Therion wasted no time in pursuing Albus with his dagger at the ready. He sent out three quick stabs of fire magic, and while Albus shrugged off the first two, the third blast exploded in front of him with enough force to send him stumbling backwards. Primrose swept in low, her dagger slashing a massive cut across his leg. Albus raised one arm to try and knock her off her feet, but Primrose evaded the attack at the last second, and she came up in a slicing motion to open yet another injury on his arm. Albus growled in pain, refusing to give her the dignity of hearing him scream. 

Revello rushed toward Albus when he saw a weak point in his opponent's defenses, and when he did, he found himself in much the same position Primrose had been in a short while ago. Revello and Albus' blades clashed fiercely for any sense of superiority, but neither one of them found it. "I don't understand how you could do this!" Revello cried out, his voice a blend of grief and rage. "You took an oath to defend this town, but you threw it away in the name of money without a second thought?!"

"The Obsidians were going to ruin Noblecourt no matter what Geoffrey did," Albus countered. "I chose to cast my coin with the winning player. That is all." He pulled his blade back suddenly, and Revello stumbled forward from the lack of tension keeping him upright. Albus moved to strike Revello down, but he was cut off by a blast of dark magic that cut him off halfway. Primrose was looking out for Revello even in her single-minded pursuit of revenge, and that resulting lapse in attention on Albus' part was enough to give Revello the chance to escape. 

"I've seen your type before," Therion muttered, his voice far darker than it had any right to be. "You claim to be the smartest player on the field because you're not above a little treachery, but you're willing to throw away everything just so you can stab your allies in the back first." His words shook near the end, but he refused to acknowledge it, instead slashing his dagger across Albus' back. 

The right wing lashed out as quickly as he could, and he caught Therion in the arm with his wild punch. The thief took this as his cue to retreat, but he wouldn't be out of the fight for long. Seeing Therion injured was finally enough to pull Alfyn out of his thoughts, and he cast a healing spell to offset the damage of Albus' punch. Therion glanced over to Alfyn with relief written in his eyes, but he hid his gratitude just as quickly when he caught a glimpse of the color of the apothecary's coat. Therion went right back to the battle after that, and Alfyn watched him with muted, distant eyes before bracing his own axe and hesitantly following Therion into the fray. 

Albus could see the weakness in Alfyn's demeanor though, and he was more than happy to take advantage of it. He rushed toward the apothecary all at once, and Alfyn realized a little bit too late just how massive and imposing Albus truly was. He threw up his axe to try and deflect a dagger slash from Albus, but the right wing had too much force behind his slash for Alfyn to be able to fully stop it. The apothecary was forced into a stumbling retreat, but before he could fully escape, Albus closed the distance between them with a punch that sent Alfyn sprawling across the room until his back slammed unceremoniously into the wall. The world spun around him as the air was forced from his body, but he could see one certainty running toward him in the form of Albus. 

And for a few brief seconds, Alfyn was not in Noblecourt anymore. He was in Quarrycrest sitting on the ground with a pounding headache and Morlock moving in for the kill above him. He was waiting for Ophilia to come and deliver the killing blow to save his life and damn them both. Alfyn was in Saintsbridge too, raising his axe high to ensure no one died the same way he almost had back in Quarrycrest. Therion was pinned to the tree on the other side of Miguel, his eyes losing their light as his lungs lost their air. Alfyn knew even before the axe fell that he was a killer, and yet, that thrill of love, loving, and being loved was too intoxicating for him to care. 

Alfyn only blinked back to the present when a sudden flare of light magic appeared in between him and Albus. Primrose had cast the spell, and Albus let one hand rise to cover his visible eye from the sudden flashing right in front of him. Primrose refused to let him recover though, and she slashed her dagger across his arm when he went to cover his eye. Albus tried to pursue Alfyn once more, but he never got the chance when Revello attacked him from behind, opening a new, massive wound across the back of the right crow. Revello may have hated the idea of having to fight against an old friend, but at the same time, he would not let anyone else lay Albus low so long as he was there to do the deed for himself. 

