[The air was cold. He was used to the cold, but this wasn't the cold he knew. The cold he was familiar with nipped at the edges in an almost playful manner, reminding him that he was alive.
This was desolate. There was no wind, and they were on top of a wall.
Just him. Him and his trusted advisor, █████.
(He didn't know his name. He'd never known him.)
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, defeated, in that same deeper voice as before. █████ seemed taller than usual, perching high upon a palanquin that may or may not have existed, looking out upon the Licorice Sea.
█████ laughed, an unkind sound. "I win!" he crowed, instead of answering, seeming to grow larger with every passing second. "This kingdom is mine, rightfully mine! And you led me right to it!"
"Why are you doing this?" he persisted, wanting an answer. Why have you betrayed me? When I so trusted you?
█████ leaned in to him, now bigger than the wall he had built to protect his kingdom, his family, and smiled. "Because I deserve it. And you never did. Why should you? Why should you deserve respect after what you did to your son?"
█████ brought his hand up, and Cacao's own eyes went wide. "The fall of a king, the rise of an emperor."
His advisor brought his hand down, and the wall shook and crumbled. Cacao lost his footing, even as he tried in vain to hold it back together with his own two arms, and fell, and fell, and fell-]
Nickel sat bolt upright in bed, this time not with a shout, but he was breathing heavily. He wanted to reach for his sword, but Trophy was next to him (had he... fallen asleep here?), and he didn't want to wake him up, let alone accidentally hurt him.
(He didn't want to hurt anyone. Never again.)
He flopped back onto the bed, instead, trying ro steady his breathing. He felt like crying. Why did he feel like crying?
(He wanted this to stop.)
(( LORE PING @thegoldentrophy @ask-cheesy-ii @itz-bow-xd @dice-anon ))
