Home and Free: Chapter Twenty-Four - Final Duet
Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite, Lord Dianite, Guardian Furia
Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)
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Sonja knew that the man had entered her study the very moment his boots crossed the doorway. His footsteps were soft. So soft that she would’ve missed them if not for the enhanced senses of this form. Just like everything else about her, her hearing was overwhelming and animal-like.
Even though she hadn’t wished to, she had heard the man creeping through the West Wing and into her study. She had known one of the hunters from within the mob was quickly approaching her. She should’ve held some desire to move herself to safety, but she truly didn’t. She simply hadn’t been able to fathom the energy.
She couldn’t imagine a single difference her death would make. The curse was going to be sealed regardless so perhaps it would be better if she died. Gone would be the need to keep hiding herself away as she herself would gone, and the world would keep moving without her.
Clearly it did function fine without her. Everything hadn’t fallen to ruin while she was cursed and forgotten, so she reasoned it was fine for her to give up like this.
She couldn’t claim to be free of regrets. She doubted anyone ever was. There must always be something the dying looked back on and wished they could change, but still she similarly assumed most didn’t have nearly as many as she held.
She wished she had been nicer to everyone both before the curse had begun and the horrid years after. She wished she had explored more of the world when she’d had a form that allowed her to. She wished she hadn’t allowed her anger to consume her for so many years. She wished that Capsize was still here with her.
However, as with all those on their death beds, there was very little she could do about her regrets now. All she could do was wait in horrid anticipation for this all to finally be over.
The man was creeping forward at a snail’s pace. Did he think she was oblivious to his presence? That was her only explanation for how slow his advance through the room had been. Had she any desire to live at all, she would’ve had plenty of opportunity to prevent his attack. Even now she could still whip around and defend herself. Yet she remained still, allowing him to believe himself a master of stealth.
Still, it took him an infuriatingly long time to get into attack range.
As he crept forward, she looked out over the castle grounds and the forest beyond. Through the tangled mess of trees, she could almost imagine Capsize returning. It was such a wonderful dream to imagine being able to see her just once more.
Of course, it was merely that. Capsize had no reason to return to this cursed place, nor would she wish for her to find her corpse. That was a cruelty that light of a woman certainly didn’t deserve. But Sonja would allow herself to dream as she awaited the swing that would finish her.
Behind her, the man took a breath that she felt ever so slightly ruffle her fur.
Sonja squeezed her eyes shut, picturing that excited smile and those sparkling eyes one last time.
A sharp pain spread through her shoulder, her eyes flashing open as she released a roar of pain. The sword had either been too dull or too short to fully pierce through her, not that the position it stabbed would’ve killed her regardless.
She couldn’t understand it. She hadn’t been moving. The man had every opportunity to end her, but he had instead chosen an attack with no chance of being lethal. It was not the action of a hunter slaying an animal.
As the sword was pulled from her in another painful motion, she turned to see precisely who her attacker was. Perhaps predictably, she didn’t recognise him.
A man in a long, red coat holding a sword stained in her blood. With long hair and piercing eyes, he looked like a hero in a fairytale. He had the handsome face and the muscular build. And just as a hero should, he was staring at her, the horrid Beast, with disgust.
Jordan looked down at the creature barely containing his hatred. It was even more an abomination in person than it had been in the mirror. This was no true animal. It was a horror meant to only exist in myth. He would ensure that, soon enough, that would be the only place this Beast did exist. In stories that he retold of his victory.
Yet, despite all the damage it had already done, it was still refusing to fight Jordan. It was looking at the champion as if all the life had already been drained from it. It was pathetic how easily he could kill this thing if he wished.
However, no matter if it wished for one, Jordan would not allow it an easy end. It had robbed far too much from him to be given mercy. If it wouldn’t fight back of its own accord, he would force it too.
Sonja remained sitting there, staring up at the man she could tower over if she just stood up.
Jordan rushed forward onto the balcony proper, and, without any hesitation, he kicked the great thing. It was thrown back. Despite its size, it seemed he processed the superior strength.
As she attempted to recover, to stand, Sonja was swiped at by the man’s sword again. With balance already lost and the ground slick from the building storm, she fell backwards over the railing.
