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❝Steady we ride, silhouette flying over the grass. Open your eyes, look who's back?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| The Ballad of Mona Lisa|| Panic! At the Disco ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| The Ballad of Mona Lisa|| Panic! At the Disco ||
The explosion was powerful enough to rock the world, reduce everything to a bottomless crater. Wicked was panting as Baron Messiah stood over her, cruelty on the face no one but Anguis could see. "You thought that was enough to kill me? After your pitiful human died, this is the best you can manage?" Wicked panted, falling to the ground. She couldn't get up, she didn't have legs or arms anymore to hold herself up. It would take some time to regenerate, and she didn't have that time anymore. "I'll never accept someone like you." Wicked hissed, tears brimming in her eyes. "Humans and demons can live in peace! Even I know that, and I'm batshit insane!"
Baron Messiah did not seem to care about her words. "That power of yours is quite remarkable. If you agree to work with me, I won't tear off Queen Kitra's head once I capture her. I'll let her live." He knelt down then lifted Wicked up by the throat, his fingers closing around her throat like a vice. "You'll kill your old friends and comrades, and I'll spare Queen Kitra just for you." Wicked trembled, guilt in her eyes. She wanted to be strong, that was what she and Miranda strived for this whole time. But in the end, was there anything she could do? Did she have any cards left? "You're... filthy.... disgusting." Wicked sobbed, tears spilling to the ground. "But my loyalty to Queen Kitra won't let me say no...!"
..............
The surface was chaos. Due to Baroness Vaswald setting off an EMP Pulsar from inside the carriages, all signals were being blocked. Communication between the surface and the underground was impossible, Vaswald wouldn't let them coordinate properly. Felton, one of the rookies, fell to his knees as another round of laser blasts smashed against Leo's barrier. It was cracking, it wouldn't hold forever. "Wh-what's the point?!" Felton screamed in horror and fear, clutching his head. "What's the point in protecting the helicopters if there's not going to be anyone left to ride them?!" Cress and Christopher glanced over to him as the other rookies watched, the fear and terror spreading amongst them.
"I - when the emergency draft was made, I thought I could be brave. I thought I would give my blood for the sake of the Crown, and serve my country." He was one of the many volunteers who answered Queen Charlotte's call for arms, call for help. He, like many, would be sent to his death. "I didn't realize trying to protect other countrymen from being victims was to become one of the victims myself!" His floppy red hair was once comical but now it flopped in a depressed heap on his head, mirroring the expression on his face. The rookies began murmuring, losing their nerve. "I thought I was ready, but I didn't realize... just how scary it would be... to be torn to shreds by lasers..." Another round of laser blasts bombarded them, Leo's barrier trembling under the force of the attack. They couldn't even fight back, no one was able to get close enough to the flying carriages to even swing a sword.
"They won't last much longer." Juria said to Cress with a nervous frown. "We have to do something, Cress." Christopher nodded in agreement, putting a hand on the Acting Director's shoulder. "I could take a helicopter and challenge Baroness Vaswald directly to buy time for you to load the rest of the helicopters and get out of here safely." He said, bumping a fist on Excelsiur's sheath. "No." Cress's voice was soft as she stared at the carriage her sister was sitting in. "You wouldn't even get close." Chris sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Probably not. But at least you and anyone else you could escape with would still have your lives. As long as you're alive, we still have hope."
Cress let out a weak laugh, staring up at the sky. "Oh, Ellie, you always give me a hard time, don't you? It's so hard to try to outsmart you." She sat down on the rocky earth, smiling as she looked up towards Baroness Vaswald. "We used to play board games often. Chess, Checkers, even Snakes and Ladders. She always won every time, outsmarting me at every move. It kind of felt like this, the way she's blocked off every option for me." It felt as if there was nothing they could do at all, a cage created by her own twin sister's strategic mind. "Sorry Ellie, but I still know one way we can win." Cress smiled, grinning bravely. "Chris, gather the rookies. I'll have to give them a pep talk before we can begin."
...............
Wicked's explosion leveled three entire floors inside the fortress. Melody saw the brightness of the explosion destroy the stairs behind her, crumbling apart as the floors turned into rubble and dust. "What was... was that Wicked?" Melody gasped, clinging to Flame's hand to help her stand. "Is anyone... is anyone down there still alive?" She turned back, gulping. Silence had ordered her to try and find a way to reach the surface, to inform Cress that they managed to subdue Baroness Anguis but now it didn't seem to be possible. "W-we have to go back! We have to help them down there!" It was a long fall but Melody believed she could make it. "No, it's too dangerous Mel." Flame grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the edge. "We have to keep climbing. We don't even know if anyone's still alive down there."
