The next day seemed to be creeping by. She hadn't been able to sleep, and all morning she had sat in the training room trying to pass time. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like an eternity. She hadn't heard from Adam or Zane which made her feel a tiny bit lonely, but she was fine. She had been alone before and could be alone again.
Suddenly a small servant girl rushed inside, head down.
"M-Miss Wren…Um the king would like to see you in his room," the servant whispered before scurrying away as quickly as she had come.
Trinity sighed, her eyes narrowing. She walked down the long corridor, not bothering to knock before barging into Ptolemus' room, all her respect gone.
The sight was not one that she had expected, both Zane and Adam stood there and Ptolemus looked deadly calm.
"Wren-" Ptolemus started.
"It's Trinity," she interrupted, head high.
Ptolemus gritted his teeth.
"Prince Zane has informed me of the fact you plan to kill me then run away with this servant boy, I thought we should all have a little chat about that," Ptolemus stated.
Trinity felt her blood run cold as she stared at him, then looked to Zane, her eyes full of accusation and betrayal.
"That's not true," she whispered, her confidence fading.
"How could you!" Adam yelled, whipping around to look at Zane.
"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Prince Zane has also said that I will not be allowed to prosecute Wren. Instead she will be married to him. Servant boy, you will also not be punished as harshly as you should be. You will only be removed from your position and banished from both our kingdoms," he stated.
"No! You can't force Trinity to do that. Do anything you want to me, just don't try to force her into that please!" Adam begged, he turned to Zane, his eyes screaming with anger and desperation.
All Trinity could do was stand there helplessly, watching her life fall apart all over again. Hope had made her stupid, incredibly stupid. How could she escape Ptolemus, how could she escape the sins and atrocities she had committed? After everything she was exactly the same, a coward. Her whole life she had been a coward, choosing to run from her problems, enduring everything because she was scared of the change, of what would happen in the unknown.
Ptolemus jerked his hand back, but in only a second Trinity was between them, Prolemus' hand connecting with her face instead. She stumbled backwards into Adam from the strength of the blow, but she knew Ptolemus had gotten the worst end.
For a fraction of a second his face twisted in pain, and she felt relief, physically and mentally, it felt good to give pain to the thing making her life completely miserable. Adam winced a little at the tiny bit she had touched him and Trinity quickly moved away.
"How dare you, girll!" Ptolemus yelled.
"My name is Trinity! And you will not try to touch him again or I will kill you and everything you hold dear in this world!" She yelled back, but she was pretty sure the only thing dear to Ptolemus was himself.
"Prince Zane, grab her!" He exclaimed.
Zane launched forward, and she hesitated for a moment, there were tears on his face, he looked like he was full of disgust and regret. She thought back to their conversation, how he had asked her to kill Ptolemus for his kingdom and what she had told him in response. He wasn't meaning for them to get punished, he was keeping Trinity from running away, forcing her to help him, doing what it took to survive.
She dodged away from him at the last second and Adam tackled him. He may not have been a warrior, but it would still delay Zane.
"It's almost as if you think you've won something, as if defying me for once will somehow free you or force me to let you go. Let me tell you something, there's one little flaw in this plan of yours, there are no witnesses here to prove you didn't do this," Ptolemus said.
She stared in confusion, as the whole world seemed to freeze. Adam standing between her and Zane, him looking confused at the king, Trinity's own confusion and anger boiling to the surface as if her emotions were an ocean finally bursting through a dam.
Ptolemus whipped out his sword, swiftly breaking the moment as he ran it right through Zane, a cruel smile on his face. Both Zane and Trinity's screams pierced the air. He collapsed to the floor, deep red staining his shirt, his face contorting in pain and fear. Trinity collapsed to the ground beside him, panic taking over. He may have given her and Adam away, but if he died here they would be to blame. They wouldn't just be in trouble with Ptolemus, they would be framed for committing the crime, they would be killed.
She could hear herself shouting for Adam to get help, but it felt like the words were coming from a different person. It felt like Trinity was a ship being captained by someone else. How could this day go so wrong? Ptolemus was shouting for guards and for help, his voice covering up hers and Adams, he was shouting that Prince Zane had been stabbed, but she could barely hear him, barely process his words.
Zane tried to speak, but it only ended in coughing, she glanced down at him and held his gaze for a moment before guards came running at Prolemus' beckoning. The world was nothing but a blur, Adam was restrained and heavy chains were wrapped around her own wrists as she was pulled backwards. She broke free of her daze, tried to claw at her captors, tried to scream for someone to save Zane, for someone to believe Adam, but she was dragged away.