She landed painfully on one of the roofs. Her entire form arched, especially her already injured shoulder. She feared moving as her landing had sent tiles sliding to the ground.
Above her, her attacker laughed, a cackling somehow audible above the storm. She curled into a ball.
Please, just let this end quickly.
Jordan jumped down, not caring as tiles cracked and fell from their perches. Nothing would stop him from his revenge, from forging this legend for himself. Not even this Beast’s pathetic cowardice.
“Get up!” He demanded as he strode towards it across the roof that threatened to crack under him. His sword was pointed, threatening despite how the Beast was in no way looking at him to be threatened. “Get up or I’ll just kick you off the roof.”
Sonja just curled up even tighter.
Would the fall even kill her? She couldn’t bring herself to believe it would, but she still couldn’t conquer the will to fight. All that would do was prolong the inevitable. If he wished to cause her to fall then he very much could.
Jordan gritted his teeth at the lack of movement. He wanted to prove himself his Lady’s champion by killing this creature she deemed worthy of cursing. How was he supposed to do that if it was completely refusing to fight? Why couldn’t it just die in an honourable way? Then again, what monster would do as it should?
“Fine. Die a pitiful animal,” He spat as he stood over the Beast. He had intended the final strike to be made with his bow, but this thing didn’t deserve to be a sacrifice for his Lady. A slow, pitiful death bleeding out on the stonework below seemed far more fitting.
He prepared to shove this horrid thing down to a dishonourable death.
Sonja braced herself for the end, however slow it may be.
A noise cut through the storm. One inaudible to the champion but very much heard by Sonja. A cry that felt impossible, like a dream or a wish escaping into reality. A voice that made Sonja’s eyes shoot open as she realised that she couldn’t die here.
🌹 🌹 🌹
“Sonja!” Capsize cried as she watched a scene of horror upon the roof so far out of her reach. It was barely visible at all through the ever-thickening storm, but with a flash of lightning, she saw the two clearly. Jordan stood over the prone form of Sonja.
She had realised quickly that they weren’t going to beat the mob to the castle. It had been optimistic of her to believe that possible, but it had been a necessary naivety to keep herself moving.
It had not been that Alyssa’s directors were wrong or that the storm limited their visibility to the point of slower movement being required. Rather it had been a feeling in her gut, one she couldn’t shift no matter how she tried to tell herself that she was allowing her worries to get the better of her. To put it simply: their journey was moving too fast.
It could’ve all been in her imagination, her rushing thoughts making time seem to move faster than it was in reality. With the storm blocking out the sky, she had no way of confirming one way or the other, but she could just tell something was wrong with the speed of their journey.
Once she gained that suspicion, the tiny pieces of evidence became impossible to ignore. Trees changed too quickly, as if their positions were being jumped ahead. Despite their path being a hardly taken shortcut, the terrain under hoof was easy and well-worn. Neither was an impossibility, especially not with a worried riddled mind possibly affecting her perception, but both alongside her suspicions of their fast pace left her with one thought: the gods were interfering with their journey.
She had no idea of why they would be doing this. Despite her earlier prayer to her goddess, she couldn’t believe this was a blessing. It was just another shifting worry within her that she couldn’t rid herself of despite desperately wanting to just focus.
Now she had finally arrived, it seemed that she had been right to not allow herself to relax. Not only had they arrived after the mob, but the lot had also gotten the run of the place for long enough for the majority to be fleeing away from the castle. It had been long enough for Jordan to have found Sonja and have her cornered on the roof.
She wasn’t too late. She had to reassure herself of that. Though she was cutting it fine, there was still time for her to save Sonja. Though, from her current position, she had as few ways to help as she had back in the town.
“Do you have a shot?” She asked Redbeard, trying to not sound desperate though she was sure she failed in that.
She knew she couldn’t shoot Jordan from down here. Her pistol simply didn’t have the range. But Red had his crossbow; and that just might.
“Not through the storm,” He replied with a shake of his head he hadn’t wanted to give. He probably had the range, but he didn’t trust his aim. It had been years since he’d fired a shot. In the rain and the darkness, he’d be as likely to hit the Beast as Jordan or nothing at all.
Capsize gave a shaky breath in response. She wasn’t defeated. She still had time. She just needed to get up there.
