Running. That's all Beatrice knew how to do. Steal form a house, kill all the inhabitants, run. Kidnap, kill, run. Steal, kidnap, run. It's all she's ever done, anyway. Always running from something unknown. Always having to run from someone she doesn't even know exists. Is she running from herself, or from her energies that lurk in the shadows the moon can't shine over? Beatriceturns a corner.

Smack!

Beatrice falls back, her head hitting the ground. Scared, she quickly stands, prepared to fight. "Oh are you KIDDING?!" She heard the other one yell. They slowly stand up, before they put in their crown. Beatrice is in shock. She just ran into the king! Acting innocent, she quickly bows down. But very quickly, the king seizes her arm. "I know who you are," he says. His face as only inches away from hers. She could've sworn she smelled what he last had for dinner: roasted pork. Beatricedid her best not to gulp.

"Now, we can make a deal. You can just run away and I can have my guards burst into your home and send you to your execution. Oooooor, you can work for me as mh one and only lady-in-waiting and we can forget you are a criminal. So, what's your choice?" He asks. She sees him smirk from under his crown. Run away! Her head screams. The king lowers her arm and begins walking away. Beatrice stands there, conflicted. Knowing that half the things the king says are true, she quickly bounds after him. "Good choice," he muttered, "I didn't want to see you chained."

At the castle, Beatrice is dazzled. She sees all the chandeliers that are held up in the stone ceiling. She saw the throne, the golden chair sparkling ever few seconds. She then saw another right beside it. A maiden in a tight bun and robes upon robes of riches on her body. The king turns towards her direction and smiles. "That's Mary. She's the queen so you better listen to her when she needs you." Beatrice nods her head and bows at the king once more. The king hands her stacks upon stacks of paper.

"Give every single one of these to Dmitri. If any paper was to fall out or be misplaced, I will have the guards rushing towards you. April fools." He says quickly, winking at her. Beatrice is stunned for a moment, before quickly turning, shaking her head, and walking away. Worried the king may not actually be lying, she makes sure papers aren't falling off the stack. All she wanted to do at this moment was run.. escape. She wanted to leave and go to another country. She wanted to just leave this man alone and make him and Mary actually happy. However, she couldn't and was now just a puppet on his strings. But she made a secret promise to herself that she will break the strings.

"Hello?" Beatrice asked, using her body to try and swing the door open. She heard footsteps approach the door, before a young knight opens it. He's obviously drunk, and doesn't look too good. "Why 'ye king brought meh sum' of this rubbishy again?!" He yelled. Silently cursing and slurring, she took the papers and placed them on his desk. Right next to where he placed the papers was a nice bottle of vodka. Beatrice smirked. Perhaps she can help him get over it a little quicker?
"The king expects all of these to be signed by morning," she lied. "Or else he will remove you from your job and cut your salary in any other job you get." Beatrice smirked. Maybe she could have two puppets dancing on her own strings. Dmitri groans, shuts the door, and walks away. Beatrice giggles, and begins walking back to tell the king she was finished when a guard suddenly runs towards her. Beatrice attempted to quickly love to the side, but her foot landed on the hem of her dress. She quickly began to fell when the man caught her from under her arms. Beatrice looked up at the man and smiled. The man removed his helmet and smiled back.

He had green eyes and black hair. His knight outfit looked a bit too big for him, but he was holding up just fine. Beatrice thought nothing of it as she released herself from the man's grasp. "What're you doing walking down the halls alone, miss?" He asked. He crossed his hands. Beatrice giggles. "Oh, I just delivered some papers to your commander." She replied with a nod. The man nodded his head. He took her hand and gently kissed it. "Simon Opalstone." He muttered. Beatrice was confused. Was this man flirting with her or being nice? "Beatrice. Just Beatrice." She said, making sure to not show any signs of pleasure. Simon smirked. "I was hoping you'd come down a little after dinner. There's some things the commander needs me to do. And you look like the nice woman who would help me with-" He failed to finish his sentence as Beatrice lands a clean slap across his face. The man quickly gasps, using one of his hands to hold his cheek. The other clenches into a fist.
"And who're you, sir?" Beatrice heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw Austin standing there, his back all upright. "I might have to feed you to the zombies if you were actually unable to resist that. I thought Dmitri was clever in his picking.. I guess not." Austin said. He quickly grabbed Beatrice's hand as the two scurried away. Beatrice wanted to do that again. She felt as if she had all the control in the world.