Adam was being hauled in a different direction as he screamed for her and yelled to the guards that it had been Ptolemus. As she was dragged off Zane stared at her mouthing something that looked like an apology. Whatever he had wanted to happen, this definitely wasn't it.
"Adam!" She screamed, struggling to just lay one finger on the people holding her.
Trinity hadn't cried much for as long as she could remember, but in that moment she felt warm tears falling down her cheeks and dripping onto her shirt. She thought she had known the meaning of pain, but the thought of Adam dying felt completely different. It felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest and her limbs torn from her body one by one.
"I'll kill you!" She yelled back at Ptolemus, but he only smirked in response.
She could feel her hope fading as she lost sight of Adam and Ptolemus, as the halls turned to dark stone and metal barred doors.
She rotted in that dark dungeon slipping in and out of consciousness with nothing but her own blinding rage to comfort her. Rage at the world for being so unfair, rage that no matter how powerful she was she had been unable to do anything, her own helplessness playing in her head over and over again. Rage at her blind panic taking over and how no one would listen to her, no one would trust her, how no one knew how wicked Ptolemus truly was.
How could the world be this incredibly cruel? She had sat through years of pain to finally be given a little bit of relief, a little bit of hope and happiness only for it to be ripped away. She was finally going to be free and now she was locked in an even smaller cage than before.
She laughed aloud, thinking about fairy tales. Was this how all the villains felt when they tried so hard just to survive only to be locked in a cell? Only for no one to listen and praise the "hero" instead. That's probably what people thought about her brother sometimes, thought he was a hero, a good leader. They couldn't be farther from the truth.
In most people's eyes her brother would be the righteous king who conquered his evil sister who was jealous and scheming. She wasn't Wren, the goddess of death, she wasn't a queen of terror and destruction, she was just another evil queen who had been conquered at last, another lesson to the people.
As the days went on her anger and desperation faded into nothingness which was somehow worse. She was in pain, but at the same time she just felt emptiness. Food and water were brought to her and she knew by now that the water had some sort of sedative in it, but she drank it anyway. It quieted her emotions a little, quieted everything in the world, she couldn't bear to think about what had happened, but even with it her mind continued to speak, continued to show her the failures of her past. Trinity's mind seemed to be the loudest silence she had ever heard.
"It's all my fault Adam," she whispered.
Trinity could see him kneeling in front of her, blood covering all of him, his grin replaced with the same half dead expression that was probably on her own face.
"I'm sorry Adam I should've died already, you don't deserve this fate, but I do. Instead of accepting it like I should have, I dragged you into it with me, dragged you down into the grave I've been digging for years," she whispered to him.
He only pointed his finger in blame, anger in his eyes. Trinity flinched, closing her eyes and when she opened them he was gone.
"What is wrong with me..?" She whispered.
She was going crazy, this place was driving her into insanity, by the time anyone remembered her she might already be gone.
Minutes or days, Trinity didn't know which, passed before finally the metal door creaked open. Her chains were unlocked and she immediately launched forward attempting to bolt, but paused as a sword was pointed at her neck. She was almost tempted to let it run her through, to leave this world.
"Adam?" She asked, seeing him pointing the sword at her.
"Keep your mouth shut," a cold voice said.
That wasn't a voice that belonged to Adam. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was just staring at cold eyes and a hard face.
"Walk, prisoner," the guard said, glaring at her.
He wouldn't let her close enough to touch him, so she walked. Her legs felt weaker from sitting in the cell, but the pain felt good, at least she could feel something. Maybe they were finally going to kill her, finally going to release her from this horrible world.
Trinity searched for Adam but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn't in any of those dark, dirty cells rotting away. Maybe death was a merciful release for him.
She thought of how she had caused this and felt her hands shaking. Trinity had done this, she might as well have killed him herself when they first met. She coughed violently, the guard paused for a moment, a look of disgust but also pity on his face. He pulled a bottle out of his pocket, carefully tossing it to Trinity.
"Drink this, it'll help, you'll need your head for this," he stated.
She drank the liquid, wondering what they would make her do before she died. Almost immediately she bent over to the side, barely able to push her hair out of the way before throwing up.
"W-what?" She questioned the guard, wondering if this had been some sort of cruel prank.
"Keep walking," he said, his voice cold again.
Almost immediately she felt her head clear a little and her legs feel a bit stronger. Adam could still be alive, she needed to focus on finding out if he was and then save him, then after that she could die, she could pay for her sins only after she saved at least one of the innocents she had condemned to death.