On the other side of the stone wall marking the center of the room, H'aanit and Tressa had finally managed to thin the herd of attacking guards to something manageable. Ophilia fired off flashes of light magic whenever she could over the ice barrier when it was safe enough for her to leave Cyrus to power the barricade by himself. Tressa had started running low on arrows, but Olberic was more than happy to give her a few extras, creating replacements through the use of rocks summoned by the Sword of Stone. Tressa nodded her thanks in Olberic's direction before she sent yet another arrow flying. The guards were forced to retreat thanks to her and H'aanit's combined efforts, and while other guards replaced them soon afterward, it was clear Albus was running out of reinforcements. 

Cyrus took this chance to push the wall of ice forward, condensing it so it would fit through the doorway before shoving it out into the hallway. Doing so took up much more of his energy than it had any right to, but given how little strength he had at his disposal in the aftermath of the battles against Lucia, Yvon, and Miguel, it didn't surprise him that it required so much of his recovering power. Cyrus gladly let his adrenaline push him onward though, and he released a blast of white lightning as per Dreisang's element to strike the guards on the other side of the barrier. All the soldiers that were hit by the attack fell to the ground almost immediately while Cyrus felt his strength begin to return. Dreisang's control over aether seemed to include the tides of energy as well. In other words, if Cyrus attacked more of the enemy guards, then he would regain some of his lost strength. It wouldn't keep him in the battle forever, but hopefully, it would be enough to buy time for Primrose, Therion, Alfyn, and Revello to kill Albus. 

Ophilia realized that the blast of white lightning had dealt more damage than any of her previous light flares, and she took in a careful breath before preparing to use the element of energy for the first time. Her fingers shook at first, but she still managed to force the spell out, and it had the same effect for her that it had for Cyrus, immediately replenishing her energy even if it was only slightly. Even so, it was enough to keep her going, and both Ophilia and Cyrus gladly took advantage of this newfound ability to try and maintain the upper hand even in the face of impossible odds. 

Meanwhile, Albus was starting to slow down because of the raw amounts of damage he had sustained already. He had done his best to maintain his composure, but it wasn't going well for him at all, and his breaths came out heavy, ragged, and angry. He tightened his grip on his dagger before trying to lash out at Therion, but the thief gladly took advantage of his rage. Therion ducked beneath the attack before stabbing Albus in the side. He twisted the dagger before pulling it free, and Albus' hands flew to his wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, though everyone knew it wouldn't do him much good anymore. 

Primrose snapped her fingers to create a shrieking bolt of electricity that knocked Albus to the ground, and his dagger practically flew out of his hands from the raw force of the magical blow. Primrose closed the distance between them quickly, and she pressed one hand against his chest to keep him in place. Alfyn, meanwhile, picked up Albus' dagger since it had slid close to him in the haze of the battle's finishing moves. Albus was left unable to do much other than stare up at Primrose as she pointed her dagger at his throat. She was practically daring him to move, but Albus would not rise to the bait, instead remaining perfectly still beneath the threat. 

"Do you regret what you have done to the people of this city?" Primrose asked, her voice quiet but still overflowing with hate. "Are you sorry for crushing them beneath your heel?" Albus didn't respond even after she gave him ample opportunity, and the dancer scoffed. "You're a coward... So easily bent by the influence of coin and power."

"Honor has never meant much of anything in the hierarchy of the world," Albus told her, his voice soft and scratchy as his energy abandoned him. "I did what I had to in order to survive... And maybe a little bit more for my own sake."

Primrose scoffed. "You could have survived in other ways than subjecting the people of Noblecourt to your tyranny," she countered. "Though I suppose arguing with a traitor like you has no point. You already made up your mind long ago... And I hate you for it." Her dagger wandered ever so slightly closer to his throat. "Any last words?"

Albus' lips formed a dark smile, and his eye seemed to sink into his skull ever so slightly. "You have no idea... What you're getting into..." he murmured. "You will not succeed... The Obsidians are... Everywhere..."

