Realm Lord

The words flew out of Arthur's mouth, filled with disgust and sadness. But Luke wasn't even looking at him—it was as if he hadn't even heard him. Luke's attention was glued to the flowers Arthur had smacked out of his hands, now scattered across the stone floor. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and his mouth hung open as he ignored Arthur completely and began leaning toward the roses with his hands outstretched.

"No, goddess," he said with genuine worry in his voice, as though talking to a living being rather than addressing dead flowers.

Seeing this made Arthur want to vomit. It made him want to scream. It made him want to cry. His friend was gone, replaced by this shell of a person corrupted by the roses.

As Luke's hand hovered only inches from the flower, Arthur could not contain himself. With a surge of desperate rage, he pushed Luke away, sending him crashing into the side of the temple wall before he collapsed to the ground.

Rage filled Arthur as he stood over the flowers, his voice echoing through the night. "THERE IS NO GODDESS, LUKE! ONLY FLOWERS... DEAD, CORRUPTED FLOWERS!"

His anger permeated around him like an aura, a tangible force in the still night air. He raised his foot above the roses and brought it down hard, destroying what remained of them as he twisted his shoe, grinding the petals into the stone.

Luke's face transformed into a mask of absolute horror. He looked like he had just witnessed someone truly dear to him die right in front of his eyes. His expression spoke of true and utter devastation as a tear began to stream down his face. Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet and tried to approach once again in haggard, distraught steps.

"N-no, stop it... ARTHUR, STOP!" His voice cracked with emotion, rising from a broken whisper to a desperate shout.

Arthur's mind was completely overtaken by rage over what these roses had done to his friend. When Luke tried to stop him, he grabbed him by the shirt and threw him back into the wall, making him collapse again, this time much harder than before.

Luke looked up at Arthur, his face contorting into a sorrow-filled rage as he screamed. His hand reached behind his back and into his waistband. "I SAID STOP!" He stood up fast and revealed a knife he had tucked behind his pants, charging at Arthur with wild, desperate eyes.

'What!?'

Arthur's shock delayed his reaction. He was only able to put his hand on Luke's wrist as he was tackled backward into the field of roses, just barely stopping the knife from piercing his flesh. The dead petals crushed beneath their weight, releasing a sickly sweet scent that made Arthur's head swim.