{Tortured Soul by Chord Overstreet}
ERROT
"Do you understand why I kissed you?"
Noel nodded innocently. "Y-yes. You didn't want to get caught spying on them"
"I wasn't spying on them...I was... accidentally... eavesdropping"
Noel smiled. "Spying"
"Fine. Call it 'spying' if it helps you sleep at night"
"It does" his smile grew wider.
"Noel..I don't want you getting the wrong idea.."
"N-no!" Noel's cheeks turned pink. "You're in love with a friend of mine, I would have never.." he blushed even more.
"A friend of yours.." I looked down. "I remember you from that picture" I begun reminiscing.
"What picture?" Noel frowned.
His voice snapped me back to reality. "Hm?"
Noel chuckled. "I asked what picture?"
"Oh. It was a picture of all of you at some weird festival in Ink Blood. Or something. I do not recall the event. His siblings were still alive and Tristian was there"
"Ah. It was the annual Royal Revel"
Noel bit at his bottom lip. "I remember that"
"You were all friends?" I asked curiously.
"Yes" he paused to reconsider something. "Actually, I was never friends with Tristian. I never liked him"
I scoffed. "Slightly hard to believe that" my tone dripped sarcasm.
Noel begun fidgeting with his sleeve in an awkward manner.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Can you..." He was visibly nervous. "C-can you keep a secret?"
"Who could I possibly tell?"
"Right.. I'm sorry" he mumbled.
"Don't apologize"
"Sorr-" he stopped himself this time and blushed once more. "Okay.. I'll tell you.."
I raised my eyebrows, patiently waiting to hear what he has to say.
"Tristian was hired by Alastair with the sole purpose to..alter Canton.. in a bad way...and now..I think he's hired by the Lyttletons to do something way worse than that. I don't know a lot... but I know that Tristian was in on the plan. He drugged Elvina... And..he wouldn't do that if he didn't have anything to gain.."
I was now frowning. "Maybe he just wanted Canton back"
Noel shook his head. "Don't think so innocently of him. He's not innocent. He doesn't love anyone more than he loves himself. "
I felt the anger coming up, slowly boiling inside me. "If he hurts him.."
"That's what I'm worried about Errot.." his voice was low. "You did what you had to do to save him but...who will save him from what Tristian has in mind..?"
No one's POV
"Are you trying to hide from me, Santos?" Canton mumbled while laying down on the grass, his gaze glued to the stars that were visible on the night sky.
Santos quickly took his human form and appeared next to Canton.
"May I..?" He trailed.
Canton shrugged and Santos took his position next to Canton on the grass.
"Your highness..-" Santos started.
Canton groaned. "Just call me Canton"
"You know I can't do that.. you're my king"
"I'll still be your king if you call me by my name"
"I'm sorry...I can't.."
Canton sighed deeply. "Hiring a spy would be lovely they said"
Santos turned to look at Canton. "Your majesty, I need to talk to you.."
"And just as I thought it couldn't get worse.." Canton mumbled and rolled his eyes. "Speak"
"I'm drowning in guilt" Santos admitted fast.
"Guilt?"
"I should have exposed Errot and the spies. It's my job to protect you and I didn't have a clue"
Santos bit at his bottom lip, the worry evident on his face.
"I'm so sorry king Canton.."
A small chuckle escaped Canton's lips. "I should have guessed it from the first 'sorry' " Brief pause.
"Santos..Errot and I were attached at the hip and I thought he was in love with me. How could you have known?"
"Isn't that my job?"
"I never gave you an order to spy on the kid"
"It's still my job, regardless"
Canton begun rubbing at his forehead.
"Will you..fire me?"
Canton stopped moving altogether and then started chuckling again.
"I tried to keep a serious face for the sake of my reputation but I just couldn't" he chuckled some more.
Santos raised an eyebrow at his king. "With all due respect, are you drunk again?"
Canton rolled his eyes, a hint of slight amusement still on his face. "No, Santos. I actually haven't had a droplet of alcohol since yesterday night. Can't I just laugh without people finding it weird?"
"Of course you can. I just...it feels a bit.."
"Weird" Canton repeated as if to prove his words.
Then, as if switching his feelings off, his face turned blank and indifferent, all the playfulness from before completely gone. "Is that better for you? Do you feel the familiarity now?" he said coolly while pointing at his face.
Santos blinked "how did you do that?"
"Years of practice"
"I actually prefer the other version"
"We are sorry. The limited edition you requested expired. Subscribe to our newsletter so we can notify you when my feelings will be back in stock"
"Was that an attempt to make a joke?"
