Flesh fell to the ground in chunks.
Bastian's screams echoed through the room, cutting through my chest like a hot knife, but his agony funneling through the bond made me wish it was me in his place.
Tears blurred my vision as I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to the spirits to strip this evil away from us all. But as I opened my eyes, I saw Bastian's head lull to the side as he passed out from the sheer pain.
Matthieu rolled his eyes and stepped away from Bastian. "That was anti-climatic." He let out a yawn as he scanned the room. "Let's see who's up next... Aimon?"
My heart violently twisted in my chest as he dropped the fire crystal and pulled a putrid green potion from his pocket, moving in front of Aimon as he sloshed it around.
"What do you think?" Matthieu chuckled as he uncorked the vial and grabbed Aimon's jaw. "I'm an emotion that can deceive, declaring to you what you want to believe. Beneath my surface, you will find, a sweet betrayal that leaves you behind... What am I?"
Aimon violently shook his head, trying to pull away from Matthieu's grip, but with strong force, Matthieu forced the stream of potion down Aimon's throat.
I could almost smell the stench of it from across the room, a sickeningly sour smell that clung to my nose and filled my lungs until I felt like I was suffocating.
Aimon continued to struggle against Matthieu, coughing violently as he tried to avoid swallowing, but it funneled down his throat until nothing was left in the vial.
Matthieu let it fall and shatter as he stepped back with a satisfied smirk on his face.
Aimon's face contorted in pain before immense agony flooded our bond as his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. His eyes rolled back into his head as vomit poured from his mouth all over the floor in front of him. It was bright green liquid mixed with chunks of indigestible food that came out of him, and the stench was nauseating.
Matthieu threw his head back in laughter as he watched Aimon suffer, but I couldn't bring myself to look at my loving earth mage any longer. His whimpers of pain were too much for me to handle.
"It's a detox potion," Matthieu explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "It will strip his body of all foreign origins like food and even polluted air. Granted, it'll also strip the nullification potion of his powers...but this takes ages. By the time that happens, it'll be time for a new dose anyway. Aimon will feeleverythingas his body tries to rid itself of the toxins."
Aimon continued to writhe against his restraints, puking and grunting.
Tears streamed down my face as another lover suffered. I wanted so badly to take away his agony and cause Matthieu three times the pain he had caused us.
Aimon's suffering went on for a full hour before he finally slipped out of consciousness.
Matthieu squealed in glee, his eyes brightening as they landed on Silas. "I didn't actually think you'd fall for her too. Too bad for you."
"Still worth it," Silas rasped, his gaze meeting mine. "Give me whatever you got."
My heart felt like a ball of shards beating and bleeding in my chest, and more tears dripped from my eyes.
Matthieu stalked toward Silas and slammed his palm against his chest. "I'm an emotion that can deceive, declaring to you what you want to believe. Beneath my surface, you will find, a sweet betrayal that leaves you behind... What am I?"
"You're fuckingdelusional." Silas squared his shoulders and glared at Matthieu.
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Matthieu reached into his pocket and pulled a long vine out. He wrapped it around his fist and held it in front of Silas' face with an evil grin. "You were choked almost to death before, right? By the earth mages that killed your mommy?"
"They got the upper hand for amoment, but I survived and killed them." Silas jerked in the chair, his lips curling into a snarl as he tried to break free. "I don't care how important Emperor Lloyd thinks you are, I'm going to kill you just the same."
Matthieu's smile got even bigger as he lunged forward, wrapping the vine tightly around Silas's neck. "Lloyd's nothing but a pawn. But since you seem to care about him so much, I may just kill him to spite you."
Fear and adrenaline spiraled down the bond as Silas fought against his restraint, but the vine dug into his skin around his scars as Matthieu's grip tightened. "This riddle isn't even that difficult. It has to do with what my sweet mage feels for all of you."
Silas' face started to turn a deep shade of purple from lack of oxygen. He continued to thrash in the chair, desperate for breath, but it only seemed to make Matthieu more excited. He kept going until, finally, Silas went limp and blacked out.
"False love, sweet mage." Matthieu's demented yellow eyes locked with mine, and he dropped the vine into Silas' lap. "The answer to the riddle isfalse love."
My stomach churned at the sight before me, and my heart felt as cold as ice in my chest. "There'snothingfalse about the love I feel for those five mages."
Matthieu scoffed and walked closer to me. "You're lying."
I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves as tears continued to slide down my face. "You can do whatever you want to me or them, but I willneverstop loving them."
