The Colors And The Deal With Death - Chapter V: Remember Me?/My Last Indulgence

Following the shadow figure into the woods, I quickly lose it as it blends in with the pure black that surrounds me. I struggle to see a thing, so I pull my phone out of my pocket and use the torch function, even though my battery is almost dead, and god knows where my charger is. Using just the small light from my phone, I light my path forward, hoping to find either my stalker or at least the way out. I get so far before my phone cuts off, leaving me complete darkness once again. I try to turn it back on, but it is completely dead.

Changing my mind, I turn back the way I came, feeling every twig and leaf snapping under my feet, much louder than normal, because of the dead silence in the air. Not even the chilling spring wind is blowing here anymore, and there is a very strange and putrid odour wafting around the trees like a fog of death. I continue walking through the darkness, hoping to find some way out, but my stomach pains kick in again, this time knocking me to the floor, landing into the mud on my knees, a very cold and wet sensation. Suddenly, I can hear other footsteps that gently walk toward me. I can hear my heart beating incredibly loud and fast, as some ghastly voices start to echo through the woods, in a language I can’t comprehend.

I can hear them all talking around me. I try to ignore the voices, chalking them off as symptoms of my illness. Though what is hard to ignore, is the cold feeling of a hand, a chillingly cold hand, running up and down my shoulder. The breath I feel on my neck is unlike anything I've ever felt. I want to scream, but I barely stop myself, not wanting to provoke whatever the hell it is. My body is frozen with fear, not wanting to move a muscle, yet I can't stop shivering. After a few violating seconds, that tick on like minutes at a time, I feel the breath now in my ear. The smell was disgusting, bearing the ghastly stench of a rotting corpse. In my ear, I hear the person whisper to me in a female voice. She says "Found you."

I can’t stop myself from screaming as loud as I can, likely giving even this spook a fright.

“I can see that you’re scared, you’re right to fear me, but maybe don’t do that?” That... person says, as she backs away from me, but still just a few inches from my shaking back.

“Who are you? And what do you want with me?” I ask, knowing that meeting a stranger in the woods can never end nicely.

“Ahh, interesting. So you don’t know who I am, after all. A pity. I am very memorable, you know?” She asks, rubbing my chin with a cold hand, despite wearing what feels like a pair of woolly gloves.

“I’d say. It’d take two more years of therapy to get you out of my head. So tell me who you are.” I say, getting a little more frustrated.

“You’ll find out eventually, my dear. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise now, would we? Let’s just say that I’m the end of all stories, and yours will be no different. I’m sure I’ll see you again, little Eliza.” She says, laughing to herself at a joke I’m not sure exists.

Wait, did she just say my name? How? And how did she know- ...was she...? Was she the one who ordered the poison wine up to Watcher Central? The reason I’m in this mess in the first place? Suddenly, I hear loud footsteps running away from me.

“Hey, where are you? I have some questions to ask you. Get back here.” I shout to her, before I run after her as fast as I can.

Suddenly, a light comes pouring out of the trees. Before I can think to look, I get grabbed and yanked out from behind the trees. I scream again without thinking, and try not to look at whatever it might be, closing my eyes as tight as humanly possible.

“Lizzie! Thank god you’re safe.” Poppy says, in a relieved- wait, Poppy?

I slowly open my eyes again to the others, looking at me with their torches shining in my eyes. They point their torches back where they came from, as we all start walking back to the camp.

“Thank the stars, you guys came for me. How did you know I was here?” I ask, knowing firsthand that this place is like an elaborate maze.

“Easy, we just followed the screams. I didn’t peg you down as such a wuss.” Blanche says, giggling to herself.

“Am not.” I say, crossing my arms and scoffing in her direction.

“So, why did you go into those woods?” Roxy asks, as we find our way out of the woods and see the campsite on the other side.

“Let me explain everything back at the tents.” I say, darting my eyes around, making sure that the woman can’t hear what I’m saying. Then again, she must be miles away by now.

But still, I can’t shake the feeling that something was off about her. She knew too much about me. Have we met before? And is she really the one who put me in this situation? Will we meet again?

So it was her. I knew I could count on her to be still be around. Now I don’t really need to worry too much about being seen. Strangely, I thought I heard her charging towards me earlier, but that quickly stopped. She must have been still terrified, the poor little thing. But enough about her, this is my time, the time I’ve been waiting for for years now.