"It was all we had that was similar to the item on your wishlist"
Santos actually smirked at that.
"You should consider a career as a salesperson if you ever retire"
There was a long pause during which Canton had his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "Retire?"
It was Santos' turn to frown. He glanced at Canton. "I wasn't being serious"
"Can I do that? Can I retire?" He sounded a bit tempted.
"I believe you can..but you need to put someone else on the throne. Preferably the son you don't have"
"Who needs a son when they have a sister?"
"You fought all this time for her to stay hidden. I don't think-"
"I know" Canton sat up on the ground and looked at Santos, his green eyes dull. "I'm demolishing the monarchy"
Santos copied Canton's exact position, the expression on his face now stripped off any amusement. "Are you feeling alright?"
"What does that have to do with demolishing the monarchy?"
"You're being irrational, your highness"
"Enlighten me on why I'm being irrational"
"Let me remind you that you have countless of enemies. As soon as the crown leaves your head, your head leaves your body and no one will be able to save you from their hands"
"Hmm"
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid.."
"Do you like Tristian?" Canton changed the subject.
"Tri- where did that come from?"
"Answer the question, Saspy" he gave him a fainted smile.
Santos stared at Canton wide-eyed. "Res and Elle.." he mumbled quite shocked. "I haven't heard that nickname in years.." he hesitated a bit. "It was today, wasn't it?"
Canton nodded. "A thousand years ago today" he gulped. "On my 100th birthday.."
Santos stayed silent.
"I lost Res, I lost Elle and I also lost my mother, all on my 100th birthday"
"I remember.." Santos looked down. "Is that why you never let anyone wish you a happy birthday?" Santos mumbled a question that sounded more like a statement at the end.
"There's nothing happy about my birthday"
"Allow me to disagree but-"
"I'm not allowing you to disagree"
Santos exhaled defeated. "Is Elvina okay today?"
"We usually don't talk at all on this day. Since I've eliminated my birthday, all we are left with is the trauma, so we both deal with it separately"
"I don't think it's fair to you to destroy your birthday because of that.."
"I'm doing a favour to Elvina"
"How's that doing a favour to Elvina?"
"She won't have to put on a happy smile for me and pretend that everything's fine"
"We should always celebrate the living, king Canton. Before it's too late"
Canton ignored him. "Speaking of Elvina. Still haven't confessed?"
Santos froze a bit."...what?"
Canton scoffed. "I know that you're in love with her, Santos"
"But how did you know?" Santos felt startled.
"If the drooling didn't expose you, your stares definitely did. And it made me a bit uncomfortable if you want me to be honest. That's my sister we are talking about"
Santos remained expressionless. "I.. don't think I'm in love with her anymore.."
"Congratulations. It barely took a millennium"
Santos snorted.
"It's the blondie, isn't it?"
Santos' eyes widened.
"I didn't even say a name and you got all flustered" Canton teased.
"You don't have to say her name.." Santos mumbled under his breath.
"Yeah, well, I don't remember it anyway"
Santos now frowned. "How do you know everything?"
"It flatters me that you are under the impression that I know everything. For example I don't know if you like Tristian or not. Which brings me to the question that you never really answered in the first place. Do you like him?"
"No."
"Neither do I"
"He is no good news."
"Aha."
"He will hurt you without a second thought in order to get what he wants"
"That's true."
"Hates everyone but himself"
"Mh-hm"
"He's exactly like your late father"
Canton smirked. "Suitable for the position of the king of Ink Blood, right?"
"Exactly" Santos paused and snapped his head at Canton. "Wait, what?"
"What?"
"You're not seriously considering it.."
"Relax, Sant. It was a very accurate observation"
"King Canton..-"
Canton's phone ringing on his pocket interrupted Santos.
Canton took his phone out and accepted the call with a small frown playing on his face. "Noel?"
Santos raised an eyebrow.
"Canton! Hey! I..- I didn't think you'd answer the phone.." Noel's soft voice could be heard on the other end.
"Why are you calling me?" A beat. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alright! I know I usually text you and all..but.. it's your birthday.. and.. and I wanted to hear your voice..."
"You never call me on my birthday, idiot" Canton's frown deepened. "Cough once if you're kidnapped"
Noel laughed awkwardly and then coughed accidentally.
"That's it. Who am I killing?"
