#poor epel

He’s almost at the RSA dressing room when Epel spots Rook and Ash on the ground against the wall. Rook holds Ash as she’s curled up tightly against him. Epel gives them a concerned, almost questioning, look. Rook shakes his head, mouthing at him not to worry about it, but noting the bottles of juice in his hand. Epel shrugs, trusting that Rook has whatever was going on with Ash handled, and continues to the dressing room.

Inside the dressing room, Mira and Neige had moved to the couch. Mira was sitting on Neige’s lap, her forehead pressed against his; both were panting. “You are something else, you know?” Mira says with a smile, her voice a bit breathless. “Thank you, though. I needed a distraction.”

Neige returns her smile, “Of course! It was a win-win, y’know?” He gives her a cute wink.

Mira perks up a bit when there’s a knock on the door. She gives Neige a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding off of him. She runs a hand through her hair, trying to straighten it out a bit before she opens the door. “Hm? Oh, hello, Epel. Is everything alright?”

Epel nods, smiling somewhat shyly. “Yeah! Vil just asked me to bring y’all some of my family’s apple juice for him!” He hands Mira the opened one before peeking more into the dressing room and waving at Neige before holding the other bottle out to him.

Neige gets up off the couch and walks over to take it. 

“How thoughtful! I’m sure it’s going to taste great!” Mira says with a smile. She opens it up and takes a drink before a thought crosses her mind. How did Vil know she was alone with Neige?

Neige takes the offered juice from Epel, and as he looks at the label, his eyes shine. “Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to try this for a while! Especially after seeing how Vi-Chan was praising it online.” He starts to open the bottle just as Rook appears behind Epel with well-concealed panic.

“NEIGE!” He pauses, taking a small breath. Ash was following right behind him, a confused look in her eyes as she rubbed the sleep from them. “My apologies for interrupting you all, but the staff was looking for you. They have questions about the main performance.” There’s no evidence in his voice of the lie he was speaking.

Neige’s eyes widen in surprise. “Huh? O-oh, okay!” He looks at Mira. “I guess I should go and see them then.”

Rook’s eyes zero in on the bottle of juice in Neige’s hand. “Oh dear… my throat is positively parched from running around looking for you. That apple juice you’re holding looks cold and refreshing. Might I trouble you to let me have it?”

Both Epel and Ash give him a confused look just as Vil rounds the corner.

Neige looks stunned for a moment before cooling his gaze with another smile. “O-of course! It’s all yours!” He hands over the bottle of apple juice.

“Thank you, Neige. You should hurry on stage…” his face darkens a bit. “And I suggest not coming back here again.”

Mira feels a cold sense of dread wrap around her throat at the look on Rook’s face, and she freezes.

“Go on, off with you now!” Rook tries to hurry him, and he moves his glance to Mira. “Both of you!”

It's only then that Ash seems to catch that something isn’t right, and she’s quick to help Rook. She gives Mira a stern look. “Mira, GO.”

At Ash’s voice, Mira seems to snap out of it and grabs Neige’s hand. They both quickly exit the room, leaving to find the staff that supposedly was asking for them.

Once they’re both gone, Rook opens the bottle and stares down into the liquid with a bitter smile. “Mmm… that sweet, tart apple aroma. It makes me envision a bright red apple, just waiting for me to take a bite. Epel’s hometown specialty is truly magnifique.” He glances at Vil and Ash, giving them an almost mournful look. “I shall drink it to every last drop.”

Three years of being best friends with Rook flashed before her eyes as Ash met his gaze. This wasn’t a gaze she had seen him make before, but she immediately decides she never wants to see it again. Panic rushes through her; her intuition never failed her when it came to the hunter. “Rook…”

Just as she finishes saying his name, Kalim bolts down the hall towards them from around the corner. “DON’T DO IT, ROOK!” He screams, smacking the glass out of the man’s hands with a panicked expression. The bottle falls to the ground, juice spilling all over the smooth tile.

Grim, Yuume, and Hannah round the corner, having followed Kalim.

The face Rook makes is one of shock, but also relieved. “Roi d’or… what brings you here?” His voice seems detached, as if he’s somewhere else entirely.

Kalim bends over, hands on his knees as he catches his breath. “I made it…”

Vil begins to move closer to the group. “What are you all doing here?” His voice is quiet, and as he speaks, the juice on the ground begins to shift in color; the clear, fragrant liquid becomes a deep, opaque purple. It bubbles, audibly fizzing as if having some sort of chemical reaction.

Grim jumps back, “MYAH!” He points a paw at the floor, and Yuume looks at the spot on the floor with a cautious, borderline fearful look.

Kalim looks at Vil, the expression on his face somehow both empathetic and hard. “You used your signature spell to curse it, didn’t you?”

Yuume’s gaze snaps to Kalim, her eyes wide. 

“HE WHAT?!” Grim screeches, remembering when he was at the opposing end of Vil’s unique magic. 

“I got a real bad feeling when I saw the look on your face after Neige’s rehearsal. It was practically the same look I saw on Jamil’s face when he lost control of himself over holiday break.”

Hannah nods; she had seen it too. It was the same look she had seen over and over again before every overblot.

Vil turns to Rook, a haunted look in his eyes. “Rook, why did you try ot drink that? You had to have known that doing so wouldn’t end well for you.”

Ash bites her lip, also looking at the hunter.

