hey guys! just a warning that this one's a little long x

Celia and Juliana were in the ballroom, hanging glittering fairy lights and intricate lanterns from the ceiling. "Celia!" she called. "Jules!" Juliana turned around, catching sight of Sophia. She was dressed in a white blouse and black blazer, a gold necklace hanging from her neck. Her hair was in a braided chignon, dark strands framing her face. Even though Jules was only four years older than she was, her sister seemed infinitely more mature. She had taken over the spot of Sophia's mother when they were young, since their own mother was often AWOL. Juliana was wearing black pumps, making her seem even taller than she already was.

"Hey, lil' sis," Jules said, giving her a once-over. "Where were you?"

"Training room," answered Sophia, walking up to them. She peered at the box of lights. "How many more are in there?"

"Plenty," said Celia as she finished hanging another light. She smiled at Sophia. "Take your pick."

Sophia crouched down beside the box, pulling out a string of bright lights. It emitted a warm glow, turning the skin of her hands to a shade of tuscany yellow.

"Sophie, can you grab the last box of lights upstairs, please?" Juliana asked. "Here, I can hang that for you."

Sophia handed the string of lights to her older sister, rising to her feet. "Yeah, sure. Is it in the storage room?" Juliana nodded and Sophia left the room, turning towards the grand staircase. The Palace was huge; if she hadn't lived here all her life, Sophia imagined she would probably get lost every two steps.

And there it was, the portrait of Kaiden Altus in all its glory. It had been recently dusted and cleaned, the gold frame gleaming in the light of the chandelier. Kaiden himself was still the same: stark blue eyes, shining blonde hair, hint of a mustache. Sophia stuck her tongue out at him.

The sky was darkening outside as the sun began to set. The streaks of red and orange were already giving way to a dark blue and the encroaching darkness. She climbed up the first set of steps, turning to the left where the staircase split into two. The lobby was beginning to empty; Samantha had already left, and the Gateway stood open in the far wall, a circle of shadow rimmed by a shower of sparks.

At the top of the staircase, she turned to the right, pushing open a door that led to yet another set of stairs that would lead her to the storage room in the east tower.

The storage room was dark, clouds of dust rising up as she pushed open the door. Sophia coughed, covered her mouth and nose with her arm. Rummaging through the stacks of cardboard boxes, she searched for the lights. She finally found it in the back of the room, stacked under a pile of empty boxes. They really had to clean out the room some time, Sophia thought. She began to heft it up, the corners of the boxes digging into her arm, just as a bloodcurdling scream echoed from downstairs. Shock- or was it adrenaline- shot white-hot through her body like a bolt of lightning. She froze, the box still in her arms, heart pounding so fast and hard it felt as if it were a bird in her chest, beating its wings in an attempt to escape. And then she unfroze, racing towards the door as adrenaline- she was sure it was adrenaline this time- rushed through her.

The scream had come from the lobby, a high, almost inhuman scream that made the hairs on her arms stand on end. She raced down the staircase, remembering halfway down that she was still holding the box of lights. Dropping it, she jumped down the last couple of steps, her feet landing lightly on the carpeted floor, and emerged into the hallway above the lobby.

Her stomach dropped. Below her, a steady stream of Viperi were pouring out of the open Gateway, a mass of the crawling Hellbeasts turning the floor to a sea of black. They looked like humanoid wolves, eyes a burning pale yellow that seemed to protrude from their sockets like an extremely disturbing doll. Devil horns jutted out from the top of their heads, black and sharpened to a point. She saw their claws, dark and glinting in the chandelier light. In the midst of the Viperi, she thought she could make out the outline of a person, but male or female she couldn't see.

Several Elementales were already streaming out of the corridors, swords and daggers flashing, but none of them had on lightsuits. Jesus Christ, they'll die, Sophia thought, watching in dismay. This is a massacre.

A flash of blue caught Sophia's eye and she turned, horror dawned on her slowly as she recognized Bayleigh in the crowd. The queen's hair had come out of its braid as she lay waste to the hellbeasts surrounding her with a sword of perea metal. The metallic scent of blood was everywhere, flooding the lobby as crimson Elementale blood mixed with the black blood of the Viperi. The flashes of blue light as the Elementales cast their mystiks filled the lobby until it seemed as if everyone in the battle was encased in a tornado of electric sparks.

A sudden flash of panic rushed through her. Juliana! Where was her sister? Frantically, Sophia scanned the chaos, the crowd of Elementales and Viperi. She heaved a sigh of relief. Juliana wasn't down there yet, she must still be in the ballroom with Celia. Crouching down, Sophia watched as more and more Viperi rushed into the battle. What had happened to the aegises, meant to protect the kingdoms from attacks like these?

