{SONG: Paint it black by The Rolling Stones (cover)}
CANTON
I'm getting really heavy.
Today I woke up with a sensation of complete powerlessness.
I open my eyes and the room is spinning and I close them shut and it still won't stop spinning.
Dare I move, I'll probably collapse.
I'm sweating rapidly from the high fever that refuses to fall.
I weakly moved my palm on top of my heart and squeezed at the clothing to ease the scortching-hot burning I felt against my chest.
I noticed that my heartbeat was beating at a slower pace today.
Dizzy.
I'm so dizzy.
I breathed in and I felt as if my whole system was shutting down, organ by organ, limb by limb.
Slowly.
Torturously.
When did breathing become so difficult?
"..-not responding"
That noise resembled a faded echo of a voice that was so far away.
I struggled to make out the words I was distantly hearing.
"Canton, can you-...."
I blinked.
I had to blink various times for my vision to clear.
It finally did.
A worried looking Errot appeared in front of me, my sister on his side.
"Can you hear us? Are you there, Canton?" Errot asked, his voice almost wavery.
I swallowed. "Hey.."
He rejoiced once he heard me addressing him. "Cant..seems that you're still feverish"
"And trembling. Want another blanket?" Elvina intervened.
I glanced at her. She looks serious. Maybe a little held back.
"No.. it's okay.." I managed to say.
Elvina and Errot shared a look.
"Want to eat anything?" She asked.
I shook my head in disagreement. "Can you.." my voice came out low. ".. help me drink some tea? Makes me relax.."
Elvina immediately grabbed the cup of tea that Tristian had brought me once again and carefully helped me take a few sips.
But Errot's eyes got wide all of a sudden.
"Elvina, stop" he said, the terror visible on his eyes.
Elvina frowned and turned to look at him.
"Stop! Put it down!"
She instantly removed the cup from my lips and placed it on my bedside table.
Errot was still wide-eyed. "Canton, you said Tristian is on kitchen duties. How long has he been preparing food and drinks for you?"
"Around..two months now" I uttered and Elvina froze.
"Canton you begun coughing before the heat..." She said as calmly as she could, her body still stiff.
"That's true..I..I heard you cough on that meeting too. Before the accident" Errot added, his gaze guided by fear.
"What..what are you saying..? That Tristian.." I murmured and touched at my head which was reeling.
"Has been poisoning you" Elvina completed my sentence, horrified.
"And it didn't catch on you quickly because you have some sort of immunity by it. And it should have taken longer for it to affect you, so he must have been using heavy poison. Poison that he, himself, might have created" Errot wasn't talking to me anymore. He was staring at Elvina.
She begun pacing around the room, the tention obvious with every step she took.
I don't have the energy to react in any way.
My heart isn't even racing in fear.
In fact, I believe it's beating even slower than before.
It's getting extremely blurry again.
I keep blinking to shake it away.
"I'm going to notify Elian, maybe he can-"
"The magic system is shut down. It isn't working, Errot"
"Damn it, that bastard!" Errot ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
"Let's go find him. Make him confess. Force him to find a cure" she took her knives out, one for each hand.
Errot nodded furiously.
"Wait..Elvina, a word.." I mumbled as loudly as I could, so she would hear me.
She thankfully did and looked in my direction.
"It's alright, stay. I'll talk to Tristian"
"Make it quick, Errot"
"I will" Errot focused his gaze on me for a few seconds and pulled the knife I gave him out. He nodded at me, his face serious and sprinted out of my bedroom.
No one's POV
Elian walked back inside his bedroom, looking defeated that he couldn't find Tristian anywhere.
Until he looked up.
There Tristian was, having a conversation with Quinn and Cress.
They all glanced at Elian at once.
Elian's gaze was focused on Tristian. "Mr Valder, finally. May I have a word?"
"You want to talk to me?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't your last name 'Valder'?"
"It is"
"Then, yes. I want to talk to you"
Tristian threw a quick glance at Quinn and Cress.
He then sighed and proceeded on approaching Elian, arms crossed against his chest.
"I'm listening"
Elian gave him a fake smile. "Not here"
Tristian returned that fake smile. "Then where?"
Elian grabbed Tristian by the arm and dragged him to their room's main bathroom.
"Drag me one more time and I-"
"You'll what? Poison me?"
Tristian blinked and then a smirk formed on his lips.
