She’s motionless; watching how a skeletal shade swirls around in the shadows behind Ither’s figure. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it - she scans Lunistria’s face who also seemed to not notice it - this is something only she can see.
He leans against a pillar that resided in a small field to the side of the castle’s front exterior, just before the stairs. His arms are crossed with one leg off from the ground as he raises an eyebrow to his sister.
“You took your time.”
That’s it? That’s all he has to say?
“Is there something wrong with us wanting to take a moment away from your childish tantrum–?” Lunistria pipes up to talk first, it was just his nature by this point to be the one to talk for the both of them, even if some of his responses were never something she wanted to say herself.
“Behind him…” Nayrorei whispers, only alerting Lunistria of the presence that swirled around Ither’s being. It terrified her; unlike Khaktrats that linger inside of the shadows of their demon kitsune partner, this one was the shadow.
Like it was mimicking Ither entirely to a horrific degree.
Lunistria glances over to Nayrorei, not showing a direct response for the moment but plays it off when Ither opens his mouth to talk.
“Actually, there is a problem with that. I don’t trust you, I made that clear the first time.”
‘Actually, there is a problem with that. I don’t trust you, I made that clear the first time.’
The shadow mimics his voice, speaking in unison, mimicking his facial movements; the way his jaw moves, the way his lips move all became something the shadow copied while it loomed over the boy’s figure.
‘Run, now. One fragment is in front of you.’
Astra’s voice resonates through the mask again, only this time, it was only Lunistria who held the mask. Fragment? What did Astra mean by that? He would make it obvious if he asked out loud, he hoped Astra could somehow hear his thoughts - but after moments of silence, he assumed not.
“Wow. Very conversational you are right now, huh? And why does my sister look like she’s seen a ghost?”
‘Wow. Very conversational you are right now, huh? What’s wrong, Alaelya?’
Alaelya...?
Lunistria didn’t know of this and only watched Nayrorei curl into herself from the corner of her eye; her arms rubbed each other as if it was cold - yet the weather was perfect despite the horrors that lurked in corners only the little Seer could see. This all rubbed Lunistria the wrong way, it didn’t help when Astra was telling him that something was right in front of him, yet, he can’t see it.
“I’m afraid we’re leaving, Ither.” He simply stated, it was the only thing that came to his mind when he thought of ways to explain it. Whatever Astra and Nayrorei saw, he trusted that it was too late for them; he would rather save the girl who lingered close to him, who now grabbed onto his coat for dear life.
“Are you serious?”
‘Why are you running?’
The shadow’s voice changed, sounding like an echo within Nayrorei’s mind. Tears drip down her face as realisation hits.
Ither is the only aura she can detect from where they were.
“W-Where are the guards? The maids? T-The—” She cuts herself off, covering her mouth with the edges of Lunistria’s coat to hold back a choke from her sobs.
He guessed he got his answer now.
“Yeah, I’m serious. Say, where are the guards? They’re letting their future king walk right out the door so easily?” Lunistria chuckled, it was fake. Fear dwelled at the bottom of his hollow chest, but one thing stood clear to him; as long as Nayrorei was close, they would be fine. He allows a hand to leave the mask to rub Nayrorei’s head, ruffling some of her hair and brushing against her soft ears to comfort her in any way possible.
“They’re busy.”
‘Hehehehe…’
A lie.
His aura made it perfectly clear, something happened to them and it had to be because of that shadowy creature. It had to have done something to Ither too, for him to so plainly lie about it.
Nayrorei shakes her head, silently making it clear that what Ither said was a lie. What confused the small Seer the most was that Ither made no efforts to assault them whatsoever. He knows Nayrorei would be able to tell if he was lying - yet it seemed like he was either ignoring that factor or it was wiped clean off his mind for the time being.
“I see, well, we’ll get going then.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to leave? I’ll let you know of one thing; if you leave now, as the new king of this place - I will personally exile my sister from ever returning here - even after you leave it to die. Generations will see you as a kidnapper who kidnapped the Seer that could have saved us all, even if she was weak.”
‘Alaelya, let him stay.’
Nayrorei gasps loudly as the creature’s voice becomes louder and louder in her head. It echoed, like millions of voices talked in unison to replicate Ither’s exact vocal tone - it creeped her out, she hated that she couldn’t block it out. She wrapped her tail around her own leg as she held Lunistria’s hand that tried to comfort her with one of her hands, gripping it hard in hopes he would get the message.
“Feel free to. Like we’ll ever return to it anyway, label me as a kidnapper, because they’ll see the truth one day and realise how immature the great king Ither Rhaya was.”
“Oh, you will. Trust me.”
‘He looks delicious, he seems familiar.’
“P-Please, I’m scared—” Nayrorei whispers loudly to Lunistria, looking up to gaze into her ocean blue eyes, begging him to go with Astra’s words and run. It was too late for Ither, whatever that thing was, it manifested Ither’s entire shadow - they couldn’t do anything to help him and Lunistria understood once his Seer begged them to leave.
With a loud, audible sigh, Lunistria motioned Nayrorei to follow him as he turned his back towards Ither. They began walking away, not looking back - only gazing upon the journey ahead of them. This kingdom will be swallowed, what was left of it will be consumed, but that wasn't their problem anymore. Nayrorei and Astra made it clear that it was too late, so it's time for them to reckon a new beginning to end this evil once and for all.
“I never trusted you, and never will.”
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