The Volarions are on their way here? Why would the royal family of the Holy Astrean Empire waste their time coming here? And why would they sentence us all to death?
Eros' mother interrupted his thoughts, grabbing his and Elise's hands. She was completely different from before, the warmth and love that used to live in her eyes were evicted by fear and despair.
"We have to escape before they arrive or else it'll be too late... I know a way out. Keep up with me."
She sprinted past soldiers and miners running around in confusion. Some miners were frantically checking their data pads and searching through their handbooks to find an answer to what was happening. The older ones hugged their families tightly, afraid to let go of them. Even the soldiers were acting differently, rather than shout orders at them or punish them for disobedience like they normally would, they unloaded crates of alcohol and shared drinks with the miners.
They really are going to kill us, aren't they? Are the soldiers also going to be killed?
None of them even tried to regain order, simply sipping their drinks with a solemn face. One soldier cried, hugging the legs of a female slave and begging her for her forgiveness while she rested her hand on his head trying to console him.
Their mother brought them to the entrance of Tunnel 28, gasping for breath after sprinting there full throttle. The soldiers were already closing the giant gate, trapping some of the miners in the tunnel.
"WAIT! PLEASE LET US THROUGH!"
"I'm sorry. Per royal decree, all gates must remain closed until the Volarions have passed judgement."
"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
Their mother pulled out a strange scrap of paper, handing it to the soldier.
"Listen slave, I have my orders and I doubt tha—"
The soldier froze, his eyes widening as he mouthed the words he had just read. He stumbled backwards, screaming at his fellow soldiers:
"YOU IDIOTS! OPEN THE GATE! RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"But sir, our orders are t—"
"I KNOW WHAT YOUR ORDERS ARE AND I'M ORDERING YOU TO OPEN THE GATE!"
"Uh... YES SIR!"
The soldiers scrambled frantically to open the gate, clumsily falling over each other.
What could mother have possibly given them for them to act this way? And since when did soldiers do what slaves asked?
Elise looked just as confused as he was, still sniffling after witnessing Eleanor's end. As they waited for the gate to open, Eros looked around the settlement, watching chaos ensue. Children were crying everywhere, their parents trying to convince the soldiers to open the gates. Some of the miners began climbing the walls, though they soon fell to their demise. Some began drilling holes into the walls to try and escape, though they were immediately met with gunfire by the guards.
In the eye of the chaos, a man covered in blood, vomit, and dirt, stumbled through the settlement holding a strange mask in his hands. His exhausted light brown eyes surveyed the growing panic, searching for his family.
"IT'S FATHER!" Eros shrieked so loud, it momentarily drowned out the bleeping alarm in the background.
Elise turned, running straight into their father's arms, causing their father to drop the mask. Their mother followed in pursuit, nearly squeezing the remaining life out of him. As Eros went to follow the rest and give his father a hug, his father pushed him off.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU LITTLE MONSTER!"
Eros sat on the ground, confused, tears beginning to trickle down his face.
Father... why?
"Ares, what the hell is your problem?" Their mother shouted into their father's ear.
"Aphro... trust me. We need to escape without it, without that thing..."
It? Thing?
Their mother slapped their father across his face, leaving a bright red handprint across his right cheek.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL OUR SON A THING!"
"Father please! We can't leave Eros behind! We have to bring him!"
"NO! If only you knew..."
Their father walked past the two of them, looking down at Eros as he stood right above him. There was no love in his eyes, all Eros could see was burning hatred for him, for his own son...
What changed? Father never liked me as much as Elise, but he never acted this way before...
"I should have done this a long time ago. I was weak then, but not anymore. I won't let you take my family away from me..."
"But Father... I am your family..."
"No... you're a plague."
Casting a death stare into Eros' soul, their father began to wrap his hands around Eros' neck, slowly strangling him. Elise screamed in terror, grabbing her father's left muscular bicep and pleading with him to stop.
"F-father... p-please..."
"You're no son of mines..."
BONK! Their mother slammed a shovel into the side of their father's head. He collapsed over Eros, suffocating him until their mother and Elise pulled him off.