🌹 🌹 🌹
Capsize had come back.
That thought repeated several times within Sonja’s head. It was as impossible as it was true.
Despite all her own beliefs, Capsize was here. She had heard her call out for her, terrified. She must be able to see her and have seen how close she was to this man killing her.
Her energy came back within a single instant.
Even if there was no chance of the curse being broken, she couldn’t let this man win. She couldn’t allow Capsize to see her die. She couldn’t let tears spill from that beautiful face.
She rose to her feet, staring down at the man who was several feet shorter than her.
He grinned.
Jordan smiled as finally the Beast was ready to fight as it should. He might actually get a victory worthy of his Lady. Or at least he would have a fight worthy of retelling without embellishments.
Time to be the warrior he knew he was.
He swung his blade, expecting it to meet flesh, but his momentum was topped before it could find its target. His arm was caught in the thing’s paw as it loomed over him with its teeth bared. He tried to wrench himself free, but he couldn’t release himself from its grip, not without risking his limb being torn off by the thing’s claws.
Sonja held the man in place, barely keeping her growls contained. She could end him right here, snap him like a twig. It’d be so incredibly easy. Her strength was clearly superior to his. If she truly tried, this would be over in seconds with the man no longer a threat to anyone.
However, with the thunder echoed the other two horrid storms she had turned to terrible anger in. The night the curse had begun, when she’d rejected the pleas of who she had thought was nothing more than a desperate old woman. The night where she had dragged Capsize’s brother to a cell to freeze to death.
She didn’t want that anger to consume her again. She was better than that now. Yes, perhaps this time it would be reasonable. He was trying to kill her. Who would see her as wrong for acting in self-defence?
Still, though, she didn’t want to be that monster. She had learnt over these past few months that she didn’t just have to be a Beast. She couldn’t kill this man.
But this place was her domain. She had been stuck within this castle and its grounds for nearly her entire life. She had the advantage in moving through it. Perhaps she could elude him.
She pushed him back away from her, knocking his sword from his grip.
Jordan stumbled, attempting to retrieve his weapon. Quickly he had to allow it to clatter off the roof, lest he join it in its fall. It didn’t matter, he told himself. He still had his bow, which was a far more reliable weapon anyway. If he needed something for close range, the roof was falling apart. Surely there would be something to grab as an improvised club.
However, it seemed that a melee weapon might not be required at all.
In his unbalance, the Beast hadn’t continued to attack. Rather it had leapt away, down to a lower area before climbing a wall to a dark corner of the roofs. A part adorned with gargoyles that he currently had no shot on, but he could most certainly get one.
Still, he frowned. He had thought it had finally decided to stop acting a coward and face him. But truly what had he expected from the same creature that had kidnapped and imprisoned a woman?
With a snort of huffed air from his nose, he recommitted himself. He hadn’t thought this would be easy. He had been prepared for a chase. He’d get his fight. This Beast’s true nature would be shown once it had a few arrows lodged in it.
🌹 🌹 🌹
The townsfolk had accepted their loss. Without so much as seeing the Beast, the horrific nature of the castle had made itself clear as had their folly in storming it with so little preparation. Now all the majority could think of was escaping with their lives.
It made sense to them now: the madness Redbeard had held when stumbling into the tavern that night. Madness only to the outside observer who had no context for the estate of horrors just a few hours from the safety of their town. Now though, those who had gathered foolhardy courage enough to come here realised that reaction had been the only logical one to having witnessed this place.
Perhaps they could apologise to the man once they were safely away from this estate. Perhaps they would be forced to become patients in the asylum alongside him. Those thoughts were nothing more than rapid, fleeting ideas held by men racing quickly into the woods hoping they would make it home and not into the jaws of a wolf.
There were, however, a sparse few who were not fleeing the castle. A few who, though scared for their lives, were still drunk enough on hubris to believe themselves owed the treasures promised by the champion who had led their march here.
A couple of these men held enough logic to realise which treasures could be stolen away. They fled with a snatched trinket or piece of silverware. Tiny scraps of what they could’ve lugged away, but still these stolen items held the potential to be life-changing with their sale.
However, a different man wouldn’t be satisfied with such a pittance. He had been promised treasures, and it was clear that one class of trinket was far more valuable than any other within these walls.
