The Kingdom of Layfette

Archive Seven







The kingdom was beautiful. Completely remade in his image. Reise had longed to see it this way; shrouded in shadow, the darkness caused by cursed clouds of smoke and ash, storms of black magic swirling overhead, and the echos of screams of torment and pain filling the air. The stench of dead bodies was everywhere. Even here, in the throne room that he so coveted as a young man, corpses littered the floors and walls, and one even hanged from the chandelier. He smiled up at it blissfully, admiring the bloodied knight's helmet as it dangled from limp shoulders, and then sighed contentedly.

"Home, sweet home!" he bellowed, his voice bouncing off of the walls cheerfully. He laughed and stood from his brother's throne. The cushions were slashed and covered in blood and dirt, and the metal was tarnished with soot. He admired it, then turned and headed down the steps. He strolled through the castle, admiring the destruction within its walls. "Beautiful," he commented as he admired a thoroughly desecrated portrait of his late father, King Xander. He sneered at it as he passed, then headed outside through the two large, oak double doors. Once outside, he took another deep breath of the air, filling his lungs with the wretched smells that lingered there. As far as his eyes could see, trolls, ogres, werewolves, and other beastly demons of the darkness were wreaking havoc on the castle town down at the bottom of the hill. He put his hands on his hips proudly and drank in the sight.

"This is it, mother. This is what I dreamed of. Isn't it beautiful? This could have been ours... But you're not here to see it..." His smile very quickly melted into a scowl. "Because you're too busy fawning over my brother again. Why is he so special, mommy? Why?" He stiffened, stayed silent a moment longer, then let out an angry scream down towards the town before thrusting his hands into his hair, gripping at it in distress. He seemed to recover quickly though, straightening up again and breathing deeply a few times, before brushing down his tunic. "No matter. You'll get what you deserve, mother. You, and everyone else in this accursed family."

With that said, he started down the cobblestone path that wound around the back of the castle and through the gardens. The path was lined with dead trees and hedges that had been set ablaze, and he dragged his hand along the branches, riling up ash, and the twigs that had managed to cling to the trunk for dear life snapped and crumbled to the ground. He smiled to himself again softly as he strolled, until he came to the royal family cemetery. He paused at the gates, which were bent and dented visibly, curling back like they were made of nothing more than feeble wire painted steel-silver. He passed through them, unfazed, and continued until he came to his destination: his father's tomb. So far, it was untouched. Nothing had come to destroy it, or any of the other tombstones and graves yet. He took a few steps up to the columned, stone, building and inside to the sarcophagus where his father's body was being kept. He lightly slid a hand along the marble lid, tracing his dirty, bloodied fingers along the letters of his father's name: King Xander III. Beloved Father, Husband, and Loyal Ruler of the People. He scoffed.

"Of the people, indeed." He lightly brushed some leaves from the top of the box, walking a slow circle around it. "How does it feel, father, to see my dream finally come to life? To be able to watch it first-hand from wherever you are? Now you see what I'm truly capable of, father. You underestimated me so often... you were so convinced that Dyllin was the only one who could rule this kingdom well. You were wrong, father; very wrong. It's my turn now." He grinned down at the marble tomb smugly. "I will not finish with just this kingdom, or Cuole either. I will not stop until I've conquered every kingdom on this God-forsaken planet, and you will see that I can rule them all quite perfectly."

He breathed deeply, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, one hand still on the lid of his father's tomb and the other by his side. "Oh, it will be perfect, father. So perfect." Very abruptly, the lid of the tomb cracked beneath Reise's hand, and he grinned. He looked down and watched as the cracks webbed out from his palm in all directions, then the marble buckled and collapsed, kicking up a plume of dust. Once the dust had cleared, he could see his father's sunken face, eyes closed in blissful sleep, his hands folded over the handle of his sword as it lay on his chest. He still had his crown set snugly on his head. Reise glowered at the dusty gems and gold of the crown, then reached in and with an unsettling snap as his father's skull broke from the motion, he jerked the crown free and held it up in front of his face to examine. His grin renewed and he blew gingerly on the sapphires, trying to clear them of the dust.

