Love Can Mend {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Cadenza

Song: Penitence by Roya

    I came to while slung over someone's shoulder. It's not Zane, and it's not Laurance or Emma. I couldn't see anything except the blurry, indistinct shape I was being carried by. My heart pounded in my ears, and I couldn't feel my fingers.

    This is how I die. I thought, but the idea was whisked away instantly by sharp jolts of pain running through my trembling arms.

    "That's the ship." A gruff voice called, and I heard groans from tired men. Why were they happy? What was even happening?

    "Zack! See that tree back there?" I felt something move, almost as if the man holding me was nodding. "Tie her up there, and make sure she can't escape."

    "You can't do that!" I know that voice. Someone close to me... The first voice laughed, and I heard the sounds of something that sounded like struggling.

    "I can do whatever I want to Laurance. And I have half a mind to tie you up as well."

    "What good would that do?" A new voice, a feminine voice, spoke now. Who is she? My heart screamed at me, telling me to wake up and think, but my head was losing more and more.

        "What do you mean?" The harsh voice spoke softly, but the menace was clear. The woman laughed, obvious disbelief in her voice.

        "Are you such an idiot? If the people in Phoenix Drop learn that Laurance Zvahl is dead at your hands, they will stop at nothing to get revenge. If you kill him, you will be just making life harder and harder for yourself."

        "And Cadenza? Don't they care greatly about her?" The woman scoffed, but there was something hidden in her voice. Who are you? Who is this Laurance?

        "Are the only things you can say to me questions? But... Cadenza is already dead. Not actually," she added quickly, "But there is no saving her. Besides, even though she is the Lord of Meteli, she isn't as important to Lady Aphmau and Sir Garroth as Laurance here." I bet this Cadenza would say differently. Why does that name sound familiar?

        "How can you say that Emma?! She's your sister!" The voice broke, and I realized that this man was so close to breaking, so close to being ready to leave our world. I wanted to help him, but how could I help someone when I couldn't even save myself?

        "It's the truth! And don't you dare speak to me again! You are most at fault here Laurance Zvahl! And don't forget it!" I heard a crunching like someone walking away quickly, and the harsh voice laughed quietly.

        "Do your job Zack. Elizabeth, Michael, I want you to help me bring our final prisoner on board." I heard yelling and shouting and fighting, but that was starting to fade away. The man carrying me walked for only a hundred feet or so before dropping me to the frozen ground. A groan escaped my lips, and I struggled to get breath back in my lungs. Eventually the ice cold air filled my lungs again, but it made me realize just how weak I really was.

        The man hauled me up against a hard surface that my frozen mind slowly identified as a tree. My hands were pinned above my head and bound tightly with a coarse rope. Another line of rope wrapped around my waist, squeezing my waist tightly and painfully. Then the man left, and I heard sounds coming from the direction we had come from.

        My head lolled against my chest, and I could barely feel the vibrations of my heartbeat. It was a terrifying thought, knowing that I was about to die and couldn't even recall my own family and friends' faces.

    Then the most frightening thought swept through my mind. Who am I?