Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aphmau got word from Garroth that someone had information on where Zane and Emmalyn were.
Aphmau, Lucinda and Lo traveled back to Phoenix drop, to gather her guards and find out where they were and plan.

~~

Zane walked through the forest annoyed and irritated, Emmalyn ran away and he had no clue where she was, but she couldn’t have gone far, and she had the shard, Zane needed that.
Zane came across some werewolves
“Who are you?”
One of the werewolves asked
“I’m- Garroth- I was looking for this girl, she’s Blonde, glasses, purple eyes.”

The werewolves looked at him and then each other then back at him
“Oh- um… yeah she’s just in our kingdom, follow us.”
One of the werewolves stated, and Zane followed, he was rather pissed she ran off but he was going to find her, even if he had to kill everyone in the general distance. They finally made it to the castle and the guards went to talk to someone.
“He knows Emmalyn-“
Zane wasn’t really listening; he just wanted Emmalyn back, so he could focus on the shard.

~~

“Aphmau! Lucinda! Zane was spotted near the south eastern wolf tribe.”Aphmau followed along as Garroth spoke, that was the tribe that Laurance had killed the king and some of their people.

“… that’s not good, but we have to find Emmalyn, was she sighted with him?”
Garroth shook his head “let’s hope she was able to get away…” Garroth put a hand on her shoulder
“We still should go there, if not for Emmalyn then to stop Zane from hurting anyone else.”

Aphmau looked worried
“What if he killed her?”
Lucinda looked at Aphmau and stopped walking for a second
“Aphmau, when I saw Zane, he seemed like he wasn’t willing to give her up, meaning I doubt he would kill her, he needs her for something.”
Aphmau nodded, it reassured her a bit

Aphmau, Garroth and Lucinda walked to the guard tower

~~

Zane walked into the room, Emmalyn was in there panicking about something else
“Hello…Emmy.”
Zane said in a menacing tone; Emmalyn turned around fast jolting at the sound of his voice
“…No- No!”

Zane grinned, he just needed to get them out of their and then he would be able to-
“Why are you here?!”
Emmalyns voice interrupts his thoughts, her voice was quivering and some sobs followed
“I’m here to find you so I can get back to my research.”
Emmalyn looked upset just really upset, Zane couldn’t really pinpoint what she was actually feeling on the account that he was horrible with human emotions
“I just gave away the location of my village and- never mind it’s not like you care!”

Zane really didn’t care, he just wanted to get out of there
“You're right I don’t. Now let’s get going.”
Zane grabbed her and walked out the door but was stopped by a werewolf “oh, did we not tell you? Your prisoners no-“
Zane was fed up with this, he just stabbed the werewolf and continued to walk

Zane did think it be best to sneak out since he really didn’t want to deal with those pesky werewolves
“We’re gonna sneak out, because I really don’t want to deal with these dogs.”

~~

Aphmau, Lucinda, Garroth and Dante left towards the South eastern wolf tribe, damn he was far. Dante joined because he had lost Kenmur and wasn’t able to get Emmalyn the first time around so he wanted to save her this time.

“Garroth… I’m a little nervous, Zane is a shadow knight and from what Lucinda told me, he’s killed a bunch of people already, and he’s gonna hurt more; he wants something to do with Emmalyn…”

Garroth grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in
“…I can’t say it will be okay, because he’s already killed a lot of people, but we’ll get Emmalyn back and stop him, if not kill him, then imprisoned.”

Aphmau smiled at Garroth and kissed him on the cheek
“I’m grateful for you Garroth.” Garroth smiled back

~~

Zane and Emmalyn were walking through the forest not knowing where a village was, Zane was covered in blood but most of the red on his shadow knight shell made it hard to tell “that was relaxing.” Zane laughed

“You killed most of the werewolves!”
Emmalyn looked at him mad and with hatred “They should’ve stayed out of my way then.” Zane grinned
“You’re a monster!” Emmalyn shouted at him “You can’t just kill people because they get in your way!” Zane ignored her, her shouting was annoying.

