#wlbts

"Ang mangarap na mapantayan si Zamiel para bumagay sa kanya... ay sa susunod na habang buhay na lang."

— What Lies Beneath The Sand, Jonaxx

Based on a conversation in the Fanders Group Chat about Thomas’ last video :) ((Title idea comes from @coolsassystudentsweetsme) –

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: Mention of death, fire

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @ajumbleofwords, @serenefreakgeek —

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a prince by the name of Roman. Even though he was vain, and some would even say slightly narcissistic, he did whatever he could to satisfy his people. Roman was undaunted and he has put away multiple villains and evildoers who terrorised the civilians and rumour has it that he even slayed a dragon. Every week people would come to the Royal Palace to ask Prince Roman for help. And today was no different.

The small town of Darlea, not far from the Royal Palace, was terrorised by a sorcerer who went by the name Virgil, also known as the Shadow Sorcerer. For weeks, people would disappear in the middle of the night. A day later, their head would appear on someone’s doorstep. The mayor of the town had already asked Roman for help, but the Prince could not find the perpetrator of these horrors. Until, two weeks later, the Shadow Sorcerer appeared in front of the town hall. His black outfit made him nearly invisible in the darkness of the night, if it wasn’t for his deep purple hair that stood out, even at that time of night. The corners of his mouth curled upwards in a smirk as the sorcerer looked at the grand building in front of him. With it’s marble statues and pillars, the town hall was easily the most beautiful building of Darlea. In one of the offices, Virgil could see the mayor going through all the paperwork that the disappearances gave him. The Shadow Sorcerer raised his hand and concentrated on one of the candles in the office. Slowly but surely, the candle fell over and flames spawned on the floor. With a little help from the Sorcerer, the fire had consumed the mayor’s desk in no time. The mayor looked around in a panic and as he looked out of the window, he noticed the smirking sorcerer, just before the flames grew and restricted his view. In mere seconds, the fire spread and the town hall went up in flames.

Woken up by the fire and the screams that came from the town hall, the Darleans gathered on the square and they noticed the purple haired male. He just grinned at the sleep drunk people around him. As they stood there, fire after fire started, consuming house after house. Screams and cries for help filled the night. Children cried for their parents or siblings. Parents tried to save their kids from the destruction of flames. And no matter how hard they tried to extinguish the flames, it would not work. The spell was too strong to be broken by the civilians.

As soon as she had noticed the Shadow Sorcerer, a young woman, Valerie, ran to the stables to retrieve her horse and rushed to the Royal Palace, for she believed Prince Roman would be able to rescue them. It wasn’t long before Valerie arrived in front of the Palace, where she was stopped by two guards. “Please, excuse me,” she started, before they could ask her about her intentions, “I need to talk to the Prince. The Shadow Sorcerer has been signalled in Darlea. He has set the town hall ablaze.”

As the two guards looked in the distance, they could see the fire and the smoke coming from the city and without hesitation, let the girl pass. They brought her horse to the stables as someone escorted her to the prince. He had been asleep when Valerie arrived and he was not amused that his rest had been interrupted. However, when he heard what the young woman had to say, all those irritations were forgotten. The Shadow Sorcerer was an infamous figure. Every once in a while, he would show up and wreak havoc on a city. This would last a few weeks, and then he would disappear again. No one knew where he lived and no one had been able to capture him. If Roman would be able to defeat him, that would give his already impeccable reputation a huge boost! Not to mention that the Sorcerer had destroyed ten towns in the last fifteen months. Ten too many.

Roman rushed out of his bedroom and prepared himself for a battle. In a matter of minutes, he was ready to go. His white horse was saddled and ready to go. Without a second thought, the prince, joined by Valerie, hurried to the burning town.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: Blood, gore in general, death, pretty detailed and gory description of corpses, gore

(I did mark the gore, just in case)

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @ajumbleofwords, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

—

A door slammed shut, waking up Logan and Patton, and probably everyone in the inn. Roman had rushed into the room the three of them shared, practically fuming.

“Roman?” Patton asked sleepily, reaching for the glasses on his nightstand. “What is going on?”