"Wouldn't that be unfortunate?"
Elian took a hold of Tristian's shirt and pushed him against the wall hard.
His gaze was threatening. "The cure. Now"
Tristian's smirk only grew wider "there is no cure, Elian"
"Bullshit!"
"No, really. I made this incredibly dangerous poison and I never cared to look for a possible cure. Cause I didn't want the cure. What I want is for Canton to die. And it seems that my wishes are getting fulfilled"
Elian's ears have turned red from anger. He pushed him harder. "Why? Why would you want that? There was a time you were in love with him, damn it! Did you forget?"
"I was in love with the self-created version of Canton in my head. Of who he could be. The real him can never be the king Ink Blood deserves. But I can. And I will"
Elian frowned and slowly released Tristian.
Tristian placed his hand inside his pocket and took a paper out.
He showed it to Elian with a smug grin on his face. "Marriage certificate. Signed by the king himself. We are officially joined in holy matrimony"
Elian took a step back, fear signing bright on his eyes.
The shock has frozen him dead on his spot.
He can only inspect the certificate over and over again in great disbelief.
Amusement is dancing on Tristian's features. "And with my beloved husband dead.."
"You will be announced the next king of Ink Blood and he won't be there to end it..." Elian stated, his eyes still widened and glued on that paper.
Tristian placed that certificate back on his pocket, "ah, the intelligence of the Moccassins never fails to amaze me"
Elian was unmoving and unblinking as he was trying to process the situation.
Tristian patted his shoulder twice, "have a nice day, king Elian"
Tristian exited the bathroom with a mischievous grin on his face.
CANTON
Elvina approached me and sat next to me.
She cupped her hand to mine.
"Tristian is counting his hours. You're cured and he dies. End of story" she squeezed at it.
I gave her a weak smile. "El.."
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Elvina asked, looking excessively nervous.
"I never...said it back" I whispered as loudly as my voice would take me.
"Said what back? What are you talking about?"
I gulped. "I couldn't have asked for a better sister..."
Her eyes widened a bit.
"And..I know Ink Blood will be in..good hands if you take the crown" I paused to catch my breath. "That is..only if you want"
"There's no need. You will be cured and you will take your place back"
I shook my head. "If it was really a poison he just made.." I took a brief breath, "there's no way for the cure to be found in the next hour.."
Elvina looked down. She lowered her voice. "don't say that, Canton..you have more than an hour.."
I squeezed her hand gently "hey.."
She looked at me and bit at her lip.
"It's okay if I don't" I managed to murmur.
Elvina threw herself into me and embraced me into a hug.
I placed my arms around her in a slow manner.
"I know I rarely hug you. I should have given you more hugs...I- I should have told you happy birthday every year..I-"
"El.." I let out a weak cough, "I preferred you when you pointed a knife against my throat" I said almost under my breath, as teasingly as I could master.
Elvina let out a muffled noise that could have been a laugh or a scoff in the verge of tears.
Her phone suddenly begun ringing.
She pulled away from me and picked it up. "Elian"
No one's POV
Errot was sprinting towards Canton's bedroom to inform the siblings of Tristian's absence when he came into a halt, as soon as he got inside.
His eyes widened in horror. "What? Canton, what are you doing?" He moved closer, "where's Elvina?"
"I-I needed to see you now" Canton whispered through the excruciating exhaustion. He had gathered all of his remaining energy to get up from his bed and take a few steps towards the door.
"No, you should get back to bed. You'll see me in a few. I can't find Tristian anywhere" Errot urged him towards his bed.
Canton grabbed him faintly by his arm to stop him. He begun staring into Errot's eyes intensely. "Please. Don't push me away.." his whole body was shaking, head to toe.
Errot stared back, his face softening at Canton's words. "I'm not pushing you away..but you're sick, you can't be standing--I can clearly see you're barely standing u-"
Before Errot was able to finish his sentence, Canton placed all his weight on him, wrapping his arms around Errot in the process. "Hold me"
Errot did just that.
Canton's body was unintentionally pushing Errot down, resulting to both of them now sitting on the floor, Canton laying gently on Errot's arms.
"Canton.." a pung of sudden worry made his heart beat slightly faster. "Why are you-" he took a brief breath. "Why are you laying like that on the floor. Let's move you back to be-"
"Errot" Canton's voice was barely above a whisper now but he still managed to look at him in the eye. "I'm sorry for ever hurting you, will you forgive me?"
