The witch's tower: The last witch's curse

Spellcast 16: Veritas 2

    'Coming to think of it... When I met that woman, it was only a few weeks before my father died...'

A young ten year old Arthur gave a completely dumbfounded expression as he stared at the woman standing before the sunset, disappearing behind the hills and fields of the kingdom, as he remained suspended mid-air. And just through the small bouts of sunlight shining past her body, Arthur could make out a middle aged woman standing before him, a basket in her arms wearing a rather fancy looking white and black dress... She gave just as surprised an expression as Arthur, her hand slightly out stretched, before then nervously lowered her hand giving a small smile to the young boy.
"Why... Are you alright...?" the woman questioned slowly as Arthur continued to give her a look of disbelief, Shannon's mouth also agape as she gave an amazed gasp...

'She was a local back in the village me and Shannon once lived in, somebody who I had only very briefly seen around before... It was that day that I had my first face to face encounter with that woman... And magic...'

"Are you really okay?" the woman double checked with Arthur as he dusted himself down, Shannon now also being back on the ground as the woman helped him get her down from the tree... Arthur looked back up to the woman suspiciously... Before he then looked back to the ground with a rather distant gaze in his eyes, grabbing the young Shannon's hands, beginning to walk away from the woman in a slightly fast pace.
"Yes thank you... Sorry but we have to go now..." Arthur turned his back on her, dragging Shannon away as Shannon kept on looking from the woman back to Arthur with a slightly let down expression, trying to stop him.
"Hu-Huh?! Awww, but Arthur, I want the woman to show me how to do that!" Shannon mithered as Arthur quickly made his way back home, blocking out Shannon's complaints...

'It wasn't as though I was new to what magic was, I wasn't a fool either, I knew what I should or should not be going around... However, it seemed past that point, whenever I saw that woman, I would often go up to her to talk... And more times than none, it would mean me sneaking out at night to see her...'

"You're a magic user... Aren't you...?" Arthur asked the woman from one night as she was picking up herbs, as he stood by a wall, the woman flinching a little bit to his words... She stood up straight to look back at who it was exactly who was talking to her, only to see Arthur standing there... And as she saw who it was, she gave and faintly anxious smile in his direction.
"Isn't it late for young children to be wandering about like that?" she questioned as Arthur narrowed his eyes even more at her...
"I saw you use magic the other day, you can't lie to me..." Arthur pointed out as at first the woman gave a slightly surprised expression... Before she then smiled slightly to the young boy before her.
"Is that so...?" she began, standing up straight as Arthur flinched a little to her getting up. "Then I guess there's no hiding it... I am a magic user, yes..." the woman then answered, much to the young Arthur's surprise... He wasn't quite expecting her to be quite as forward as she had been admitting it... So much so, that he didn't quite know where to take this conversation anymore, or what he should do with his new found knowledge.
"Sh-Shouldn't you be afraid...? If I told somebody, you could be killed... My dad is the general you know, so I am the person you want to know of anything the least!" Arthur then proclaimed, pointing at his chest as the woman reflected on her words momentarily, before nodding calmly to herself, still giving him a rather kind smile, despite what she had told him.
"Well, that would depend..." she answered. "Are you planning on telling anybody...?" she then questioned, as she then quite suddenly seemed to change the sort of situation they were in. He had pointed out that her life could end based on what he knew... Though she had suddenly made him quite more aware of that as for a moment he looked down uncomfortably. Her life was currently in his hands and he could do anything... Though if asked if he wanted her to die... Arthur quite suddenly found himself shrinking up in himself as he then looked away from her quite suddenly feeling rather childish... He really didn't have much control at all actually.
"I- I won't tell... But it's only because you saved me the other day, that's it! So... I'll keep it a secret..." Arthur told her, sort of stuttering a little as he told her his resolve, the woman chuckling softly to his words.
"My, then that means that I will have to keep my secret too, I won't tell your parents you were out this late at night then" The woman then noted to herself with a nod, Arthur twitching a bit at her words. Was she trying to make fun of him? The woman then tilted her head to him, looking at him with a rather comfortable smile now. "Well if I am going to be keeping secrets with somebody, I would like to know them better. So what is your name shorty?" she inquired as Arthur's face went rather red in slight embarrassment, his nose scrunching up a bit.
"I- I am not a shorty! My name is Arthur, not shorty, remember that lady!" Arthur noted rather gruffly as the woman giggled to herself.
"Ah, is that right? My mistake!" she continued to laugh lightly to herself, not really reassuring Arthur anymore on the matter. "Well then, Arthur, here is a small tip for the future. You don't tell any magic user your real name at first. That way they can't curse you..." The woman then noted as Arthur seemed to stiffen up even more in slight dread at those words, the woman finding some humour in his reaction as she began to laugh again. "Though you don't need to worry. Tell you what, so you feel safe, I will give you my real name in exchange..." the woman mentioned.

'After that point, I often used to go and meet up with her at the night hours. Not because I particularly needed to, just because some part of me felt inclined too... For some reason, she often seemed like a very lonely person, despite the warm smile she often gave people...'

"Eh? You have a daughter??" Arthur questioned one night, sitting by a tree in a nearby field as the woman picked up multiple herbs.
"Yes, one that's only a little bit younger than yourself..." the lady nodded, picking up a leaf that began to glow a warm orange like colour as she picked it up. And as she picked it up, it seemed that Arthur could only look to her with a slightly puzzled expression.
"How come I have never seen her round the village then? I know all the kids in the village..." Arthur then mentioned as the woman seemed to pause for a second at his words... Before she then gave a slightly saddened smile.
"She's not allowed to go outside..." The woman answered much to Arthur's surprise.
"Not allowed...? Why...?" he inquired as the woman continued picking up herbs from before him.
"Because the world here is a very dangerous place, especially for a child like her..." The woman answered, as at first, Arthur couldn't quite understand her logic... However, upon recalling that the woman before him was a magic user, he began to piece together the scenario as he nodded, looking down a little.
"I see..." he answered, not knowing what quite to say about the matter, not that it should have much of his attention anyway... And yet, he felt himself growing somewhat concerned. "Is her dad home? Does she have anybody to talk to at all?" he inquired as the woman flinched somewhat... Before she shook her head calmly.
"No, her father died a year ago..." she responded as Arthur felt himself bite his tongue, feeling a little guilty for bringing up the topic.
"S-sorry..." he stuttered as the woman shook her head.
"Don't be..." she stated, before looking back at him with a small smile. "Not many people ask about my home life" she told him, as for a moment Arthur seemed a little hesitant with the thoughts on his mind, whether he should speak them or not. However...
"Doesn't she get a little lonely...?" Arthur then inquired catching the woman's attention.
"Hmm?"
"Your daughter... Doesn't she get lonely when you go out at night and leave her alone?" Arthur then asked seriously, as at first, the woman seemed a little lost for words, her smile dimming somewhat as she reflected a little on his words.
"Doesn't your family get lonely when you leave at night?" she responded as Arthur twitched somewhat.
"My family are all in bed!" he replied as the woman nodded to herself.
"Same as my daughter..." she answered, turning away from him, before she paused a little... "That girl... She most certainly gets lonely... She can only live a life of solitude, and there isn't anything I can do about it..." the woman then mentioned, almost by a slip of tongue as Arthur seemed to latch onto those words.
"Doesn't she have any friends?" he inquired as the woman thought a little.
"Not any human ones..."

