When Elijah reached the base of the compound in which the royal family lived, he encountered a few familiar faces. His eyes widened, seeing John and the twins, Hunter and Axel Baxter. The twins were identical in every way; in fact, so identical, they needed to wear different clothing to distinguish themselves. Both had brown hair, dark green eyes, and were about as tall as John stood at six-foot-two. They also were very similar in build, a lanky frame with light musculature. They looked at him, leering mischievously and then looking to John.
"We didn't think he would be here," they both said in unison – Elijah cringed, hearing them. That is something they always did, was talk at the exact same time.
"This isn't a laughing matter. The Princess' life is at stake!" John exclaimed to his best childhood friends. He then approached Elijah and stared him in the eyes with concern, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," he said fiercely, "once I get a hold of his head!"
"Are you sure we're not going to get killed for something like this?" the twins asked in unison.
"Believe me, I could destroy him myself if I could," Elijah challenged Axel and Hunter. "I don't know why..." He looked and saw three other young women present, one of which he had never seen before, "all of you are here."
"We were called," Lydia Blackwell said as she crossed her arms over her shoulders, her bright red hair unmistakable even in the false nighttime darkness of the sanctuary. "I had a dream of her, she was stabbed."
"Same," Ashley Campbell said, stepping forward.
"I had a vision," came forward the young woman no one had seen before.
"Who are you, exactly?" Elijah questioned, looking at John suspiciously as he was focused on the mysterious member present.
The young woman was intimidating, standing five-foot-eight, but that was not her most defining feature. Her eyes were massive and an intense blue color; it scared most everyone present there, summoned by a dying Melanie in their sleep. She had black hair framing a round-shaped face, and wore all black like members of the Cooperative were assigned to wear.
"Isla Fitzgerald," she said in a rather refined manner, stepping forward. "It is through my privilege as ward of the Cooperative that I have knowledge of being one of you. I am one of the King's children myself."
"D-Did you have a dream?" Elijah asked. "Of Her Infernal Highness dying in your arms?
"I think that was just you," John corrected like a smart-Alec. "No one else would probably do that."
"Shut up!" he exclaimed, turning back to Isla for an answer to his question.
"A vision," she said. She's clairvoyant, thought Elijah.
"Can you tell us what you saw?"
"I saw Her Infernal Majesty, the Queen, telling the King how unhappy she is being Queen, and he took it as betrayal and killed her." Isla's explanation accompanied a stare off into space with her large blue eyes. "The Princess was frightened, woken up by yelling, she went to investigate. She called him crazy and a bunch of other things, tried to avoid his attempts to kill her, until he finally did."
"Grr," Elijah growled, fire burning in every vein and inch of his body. "I want his head!"
At that moment he headed toward the entrance of the compound, but was stopped by a hand on the back of his shoulder. He looked back at John's hazel eyes, pleading him not to just go up there alone.
"Get... your hand...off me," he said, slowly and indignantly, "and stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."
"Elijah," John interjected. "The King will kill you. You won't make it out of that place alive. You need some of us in there as backup."
"You can't even light a candle to my ass," Elijah retorted meanly.
"Oh, I can light candles," John replied, "and fires. Also, remember all the beatings I dealt on you when we were kids? I can do the same to him up there."
Elijah stopped for a moment – perhaps he is right, he thought, there's no sense in being stubborn. Maybe it will buy me time to bring back my Princess. He turned to look at John, and then to the twins, who stepped forward. He knew full well what they were capable of – they both possessed telekinesis, concilium and transmutation – all of which he had witnessed firsthand being bullied as a child by John and them. He then looked at the women present, who stepped forward. He knew Ashley and Lydia were the least useful, because they both possessed types of clairvoyance, but Lydia possessed conjuration. Then there was the mysterious Isla, ward of the Cooperative who spent most of her life isolated from the general population of Regnum Infernale who seemed to have some clairvoyant abilities but also mandatory agent training from the organization. He was quick to decide.
"You," he pointed to John, "Hunter, Axel. Come up with me."
"Wait!" Lydia shouted. "What about us?"
"You're staying here," John said bluntly. "Your powers are pretty useless in this situation. Sorry."
"Being a sexist pig is an old-world notion," the fiery redhead replied.
"Look, just do what the hell I'm telling you!" he snapped.
