Chapter 62: Die... Die... Die...
Odesse watched as Eryx stood in front of the drop-off, his silhouette entirely frozen against the dark sky. "Eryx..." she whispered slowly.
Her voice barely carried over the wind. "What is he doing there?" Panic seized her. She shook her head fiercely, her instincts screaming at her to flee. "No, I need to turn back. I have to get away from this forest before he notices I’m here." She shifted her weight, trying to turn as quietly as possible, but the moment her foot hit the dirt, his voice sliced through the silence.
"Odesse."
She flinched, pausing mid-step. Closing her eyes tight, she bit her lower lip softly, trying to steady the trembling in her chest. She turned back around with painstaking slowness. "Eryx... just let me go, please."
He didn’t answer. He just stood there, a ghostly figure in the quiet woods.
"How do I get out of here, Eryx?" she asked, her voice cracking. When the silence stretched on, her fear boiled over into a desperate shout. "Tell me! How do I leave?!"
"You can’t," he murmured. His voice was so low it was almost swallowed by the wind.
Odesse caught the words, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
He turned slowly to face her, keeping his head down. "You can’t, Odesse. We can’t."
Stepping closer but keeping a cautious distance, she pressed him. "What do you mean I can’t get out of here?"
Eryx raised his head up by degrees. In the dim light, Odesse saw a heavy torrent of tears streaming down his cheeks. He looked at her, completely broken. "I am sorry, Odesse. I did not mean for it to get to this. She... she..."
Odesse took another step forward, her heart hammering. "Who is she, Eryx? Who is this person?"
He looked up, meeting her gaze with bloodshot eyes. "I lied, Odesse. I am not taking you to His Highness’s killer."
Odesse’s breath hitched. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her mouth parted in sheer shock. "What?!" She rushed closer, her protective walls dropping. "What are you talking about?"
Eryx couldn’t reply. He just stared at her, completely paralyzed by his own grief.
Losing her patience, Odesse reached out and grabbed his arm with both hands, shaking him. "Why aren’t you speaking, Eryx?! Who is she? Speak, please! Who is this person?!"
He looked at her, his voice trembling as the name left his lips. "Azure."
Odesse’s eyes went wide. Her fingers completely lost their strength, her grip loosening and slipping off his arm. "What do you mean? Why would Azure be involved with any of this?"
Eryx let out a breathless, hollow chuckle, tilting his head to the side. "She is a maniac, Odesse."
Odesse stared at his face, her mind spinning. None of this made sense.
"She will make you crazy the way she has made me," Eryx continued, his voice dripping with self-loathing. "I do not even know myself anymore. I can blame no one but myself for agreeing."
"Agreeing to what?" Odesse demanded.
Eryx looked up at the barren sky, then back at Odesse, a twisted smile appearing on his lips. "She was in love with His Highness, Odesse."
"What?!" Odesse reeled back. "How is that possible?"
Suddenly, Eryx stepped forward and slammed his hands onto her shoulders. He locked eyes with her, his gaze intense. "His Highness was her rapist."
Odesse felt her heart jump clear out of her chest. The world around her instantly crumbled, the brutal weight of his words crashing down too heavily for her brain to process.
Eryx released her, beginning to pace around her in slow, predatory circles. "I know you will not believe me, but yes, that is the truth. She told me. Her father was the King’s royal teacher, and she would accompany him. His Highness noticed her and loved her—or rather, lusted over her. She was so young then. And when he got the chance, he stripped her of all her dignity."
"No," Odesse said, shaking her head continuously, her voice rising in denial. "No, no, no... you’re lying!"
Eryx stopped dead in his tracks right in front of her. "Why would I lie, Odesse? I could never."
She looked up at him again, and a cold shiver ran through her. His aura had abruptly shifted. This wasn’t the broken, crying Eryx who had been standing at the edge of the cliff. It was that same eerie, terrifying energy she had felt in her bedchamber.
She retreated rapidly, pushing herself away from him. "Get away from me, Eryx! You are lying. Azure did not say that, and the King did not do any such thing!"