She didn't know what to do. In that moment, all of her training seemed to vanish, disappearing from her mind in puffs of white smoke clouds. And so she continued to crouch there stupidly, watching as the Viperi devastated her home, watching as her friends and family fought valorously to save it.

She could never forget, and could never forgive herself, for the scene that unfurled next.

As she squatted there, staring at the flashing swords and glinting claws, her eye fell back on her mother. Bayleigh was fighting against a huge Viperus, her sword clanging against the hard metal of its claws. Her hair had completely fallen out of the braid, tumbling past her shoulders in waves of pale gold. Amazingly, the diadem perched on her head had not moved, the diamond and sapphire crystals embedded in it sending a shower of light and sparkles onto the walls. But as Sophia watched, a shadow seemed to creep towards Bayleigh, inching closer to her turned back. Another Viperus.

"Mom, watch out!" Sophia screamed, springing to her feet, but it was too late. The Viperus had already leapt towards her mother, the horns on its head impaling her. Shock registered on Bayleigh's face, but no sound came out of her mouth as she collapsed, a red stain spreading across the back of her dress as the Viperus backed away.

Sophia heard a ragged, almost inhuman scream as if it had been torn from someone's chest, realizing, a moment later, that it had been her. She began dashing down the stairs as if she could catch her mother and kill the Viperus at the same time. A hand grasped her wrist, jerking her back.

"Sophie, no!" a voice cried behind her, the fingers on her wrist tightening. It was Juliana, her face pale and ashen. There was horror in her eyes but her mouth was set in a firm line, conviction evident in her expression. "You can't go down there!" she said. "You have no armor. No weapon. There's nothing you can do!"

"Let me go!" Sophia shouted, trying to rip her wrist from her sister's grasp. She felt as if she herself was dying, everything before her covered in a sheen of white. Her heart was pounding so fast and hard in her chest she could hear it. Thud. Thud. Thud. She couldn't stand this anymore, couldn't stand the stillness. "She's dying, Jules! I have to help her!" Sophia screamed, once again trying to free herself from her sister.

"How?" Juliana asked, her voice harsher than she had ever heard it. "How are you going to help her, Sophia? You'll only get yourself killed."

The training room! Sophia thought. The Armory with all its weapons would have been a better option, but to get there, she'd have to go through the battle and Juliana would never let her do that. At least the training room had some weapons and extra lightsuits.

"Jules, the training room!" she said. "It's not far from here and I won't be putting myself in danger. I'll change into a lightsuit and grab some weapons. Please!" The last word was ragged, ripped from her throat in desperation.

Juliana hesitated. "Fine, but I'm coming with you." Sophia nodded and Jules let her go. Together, they raced towards the training room.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

The room was how Sophia and Samantha had left it hours ago, her two baselard swords still strewn on the ground. She ran past them, heading for the heap of lightsuits stacked in a trunk in the back. Grabbing one that seemed her size, she stripped out of her tank top and leggings and pulled on the lightsuit, a rush of calm flooding through her as she felt the familiar cold touch of the suit on her skin. She stuffed her feet into combat boots, retying her hair into a tight ponytail away from her face. Strapping a sword to her back, Sophia hunted for a Magnesia, a blade deadly to Viperi, in the weapons chest. Magnesia blades lit up with the color of its user's element when touched, burning like fire. Since she had hardly seen a Viperus before, she had never had reason to use one. The blade felt foreign in her hand as she strapped it into her lightsuit jacket. Grabbing the baselard swords, she turned to check on Juliana.

Her sister was already prepared, a Magnesia and misericorde in her hand. She had changed into full lightsuit armor, her dark hair in a tight bun at the top of her head. "Come on," she said, and they headed out the door.

Sophia loved the feeling of running in a lightsuit, swords in hand. She could feel the rush of the wind on her face and the slow beating of her heart in her chest. Her hair streamed out behind her, a stark contrast to the dark strands that had escaped from her sister's bun. She tightened her grip on the baselard swords, feeling the familiar weight of them in her hands. The sword on her back was just a precaution, in case she lost the short swords and had to use the longsword.

They emerged into the brightly lit lobby, the floor slick with blood. Scanning the battle, Sophia could just make out the bodies of a few Elementales. She caught sight of her mother; someone had dragged her away from the battle and propped her up against the wall. Her head was bowed and the floor beneath her bloody. Sophia felt her hands begin to shake and pressed them to her side, tightening her grip on the swords.

Someone had closed the Gateway, and the number of Viperi had begun to thin out, less a sea of black and more a sparse spread of them throughout the lobby. But the Elementales were still struggling, many of them cornered and fighting for their lives. As she looked around, she saw Celia in the throng, daggers flashing as she stabbed at a Viperus, but it seemed more annoyed than hurt.

