-Break-

  The day

  Φ Over his unscious body, Charles waits on Nero who is visibly struggling as he sleeps. Charles doesn’t know what to do, so he just sit’s their and holds Nero’s hand while saying, “I am sorry,” over and ain.

  He cries, and says, “Please be okay Nero.”

  But throughout all of his iive cries, Nero finally opens his eyes, and says, “Charles you’re being too loud.”

  Φ Looking at me, Charles says, “Nero I am sorr-.”

  I pat him on his head, and say, “Why aren’t we at work, isn’t it rather te in the day.”

  Charles pauses for a moment, then looks down and says, “Bricriu told not one of us to leave the campsite until he returns.”

  “Well isn’t that nice of him. I guess if I am awake now I should go and che everyone,” I say getting up and walking out of the hut.

  “Wait, there is something I o tell you!” Charles says to me.

  No time to stop, I just o move and do. All other thoughts o cease because if they don’t I won’t be able to go on.

  As I step out of the hut, I am immediately stopped by one of the armoured beastkin.

  “What’s wrong,” I say with sweat going down my face.

  “My lord has anded me t you and that blue-haired boy with us to him, when you awake.”

  My heart stops for a moment, and I say, “Why?”

  “Is that such a question you should be asking? Do you really want to squahis opportunity to meet her?”

  Realizing what he means, I say, “Take me.”

  Charles walking out of the hut says, “I am ready as well.”

  And just like how Mariana was taken from us, we are taken from everyone else.

  -Break-

  Location: Bricriu dinner hall

  Φ Through te doors, me and Charles our brought into a dimly lit room, with a table in the tre. Then on that table with the same smile, that he always has Bricriu sits, and says, “e now my guests, take a seat.”

  Me and Charles both walk up to the table and take a seat. Bricriu then snaps his fihen from the dark parts of the room, two men appear and drop ptes in front of us.

  Looking at Bricriu, I ask, “May I ask you a question?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “What would be the purpose of this?”

  “You see I falsely accused this little one over here, and thanks to that you got hit. So I have decided to have a little meal with the both of you.

  His men take off the c of both of our ptes, which reveals a rather hefty meal, it smells so hat for a moment both me and Charles fet the situation and have faces of pure delight.

  Though I quickly yself.

  Bricriu then says, “o look like that. You should just enjoy the food, especially the meat, I made sure it is extra juicy.”

  I don’t feel like pying along with his game. “You know I don’t really thin-.”

  Before I finish all around the room, I hear the sound of swords being drawn. The amount of noise is not equivalent to the amount of people I saw, are there more people in this room hiding in the shadows.

  I guess I have no choice then, using the took he pced in front of me, I take a bite of the food and say, “It is quite good.”

  With a smile, Bricriu says, “Happy to hear.”

  Charles then starts to eat as well, and as we all do Bricriu says, “Please let me apologize for my mistake, as a leader I should make sure not to damage my workers more than necessary.”

  “Oh please, don’t have for people just like us.”

  Passionately, he says, “That’s impossible because you are all precious to me, and I am sure you uand that since a baby was just born at your campsite.”

  Looking at Charles, he asks, “What was the name of that child again.”

  “Jupio,” Charles says with a big smile. “She is really adorable and smiles a lot. I have to make sure to be the best big brother to her as possible.”

  “That’s great to hear, but that description sort of reminds me of you Charles. I remember when you were a child just like that. I am sure your mother and father would have said the same things about you.”

  Charles stops for a moment, and asks, “Did you know my parents?”

  “Well sort of but the memories of what happeo them are lost to me.”

  “I see,” Charles says.

  Suddenly, Bricriu says in the Heroes song, “I think I just remember what happeo them. Your father was killed in a single blow to the heart, by that merciful queen of shadows, but you’re mother just like the rest of the captured woman where sent to help us produce more offspring.”

  Charles stops and freezes for a moment, but then I take a big bite of my meat, and say, “How delicious this is!” While looking at Charles.

  Right now Bricriu is speaking in saying horrible things in the Heroes song to try and bait a rea out of us. I need Charles to pretend like he didn’t hear any of that.

  Taking a bite of his food, Charles says, “This really is amazing.”

  Bricriu tinues in the Heroes song and says, “But she isn’t the only woman who has such a fate, your mother as well has been w very hard to make sure the number of us beastkin tio increase as well.

  Earlier you said you see Jupio as your younger sister, but in actuality, both of you have quite a few younger siblings. You see I have kept track of the lords both of your mothers have been put under.

  Though unfortunately, they both seemed to be physically uo properly deliver our babies so they kept having miscarriage after miscarriage. Nero, you should have about thirteen dead siblings, while you Charles have about eight.”

