☢ Chapter Written By StriplessKitten ☢

There was a rather long pause of silence as Lezabella was taken away, which eventually was broken upon Aya swearing loudly, clenching her fists till her nails sunk into her palms, which began to leave droplets of blood with the immense tension and pressure applied.

"Fuck it!"

"Aya, please calm down, we need to find a method to work around this, Sakura has taken one of our own captive, she just wants compromise most likely."

"Shut up Mazen!"

"You.. see how beautiful she is when she's strong?"

"What is wrong with you, royal lap dog!?" Aya delivered a slap to Phillip.

Phillip shook his head, trying to recover from the blow the ravenette had delivered to his jaw, he gave a low groan, before he looked back at Aya with a cheeky grin, which she returned with a scowl, she kissed her teeth in annoyance, he was purely pathetic to her.

"Listen, look what she did to you, used you as a bargaining tool. The system is twisted, that's why we will march against the monarchy, no more betrayal, tell me, what the Hell do you see in her after that stunt she just pulled?"

"I still have absolute admiration for her, and I am humbled she chose to make me of use to her great planning." Phillip retorted.

"You.. fool. Answer honestly! What made you this stupid?!" Aya growled, while the other elite squad of the rebels stood around, watching from afar.

"It started when she noticed me. She noticed my loyalty to her. When I first was recruited, I was just a mere soldier in her vast army. I was in the training field, facing against this other soldier, he was a tough guy, top of the rookies, and when I faced him, I called him out for being a snake, he was always bragging about how the only reason he joined the Royal army was to live in luxury within the confides of a hefty wage for his work.. I never silenced, and when Your Highness was choosing the victor of the jest fight, she chose me. ME!-- I beg your pardon.. he failed because he wasn't loyal to her, no, he could never.. but she didn't assign me any nifty soldier position in the army ranks, she selected me as her loyal accomplice, someone who tended to her every need, her shadow was mine.." Phillip explained.

"So, her petty little assistant is what you are?" Aya scoffed, "Some life you have."

"Maybe so, but she is all I understand, all I know."

"I'm not going to play around, I'm uncomfortable for you to say such things about her." Aya crinkled her nose in slight disgust.

Phillip took a moment of silence, before he gave Aya a look of some sort of desperation, he seemed to be eager to ask her something, she could see it in his eyes, which made something inside her shrivel, she dreaded whatever question or phrase he'd establish in their awkward conversation.

"Tell me, what was it like for you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"To lose someone so wonderful."

"..?!"

"You know, you can't trick me with the mirage you created in terms of your facade. It's a sad excuse really, tell me what it was like losing my Queen."

"..You're asking me what my life was like when she was present, huh?"

"Yes."

Aya felt her heart drop into her stomach, she swallowed a lump in her throat, before she averted her gaze, creating some distance between her and Phillip, she then cleared her throat by coughing into her fist, clearly a change in her tone and mood, before she parted her lips to speak,

"I had a rough run in with Sakura back when we were childhood friends, she took away the definition of my life, my Father. She killed him, when she had done so, I just.. I fucking lost all emotion to her. I remember I almost fell for her little acting, when she entered my cellar the first night of my capture, she tried speaking to me, but her voice was muffled, I couldn't hear her through the ringing in my ears, it was almost like I was in a type of sleep paralysis.. she was crying alright, I could distinguish that by her sniffling and loss of speech at certain times. All I heard is her mentioning my Father's name over and over again, and the word force to do with him, I couldn't.. I fucking couldn't hear her! She tried convincing me what she did was just, and that my Father was a manipulator, a bad person.. So, I snapped at her to shut up, and accused her of trying to look up excuses to not feel guilty for murdering my Father."

"Interesting.. but I still can't put out the flame she lit within the confines of my heart and soul." Phillip smiled to himself.

"You're putrid for liking Sakura."

"I can't help it, I can't stop or control my emotions, but what do you plan to do with me?" Phillip chuckles.

Aya narrows her feline-like eyes, before she then pivots on her heel and starts striding over to Mazen. The giant male who stood at 6'8, he gave her a wry smile, which Aya avoided his gaze.

"How do we handle this, Mazen, we need a way to solve this."

"Well, I'd advise--"

"Aya? There's a bird." Haímen announced.

"I fucking hate birds, they're flying rats, get rid of it!" Aya hissed.

"No, no. It's carrying a note of some sort."

"Hand it over, but keep the freak of nature away from me." Aya waited patiently for Haímen to retrieve the letter that the carrier pigeon clasped hold of between its talons.

Mikah chuckled to himself, which made Aya perk up slightly and direct her gaze over in his general direction, where both hazel met silver, they instantly caught each other's interests.

"What are you laughing about?" Aya asked skeptically.

"Nothing, it's just that you got this tendency to be cute when you're flustered or panicking over something." Mikah responded.

"W-Wha-- Shut up! You idiot. Nobody asked for your commentary." Aya stuttered, her eyes slightly widened as she had her left cheek puffed out, a pout upon her lips, and a flushed light pink cross over the apples of her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose.

"On the contrary, you did actually request my laughter's origins.--" Mikah was cut off by Aya's glare, he knew that was his cue to silence himself.

Haímen nudged Aya, drawing her attention away from Mikah, and caused her to turn around, her hair swishing side to side from her adjusted stance in order to face Haímen.