Right then and there seemed like a good point to drop the subject with a simple "I see..." and just head back home... However, it was probably his own naivety that would push him to say more.
"Will she ever be able to leave her house?" he then asked as the woman gave a somewhat hopeful look.
"One day perhaps..." she responded when he then got to his feet, holding his hand out to shake the woman's.
"Then when she gets out, I promise to be her first human friend!" he then proclaimed as the woman only seemed to become a lot more baffled by his words... Before she then suddenly then burst out laughing somewhat, an action which made Arthur twitch.
"My, how cute!" she laughed as Arthur's face began to flush in embarrassment.
"Wh-Wha? What's so funny?! It's not cute! That's a man's word you are laughing at lady, you'll meet some bad karma for making mockery of it!" Arthur then built up his defences, feeling a little foolish as the woman seemed to only find his retort even funnier. And as she wiped a tear of laughter away from her eye. She then beamed at him.
"So you really are going to stick to that word huh? If it's a man's promise I have high expectations, you're going to have to protect her and make her happy. You think you can stick to that?" she inquired as Arthur seemed a little conspicuous on whether he should reply or not this time, but only momentarily as he then nodded at her firmly. The woman gave an accepting nod. "I see..." she responded as she leant down towards him. "Then why don't I give you a little bit of my power?" she then suggested before then lightly kissing the top of Arthur's forehead, much to his complete disbelief, his face going a confused shade of pink and ashen white as then woman then raised her finger somewhat. "I just gave you a charm that should help you protect things you care about if you choose to. Be sure not to abuse it!" she chimed, as Arthur began to back up a little, holding his forehead whilst completely flustered.
"I-I... I'm sorry, but I am too young to become a husband right now!!" Arthur then shouted in a completely embarrassed panic as the woman gave a small giggle to his words.
"My how bold..." she uttered as Arthur decided to run off as quick as he could.
"I have to go now! I hear my mother calling, bye!" he stated as the woman simply watched him run off with an entertained smile.
"Try not to wake them up when getting back in!" she waved him off with a slight laugh. He sure was an interesting kid...

'That was one of the last moments I ever saw that woman. And in all honesty, it would have been better as the last. As a few days later, I found out about my father's death... I was angry, hurt and confused at the same time, and I had a big hatred for magic users... Since they were the ones who took his life despite it only having been one person... Though I was young and foolish. I needed to vent my frustration and so, the last time that I actually saw her...'

"Ah, little man, I haven't seen you the past few nights, did something happen...?" the woman questioned on the final night Arthur saw her when younger, as he walked upon the field with an empty almost darkened expression... There was a small silence as he stopped before her, the woman seeming a little surprised at first, before she gave him a puzzled and concerned smile.
"A-Arth-"
"Don't say my name..." he spoke gruffly, the woman pausing a bit at his words and her smile dropping as she tilted her head at him... And after another short silence, Arthur decided to bring up the issue. "My father died the other day in battle..." he mentioned , the woman's eyes widening at his words in slight shock as Arthur kept his head down... "He died because of a black magic user..." he then went on as the woman's face grew a little pale as she looked down.
"I'm sorry... I don't know what to-"
"Tell me why you put a curse on me...?" Arthur cut in the woman's condolence's as she gave a surprised expression. Curse...? The woman pointed to herself in a puzzled way.
"You think I cursed-" she began when Arthur explained his reasoning.
"I heard some of the ladies of the village talking about it today... Apparently kissing people's foreheads is a way of putting curses on people..." Arthur then stated, looking up to the woman emptily as the woman only seemed to become a little more bewildered. Before she then shook her head, realising the misunderstanding.
"W-Well you see, both curses and charms can be placed using that method. I can't cast black magic or curses, only charms. I would never intend to hurt yo-"
"So why didn't it work?!" Arthur then snapped at her, making the woman jump a little, before his clenched up his hand, shaking in frustration and anger. "You said it could help me protect things I care about! So why didn't it save my dad?!" Arthur then snapped as the woman couldn't find herself able to come up with a comeback that wouldn't spike up his anger more.
"The charm doesn't-" she began when Arthur cut her off once more.
"Enough! I've heard enough of you speaking! You're just a liar! How can I believe a word you have said?! My dad is dead, and it's all your kinds fault!" Arthur then pointed at her, as the woman's look of shock, seemed to die down to a somewhat saddened one as she remained backed away from the boy as Arthur looked at her with eyes filled with contempt. "I don't want to ever see you again, from now on, keep away from my family!" Arthur hissed, as the woman didn't reply to his words or move, she simple looked away from him, as though she couldn't find the words to reply to him. However she then took a deep breath turning to him with a slightly pained smile.
"You're so young, nobody should have to loose somebody dear them at this age..." the woman stated, taking a step towards him as Arthur backed away in defence. "Arthur-"
"Stop saying my name! You're going to curse me again!" Arthur snapped, covering his ears as the woman remained composed despite this.
"Arthur..." she went on again as Arthur winced at the gentleness of her tone...Why...? Why was she getting angry and walking away? Why was she still trying to be nice to him?? "You are a good kid, and you have a lot to live for. I know you will definitely protect many people in the future...." She went on as her words seemed to agitate him more as his own thoughts and anger seemed to combat them. "And I know, that what you say now, is not what you really mean-"
"SHUT UP!" Arthur yelled, stopping her where she was, as he looked back at her almost on the brink of tears. How was she getting into his head? Why was she even trying to understand him right now? When she was one of them! She was the enemy, just like the rest of them! "Just disappear already! All of you can go to hell, it's all your kinds fault! I hope you all die!" Arthur sneered as the woman seemed lost for words again, before she then backed up, realising she wouldn't be able to reach him right now as he caught his breath. She gave a heartfelt sigh, before she then smile faintly at him.
"Is that so...?" she asked him once more as Arthur seemed to become tongue tied at those words. Before he then decided to run away from the situation, in quite a literal sense. He turned away from her, deciding to just leave her there without any further words. It was a harsh goodbye and yet, despite his lack of response, she still decided to call after him.
"Say, regardless of whether or not you want me to die, be sure to keep your promise little man..." she called after him as Arthur gritted his teeth at those words. As if he would ever want to protect any of their kind!

