Andy's Apple Farm: Dolce's Game

CHAPTER 15: RECONCILIATION

"Claus..." Dolce quietly spoke as the humanoid clock stood in stunned shock mere feet away from her and the still form of Andy.

The situation for her was not looking good; she was kneeling next to Andy who was on the ground unconscious and bleeding out from a stab wound inflicted by Peter. To make things worse, her shadowy tendril was still manifested hovering over her and Andy...

"Dolce...What have you done...?" Claus whispered aghast with horror at the sight of his unmoving friend.

"N-No Claus-!" Dolce frantically quickly got up and retracted her tendril. "It's not what you think-!"

Claus instantly let out a YELL of anger and anguish as he TACKLED Dolce to the ground. He pushed her down against the dirt with his hands clasped tightly around her throat to strangle her.

"C-C-Cla-us...-! W-Wait-!" she barely strained out.

"I've had ENOUGH of your excuses!" he shouted. His eyes darkly narrowed. "I told you before didn't I? I would see to your end if you harmed Andy in any way and look what happened! You're too dangerous to be around our presence!" he declared, tightening his grip.

Out of instinct, Dolce managed to bring out her tendril and threw Claus off. He was undeterred however, and grabbed Andy's axe that was close by and swung it down over Dolce who stopped it in time with her tendril. He pulled himself free and butted her hard in the stomach with the end of the axe, making her fall back against the ground. 

He swung it down over her again which she barely managed to stop the blade in time with her power. Through their struggle, Claus continued to increase pressure over her, slowly forcing the axe towards her head...

"I know it looks bad, but it wasn't me! Peter; he did this to Andy! Not me! Please, Claus!" she desperately tried to explain but Claus was too enraged to hear her plea.

"Blaming a non-existent entity to cover for your lies?! Have you no sense of accountability?! But you won't be able to talk your way out of this one. You're too dangerous to be kept alive around us, you accursed MONSTER!"

Dolce faltered slightly as his harsh words stung at her heart, giving him some leeway with the axe and more power to push down against her.

"He's right...If I hadn't been so cruel to Andy, none of this would have happened...I was so scared I acted on stupid and selfish impulses to get away from it all...Because of my cowardice...Andy will...-!" she shut her teary-eyes, unable to finish that disheartening, cruel thought.

The axe lowered even further towards her, hovering mere inches from her face.

"Maybe it's better this way...The others will have nothing to fear if I'm not around anymore..." Dolce's expression eased, mentally resigning herself to her fate...

"Now that was unexpected of you 'Clock.' You're supposed to be the 'calm' and 'collected' one. It's part of your 'programming' after all..." Peter's voice suddenly chimed in.

Claus stopped his assault on Dolce and the two turned to see Peter who had reappeared before them.

"And who are you?" Claus glared at Peter, axe still in hand. "Have I seen him before?"

Peter eyed the axe in his hand with amusement. "Oooh, careful with that thing 'friend.'" Peter "cautioned," ignoring Claus's question. "It's not a good idea lashing out at others so impulsively without hearing their side of the story. But you would know, wouldn't you, Arthur?" he smiled evilly.

"What? 'Arthur?'" Dolce thought in bewilderment to herself.

"What are yo-u-u-ṳ̵̗͒-̷͓̓̇ǘ̴͍̌-̶̨̫̈̀u̶͙͇͝-̷͙̘͘͘ụ̴͋̅-̴̗̒̕͜u̵̯̜͒͝-̴̯̬̐ṳ̵̊͌-̷͚̭̓̎u̵͍̅-̸̛͈̉ú̷͓̦̈-̶̼̺̏?̶͉̓͌" Claus's voice glitched as his body abruptly tensed and seized up, twitching with spams here and there. His body suddenly "relaxed" before he began speaking...