It was a dreadful night. The blood moon that bathed the world with a crimson light seemed like it was mimicking the carnage of the land down below. Even the light of the billions of stars in the sky couldn't dispel the malevolent aura that seemed to emanate from the corrupt moon that appears to be watching the world like a condescending eye. Fear and panic reverberated across the atmosphere as death and destruction devoured the light of hope. If an outsider would take a look at the world they would say that it was hell and not the world of mortals.

The chaos was especially prevalent in the Splendor Palace where the rich and powerful were supposed to be safe and enjoying a party of their own. Now their careless merriment has turned into despair with no way of escape but a small force of brave fighters are doing their best to fight back against the forces of darkness that ascended from hell. Injured and broken, bleeding and battered the brave heroes never surrendered. Even dishearted by the fall of their allies they continue to fight because no matter what happens even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

"You're still not dead." mused the demon general as he watched the couple fighting against his hideous horde.

"Good, it seems that you are tougher than you look. The Queen would be most pleased to know that you still have that insidious demon inside you, Prince of Darkness." Moskov chuckled as he circled the two.

A battle has dawned out between the forces of darkness that have assembled and the fighter duo who faced them heads on. Ruby was panting beside Aurelius who stood in front of her protectively, scanning every move their assailants were making. Even though he himself is injured in a few places, Aurelius still did his best to stand his ground. His fingers shook, his muscles twitched in the slightest of sound. His whole body is on high alert and an undeniable fear grips tightly on his heart.

He was not afraid of death or pain or suffering. He was not afraid of being recaptured by these hideous vermin. He was terrified that if he's not strong enough then he wouldn't be able to protect his most beloved. Ruby has been fighting relentlessly beside him but every injury that she takes due to his inability to repel every harm that comes her way digs a deeper wound on his heart. He cannot allow anything else to hurt her. He cannot allow anyone else to disrespect her. He will make them pay for this grave insult and he will make them suffer worse than hell.

He glared at Moskov. The grip on his sword tightened; he was losing options, running out of hope, and both of them were exhausted. He doesn't know what to do and his heart is in despair due to his inability to protect the love of his life. He suddenly felt Ruby's hand on his own and he gripped it tighter.

He can't surrender now! There's no way he's going to surrender to some freaks just because they are cornered. No, they might be outnumbered but they're not out of options. There's still something he can do to stop it all.

"Ruby, please provide cover. I have an idea. You won't like it but it's the only way I know to turn this thing around. Are you with me?" Aurelius asked as he handed her the handle of his sword. There was a look of hesitation that briefly crossed the maiden's face as she weighed his words. She's aware that Rel is most proficient in the dark arts therefore light magic won't help them in this situation. Given that, he would most likely use some sort of heavy curse to turn the tides against these fiends.

Ruby bit her lips as she saw no other way to survive. They are outnumbered and out weaponed. There's no way out unless you deal with the devil. She nodded reluctantly as she took his sword. They retreated into a corner to lessen the directions they had to defend. Ruby prepared a battle stance and began fighting off the demons audacious enough to approach them. Aurelius took his place in front of the wall and began using his blood to draw a magical circle imbued with magic.

"Open, gate of the eight circles of Inferno," Aurelius began to chant.

"Your prince commands you to bow

I am the Morning Star that shall devour the light"

"He's using Deep Magic! The hell are you standing for? Knock him out and kill the girl. Don't be afraid, you weakling!" roared Moskov as the creatures of darkness hesitantly backed away from the two. Some daring one pounced on the prince however Ruby was swift to intercept them by using a chair to hit them away allowing Aurelius to chant. She knows that he is using some forbidden magic but given their situation nothing is forbidden as long as it's for survival. It's either kill or be killed so Ruby chose to stand by his decision and protect him as he traced the magic circle into the air.

She stabbed the jaw of the demon who tried approaching Rel. She knew that if he continues with his spell then there is a grave price that he must pay but that is something they can deal with later. Now their survival comes first and foremost.

"Everything that is hell

Everything that is impure

Everything that is evil"

His eyes turned pure black while a malevolent aura began gathering around him. His opponents began backing away as they could feel the surge in his power and the sinister intent that would extinguish them from this world.

"Come forth, I have removed your chains!

Pandemonium Unleash!"

And just as his incantation finished the wall cracked and a gate from hell opened up. Demonic shadows emerged from the portal and began attacking their assailants. Ruby went to Rel's side as he maintains control over the shadow creatures.

