**Rotten Fruit**

[Fenrir Shade]

((This is going to be really cliche, but talk about a cat fight...))

Fenrir didn't know what to do. He just broke the only person he had ever loved's heart. He couldn't concentrate. he was so out of it, he didn't even hear the commotion down the hall.  

[WritingWithLove]

Sawyer concentrated harder, but the voices and faces grew more and more vibrant.
A little boy, ill.
"Where am I going?"
An older woman, bearing her teeth.
"Do it! I dare you!"
A man, coughing his final request.
"Don't... forget..."
A baby girl, crying desperately.
"M-Mama!"

Sawyer brok from his trance once more and began to cry. He didn't want all of those people to die, and yet, there they were, flashing before his eyes and raping his ears. "Make them stop, please!" he begged to no one.
***
Fae trotted down the stairs and spied Ella. "What are you-"
She paused as the second girl looked up.

Briar kicked her opponent off of her and glared at the woman. Her heart beat fast, and her eyes widened. Could that be... No, no way... But...
It was.
"Hello, Mother."
"Briar. Nice to see you being violent as always. And towards my daughter, no less."
"D-daughter? But she's... at least... sixteen...'
That would mean...

Briar stood up quickly and rushed over to Fae. She punched her across the face and screamed, "You jerk! You cheated on Dad and had a kid behind our backs?!"
"What do you mean?" Ella asked, confused. "Mother, you said your daughter died."
Fae looked at Ella and said flatly, "I thought so, but sadly that seems like it's not the case."  

[The Jolly Victini]

S.M., who was rushing down the hall after hearing the news of his daughter, stopped as he stumbled upon the dispute with Briar and two other girls. Curious at the heated fight, he stopped to see if he could help.  

[WritingWithLove]

Briar gnashed her teeth and shouted, "Sadly?! Go rot in a sewer you mangy b****!" Ella gasped and slapped Briar hard. How could she talk to her mother that way?!
"How did you arrive here?"
"I work here, not that you'd care."
"Oh, but I do. Working here is something to be proud of."
Briar paused, and her heart skipped. "R-really?"
"Of course. Being a royal pain in the a** is a step up for you."  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir snaps out of his haze and hears the commotion. He fades into the shadows and reappears midair, enveloping everyone else in the shade. Everyone was immobile except Fenrir. "Enough! Ella! We never had anything, it was a one night stand that meant less than nothing! You had no right to show up here! Especially to cause harm to the Royal Family!" he turns to Fae, "And I don't know who you are, but you must be a part of this as well! Briar has nothing to do with any of you any more! So don't any of you, ever, come near her again! Or I swear I will KILL all of you!"

With that, he makes them vanish from the halls, and reappear outside on opposite ends of the city. He turns to Briar, removing the shadows from her body, "Are you okay?"  

[The Jolly Victini]

S.M. was dazed. Did Fenrir not notice he was there? Because he sent him out of the castle too!
He looked around and noticed that he was sent away with Fae. He immediately took action.
"What was that about?! You're the one who did this?! Took away my daughter?!" he said, progressively growing more furious with every sentence, his fists becoming engulfed in flames.  

[WritingWithLove]

Fae was growing steadily tired of this drama. Perhaps this was a bad plan. It was certainly more effort than she had anticipated it would take.
"No, your daughter did it to herself, but I have to admit that my worthless excuse for a son might have coaxed her." she explained flatly. Even toward the king, she was apathetic. It was her only means of defense.
***
Briar fell into Fenrir's arms and felt her heart beat faster. Was it going to explode?
How had Fae found her?
Why was she there?!
How could she have cheated in her dad?!

Briar's breaths became rapid, and all she could say was, "Mother. Mother. She found me. Mother found me!"
***
Ella, thankfully, had ended up right back at her house. As much as she wanted to go in and forget about the day, she knew her father would have her head on a silver platter. She started walking back towards the castle, not out of determination, but out of fear.
***
Rim finished messing around with a crystal blue gem. "This should work," he said to Fenikkusu, "but I have to ask for one final thing to bring Rose back."  

[The Jolly Victini]

"You have the gusto to ask a condition of me? Very well, let's hear it." Fenikkusu said.

S.M. scoffed. "I heard everything. Your Briar's mother, the one who couldn't give less of a s**t whether she was alive or not. And then you attack the royal family of the Ice Kingdom! I've got half a mind to send your a** to hell right now!" S.M. shouted at the woman. He was more than infuriated. He was absolutely enraged.  