Dangerous as they appeared to be, the living trinkets must be beyond valuable. The sale of just one of them would be enough to elevate him to royalty. So long as he didn’t grab the crystal ball surely crafted by Lord Dianite himself, he could surely scamper off to safety with his prize.
He stared from the darkened doorframe he was peering around, analysing for the best target and moment. The beating of his heart in his ears mixed with the pounding of the rain outside shot his nerves, threatening to make him reconsider. But his mind was already set. The glitter of jewels upon one of the cursed things confirmed his targets.
He began his dash across the entrance hall. Though the red lightning once more began sailing through the air, his presence had surprised them and the magic flew wild. It did nothing to slow him.
As he raced past the group of trinkets, he lent down. He was risking everything to slow down so close to them, but he just had to remind himself of the potential riches and the risk of being hit by one of the bolts seemed so incredibly worthwhile.
He grabbed the jewelled snuffbox, holding it so tight that the jagged gems cut into his palm and fingers. The small injuries were worth it to keep his fortune from wriggling from his grasp.
Yells started behind him, no doubt from the trinkets left behind. The pace and the amount of red lightning increased, the crackling magic near impossible to dodge, but he did. Surely the gods wished for him to gain this providence, were blessing his movement to be true.
He was but a couple steps from the shattered door. He could taste the rain and his escape.
He was slammed bodily into the wall.
The shock was so sudden and the strength of the shove so strong that he at first assumed it to be the Beast itself that had come to tear him apart. Before he could fully process that that wasn’t the case, a flintlock pistol was shoved under his chin.
The one who had him pinned to the wall was not a horrific creature. It was Capsize, somehow escaped from her basement and possessing a firearm.
The woman was soaked from the storm. Her curls were too thick to be flattened, but they stuck to her face adding to the craze of her appearance. Her clothes were partially shielded by the thick woollen cloak covering her, but they were clearly also feeling the effect of the storm. By all reason, she should’ve been shivering.
However, there was a fire burning within her. A fire that, at this moment, was directed entirely towards this man.
“Drop him,” She hissed, far too angry and hurried all of which laced into her authoritative tone to make it sound murderous. She was sorely tempted to pull the trigger. All of this lot had come with the sole purpose of murdering Sonja. Wouldn’t it be right, be just, to end him?
Perhaps it would be. She could argue that point eternally, but she frankly didn’t have time. She didn’t care if the idiot lived or died. She just wanted him out of her way quickly.
Yet he stood uselessly flapping his mouth open and closed. “Drop him or I swear your blood will be decorating the wall.”
Her accent came out thicker than it typically did as her patience wore thin.
For a few painfully long seconds, the only noise in the air was the pounding rain and the crash of thunder. Uncertainty hung as everyone waited for one of the two to make a move.
There was a clatter, quieter than the storm yet somehow deafening, as Mot was dropped to the ground. With her friend safe, Capsize took a step back, watching the man flee with his tail between his legs.
For a moment, the silence remained. The shock of Capsize’s reappearance combined with her out of character threat left those watching speechless.
“Dad!” Then Alyssa’s voice came as she was placed on the floor by Redbeard and began hopping towards her father.
“Alyssa! Thank gods you're safe!” Mot replied as if he hadn’t been in active danger. As if the only possible worry he could’ve had was his daughter.
Chatter and movement restarted but Capsize remained with her flat expression. As much as she wanted a moment of brevity, she couldn’t rid herself of the image of Jordan looming over Sonja. She needed to keep moving.
Ignoring the calls of her name, Capsize hurried up the stairs towards the West Wing, glad she hadn’t used the shot in her pistol.
🌹 🌹 🌹
The gargoyles mocked Jordan, each one looking like the Beast in this darkness. Only when lightning struck could he tell for a moment what was stone rather than flesh. Mockingly, though, all of it seemed to be stone.
As he kept spinning on his heel, he desperately tried to spot any subtle movement. He’d already lost a few arrows to his mind playing tricks, seeing a flicker of life in what turned out to be merely stone.
He was used to patience when hunting normally, but on this night, it was already driving him to aggravation. This thing could clearly think, it wasn’t mindless like the animals he usually stalked. It was choosing to be cowardly.
