured her that she was fine. She wasn't feeling the pain anymore or hearing those deafening voices, so she believed him. It was strange to see nothing, and have to completely trust Alaris. At the same time, it didn't feel too strange to trust him. He helped her off the boat and she felt cold beach sand kissing her feet. Did they just go back to her subconscious mind?"We are here.""Where is here?""Me'k, the In-Between."Belladonna let out a shaky breath. The in-between of what?"We just crossed over into Thanatou's Realm. Listen careful
A trade was made.A fair exchange. Belladonna in place of what Alaris desired the most, his freedom.After all the time they had spent together, his desires never changed, no compassion ever made its way to his determined heart, he never swayed. Belladonna had watched chains snap to the ground, heavy metals clanking against the red glowing floor. She still couldn't see him, which meant that whatever freedom he had received from Thanatou wasn't complete. There was only so much that Thanatou could do then, after all, he wasn't the one that caged him here in the first place. This meant that Alaris had been a spirit all along, his body must be somewhere else, and the strength of her mind had never been the problem. Also, this had better be a plan to get the sunflower!Alaris would never leave her here? There was a Bloodoath between them, she was his true freedom and that was why he always came back for her.She held onto that though and spoke. "You made to me a Bloodoath."If this wa
They suddenly stood up, and pulled her to her feet. Then the door to the room pushed open and Thanatou came in. He was just as scary as he had been in the hall."I have made a trade with your Gifter," his voice made her skin crawl with fear. She shouldn't be here. His words reminded her of Alaris and hatred made her throat hurt, fogged her sight with angry tears. She heard Thanatou taking in a deep breath. Maybe they could really smell feelings after all. Weird. She hated all of them. "And now, I shall make a trade with you, for fairness."Something was off, his words didn't align with the movement of his lips. It looked like he was making clicking sounds, something similar to what she had heard before they had been pulled down here through the red water. It was strange that they sounded like words to her. Strange that she could understand them. There was certainly some magic here doing that work. In a second, her necklace was ripped away from her, the loosened grip around
((Note - Alaris is still in Belladonna's body, so please have that in mind anytime he comes up in the story for now. Also, please note that every other person sees him as Belladonna)). Alaris had woken up in Belladonna's body with a jolt. Just as she had told him, she had fallen asleep in the hallway. It didn't take him long to find out where her dear King was.He was still laying down on the floor in the Special room, his body cold. Alaris smirked.This fucking bastard!He could feel the maddening urge to kill him. Unable to control his anger, he delivered a kick to the King's leg.Eli coughed, slowly regaining consciousness.That didn't please Alaris.He needed him out cold a little longer. Eli's movements on the floor were weak and disoriented, and even though he was staring right at Alaris, he couldn't see him. A sick smile played on Alaris' lips at the stupid King's helplessness. His misery was pleasing him, and as much as he would love to stay all night and entertain himself
Weakness had descended upon Eli as he rode the dragon into the raining night sky, massive leathery wings flapping in the air, lightning flashing and thunder clapping a distance further away from them. It was taking more than he could give to control the beast, but his death was nothing compared to what would befall him if he didn't find his Donna tonight. If he didn't find her---His grip tightened upon Belladonna's scarf that was tight in his grip as he held the reins of the dragon. Cold slammed into him, rain drenching him, as well as his blood that ran down his nostril from underneath his mask. The pain felt dull compared to his heartache and the self-blame going on in his mind.He must find her. There was no if. There was no maybe. He must find her. Alive. ________The castle walls had a lot of ears and mouths. It didn't take much time for the news of the Bride's sudden disappearance to spread. Already, some people had known about it in the market and the way the guards
With bleeding and aching toes, the second dance came to an end. Slowly Belladonna was approaching the crowd, she could hear their cheering as she moved closer to the third door. The females that had danced with her during the second dance gave her something to drink, just like one of the females that had cheered and danced with her around the red fire, in the first room, had done. The liquid was tasteless and thick but Belladonna took it all in one gulp, feeling ready for the third dance, ecstatic to sacrifice her life for the Thanis and fulfill her destiny. "To the third," the female said, taking her hand and giving it to the set of females that had come to accompany her for the third dance. The three females lead her through the third door, Belladonna could already see the fire far across the distance, the iced walls glowing red from it. Suddenly, the door they had come in through slammed shut, and the females that had led her in, started singing. The dance had begun.The hea
Belladonna landed on her face and it ached terribly. Sand made its way into her mouth as she fought to stand on her feet, ignoring the pain in her toes as she searched for Alaris amongst the many floating statues on the surface of the water, under the red sky and the pouring rain. Her eyes caught something else though, the shadows moving quickly around the statues and heading for--- her!Belladonna's hand sprung up to the sunflower that still rested on her chest. For a moment, she thought they couldn't come for her, the Thanatou had freely given her the necklace after all, until she remembered that she was the "thing" that had been stolen.Belladonna looked down, discovering that the beach was slowly turning into a shade of red. The soldiers were also coming closer to the shore, running into the invisible wall that stayed between the red river and Me'k.Lightning flashed just in time for Belladonna to realize that the wall had sustained a crack, like a cracked glass. Her throat tigh