Isla rolled her eyes and looked at the other young women as the sons of the King made their way up the front steps of the compound. Idiots, she thought, I'm still training to be a Cooperative agent, and they're relying on just abilities to fight him? The nerve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael was walking around the open concept where the bodies of Misty and Melanie lay dead on the floor. There was more blood around Melanie's body than there was Misty's, and by this point, he had given Miriam the knife and ordered her to get him a new dinner jacket and scarf. Upon killing the Queen and Princess, he could feel stronger vibrations through his being, as if their combined powers were absorbed into him. Being the son of Satan meant he was a deity on earth in his own right, but this made it all the stronger. He felt utterly invincible.
"Do you feel sorry for killing your own flesh and blood?" she questioned.
"No," he said with eerie calmness.
"You may reign much longer," Miriam said. "Doing exactly what you were put on this earth to do." She paused. "Maybe you could get a new Queen?"
"It is not worth it," he said spitefully, turning and looking down at his most loyal companion.
"But Michael," Miriam said, moving forward and looking up at him. "Don't you have other flesh and blood in this kingdom that you should probably eliminate?"
Michael chuckled sinisterly: "they aren't in line for the throne, by my decree. I am not worried one bit."
Miriam smiled at her adopted son and clasped her leather-gloved hands: "hail Satan."
"Not quite," he said. "I do appreciate the sentiment, though." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Although at this point?" He looked down at the bodies of Misty and Melanie. "I may as well be Satan."
"I am so proud of you," the android said, approaching him and giving him a tight embrace. "All these years, I've watched you grow, develop, and become who you were truly meant to be. Now, you finally are."
Suddenly, the two heard the front door of the suite opening. I thought that was locked, thought Michael as it opened up even more to reveal a very familiar face, framed by dark hair with identical features to his own; his eyes were full of the very fires of Hell. He gasped, seeing a tall, flaxen-haired man step into the open concept next, as well as identical twins. He was in shock – how did they get into the royal suite so easily? Before he could properly react, he saw Elijah raise his hand swiftly with rage behind his powers in use, telekinetically making Miriam explode into little pieces all over the open concept without even one sign of malfunction. White fluid spilled everywhere, and the impact was so great that Michael was launched back into a wall. John then stepped in and used pyrokinesis to burn the little fragments left of the android, the first weed taken out from an old regime.
[Below: Miriam's second death scene is similar to this, except she doesn't malfunction - Elijah just makes her explode everywhere. Just so you know]
"Lex talionis," Elijah said vengefully. "Do unto others, as they do to you. You took something very dear away from me, thus to you, I have done the same... and am about to do worse!"
The growl in his voice was enough to make Michael quiver in fear. Mrs. Mead was right, she thought, I should have had them eliminated, let alone never born at all. He struggled to get up from the impact that tossed him against the wall, and once he was on his feet, he looked at the young men with odium in his eyes. He could not believe that his own subjects had the nerve to challenge him head-on like this, in the royal suite of all places. Elijah, looking at John and the twin, spat rapid fire instructions using concilium.
"Do not give him time to react! Buy me some time, I need to get the Princess," he ordered.
"Yes," John obeyed, using transmutation to get closer to the King and up in his face before he punched him with all his might – possessing enhanced strength, his punches were twice the power of the average humans, and Michael didn't seem like he could take it as his biological son clobbered him repeatedly with his fist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Elijah was quick to carry the Princess' body to what looked to be her bedroom, laying her down and leaving a trail of blood on the floor in the path. He laid her down ceremoniously on the bed, soiling her unmade sheets. He looked and saw that his dream was spot-on accurate as to where she was run through; right beneath the sternum, not quite damaging her heart but puncturing a major blood vessel and some of her entrails. He felt tears forming in his eyes as he looked at his dead Princess.
"Oh, my Princess," he sobbed. "I've failed you... I'm going to make this right..."
He gathered and centered himself to perform vitalum vitalis, the same procedure used to bring John back after he killed him for punishment. He put one hand over her forehead and another over the wound in her chest cavity, breathing his pure life force into her with full intention to bring her back. He took one more exhalation, and breathed it into her patiently before taking another; and another. Just when he started to feel lightheaded, he saw her jerk up and take one wheezy inhalation of air into her lungs. She had coughed a little bit before looking around her, seeing Elijah nearly fainting at her side. With full strength restored, she went to him and propped him up to look at her. She had fearful tears in her eyes, and this was enough to make him give her a bear hug.
