Creatures of the Mist

Thirteenth Mist

Thirteenth MistCreatures of the Mist

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##### Thirteenth Mist #####

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That sparkle of glory, laminating.

Those who envy shall take its burden.

And a perfect stroke of chaos,

Is all I need in my chamber of torment.

I am simply too shocked to do anything aside from being frozen in place. Raion's hands are both seizing my shoulders, forcing me to lean closer to him as he tangles my tongue with his. This gesture surprises me. How did he learn to do this? Moreover, who does he think he's kissing?

With that realization, I finally try to break free from him. But for some reasons I don't get it, Raion able to overpower me physically, turning my struggle into nothingness and drawing my body closer to his. I want to pull away, but instead his tongue locks me with it. A drop of what seems to be our drool escapes from our small parted lips, trailing down from my mouth and down to my chin. It gets lower and lower. I don't want to use my power on him, so I let him be.

Finally, after more than just five minutes, Raion finally pulls off. I can see the saliva that connects out mouths being pulled apart until it gets cut in the middle.

He's out of breath once he pulls away, but I have less, much because of the shock that's still lingering in my system.

"I don't hate you."

After this incident, it's very hard to say that he does.

I am left alone by the window when he takes his leave, alone to still process what has just happened.

When my eyes land of the deep-colored cover of the memory book, I realize just how long it has been since the last time I saw Lelouch. It makes me wonder how things in the Court House are. Now that I'm a Queen of my own clan, and the fact that it has really been a while since there was a gathering of all Courts' members, I wonder if I'm still considered as part of them. It was nice to be a part of something special and to be able to bring its secrets to the grave.

Deciding to make a quick visit, I transport myself to the front garden of the Court House, where Lelouch stays. The guard acknowledges me this time, but I believe it is part of my fancy clothing. I didn't bother to change and just step on the place.

"Lulu," I call him in a whisper, knowing that once I enter his room, he will hear me almost instantly. The room has its way to echoes voices anyway—a little something the Prince of all Wizards likes to add into his favorite chambers.

"Arsene, it has been a while," he greets me, appearing from behind one of the mirrors that are practically circling the lobby of the huge room.

"Yes, indeed. But not to worry—I'm here simply to visit."

"Who?"

"Huh?"

"Me or the Court? Which one are you visiting?"

"Both."

"I see," he replies almost coldly, but regains his composure soon with a thin smile.

"Why are you upset?" I ask, not able to ignore the short reaction.

He doesn't reply instantly, but walk closer to me until we are face to face. Each of his steps really echoes suspendfully, if I don't know any better.

"Because you still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"You know—the one that I asked you after I helped you broke your engagement with your cousin."

He's talking about his proposal.

"I thought I already answered that one."

"Now, Arsene. You're a Queen now. Sooner or later, your subjects will demand your spouse to come. Why don't you make a choice now? A brief clue of who you're going to choose is fine with me, too."

"I don't follow your last sentence. Please elaborate what you mean, Your Majesty."

"Who will you choose among the sevens, Arsene?"

Sevens? Is that the number of how many warlocks he suspected I have feelings for? Lelouch is a watcher; he can know everything just by using his magic powers, creating panels of super valence that are connected to his bee spies.

"You don't know who to choose? Then let me help you."

By this point, I have no idea whether Lulu's feeling serene or cruel. I can feel faint hints of bitterness, with a mixture of warm touches at the same time. They two opposing combination can exist together, but which is his true emotion...?

"First, we have Banri , your ex-teammate and friend. You two have been friends for quite a long time, just after you abandoned me. He's a fire wizard, which means he's immune of your black fire. Considering the chemistry, you two can get along just fine."

"Second, there's Link Noirmelns, one of your male cousins. He can be ruthless sometimes, but if you can see the look in his eyes then you'll know how much he actually cares about you. Even though you already canceled the engagement, you can still marry him. If a strong descendant is what you're looking for, why not continue the family's tradition long the way? The two of you can make a perfect baby together."

"Your other cousin, Artro Noirmelns, is also a perfect choice if you want to continue the intermarriage tradition. The genius in the family. He's rather more understandable than Link. Plus, you two have a lot in common, like hunting. That is, if comfort is what you're looking for. Artro is a very intelligent and quite strong wizard, which will help if he’s going to become your future king."

“There is your apprentice as well, Trace. Although he only acts as he wants and being reckless sometimes, it doesn’t approve that he has lack of attraction. Since you raised him, the two of you have become very attached to one another. And you should have seen the look in his eyes, every time he looks at you. It is more than just a kind feeling towards his magistress, and you should have known that. But like with the others, you also became so blind that you can’t even tell it.”

