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The words Tomoko spoke only partially registered within him, his ears seeming to select only the best parts through the focus he placed on keeping Henry firmly within the walls of the kingdom. Your King. Your Gatekeeper. Die for your kingdom.

Even as she reached to pull at his fingers, Thackery remained blissfully unaware. It seemed as if she wanted to help him, but was doing a truly terrible job at. He couldn't fault her - perhaps strangling was just not her strong point. Whatever the case, this was not a task he wanted help with. This was his job. His job to fix it. His job to put everything neatly back into place.

He pressed his thumbs into his windpipe, each wet, labored sound a lullaby in his ears. This was true adoration. This was what it meant to love.

"I'm glad," he whispered, but the words hardly made it over the sounds his hands wrung from his throat.

Current HP remaining: 181/215
Damage/ Healing/ Defense done:
Target(s): Ash

Jove was gone in an instant.
Why? Why him?
Millie threw her sword at Ash's head but missed entirely.

Crispin broke out into a run, seeing the battle rushing closer and closer. The louder the skirmish got, the more terrified and excited he felt. Adrenaline would have rushed through his veins, had he been alive.

These guys really mean business! he thought, charging for the gigantic one with the large sword, who was currently harassing the king. Crispin just wanted to slap him upside the head.

Impulsively he dove for Ash, but at just that moment the king hit him, knocking him away. Crispin flew through the air and landed flat on his face a few feet away, eating dirt.

There was a tap on Popo's shoulder, as the female turned around, another teal haired female made a shushing gesture with her finger. They were behind a column but close enough to see and hear what was going on.

Saya couldn't come to terms of a king who embraced Ash so lovingly, only to kill him. The loyalty in the fiber of her being never dimmed-- but wasn't that strange? How she still wanted to protect her king, even though something seemed to obviously wrong?

.....

..........

She patted Popo on her head, whispering.

"I'll keep you safe."

Much better.

Relief flooded through Thackery's bones, and it was visible on every inch of him. The Gatekeeper stood more relaxed, his ears alert and prepared, tail lazily swishing behind him. He clasped his hands together and surveyed his subjects. It seemed as if he was looking for something in particular, though there was no indication he'd found it, if he had.

"Everything will be okay now!" he announced, a dark trickle running from his lips. "The volunteers can find Elysian, and the rest of you can show all of your talents to The Voice! See? All fine! Now, if you'll all just be sure you're ready to go..."

A panic set in. Ash was the most pressing problem to be solved, but there was still the issue of the other three. He had to stop talking and do something. Now.

He shot a glance at the remaining three over his shoulder, bounced once on his toes...and bolted towards the interior walls of the kingdom. The temporary escape would be for naught, however, if he forgot the Elysian-seekers. Realizing this, he cursed under his breath, looping back towards the subjects.

His hands reached Chuppi first, pulling her upward, hooking his arm securely around her waist to carry her against his side. Biting down on his lip, he sought another. Who had he spoken to? His thoughts were a loud, indiscernible swarm, noisy cotton in his ears. And then the answer presented itself, in spite of all protests his body threw against him: Jove.

He looked sick. Dying, maybe. His throat tightened with pity, though time had never felt more short. As gently as he could, he tucked the boy under his other arm, ducking through an archway and into a side hall.

Now the race had really begun. He sprinted through the hallways, past decor that changed from stone to marble to gold-leafed interior. Few had ever been here, and if either of the sacrifices were conscious enough to realize it, they would know they had found themselves in the Tower.

They climbed. Thackery felt exhausted, though the feeling had not presented itself in his existence before now. The weight of Chuppi became more and more obvious, while Jove's diminishing form was alarming in its lightness. He was almost there. Almost there, and this had to work.

Finally, a twisted beacon of hope and finality, the Gate rose before them. He set Chuppi down directly in front of the curled iron bars, swallowing hard as he reached for the key, checking every few seconds to ensure Jove was still there at all.

Click.

The Gate swung open, and from it poured a warmth, a soothing scent, a wispy breeze that was absent from the rest of the kingdom.

"Okay, Chuppi. Jove. Don't be afraid! Elysian is a beautiful place, see? You'll be safe. It'll all be all right." He tried to smile, but his face ached, and the smile might not have made it at all. "You're strong, and you've conquered everything. Thank you for seeing that in yourselves."

He offered a tender touch to Chuppi's shoulder, urging her along.

But Jove still wasn't moving. Thackery frowned, staring down at the little body in his arms. He didn't know what would happen to someone who died a second time without the involvement of Elysian. Jove had protected him. He deserved better than...

He closed his eyes and thrust the boy's body through the Gate.

There was only a moment of pain.

The child was rallying for his next attack when the knight looked at him just once. And it was as though the world began falling apart. The pain... Was this what it felt like to die? Had he saved his King?