"I accept your graceful forfeiture." He let out an insane laugh and set the crown upon his own head of curly, greasy black hair. He then walked out of the tomb, heading back through the garden and towards the castle. Once back inside, he moved to the throne room and sat down again, humming to himself. "I haven't heard from Eon or Scabbar in a while. I wonder where they could have gone off to?" He tapped his chin in thought, then closed his eyes.

"Scabbar! Tell me, have you made any progress with the group? Please tell me someone is dead. Where is Eon?"

"Can you get a SINGLE minion other than me who is competent?" came the sound of an angry voice, the axe practically humming where it was stored "I was close, this close," an idea of a thumb and forefinger being held very close together appeared in Reise's mind "to killing one of those stupid sprites and your mutt turns around and betrays me! Either send me out with someone who won't try and kill me or send me out alone."

"What?!" Reise growled aloud, standing from the throne and glaring at the ground. "What do you mean he betrayed you?! He was cursed! Nothing could have broken the influence I had over him without me knowing! What happened?!"

"He tried to kill me you idiot!" Scabbar replied sharply, mentally cussing out Reise, Eon and every single failed minion that Reise had ever stuck him with "I was trying to kill the damn fire one and your control broke. He just plain tried to murder me and stop me from doing what I was meant to."

"No, that's impossible! No sheer amount of simple will can break my curses, you ignoramus!" Reise snapped back. "Now stop blathering like an idiot and tell me exactly what happened! What did Eon do, what did you do, what did the fire sprite do that could have broken my curse on him?! And where the hell are you?!"

"I wasn't paying that much attention alright? I went to kill the girl, the mutt stopped me, said something about us not killing people, those weren't your orders. Then he tried to kill me to stop me from murdering the sprite." Scabbar replied shortly, still angry "And I don't know where I am. I'M AN AXE!"

Reise growled threateningly, starting to pace the destroyed throne room of his family home. This was starting to ruin his good mood and his enjoyment of his success. He ground his teeth, then said darkly, "Get back here now." A radiation of dark energy left him in what appeared to be a wave similar to a sonic boom. It traveled far and fast... until it reached wherever Scabbar was being kept. Then, as if he had a lasso on the handle of the axe, he pulled hard and Scabbar would be yanked from wherever he was and brought straight back to the kingdom.

"Sometimes you're a real-" Scabbar was cut off as the axe was pulled from it's safe place. He wasn't sure exactly what disaster it caused, it was being pulled hard and fast he knew that, and the blade was sharp enough to cut through just about anything. He just wondered what Reise would do when he got there. Who was there around for him to posses?

The axe flew from the immense height and distance of the floating city, plummeting towards the earth and then making a short and sudden change in flight. It flew so fast that it was spinning, blade first, towards Reise's awaiting hand. It sliced through trees, abandoned buildings, even animals who couldn't move out of the way fast enough. It left a small, yet noticeable path of destruction in its wake until finally the handle collided with Reise's palm with enough force to throw his arm back with a sickening crunch. However, when he pulled his hand back, the dislocated elbow easily popped back into place with very little expression of pain on his face. He inspected the axe with a wrinkled nose. "Very well then, Scabbar. You want someone better? I'll give you the best there is." He grinned widely then, his eyes wide with his insanity, as he opened himself to Scabbar's soul, welcoming him into his own body.

"What do you mean..?" Scabbar grunted to him, before realising exactly what Reise had done. The only other noise Reise could hear then was a derisive snickering from Scabbar, and the sizzle of his burning soul starting to crackle into Reise's body. "If you're sure..." Reise's lips muttered as the fire of Scabbar's possession crept up his arms, searing its way towards his brain. Reise must be so mad for power he didn't even realise what he was doing any more.



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