Day: 3665

Days Left: 1815

Lives Saved: 20

Calixte stared out at the Raining Marshes, reaching out a tentative hand, slowly edging out closer to the rain. A single droplet splattered on his hand and he retreated, collapsing onto the ground, screeching and warbling. His mind dipped in and out of darkness. He saw flashes of the emerald forest around him, vision blurry, finding himself mid action of walking, cowering, or hissing at the rain as if he was intruding on another person in his own body taking control of it.

Alfreda... Rin...

The amphibian snarled at the pain, backing away from the rain, webbed hands covering its ears to stop hearing the constant drumming of the rain. He rocked back and forth on his knees, muttering almost words and names, a hint of a melody to calm himself but when he thought he was close to regain control, the rain drowned everything out again. In those instances, he felt his body both lighter yet heavy, the feeling of being submerged into water, the surrounding and consuming pressure.

Just earlier he had regained some semblance of clarity, seeing Alfreda and Rin hauled into the Raining Marshes by those three brutes and yet even with a somewhat clear state of mind, Calixte was unable to breach the barrier of water, to be brave enough to go near water.

Any attempt he made to step closer was met with the call to a more bestial side of him, his monster mask taking over and turning him more into the creature he used to be, acting on instinct, hunger, and cowardice.

How much time had passed since Alfreda and Rin were taken? How long would they have been stuck in the Raining Marshes, paper dissolved, fire snuffed out?

The guilt, the thundering of the rain, the sinister red of the sky, the flashes of the past of drowning only made him more of a monster, his last sliver of consciousness before he fully blacked out and the creature took control.

*

Sumit did not want to venture too far from the camp and tried to stop the three imps from charging ahead, already forgetting the promise they had made him and were calling out in their made up language, or rather making shrill cries and hollers for their friends that had gone missing. Sumit did his best to shush them, reminding them that it was still a blood moon and they were in potential danger wandering around the forest and giving so much attention to themselves, that was when he heard the familiar hiss and snarl of a monster.

The imps heard it too, rushing on ahead of Sumit and jumping up and down in glee as the amphibian was in sight. Sumit dove and scooped up the three imps just in time, and whipped around, the twin demon fused on his back crossing blades and protecting them from the lunging amphibian.

Its arms hurt from the blades, the amphibian hissed and retreated back, its antenna popping up by instinct before it remembered that the glowing orb had been sliced off and could no longer hypnotise anyone.

"He lost control, remember?" Sumit put the imps back down on the ground, his twin demon on his back pointing swords at the creature to keep it at a safe distance. "That's not Calixte, not whilst its a blood moon at least.

The imps readied their spears, staring the amphibian down.

Sumit looked around frantically. "Where's Rin? And Alfreda?"

The imps tried to sign to the amphibian, asking where they were, telling Calixte that he was safe, or telling him something completely unrelated like the cool shaped rock they had found or snitching on each other whilst he was away. Sumit had to silence them before the snitching got into a further heated argument and set the imps off again and lose control.

Meanwhile, the amphibian cautiously remained at a distance, clearly knowing it was outmatched yet its mouth salivated in hunger, twitching and finicky as if one wrong move could set it off, either to fight or to flee, neither of which Sumit liked.

"The others aren't around," Sumit hushed to the imps. He studied the amphibian closely, seeing if there were any signs of blood to indicate that Rin and Alfreda were injured or worse eaten by the creature, but there was nothing save from the amphibian's own blood from the fight at the camp. Rin and Alfreda must have just lost sight of Calixte and would be rushing over any moment now, both safe and sound, or at the very least Sumit hoped.

Realising that signing was getting them nowhere, the imps instead began to stomp their feet and clap their hands.

"Stop!" Sumit hissed. "You'll agitate him!" Then Sumit realised that it wasn't, it was in fact calming the amphibian down.

The very initial stomps and claps startled and unsettled the creature, and it cowered and snarled back, but when it gained a more stable rhythm, it stopped hissing, almost craning its neck in interest, its arms slightly raised above the ground and not completely on all fours like an animal.

Sumit joined in, following the children's lead, as they all stepped closer, surrounding and closing in on the amphibian, before tackling the creature before it realised the ruse and tried to bolt.