"No! God, no. It was an accident, I swear. Nobody kidnapped me" Noel chuckled. "Jesus"
"Then what is it, kid? I'm slightly busy having a very serious conversation with Santos"
Canton threw a brief glance at Santos, while Santos just rolled his eyes.
"Stop calling me a kid..you are only a few years older than me.."
"You'll always be a kid to me, kid"
A few whispers could be heard through Noel's line.
Canton raised his eyebrows "aren't you alone?"
His eyes then widened in sudden, horrifying realisation.
His expression darkened.
"Oh no, I mean- yes. Y-yes. I'm a-alone. Completely alone"
Santos looked at Canton.
"I have to go" Canton uttered coldly.
"Wait! Are you okay? H-how are you?"
"Goodnight, Noel" Canton ended the call and resisted the urge to smash his phone on the ground before placing it back on the pocket of his cloak.
"Do you think he was with him..?" Santos asked.
Canton's jaw was clenched and he was looking away. "I'm heading to sleep" he mumbled lowly and begun walking away.
Canton passed through some endless dark hallways until he reached his own floor.
He managed to take a step towards his room when he came into a sudden halt.
A few fainted giggles could be heard from his bedroom.
Giggles that definitely belong to children.
But Canton is certain that his castle isn't housing any children.
No kids have walked this castle's premises since his siblings passed away.
Confused as he was, he begun approaching the open door of his room.
"Canton is that you?" A little boy's familiar voice echoed in the darkness.
Canton froze dead, his heart skipping a few beats along the way.
"Yeah, it is! Happy birthday big bro!"
Elle exclaimed, sending Canton a few shivers down his spine.
"Res..?..Elle?" He whispered, teary-eyed and decided to keep moving forwards, the hair at the back of his neck standing out.
"Happy birthday!" Res repeated his sister's words. "We love you so much"
Canton then sprinted to his room, feeling his heart pounding on his head with every step he took.
He ran until he was finally inside, the voices of his deceased siblings now loud and clear.
It was when he came face to face with reality that he became completely and utterly immobile.
"Make a wish before you blow the candles!" Elle tugged at Canton's sleeve impatiently with a huge bright smile on her face.
Or at least that's what was happening on the video that Elvina was watching in the dark comfort of Canton's room.
Her eyes were glued on the screen, while a few waves of tears kept pouring down her cheeks, drenching her shirt in the process.
"My only wish is for you three to always be happy" Canton said while smiling genuinely at his siblings.
"No! Don't say it outloud, it won't work.." Elle whined.
Canton chuckled. "That's bullshit, love"
"What does 'bullshit' mean?" Res asked with all the innocence in the world.
"Canton, murdering you on your birthday would look bad, so please don't tempt me" Elvina pointed out while the kids giggled once again.
The tears were now burning their way down Canton's face as well even if he repeatedly tried to wipe them off with the back of his sleeve.
He gave up quickly enough and looked at Elvina who was just as devastated as him, her eyes already swollen from crying too much.
"C-Canton-" she tried, her trembling voice stopping her sentence mid-way.
Canton kneeled down next to her and pulled her into a tight hug, his one hand cupping the back of her head gently, letting her bury it against his shoulder.
"Come on, Saspy! End the video so we can all finally eat cake!" Res urged Santos.
"Alright. Say your final happy birthday's to the camera" Santos told them.
"Happy birthday, Canton!" They both yelled out in unison before the screen went black.
Elvina's sobs could now be heard throughout the awful silence that followed.
Canton was doing his best to prevent himself from completely breaking down, his bottom lip now bleeding black from biting at it too hard.
"T-three hours later a-and they were dead!" Elvina cried. "They t-took them away from us too soon"
Canton held her tighter. "I know" he almost choked on his words, his voice breaking. "I know" he whispered, not trusting himself to speak loudly this time.
♛♛♛
Approximately eight hours passed in silence.
The sun rising from it's state of sleep found Elvina pretending to be asleep on her brother's bed and Canton sitting on the floor, staring outside the window, a habit he adopted when he was a little kid and his father caged him inside those tiny cells with only source of life a dusty, old window.
"I'm sorry.."
Elvina's voice startled Canton, who was digging a deeper hole on his mind every passing minute.
He glanced at her, feeling lost for a few seconds. "Let me guess. 'you're drowning in guilt' "
"..yes?" Elvina frowned.
Canton feigned shock by letting out a small gasp. "Shut up"
"I'm serious Cant..it was your birthday and.." she closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "All those years..we haven't celebrated your birthday once.."