Logan stifled a yawn as he sat up, reached for his glasses and turned to the prince, who had started packing up his stuff. 

“We need to leave at once,” he managed to get out, “the Sorcerer was here. He’s gone now, but if we leave immediately, we might find out where he’s gone.”

“Roman, kiddo, calm down,” Patton said slowly, walking towards the prince and grabbing his hands to try and stop him from packing. Roman looked at the slightly older male, ready to protest, as he continued talking: 

“You need to take a deep breath and cool down a bit. You’re agitated, you shouldn’t make reckless decisions like this before you’re completely calm. Take your time to cool down.” Roman frowned. The way Patton addressed him felt patronizing to him. He was the prince of this land, for Heaven’s sake! He didn’t need to be patronized, he didn’t need to be protected. He knew perfectly well what he could do. But before he could voice any of these thoughts, Logan spoke up:

“Exactly. Besides, we don’t know when or where he will speak up again, we don’t even know where he lives. How would we know where to go?”

“We don’t have to know any of that,” Roman answered, trying to pull his hands from Patton’s grip. “You remember the note he left for me, right? He must have known we were coming! So wherever we go, I think he will be there!”

“He might not,” Logan said. 

“If we don’t try, we’ll never know,” Roman locked eyes with Patton as he spoke. The latter looked down, avoiding the Prince’s eyes as thoughts raced through his head. 

“Do you even know what you’re saying?” Patton asked softly, as if he was afraid to offend anyone with his words. He slowly looked up again, but his eyes still didn’t meet Roman’s. “You’d willingly put all the inhabitants of whatever place we’d go to in danger, just because the sorcerer might show up? He had escaped you twice now. Do you really think that won’t happen a third time? Do you really think this time will be any different?”

“I have to try it, Patton,” Roman snapped, finally freeing his hands from Patton’s surprisingly firm grasp. “Right now, everyone is in danger. We don’t know when the Sorcerer could strike again. He could show up anywhere at any given moment.” 

“But if you’re right, then visiting another town would put its inhabitants in immediate danger! Are you actually willing to sacrifice innocent lives just to have the chance to meet with the Shadow Sorcerer again?”

“It’s for a good cause,” Roman argued, “if I fight and defeat the Sorcerer, I could save millions of lives!”

“But we don’t know if you would defeat him,” Logan helped Patton, “I think you should at least make a plan before engaging.” 

Roman sighed and looked at his two advisers in front of him. He knew he couldn’t argue with them, but it didn’t feel right. Sure, Logan and Patton tried their best to help him but it wasn’t their battle to fight! He was the one who had to fight the Sorcerer. Why couldn’t he be the one to decide what they would do? But still, the prince nodded and agreed. 

“Fine. Have you got any suggestions?”

After a long day of discussing possible tactics, the trio had come up with exactly nothing. Their best plan was to ask a few of the best wielders of magic in the land to help them, but Logan quickly reminded them that they had already tried to beat Virgil, and it was impossible: his skills were unequaled. And to be fair, that was all they could think of. How does one defeat a wielder of magic as powerful as the Shadow Sorcerer without any resources to match? 

“Isn’t there a way to disable his magic?” Patton suggested. “A weakness, something that disturbs his magic abilities?” 

“Well, there is something,” Logan started, “but I cannot guarantee it will work.” “That’s better than nothing,” Roman said eagerly, “what is it?” 

Then, Logan started to explain. There was a gemstone, called the Magic Stone, or Fallar. People claimed that that gem was created by the Heavenly - or the gods - in the Early Ages, long before any human walked the earth. It was said that this gemstone had the power to absorb any magic in its surroundings. There were just two problems: Fallar was found only in the Western Highlands, a mountain range in the west of the land, and its power had never been tested. It was never confirmed, nor was it refuted. Logan himself believed it was a mere legend, but Roman and Patton immediately agreed that they had to try it. After having talked to the innkeeper about this, the three discovered that a couple that lived in Mauta, a town not far away, sold amulets that would protect one from magic. They remembered that there were a number of Fallar amulets, too. 

