The Carnival of the Damned

With the aid of the gypsy compass and map, the trip to castle Rosencroix proved to be much shorter than the original departure. Ryn soared over the kingdom's gate, still in the early stages of repair, before touching down once again outside of the massive double doors. Rose had kept a firm grip to Ryn's back yet as he leaned down she allowed her grasp to slacken, gaining a firm footing on the stone stairway below. Ryn stretched out his tired wings in preparation for the flight back, giving an uneasy glance to the mare.

"Are you sure you don't need me to stick around? You know, just in case?"

Rose gave the pegasus a grateful smile, shaking her head at his offer. "Thank you, Ryn, but this is something that I must face alone." She turned away to stand before the dark doors. "Besides, if I do not...I-I know well that I will regret it for the rest of my existence."

He sighed, turning a frown to the stones below his hooves. "I won't pretend I understand, but just know that Oki will miss you, and...and I- well...I will too." He grimaced, regret lacing his tone as he slowly glanced at Rose from the corners of his eyes, checking to evaluate her expression.

Her eyes found his, locking on them with a smile. "I promise to return one day. Soon."

"I'll hold you to it, Rose. Take care of yourself, okay?" His eyes broke their gaze, turning downward as his mane obscured them with shadows. "I can't always be there to fly to your rescue."

She nodded, turning to the doorway again. No knock was needed as the two doors opened of their own accord. Apothecarium stood to the side, bowing and gesturing for her to enter.

It was only as the doors shut fully behind the mare that Ryn began a full run away from the castle. His speed increased, fueled by his conflicting emotions as his wings spread wide and he took flight. He left Aelor far behind him, heading in the opposite direction of Ponyville.

...

"This way, Miss Rose." The physician Apothecarium led the way through the darkened halls of the castle, exiting to the courtyard situated at the back of the expansive building. Though Rose had not walked these halls in quite some time, she still remembered fully the intricate decor as well as the breathtaking view that was the garden of roses. She had fully expected her guide to lead the way to the garden's gazebo; the last place that she had fully spoken with the Lord in private; yet much to her surprise he passed this, pressing onward to a secluded precipice at the edge of the gardens. Jagged black cliffs ended in a sharp drop toward a crimson ocean far below. The bloody waves crashed against the obsidian stone, sending up a spray of scarlet mist to dampen her coat and cling to her mane. She blinked against this, gazing out across the vast waters. No end was in sight, nor a single obstruction from the view save for a single tall structure seeming to rise up out of the reddened body. A tower of black.

"The Sanguine Sea," Apothecarium announced. "The edge of Aelor itself. Legend states that where the pool of blood in the room of crystals is made up of the line of rulers, this is the blood of all others here. The victims of the past reigns as well as those considered 'unworthy' by the Rosencroix standards." He chuckled, noting her pallor. "Nothing to fear, miss. Only a legend, after all."

Oh but how very often such legend had proven true, and she could not help the shudder that ran through her as she gazed down at the crimson waters before returning her attention to the dark tower. "A-Apothecarium, what of that?" He paused, turning to follow her eyes to the building as his jaw set into a grim line.

"Oh, yes. The obelisk. Please, do not trouble yourself about such. It is nothing of importance, Miss Rose. Merely a forgotten relic of a bygone era."

A darkened shadow ahead caught her attention and she turned her eyes upward. Standing at a similar edge was Ancient Blood, eyes trained to the waters far out on the horizon as the moon silhouetted his profile and bathed his features with it's glow. Every now and again a spray of the sea would shoot up before him, yet this did nothing to startle the unicorn in the least. He merely closed his eyes to wait for the spray to subside before reopening them on the scene. Apothecarium cleared his throat, bowing as he backed away to return to the castle's main building.

"Please, take your time. Tea shall be prepared when you return." Rose nodded, watching him depart before taking the first of many trembling steps to stand at Blood's side. He did not turn his gaze at her approach, and she stood there for several moments before his deep tenor startled her.

"It may be prideful of me to say, yet I never doubted your return here." A small smile curved over his lips as he broke his gaze from the sea to stare into the crimson depths of her eyes. "Welcome home, Miss Immortal Rose."