~~

Aphmau, Lucinda, Dante and Garroth had been traveling on land for a bit, and the sun was starting to go down
“We should start finding a village or making a shelter.”
Dante said in acknowledgment of the sunset, Garroth nodded “I’ll scout ahead, to see if I see a village.”

A few minutes passed and Garroth came back “there’s a village just up ahead, we could see if they have an Inn or ask for shelter.” The group nodded and they made it to the village.

~~

The sun was setting and Emmalyn was getting tired from all the running and crying she had been doing. Zane rolled his eyes at her exhaustion but decided that it would be a good idea for her to sleep, so she can perform more adequately in the morning.

Zane spotted a village “there’s a village there, you can sleep for the night, there if they have an Inn.”
Zane and Emmalyn walked towards the village.

~~

Garroth was leading the group, Aphmau was behind him and Dante was right behind Aphmau, Lucinda was in the back and heard a noise and turned her head to look behind her, Zane and Emmalyn were arguing about something

“GRIEF TAKES LONGER THAN A DAY, IDIOT!”

Everyone turned around, it was Emmalyn's voice “EMMALYN!” Aphmau shouted and ran towards her but was stopped by Dante “Lady Aphmau, Zane’s right there.” Zane looked at all of them, his face was painted with oh fuck “Shit.” Zane would teleport, he really would but that would take energy and that would require him to sleep and he said he wouldn’t indulge in human indulgences anymore

“BROTHER! Step away from Emmalyn! Or I will kill you myself!” Garroth shouted at Zane, Zane knew he was bested, They had a witch and 3 fighters.

Zane stepped away from her “I know when I’m beat.”
Aphmau ran towards Emmalyn and hugged her, Zane slowly walked away while the others were momentarily distracted with Emmalyn, Dante and Garroth noticed and Zane started to run and Dante and Garroth followed
“NOT THIS TIME ZANE!” Dante shouted, Dante jumped towards Zane and managed to grab his torso bringing him to the ground

Garroth held a sword towards Zane’s neck “Running doesn’t help your case brother.” Zane looked at the sword being held to his neck “WAIT! Ple-please-“ the way Zane said please brought Garroth back to when they were kids
“Aphmau, wants to take down shad right? I mean he hates Irene and is using someone she loved as a vessel.”

Garroth looked at him with a glare “Continue…”
“Well, I think I have the means of taking down shad, I could help you.” Garroth was suspicious, he knew he was planning something, “and what do you want? How would this benefit you?!” Zane smirked, at least Garroth was smart enough to ask that question “well, shad is sending shadow knights after me to kill me and I am not dying again.”

Garroth knew that Zane probably had something up his sleeve but having Zane help out wouldn’t hurt and they do have power in numbers against him “fine.”

Garroth and Dante try and help Zane up, but Zane refuses not like he needed it but they were being polite

Chapter Text

The sun was rising as the group walked back to the boat they arrived on “Are we sure we should be trusting him?” Lucinda asked the rest of the group “He can help, you don’t have to trust him, I wouldn’t trust him, but he can’t betray us, we have an advantage over him, so just keep tense alright.” Garroth replied trying to reassure everyone the best he could

Aphmau and Emmalyn were in the front with Garroth and Lucinde behind them and Dante and Zane in the back, Zane hands were tied up and Dante was making sure Zane didn’t try anything, again.

“Are we sure he won’t just teleport away?” Aphmau asked, Zane replied himself “First, I assume your witch has some sort of spell on me to stop me from doing that or at least from getting far with it, and second if I did I would be leading the shadow knights to me and that’s not something I want to do.” Aphmau looked back at him glaring suspiciously but she had to believe him
“He’s telling the truth.” Emmalyn spoke up, she had been a bit quiet, due to the whole situation it was understandable, everyone looked towards her, and Aphmau smiled “Thanks, Emmalyn.”

