The Outlaw Princess and her Illegal Property!

Ryunosuke can't see anything, he wants to open his eyes but they won't comply. 'Where am I?' He hears a loud object clanging beside his head, 'something's happening around me? Am I in the hospital?'

He figures it was all a dream; the door, falling through the space within it and a voice. 'I must've fallen unconscious due to heatstroke when I was laying on the ground, yea, that's it...!' 

Suddenly his eyes are open, he takes a sharp breath when he sees the night sky filled with stars, 'I'm still in that space?' His eyes are frightened as he tries to move his body, to his relief he can at least shift around but he feels bare.

"AELRION STOP! Get away from me...!" Ryunosuke hears a woman screaming to his right and as if on instinct, he picks up the sword beside him and runs towards her voice. 

Upon reaching the edge of the platform, he doesn't hesitate to leap down.

A man dressed in knight's clothing is approaching her silently as a woman dressed in red tries to crawl away, a pile of melted armor on the ground behind him. Unable to speak, Ryunosuke screams in his head, 'NO! STOP IT!' 

The woman looks up at Ryunosuke, causing the man to turn his head as a sword plunges into his back. Ryunosuke experiences every part of it, every inch of steel making its way through the man's flesh, he feels it through the handle, he hears a faint squelching followed by blood spurting out through both ends.

"Aelrion NO!" The woman screams again and clutches her mouth.

Aelrion's blood splatters around him as his body hits the floor face first, Ryunosuke maintains a tight grip on the sword and twists it ninety degrees sideways, Ryunosuke hears even more squelching and now feels the sword pushing against the man's insides. "L-Lyrielle..." He extends an arm towards her but it falls to the floor.

"Akemi... Dad's not coming home today... so make sure you go to bed early, alright?" The woman in front stares at Aelrion in complete shock. The man's voice turns hoarse as he coughs up blood.

"Emi... I hope you burn the letters I sent... I love you both, I always will..." With those parting words he takes his last breath, his eyes turning lifeless. "AELRION!" She quickly crawls up to his body and caresses his head in her hands. 

With tears falling from her eyes, Lyrielle looks up at Ryunosuke, a hostile expression plastered all over her face. 

Ryunosuke realises he now controls his body, he immediately lets go of the sword and takes a step back, he starts to hyperventilate, his breathing out of rhythm and frantic. His eyes go wide as he continues to walk backwards, his eyes fixated on the man's corpse. 

He begins to look around the grassy expanse, several robed bodies surround the platform, even closely to his left and right there are two laying on the ground. Ryunosuke's body begins to shake uncontrollably.

There appears to be a faint mist in the air.

A putrid smell enters his nose, the adrenaline finally wearing off, he begins to back away further until his back touches the platform's stone surface. Ryunosuke tries to look at his back, he feels something cold and sticky on it, "is that blood...?"

Whilst Ryunosuke is processing everything, Lyrielle realises something is wrong and runs away towards the hill, back to the canopy. 

She rummages through countless pieces of paper containing information about the ritual before settling on one, "the final stage, this is the one." She begins to read aloud at a fast pace. 

"...once the dragon is summoned, all who contributed their mana shall have their souls vaporized, turning into a blue gas that leaves through the eyes and mouth..."

"...if the summoning succeeds, this gas will smell cool. If it ends in failure, all souls will still be vaporized but the gas will smell of burnt wood..." Slams her hands on the table, causing several pages to fly off the sides. 'Does this mean the summoning was a success...?' 

Lyrielle walks out of the canopy and looks down at Ryunosuke, who's still in the same spot.

'Aelrion...' She feels tears welling in her eyes and falls to her knees again, Lyrielle turns her head upwards as tears stream down her face. She yells into the faraway sky, "I'm sorry...! Aelrion please! I'm so sorry...!" Lyrielle's voice cracks at the end of each phrase, she clutches her chest tightly, her heart pangs with every beat. 

Lyrielle slowly falls onto her side, grass tickles her face and her eyes begin to close as she hears grassy footsteps grow louder, they eventually stop beside her. "I'm sorry Lyrielle..." Lyrielle doesn't hear the rest of the words before falling into slumber.

Ryunosuke looks at Lyrielle lying on the ground, she continues to cry whilst clutching onto patches of grass in both hands, his eyes are visibly tired but he picks Lyrielle up and brings her over to the canopy.

Soft grassy steps echo as ants traverse the ground with bits of food, the faint blue mist in the distance dissipates and 

Using his legs, he pushes eight wooden boxes together to create a makeshift bed beside the table and gently lays Lyrielle down.