Is what he thought...

'As there was no way I could have predicted what would happen the next day... If there was a way to reverse to the time of that night, I would have taken back what I said straight away...'

'For that lady's cottage no longer existed anymore come morning, and neither did she...'

"It's horrible, apparently she was a magic user..." one woman whispered from before the upheaval.
"She used to give me and my family medicine! It could have been poison!" a second woman gasped.
"Was there any survivors...?" a man asked as the one beside him shook his head.
"None... The guards were in and out. They burnt the remains up so there is no way anybody could have hidden in there long enough to escape..." he replied with a grunt.
Arthur stood before the burnt wreckage of the cottage somewhat dazed, as people around him gossiped and gawked at the mess... Everyone around him seemed quite relieved to hear of the news, however, he could only stare upon it with an almost sickened feeling in his stomach. Did... Dis he cause this...?
'I hope you all die!'
Th-There's no way he could have right? It was just a coincidence...? Wasn't the woman meant to be protected by the king...? That's what she said... That's what the young girl said- Arthur flinched a bit at that thought as he looked over to where he last saw the young girl in the wreckage... The young girl... That woman's daughter... Did she die too? Did they really go as far as to kill a child?!
'Be sure to keep your promise little man!'
The recollection of that woman's last words sent shivers up Arthur's spine, as he backed up away from the cottage, rubbing his arms as he became aware of the so called charm that had been placed on his forehead... There was absolutely no way...
'I know what you say now, is not what you really mean...'
There was absolutely no way, he was the cause of this! He never would have truly wished for her to die. He never wanted her or her daughter to be hurt, he just wanted to stay away from them... So why...? Why had things turned out this way?! It was something he couldn't forgive himself for.
'I hope you all die!'
He could never forgive himself for those being his final words to her... He would never be able to forget this...

And yet...

'And yet a few days later, for some reason, any memory to do with that woman had completely vanished from my mind, as it seemed to do so for everyone else. Nobody seemed to remember the woman with long white hair, who used to make medicines for the village. It was like her entire existence had been erased, as though something was trying to hide her from us... That woman... What was her name again... I know it was relevant, I know that she was important... Her name... I swear it...'

"Your name?" Arthur gave a curious expression to the woman on that night they had finally spoken, as the woman looked back to him, smiling rather pleasantly...
"My name is..."

"Rosalyn Isolde..."

Quite suddenly the present self of Arthur found himself waking up with a start, just as he did every time restart, with heavy breath, feeling rather disorientated. And yet... This time was much different... For when Arthur woke up this time, h was surrounded by darkness...

Wincing a little to see where he was, he could only just make out that he was in a room, that didn't seem to have much light in it at all. There seemed to be a dim glow, as though it was coming through a small window at night time, but that was about it. And through his confusion, he finally began to move about, a painful sensation aching across the back of his head to match the ringing in his ears.
'What's going on...?' he thought, going to move and yet it was only as he went to stand up, that he realised that he couldn't. He couldn't even move his hands, which seemed to be bound tightly to something behind him. He gave a confused expression as he tried to struggle more against the binds. Had somebody captured him?! He tried his best to break himself free for a few seconds, however, it was then that he seemed to sit back in defeat, his mind on whir... The dream he had just now, much rather the memory... That last segment made absolutely no sense to him at all... It was obvious to him now that he had in fact met Rosalyn's mother in the past... But for her to state that she was Rosalyn Isolde... That was ridiculous right? He had already confirmed pretty much that in his previous memories, the older lady, was not Rosalyn, so how come was it now that she was suddenly saying she was... That wasn't Rosalyn... At least, not the Rosalyn he knew of today... Maybe he was getting his dreams confused with reality...? Since he had feelings for Rosalyn and how it occurred to him now, that Rosalyn's mother, was probably his first crush, much to his complete and utter embarrassment on the matter. He shook his head vigorously at his random side tracking. He could get his answers for the past later from Rosalyn later, but right now, he needed to focus on the present. And in the present, for some reason he had woken up in a dark cold room, in pain and tied up...
Arthur gave a stiff and confused expression as he summed it up in his head. Out of all the weird situations to happen upon the time restarts this was the most bizarre... But he had to retrace he steps from the last time restart, work out what exactly had happened. He recalled that the last thing in his mind, was to inform Princess Ran about the misunderstanding with Rosalyn, in fact, he was pretty sure he did at least make it to telling her about the situation but then...
'Sir Arthur behind you!'
Arthur gave a concerned and pale expression as he recalled the panic is Princess Ran's tone as he turned around. The person behind him who took him out last time... He didn't get a proper chance to look at them before he was struck down... And given his circumstances now, it didn't make him feel good... Was it the actual creator of the plague...? Were they after Princess Ran...? Arthur's eye's widened at that thought as he began to try and free himself in a panic. If time had restarted, then that meant he was not going to be there to stop that person at all! Princess Ran was in danger! He needed to break free before-

