Rain started to saturate Blackwell once again. It's just a few days after Duke Ulysses left when the rain started to fall once again. It was already a dreary atmosphere and everything was damp but Cygnus took this chance to deal with some loose ends.
Enrick stared at the drops of water that got to the window with a frown on his face. This was one of the things that he didn't like in this territory, the constant rain. The place already looked gloomy with all the dark clouds hanging around and now it was raining.
He sighed and turned around just as thunder rumbled through the sky followed by a streak of lightning that seemed to have hit a tree not far away. He looked back and narrowed his eyes as another one struck again. The lines on his forehead deepened because of how the weather was turning for the worst.
The light in the room flickered but he paid it no mind and went on to rummage on the documents that were piled up on his table. He couldn't be more bothered by anything right now because his plan to seize power failed. Now he needed to start again and make sure that all the details would be perfect. This time he would do it on his own because having others join in your plan was more annoying.
With another flash of lightning, he noticed that something was off inside the room. He stopped what he was doing and looked around but he couldn't pinpoint what was amiss. The light continued to flicker as he stood there staring at nothing in particular.
A wisp of smoke came out from the opening of the window and slowly floated to the unsuspecting man. It floated silently and stopped beside his ear where an eerie voice sounded. It felt like the voice came from the deepest of hell, bone-chilling.
"There are dead bodies on the ground.
They rise and dance to give you a crown.
They are here to stay and be together with you everyday.
The abyss of darkness stares at you
Pay the price, pay with your life."
The eerie voice caressed his ear and eventually his entire being. Every word it spoke and left, the ground would shake. He trembled and when he looked on the floor, he could already see them.
Mangled bodies still dripping with blood were crawling towards him. They were growling and were only focused on him. He nervously took a step back as he eyed the door that would lead him outside. As his foot took another step back, something cold brushed his skin.
There at his ankle was a black and bony hand and when he looked behind him, the dead were looking at him. He gasped and attempted to back away but his feet was planted on the ground. He lost his balance and almost fell down if not for the desk that caught him.
Enrick shook his foot fiercely to free it from the cold grasp but no matter how much he struggled nothing happened. They kept climbing on him. Their decaying flesh and its stench spread through his clothes.
"No! Stay away from me!" He swatted the dead using anything that he could reach.
Splatters of blood and flesh fell down on the floor but this did not stop them from crawling upon him. One of the bodies even lost its head but its lower body still clung to him. He hysterically slapped them as he started to shout for the guards but nobody came.
"Guards! GUARDS!" He repeated but no one was listening to him.
The guards who were stationed outside were even yawning and looked like they were about to fall asleep. Enrick was able to remove all that was clinging to him as he ran fast to the door but when he rotated the knob it got stuck. He tried a few times but it did not budge.
He started to slam his palms on it but all of this was just muffled noises to the people outside. Nobody knew that their master was about to be devoured. They still continued with their daily chores and did not notice that something was amiss.
"It is time to pay the price. Pay the price, pay the price, pay the price..." The voice continued to mumble in his ears followed by several echoes that filled the room.
The bodies started to distort and became monsters with sharp teeth and red eyes that were glaring at him. Even the room looked more ominous as the lights slowly dimmed and the sound of the wind and rain made it even more chilling. With the flash of another lightning, there he saw it, a person was standing just behind the window. He was watching him with a wide grin.
Another flash and there he could see it, red eyes with a face streaked with blood. Even his lips have traces of blood on it. The man disappeared which startled Enrick. He looked around but all he could see and hear were the dead growling.
"Your body would be torn into pieces," a new voice whispered to his ear. He looked to the right but saw no one. "Your soul would be tormented in hell," the voice whispered again, "the price you must pay, pay with your own life."
Laughter. The voice laughed and so did the dead. They laughed at him and mocked him as they started to chant his weaknesses and insecurities. Weak. Coward. No real power. A pawn. Someone who pretends.
"Stop!" He covered his ears but he could still clearly hear them.
His desperate cries for help and for them to stop were muffled as they swallowed him alive. His body was slowly torn apart and he couldn't even make a sound. He opened and closed his mouth but nothing came out, just the gurgling of blood.
Before his eyes lost their life, he saw a familiar face that appeared before him. He was smiling and shaking his head. It was Rigel and that was when he realized that it must be him, the person who killed the other council members.
"How do you like my gift?" Cygnus asked even though he knew that the man couldn't answer him any longer "It's befitting you right? Dying by the hands of those you have killed."
With last efforts, Enrick tried to tell him something but only incoherent mumbles came out. Cygnus could still read the man's mind though and he was definitely cursing him. He brushed it off because Enrick was already in his last breath.
Enrick's vision started to get blurry and unfocused. Even his breathing was getting more and more difficult but the visage of that man never left his mind even after it stopped working and his heart stopped beating. Cygnus chuckled because the man was still defiant even after he died.
A dark black hole appeared below the man's body and it swallowed it whole. The council member's room was actually not a mess. The lights were working perfectly fine and even the weather was sunny outside. Cygnus sat down as his eye color returned to its usual black after he gave the council member an illusion that eventually killed him.
It was a method that was less messy and won't be traced back to him. No body then there's no crime but that does not matter to him. Now that he had taken care of the main culprit, he would let his minions deal with the others. While they were doing so, he decided to use Enrick's study to wait for their report.
Only an hour has passed and yet some of them already returned and after ten more minutes all of them were complete. They all completed their tasks without a hitch and also cleaned the places well. He had gained many things during his stay in the territory and now it was time to move.
He opened a gate and returned to the manor. Cygnus faced the duke and gave him a smile, "My job here is done and I have fulfilled our contract. Now, the payment, I will ask for it soon so just be ready anytime."
Galahad nodded his head, "I understand." Although he was reluctant to accept the work as part of the deal, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Now that I don't have anything to do in this place any longer, I will also take my leave and I will be leaving Ezio here to learn under Archmage Sigma, if you would allow it," Cygnus informed the man. Although Ezio can learn something from him, it was better if he could do it from someone who could give him time and attention.
"Are you sure about that?" Galahad had his misgivings because he was not sure what the other was planning and why he was letting that child stay there.
"Yes, of course. He'll surely learn many things while he stays here and I will return for him when the time is right," the man answered.
"Then I will gladly let him stay here," the duke finally agreed. After a few more small talks, both of them went to the archmage's work area to look for Ezio.