“Come out!” He yelled, straining his voice to be audible over the storm. He spun, attempting to find any hint of which shadowed figure was the true monster. He had to be slow as the roof was quickly becoming untrustworthy ground, but even if his feet couldn’t go swiftly, his head was snapping with rapid pace. “Do you really want to die as a coward?! Fight me like a real Beast!”
Of course, that demand didn’t get the Beast to come out. Why would it attract the cowardly thing?
Still, it had to make a move eventually. If it didn’t, they’d be stuck in a stalemate forever.
Of course, it might be intending to let him waste his arrows, so he was left defenceless against its counterattacks. That would be precisely the sort of action he would expect from this Beast.
It was why he needed to be patient. He couldn’t afford to waste anymore arrows. He needed to be sure of his target when he next fired. But how could he know that that necessary moment of clarity would even come? It had to, surely. He was blessed by the goddess of justice, his moment to dispense it must surely come.
In a flash of lightning indeed his blessing was presented. He was looking in the right direction to see as one of the shadowed figures was illuminated not as grey stone but as orange-brown fur soaked with rain.
Once more, his Lady’s grace shined upon him. She was guiding him still. She wanted this Beast dead just as he did.
He couldn’t tell if the creature knew it was in his sights. Surely it couldn’t with how still it remained despite an arrow pointed right at its brain. Once more, he found himself in a position where he could end this all in a single instance. He could release his arrow somewhere lethal and be crowned victor. Once more, he found himself with the desire to have a real confrontation with the things that had threatened to ruin his life.
He could wait just a while longer to put this Beast out of its misery.
With a Beast this horrific, so unlike anything natural, it was impossible to tell where he could pierce that would be lethal versus merely injure the creature. Though he could make educated guesses based on form, based on what would kill or simply maim a person. There was still a risk he might kill the creature should he fire at all. However, he trusted his goddess given skill to give him the outcome he desired.
He released the arrow.
Sonja cried out as the projectile lodged itself into her upper arm.
He had found her. Of course he had. The man was a relentless hunter. He was never going to allow her to slip away into the shadows. She should’ve acted earlier. Now the advantage was once more his.
As she stood, unsure if she should finally fight or continue to flee, another arrow pierced her lower leg. This time, she fought down her pained reaction. She made herself turn to face her attacker.
He looked wild as the rain battered him. His hair had escaped from the tie supposed to be binding it. What wasn’t matted to his skull was flying around with no direction at all. It seemed quite a miracle he wasn’t blinded by it, but Sonja couldn’t quite feel that way as his icy blue eyes and freshly loaded arrow remained trained on her.
“This one’s for your neck,” He said with a large smile unsuited to his current position. He didn’t look a hunter at this moment. Nor did he look the hero he was certainly picturing himself as. He looked like a child pulling the legs off a spider, a person with nothing better to do than prolong the suffering he was causing.
He already knew he had won. Yet he still wanted to draw the moment out.
“Did you really think you could steal her from me?” He asked, though he had no care for what the Beast’s answer might be. He didn’t care about its possible reasoning for what it had done. He just wanted it to suffer for it.
Sonja found herself with mounting confusion. She had expected more words from the man. He had to hold some reason for keeping her at arrow point rather than just finishing her. A monologue with a fitting air of grandeur seemed within expectations.
While his tone held the air she had expected, his words did not. He wasn’t talking about ridding the world of her or protecting his town. She couldn’t make sense of it.
Or perhaps Sonja just wished to stay in denial rather than give into his provocations because, really, what other ‘her’ could he be referring to? “Did you really think Capsize could love a creature like you?”
He spat that sentence, half-reviving that hopelessness that had consumed her for hours now. The words mocked her because they were true. She had been holding so tightly to the idea that Capsize would love her. The hope of everyone in the castle had hinged on it.
Even if she’d never really believed it possible, she’d still allowed her heart to beat with every tiny touch. However much she had denied it, or tried not to think about it, she had wanted Capsize to love her.
To hear this man so rightly mock that already crushed desire made her want to weep. Despite knowing he was simply being cruel, she was still almost ready to just accept the arrow.