I have carefully located the last three candidates on the list, so maybe I can find the lucky guy. Xavier Gladstruck, humanitarian, loyal guard captain... unjust murderer. I have put the locations as crosses on my slightly torn map of the world, though all of the people I seek can be found right here in the Capita Midlands, so really, I went above and beyond for this. According to my map, one is at his new home on the outskirts of Crabwalk Quay, a little seaside town I’ve always wanted to see. The next will be leaving for Crono Sands via ferry even as I speak, and the other is a doctor at the Capita Hospital. Since time is of the essence with the ferry, I shall make that my first stop of the night.

With one flick of my wrist, a couple of my little ghoul servants pop up. That’s the super cool perk that comes with owning the Crown of Death, this fancy crown made from pure jet and adorned with some strong magic. I take off my big black coat I use for blending in with the shadows, and give it to one of them to hold, while the other hands me my sceptre, my weapon of choice. Why, you ask? Let’s hope you never find out. Under the coat, I have my favourite dress on, fully tailored from the bones of many beasts I once claimed.

“Alright men. First, we hit Crono Sands, then Crabwalk Quay, and finally Capita Hospital, and our vengeance will be ours! No more will you live in the shadows of your former masters. Once they tell me where... he is hiding, you will bear witness to a glorious new era, made for us. Who’s with me?” I ask them, trying to get the morale up, even if they only answer to me and me alone.

As expected, they cheer in that monotone droning noise they make, like music to my ears. With another flick downwards, my men all sink back down into the earth below. Stuck behind this lovely necklace I’ve been wearing for as long as I can remember, I find my special whistle, carved from the bark of a special tree. I blow a little tune for Aera, my precious pet, to come and get me. A few seconds later, I hear that familiar screech, as I see my huge bird start to appear from over the hills, flapping her huge wings as she touches ground next to me.

I mount Aera’s back, as she flies back into the night sky. The air is quite crisp tonight, and it’s a lot nicer than it is back at my home. It’s been a little while since I’ve been out.

“Onwards! To Crono Sands!” I shout to her, as we fly away over the hills.

Going high into the sky, we start to fly over the sea connecting Capita to Crono Sands, but Aera seems upset by something as she whimpers to herself softly.

“What’s wrong, girl?” I ask her, before noticing that she has some pretty bad scratches on her body, and some feathers missing.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you’ve been going back to that hellhole again. It’s not safe for you there. My poor baby. That wine should have taken care of that guy by now, but when we finish our plan, I’ll go back there and find who did this to you.” I say, caring for her as I would my own child.

She seems a bit happier now, screeching excitedly, as we dive down a bit lower to see the water rippling under our impressive speed. I check out my appearance in the face of the water, still looking as nice as the dead can look. From the corner of my eye, I see the ferry strolling across the water, minding its own business. This may be risky, but I have to get in there.

“Alright Aera, just get us down on top of the boat. I can take it from there.” I say, bringing her down towards the boat.

As Aera starts to slow down, it comes to a shock when she decides to line up with the boat, speed up again, turn on her side and tear a complete hole through the ferry’s starboard, making it take in water. Aera stops and turns around to watch the whole ferry start to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

“You have a sick sense of humour, Aera. Well, it cut out a few minutes of searching, I guess.” I say to her, wondering how something that once so innocent became this twisted.

We watch for a few minutes, as the lifeboats come out, each taking four passengers. We wait for about fifteen minutes before we both start to grow bored.

“You know what? This is getting a little bit boring. Why don’t we just go- hang on, is that him?” I ask, suddenly seeing one of the man I had seen before.

There’s no mistaking, it must be him. ...On closer inspection, it’s not him, but this guy was just as guilty.

“Damn. And I was sure it was going to be him. Oh well.” I say, charging up my sceptre, filling it with my purple flames before releasing it to his lifeboat, making it explode into many little pieces.

I couldn’t help but giggle morbidly at the sight of my enemy burning and then drowning. One down, only two to go. As Aera starts to flap her wings much faster, we set off quickly towards Crabwalk Quay. Confident in my victory, I pull the pins out of my hair, letting the cascade of pure purple rain down to my back before getting caught in the sheer winds. It feels so good to let it feel something, after spending so much time in the land which nothing but dead air fills the atmosphere.

Not long ago, we arrive in Crabwalk Quay, parking myself just outside that traitor’s house, a shabby yet modest little thing with a lovely view of the beach. Hell, after I’m through with him, this place might make a great summer home, with a little more love, of course. With the biggest smile on my face, I try the door, only to stopped by many locks on the other side. He must be cautious, I just can’t imagine why.

With one swift kick, the door rips off the hinges, and much to my surprise, a woman and a child approach me. The mother looks at me with tears in her eyes, and the child is screaming uncontrollably. They must know who I am.