"What?" An unwanted tear slipped down Errot's cheek, a bad feeling creeping up inside him.
Canton's exact position on his arms reminded Errot of his father the day that he died, the scene now playing in front of him, making him nauseous.
"It wasn't my intention to.." he gulped. "to hurt you"
Errot's breathing became a bit rugged. "I know. Don't apologize, please, why are you apologising? Of course I forgive you"
"will you.." audible breathing. "Keep an eye on Elvina for me?" He kept trembling.
"You'll keep an eye on Elvina. You're not going anywhere. Do you hear me?" His voice broke. "You're not dying, Canton. You're not dying" He tightened his grip on him.
"I'm happy..that I'm i-in your arms..right now" he whispered in bits, the action difficult.
Errot could see the life slipping away from Canton's emerald green eyes which were slowly closing on their own accord.
"No. Open your eyes. Keep them open!" Errot positioned him higher on his arms, his one hand wrapped around Canton's body tightly and the other now on Canton's cheek.
Canton gulped once again and managed to hold on to Errot a bit longer, his eyes now mid-way opened.
"I.." he spoke in almost muted tones. "I love you"
Errot shook his head in disbelief, his tears now falling from his eyes and landing on Canton's shirt. "Don't say it like it's a goodbye, don't do this to me. Don't go, please, don't give up"
Errot watched as Canton's chest barely heaved up one last time, helping him take his very last breath.
He watched as Canton exhaled all the air that he had managed to gather his last seconds alive, his eyes freezing on Errot's face and his body gradually going limp against his arms.
He stopped shaking at last.
Errot let his head fall back as he squeezed his eyes shut, allowing all his tears to run free.
"No" a trembling whisper. "Not again"
He re-opened his eyes and pulled Canton's now lifeless body against his chest.
He held on him as tight as he could, burying his head on Canton's neck.
"I love you too" he sobbed. "More than you could have ever known"
He took a few quick breaths to ease the pain that was only growing stronger every passing second that Canton wasn't moving. "You don't d-deserve this" He squeezed at his body even tighter."why aren't you waking up, damn it, wake up!"
Errot's sudden movement made Canton's crown drop from his head and fall to the cold floor with a sound so loud and so deafening, that the world around Errot came into a stop for a few seconds.
It wasn't until the crown became still against the ground that Errot realised that he wasn't taking any breaths for a few very long seconds.
He breathed in and then breathed his next words out. "It's not fair"
When his father died, Errot didn't have the opportunity to stay there and hold him.
He didn't have the time to mourn him and cry for him and his lost soul.
He only had time to run.
But he didn't run this time.
He stayed there for a little bit longer.
He held him for a little bit longer.
Even when his body was slowly losing it's warmth.
Even when the green of his eyes, that he had grown to love so much, was fading into a dull, dry colour.
Errot shakingly placed his palm on Canton's eyes and closed them with tears still on his own.
So he remained there, unmoving, his sobbing making his throat close multiple times.
He remained there for hours, latching on to what was left of Canton until the exhaustion took over him.
He heard some voices and words but everything turned black before he had the chance to react to them.
Black. The colour that Canton loved and bled.
He had finally found peace.
Errot's dreams that night were filled with all of their happy memories.
♛♛♛
Tristian walked inside his room with a satisfied and hopeful grin plastered all over his face.
He walked over to his desk, poured a glass of wine for himself and begun searching through his pockets for the marriage certificate that Canton had signed for him. He wanted to take a look at it again. To get a hold of his new, immense power, now officially shielded by Canton's death.
But he couldn't find it.
He paused for a second and then searched again, paying more attention at the task now.
The paper was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for this?"
Elvina's figure emerged from the dark of what used to be Canton's bedroom, through the door that connected the two rooms together.
She was holding the certificate on her hand, the tone of her voice deadly.
Tristian snapped his head at Elvina and the paper on her hand.
"Give that to me, Elvina"
"Good thing, my friend here can turn into a shadow and steal from people without them ever noticing"
Santos suddenly appeared next to Elvina, matching her murderous expression.
Tristian raised his eyebrows, shocked.
"Are you shocked because he's back from where you sent him or because he stole your only hope in happiness from you?"
Tristian removed his gaze from Santos and redirected it back at Elvina.