"Arthur...?" A small voice from behind Arthur made him pause as he felt his body both relax and tense up at almost the same time. He sat back in slight confusion and caution, as the voice behind him was none other than Princess Ran's herself... He couldn't really see her behind him, but he could feel her back against his now, as she seemed to be moving around herself by this point. "S-Sir Arthur... Is that you...?" she questioned as Arthur's expression went pale as he replied.
"Y-Yes your majesty... It is..." he replied, finding himself at a loss... What was she doing here?? "Your majesty, did somebody capture us?" he then double checked with her as Princess Ran seemed to lower her head a little.
"I believe so... They moved so quick I didn't get much chance to see them..." Princess Ran responded as Arthur's eyes narrowed somewhat. So there wasn't much hope in trying to identify the culprit as of yet... But he didn't quite understand it... Why capture both him and the princess? Was it to make sure he didn't tell anybody of her kidnapping? Either way... Arthur gave a rather disheartened expression as he kept his head held low.
"Your majesty... I'm sorry, if I had been more guarded you wouldn't be in this mess at least..." he stated as Princess Ran shook her head slightly to his words.
"No, this isn't your fault... It's the fault of whoever did this... I'm certain we will find a way out of this" Princess Ran told him as Arthur remained a little unsteady at her words... She may find a way out of this, but for him... In this darkness he couldn't see them, yet he found himself instinctively looking to the deepest corners of the room, where he knew the contractors would quietly be watching him... If he didn't find a way out soon, the contractors would help him find a way out by killing him in front of the Princess...

"Say Arthur, who do you think would do such a thing...?" Princess Ran then questioned Arthur quietly. And it was these words that seemed to put a weight on both his mind and heart... For he didn't know anymore... If it wasn't Rosalyn, then who could it really be? As far as he was aware, Rosalyn was the only magic user left alive, at least the only definite one... Arthur seemed to grow uncomfortable as his mind lingered on the word definite. He thought that, as he had the deep suspicions that she wasn't... And a very likely suspect...
'But if you come across a person wearing a hooded cowl be wary...'
'You seem to have a curse on you...'
The monk he had met in the inn... There was no denying it there was definitely something at least not human about him...

"I believe this is the witch's fault... She did this..." Princess Ran then spoke up as Arthur at first seemed a little stunned with her words, before he then glanced back to Princess Ran from the corners of his eyes, a serious expression appearing over his face.
"Your majesty, this really wouldn't be Rosalyn's doing..." Arthur stated, his words seeming to make Princess Ran flinch somewhat as she then then also glanced back to him. "I explained this to you earlier... Rosalyn was not the cause of the plagued lands, she definitely would not have done this" Arthur then vouched for Rosalyn as Princess Ran looked away from Arthur, her body tensing somewhat.
"And your proof is? Do you have any sort of deciding proof to say this wasn't her doing?" Princess Ran then questioned, as Arthur found that his words began to now clutter within his mind. Proof? He had no proof, there's no way he could have possibly come up with any proof at all... "How can you take anything that witch says with a pinch of salt without any proof? Thinking like that will surely only wind up with you getting hurt!" Princess Ran then spoke on, as Arthur felt himself shrink up a bit. It was true, he didn't have any physical proof of Rosalyn's innocence... And she had proven herself to be quite the avid liar and manipulator in the past. For all he knew, this could be a trap and yet... Looking back on it, a lot of her reasons for lying or manipulating a situation, weren't actually many selfish reasons, in fact some of them seemed to genuinely benefit anybody but Rosalyn in that case... He looked down to the floor with a slightly distant expression. He didn't have any physical proof of her innocence, and yet, he believed her... As if he had complete trust in her, and her claims of innocence.
"I know for definite, that she isn't our enemy..." Arthur finally spoke up in a rather firm way, his words causing a short silence being between them. When the tension that had built up in Princess Ran's body seemed to calm down...


"Sir Arthur... Do you love her...?" Princess Ran then broke the silence, with a question that Arthur had been somewhat dreading come out of Princess Ran's mouth, after before only having eyes for her... Her question led to the next absence of sound between them, as Arthur tried to stem together and simulate a good enough response to that question in his head... And yet, despite this, it still came out as what it would only end up sounding like...
"I do..." he responded, going to say all he could find himself able to say to the Princess behind him. "Sorry..."

It seemed that Princess Ran needed to come to term with his response as for a slight second, she seemed to curl up somewhat, as though she had been wounded slightly... And her voice seemed to somewhat tremble the next sentence out as her hand slightly reached over to his somewhat...
"Didn't you know... That I loved you...?" she inquired as Arthur gave a pained look to those words and the tone of voice at his own guilt. There was no way he could avoid any hurt or upset from this, and to avoid the situation all together would be cowardly... He couldn't find any truer words to ease her most likely pain as he found himself repeating his last words.
"I'm sorry..." he restated, which he wasn't sure would ease the pain, or add to the injury, as Princess Ran retracted her hand, beginning to look above her.
"You really trust and love that woman? You believe everything that she says...? Despite her being said to be the enemy...?" Princess Ran questioned once more... "You really trust her...? Over me...?" she then inquired, her words weighing on Arthur a little more... And yet, he had his answer...
"Yeah, I definitely trust her..." he responded in a somewhat confident way as Princess Ran looked before her, her expression remaining ambiguous to him as he remained tied up...
"I see..."

It was with these words, that Arthur suddenly felt a certain weight lean off of his back, something in which had him surprised as he began to hear footsteps behind him... And there was suddenly a warm and faint light spring up behind him...
"Princess Ran...?" he questioned, feeling rather paranoid about the sudden change of events, as he then heard a faint chuckle walking around him...
"Then perhaps you weren't as naïve and easily fooled as I first made you out to be..." chuckled a gentle voice in a rather jeering way, these words making Arthur skin feel as though it just lost all its heat, as he found himself no able to look at the source of the sound. Where he there found Princess Ran standing beside him, now entirely dressed up in a deep blue cowl with a hood that covered up a lot of her long blonde hair. Her eyes seemed to flicker along with the candle she now held in her hand, as she looked to the now rather disorientated Arthur, with an apathetic look. Arthur's expression became somewhat cautious as he blinked twice at her...
"Princess Ran.... How did you escape...?" he questioned as Princess Ran continued to stare at him coldly...