"Then, there's also someone else who comes from an expectedly tragic background, Valline Blancort. But even though he’s from your family’s eternal enemies, it didn’t stop him from wanting you. He even dared to go as far as putting the mark of the engagement on your hand. Luckily, you were able to remove it after persuading with their previous head clan, Freddrickson Blancort. Though, being there before your execution makes you think differently of him since. Moreover, you visited him after you woke up from your recovery of almost being dead, before you even visited any of your other family members and friends. He has a big influence on you, despite the fact that you never visited him again after you went back to your original body, after previously being sealed inside a doll by the Rainfolds ─ which family paid the price with every single one of their souls. It will be difficult if you decide to choose him, but a peace may be offered if you do so. And I’m sure that even though it’ll be a political marriage, you will still be happily accepting him.”

I can see the pain is his eyes when he’s talking about the possibilities of me being with another warlock. He might think that he can still pull this stunt, but I can see that little by little, he’s cracking up to the point that watching him like this is so unbearable.

“Stop,” I plead weakly, but he just ignores me and keeps going.

“Being young doesn’t mean it closes the possibility of you being with your nephew, Raion Noirmelns. He’s improved to be very brilliant despite his age. Very curious of the world and new things, just like how you used to be when you were in the same age as him. Of course he’s also able to marry you, being part of the clan as well. But not even me would have been able to guess such possibility for the two of you to interact in such a way. Just this very same night, he kissed you. And you let him....”

Lelouch stops himself because all of these are just some silliness. Tears are threatening to come out and fall from his deep violet eyes. So much pain.... The way looks right now is just so heartbreaking.

“Stop,” I plead again. “Stop!”

I can’t stand seeing him like this ─ so devastating. This is not the Lulu that he usually is. The Lelouch I know will always smile despite everything, even when the world is about to crumble and all of our existence will soon be next to nothing. He’s the kind of royalty that will always shine like a totally different creature even if he’s being put through a very hard situation. He’s not like...this.

"So, who's your choice, Arsene?" Lelouch asks, finally able to maintain half of his mask.

I shake my head, denying to answer him.

“Or perhaps, you would like to choose me, you first childhood friend? The one that you left so long ago? Will you choose me? Do you even still like being around me? I... highly doubt that...” he mutter sadly.

"Lelouch, I...." My eyes fall to the floor. "I can’t...do this...." Slowly but undoubtedly, my heart rate starts picking up. Each second, the beat goes faster, more frequent than before. It keeps up to the point that the pumping hurts, especially inside my hollow. My veins are so full, the capacity of black blood that's circulating in it is too much for me to bear. Before I can prevent it from happening, the real life nightmare is consuming my vision. I am blindfolded with this thick darkness, leaving no light for my tainted shadows to communicate with Earth's surface.

Planted to the ground, I can still feel unseen hands trying to hold me. It hurts when they are jerking my flesh, but it is nothing to compared with what hurts more beneath my cavity. Soon, it feels really hard to inhale oxygen in wherever place I'm currently at that I'm forced to draw short breaths. That's when the jerking stops.

Then I can feel a pair of arms hugging me tightly, cuddling me into their warmth. "Arsene, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pressure you like this, even though I should have known better than anyone to do this. I was too emotional and I lost my self control. I didn't want to push you into this situation; I was just feeling too desperate. I'm sorry. Please forgive me, My Sweet Arsene. Don't leave me alone. You're all I have in this world."

I can hear Lelouch's from somewhere far.

"I should have known better. I'm really sorry...." I can feel tears soon falling on one of my cheeks. "....Sweet Arsene."

He's somehow able to bury his face on my neck even though he's a distance away. His lips rest on the crack of my bare neck, warm. The tips of his hair is brushing my skin, tingling. A few more drop of tears land on me and trail down. The hands are still circling around me.

I reach out to find what seems like his face and realize that he has been here all along. Now I know. It's my heart that has been making me hear him in distance.

We stay like that for a moment while my heart is still paining me with its beats. Finally, once I'm calm enough, I open my eyes to find him already pulling away. I meet his gradual shade of purple eyes first. They delve on me like how thick honey can be when dripping down candidly. Warm...and deep. His now damp, long black hair frames his face like curtains.

"It's okay." I let my head fall on his chest this time. "There's no helping it. I'll stay like this...forever. It's a cursing feeling that I can ever lift."

I’m just about to pull away when a strong hint of numbness hit me, this time in the head. One of my personal guards is letting me an urgent warning which have me to return to the castle immediately. Without another word, I teleport myself back to my room, where Link and Artro are already waiting for me. Both of them are wearing grieving expressions in their faces.

“What is it?”

One of them, Link, welcomes me with the sight of the outer castle through my window. I dash to it and spot quite a number of figures standing there. They are all wizards, that’s the first thing I can tell by feeling their auras before I even set my eyes on them. Once I do take a good look at each of them, I notice another thing from their clothing and looks. White uniforms and blonde hair; they are the Blancorts. I dashed from my spot and popped out just behind the front door of our castle right at that second, wasting no time to wait for Link and Artro to catch up with me.

My family is already crowding around the door, all wearing the same worried expressions. Good, none of them have gone out yet. “Stay here,” I tell them without giving a second glance and open the door. In front, the Blancorts are lining up, ready to attack with their family and army.

"It's time for the black bloods to die. Your line shall end here tonight."