[WritingWithLove]

Rim sighed and said as plainly as he could, "Well, I need a drop of blood."
***
Fae chuckled and grinned widely. "You think you scare me?!" she laughed. She felt her heart burst as she shouted, "First off, my first husband was a lousy lab rat who cared for nothing besides his research, and my daughter always wanted him! 'Where's Dad?' she'd ask! No, 'Thanks for raising me, Mother!' No, 'Thanks for giving up your social life to spend every second with me!' I met Rim and he made his life sound like milk and honey, but now I know that I was a stupid b****, like he always says I am! I hate him, but I love him! Have you ever felt that, kingy?! Have you ever loved someone so much that you'd do anything for them," she gestured to her black eye, "and then have them do this to you?! Huh?! I didn't think so! So you know what?! Send me to Hell! I don't care! I'm pretty sure I'm living in it already!"  

[The Jolly Victini]

"Then it must be by your own." Fenikkusu said flatly.
"Gods don't bleed."

S.M. was stunned. Speechless, actually. Though, he did manage to speak.
"I... I'm sorry. I didn't know." He said. S.M. extinguished his flames and continued.
"I need to ask you though... Why do you still follow him if there's no love in return? He sounds like he couldn't care less if you left or died, but all you do is continue to love him. How is that love? How, when it's only one-sided...?"  

[WritingWithLove]

Rim chuckled. "I'm afraid mine won't work. I need the blood of an immediate relative of Rose's. It's a complicated thing, but to put it simply, it's the only way to get in contact with her, wherever she may be."
***
Fae felt very proud of herself... and yet, admitting her faults to a stranger seemed beneath her.
Why did she love him, though?
Why did she continue to trail behind him like a lost animal?

She turned to S.M. and replied, her voice quaking with sadness, "H-he needs me. He's not a bad person. He just has an awful temper. He loves me. I... I know it..."  

[The Jolly Victini]

"How can you be so sure, though?" S.M. quickly replied.
"When someone's in love, they don't put the one they love in mental or physical anguish. If he truly loved you, you wouldn't have that black eye. If he truly loved you, he wouldn't have let you get so annoyed with your daughter."
S.M. heavily regretted what he was about to say, but it must be done.
"Briar doesn't say it, but she still wants you to be her mother. You're all she has left in her family. Sure she's found love with Fenrir, but that can't replace a mother. I felt terrible when my parents passed away, but I was still happy because they left this world loving me. You have no idea how tormented her soul might be, dying without a loving mother. If I can add my two cents on what you should do, it would be to lose Rim and make up with Briar. She didn't deserve anything you did to her just as much as you don't deserve anything done to you by Rim. Please, just think about it..."  

[WritingWithLove]

Fae laughed harshly. "Excuse me, Sir High and Mighty. I have to go break up with the man who loves me, make friends with the daughter I despise, and deal with that little brat who isn't even my son."
Who... Who wasn't... Her son...
But that was eight years ago!
Rim's changed!
He loves her!

"He only hurts me because he loves me. He lets me know I've done something wrong, and I appreciate him for that. I'm... I'm wrong about things quite often." she admitted, tears coming to her eyes.  

[The Jolly Victini]

S.M. wasn't getting angry anymore, but he felt he had to yell to get his point across.
"There are a million better ways to let someone know they've done something wrong! Beating someone is absolutely the worst! Stop convincing yourself that everything he does is helping you!" He threw down his crown.
"Don't listen to me as a damn king, listen to me as a person who wants to help!"  

[WritingWithLove]

Fae had avoided this moment for so long; the moment where she learned that Rim was the one in the wrong, and that she was the victim. She had always run away from this, fearing the worst.
She sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest. She cried softly; Rim loved her. He had bought her so many things, and told her he loved her so many times. He trusted her. He... He needed her. He wanted her, and she wanted him, too.
She looked at her engagement ring, wondering if his vow still held true.
Did it?
She looked up at S.M.
He was married, and he had a daughter.
A wonderful life.
Who... Who was he to judge her?!
Who was he to tell her what to do?!

She remained in the ground as she hissed, "You have no right to tell me who I'm allowed to love! Abusive or not, he's my fiancé, and he needs me just as much as I need him!"