This time he seemed furious. "I said. Give that back to me, right now"
Elvina looked at him in the eye and ripped the paper in half.
Tristian stilled and his heart dropped to his knees. "What did you do" he whispered.
Elvina took a needle out of her pocket and begun taking a few steps towards him, while silent.
Tristian instantly noticed what she was holding and rushed to the main door of his room to escape.
He ran until his body collided with Elian's.
"Why the rush, Mr Valder?" Elian pressed his own needle against Tristian's arm and emptied it's content inside his body.
The entirety of his body, except from his head, got paralyzed straight away.
He fell to the floor with a loud bang, not being able to move at all from his neck and down.
"No...no" he whispered terrified.
Elian crossed his arms against his chest and stared at a helpless Tristian laying on the floor.
Elvina crouched down on top of him and forced his head towards her, so he would look at her.
"You look scared, Tristian"
Tristian pulled a face of disgust. "fuck you"
She grabbed Tristian by the throat and and used both of her hands to apply a great amount of pressure on it, forcing his respiratory tract to close.
Tristian begun gasping for air, his eyes wide open in absolute panic.
She chuckled humorlessly. "Are you perhaps scared that you will be dead in a few minutes and you can't do anything about it?"
Elvina kept pressing at his carotid arteries hard making Tristian look horrified.
Elvina scoffed. "Look at you, of course you are. And I'm so glad. I'm so glad because now you get to feel what my brother felt a few hours ago. He was dying. He knew life was slipping away from him and he wasn't able to do a thing. He could only endure and wait. And now it's finally your turn. It's your turn to fall into despair. Your turn to get tortured to death"
The more Tristian tried to breathe, the harder she was choking him.
"You spent your whole life being in love with yourself. Selfish. Selfish bastard. Do you know what happens to self-centred people? They die alone, with nobody to mourn for them" she pressed harder and Tristian's agonizing gasps started getting quieter. "Canton might not be alive anymore but his memory will always live on. He has people that care for him, adore him" her voice broke as a few tears escaped again. "Something you don't have. Cause nobody gives a shit about you."
Tristian's widened eyes moved sideways for a few seconds, looking around him, falling into Elian's and Santos' icey cold faces. They didn't move an inch. They did absolutely nothing to help him.
Tristian redirected his gaze at Elvina, his face gradually turning pale.
Elvina was staring right back at him.
"This is for him. This is for my brother. For taking him away from me. You had no right!" She squeezed harder at his neck.
Tristian tried to take a final breath but his heart eventually gave up on trying to keep him to life.
No sound was coming from him anymore.
Nothing was moving.
He was dead.
"You had no fucking right!" Elvina cried out even if Tristian wasn't able to hear her anymore.
She released his neck and begun punching at his chest with her fists. "Why..why did you have to do that..why" she was sobbing. "What did he ever do to y-you"
Santos ran a hand through his hair and walked out of the room in a rush, his breathing quite audible.
Elian approached Elvina and forced her away from Tristian's dead body, a saddened, mourning expression on his face. Like a black veil covering him whole. "It's over, Elvina" he mumbled darkly.
Elvina was shouting and trying to free herself from his hug and continue lashing out at Tristian but Elian held her tighter.
A few seconds was all it took for her to stop resisting him and break down on his arms.
EPILOGUE
Errot slowly opened his eyes. His head felt very light but his body extremely heavy. He closed and opened them again trying to adjust to the light.
The light? Errot frowned.
Was it morning now?
Where was he?
He started looking around to catch a small glimpse of his surroundings. He noticed that he was in a very big room, with baby blue colored walls, laying on a kings sized bed. The windows were enormous. It was like those windows you see on a church, light sipping through everywhere.
He recognised this place. He was in Moccasin Blood.
The same room Elian gave him when he was shot.
Errot attempted to place a hand against his eyes to cover them from the incredibly beaming and blinding light when a very sharp pain radiated against his body, specifically his shoulder. Errot let a painful groan out and tried to touch his shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing there?"
Errot jumped at the sudden sound and immediately glanced at the person with this very familiar voice.
He would recognise those ocean blue eyes and golden curls anywhere.
Elian crossed his arms against his chest and raised an eyebrow at Errot.