"Hold him down!" Sumit used all four of his arms to pin the creature down, clamping the mouth shut though the sharp teeth were still gnashing what with the lack of lips to conceal them completely. "Keep singing or something."

The imps clapped and made incomprehensible lyrics in an attempt to mimic a song Sumit had heard Calixte perform before. The amphibian at first struggled under the twin fiend but eventually grew exhausted and lay defeated, heavily breathing.

Out of curiosity, one of the imps tried to poke the creature's gills as it opened and closed but Sumit snatched its hand away.

With the amphibian somewhat sedated, Sumit and the imps dragged him back to the camp, Sumit resorting to manhandling him, using all four of his arms to restrain the struggling creature. Meanwhile the imps stood close, standing guard with their spear, occasionally humming or tap dancing when the amphibian became too agitated. 

With each passing second of the blood moon, the more concerned Sumit grew as no one else had returned yet to the camp, not even Rin or Alfreda who had been tracking Calixte down. What had happened? Whenever Sumit considered going back out to find the others, the amphibian became unsettled and tried to escape again. To leave to find the others was to risk losing Calixte again, even when he was tied to a tree. Sumit dared not leaved the camp nor sleep in case Calixte wound up wondering off if there was another attack as the imps and the amphibian could only rely in Sumit to keep them all safe.

And so Sumit made the decision to wait at camp, staying awake for the entire twenty-four hours of the blood moon. The hope of any of the others returning dwindled until Sumit was fearing the worst, that Rin, Henry, Corinna, Lili, and Alfreda were all dead and they were the ones left of the group. He tried to remain positive, that they might be in hiding and return after the blood moon when it was safer, or that Calixte would go back to normal and regain control of himself and know where Rin and Aflreda were. However, when the last streak of red faded from the sky, no one had returned and Calixte was still the amphibian.

Sumit and the imps tried talking to him but the creature would only hiss back, hating being touched, his mind still controlled by his mask though less hostile compared to when it was the blood moon.

Calixte still couldn't be trusted to be left alone without constant surveillance for Sumit to go and find the others. And so Sumit gathered the imps once again to discuss their options.

"We could stay here for quite some time; we have plenty of food for the four of us... five of us," Sumit corrected himself, glancing over at the tied up amphibian who would also require feeding. "We could wait here longer until the others return or we can wait until Calixte's mind has returned and we can more safely go look for them."

One of the imps, Thalia, responded by shaking her fist in the air and the other two copied her. Sumit frowned, confused that they were angry or wanting to start a fight until Valtair signed 'music' alongside the motion.

"Oh, that baby rattle?" Sumit realised. "That helps calm Calixte down, doesn't it? But the problem is where is it? Calixte didn't bring any bags of supplies with him when we ran so its either on his person which we can't get to because he's transformed or its back at The Warren... which we also can't get to at the moment." Sumit sighed.

Valtair signed the word for piano and the others nodded.

"The piano is also in The Warren," said Sumit. "It's too dangerous for us to go there let alone try to play the piano."

'Home' Tristan signed.

Sumit shook his head. "I'm sorry we can't."

Tristan shook his head and signed 'home' again then the number one, repeating both words.

"First home?" Sumit guessed. "Your home before The Warren? It has a piano there too?"

The imps jumped up and down in glee and tried to mimic the sound of the piano which Sumit had to hush before it grew too loud. The children hushed with him, giggling with their fingers to their lips like it was a game.

Sumit hesitated. "I um... I used to live there too, didn't I? The previous Sumit, I mean."

The imps nodded, their giggles fading.

"I lost my memories so I don't know the way there. Do you any of you remember the way back?"

The three imps look at each other, unsure.

"If any of the others get back, I'm sure they will," Sumit said hopefully. "And it was one of the places we discussed as a potential safe place. Kai, Talon, and Ivette will be there too, I think that's where they went, Kai mentioned about considering going back-"

Sumit's voice was drowned out by the imps' shrill squeals of happiness, and he was overwhelmed by their endless rants and questions they signed to him about Kai and Ivette, and then one of them running around, flapping its arms like a crow and squawking.

