Payback

Summary: Iris gets to kill King Calvus IV.

Published Date: 07-03-2026

Content Warnings: Graphic violence, killing, and death. Also Iris is NOT doing well.

Her father is gone.

Iris blinks. Suffocation is this heat. Whether it's from the narrow mines, the flames of the cells she destroyed, or it's the ugly emotions in her chest—she can't so sure anymore. She's on the verge to pass out.

Now, you might wonder how she can even come to this conclusion, when she hasn't seen a single inch of his body. She too, didn't want to believe this herself. But after runmaging through the recent records (only to find missing gaps in the documents) and scouring the Eternal Mines (that only left her with the news of mass execution), she was left with one conclusion. Gone. For good. She'd never reunite with him again. She'd never come home to him again. She'd never be able to live a peaceful life with him again. All gone. Disappeared.

A firm pat on her shoulder from Neviro—the albino man who's also in this together. "You're holding up?"

"Yeah…" She's holding up, yes. She's never felt any more motivated to kill the one behind all of this. The one who ordered the kidnapping. The one who ruled over this damned land of Bronze. Without ending his life tonight, she wouldn't be able to rest easy today, or even the rest of her life. "I can do this."

Neviro nods, as he gestures at the last cells she hasn't paid a visit. "Edward and Morden found Silas over there."

"Right, let's get going…"

Silas was in a horrible state, which is understandable, after being stuck here for a month. Still, they have a relentless will to take down the King of Ravenna. Is it out of a sense of justice? Is it for revenge? She hasn't gotten the time to ask, but she welcomes them as the group goes straight from the Eternal Mines to the throne room, while the other prisoners they freed are running amok in this castello. Edward and Neviro offer to stay behind to take care of the guards coming after them, while Morden faces off with General Julian—the one who took Silas away from him in the first place.

A poetic matchup, indeed, knowing how furious Morden was upon learning the name of his friend's captor. It's only giving her the hope to persist and move forward, to finally fight back against this cruel kingdom once and for all—starting by going for the king's head.

The moment they step inside the throne room, he was already there, sitting on the throne, expecting their presence. Covered in his bronze battle armor, with a cape of a royal. She's seen this man all over the paintings and sculptures throughout Ravenna. "So, you actually managed to reach me... Silas, killer of General Argos and destroyer of Fort Talos. And the daughter of a traitor."

"It's Iris."

"Revora, was it?" King Calvus IV, the Ruler of the Ravenna Realm, slowly rises from his throne as he reaches for his bronze triasta. "If you'd be so polite show up to my front door, I'll kill you all. Then I shall go after the Curse Thief and the Lost Prince next."

How daring, Iris thinks. If this ever reaches the ears of the citizens, they'd put him at the stakes. It'd be pitiful. She clenches her fists, as her magic begin to glow bright and burn. "I'll make you regret ever saying that."

In a flash of light, the king zips across the room, striking Iris' stomach and knocking her to the wall.

Iris coughs and writhes, clutching her stomach. She was too slow. Too slow to matter. He's beyond her. It wasn't like any other punches she's taken to the stomach, not even like the same magics she's been hit with… Was this the rumored Aether Magic he has? A special magic kept secret from all?

But knowing she has Flare Magic herself, and with Silas here, already engaging in a battle against him, she might have a chance.

"Solar… Flare!"

Despite the pain, Iris pulls herself up and makes her way into the fight. Her anger burns bright with each and every attack she deals, scorching him with her magic. Together with Silas, stubbornly and painfully, they continue to wear down his will and vigor, until he's left kneeling on the ground. Trembling.

Silas presses him for any answers he can give, only for him to reveal more damning information about Ravenna and the Order of Aesir. Cloud Curse. Death Curse. Curses. Those stupid cubes. It's always about that damn thing when it comes to kingdoms.

"…it's a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things..."

Small? In what world are the lives of its citizens are so small, insignificant enough as the price to pay for these Curses?

