Skittish Creatures

݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖

. ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .݁༉‧₊˚.݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖

. ݁༉‧₊˚.

"How could you do this? How could you live with yourself, doing what you did? And for what? To make up for your own weaknesses? What gave you the right to make that decision?!"

Silence.

"All you do is bring pain, wherever you go. You may as well be a damn villainess!”

Silence!

"Thou art no hero. Thou art not even brave. Thou masquerade as something thou art not and expect a pittance of kindness? Since young, thou art naught but a frightened little girl."

PLEASE… JUST STOP!!!

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SOLVEIG

“Wuh…?!”

Solveig jolted awake.

Before subsequently regretting every life decision.

She bleghed. And bleghed. Then bleghed some more.

Her stomach wouldn’t stop churning and the bleghs just wouldn’t stop coming…! “Nyooo…”

Thought she’d have outgrown such nightmares by now. Years of experience in the art of a leader’s slumber and still the same tired, irritating, useless ghosts.

She paused, darting her eyes around the dim space of her prison. If anyone had witnessed her just then, she would have had to silence them. Swiftly and without mercy. A legendary hero had a strict image of absolute command to maintain; that was rule number one.

…With bribes, of course.

She shook her head, purging herself of her needless thoughts.

It was time to take charge and stock of her current situation.

She was in a room; that much was obvious. But her eyes hadn't adjusted to waking up all... 

They were playing tricks on her. Because if they were real then the glass contraption hanging from the ceiling was real, glittering with dozens of tiny cups that seemed to carry burning candles lighting up the entire room—which was clearly something straight from a fairytale and not based in reality. 

Even the art hanging on the walls was dripping with gold leaf, finished with intricate little flourishes everywhere she looked.

She had to take a closer look.

Need to... get up...!

Unfortunately, she immediately found it difficult to roll out of the fabric she was encased in.

“Ngeh! Nnnnngeh!”

No matter what she did, it wouldn’t budge!

Was she trapped?!

…

She sniffled, her mind disappointed with her heart.

She was just too damn comfy.

Just how many sheep did they shear to make a blanket this soft?

“Miss Solveig?”

A stray voice from behind her cut through her cozy cocoon.

Oh. It was the Duke.

“Youh…” she slurred. “Un… undo the wards of this blankie right disht instant…!”

The Duke looked looked flatly at her.

“Not even a word of concern on how my son fared?”

“Ooooh, right, dat happened…” Solveig was turning sleepy again before shaking herself silly. “That happened!!”

Solveig was on the verge of tears.

“Is he…?”

The Duke chuckled.

“Cain’s okay.”

She breathed out, hard.

Thank the gods...

“Most of the hurt transferred to you, anyway.”

...Huh?

Her fingers instinctively drifted up her face. Her fingers traced until she felt a dip. And the more she explored… she found more dips. And then some kind of bandage to top it off as well…

“Here.”

He was holding a portable… reflection? It certainly looked like one to her.

The technology of this era was staggering.

She took it tepidly.

And upon viewing herself within its lens...

Yikes…

Her face was bandaged up nearly thirty percent of the way through. Not to mention the golden dips that looked like fractures.

She… she could make this work, but…

The Duke nodded. “It is a miracle that you’re not dead. It’s like your body tried to come apart at the seams. But thank Solve—” he caught himself, “the gods that it doesn’t seem life-threatening. For your sacrifice to save my foolish son, I would like to express my sincerest thanks.”

Solveig gulped, putting the portable reflection down. “Y-You knew…?”

“How could I not? You were bear-hugging my son in the epicenter of the explosion.”

Guh…

If Cain didn’t hate her before…

He sure did now…!

“Now, if you are awake… we need to discuss your future at the academy,” the Duke said, inspecting a small device on his wrist. “We musn’t dilly-dally.”

Solveig blinked blearily. An 'academy'? She didn't even know what that meant.

And her future?

Please. She didn’t have a future anymore. She was a designated villain destined for a prison cell forever having put the Duke’s son in mortal danger.

Why was he even wasting his breath?

Thinking more about the future required entirely too much brainpower. Napping, on the other hand, was a much better priority.

“Are… are you seriously letting your eyes droop in my presence?”

She let out a massive yawn. “N-Nyo…?”

The Duke sighed. Then, with a flourish, he clasped his gauntleted hands together with a snap. “Then our next conversation will surely keep you awake.”

“H-H-H-Huh?”

“You didn’t honestly think you would simply be dismissed after your fabulous display of destruction in the forest, did you?”

“What do ya mean by ssthat?”

The Duke walked toward the far side of the medical ward, pulling out a heavy wooden chair and sitting down. He leaned forward, locking his piercing gaze directly onto her.

