{tw:// mention of suicidal thoughts}
Song playing: Noe Bedre by Feit'n Fra Kolbotn
♛♛♛
"Canton"
Canton remained frozen.
"Baby.." Tristian approached him warily.
No reaction.
"Are you okay.."
Canton fell to his knees, his gaze empty, his body numb.
Tristian blinked and copied Canton's position on his knees.
He was now on the same level as him.
He looked at Canton. "I don't...know how to comfo- what do you want me to do?"
Canton wasn't looking at Tristian.
He started trembling.
"Cant..." Tristian started. "You'll be okay. Where's.. where's Elvina?" He was at a loss for words.
Canton slowly landed his eyes at Tristian, his breathing becoming a bit audible now.
He opened his mouth so he could breathe better, a few drops of cold sweat trailing down his forehead.
"You'll...-"
Tristian was talking but Canton wasn't listening.
His vision became blurry and his eyes started closing on their own accord.
He felt light headed.
He felt lost.
His system collapsed on him once again.
But someone can only break that much until there's nothing inside of them left to break anymore.
ERROT
After I ignored this little handshake from hell, Canton got up from the couch straight away and went to stand right in front of me.
He glared at him. "What the hell are you doing here, Tristian?"
Tristian examined Canton's position and the hand that he placed on me as if to protect me and then fixed his gaze on Canton's face again, his own neutral. "What? Don't I have the right to visit my fiancé?"
I frowned.
Canton scoffed. "I'm not your fiancé, I'm your king and I'm ordering you to get the hell out of my castle" he said coldly.
"But we never really broke up. I'm still the guy you ought to marry".
"Yeah, well. We're breaking up now." He pointed at the door. "Out."
Tristian pursed his lips into a thin line but didn't make any effort to move. "See, here's the problem." He started. "I can't leave."
"Why not?" I said, my eyebrows furrowed in anger.
Tristian turned to look at me as if he didn't expect me to talk and hated it as well. He threw me a glare and then redirected his attention to Canton. "Can I talk to you without the presence of this.. nuisance?"
I glared back at him.
"His name is Errot and you have absolutely no right to suddenly appear out of the blue and insult him."
A small satisfied smile threatened to appear on my face but I managed to hold it back.
Canton looked like he didn't know how to act towards him. He doesn't know if he should be confused, angry or even scared and it's showing on his face.
Tristian scoffed and then rolled his eyes. A smirk was now playing on his lips, his annoyance visible. "Alright. Let me rephrase then. Can I talk to you without the presence of Errot, Canton?" He mocked my name.
I clenched my fists in irritation.
"No." Canton said coolly.
Tristian sighed and rubbed a bit at the space in between his eyes.
"Fine." He stared into Canton's eyes. "I'm dying."
Canton immediately stilled at that and stayed silent.
"And I believe Santos is dying too. And if you've turned anyone else into an Ink in the past one thousand years, they are dying as well."
Canton was now looking down, eyebrows furrowed, not entirely convinced about the sincerity behind Tristian's words. "Go turn yourself into a robot then. This will save your life." He mumbled lowly.
Tristian snickered at that.
"What? You think you won't like it because it's cruel and inhumane?" Canton sounded bitter.
"It would be inhumane if I was a useless human." He said and glanced at me for a second.
Canton wouldn't look at Tristian in the eye. "I don't know what to do to help you. You can go now." He pointed at the door.
"But I do." Brief pause. "There is a..spell that you need to create. It will take time and you'll need my help because of my knowledge as a scientist but I'm sure you'll be successful in the end. "
Canton clenched his jaw.
"If you don't want to do it for me, do it for your spy. You used to adore him."
I turned to look at Canton. "Don't feel pressured to do anything. Don't let him get to you." I whispered to him.
Tristian rolled his eyes.
"Come on, Cant. I know you still care about me. You only kept Errot around because he is a replica of me."
"Don't put words into my mouth." Canton mumbled.
"Go ahead and tell me that it's not true, then." He said. "You can't even look at me in the eye."
Canton fixed his gaze on him, his eyes piercing holes into Tristian's skin.
Elvina suddenly walked inside Canton's room, a letter on her hand. "I have news for yo-" She then stopped walking and stared at the three of us in confusion. "Why do I see two Errot's in here? Who shapeshifted?" She said amused.
When nobody replied she continued. "If this is one of your weird sexual fantasies, I really want no part."
Tristian looked at her and gave her the same creepy smile he gave me earlier too. "Elvina. It's been years."
Elvina's smirk started falling. She frowned and looked at Canton.