Moskov hissed in anger. He couldn't believe that this brat could muster up enough power to actually open up a portal to the Inferno. He couldn't return to Alice empty-handed and failing in both missions so he will ensure something before he goes: the death of the Pendragon girl.

Moskov hoisted his spear and from the shadows, he conjured a powerful blood curse that would instantly kill the one struck by it. He made sure that no amount of healing or purifying magic would be able to break through his curse. With a wide malicious grin, he threw his spear and watched as it made its way towards the unsuspecting maiden.

"Ruby, NOOOOO!"

🌹

"I didn't expect that you would be this weak, Alice. Where's that spunk you've been boasting off for centuries? It's no wonder that even my young daughter could kill you. It's her fate after all and your destiny is to be killed by her hands that's why you've been trying so hard to kill her. But you know what, witch queen? I'll never let you lay a single hand on my daughter." Gilgamesh declared in a menacing and authoritative voice as he stood in front of the bowed demon queen.

The fierce battle that raged between them ended with Gilgamesh as the obvious winner while Alice gasps for her breath below his feet.

"Then why don't you just kill me and get things over with! Or do you not have the balls to kill me, you spineless dragon!" Alice screamed as she glared at him fiercely.

"Because it is not my fate to take your life. It is my daughter's. I would not deprive her of such right. Even if you curse me."

"No point in wasting my magic on someone banished into oblivion. But, certainly there's something I can do to the people that you love. Starting with her." The dragon king's blood ran cold due to the sinister grin on the demoness's lips and just as she said that he caught someone familiar in his peripheral vision.

A golden star descended from heaven but if you have keen eyes you would know that it was actually a woman clothed in a blue tunic and clad in the finest silver armor in the whole kingdom. Altria rode on the back of a majestic griffin, behind her are more riders mounted on their respective winged beasts ready to fight but unbeknownst to them are the flock of evil gargoyles sent out to intercept them.

Gilgamesh watched as Altria and her knights fought off the monsters but there's only so much they can do while stuck airborne. One by one the number of her knights are plucked until only a handful are there to protect her. Her holy spear did all that it could to repel her enemies but the sheer number of them negated the power of her blessed weapon.

In fury, Gilgamesh removed the glamor that hides his dragonic form and flew up in a haste. His wings beat powerfully behind him as he did his best to reach Altria. He roared. Fire erupts from his throat immediately decimating anything and everything that it touches. A patch of the night sky instantly cleared as he released another breath vaporizing the whole flock of gargoyles.

The remaining stragglers flew away in fear and he used his magic to levitate Altria from her griffin and onto his back. He flew down to get her to some even ground, setting fire on a few stragglers here and there while she blasted the others with her lance.

Once they've landed on a relatively safe location devoid of monsters, Gilgamesh transformed back into his human form and immediately captured the duchess in his arms.

"It's been so long. So very long... And yet I still couldn't find myself to forget you." He whispered in her ear as he relished the feeling of her body against his own. Altria felt that it was a bit awkward at first but her desires got the best of her so she returned his hug.

"I remember you too. But Gilgamesh our daughter! Where is she?"

"I don't know but we'll find her." he reassured as they bolted towards the castle fighting off all the perils they would come across.

🌹

"Bedivere!" Ruby exclaimed as he found the knight in front of her taking the cursed spear through his heart just to protect her.

The knight bit his lip and continued to stand tall in front of her even though the excruciating injury is making it harder and harder for him to remain conscious. His mind wanted to shut down but he persistently fought it to keep on his feet. A scream of rage erupted from his lips. He hacked the first demon who dared to approach him. The fool got confident just because of the injury but Bedivere was a knight all his life. Even in front of death's doorstep, he would continue to fight to protect his mistress. The daughter of the woman he loves the most more than anything else in this world. He may not be his daughter but he will protect her to the very end.

Another roar erupted from his throat. The blood began clogging his mouth but he didn't care. He took down one, two, three, more demons. Ruby tried pulling him away to have him rest behind her but he went out of her reach and began fighting more demons. He received more wounds. A demon successfully stabbed his thigh, another pierced his stomach but he didn't care he continued cutting them down and Ruby could only cry as she tried processing what was happening.

"Bedivere, STOP! PLEASE! STOP! YOU'LL DIE! YOU'LL DIE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs but the knight only ignored her. He took out ten demons before his legs finally gave up on him.

