Day: 1359

Days Left: 4121

Lives Saved: 7

Henry jolted awake, reaching for his side where he would keep a weapon, but of course, it was empty.

"Look who survived... out of everyone, it's little Henry who survived..."

A purple mist rolled over the wasteland, billowing and cascading down into the ditch.

Henry stumbled to his feet as the purple mist surrounded and encircled him, snuffing out the light as he was contained in a confined purple gas. "Karina..." he mumbled, flinching as mist in the shape of a hand reached out to him, then phased through him completely, followed by a high-pitched cackle that reverberated, seeming to come from everywhere.

More hands of mist reached out, and though Henry knew that they could not physically touch him, his mind continued to survive on his fight or flight instincts, flinching and avoiding them like a cowering animal trapped in a cage.

"Oh, Henry, Henry, Henry..." laughed Karina's voice, a vague image of her face swirled around the encircling mist. "It had to be you, didn't it!" She hissed. "I knew you could never be trusted, but O'Sullivan believed in you so much! Believed that you would eventually join us! But no! All you ever thought about was your precious little cousin! Cousin Corinna!"

Henry shrunk away as another mist hand swiped at him.

"We could all be free by now! Freedom, Henry! Is that not what you want? Would you not want that for your cousin too?"

"You can never escape the Eternal Abyss," mumbled Henry, unable to breathe.

"We could have escaped with your help! If you actually stopped thinking about your darling Corinna! Corinna this! Corinna that!" Karina's twisted smile appeared amongst the mist. "Just imagine, if after all this time... I was actually your cousin, your Corinna that you had been searching for all this time!" She paused. "Or maybe you've already met her? You don't know what she looks like, only her name..."

Parts of the purple mist split off and formed the silhouette of a woman, and it walked past Henry.

"The Corinna Warren you are searching... who knows who it could be? Since she's a second cousin, how much will she actually look like you?"

Then another woman appeared and another until Henry was surrounded by women walking past him, all of them different in appearance.

"Or maybe you've killed her, Henry?"

All of the women froze and screamed, and Henry put his hands to cover his ears, but it was not enough, the harrowing sound prevailing as all of the women dropped to the ground motionless.

"But what if you do find her..."

The women stood up again, surrounding Henry.

"She won't remember you, nor do you remember her. What if she doesn't want anything to do with you? Why would anyone want anything to do with you?"

The women started yelling at Henry, screaming at him;

"You monster!"

"I hate you!"

"Leave me alone!"

"How could I ever love you!"

"Pathetic!"

"Worthless!"

Henry cowered on the ground, his hands covering his ears, his head bowed, eyes tightly shut, but the screaming became only louder and louder, the women's voices turning to sound like his own.

"What if when you find her..." said Karina's disembodied voice. "What if she hates you?"

The images of the women merged, the purple mist forming into one figure, and before Henry stood someone identical to him, only the form had long hair, no facial hair, and wearing a dress.

"What would you do then, Henrietta?" sang Karina's voice through the image's lips.

Henry gripped his hair, shaking his head as Karina's voice continued to haunt him, repeating that name over and over again.

Stop it.

Stop it.

I just want it all to stop!

Henry paused, his eyes opening as he remembered.

He sucked in a long breath and stumbled up to his feet, keeping his breathing controlled.

Karina continued her taunting and mocking, now with multiple images surrounding Henry, but Henry kept his eyes low, focusing on the ground, or rather what he could barely make it will all this consuming purple mist. He reached out his hand and felt the cliff wall, stretching on his tip toes and reached his hand to the top edge.

"Where do you think you're going, Henrietta?" cooed Karina's voice, her mist moving along with Henry.

Henry paused for a moment, attempting to block everything out as he focused on climbing.

"I said where are you going, Henrietta!" Karina sang, but her voice wavered slightly as Henry no longer flinched as much from her presence. "Are you running away, Henrietta? Are you a coward, Henrietta?"

The purple mist enveloped Henry, but he phased through it; all it did was cover his vision, but he didn't need it. He slowly focused on clambering up the cliff, almost falling down from his trembling arms until, eventually, he climbed all the way up. He crawled on his knees to safely keep going, feeling out the ground as he kept his eyes closed.

"You're a coward! Coward!" screeched Karina, repeating it over along with the name, but Henry continued to crawl forwards.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Henrietta! You hear me!" Karina swiped at Henry, but her mist hand phased through, unable to hurt him. "I'm going to kill you!"

Henry paused, then stumbled up, keeping his eyes shut still. "Your words don't hurt me anymore. Who's the coward now? You have nothing left, Karina. All of your friends are gone. O'Sullivan is gone... all that time you tried to impress him, and did he ever notice you? How hard you tried to make him see you-"

"Shut up! Shut up!" screamed Karina, the mist no longer so uniform, wavering as Henry spoke.

"Everything's gone, Karina. It's just you left, all alone in the Eternal Abyss. All of that power you had... that's all gone too-"

"You're the one with nothing! You're nothing; you hear me, Henrietta!"

The mist gathered up in one point and then dissipated in an instant.

And there was a deathly silence.

