Calm Before The Storm
A/N: Seeing how things are on the other side of things, namely Castle Grim.
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Castle Grim.
One of the few symbols of power, respect, fear, and authority in any realm of the undead or living world. Being a huge skull made in the side of a mountain, it screamed terror to all those who dare step foot on it. Inside it held not only an army's worth of weapons, but some of the most dangerous objects in the universe.
And that's not mentioning the very being within this castle.
Within A Master Bedroom:
"Finally."
A voice said, somehow neutral and annoyed as she walked out from a bathroom.
The woman was tall, slender, lean, having long golden blonde hair, completely straight and with an extra shine from stepping out of the shower. Her towel replaced with a bright pink robe as she nearly stomped into her room despite there being nothing to be angry about. Her eyes were firm, serious, and dark blood red, making even immortal Gods freeze from her glare.
This was Queen Mandy, the most feared mortal in all the realms.
Her cunning and ruthlessness has helped her overthrow entire civilizations and take them for her own. She has gone toe to toe with some of the most dangerous creatures and came back, more pissed off if anything. Her skills and expertise is unmatched to any and all who have ever seen, heard, or even smelled her.
That last part is a bit of a stretch, but she smells like evil, pure, uncut, EVIL.
For someone to defy the rules of the universe time and again, showing that she has no good in her and can control everyone. Even when it comes to her family, she shows no favoritism to any of them, because she has no favorites. All she has are not desires, but demands, that she get everything she wants without issue.
The Grim Reaper, master of live and death, the very fear of all who draw breath, fears her and is forced to call her his wife.
Her children, Grim Jr and MiniMandy, only call her mother because they're forced too, not because they actually love her.
'Finally, some peace and quiet.' She thought while looking over her room, noticing her husband has yet to return, being a common occurrence.
Along with no husband to bother her, her children off doing who knows and who cares, and none of her servants had busted in to try and gain her attention.
"Hm..." She hummed while scanning her room, seeing that she, after a while, is alone.
...
Going to the veranda, she closed, locked, and covered the doors with a titanium bar. Grabbing her curtains, she harshly pulled them closed and tied them together with a small noose. Making her way to the door, she not only closed and locked it, she went a step further. From stilts in both the top and bottom of the door, there was a pad lock, laser grid, hand print scanner, and a small hex that whoever touches the door will burst into flames.
She rarely has time alone and when she has the chance, she takes it.
"Good." She said to herself as she went to her mirror desk grabbed the edges of it.
Click~!
Swish~!!!
Two small clicks going out as the mirror slid up in the wall, showing a small compartment. Within it was a medium sized box, about 8x12x6, made of black metal and held a small lock on it. Taking it out, she held it close as she went to her bed and sat down, the box resting on her lap. Turning it to face her, she saw the small lock and it seemed to be a small tube design and a needle.
Poke~!
She didn't so much as flinch when the needle pierced her thumb, or when the tube filled with her blood.
Pssssssssttt~!
Like a concealed airlock, the lid slowly opened before her eyes, which seemed to almost gleam in excitement.
What could be within this one box to have her put so much security in it and the room itself? A possibly treasure more valuable than anything in the entire castle, including the vault? Something that, when revealed, could potentially topple both her rule or other leaders?
The secret to life itself!?
"At last... you're all mine." Mandy said to herself in a low whisper as her eyes were wider than her usual scornful glare. Her lips were still a thin line, but if one were to look closer, they'd see the edges pull up.
Reaching within the box, she pulled out her prize...
...A simple... red... kid sized... baseball cap...
What?
The headwear rested in her hands, her thumbs rubbing the worn out, but still soft fabric. It was clearly made for a small head, though the person she knew who owned this had a standard sized head.
'Though couldn't be said for what's inside it...' She thought while shaking her head and did something no one would live to tell about it.
She pulled it close... and hugged it.
"Haaaa...." A deep exhale went out as her eyes closed, her form visibly relaxing against her bed post.
Her relaxed stance, what she held secret inside her own bedroom that her husband didn't even know, and what was in the box are all things she didn't wish anyone for see. She was a ruthless, heartless, uncaring, and incredibly deadly to everyone around her, even to her own family with how little she cared about them.
'The one thing that'll always calm me down...' She thought with a low sigh as she stroked the cap in her hold.