Once again, Sumit had to calm them down and remind them that they were not safe and couldn't draw too much attention to themselves.

"Okay," said Sumit. "Current plan is to wait for the others, if by a week none of them have returned we head to the village. There are people we know there, there's safety, there's a possible way to help Calixte, and maybe the others have already started heading there anyway? Who knows but it is better than staying here for eternity."

With that settled, the group continued to wait for their friends to return.

Day: 3667

With the tent supplies they had found at Sector 38's Land of the Lost, and a few pieces they used to set up traps, Cori and Elis huddled inside to evade the sandstorm that was brewing outside. They clutched onto their belongings both to keep them safe from the wind and also for comfort since neither was ready to hold another just yet.

"How long will it take to get a mask?" Elis asked, though he had already asked everything about their plan before. Cori knew this but recognised that it was just a distraction from everything. Endless questions with answers that helped reassure them there was some degree of control and certainty in their lives.

"Within a month," Cori answered. "This sector is less inhabited. The wisps have moved here and turned it into a wasteland. Less prisoners here, less threat, more eager to auction a mask quicker to make money since they will be eager to design something."

Elis nodded. "Just have to survive until then."

"You are free to return to the village and change your mind. You will be safe there. I cannot even guarantee we will get masks-"

"I'm not leaving," Elis said quietly. "If the plan is to work, we both need monster masks to survive." He lowered his eyes. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible and get to the children."

Cori swallowed. "I need to talk to you about something."

Elis straightened himself, his face vacant which caused Cori to hesitate, to choose how much to tell him. She clutched her arm as another wave of chronic pain settled in.

"After I lifted the curse, I regained some memories..." she began.

"Of your brother?" Elis guessed. "Or of your father's past?"

Cori shook her head, biting her bottom lip. "They were memories that I had asked my father to get rid of, and when I broke the curse, those memories came back to me." She gripped the fabric of her dress. "I am sorry, I did not want to keep it from you for too long but I have had to take time to process them myself... and it was not entirely safe to share it at the village where someone could overhear."

Hearing this, Elis' attitude switched back to that vacant state, as if preparing for something horrible, to take it on prepared.

"When I was younger, as a child, Rhea, my governess, introduced me to one of her relatives Corinna Warren. We were the same age and Rhea thought the both of us were lonely. We became fast friends, and that friendship remained into early adulthood... and turned into something more. But I..." Cori struggled to continue, but Elis remained patient. "I realised that Corinna was planning on sacrificing her dreams and ambitions to stay with me so I wiped her memories of our relationship."

Elis' posture straightened even further, tensing, as if keeping everything within until Cori made it clear he was free to speak or interrupt. But it wasn't over.

"A couple years afterwards, I found some of Corinna's behaviour strange," Cori continued. "So I asked her great-grandfather, Ernest Best, if he knew but he panicked, talking about something my father must have done and I- and I panicked too and tried to wipe his memories of our conversation but I made a mistake. I cast the spell wrong, I got distracted whilst casting it and damaged his brain. He had to be hospitalised, his memories fractured because of my actions and his health." Cori cleared her throat, her voice crackling from overuse. "And Corinna saw me do it. She tried to kill me and failed. I asked my father to erase both our memories of it, of our entire relationship, friendship, of our meeting."

There was a moment of silence.

Elis looked distant, eyes glazed over, perhaps contemplating, perhaps drawing a blank on what to say and how to react.

"Corinna is currently in The Eternal Abyss," Cori said bluntly. "Her and twenty-nine other relatives were guilty of treason and I had to punish them. I decided to only send one down to The Eternal Abyss and made a contract with her, only executing the sentenced should she try to escape before her sentence is over."

"This is the person will the deal? The one you said you would break the contract if they set me free?"

"Yes." Cori nodded. "I was surprised that they did not agree. I thought it would work. Though escape is almost impossible unless rigged, I would have thought they would want to see her sooner, to ensure that her memories would not be harmed in the last remaining years of her sentence. Unfortunately, The Warren-Earl-Best family were not in charge of the negotiations."

"So, you will keep this contract?" Elis asked slowly.