"You really are a simple person you know Arthur..." Princess Ran muttered, looking away from him and beginning to pace around him, Arthur give her a confused expression.
"I... I'm sorry; I don't quite understand you..." Arthur replied, feeling a pit in his stomach sink deeper and deeper with each and every step she took.
"Really...? Then why don't I clarify some things for you..." Princess Ran stated, leaning over towards him with a smile that was equally as calm and gentle as it was sinister. "Sir Arthur, I was the one who knocked you out and tied you up..." Princess Ran then admitted, as at first Arthur seemed a little unresponsive to her words. However as the initial shock of what she just said began to really kick in with him, his eyes slowly began to widen somewhat and his face grew pale.
"Wh-What do you mean?" he stammered in both confusion and disbelief as Princess Ran remained silent, the growing anxiety within Arthur beginning to overwhelm as he gave a pained expression. "This is a joke right?"
"It could have been if you just had been loyal..." Princess Ran then mentioned, tilting her head to the side casually as Arthur lowered his head, staring forwards blankly.... This had to be a lie... or some sort of bad dream... Right? There's no way that Princess Ran would actually do this sort of thing...? Right?!

"You seem rather confused still, so why don't I just paint the picture for you..." Princess Ran stated, before looking to Arthur in both a dark yet completely serious sort of way. "Sir Arthur, the one who caused the plague, was not the witch, it was me... I have been the 'bad guy' all along..." Princess Ran told him nonchalantly, not a single bit of remorse or guilt in her words, as the flame of her candle flickered from beside her, as Arthur remained silent unable to speak or comprehend just what he had quite heard... He couldn't even question her why, or whether if she was lying anymore... He couldn't give any look of shock or surprise, instead he only held an almost empty and bewildered stare as he found himself unable to look her in the eye. His mind only being filled with one thing. That it had to be a lie. There was no way what she was telling him was the truth. The real princess Ran would never do such a thing. The real Princess Ran only wanted to save the country, she never wished to destroy it! The real Princess Ran... Arthur gritted his teeth, his eyes holding nothing but confused agony within them as he shrunk up into himself. Did he even know the real Princess Ran at all.
"How about it? Finally see me as the criminal? Do you hate me now Sir Arthur?" Princess Ran inquired, as Arthur at first began with an almost strangled stutter.
"Wh-Why..." he began whilst shaking before he then looked to her in angered turmoil. "Why would you do such a thing?! Do you even realise what you are admitting to?!" Arthur then yelled as Princess Ran nodded thoughtfully to herself.
"Yes, well I can see why you would be angered by all this..." Princess Ran mentioned, before glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Afterall, the whole reason you are in the situation you are stuck in now, is because of my orders, isn't Sir Arthur?" Princess Ran stated as Arthur winced a bit at her words. The whole reason he and Rosalyn were battling against each other, the whole reason they were both cursed was because of this woman who he trusted with his life... Because he listened to her and played along with this scheme, one of them were going to have to die... Because of him... Arthur clenched up his hand in frustration. Before he then let his head fall forward, his body giving up as he looked down miserably. He couldn't feel anger , or malice by this point... Just the unmistakable and relenting feeling of despair eating away at his insides, and winding itself around his chest... Why had things turned out this way...? Why had he let things slip through his fingers like this? If he had only paid more attention and figured things out sooner. He could have helped Rosalyn stop the plague quicker, he could have stopped Princess Ran going down such a path... How could he let this happen?!

"If you had just stuck to the program, none of this would have happened, if you had just killed the witch like I asked, things would have went back to normal, and you would have lived a happy life, oblivious to the truth..." Princess Ran stated as Arthur looked back to her weakly with an antagonised expression. She beamed at him with a dark chuckle. "You were far more interesting being like every other man I had put under the love trance... You should have stayed completely intoxicated by me and me alone..." she went on, before looking at him in a very cold way once more, slightly disgusted. "However, you had to go and fall in love with that witch and break the trance..." she mentioned whilst biting the top of her thumb.
"Why Rosalyn...? Why push this all on her...?" Arthur questioned quietly as Princess Ran glanced over to him perversely.
"Why? Why don't you remember last time I told you, I said that I hated her" Princess Ran explained as Arthur jumped at her words.
"You said you didn't remember last time!" he snapped.
"And I lied..." Princess Ran responded bluntly as Arthur narrowed his eyes at her. "From the start you were always very easily manipulated and too trusting, did you really think I didn't have the ability to lie?" Princess Ran inquired, as she tilted her head. "Why it's because I have feelings for you Sir Arthur. I'm sorry Sir Arthur, it's all my fault. But I know you have the power to fight for a long and fruitful life-"
"Stop!" Arthur cut in her mimics of all the kind words she had used to completely manipulate the situation as Princess Ran stopped, looking back to him emptily.
"Oh sorry, does it hurt...?" she questioned with a somewhat bitter snicker as Arthur refrained from replying to her as she began to pace round more. "You can't get angry at me, the only reason I realised that the curse was happening and recalled all the time reversals, was because you told me everything..." Princess Ran went on, her every word biting down at Arthur chest, as though she was intentionally ripping him to pieces with carefully planned and constructed sentences used to attack him. "My that was a mistake wasn't it? Especially now you will be suffer for it..." Princess Ran then went on as Arthur twitched to her words, looking up to her anxiously. She was going to go after Rosalyn.
"What are you planning to do-"
"I have already done it" Princess Ran interrupted with a leer as Arthur became even more wary of her words.
"What is that meant to mean?!" he questioned in an angered panic as Princess Ran gave a condescending scoff amidst her growing smirk.
"Early this morning, the barrier of the plagued lands exploded outwards, covering the whole kingdom and beyond with its toxins... The kingdom and the people within it, have very little time to live before either the environment or the creatures lurking within it destroys everything..." Princess Ran stated calmly, dropping yet another heavy piece of new upon Arthur as his eyes widened in mortification. The plague had spread?! For a moment, Arthur faltered a little, however, snapped himself out of it, recovering himself quickly as he went to get up in anger. However he was quickly pulled back by the chains on his wrists as Princess Ran scoffed at his attempts. "My, are we angry now? Is the blood rushing to your face? How does it feel knowing that you are completely hopeless to stop anything?!" Princess Ran then began to laugh at him in a jeering way as Arthur looked at her in complete exasperation... This woman... Had she completely lost her mind?! The way she acted reminded him of the way Rosalyn acted from the very start, no perhaps even worse. Her mix of complete apathy to what was going on, the cruelty of her words and laughter; it had seemed she had completely gone deranged... And part of him still couldn't believe him. Part of him never wanted to believe it, as believing what she was saying was far too painful. Yet, a deep and hysterical feeling within him, could only believe it as the truth... "Then you'll be twice as enraged to hear that I currently have the witch in custody too!" Princess Ran then chimed.
"What have you done to her!" He began angrily when Princess Ran tutted somewhat, looking away from him.
"Oh don't worry, I haven't done much yet... But I can assure you she won't live for very long. You see I have far less use for her flesh vessel than I do for the power within her" Princess Ran mentioned as Arthur struggled to get free.
"If you dare lay a hand on her then I'll-"
"Then you'll do what?" Princess Ran leered at him. "You'll get yourself unchained? You'll be able to catch me? Oh, you will go against the Princess who despite her best efforts, wound up being betrayed by her most loyal knight, who let the witch destroy her lands with the plague?" Princess Ran listed as Arthur felt all his possible defences and attacks turn into nothing whilst Princess Ran heckled at him. "There is no way you can rise against this Sir Arthur. Because from the very start, you were both being framed. And because of who I am, there is no possible way you will defeat me..." she then went on as Arthur fell back a bit in exhausted disbelief. He couldn't argue... As much as he hated it, he knew that was she was saying was the truth. There was no way the people of the kingdom would believe him over the "kind" and "gentle" Princess who had "raised them from the ashes of despair". There was nothing he could possibly do in this situation to stand against her...