Melody gulped, her heart quivering. Doll was down there, she knew that. Echo was there too. Her beloved sisters were trapped underneath and Melody was up here, safe from the explosion. "It'll be okay. Even if everything goes wrong... we can do what we did before." Flame said, smiling gently as he embraced his beloved. "We can run away from it all. We can leave behind the war, everything, and find a new future together." Their honeymoon journey around the world, visiting magical realms, it had been so much fun. But Melody wasn't strong enough to abandon her friends and family to die for the sake of a romantic escape. "If the choice is too hard for you, Mel, then I'll make it for you. We'll go to the surface. Then I'll kidnap you and we'll run away." Tears filled her eyes, making her vision blurry and she didn't know how to respond.
Everything felt as if time stopped. Melody stared in front of her as the rippling of the dress billowed out before her eyes. A beautiful arc of a sword's blade swinging, clashing against another sword pulled out from it's sheath. Another arc, another arc, and then Flame fell back, his arm sliced by the sword. "Fl-Flame!" Melody screamed, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "Doll! What are you doing?!" There was pain on Doll's face but it quickly twisted and then became a neutral expression. Doll did not say a word as she continued her assault, pushing Flame back farther. Melody let out a screaming song but the blood bond made Doll immune to her powers. "N-no! Doll, you don't have to do this! Ayna told us that you weren't..." Her heart stopped when she saw the mark on her beloved sister's wrist.
"Back off, Mel! Just go! I - I can handle this! I'll catch up with you!" He blocked another attack then kicked at Doll, forcing her back. Still, he was outmatched and everyone here knew it. "I... no! What about running away together? This isn't the time for stupid sacrifices!" But how could she - Doll would never want to hurt her. Doll would back off if Melody got in the way. So she dashed between them, pushing Flame to the ground behind her, spreading her arms out. Doll's eyes went wide and she twisted her body mid swing but she couldn't stop it in time as the sword pierced through her sister's chest. Melody rose in the air as the sword pushed her up, pain filling her but she could barely feel it. She couldn't feel anything.
Melody's vision was blurry but still she smiled. "Good, you stopped." She said, not realizing what had happened. "Doll, we can help you. We'll take you to Flo, she can freeze the contract just like how... just like..." As Melody dissipated into a vibrant pearly orb, Doll let out a cry. "H-how? How could you?" Flame grabbed the soul piece as his arm was slashed to ribbons and strips of meat. "She was - she was your sister!" Tears filled his eyes, sorrow in liquid form decorating the shadowy halls. "She was... the love of my life." Doll let out a scream, finishing Flame off with a slash to the chest, then she fell to her knees, shaking uncontrollably.
........................
"She's surprisingly light." Sana said, lugging Baroness Anguis onto her back. Thinking about it, Anguis was actually pretty small. She probably used snakes to appear bigger and taller than what she truly was. "Are you doing okay, Flo?" Flo's steps were unsteady but she was shambling along as well as she could. She must have hit her head when Wicked blew herself up, it felt as if she had a bad concussion. "I'm doing my best." She admitted weakly, forcing herself to keep up with Echo's brisk pace. How many died? Did some of her friends already meet their ends at Wicked's hands?
Sana was making the path with a crayon so that they wouldn't lose their way. Pray stayed behind with Ariel, Cal, and Shadow, to try and find survivors and build a path out of the rubble that would let them get back to the surface. It was a long way up, but with enough manpower they would be able to make a ladder out of rocks. The minor demons scattered in fear as Echo, Flo, and Sana approached. With Anguis on their backs, the lesser troops no doubt knew they stood no chance against them. "Take us to Messiah." Flo ordered, wishing her head would be less foggy and light. "If you value your life." They cowered in fear, not wanting to die. "B-but he's not here! He l-left the Fortress before the fight even started!"
"Our lord Baron Messiah's already on the surface!"
Did he see right through them? Had someone betrayed them? How did Messiah know they were going to try to kill him at the bottom of Cascade Bau? "We should check just in case, but let's get back quickly." The throne room was up ahead. Once upon a time, Queen Kitra made it her abode. Maybe once this was over Kitra could return here again and rule over Paradise. Suddenly Sana's lips spread in a wide smile. She held her arm out, grinning. "I'm the traitor!" Sana declared, swinging her arm with the bracelet. The hallway around them shook as the metal rafters shattered, causing the hallway to cave in, burying Flo and Echo alive.
Acacia giggled, finding it easy to have possessed Sana like this. She was already tired out, a shy little girl like her was very easy prey. "Now, to go and kill Silence and Pray." Acacia hummed, walking back down the path. "They'll never suspect anything like this."