Medics & Outcasts

VI Animus

 I was used to being overworked. Even so, being king simply felt... unnatural for me; I wasn't a ruler, I didn't think like one, act like one, nor live like one. I was a medic, a healer. I pursed my lips and outlined my porcelain mask with my finger, my feet continuing to carry me forward without my consent. My head was quiet.

 I continued walking through the blank, void-like halls of my father's quarters. I remembered having come here before as a child but nothing else. I couldn't hear a sound, everything was silent for a reason or another save for the few stray pets--by that, I mean stray cats--prancing about in the halls.

 They reminded me of my sisters, somewhat. I chuckled to myself a little--I missed them. No one had forced me to run, it was my fault I wasn't with them in the end.

 "Your Royal Highness~"

 When I heard my name being called I stopped in my tracks letting whoever had called for me catch up, shamelessly imitating my father. The voice grated on my nerves and the girl had come from nowhere; like an illusion. She rubbed me in the wrong way.

 "What do you need?" I inquired as I let my lavender eyes fall on the redhead. I kept my voice level, following the instructions my instructor--before he was sent away--gave me.

 Act unreachable, make it as if you were on a higher pedestal yet let modesty show. Speak like a king, use your words so no one questions you.

 I was not a king.

 Blinking her long lashes in feigned sympathy, Rebecca let a mockingly sorrowful expression form on her face. Be not mistaken, she was a very good actor--I just knew lies better than myself.

 "You are requested in the king's medical room. His situation has worsened!"

 I stared straight ahead staying still for a moment, but then I resumed walking toward the entrance hall. My father was bound to die the moment he ended up on the other side of Thraxi's uncontrolled power and even I didn't know whether he could be healed. That scared me, truly--I couldn't tell whether I wanted him to die anymore, he'd been such a constant figure in my life that I hesitated.

 'Will context help your dilemma?'

 Shut up, Icelandic city boy.

 'Then quiet your thoughts so I can sleep.'

 I rolled my eyes, taking much too long to realize how taken off guard the youngest Seire sibling was, "What‒hey‒wait!" she spluttered, running to catch up, "Didn't you hear what I said?! Your father is dying!"

 I ignored her, feeling myself getting irked by the girl's presence. She was slowly pulling at my patience and few were the ones who could survive such an outbreak. Somedays, I almost didn't make it myself.

 "Are you deaf or something!?"

 I paused, mind going completely blank, "Oh? No, no, no, I heard you perfectly, Lady Rebecca," the words slipped out of my mouth before I even realized it, everything I said echoing with my true sentiments. But I wasn't the one saying them, "How foolish are you to believe I care? Dear dame, I know you aren't that asinine of a girl." A smile curled on my face, the recognizable sting of Unravel travelling my body before the world around me caved in.

 I smiled pleasantly, taking of my mask to bow down to the only daughter of the Seire household staring at me with visibly unseeing eyes. Her skin had considerably paled and she shook before finally succumbing to the weakness of her legs. I immediately realized I was smiling but it didn't fall.

 'Fuck. Eillena!'

 'He's pushing us aw--a--y--'

 I hummed in satisfaction, the sensation of searing fire flickering everywhere inside my body as I approached the terror-stricken girl. A previously non-existent scar had appeared along her neck and bled out; I'd healed that injury myself, it was fatal. The gash was too large to heal by normal means. I was not planning to do so.

 "When you get there," I didn't where there was, I just knew I had a message to send, "Tell the controller to watch out. I'll be there soon."

 Arranging my clothing so I looked proper again, I went on my way without looking back. It had been utterly thrilling, every part of it. Rebecca Seire was gone and so were the souls. All that was left was...

 A smile still painting my face, I left the Manor, leaving everything I'd initially returned for behind as I went toward the forest on the northern side.

 All that was left was the control.