He threw his head back, laughing out loud in a cruel, mocking way. "Foolish, foolish Odesse. You are so naive. If you believe that I tell a lie, then I have nothing else to tell you. But just know... the man you married is a rapist, not a man of dignity."
A sudden, overwhelming rush of adrenaline exploded inside Odesse. Before she could think, her hand swung out, slapping him hard across the face.
Eryx’s head snapped down from the force of the blow. He slowly raised his hand to touch his lips, his fingers coming away stained with blood. He looked at it, and a dark smirk spread across his face.
"I have loved you since the day I saw you," he muttered, stepping back into her space as she tried to retreat. "The way you laugh... your hair... the way you smell. It kept me up at night, just thinking about it. I am so crazy about you that I decided to do all this just so I could have you to myself. Away from that monster."
Odesse shot a furious, terrified glare at him. "Who is the monster here, Eryx? Cause I can see one right now! You have gone mad, Eryx. You are a mad man! Let me go!"
He paused, his eyes turning ice-cold as he stared her down. "This place is for both of us now, Odesse. No one will disturb our love here. It shall blossom. The King will not be able to find us."
Odesse looked at him, her body on the verge of collapsing from pure terror. Her voice shook uncontrollably. "Who are you? You’re not Eryx... where is he?!"
A manic, wild smile broke across his face. He began to chant, his voice echoing eerily through the clearing. "Eryx... Eryx... Eryx... Who is he? Who is Eryx?!"
Suddenly, he roared the name into the empty air. "ERYX!"
Odesse flinched violently.
"Where are you?!" he shouted again, turning his back to her and pacing forward. "Odesse searches for you!" He whipped around, his eyes wild. "Apparently, she says I am not Eryx."
He looked around the empty landscape, clapping his hands together. "Look! He is nowhere to be found! Maybe... maybe..." His eyes darkened into something purely evil, his grin stretching unnaturally wide. "Maybe Eryx is dead. He was too soft. He could not do it. He wanted you to be happy. But Odesse... I do not want you to be happy. No, no, no, no... you foolish girl."
Odesse stood frozen. She couldn’t move a single muscle. Her body felt paralyzed, her brain too overwhelmed to snap her out of the waking nightmare.
Eryx began to laugh and clap hysterically. "That foolish boy believed all I said! But you... why won’t you believe it? You love your husband so much. You even carry his baby."
Odesse stared at him, utterly confused by his phrasing. That foolish boy?
Before she could process it, Eryx suddenly screamed in agony. He grabbed his head with both hands and crashed to the floor, rolling around on the dirt.
Odesse scrambled backward as he writhed in pain. Tears flooded her eyes, and she clamped her hands over her mouth, trembling violently as she watched him. Eryx began violently hitting his own head, punching himself countless times until blood began to seep through his hair.
Then, a voice tore out of his throat—his real voice. "Odesse, go back! Please, do not come closer to me! I beg you!"
Immediately after, a second voice ripped through his lips. It was deeper, smoother, and utterly chilling. "Why shouldn’t she? She is my dear love. She should come."
It was horrifying. It was as if two distinct souls were fighting for control inside a single body.
Suddenly, the thrashing stopped. Eryx lay still for a moment before pushing himself up, standing up slowly. He looked at Odesse, the madness briefly draining from his features. "Forgive me, Odesse. I have made a grave mistake. I should not have..."
Odesse kept her distance, her heart hammering against her ribs. She had no idea which version of Eryx was standing before her.
"I do not know which is true or false," he choked out, his voice thick with sorrow. "But believe me when I say that Azure is not the woman she claims to be. I trusted what she said about His Highness forcing himself on her. I acted impulsively. I accepted what she told me out of foolishness... and I have ruined your life in the process."
Odesse watched him closely, noting that his aura finally felt like the old friend she used to know. Still, she maintained her distance, her voice trembling. "Please... tell me what is going on."