They walked out of the dungeon and into the sparkly halls she had once walked so carelessly. The sun blinded her as it glittered across the ocean. People glared as they entered the streets, yelling. No one had questioned Ptolemus, meaning Adam had been silenced and Zane had died. She hoped and prayed with every fiber of her being that Adam was still alive, still fighting out there somewhere.
They finally entered a large coliseum that would strike fear into anyone's heart, even Trinity's. Every prisoner knew they would meet their deaths fighting out there, she had never heard of a prisoner actually surviving. Even if they beat all their opponents they were still executed. The guard released her from her chains, dropping a beat up sword, and running to the nearby safety of the gate. She just stood there in shock and half blindness from the sudden reintroduction of light.
People filled the rows of seats all screaming at her, throwing insults that she deserved, because she had failed, in a way she had killed their prince. Trinity would get revenge for them all, even if the people didn't realize it, she was on their side.
"Princess Trinity Abyssal Dawnfire is charged with the murderer of Prince Zane Thorne. We all know the atrocities she has committed, it is only fitting she finally meets her death, finally pays for all her crimes and evil. Most people know her as Wren, but as you can see this "goddess" is nothing more than a child, a stupid girl who only wishes to take that which belongs to others. She's nothing but a weakling who has stolen what we generously gave her. As her punishment she will be fighting for her life in this ring. If she survives she will be banned from this kingdom and all our allies for the rest of eternity. She will be stripped of all titles and claims to land or money, but if she loses she will be paying for her crimes with her life. This filth is no sister of mine and certainly not deserving of the title of princess. May the fight begin!" Ptolemus boomed across the ring. Cheers filled the air, she was just entertainment to the people, she could almost feel the smugness radiating off her brother far up in the stands.
Trinity scanned the barren surroundings for her enemy. She couldn't get distracted by Ptolemus or even Adam right now. She had no doubt the banishment was a lie, they would just kill her secretly and no one would know the difference, but if she could somehow escape after defeating her opponents then she had a slim chance of finding Adam.
Trinity spotted her opponent across the arena. He was maybe a few inches taller than her with a thin build. A strange person for her to be fighting considering she had defeated any enemy she had ever faced.
She prepared herself, getting into a fighting stance and gripping the sword hard. Even the worst weapons could be turned into the deadliest blades in the right hands, and Trinity was definitely the right hands.
As the man got closer she started to notice something strange. His face was too familiar. He had eyes usually bright like suns, but they were cold and lifeless. His smile was one she knew well, one she saw in the mirror every morning, one of wickedness rather than the sweet, innocent thing it usually was.
Adam was advancing on her, he looked the same except his eyes held nothing but malice and a wicked scar ran down the side of his face. He held a knife with an ease he shouldn't know.
"Adam?" She whispered, her whole life disintegrating around her.
He launched forward, landing an easy blow. She stood frozen, unable to tear her gaze away from his cold face. Those people, Ptolemus, had somehow twisted him and now she had to fight him.
She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Adam was careful to avoid touching Trinity, stabbing at her with that knife over and over again, making a show of it. Blood poured from her arm, she put a hand on it, pain flooding her. People were booing her performance, but she just stood there letting him land blow after blow.
She bowed her head as he came at her again, forcing her to the ground. She wheezed, her lungs gasping for the air that had been knocked out of them. Adam's eyes screamed with pain as he barely touched her, but he didn't stop. This would be the end for Trinity and maybe him too. She didn't especially mind that, this world had been so full of pain, full of her trying so hard not to drown, to swim, only for wave after wave to crash down and push her beneath the surface again. This wave was so big it might just keep her under.
"P-please kill me," Adam choked out as he raised his knife to strike her again. For a second she could see him as he fought whatever they had done. The knife trembled as he raised it above her. Tears were streaming down his face as he struggled to control himself but his knife still cut at Trinity's arm. It sunk deeper this time and he twisted it hard. She screamed as he jerked the knife back out.
Adam laughed even as tears poured down his face, even as his hands shook he still smiled. Whatever they had done was so horrible that Trinity could barely stand to look at him. At that moment she knew what she had to do, she knew she had to survive to make sure no one else was hurt by Ptolemus like they were. She had to survive so Adam wouldn't experience the control she had, she had to live for him.
Trinity threw him off of her and grabbed the dropped knife. Her hand trembled as she approached him. All she had to do was injure him enough so that he couldn't fight, maybe knock him out.
