Beginning of the end

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No one can recall dates any longer. Help was coming, they had promised. Who wouldn't believe the promise made to by the brightest minds of the time to the richest families of the time? It had been long enough now that the original citizens of Rapture now had young adult grandchildren. The city had been built just for them. Their lavish playground, or so they liked to believe. It was many years now since anything had been truly 'lavish', it was only as the joy now made them see it; glorious and delightfully decadent.

Some families considered themselves better than others, and rightly so. Few had the money and the power, while the many lived in squalor. One of these families were the Jansen's. The eldest son had two beautiful daughters, who in the society they had left would no doubt have been attendees of many parties and balls, all for the purpose of finding a husband. As it stood, the youngest girl seemed the most adept at wearing her mask. By day she was the spoiled little princess she was supposed to be, making fun of the lower classes and generally being a horrible person. But as night fell and her joy pill began to wear off... She often thought of life outside her parent's massive apartment, of life in the 'workers' levels of the city. Anika Jansen would fall asleep troubled by the things her imagination thought up. It was this particular night that she had finally plucked up the courage to slip out of her parent's home, though of course she would stand out a mile in her expensive clothing and perfect make up.

Anika shook her head, close enough to rest warm fingers on Elliot's skin, offering pain relief in the same way she had in the cells. "Only when he's well again. I wont let you double cross me." She warned rather bravely.

Deacon smiled, rather touched by her request. "A kiss... where?" He teased, though he took Victoria's slender hand and turned it over, kissing the palm tenderly.

The strange king growled at her, turning his head to glare at the blonde mystic. "This is your fault." He snapped, pointing a long talon at her. "I should beat you myself. I hate your kind."

Victoria's blush deepened and she looked down at her lap. "Do you remember that night in the bath? It wasn't my sister you kissed..." she confessed, for some reason feeling he deserved this truth.

"Has it really helped any other time you did that?" Samantha asked, almost like she was goading Arthurian. "You will have what it is you want, if only for once you exhibit a little patience, my dear king."

Deacon knew he should be upset, at the very least, but at the same time... He felt he had always known that. "Was that why you stopped me?"

"Shut up. I hate the sound of your voice." The king snapped, stalking past the mystic and leaving them all alone in the room.
Once he was gone, Elliot rolled onto his back, moaning in agony. "I'm so sorry, Anika...I should have made you marry the king...I should have killed your sister as he ordered me to."

Victoria gave him an impish grin and got to her feet, pushing him to the floor. "I stopped you because you breathed my sister's name." She told him. "We are wasting time. I need to help Anika. We should go."

Anika was kneeling beside Elliot, shaking her head. "Please don't say that. Living that life would have been a living death for me, you know that." She breathed, shaking fingers stroking his cheek lightly. "I love you." She didn't know why she had the sudden and burning need to make sure Elliot knew that.

The king stayed sat where Victoria had pushed him to the ground, shaking his head in disagreement. "I breathed her name because that's what was expected of me."

While it was exactly what Elliot needed to hear, it was the wrong thing to say. Though the king was gone, it seemed he wasn't out of earshot. He stormed back in the room and grabbed a handful of Anika's hair, hauling her off her feet. "Never say those words!" He screamed. "They are death! They are poison! Never do it again or I will make you regret that he is still alive!" 

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Victoria snorted, disappearing into the closet. It was much deeper than she'd first thought. "You are your own person and a king, Deacon. You can do what you want." She was muttering now, the ornate dress fluttering out the door. "For heaven's sake! I could get to Narnia before I found riding clothes in here! I thought this was a magic closet...It's a bargain bin!"

Anika whimpered slightly when she felt her hair follicles parting painfully with her scalp. What does it matter to you how I feel?!" She demanded. "Every since I got here, all you people care about is what not to do or say! Does no one here simply do what makes them happy?!"

The king chuckled quietly, finding amusement in all the references Victoria made that had little sense in this world. "Narnia... Ah yes, that's a book from your world, is it not?" He teased.

"Are you stupid?" The monsterous king snarled at her. "Do you think happiness and love really exist? Can you truly tell me of a time when you have been happy that it has not ended in absolute pain and sorrow. My people know the truth, don't they, Samantha? We know that there is no goodness. Only darkness and hate." 

"I used to dream that it was more than a book." Victoria confessed, finding the clothes she was looking for at last. "Then one day grandmother found out that I was daydreaming and...gave me an extra pill..." She came out of the room, looking rather sad at the thought. "I nearly died and I'm not sure she was sorry..."

