Lewis and Xeik were both in shock at the image that lay before them. Xeik took a step back, holding his head. The life force of this place, the flow of mana was black, and hard to follow. It was almost too much, and he keeled over, throwing up from the overwhelming sense of death around him. Lewis had seen this before…in Simone’s memories. The flames that had consumed Auclair. Only this..this was so much worse. There were those who had deserved death, but there was also Llywellyn.

“This is a world where they lost,” Lewis said, his eyes widening with fear. A world where the fae lord had won, where he had taken Simone for his own. Even if this wasn’t his world, he knew how very real the possibility was. If Alvaro had won…was this what was to come? “Xeik…we need to go. We have to hurry. Simone’s in real danger!” He helped pull Xeik up, and the two ran into the flaming Auclair.

Lewis easily recalled the way to the throne room. As they ran the halls, the gravity of the situation grew more and more apparent. Families had try to flee, to no avail. Knights were burnt to a crisp guarding innocents, their failure plain to see. Alvaro had gone too far.

They approached the throne room, and Lewis readied his dagger. Xeik knew that his partner had the intent to kill, but even he couldn’t argue the need for death in this situation. And so, when the door opened, Lewis charged forward, straight for the throne. It would be a short, and simple kill. Straight for the throat.

“I name thee, Alva-” He skid to a halt, his eyes widening. “No…”

“Damnit, Lewis, what did you-” Xeik darted out from behind cover, and he froze. “Wha…?”

Simone sat on a throne with bodies all around her. Her eyes looked directly at them. Her hair was wild and she was a mess. Covered head to toe in blood. “You remind me of someone.” She held the head of the world’s Lewis in her hands. “I quite favor this one for some reason. I don’t know why… He disgusts me like every other man in this world disgusts me.”

She chuckled a bit as she got up. Her dress was tattered and the scars over her body told unimaginable horrors. “Tell me… Are you a ghost did you come to hurt me?” She grabbed a long pike by her side. “Should I put you and your friend outside too? Did you come to offer me pity!” She threw Lewis’s head against the wall and screamed at them. “I HATE YOU ALL! ALL OF YOU DID THIS TO ME!”

It was worse than Lewis could have imagined. It was the person who he cared for the most standing before him, broken and insane. Her eyes were full of hatred and malice, something that he had only ever seen once before in his life. Even then, the personification of Wrath in her mind was nothing like this.

“Lewis! Nothing has changed!” Xeik called out. “It’s a test! The only way to save her is to-”

Simone raised her hand, and immediately Xeik fell to his knees, gasping for air. She rushed down Lewis with her pike, and with no hesitation started to swing wildly. There was no control behind her swings, and they were easy to dodge, but if Lewis made a single misstep, he would be killed almost instantly, even with his strength. Whatever madness gripped her had given her the power to overcome any obstacle, at whatever the cost.

“Simone!” Lewis yelled, catching the pike after a heavy thrust. He pulled her close, and she started to yell, cry, and scream in his face as he tried to reason with her. “Simone!? What happened!?”

“ALL OF YOU MUST DIE, I HATE YOU, JUST DIE ALREADY!” she screamed, shaking the pike free. She whipped around and slammed the butt end of it into Lewis, launching him into the air, and throwing him mere feet away. “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” she cried as she leapt into the air, aiming to pin Lewis to the ground. He rolled, narrowly avoiding the strike. The ground cracked from where the blow landed, and Simone started to laugh.

“I’ll be free….free from it all soon…just you wait….Lynnete, I’ll see you soon…”

Lewis’ eyes widened. “Lynette!? Where is she? Is she safe!?” He tried to scramble to his feet. “Simone! Talk to me!”

“We’ll be reunited soon, my sweetie…just as soon as they’re all gone…those who betrayed me…who left me here. I’ll punish them all….”

Xeik, finally breaking free of the magic that Simone had used, jumped up and lunged at Simone with every intent to kill her with a dagger in hand. Xeik, the pacifist, and the one who would rather talk things out than fight, was going all out. This wasn’t about right or wrong. This was about saving Lewis. If things continued the way they were going now…

“Xeik! NO!” Lewis said, jumping in front of her. Xeik skid to a halt, a glare in his eyes. “I can do this!”