"But I've won against the two of you, haven't I?" Primrose reminded him. "And I'll win again." Her grip on her dagger tightened. "I can't afford not to." Primrose raised her dagger high. "But for now... Let Noblecourt be freed at long last."

The dagger came down all at once, and at long last, Albus was silenced. 

Alfyn had pushed himself to his feet in the time it took Primrose to take Albus' life, but his grip on both the Rose Axe and Albus' dagger was shaky. Therion was considerably less rattled, and he simply tucked his knife away after using a small cloth to cleanse it of Albus' blood. Revello approached Primrose slowly, but he didn't dare to get too close to her in case he accidentally startled her into lashing out. 

Primrose simply sighed as her friends came in around her in the silence. "And then there was one," she muttered. The sensation of blood beneath her fingertips was already overwhelming her, and her throat went tight from the fear of something she had not understood since Stillsnow. She had taken yet another life. Primrose had been struggling to find purpose even back then, and yet, she had continued down on this road regardless of how impossible it seemed. She had gotten one step closer to avenging her father, and the right wing of the crow was dead. The traitor who had sold him out had been cast to hell, and Primrose had done it with her own two hands. 

Revello sheathed his sword slowly as he spoke. "There was no warrior in Noblecourt more fierce as he... You fought wonderfully, Lady Primrose." Before Primrose had the chance to thank him for the compliment, the sounds of combat reached both of their ears. On the other side of the wall, the battle against the guards was raging on. Ophilia and Cyrus had successfully pushed out into the hallway in full, and Tressa and H'aanit were dismounting from the columns of rock they had created to try and follow their mages out of the room. Olberic carefully dispelled the wall that had divided the room in half before he braced his blade for his first taste of true combat for the day, and he took off into the hallway. 

Revello, Primrose, Therion, and Alfyn watched them all go before Revello spoke once more. "We should help them," he suggested. "I imagine they will need all the extra help they can get their hands on." Alfyn nodded, desperate to get away from the scene of Albus' death. He gladly cast a healing spell on the rest of the travelers before vanishing, and Therion sighed with a shake of his head before following after the apothecary. Revello turned to Primrose, a small frown on his face. "Lady Primrose, you do not need to come if you are not ready. You can--"

"I'm going to search for information," Primrose told him. "There must be something in here that can tell me where to find the head of the crow. I'm not going to rest until I can figure out where he is." She hadn't gotten lucky enough to hear where she was meant to be going next this time. Rufus had been kind to tell her where Albus could be found, but Albus wouldn't have told her anything. Primrose had known she got lucky the first time, but that would not happen again as long as Albus had something to say about it. She would simply have to find out where her next target was waiting on her own. 

Revello nodded before pulling his sword out of its sheath once again, though he was clearly upset with being forced to fight so soon after the end of the battle with Rufus. He had put his blade away prematurely, and he hated it. "Understood. We'll return as soon as the rest of the guards have been routed." 

Primrose nodded as Revello took off after the rest of the group, and she stared at the entryway of the room for a long time before turning her attention to the room around her. There had to be something around there that would help her. She doubted Albus would make it easy for her to find the head of the crow, but he must have left behind at least something she could use to figure out where the final leader of the Obsidians was waiting for her. Primrose had no idea where she was supposed to find it, but that wasn't going to stop her from searching. 

She didn't get far into her search before she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. Primrose realized that her dagger had not yet left her hand when she instinctively pointed her knife at the newcomer, but she regretted doing so almost immediately. Simeon was standing on the other end of her dagger, though he was entirely unbothered by the fact that a knife was poised in his direction. "Simeon...?" Primrose murmured, and she could have sworn she felt all the blood leave her body in one foul breath. 

Simeon walked closer, and the shadows subsided to give him a bit more room in the light. His smile was just as bright and relieving as ever, but there was something wrong with it beneath the surface, and the mere implication of that sent Primrose's heart into fits of screaming in her chest. "Ah, Primrose," Simeon greeted. "Fancy meeting you here!"

