(⚠️This chapter contains hints of suicidal thoughts that may cause readers to feel uncomfortable, if so, please read cautiously or not at all!⚠️)
Ballister's POV
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"I know something's wrong." I said with concern in my voice, entering the tower close behind the two in front of me.
"I said I don't wanna talk about it!" Nimona snapped back at me, throwing a glare my direction as they stomped towards the center of the room.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help." I said, confusion clear in my tone as a throw my arms up in a shrug.
"I don't need your help." They yelled back, walking over to the recently dusted, table in from of them. The pinkette hooked their hands underneath the table, flipping it over as the yelped in frustration.
I flinched and backed away from the indignant shapeshifter as the table crashed against the wall.
I looked over to the H/C girl for assistance but they only stared in response, maybe a light shrug but it was hard to tell when they were standing in probably the darkest corner of the room.
"Did you see the way that little girl looked at me?" Nimona spoke up, making me turn my head towards them with a pitiful expression. I immediately regretted raising my voice moments ago.
"Kids. Little kids." They repeated, in disbelief. "They grow up believing that they can be a hero. If they drive a sword into the heart of anything different... and I'm the monster?" Nimona asked rhetorically, turning towards me while pointing at her chest. Their expression pained as they turned back around and hugged their arms to their chest.
Both Y/N and I had stayed quiet, letting the pinkette pour out her thoughts. Y/N seemed reluctant from the expression on her face.
"I don't know what's scarier..." They said slowly, hugging their arms to their chest. "The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart.. or that sometimes. I just wanna let them."
I don't take a second to think as I change the subject, I didn't want to make Nimona feel even more uncomfortable than they already are now by pushing further in on the subject.
"We have to get you out of here." I say hesitantly, looking away from the pinkette and make my way over to the desk computer. "We'll go over the wall. A-and we won't stop till we find some place safe."
"Okay, we'll go. Together." Y/N adds, appearing beside me as I look through different boxes for supplies.
"Together?" Nimona asks quietly, looking up from the floor, my idea of changing the subject might've worked.
"Listen, you were right about everything. The institute, the wall.." I said, trailing off as I pause in what I was doing.
"No matter what we do," I continued after a moment. "We can't change the way people see us." I admit, sighing in defeat.
"You changed the way you see me." Nimona argues in a questioning tone. "Didn't you?" They ask, a small, but noticeable, smirk spreading across her face like butter.
I contemplate her question. I had indeed changed the way I had originally perceived them as, a reckless, shapeshifting, freak. So I guess they are right about something.
"We can't let the director get away with this. We shouldn't have to run, and we made a deal, right?" They ask as we both approach each other. "We clear your name, you make me your sidekick."
"And you can't back out on a deal because you believe in truth and honor as a knight and blah blah." Y/N continues with a mocking salute.
"Yeah, all that stupid stuff." Nimona says, rolling her eyes.
"Truth and honor aren't stupid, but all right." I counter, scratching my chin with a chuckle.
"So, you got a plan?" Nimona asks, lacing her hands behind her back while suppressing a smile.
"Yeah I've got a plan," I had to suppress my own smile as I pull a paper out from the pile of junk in my hands. "Something, something, something..."
The smile on Nimona's face grew as she pinned the paper to the appointed murder wall. "We win."
And said paper of course, had a nicely printed picture of the director's face right on the front of it.
"Wait would murder be on my permanent record?" Y/N asks, sounding genuinely curious for a stupid question.
"Be quiet." Nimona said through a laugh, a fond smile on their face as they pull Y/N closer to them.
Director's POV
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I sit at my desk, scanning through the multiple video documents of the Ballister's attack in the entrance courtyard not too long ago. Pictures and small clips of the three new, infamous villains of the kingdom.
A knock at the door interrupted me from my thoughts as I looked up subtly.
"Excuse me, the Director isn't available right now." A knight answered for me, an attempt to be polite. Which didn't go as planned at all.
Sir Goldenloin himself burst through my office doors, frustration on his face as he approached my desk. "We need to talk!" He exclaimed. "Alone."
I closed out of my tabs as he continued to walk towards me, knights beginning to leave my sides. I couldn't help but feel vulnerable ever so slightly.
"Was Ballister telling the truth?" He asked sternly, pointing an accusing finger at my face. "He could've said anybody killed the queen, but he said you. Why you?"
A wave of fear washed over me though I kept my composure, Ambrosius could've been a valuable asset but I guess not anymore. "Sir Goldenloin, is your loyalty to this kingdom or to a knight who consorts with orphans and a monster."
"Did you swap his sword?" Ambrosius pressed on, ignoring my question. "Did you set him up? Tell me the truth!"
I stared him in the eye as I stood up abruptly, sighing as I did so. "Ever since I was young, I've had this nightmare." I began, getting up from my seat and walking over to the scholars table in the further corner of the room.
"I find a crack in the wall. I yell out, but no. one listens. And the crack grows bigger and bigger, until the wall crumbles and the monsters pour in." I tell him, looking down at the table in front of me. Gently fidgeting with the button that opens the murder weapon's case.
"I begged the queen not to question the word of Gloreth. Not to question what's kept us safe for a thousand years." I let out while keeping an almost casual tone. "But she wouldn't listen." I said, tapping the button firmly and the case began to open slowly.
"Allowing Ballister to hold the sword was the first crack in the wall. And now.." I said trail off, pulling the sword out from the case, holding in comfortably in my hands. "We have a monster in our kingdom."
"Is that?.." Ambrosius asks, not finishing because of what I assume to be the clear shock in his body.
"I'm sorry, Ambrosius." I say as I plunge the sword into his stomach.
A/N
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I'M SORRY PLS SPARE MEEHDKSLAKSKSK
DON'T KIDLL ME PSL
😭😭😭
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1218 words!