A Mysterious Arrow

Chapter Nine: A Visit From The Devil

Queen Abbigail paced in a frenzy trying her best to find something, anything to make sense of the voice or even Cora's powers. Suddenly, a familiar messenger bird flew on the windowsil near her with a note in his mouth. "Merlin?" Abbigail grabbed the note. "The one and only," Merlin kept talking as she opened it. "It's from Cora, she was adamant about giving it to you." Abbigail felt breathless when she read those three dreaded lines. But the one she cared about the most was the second. He was the one who killed your father. After all these years, all of the lies that Mr. Finch had told her, she had to find out like this. Abbigail was crushed. Thousands of thoughts spun around in her mind. What would make the voice want to do all of this? Did he know her Father? If it was all about her, why was Cora involved? Does it have something to do with the songs? Then it hit her. Her dream. Abbigail had known about Thalleous betrayal. But that only brought up more questions about what else her dreams could be telling her. Before Abbigail could drive herself crazy, she heard a voice that calmed her. "Abbigail?" Abbigail's head shot toward the voice's direction. Luckily, it was just Vulcannus. "What's wrong?" Abbigail quickly hid the note behind her. "Vulcannus! What are you doing here?"
"You asked me if the Nether had any archives about their involvement with the songs," Abbigail forced a smile. "But there isn't. It's like Cora's been writing history." there was an uncomfortable silence between them before Abbigail spoke. "Remember those disturbing dreams me and Cora have?" Vulcannus nodded. "Well turns out the source of those is actually a man who's either trying to kill me, Cora, or both." Vulcannus' eyes widened. he couldn't believe how much he truly missed. "But it's okay I'll handle it." no matter how relaxed Abbigail seemed, she was panicked in her mind. Not only was she seeming delusional and foolish in front of Vulcannus of all people, but there was also a major threat to her powers. "Abbigail-"
"It's okay. If anything happens, I'll handle it." Abbigail never meant to push Vulcannus away as much as she did. But she assumed it was a far better option than admitting her clear feelings for him.

~~~~

When she got back to her castle, Abbigail's mind didn't stop wondering. Even though she was alone, Abbigail could subtly hear the click of someone's shoes behind her. Every time she paid attention, it would go away. Suddenly, a voice crept into her ears. But it wasn't the warm, cheerful sound of Vulcannus', or the sophisticated one of Merlin's, it was a voice that sent a chill up her spine. "Wow, Abbigail you really are in shambles, great job." the voice said sarcastically with a slow clap. When Abbigail turned around, she nearly fainted. Cora was right. There he was, with his gorey hand slash and his coal-black hair. "You." Abbigail retorted. "Suprised you remember me, Abbigail." Abbigail furrowed her eyebrows. Remember him? "Oh Please, don't give me that look. Whatever happened to poor little Mr. Voice?" Abbigail's eyes widened. When Abbigail was a little girl, she carried an imaginary friend with her. She never saw his true form, so he only had the name 'Mr. Voice'. He was the only thing that made her happy after her father's death. Little did she know that he would only stay to take little parts of her power. But little did he know, that his first plan wouldn't work. "I trusted you with my life," Abbigail retorted. "Aww. Tough shit." the voice spat. Abbigail clenched her fists. "You see, Abbigail. For me to live, I have to take the strongest forms of power. Yours, The Prime Songs, yadda yadda." Abbigail stayed firm while still trying to make sense of his words. "But Cora, sweet, innocent, little Cora...she unfortunately is a victim of destiny. So it's she that will face the consequences."

"You build people's powers just so you can kill them?" Abbigail asked with venom in her voice. "Unfortunately," while he approached her, Abbigail took a step back. "Then why seem like a threat to her in the very beginning?" the voice shrugged. "Have to experiment before you get to the product, darling." no matter how much joy he brought her back then, she still hated him. "And why are you telling me this." the voice took another step closer. "So you'll head back to Ataraxia to see that poor little girl die." enraged, Abbigail swung her sword at him. The sword she had drawn while he was talking. Without any trouble, the voice dodged it with a laugh. "Goodness, Abbigail, just as I remember you." Abbigail furrowed her eyebrows deeper. "See you on the battlefield." just then, he disappeared. Abbigail's anger immediately turned into fear. She needed to stop him.

~~~~

Suddenly, Galleous heard a constant banging at his door. "Alright! Alright!" when Galleous opened the door, he was smothered with a tight hug from Abbigail. "Abbigail?" she let go and held onto Galleous' shoulders. "Are you okay?" startled, Galleous nodded. "Where's Cora?"
"Abbigail, what's wrong?"
"We need to talk."

Upstairs, Cora was conversing with Misha. Which is something she usually does whenever there isn't any excitement in her life. "Imagine if he lets me keep my bow and lets me here, forever!" Cora exclaimed, dropping down on her bed. "I love it here." suddenly, Cora heard a frantic Abbigail and a confused Galleous. Interested, Cora walked downstairs. But she was greeted with the same chilling feeling Abbigail had. "Cora Provenzano! It's so nice to finally meet you."