"Well if we are done here, I am going to go and complete my task..." Princess Ran stated, beginning to turn away from Arthur as he looked back to her in vexation.
"Wait a second!" he began when Princess Ran looked back to him with a darkened smile, pausing mid step.
"That's right, I forgot to tell you the good news didn't I Sir Arthur?" Princess Ran then began, as Arthur gave a confused and cautious expression to his words as she turned back to him, walking closer to him a few steps. "It's my gift to you, to congratulate you for getting this far..." She then went on as a smile came over her face. "Just for you and that witch, I removed that troublesome curse for you!" she then stated with a bright smile as Arthur gave a dazed expression at her words, at first not believing her. However as she leaned over more with a corrupt smile, he began to realise that she wasn't joking about the matter. "Now no matter who dies first, no matter if you both die, you will both remain dead once you die... There's no undo or repeat, there's no more restarts all that awaits you after everything goes cold and dark, if the eternal silence and emptiness of death..." Princess Ran then went on, as the reality of what she was saying dawned on Arthur, before she turned away from him as he looked to the floor silently, unable to formulate a response to that in his head.
"This will be my goodbye Arthur. You'll most likely die here alone and forgotten. Pretty suitable death for a traitor..." Princess Ran mentioned, walking away as an array of dark and light blue lights appeared around her as she began to teleport away, a smug smile appearing on her face... "Don't you agree?" she chuckled as she left Arthur within the darkness...

"Everyone, remain calm and exit the palace from the main entrance. We advise you start travelling to the edge of the country so we can evacuate!" General Rudcliff cried, as people bustled about the palace in a frantic, each one wearing cloth and masks over their noses and mouths, in order to block out the sickening smell of the air around them. Within seconds the entire kingdom had been engulfed by a pungent and stagnated sulphur yellow fog that shrivelled up and corroded away all nature and wildlife away on the instant. Structures were beginning to weaken and collapse and people were already falling ill from the environment around them. Not only that but...

There came a loud pained cry from the front of the palace as the staff and people within the palace grounds gave a small panicked cry, one of the guards backing up with a fearsome look in his eyes.
"General, the creatures out there are far too strong. One just wiped out a whole group of men without getting a single scratch!" the guard stated wearily as the General's eyes narrowed in frustration.
"Dammit..." he muttered under his breath, trying to figure out a new plan of action.

"Arthur?! Arthur where are you?!" Shannon cried, pushing past people to move closer to palace, trying to find her brother as Vincent followed closely behind her; both wearing cloths around the lower part of the their face.
"Hey! Hey shorty, it's you!" Break called over to Shannon, who at first looked around bewildered, before she then noticed him waving at her from within the crowd as she ran over to him along with Vincent.
"Break! Thank goodness, is Arthur with you?!" Shannon questioned as Break gave a pale expression to her words, shaking his head.
"No, I was about to ask you the same thing..." Break stated as Shannon gave an even more worried expression looking around.
"Then where could he be?!" she panicked as Vincent patted her shoulder to reassure her.
"Stay right here, I'll go look for him..." He stated, when Shannon then stopped him, pulling him closer to her firmly.
"No you don't. I'm not losing you as well, you stay with me!" she scolded him as Vincent's cheeks went somewhat red as he found himself unable to argue back to such a statement. Break scratched the back of his head, feeling rather cautious about the chaos that was going around him.
"Where could have that man gone to? He is definitely not the type to go missing at a crisis..." Break uttered as Shannon glanced back to the tower nervously.
"Maybe he went to the tower?" she questioned as Break seemed rather uncertain with her words.
"Without at least checking up on you first? Doubt it..." Break put it bluntly as Shannon became even more paranoid with his words. Even if he had just decided to leave and go to the tower without saying, it would give her a lot more relief to know where he currently was, rather than not at all... And it was just as she was about to avert her gaze from the tower, then she noticed something flying towards the palace grounds in a slight frantic. And upon closer inspection, she saw that it was no other than the witch's familiar Ciel, who seemed to be looking for something in a rather panicked fashion; her eyes lighting up somewhat as she cupped her hands.
"Talking bat! Hey, mister bat!!" Shannon yelled over to Ciel as Vincent twitched at her random shouting, with a pale expression.
"E-Erm Shannon, we should get you out of the open, the air seems to be going to your head..." Vincent mentioned weakly as Break shook his head, also noticing Ciel.
"Nope, that is the talking bat... Say Ciel! Over here!" Break also started yelling as Vincent seemed to grow quite fearful at their words.
"Oh no, you're both going mad..." he stammered beginning to plug his nose more to ensure that he kept his sanity when he then heard a slightly exhausted and paranoid voice from beside them.
"Sir Break, Sir Arthur's sister, how relieving it is to see you right now!" Ciel proclaimed, flying down to them as Vincent looked to his right, only to see a bat flapping about in his face with a slight pant... Before he then calmly looked forwards with a weak smile of acceptance.
"Oh look... I'm going mad now too..." he uttered in a wistful way as Ciel seemed to grow a little concerned.
"It's probably be best to stay sane right now..." Ciel pointed out as Vincent nodded with the same smile.
"Yeah..." Vincent agreed softly with a nod, his mind still not really processing the bat next to him... Before finally the mechanics in his mind that had seemed to have jolted caught free.