“MOVE LEWIS, THIS ISN’T UP FOR DEBATE!” Xeik roared.

“But I can-” Lewis started.

He never finished the sentence. There was a sickening sound, followed by immense pain in his chest. Lewis looked down, noticing that there was something sticking out of his chest. The pike. Simone had run him through with the pike. “W-wha?”

Xeik could see it. Despite Lewis’ power to heal, and the bond he and Simone shared, the life force was draining from his body. Everything around him was darkening. The flow of mana and life, so wrong, as if… “No. Not here,” Xeik said as he slammed his hands together, dropped his dagger. I get it now. This world…I see the way it’s constructed. The life that’s been woven…the strands of mana…

“Shatter the illusion!” Xeik said aloud, ripping his hands apart. The world around them shook, and started to tear. “Fuck your stupid game, Saphhiele!”

The world began to unravel at that moment. The world was too much for Lewis than what could have been. The evil that had been sleeping in Simone’s heart, it didn’t compare to the madness that it could have been.

The world faded to a black as the pike disappeared from Lewis. There were footsteps as Simone came running at them. “Xeik hurry! HEAL LEWIS! She’s about to kick you out. I’m keeping her distracted but she’s noticed you!”

Simone got attacked by something in the darkness and let out a scream as blood ran down her arm, “Stupid mistake on my part,” she was more worried about her husband as she jumped out of the way of the hidden pursuer. “HURRY XEIK.” Xeik did as he was told and Lewis and Simone’s eyes met very briefly before the world churned. "I love you, Lewis. Stay strong."

Xeik was thrown out of the dream realm back into his body leaving Lewis near an enchanted spring. Fey magic hung in the air. Some feys were talking nearby as they ignored Lewis, “I hear he’s going to keep that girl locked up like livestock.” There were giggles, “Stupid little girl thought she could outsmart our Lord forever.”

Xeik woke with a start, bolting up. “LEWIS!?” He looked around, his eyes wide with fear. He had been resting in Mia’s lap when he came to. They were still in the office at Elisora, but it had been changed into a makeshift ward. Lady Angela was there, watching over Lewis and Simone. Both of them had been moved to exam tables.

“Ang? Where…?” He looked around, realizing that they were still in Elisora. “Angela! I can unravel the dream! Just throw me back in and I can-”

—


Lewis groaned, looking around. The last thing that he had remembered was getting stabbed by Simone, but…he was still alive. “Xeik?” He looked around, whispering his friend’s name. “Xeik, where are you!?” There was no response. Lewis cursed under his breath, and scrambled up. He could hear the fae whispering, and he groaned.

Just great, he thought to himself. Lewis was alone now. But, at least he had an idea of what was happening. The far lord had Simone. It was easy enough to determine where she was, and what he had to do. “Find and rescue Simone…got it…” With that thought in mind, he set off.

Sneaking into the city that Alvaro Mistweaver held sway over was no easy feat, but Lewis was a master assassin. Well, a retired master assassin, but that didn’t dull his ability too much. Still, it took him more time that he would have liked, and with much more bloodshed than usual. He felt nothing for the fae who would fall to his blade….not for those who would protect a monster like Alvaro.

With a little luck, he managed to sneak into the main castle at the center of the city, and soon after found the dungeon. It was here, he found her chained up. The one he was searching for.

“Simone!?” he whispered, trying to get her attention.

“I’m sorry Xeik but I’m not the one who pulled you out and I can’t put you back in without knowing the rules of the game… She is changing them as they go… It’s making it difficult even for me to handle this. We would do better to pump them full of magic and help them keep going… That’s the best we can do.”

–

Simone looked weak and brittle. She had half her rags coated in the blood that could only be from childbirth. It looked old enough but it was clear she hadn’t received much if any medical attention. It was amazing she was alive in the condition she had been left. Her black hair was wild and full of knots. It was hard to tell if she was asleep to rest or exhausted from poor health.

Her eyes slightly stirred at the call of her name, “Mmm?” She turned them up to where she heard the voice. “I must be hearing things.” She let herself fall again as she gave labored breaths leaning against the wall. Her head rolled a bit as she tried to rest once more.

“Damnit, Simone? Stay with me now!” Lewis couldn’t believe the state she was in. It didn’t take him long to pick the lock on the cell, and when he neared her, he could tell just how much of a mess she was in. The smell was the first thing that hit him. It was evident that she was barely being kept alive.