~~

It's impossible to find a cure for the world's hatred. No matter how many medicines cure someone, a new virus shows up out of nowhere and the world is plunged into darkness.. again. Cordelia and Zacarias would know. They cured the last plague. But out of nowhere, zombies sprung from their graves and plunged the two doctors back into their battle. Cordelia, now a tired, broken figure works on finding this cure. Zacarias, a man who is just as dead as a zombie on the inside, shuffles anxiously around the room while trying to fit pieces of information together. Cordelia, her eyes sparkling out of her glasses, promises him things may eventually return to where they once were. But the only thing that ever changes is the increase of zombies and the period without a cure. On top of that, who would listen once the cure is released? All people would do is dismiss it as usual and go back to revolting against the king. But why? The king promises everyone the eternal paradise, correct? After all, he saw death firsthand. And when Zacarias accidentally killed a rabbit in front of him, it took hours for the king to even stand up. He would never attempt to harm anyone when he's too scared to even hold a simple needle. Is that why everyone wants to kill him? To replace him with someone who doesn't let death fool them? Cordelia and Zacarias fear the day when the world never gets the cure it needs: fearlessness.

Cordelia sits on the edge of her bed. She tries to piece together what information her and Zacarias were able to get. Nothing. They wasted 24 hours trying to find a cure and they find nothing. Cordelia slaps her hand against her face. How could she be so stupid? Cordelia takes her glasses and puts them on her face. She will not allow for her 24 hours of research to show up empty-handed. Cordelia stands and makes her way to her desk. She sits down and begins mixing random chemicals. Zacarias comes from the kitchen, his mask still on his face. He sees Cordelia and approaches her. He knew he shouldn't scare her, especially when she's working. But he knew she was overworking herself. He didn't want to see her with a migraine. "Go to bed. I'll take care of this." He tells her quietly. He removes a portion of his mask so only his mouth is revealed. He gives her a small kiss on the head and then puts the mask about under his nose. Cordelia shrugs, and makes her way back to their bed without saying a word. "Cheer up, doll. If it makes you feel better, there's a beach I've always wanted to take Samantha. You'll go with me after all of this is over," Zacarias says, closing his eyes for a second. "I promise."

The next day, Zacarias approaches Cordelia sleeping. He softly kisses her head, before making the two breakfast, although he knew she wouldn't eat it. He looked at all the bottles. But then, he realized something: they needed a zombie's flesh. He rushed over to Cordelia. "Cordelia!" He shouted. Cordelia slowly opened her eyes and looked to see a very shocked Zacarias with his mask off. She would say she liked him better as this. "I thought you would find out eventually." She said with a grin. "The sword is by the door. Go on ahead and take it. All we need is one, as this is a test." She said happily. And for once, she stood up and approached the kitchen. Zacarias grinned, took the sword, and left. An hour later, he came back with a sack of rotten flesh. Cordelia grinned, took the rotten flesh, and then took one of their best yet failed experiments. She removed bits of the flesh, dropping it into the bottle before she shook it gently. The substance went from a bright green to a dark purple. "We did it." She muttered. Her big eyes widened as she turned to face Zacarias. Her mouth was hanging. She was obviously in shock as to how this worked. Zacarias understood. He knew Cordelia could do it.

~~

Being a fake queen is like a slap in the face. Everyone believes you are a queen and treats you like some sort of forbidden fruit. Either everyone fears you, or loves you. The indifference barrier completely shatters once the crown that never belonged on your head is declared yours. She remembers the title she's supposed to go by: "Queen Mariette of Skars, Ruler of the Seventeen Jeweled Candles." So while she's supposed to be beheading an unlikely fellow, she's busy throwing her head back, laughing, and drinking some Merlot from one of the most bedazzled goblets. Mary loves it whenever she can stop being queen for a night. But with Beatrice in the castle, she's worried she might have to be queen for a little longer. Whenever the lady-in-waiting passes her, Mary tries her best to appear busy, either by fixing up her already so perfect it's actually very ugly face, or by ordering her servant to fetch her some mead. Mary would much rather be dead than be a queen. Maybe after this fiasco is over, she can behead herself and join her step-brother in the afterlife. If an afterlife was to even exist.