"Cecelia!" Juliana called, throwing a Magnesia to her. Their aunt glanced up, catching the Magnesia from the air and jamming it into the hellbeast's chest. It disappeared in a cloud of black blood and dust. Celia threw the dagger back to Juliana with a wink and returned to the fight.

Grinning, Sophia raised her own blades and rushed into the battle. The sounds of the fight seemed to quiet around her, the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat, pulsing through her entire body. A Viperi materialized in front of her and she ducked, her years of training telling her what to do. But she had practiced fighting people more than a wolfish demon and she was unprepared for its weight and the burning of the black blood as she slashed at its chest. The slash had only opened a shallow cut in the hellbeast, blood seeping out and sizzling as it touched her skin. She yelped, dropping the baselard sword and wiping her hand on her lightsuit in disgust. She grabbed the Magnesia from her jacket, the blade flaring up in a blaze of flaming pale blue as she stabbed it up, embedding the blade into the Viperus just as it swiped at her with its claws. Scarlet blood trickled out of the three gashes it left in her skin, soaking the material of her lightsuit. Sophia swore, glaring at the Viperus as it exploded into dust, black blood splattering the front of her lightsuit.

There was no time to waste; the blood had burnt away the blade of the Magnesia and Sophia threw it down in disgust. Picking her other baselard blade up from the ground, she began to make her way towards her mother, slashing and stabbing at the Viperi in her path. At one point, she found Juliana at her side, Magnesia blade still flaring as she used her misericorde to take out a Viperus. "Go to Bayleigh!" she urged, sidestepping as a hellbeast leapt towards her, claws outstretched.

"I'm trying," Sophia responded, cutting off the horn of a Viperus. "There's too many of them."

Juliana slipped the Magnesia into her hand. "Go."

She did, stabbing the Magnesia into the flank of the remaining Viperus before her and raced to Bayleigh, crouching down beside her. "Mom?" she asked, her hand hovering above her mother's shoulder. "Mom, why hasn't anyone healed you yet?" Usually, Elementales were able to heal cuts and wounds with a healing mystik, stopping the bleeding and closing the gash. No one had done that here; Sophia could see the blood streaming from the two gashes in her mother's back.

Bayleigh lifted her head, blue eyes hooded, face pale and grayish. "They can't," she gasped. "It's too late. Sophia, you have to leave. It's not safe for you here. Please." She was panting, chest heaving as she gasped for breath. Her eyes were wide, pleading as she looked at Sophia.

Sophia frowned. "It's okay, Mom. The Viperi are falling."

Bayleigh shook her head, and Sophia realized with a sickening feeling that her hair, usually pale blonde, was scarlet with blood. "Not them," she gasped out. "You need... to leave. Go to Joie Hall, I give you my permission." She paused, her hands clenching and unclenching as she tried to catch her breath.

"Mom, no. I can't leave Juliana, and Celia. I can't leave you. I already lost Dad, I can't lose you too."

"I am already gone, my love," her mother said, eyes sad. "Go." Her hands had gone still, her breaths short. Sophia felt tears, unbidden, spring to her eyes and she forced herself not to cry. Her hands were shaking despite her best attempts to keep them still. She had to be strong, for Bayleigh as much as for herself.

"Don't talk," Sophia said, holding Bayleigh's hand. "Save your energy."

Her mother shook her head. "I can see," she said, "the stars. Forgive me, my daughter." Sophia watched with increasing horror as the light went out of Bayleigh's eyes, her hand in Sophia's going limp. Blood trickled out of her mouth, dripping onto her dress and staining the blue cloth.

"No no no no no, Mom!" Sophia whispered, voice growing louder until she was shouting. "You can't do this! Mother!" She felt like she was going to be sick, her stomach rolling as if she were on a ship in the midst of a storm. The floor lurched, the walls around her spinning until it was just a blur of white and blue and yellow. She turned her head and felt herself dry heaving, her eyes stinging and her throat closing. She could almost imagine the muscles of her throat and stomach contracting and expanding as she retched, the floor digging into her knees and palms.

Suddenly, a warm hand was on her shoulder, rubbing her back in wide circles. Forcing herself to sit up, she turned to see Celia looking down at her with sad eyes. "She's gone, Sophia." Juliana was standing beside her, the misericorde still in her hand. She was silent, her gaze, focused on Bayleigh, was hard and unreadable. All around them, crimson and black blood stained the floor, the walls. The bodies of fallen Elementales were scattered around the room, weapons lying on the floor beside them. A rush of people had come in, tending to the injured with mystiks and bandages, horror in all of their expressions.

Here is my home, she thought, in ruin. My world, in ruin. 

A/N: hope you guys like it!! i have most of the novel written out already so honestly i can just post new chapters whenever. please don't forget to vote/comment! i can't tell you how much it means to me ;)