They had been walking for about 2 hours, when they heard something or someone in the woods, everyone stopped “Who's there?!” Dante shouted, 5 shadow knights came out of the forest “We’re just here to kill Zane, Shad’s orders, so move or you’ll be dead with him.”
One of the shadow knights spoke, Zane recognized him… he was one of the shadow knights that helped torture Zane, he felt genuine terror in his body.

“Unfortunately he can help us, so we’re not letting you kill him!” Garroth yelled at them, the shadow knights grabbed their swords and started to go for Zane but Dante and Garroth did their best to hold them off, Lucinda helped as well, and Emmalyn hid behind her, Zane started to try and get away his breath quickening, he didn’t understand what was happening, he was remembering the pain he was in, how exhausted he felt.

Zane ended up tripping since his hands were tied behind his back and he couldn’t catch himself, Zane managed to get on his back as a shadow knight approached him ready to behead him, but Aphmau used her sword to stop the shadow knight's sword. Aphmau successfully got The shadow knight to the floor and helped Zane up

“We should run, the others aren’t their primary target right now you are.” Aphmau grabbed Zane and started running, she had noticed his abnormally quick breath but assumed it was from the running. After about 10 minutes of running they stopped, they had no clue where they were or where the others were.

“Shit- I’m lost, with you.” Aphmau said is a disgusted tone, Zane would’ve rolled his eyes, or fired back, but something about seeing that guys face made him so terrified now, he was just some shadow knight, he had no significance, but he still terrified Zane

Aphmau looked at him weirdly, his breathing wasn’t slowing down, was he panicking?! “Wha-what is— is happening…?” Zane couldn’t even talk properly without stuttering “wh- why can’t I think- think straight?-“ Aphmau had seen this before, she to be honest had experienced it herself, but she stood there in shock, Zane, The Zane, The high priest was panicking.

Zane’s legs shook beneath him, he was trembling and hyperventilating as he remembered being tortured, going through so much pain and not even able to slip into the sweet release of sleep, the memories of them kicking him or punching him or just yelling to keep him awake, flashed through his mind. it was hell. “What- what- what is this feeling… why won’t it stop! I hate it…” Zane sounded so weak yet still so scary, but he looked vulnerable, Aphmau stood there in shock for a few seconds more, she went to approach him but didn’t really know how to, he was a mass murderer who didn’t care about how he affected others

“You’re having a panic attack.” Aphmau said rather bluntly “what?! No! I c- can’t- that’s pathetic- I’m not pathetic! I can’t be… no! NO! NO! I c- can’t ! IF- that's hum-human! I’m- no- not… I ca- no!” Zane was panicking the more he refused this was what was happening he was flailing his body around, and started screaming randomly “I CAN’T FATHER WOULD THINK I’M WEAK!” That didn’t sound like Zane, he sounded like a scared kid who didn’t want to upset his father.

Aphmau pushed Zane to the ground “Stop it, you aren’t above us all, you still feel emotions, shockingly and you're making it worse by saying all that stuff.” Aphmau said in a stern tone. Zane was still hyperventilating but it was slowing down and he remembered a lullaby his mom sang him when he was a kid and began to hum it, he calmed down more.

~~~

A few minutes passed and Zane was calmed for the most part. Aphmau looked around, god damn it she didn’t know where they came from, it was fine, the others were probably going to find them they just had to keep going, the shadow knights were most likely then not still Looking for them, “come on let’s go, we can’t stay still.” Aphmau helped him up

They started walking “do you even know where they are?” Zane asked, Aphmau looked at him, and shook her head no “not really, I got turned around when you started— never mind, but we’ll find them.” Zane had glared at her when she almost mentioned his freak out.