"Here." Haímen handed Aya the letter, then watched as Aya began beating the bird that flew overhead, and then out of the building they resided in.

"Fucking bastard, I'll pluck all it's damned feathers off and feed it to the hounds." She cursed, before she then ripped open the envelope, her eyes narrowed upon viewing the Royal stamp acting as it's stamp/seal.

Aya took her reading glasses from out of her leather jacket's pocket, and skimmed over the scripture that she recognized as Sakura's cursive yet spiraled handwriting. She continued to squint her eyes as she then growled as she came to the concluding paragraph and Sakura's signature.

"What does it say, Aya?" Mazen asked.

"Sakura sent a mock invitation, it's dedicated to.. Lezabella's funeral, she gave us an address, I have to go. Now! Everyone gather as many of the movement's recruits and accompany me, and bring the damned hostage too, meet me outside the Under-World gateways we'll all run up to the surface soon." Aya took off into a bolt, removing her glasses as she did so and sliding them back into her pocket. While she did so, her word became reality, and everyone ventured to Lezabella's destination in a desperate rush to rescue her.

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ҳ̸Ҳ̸ҳ Flash-Back ҳ̸Ҳ̸ҳ

End

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Aya stares in shock, disbelief and grief, all at once, the reflection of the flames in her hazel irises, orange and crimson embers flickering in the blackness of the shadowed dotted pupil, while the light brown, speckled with green and gold specs iris that surrounded the darkened pupil, were glassed over with unshed tears that brimmed the corners of the feline shaped eyes belonging to the pale girl.

She felt Mikah's arms take hold of her slender waist, holding her back from intervening, he wanted to protect her, he knew she'd make a risky decision of running towards Sakura, and injuring herself. There was nothing she could do at the current situation. He hated it. Aya beat on his chest a couple times, before she shoved him off, when she stood, she looked ahead, only to have Mazen before her, his son's fist caught in his own hold. Before he was hit upon the skull with a potion of some sort, which caused him to falter in stance, before he dropped. Aya's eyes widened, as did the other elite squad and backup rebels that watched in horror, as Sakura had swiftly stole Kofi's life with one quick nerve hit with her fan. A humiliating way to go.

Aya then looked to Lezabella, seeing she was burning to a crisp, and this was due to the fact that while she was in her cell, Kofi's servants had coated her wrinkled skin in many droplets of flammable liquid, since it was common sense that humans couldn't catch fire, only burn. They wanted her to melt. And so they did. Her skin began dripping from her brittle bones, her screams of agony and pure anguish had reached Aya's eardrums, making her wish she could be as numb as the night Sakura tried telling her something about her Father on the first night of her capture. Aya heard alarm bells in her brain begging her not to venture anywhere near the flames, just stay where she was, but her cold heart was sending off a lot louder sirens to disobey her paralysis when it came to her pyrophobia and to rescue Lezabella.

Alas, Aya chose to listen to her instincts, run. And that's exactly what she did. With a battle cry, Aya unsheathed her sword, bloodlust coursed through her veins as she pleaded for Lezabella to stay strong while she would cut her down from behind the walls of the roaring flames, she swore she'd save her, but through her blood curdling screams, Lezabella yelled she loved Aya, and to not avenge her, but to remember her, and that she was going to be with Exavier and look over the young girl. Though her screams were deafening, and slightly indistinct, they reached Aya, she understood.

"NOOOOO!" Aya cried as she realized she was too late, she came too close to the flames, and fell backwards, tripping over nothing, she landed upon her tailbone, as she cowered away from the embers, watching as Lezabella's face dripped down blood, and melted skin, she still somehow managed to muster up enough power to give Aya one last final motherly smile.

And that's when Lezabella's screams were silent, Aya clasped a hand over her mouth as she continued to crawl backwards, her feet scrambling to get some grip, her boot's slightly heeled soles digging into the ground as she propelled herself away from the fire that stole her Nanny, that stole her last living childhood legacy. Aya swore, over and over as she got to one knee, slamming her fist against the ground, until she then got to her feet, balancing on her sword, until she started to repeatedly stab the blade into the stone where there was a crack, her sheer strength was unimaginable as she let out all her rage, the other rebels were astonished at their leader's reaction, and Sakura merely continued to flutter her fan above her mouth, concealing the lower half of her sunkissed features, hiding the twisted smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. That's exactly the reaction she wanted. She saw that monster way too long ago, she sparked it, she encouraged she awakened that monster that lived within the depths of Aya Kamishiro. The beast untamed.

"I HATE YOU SAKURA MIKI! YOU BITCH, YOU FUCKING WHORE! YOU.. STUPID SLUT! GOOD FOR NOTHING HARLOT! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU, I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU, I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU, I'LL CUT YOU, I'LL CUT YOU, I'LL CUT YOU, I'LL MARK YOU, I'LL MARK YOU, I'LL MARK YOU..---"

Inhale,

Exhale..--

"I'll.. overthrow you."

A single droplet scented with salt, drifted from Aya's eye, as the wind carried it, till it eventually dropped onto the the flames that had turned Lezabella into nothingness, the single drop, put out the entire wall of fire. Aya gripped the hilt of her sword, before she slowly directed her eyes, along with her companions, and Sakura, towards the stake, something sparked in Aya's brain, how the Hell did that happen..?

That logic was dismissed, when there was nothing remaining where Lezabella once was bound to, nothing but..

ashes.

Copyright © 2018 by StriplessKitten

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