Seeing how the creature’s posture shrunk, Jordan smiled even wider. That was what he had needed to see: the Beast knowing who Capsize was meant for.
“Capsize is mine! We are destined for each other by Lady Ianite’s will!” He growled through gritted teeth.
Suddenly Sonja knew precisely who this man was. Not by name or title, but by the stories Capsize had told of her days in the town. This was the man who harassed her. The reason why she would cringe into herself when recalling certain memories. The reason she hated roses.
All her self-doubting thoughts emptied from her head. She didn’t care what mockery he was directing towards her, not as lightning struck and, in the flash, the mirror in his belt glinted.
Even having heard Capsize’s voice, knowing she was here, Sonja felt a sickness at seeing the item in this man’s possession. What had he done to her? “I will rid her head of the manipulations you’ve filled it with!”
Suddenly Sonja didn’t care about the arrow pointed at her for a very different reason. No matter if she lived or died, she couldn’t let this man return to Capsize. Let them both die on this roof rather than him hurt Capsize in any more ways.
She rushed forwards, ignoring the pain, ignoring the danger. Anything just to stop him.
Jordan smiled, finally ready to end this game. His fingers began to slip from his bow string. The arrow would soon fly and end this Beast’s miserable existence.
“Sonja!” Capsize’s voice pierced the air louder than thunder. She gripped to the railing of the balcony, out of breath and terrified as she saw the arrow ready to fly towards Sonja. She couldn’t have come all this way for nothing.
The suddenness of her cry, the unexpectedness of her being here at all, jolted Jordan. His attention was pulled and, with it, his stance was thrown off. His arrow flew wide, sailing past the Beast and somewhere off the roof. Before he could even process the shock that, for the first time in his memory, he had missed his target, the Beast was upon him.
Sonja grabbed the man by his neck, nothing but fury within her. This man spoke as though Capsize was some treasure for him to possess. He gave her more rage than she had ever felt. He deserved to be dashed upon the ground.
Jordan was lifted into the air by the creature, kicking and struggling despite neither action doing anything to help his circumstances. The Beast’s strength was far beyond his. It was all he could do to stop his airflow from being cut off. Escaping its grasp was nothing but a pipe dream. But he had to fight. It was that or surrender to the fact that he was being carried towards the edge of the roof.
“No. No!” He strained out as his impending fate became obvious.
This couldn’t be happening. He was the hero of this story. He was the Champion of Lady Ianite come to slay the monster who had stolen away and brainwashed his girl. By every tale ever told, he should be the one winning.
Yet he wasn’t. He was being dangled over the edge of the roof by the very Beast he should’ve killed. The only thing left for him to do was beg for his life. “No, please! Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything! Anything!”
The sheer terror of reality outweighed how pathetic the begging made him feel.
“Just one night to shelter from the storm, that’s all I need!”
“No! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I swear I just came here looking for shelter!”
“I’m sorry, I—I just wanted to see what was up here.”
This moment was not like those ones. This man was not an innocent soul she was harming with her own anger. Not a soul would judge her for killing him just as he had intended to kill her. Had their circumstances been reversed, he certainly wouldn’t have listened to her pleas.
But at this moment, he was a terrified man begging for his life. Despite everything he had done, she could show compassion.
She drew the man back to safety, dumping him on the edge of the roof rather than off it.
Jordan found himself on his knees, gasping for air. He was forced to look up at the Beast that had spared him. It loomed over him with a dark stare that he refused to flinch away from.
“Leave,” It growled at him. “Never come back.”
She could’ve said more, but she had no more time that she wished to waste on this man. There was someone far more important to focus on.
Without so much as a second thought, she turned from the man and towards Capsize. The woman was on the balcony of her study, now slightly above them, staring with relief laced upon her features.
“Capsize!” She said, unable to contain her joy. She had come back.
She began the climb towards her.
“I’m sorry. They thought you weren’t real. They were going to… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” Capsize gave tearful words of apology as Sonja climbed. Her relief was immense, nothing irreversible had happened. Yet the guilt for the injuries Sonja had received still ate away at her.
However, as her friend pulled herself up, one arm around the balcony railing, to be face to face with Capsize, the tears ceased. Sonja looked at her with the softest smile. She looked at her with those beautiful green eyes so full of relief and cupped her free paw around her face.