Henry felt a small tap on his shoulder; it was Nia, signalling to him that it was finally safe to open his eyes. Before him was the fairy, resting on his shoulder, and then Terry the cockatrice, on the ground.

Henry turned around and saw Karina frozen still as a stone statue, having transformed back into a human to be able to attack Henry, her sword mid-swing, no longer protected from the cockatrice's power in her mist monster form. Her mask lay on the ground, having fallen from her face; Nia snatched it away, attempting to break it but was too weak, so Henry snapped it in half himself.

Nia and Henry waited for the minute to end, watching the stone tears on Karina's face melt into water, her stone cheeks blooming pink. Henry caught her hand as she turned back and disarmed her, taking the sword for himself.

She collapsed onto the ground; her head bowed in an attempt to hide her tears.

Henry pointed the sword near her throat, but it seemed unnecessary as the woman sat in surrender. Nia flitted over and checked Karina's pockets, finding Henry's notebook of memories and taking it to safety.

"Well?" Karina sniffed. "What are you waiting for?"

Henry did not respond, silent as he looked down at the cowering and sobbing woman, the woman he had feared... who had made him suffer endlessly for no reason but her own amusement and to pay back for a small grievance that was out of self-defence. She was right before him at his mercy; no way for her to escape as she had a sword to her throat and a cockatrice that could turn her into stone.

"What are you waiting for!" Karina screamed at Henry, her eyes blotched red, tears coating her cheeks.

Henry could finally see how badly injured she was, how she must have only just gotten to retreat against the skeletal monster. Karina was in worse wear than he was.

"Come on!" She laughed, her breath wobbling. "Come on, just kill me! Isn't that what you want? Just kill me! Kill me! Fucking kill me!"

Henry retreated a step back from the sudden outburst, then regained his composure.

Karina broke down into more sobs, her body trembling. "Just kill me... stick that sword into my head, and I can forget everything... I can forget all this..."

Henry glanced over to Nia, the fairy staring coldly at the pleading woman who had imprisoned them both. She flitted over to Henry and touched the sword, gently lowering it.

"You want to spare her?" Henry whispered.

Nia shook her head, scowling at Karina.

Henry nodded, understanding. Nia offered him his notebook back, which he safely pocketed in his blazer inner pocket, then he picked up Terry the cockatrice, with Nia sitting on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Karina whimpered as she watched Henry slowly walk away. "I told you to kill me!"

"That would be an easy way out for you", replied Henry, not turning back to look at her. "After everything you've done to us... you don't deserve such an easy escape... suffer with your memories."

"You coward!" Karina screamed. "You coward! Come back and kill me, you coward!"

Henry kept on walking, with Nia and Terry with him, his notebook in his pocket next to his chest, safe.

Now he finally felt that they had escaped the Evil Eyes.

Now they were safe.

Roughly 300 Years Ago

"Calixte," Violette began. "How long has it been since we first came together?"

"And here I thought you could not forget anything," replied Calixte.

"That is true," Violette chuckled. "But I do like hearing you say it."

"It has been seven months and four days, and I can remember every detail of it. I would like to think that I would remember everything even without the spell you cast on me."

Violette glanced away to the fireplace, her hand gently squeezing Calixte's. She hesitated, "I... I know that you said that it did not matter to you if you never saw my face..."

"And that still remains true."

"But, I still want to show you." Violette returned to look at him. "I want you to see my face, not just a mask."

Calixte paused for a moment. "I... I won't be hurt, will I? I thought you had to wear that mask because your magic is too powerful."

Violette laughed and shook her head. "That is just a lie some royal said centuries ago to boast about their power. Now if we do not wear our masks, everyone believes that we are too weak." She caressed Calixte's cheek. "You do not have to worry, Calixte. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise."

"Well, that certainly is a relief," said Calixte. "I would very much not like to be turned to ashes or shrivel up, or my eyeballs be obliterated."

"Oh, I have not heard that one before."

Calixte's smile faded as he held onto Violette's hands and noticed that they were trembling; her breath staggered. "If you are still hesitant to take off the mask, it does not have to be today, Violette."

"No, I want to do it. And I want to do it tonight. But thank you." Violette squeezed Calixte's hand to reassure him. "It's just that no one has seen my face since I was a child." She raised her head. "So, I want you to be the first to see."

Violette gently guided Calixte's hand up to her mask, and together they took it off and set it to the side on the sofa.

At first, Violette stared down, her lips pursed together, then hesitantly, she raised her head.

Staring back at Calixte with gentle dark eyes was a young woman in her thirties. Her face was almost petal-shaped, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, her short black hair growing in fluffy tufts no longer than a centimetre. The light from the fireplace made her dark skin glow.

"I feel a bit naked without the mask," said Violette, laughing as a solitary tear slid down her cheek. 

Calixte wiped it away, feeling how soft and smooth her skin was. Then they rested their foreheads together, their hands caressing each other's faces and locking them together in a close embrace.

They eventually pulled away and returned to holding hands as Violette's tears calmed and instead was a smile on her face.

"Calixte..." Violette hushed in a whispered breath. She gazed back at Calixte in a way that was endearing how soft it was. He wondered if she always looked at him like this behind her mask.

