Eight Intertwined

189 - Everhold

Everhold was everything Primrose had expected it to be. 

Back in Noblecourt, Cyrus had told her about the fall of the Ventus Dynasty. The once-proud empire had collapsed to ruin shortly after a war among the members of the ruling family, and when the dust settled, the nation was left as a shell of its former self. Hollow was the best way Primrose could describe Noblecourt. The few stores in the city were almost entirely abandoned, and Primrose suspected that only had partially to do with the sun still beginning its creep over the horizon. Not even the birds dared to settle down in Everhold out of fear that they would be caught and torn to ruin. 

However, there was one exception to this rule, and Primrose knew Simeon was trying to draw attention to it. A proud stone theater stood at the edge of the city, and Primrose could tell easily that it was the empty shell of the palace. Since taking over his homeland, Simeon had repurposed the castle into a grand stage where the worst and darkest of his tragic plays could be brought to life. That was what all of this was to him: a show. Primrose had only ever been important to him for entertainment value, and she doubted that would ever change. If Simeon was going to change, then he would have done it before dragging a child into his twisted fantasies. 

"So this is the stage for the final act..." Primrose murmured as she stopped near one of the flag posts lining the path leading up to the theater. The purple flags billowed in the wind, and Primrose knew without needing to ask that they bore a twisted variation of the symbol that had once marked the Ventus Dynasty. Simeon could not ignore his past forever, and he was promising to Primrose that he would not cast it aside regardless of how desperate she was to spill his blood for those crimes among many others. 

Primrose shook off the thought and hardened her resolve as she walked closer to the theater. This story wouldn't have a happy ending for Simeon, and she intended to prove it. "Come on," Primrose told the other travelers without glancing over her shoulder. "Let's get down to business."

As Primrose stalked closer to the amphitheater, she could feel the presences of the other travelers shifting behind her in search of any comfort they could possibly offer her. Cyrus was the first one to find the boldness to fall into step beside her, but he did not dare to meet her gaze directly. Instead, his eyes focused only on the theater in the distance. "I'm puzzled as to why there is a theater here of all places," Cyrus murmured. "Simeon took it upon himself to refurbish the old castle of the Venus Dynasty... But I just cannot fathom why. All that time and effort..."

Primrose scoffed loosely. "Does it matter?" she countered. "At this point, I don't think we should be surprised by anything Simeon does. The rest of the Obsidians do whatever he tells them to. If Simeon says they should transform a castle into a theater, then that's what they're going to do." Deep down, Primrose knew the reason for Simeon transforming Everhold so drastically. He wanted to project his tragedies for all the world to see. Very few would dare to make the trek to Everhold, but those that did would be met with the dark stories Simeon had penned. If Primrose had to guess, she would have assumed that Simeon had turned her own unfortunate history into a play or two. At one point, she would have balked at the implication that he would ever hurt her, but he had proven his loyalty did not lie with her the day he slid his dagger into her stomach. 

Cyrus studied Primrose for a long moment, trying to figure out how much of her vague thoughts he could believe, before he settled on letting out a heavy sigh. "If you say so," he murmured. "In any case, we are in enemy territory now. We must proceed with caution."

"Of course," Primrose confirmed. When Cyrus continued to watch her for just a moment too long, she forced herself to breathe and find the answer he was looking for. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to let Simeon get away with everything he has done. No matter what it takes, I will see him defeated today... But it won't just be for my father's sake. It'll be for me too."