“Then we have to go there,” Roman stated as he looked at his two companions. The two nodded and thanked the innkeeper. They paid for their room and left to retrieve their horses. 

Two days of traveling later, the trio arrived in Mauta. The ambiance in the town was the complete opposite of Ninda. The people seemed unconcerned, even cheerful. The three left their horses in a stable near an inn and searched for the people that sold the amulets. 

After a while of searching, Patton decides to ask one of the Mautans for help. They told them where to go to find the small shop. The shop, ran by two people named Joan and Talyn, was located in a small and dark alleyway near the edge of the town. Patton thanked the girl who had helped him and he led his friends to the shop.

The alley was, indeed, small, dark and sketchy, but nonetheless, the three walked on and found the store. It was just as small dark as the alley. It was full of tables with small statues, necklaces, and rings.

As soon as they entered the store, two people approached them. 

“Prince Roman,” the one with an orange hat spoke as they bowed their head, “it is an honor! How may I help you?” 

“I was told you sell Fallar amulets,” Roman said as he nodded his head in response, “and I am in need of one.” 

“Of course,” they turned to their partner, “Talyn, could you retrieve them?” Talyn nodded and hurried out of the room, only to return a few moments later with a wooden box. They placed it on one of the tables and opened it. The box was filled with dark orange amulets of all sizes and shapes. 

“That is all we have, Your Highness,” Joan announced as Roman looked at the contents of the box. “Is there anything you would like?”

“That depends,” Roman answered, “is the difference in size of the gem of importance?” 

“Yes, it is, Your Highness,” Talyn answered, “the bigger the amulet, the more magic it can absorb.” 

“I see,” Roman nodded as he studied the different gemstones. His eyes quickly landed on what he believed was the biggest one; a necklace with a large orange stone in the shape of a teardrop. He reached for the necklace and carefully lifted it up, studying the gem and turning to Joan and Talyn. 

“I would like to purchase this one.” 

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Joan nodded as Talyn closed the box and brought it back to where it came from. Joan led Roman, Patton, and Logan to the counter and after they had paid for the amulet, the three left the shop. 

After they had bought the necklace, the trio got themselves a room in an inn nearby and decided to go through all their options. After a meal - the best meal they had in a while - the three went up to their room and they attempted to come up with a new plan. When they had spent multiple hours doing this, Logan suggested that they get some rest and the other two agreed. 

That night was peaceful. Roman was the first to wake up after a good night’s rest and he noticed there were no distressed screams to be heard outside and he believed that all was good. That the Sorcerer hadn’t shown up. The Prince waited for Logan and Patton to wake up and the three of them walked downstairs to get themselves some breakfast. They had just found a table and were about to sit down when the stable master ran up to them, panting. 

“I am sorry to disturb you, Your Highness,” they breathed, “but there is something I think you should see.” 

“What is it?” Roman asked, turning around to look at the person in front of him. 

“I think it would be best if I just showed you,” they responded, still trying to catch their breath. 

“Alright then,” Roman looked at Logan and Patton, “lead the way.” 

The stable master led the three males outside, in the direction of the stables. At first, Roman had suspected something had happened to his horse, but what he saw, was so much worse. The scene before him made his stomach turn and his knees weak.

(Gore coming up, if you don’t want to read this, I’d suggest you skip this bit. You won’t miss too much, just a description)

 Before him, he saw five people pinned to the wall of the stable. The first was a man, he appeared to be sixty years old. The last was a girl, probably no older than five. The only thing holding their bodies up, was a single black nail through their throat. Blood trickled down from the wounds, onto their clothes, leaving red and brown stains everywhere. It dripped onto their shoulder, to their hands and finally, it hit the cobblestones below, staining them. Some of them showed bruised on their face, shoulders or arms. Their heads hung limb to one side, eyes staring into the distance. Their fingernails were chipped and broken, fingertips bleeding, making clear that they hadn’t gone down without putting up a fight. 

