Vol 9 Teaser 3

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(3rd Person POV)

Edel blinked his eyes open, frowning with confusion at the aching pain in his arms. It took him a moment before he realized that he was vertical. His arms were raised above his head, shackled and chained to the ceiling.

He was in a dark room lit only by a few torches.

???: He wakes. Finally. I was about to send for some smelling salts.

He frowned, not understanding. Still dizzy.

???: Greetings, my old friend.

The voice was familiar. Painfully familiar.

And then he understood all too well.

Edel: Aloysius...

Edel tasted coppery blood in his mouth as he spoke.

Edel: How delightful to see the incest lover again.

Aloysius: Ah, you say the words, yet deep in my heart I know you're lying.

The being walked a slow circle around Edel, a smug smile on his lips. Edel saw that he looked exactly as he did:

Short, choppy blonde hair, dull blue eyes and the same outfit he wore. Of course he changed his look in the fight, reverting to the one he used for most of his time at Beacon.

Edel: What did you do with Weiss?

Aloysius: Don't worry about her, old friend. She's safe with her father. Worry about yourself.

Edel tried to summon a sense of where he was, casting a look around the room. It was difficult, since one of his eyes was swollen shut.

Aloysius: I saw your lovely girlfriend earlier. Not Weiss, but the other. She didn't see me, of course. Given how we last left things between us, with me taking control of you for a while, I feel like Lenna might still be cross with me.

Edel: Don't you dare speak her name.

Aloysius stopped in front of Edel, and cocked his head, still smiling.

Aloysius: Lenna. Lenna, Lenna, Lenna. Do you know what I'm going to do to her? I would love it, truly love it, if you could be there to watch.

He leaned closer and whispered in Edel's ear a list of horrors that would cause anyone - man or woman - to beg for death long before such a relief finally came.

Edel: I swear to the gods, I will kill you long before you lay a single finger upon her.

Aloysius: I thought I might be getting close enough to do just that, when I controlled your body. I know that you could see everything. Was that jealousy I felt? When I lied to her that you used her, lied in your body, you felt such pain. When she killed me in anger, at what she thought you did. Why do you care? She betrays you for another.

Edel: I wouldn't give a damn if she betrayed me to align with every Demonic, I will still kill you if you even look at her again.

Aloysius: Yet, in your current predicament...

Aloysius glanced up at the chains.

Aloysius: I'd really, really like to see you try.

Edel: You wish to torture me? Some sort of retribution for what I did to you?

Aloysius: Oh, yes, I wish to torture you. And then I wish to kill you very slowly. And I would advise you to save your breath rather than beg for your life. You'll need it for all the screaming you'll do.

Part of Edel, deep inside, knew the truth of what he saw in Aloysius' eyes. There would be no mercy here. But Edel Ectrea would not beg for his own life.

Aloysius glanced at two people who had been in the shadows.

Aloysius: Break one of his arms, if you would. And, I think, both his legs.

The people moved forward without hesitation.

Edel: Aloysius. You think you'll kill me here today and no one will know about it?

Aloysius: Today? You think I'll kill you today? No. Your death should take quite enough time for you to suffer very nicely... See you soon.

Edel swore to himself that he wouldn't beg. He wouldn't plead.

But Aloysius had been right about the screaming.

When Edel opened his eyes, he could see a sliver of the moon above him in the dark sky. Consciousness meant he was alive, but it also brought with it ceaseless pain from the injuries inflicted upon him by Aloysius' sadistic orders.

Where was he? Outside, yes. He was outside if he could see the moon. Besides that, he couldn't know for sure.

He realized that he lay in a box made of wood.

Edel: What is this?

Aloysius: You're awake.

Aloysius' loathsome face, or Edel's own face, appeared above himself.

Aloysius: You do sleep very soundly. Like the dead, I might say.

Edel: I... I can't move.

Aloysius: I would imagine not. You're in terrible shape, my friend. Strong, though. I've watched that kind of torture as it killed men and women alike. Well done.

Aloysius paused for a few moments.

Aloysius: Tell me, is the rumor true that you have a fear of small, enclosed spaces?

Edel: No, that's not true.

Aloysius: I imagine it will be true soon enough. I'll cherish this moment for the rest of my life, my old friend... Farewell to you.

Edel tried to sit up, but pain flashed through him, blinding him like lightning. 

And then the moon, the night, and Aloysius all disappeared as a wooden lid came down on top of him.

A coffin. He had been put into a coffin.

Nails were hammered into it. Edel felt airborne for a split second, and then he landed hard, his back slamming against the wooden bottom.

Then came the scrapes of shovels and the soft thud of dirt filling the grave as Aloysius and the others buried him alive, deep in the earth.

A short teaser, but an important one.

It kind of retroactively puts everything into perspective. There have been hints all along, and this is the confirmation.

Edel wasn't himself, it was Aloysius, a completely different being, who took over Edel.

Until next time!


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