"I didn't know happiness or love until I came here!" Anika shouted. "I was a burden on my sister, all I ever wanted was her freedom, even if I had disappear for her to have it!"
Samantha snorted and rolled her eyes. "Darkness and hate, only because we live in a world controlled by men. It wasn't always so." She replied rather cryptically.

"Despite her flaws, that fool woman did love you." The king replied, brushing down his pants once he was back on his feet. "She couldn't stand the thought of you spending your life with me, so instead she made you miserable, and tried to force your fate onto her creation."

"You should be dead. Stop talking, woman." Arthurian snapped, tossing Anika at the blonde mystic. "All of you stop talking. You make my head hurt. I am aching all over. I need rest." He lumbered out of the room, once again leaving them in silence. 

"Creation?" Victoria asked, once again moving to the vanity to find some hair pins. She began to pin up her hair, watching him in the mirror. "What do you mean by that?"

Anika picked herself up and was once again worried for Elliot. "Can you sit up?" She breathed, gently pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.

The king smiled and almost seemed like he didn't want to tell her. "How much do you remember about Anika's mother?"

Elliot nodded weakly, offering her a warm smile. He was back in human form, using his magic to try and make himself look presentable to her. "I'm fine...How are you?" He breathed, reaching out mirror her motion. 

"I don't." The queen answered, shrugging. "I just remember my father coming home with this fat little baby with black hair. She wailed a lot and I would almost swear that when she was happy or angry she would glow violet....if that makes sense..."

"You don't have to do that for me." Anika breathed, instantly knowing why he had weakened himself further. "I didn't mind when you made love to me on the forest floor, I don't mind now." She whispered, leaning closer to lean her forehead against his.
"Oh please..." Samantha muttered, turning her face away, even if neither of them could even see it beneath the hood of her cloak.

Deacon chuckled quietly and nodded his head. "Perfect sense." He breathed. "The girl isn't human, and not in the way you aren't entirely human." He added. "You grandmother used what magic she had left and created that baby, all for the purpose of coiling your fate around her crafted soul. A being of pure magic, if you will."

Elliot pressed his lips to Anika's, so glad to have her there. She gave him power. He needed her. "I will protect You. I will make all this right. No matter what I have to do." He promised her the moment she pulled away from him. "I will not let them break us." 

"Oh..." Victoria's stomach sank and she sat down on the edge of the bed. No wonder her father was so protective of Anika. She was indeed precious. She was something men would fight and die for. A being powerful and wonderful. It was true. Everything he'd always said. Her "sister" was special and she...she was worthless. A broodmare. Nothing more. No wonder her grandmother kept her drugged. 
She rested her hands on her knees and chewed on her lip for a long moment, mulling over this new information. "People would stop in the street to stare at her when we went to buy milk. They yelled at me to get out of the way...." She whispered after a moment. Horrified she realized that tears were clinging to her dark lashes. "One woman pushed me into the mud. She said...I was blocking her view of the lovely girl...Another....called me a cart horse....they never gave Anika the things to carry...they said her hands were like porcelain and might break..."

"You don't have to do anything... I'm the one he needs. You should let the mystic heal you, then get far away from here. I can't stand the thought of your in pain." Anika breathed, now simply hugging Elliot tightly.

"She isn't real." Deacon told his wife firmly, once again crouched before her, though now his hands rested over hers upon her knees. "She was a beautiful lie to keep the weak minded from seeing what she truly was. But you..." He smiled gently and lifted one of her hand's up to kiss the fingertips lightly. "You are beautiful all on your own. Strong magic was needed to hide to ugly truth of what that girl is. It isn't beautiful, and it certainly isn't something to wish for."

"I'm not leaving without you." Elliot breathed. "As long as you are here, so am I. I will never leave you." He returned her hugged, whispering the words into her hair. 

"Even you can't help but breathe her name." Victoria whispered, feeling ashamed that she was showing such weakness. "She is everything a king would want. She is the queen you desired. Not me."

"Oh please! You've making me regret eating lunch!" Samantha scoffed, clearly not a fan of 'love'.
"I was promised you would heal him." Anika told the other woman thinly.

"She is the thing I was told I had to marry for the safety of my kingdom." Deacon corrected. "I never chose her. I am glad you tricked me, for what it's worth."

One of the other mystics looked up, shaking her head. "I have expect them to start fighting over who we should heal first." She snorted. "The love fest is sickening. The king is right. It will bring only death with it. We should alert him that they are not changing." 

"But...If you think of it, my grandmother was right to change the fate. A being of total magic as your queen? How much safer could that be for your kingdom?" Victoria asked him. "No one wants some old cart horse."