Rook looks between them. “I wanted to believe in you,” he begins, looking at Vil. “You, who strives harder and reaches for greater heights than any other. I didn’t want you to besmirch yourself by doing anything foolish. And if the apple juice was cursed, I wanted to taste it. I wanted to taste the poison derived from an obsession with beauty bordering on madness.” His voice still sounds distant, like he isn’t entirely present.

“ROOK!” Ash yells, her breathing picks up, and tears fill her eyes. “How can you say something like that?!”

Hannah takes a step closer despite knowing what would soon happen. She knew there was no stopping what would happen, so she might as well say what’s on her mind. “What the hell!” She points at Vil. “Do you have any idea how stupid what you almost did was? You said every other team here would look like spuds compared to us!”

Yuume nods along to Hannah’s words.

“Yeah, you said we were going to have the best performance in the world!” Kalim shouts. “So after all of that, why would you stoop to this?”

Vil looks at the ground and lets out a slow, pitiful, almost sad laugh. “That’s what I want to know…” His voice is quiet. “More than the rest of you even. But you see, I’ve come to a realization…” He looks up, madness in his eyes. “That I. CAN NEVER! WIN!” He shouts. A crazed smile forms on his face. “And that’s why I’M going to handle Neige.”

Rook shakes his head, snapping out of whatever trance he had entered, and moves just as the juice beneath him starts to bubble more violently. It spreads, and each bubble that pops releases some sort of gas into the air.

“Myah!” Grim jumps up into Yuume’s arms.

The hall begins to fill with whatever fumes the poisoned juice is releasing. “What is this smoke?! C-Can’t… breathe…!” Kalim chokes out as he coughs.

Rook moves farther away from where he had previously been standing. He pulls part of his jacket up to cover his nose and mouth. “Everyone! Don’t inhale that mist! Vil’s signature spell is Fairest One of All! He can use it to curse any object. The mist is the evaporated form of that cursed liquid. If you breathe it in, you’ll be immobilized!”

Mira runs down the hall from the same direction she left, Samara right on her heels. She skids to a stop, letting out a strangled gasp as she breathes in the toxic fumes. “B-Big… Brother?” She manages to wheeze out as she coughs violently.

With Mira having stopped, Samara is finally able to grab her, trying to pull her away. “You can’t breathe this in!” She shouts, seemingly the only one not affected by the fumes. She looks at everyone in the room. “You need to get out, NOW!”

Vil meets his sister’s eyes for a moment before he shuts his own tightly, fighting something within himself. “Fuck… please… don’t look at me…” He opens his eyes and looks at his lovers. “Don’t look at me with those eyes!!”

“Vil…” Ash cries.

“Why… I want to be the fairest one of all! So why am I so… So… UGLY!”

Rook coughs, pulling the fabric tighter over his face. “You are far from ugly, Vil!

“Yeah! And listen…!” Kalim is interrupted by his own cough. “Neige didn’t drink the juice– neither did Rook. You haven’t hurt anyone yet!” He wheezes. “So please, Vil, snap out of it!”

Mira’s eyes are wide, filled with tears that are starting to overflow from shock, distress, and the fumes. “Vi-Chan, please…” She rasps out, making futile attempts to get closer to her brother despite Samara holding her back with a surprising amount of strength.

“SILENCE!” Vil screams. “What do any of you know?!” He snarls. “What does it matter who forgives me?! I can’t… I can’t forgive myself!” He cries. He looks at Mira just as blot starts to run down his body like black ink.

Hannah reaches out and grabs Epel by the shoulder, jolting him out of whatever dazed state he had been in. She looks at Yuume, who was holding Grim in her arms. “We need to get out of here. Now!”

Mira continues to fight against Samara to get to her brother, openly sobbing. “Vil, please!” She cries, getting weaker with every attempt. “I’m so sorry! Please… just don’t leave me!” She pleads, despite her coughs. 

With Mira losing her strength, Samara manages to start dragging her back down the way they came. She looks at Yuume. “Get moving!”

Yuume nods, tightening her grip on Grim, moving to follow her out.

Hannah pushes Epel to follow after them, and then grabs Kalim, pulling him down the hall. He quickly takes the hint and starts moving. 

As blot continues to consume and take over Vil, Ash reaches out and latches onto his back. The blot starts running down her hands and forearms. “Vil… please!” She coughs, hacking up a lung. “Just calm down!” She croaks, tears run down her face. The blot mixes with the toxins in the air, turning acidic on her skin. She hisses as it burns and starts to eat at her skin. “Please!” She cries. “Just calm down!”

Rook surges forward, the fabric falling away from his face as he grabs Ash, pulling her back with pure strength and willpower. “No!”

With everyone else moving and getting out of there, Hannah pauses, looking back at the trio of lovers. “Guys!” She calls.

Rook pulls Ash away, swallowing his tears and fears, and he roughly drags her. 

Vil sees the liquid burning Ash’s arms and laughs; it's evil, more so than any of the ones he did as an actor playing a villain. “Yes, of course! If I just melt everyone else into a hideous mess. Then I’ll be the fairest one of all, won’t I?!”

“You… You already are!” Ash tries to dig her heels in, but Rook just picks her up and slings her over his shoulder.  She cries out as Rook turns and runs down the hall.

Now seeing that Rook and Ash are moving, Hannah starts running.

Ash sobs as she watches the blot take over Vil.

Mira’s eyes widen, tears pouring down her face as she watches her brother transform while Samara drags her away. “Don’t do this, please!” Her voice cracks. “I’ll do anything to make this right, but don’t leave me!”