“Please. He’s been sick for the past couple of days. You can’t do this, I’m begging you. Let him go.” The mother screams at me, tugging harshly at my dress, not knowing that this thing is my pride and joy, but I suppose I should let it slide.

Ever so slightly, the gloves come off as I walk up the stairs and open the first door. I see the man sleeping peacefully in his bed. I fully take my gloves off before standing next to him. Looking closely at him, I can see that he is not who I’m looking for either.

“Don’t hurt him, you stupid lady.” The little girl says, feigning bravely through her tears.

Looking at her and the mother, something within me starts to stir. I may be a monster, that’s what they made me, but my humanity still remains my weakness. I see the genuine fear in their eyes as I loom over their loved one, and honestly, that’s mostly the reason I’m here in the first place. Fine, I’ll get my gloves back... this time.

“You know what, this guy isn’t who I’m looking for. Sorry for the fright. Best be off. Get well soon, you little worm.” I say to all three before taking my gloves.

I put back on my gloves before whistling for Aera. I then jump out of the window, getting a little bit cut up by the glass, before Aera swoops in and carries me away. Alright, one I killed, one I saved, which leaves just one left. With no more doubt that Xavier is at the hospital, the two of us head immediately there, with no mercy on my mind.

As we land, I walk into the hospital, a lobby room of pure white. I see a woman behind a desk, greeting me with a weary smile, likely only out of contractual purposes. I approach her as she visibly shakes under her proud facade.

“Hello, how may I help you today?” She asks, with the brightest, yet fakest smile on her face.

“I’m looking for a man named Xavier Gladstruck. Is he working tonight?” I ask, starting at her, hoping it scares the information from her.

“I’m afraid that information is strictly classified. There’s nothing I can do about-“ She starts to explain, as I take off my gloves to demonstrate my power.

With one touch of my finger upon her forehead, I watch her pupils grow wide, before her head flops backwards in her chair. The people who watched us take this opportunity to run out of the room, probably for the best.

Not satisfied with the answer I was given, I decide to explore the entire hospital, taking out all of the brave souls who dared to stop me. Eventually, I find Xavier on the third floor, walking towards a patient’s room. He is a lot bigger than the other men I have seen so far, and he still brandishes the scars from his previous encounters. You know what, the gloves go back on, I want to have a bit of fun with this one.

“Excuse me, are you Xavier?” I ask sweetly to him, walking towards him slowly.

“Yeah, that’s me. Can I help you?” Xavier asks me, in a tone I remember all too well.

I grab him by the neck and slam him against the right white wall.

“Yeah, you can help me. You can help me by answering some questions.” I say, dedicating all of my willpower into not whacking him already.

He starts to slowly giggle to himself.

“Come on lady, you even know who I am?” Xavier asks, in a joking voice with a serious face.

“Yeah, I know. That just gets me more excited.” I say, tightening my grip.

He kicks out, so I give him some space, as I drop his sad shell of a body on the floor, fighting for breath.

“Fine. I don’t know who you are, but I’m not above self-defence.” Xavier says, preparing himself for a fight that I know he’s going to lose.

“Good.” I say, before socking him clean in the face and carrying him over my shoulder, walking towards the elevator.

We go down, waiting until we reach the ground floor before tossing him out in the room outside the entrance. We scare a man who tries to get into the elevator, as Xavier comes flying out. It seems that in his older age, he has trouble keeping up with me, as I land hit after hit on him, whilst taking so much as a scratch myself. Going outside, I take great pleasure in beating him within an inch of his life, while he is too slow to fight back, like a little bunny in the headlights of a car.

“Enough, enough of this. I don’t know who you are, but I give up, I’ll do anything you say.” Xavier says, falling to his knees, sobbing and begging for his life by my feet, just as I like it from the once proud guard captain.

“Good boy. You murdered someone I cherished a few years ago, under the command of that corrupt king. Before I can think of sparing your life, I must know, and I’m only going to ask once. Where is King Garcia?” I ask him, taking my gloves off once again.

“I-Im sorry. That revolution took place years ago now, many of us have since left, and the king went into hiding not long before. I don’t know where he went, or where he is now.” Xavier says, attempting to get up, his arms shaking uncontrollably between coughing up puddles of blood.

Without another word, I touch his head with my bare hand, before he falls to the ground. With one flick of my wrist, dead hands rise from the ground to take him with them.

“Welcome to the team, Xavier Gladstruck. Despite my moment of weakness, that’s all of them. Well Zachary, you can rest in peace now. I... just wish you would come back.” I say, trying not to let my humanity get the better of me again, even if it is crying out.