After a few, calming minutes of just holding the hat, she opened her eyes, looking less tense than before. Sitting back up, she gently set the hat back inside the box beside a few other small items. The camera panned above the box, showing both the hat she just took and some other things.
Outside the hat, there was a few folded pictures showing a younger version of her, a close replica of her daughter, with someone else. Next to them was a small, melted, and worn out looking action figure that had a few bite marks on it. Next to it was a red rubber nose, similar to a one a clown wears for their outfit.
But the biggest eye catcher, and largest item in the box, was a fist sized crystal ball. It wasn't see through, but in fact held what seemed to be a storm cloud that constantly moved and rattled with the sound of thunder.
'Maybe...' She thought as she reached down and slowly held up the orb with one hand before using both to hold it.
The storm within the glass ball grew more restless when her hand made contact, similar to a science orb in an average classroom. Staring intently at her own reflection, her grip fairly strong around it as her familiar scowl came back.
"Show me... Show me what I desire." Mandy ordered the orb with a harsh tone.
Shimmer~!!
Before her eyes, the clouds cleared to show something else, something Mandy was constantly wishing to see. The woman's eyes almost gleamed in excitement for what it may show, hoping it will.
"Come on, come on." She chanted slightly, watching the clouds clear to show...
Nothing.
Within the orb, there was nothing but pure darkness, no image, sound, it was almost like it was painted black.
Sigh...
"Of course... it hasn't shown anything before, why should tonight be any different?" She said, frustrated and annoyed.
Setting the orb back in the box, a little more roughly than before, she then picked up a small paper that was beneath it.
"The All Seeing Orb.
This orb was said to have been made at the dawn of time, being the one connection throughout all the realms. From the world of the living to the land beyond, as well as all connecting dimensions, it can peer through it all. By simply hold it, it knows where and what you desire to see is, was, or will be.
From a demon's soul to a human toe, it will always find it."
"Fucking liars." She said in anger while crumbling the paper into a ball before throwing it back in the box, which she harshly closed.
This was a vicious cycle she went through every time she had a moment to herself to go through the box. She becomes calm from the other items, holds up the orb to try and see where something was, only for there to be nothing.
'Is it even worth it anymore? I've tried hundreds of times by now, just to be disappointed.' She asked herself in her mind as she went to put the box back in it's hiding place.
Having spent a good fortune on it, she had expected to find what she had been searching for. That once it is show, she could easily go to where it may be and bring it back home.
"But I can't... no matter how patient I am or how hard I try... I still can't find it." She said in growing rage as she watched the mirror hatch close.
Once it did, she moved over to the veranda door, unlocking it and stepping outside to see her castle. Her room being perched on the highest part of the castle, she can see everything above and bellow what's she's come down call home. The view isn't much, least for her, even at this time of the night when the sky is bright red and a small haze in the air.
Standing next to the small handles, she leaned on them slightly as she stared up to the skies. Being in the center of the underworld, the world above was the world of the living. But much farther than that, was the world up high, the eternal resting place of all that is pure and good in the world.
However few there was.
'And you're up there, far away from my reach.' She thought with her grip growing stronger around the handles as she looked down.
Despite all her cruelty, deadliness, destructive, harsh, and bloodthirsty attitude, there is an aspect of her life no one knew. One, very small, very brief, and out of character aspect no one could ever have the privilege of knowing. That should anyone know or find out, they shall be executed on sight regardless of who it was, friend or foe.
The truth... she DID care something... or more accurately... someone...
'So long without seeing you... do you even remember be? Would you forgive... what I did?' She asked herself in her mind in sadness?
Impossible, for her at most.
"Ha... I miss you so much... no matter how long it has, I miss you.." She admitted out loud, knowing no one was listening.
After a few minutes of standing outside in the night air, she had her fill, soon walking back inside her room. Turning around some of the locks, she laid back on her bed, resting on her side. Slowly, she closed her eyes, wondering few things she bothered concerning herself with. Something she never stops thinking about no matter what she's doing or where she is.
'I'll find you someday, I swear it... Billy...' She thought with her eyes painfully shut as she tried to sleep.
As she tried to dream of what she couldn't have, she had failed to notice something deep along the mountain range outside her castle.
Who had glared at where she stood.
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A/N: Foreshadowing~
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