Creatures of the Dark

"I know what happened, I - I-" Alessia took a few steps backwards, lifting her hands up to cover her face. Muffling heartbroken sobs.

---

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"Morning sleepy head," Caspian greeted quietly, sat cross-legged on the floor beside her, shirtless. His hair still damp from where he had showered, the smell of cleaning detergent around them from where he had panic cleaned.

“My queen time is of the essence.” He told her. “Come with me.”
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Eris moved to sit up slightly. “Where am I?” She asked. “It smells like a bleach factory.” She rubbed her head where she had a headache

"Bleach or rotting food, I thought you would have chosen bleach." Caspian snorted. "You choose dicks to be in love with, you know that?"

---

Alessia trembled as she went with the guard.

“Yeah my attempts to move on are a bit pathetic.” She agreed sliding her feet to the floor. “Suppose you’ll want me gone right?”
____

He had them appear back in the palace and he called for Damian’s second in command and his parents.

"I want you to stop making demon King's save my soul." Caspian mumbled. "It should be my choice if I live or not. You had the choice to run away from me, yet you deny me a choice of my very own life? I have been in hell for over a year now, do you understand that?"

---

Alessia dropped to her knees beside the bed Damian had been placed upon, taking a hold of his hands and pressing her forehead against his knuckles as she cried.

It didn't take long before Seren came in, and Alessia cried out as she was grabbed by the hair and pulled backwards. "What happened to my son?!"

"I - I- I-"

"I- I- I- Pathetic! Just tell me!"

“I’m not apologising if that’s what you want.” She told him. “You know how I feel about you but I’d settle for you being my friend so like hell will I let my friend die.” She told him. “You could just go out and meet some people is your life really that bad?”
______

The guard looked to her. “Your majesty, we haven’t got time, we need to find his soul before it’s gone beyond our reach only the queen can do that.” He told her

"Beyond-" Seren cut off, swallowing thickly.

"Who, me? I - how do I do that? How do I do that?" Alessia whimpered.

___
"You should apologise. It is not your right to decide! Like it was not that demons right to control you! Don't be so fucking psychopathic Eris!"

"I don't have to apologise, I asked Damian to keep an eye on you, that was it, your life is yours to do with as you wish." She told him. "He kept you alive but that was not my wish, I should have been clearer to him, I know that." She told him. "So for that I will apologise."
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"Has he not shown you how your powers work?" The guard asked, before she looked to Seren. "The queen is able to go between worlds, just like the king is, no matter what your species once you take the mantle of queen, you can move between the land of the living and the land of the souls."

"He - he's not... he's not, no." She swallowed, rubbing her arm where Seren had just dug her nails in and drew blood. "I don't know how. I -"

Seren shook her head at her, "It isn't something I can speak you through, you just... have to try."

"Okay I - I can you leave me alone then? Let me.. I need to be alone to try."

____
"That's fucking weird, Eris. You have no right to keep an eye on me, you don't own me." Caspian shook his head. "Your such a judgey little bitch."

"Is this why you helped?" She demanded. "Just to tell me everything I've done wrong?" She asked as she pushed herself to her feet, using the sofa to keep herself upright. "I don't want to own you, I'm sorry that I have different ideals to you, I'm sorry that everything I do annoys you or repulses you, and I'm sorry I care about you."
___________

"We are running out of time." The guard stressed.

"You took my choice away from me! You broke my heart and then dictated my life afterwards! You aren't acknowledging that! You have never acknowledged that you have just tried to search for excuses and reasons which shows you don't actually realise what you have done!"

---

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"I said leave!" Alessia yelled. "I don't need an audience for this."

Seren shook her head and, seething, walked away.

"I have acknowledged it, Damian kept you alive for a reason, I apologised for that," She told him. "What more do you want me to do!" She demanded. "I apologised for everything, I apologised for leaving, I apologised for making you feel abandoned when I did leave to keep you safe." She told him.
__

The guard bowed his head leaving her to it.

On the other side, Damian had found his way into the hall of souls, he was drinking from a bottle of bourban, and he was watching two people in the distance, a beautiful woman and a little boy, and once they spotted him, he fell to his knees, the bottle forgotten.

"You added excuses on the end! It isn't genuine if you add excuses on the end!"

---

Alessia very quickly found her way there, though it had clearly taken it's toll on her. Disorientated as she wandered into the hall, letting go of a held breath when she saw him, "Damian..."

"You never believe that anything I say is genuine!" She told him. "Do you know how that feels? To know that nothing that I say will make a difference no matter the scenario?"
__________

By the time she joined him, Damian was hugging the woman and the boy was in his arms. It was the family that he lost back before everything went in their direction. "I wish you ould meet my wife."

"She's beautiful Damian," She told him. "She's better for you than I ever was, please don't be sad about what happened."

Alessia swallowed thickly, hanging back as she watched them. Wrapping her arms around herself.

---

____
"Do you know how it feels for you to constantly dismiss my feelings?!"

She smiled as she went to find some of the others.

"Probably the same that it makes me feel when you never believe that anything I say is genuine." She told him.
_________

Damian smiled to the little boy in his arms. "Alessia, she's my queen."

"You call her your wife, but you need to marry her."
___

Hayden was just finishing with bathinghe son.

"I am trying to explain to you why it doesn't feel genuine. I don't know what more I can do if you don't listen to me."

___
Alessia only cleared her throat quietly so he would know she was there.

"I listen to everything you said, I do what you ask, I don't know what else to do here." She told him. "I take your feelings into everything, but I'm not going to get it right every time and I am sorry about that."
________

Damian looked back to her and he put the boy down.

"We need to go, Damian, it's alright." The woman told him, resting her hands on the boy's shoulders and she looked to Alessia. "You take care of him you."

Alessia reached her hand out to him, only giving a tired nod toward the woman.

---

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Caspian shook his head, getting to his feet and walking to the other side of the room. Pressing his forehead against the wall roughly to try and ground himself.

When Rylee came across them she smiled softly, giving a gentle knock on the door.

Eris watched the floor, she didn’t know if she should just leave or not.
______

He walked to her aiming to slide his fingers into hers but his hand ghosted through her as she was still living and he wasn’t.
______

Hayden smiled. “Hey.”

Alessia's nose wrinkled in concentration, inhaling sharply as she managed to flit between the worlds enough to materialise for him. Touching his knuckle to check before leaning in and pulling him into a tight hug, crying, "I am s- so- so sorry."

___
Caspian was silent too, eyes closed.

He held her tightly. “No I’m sorry,” he told her. “I left you open to that attack, I’m sorry.”
_____

Eris closed her eyes to stop any tears falling and she looked to the door. “I should go,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for everything Caspian, I’ll stay out of your way now, but thank you for today.”

"I didn't. I - I- killed - my fault." She choked.

____
"Your leaving again?"