Tony appeared in a huge house that was beautifully decorated and buzzing with people. But it was like no one noticed his presence there.
His condition had worsened to the point that he could not carry his own body; he tried walking but ended up falling to the ground. But he was determined to call for help, and the more he fought, the more the pain and weakness consumed him. He fell to his knees trying to steady his unsteady breathing; it was like his lungs were burning and it hurt like hell; every inch of his body felt like it was being heated in a pan of boiling oil.
"Tony!!" A woman cried out in a loud voice, alerting the other,
The lady with similar features as him ran up to him; she had long blond hair and baby-blue eyes. She held him tightly but immediately released her grip on him when she heard him hiss out in pain. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the condition of her son: his skin was peeling off, leaving behind a mess of bloody tissues.
"Who did this to you, son?" she asked, already breaking down in tears, but Tony could not hear his mother's plea; all he did was call Rainer's name.
"Someone please take him to the healer," she cried out, almost losing it. People who heard her cry instantly came running,
No one had the guts to ask any question at that critical moment; what was important was to save his life. Tony was immediately taken to the healer, but he never stopped calling Rainers' name. A few moments later, when Tony's mother was striding to and fro anxiously in the corridor of Tony's room.
She hadn't seen her son for a month, and now that she did t was now in this condition she finds him in. She was scared, angry, and confused. She was facing turmoil within herself, and it was killing her; she was worried about losing her child. She couldn't stop the tears that kept spilling from her eyes and the negative voice that kept whispering in her ears.
The healer came out of a room, making the woman rush towards her. But she froze when she saw the apologetic look on her face.
"Speak," She ordered,
"M-my queen... I think your son had gone to the cold desert; that is why he ended up like that." The healer trembled in fear under the gaze of the queen.
"So how is he?" she asked with fear dancing in her eyes; the answer was right there in front of her, but she chose not to believe it.
"My queen... I think you already have the answer to your question; no one with such injuries has ever made it out of that desert alive; I'm sorry, but your son is... the prince is dead."
A lone tear fell from her eyes as she heard these heartbreaking words. Her mind knew all along, but her heart kept refusing to accept the truth, even if it was very obvious. But as a queen, she has to be strong for her people, but one thing is for sure: she won't let her son die alone.
"My, Queen, I think he followed that girl, Rainer, to the desert."
"Yes, it's a shame that she's already dead."
"What about the plane?" "Should we put it on hold?"
"No, everything will go just the way we planned it." The sacrifice has been made, so now we have the blessings of the desert. Tell the warriors to get ready. "You may leave now." Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone got the instruction.
"Yes, your highness," and with that everyone had dispersed, leaving the Queen all alone with her dead son,
She walked closer to where her son's body lay; his skin was beyond recognizable but his right hand was balled and refused to open for some strange reason. Thinking of the amount of pain he must have passed through broke her heart. She fell on her knees close to her son's bedside, holding onto his hands as she wailed bitterly.
"Tony, my son, I won't let you go so soon," she said, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.
She began mumbling some incorrect words; the lights in the room all went off at the same time. After a little while, a warm, soft glow lit the once-dark room. Toney's body was covered with a crystal to prevent it from decaying. His mother placed a gentle kiss on the crystal before leaving the room, and when she walked outside, a woman was already waiting for her; it was Rainer's stepmother, Stella.
"I came as soon as I heard the news. I'm sorry for what happened to your son; it's so unfortunate. But I don't want you making drastic discussion concerning our plan,"
"Stella, between the both of us, who is the queen of this land?"
"You are, but I'm still your best friend, Linda."
"I'm really starting to doubt that, Stella."
"What do you mean by that?" Stella asked, tilting her neck,
"You tell me," and with that, Linda walked out, leaving the raging Stella behind.
****"""*
"How dear are you, Rainer?" Queen Linda asked, bringing Rainer back to the present,
"What do you mean, my queen?" Rainer asked, puzzled by her sudden question,
"How dear you are to kill my son and still have the guts to come back here," the queen said, her voice becoming louder.
"Kill your son?" which one? Toney?"Oh, I understand now that this is all Toney's idea, haha." Okay, Toney, come out now. You got me. Hahaha." Rainer laughed, but she realized that no one was joining her; she looked at the queen and saw the pain and anger in her eyes. At that moment, no one needed to say anything else because it was all clear now.
Tears began to brim in Reiners' eyes, but she refused to accept what she was hearing. How could he...
"NO! "Toney is not dead; I saw him hours ago; he was the one that helped me get back from the desert; he couldn't be dead." No, I refuse to believe what any of you say. "Toney can't die, he just can't." Rainer kept saying those words not wanting to believe anything she was hearing.
"Chain her up and take away her spell book," Linda ordered, and two men walked toward the confused and lost Rainer, chaining her up.
"Take her to the dungeon; she is bad news for all of us." "I believe that she was the cause of the earthquake that happened." "She must have committed a terrible sin in that desert that made all of these happen, and I believe that the only way to save the people of this village is by removing that stinky bad egg."
"Yes, kill her."
"She deserves to die; chop her head off."
"Execute her; let her pay with her life."
"Burn her,"
"She's a monster, stone her to death," everybody began shouting at Rainer; some people who were close to her hit her, while others threw things at her and spat at her. Everyone who Rainer considered to be friends now showed their true colors,
Rainer was taken to an underground dungeon, that was located not too far from the castle. The dungeon was dark but the further they went, the darker it became. The damp smell of mussels and fungi irritated Rainer's nose and made it hard for her to breathe. The only source of light came from the old lanterns that hung on the cold stone walls and from some yellow glowing stones that were also stationed at every corner of the dungeon.
