From the Gallows | Wilbur Soot

Act Three: The Prince

By the time her pounding on the door is finally answered, the sides of Inferna's fists are bruised, and her throat is hoarse from yelling. However, she pays it little to no mind, as these annoyances are merely just tedious in the grand scheme of things.

One of the two giant doors slowly starts to crack open, which allows for the glowing light inside to illuminate where Inferna is standing on the patio. Since there is almost no exterior light source at this time of night, the glow spilling from the castle's interior is nearly blinding.

A boy's voice sounds from the other side of the door.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Cry, beg, plead, do whatever it takes to be offered a job. Make up a story about how you were kicked out and living on the streets if you must. Just make it believable." Technoblade's words ring through her head once again, reminding her of the task at hand and peeling her away from the distraction of the castle's beauty. "Hello, my name is...." A false name probably isn't necessary, but it's better to be safe than sorry. "My name is Fer."

"Fur?"

"No, Fer. Like a ferris wheel." She prays no one will connect the dots that it's just a nickname for Inferna. "May I come inside?"

It's silent for a moment as the boy thinks, but eventually, the door opens just wide enough for the girl to step through. "C'mon in, ferris wheel."

There isn't a word that could capture the true elegance of the castle except for ethereal. Gold, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and every gemstone known to man laces the translucent glass walls. Clouds float up above, and chandeliers that glow all different colors hang from the high ceiling. Everything about it is something one could imagine in a dream, and it's only the entryway.

"Who are you, woman?"

Inferna meets the boy's icy blue eyes. He looks to be no older than sixteen, which immediately clues that he isn't the prince. As well as how he's holding a hand duster, which he also happens to be pointing in her face accusingly.

"Does it count as breaking my no crying streak if the tears are forced?' Inferna wonders. "Oh well, cue the waterworks."

With that, tears fall past the girl's eyelashes as she grabs the boy by his white placket top, shaking him vigorously. "You have to let me work here! I need a job! I was kicked out of my house so I have nowhere to go! You have to help me!"

The boy's disgusted, yet almost frightened expression is nearly comical. "Calm down, woman! I can't do anything to help. You need to leave-"

"Tommy, what has Wilbur told you about bringing in women off the streets? You can't keep them as pets!" A girl's voice sounds from behind them, then followed by the sound of her walking closer. "Oh God, and you made her cry too!" The woman gently cups Inferna's face, meeting her eyes with a look of pity in them.

The woman holds kind eyes that are changing colors by the second. They shift through blues, pinks, and purples, but they all still hold the same soft and kind expression. As well as her eyes, the short woman's hair also seems to be drifting through different shades, just at a much slower pace.

"Unicorn hybrid," Inferna thinks, vaguely remembering them from one of the lessons Nightmare had taught her as a child. Elegant, but extremely rare. And though they're magnificent, their power that allows them to change anyone's appearance to how they want them to look is truly their only advantage over others. To Inferna, they had always been quite boring in that regard, though appearance wise they were anything but that.