"As we should"
"No..and what I did last night..I shouldn't have put you through that..I should have mourned by myself as I always do" Elvina was now looking away from him, angry at her own self.
Canton exhaled deeply.
Elvina clenched her fist. "I've tried telling you happy birthday. Every single year..but the words just...- they get stuck on my tongue and I can't speak to save my life.."
Elvina breathed in. "You don't deserve that. Not from me, not from anyone"
"I clearly remember me telling you that you don't have to wish me a happy birthday. Stop making a big deal out of this. You haven't slept all night, I'm sure it's the exhaustion talking. You should rest" Canton mumbled, feeling tired himself.
A few seconds were killed in quietness.
"I don't say this a lot but... I want you to know that I love you. I couldn't have asked for a better brother" Elvina confessed.
Canton looked at Elvina and gave her a simple nod of his head. "And I couldn't have asked for a more annoying sister but here we are"
The corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. "I'm throwing a big party for you next year, okay? Enough with the crying and mourning"
Canton scoffed and shook his head. "You can't imagine how sick I am of crying"
"Said Canton Severin Alastair who wasn't shedding a tear for five hundred years straight, afraid of his own emotions" Elvina smirked.
"That was me, pre-mental breakdown number three. Now I'm going through my post mental breakdown number three phase and I'm in the process of emptying tears again so I can spend another five hundred years bottling them up"
"You need help, buddy"
"What I need is a break from being me"
"Or.. now that you're single again you could find a nice guy to spend a few nights with" Elvina suggested playfully.
"Yeah, no. Been there done that. And it failed horrendously"
"What?" Excitement made her eyes light up. "Who did you have sex with?"
Canton glanced at her, a side smile threatening to form on his face "let's see how fast I can wipe that excitement off your face"
Canton didn't give her enough time to process this when he spoke up again. "I had sex with Tristian"
Elvina's smile dropped as quickly as it appeared, causing Canton to snort. "Picture perfect"
"Tell me one good reason on why you would do that"
"I was angry, sad and he looked like.. the E-word. Did I mention I was angry?"
Elvina opened her mouth to protest but closed it right after on a second thought. She sighed. "Understandable"
"And that's not even the worst part"
"What could be worse than this?"
"The fact that I moaned E-word's name instead of his."
Elvina burst out laughing at that.
"Yeah, you're laughing but I guarantee that it wasn't funny at all when it happened. I'm still traumatized by the look he gave me"
Elvina was still trying to recover from her fit of laughter.
"The guy hasn't talked to me since"
"Ah, peace"
"If I knew that that was all it took to shut his mouth up, I would have done it sooner"
"Wouldn't blame you"
Canton breathed out and begun staring outside the window once again while Elvina's eyes were stuck on him, inspecting him closely.
"Canton?"
"Mhm?"
"You don't seem...-I mean, you look..-you don't look-" She struggled to form a complete sentence.
"Depressed? Cold? Sad? Empty? All of the above?"
Elvina nodded warily when their eyes met. "You even crack jokes and smile sometimes.. I'm a bit..worried. Are you alright?" Her eyes were filled with concern.
It was Canton's turn to chuckle but it felt slightly lifeless. "You're actually worried. This is kind of sad"
Elvina didn't know how to respond to that so she decided not to say anything at all.
"A few weeks ago, I told you that I was tired. What I meant is that I'm tired of being sad all the time. I'm tired of being cold and cruel. I'm tired of the feeling of numbness, I'm tired of panic attacks and tears and numerous sleepless nights. I'm tired of Merlots and Tristian and his plans and his evil doppelgängers..I'm tired of this position, of this stupid bloody crown, of the throne and the castle.. I'm tired of Ink Blood and the Inks and the Moccassins and the Teals and who killed who and who hurt who and revenge and betrayal and pain and robots but most importantly.. I'm sick and tired of myself. I literally don't care anymore. I don't. So, fuck it. Literally, fuck it."
Canton got up with a plain smile on his face.
"I'm going for a walk so I can watch everyone's shocked faces when I smile at them and entertain myself"
Elvina was looking at Canton unblinking.
"Goodbye, sister"
He then turned around and walked to the door but paused right before opening it. "Oh and Santos, I would appreciate it if you didn't follow me this time"
He didn't let Santos talk as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Santos appeared leaning against the wall, a puzzled expression on his face.
Elvina locked eyes with him. "Could that be considered a form of a mental breakdown?"
"An alarming one actually.." Santos mumbled while staring intensely at the now empty spot that Canton's body occupied just a few seconds ago.