Ruby ran to his side and cradled his head on her thighs. She began activating the strongest healing magic she knows but it was to no avail. The wound won't heal and his blood was poisoned. He was cursed and marked for death. Ruby knows that he won't last for another hour. Hell, he wouldn't even last another minute and yet he persistently kept a firm hold on his sword. Aurelius covered for them and turned his attention to Moskov.

The demon General tried fleeing but the tendrils of darkness caught his body in their malevolent grasp keeping him in place. Aurelius injected poison on his neck which paralyzed him. The rest of his troops are dead. His creatures of darkness have devoured them and made their way outside to exterminate more demons.

"Bedivere, reserve your strength... Please... I will do everything I can to help you. I- please. You're my best friend. You promised to stay by my side. Aurelius proposed to me tonight and I said yes. I would have said yes. So please stay strong because you need to be there for my wedding. I want you to see me in my white dress. I've always asked you to walk me down the aisle with mommy. You said you would. You promise you would, so please don't leave me." Ruby said as tears poured from her eyes. She held his hand tightly between her palms, afraid that if she loosened her grip for even a second then he'd fall out of her grasp forever.

"I-I'm sorry, princess... It seems that I won't be able to keep my promises... But I'm sure you would be the most beautiful bride in the whole world." Bedivere said with great difficulty. He turned his attention to Aurelius and eyed him sternly.

"You better keep my princess safe. She's- she's the most important thing in the world and-and, and you better keep her safe in my place. Listen, both of you, your life will be filled with suffering from now on but... You, you need to stay strong and keep on forging ahead. The burden of your fate is too great. You will lose a lot but I believe that you can do it. You can find happiness in this desolate world. You are made with love. You are born to be loved. And even if everything you've loved is gone, don't stop and continue living."

"Bedivere just rest! I'll try to fix it! I'll fix it! Rel, help me!" Ruby begged as she felt powerless to save him. Her heart was breaking. She can't lose him too. She can't go through the pain of losing her loved ones just because she was weak.

Aurelius tried to go to her side and help her knight but a burning sensation suddenly erupted from his chest. He screamed as his flesh was being seared by fire. It felt like he was being branded and so he tore his shirt open to see what it was. Ruby couldn't see what was happening. Her mind was still processing how to help Bedivere so she couldn't see the malevolent symbol that was engraved on his chest.

It was a curse. It was the mark of a demon prince. The Inferno has chosen him. They have chosen him as their prince and one day they will take him. They will take him from his family and take him from Ruby. Aurelius immediately covered his chest to hide the mark, repulsed by what he had done. He is tainted and corrupted. Ruby doesn't deserve something as filthy as him. He needs to hide. He needs to remove this. Ruby must never know and see this.

"Rel! What the hell are you doing?! HELP ME! Please... Bedivere needs us." She yelled, snapping the prince from his thoughts. Aurelius knelt down to tend to the knight to give him a healing spell but his body rejected it. Something shattered his spell so he began analyzing the curse and its structure but only found the obvious. It was too late. The curse has damaged his heart beyond repair and poisoned him without any means to counter it.

"I- Ruby, I'm sorry. It's too late. The poison has already spread to hisn whole body and his organs are too damaged. The curse was on his blood and it would negate all healing spells. There's nothing we can do to stop it. The only thing I can do is to ease his pain and close his wounds to avoid blood loss but the poison is beyond me. I'm sorry." Aurelius said with shame refusing to see the unfathomable pain which her face expressed without any reservations. He was terrified of seeing the look of disappointment in her eyes so he only looked away and allowed himself to cry with her. He knew that Bedivere didn't like him very much but he was still polite and he took good care of Ruby over the years and that was enough for him to respect the man.

"No... I won't accept it. There has to be a way to break the curse and activate a healing spell. Let's call Merlin. He's a great wizard and he can help us." mumbled Ruby in denial.

"It's okay, princess. I'll be fine. I'll be fine." reassured the knight.

"How can you be fine?! You're dying!?" Ruby immediately regretted screaming at him because she saw him winch in pain due to her high-pitched voice.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Ruby. I did what I was meant to do. I served you till my last breath. I will die knowing that I did it to protect you. I've done my duty as your knight. I would have taken my own life if this spear ever touched your skin. But now I get to die in peace. It's ironic... I was the one who first held you when you were born and now you're the one holding me as I die."

"Bedivere stop talking like that! Please... It hurts."