"Tristian." Canton mumbled under his breath and ran a hand through his hair, careful not to drop his crown.
Elvina's eyes widened in shock. She snapped her eyes at Tristian, her gaze turning from surprised to horrifyingly angry. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Tristian chuckled humorlessly. "Amazing. You used the exact same words as your brother."
My eyes widened at that and a small gasp escaped my lips. I begun looking from Canton to Elvina, not quite processing what Tristian said yet. "You are siblings?"
Tristian raised his eyebrows, a smirk making it's way into his face. "Oh? He doesn't know? I assumed that since he is your boyfriend now, you would trust him enough to keep your biggest secret." His smirk grew. "Or..was I the exception?"
I frowned at Canton who was looking back at me, frustration visible on his eyes.
"I wanna fight him. Let me fight him."
Elvina said through gritted teeth.
"Why is he even here?" She turned to Tristian. "Should I call security to send you back to where you came from?"
"The turning spell has it's consequences, Elvina. Tristian and Santos are apparently dying." Canton muttered.
"Well then, save Santos and let that prick rot in hell."
"No."
Elvina, Tristian and I snapped our heads at Canton at the same time, Tristian being the only one content by this.
"What do you mean no?" I asked him.
Tristian grinned.
"I mean, no. He's the only one that can help create the spell. I...-" He sighed. "-need him."
"Canton-" Elvina and I said at the same time.
"No." He looked at Tristian. "You'll stay. But the moment the spell is created and you get cured, I want you gone for good. Do we have an agreement?"
"You're an idiot." Elvina told Canton, threw the letter she was holding at him and then left the room without another word.
"Very well." Tristian said. "Thank you, Canton." He said, sounding very serious all of a sudden. "I appreciate it. Really."
Canton rolled his eyes. "Save it."
"Someone woke up at the wrong side of the bed today." Tristian said and then sighed. "Anyway. I'll leave you two alone for now." He looked at Canton. "See you in a while?"
Canton mumbled something under his breath.
Tristian bowed his head at him.
He started walking towards the door to the conjoined room I used to sleep in before moving to Canton's bedroom but then he turned around to face us. "I'll still use my room, right?"
A deep frown appeared on my face when Canton simply nodded at him.
Tristian smiled at him.
I waited until the door fully closed behind him before I spoke up. "Why would you do this?"
"Didn't you listen to a word he said?" Canton closed his eyes shut in frustration and then re-opened them. "I can't save Santos without him".
"He's bluffing! I know he is."
"He can't lie, Errot." Canton rubbed at his face.
"Isn't it obvious? He's found a way to alter the truth. He's vicious. He has bad intentions."
"Either way, I can't risk Santos' life." He sounded irritated again.
"Canton, do you still love him? Do you still care about him? He said you never even broke up with him." I kept my eyes on him. "The only reason why you kept me alive in the first place was because I look like him. He's right."
"Why are you doing this right now, Errot? Why right now."
"Because I feel like I live in his shadow. That's why. I feel like I was just the excuse for you to try and fill the void he left behind. Because ever since I came here you're only trying to replace him with me. I'm simply the rebound. You gave me his room. I was wearing his clothes...you always compare us. You didn't even trust me with such an important secret of yours. You had so many chances to tell me about Elvina and you never did."
"That is a secret only Santos, Tristian and Adan are aware of. Nobody else knows. Not even Elian. Adan learned about it by accident and Santos had to know because of his position."
"If it's such an incredible fucking secret, why did you tell Tristian?"
Canton exhaled to calm himself down and then spoke up, his voice low. "You are not a rebound."
I scoffed.
"It started like this. At first, I genuinely thought of you as his replacement." He looked at me. "But then, I got to know you. Errot, you are nothing like Tristian. You are kind, caring. You know how to love. This." He gestured between us. "Is what I want. You." He pointed his finger at me. "You are who I want."
I looked down at my feet and started fidgeting.
Canton shook his head, upset. "Cant you see what he's trying to do? He hasn't even been here for a total of sixty minutes and he already made us fight. He has his way with words. He's manipulative. Do not fall into his trap."
I crossed my arms against my chest, my gaze still stuck on the ground. "I just want him gone. I don't trust him."
Canton sighed audibly and decided to lay down on the bed and close his eyes.
I approached him. "What's this letter about?"
"I don't know. Don't really care." Canton mumbled.
"I'll read it for you." I grabbed the letter from Canton's hand and opened it, eager to distract my mind from Tristian's arrival.