"You're back..." he said under heavy, happy tears. "You're back, my Princess. It's alright... he won't hurt you anymore..."
"Is he still out there?" Melanie asked.
"Not for long. You need to hide," he ordered her.
"You're giving me orders?" she asked stubbornly.
"Please, for your own good, Princess," he said, coaxing her to listen. "I don't want you hurt again."
He grabbed her softly by the arm, and she looked at him, feeling herself being led to the closet full of her luxurious clothing – coats, skirts, gowns, dresses, blouses, and there were even chests full of jewelry fit for a royal such as herself. He had her sit down on the floor, looking down into her eyes with his piercing blue ones. He planted a kiss on her lips and sighed.
"He'll find me, Elijah!" she exclaimed. "He's the Antichrist. He will find me!"
"Don't you trust me to fulfill the vow I've made to you several times over?" he asked, smirking confidently.
She nodded, looking up at him weakly: "y-yes... I trust you. You've never given me reason not to."
"That's the spirit," he said, getting ready to close the door. Before he did, he uttered a simple: "I love you, my Queen."
Her eyes widened, feeling the darkness overcome her. She tried not to panic, for being in the closet reminded her of the interviews she helped her father with at Outpost 3 as a child. It also was when she saw a snake, one of her biggest phobias, slithering up her leg. She did not have good experiences in closets at all, but there were bigger things at stake to worry about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elijah went back out to the open concept from Melanie's room, where he hid her, seeing a rather humorous sight – the twins, Axel and Hunter, were telekinetically tossing him back and forth to keep him unable to maneuver to properly attack them. However, it seemed they picked this up fairly recently, as he saw John laying lifeless on the floor. He went over to him to peek at what happened, and his neck was bent in an odd, unnatural fashion. We'll take care of him later, he thought.
"Put him down boys," Elijah said, using concilium to stop the twins from using their telekinesis to toss the King around like a ragdoll. When they did, Hunter was the first to speak about what happened to John.
"He snapped his neck with a simple snap of his fingers when he got tired of beating him finally," he said quickly. Elijah shook his head and turned around, facing the apoplectic, seething King that was the subject of their attacks for the unjust killing of the Queen and Princess. Michael's face was covered in blood stains, and it appeared as though he sustained a few fractures to his nose, cheekbones, and one eye socket. Wow, John, you really went hard on him, he praised his dead enemy-turned-ally in his mind.
"Do you really think you can defeat me, little Elijah?" Michael asked rhetorically and evilly. "I can feel you brought your Princess back... you must feel so special."
"SHE DID NOT DESERVE THAT! NEITHER DID THE QUEEN, YOU TYRANT!" he screeched, feeling his heart about to stop from the intensity of his emotions. "I was a loyal subject, ALL of us, until you did THIS! Now, I take your head because you DARED to harm the Princess!"
"Die trying, little boy," Michael snickered.
He turned to the twins, raising his hands and holding both in a chokehold with telekinesis. Axel and Hunter were on the verge of choking to death instantly from the hard hold he had on them, but Elijah looked around to act fast, so they would not die, and that Michael would not succeed in trying to kill them. On the wall in the corner near the fireplace hung the sickle used by the Queen when harvesting sorghum and other stalk-like crops for the kingdom. He felt this to be the perfect tool to achieve his goal with, so he used telekinesis and reached for it, the handle flying flawlessly into his hands before he used transmutation to go behind the very-distracted Michael. Without hesitating, he grabbed a hold of his long golden hair and dug the curved blade into him, making him lose control and drop Axel and Hunter to the floor. The sickle had penetrated Michael's lung, and he looked back, just laughing as Elijah felt this deep jab was not enough to kill him.
"Normally, that would work," he chuckled, "but, I am not like normal."
Elijah growled like the half-demon that he was, his voice changing drastically. He dragged the sickle's blade through muscle and tissue underneath his ribcage, damaging vital organs in the process. It was then that his own true form came out for the very first time, alarming Michael in his moment of brutal failure – the handsome, dark-haired boy's face and form seemed to morph into a malevolent creature with tall, straight black horns, a mixture of black and brown fur, eyes that shone black and red, and two rows of perfectly filed teeth, much like his own daughter's true form had. His eyes widened as tattered bat wings came out from his back, feeling the sickle come out of his back and his last moments of consciousness as the sickle sliced through his neck perfectly in one swipe, decapitating the King.
