"No matter how much I missed you or how much pain I was in, I never would have erased everything we ever had. Even if I was drowning in grief, I'd rather hang on to every moment that I ever held you, or every laugh I ever heard, every shred of happiness that we ever had. I would rather spend every moment in agony then erase the memory of you." - Damon Salvatore
‼️ TW: This is a continued chapter from the chapter before. It is a difficult one. There will be mention of rape, sexual assault, and flashbacks. There will also be graphic descriptions of gore and violence. Do not read if you are uncomfortable.‼️
I've Got You Too
By: Rasmus Hagen
&
Cloud Chaser
By: Jill Andrews
Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the courtyard, flashing across Elizabeth's face, her fire fueled gaze pinned to the creature in front of her. Her muscles bunched to perfection, and with a sharp ziiinnngggg she slid her sword free and leapt back just as he countered, the tip of his blade whistling past her abdomen. The armor responded to his attack in unsuspected ways, reshaping around her form even as she moved. It was a fight long coming. Elizabeth knew her brother, not just as her tormentor, but she knew him as family. At one point she would've died for him. But that was gone, and with it her innocence.
She fought for that, for the woman she should've been, for the life she should've had. But even more so, she fought for every woman, man, and child who has ever suffered. In the moments when she blocked and parried, dancing on the balls of her feet, she felt alive, powerful, truly whole. And it was within her confidence that Ezekiel would find his failure.
He never touched her, she made sure of that. But with every hit she blocked, his rage only grew. Thunder boomed in the distance, and then it began to rain, thick fat droplets of rain that came down hard on her back.
"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" She screamed, her body a blur.
She attacked viciously, dipping and weaving, blocking just as fast as she was retaliating. He was surprisingly quick to react, dancing backward and then counter-attacking with brutal force. Yet even as he fought it was clear he did not have the training she did. He was mediocre, reckless, dirty. Side-stepping what would've been a violent blow to her abdomen, Elizabeth slashed out, her blade passing within millimeters of his head. Before he could react, she grinned and punched him square in the face. He roared and scrambled back, blood dripping from his broken nose. His sword arched toward her neck then, and she threw her arm up out of reflex. The blade dug into her armor and stuck in the grooves of her suit. It rotated around her, trying to dislodge it, electricity buzzing in her veins. Sparks flew where blade met cuff, and with a roar she flexed her arm, shattering the metal into two pieces.
Every part of her body was a roiling mass of power, hell bent on revenge. Fury radiated off of her, blowing her hair back. To her onlookers, she looked like something not of this world, something ethereal and ancient. Blood sprayed from his nose, staining his pristine armor. Flipping through the air, she landed a brutal roundhouse kick to his chest, snapping his ribs like twigs and sending him flying back a good fifty feet. He hit the pile of rubble and stone that used to be the twin pillars, his body landing awkwardly, broken. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath, each one like a serrated blade ripping him wide open.
Thunder echoed in the distance and for a moment everything stopped. Looking down at him, this pathetic creature, devoid of anything good, Elizabeth felt disgusted. Disgusted to have lived behind her shame for so long, disgusted for allowing him to live all those years ago, and most of all, she felt despair. She felt pity for this man before her, and she knew he saw it in her eyes. Self-loathing and hatred burned within the depths of his soul. Swinging her arm around, faster than he could track, she lobbed her sword straight into his abdomen. An anguished wail fled her lips, her voice fracturing as old memories resurfaced, memories she had long buried. Bile burned at the back of her mouth at the memory of his hands on her skin, bruising, taking what was not his to have. The pain in her belly, the bruises on her thighs, and his voice in her ear, the despair she felt when he laughed at her tears, knowing no one would be coming to save her.
"Breathe." Kore whispered, lending her strength.
With excruciating slowness, she climbed over the rumble, grasping the pommel in her hand, pulling the blade up his body, slicing through the vital organs housed there. He screamed and thrashed, caught like a speared fish, and her body shook with barely contained power, hatred leaking from her pores. She struggled to contain it, but her blood boiled, her mind urged her to give in, to tear him apart. Blood sprayed from the gruesome wound, his intestines spilling free.
"You were supposed to be my brother." She spat, twisting the blade in a way that was probably excruciating. His screams gave way to gasps and he slumped forward, dropping his sword. "You were supposed to protect me."
His shoulders shook and he started to laugh, or cough, really, blood flecking the corners of his mouth. This injury was killing him. And then he said the one thing that guaranteed his death. The one thing all men accused of sexual assault seemed to say in their defense, as if they did not make the decision all on their own to hurt an innocent.
"I gave you what you wanted, needed, if you were ever to survive in this world."
"You raped me." She seethed, and the crowd around them shrank back in the face of her pain.
She slid the blade out of his belly, enjoying the way his body jerked and spasmed. She closed her eyes, breathing deep, trying to hold on. A raging tide of crippling pain and fear riding her back, weighing her down. The world spun around her, and everything was muffled, distorted. "I didn't ask for it. I loved you. I would've followed you everywhere. Instead you destroyed me, turned me into someone I never hoped to be." Her voice came out distorted, hard and ruthless, gravely with pain.