"I'm sorry for leaving you like this but I can really feel myself getting weaker. Prince Rel really eased the pain and unblocked my lungs but it's the end of the road for me. Princess, I hope that I was able to be a good knight. I didn't really like you at first but you made me fall in love with you. I never married. I never had a daughter, but you... Even if you didn't come from me, I felt like you were my blood. And if I were given a choice I would take this spear again just to let you live and marry this man. So, please... As my last wish... Please tell Altria that she is my queen now and forever... I'll be waiting for her... in, in the garden." And with that, the light finally faded from his eyes and the great knight perished in the arms of the girl he raised.

He was able to die protecting his lady and that was all that matters. He died with a perpetual smile on his face knowing that he fulfilled his job. Ruby could never forget the look of contentment in his face made permanent by rigor mortis.

"Bedivere?" Ruby whispered as she cradled his face between her hands. His body has grown colder, his face became paler, and his breathing had stopped altogether.

He was dead. Her best friend is gone and there was nothing she could do about it.

"BEDIVERE!"

"Mother? Are you okay now?" Ruby opened her eyes and found herself weeping in a different place. Her muscles are a bit sore and stiff but overall she was fine. There were no cuts and bruises on her skin and she wasn't wearing her gown from the party, just a simple purple dress. Even Bedivere's corpse vanished from her hold.

She looked upon the person who addressed her and stared at him with confusion.

"Aurelius? Where are we?"

"Were you dreaming again about the bad stuff? It's me, Lucius. I just came back from the mission you sent me to do and I gave you a bit of healing spell. How are you feeling?" said the young man who looked like Aurelius but with emerald eyes like she did.

"Lucius...? You are my son and I am Rubisviel Fyaril the Witch of the Dark Forest." Ruby began looking around and remembered everything. That was only a dream or a memory rather of her past that haunts her every time she dies. It was a stupid side effect of her immortality curse to relive the pains and failures of her past. It was a cruel joke from Alice.

"Yes, did you hit your head too hard? I can't believe that the bitch got the jump on you. I tried to kill you a lot of times but you were just a better magician. Don't tell me that you're getting old and senile." teased her son which made her roll her eyes in annoyance.

"How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours I guess."

"Manticat, why are you still in that form? The potion should have worn off by now. What did you do?"

"Relax, mother. Since you unlocked my intelligence to complete one dumb mission for the ungrateful brat who tried to kill you, I took the liberty to use my magic and make a lasting transformation spell. The vessel you gave me wasn't in the best condition and it was annoying to be a stupid cat for 200 years."

"It was a punishment for being such an asshole when you were alive. Plus you were cuter and nicer as Manticat than Lucius the fuck up wizard who was only third rate at elemental magic." teased Ruby making the male growl at her.

"I believe that the failure of the son comes from the failure of the mother." retorted Lucius snobbishly.

"But you, as an intelligent being with rationality, should know how to master simple arcane sorcery through your own efforts. It was clearly a personal lack of talent rather than genetics."

"I hate you, old witch."

"I love you, too. Run along now and clean up. Dyrroth is going to return soon and by then it will be an even bigger mess."

"What if I don't what to?" challenged Lucius as he crossed his arms.

"Your magic is not what it used to be. The powerful vessel you had which I made from my womb is nothing more than bones and dust now. I can turn you into a frog anytime I want." Ruby said with a serious expression and Lucius immediately scattered to begin the clean-up. The witch can hear him mumbling and swearing but she only ignored it to go to her room.

She locked the door behind her and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her golden hair has turned into silver due to Marie Antoinette Syndrome and her green eyes have turned yellow after becoming a witch. There were barely any traces of the girl she was before all that remains is a hollowed shell filled with resentment and misery.

She's alone in this world but the thought suddenly reminded her of something.

"So that's why it was that dream today." she mumbled as she looked upon the blue sky. It was a nice comfortable shade today, not too bright and glaring. It was the exact color of Bedivere's eyes, which are pleasant and calming. In a way, it felt like he was still watching over her as if she was a little girl playing in the garden.

"I'm sorry I forgot about it today. I wish that you and mama are there in the garden together eating the apples of Avalon." Ruby took two shot glasses from her mini bar and pulled out her best ale. She knew that even if it was for plebians her knight really loved ale rather than the extravagant wine in her mother's cellar. He was a simple and honest man who barely made any enemies when he was alive and Ruby was quite envious of that talent.

"Sorry you had to die for a failure like me but I'm still grateful for what you did." she whispered as she raised her drink in a small toast.

"Happy Birthday, Bedivere."