  I feel my body about to shake with anger and disgust, but I am able to hold myself back from doing anything. Because just like I have done over the st five years, I put up with the disgusting things told to me.

  Looking over at Charles I see he is struggling, so I say, “Charles you o focus on this food, it is heavenly.”

  Charles nods his head and then tio eat. Good boy, don’t think about it and just move forward.

  “Still it is sad that both of them have passed away, both died in their st childbirths. But you know what’s amazing, on the deathbeds of both they asked for the same thing; how are my children?”

  Putting his hand over his mouth, in the Saviour's song he says, “Oh sorry you guys couldn’t uand any of that. It is a bad habit of mio start speaking in my native tongue when I get excited.”

  “No worries,” I say with a half-smile.

  “The me ge the topic. Apparently, some of the guards I had statioo work on this pntatioaking and abusing women, so they were punished quite severely.”

  “Thank you,” Charles says.

  “Don’t worry about it, the fact that they would damage such useful workers is something that would never be allowed to pass. But I uand them, the sense of domination, the sense of trol, and the sense of passion that es from taking a woman, as she screams as but is eventually subjugated by your overwhelming self. And the ones who always behave the stro are the easiest to break.”

  I start to feel a sense of pure dread e over me, but then Bricriu says, “Disgusting isn’t it.”

  With a slight sense of relief, I say, “Yeah.”

  “But looks of the history, that exists even from the forbidden age, have a lot of sexual tent, the arts they ehe eaihey enjoyed, even the reasons for their wars.

  Almost as if life ot separate itself from it, and don’t you think that’s a waste? Imagine all of the other potential of creativity that could exist if we put all the passion we had for the sexual into other things.

  The world is so vast and big a we are so fixed on this singur thing. So to pursue that untouched world, I force all the men under me to be castrated.”

  I stop eating and look at him, which causes him to say, “Don’t be surprised, it has only helped them all. Now they have focused and elled that passion into other things, like art, cooking, and even warfare. My men have bee exceedingly amazing at all they do.”

  In the Heroes song, Bricriu says, “And collect. You see, during all my quests I e across so many amazing humans like your father Nero. A strong warrior who took down a great amount of us.

  So I decided to take the kin of these great people and turn them into sves. Through this pntation are many who are special to me due to this very fact, because isn’t it hirious to watch the offspring and family of these greats humans bee nothing more than cattle who follow my every word.”

  Images of my father fsh through my head as he speaks. He used my father's brave sacrifice as a reason to punish me, right now this evil bastard is trying to turn me against my father.

  Ba the Saviours song he says, “I should really quit that bad habit of mine, but it is just one of many habits of mine, you see I have many. Like cooking.”

  “But aren’t you a noble?”

  In the Heroes song, he says, “I might be but the cooking I enjoy is a pit peculiar. You see first thing I have to do is behave the precious one I am cooking so I drain the blood, of course, this time to enjoy the suffering of my prey I decided to use an alternative method.

  But after that, I had to move on to the skinning process, when the skin of my prey is a lighter colour I usually just leave it on so it darken ter on. Though this time my subject had darker skin.”

  I pause for a moment.

  “Then I start to take apart the body, splitting the iies ay parts of her body up, and remaking them into excellent food of course it has a unique smell but spices made from Flora around wonderbeasts really do work wonders.

  Eyes when cooked well enough be almost indistinguishable from eggs, even her grey hair and tongue be turned into things unreizable from what they inally were.

  Though I left out the noses, feet, stomach, and anus because areing all of those just pletely vile.”

  It isn’t true, it isn’t true, it isn’t true, it isn’t true, it isn’t true, it isn’t true, it ’t be, it ’t be, it ’t be, it ’t be, it ’t be, it ’t be. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

  Did I just eat? Have I beeing? As the realization es down on me, I put my hands over my mouth holding ba my vomit.

  As I do, Bricriu says in the Saviours song, “Are you ok?”

  I don’t respond because a single word would make me vomit.

  “I know what to do. Babies are known to heal people, so why don’t I send one of my men to get that child Jupio.”

  Then in the Heroes song, he says, “But you know if you have been uanding all I have been saying this time, I wouldn’t know whether all the other members of you’re campsite know. In all hoy, I would simply just have to kill them all to make sure uage remains pure.”

  Uanding his threat, I su my vomit, and say, “Nothing is wrong.”

  With a smile, he says, “That’s wonderful. .”

  Charles looks at me with a face of shod horror, he looks more full of emotion than he ever has. I know he doesn’t want to but he must, and if I am to make him I must lead the way.

  Pig up the utensils, I use them to take a bite into the meat.

  “How was it?” Bricriu asks.

  As tless images of my wife fsh in my mind, I say, “Delicious.”

  But as Nero speaks the life that existed within his eyes vanishes.