For a single moment, everything was right with the world.
Sonja let out a cry of pain far worse than any of the others she had given on this night. She barely managed to keep her grip on the railing to save herself from plummeting to the ground. An arrow was shot into her back, ripping through to her gut.
Capsize immediately flared back into panic. Her eyes rapidly searched for the source of the attack, finding it near instantly. Right where he had been left by Sonja, Jordan stood with bow in hand.
The champion, satisfied that his first shot had met its target, reached into his quiver. One final arrow and this would all be over.
A bang pierced through the air, though this was not the thunder that had been infecting the night air up until now.
A pain spread through Jordan’s chest that at first he didn’t understand. He wondered for a moment if he had been struck by lightning for how unexpected it was. Then he saw her.
On the balcony, Capsize stood with her pistol, the barrel glowing hot from the shot it had just fired towards him. Even from this distance, he could see the burning hatred on her features.
The shock of it, or perhaps merely the force of the bullet, caused him to stumble back. He had already been so close to the edge of the roof. With the slickness of the tiles from the downpour, he stood no chance of regaining his footing.
Jordan began to plummet to the ground. He had mere seconds to process all he had done wrong to end up with this fate. Far too long when all that was really flooding his thoughts was the anticipation of the pain awaiting him below. He was facing towards the sky, giving him little idea of how close the ground actually was. All that did was make the panic worse as he braced himself for the impact that would come right before the end.
A horrible pain did come as he shattered into the ground, but death did not come with it.
Jordan lay on the ground in more pain than he ever had been. He had landed in a horrid, crumpled position that he dared not move from lest he add to the pain consuming his entire being. Could he ever move? Again, he had no desire to test that.
His legs had gotten the worst of it. Though all of him had landed on hard stonework, his legs had ended up in one of the rosebushes that littered the grounds. He couldn’t see them, but he could feel the damage, and it left him nauseous.
He lay there in the pouring rain, desperately trying to keep his shaky breaths coming. He had to survive. He had to see his victory, his life restored to the way it should be.
Footsteps echoed across the stonework coming right up behind him then stopping. Someone stood over him, looking down on his broken form. There was only one person he could fathom looking upon him at this moment.
“My Lady…” He croaked out. It had to be her. His goddess had come to save him. “I tried to enact your will. I… I can still kill it… If you give me the strength.”
He could do it. Once his Lady healed him, he could finish the Beast. He could still be the hero he was meant to be.
Lightning flashed and the figure cast a shadow over him. The shape caused all the hope their appearance had given him to rot. A deep laugh filled the air.
“Wrong deity, boyo,” The devil said as he lent down and put a clawed hand on the man’s arm. “Tonight isn’t about you. Her focus is elsewhere.”
Another laugh that felt worse than any of the injuries currently littering the Champion’s body.
“Don’t worry, I’ll put you somewhere nice and safe for when she has the time to think about you.”
Before Jordan could argue back, object in any way to the lies being told to him, the grip on his arm tightened.
It was excruciating.
Then it was nothing as the whole world went dark.
🌹 🌹 🌹
Capsize threw her now empty pistol aside. Immediately, she rushed over to Sonja, taking a hold of her arm to drag her back onto the balcony. It was hard, even with Sonja doing her best to pull herself up. Her friend’s normal strength was gone, leaving all the effort needing to be done by Capsize. Despite how she strained from the weight, she managed to pull her to safety.
The moment she was upon stable ground, Sonja collapsed. She had barely managed to keep strength up until this moment. Now that she could fall safely, her body couldn’t keep upright anymore.
Capsize didn’t stay stood for any longer than her companion. Not because her energy was drained yet, her beating heart couldn’t imagine slowing, because she needed to be close to Sonja. She couldn’t pause now if she wanted any chance of fixing this.
“I need a knife. I can cut the arrow heads out and… And then I can stitch your wounds. You’re going to be…” She couldn’t finish that sentence despite how desperately she wanted to. Not with the way that she was being looked at.
Sonja looked at her with those beautiful green eyes, wavering with knowledge. It was beyond clear that she knew there was no saving her.
Of course she did. She could feel the pain in her own body and could see the growing stain on her now torn shirt. There was no way around it, no medicine that could save her now. Magic, maybe, but none that she knew. She was dying.