“Simone…” Lewis couldn’t bear the sight of her like this. “What…what the hell happened to you?” It didn’t take him long to free her from her bindings, and he pulled her into his lap. She was feverish to the touch, and possibly delusional as a result. Her eyes fluttered open, looking up at Lewis.

“What the hell…” He could barely contain the emotions flooding through him. Anger. Sorrow. Hatred. Regret. It didn’t take much to put the picture together of what had happened. Simone had given up. If the last iteration of Simone had broken into madness, this one had broken into apathy. Tears started to stream down Lewis’ face. The images of his Simone, of her strength and determination flickered in his mind. All of that could have easily disappeared…

“You were so strong…so brave, but…” Lewis closed his eyes. The pain he was feeling was unlike anything he had ever felt before. “How do I save you from this? How?”

Simone didn’t have the strength to fight his touch but once she realized it wasn’t hurting her she seemed to be swallowed by it. Her tired eyes looked up at him the best she could. “Who… are you?” He knew her and for all, she knew it could have been just a dream.

She could feel the hot tears he had as they dripped down onto her. She was weak but still, she brought her hand up and cleared one side of his face. “Outside. Can we go outside? The sun.” She wanted to see it.

“Okay. Yeah,” He picked her up easily realizing just how much lighter she was compared to his Simone. It took almost nothing to get the two of them out of there. They got away from the fey city and she seemed to breathe easier like a weight was gone from her. She leaned back in his arms as they reached a clearing and looked up at the sky.

It hurt her eyes and Lewis could tell as he tried to shield her a bit while carrying her. “So bright… I forgot.” She seemed so emotionless perhaps from crying too much and fighting too much beforehand. She closed her eyes a bit to rest herself and it was a good ten minutes or so before she opened her chapped bloodied lips, “You shouldn’t cry for a person like me.”

She didn't move to look at him or even try to get more comfortable, she didn't have the energy to. "This is nice." She flexed her toes a little and made a face from how sore her body was. "Where's my baby? He took her, didn't he?"

Once they were free of the fae city, Lewis set her down, and let her adjust to the outside. It took everything he had not to break down right then and there. Yet, he knew he had to be strong for her, so he did everything he could to keep his composure. It was when she finally awoke after a rest, when they had their first proper conversation.

At her first words to him, of not crying for a person like her, Lewis shook his head. “No. You’re…more than worth crying for. You're worth laughing, and loving…worth dying for, even, Simone. I would do anything for you.” At this point, he couldn’t keep his tears from flowing again, and he wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt. “They…probably took her, yes…” He tried to think of something positive to say, but he couldn’t think of anything.

“I’m sorry…Simone…I’m sorry nobody came. You did your best…but we failed you…” Lewis fell to his knees, catching her gaze. Her stormy grey eyes seemed to meet his for a moment, but they unfocused, as if she were so far away. “I’m so sorry…”

Simone found herself confused and she started to laugh if you could call it that. She started to cough and she caught her breath. “You are a funny man. I don’t know you but… You know me don’t you?” Her feet felt the grass and she looked felt the sunlight on her. “This is the best present you could have given me.”

Simone leaned into him as if he were the sun because of how warm he was, “Why would you do anything for me?” She looked up at him though briefly before closing her eyes. “I failed everyone,” she spoke briefly before taking a short break from what she was about to say.

“Because I gave up. I couldn’t handle it anymore and I just gave in. I am the worst sort of person.” She laughed a little and played with the grass. “I wasn’t even allowed to hold her. I know she won’t be told about me at all. I’ve been calling her Llynette. Out of spite really.”

Her eyes drifted up to Lewis’s and she gave him a small smile. “This is the best… If we follow this road… It will go to Sulwal. If not for me for yourself. They’ll notice I’m gone but if you can cross into Virens… They can’t touch you. Just ask for that stupid prince. Llywellyn is his name. He’ll probably jump if he hears I’m there. Even if I don’t make it. Just go to Sulwal.”

She looked like she was struggling for a moment, “If I don’t live for the trip… Tell him where the city is. Get my baby. Burn it to the ground. The whole fucking thing. Will you do that for me?”