"Th-There's there's the there's, the bat, there's, talking, there's..." Vincent spluttered incoherent sentences, sweating profusely and shaking as Ciel gave a dull look from him to Shannon.
"Ah I guess you don't know about me..." Ciel mentioned as Shannon gave a slight nodding as Vincent continued to make no sense in his ramblings.
"Yeah, he has a bit to catch up on..." Shannon nodded as Vincent remained at a loss before she then slapped him on the back. "Hey, Vincent, where did your spine go?"
"THERE'S A TALKING BAT!" Vincent finally got his words out as Ciel looked at him with a hint of pity, wondering how he managed to find somebody who panicked perhaps just as bad as he did.
"Shannon, the bat is talking!" Vincent then pointed to Ciel as though he weren't there.
"Yeah, I sort of got over this a while ago..." She mentioned, Ciel growing a little tired of his reaction.
"A friend Arthur's sister?" he inquired as Vincent flinched.
"A-Actually I-I'm" he began with a flustered face and trembled tone, when Shannon then cut in with a nod.
"Yeah, he's my friend Vincent!" she stated as Vincent then looked down in a somewhat dismal way, his crushing disappointment seeming to reel him out of his own shock a bit.
"Yeah... Friend..." he nodded as both Ciel and Break gave him a look of sympathy to his current position.

Ciel then realised that he had not come here to idly chatter, as he then turned to both Shannon and Break.
"I'm sorry, but do you know where Sir Arthur is? It's urgent!" Ciel then began as both Shannon and Break seemed to become a lot more wary with the bats words.
"No... Didn't you see him heading his way up to the tower?" Shannon inquired as Ciel shook his head.
"No, I would have assumed that I would have at least found him here but..." Ciel responded, also becoming restless upon hearing this news as Break began to look around more anxiously.
"What is that guy doing vanishing at a time like this?!" Break stated before sighing uncomfortably. "He hasn't been back since this morning. As far as I know, his sword is still in his room too..."
"So you mean to say that Sir Arthur has also vanished completely?" Ciel then asked, his wings flapping about a little faster in worry as Shannon then looked back to him curiously.
"Exactly that... But what do you mean also?" She inquired as Ciel only appeared to grow more nervous as he responded.
"Mistress left the tower this morning. She said she was going to try find Arthur, but I haven't found her since. I thought she may have been caught by creatures that control the curse, contractors, but of that were the case, Sir Arthur should have also been caught at least by now... however time isn't repeating at all..." Ciel then explained as Shannon's eyes narrowed a little.
"Con-tractors..." she repeated slowly, a little confused by the bats words, before she then shook her head, realising that she shouldn't be focused on that right now. "So... What you are saying is something has happened to the two of them?" she inquired as Ciel was a little hesitant upon replying.
"It's an awful thought, but I am afraid so..." he answered, as Shannon then gave a mixed look of determination and paranoia as she then began walking away from the group, back towards the palace.
"AH! Shannon, where are you going?!" Vincent cried, going to catch up with her.
"Shorty, don't go walking off like that, if you died after I let you walk off, your brother wouldn't forgive me!" Break announced as Shannon looked back at them seriously.
"I am going to find my brother! If something has happened, then he will most likely still be in the palace!" she stated as Ciel flew over to her with a slightly cautious expression.
"Though that sounds like a plan, we cannot be certain he will be in there..." Ciel mentioned as Vincent then caught up to her with a serious expression.
"Yes, also with the size of the palace, there will be no saying we will find him before we all die here!" Vincent mentioned, going to stop her as Shannon then pulled away from him, an antagonised expression upon her face, leaving him a little shocked as she scowled somewhat at him.
"If I'm going to die, I'm going to finding my brother!" Shannon stated seriously as Break caught up with them, trying to calm everything down.
"Now, now kid, let's not be rash..." he began when quite suddenly the sound of somebody clearing their throat behind them made the flinch as they looked back to see Louise standing behind them.

And for a moment, they all seemed to back away from him defensively, expecting him to come out with something harsh as his eyes narrowed at them all.
"What's wrong with you all, I have something to tell you, why are you moving away?" he inquired as Shannon glanced to her left, an action soon shared by the others around her.
"Sorry, it's just a natural reaction..." she mentioned as Louise gave a somewhat offended expression to their words.
"Eh?" he raised his voice as Shannon gave a stiff smile.
"You had something to say?" she quickly changed the subject as Louise questioned on whether or not he really wanted to help these people now after that... However, as he looked back to the dying sky above them, hearing the distant sounds of wails and cries, he took a deep breath when he then tilted his head to them.
"I may know where he is..." he then stated, catching the other's attention... "The peasant boy I mean..."

From within the darkened room Arthur remained quiet. For quite some time now, he had given up on trying to struggle free, at least for this moment, as he had wound up making himself tired in his hopeless attempts to get free...
'There's no way you can rise against this Arthur. For from the very start, you were both being framed..'
Arthur looked up wearisomely both physically and mentally exhausted. In the end of it all, there really was no sort of hope or good ending, was there? No matter what he did, or said, no matter how their curse ended, either way, disaster was going to strike. This entire time he thought that he had been saving the people around him , that he was actually doing something that would wind up with a happy ending for everyone, if not for at least the majority... Even towards the end, even when things looked so bleak, he was still fighting for just a spark of hope within this mess, in hopes he could fix the catastrophe they had all wound up in... And yet...
'Okay, we'll try that then!'
'There's no undo or repeat, there's no more restarts all that awaits you after everything goes cold and dark, if the eternal silence and emptiness of death'
In trying to fix things, he had only made things worse... Rosalyn trusted him, she trusted in his own trust of Princess Ran and yet everything had fallen apart. All he was faced with now was his own mortality and the reality of the situation that was handed to him. He couldn't even get out of his current situation to even attempt to fix things, it seemed that he was just as hopeless as the scenario he found himself confronted with. He really was useless and easily manipulated...
'You'll probably die here forgotten and alone. Pretty suitable death for a traitor don't you agree?'
He gave a weak smile upon recalling those words. At this point, it seemed like a fitting death, he had already made so much of a mess out of everything. To die slowly and weighed down his own guilt and despair seemed like a pretty suiting death...
'I'm sorry Arthur... But I do not wish to watch you slowly die anymore...'
Rosalyn would feel pretty annoyed with him for having such thoughts, wouldn't she? But what else could he do like this. He didn't have his sword and whatever the Princess had him chained in was pretty sturdy. Plus in such a dark and lonely place, within all this chaos, there was very little hope of anybody finding him here to help him. Arthur gave an exhausted sigh, as he leaned back momentarily, looking at the ceiling... Before his eyes then narrowed... Regardless, he had to find some way out of this situation, and sitting here moping about it wasn't going to solve his problem. Once again he found himself struggling against the chains tied tightly round his wrists, grunting slightly to ignore the slight pain he felt from the strong steel digging into his skin. He struggled and kept struggling, pushing against the chains in hopes that some way he could get free and yet.