“You will tell me exactly what caused your magical explosion," the Duke commanded. "And you will tell me exactly how you intend to prevent it from ever happening again.”

Solveig shivered violently, pulling the blanket right up to her chin. Cain’s dad is so scary! He is infinitely more powerful than me! There is absolutely no doubt about it! Just standing there, his immense aura is completely suffocating my sense-magic!

That’s why he resisted my subjugation magic back at the pyramid, for sure!

Where’s Cain when you needed him…?

\\

On the other side of Cunningham Palace, a lone boy sought forgiveness.

\\

CAIN

He knocked on the door thrice.

There was silence for a while.

“...Please… come… in.”

Creak…

The first thing Cain noticed as he opened the heavy oak door to Abel’s quarters was the tang of medicinal herbs.

It took a lot of courage to even step through.

On the four-poster bed across the room, Abel was propped up against a mountain of pillows.

His face was entirely pale and his breathing shallow, but the moment his eyes caught Cain’s shadow in the doorway, they instantly softened.

Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say.

What did he come here for? Comfort? Pity? His brother’s situation was much worse, what did he have to complain about?

“Hey… Cain…” the boy rasped, before chuckling. “Wow… you look like… shit. Got… in a… fight?”

Cain stared at him, his throat locking up.

He remembered his brother standing tall, smiling and completely righteous under the bright sun. He remembered the happiest day of his life, watching Abel triumph in the grand tourney where he beat those arrogant Quadrant brats into the dirt. He remembered a brother who was entirely invincible.

Cain stood there for a split second. 

"I... I...!"

Suddenly, he came running across the room in a blind scramble. 

He threw himself onto the edge of the mattress and without sense or recourse buried his face deep into Abel’s shoulder.

He clung to his brother’s nightshirt like a child.

Abel winced slightly, but he didn't care. He immediately wrapped his thin, weak arms around Cain's back, pulling him as close as his strength allowed.

“Little bro…” Abel murmured, gently rubbing a comforting hand against Cain's trembling spine. “It’s okay… it’s okay.”

\\

SOLVEIG

“Let… let me understand you correctly. If ever at a point you feel sufficiently insufficient… your mana will overload and cause a massive explosion?”

“Therrrr are pros and cons to any scffhool of magic. It—It’s just logic. An amazing form of magic must have an equally amazing… draw… draw-back! Yeah…! Exhhactly!”

“And you are sure that this had nothing to do with the Great Mother Bear dying?”

“I thhold you already! Why can’t you ssjust believe… that it attacked me first?”

“And its eyes were glowing purple when it did.”

“Exackkttlyyyyy…!”

The Duke stared at her for an agonizing few moments. Solveig held her breath, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.

Finally, the Duke exhaled a slow, weathered breath and stood up.

“I will mull over my decision regarding your future in privacy,” he stated flatly. “But for now, please wash up. You reek.”

“And what if I don't wanna…?”

The Duke paused his stride toward the exit. He slowly turned his head back toward her. “You… what?”

She crossed her arms, puffed out her cheeks and hrrmph’d. “‘Shides… It was you who… detained me in the first place, anyway. I got rights. Prisoner of war’s rights…”

“You are not a prisoner.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Thash what they all say—wah!!!”

The Duke mercilessly grabbed the corner of the fabric and ripped the blanket right off her!

The cold morning air bit into her skin instantly.

Solveig curled into a shivering ball on the mattress. “War criminal…”

“Mrs Penelope,” the Duke said, motioning to someone standing outside the room. “Please guide her to the washroom. I need to carry out some administrative work.”

“Of course, sir.”

Said Penelope strode in with some oddly luxurious clothes.

P-Pretty…

A black and white dress with some frills and tons of flair.

Usually, in her old tribe, the cleaning slaves only ever got tattered rags to wear. Well, until Solveig took over and changed things, that is.

But this took the cake.

Solveig actually smiled, reaching out for the dress.

Plus… Penelope had well groomed fur and a cute tail. She looked positively radiant!

…

A TAIL?!

“DEMON!” Solveig shrieked. She knew it! Things were just too good to be true!!

Her eyes flashed red.

Her arms shot wide.

[DEMIHUMAN: CONTROL]

Instantly, Penelope’s expressive eyes went completely blank, the light behind her pupils turning into a hollow void.

Her ears drooped. Her entire body went rigid—a lifeless, wooden doll.

“What did you do to her?!” the Duke cried.

“A beast… cannt be trusted—rule numbeh one! I knew it…! The Demon King… and his foul aberrations… I didn’t finish the job…!”