Iris raises her fist towards him, only to be stopped by the fallen king's mocking grin. "If it weren't for me, the treaty between Keraxe and Sameria will fall apart… Can't you see the Order is holding these seas together?"

"If there's going to be a war, then we're putting a stop to it ourselves," Silas declares.

He laughs, weakly. Not from his ego finally whittled down, no, but from the scorching burns and the other damages they left on him. He continues to bleed and bleed, his body limping with each passing moment, barely holding himself up.

Flare sparks in Iris' fists. "The War Seas are gonna be a better place without you."

"Fine, then…" With blood dripping down his mouth, he's not having any more time left. "Just get it over with."

Inhale. Exhale. Iris takes a deep breath, before striking the king's face. When his head slams against the ground, his body lays still, and his reign remains no longer. Just like that. However, it wasn't the end of Iris' fury building up throughout the years, so she continues to beat him into the ground. To finish off, her flare melts his face, leaving behind the burns of a man not worthy of any songs of praises. With everything he's done to her father and everyone else in Ravenna, this is the befitting end for him. Death in the hands of an insignificant citizen.

If it weren't for Neviro, Edward, and Morden telling them they have to leave—she would've turned him into ashes.

The night's cold breeze continues to torment her.

In front of the campfire they built at Wind-Row island, Iris lingers there. The flames can stir however it wants, but it's not warming her heart any more. It won't ever bring back the warm house she once had with her father. Cold. So cold. Unbearably cold. Even if she puts her hands into these flames, in hopes of warming herself up, it'd ultimately be pointless. He won't ever come back. She'll never be home anymore.

Neviro leaves his tent and sits down next to her. Even without saying a word, she knows he'd ask if she's doing alright, and what else does she have to answer? The word 'no' wouldn't be enough. It's never going to come back. She's lost everything.

Without realizing, Iris' tears begin to fall. When she opens her mouth, trying to stop Neviro from freaking out, she's reduced into a bawling mess. Her mind lets out anguished screams, calling out for her father's embrace for one last time. She can't do this. She's lost. She doesn't know what to do anymore. Take her home. She doesn't want to be out here anymore.

Neviro remains quiet, rubbing her back. His presence sits next to her like a large rock—quiet, grounding, and unmoving. Soon enough, she can finally see his concerned expression without a blur. Her voice still remains hoarse, but she still asks: "What do I do now?"

"You said we're stopping the war ourselves, right? All we can do is to move forward, pursuing our own goals."

"All I wanted is going back home."

Speechless, Neviro takes a deep inhale, before turning to the stars above. A clear sky, with a bright full moon hovering the two of them, and all the constellations that continue to shine on for as long as the seas existed.

"You can still grow from this."

"But I don't wanna."

"We can't stay in the past forever, right? We'd have to grow nevertheless, in one way or another, especially in a world like this."

"Have any of your parents died before?"

"Mhm. It's my father. It was when I was six…"

Neviro begins to tell her of a story of his father being assassinated under King Calvus' orders, of how his father would hold off the attackers, of how he had to keep running away with his family, of the face he last saw of his father.

"I still miss him, even now."

"How do you… get through all that?"

"Life is kind to no one, and all we can do is to move forward, even in suffering." Upon taking notice of Iris' stare, he looks visibly uncomfortable. "But nevertheless, as long as we live, we can still change things about our future. We can carve out a new path for ourselves with our hands."

"Right." Her hands. Her magic. The very weapons that killed King Calvus IV of Ravenna. As long as she has these… "Maybe I should really tag along with Silas and their little crew."

"Mhm, I'm sure they're looking to stop the war too. The same goes to all of us, really."

"Yeah…"

Without having that man dictating her fate, Iris' new life begins now. She's taken down such a force like him, a figure whom the Ravenna itself revers. No longer the same insigificant girl, whose life can be easily dismissed for the sake of Curses.