Her step-brother was the only family member who agreed to her beliefs. The two of them would discuss about it whenever Mary was cleaning up after dinner, while her family was downstairs playing chess. Other times, the two would be playing around in the gardens, trampling on all the crops with ease. Too bad the outbreak took him with it during it's early days. As soon as she saw him as a zombie, his father shot him dead and silently cursed under his breath as he stormed away. But Mary knew that under the mask, he caught a disease that no doctor would be able to fix. The disease of denial.

And now she is on the throne, supposed to act as if her brother never existed. As if her father was just a rich man and her entire life wasn't a Hellhole. She watches as Beatrice skips along. For a moment, Beatrice stops and the two stare into each other's eyes. Beatrice grins a bit, as if she understood what Mary was trying to tell her. She wants Beatrice to be the new queen as soon as possible. Which was why she started the war.

Mary saw Albert throw out Percy. The betrayal on Percy's face threw Mary back. But she had to pretend to be unimpressed with how Percy was acting. Pretending he tortured her way too much to her breaking point. And that alone can kill the current queen of Skars. So when she heard Percy was still alive, she escaped the castle one night and approached him. She dressed herself in rags so nobody could see the queen's true nature. And when Percy opened the door and saw his "step-mother," he was shocked. He had waited for this moment his entire life.

Now, Mary does it again. This time, she tells him about Beatrice, the lady-in-waiting. Percy three his head back and laughed. "Another person for Albert to betray, eh?" He continued. Mary has to giggle. It wasn't uncommon for Albert to demote the ladies-in-waiting. Beatrice would for sure be one of them. After all, it was practically impossible for Albert to contain his evilness behind his mask. Even the zombies cower in fear when he passes.

The next morning, Mary was being swarmed with guards. She was worried- did they catch her?

"Queen Mary, please head to the underground chambers at once! We shall escort you." One of the guards demanded. Mary realized all at once that this was war, and she would be forced to sit down there and wait for it to be over. Why? Because apparently, a queen cannot command an army. Bullshit, Mary thought. Absolute bullshit.

~~

Albert watches as the zombies who he once dominated attempt to open the doors to the castle. The guards did all they could to prevent such things, but the doors quickly opened and the zombies rushed inside. Albert quickly grabbed Beatrice's hand, who flushed at the simple gesture. Together, the two ran into the armory, where Albert started gearing up. Confused, Beatrice reached for an axe and took it. She simply smiled- perhaps this could be useful.

Albert rushes outside and beheads one of the zombies. Beatrice kicks one in the shin, before the axe lands on its head. Beatrice screamed out, horrified. Albert rushes to her side and shielded her off with his body, daring her to take a step. Beatrice helped keep him safe by keeping zombies away from him. When all was over, Albert and Beatrice hugged tightly, as if one of them would die if they let go. Mary then went outside, saw this, and simply smiled. About damn time.

But what came next was a thriller.

A sword quickly went through Albert's head, before retrieving back out. Beatrice watched in horror as the man she was hugging just moments before fell onto the ground. Beatrice screamed out, watching as her loved one died. As the two made eye contact, Albert began telling Beatrice his story.

"My mother and father sent me into war as a way to get money. I almost died, but I survived. When I came home, they saw their mistake. But that doesn't mean I recovered. I always want to protect someone like I protected the castle. So when I saw you, I knew I had to protect you. So I did. But now, I think you need to protect yourself, Bea." He sighed. Beatrice began sobbing. Why was she sobbing for someone who threatened to kill her 6 months ago?!

"Al- you told me this.." Beatrice muttered. Albert took a hand and ran it through her hair. Beatrice continued crying at the gesture. She wondered why Albert was still living, but decided to say nothing. The two slowly connected their lips for their first and last kiss. As soon as Beatrice felt Albert's lips cool, she slowly pulled away. If a zombie bites him, he'll turn almost instantly. Beatrice couldn't allow that. She pulled him away from where the guess were trying to put down the killer, before she set him against a wall. Beatrice began sobbing.. if only time wasn't so evil like this.

~Part 2 coming in (hopefully) a month. Sorry this was rushed, I was just running out of motivation and needed something to do with Austin's death. I was hoping the next part would be after the war, but apparently not. Be on the lookout.~