Rose bowed humbly, heart still calming itself from her fear. "L-Lord Blood, I had not had the opportunity to offer you my gratitude. Without Kuromaru and your aid, I know that my life would have been forfeit. Truly, I can never repay your-"

"Stay with me."

She blinked, looking up at his strange sentence. "S-Sir?"

"You claim to be unable to repay, yet that is far from the case." He stepped forward a few paces, moving to better see her features as he raised a hoof to caress along her cheek and linger upon her throat. "Stay with me. Here at Rosencroix. It is your home as well as mine, and it is where you truly belong." Blood sighed, not exactly a happy sound as he seemed to struggle with his thoughts. "Rose... I should have said it the last time. When last we stood here in Rosencroix, the night of your final stay. I should have come right out and said it. Yet, fear for your safety and my pride had gotten in the way. I know now that all this could have been avoided if I had not held my tongue." He moved his hoof once more, reaching out to pull her to his side and hold her close to him. "Therefore, I shall no longer keep it silent. I shall allow this dead heart to speak the words it had so longed to reveal at the last." His eyes found hers, Fresh crimson gazing into darkened scarlet. "I love you. Surely you know that I would not simply act to assist another without such affection. Rose, my heart has long since beat it's last, yet yours is still strong and young. Your blood is one thing, wanted by many for it's immense power. Yet I, I want the heart, the core where it all resides as well as the most beautiful soul I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I want you, my dearest flower. I love you."

Rose pulled back to better see the unicorn before her, tears welling up in response to the loving gaze she saw within his deep eyes. Already she could feel her heart swelling with joy at such an adoring proclamation. "L-Lord Blood.. I wanted to come back here. I wanted to thank you, but yet I also wanted to see you. E-even after my return to the Everfree those many years ago, my thoughts had always remained here...with you. T-truth be told, I also l...lo-"

A dark voice resonated in the far corners of her heart, the word she yearned to speak being choked off, removed from her by force as the forgotten knot within her heartstring tightened further, twisting and wrenching in her heart.

'Love, an emotion I never will understand. Such a horrid thing to watch as the heart is pulled to and fro. Ah, but this will not be. I will not allow for it!'

Rose continued to struggle with the forbidden word, pain etched over her features as she looked to Blood. His expression echoed her confusion, saddening as he moved his hoof to place it gently to her lips.

"That is alright. You need not force such on my account. My feelings for you shall always remain the same. Perhaps...perhaps with time, you shall come to understand and share my love." He let his hoof slid, turning his pained gaze downward.  "I can only hope for it." The lord stepped toward the castle a few paces before calling back. "Come now, let us return. The night air will do you no good and will only further hinder your recovery." He dared not wait for a response, moving ahead and away from the cliff's edge. Rose remained silent, following behind obediently as her tears flowed.

The Rosencroix Kingdom loomed high in the darkness, the moon casting it's glow across the darkened stone surface. Yet even the purity of the pale moon could not extinguish the lurking shadows in the deepest corners. A fitting reminder for such an unhappy pair, and perhaps a glimpse of what was to come.

End.

...

The pages of the heavy book slowly closed, tale inside written and at it's end. The author leaned back in the chair, smirk adorning his bandaged face as he slowly stood to place the volume back upon the shelf.

"So we close the book on this tale, all said and done. Such a troublesome set of heroes we have, wouldn't you agree? Ah, but in the end, what can we do? Our fates are handed to us, written ever so carefully by the one who would govern each path." A dark chuckle, the cloaked figure moving back to set once again at the desk of the darkened room.

"It would seem that there is but one more portion, one final story to add. Yet it calls for another, someone who will prove a more fitting villain than our pitiful Mortis was." A worn quill dipped into the ink at the desk top, guided by the will of the writer. The dying candles in the room flickered once again to full life, giving adequate lighting as Fayt grinned in their kindled glow. "I think it is high time that I made my full appearance. After all, who can overcome Fate?" The deep chuckle built in it's intensity, quill jotting rapidly across the blank parchment, dancing as it left bold, dark strokes on the page before him. One word, darkened and stark in it's contrast with the snow white paper.

Graveskye