"I d-d-did what I was ordered to do." He gasped out, wiping his mouth with an indignant sneer, set on believing their mother's lies. "Mother thought you'd grown to rebellious, too uncaring. S-she t-thought you needed some r-re-education." He sputtered, baring his fangs, choking on blood. "A-and I agreed. You deserved to be punished, to be reminded of your place in this world. Y-you are a vessel for heirs, and n-n-nothing more." She closed her eyes to his poisonous words, feeling the elements rage around her, the inferno in her heart demanding justice.
Breathe. Stinging rain fell in sheets, and the courtyard grew silent except for Ezekiel's labored breathing. She tracked each painful breath with crucial satisfaction. It would take him a long time to heal, more time than he had left in this realm.
"Let go." A lethal voice at the back of her mind spoke, drawing her in. It's warmth and vitality promising redemption. "It's been so long," Elizabeth trembled with restraint, her mind filled with memories, of Azalea, and all the things she left unsaid, undone. "What if I don't come back?"
"I will always bring you back." She spoke, the declaration wrapping around Elizabeth like a warm cloak, filling her with gratitude. Her words struck a chord, a note of desolation in the air.
The sky grew dark, and at the top of the stairs, she saw her mother. Standing next to her, stood Nathaniel and even worse, Xavier. His youthful expression gone, her friend looked horrible. Everything dulled when her mother met her gaze. Her hands were folded behind her back, watching emotionlessly, her golden guard surrounding her.
She held her gaze even as she put her weight into the sword at his groin, pushing downward into his flesh, slicing off his most prized possession. Sliding the weapon free, his face bled of color, a strangled scream twisting his mouth. His hands were bloody and shaking as he looked down at himself, red pooling rapidly around him. She fell into her mind, opening herself up to the dormant power lurking there, inviting it in. The cold scent of hell wrapped around her, reshaping her armor yet again. Her nails sharpened to lethal claws, and with one final sweep of her blade, Ezekiel's head rolled across the ground.
Her breath steamed in the air, and she waited, staring into those unseeing eyes, waiting for the feeling of repentance, and redemption to come to her. It never did. There was no excitement in killing him, not truly. The hunt may have been enjoyable for a time, but she did not enjoy killing. Ezekiel played an important part in his role as the villain, yet he was really just a pawn. The real fight stood at the entrance to the palace, cold and ruthless she may be.
"Promise me something." Elizabeth whispered to the deity in her mind, reaching for something she couldn't name or identify.
"Anything."
Her presence moved closer, purposeful. Her gaze went to the people around them, many wore impenetrable masks, and many were looking at her as the threat. But there was also a healthy amount who looked at the High Queen, their faces drawn in horror, in anger. Sighing, she looked to the storming sky, feeling very much like her body could blow away at any moment. Pain rippled in her words as she spoke, the wire around her heart cutting deep into the tissue.
"Don't leave her again. If she can't have me, if I'm losing, or should I die at the hands of my mother, don't you dare look back. No matter what happens to me, keep her safe. An Oath, Kore. I need your word." Emotion closed her throat and ran down her cheeks, and this time she let it go.
"Yes." The soul inside of her whispered helplessly, grieving with her.
She felt Kore engulf her then, body and mind, setting her soul alight. The distinct feeling of soft downy feathers wrapped her in a warm comforting embrace, and she knew, Azalea would be just fine. But then she drew back, the warmth receding, forming something new, something possessive, dangerous, violent.
"But I will fight like hell for you."
Elizabeth's breath hitched, taken off guard by her sudden burst of emotion. She slayed her demons tonight, ending one vicious cycle of abuse and torture at the behest of her mother, yet this calculated interest Kore had taken to her was something she did not dare comprehend. Seconds had passed and yet it felt like eons, when she turned away, back to the High Queen, opening her arms.
"Take her." She ordered to her men.
Elizabeth grinned and shot her the finger, thinking that yes, perhaps Kore was right. Azalea was rubbing off on her. The guard burst forth then, their massive bodies shaking the ground, and Ravenna's lips started to move, armor rippling alluringly down her form, a sword outstretched in her hand. Knowing now was not the time to take down her mother, yet burning with the urge to end her, she forced herself inward, sucking all her power back into herself.
"Take me home." She asked, and Kore eagerly obliged, surging forth, reshaping this body into her own. The armor Elizabeth had worn melted away, replaced by hers, safely secured for when she would need it next. Her wings flared out and she crouched before leaping into the air, shoulders screaming at the strain. The wind caught her feathers and shot her upwards, and her wings tucked tight to her back and she spun, spiraling through the center of the storm, flying fast and low, a streak of brilliant color across the rumbling sky.
Enjoy! I think Ezekiel got the death he deserved 😉 don't you?
-K ❤️