"Would it be alright if I kissed you?" she asked.

Calixte paused for a moment, then nodded. Not knowing how he closed his eyes and waited.

Violette chuckled slightly, which made Calixte chuckle too, and then her finger traced the line of his face, pushing back a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

He heard her deep and slow breaths, and it seemed like it was an eternity of waiting and anticipating until, finally, something soft touched Calixte's lips. Though gentle, there was an intense heat that passed his skin, sending a tingling sensation throughout his entire being.

In reality, the moment only lasted a few seconds, yet time seemed to slow.

Violette's lips parted slightly as she paused for breath, then broke away.

Though the kiss had ended, the feeling lingered on Calixte's lips, its heat, its softness, its wetness. He was surprised to find that he did not dislike it or feel uncomfortable, though the feeling was odd and strange, something he had never experienced or felt before.

Calixte slowly opened his eyes and gazed back at Violette, their faces still close together, her eyes glancing at Calixte's lips as if resisting the temptation to kiss him again.

"Thank you, Calixte," whispered Violette, her breath caught and low. "I- I have never been kissed before." She bowed her head, a shy smile breaking through. She reached out for her mask, about to put it back on, when Calixte stopped her.

"Wait," he said, hesitating. He returned the mask to the side and held Violette's hands. "Violette, I want you to feel more than just a kiss tonight."

Violette paused for a moment. "Are you certain, Calixte? I do not want you to force yourself."

Calixte nodded. "I- I have done more research into the matter, and it no longer seems so daunting as before. I think I am ready." He leaned forwards, closed his eyes again, and gently pressed his mouth against Violette's, catching her bottom lip. Barely any of their skin made contact yet so sensitive that it sent the tingling feeling again throughout his body.

Violette pulled him closer, the kiss longer than before. Calixte hoped with every second that he was kissing properly and was relieved to hear the gentle moans and gasps that escaped from Violette's mouth when she paused to breathe.

Both of them were inexperienced in kissing but soon quickly learned when to breathe. What came next, however, seemed to not be new to Violette, what she did with her hands, how deftly she took off clothes.

They eventually moved from the sofa to the bed. Calixte laid on his back, gazing up at Violette, his fair blonde hair unravelled out of its plait.

Violette held a strand of it in her hand, then kissed it. "Don't worry, Calixte," she said, caressing his cheek. "I will look after you."

Day: 1492

Rhea would have gone herself, however, so many of her relatives had to work, attending to their nobility and royal employers, working in the kitchens, standing guard to ensure the event went smoothly. So instead, Rhea stayed at home with the children, who were too young to be amongst the big crowds. Despite everything that had happened in the last few years, Rhea was still conflicted and unsure about where she stood with Queen Corinna IX. They had been meeting at the park to talk, so were they on good terms? But then, every six months, there was the reminder; the royal messengers would appear at the door to announce who of the twenty-nine was to be spared from execution if Corinna Warren died or escaped the Eternal Abyss. Eight out of the twenty-nine, including Rhea, had been spared already.

Four years...

Four years had Rhea's great-niece had been down in the Eternal Abyss, paying for the treason that Rhea had instigated. And now Henry had been down there for two years.

In the back of her mind, always lingering there, Rhea knew that she might not live to see both of them released. And then a part of her had hoped that they might come home early.

But even though Rhea believed that her relationship with the queen was repairing, Corinna IX showed no sign of waving away those punishments.

Pushing these hopes and doubts aside, Rhea watched the television with the children that showed the live broadcasts of the royal wedding. A national holiday had been instated, and the crowds were one of the largest gatherings Rhea had seen. Queen Corinna IX's reign initially had been met with defiance and outbursts, but over time has warmed, the public's opinion changed as the young queen had endeavoured to help the current poverty crisis and instated more financial aid than her predecessors ever did.

The opinion of the queen was improved with her engagement to Prince Elis, a man from a country of little consequence. Leaders and rulers of other nations may have thought ill of this match or perhaps just perplexed, but the public adored him. Prince Elis did a considerable amount of charity work and visited schools that no other royal would dare be that approachable to the common people.

"You chose well," Rhea said quietly to herself as she watched the television, seeing Queen Corinna IX and Prince Elis waving to the crowd on the top of a carriage. Once they arrived at the castle grounds, they made their way to the steps where a minister stood, reciting the vows. The couple gifted each other their matrimony items, representing their union. King Consort Elis gave Corinna IX a broach with a white bird on it, and was gifted himself by the queen a bracelet woven out of fabric, seeming to be such a common item, but Rhea knew there must have been something more special behind the meaning, recognising a few of the patterns to be from Cori's childhood dresses.

Once the ceremony ended and the husband and wife sat down on their thrones, the broadcast to the highlights and interviews, a few with some of Rhea's relatives that were servants still working at the castle, and then to some of the general public, expressing their fondness for the new king consort.

Rhea looked fondly at the television as a still of Cori and Elis appeared on the screen during an interview. "Look how much you have grown," she said, remembering back to the days when she was the nursemaid to the little princess.