When every bit of life force left Michael's body, it seemed to transfer into Elijah, but little did he know that Melanie was affected by it in hiding. He could feel his true form start to fade back into his human guise, taking a few deep breaths of relief that his vow to the Princess was fulfilled. He had avenged her fully, and did his sworn duty in protecting her. He got up, but felt like something was missing. He tried to think about what it was, until flashbacks of seeing the live execution of Timothy and Emily Campbell replayed in his mind. He recalled how the King and Princess ate their hearts upon death, as some kind of unholy sacrifice to the literal gods their people bowed down to as their royalty. Wait a minute, he thought to himself.
Elijah went to go look at the twins, but did not detect any life force from either of them. He was too late in trying to save them – both Axel and Hunter had died from Michael's asphyxiating them with telekinesis. He was the last man standing, aside from Melanie, whom he had saved while the others bought him time to do so. He walked into the Princess' room and promptly opened the door to the closet.
"Eek!" She was also alarmed by the fact that he was covered in blood.
"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you," Elijah said, holding her hand, "are you alright?"
"Yes. Never the better," she answered. "I feel... so different." She had a spectral, unworldly glow around her, just as he did. His was all the stronger, because he also possessed the vibrations characteristic of a Supreme of the Salem descendants.
"As do I..." he smirked. "Come with me, please. I have something to offer you."
Melanie was led by him to the open concept, where she gasped at the additional dead bodies lying on the floor in addition to that of her own mother. Elijah did his best to keep her calm as possible while he held her hand, bringing her to the mangled body of her father, the now-former King. She got on her knees, as did he, and she felt absolutely nothing except for the fact that justice was served. She sighed and looked at him, watching him reach in through the wound he maimed him with and tearing his heart from the chest cavity. Elijah smirked, and Melanie's bright blue eyes widened as he held it in her hands with her.
"You are our Queen," he said reverently. "This is my offering to you. Please... accept this."
She nodded, but looked at him: "I will, except... I wish to share it with you."
Elijah's eyes grew larger: "but..."
"No buts," Melanie challenged playfully. "If I am Queen, it is by my decree that you are in line for the throne, as my King. Only someone of that rank or higher could pull this off. You deserve it."
"Y-You take a bite first," he offered. "Go on."
Melanie spared not a second more and bit into her father's heart, tasting the sinewy texture and gamey taste; it was not the same as eating her first human heart at the Campbell execution, as it was more bitter and tasted of brimstone. She still swallowed her share before offering Elijah a bite, of which he eagerly took a huge chunk and chewed it like a ravenous carnivore. They alternated bites until the heart was all gone, and looked at each other. Melanie rose to her feet, holding her hand and pulling him to his. He smiled and caressed her face, getting blood on her curls and skin as he shared a tender kiss with her. She returned it, and broke it to look up into his eyes.
"We aren't quite finished," she said.
"What is next?" he asked her obediently.
She raised a finger and used telekinesis to trigger the fire alarms in the compound, effortlessly making the loud, rough beeping go off, waking up anyone present and sending them outside where Lydia, Isla and Ashley were waiting behind. Elijah knew why she was doing this – to gather everyone and let them know the news. The next thing she did was go over to John's lifeless body, aligning his neck to be straight before working resurgence on him. Unlike previous times performing it, she did not feel faint, nor did she take a very long time to do it – he sprung up to life within thirty seconds, looking around and seeing the Princess looking up at him.
"Ugh, not again with my damn neck," he joked,putting his hand on where the crook was that Michael afflicted on him to cause his second death. "Is he gone?"
"Oh yes. Dead as it is outside this sanctuary," Elijah replied, trying to work vitalum vitalis on Axel, the first of the twins. Melanie took care of Hunter, the other one, who came up to life first before Axel, as vitalum vitalis took a little more time. Both of them looked at each other and laughed hysterically with triumph at their task. Elijah took the initiative to go over to the Queen, Misty, where she was laying dead on the floor. Melanie saw him going over to her, about to perform vitalum vitalis, but she transmuted and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Please," she said.
"Why?" he asked sadly. "Don't you want for your mother to live out the rest of her natural life?"
