Won't You Come Play?

I Really Used To Love Her

Hello again, I hope your all doing well!

This chapter wasn't my absolute favorite, but I hope you all still enjoy it.

Anyway, have a lovely read and an even better day!

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"I grew up there... As the bastard son of the Queen."

To say they were shocked was an understatement.

The expression on Ritchie's face was the worst.

He knew who Viper was, the horrified expression on his face was enough to tell him that.

"But... you were executed..." Ritchie muttered to himself, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Flinching, Viper tried his best not to let the memories overtake him.

Deep breaths...

Deep breaths...

"Viper... What is he talking about?" Alumos said carefully, as if one wrong word would scare him away.

"Dead dolls are of no use to me..."

"She tried to kill me..." Viper whispered, "She found Brandon, and... she had me executed."

Ritchie looked sick to his stomach and ready to bolt at any sudden movements. Viper could relate, he was about ready to run off as well.

"Viper... who exactly tried to kill you?" Alumos asked. His face was surprisingly filled with fury and his hands were clenched at his sides. It was almost as if he were upset for Viper's sake... which was ridiculous since it was plainly obvious nobody liked him.

"Send him away."

Her voice was cold and unfeeling, perfectly matching the glance she sent his way.

"Please!" Was the only word Mitch was able to get out before he was tackled to the floor.

"Dolls have no hearts, they cannot feel." She said simply. Then, she turned on her heel and walked away.

"Please."

It never stops.

Please just stop...

"It was..." Deep breaths... Deep breaths... "Francesca... who sentenced me to death at the age of ten."

"Ten..." Alumos whispered, fists turning white from clenching so hard. "You were sentenced to death at ******* ten?"

Viper shrugged, "Dolls have no hearts, they cannot feel."

Confusion couldn't even begin to describe the looks on their faces.

Whoops. He probably shouldn't have said that.

Those old habits... his old mindset, it was starting to slip out.

"It was the last thing she said to me before I was... Heh, I guess, even after everything, I was nothing but a doll to her. Someone for her to play with, and then later dispose of when I was no longer fun."

"Viper..." Alumos whispered, pity practically radiating off of him.

Viper didn't want or need his pity.

He wasn't some pathetic little boy anymore, he could take care of himself. He expected to see disgust or anger on David and Ritchies faces, but to his surprise, they too seemed to express pity toward him.

GAH.

Why did they have to act like they cared?!

It was starting to make him emotional, and emotion was dangerous.

"The worst part was I that actually loved her... she was like a sister to me before everything happened... before she went crazy." Viper sighed. "I know it's stupid, but for the longest time I so badly wanted that girl back... for the longest time, I thought she was still in there."

He shared too much, he knew that...but once the words started flowing, he couldn't stop them.

"Every prince needs a princess, right? They paired us up the moment we were born. I grew up right by her side. I did everything she asked, no questions asked. If she told me to jump off a cliff, I think I would have done it without second-guessing why." Viper chuckled. "Ella, my mother, raised me to follow directions without hesitation. She taught me that my existence was a mistake, and that to make up for it, I had to serve others to the best of my abilities."

"Okay, like, are we just gonna ignore the fact he just said he was a prince???" David all but yelled.

Before anyone could answer though, Alumos cut in. "THAT'S IT, WHERE IS THIS ******* *****?! IMA GO-" He yelled, making everyone else jump in surprise.

"NOPE." Viper interrupted. "We're not doing anything to her. In fact, we're not interacting with her at all. Now that we have the information we need, we're getting out of here immediately."

"About that..." Ritchie said, wincing as Viper turned to glare at him. "My father didn't know anything. BUT, he did mention if only we had some sort of magic that could track portals."

"Okay... Like?" Viper questioned, still glaring at Ritchie.

"Well, there is one sort of magic in this world... it's how you got here Alumos."

"The celestial spirit world..." Alumos muttered, now distracted from his goal of getting revenge for Viper. At least for the moment.

"OH YEAH. THAT REMINDS ME. So apparently Devin talked to Michael." David yelled, again making everyone jump.

Viper forgot he was even there for a second.

"And?" Alumos asked, attention jumping from one thing to another rather quickly.

"YEAH, APPARENTLY HE BROUGHT UP THE WHOLE BEING MADE OF MAGIC THING AND IT MAYBE BEING A FUEL TO GET HOME."

"Wait... he's gonna use himself to power a portal?" Ritchie asked.

"Yeah, and apparently it won't kill him he said," David added, quieting down a little bit. "But he will disappear for a while."

Michael... what an idiot, offering himself up to save everyone else. The man was too good of a person, despite how much he denied it. Far too good for Grimshade...

"So looks like we're in the clear!" David shouted, once again, far too loudly.

"Well, let's not start jumping to conclusions and having Michael use his life to save us. We didn't come here to save one person and let another one go." Ritchie interjected.

David sighed dramatically before speaking. "So do we at least have any leads on Brandon?"

"Uhm, yes. I got a little bit of information. My dad was talking about some sort of herbs and plants that grow in this world. He didn't mention specifically which one, but I have a feeling some sort of plant could help us out." Ritchie said.

"I found a lot of plants, sir Ritchie!" Inmo shouted from up in one of the trees surrounding the group.

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?!" Viper shouted, angry that someone else may have heard his vulnerability.

"Do you have any of them?" Ritchie asked.

"NOPE, but I know where they are!"

"We're gonna have to look into it more. I guess we're going plant scavenging. I know there were a couple back at the farm that I wasn't familiar with." Alumos muttered.

Good... they seem to have been distracted. Gah, why did he share so much??? Guess it had just been on his chest so long that he... was desperate to rid himself of the pain.

"Mkay. ANYWAYS, VIPER. WE'RE NOT DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS." Alumos said loudly, narrowing his eyes at him. "We have a lot to talk about."

GAH!