The flames leaped up towards the sky like a child's fingers reaching for a treasure. People were running every which way, some screaming, some crying. The man with the liquor screamed as his profits burned away. Agnes Monaghan with her cotton candy ran blindly down an alleyway, tears streaming down her face. In her blindness, she ran full force into a man with a dog.
"Oh I'm so so..."
Her voice trailed away as she saw the man. She had never seen him before, but he struck her as familiar. His hair was matter and he wore an eye-patch. The dog next to him actually seemed to smile up at her. But, far stranger then his appearance, the man was laughing. He threw back his head and laughed a wild hysterical laugh.
"Das Feuer!" Ich liebe das Feuer!"
Agnes backed away. Then she turned and ran full speed away. Hans stood there and laughed long after she had gone. The fire warmed his soul with a warmth he had not felt since Leona died. In his mind's eye Hans saw the flames licking the side of his house. Those flames were the work of his hands. Leona was gone and the world had turned against him. Yet he was not tied down.
Meinen Haus ist nicht dein... Ich bin frei...
Hans began to run. He ran towards the carnival, past clowns whose makeup streamed off their faces with sweat. He ran past the collapsing feris wheel, past the stalls and shops that would burn for a while and then succumb to ashes. He was the prince and each tongue of flame was his subject. Nothing could stop him. Königin ran next to him. His Königin... his Queen.
Smoke ran into his nostrils and choked him. Hans fell to the ground, laughing and coughing at the same time.
"Ich liebe dich, Königin!"
Then blackness swallowed him.
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