"She will rest in peace. We will trouble her soul no more, unlike my father," she said, remembering the unhappiness she confessed to Coco during their picnic as well as what she readily observed growing up with both parents. "It is out of love that I am telling you not to bring her back." Elijah nodded and sighed sadly, looking down at the Queen with deep respect and reverence before standing up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What is going on?!" one resident asked frantically. "I've never heard the alarms going off."
"Probably some kid setting fires again," Gallant, a former resident of Outpost 3 said in response. "I wouldn't worry."
"What the hell does he have in his hand?!" someone asked.
They all looked at Elijah, who held the Queen's bloodied sickle and Michael's head by his hair. He himself was covered in blotches of blood. Also present were John, Axel and Hunter, all looking visibly weary and tired from what just happened. The people standing outside screamed in horror to know that the King was dead, conquered by one of his own subjects. Elijah held the head up as if he won a trophy, and more screams ensued. Melanie stood right next to Elijah in between him and John, and looked at everyone – it seemed like the entire sanctuary came out to see the spectacle triggered by the fire alarms in the compound. Even those in the other compounds came out to see why there was such a large crowd.
"THE KING IS DEAD!" someone shouted.
Melanie, caught up in the pandemonium, raised her hand in an enclosed fist and shouted with intention. Her voice seemed to shake and create waves, as everyone followed her command.
"SATIS!" she shouted. "That's ENOUGH!" Everyone watched her look down at her pajama top to see that it was drenched in blood. However, Elijah's use of vitalum vitalis to revive her healed it completely over. A few subjects tried to step forward to see if the Princess was alright, but she addressed their concern before they could do so, pacing in front of the precipice of the crowd. "Your King killed me, as well as the Queen."
"Oh no..." she heard from the crowd, along with tears of sadness and mourning.
"How are you alive, Your Infernal Highness?" Gallant stepped forward, asking the Princess.
Melanie turned, gesturing to Elijah behind her, who still held Michael's head and the Queen sickle but off to the sides: "Elijah Cross is his name." His name resonated through the crowd like the northern lights on an Arctic winter night. "Know him, the man who carries the King's head is the one who restored my life."
"Ahem," went John, getting her attention. She just rolled her eyes and was cued to give them the credit they deserved.
"Also, John Vanderbilt, and Axel and Hunter Baxter have also lent a hand in preserving my life," Melanie added. "As well as... Ashley Campbell... Isla Fitzgerald... and Lydia Blackwell. Come forward, my sisters."
All three young women came forward through the crowd toward the Princess, looking at Elijah and their other half-siblings. Melanie looked at her people, who still looked despondent over the deaths of their reigning monarchs. She could sense through every soul present that there was some confusion as well.
Why did the King kill the Queen?
Will we starve? The Queen used to reap and sow all of these lands by her leisure with some help.
Why doesn't our soon-to-be-Queen kill this traitor?
"I will not," Melanie sternly said, replying to the person from which she sensed the last sentiment from. "You're a traitor for thinking such a thing. You will bow to him as you would me or my father before me!"
"I'm sorry, Your Infernal Highness..." Melanie noticed a black woman coming up to her, recognizing her as Dinah Stevens from Outpost 3, now nearing older age. "I... accept you as my Queen."
She was the first to bow to Melanie's feet, and a few others followed suit. She looked at her half-sisters who also bowed to her feet, and John, Hunter, Axel, and the rest followed suit in a wave until she and Elijah were the only two standing. He looked at Melanie lovingly with reverence, smiling with delight as he got on one knee, putting the head and sickle down as he gazed up at her. She smiled and shook her head, making him rise to his feet by tilting his chin up to her until he was looking down at her. He put his hands on her waist.
"Elijah," she said.
"Yes, my Princess?" His piercing blue eyes looked down at her with a sense of renewed love and devotion, especially since he brought her back to life.
"I know that you do not wish to be King, but... if I asked you because I chose you," Melanie began, "would you be willing?"
Elijah smiled slightly, looking down at her pink lips: "I would do anything for you, my Princess. I am your devoted slave... and your King."
Melanie felt her heart overflowing with joy at what he said, holding his hands and squeezing tightly. She felt so secure, and he was happy that he was able to fulfill his promise to her, to protect her and avenge her whenever something like imminent death were to happen, or harm were to befall her. He knew he was going to keep with his vow for many, many years to come.