Eryx let out a shaky sigh. "The day Azure saw me... when she was with you outside the palace... that was the day my life became a disaster. She met with me again later outside the palace grounds. I was taking a horse to the town stables, following a route that was rarely known. I met her passing through there. I do not know if she knew I would pass, but it certainly was not a coincidence. Not now that I think about it."
He paused, looking down at his hands, tightening them into fists. Suddenly, his head gave a violent, unnatural twitch. Odesse instinctively took a step back.
But he stopped, his eyes locking back onto hers, dragging his memory forward. "She came up to me with a smile, and she said..."
...
"What a coincidence, Eryx. I did not expect to see you here."
Azure stood directly in front of Eryx on the narrow dirt path. The trail was completely isolated, surrounded by dense trees with barely anyone passing by. Eryx looked at her, his face indifferent, though he forced a polite smile. "Good day."
Azure offered a soft, pleasant look. "I am going to the palace to tutor Her Highness. I found this route yesterday." She laughed softly, adjusting her skirts. "I wonder why I hadn’t been taking it before."
Eryx nodded his head slowly, wanting to move on.
She glanced at the horse he was leading. "I see you have somewhere to be."
"Yes, I do," Eryx replied with a tight smile. "If you’ll allow me, otherwise I shall be late."
"Yes, of course," Azure said sweetly, stepping out of his way to clear the narrow path.
Eryx bowed his head slightly, walking forward and leading the horse past her. But as he took a few steps, her voice called out from behind him.
"Eryx... I know this is wrong, but... could I speak to you for a bit?"
Eryx paused. Huh? He turned around slowly. Azure was standing there, her head bowed, looking down at the grass. He walked back toward her, and as she raised her face, he saw tears freely rolling down her cheeks.
His face etched with immediate worry, he stepped closer. "What is wrong?" He looked around the secluded trail, spotting a fallen log next to a large oak tree. "Come, let’s sit over there."
Azure looked up at him, a fragile smile breaking through her tears as she wiped her face. "I really apologize, Eryx."
They walked over to the tree. Eryx tied the horse’s lead to a sturdy branch, then sat down on the log right beside her. "It is alright. You were crying, I could not leave you alone."
Azure looked back down at her lap.
"What is it you want to talk about?" Eryx asked gently.
...
A sudden, freezing breeze rushed through the clearing, violently snapping Eryx back to the present.
"She told me everything," Eryx said, his voice dropping into a hollow whisper. "I did not believe her at first. I was about to leave... but she held my arm. The moment her hand touched me, I felt this cold, dark feeling surge right up into my body. I could not help but listen to her. And she said... she said when she kills the King, she would make sure we both would be together forever. I do not know how I agreed to it, but..."
Tears began rolling down his face again, his chest heaving. "I did. I agreed to it. And since that day, she has been inside my head. I have been miserable ever since."
Odesse stood entirely traumatized, trying desperately to piece the horrific fragments together. A splitting pain throbbed behind her eyes.
"And this place..." Eryx looked around the barren, shifting landscape, his voice breaking. "I do not know where this is, Odesse. But we cannot leave."
Tears flowed freely down Odesse’s face. She struggled to find her voice, her throat tight. "Why... why can’t we leave?"
Eryx opened his mouth to speak, but before the words could form, his entire aura violently twisted. The broken boy vanished, replaced entirely by a cruel, mocking presence.
A sharp smirk sliced across his face.
"Because this place is not connected to the human world," he said, the voice smooth, malicious, and entirely wrong. "So you both will die here. How fun is that, Odesse? Die... die... die... die..."
Eryx slowly turned his head, his eyes burning with an ancient, terrifying obsession.
"And Valex... Valex will be mine. And mine alone. Finally, all mine. No more Odesse... but Azure forever."
Odesse’s eyes widened to their absolute limits. Her breath completely left her, her voice a weak, horrified whisper.
"Azure...?"
Eryx walked closer, his steps steady, his posture entirely changed into that of a mocking woman. He smiled directly into her face.
"Yes, Odesse. It is me. Azure."