Primrose's chest went tight, and her mind split itself between the current conversation and what she had heard from Therion before. "What brings you to this terrible place?" she asked breathlessly, though the question did nothing to alleviate the screaming inside her mind. 

"Ah, but of course," Simeon hummed as he stepped a little bit closer to Primrose. It was only familiarity that kept her rooted to the spot rather than running away like the scared animal she knew she was deep down. "About that... You see... There's simply something I had to tell you..." 

It all happened in an instant. 

Simeon barely seemed to move in the split second before Primrose's abdomen exploded with pain. She looked down to see crimson blood starting to coat a dagger in Simeon's hand, the knife halfway embedded beneath her skin already. For an eternity of a handful of seconds, all Primrose could do was stare. "W-What...? Simeon...?" she whispered, unable to bring herself to say much more between the distant throbbing of pain and her raw, unfiltered shock. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I heard that you were looking around for my friend here," Simeon replied, his head tilting slightly in the direction of Albus' corpse. "And you know what they say about birds of a feather..." 

Primrose's legs practically collapsed beneath her in the moments that followed, but she did her best to keep herself somewhat upright. Given her current injury, she had no choice but to look up at Simeon, and when she did, she saw-- "The mark..." Primrose whispered, her eyes wide. The collar of Simeon's shirt had been pulled apart for the first time ever, and Primrose could finally see the reason he had hidden his neck for all those years. "The mark of the crow..." She swallowed around the betrayal rising in her throat, and all at once, those fantasies of staying there in Noblecourt with Simeon, her childhood love, shattered around her. "B-But why...? Simeon..."

The man hummed for a moment, seeming almost absentminded as he looked down at Primrose's shaking form. "Do forgive me, Lady Primrose. There was just one thing I forgot to mention," he said simply, though his tone made it clear that he had no intention to apologize for anything. "The head of the Obsidians? The crow atop the roost? And, oh yes, the one who killed your dear, dear father..." When he paused to breathe, Primrose prayed with every faithful bone in her body that the gods would declare this some misunderstanding. However, Simeon was no god. He was a man, and that was his greatest fault. "It was me."

Primrose's adrenaline was finally starting to wear off from the battle, and the weight of the last week hit her like a punch to the stomach. It wasn't just the fight with Albus that was exhausting her; it was also the exhaustion tactics from Lucia, the close call in Yvon's mansion, and the bruises left behind from the battle with Miguel. The stab was simply the straw to break Primrose entirely, and her consciousness was starting to abandon her to prove it. "No... It can't be..." she still managed to force out, but the words were strained and distant. 

Simeon clapped his hands as he stepped away from Primrose, and all she could do was stare at him. "Bravo... Bravo, Primrose!" he exclaimed. For the first time since they met, Simeon wasn't calling her by her title. He hadn't done so when he first entered the mansion either. He had been waiting for this moment, and he had rehearsed every little thing he was going to say or do. "I knew you had it in you. That was a virtuoso performance, my love." Simeon turned to an invisible crowd, his smile remaining just as twisted and horrible as it had been the instant he snuck the dagger into her body. "The audience gasps! At long last, she tracks down the villain she's been hunting all these years... Only to find out it is her one true love. Look at the tears she weeps and the blood she spills... And pity her. Oh, the tragedy! It moves me to the very depths of my soul!"

Primrose wanted to fight back as he walked away. She wanted to find the strength to end things then and there, to use the dagger she had killed Albus with to take the life of the head of the crow as well... But her fingers refused to move. She couldn't tell if it was a betrayal of love or her body that held her back, but the idea of both made her shake and crumble inside and out. As pathetic as it was, Primrose wanted to yell that Simeon was not her one true love. She hated herself for ever doubting it now. How had she ever thought she would have to choose between him and H'aanit? Simeon was a monster, but he had been her first love, and those truths warred for dominion in her chest. Primrose wanted to respond to the pain the only way she knew how--by making someone else hurt until they crumbled--but she just couldn't do it. Her heart cried out in grief as her body crumpled further in pain. 

