Sickly Sweet

Pain

He writhed on the ground, foaming at the mouth. So much pain.

No way to stop it.

His lungs squeezed inside of his chest, causing his body to jump and hiccup randomly. His pounding heart slowed.

Teeth fell out. Hair came off. And his entire body transformed as he molded into something else.

Something dangerous.

Sharper teeth grew in, and his sunset-orange skin coursed with red blood that shone through. The orange faded away and his skin became transparent, simply a case showing off the monster inside.

Suddenly, the monstrous body heaved and vomited on the floor, spilling out unnecessary organs and blood. His new form wouldn't need these human-like assets.

Feet thinned to the bone, disappearing completely. Bones rearranged themselves to accustom what he had in mind.

He hovered above the floor, twisting around in the air.

Moss-green wings sprouted from his back, and talons shot out of his lengthened arms. Where his legs should have been was a green fog that swirled and intertwined with red.

There was no hair on his body. There was no heart inside of him.

He was a hairless, legless, and heartless monster.

Behind his glass cage, scientists took notes and smiled wickedly. Everything was going according to plan.

~*~

Sophie looked over at King Sweete II with hollowed cheeks. They'd locked themselves in and talked for hours, discussing a possible plan.

"We need to find out what he came for," she muttered, pacing back and forth.

"How?"

Popping her neck, she rolled her eyes.

"Duh. By asking him."

"Yes, but there are so many other things to do. Like, for instance, figure out what's going to happen with you."

She frowned.

"What's going to happen with me?"

"Yeah, as in are you going to let them take you against your will, or are you going to fight back?"

Furrowing her brow, she paused.

"Fight, of course."

"Really. And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Easy. Get a gun. Kill everyone. Take Lochlan. Go home."

His eyebrows shot up.

"Well, someone's in a mood."

"Hmph."

"Say, where exactly is home?"

"California," she casually answered. Her eyes widened. "I-I mean-"

He smirked.

"An earthling? Reeeally? There is no way in hell an earthling could possibly defeat the King and his wife."

"I will."

"Sure, sweetheart. And after that, you'll ride back to Earth on a rainbow conjured by your best pal unicorn, Fernando. Oh, and when you get back, you'll be popular. Sure."

He faced her.

"Not. Gonna. Happen."

Glaring at him, she stepped closer so that their noses were nearly touching.

"I will do it. And you will help me. If you don't, you'll just become another forgotten body beneath the dirt. Got that?"

He sneered at her.

"Listen, girl. I've let you take control of me, okay? I've let you cast me as your slave. But I have had enough. It's time to reveal my true form."

She looked at him curiously, taking a small step back.

"True... Form?"

He whipped out a small glass bottle containing a black potion. Wincing, he drank it quickly and fell to his knees.

His frosty hair sizzled to black, spindly strings. A greasy face looked at Sophie with sullen black eyes. And white skin shone like moonlight.

Smiling wickedly, he twirled in the black cape that now draped over his skinny figure.

Fear in her voice, Sophie managed,"What are you?"

"A Souler."

She'd heard that word before, from the woman in the arena. When she first came to Sickly Sweet.

"Can all Soulers do... This?"

He shrugged.

"If they know how to get the potions. I'm surprised you hadn't heard about this before."

"Yeah."

"All of us are born with an appearance resembling this. The first King, King Arivarchi I, way before my time, decided we were just too ugly. He used the castle's lab to create potions so we could be 'pretty.'"

Yawning, he continued.

"Anyway, some people retain their ugly looks simply because they're too poor. You can see them sometimes, hiding in the alleys."

Gazing at him sadly, she smiled.

"What's your real name?"

"Lucius."

"Malfoy?"

Bursting into sudden laughter, she shook her head slowly.

"Earthling joke."

He looked puzzled but continued.

"Have you ever seen the little hardware store near the arena?"

She nodded, blushing as she was reminded of her embarrassing experience there.

"Yeah, it's actually a potion shop. Run by this old dude, Mr. MaConahugh. He's an old friend of mine, close with my Pops."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

She looked at her toes, taking in the information.

"You're being surprisingly casual about this, you know."

"Yeah, I guess I'm not the type of person to completely flip out."

"That's good..."

The struggled through a few moments of silence, stealing curious looks at each other.

After a minute or two, Sophie cleared her throat.

"What are we going to do about Lochlan?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"There is no we. I thought I made that clear."

Her eyes widened.

"So I have to heal him and overtake the castle... Alone?"

Sneering, he opened the door.

"Good luck."

And he was gone.

(A/N)

Sorry for not updating! I've just been busy with my other book, Wedding Bells. For those of you who read it, I'm currently working on an update!

And if you haven't seen it, please go check it out. It has an awesome cover that hopebake helped me create! Make sure to look at her books as well.

That'll be it! Hope you enjoyed this {short} chapter.

Love,

Jules <3