The Last Brusade

By Turquoise and Zura

Prologue: The Suffering of a King (Zura)
 "Now, king of this cursed realm...rise."

“Prince Rigatonus Kotarasta,” announced the Mariknight, “you may now ascend the throne.”

Ascend the throne.

Yes.

The time had finally come.

Rigatonus brushed Duo’s hand off his shoulder rather roughly, and his guard gave him a deeply injured look. That look was nothing new. He’d been getting it a lot lately. He’d been seeing a lot of the pain in Duo’s eyes.

Nothing new.

There would only be more to come.

He swept away from Duo and onto the red carpet, an expanse of ruby as long as a dragon’s tail. Ahead of him sat the throne, beside it standing the Mariknight like a statue, a glowing spear in her hand. That knight and that throne had once been so foreboding, so menacing, glaring down at him and reminding him how small he was. But now, on this day, they looked up at him in awe. With respect.

Because he was their king.

He passed the Mariknight without a word and began the journey up the gilded steps to the throne. It was like climbing a mountain in hell, and he swore each step was higher than the last. His boots got heavier and heavier, and he beat down the thoughts of why. They weren’t thoughts that wondered. They were thoughts that knew.

He knew.

He understood.

But he didn’t want to. He didn’t even want to think about it. He wanted it all to go away.

Just go away.

Don’t be real.

Just…

He climbed the last step.

His boots were heavier than ever.

Duo’s eyes bore into his back.

The hidden tears could drown him.

Don’t think about it.

Don’t know.

Don’t understand.

Forget it all.

Just breathe.

Rigatonus clenched his jaw and turned to face the throne room, his cloak creating a breeze that threatened to hush the crying flames of the torches. There. Before him. With their sorrowful eyes. Those were his subjects, people he was going to rule beyond a curtain of iron and darkness.

His gaze fell on Duo.

Even you.

The rings on the Mariknight’s spear clanked together, and her robe billowed as she moved to stand before the steps to the throne.

“Prince Rigatonus,” she said, “are you ready to begin?”

Begin.

He forced his eyes to stay on the Mariknight, but in spirit they were burned to Duo, refusing to look away from him even for a moment. Right now, he was still a prince. They could still be comrades. The Witch of the Realm had not yet been summoned. The Divide had not yet been–

“Yes,” Rigatonus spat out, crushing his mind in a spiritual fist. “I am ready.”

No. No, he wasn’t. Beginning meant the end. Beginning meant leaving Duo behind.

Duo.

Duo.

DUO!

But it was too late.

The king had spoken.

The Mariknight raised her spear to the heavens beyond the cathedral, and it glowed as bright as ever, shining like a million forbidden stars.

She began to sing.

Though it was more like the chanting of a devil worshipper.

Deep in the woods of broken hearts and souls, Beyond the sea, its tides and shoals, You hide in the dark, chant a song as soft As newborn feathers, wings held aloft. In the night you craft your spells. You make whole worlds, skies and hells. You see it all to the end of time. O Creator, give this line a rhyme. Maker of all, destroyer of none, Come to us now so the day may be done. Declare this boy worthy, king or dead, Lest our kingdom succumb to Dread!

A brilliant flash of green light seared Rigatonus’s eyes out of his skull, and that light vacuumed the entire world into a void. A frozen void. Every subject was encased in a thin layer of ice, even the Mariknight herself, and the flames on the torches stopped flickering. Time itself stopped moving, and it was only when Rigatonus blinked that he realized he alone was not frozen.

He looked down at his unfrozen hands and flexed his fingers, wondering who, how, why–

“Ah,” an ethereal voice said. “Prince Rigatonus of Kingdom Olive Garden.”

A burst of green light materialized into a slender figure who held a spear behind his back. The spearhead was a giant shark tooth, fossilized either naturally or by magical means, and ribbons of emerald starlight coiled loosely around the polished stick to which it was attached. Fluffy dark hair cascaded off his shoulders, flecks of green moon rays shimmering in it, and his eyes shone like the northern lights in Kingdom Cold Spell. He smelled of sea breezes and starless forests, of the dark woods beyond the sea.

“You must be the Witch of the Realm,” Rigatonus said.

Well, yeah. Who else could this be? It wasn’t like the Mariknight was trying to summon a pizza deliveryman.

The Witch shrugged with a sly grin and said, “Some call me that, I suppose. The Witch of the Realm. The Creator. The Maker of All. The Destroyer of None. But I implore you to use my name…”

He leaned closer, so close that all Rigatonus could smell was the deep, dark ocean, and whispered:

“Rose.”

He pulled away and gestured at the frozen subjects with his spear. “I presume you are at a loss as to why I did this?”

So he had frozen time.

So he was capable.

More than capable.

“It’s simply to ensure our…interaction…stays between us,” Rose said. “You see, no one but the Witch is allowed to see what happens to new kings.”

Rigatonus’s heart clenched. They’d broken more laws than he’d thought.

“Of course you did,” Rose said with a chuckle. “Did you think I didn’t know?”

He turned his spear over in his hands, caressing the starlight. “I’ve taken measures to ensure that won’t happen again.”

“Measures?” Rigatonus repeated, his heart lurching into his throat. “What measures?”

Rose only smiled.

Rigatonus scanned the surrounding subjects desperately, frantically. Duo wasn’t by the twin columns at the entrance. Duo wasn’t by Sir Spaghetti. Or the Duchess of Domino’s. Or the Graceful Goose. Duo wasn’t in the light. Duo wasn’t in the shadows…

Duo wasn’t there.

Duo wasn’t…anywhere…

“Where’s Duo?” Rigatonus choked out. “What did you do with him?”

Once more, there it was.

Rose’s cold, cold smile.

“Duo broke the most sacred of laws to show you the truth,” he said. “Those who defy my reality cannot go unpunished. No one can know the suffering of a king.”

The smile got colder.

“It is the ancient law, this world’s deepest secret, sealed away since long before Dread escaped into reality.”

The throne room got colder too.

“But you knew that secret…and you still ascended those steps. I admire you for that, little prince… You’ll do just fine.”

There was a lump in Rigatonus’s throat. He knew what was going to happen. The Divide. The Divide was going to be formed, and there was no way he could cross it. There was no way he could go back. He was going to lose himself. He was going to lose everything. Just like…just like his father…

He saw it happen.

He knew.

He understood.

He understood the suffering of a king.

A stardust spear pierced his heart, spilling rich emerald light and deep crimson onto the floor. The droplets fell like a heavy rain, spattering onto the throne, onto the marble, onto the world. The darkness was going to drown him, and all the shadows in the world clutched his throat with iron hands. A scream left his lungs, but there was no sound, for the void swallowed everything.

Everything except the Witch’s cold smile.

It glowed in the dark.

A sliver of moonlight.

A gleaming sword.

It offered him four words, the last words he remembered.

“Long live the king.”