"Mother, why did Father tr—"
"I don't know Eros. I don't know... we don't have time to wait here, let's escape now."
"But what about Father..." Elise cried.
"We have to leave him behind Elise..." Their mother's words were devoid of love. For the first time in her joyous life, she was empty. She grabbed both of them by their hands, dragging them to Tunnel 28. The gate was finally open, the soldier in charge nervously smiled at her:
"Sorry for the confusion, we now grant you clearance to Tunne—"
The soldier was shot in the head. A clean shot, straight through his brain. Brain matter was sprayed onto the wall as the other soldiers watched in horror, grabbing their guns before they too were shot down.
Eros could barely hear the sound of the siren anymore, it was replaced by the loud sound of a helicopter landing in their settlement. There was 6 people in total on board, including the pilot. There was 2 crimson haired royals, one older and one younger, each equally handsome, each of their scarlet eyes equally hungry. A tall, dark skinned, well shaved, muscular man wore a white and gold coat with the sigil of the Holy Astrean Empire on his back, a crimson red sun, and had a pendant of the same sigil wrapped around his neck. There were two soldiers wearing heavy, black tactical gear, with the sigil of the empire across their hearts.
As the helicopter landed, a wave of dust crashed into the settlement, nearly blowing Eros off of his feet. Before they could leave the helicopter, Eros' mother grabbed Elise and Eros and sprinted for the now closing gate. Before she could make it past the gate, the younger royalty appeared before them.
"Going somewhere?" The prince asked ecstatically, licking his lips at the thought of the ways he would torture them. "How rude... the game is only beginning!"
"ELISE! ER—"
The prince grabbed their mother's tongue with his black gloves, ripping it out of her mouth. She would never sing again, she would never talk again.
"MOTHER!" Eros and Elise screamed in unison.
"Hey... Aphrodite, did I permit you to speak?" The prince asked sarcastically, wiping blood off of his royal red clothes. He looked at the tongue, then at their mother screaming in pain and rolling around, and then he tossed the tongue to Elise in disgust. She screamed in fear, dropping the tongue to the ground.
"Saint Charles, you have my permission to begin the game."
The man in the white coat flashed before them, kneeling to the young royalty.
"Your wish is my command, Young Lord."
"Can you handle exerting yourself to this extent? There's at least 10,000 lambs in this little settlement."
"Even if you willed me to slaughter 1,000,000 lambs, I would slaughter them until my body could physically go no more..."
The crimson prince smiled pleasantly, content with Saint Charles' answer. He looked over at the two soldiers, whistling loud enough for them to hear over the ongoing chaos. The female soldier nodded her head, raising her hands to the sky. Suddenly, flames burst from the ground surrounding the settlement, setting slaves and soldiers aflame, trapping everyone inside.
"Now be off, Saint Charles. Oh, and take that girl with you. I want her alive... she refused my present."
Saint Charles nodded his head at the command, grabbing the screaming Elise who instinctively bit his hand. The saint did not react to the pain. Instead, he punched her in the face, knocking her out in one hit. As Eros screamed and reached his hands out for Elise, the soldiers guarding the gate grabbed Eros.
NO! I WON'T LET THEM TAKE AWAY ELISE!
Eros grabbed the sword off of the waist of one of the guards, stabbing him through the chest slowly. He screamed out in pain, punching Eros off of him and pulling the blade out before collapsing to the ground. The blade was rusted, it had not been used in so long that it may as well have been an ancient relic.
The other soldiers did not carry swords, they carried rifles and they had them raised at Eros. Fingers on the triggers, Eros thought back to the conversation he had with Sepheros.
Is this my fate? No... I WON'T ACCEPTIT!
"Wait. Leave us be." The prince waved his hands at the soldiers, shooing them away. They released their fingers from the triggers, giving the prince a standing bow before running off to subdue other slaves.
Eros stared at the prince.
This is all his fault. He hurt Mother. He took Elise away. I'll kill him…
The prince smiled at him devilishly.
"It appears the little lamb believes himself to be a lion..."