As they walked further into the dark, Rainer could see some dead and decaying bodies in most cells, while the rest held skeletons or prisoners who looked rather dead than alive, they began wailing some shouting for their freedom as the prison guards walked passed their cell
Finally, they got to a cage that a skeleton lying in it. Rainer wondered why they stopped there until one of the prison guards removed the skeleton from the cage and pushed Rainer inside. Rainer immediately ran to the bars and began screaming for them to get her out.
"No, no, please let me out of here; I can't stay here; I didn't do anything," Rainer begged, but the guards just laughed and made fun of her;
"Shot up woman, if you say another word then I'll put the pail of bones back," They said leaving Rainer all alone in the dark, cold cell.
Rainer leaned her back on the wall away from where the bones were, she brought out the chain under her shirt and looked at the moon in silence that paved way for the broken dam of memories of her late friend who had been her only support and light in her days of darkness. Holding the chain in her hand tears began to pour down like a stream.
Soon some guards came back and opened the door of her cell. One of the men lifted Rainer and began dragging her out.
"It's a pity that we would have to hit such a fair and beautiful lady," a guard with short dark hair and brown eyes said,
"What do you mean?" "Leave me." Rainer struggled to break free, but she was no match for his strength.
"Keep quiet, you." the other guard said, raising his hand and slapped Rainer hard on the cheek, splitting her lips in the process. Rainer fell to the ground holding her burning cheeks as hot tears streamed down them.
"Why did you have to hit her?" the guard with brown eyes asked.
"What's wrong with me hitting her?" "The queen and her friend instructed us to torture her before her execution; I'm just doing my job, and so should you," the guard said, walking towards a shelf where different shapes and sizes of canes were hung and began hitting Rainer.
Rainer had never felt so much pain in her entire life, she hadn't healed completely from the injury she sustained in the desert, and here she was getting more for free. Rainer took the beating without begging for them to stop, despite the pain being unbelievable, because of the gilt of Tony's death,
"Stop! "The queen didn't tell us to kill her; she only said we should punish her." The guard with brown eyes said, "Push the other away from Rainer."
"Don't forget who you are talking to," The other guard warned the dark-haired guard,
"And who am I talking to?" The other guard clamored,
"Stop it, both of you." Take the prisoner to the Alslain high school prison. The queen's orders and I dont want to ever see you two fighting again or else both of you would face the consequences," a man with a very strong aura warned both men.
The man with brown eyes carried Rainer in his arms; the punishment had weakened her to the point where she could barely walk. He carried her carefully, not wanting to add more pressure to her wounds, and in a blink of an eye, Rainer had been teleported to her school's underground dungeon.
The dormitory looked just like the one she was placed in. It had the same smell, if not worse, and also had those creepy yellow stones. He took her to another slightly bigger cell that had nothing but the floor to offer. He gently placed her on the cold floor. About to leave the cell, Rainer held his hand and gave him an appreciative smile.
"Thank you,"
"You don't need to thank me; I didn't do anything; I'm sorry that I can't help you, I know you are innocent; you didn't do anything wrong; in fact, you are the one that is being wronged." I just pray you get the justice you deserve and...
"Rainer!!" a familiar voice called out.
Rainer snapped her head to the source where the voice came from. The guard quickly bowed his head to the queen before finally leaving them all alone.
Rainer was so weak that she couldn't get up; her eyes became watery as she saw the amount of hate in her eyes; she wondered if the hate she saw in her eyes was made from her son's death or if it had always been there all along. The sweaty smile she always showed towards her was nowhere to be found; those bright eyes that held life were now filled with anger and sadness.
"How did you do it, Rainer?" Linda asked Rainer with a false smile on her face,
"Do what, my queen?" Rainer asked innocently,
"Don't play games with me." How did you survive the heat of the desert for so many hours while my son could only live for a few minutes? "Why do I have the feeling that you have hidden something from me, Rainer? maybe the grimoire or something else; tell me, and I promise that I'll spear your life."
"My queen, I swear on my mother that I don't know anything, and I didn't do anything to your son; please believe me," Rainer said with tears streaming down her eyes, but the Queen felt no remorse for her.
"Fine then, I'll give you from now until tomorrow morning to change your answer; if your answer doesn't change then... you know the answer." and with that Linda left Rainer all alone feeling like a rejected soul.
Rainer began to cry aging, thinking about how her life had changed. She wondered why her grandmother hadn't shown up yet; did she not believe her or did she also think that she was guilty just as everyone thought?
Rainer kept on thinking and cursing her endless bad luck, but soon she couldn't even do that. Rainer was in so much pain that her body was swollen due to the heavy beating she received, at some point her temperature rose to an unexpected degree, making her lose all her strength as her vision began to blur, as she lay on the cooled concrete floor shivering,
The damp smell of moss didn't help in any way; it only reminded her of how weak and useless she was—not just to herself but to everyone around her. Later that night, the man with dark hair came to check up on her; thankfully, he realized what was going on and quickly intervened.
He used his powers to lessen the pain and heal her deep wounds, but he didn't heal all her wounds because he didn't want the queen or anyone else to know that she had help. He also gave Rainer three apples and water to quench her hunger. He was careful doing what he did, not wanting to land him or Rainer in more trouble.
Hours later, Rainer had regained some strength for the battle that lay before her. Rainer was grateful for his help and care towards her; she tried to remember where she had met him but stopped after minutes of unfruitfulness. She also had to save her strength for the upcoming battle that would commence in a few hours. Rainer laid her body on the cold wall looking at nothing in particular before drifting off to sleep,