Classy, Controlled Chaos - The STEAM Team Adventures

🧊 Open Ocean [2/5] 🧊

Tia's POV:

I struggled to fight back in Arthur's grip; He was too strong for me to overpower.

Kicking and screaming, I bit down on his glove, forcing him to drop me.

"Arthur, I'm not Permafrost!" I sputtered out, coughing. "She's not here, it's me, Tia!"

"That's the thing," He replied, his voice dangerously low. "You are the problem. I was sent here to fix it."

Even though the steel collar weighed him down, he still managed to get a decent swing at my face, his fist colliding with my cheek.

I reeled backward, clumsily stumbling over my tail and collapsing into the wall.

Sharpening my gaze through the haze of leftover smoke, I swiftly analyzed the situation.

His eyes were unusually dull, lacking any emotion whatsoever and his face unreadable.

In the moment, he was ridiculously strong, especially with physical force.

If he would attack me, he would not hold back.

However, his burly body and sturdy stature gave me an advantage.

Even though he could clearly overpower me, I was small and agile compared to him.

As long as he didn't land another hit on me, I could tire him out and finish him off.

"This isn't you, isn't it?" I huffed, beginning to circle him. "You're just some sick sorcerer who just wants to toy with our minds and make us submit to your power. This isn't just psychological manipulation, this is full-on warfare... And don't expect to win."

"Honey, please." Permafrost's words came out of Arthur's mouth, mockingly sweet. "It's incredibly simple. You surrender to me and your precious king will be safe and sound, just under Spiritvale's control. Better to lose no lives than to lose any, am I right?"

"You're sick," I snarled, gripping my RipTrident and jabbing it at the husk of what my mentor used to be. "If you really wanna fight, come at me yourself and quit being a coward. Fighting dirty isn't honorable."

"You'd know about fighting dirty," The king scowled, rolling up his sleeves. "I'm in his mind, searching through his memories... Aren't you craving a bit of rubs near that sensitive spot on the base of your tail?"

I flinched at the mention of that idea. "How did you know that?!"

"We sorcerers can manipulate whatever spells we want, as you've seen from Addison. I'm just much stronger and more experienced." Arthur smiled, clearly voicing Permafrost's words. "I'm not going to speak any further; I'll just play as your beloved king to make this substantially worse."

He drew his arming sword, aiming the blade at my throat. "Hey there, my diligent trainee... How's it like to know that this will be our last duel together?"

I knew it wasn't really him, but I let out a choked sob, pressing the sharp tips of my trident against his neck. "Painful..."

The king gave me a deep chuckle. "Aww, how sweet. I love your honesty almost as much as you,  Tia. Don't you know that?"

Even though I knew he was trying to mock me to lower my guard, I glanced up at him, my eyes welling with tears. "You don't really mean that."

He gave me a disheartened look, pausing to press his blade slightly further into my skin. "Tia, I really do. I love you a lot. Platonically, of course, but still."

His words sounded genuine, but I knew they were only to try to get me to reach my breaking point.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I took in a shuddery breath, maintaining eye contact with the king.

"I love you too, Arthur." was all I could choke out, squeezing the words out of my throat.

Then, I felt this blindingly bright burst of pain explode in my neck, only heightening further as my lifeblood gushed out of the opened wound.

Dropping my RipTrident, I staggered backward, clutching my throat while staring up at my mentor.

A silent "How could you?" escaped my lips, unable to create a sound because of my punctured vocal cords.

My vision began to blur as I collapsed against the wall, ripping off my captain's coat and trying to staunch the bleeding.

I was choking myself, but saving my life... How ironic.

Arthur approached me, royal blue blood trickling down his blade.

For a moment, time seemed to stop.

A flicker of regret sparked in his eyes, dwindling away as quickly as it came.

He stood there motionlessly, staring me down as my lifeblood pooled out onto the floor.

I was dying to the hands of the one person I would take a tsunami for.

Is this really how it ends?

Not just my life, but my friendship with him, too?

Why was this happening to us?

Permafrost's cold, unforgiving glare pinned me to the ground with Arthur's eyes.

His captivating, wonderful eyes...

The eyes that soothed me when I was in pain.

The eyes that watched me train to fight.

The eyes that belonged to the person that meant everything in the world to me.

And now, they were going to be the very last ones I ever saw again.

"Arthur?" I whispered weakly, my vision beginning to blur.  "Is this really the end?..."

He gave me a subtle nod. "Yes, Tia. At least, for you."

His tone was utterly nonchalant, like he didn't seem to care.

After all, it was Permafrost who was controlling him, so what could I expect?

"May I tell you something?..." I croaked, loosening the grip on the useless temporary tourniquet I tried to make. "Before I go, at least..."

My mentor knelt down on one knee, sheathing his arming sword. "I'd love to listen, Tia. I always have."

Even though his words were obviously sugarcoated and fake, I gave him an appreciative nod.

"Two things, actually." I coughed up a mouthful of royal blue blood, covering my mouth. "One, you meant the world to me. And two..."

"Checkmate."

With the last ounces of strength I could muster, I skewered my RipTrident through his throat, freshening the velvet of the carpet.

He let out a silent scream of anguish as he went down, teetering backwards with my weapon lodged in his neck.

As I felt darkness clouding around the corners of my vision, I sent a silent prayer to whoever was willing to listen.

Hopefully we would meet in the afterlife.