“Aera. We can go home now. The king can live another day, for now. He can rot like the cowardly lion he is.” I say, climbing aboard Aera, as we fly away.

My mind starts getting heavier again, remembering everything that happened that day. I should feel proud about this, but I can’t shake the feeling of guilt. Having a heart of pure black is part of the job, so maybe I should work on this. Before we head back towards the woods leading to my home, I notice something I haven’t seen in a little while, my hometown. You know, I’d better go in and pay a visit.

“Aera, head down there. We should have a little bit of fun before we go.” I say to her, before we head into the village I spent most of my childhood, Arcia.

After all of that trauma in the woods last night, I didn’t get a lot of sleep before the sun set on another day. With bags under my eyes, heavier than a family’s weekly shopping, I climb out of my stuffy tent and see that everyone is already awake. Poppy and Roxy are both crowding around a small portable television, while Nuko seems to be preparing some food on a small barbecue grill, something I never thought I’d see. Andy is in the corner, sharpening his sword. Blanche appears to be singing to some birds in the trees, like some fairytale princess, before the birds start flying in front of her, causing her to freak out. Having the best smell, I approach Nuko first, who seems to be seasoning some bacon with salt and pepper.

“Morning. I see you’ve been stuck with the cooking part.” I say, nudging his arm a little.

“Stuck? This may sound crazy, but I actually like cooking. When I was a kid, it was either learn to make stuff or starve. It’s the only hobby I have that involves not burning things to a crisp.” Nuko says, with the most concentrated look on his face, completely in his element.

“Well, maybe send one my way when you’re done?” I ask, taking one more whiff of it before I go get myself ready, feeling naked in just my nightwear.

“You know it.” Nuko says, not even looking up from his little grill, sipping from a drink he pulled from the cooler by his feet.

“Hey Lizzie, you might want to take a look at this.” Poppy says, shouting with fear and worry in her tone.

I run over, to see that everyone has shocked expressions on their faces. I watch the television with them, wondering what could be so bad. There seems to have been a couple of murders... and my hometown is on fire. What? A female reporter appears to be stationed there at the moment, as everyone works together to put out the fire.

“Behind me, you will see the proud people of Arcia, all putting their all into keeping their village safe. This could not have come at a worse time, after the murder of Father Slough, the successor of the famous Father Carlyle. As the eyewitnesses exclaimed to this reporter, the culprit of the arson and the murder, has been identified as Eliza Carlyle, daughter of Father Carlyle. And we now to go-“ The news reporter says, with a deadpan expression on her face and tone, as she- wait, did she just accuse me? Really?

“Say it isn’t so, Lizzie.” Poppy says, looking at me with disappointed eyes.

“Of course not. I’ve been here this whole time. Why would I burn down my whole village, kill the leader of the clergy and come back before sunrise?” I ask, finding it ludicrous that I would be accused by these guys too.

“You could have sleepwalked.” Nuko says, saying the dumbest sentence I have ever heard.

“Come on, it’s apparent that this is just a case of mistaken identity. You see it all the time in the news or bad movie sequels where the main character has an evil twin or something.” Roxy says, trying to oversimplify it.

“Maybe, but does that mean that someone like me is going around just killing people for fun?” I ask, wondering and worrying that everyone in a regional radius is going to be hunting for my head.

Like a domino effect of suck, my phone starts to ring, as I should have expected. I look and see that it is Salvador, likely going to tell me off.

“Hello.” I say, in a drained and annoyed tone to match my mood.

“Miss Carlyle, I was just watching some tv and I was surprised to hear your name come up a few times. What the hell are you playing at? Explain yourself.” Salvador asks, not really yelling, but I can tell he’s disappointed... poor boo.

“Salvador, that wasn’t me. This may be hard to believe, but someone just like me is trying to put the screws on me, for whatever reason, and I’m going to find out who it is.” I explain to him, before hanging up the phone in frustration.

As everyone else watches me with worrying eyes, I take a beer can out of the cooler next to the barbecue grill, hoping to drown my pure anger. Now that I think about it, I really don’t care if Father Slough is dead. He was my father’s friend, he knew everything he did to me, and he did nothing to help me, even branding me a liar to the rest of the village. I just got tired of people calling me a demon, so I can be excused if I don’t want the world calling me one as well. As my stomach tenses up even more, I start to feel a little shorter of breath, like a giant invisible hand is squeezing me. With nothing to lose, I take a big swig of the can and therapeutically spike it to the floor, the little bit of booze left swirling in the air in a perfect circle.

“So, who’s up for finding an imposter?” I ask, taking a heavy inhale and exhale to calm the nerves a little.