~~~

Zane and Aphmau had been walking for a bit and something came to Aphmau’s mind “what was that song you were humming?” Zane looked at her, he didn’t really expect the question “Just a lullaby my mother used to sing to me, Garroth…” it felt like there was meant to be a continuation to the sentence but his face altered to a disgusted look, he was thinking about Vylad.

They walked in silence, Aphmau looked at him a few times. She couldn’t believe this was the same Zane that threatened to kill her, he was so vulnerable earlier. No she couldn’t let that persuade her way of her feelings about him, he has probably killed millions.

~~~

They had been walking for about 20 minutes now and the silence was almost uncomfortable. “What did you want to be when you were a kid?” Aphmau asked out of nowhere.
Zane looked at her in confusion “I mean what job or position did you want as a kid, I personally don't remember anything before I showed up in the forest outside of Phoenix drop, but I doubt you wanted to be a high priest.”

Zane sighed, he decided to humor her “I looked up to my father, so I wanted to be the lord, but Garroth had to be the heir so that wasn’t possible, so I studied hard to be a high priest at a young age, people had to respect me.” Aphmau rolled her eyes “so it was all about power, wow, you really didn’t change from childhood.” Zane looked at her, he didn’t care.

They walked for a few more minutes before Zane interrupted the silence “I wanted to be a baker.” Aphmau looked shocked “a b-baker? Wow, I-I didn't expect that, can I ask why?” Aphmau wanted to know more now
“No.” Zane responded sternly, that reminded Aphmau who Zane was “Right.”

~~~

Zane and Aphmau walked for a few hours, taking small breaks and going right or left. Zane mentioned that he swore they were going in a circle like 10 times, Aphmau denied it but she kinda thought the same thing. They finally decided to take a break and set up a little camp for the night. Zane sat on the ground while Aphmau did all the work because Zane was tied up, even if he wasn’t he still wouldn’t have helped.

“I’m thinking that if I start a fire, that maybe Garroth or Dante will see the smoke and check it out, and maybe by morning they’ll be here.” Aphmau said as she placed the last of the sticks in the pile of sticks and started to try and start a fire, “Have you even made a campfire before?” Zane asked in a condescending tone “Yes! I’m not new to this! Prince!” Aphmau successfully started a fire.

Aphmau sat on the log across from Zane “you have any campfire stories? I would tell some but most of them involve you.” Zane smirked and let out a little chuckle “Wow, you tell stories about me? I guess the only interesting thing about you is me.” Aphmau rolled her eyes “wow, you’re still cocky even when you don’t have the power over me.” Zane snarled at the mention of loss of power.

“I do have a story.” Aphmau’s eyes widened “Really? Please, don’t be about child murder.” Zane smirks “damn, gotta come up with a new story.” Zane laughed, Aphmau was a bit surprised by that “It’s a story about how much a boy missed his older brother. There was a boy and his older brother, they had two parents who were royal, but these boys grew up with each other and the older brother would always be there for his younger brother he would tell him, he would never leave. But when the older brother was forced to carry on his fathers title he ran away and left the younger brother he swore to protect. The kingdom they ruled assumed he was dead, but his father was a skeptic. The younger brother did his best to forget his brother, but his father would constantly mention his older brother when he messed up. Soon they got information that the prince was at a village and the younger brother was sent to retrieve his brother so he could carry on his duties. The younger brother was filled with anger and envy towards his brother now. He wanted to be the king and his brother who ran was still going to be given that title; and the boy was angry because his brother made him a promise and broke it, he left him, so the boy ended up making his older brother's people suffer and the boy died for it, losing everything.” Zane finished his story. Aphmau knew who he was talking about, it was obvious, but Zane never used a name for a reason.

The sun had set by this time, and Aphmau was tired. “You want to sleep?” Aphmau said as she laid down on the cold grass, Zane shook his head “No, I shouldn’t indulge in human nature, I’m not human, and I have to make sure you don’t leave.”

Aphmau began to drift off to sleep as she heard Zane humming that song from before, it was nice.