He quickly pulls another box over and sits down as well.

As he watches over Lyrielle, he soon realises that he's stark naked, his body laid bare for the world to see.

His face flushes red as he frantically searches the canopy for clothing but finds none. 'The robes!'

Taking another glance at Lyrielle from behind his shoulder, Ryunosuke swiftly runs down the hill.

He soon reaches one of the robed bodies and takes off the hood, revealing a gruesome scene.

The man's eyes have been burnt to a crisp within their sockets and a chilling cyan mist leaks out from where his eyes were, as well as from his mouth, as if it were drool.

His head appears to have shrunk, along with the rest of his body as Ryunosuke disrobes them.

Their face is contorted as if screaming, to Ryunosuke it resembles a painting, 'The Scream'

He moves carefully so as to not come in contact with the body's skin, he feels a tingle go up his spine when he sees that below the robe there was nothing covering the body.

Ryunosuke closes his eyes and in a swift motion he pulls the robe out through the legs.

He turns aside, just enough so he can still see the body in his peripheral vision. He struggles to find the right words. 'That is... Just... Horrific. I'm not touching that.'

A cold wind breezes by, the crackling torches flames waver, Ryunosuke shivers before slipping on the robe.

Aelrion's body lays nearby, his skin is pale and cold, his empty eyes still barely open.

"I'm sorry, Aelrion was it...?" Ryunosuke walks over to Aelrion and squats down whilst pinching his nose.

Over Aelrion's body he claps his hands together in prayer, he then gently closes Aelrion's eyes.

Ryunosuke looks at the steel sword stuck upright inside him, he stands up and quickly pulls it out then lays the sword beside Aelrion.

Clasping his hands again and closing his eyes, Ryunosuke talks to Aelrion, "I don't know if this is what you'd want to hear but... If you have a family somewhere, I'll try my best to take care of them."

A drop of water falls on his head, Ryunosuke looks up, a droplet falls perfectly in his left eye.

It soon begins to pour, the mist is now completely gone and every torch is put out, the platform now a mere shadow in the darkness.

Ryunosuke flips over his hood and slowly returns to the canopy, its polyester roof waves around in the distance.

He treads uphill with great caution, the ground has quickly turned to mud and his vision is significantly decreased, he focuses on the faraway swinging lantern.

'One step, two, three. One, two, three...' He repeats in his head, as he walks towards a light through the total darkness that surrounds him.

Eventually he reaches the canopy, Ryunosuke sighs loudly and takes shelter under it.

Although the canopy is large, rain still makes it inside, all the papers on the table are soggy by now and Lyrielle is drenched.

He quietly curses the sky under his breath.

He ponders his next action for a while before deciding what to do, 'guess there's no other choice...' He swipes all the papers off the table and picks up the cloth.

He places it in a pile on the table and begins to take Lyrielle's clothes off, 'how do you even take this dress off...? Ugh it's soggy, this feels so wrong...'

Soon Ryunosuke manages to take it off and strips her down to her undergarments. With only one eye open he picks up the cloth.

As gently as he can, Ryunosuke wraps the cloth around Lyrielle and covers her body, 'can't block the face, she might suffocate.'

With all his remaining strength, he pushes the eight boxes along with Lyrielle, under the table.

After tucking her in, he sits down on the box he'd pulled out earlier, although water now pooled on top.

Ryunosuke stares at the platform, he bends his back forward and places his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped and fingers entangled with each other.

'I killed someone... But they were going to do something to Lyrielle right...?' He lowers his head, now facing the ground beneath him.

'Am I gonna go to jail? Wait, where even am I? I can't see a thing...' He looks up and around.

Noticing something in the air, he squints his eyes and makes out a figure, "what the fuck, is that a person flying?"

The shadow disappears after a raindrop flies into his left eye again. 'Goddammit...' He rubs his eye.

Ryunosuke recalls the feeling of the sword in his hands as he fell onto Aelrion, 'seriously... Where am I?'

Pulling the box closer to the table, he crosses his arms on it and lays his head down, soon drifting off to sleep.

Lyrielle twitches under the table, she tugs on the cloth, pulling it tighter around her body. "Aelrion... Mom..."

After an hour the rain ceases, a couple hours later the day reaches dawn and the sun starts to rise, the moist ground soon dries.

Lyrielle blinks her eyes open, still feeling too weak to move, she's laying on her right side and looks out at the platform.

She realises someone is sleeping above her.