(Gore over! It’s safe (: )

“Sweet Heavens,” Roman gasped as he laid eyes on the scene before him. Logan and Patton made similar sounds of disgust. Roman stumbled backward and he felt like he could throw up any minute. He quickly averted his eyes and tried to think of anything else. 

“Did no one hear anything?” Logan asked in disbelief, not taking his eyes off the five corpses before him. 

“No one,” the stable master replied, “it must have happened at night, but even then, I’m surprised we did not even hear the nails being hit into the wall.”

“That’s because they weren’t hit,” Roman muttered to himself. Logan, who stood next to the prince as he said that, looked at him in confusion. 

“What do you mean? That they magically appea- oh. You… you might be right.”  Roman raised an eyebrow at this statement and he was about to make a remark, as he noticed something sticking out of a pocket of the jacket the first corpse was wearing. He carefully approached the body and quickly grabbed the thing. It was a note, stained with old blood. Roman folded the paper open and, in the same handwriting he had seen a few days prior, he read a single word: 

Roman, 

The Prince looked up and handed the note to Logan, who quickly read it. 

“Is this the Sorcerer?” He asked as he showed Patton the note. Roman nodded. 

“But what does it mean?” Patton asked. “What does he want to say?”

“I don’t know,” Logan replied as he looked at the man next to him. He turned to Roman, who stood next to the old man’s corpse, doing anything to not look at it. “Are there any other notes?”

Roman looked at Logan for a few seconds, until he realized his friend wanted him to search the other bodies. And he did, reluctantly. He searched the other bodies and found a note on all of them. He walked back to Logan and Patton and they opened the notes. All four of the notes had just a few words scribbled on them. All in the same, messy handwriting:

Come find me,

Cursed Woods,

I’ll be waiting.

Here’s a quick masterlist for my fic What Lies Beyond The Shadow, so I can link to this more easily haha. Also so it’s all in one place :)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 

Part 4

Part 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Warnings: slight angst, major character death, mentions of (feeling like) suffocating, mentions of possible “symptoms” of a panic attack, bit of self-hate, description of violent fantasies and gore, illusion of being trapped and a bit of cleithrophobia, slight gore

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @ajumbleofwords, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

Notes: I couldn’t run this through any spelling check, so I apologise for any mistakes haha. Also, this is the final chapter of WLBTS, but I might still write an epilogue after this, I’ll have to see. Stay tuned for that maybe :)

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: (mention of) death, reference to choking/hanging/strangulation, slight gore, description of a corpse

Tag list: (I’m just tagging everyone I tagged in the last one, tell me if you don’t want to be tagged (: ) @imin-loveanon, @ajumbleofwords, @musicphanpie-b, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

My friends also helped me out with a few small parts in this chapter, so thanks (:

—

In the weeks that followed, Virgil never showed his face again. Darlea was left alone and its inhabitants could focus solely on getting their lives back on track. The royal family helped where they could, but Roman was distracted. All he could think of was the Shadow Sorcerer. Roman had promised the girl that he would find the perpetrator. He couldn’t break his promise. He wouldn’t. There was just one problem, though. No one knew where he lived. He always disappeared in shadows, no one knew where he went. The prince offered aid to the Darleans four days per week. The other days, he searched for the man that he quickly dubbed his nemesis, or he discussed his options with his two confidants and advisers. And today was one of those days. Roman and his advisers, Logan and Patton, had locked themselves in a room and hadn’t left in a few hours.