As he felt on the verge of breaking both his wrists he fell back again with a pant, holding his head back in frustration. Why did this seem so impossible?! He had thought against all sorts of magic and creatures, so how was it he had met his match here?! If he had his sword or something he could perhaps use to cut the chains, then maybe, but at this rate, he was just going to wind up injuring himself and becoming even more useless... But being like that... Did that mean that there was no hope at all?!

He was just about to give in again, when he suddenly began to hear footsteps from nearby which made him flinch as he brought up his guard. Was it the Princess coming back or some sort of creature from the plague... Arthur's eyes narrowed as he tried to struggle a bit more, trying to lean back a bit as he watched some darkened figures appear in the darkness... And a familiar flapping...
"Sir Arthur?! Sir Arthur it's you!" came Ciel's voice, as Arthur's eyes seemed to widen slightly in relief upon seeing Ciel. He had never been so happy to see the bat fly towards him before.
"Ciel! How did you find me here?!" Arthur asked in a mix of shock and relief as Ciel landed upon Arthur's shoulder.
"It's a bit of a long story, though we will explain whilst getting you out!" Ciel mentioned as Arthur raised his eyebrow to him.
"We?" he questioned as there came a scampering of feet towards him and before he could even question, a bundle of energy flew at him.

"Arthur, thank goodness we found you!" Shannon cried, throwing her arms over Arthur as he gave twice as bewildered an expression. So he had been found...?
"Sh-Shannon..." he uttered as there came a small sigh from before him.
"Right when we all need you, you go and get yourself captured... You are an unlucky person aren't you?" Break stated as a small candle light appeared before him, revealing Break, Louise and Vincent before him.
"You guys... Seriously, how did you find me, I'm not even sure where I am..." Arthur then inquired in bewilderment, as Break then pointed to Louise.
"Mister brag a lot her actually helped out for once. Who would have thought huh?" Break pointed out as Louise twitched at Break's words.
"Yes, well it was because I failed to inform him of something earlier..." Louise stated, turning to Arthur. "If you had just stopped to listen to me, you could have avoided this you know..." Louise then explained to Arthur with a sharp glare, the smile of relief on Arthur's face dimming a bit as he then looked away from Louise.
"I do wonder about that..." he uttered, pretty certain that nobody could have predicted what would have wound him up in this situation.

"We don't have much time to sit around Sir Arthur, Mistress has gone missing, we have to go find her quickly, if we don't the contractors will come to finish you off too!" Ciel then announced, his wings wafting about a little as he spoke without breaths towards Arthur, who upon hearing the bat's words gave a troubled expression as he looked down in agitation. So Princess ran wasn't lying, she had gotten hold of Rosalyn in this time. "... Sir Arthur...?" Ciel slowly tried to catch his attention with the tilt of his head as Arthur looked to Ciel, almost emptily.
"Don't worry about the contractors... They won't come..." he told Ciel, who at first seemed a little baffled by Arthur's words.
"Won't come...? What do you mean they won't come? How can you be so sure?!" Ciel stammered as Arthur then gritted his teeth somewhat.
"I don't know how, but the curse has been broken by... By..." Arthur began, however he paused as he realised even he couldn't bring himself to say the true culprit's identity properly. He tensed up a bit, before struggling to get out again. "I need to get out of here right now and find Rosalyn, she's in some serious danger!" Arthur stated, his forceful moment making Ciel Jump, as the bat began to panic.
"Danger?! Mistress is in danger?!" Ciel cried as Break walked over to him, raising his sword and patting Arthur's shoulder.
"First of all calm down and let's talk things through. You can't just rush off without sorting yourself out..." Break explained, as Arthur took a moment to stare at everybody around him... Before he sighed, calming himself down. Shannon nodded to herself, before smiling to Arthur confidently...
"We'll definitely find a way to save her! If we work together, there will surely be a way to save everyone in the end!" she stated as for a moment, Arthur was left at a loss for what to say... Just a few moments ago, he was left with almost no hope at all, and yet for him to actually regain some of that hope right now... It was nothing short of a miracle. He gave a small yet somewhat hopeful smile to his sister as he then nodded...
"Yeah... You're right..." he nodded, the rest of the group around him all taking time to agree themselves, when Break then walked over to Arthur, nodding to himself thoughtfully, before he then gave a confident beam to him.
" I see... So why don't we start off by getting you free?" Break then suggested as he then raised the sword over the chains... Arthur nodded, moving forwards so the sword wouldn't wind up hitting his hands as he held a determined look on his face. It was a small and fleeting hope, one in which had the odds highly against them... However...
'What sort of ending do you want for the curse...?'
If there was any way that he could get that ending, then he wasn't going to let himself be stopped here...

CLANG

BTHUMP... BTHUMP... BTHUMP

Slowly Rosalyn felt her consciousness return to her... Around her, she could feel something warm... It was a peaceful and familiar feeling, one of which she recognised but could not place her finger upon as she slowly lifted her head up, weakly opening eyes to face reality; as she hung within the pulsating walls of the large flesh made tower, that held the heart of the plague...

He wasn't going to be stopped... Not when there was still this small fleeting hope left...