He was on the ground, he could see his dark blood still running from the wound Ash had given him earlier. How much blood did he have left in him? It didn't matter, that scratch hardly hurt. Neither did the finishing blow. Not anymore. He barely felt himself being scooped up, carefully, his dissolving body cradled against his King's side. Had he done good?

~

The forest was dark. His Pa had shown him how to use a torch, how to light it very carefully, always to keep an eye on it. Fire was dangerous. It was like the edge of the ravine, it could hurt you if you were not careful. But even with the torch and it's flickering light, the shadows were deep.

You mustn't go too far in, he cautioned his memory-self, but they were both in agreement. The boy only needed some berries. He only wanted a little bit more to eat, but he had to save the food in their pantry so he could eat dinner until Ma and Pa came home. The boy wanted to tell himself to turn around, avoid the fate that was coming in that forest, but no words would come.

There was a rustle in the darkness, and then, a boy. He was not a shepherd. He was scared, the fear in his eyes was overwhelming. "Help..."

The torchlight flickered fitfully as they ran through the dark. The boy was taller than him, maybe older, but so weary he stumbled in the shadows. It was even darker when they reached the cabin, the thick shades drawn to block out even the light of the moon. Even when the indoor lantern was lit and the torch extinguished, the dark was heavy. He knew it, he could feel it.

Time bled on, hours and yet mere fractions of a second all stretched out for the dying child. The sweet scent of fresh air and strong grass filled his nose... He had to go, had to leave this world of violet mist and pain, but the memories held him in their thrall, unable to move, unable to die.

The boy peered out from between the curtains at the dawn lighting the sky. He was afraid to go outside. The taller child who hid with him in the small cottage had filled his head all night with stories, stories of secrets, and darkness, and a witness to a betrayal... A witness who had to be silenced. The silence now was thick enough to smother them both.

He had not said a word to his company. He would give him refuge, give him a bed as small as it was, but Ma had always told him never to talk to strangers. So silent he was as he scurried around the cabin on the feet of a mouse, labouring to put the heavy kettle on the stove. He still had enough food until his parents returned but... two of them...

The dying boy tried to turn away from his memories. He knew them as he relived them, hours of gut-churning worry as the pair of children huddled in the darkness, sipping diluted vegetable soup. He couldn't live it again, he couldn't bear it.

The hours became nothingness, punctuated by a sharp knocking on the door. Shouting. The little child ushered his companion into hiding. The small crawl space, just big enough for one. His parents had only talked about it with that look of worry in their eyes. Things could happen in this realm. Punctuated whispers, they thought their young boy couldn't hear. Rumours and stories, can never be too careful. They had to keep their child safe.

With one in hiding, the little shepherd opened the door just a crack. He could feel it still, that strong thud against his chest as he was knocked backward by that heavy wooden door, and tall figures stomped in. He could only see their frames, silhouetted in the pale light. One grabbed him. They were shouting. Questions and questions. His Ma and Pa had never spoken to him like that, never had he even heard such a harsh, merciless tone...

He tried to close his eyes, let the memories stop, but instead saw himself dragged out of the cabin. The sounds of crashing and banging echoed from the dark house. He couldn't say anything. He wouldn't. Rough hands gripped his arm, grabbed him by the neck, pulled him across the dry, barren lawn. He was thrown down, driven closer and closer to the edge... The edge of the ravine. The one he never ever got close to. Fear wrapped cold fingers around his heart as he was picked up one last time...

And then he was falling.

~

Even as the little boy fell through the gate, his dissipating body relaxed. He had been brave once. His silence... That was his bravery. He hadn't fallen from carelessness, he had fallen to save a companion, just as he now fell to save his King.

Elysian... That would be a nice place.

It all was happening too fast... to fast and too sudden. He felt as if the world had sped up around him and his body remained slow and sluggish. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do. Standing there with his mouth partially opened, he watched as they all went for Ash. Only Ash... it seemed they wanted their resident juggernaut to be put down first, only Sparrow had gone for him primarily.

Then with a final noise, just barely audible, Remi saw the man fall. All 7 foot + of muscle, teeth, and attitude, crumpled and disintegrated as if nothing was wrong. Only a stoney face, from what he saw. Should Remi cry for the man? Half of him wanted to weep, half of him wanted to cry out and ask why their king could do something so evil to a loved one.

Remi Squashed away a memory that was trying to build, one he really did not feel like seeing right now.

Only it seemed Thackery, once done his dirty deed, had vanished somewhere. Not only that... two of their own seemed to be missing. Ash had hit jove with something, but wasn't there a body behind earlier...? Had he dissipated too?

"Tomo, Erebus..." He looked around, eying the two other canines-in-human-form. "Please tell me that Thackery did not just take off with two bodies." He remembered what the voice had said, what needed to be done.