The King's Remorse

The Ghost of the Snake

"I... I knew-. Er, I know you," I murmur once I can breathe again.

"Y-yeah," Clap replies. She looks uncomfortable, but a small glimmer of hope flickers in her blue eyes.

Who is she, who is she, who is she? I can't forget, not this time. I'm not losing this chance to finally remember something.

I furrow my eyebrows in concentration. The snake tightens its jaws against my skin, sending more venom yet through my veins.

Phoenix yanks his fangs from the last remaining Soldier, and he lets the body drop lifeless to the ground, blood pooling on the floor. "So, let Ice go-. What the hell have you done to him? Why's he foaming at the mouth?"

"As I've said before, it wasn't me. I'm not sure what's going on with him, but I'd guess he's fighting the snake. An awfully stupid decision, though, since the snake draws its power from the Amethyst Throne. He's not gonna win."

"Ice is stubborn. He'll win," Brook murmurs.

"Against the Amethyst Throne?" King Garonda XIV snorts.

"Maybe, maybe not. He's stubborn though. What are you trying to do, Ice?" Brook turns her attention to me, but I barely notice. I'm too focused on forcing my mind to relive the memory again and again, searching for some way to remember more.

"What are you trying to do, Ice?"

"Re... Remember," I whisper softly.

"Remember? He can't. The Amethyst Throne wiped his memory," snickers King Garonda XIV.

"I said he's stubborn," Brook replies smoothly.

Come on, come on, come on. You can do this, Ice.

I twist on the marble, trying to get the snake to let go. It only tightens its grip and sends more venom coursing through my veins. Exhaustion and pain blur my vision but I force them back, and it's like a veil begins to lift from my eyes. It's almost as if pieces of a puzzle are falling into place, faster and faster. Memories bombard me from all sides and every angle, one after the other. Soon my mind feels as though it's about to explode from everything it's remembering.

Ice rips from my paws, completely out of my control. It freezes in deadly sharp shards, forming a barrier around me. I grimace at the energy that was taken to do that. Black spots dance in front of me, and my paws start to go numb despite feeling like they belong to someone else.

Nope, not happening. I'm not blacking out and still belonging to the Amethyst Throne.

I wrap my paws around the chain, hook my claws in the links, and pull as hard as I can. I grit my teeth and choke back a screech as the snake's fangs are torn out from the back of my neck. Venom splatters across the marble. Blood immediately starts pouring out, drenching my neck and chest. It freezes in a scarlet necklace. The black spots begin to close in, and my head drops to the floor. Shouts sound around me, but I can't make out what they're saying; everything's ringing around me.

My eyelids flutter, once, twice, before the darkness consumes me.

xxxx

"-onna wake u-up!"

"It's been... What, like, three whole weeks? If he hasn't by now, I doubt he ever will."

"Do you think you could at least be a little more optimistic, Phoenix?"

"Dove's right. Ice will wake up."

"When, Ky, when?"

"I don't know. I'm an illusionist, not a psychic. But you know, Phoenix, your dreary vibes are really messin' with Ice's healing."

"I'm sorry did you just say that my vibes were messing with Ice? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"P-please be qu-quiet! I-I-Ice is trying t-to get better!"

Clap. I try to return to my body. But it's like trying to swim against a riptide. When I do come back, it's slow and my body is still tingling as the venom continues to wear off ever so slowly. There's a stabbing ache where the snake's fangs had punctured my skin. I feel a bandage wrapped tightly around my neck.

"Hey, guys, look. Ice is waking up."

"How d-d-do yo-you know, Dove? H-how d-do you know?"

"I saw him twitch a moment ago."

"And you're sure it's just not some unconscious thing he was doing?"

"If you're gonna be all Mr. Groucharama, Phoenix, get out. How much do you know about health? Yeah, that's right, none, nada, zilch. Either be nice or scooch."

"It was an honest question! And I know plenty, Ky, thank you very much. If I'm not dying, I'll be fine."

"Yeah, right. Remember when you were a kid and you stepped on a thorn? You refused to walk for a week."

"I most certainly did not."

"Quiet," someone else says. "Ice needs peace and quiet. He doesn't want you two to be bickering when he wakes up." I don't even know who you're talking about, but peace and quiet does sound lovely.

Feeling returns to my limbs bit by bit. It's slow and steady. All that remains of the exhaustion is a shell of what it once was, and it no longer feels like there's a crushing weight on my shoulders. Only a tiny one this time, I think with a smile in my imagination.

The ghost of the snake still remains, fangs still embedded in my flesh. My lips curl into a grimace. I wrap one of my forepaws around my neck to try to rid myself of the ghost. I can still feel it, fangs sinking through my skin and muscle, chains casting a freezing chill though my fur, and venom burning through my bloodstream.

"Ice, you're ok. You're in the White Tent Sea, not King Garonda XIV's castle. You're safe here," someone says, touching a hand to my shoulder. I flinch as I roll over, away from them.

"He's not the King."

"Shut it, Phoenix. We're not having that debate now."

Why isn't he the King of Ragdon? He sits upon the Amethyst Throne, so doesn't that make him the King?

"We're now his friends?"

"Shall I pin you to the ground again, Phoenix? You know you can't hurt me with your fire." Yet another someone. How many people are here?

"No."

"Then be quiet."

"Fine."

Light blinds me when I open my eyes, and I squeeze them tightly shut. Goodness gracious, that's awfully bright. Things seem to calm down a few minutes later, and the afterimages and floating colors fade away. When I look around, a few of the colors still remain, seeming to crawl across my surroundings.

Thanks a million for reading this chapter! Please vote if you enjoyed it! And feel free to comment; I'd love to hear your thoughts!

So Ice is freed from the snake and the Amethyst Throne, so yay!

What's going to happen now that he's freed?

Has he gotten his memories back?

What will King Garonda XIV do? Or will he do anything- King Garonda XIV and Ice were friends before he resided on the Amethyst Throne.

-Werewolf14-