"If you don't heal him, your king wont get what he wants from me!" Anika declared, only brave because she had Elliot there with her.

"You are strong and brave because you chose to be, she is not even close." Deacon scoffed. "She is a thing, not a woman, certainly not one I could love."

"And what does he want from you?" The woman asked, rising from her chair. "What can you give him that the six of us cannot?" She roared, stalking closer to Anika. 

"I am still going to save her." Victoria whispered, wiping at her eyes. "Then you can make sure you are doing the right thing ."

"His mother." Anika replied, her chin jutting out in the same stubborn way her elder sister's often did.

"I don't need you to do anything to prove that to me. Do I really treat you so shamefully that you think I wish none of this had ever happened?" Deacon asked sadly.

Behind the woman another broke something and the chatter amongst the mystics began. "Hush!" The first one barked. "She speaks lies! She comes from their kingdom. We should expect no less."
Elliot pushed to his feet, holding his side. "We are not the ones who deceived one king for another. Don't not sully the name of my lord or my love for your hate!" He hissed.

"I didnt...Deacon, I'm confused and scared. I'm not really sure what's going on here. One minute I was looking for my sister the next I find her following some stranger here...then...you....marriage...I feel...worthless without even trying."

"No she doesn't." Samantha breathed, having been watching Elliot and Anika as the other mystics argued. "Don't you smell it? Her every breath spews stolen magic into this world, and she has no idea. She is no more one of then, than she is even a living creature."

"I... Am sorry. I don't mean to make you feel worthless." The king breathed, the way his hand slipped away and he heavily pushed himself to his feet made it clear Victoria had just wounded him rather deeply. "Come... The horses will be starting to get restless."

"Do you think she could really bring Amelia back to us? From the mirror?" The women cried as a collective. 

"Yes. I know..." Victoria said softly. She waited until his back was turned and hit him on the head with a heavy vase. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, her hands shaking as she moved his head under a pillow and then kissed his forehead. Then she turned and ran, informing his men someone had attacked the king. She was gone before anyone knew it.

"She is made from Amelia's own magic, possibly even a slice of her own soul." Samantha replied, looking Anika over. "Anything is possible."

Deacon would be deeply upset when he woke. His queen had betrayed him more times than he could count, and they had been married for only a day.

One of the women had stopped speaking and was leaning over her crystal. "The goblin queen has stolen a horse. She is headed our way." She breathed. "It is so close now....we will be free..."

Victoria rode hard. She was trying hard to keep her focus on where she was going, but it wasn't going very well. All she could do was think of what she'd left behind her to once again save her sister.

"NO!" Anika practically screamed the word, a panicked look in her violet eyes. "No, I wont let her come here, I wont let her find me and throw everything away!"

The king was in a severely foul mood when he woke. He was barking orders at his men and giving them hell for simply allowing their Queen to slip them by.

"You don't seem to understand, child." The other woman laughed. "All that talk of fate is coming to pass. And you...you will bring back Amelia so that she can see it happen." 
"There is a hunter. The queen will not make it." The mystic with the crystal breathed.

The hunter was only trying to get a substantial bounty. The king asked for violet eyes. He couldn't possibly know. He took aim with his bow and let go the arrow slamming neatly into his target's back. 

Amelia's magic had worn off for only a moment. But it was enough. The arrow found its way into victoria's back and she screamed in pain. The surprise of it was enough to knock her off the beast and she landed hard on the ground. "D-deacon..." she moaned, trying to pull herself to her feet.
 The hunter grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up, large knife in hand. "Time to get my reward, lovely." He cackled. She didn't know what happened next. Mist swirled around them both and suddenly her world went black.

It seemed no matter what she did, Anika was going to cause her sister harm. "You have to do something! You have to stop her!"

The king had his entire army on the move, he thought they were simply tracking his wife, it never entered his head that they were possibly looking for a body. Or that it was the king's fault.

"What if we let the hunter sacrifice her?" The with the crystal asked, her hands shaking. "We won't need to bring Amelia back. "It can all be over now, Samantha...damn the cursed king. Damn them both. We let her blood spill on the land and we will be free. Why wait until Arthurian is free? What are you waiting for? Why are hesitating?!" Her voice was desperate and afraid, her chest heaving. 

The hunter couldn't move. Try as he might he couldn't being the blade forward. It was as if he and the woman in his arms were like a frozen statue. Some dark magic was holding him there, keeping him from taking her violet eyes back to the goblin king who had asked for them.