Cori swallowed. "I almost did break it, but she still wants to kill me. I contacted her whilst I was unconscious, when my memories of her returned. There were more pressing matters at hand. And... though I wish to make some semblance of amends for her and her family, though I could never gain any forgiveness nor expect it, we can still use it as a bargaining chip."

Elis looked at her, confused.

"Henry Best, the expert of the Eternal Abyss, we need his help," explained Cori. "Ernest Best was his great-grandfather too so he will not want to help us- to help me after what I did. But he will want to save Corinna. If he helps get you to the right sector, one where your family can see your face and set you free, I will break the contract with Corinna and she can leave early."

There was once again a long pause.

"I know this a lot to take in, again, I apologise," Cori hushed. "This is all... to much. I would not wished this on you at all-"

"Why did you never tell me?" Elis asked quietly.

Cori stuttered, confused. "I regained my memories after the curse broke. I am sorry, I was awaiting for the right time, where it was safe to speak-

"No, about everything else..." Elis looked up and finally looked at her directly. "You never told me about what happened with your father, him being an imposter king, and then what you did to your mother and your sister..."

"No." Cori bowed her head low. "No, I did not."

There was a pause.

"Would there have been a correct time?" Cori eventually asked.

"Did you not trust me?" replied Elis.

"No, it isn't why, I-" Cori swallowed. "Would you have reacted differently? If I had told you immediately?"

"Immediately? As in before we were married?" Elis shook his head. "I just..." He took in a long breath through his teeth. "Marriage was never an ambition or goal of mine. It was not necessary for me being so far down the line of succession. My parents told me I was free to marry or not marry whoever I chose so long as I was happy, they were."

Were you happy? Cori thought to herself.

"I did not have much interest in romance or courtship, you know that, and I know it was the same for you," Elis continued. "Our marriage might seem just like friendship and nothing more to outsiders, but I knew it was different and not just that. But..."

There it was...

"But since I did not have to nor wanted to settle," continued Elis. "I wanted to be sure, I wanted someone who would make me happy, and I them. Someone I can trust and share everything with and..." Elis winced, his mouth a thin line. "I don't know what I am trying to say, Cori, or exactly how I feel right now, everything is too complicated. I trust that you will do right by me now and get us out of here so we can see our children again but I don't think I can trust you with anything else after that."

Cori straightened herself, taking it all in, bracing for it, knowing that this was what she deserved and that she actually wanted it. She wanted him to finally say what was on his mind for this past month, to have it over with, to know firmly where they stood instead of guessing.

"If you had told me everything earlier," Elis continued. "About your family, the actions you have made, I don't think... if you had told me before I would have left."

Understandable, Cori thought. Why would anyone would have married into this?

"I would have left with the children," Elis elaborated and Cori was struck with gut-wrenching pain in her chest.

That was... understandable too, she thought. It almost happened, it should have happened. She almost considered asking if he ever regretted having the children, or at least that she was their mother and not someone else, someone who had led a far better life, but then stopped herself. How could she ask that of a parent? She thought of her own mother, wondering if had herself and Alfreda been born to the real King Casimir would their mother Henrietta have treated them any differently? Would they have been entirely different people? Would it have been so bad for the real King Casimir to have remained ruler compared to what the imposter, her father, had done?

"I wish you had chosen someone else," Elis' voice croaked. "You should have just found a tool to use, just as you had intended. All you needed was someone to give you children, perhaps someone with a more powerful magic bloodline. Waited a few more years and your children would have been able to help with that ritual instead of being used as batteries."

"I would never have done that in the end," Cori spoke through her sore throat. "I would not have gone through it."

"I could be home right now, with my family." Elis swallowed. "I could be so far away from here, not in a care in the world... but I would not have known Freddy and Elise." He sniffed, his voice cracking. "But who knows what has happened to them? What will happen to them if we take too long to get out of here. You have to promise me, Cori, that you will get us out of here."

"It will be just you," Cori said quietly.

Elis stared at her, and she could see in his eyes that he had his suspicions but was too afraid to ask, to confirm it.

"I will not survive if I leave The Eternal Abyss," Cori continued. "I was already on the brink of death. But I promise, that I will get you out of here, I will protect you to ensure you are safe, to preserve your memories. I will do it."