Simeon laughed as he turned back to the secret door he had entered the room through in the first place, not even bothering to look over his shoulder at Primrose as he departed. "Fare thee well, my poor, poor love... May we meet again one day." With that, he vanished through the doorway, leaving Primrose alone with nothing but Albus' corpse and the stench of her own blood. 

And with that, her consciousness abandoned her, and she fell to the ground in full as the world went black. 

~~~~~

The battle to clear out the halls of the Obsidian Mansion was far harder than it had any right to be. The guards fought fiercely, and it bothered Therion far more than he wanted to admit. Why had they all waited so long to strike back? Wouldn't it have been easier for them to attack while the travelers were on their way to find Albus and kill him? They would have saved their leader the trouble of having to murder so many if they stood up sooner. Therion could only guess that the guards wanted the group to get to the end of the mansion... But what was the point of that? Did Albus want to kill all of the travelers that badly? What the hell could that have even been worth?

By the time the battle was over, Therion was beyond sick of having to sit with the questions and knowing he wouldn't find an easy answer to any of them. He let out a heavy sigh as he let his dagger fall back down by his side. He didn't yet sheathe it, knowing there was always a chance something could go horribly wrong if he dropped his guard too far. Having a weapon in his hand hadn't stopped Miguel from trying to kill him, but it would at least do something to soothe Therion's raging anxiety, and at this point, he would take what he could get. Therion walked into the central room of the mansion first alongside Alfyn, a sigh on his lips. 

But as soon as he stepped inside, he wished he had never left. 

Primrose was collapsed on the carpet at the center of the room, a dagger sticking out of the left side of her abdomen. She was unconscious and pale, the only sign of life the insecure rise and fall of her chest with each bitterly soft breath. Therion's mind flashed with images of Stonegard, Saintsbridge, and every major injury before then, and he nearly dropped his dagger from shock. 

"Primrose!" Alfyn cried out without missing a beat. He rushed to her side, hands already drifting to his satchel. He found the most important tinctures in a matter of seconds, and he fell to his knees at her side. Alfyn tilted Primrose's head up just enough to force an initial dose of medication down her throat, but the dancer didn't even flinch as he handled her. His attention moved next to the dagger, and he moved to take it out before hearing footfall in the distance of the mansion's halls. Reinforcements were still coming, and if they got their hands on Primrose, there would be no way to save her life at all. 

"We have to get out of here," Alfyn suddenly instructed, and Therion realized the rest of the travelers had come to stand behind him. He gathered his medicine once again, eyes falling on H'aanit where the huntress was staring down at Primrose with wide, stunned eyes. "H'aanit, can you carry her?"

"We can go back to my home," Revello offered immediately. His sword was still in his hands, and he clearly meant to use it to fend off the rest of the reinforcements the instant they dared to stand against him. The other travelers reached for their own weapons in preparation for the next wave of combat, and Therion reminded himself to hold tightly to his dagger. 

"Perfect," Alfyn nodded. He remained close by as H'aanit picked Primrose's unconscious form up, and Therion couldn't help wincing at just how small Primrose looked pressed against H'aanit's upper body. A wave of nausea hit him as he realized this was the same Primrose who had teased him over not being able to confess his crush on Alfyn back in Saintsbridge. She wouldn't be teasing anyone for a long time though. Therion didn't know what happened in that room when she was left alone, but he hated it. 

He felt so stupid now. Therion should have known that no one could be left alone after what happened in Stonegard... But he hadn't been able to stop something horrible from happening to Cyrus back then, had he? Lucia had been after Cyrus in the first place, and Therion had been collateral damage. He hadn't done much to keep Cyrus out of trouble, and the scholar had ultimately sustained an even worse injury than him. Of course Therion wouldn't be able to stop Primrose from getting hurt this time around. What good was he when he couldn't even help the people who he cared for most? What was the point of any of it?