The moment I reached the bottom line of this letter, I wanted to just drop on the bed with Canton and sleep until Tristian disappeared for good.
But I'm well aware that I can't do that. So, instead, I took a breath and looked at Canton whose eyes were still closed.
"Quinn and Cress demand an audience in two days. They don't sound very enthusiastic."
Canton wasn't talking.
"Canton?"
"What happened to nothing could go wrong, now." He said, his voice muffled and low.
I sat on the bed and removed a bit of hair that fell into his face. "He will just stay here, help you make the spell and then leave. How long could that possibly last?"
"God, you're doing this again. Don't you ever learn?" Canton groaned.
"Alright, I'll just shut up."
"Good."
I begun trailing my hand down his pants, in a teasing way and rested it right on top of his crotch.
He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at me. "What are you doing?"
"It's still my birthday, you know." I gave him a hesitant smirk and unbuttoned his pants.
Canton took a hold of my hand and stopped me. "I don't..." He looked around. "I don't feel like doing anything when I know that he's only one room away. Wanna get out of here? Please let's just get out of here."
My smirk slightly fell. "Yeah, sure." I removed my hand. "Where should we go?"
"What about the house in the woods?" He suggested.
"Sounds like a plan"
Canton grabbed my hand and led us towards the door when Tristian suddenly appeared behind us.
"Canton, are you leaving?" His tone was a bit accusatory.
We both stopped walking and turned around to face him, our hands still intertwined.
"Yeah. Goodbye, Tristian." Stern.
"No, wait. You can't go. We need to start working on it as soon as possible, our time is running out."
"It can wait a few hours." He said coolly.
"The sooner we do this, the sooner I'll leave."
I glanced at Canton and sighed. "It's okay. I'll go find Oda and spend some time with her"
A few seconds later, Canton nodded. "We'll still have the night for ourselves. Okay?"
Tristian rolled his eyes, dramatically.
I grinned at Canton and purposely leaned in to give him a kiss. "Of course."
I threw one last glare at Tristian and made my way towards Oda's room, ready to fill her in about all the ways I've thought on how to make Tristian suffer a long, painful death.
♛♛♛
"My lab.." Tristian was sporting a huge grin on his face, his eyes examining every single corner of his old laboratory.
"It's not your lab" Canton said sternly.
Tristian fixed his gaze on Canton, his grin gradually falling. "It seems untouched. And rightfully so, because it belongs to me."
"No." Canton begun feeling irritated. "Nothing and no one in this castle belongs to you. You lost that privilege when you up and left that night."
"Hm. Canton..." Tristian sighed, his face softening. "I know it will feel useless now..but I'm sorry. I'm truly-"
Canton placed a hand in front of him to prevent him from talking more. "You're right. It is useless. An apology from you one thousand years later means absolutely nothing to me."
Tristian looked down. "For what it's worth..every minute away from here was torture for me" He mumbled .
"Then why the fuck did you leave?" Canton raised his voice.
Tristian snapped his head at him, quite shocked that Canton would ever yell at him. "This is a conversation we can't have right now."
Canton scoffed.
"But..maybe..tonight? After we're done with this"
"I do not wish to have a conversation with you. I simply want you gone." He said coolly.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me. At least not yet...but can you please give me a chance to explain myself to you?"
Canton stayed silent.
"You deserve to know the truth" Tristian mumbled.
Canton rolled his eyes. "Well, not tonight. My boyfriend and I have plans." Cold.
"Your boyfriend.." Tristian said sarcastically. "You know..when our pet dies..we sometimes buy another one that looks exactly like the one we had before so we can pretend it never died in the first place."
"What would you know about it, Tristian?" His tone now angry.
"You think I never loved you?" Tristian was the one to raise his voice now. "Well, you're wrong. You're fucking wrong. I just wanted you to wake up. All those cruel things you did while I was gone? This is the king this dimension deserves. This is the king everyone admires and loves. The old you was--" he closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them again. "Come with me tomorrow. For a walk. Outside the castle." He sounds eager. "Please."
"I don't know what you're trying to achieve with this walk..but I want you to know that I'm in love with Errot and Errot only. That will not change. Not now, not ever."
Tristian chuckled humorlessly. "Can't say that I'm not hurt by your words but..." He looked at him. "..okay. A simple walk is all it will ever be."
Canton nodded, his face dark. "And you don't have the right to be hurt."
"You're right. I don't." Tristian coughed once.
Then twice.
He started coughing uncontrollably.
Canton's eyes widened a bit.
Tristian rushed to the sink and begun throwing up blood.
A mixture of black and red.
Canton's eyes widened more at the sight.
He then gulped inaudibly and looked away.
Tristian is panting now, his breathing a bit heavy.
After calming down, he immediately washed his mouth clean and removed the blood from the sink, erasing every clue that makes him look like a human being.
"You're really dying." Canton mumbled under his breath, his body slightly tensed.
Tristian rubbed a bit at his chest, the pain visible on his face. "I can't lie, Canton. You know that".
Canton exhaled and changed the subject. "What do you know about the spell?"
ERROT
"Are you really dying? Is this bitch telling the truth?" Elvina asked Santos, a mixture of anger and worry portrayed on her face.
Oda was awfully quiet, staring at her feet and not saying a word the whole time.
I was pacing back and fourth on the girl's room, running a hand through my hair repeatedly, not being able to calm myself down at the thought of Canton and Tristian being alone together right now.
Santos rolled his eyes. "You weren't supposed to know." He sighed. "Nobody was supposed to know" he mumbled.
"Nobod-- what was the plan, Santos? To just suddenly die?"
"Maybe I wouldn't mind.."
Oda snapped her eyes at Santos.
"What?" Elvina asked, visibly shocked.
"I have to go find my king. He can't be alone with that thing, right now"
"You're not going anywhere. Canton is not a little kid, he can protect himself. But who will protect you? You're not letting anyone come close. It's frustrating. You're my best friend and I had no fucking idea that you are dying."
"Well, we might not be as close as you think we are."
Elvina's eyes widened, her mouth gaping.
She looks speechless.
"If we were, you'd already know that I've been in love with you for more than four hundred years now."
Oda closed her eyes shut and started rubbing at her forehead.
I, on the other hand, stopped pacing around and turned to look at Santos and Elvina, my attention suddenly drawn to the pair.
I can safely say that I haven't seen Elvina so incredibly appalled before.
This very heavy silence that followed after his confession almost made me want to laugh but I held myself back.
Elvina looked down.
"You haven't been a friend to me for a very long time, Elvina. I can't possibly see you as a friend"
She cupped her face with her palms, a habit I now realised that runs into the Alastair DNA.
Siblings...
Of course they're siblings. The resemblance is uncanny.
I can clearly see Canton in her right now. The hair, the facial expressions, the eyes, the way they move, act. They even talk the same, sometimes.
How could I be so stupid not to notice it earlier.
"Why..." She whispered. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"It wouldn't make a difference"
"You don't know that"
Santos scoffed. "I'm dying anyway. It doesn't matter anymore."
"You're not. Tristian and Canton will create a spell. A cure. You will not die. I won't let you. Canton won't let you"
Santos rolled his eyes.
You could cut the tension in here with a knife.
I glanced at Oda who had an unreadable expression on her face.
Santos turned around and hurried out of the room.
Oda immediately got up and followed him out, earning a big frown from me.
It was then that I realised that I was alone with my boyfriend's scary and visibly upset sister.
"I should probably..-" I trailed.
"No. I will go. Stay here and wait for your friend to come back". She said and left the room quicker than I could think of a reply.
ODA
"Santos, wait up." I grabbed at his arm to stop him from sprinting further away from me.
He turned around abruptly, frustration making his whole body tensed.
"What do you want, Oda?" He snapped at me.
I opened my mouth to talk when I realised that I didn't even know what I wanted to say to him in the first place.
Santos rolled his eyes at me and started walking away again.
"You won't die." I blurted out.
He came to a halt and slowly turned to face me.
I crossed my arms against my chest, suddenly feeling a bit..odd. Out of place.
"Canton saved you once. He will do it again."
"Why do you even care?"
I frowned "What? I-" my frown deepened. "I don't. I just.." my arms fell to my sides "I know how it feels to be so close to death."
"Yeah well, it's not my first time. I'll be fine" he mumbled.
"...it was brave." I looked at him. "What you said"
A scowl appeared on Santos' face. "What's wrong with you today?"
"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with me" I defended.
"Something's definitely wrong with you. Just leave me alone."
"Elvina's right. I can see why nobody can get close to you. You hated me from the beggining and I hadn't even done anything to you. You push people away from you all the time. It's entirely your fault".
"And so? What if it is? This is not your life. It's mine. Let me do whatever the fuck I want to do with it".
"Not when you're destroying it!"
"Why do you care?!"
I shook my head at him. "You're a freaking piece of work"
And with that, I was gone without waiting for a reply I knew would never come.
♛♛♛
"Santos." Canton said as soon as he spotted him outside on his way back to his room, Tristian on his side.
Santos got up from the bench he was sitting at and bowed at Canton, his head lowered down in respect.
He didn't throw a single glance towards Tristian's way.
"I'm glad you're here. We need to talk"
"Of course, your highness" Santos mumbled.
Tristian looked at Canton.
"Tomorrow morning." Canton said sharply.
Tristian nodded. "Goodnight, Cant." He tried a smile and walked away from them.
Canton's jaw and fists were clenched.
"King Ca-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" He interrupted Santos, sounding pretty passive agressive.
"You've already done a lot for me" Santos said, feeling small.
"You didn't inform me that you're dying because I've 'done a lot for you'?"
"Yes." He simply said.
"You do realise how stupid that sounds, right?"
"I didn't..want to be a dead weight to you".
"I don't know about the weight but you would definitely be fucking dead" Canton's eyebrows were furrowed.
"I'm sorry" Santos mumbled. "I'm sorry I-.." he looked at Canton. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
Canton exhaled. "Santos I don't say this about a lot of people.. but I care" he rolled his eyes at himself. "I care about you." He looked at him in the eye. "Help me help you. Don't shut me out."
Santos turned his head to the side in slight shame and Canton started making his way towards his bedroom wanting nothing more than to end this exhausting day with Errot on his arms.
ERROT
I kept checking the time on my phone, as if it would make Canton magically appear in front of me.
He never did.
Just as I was about to give up and go to sleep the door opened.
But it wasn't who I expected to be.
I rolled my eyes at his presence.
"My doppelgänger" Tristian smiled at me.
"Where's Canton?"
"On his way. He's already exhausted. I suggest you take special care of him".
"Don't tell me what to do."
"Don't you wanna please him? I have a few tips for you."
"I don't need any tips from you." I said, anger taking me over.
"He loves it when somebody teases him." He took a step closer. "When somebody touches him all over" Another step. "His weak spot is right behind his ear." And another. "He loves it rough." He was finally only a step away from me. He looked at me dead in the eye. "Trust me on this. I would know." He whispered, his gaze intense and his smile intimidating.
It wasn't until he uttered that last thing that I lost complete control of myself and punched his smirk away from his face, as hard as I could.
His eyes widened and he immediately touched at his nose, a bit of blood streaming down from it and landing to his lips.
His shocked face turned into a furious one that would have froze my blood completely if it wasn't for the hatred I felt for this person.
Canton decided to walk in at the perfect time, right when we were about to challenge each other into a death match.
"What's going on here?" He asked and Tristian turned around to face him.
Canton glanced at his bloody nose and frowned. He then looked at me. "What happened?"
"He happened. You should really put a leash on your dog, Canton, I'm pretty sure he has rabies" Tristian glared at me, his shirt now covering his nose so it could prevent the blood from running down.
"What did you say to him, Tristian?"
"Why are you blaming me? He's the one that punched me"
"Not without a reason, I'm sure" Canton defended me.
"Well, you know what they say" he looked at me. "If the shoe fits..." he turned to look back at Canton. "Jealousy comes after mistrust. It's not my fault that Errot doesn't trust you enough to keep your dick in your pants" Tristian ended his speech and stormed inside his room leaving Canton and I alone at last.
"Errot.." he started.
"He keeps throwing in my face the fact that he had you first, Canton. He's dying to sound like has the upper hand in this."
"Why are you letting him get to you? Maybe he's right, maybe you don't trust me enough"
"I do trust you but-"
"It's been a thousand years. Literally. Let it go"
"I can't let it go when I have a strong feeling that you haven't"
"Well, there's nothing I can do to convince you." Canton mumbled.
"No. There is something you can do. Look at me in the eye and tell me that you don't care about him, at all. That you don't care that he's here, that you don't care that he's dying. Tell me that and I will never bring this topic up again"
Canton stayed unmoving.
"Do it." I pushed.
He then raised his gaze up to my face and met my own.
He kept staring at me, his face unreadable but his body stiff.
But he wasn't uttering a word.
I waited.
I gave him time.
But he never spoke up.
I nodded at him, feeling my legs starting to tremble a bit.
I turned around, not being able to look at him in the eye anymore.
And when he finally started talking, his voice was low and dark, reminding me of the wicked king I met a few months ago.
"The fact that I might still find it in me to care about him, doesn't make me love you less"
"I'm sorry but... that's not quite enough for me"
I walked out of our room hating myself, hating Canton and hating the fact that Tristian was probably behind his door eavesdropping, while wearing the biggest smile on his face.
♛