꧁༒☬PROLOGUE☬༒꧂

Black and darkness cast cold shadows along the walls, the sharp sound of heels clicking on the floor echoing through the corridor. The Queen moved in slow strides, making her way down the spiral staircase, running her hands along the grooves of the brick.

Her midnight blue eyes were filled with pure determination and a black crown formed from magic rested delicately on her head. The faint sounds of muffled laughter, drunken yelling, and music could all be heard above her from the ongoing ball.

She pulled her cloak tighter around her, rubbing the detailed golden ornaments on the collar of her garment that contrasted with her black dress. Her dress trailed behind her, as did the cloak, and she faintly smiled as she approached the double doors at the end of the steps.

Tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, the Queen opened the door, revealing the lair she kept hidden from everyone.  It appeared to most as a simple study if it weren't for the golden podium and table in the middle of the room. Black and purple energy coiled around the golden object the closer the Queen drew to it.

With a breath, she stared at the grooves in the podium where her hand was to be placed. The moment she touched it, the energy grew stronger, brighter, but the purple vanished and nothing but darkness consumed the room. It creeped up her pale skin, coiling around her arm in foggy wisps. 

"Show me." The Queen whispered, her voice void of emotion as the energy around her was replaced with silver light.

In front of her, floating above the podium, was a globe, the entire map of Sinistria, even beyond that. The entire world before her.

But she didn't want the world. 

She wanted Taine.

Her life. Her lover. Her world. Stripped away from her by the savages of Sinistria. The Queen's eyes narrowed as the globe zoomed in, first on the Kingdom of Sinistria, then through villages and mountains, then the Night Fortress, till it landed on a familiar face. A face that she knew long ago.

The Queen knew who she needed to bring back her lover. She smiled softly, old memories resurfacing. "Yes, you'll do perfect..."

If she had to destroy the world to bring him back, so be it. She turned towards the door to her left that led to her bedroom, nothing covering the opening except white curtains. Behind those curtains lay her world. She could hear his words in her ear, sense his disapproval if he were still breathing.

“No one is innocent anymore…” She breathed out, voice void of any empathy. 

In swift, sharp movements, the globe vanished, the energy disappearing in wisps and leaving her in the emptiness of the study.  She could feel a presence creeping behind her, and smiled as she turned to face the two figures.

"Calandra, Cyrille." She laughed, flashing a manic smile. "I was wondering when my beloved cousins would visit." She prayed that her words masked her utter confusion as to how exactly the two women had found her whereabouts.

The Queen's eyes fell to the weapons in the two sisters' hands, one pair white, the other pair gold. Even after all the years of separation—thousands of years, actually—they still looked the same. But then again, Spirits didn't physically age unless they wanted to.

The sisters looked so alike, yet so different, Calandra's platinum blonde hair stark contrast to her sibling's raven black locks. Cyrille's amber eyes and her sister's deep silver ones.  And yet they shared the same immense beauty, the same deep sepia skin, and the same need to always be the fucking hero.

"You know this isn't the way." Cyrille spat out, gripping her swords tighter, and she deepened her stance, prepared for a fight. She glanced at her sister, who stood, unwavering and calm, though still had a tight grip on her weapons as well.

The Queen laughed. It was deranged, manic, echoing through the walls. It was eerie, contrasting against the sounds of joy above them. She smiled again, leaning against the podium.

But as blue eyes met amber ones, the Queen's gaze formed into amusement, a dangerous smirk playing on her lips. "I know you aren't lecturing me about what isn't the way? You haven't told your sister about our deal, then?"

The Queen watched as Cyrille's determined expression faltered, and Calandra gave a look of confusion. "Cyrille, what does she mean? What deal?!" The eldest sister hissed.

Cyrille faltered, but only for a moment, swinging her blade. The Queen reached up, not even flinching as tendrils of dark magic coiled around the sword which was only inches from her face.

The Queen's eyes turned to Calandra. "Your sibling didn't tell you that she chose to follow me? She bound herself to me."

A sharp gasp escaped from Calandra's lips, and she stared wide eyed at Cyrille, who screamed as she pulled back her blade and kneed the Queen in the stomach, following with an elbow to her chest.

The Queen stumbled, falling to her knees as she wheezed, though she blocked Cyrille's next blow with a wave of dark energy, sending the sister flying back into the wall. "Tell her, Cyrille!"

The dark haired Spirit looked up at her sister, who was slowly circling the Queen and ready to attack at any moment. "She's lying, Cyrille, I know it. She's lying!" But Calandra still looked to her sister for confirmation, and shuddered as her sister averted her gaze.  “You wouldn’t….”

"I didn't...I did it for us..." Cyrille whispered as she got to her feet, aiming her sword at the Queen. "She told me of a new world, the one we had before the Convergence!"

Shadows casted over her dark skin. "And you trusted her?!" Calandra spat out, and Cyrille flinched at the rage in the Spirit's voice.

"It's a mistake many people make." The Queen chuckled, reaching a hand out to Cyrille. "Please, don't be stupid. You know once bound you can never be free till the task is finished." Even as she reached, there was a flicker of deviance in those eyes.

Cyrille scoffed, lunging for the Queen, silver energy surrounding her. She would never aid the Queen in destroying the world for her own selfishness. Never. 

But, out of the corner of Calandra's eye, she noticed the way the Queen's midnight blue eyes swirled black till there was no white left, the dark veins creeping up her skin, the blackness crawling from the roots of her blonde hair till it lost its golden hue.

She noticed the single twitch of the Queen's wrist and the black magic that spiraled from her fingertips. But before Calandra could scream, before she could yell for her sister to move, before she could even open her mouth, the Queen lifted her arms, and Calandra found herself suffocating in darkness.