And, of course, Capsize knew this too. She was no fool. She understood what a lethal injury looked like. But knowing and accepting were two very different things. “You have to be okay.”
Sonja gave her a smile, soft and gentle as if nothing was wrong. She cupped her paw around her cheek just as she had in that perfect moment half a minute ago that somehow already seemed a different lifetime.
“You came back,” She breathed as if that was the most wondrous miracle she ever could’ve fathomed. She could wish for nothing more in this moment than Capsize being with her.
“Of course I did. I couldn’t let them…” Another sentence that came to a croaked stop as she couldn’t bring herself to finish it. She hadn’t managed the one thing she had set out to do. “This is all my fault. I should’ve gotten here sooner.”
She should’ve done so many things differently tonight. She should’ve kept half an eye on Jordan, to catch him before he had fired. She shouldn’t have let Red talk her into staying in the town for even a moment longer than necessary. She should’ve found another way to prove her brother’s sanity rather than showing the town Sonja.
All of these regrets floated and twisted around her head, but she could no sooner change any of them than she could close Sonja’s wound. She barely stifled the sob escaping her.
Sonja wished there was anything she could do to comfort her. She always hated seeing Capsize upset.
“You got here in time,” She said. “I got to see you again.”
That had been all she wanted. Whether the mob had arrived or not, tonight was going to be her end. So at least she could feel Capsize’s soft touch once more.
“Maybe it’s better this way,” She muttered as it got harder to think. It was better for Capsize to get some closure, to be able to move on with her life rather than being stuck with a Beast confined to a castle. She could have the freedom that she deserved, rather than being shackled to this castle to keep seeing her.
“Don’t say that,” Capsize said. There was nothing that could be seen as good about this situation.
Tears had begun to spill from her now as reality closed in and became undeniable. The blood was pooling beneath Sonja, inching towards her knees. She could feel Sonja’s paw beginning to slip from her cheek as her strength was swiftly leaving her.
Yet still, she wanted to believe in a different world. A world where Sonja would somehow live through these wounds.
She took the paw from her cheek to hold it tightly, an action that Sonja still had the strength to reciprocate. “I’ve spent so long just longing for home. Ever since I moved to that town, I just wanted to be home.”
As she began talking, the doorway filled. The cursed residents of the castle, her brother, they finally arrived to see a scene that froze them to their spots. Not a single one of them dared to interrupt or move even an inch into the room.
To Capsize, their presence went unnoticed, and her audience remained only one.
“And I thought I knew what that meant. It meant my ship, or Ianerea, or the ocean. It meant places I couldn’t get back to no matter how much I wanted to.”
Sonja’s fingers began to loosen their grip. Capsize tightened her own hand.
“But I wasn’t looking for familiarity. I was looking for understanding,” She was struggling to keep speaking. Her throat felt raw and tears were clogging her words. Yet, she had to keep going. If she fell silent, then that would be the end. If she just kept talking, she could keep her alive. “I found that understanding, here with you. You… You’ve changed me in ways I don’t know if you understand. You’re my home.”
She couldn’t stop the sobs now. It seemed so obvious in this moment. She had been happier here than she had in years even despite the circumstances of her arrival. She had friends, people who respected her and the way that she lived her life… She had Sonja… And now she was losing her.
There seemed no word for it but unfair. How could she be losing Sonja when she was only just processing the truth? Why could she only realise the importance of things when she lost them?
Sonja’s grip had completely gone, her hand only held by from Capsize’s own. Her eyes were flickering shut as even the strength to keep them open was leaving her.
“No, please, don’t leave me,” Capsize begged as if forbidding the action might stop death from taking her. She buried herself into Sonja’s chest, hating the slowing sound of her heartbeat and the sticky sensation of the pooling blood but needing to feel her warmth for as long as possible.
Behind her, the last petal on an enchanted rose finally lost its hold and slowly began to float down towards its siblings on the table below. It went unwatched as every eye that could’ve witnessed it was instead fixed on a young woman sobbing over a dying Beast.
“Please, Sonja,” She said, barely audible as she finally allowed herself to admit a fact she had refused to properly let herself consider until this last moment that she could. “I love you…”