The Story of Our Evil

VII

Finally, the time of the execution had come. The people who had suffered under the tyrannical rule of the Queen of Evil all gathered before the guillotine, whispers spreading through the crowd like little hissing fires.

The whispering quieted as Diluc and Albedo stepped forward. Behind them, the 'queen' was in handcuffs, staring blankly at the cloudless sky.

The whispering was immediately replaced with screams and yells of hatred and anger, all directed towards the Queen of Evil whom the townspeople hated so much.

Diluc raised a hand, and the crowd quieted once again.

"The day has finally come where the Queen of Evil shall die before us." Diluc said, raising his voice amidst the loud cheers. Once the crowd quieted down again, he yelled, "From this day forth, her tyranny shall end! There shall be no more unnecessary deaths, nor will there be incredulously large taxes to pay off. There is no need to live in fear any longer, dear people, for today, this kingdom begins anew as a free land!"

Diluc turned towards the 'queen', who still had not stopped looking at the sky. "Well? Do you have any last words to say?"

Aether remained silent, for he didn't want his voice to give him away. Diluc narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the 'queen' walked over to the guillotine and placed her head into it.

Diluc walked over to Albedo and asked in an undertone, "Isn't the queen acting...a bit suspicious to you? Her attitude at the moment is really quite strange."

Albedo said nothing. He just stared at the queen's still form in the guillotine.

The crowd began to shout curses, because they wanted the queen to be executed already before their eyes. Aether could only watch. He saw pain in these people's eyes. He couldn't really blame them, though. Although he loved his sister to death (literally), he knew that she had done some really terrible things.

Aether couldn't turn his head or cover his ears, so he looked up to the sky again, just with his eyes. The guillotine gave off the sickening smell of dried blood, and Aether tried his best to hold back his nausea as he stared emotionlessly at the sky.

But suddenly, someone in a hooded cloak and servant clothing pushed their way to the front of the crowd and called out Aether's name. Nobody noticed, since the soft call blended in with all the shouting and cursing.

Aether looked back towards the crowd in shock. Standing before him was Lumine. Although the hood covered her, Aether could still see his sister's face. What was she doing here? Didn't she know that the crowd here was pretty much after her head?

It was too late now though. Aether looked at his sister, guilt filling his heart. He was deeply sorry that he had to leave her behind now, but this was the only way that he could fulfill his vow.

Although Lumine's eyes were full of tears that threatened to fall at any moment, she remembered her brother's last request of her.

"I would love to see your smile."

Lumine took a deep breath. It felt impossible, but she finally looked up to her brother and she smiled at him with trembling lips.

And as the signal was given for the guillotine blade to fall, the church bells began to chime.

Aether smiled back at his sister, and said "Oh, I believe it's tea time!"

Lumine could only watch and try to smile back as the blade of the guillotine fell upon her brother's neck, finally slicing off his head.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Lumine's smile began to quiver. The tears began falling thick and fast from her eyes and down onto the ground. Hopelessly, she sank to the ground in despair.

She didn't know how long she sat there. She didn't realize how much time it had been since she collapsed to the ground and buried her face into her knees, weeping.

The crowd had already left and she had been the only one sitting there for how many hours.

Lumine only realized where she was when she heard the footsteps of someone approaching her. She felt a swoop of panic in her stomach as she felt her hood being snatched off her head.

She looked up in fear to see Diluc and Albedo standing before her.

"I knew something was off about that 'queen' that had just been beheaded." Diluc muttered bitterly. "However, we will not kill you. Living with the guilt and sorrow of having someone sacrifice their own life for you is a sufficient punishment."

While Diluc spoke, Lumine's eyes had wandered over to Albedo's face. He had such a miserable expression on his face that Lumine couldn't bear to look at him, so she turned away.

Lumine had done so many evil deeds in the past, even though she knew the consequences to them. Before, they didn't matter to her, but now they did. She had lost the one person that she cared about the most. He cared about her. He loved her. He understood her pain. But now, he was gone.

"Along with your guilt, you are not welcomed in this kingdom from this day forth." Diluc said. "If we find you lingering on this land tomorrow, you will be forcefully dragged out."

Lumine stood up so abruptly, no more emotion evident on her face anymore. Diluc and Albedo had jumped back, as they hadn't expected Lumine to stand up so suddenly. She pulled her hood over her head, covering her swollen face. Diluc and Albedo watched as she quickly walked away from them and towards the gates of the kingdom.

Diluc and Albedo watched her for a bit longer before turning away to go, too.

She closed her hand over the small bottle in her pocket as she walked.

Lumine didn't know where she was going. She didn't know why she suddenly started walking. She didn't even know where she got the strength to walk.

But apparently, her body knew.