Endgame |18+ (Ménage)✔

|25|

❄️

~Year 2090-Winter-

I'm there...

I'm standing there in front of my beloved...Rose...

I can't do anything, the vivid hues, the coloration around me similar to teal only it mares the complexity of the desolate purple clouding my judgement. The words I speak, they are not my own, the two coven members before me glancing from one another while my voice is used by another.

One of them hangs his cellphone up and informs me, "Arthur mentioned he'd arrive in Nolic Falls in a few weeks."

That doesn't make sense, he's never late and could well arrive once the Starlight Dance has all but come to an end. Will he possibly end up missing selection?

"I figured as much, that he'd be fashionably late," why is it that this comes from my lips? He's always on time, it doesn't make any sense as to the reasoning I'm giving for his late arrival. That's right...

Within my mind, I shake my head hard, but it's only within...

...I can't shake him loose, he's attached to every last synapses and neuron that allows my free will, my thoughts to become my own.

Tresor.

He did this as punishment...

...but would I rather suffered being used then for Rose's live to be snuffed out for my own stupidity and slip up?

Even though it was accidental...

"At least he'll be here after the kick off ball," the other nods in my direction, my chin raising slightly at his words.

"Very well," it happens again, not understanding how the grip on my vocal cords aren't strained by the truth that wants to surface, "see to it that you make yourselves useful and aid Aohdan in the preparations. The festivities will begin soon and he doesn't want to fall behind schedule. After all, he's got a lot of work cut out for him if he wants to top last year," the chuckle that slips past my lips makes me want to throttle my own self. I couldn't care less how Aohdan prepares for the festival...

Always so confident.

Always the one believing he is two steps ahead of his enemies.

That voice...

...it belongs to Tresor, yet it ricochets off the walls of my mind, snapping me back to the present around me in a split second.

"Come here," my order shocks myself more so than it does Rose. Her wall is up, a guard placed between the two of us and it couldn't come at a better time...she's not just avoiding me, she's going to need to fight off this warlock. Deception begins to spark, the air thickening with a deathlike staleness once she takes a few steps forward, closing the distance between us.

The air hitches in her throat when I state, "Aohdan mentioned that you're not broken yet. From the very short time that we've had together, I've analysed your every move. Don't think I haven't noticed the tone you use, the sarcasm laced in your words is hidden quite well. You don't actually show respect, more like mirroring what Aohdan wants to see out of you."

I can see it in her eyes, the window to her soul faltering for a brief second as she questions how I know so much...how I'm like he said, two steps ahead of my enemies...

...Rose isn't my enemy.

My heart skips a beat, a full thought of control coming through of my own will when my eyes flash suddenly and my voice lowers, "By the time I'm done with you little rose, he'll have a perfect flower to display as he wishes. When you actually respond to our questions, it will be sincere and heartfelt."