“Lizzie, are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Roxy asks me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get going. We need to get to that field before tonight.” I say, before climbing back into the tent to get myself ready for the day.

“I hope we have time for a quick dance at this party. It seems like forever since I last danced.” Blanche says, from just outside my tent.

“You danced just a few moments ago, before you got attacked by those birds.” Andy says, having caught the little show, as I did.

“They were not my crowd, that’s all.” Blanche says, twiddling her thumbs in embarrassment.

“Bacon’s up, people. Something for the road.” Nuko shouts from the other side of the camp.

“Hey, if that grease gets in my parents’ car, you’ll have hell to pay.” Andy says, shouting over to him, though I find it nice that he wants to keep it as pristine as the day they bought it.

After we’re all ready, we bundle all of the camping equipment into the car, put the bacon in little plastic bags, and climb back into our usual spots. Before we know it, we were away on our toes once again.

“So, who’s up for a little music? The radio should be working.” Andy says, excited to show off the car stereo.

“Ooh, how about Angry Metal? They always have something good playing.” Nuko says, my ears perking up a little bit at the sound of that.

“No way, it has to be Sparkle. Pop songs always get me in the mood. Much better than Andy’s classical tracks.” Blanche says, rolling her eyes at Andy.

“Really? You like Classical too? I’m more of a Jazz person myself, but I love Classical just as much.” Roxy exclaims, excitedly towards Andy.

“Oh great, there’s two of them now.” Blanche says, groaning to herself.

“I pretty much like anything, so I’m neutral.” Poppy says, smiling her trademark smile.

“Alright, alright. Since Lizzie isn’t having the best time out here, why don’t we let her decide?” Andy asks, putting the spotlight on me, as everyone turns around to face me... minus Andy for obvious reasons.

My mind splits into two mindsets. Part of me wants to make the request, but the other part knows the others will think it’s terrible. I feel a nervous sweat forming from my forehead, and my thoughts grow cloudy... it should not be this hard. Making a final answer, the former side wins by a small slither.

“Okay, can we turn it to Grim?” I ask, loving myself a bit of Goth Rock from time to time... always.

Andy turns the dial under the name comes up, and it is actually a pretty good song. Depressing and mentally draining, but I feel that just gives the song more atmosphere.

“Oh, this one. You like this kind of music too?” Nuko asks, looking my way.

“Since before I can remember.” I say, knowing that my choice of music was one of the things my father always hated, but whatever.

As I can see the others grow bored immediately with the music, Nuko and I start to talk a lot about our mutual love for it.

After about four hours into our deep conversation about which bands were and weren’t just faking empathetic lyrics for money, I notice a sign for my old hometown, Arcia. Even though my heartbeat starts beating twice as fast, I know that something that belongs to me is still there.

“Hey, you okay? You just kind of zoned out there.” Nuko says, waving his hand in front of my face.

“Can we please make a quick stop here? I have to talk someone.” I ask the others, watching the village of Arcia pass by the window.

“Arcia? Isn’t that the village you were accused of burning down?” Roxy asks, remembering the news from this morning.

“I’ll go in disguise if it makes you feel better. I... I just need to settle some things there. I’ll feel a lot better, and maybe my ring will be here too.” I say, just knowing that it must be there somewhere in my old home.

We park the car in the entrance, which is just a dusty gateway with two bushes either side, as Blanche lends me a white dress, a white hat, and some sunglasses.

“There, now just don’t get them muddy, or I’m charging you for the dry cleaning.” Blanche says, clearly protective of her clothes.

“Are you sure about this, Lizzie? I mean, your father sounds like a bad man.” Poppy says in a very simplified, but also not incorrect description.

“I’ll be fine. I have my old trustworthy here with me if things go south.” I say, letting the little pistol in my pocket.

“You would kill your own father?” Andy asks, looking shocked.

“No, but I will make him pay for what he did somehow. And this will be the first thing he answers for.” I say, deciding to show them something I haven’t shown another soul.

I turn my back to the other five, and lift the white dress up to get back to my regular clothes. I then lift up the back of my regular shirt, and I listen to them all wince and gasp. What they see is my collection of gashes, lacerations, scars and reminders of my past sins.

“What is that?” Blanche says, after throwing up in the bush to the left.

“The burden I have to bear. That, and the reason I can only wear backless bras. Anyway, wish me luck. I’ll be back before you know it.” I say, bringing my shirt back down and walking through the gate.

Even though I was putting on a brave face in front of the others, in truth, I could not be more terrified to see the old place again, and... my family. But if it means finding out about the ring that could one day save the world, I have no choice.

...I’m back home.