Amethyst 1. Inception ✓

35. Monochrome

It was raining.

Black and white shades of light had never meant much to Ezekiel. The latter was an omnibus of the rainbow, and the other was simply nothing but a great deep chasm of hollowness.

He had never been so terrified of the blacks and whites that flitted in his vision. Never; until that day. The thought of seeing his beautiful mother broken had been too terrifying to witness. Hence he had chosen not to. He couldn't have seen her shattered like he himself was.

His mother had left him three years ago. It was the same thing again, and yet somehow, everything was different.

Ezekiel's knuckles grew white from clutching the iron rails in the balcony. From there he had the whole, albeit obscured view of the garden. Men and women dressed in plain clothing, walking about morosely on the dead grass. Zeke had always found the garden beautiful. He always looked forward to smelling the sweet scent of the flowers and listen to the mesmerizing chirping of the birds.

And yet today; the only scent that hung in the air was grief, and the birds were singing a melancholic eulogy. Even though their feathers were broken form the swirling storm, they seemed to want to pay their tribute to the young child.

Out in the garden, the air had solidified.

The Ellerman siblings stood side by side. Their faces grimy with tears as their inconsolable mother stood beside them. Water dripped onto their shuddering bodies, shaking, trembling. Zeke could barely bear to look at them. He could see their faces; masks of sorrow and agony as the casket was brought into the garden and gently laid on the welcoming earth.

It was a solid opaque casket in contrast to the glass caskets that were usually used. The deceased boy's face had been too marred by gashes and burned by flames to be restored.

A sob escaped Zeke's throat as the proceedings began. Tears were blinding his vision as his heart plummeted to his stomach, and his blood ran cold. The usually poised queen of Evimeria had helplessly broken into sobs as her two daughters converged around her. Her husband stood beside them. His face was a battlefield of emotions, much like his now eldest son, who seemed to be staring at his dead brother. His eyes were glassy; unseeing. Emotions rose a conundrum in Ezekiel's hollow chest.

Drops of the rainwater cascaded down their faces, perhaps, camouflaging their tears. The sky was lamenting the harrowing loss.

Zeke vigorously wiped the tears from his eyes as he looked down again.

Some men were shovelling the mud back onto the wood where Ezra was snugly nestled under the earth. Deathly silence surrounded the usually bustling palace, punctuated only by the pouring rain. All Zeke could hear was a strange ringing in his ears.

He leaned away from the metal grating he was leaning against and left the verandah. He stumbled into his room and shut the door behind him. The thundering rainstorm outside now seemed muffled. But Ezekiel knew it was howling outside with the same consistency. 

He took deep breath, his body trembling. Was it cold? Was it fear? Was it merely his nerves? He didn't know.

He took a wobbly step towards the door of his room.  He wanted to lock it. Perhaps for a few days. Or perhaps simply flee. Where would he go?

Before he made it towards the door, it swung open vioelntly. Almost swinging off its hinges. Ezekiel staggered backwards when he saw Ezra's frame shadowed near the doorway. Before Zeke could say anything, his half brother lunged at him and he found the breath rushing out of his lungs as his back hit the floor violently.  

"You bastard!" Elijah yelled, panting as he growled viciously. "I'll kill you!"

Zeke remained still in his iron grasp. His silver eyes were livid. Alight with maniacal anger. Spit flew out of his mouth as he snarled. Before Zeke could quite react, a sharp punch to his jaw made him yell out in pain. He didn't have time to recover as a flurry of expertly aimed punches rained down on him. 

Zeke's vision blurred, his face he assumed was swollen. But no matter how hard he tried to move, his frail body was no match for Elijah's.

"I fucking hate you! You fucking pig. Why won't you just go back where you came from?"

Ezekiel was scarcely aware of the wetness of his face. The smell of blood reached his nostrils, making him light headed. Tears blinded his vision as he gasped, helplessly staring up at the deranged prince. 

He grabbed Zeke's shoulders, shaking him violently so that his head pounded the floor again and again. Sharp pain jolted throughout his numbing body and he ceased struggling all at once. 

Maybe he would see his mother again.

As suddenly as Elijah had arrived, he went away and Zeke spluttered blood, taking rattling breaths that made his entire form shake. His world was a blur of colours and sounds as vaguely familiar voices floated timelessly into his ears. 

And then the deafening silence. 

Not wanting to move.

Not wanting to think.

Not wanting to feel.