Speaking of Cyrus, he had drifted over to Therion's side, and the thief could see just how poorly he was taking all of this. His eyes were wide, and his free hand was wrapped around his abdomen where Lucia's own knife had soared through his flesh so recently. Olberic was trying to steady Cyrus, but it was a vain effort given how out of it the scholar had become in so little time.

Ophilia and Tressa were doing their best to keep the group held together as they started off through the mansion's halls. They drifted to the front of the party, weapons at the ready in case they had to fight. H'aanit wouldn't have been able to take to combat even if she wanted to as long as Primrose was in her arms, and the rest of the group needed to be ready to fill that gap if it was necessary. 

Luckily, the travelers were able to escape from the mansion in a haze of paranoia and poised weapons. Therion barely remembered the process, only really coming back into his body after the travelers arrived back at the Forsythe home. Anna had scrambled to make room for Alfyn to work after realizing what was going on, and H'aanit had set Primrose down on one of the beds. Alfyn's hands were a haze of speed that Therion could barely follow, but he did his best to concentrate on what the apothecary was doing just for the sake of keeping himself stable. 

He continued to watch even as Alfyn pulled the dagger free of Primrose's body. Therion could have sworn he heard Alfyn say something about there being a foreign agent embedded in the wound, but he didn't fully process it. He was too busy trying to keep himself upright to bother with listening in full to what the others were saying around him. The room was too suffocating and small. The Forsythe home had been tiny before, but now, it was restrictive to the point of Therion wondering if he could even breathe there at all. 

He only realized he was leaving after he was out on the street once again. Air immediately rushed into Therion's lungs, and with it, his sickness redoubled its efforts to paralyze him. Therion pushed on despite the spinning of his mind and soul. He needed to get away from all of this. Alfyn would be able to help Primrose. He had to figure it out. Until then, Therion needed to think. 

That didn't mean he knew what he was going to think about. In fact, the uncertainty was enough to make Therion feel even worse about the situation. He didn't know what happened in that room for Primrose to end up collapsed on the floor with a knife in her stomach, but Therion almost didn't want to know. He could say without a shadow of a doubt that things had gone horribly wrong as soon as Primrose was left on her own though. That much was obvious. 

Deep down, Therion knew there was nothing he could have done to make this any better. If he had been able to reverse this, then he would have been able to save Cyrus too. He wouldn't be able to help anyone no matter how much they needed it. He was as good as useless, and he might as well have not been there in the first place with how little he had done for the rest of the travelers. 

Therion closed his eyes, and he could have sworn he was falling once more, but when he opened them again, he was on solid ground, and somehow, that was worse. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hoo boy... That was a big one, huh?

We're getting closer to the end of Primrose's chapter three now, and with that, we need to discuss the changes to this chapter's structure. I had to find a way to get the rest of the travelers out of the picture so Simeon could stab her, and I chose to do that by having them fight off the reinforcements in the mansion. They all assumed Primrose was safe in what was essentially a locked room given the fact that they were all guarding it, but Simeon entered through a tunnel to get to her. I've been looking forward to this fix for ages, and here it is at long last. 

There's only two scenes left of the actual story part of Primrose's chapter three, but we have ten scenes to get through before we leave Noblecourt. Most of them are on the shorter side, but I wanted to say it just so we all know what we're working with. The aftermath of this chapter is compounding on everything that happened in Saintsbridge, so it's rough. I imagine we've got three chapters left of Primrose's third chapter before we can move on to Wellspring for Olberic and Therion's chapter threes. We're making good progress, everyone. 

On that note, this is the first chapter left of the final 100! I say that acting like we're at all close to the end, but we're officially over the 60% mark, and considering the fact that I've been working on this story for over two and a half years, that's a victory to me. We're making progress, everyone, even if it's taking a long time. We'll get to the end soon enough. 

Next week, we'll follow the aftermath of Primrose's chapter three. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital