Chapter Text
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" Scott Major, you are being executed for treason against the king of Rivendell."
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-A few weeks earlier-
"So you see Scott… Xornoth has been uncorrupted." fWhip explained nervously to the icy king.
"What do you mean 'Xornoth has been uncorrupted'?" Scott asked, not believing a word that comes out of fWhip's mouth.
"It's exactly what I said. He's currently resting at Pearl's. Don't think she'll let you see him though." fWhip mumbled the last part.
"They." Scott corrected absentmindedly, sorting through some papers. Papers he had to get through by today. fWhip being here wasn't helping.
"Sorry?" fWhip gave a perplexed look. It appears that fWhip was going to disturb him further.
"Xornoth's pronouns are they/them, not he/him." Scott's icy eyes pierced fWhip's cerulean ones. He hoped that fWhip would get the message and leave.
"Whatever." fWhip dismissed Scott's correction. "I'm just here to tell you that they have been uncorrupted."
"Anything else?" Scott asked with a dismissive tone. He really wanted fWhip to go.
"No, unless you want to hear gossip?" fWhip asked jokingly. Scott suspected that he was the centrepiece of all that gossip.
"I'll pass, thank you. You may leave now fWhip." Scott waved his hand as he turned back to the paperwork. There was still so much to do.
"Tch. Fine by me. See you." fWhip left, slamming the door.
He didn't see how Scott flinched at the loud sound.
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He didn't see how Scott's hands shook.
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He didn't see how Scott's eyes became glassy.
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He didn't hear how Scott's breath hitched.
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fWhip only thought about how irritating the elf king was.
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Scott though, was holding back his emotions. Xornoth was uncorrupted?
The person he was taught to fight for the entirety of his (
childhood)
life
(what was a childhood?)
Anyhow, if he showed any extreme emotions, his advisors would punish him.
'Deep breaths Scott.'
Scott collected himself then went back to looking through all the paperwork, seeing which ones were urgent and which were less so.
"If Xornoth has been uncorrupted, is he still a champion of Exor?" Scott murmured to himself.
'If Xornoth is no longer the champion of Exor, does that make my title of the champion of Aeor null?'
If that was the case… then that would make Scott useless in that aspect. He would no longer be a religious figure for the people of Rivendell.
'At least I'm still the king… right?'
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"What do you mean that you want to ' reinstate Xornoth to the Royal family' ?" Scott slammed his hands on the table, glaring at his advisors.
"Are you disagreeing with us Scott ?" His head advisor - Lord Draug - looked at him with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"I-'' Scott bit his lip.
'Remember Scott, obedience is the key to survival in your world.'
He quickly shook his head, averting his gaze to his robes.
"Good. You are dismissed. I will send you the paperwork later, get approval from the other rulers." Lord Draug walked out of the room, leaving Scott clutching his own robes like a child.
Perhaps he should feel upset and angry at the fact that an advisor is bossing a king around…
He became numb to that feeling a long time ago.
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"Scott, behave yourself alright? Xornoth still hasn't recovered from his time being corrupted." Katherine warned Scott before the upcoming House Blossom alliance meeting.
"When do I not behave myself?" Scott had replied offhandedly, receiving a scoff from one of Katherine's maids who were preparing for the meeting.
He should feel indifferent to those reactions. He was a king.
He was a child
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The meeting was not going well. Currently, an argument had sparked between Joey and Pearl about where Xornoth was going to stay.
Another argument was brewing between Gem and Jimmy about what to do with Xornoth. Whether he should receive punishment or not.
Scott was having a migraine.
"SILENCE!!" Katherine shouted. "Scott told me he had something to say." Everyone turned to look at Scott. He didn't like to be put on the spot like this.
"I-I was planning to reinstate Xornoth to the R-Rivendellian Royal family…" Scott's words were met with silence.
He hated how his voice shook. He hated how he had to put forward his advisors ideas as his own.
Scott schooled his expression into one of faint hope, but mainly indifference. Make it look like you wish for it to happen, but don't really care either way.
Inside he hoped that they would reject the idea. He always hopes that they reject Lord Draug's ideas.
They don't. They never do.
Everyone agreed to reinstate Xornoth to Rivendell's Royal family on the condition that they are supervised by a trusted personnel whenever they are in Rivendell.
'Of course they don't trust me.'
It hurts to acknowledge that.
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Normally it would take months to get through all the paperwork needed to reinstate a member of the Royal family, but Scott had to get through it all quickly after getting Xornoth's approval.
That's what his council wanted after all.
He would be punished if he didn't bend to their will and whims. It hurt to be punished. They told him he deserved it though. That means he did.
…
What was the time now?
Scott looked over at the clock. Oh, it was nearing 9 in the morning. That's why his room was so bright.
He had a meeting with his council in 10 minutes. He'd better get ready. Scott stumbled away from his desk, tripping over his own feet.
Unacceptable behaviour for a king.
Scott saw his reflection in the mirror as he passed it. Wow. He had really dark eye bags. That needs to be covered up with makeup.
Scott changed into some robes and applied concealer. He went to the meeting. Apparently he wasn't efficient enough.
He came out with more bruises and cuts. That needed more makeup.
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There were rumours circulating recently that Scott apparently had used the people of Rivendell as slaves. Those rumours were nonsense. Why would he hurt his own people?
No-one would believe them right?
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"You know, I always thought you were a benevolent king… It turns out I thought wrong." Xornoth glared at Scott.
He felt his heart shatter.
Xornoth believed the rumours.
Xornoth hated him.
'Does everyone else hate me too?'
They probably did beforehand anyways. This didn't make a difference.
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Scott woke up with a massive headache. It didn't help the fact that he had a House Blossom meeting to attend later.
He held a hand to his head. His antlers were gone. His head was slightly bleeding though. It didn't help that it would take a while to patch it up and make it look unsuspicious.
It didn't help that Lord Draug wanted to go along with him. He'd better get ready. It would take a while to get the makeup to look alright.
Scott sat in front of the mirror. It appears that one of his bruises had started to swell. He hesitantly took out a healing potion.
His council didn't like it when he healed himself after a punishment. He would get punished more. He had no choice though. Unless he wanted to be questioned by the other monarchs.
He quickly gulped it down then started to cover up any remaining blemishes with concealer. He added some light eyeshadow then proceeded to the Overgrown.
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"His majesty is treating us horribly!!" Scott froze at the door. He had just gone out to get some fresh air due to the fact that the meeting was getting very heated.
He had gone out hoping the situation would calm down a little but it seems to have gotten worse… for him.
Scott's hand hovered over the doorknob, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back in.
"He's using us and forcing us to do his bidding!!" Lord Draug whined. Scott felt like the guy was describing himself.
"Prince Xornoth, you'd be a much better king than Scott! Plus, you are a firstborn child so the people with naturally accept you!!"
Scott clenched his fists, he could stand it when Lord Draug insulted him in private but when he ignored the use of his title in public? That was unacceptable.
'Not that he'd listen anyways.'
"Isn't he King Scott to you?" He heard Joel ask. Scott was surprised that the man would defend him.
"Why should we address him as our king when he does not consider us as his people?"
'Was the rest of Rivendell in on this ploy?'
Scott raised his hand from the doorknob. He didn't feel like going back in. He just walked away.
He might as well go back to Rivendell.
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The people were rioting against Scott.
'Why? I haven't done anything wrong. I cared for them right?'
Scott didn't want his house to be damaged. He knew some defensive spells so he could protect his house.
He engulfed his house in ice since he was pretty proficient at his ice magic now. He embedded some protective charms and spells into the ice.
Scott felt dizzy. Did he use too much mana? It didn't matter. They were probably going to kill him anyways. What was the point?
Scott should just set the whole world to eternal winter. He should just make them suffer how they have made him suffer.
His hands shook.
He couldn't. He still cared so much about the empires and their people. Jimmy's face appeared in his mind's eye.
Scott felt even dizzier. Was he still using mana? He opened his eyes. Oh, his thoughts had conjured a blizzard around himself.
He took a deep breath. It went away.
Ah he used too much mana. His body wasn't responding. Black spots entered his view. He saw guards racing towards him as he hit the ground.
'Do they still care?'
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He should have known that they didn't care. He had been out for 4 days and he had spent those 4 days in a cell beneath the Rivendellian castle.
Apparently someone had accused him of poisoning Xornoth. Sorry- King Xornoth. Apparently during the time Scott was just trying to sort out his life, he had been dethroned and his brother had been crowned king.
Oh, and Xornoth didn't remember their (
childhood)
younger years. That was sad. Scott had difficulties remembering those years due to a spell on his memories or something.
Scott curled up into a ball. Was it worth thinking about anything anymore? No-one was ever going to listen to his thoughts after all.
'No-one will ever listen to me .'
Tears pricked at Scott's eyes. He couldn't bring himself to care. No-one would pay attention to him anyway. There wasn't going to be a punishment for this anyways.
'I'm probably going to experience the punishment called death for supposedly harming Xornoth.'
He would never harm Xornoth. Although his years with Xornoth were blurry, he loved his brother.
Scott sobbed. He shook away the tears. Emotions only made things hurt more. His emotions would be used against him.
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Scott is escorted into the court by guards. There would be no defendant for him. They would execute him publicly.
Scott knew this. He would be shown no mercy.
He knew this but it still hurt. He knew this but his throat still closed up when he thought about it.
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"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Lord Draug sneered at Scott.
Scott looked up at him. This wasn't supposed to happen. He would take the chance anyways.
"I didn't do any of that!! Someone is framing me!! It wasn't my doi-" One of the guards hit Scott on the back, cutting him off.
"Do you have any evidence?" Xornoth looked down at him with cold eyes. Scott's mouth went dry.
"I-" Scott tried. What was he supposed to say in this situation?
"Exactly. You don't have any evidence." Xornoth stared down at him.
"You are guilty as charged." Scott's breathing hitched. He never though that Xornoth could be so cold.
Well if he could be that 'emotionless' then Xornoth probably could too. Were they going to hang him or just chop his head off?
The guards roughly picked him up and brought him over to the executioner's block. So he was going to have his head chopped off.
He supposed that it would hurt less because it would be a quick death. If he was hung, he would struggle for breath before he died.
The thought didn't stop his panic though.
"I didn't do it I promise!!" Scott cried out to Xornoth as he was brutally slammed down on the executioner's block.
"Please…" Scott teared up. What did this world have against him? Xornoth glared down at him with an uncaring expression.
"Scott Major, you are being executed for treason against the king of Rivendell" Lord Draug smirked at Scott one final time.
"Please… Brother…! Alis!" Scott cried as his head was severed from his neck. It hurt so much. Seeing a stranger stare at him from his brother's body.
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It was warm.
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Why was it warm?
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Shouldn't it be cold?
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He died.
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He supposed it was good.
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In this kind of warmth he could rest.
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