“I just think you should let it go,” Logan stated, “no one has ever been able to locate him, I don’t know if you will succeed.” “But I promised the girl that I would defeat him! I cannot break a promise like that!” “You tried your best to find him,” Logan said, “but it simply isn’t possible.”   “But there’s a lot of options we haven’t tried out yet!” Patton protested, grabbing a map and marking all the areas Roman had cleared out yet. “As you can see,” Patton started to explain, “we still need to visit the south, southwest, and southeast. The Sorcerer could be hiding there! We shouldn’t give up yet!” “But we should also keep in mind that the Prince has other business to attend to as well, he cannot keep hunting the Sorcerer and forsake his duties as the prince of this land! If we investigate the south, we will be gone for a week, at the least.” “Well, I am certain I can afford to be absent for a week or so,” Roman answered, looking at the map in front of him. “I am sure mother and father will understand, it is all for the safety of our people, after all.” “I am not sure it will be worth it,” Logan said. “We won’t know if we won’t try,” Patton replied. Roman nodded and got up. He had made up his mind long ago: he would hunt the sorcerer down, even if it killed him. As long as he would keep his people safe from that monster, he didn’t care what happened to him. “You are right, Patton. We have to go there. If we don’t, we might regret it.” Reluctantly, Logan concurred. He’d prefer to keep Roman here, keep him safe. He knew that the Sorcerer was dangerous and, even though Roman was a skilled fighter, Logan feared that the prince would not last in a fight against Virgil. Of course, he would never say this to Roman’s face. The prince would not take it well. After a short discussion about their next plan, the three left the room and prepared to inform the king and queen of their intentions.

A week later, the king and queen were persuaded, arrangements had been made and Roman was ready to go. He would go down to the south accompanied only by Logan and Patton. After a long goodbye from his parents, Roman stepped out of the palace, only to be greeted by his two companions and their horses. The prince approached his own horse and pressed a kiss on her nose before mounting her. “Are we ready to go, Logan?” Roman asked as he slowly approached him. “All ready,” Logan confirmed. “Then lead the way!”

For five days the three traveled without anything unusual happening. But on the sixth day, as they reached a village named Ninda, they noticed something was off. The people were tense and anxious, even the animals in the village and its surroundings seemed on edge. As Logan and Patton brought the horses to a stable and searched for an inn, Roman visited the mayor to inquire about Ninda’s situation. “Prince Roman!” The mayor exclaimed, hastily getting up as the royalty entered his office. “I’m glad you are here! We have reason to believe the Shadow Sorcerer has shown up a few nights ago.” That one sentence was enough to make Roman forget all about keeping up his regal appearance. Eagerly, he strode up to the mayor’s desk and looked at the man. “You do? Please, tell me about what happened.” The mayor sighed as he looked up at the prince in front of him and he started the story.

Two days ago, two young twin sisters had disappeared. No one had paid attention to it at first, as the two would regularly wander through the meadows or the nearby forest. It was when the sun had set and they hadn’t returned, that their dads started to worry. The whole village had helped the two in the search for their daughters, but they were unsuccessful. Until the next evening. The town had gathered in the local theatre for the annual Celebration of the Sun, a local holiday. When the Celebration was about to begin, the crew lowered the bars that hung above the stage to reveal the scenery for the play. That was when the dead girls were discovered, both tied to one of the bars by a black noose around their neck. The crew was baffled; how could this have happened without anyone noticing it? When did it happen?

As you can imagine, the theatre was filled with screams and shocked murmurs. Parents trying to console their children, people bursting into tears. Chaos. The celebration was canceled. The Shadow Sorcerer had eclipsed the Sun and its holiday and brought a wicked darkness over the village, staying true to his name. When the crew had untied the knots that had tied the girls to the bar, they found one of them had a note on her-

“A note?” Roman furrowed his brow. “What kind of note?” Instead of answering, the mayor grabbed a small paper on his desk and handed it to the prince. Roman took it and folded it open. In a messy, almost childlike handwriting, Roman read one sentence that made his heart beat faster:

Tell the prince I’m looking forward to our next meeting.

“He’s mocking me,” Roman grumbled as he paced the room Logan and Patton had found, “this is ridiculous!” “Roman, you should calm down,” Logan said as he looked at Roman from his chair, “he’s just doing this to get to you.” “Well, it’s working.” Logan sighed and looked to Patton for help. The latter turned to Roman and carefully started: “Roman, listen… I know you want to get rid of him. We all do! But you should calm down if you want to go after him. If you’re angry like this, you might make reckless decisions.” “How am I to calm down if this guy is clearly just playing a game?” Roman snapped. “He is so close yet I can’t find him. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?”  “I have got a pretty good idea from being here with you,” Patton muttered softly. “What was that?” “Nothing.”