Blood for the Blood Gods: A Skepnoblade Fanfic (ON HIATUS)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dave immediately ripped open the envelope on his pillow, barely stopping to take off his sweaty and bloody tournament clothes. He'd sprinted past everyone in the hallway that lead to his room, not wanting to confront the skeptics about his "murder" of King Phil.

"This clue better be real fucking good for putting me through all that," he muttered while slicing open the thin parchment. His hands trembled, and he cursed again when his middle finger was slit open by a sharp edge.

"Very funny," he murmured. Finally, a piece of paper slid out, its edges crumpled from Dave's attempts to open it.

A door behind him creaked open. Shoving the paper back inside the envelope, the pig king spluttered out, "It was sabotaged! I don't need your input on that!"

"What are you talking about?" A soft female voice answered. Dave turned around and saw his mother standing in the doorway. She still looked pale and thin, but she'd dressed and even put on a light shade of makeup on her gaunt cheeks.

"I-I didn't know it was you," Dave confessed, turning his whole body to her. "There's-just a lot going on right now."

His mother sat next to him, putting her hand on top of his. "Do you need to talk about it? I know I haven't been around much after your father died...and then your siblings...but I want to be here for you know, okay? You can talk about anything with me. I'm here for you from now on."

Dave sighed. "I'm glad you're feeling better...I should've checked up on you more...I've just been dealing with-" he rubbed his leg. "A lot of stuff..."

"Do you want to talk about it...?" His mother asked.

Dave blinked. "W-well, I was planning with Zak to merge our countries-" he paused, expecting his mom to be angry. She nodded, waving for him to continue.

Clearing his throat, he resumed. "A-and we were ambushed by rebels. Zak was kidnapped, and I-made a deal to get clues on where he is being kept in turn for...spilling blood. I executed Thomas Jennings, and the god had sabotaged the MCC so I would kill King Phil."

His mother's face fell. "You struck a deal with the blood god?"

"Yes...how did you kn-"

"Dave, you shouldn't mess with forces like him...many that I've known had dealt with him to get their lovers back...it never ended well. You can't keep going with this, it'll only hurt you more that help you. He doesn't care about your love, only adding your own blood to his collection. Dave, please, you can't keep going with this!"

The pig's eyes widened. "I-I have to! Zak will die if I leave him there with those criminals...and I would never forgive myself if he died without me knowing if he loved me back..."

"Oh honey," His mother wrapped her arms around her son. "I know how much you care about him. But I can't afford to lose my only family. I'm barely 40 and I'm a widow with only one living child out of the five I birthed. Just-please be careful. I want you to live long and happy."

Dave smiled. "Thank you, mom. But I have a question...why did you fall in love with dad? Just for his money? For power? He was certainly not the most charming or kind person..." he scowled at the remembrance of all the times his father had called him a "poof" or "fag" when he asked about Zak. Dave had even tried to write to Zak once, but was forced to watch his father read out loud his note and tear it up, all while calling him homophobic slurs. If only he could see him now, sacrificing a king to have a chance at romance with that same boy he hated his son talking to. Looking back now, he wondered why he had felt sorry for his father when he had been slain by Finisver poison.

"Your father wasn't always like this. He used to be rebellious, handsome, all a young girl could ask for. I was a noble, and it was an arranged marriage. I wasn't against it, though. Even before our families had arranged us, we had met in secret, talking, flirting, even-" she flushed a deep pink. "Anyway, I know how he treated you was terrible. I promise, no matter what, I'll support you. Okay?"

Dave smiled thinly. "Okay."

The queen cleared her throat. "Now, would you like to read aloud the note you got?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure." The pig picked up the parchment, quietly muttering "oh" as he read it

"What does it say?" His mother asked.

"Zak is being held in the alley two doors down from the bakery," he read.

"Well." She tapped her fingers together. "That's certainly easy to decipher. Every time I saw one of those, it was always a riddle. Guess he got bored after centuries of tricking humans into killing themselves off just for love." Her tone turned bitter.

Dave cleared his throat. "I have one more to, uhm, kill, until I can pinpoint his exact location. In the meantime, what can we do?"

His mother smiled. "I think we need to pay a visit to a special someone. It's time for you to meet Nihachu."