Then she spotted him, Ptolemus way up in the crowd, smiling down at her, maybe even laughing a little. The source of all her pain and suffering was alive, she was allowing him to live, to steal her crown and control her like a puppet. She was allowing him to watch as she was destroyed, as he sat there eating good food and living happily like a god. He didn't deserve to live, if he was going to burn her down, she wanted to take him with her. It was almost like a voice was whispering all the bad things he'd ever done, like a voice was whispering to kill him.
Violence was a familiar song in Trinity's ear, a song that sang to her every day, but it felt like for the first time she recognized it was playing, recognized what she had the strength to do. The song was sweet like honey to Trinity, but not to anyone she would turn her wrath against.
She turned away from Adam not caring that he was starting to recover. Her hand no longer shook as her vision narrowed in on Ptolemus. The crowd's noise was only a dull roar in the back of her mind, that song, begging her to kill, filled her ears, and she obliged with pleasure.
Trinity was barely aware of what was happening as she threw her head back, screaming as loud as she could, screaming enough so that even the crowd could hear her. Trinity's hands reached out, dark tendrils of pure power surrounding her and reaching out. The crowd's cheers quickly changed to screaming as they scrambled over each other trying to run, but no one would escape her scourging wrath. She watched as Ptolemus turned to dust and she cackled manically as most of the crowd did the same.
One after another people turned to beautiful glittering black dust, the screams of pure terror fueled her, seeming to add to her new found strength. She started humming that sweet song letting it fill the space around her. She smiled as guards rushed to her only to die as well, no one could touch her.
"This is what I feel like," she whispered, her voice calm.
She looked on apathetically as more people fled in terror, killing them only when they were right there at the gate, so close to freedom only to be ruined like she was.
Slowly a voice wormed its way into her head, Adam's voice speaking in a language she barely remembered, begging her to return to reality.
"Insignificant bug," she whispered, wiping the voice away without a second thought.
The chaos began to die down as the last people in her way were destroyed. Trinity blinked around her, the song fading away into nothingness. Only when she fell to her knees, did she realize what she'd done. She searched for Adam, but found nothing.
"Adam!" She screeched, but received only silence in return, not even the birds dared to chirp.
Trinity had somehow slaughtered them all, even the innocents. Tears poured down her face, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed, her own blood dripping onto the ground.
The second thing she realized was pain, a constant unwanted friend that had stayed all those years even when she had nothing, the only thing that could comfort her while she used to shake at night, horrified by what she had done, was gone. She felt nothing beyond the heat of the sun on her neck, and the cuts dripping blood and sizzling as it touched the warm sand.
Trinity didn't understand anything that had happened, it felt like both a miracle and a punishment. She may have hated everything she had lived through, but it was the only life she had known for a long time, a constant that she never thought would evaporate in a few minutes.
She pushed to her feat, tucking her hair behind her ears, and holding her bloodied arm. Trinity was alone like she had always been, and free like she had always wanted to be. She had gotten her wish, just in the most brutal, twisted way.
She looked to where Adam used to be, and a different sort of pain filled her. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, a cold creeping sensation that somehow seemed to burn her. Trinity crawled to the pile of dust and tried to grab fistfulls of it. She had no way to collect it and she needed to get out of there, yet she still grabbed at it desperately, watching it slip through her fingers and blow away into the wind.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Adam. I promise I'll never be happy, I'll never allow myself something like that when you had to die. When I took your life like this…I love you so much, and it hurts more than anything else." Trinity sobbed as the last of his remains disappeared into the wind.
She pushed to her feet, running away as fast as she could, not even sure how her legs had the strength left to carry her. The streets were filled with guards trying to calm the crowds and preparing to hunt for Trinity, but she swiftly avoided all of them.
She needed to clean her wounds, but escaping came first. Any guards she ran into she knocked out, not wanting to kill any more innocents at the moment, she wasn't even sure how much fighting she could endure with the state her arm was currently in. She was used to bloodshed and killing people who didn't deserve it, but she had slaughtered thousands in mere seconds and she had enjoyed it, however horrifying it may sound, it was true. She could still remember the joy she felt, still remember the satisfaction filling her.
Trinity didn't want to be imprisoned, she had lived that way her entire life even before her parent's death, someone was constantly above her, constantly controlling her, and she was tired of it, so she ran, ran for her life, ran for Adam's life. She felt completely lost but she had to live for Adam, if nothing else she had to carry on his memory, because it was only dusk, the darkest times were still yet to come and she would have to be ready when they did.