"I'm following him"
"Didn't he tell you not to follow him?"
"Do you always do what your brother says?" He walked to the door.
"No, but you do"
"Not when I think his life is at stake"
Santos mumbled and turned into a shadow.
♛♛♛
"He moaned Errot's name?" Adan was sporting a sly smirk and watched as Tristian was getting dressed.
Tristian rolled his eyes while zipping his pants up "he had the audacity"
"I mean, you literally agreed on being his rebound. What did you expect?" Adan yawned and got himself more comfortable on his bed.
"Getting him to love me again is getting harder and harder" Tristian mumbled and hopped back on the bed, fully dressed this time.
"Seriously Tristian, you went away for aeons. You left him when he needed you the most. And to top it all off, you literally gave him one thousand years to think of how badly you treated him. He wasn't gonna wait for you at the door"
Tristian frowned. "Who's side are you on, Adan?"
"I'm just saying. It's normal that he doesn't want you. But I do" He smirked and leaned in for a kiss.
Tristian placed a hand against Adan's mouth to stop him. "But I need to get him back. Why couldn't he be like you?" He sighed. "So difficult" he mumbled troubled.
Adan furrowed his eyebrows. "Like me how?"
"Easy to win back"
"Did you just-"
"I thought that making that boy go away would solve ninety percent of my problems"
Adan just shrugged, slightly annoyed. "He adores Errot"
"But he adores Elvina more. I thought it would immediately work that way. What went wrong, damn it?"
"It did work. Maybe he simply doesn't want you"
Tristian threw a glare at Adan. "Are you trying to piss me off, today?"
Adan smirked. "I'm sorry, babe but you must admit that your plan is falling apart"
"It does" Tristian admitted and took a few seconds to think.
He then sighed. "I didn't want to go with the Lyttletons' plan but he's forcing my hand" he uttered with a dark twist on his voice.
Adan frowned. "The Lyttletons' plan? Didn't their plan end when they emotionally destroyed Canton?"
Tristian huffed a humorless chuckle. "God, you're so stupid"
Adan's frown deepened.
"Of course their plan wouldn't end there. And I wasn't intending to follow the second half cause it wouldn't benefit me completely. But he's making me choose the hard way"
"Which is?" Adan pushed.
Tristian looked at him. "You'll see in about..." He paused. "The annual conference of the royalties is in two months, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I have exactly two months to prepare for plan B. And I think it's gonna be just..perfect" Tristian smirked.
♛♛♛
Instead of taking walks around the castle with a smile on his face like he originally told them, Canton walked straight to Elvina's bedroom, his expression serious.
He opened the door without knocking as always, catching a naked Oda looking incredibly shocked.
Canton's face remained expressionless but he turned his head the other way in respect for Oda, who let out a gasp and desperately looked for the towel she had dropped on the bed.
She immediately wrapped it around her bare body, her eyes still widened. "I'm so sorry, your highness"
Canton looked back at her direction warily, only his one eye open at first.
When he made sure that she was fully covered, he opened both of his eyes again.
"That was not what I wanted to see first thing in the morning" he mumbled. "No offence, I just happen to have different preferences in my sexual partners" he paused. "But you can save that for someone else"
Oda frowned. "What does he have to do with anything?"
Canton almost smirked. "It wasn't gender specified, blondie"
Oda realised her mistake quickly enough so she crossed her arms against her chest and decided to change the subject "you said you wanted to talk to me, king Canton"
"Yes, indeed" he took a brief breath. "My spy informed me that you had no idea of Errot's plans against me"
"That's true"
"I thought you two told each other everything. Am I mistaken?"
Oda resisted the urge to look at Canton in the eye. "Your highness, Errot is not a bad person. He is not capable of murder. He hasn't hurt a soul in his life. Yes, when he hates someone, he hates them deeply but not to the point of killing them. I just know that he was somehow forced. Or threatened"
Canton wasn't talking for a while.
"I know."
Oda's eyes widened. "You do? You believe me?"
"It's surprising how much you can see when you are not guided by anger"
"I do not understand.."
Canton sighed. "What I mean is..that I had the whole night to think about how Errot was working with the Lyttletons this whole time but Tristian was the one that appeared out of the blue after being captured by them for a thousand years"
"So you're saying that Tristian is behind this..?" The hope could be heard behind Oda's words.
"It is a possibility that I would rather believe. And if it's true, I will need your help to prove it"
"Prove it.."
Oda trailed.
"Prove it how?"
♛