"Remind me your name, please"
Errot frowned. "Elian. It's me, Errot, what's going on, what happen--" his eyes suddenly got incredibly wide. "Canton" he placed a hand against his mouth, the unpleasant memories coming back at him in waves. "Canton is dead" he whispered.
Elian's eyes widened as well. "Canton died?" He approached Errot, sitting down next to him. "Is this the last thing you remember..?"
Errot's eyes got watery. "Canton died..He died in my arms.." a tear fell. He looked at Elian. "Did I pass out? Did they move his body?" Errot got up, ignoring the slight pain on his shoulder. "I was holding him. I was holding him for hours. Where did they take him? Last thing I remember is you telling me that Elvina killed Tristian. And then...did you-- you took him from me. You took him from my arms, you-- you did this!"
"Elvina killed Tris--" Elian blinked and then grabbed at Errot's arm to stop him. "Hey. Errot. Sit down, we need to talk"
"No! I don't want to talk, I want to go back to Ink Blood" more tears begun streaming down his face. "I want to go back" his tearful gaze fell on Elian. "Take me back, please" he whispered.
"Errot, Canton is not dead. At least, not yet. Please sit down, there is something you need to know"
"What?" Errot sat back down. "I saw him, he died. He didn't have a heartbeat, what are you talking about? Tristian poisoned him and-"
Elian looked intrigued and maybe a little fascinated. "Tristian. Not surprised"
Errot felt incredibly startled. He stared at Elian doe-eyed.
Elian stared back to gauge his reaction to what he was about to confess. "Errot, everything you saw and think you lived after getting shot at the borders is actually..the future"
Errot froze.
"You are a diviner. In simpler words, a psychic. You were born with the gift to foresee the future. The ability was supposed to get awakened by a shocking incident for you, hence the wound on your shoulder and it was supposed to die also by a shocking incident. Which I believe it was king Canton's death. It is a once in a lifetime ability just like you are"
Errot is bewildered. He stays silent, staring wide-eyed at nothing in particular.
"Our world was fortunately blessed with the existence of prophets and diviners. Prophets are very common in Mocassin Blood. They can't exactly predict the whole future. They are able, however, to announce different prophecies. One of their prophecies was about the next diviner. Every one thousand years, a person like you is born. You understand, handsome, that you are incredibly rare. Our prophet provided us with an excellent detailed description of you. I knew your date of birth, your name, your parents, your dimension, your address...I knew everything about you. I've been actually monitoring your every move since you were brought to life. Shooting you was intentional. I wanted to see it with my very own eyes..." Elian was staring at Errot, pleasantly shocked.
"This...is this why you were-- you've told me that you were watching me this whole time..."
"Fascinating.." Elian's eyes are lit up with excitement, "From my point of view, this is the first time you and I have a conversation"
Errot blinked. "So it had nothing to do with me being Tristian's doppelgänger.."
"No, that was the icing in the cake. And a very unpleasant icing at that"
Errot felt excessively shocked "That means that he's alive.. he's actually alive"
"Alive and pissing all the other dimensions off, yes" Elian was smirking.
Errot looked at Elian "I know you are in love with him"
Elian's face fell.
"I've seen how you look at him and I know what he offers you in return for information"
Elian cleared his throat while Errot was just dumbfounded with all this new power.
He strained his brain for everything he's learned this year. Everything he saw.
His future.
"Wait-" Elian started.
"I know about the curses, Alastair, the Lyttletons, Tristian..I know what he did. I know how he murdered Canton" his eyes snapped at Elian. "Can I stop it? Can I change the future?" Errot looked eager, slightly nervous.
"Errot...you are a diviner. You own your future. You can do anything with it. That's why you are so special.. that's why you are so rare. And that's why I moved heaven and earth to protect you. To keep you alive. My team and I stood guard day and night by your side. Have you ever heard of guardian angels?" Elian winked.
Errot gulped. He shot up from the bed, determined.
"I have to find Canton"
Elian got up as well. "No"
Errot stopped and turned around to face Elian.
"Do you understand how powerful you are right now? You hold all of our lives in your hands"
Errot's heart was beating fast.
"You have to be very careful of how you alter your future because you might end up changing it for the worse. Telling Canton could possibly have awful consequences. Remember that he doesn't know who you are"
"...so, what do you suggest?"
"Play it smart. Go along with your future until it doesn't suit you anymore" Elian's grin was wide. "Game over, Errot White. Want to start again?"
♛